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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Visceral clefts

Visceral \Vis"cer*al\, a. [Cf. F. visc['e]ral, LL. visceralis.]

  1. (Anat.) Of, pertaining to, or affecting the viscera; splanchnic.

  2. Fig.: Having deep sensibility. [R.]
    --Bp. Reynolds.

  3. proceeding from emotion or instinct rather than from intellect; deeply emotional; -- as, a visceral reaction.

  4. dealing with coarse or base emotions; -- as, a visceral literary style.
    --[RHUD]

    Visceral arches (Anat.), the bars or ridges between the visceral clefts.

    Visceral cavity or Visceral tube (Anat.), the ventral cavity of a vertebrate, which contains the alimentary canal, as distinguished from the dorsal, or cerebro-spinal, canal.

    Visceral clefts (Anat.), transverse clefts on the sides just back of the mouth in the vertebrate embryo, which open into the pharyngeal portion of the alimentary canal, and correspond to the branchial clefts in adult fishes.