Word Study
cantharis
CIDE DICTIONARY
cantharis, n. [L., a kind of beetle, esp. the Spanish fly, Gr. kanqari`s.].
A beetle (Lytta vesicatoria , syn. Cantharis vesicatoria ), having an elongated cylindrical body of a brilliant green color, and a nauseous odor; the blister fly or blister beetle, of the apothecary; -- also called Spanish fly . Many other species of Lytta , used for the same purpose, take the same name. See Blister beetle , under Blister. The plural form in usually applied to the dried insects used in medicine. [1913 Webster]
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