L A DICTIONARY O F ARTS AMD SCIENCES . BY G. GREGORY, D.D. DOCTOR IN PHILOSOPHY AND THE ARTS, AND HONORARY MEMBER OF THE IMPERIAL UNIVERSITY OF WILNA ) MEMBER OF THE MANCHESTER AND NEWCASTLE LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETIES ) HONORARY MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE j DOMESTIC CHAPLAIN TO THE LORD BISHOP OF LLANDAFF ; AUTHOR OF ESSAYS HISTORICAL AND MORAL, THE ECONOMY OF NATURE, SfC. SfC. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: PRINTED FOR RICHARD PHILLIPS, NO. 6, BRIDGE-STREET, BLACKFRIARS : AND SOLD BY ALL BOOKSELLERS AND DEALERS IN BOOKS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. 1806. T. Gillet, Printer, Wild-Court, Lincoln’ s-Inn-Fiel&s. VVVkViV VV> kv advertisement TO THE FIRST VOLUME. IT is long since the Editor of this Work conceived that a Dictionary of Arts and Sciences in a compendious form, sufficiently copious without being prolix, accurate but not diffuse, divested of all superfluous matter, compressing rather than copying what had been done by others, and exhibiting a clear but concise view of the present state of the various branches of human knowledge, was nofbnly a most desirable object to the English reader, but an object per- fectly practicable. He considered that a Dictionary is properly a work of reference and not of detail ; and that those who wish to become adepts in any one art or science, will scarcely study it exclusively from, an Encyclopaedia. The progress of the work has fully convinced him that he was not mistaken in his opinion. One half of the publication, according to the usual division of books of this nature, is now before the Public, and the reader will perceive that every science of real importance is given as completely as in more bulky publications, and in some instances even more at large. It is therefore with some degree of additional confidence that the Editor now re-states to the Public the following as the advantages which will result from the present new Dictionary of Arts and Sciences. First, It will exhibit a compendium of all human knowledge, the more luminous because cleared of all extraneous matter ; rather practical than speculative; and in which particular at- tention will be paid to the most useful branches. Second, It will be of a convenient and comparatively portable size, calculated to lie on the table of every studious person as a book of constant reference. Third, It will be printed so as to correspond with the quarto edition of Dr. Johnson s Dic- tionary ; and the possessors of both works will thus have in four quarto volumes, and at a mode- rate expence, all the literary aid which the Englisn student or reader can possibly rcquiie. LIST OF PLATES. T1,c Bookbinder is requested to place the Plates in the following order:— If. III. IV. V. VI. A If. VI f I. iX. X. XI. XII. XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. -) XVllf. ( XIX. \ XX. ( XXI. ) PLATE 1. Aerostation - Nat. Hist. '(fig. 1 — 14) Anatomy (Skeleton) ■. Anatomy (M uscles) Anatomy (Tiscera, Ac.) * Anatomy (Arteries, Ac.) ’ - Nat. Hist. (Fig. 14 — 27) Architecture (Tuscan, Ac.) Architecture (Ionic, Ac.) - Nat. Hist. (Fig. 28 — 40) Astronomy (Solar System) - Astronomy (Fig. ]— 8) Astronomy (Fig. 9 — 19) Miscellanies (Fig. 1 — 13) Nat. Hist. (Fig. 41— 53) Nat. Hist (Fig. 54— til) Botany XXI. , XXII. Bridges XXIII. Nat. Hist. (Fig 62—72) XXIV. Caliber Compasses XXV. Nat. Hist. (Fig. 73— 81) XXVI. Nat. Hist. (Fig. 82—91) XXVII Nat. Hist. (Fig. 92 — 101) XXVIII. Nat. Hist. (Fig. 102—113) XXIX. Chemistry (Fig. 1 — 17) XXX. Chemistry (Fig. 18—28) XXXI. Chemical Characters XXX II. Clock-work x X X II l . Nat. Hist. (Fig. 1 14 — 131) XXXIV. Conic Sections XXXV. Corallines • XXXVI. Nat. Hist. (Fig. 132—145) TO FACE Page 38 70 106 ib. ib. 1 14 136 ■ 138 • 160 168 174 178 • 204 r 242 248 256 272 284 296 300 304 320 322 334 340 352 376 380 424 436 444 PLATE XXXVII. Cranes XXXVIII. Crystallization XXXIX. Miscellanies (Fig. 14 — 30) XL, Nat. Hist. (Fig. 146 — 158) XLI. Dialling , XLII. Nat. Hist. (Fig. 159 — 168) XL Hi. Miscellanies (Fig. 31 — 49) XL1V. Miscellanies (Fig. 50 — 61) XLV.) ' X LV I, > Drawing ___ XLVII. ) XLV ill. Electricity (Fig. 1 — 12) XL1X. Electricity (Fig. 13 — 28) L. Nat. Hist. (Fig. 169—179) LI. h Engines Ell. Steam Engine * LI 1 1. Nat. PIist„ (Fig. 182—1 87) LiV. Miscellanies (Fig. 62 — 88) LV. Nat. Hist. (Fig. 180—194) LVI. Farriery, Ac. LV1I. Nat. Hist. (Fig. 195—203) LA III. Flour Mills " FIX. foundry, Ac. , LX . N at. 1 1 1st. (Fig. 204—2 1 3) EX). Galvanism , LXII. Geometry . LX I if. Manufacture of Glass LXIV. Miscellanies (Fig. 89 — 110) LXAL Heraldry (Partition Lines, Ac.) LX A I. Heraldry , T -\ \ II. N at. 1 1 ist. (Fig. 2 1 4 — 225) FX\ ill. Husbandry (Fig, 1 — 7) LX1X. Husbandry (Fig. 8 — 15) LXX. Husbandry (Ploughs) LX XL Hydrostatics, Ac. TO FACE Page 453 ■ — - 464 • 478 486 514 i 524 528 552 • 562 ■ 602 ■ 608 616 624 ■ 628 • 646 • 690 ■ 698 • 706 712 746 784 • ib. ■ 806 844 852 870 910 912 • 916 942 ib. 946 956 ERRATA. In some oj the Copies the following Corrections are necessary : — Page 7, Art. Acarus, for fig. 1—3 read tig. 2— 3. 43, Art. A lea, for fig, 8 read fig. 10. 4 t, Art. Alcedo.yhr fig. 9 and 10 read tig. 8 and 9. 70, Art. Ampelisjjfbr jig. 15 and 16 readier. 14 and 16. 74, Art. Anacardium,yb/’ lig. 14 read tig. 17. 75, Art. Anarrhicas, for fig. 15 read lig. 16. ■ib. An. Anas, joe lig. 16 and 17 raid fig. 18 and 19. I5C, Middle column at bottom, far T X 3 — 4107, read X 3 — 4107. Ti" refrre " cea IO Ui e Anatomical Plate a, id Arteries will be found after tl.e Index to the article Anatomy. See the end of the volume. In a few ot the copies, the references to the figures of the first Plate in Chemistry were unfortunately ,UIt tlie descriptions are so dear, that it is hoped little inconvenience will occur through the neglect. J omitted by the writing Engraver, DICTIONARY OF i ARTS AND SCIENCES. ABA A the first letter of the alphabet, is used, , } on many occasions, as a mark, or ab- breviation. T hus, in the calendar, it is the first of the dominical letters: among logi- cians, it denotes an universal affirmative proposition : as a . numeral, A signified one ajmong the Greeks ; but among the Homans it denoted 500, and with a dash over it, thus, a, 5000. The Romans also used it on public occasions for antiquare, to antiquate or reject a proposed law ; as did the judges of the same people for absolvo, I absolve or acquit; Whence it had the name of liter a satularis. A is frequently also met with, denoting Aldus, Augustus, Ager, Aiunt, tk c. A. A. stands for August i ; A. A. A. for aunun, argentum as ; and, among chemists, for amalgama. A.M. is used for anno mundi, ar- tium magister, or ante meridiem ; A.A.U.C. for anno ab urbe condita; A.B. for alia 1mm, or artium baccalaureus ; A.C. for acta causa, alius civ is, or ante Christum ; and A.D. for anno domini. On antient medals, A stands for. Argus , and sometimes for Athens ; but on French coins of modern date, it is the mark of the mint of Paris. A, a, or ad, among physicians, denote ana, or an equal weight or quantity of several in- gredients. The letter A is also used by mer- chants, to signify accepted. AAM, a measure of capacity used by the Dutch, otherwise called Imam ; it contains 128 mingles, or 288 English pints. AAVORA, a fruit of a kind of palm-tree, found in the West Indies and in Africa.. It is of the size of a hen’s' egg, and is included with others in a large shefl. In the middle of the fruit there is a hard nut, which con- tains a white almond, very astringent, and used in cases of diarrhoea. AB, in the Hebrew chronology, the ele- venth month of the civil, and the fifth of the ecclesiastical year ; it comprehended part of July and August, and contained thirty days. ABAC AT U A1 A. See Zeus. ABACK, a sea term,' which signifies the situation of the sails in a ship, when the sur- faces are driven by the wind fiat against. the mast. They may be brought aback by a sudden change ot the wind, or an alteration in the ship’s course.. ABA ABACOT, the name of the antient co- ronet, or cap of state, worn by the English kings, the upper part of which was made up in the form ol a double crown. ABACTORS, drivers away and stealers of cattle in herds, or great numbers. In Spain this crime is very common, and the punishment severe. ABACUS, in architecture, the uppermost member of the capital of a column. In the Tuscan, Doric, and Ionic orders, the abacus is flat and square ; but in the richer orders, its four sides, or faces, are arched inwards, with some ornament, as a rose or other flower, in the middle of each arch, and its four corners cut off. According to Vitruvius, the abactis was originally intended to represent a square flat tile, laid over an urn or a basket. The in- vention is ascribed to Callimachus: who ob- served a small basket covered with a tile, over the root of an acanthus plant which grew on the grave of a young lady ; the plant shooting up encompassed the basket, till meeting the tile, it turned back in the form of scrolls. The philosopher took the hint, and executed a capital on this plan, representing the tile by the abacus, the leaves of the acanthus by the volutes, and the basket by the body of the capital. See Architecture. Seamozzi also uses abacus for a concave moulding in the capital of the Tuscan pe- destal. Abacus, or Abaciscus, in the antient architecture, likewise denoted certain com- partments in mosaic pavements, and the like. Abacus, among the antient mathemati- cians, was a table strewed over with dust, or sand, on which they drew their figures or schemes. Abacus, an instrument for facilitating the operations, of arithmetic, by means of count- ers.. Its form is various ; but that chiefly used in Europe, is made by drawing parallel lines, distant from each other at least twice the diameter of a counter ; which placed on the lowermost line, signifies 1 ; on the se- cond, 10; on the third, 100; on the fourth, 1000 ; and so on. Again, a counter, placed in the spaces between the lines, signifies only ABA the half of what it would do on the next su- perior line. According to this notation, the same number, 1806 for example, may be represented by different dispositions of counters. See A and B, in Plate IX. fig. 1. Abacus pt/thagoricus, a multiplication- table, or a table of numbers ready cast up, to facilitate operations in arithmetic. Abacus logisticus, is also a kind of mul- tiplication-table, in form of a right-angled, triangle ; each side contains the numbers from 1 to 60, and its area the product of each two opposite numbers. ABAFT, in sea language, a term applied to any thing situated towards the stern of a< vessel: thus, a thing is said to be abaft the foremast, or main-mast, when placed be- tween the fore-mast, or main-mast, and the stern. Abaft the beam, denotes the relative si- tuation of any object with the ship, whim it is placed in that part of the horizon which is- contained between a line at right angles with the keel, and. that point of the compass- which is directly opposite to the ship’s course. ABACI, a silver coin, current in Georgia, worth about 18 pence. ABA RCA, a kind of shoe, made of raw hides, formerly worn by the peasants of Spain. Some mention another kind of abar- ca, made of wood, like the French sabots. ABAS, a Persian weight, used in weighing pearls. It is one-eighth less than the Euro- pean carat. ABASED, abaisse, in heraldry, is said of the wings of eagles, &c. when the tip inclines, downwards to the point of the shield; or when the wings are shut ; the natural way of bearing them being spread. A chevron d, pale, bend, &c. are also said to be abased,, when their points terminate in or below the centre of the shield. Lastly, an abased or- dinary, is one placed below its due situation. ABASSI, or Abassis, a silver coin, cur- rent in Persia, worth from 16 to 18 pence English. It derives its name from Shak Abbas II. under whom it was first struck. ABATE, in the manege. A horse is said to abate, or take down his curvets, when he puts both his lund-legs to the ground, at ABB A B D \ 7 '' 2 ABB ©nee, and observes the same exactness in all the times. Abate, in law, signifies to overthrow, de- molish, or destroy. It is likewise used to denote the act of him who steps into an es- tate, void by the death of the last possessor, before the heir can enter, and by this means keeps him out. ABATELEMENT, is used for a prohi- bition of trade to all French merchants in the ports of the Levant, who will not stand to their bargains, or refuse to pay their debts. The abatelement is a sentence of the French consul, and must be taken olf before they can sue any person for the payment of their debts. ABATEMENT, in law, signifies the re- jecting a suit, on account of some fault either in the matter, or proceeding. Hence, plea in abatement is some exception alledged, and proved, against the plaintiff’s writ, de- claration, &c. and praying that the plaint may abate or cease ; which being granted, all writs in the process must begin de novo. Abatement is also an irregular entry upon houses or lands, and in this sense, is almost synonimous with intrusion. Abatement, in heraldry, a mark which is attached to a coat of arms, in order to lessen its true dignity, and point out some imperfection or stain in the character of the person who bears it. Abatements are either made by reversion or diminution ; the whole escutcheon being turned upside down, or another inverted one added, in the former ease ; and as to diminutions, they are either a delf, a point, a point dexter, a point cham- pain, a plain point, a goar sinister, or two gussets. Abatement, in commerce, is a discre- tionary allowance for damage of goods sold, for a defect of weight of measure, on account of bad markets, &c. Abatement in the customs, is an allowance made on the duty of damaged goods, upon the judgment of two merchants upon oath, and ascertained by a certificate from the surveyor and landing waiter. Abatis, in a military sense, is formed by cutting down many entire trees, the branches of which are turned towards the enemy, and designed to guard entrenchments, to cover the passage of a river, to block up roads, &c. ABATOR, in law, one who enters into a house or lands, void by the death of the last possessor, before the true heir ; and thereby keeps him out till he brings the writ intru- sione. ABB, in our old writers, is used for the yarn of a weaver’s warp ; and hence the wool of which it was made, had the name, of abb wool. ABBA, a Syriac term literally signifying father, and used as a title of respect and ho- nour. Slaves were not allowed the use of this term, which explains the meaning of St. Paul, Rom. viii. 15. The Jews assumed the name as a title of dignity : anti in many of the eastern churches it is the title which the people give to their bishops. But the bishops themselves bestow it particularly on the partriarch of Alexandria. ABBE', the denomination of a class of persons in France, who have not obtained any fixed settlement in the churches, but are expectants of one that may happen to be- come vacant. Their dress is that of an aca- demic, rather than of an ecclesiastic. ABBESS, the superior of a convent of nuns. The abbess enjoys the same privileges, and has the same authority over her nuns, that the abbots have over their monks ; spi- ritual functions only excepted, ot which the sex renders her incapable. ABBEY, the name of such religious houses as are governed by a superior, under the title of abbot or abbess. Abbeys differ in nothing from priories, except that the lat- ter are governed by priors, instead of abbots. The abbeys of England, at their dissolu- tion under K. Henry VIII. became lay fees : no less than 190 were then dissolved, of be- tween 200/. and 35,000/. yearly revenue, which at a medium amounted to 2,853,000/. per annum ; an immense sum in those days. The abbey lands before this dissolution were chiefly tythe free ; and these exemp- tions were continued to the lay possessors by the act 31 Hen. viii. c. 13. ABBOT, the superior, or governor of a monastry of monks erected into an abbey or prelacy. The abbots of the primitive monasteries, from the poverty they professed, and com- monly practised, had no other claim to su- periority or respect than what arose from the sanctity of their lives ; but afterwards, affecting not only pre-eminence over each other, but even to be independent of the bishop, there arose new species and distinc- tions of abbots into mitred and not mitred, croziered and not croziered, and oecumenical abbots. Abbots, Mitred, were those who were privileged to wear a mitre, and besides en- joyed the full episcopal jurisdiction of their several precincts. Among us, these were called abbots-sovereign, or abbots-general, and were lords of parliament: they were twenty-seven in number, besides two mitred priors. The unmitred abbots continued sub- ject to their diocesan bishop. Abbots, Croziered, were those entitled to carry a crozier, or pastoral staff. Abbot, Oecumenical, the same with uni- versal, was a title assumed among the Greeks, in imitation of the patriarch of Con- stantinople : nor have those of the Latin church been backward in this respect ; some having called themselves abbas abbatum, or the abbot of abbots ; and others assumed the title of cardinal-abbot. Abbots, however, are chiefly distinguish- ed, at present, into regular and commenda- tory ; the former being real monks or reli- gious, and the latter only seculars or lay- men. These last, notwithstanding that the term commendam seems to signify the con- trary, have the perpetual enjoyment of the fruits of their abbeys. Antiently the cere- mony of creating an abbot consisted in cloth- ing him with the habit called cuculla, or cowl ; putting the pastoral staff into his hand, and the shoes called pedales, on his feet ; but at present, it is only a simple bene- diction, improperly called, by some, con- secration. Abbot is also a title given to others beside the superiors of monasteries : thus bishops, whose sees were formerly abbeys, are called abbots ; as are the superiors of some congre- gations of regular canons, particularly that of St. Genevieve at Paris, and among the Ge- noese the chief magistrate of their republic - formerly bore the title of abbot of the people. It was likewise usual, about the time of Charlemagne, for several lords to assume the title of count-abbots, abba-comites ; and that for no other reason, but because the superintendency of certain abbeys was com- mitted to them. ABBREVIATE of adjudication, in Scotch law, is an abstract or abridgement of a de- cree which is recorded in a register kept for that purpose. ABBREVIATION, is a contraction of a word or passage, made by dropping some letters, or by substituting marks or charac- ters hi their place. Abbreviations are em- ployed in language three ways ; in terms, in sorts of words, and in construction. Law- yers, physicians, chemists, &c. use many abbreviations. Abbreviation of fractions, isthereduc- OA Q O tion of them to lower terms thus, . — = __L and 9abx 3ax 36 12 j ’ 3 be c~ ABBREVIATORS, a college of 72 per- sons in the chancery of Rome, whose busi- ness, according to Champ ini, is to draw up the pope’s briefs, and reduce the petitions granted by him into proper form. The abbreviators are divided into two parts, or ranks ; the one called abbreviatorcs de parco major e, who are twelve in number, and all prelates; the other abbreviatorcs de parco minor e, called also examinutorcs, who may be all lay-men. ABBREL VOIR, in masonry, certain in- dentures made with a hammer, in the joints and beds of stones, in order that the mortar being received into these, may bind them the more firmly together. ABC ED ARY, Abcedarian, or Abe- cedarian, an epithet given to compositions, the parts of which are disposed in the order of the letters of the alphabet: thus, we say abcedarian psalms, lamentations, hymns. These are met with chiefly among He- brew writers, and as the)' have but 22 letters in their alphabet, poems of this kind consist of 22 lines, or systems of lines or periods, and every line or period begins with each letter in its order. Thecxixth Psalm is a very remarkable instance of this kind. Psalms cxi. cxii. and Lam. iii. are perfectly alphabetical, in which every line is marked by its initial letter. There are others, as Psalms xxv. xxxiv. xxxvii. cxlv. &c. in which the stanza only is distinguished. This was a contrivance probably intended to as- sist the memory, and was employed in sub- jects of common use, as maxims of morality and forms of devotion. ABDALS, in the Asiatic customs, a kind of furious enthusiasts, whose madness impels them frequently to run about the streets, and kill all they meet of a different religion from what they profess : this our sailors call running a muck, from the name of the in- strument, a sort of poniard. ABDEST, among Mahometans, a kind, of washing or lotion practised both by Turks and Persians, before prayer, entering the mosque, or reading the alcoran. ABDICATION, the act of a magistrate, who relinquishes or divests himself of an office. It differs from resignation, as tlhis last is done in favour of some other personi ; ,,i 4 ; ABE 3 ABE whereas abdication is done without any such view In this sense, Dioclesian is said to hare abdicated the crown; hut Philip IV. of Spun resigned it. The parliament of Eng- lani voted that James li. having endea- voured • to subvert the constitution of the kingdom, had abdicated the government, and that the throne was thereby vacant. Abdication is also used by civilians, for a father’s discarding his son. This, cal ed likewise a famiiia alienatio, was dif- ferent from exheredation, or disinheriting, as being done in the father’s life time ; whereas exheredation never took place till his death: so that an abdicated son was actually disin- herited, but not vice versa. Abdication, among the Romans, was also used for a citizen's renouncing Iris li- berty, and voluntarily becoming a slave. ABDOMEN, the lower part of the trunk of the body, reaching from the thorax to the bottom of the pelvis. See Anatomy. For diseases and wounds of the abdomen, See Medicine and Surgery. ABDUCTION, in logic, a form of rea- soning called by the Greeks apagogue ; by which from a certain or undeniable proposi- tion, we infer the truth of something sup- posed to be contained in that proposition : thus in this syllogisn : Whatever God has revealed is certainly true : Now, God has revealed a future retribu- bution ; Therefore a future retribution is certainly true. In arguments of this kind, it is always ne- cessary to prove the minor proposition to be contained in the major, or undeniable one, otherwise the reasoning loses all its force. Abduction, in surgery, a kind of frac- ture, wherein the bone being entirely broken near a joint, the two stumps recede consi- derably from each other, bee Surgery. ABDUCTOR, or Abducent, in anato- niv, a name given to several muscles on ac- count of their serving to withdraw, open, or pull back the parts to which they are lixed. See Anatomy. ABEL-TREE. See Populus. ABELONIANS, a sect of heretics, called ids.) abelians an d+abelaite$, whose distin- guishing doctrine was to marry, and yet live in professed abstinence ; a tenet which, ac- cording to some authors, they founded on that text, 1 Cor. vii. 29- Let them that have wives be as though they had none. To per - petuate the sect, they allowed each man and woman to adopt a boy and a girl, who were to be their heirs, and who were to marry under the same obligation of continence. ABERRATION, in astronomy, an appa- rent motion of the celestial bodies, occasion- ed by the progressive motion of light, and the earth’s annual advance in her orbit. This effect may be explained by the mo- tion of a line parallel to itself, in a way si- milar to the explanation of the composition and resolution of forces in mechanics. Let the proportion of the velocity of a ray of light, to that of the earth in her orbit, be as BC (see Plate IX. figure 2.) to the line AC; then, by the composition of these two mo- tions, the ray will seem to describe BA or DC, instead of its real course BC, and will appear in the direction A B, instead of its true direction C B. Therefore if AB repre- sent a tube, carried with a parallel motion by an observer along the line A C, in the time that a particle of light would move over the space B C, the different places of the tube being Ab, ab, c d, C D ; and when the eye, or end of the tube, is at A, let a particle of light be supposed to enter at B ; then when the tube is at a b, the particle will be at e, in the axis of the tube ; and when the tube is at c d, the particle of light will be at/; and when the tube has arrived at C D, the par- ticle will be at C, and will appear to come in the direction DC of the tube, instead of the true direction BC. Thus one particle suc- ceeding another, forms a continued stream of light in the apparent direction DC. So that the apparent angle made by the ray of light with the line A E, is the angle D C E, instead of the true angle BCE; and the difference BCD, or A B C, is the quantity of the aberration. We are indebted for this great discovery to the late Dr. Bradley, astronomer royal, who was led to it by the result of observa- tions made with a view of determining the annual parallax of the fixed stars, or that which arises from the motion of the earth in its annual orbit about the sun. See Paral- lax. Aberration of the Planets, is equal to the geocentric motion of the planet, or the space it appears to move as seen from the earth, during the time that the light em- ploys in passing from the planet to the earth. Thus in the sun, the aberration in longitude is constantly 20" ; that being the space mov- ed by the sun, or, which is the same thing, by the earth, in eight minutes and seven se- conds, which is the time that light takes in passing from the sun to the earth. Hence the aberration of the other planets is found : for knowing the distance of the sun from the earth, it will be by common proportion, as the distance of the earth from the sun is to the distance of the planet, so is 8' 7" , to the time of light’s passing from the planet to the earth ; then computing the planet’s geocen- tric motion in this time, that will be the aberration of the planet, whether it be in longitude, latitude, right ascension, or de- clination. The aberration will be greatest in the lon- gitude, and very small in latitude, because the planets deviate very little from the plane of the ecliptic ; so that the aberration in the latitude ot the planets may be neglected as insensible; the greatest in Mercury being only 4j", and much less in the other planets. The aberration in declination and right ascension, depend on the situation of the planet in the zodiac. The aberration in longitude, being equal to the geocentric motion, will be more or less, according as that motion may be. It will be least when the planet is stationary ; and greatest in the superior planets, when they are in opposition; but in the inferior planets the aberration is greatest at the time of their superior conjunction. The maxima of aberration for the several planets, when their distance from the sun is least, are as follow Saturn - - - 21' 0 Jupiter - - - 29 8 Mars - - - 37 8 Venus - - - 43 2 Mercury - - - 59 0 The Moon - 0 40 Between these numbers and nothing, the A 2 A B I aberrations of the planets in longitude vary according to their situations. But that of the sun is always 20 // : the sun may, however, alter his declination by a quantity which varies from 0 to nearly 8", being the greatest about the equinoxes, and vanishing in the solstices. _ Aberration, in optics, a deviation of the rays of light, whereby they are pre- ventecl from meeting in the same point. Aberrations are of two kinds ; one arising from the figure of the reflecting body, the other from the different refrangibility of the rays themselves : this last is called the New- tonian aberration, from the name of the discoverer. With regard to the former species of aberration, or that arising from the figure, we may observe, that if rays issue from a point at a given distance, then they will be reflected into the other focus of an ellipse, when the luminous point is^ in one focus ;"br directly from the other focus of art hyper- bola, and will be variously dispersed by all other figures. If the luminous point is in- finitely distant or the incident rays parallel, then they will be reflected by a parabola into its focus. These figures being difficult to form, curved specula are commonly made spherical ; the figure of which is generated by the revolution of a circular arc, which produces an aberration of all rays, whether they are parallel or not : and therefore it has no accurate geometrical focus, which is com- mon to all rays. Aberration, croton of, is a luminous circle about the real disk of the sun, and depending on the aberration of the solar rays, by which his apparent diameter is en- larged. ABETTOR, or Abbettor, the person who promotes a crime or procures it to be committed : thus, an abettor of murder is one who commands or counsels another to- commit it. An abettor, according as he is present or absent, at the time of committing the fact, is punishable as a principal or ac- cessary. An abettor is the same with one who is deemed art and part by the law of Scotland. ABEYANCE, Abeiance, or Abbay- ance, in law, the expectancy of an estate or possession : thus, when a parson dies, the fee of the glebe belonging to his church is said to be in abeyance during the time the parsonage is void, It is a fixed principle of law, that the fee- simple of all lands is in somebody, or else in abeyance. ABHORRERS, a name given to a party in England about the year 1680, in opposi- tion to those who petitioned for a redress of grievances. ABIB, the first month of the ecclesiastical- year among the Hebrews. It was after- wards called Nisan, and answered to our March. ABIGEAT, abigeatus, the crime of steal- ing or driving oil' cattle in droves, otherwise called abactus. It was more severely pu- nished than simple theft, viz. by condemna- tion to the mines, banishment, or even death. ABILITY, in a law sense, is the power of doing certain actions, principally with regard to the acquisition or transfer of property. Every person is supposed to have this power* who is not disabled by any specific law. 4 A B O A B R A B R ABJURATION, in law, is used for re- nouncing, disclaiming and denying the Pre- tender to have any manner ot right to the throne of these kingdoms; and that upon oath, which is required to be taken upon di- vers occasions under certain pains and pe- nalties by many statutes, particularly ] W. and M. 13. Vi'. III. 1 Anne. 1 Geo. I. Abjuration, in our ancient customs, was an oath taken by a person guilty of fe- lony, and who had tied to a place of sanc- tuary, to leave the world for ever. This is much the same with what in Scotland is called signing an act of banishment. ABLATIVE, in Latin grammar, the name of the sixth case, which is peculiar to that language. The ablative is opposed to the dative ; the latter expressing the action of giving, and the former' that of taking away : thus, ablatum est a me, it was taken from me. It is sometimes called the com- parative case, as being much used in com- paring things together: thus, didcior melle, sweeter than honey. Ablative absolute, among Latin gram- marians, is so called, because governed by no other word. ABLECTI, in Roman antiquity, a select body of soldiers, chosen from among those called extraordinarii. ABLEGMINA, in Roman antiquity, choice parts of the entrails of victims. The ablegmina were sprinkled with Hour, and burnt on the altar ; the priests pouring some wine on them. ABLUENTS, diluting medicines, or such ' as dissolve and carry off acrimonious and sti- mulating matter, in any part of the body, especially the stomach and intestines. ABLUTION, in a religious sense, a ce- remony in use among the antients, and still practised by the Mahometans: it consisted in washing the body, which was always done before sacrificing, or even entering their temples. This custom was probably derived from the Jews. Ablution, in the church of Rome, a small quantity of wine and water, which the communicants formerly took to wash down, and promote the digestion of, the host. They also use this term for the water with which the priest washes his hands after consecrat- ing the host. Ablution, among chemists and apothe- caries, is used for washing away the super- abundant salts of any body ; an operation otherwise called edulcoration. ABOLITION, in law, denotes the re- pealing of any law or statute, or prohibit- ing some custom, ceremony, & c. sometimes also it signifies leave granted by the king, or a j udge, to a criminal accuser to forbear any farther prosecution. Abolition, is also used by antient civi- lians and lawyers, for desisting from, or an- nulling, a legal prosecution ; for remitting the punishment of a crime ; and for cancell- ing or discharging a public debt. ABOLLA, a military garment, worn by the Greek and Roman soldiers: it was lined, or doubled, for warmth. ABOMASUS, Abomasum, or Aboma- sius, in comparative anatomy, names used for the fourth stomach of ruminating beasts, or such as chew the cud. These have four stomachs, the first of which is called venter; the second, reticulum’, the third, vmasus; and the fourth, abomasus. It is in the abo- masus of calves and lambs that the runlet is found, used for curdling milk: ABOR TION, an untimely or premature birth of a foetus, otherwise called a miscar- riage ; but if this happens before the second month of pregnancy, it is called a false con- ception. Abortion, which is always a dangerous and but too often a fatal accident, may be owing to a multiplicity of causes ; but the most frequent ones are immoderate fluxes of any kind, violent passions of the mind, stimulating medicines, strong purges or vo- mits, sudden commotions of the body, as running, leaping, falls, blows, &c. to which we may add a too frequent use of venery, copious bleeding in the foot, a debility or laxity of the womb, and a plethoric habit of body: this last is often the cause of abortion in young women, pregnant of their lirst child. In order therefore to prevent abortion, the above causes must be carefully guarded against, it is likewise conducive to the same end, to bleed at proper times ; as also to use strengthening and attemperating me- dicines. It ought however to he carefully attended to, not to give any thing l'eslrin- gent either internally or externally, when the abortion is become unavoidable. 'The signs of an approaching or threatened abor- tion are, a sudden fiaccklity of the breasts, a Constriction or subsiding ot the belly, a pain in the head and eyes, grinding pains in the stomach, coldness of the extremities, faint- ings, shiverings, &c. As to the immediate forerunners of an abortion, they are these : violent pains in the loins and hips, a dilation of the orifice of the womb, the formation of waters, an erup- tion of the same, a discharge of pure blood, or blood mixed with the waters. When these symptoms appear, immediate delivery becomes absolutely necessary, without wail- ing for strong pains, which seldom return after the Hooding is grown so excessive. This is performed in the same manner as for a timely birth. See Midwifery. ABOUT, in sea language, the situation of a ship immediately after she lias changed her course. About-ship, is the order to the ship’s crew for lacking. About, in military language, expresses the movement by which a body of troops changes its front, by facing according to any given word of command. ABRA, a silver coin in Poland, nearly equivalent to the English shilling. The abra is current through all the dominions of the grand signior, where it passes for a fourth part of the Dutch dollar, called assani in the Levant. ABRAHAMIANS, or Abraiiamites, in church-history, heretics who renewed the doctrines of the Paulfcians ; a sect, who, to the principles of the Manichees, added an abhorrence of the cross, which they are said to have employed in the most servile offices. The term is also used for another sect, who suffered death for the worship of images. ABRAUM, a name by which some call adamic earth, a kind of clay used by cabinet- makers to give a red colour to new mahoga- ny. , It is found in the Isle of Wight, also in some parts of Germany and Italy. ABRAXAS, a word denoting a power which presides over 365 others, the number ot days in a year. It is thought to be made up of the Greek numerals A, 1 ; /3, P, 1 00 ; A, 1 ; S, 60; A, 1 ; x, 200: which added together make the number of 365. j Abraxas, a mystical term expressing the supreme God, under whom tiie Basilidians supposed 365 dependent deities. It was the principle of the Gnostic hier- archy, whence sprang their multitude of icons From abraxas proceeded the primo- genial mind ; from the primogenial mind, the logos, or word; from the logos, the plirone- sis, or prudence ; from phronesis, sophia and dynamis, or wisdom and strength ; from these two proceeded principalities, powers, and angels; from these other angels, to the number of 365, who were supposed to have the government of so many celestial orbs committed to their care. Abraxas, among antiquaries, an antique gem or stone, with the word abraxas en- graven on it. There are many kinds of them, of various figures and sizes, mostly as old as the third century. They were used as amulets, and were supposed to have great efficacy in driving away liies. ABREAS T, a sea term, expressing the situation of two or more ships, that lie in a parallel direction. When the line of battle at sea is formed abreast, the whole squadron advances uniformly, the ships being equally distant from and parallel to each other. ABRIDGING, in a'gebra, is the reduc- ing a compound equation to a more simple form. This is done to save room, or to simplifythe expression. Thus die equation x 2 -j- a -Lb x * ab r = °’ b ' r I nmill g P — a-fb and q == ab — , becomes x -\- px — q — 0. ABRIDGEMENT, signifies much the same with an epitome, or abstract of a large work. The perfection of an abridgement consists in taking only what' is material and substan- tial, and rejecting all superfluities, whether of sentiment or style. It is very seldom* however,, that a good work will bear this re- trenchment; and above all, the practice of teaching by abridgement is reprehensible'; It is a practice which has unfortunately been too common in schools; and is calculated fo make smatterers, and not scholars. Abridged histo.y, for instance, can only give a dull chronology of events, without 'the .rngners-, sentiments, characters, the knowledge of human nat ure in short, which well-written history is intended to convey ; and abridged geography supplies only a knowledge of the latitude and longitude, "or at most of the re- lative situations of places, with a few charges upon the memory, the least improving parts ot the study. The climate, soil, the pro- ductions, the manners of the country, its commerce and political relations, are only to be learned from larger works. But the worst effect is, that when the pupil has com- mitted a few barren facts to memory, he .concludes himself master of the science ; even his curiosity is blunted, and his desire of acquiring knowledge anticipated ; and the great probability is, that he, never afterwards is sanguine enough to open a work of real information on the subject. Abridgement, in law, is the shortening A B S A B S A B S 5 a count or declaration : thus, in assize, a man is said to abridge his plaint, and a woman her demand in action of dower, if any land is put therein, which is not in the tenure of the de- fendant; for on a plea of non-tenure, in abate- ment of the writ, the plaintiff may leave out those lands, and pray that the tenant may answer to the remainder. The reason is, that these writs run in general, and therefore shall be good for the rest, Coxsel. ABROMA, in botany, a genus of the pobjadelphia dodeqaudria class and order. The corolla consists of Jive petals larger than the calyx : and the essential character is, pis- tils 5 ;" capsule five-celled one valved, gaping at top ; seeds subovate, incompletely arilled. We know of only two species : t'ce one abroma angusta, a native of New South Wales, amUthe Philippine isles ; the other of the East Indies. The former is a tree bearing a purple flower, the other only a shrub in its native climate. \\ ith us, the abroma an- gusta is treated as a stove plant, and may be propagated by cuttings ; the abroma W lieleri is not known in Europe. AB11US, in botany and the materia me- dic.i, a genus of plants* of the class and order diadelphia decandria, called vulgarly the zvi/d liquorice. The essential character is, the calyx obscurelv four-lobed, the upper lobe broadest. Filaments nine, united in a sheath at bottom, gaping at the back. Stigma blunt, seeds sub-globose. We know of but one species of this elegant plant, which grows wild in both Indies, Gui- nea and Egypt ; and produces those beauti- ful red seeds resembling beads with a blgck spor or eye at the end annexed to the pod, which have been so much admired. 1 hey have been worn in many countries as orna- ments. They are eaten in Egypt, but are the most unwholesome and indigestible of the pulse tribe ; one variety produces white, and another yellow seeds, but otherwise they are not essentially d.fferent. 1 he abrus is with us a stove plant, raised from seeds sown in light earth, and plunged in a iiot-bed. It sometimes ripens seed in England. ABSCESS, an inflammatory tumour, con- taining purulent matter, pent up in a fleshy part. Abscess is synonymous with apostem, im- posthume, and imposthumation ; and is al- ways the effect of an inflammation, which frequently may be discussed without coming to a suppuration, or before an abscess is formed. See Surgery, Ac. ABSC1SSE, in conic sections, the part of the diameter of a curve line intercepted be- tween the vertex of that diameter, and the point where any ordinate or semi-ordinate to the diameter falls. From this definition it is evident, that there are an infinite number of variable ab- scisses in the same curve, as well as an infi- nite number of ordinates. In the parabola, one ordinate has but one abscisse ; in an el- lipsis, it has two; in an hyperbola consisting of two parts, it has also two ; and in curves of the second and third order, it may have three and four. In the parabola, the abscisse is a third proportional to the parameter and semi- ordinate. In the ellipsis, the square of the semi-ordinate is equal to the rectangle of the parameter into the abscisse, subtracting an- other rectangle of the same abscisse into a fourth proportional to the axis, the parame- ter, and abscisse. In the hyperbola, the squares of the semi-ordinates are to each other as the rectangles of the abscisse, into a line composed of the same abscisse and t lie transverse axis. See Conic Sections. ABSCISSION, in rhetoric, a figure of speech, whereby the speaker stops sort in the middle of his discourse: ,e. g. “ One of her age and beauty, to be seen alone, at such an hour, with a man of his character! 1 need say no more.” ABSINTHIUM. See Artemisia. ABSOLUTE number , is the known quan- tity wh cli possesses one side of an equation ; thus, in x 1 + L2 x= 24, the absolute num- ber is 24, which is equal to the square of a added to 1 2 times x. Absolute equation, in astronomy, is the sum of the optic and eccentric equations. The apparent inequality of a planet’s motion, arising from its not being equally distant from the earth at all times, is called its optic equa- tion ; this would subsist if the planet’s real motion was uniform. The eccentric inequa- lity is caused by the planet’s motion not be- ing uniform. ABSOLUTELY, among divines, is used for completely, or with full power, and effect, independently of any thing else : thus catho- lics hold that the priest forgives sins abso- lutely; whereas proiestant divines do it only declaratively. Absolutely, in grammar; a word is taken absolutely when it has no government: thus, in “ Pray without ceasing ;” the word pray is taken absolutely, as it governs no- thing. ABSOLUTION, among civilians, is used for a definitive sentence, declaring the ac- cused person innocent, and releasing him from all farther prosecution. Absolution, among catholics, is a pre- tension assumed by the priests to forgive sins absolutely, that is", by virtue of a power in- herent in themselves. By slat. 23 Eli/., to procure absolutions from Rome is declared to be high treason. Protestant divines pretend to no such power, but only declare the scrip- ture terms of pardon. * Absolution, in the Scotch presbyterian church, is chiefly used for a sentence ot the church-judicatories, releasing a man from ex- communication, and receiving him again into communion. Absolutio ad cautclam, is a provisional absolution, granted to a person who has ap- pealed from a sentence of excommunication. ABSORBENTS, are such medicines as have the power of drying up redundant hu- mours, whether applied to ulcers, or inwardly taken. Absorbent Vessels , in anatomy, is a name indiscriminately given to the lacteals, lympha- tics, and inhalent arteries. See Anatomy. Absorbent Vessels is also a name used by some naturalists for the fibres of the roots of plants, which draw nourishment from the surrounding earth. See Physiology of Plants. ABSORBING, the swallowing up or im- bibing any thing: thus black bodies are said to absorb the rays of light; luxuriant branches to absorb or waste the nutritious juices, which should feed the fruit of trees, &c. ABSORPTION, the effect of absorbing : thus we read of absorptions of the earth, when large tracts of land have been swallowed up. Mount Vesuvius has in the course of time lost half its height; the upper part having been undermined by t.;e lire beneath, and falling in, has been absorbed by the under part and the sea. In the year 1640, during the terrible earthquake in the kingdom of Chili, several whole mountains of the Andes disappeared, and were one alter another wholly absorbed in the earth. Absorption. It is a well-known chemical fact, that in most cases of the combination of gaseous substances, either with other gases, or with liquids and solids, a very considerable diminution of Ihe volume is experienced. This effect is called absorption. ABSTEMII, a name given to persons who could not partake of the cup of the eucharisl, on account of their natural aversion from wine. ABSTERGENTS, medicines proper for cleansing the. body from concretions and other impurities, not to be .effected by simple ab- luents. ABSTINENCE, the abstaining or refrain- ing from certain enjoyments ; but more espe- cially from excessive eating and drinking ; thus, it has always been a practice to abstain from a luxuriant diet at stated times, as well out of a religious view, as to confirm anti pre- serve health. Abstinence is highly extolled by some phy- sicians ; and that justly, when no more is meant bv it than a proper regimen ; but it must have bad consequences, when practised without a due regard to the constitution, age, strength, &c. of the person who uses it. There are many instances of the cure of dis- orders, and of protracting the term of life, by means of a strict and well-regulated absti- nence. Cornaro, a nobleman of Venice, af- ter all other means had been tried ;n vain, recovered, and lived to the age of a hundred years, by rigid abstinence only. Many of the early Christians who retired from perse- cution into the deserts of Arabia, lived to a very advanced age upon bread and water onlv. St, Anthony lived 105 years ; James the" hermit 104; Arsenins 120; Epiplumius 1 15, &c. The records of the Tower mention a Scotsman imprisoned, and watched six weeks, during which he took no sustenance whatever ; and on this account he obtained his pardon. ABSTRACT idea, among logicians, the idea of some general quality or property con- sidered simply in itself, without any respect to a particular subject ; thus, magnitude, equity, See. are abstract ideas, when we con- sider them as detached from any particular body or person. It is generally allowed, that there are no objects in nature corresponding to abstract ideas ; nay, some philosophers, and particu- larly lord Bolingbroke, dispute the existence of abstract ideas themselves, thinking it im- possible for the human mind to form any such. Abstract ideas are the same with those called universal ones; and the manner of forming them, according to modern philoso- phers, is this : we readily observe a resem- blance among some of our particular ideas, and thus form a general notion applicable to many individuals. Thus, horses are found to resemble each other in shape, voice, and the general configuration of their parts. Now, the idea which takes in this resemblance, ex- cluding what is peculiar to each individual* 6 A B Y becomes of course common to this whole fa- mily or class of animals, and is therefore called a general, universal, or abstract idea. Abstract is an epithet given to several "ther things, on account of their purity or universality ; thus, we say abstract numbers, abstract mathematics, & c. _ ABSFRACTI, a name given to a sect of Lutherans, who asserted that Christ was to be adored not only in the concrete, as the son of God, but that his flesh in the abstract was an object of adoration. ABS FRACTION, in logic, that operation of the mind whereby it forms abstract ideas. According to Mr. Locke, abstraction is per- formed three ways. First, when the mind considers any one part of a thing by itself, without attending to the whole ; as the arm, leg, &C. of a man’s body. Secondly, by con- sidering the mode of a substance, without tak- ing in the. idea of the substance itself: thus, geometricians consider the properties of lines, or the length of bodies, without attending to their breadth or depth. Thirdly, by gene- lalizing our ideas in the manner mentioned under Abstract idea. 1 his doctrine, however, of abstraction, is denied by Berkeley, bishop of Cloyne, who owns that he can imagine a man with two heads, or the upper part of a man joined to the body of a horse ; “ nay,” adds he, “ I can consider the hand, the eye, the nose, each by itself, abstracted or separate from the rest of the body : but then, whatever hand or eye I imagine, it must have some particular shape and colour ; likewise the idea of a man that I frame to myself, must be either of a white or a black, or a tawny, a straight or a crooked, a tall or a low, or a middle-sized man. Nei- ther can I, by any effort of thought, conceive an absolutely abstracted idea of motion, for instance, distinct from the body moving, and which is neither swift nor slow, curvilinear nor rectilinear ; and the like may be said of all abstract ideas whatsoever.” Abstraction, in chemistry, is the eva- porating or drawing off, by means of heat, one part of a compound from the other. If the part abstracted is collected, it is called distillation or sublimation, according as the process is wet or dry. A BUG GO, Abocco, or Abocchi, a weight used in the kingdom of Pegu, equal to twelve teccalis and a half. Two abuccos make an agiro, or giro ; two girl make half a biza, which weighs 100 heccalis (2 pounds 5 ounces) the heavy weight, or 3 pounds 9 ounces light weighty of Venice. See Weight. ABUNDANT numbers, those whose ali- quot parts added together make more than the whole number : thus the parts of 20 make 22, viz. 1, 2, 4, 5, and 10. ABYSS has been used by some philoso- phers, particularly Dr. Woodward, to denote a vast cavity filled with water, which they supposed (but with little argument) to exist in the centre of the earth. Conformably with this idea, it has been imagined by some wri- ters that there is a communication between the Caspian sea and the ocean, by means of a subterranean abyss ; and to this it is attri- buted that the Caspian sea does not overflow, notwithstanding the number of large rivers that run into it, of which Kempfer reckons fifty in the extent of sixty miles. But the daily evaporation is by others thought suffi- cient to account for this fact. A C A Abyss is also used for several other things, as the cavernous bowels of a mountain, or hell, dr the bottomless pit, the centre of an escutcheon, a gulph, &c. ABYSSINIAN church, that established in the empire of Abyssinia. It makes but a branch of the Cophts or Jacobites, a sect who admit only one nature in Jesus Christ. ACACIA, in botany, a name applied, but erroneously, to several sorts of shrubs and trees. See’GuiLANDiA, Guiacum, Mimosa, Poinciena, and Spartium. Acacia, in the materia medica of the an- cients, a gum made from the Egyptian thorn, and thought to be the same as our gum- arabic. Acacia Germanica, an inspissated juice, made of wild sloes, hardly ripe. The true acacia is said to be very scarce in the shops, where the German acacia is used in its stead, both being powerful astringents, and conse- quently good in haemorrhages, and all kinds of fluxes. Acacia, Akakia, a roll or bag represent- ed on the medals of the Greek and Roman emperors : some think it is only a handker- chief, which they used as a signal ; others take it for a volume, or roll of memorandums or petitions ; and finally, others suppose it to be a purple bag filled with earth, to remind the prince of his mortality. ACACIANS, the name of several sects of heretics, some of whom maintained that the Son was only of a like, not the same substance with the Father ; and others, that he was not only of a distinct, but also of a dissimilar sub- stance. ACADEMIC, or Academician, a mem- ber of some academy. Academics is a term more particularly used for a sect of ancient philosophers, the followers of Socrates and Plato, who main- tained that all things were uncertain, and con- sequently that men ought to doubt of every thing. They even went so far as to doubt whether or not tlmv ought to doubt, it being a received maxim among them, se nil scire, ne hoc quidem, quod nihil sciunt. Of this sect, however, Cicero, who was an academic philosopher himself, gives a more favourable account. He tells us, that all the difference between the academics, and those who imagined themselves possessed of the knowledge of things, consisted in this : that the latter were fully persuaded of the truth of their opinions ; whereas the former held many things to be only probable, which might very well serve to regulate their conduct, though they could not positively assert the certainty of them. “ In this,” says he, “ we have greatly the advantage of the dogmatists, as being more disengaged, more unbiassed, and at full liberty to determine as our judgment shall direct. But the generality of mankind, I know not how, are fond of error, and choose rather to defend with the utmost ob- stinacy the opinion they have once embraced, than with candour and impartiality examine which sentiments are most agreeable to truth.” ACADEMY, in Grecian antiquity, a large villa in one of the suburbs of Athens, where the sect of philosophers called Academics held their assemblies. It took its name from Aca- demus or Ecademus, a citizen of Athens, as our modern academies take theirs from it. Academy was also used metaphorically. A C A to denote the sect of academic philoso- phers. Academy, in a modern sense, signifies a . society of learned men, established for the improvement of arts or sciences. Hence, Academies of antiquity, are those de- signed for the illustration of whatever regards antiquity ; as medals, coins, inscriptions, &c. There are several ocademies of this kinl in different parts of the world, as at Upsal in Sweden, at Paris, and at London. Tlese two last are called the academy of inscrip- tions and belles-lettres, and the’ antiquarian society. Academies of architecture. See Aca- demies of Painting, infra. Academies of belles-lettres, those chiefly designed for the cultivation of eloquence and poetry . Besides the academy of belles-lettres at Paris, and one at Caen, there are several in Italy, viz. one at Florence, and two at Rome. Academies chirurgical, those establisaed for the improvement of surgery. Academies cosmograpfiical, those which make geography and astronomy the chief ob- jects of their researches. Such is that called the Argonauts, at Venice. Academies of dancing. Of this kind there was one instituted by Louis XIV. with ample privileges worthy of the nation ! Academies ecclesiastical, those which employ their studies in illustrating the doc- trines, discipline, ceremonies, &c. that ob- tained in each age of the church. Such is that of Bologna. Academies historical, those erected for the improvement of history. Such are those at Lisbon and Tubingen. Academies of languages, those establish- ed in many parts of Europe, for refining and ascertaining the language of each country ; thus the Paris academy was designed to il- lustrate and polish the "French, that of Ma- drid the Spanish or Castilian, &c. But be- sides these, there are others in Italy, Ger- many, &c. Academies of law: such are those of Bo- logna and Beryta. Academies medical, those instituted with a view to promote medical knowledge and improvements. Such is that of the Naturce Curiosorum, in Germany, and those of Ve- nice, Geneva, Palermo, &c. to which some add the colleges of physicians at London and Edinburgh. Academies musical. These are frequent in most parts of Europe, but more especially in France and Italy. Academies of painting, sculpture, and architecture. There is one of these at Paris, and another at Rome. The royal Academy of arts was instituted iii London for the encouragement of design- ing, painting, sculpture, &e. in the year 1768. It has for its patron the king, and is under the direction of forty artists of the first rank in their profession. It furnishes living models to draw and paint after. Nine of the academicians are annually elected to attend and set the figures, to examine the perform- ances of the students, and to give them the necessary instructions. The admission to this academy is free to all students qualified to reap advantage from the studies cultivated in it. There are professors of painting, archi- tecture, anatomy, and perspective, who an- A C A ACC ACC nually read lectures on the subjects of their several departments. The Academy of arts at Petersburgh was established by the empress Elizabeth. The' scholars are admitted at the age of six, and continue twelve years; they are lodged, clothed, boarded, and taught, at the expence of the crown. Besides this, there is the im- perial academy of sciences at Petersburgh, the transactions of which were formerly en- titled Commentarii Academice Scientiurum Imperial is Petropolitanx, but now are called Nova Acta Acad. Scient. Imp. Petrop. Academies of sciences, those chiefly de- signed for the improvement of natural his- tory and mathematics, with their numerous branches, botany, chemistry, mechanics, as- tronomy, geography, &c. There are many other academies in dif- ferent countries : as at Cortuna, for the study of Etrurian antiquities ; at Florence and Mi- lan, for painting, &c. ; the American, of arts and sciences ; the Royal Irish, &c. &c. Academy is also more particularly used with us for a kind of schools, where youth are instructed in various branches of learning. Of this kind we have two royal ones, viz. one at Portsmouth, for teaching navigation, draw- ing, &c. which may be called a naval or ma- ritime academy ; and another at Woolwich, where youth are taught fortification, gunnery, &c. which may be styled the military acade- my. Besides these, there are numerous aca- demies, especially in London, for teaching mathematics, languages, writing, accounts, drawing, and other branches of learning. The dissenters have likewise their academies for teaching philosophy, divinity, &c. See University. AcADEMY_/?g7£re, in painting, a draught or design, made after a model, with a crayon or pencil. AC.ENA, a genus of the tetandria mo- nogvnia class and order of plants. Its essen- tial character is, the calyx four-leaved ; co- rolla four-petalled ; berry dry, inferior, one- seeded, with spines bent backwards. We know of only one species, the acsena elonga- ta, which is a Mexican shrub of about two feet high. ACAJOU, the cashew-nut tree. See Ana- CARDIUM. ACALYPHA, in botany, a genus of the monoecia monodelphia class and order. The essential character is, in the male blossoms, calyx three or four-leaved ; corolla none ; sta- mina eight to sixteen. In the female, calyx three-leaved ; corolla none ; styles three ; capsules three-grained, three-celled ; seed one. There are fourteen species of this plant : some of them annual, and resembling the broad leaved pellitory of the wall; some of them are shrubs, but none appear to have either beauty or utility to recommend their cultivation. ACANACEOUS plants, those which are rickly, and bear their flowers and seeds on a ind of heads. •ACANGIS, in Turkish military affairs, the name of a kind of light-armed horse. ACANTHA, the prickles of a thorny plant. Acantha is also used by zoologists for the spines of certain fishes, as those of the echi- nus marinus, Ac. ACANTHACEOUS, an epithet given to all plants of the thistle kind, on account of the prickles with which they are beset. ACANTHOPTERYGIOUS fishes, one of the general classes or families of fishes ; distinguished by having the rays of their fins bony, and some of them prickly at the ex- tremities. ACANTHUS, bear’s breech, in botany, a genus of plants of the class and order didyna- mia angiospermia. The essential character is, calyx two-leaved, bifid ; corolla one-lipp- ed, bent down, trilid ; capsules two-celled. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 1. There are about ten species, only four of which are exotic and tender. The acanthus mollis, or smooth-leaved acanthus, is that which was formerly used in medicine, though, we apprehend, with little effect, as it seems to differ very little in its medical virtue from the altheas, and other mucilaginous vegeta- bles. It is also the plant which is said to have afforded the hint to Callimachus for the in- vention of the Corinthian capital. The Go- thic sculptors are supposed to have adopted for their ornament the leaves of the acanthus spinosus. AC ARU S, the tick or mite, a numerous genus of insects, of the order of aptera, or those which have no wings. The acarus has eight legs ; two eyes, one on each side of the head ; and two jointed tentacula. They are in general very prolific. The eggs of the cheese mite hatch in about fourteen days in summer, but in winter take more. Ninety millions of these eggs may be comprehended in the size of a pigeon’s. The acarus will live seven months without food. There are thirty- five species. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 1-— 3. ACATALECTIC, a term in antient poe- try, apslicable to such verses as have all their feet and syllables, without any defect at the end. In the following lines of Horace, the first two are acatalectic, the last catalectic : Solvitur acris, hyems, grata vice Veris et Favoni ; Trahuntque siccas machine Carinas, ACATALEPSY, among antient philoso- phers, the impossibility of comprehending something. The distinguishing tenet of the pyrrhonists was, their asserting an absolute acatalepsy with regard to every thing. ACAl'ERY, or Accatry, an officer of the king’s household, designed to be a check between the clerks of the kitchen and the purveyors. ACATIUM, in antiquity, a kind of boat or pinnace used in military affairs. The aca- tium was a species of the naves actuaries. ACAULOSE, or Acaulous (Acaulis), among botanists, a term used for such plants as have no caulis, or stem. AC CALI A, in Roman antiquity, solemn festivals held in honour of Acca Laurentia, Romulus’s nurse : they were otherwise called Laurentalia. ACCAPITARE, in our old law books, the act of becoming a vassal, or paying homage to some lord. Hence ACCAP1TUM, signified the money paid by a- vassal upon such an occasion. It is likewise used for the relief due to the chief lord. See Relief. ACCEDAS ad curiam, inlaw, a writ lying where a man has received or fears false judg- ment in a hundred-court, or court-baron. It 7 is issued out of the Chancery, and directed to the sheriff; but returnable in the King’s Bench or Common Pleas. It lies also for jus- tice delayed, and is said to be a species of the writ Recordare. ACCELERATION, in mechanics, de- notes the augmentation or increase of motion in accelerated bodies. The accelerated mo- tion of falling bodies is produced by the im- pulse of gravity, which keeps continually act- ing upon them, and thereby communicates a new augmentation of motion every instant. If this increase is equal in equal times, the motion is said to be uniformly accelerated. See Mechanics. Acceleration, in astronomy, is a term applied to the fixed stars. The diurnal ac- celeration is the time by which the stars, in one diurnal revolution, anticipate the mean diurnal revolution of the sun; that is, a star rises or sets, or passes the meridian, about 3' 36" sooner each day. This apparent ac- celeration of the stars is ow'ing to the real re- tardation of the sun, which depends upon his apparent motion towards the east, and that is at the rate of 59' 8-1" daily : therefore to find the acceleration we say. As 360°: 59' 8^": : 24h. : 3 min. 56 sec. nearly, the acceleration required. This acceleration serves to regulate the length and vibrations of pendulums. If, fot instance, the pendulum marks 9h. 6m. when a fixed star sets or passes behind any object one day ; and on the next, the eye being pre- cisely in the same situation, the same appear- ance occurs at 9h. 2m. 4s. by the pendulum ; it may be inferred, that such a pendulum is truly regulated, or measures time accurately. Acceleration of the moon, is a term used to express the increase of the moon’s mean motion from the sun, compared witk the diurnal motion of the earth, which is said to be about 1 0" in a hundred years. This by some is thought to be occasioned by the sun becoming less from the particles of light con- tinually flowing from it, v r hich renders the motion of the earth slower ; or if the earth’s by any means be increased, the motion of the moon will be accelerated. This acceleration is shewn by M. La Place to arise from the action of the sun upon the moon, combined with the variation of the eccentricity of the earth’s orbit. ACCENDENTES, or Accensores, in the church of Rome, a lower rank of minis- ters, whose business it is to light, snuff, and trim the candles and tapers. ACCENDONES, or Accedones, in Roman antiquity, a kind of officers in the gladiatorian schools, who excited and animat- ed the combatants during the fight. ACCENSI, in the Roman armies, certain supernumerary soldiers, designed to supply the place of those who should be killed, or anywise disabled. Accensi also denoted a kind of inferior officers, appointed to attend the Roman magistrates, ACCENT, in a general sense, denotes a certain tone or manner of speaking peculiar to some nation, country, or province ; thus we say, the Scotch accent, the Irish accent, &c. Among grammarians, it is the raising or low- ering the voice in pronouncing certain syl- lables. We hay# three kinds of accents, viz. the acute, the grave, and the circumflex. The acute accent, marked thus ('), shews that the 8 ACC voice is to be raised in pronouncing the sylla- ble over which it is placed. The grave ac- cent is marked thus ('), and points out when the voice ought to be lowered. The circum- flex is compounded of the other two, and marked thus ( or a): it denotes a quavering of the voice, between high and low. . Some call the long and short quantities of syllables accents, but erroneously. See Quan- tity. Accents not only give a pleasing variety and beauty to the modulation of the voice, but serve to ascertain the true meaning of the word, as in prevent and to present. The Chinese are remarkable for the use they make ot accents • thus the word pa, according to the way in which they place the accent, sig- nifies God, a wall, an elephant, stupidity, and a goose. The Hebrew likewise abounds with them ; there being no less than twenty-five tonic accents, shewing the proper tone of the syllables over or under which they are placed ; besides four euphonic ones, serving to render the pronunciation more sweet and agreeable. It is generally allowed, however, that the ac- cents now in use were unknown to the undent Hebrews. Concerning the antiquity of the Greek ac- cents authors are not agreed ; some making them of modern date, and others contending for their having been known to the undent Greeks. Accent* in music, a certain modulation or warbling of the sounds, to express passion; cither naturally by the voice, or artificially by instruments. Every bar or measure is divid- ed into the accented and unaccented parts ; the former being the emphatical, on which the spirit of the music depends. The har- mony ought always to be full, and void of dis- cords, in the accented part of the measure. ACCENTOR, in the old music, denotes one of the three singers in parts, or the per- son who sung the predominant pardin a trio. ACCEP1 ANCE, in common law, the ta- citly agreeing to some act before done by an- other, which' might have been defeated With- out such acceptance. Thus if.a husband and wife, seized of land in right of the wife, make a joint lease of feoffment, reserving rent, and the husband dies ; after which the widow re- ceives or accepts the rent ; such receipt is deemed an acceptance, confirms the lease or feoffment, and bars her from bringing the writ cui in vita. Acceptance, among merchants, is the act by which the party on whom a bill of ex- change is drawn, makes himself liable to the amount. An acceptance may be absolute to the bill itself at all events ; or it may be par- tial, that is, to pay a certain part of it ; or it may.be conditional, that is, upon the per- formance of a certain condition; in which last case, when the condition is performed, the acceptance becomes absolute. An accept- ance may also be collateral, as an acceptance Upon protest. An acceptance may be given either ver- bally or in writing ; the latter, however, is the most regular and customary. But any thing tending to shew that the party means to be bound by his undertaking ; such as the sig- nature of the initials, or the day of the month, keeping tiie bill longer than usual, or any ver- bal promise or agreement ; will be an accept- ance. Bills payable at sight, are not accepted, be- A C C cause they must either be paid on being pre- sented, or else protested lor want of payment. The acceptance of bills payable at a fixed day, at usance, &c. needs not be dated ; be- cause the time is reckoned from the date of the bill ; but it is necessary to date the accept- ance of bills payable at a certain number of days after sight, because the time does not begin to run till the next day after that ac- ceptance.. This kind of acceptance is made thus : Accepted such a day and year, and signed. In general, he to whom a bill of exchange is made payable ought to demand the ac- ceptance of the person on whom it is drawn, and that in the full extent of the terms of the bill, and on refusal of acceptance to return it with protest. This lie ought to do for his own security, as well as for that of the drawer. Thus, if the bearer of a bill consents to an ac- ceptance at twenty days sight, instead of eight days expressed in the bill, he runs the riskof the twelve days prolongation ; so that lie can have no remedy against the drawer, should the acceptor break in that time. Again, if a bill is drawn for three thousand pounds, and the bearer agrees to take an acceptance for two only, and should receive no more than that sum, the remaining thousand would be at the hazard of the bearer, as well as in the former case. If, therefore, a bill is only accepted in part, or for a longer time than that expressed in it, the bearer ought to protest it, at least for the sum not accepted. Again, if the acceptor breaks, or refuses to make payment when the' bill becomes due, it is necessary to get the bill immediately protested by a public notary, to be sent along with the protest to the remitter, to procure satisfaction from the drawer. By statute, inland-bills of exchange must be accepted by signing or endorsing in writing, and protested for refusal of such acceptance, otherwise the drawer is not liable to costs ; it must likewise be returned to the drawer with- in fourteen days. Such protest, however, is not necessary, unless the value is acknow- ledged in the bill to be received, and unless the bill is drawn for 201. or upwards. A bill drawn on two jointly must have a joint acceptance, otherwise be protested ; but it on two or either of them, the acceptance of one is sufficient. Acceptance, among civilians, denotes the consenting to receive something offered to us, which by our refusal could not have taken ef- fect ; or acceptance is the actual concurrence of the will of the donee, without which the donor is at liberty to revoke his gift at plea- sure. Acceptance, in the church of Rome, is particularly used for the receiving the pope’s constitutions. The acceptance of the constitution unige- nitus has occasioned, and still continues to excite, a world ot confusion in the popish countries, but more especially in France, where many of the clergy refuse to accept it. ACCESSARY, or Accessory, in law, a person who is in anywise aiding in the com- mission of some felonious action. By statute, lie who counsels, abets, or con- ceals, the committing of such an action, or the person who has committed it, is deemed an accessary. There are two kinds of accessaries, viz. be- fore the fact, and after it. The first is he who ACC commands or procures another to commit fe- lony, but is absent when it is done ; for if he is present, he is a principal. The accessary af- ter the fact is one who receives, comforts, or assists, the felon ; knowing him to be such. In the highest crimes, as high treason, Sic, and tlie lowest, as riots, forcible entries. Sic. there are no accessaries, but all concerned are principals. It is a maxim among lawyers, that where there is no principal, there can be no acces- sary ; so that it is necessary 7 the principal be first convicted, before the accessaries can be arraigned. If, however, the principal cannot be taken, the accessary may be prosecuted for a misdemeanor, and punished by line, impri- sonment, &c. Accessaries in petty treason, murder, and folonv, are not allowed their clergy. A wife may assist her husband, without being deemed accessary to his crime ; but not e contra. A servant assisting his master to escape, is reckoned an accessary ; also fur- nishing others with weapons, or lending, them money, &c. will make persons accessaries. Persons buying or receiving stolen goods, knowing them to be such, are deemed acces- saries to the felony. Also if the owner of stolen goods, after complaint made to a jus- tice, takes back his goods, and consents to the escape of the felon, he becomes accessary after the fact. ACCESSION, a term of various import ; thus, among civilians, it is used for the pro- perty acquired in such things as are connected with or appendages of other things; among physicians, it signifies the same with what is more usually called paroxysm ; among politi- cians, it is used for a prince’s agreeing to and becoming a party in a treaty before concluded between other potentates, or it more particu- larly denotes a prince’s coming to the throne by the death of the preceding king; and ■lastly, it is used by Romanists lor a peculiar way of electing a pope, which is, when one candidate has got two thirds of the s oles, the rest are enrolled by accession. ACCESSORY nerves, or par Accesso- rium, a pair of nerves of the neck: which arising from the spinal marrow in the vertebra of the neck, enters the cranium by the great foramen in the os occipitis. Here it is joined By 1 he par vagum, and coming out of the cranium again by the same aperture, it re- cedes from the par vagum, and is bent back to the trapezius, a muscle of the shoulder. See Anatomy. ACCIACATU R A, is a term in music*, which denotes the putting down with any in- terval the half note below it, and instantly taking oil the finger which has struck the lowest of the two notes, continuing the sound of the other note till the harmony is changed. ACC IRENS, per, is used to denote whats does not follow from the nature of a thing, but from some accidental qualities of it, in which sense it stands opposed toper se, which de- notes the nature and essence of a thing ; thus fire is said to bumper se’, but a piece of iron made hot, only bums per accidens, by a qua- lity accidental' to it. ACCIDENT ’, among logicians, is used in a threefold sense. i. Whatever does not essentially belong to a thing, as' the clothes a man wears, or the money in his pocket. 2. Such properties in any subject as are not essential to it ; thus whiteness in paper is an, ACC accidental quality. 3. In opposition to sub- stance, all qualities whatever are called acci- dents, as sweetness, softness, &e. Accident absolute is used by the Romish church for an accident which may possibly subsist, at least miraculously, without any subject; an absurdity which lias been strenu- ously maintained by many of their casuists, and even solemnly decreed by some of their councils. Accident, in heraldry, an additional note or mark, in a coat of arms, which may be either omitted or retained, without altering the essence of the armour. ACCIDENTAL, in philosophy, is applied to that effect which proceeds from a cause oc- curring by accident, without being subject to general laws or regular returns. In this sense accidental is opposed to constant. The sun’s greater or less altitude is the constant and ceief cause of the heat in summer and cold in winter ; but wind, snow, or rain, are acci- dental causes. Accidental colours, are those which de- pend upon the affections of the eye, in contra- distinction to such as belong to the light itseif. The impressions made on the eye by looking stedfastly on objects of a particular colour, frequently give a false colouring to other ob- jects which are viewed during their continu- ance. Accidental point, in perspective, that point in the horizontal line, where all lines parallel among themselves meet the perspec- tive plain. See Perspective. Accidental, in music, is an epithet added to such sharps, flats, and naturals, as do not occur in the clef, and which imply some change of key or modulation different from that in which the piece began. ACCIPENSER, in ichthyology, a genus of fishes, belonging to the order of nantes, and class of amphibia, in the Linnxan sys- tem. The accipenser has a single linear nos- tril: the mouth is in the under part of the head, and contains no teeth; the cirri, are below the snout, and before the mouth. There are three species of this genus, viz. 1. Accipenser Huso has four cirri ; the body is naked, i. e. has no prickles or protu- berances. The skin of the huso is so tough and strong, that it is employed to draw carts and other wheel carriages ; and the ich- thyocollo, or isinglass of the shops, is made from its sound or scales. The huso is the largest of the genus, and grows to 24 feet in length. It inhabits the Danube and the rivers of Russia. 2. Accipenser Ruthenus has four cirri ; and fifteen squamous protuberances. It is a native of Russia. 3. Accipenser Sturio, or the sturgeon, has four cirri and 1 1 squamous protuberances on the back. This fish annually ascends our rivers, but in no great numbers, and is taken by accident in the salmon nets. It seems a spiritless fish, making no manner of resistance when entangled, but is drawn out of the water like a lifeless lump. It is seldom taken far out at sea, but frequents such parts as are not remote from the actuaries of great rivers. It is admired for the delicacy and firmness of its flesh, which is white as veal, and extremely good when roasted. It is generally pickled. The greater part of what we receive comes either from the Baltic rivers or North America. Great numbers are takeu during summer in the ACC slake FrischehaflT, and Curisch-haff near Pillau, in large nets made of small cord. The adjacent shores are formed into districts, and fanned out to companies of fishermen, some of which are rented for 6000 guilders, or near 300/. per annum. They are found in vast abundance in the American rivers in May, June, and July ; at which time they leap some yards out of the water, and, falling on their sides, make a noise to be heard in still water at an im- mense distance. Caviare is made of the rows of this, and also cf all the other sturgeons, dried, salted, and packed up close. Isinglass is likewise made of the sound of this fish, but in very 7 small quantities. The sturgeon grows to the length of ] 8 feet, and the weight of 700 pounds ; but it is seldom taken in our rivers of that bulk. In the manner of breeding, this fish is an exception among the cartilagi- nous kind ; being, like the bony fish, ovipa- rous, and spawning in water. See Plate Nat. Hist. rig. 4 — 6. ACCIPITRES the name of a whole order of birds, the distinguishing characteristic of which is, that they have a hooked or crooked beak. This order comprehends four genera, viz. the vulture, falco, strix, and lanius kinds ; and 72 species. ACCLAMATION, in Roman antiquity, a shout raised by the people to testify their ap- plause, or approbation of their princes, ge- nerals, &c. Such is that of Ovid, Fast. I. 613. Augeat imperium nostri duels, augeut annos. The acclamations of the theatres, which were at first confused and tumultous shouts, became in process of time a kind of regular concerts. \V hen Nero played in the theatre, a signal was given, and upon this 5000 sol- diers began to chaunt his praise, which the spectators were obliged to repeat. The ho- nour of acclamations was chiefly bestowed on the emperors ; but sometimes it was conferred on their children and favourites, and on ma- gistrates w'ho presided at their games. 'J lie Greeks were accustomed to practise acclamation, an instance ot which is men- tioned by Plutarch, in consequence of Flami- nius’s restoring liberty to Greece, when the shouts were so loud, that it was hyperlrolically said, the birds fell from the sky with the noise. Acclamations which w 7 ere at first practised in the theatre, passed to the senate, and other departments of civil society, and were at length admitted into the acts of councils, and the ordinary assemblies of the church. Chry- sostom checked acclamations of this kincl, hut Augustine received them very willingly. Sermons were applauded with hands and feet, by leaping up and down, and exclaiming “ orthodox/’ and by shaking the loose gar- ments, and waving handkerchiefs. These were some of the antient forms of acclamation: of the Hebrews, “ Hosanna;” of the Greeks, Aya/jTj Teyj t , good luck; of the Romans, DU te ,nobis servant, may the Gods preserve you ! To the disgrace of the famous French convention in 1792, it may be added, decrees were voted in a legislative assembly, not upon discussion, but, “ by acclamation.” Acclamation medals, among antiquaries, those whereon the people are represented as expressing their joy by acclamation. ACCOLADE, in antient customs, the ce- remony of conferring knighthood, by the king’s ^ laying his arms about the young knight’s neck, and embracing him. ACC 9 ACOLLE'E, in heraldry, a term used m different senses; sometimes it denotes the same with accolade ; sometimes two things joined together ; at other times, animals with collars, or crowns about their necks ; and finally, battons, or swords placed saltienvise behind the shield. ACCOMMODATION, or Accommo- dating, in geometry, is the fitting a line or figure into a circle, &c. agreeably to the con- ditions of the problem ; and in philosophy, is the application of one thing by analogy to another. ACCOMPANIMENT, in music, is used for the instruments which accompany a voice, to make the music more full. Among the moderns, the accompaniment frequently plays a different part or melody, from the song it accompanies; but authors are not agreed, whe- ther or not it w r as so among the antients. Accompaniment, in heraldry, denotes any thing addfid to a shield by w ay of orna- ment, as the belt, mantling, supporters. See. It is also used for several bearings about % principal one ; as a saltier, bend, fess, &c. ACCOMPLICE, in law, a person who is privy to, or aiding in, the perpetration of some crime. It is generally applied to such accessaries as are admitted to give evidence against fellow criminals. By the law of Scot- land, accomplices cannot be prosecuted tilt the principal offenders are convicted. ACCORD, in music, the same with what is more usually called concord. See Con- cord. It is sometimes used for chord. Accord, in law 7 , a verbal agreement be- tween tw r o or more, where any one is injured by a trespass, or other offence committed, to make satisfaction to the injured party ; w ho, alter the accord is performed, will be barred in law 7 from bringing any new action against the aggressor for the same trespass. It is safest, however, in pleading, to allege satis- faction, and not the accord alone ; because in this latter case, a precise execution in every paft must be alleged ; whereas, in the former, the detendaht needs only say, that he paid the plaintiff such a sum in full satisfaction of the accord, which he received. ACCOUNT, or Accompt, in a genera! sense, is used for all arithmetical computa- tions, whether of time, weight, measure, mo- ney, Sec. Account is also used collectively, for the books in which merchants, traders, and bankers, enter all their business, traffic, and bargains with each other. See Book-keep- ing. Account, in law, is a writ or action, which lies against a person, who, because of his office, or business, is obliged to render ait account to another, but refuses to do it ; as a bailiff, for instance to his lord. It is now sel- dom used. Accounts, Chamber of, in the antient French polity, a sovereign court, answering nearly to our exchequer. ^ ACCOUNTANT general, in the court of chancery, an officer appointed by act of par- liament to receive all monies lodged in court, and convey the same to the bank of England for better security. The salary of this officer and his clerks is to be paid out of the interest made of part ©f the money ; it not being al- ■ lowable to take fees in this office. ACCOUNTS, public, commissioners of, are commissioners appointed, with handsome salaries, to examine and state in what man- 40 ACC ACE ner, and at what times, the receipts, issues, and expenditures of the public monies are accounted for ; and to consider and report, by what means and methods the public ac- counts may hi future be passed, and the ac- countants compelled to pay the balances due from them, in a more expeditious, effectual, and less expensive manner. ACCRETION, in natural history, the in- crease or growth of a body by an external ad- dition of yew parts: thus it is salts, shells, stones, &c. are formed. Accretion, among civilians, a term used for the property acquired in a vague or not occupied thing, by its adhering to or following another thing already occupied; thus, if a legacy is left to two persons, and one of them dies before the testator, the legacy devolves to the survivor by right of accretion. Allu- vion is another instance of accretion. ACC ROCH E', in heraldry, denotes one thing being hooked into another. ACCRUED, in heraldry, a term applied to a tree full blown. ACCUSATION, the posture used among the Greeks and Romans at table: which was with the body extended on a. couch, and the head resting on a pillow, or on the elbow sup- ported by a pillow. Pitiscus tells us the manner in which the guests were disposed, which was this : a low round table was placed in the dining-room, about which stood sometimes two, but more usually three beds or couches ; from the number whereof the diniug-room got the ijiame' of biclinium or triclinium. These couches were covered with richer or plainer cloths, according to the quality of the per- son, and furnished with quills and pillows. Each couch usually contained three persons ; it being deemed sordid to crowd more. The first lay at the head of the bed, with his legs ^extended behind the second, who lay in the same manner to the third. The middle place E assed for the most honourable. However, efore placing themselves, they always t&ok care to pull off their shoes, and put on what was called the vestis ccenaioria, or the dining garment. ACCUMULATION, among lawyers, de- notes the concurrence of several titles to the same thing, or of several circumstances or proofs to make out one fact. Accumulation of degrees, in an uni- versity, the taking several of them together, or at smaller distances from each other than usual, or than the rules allow of. ACCUSATION, among civilians, the bringing a criminal action against any person. The antient Roman lawyers distinguished be- tween postulatio, delatio, and accusatio. For, first, leave was desired to bring a charge against one, which was called postulate : then he against whom the charge was laid, was brought before the judge; which was called tleferre, or nominis delatio : lastly, the charge was drawn up and presented, which was pro- perly the accusatio. The accusatio properly commenced, according to Psedianus, when the reus or party charged, being interrogated, denied he was guilty of the crime, and sub- scribed his name to the delatio made by his opponent. In England, by Magna Charta, no man shall be imprisoned or condemned on any accusation, without trial by his peers, or the law ; none shall be vexed with any accu- sation, but according to the law of the land ; and no man may be molested by petition to the king, &c. unless it be by indictment or presentment of lawful men, or by process at common law. Promoters qf accusations are to lind surety to pursue them ; and if they do not make them good, shall pay damages to the party accused, and also a line to the king. No person is obliged to answer upon oath to a question whereby he may accuse himself of any crime. ACCUSATIVE, among Latin gramma- rians, the fourth case, which is always govern- ed by an active verb or preposition, expressed or understood ; thus, tuna JJeum, I love God ; to Londinum, i. e. to ad vtl versus Londi- num, 1 am going to London, or I am on my way to London. In the English noun there is no difference between the nominative and accusative, except that the former precedes and the latter follows the verb. ACER, the maple-tree in botany. It is of the class and order, polygamia monoecia. The; essential character is calyx five cleft ; corolla live-petalled ; stamina eight or ten; germen two (or three) superior ; stylus simple ; cap- sule two, sometimes three, with one seed in each terminated by a wing. The male blos- soms are without germen or stylus. 'Phe maple genus consists entirely of trees, and embraces twenty species. The acer pseu- doplatanus or great maple, vulgarly called the sycamore tree or mock-plane, and in Scotland the plane tree, is too well known to require a description. Before earthenware came into common use, the wood of this tree was in great request for trenchers ; and it is still much used by the turners for bowls, dishes, &c. It is of quick growth, but not of long duration. In spring and autumn the wounded stem of this tree will, like the birch, pour forth a saccharine juice, from which wine may be made. There are two varieties in the nurse- ries — one with very boad leaves, the other variegated; both very ornamental for large plantations. The acer campestre is also well known, growing very commonly in our woods and hedges. It is much cultivated in some parts of the kingdom for hop-poles. The scarlet maple is also propagated with us for its beau- tiful scarlet flowers. The acer saccharinum, or American sugar maple, however, is perhaps the most distin- guished of the tribe. It grows to the height of forty feet ; and large tracts in North Ame- rica are covered with it. The sugar is pro- cured by tapping (or wounding) the tree with an augur about the months of February, March, or April, when the sap is rising ; and from 23 gallons one quart of sap drawn from two trees in twenty-four hours, 4 pounds 13 ounces of sugar have been obtained; and in somec ases one pound of sugar from every 3 gallons of sap. The sugar thus obtained is grained, clayed, and refined, in every respect as that from the cane in the West Indies, and is of a very excellent quality. There is no doubt that it might be cultivated with great advantage in this country ; since the Indians of Canada have practised the making of sugar from the maple, time out of mind, even in that ungenial climate. ACER R A, in antiquity a kind of altar erected near the bed of a dead person, on which incense and other perfumes were burnt till the time of the burial. Acerrte also denoted the pots wherein A C H the incense was burnt ; hence we read of plena acerru, a full acerra. \ ACETABULUM, in antiquity, a kind of utensil wherein sauce was served to table, and not unlike our salts or vinegar cruets. Acetabulum was also a Roman measure, used as well for dry things as liquids; and equal to a cyathus and a half. Acetabulum, in anatomy, a hollow cavity in the heads of certain bones serving to re- ceive the protuberant heads of others, and forming the articulation called enarthrosis. See Anatomy. AC- Ell AM, in law, a clause devised by the officers of the kmgVbench, and added to the usual complaint of trespass. This is done in some cases to save the suitors the trouble and expence of suing out special originals. ACETIC ACID differs from acetous acid, by having a larger proportion of oxygen. See j Acetous Acid and Chemistry. ACETITE of Potash. This salt occurs native in the sap, and some other vegetable juices, and also in the urine of quadrupeds. It is prepared artificially by adding carbonate of potash to distilled vinegar, till the liquor contains a slight excess of acid; if the salt is wanted ill a solid state, it may be obtained by- evaporation. It has a strong affinity for water, and deliquiates readily in the air. For this and the other acetites see Chemistry. ACETOUS ACID, a transparent colour- ! less fluid, obtained from distilled vinegar, in the proportion of 7 or 8 per cent, to the dis- tilled vinegar. See Chemistry. This acid forms an important article in the materia me- dica. Common vinegar, which is this acid in an impure state, is also much used in food, and for the preservation of animal and vege- table substances. ACETUM rosatum, vinegar of roses, is made of rose-buds infused in vinegar five or six weeks ; the roses are then pressed out, arid tiie vinegar preserved. It is used in cases of head-ach. Acetum proplujlacticum, is a preparation of acetic acid, camphor, flower of lavender, &c. It is called also the vinegar of the four thieves, who during, the plague at Marseilles plundered the sick, the dying, and the dead, and escaped unhurt by the use of this prepa- ration. ACHALALACTLI. See Alcedo. ACHANE, in Persian antiquity, a corn measure equal to forty-five attic medimni. ACHANIA, a genus of the monodelphia polyandria class, and the natural order of co- lumniferse. The essential character is, calyx double ; outer many-leaved ; corolla convo- lute ; berry five-seeded. The achania genus includes three species, all exotics, and cultivated (chiefly from cut- tings) as stove plants. ACIIERNER, a star of the first magni- tude, in the southern extremity of the con- stellation Eridanus ; invisible in our latitude. See Eridanus. AC HER SET, an old English measure of corn, probably the same with our quarter, or eight bushels; the monks of Peterborough had, among other things, an allowance of 12 achersotes de frumento. ACHIAR a Malayan word, signifying a mixture of all sorts of fruits and roots, pickled' with vinegar and spice. The Dutch import this pickle from Batavia. ACHILLEA, a genus of plants compre- ACH -bending the millefolium and ptarmica .of Tuurnefort. It is of the class and order syn- genesis polygamia superfiua. The corolla is compound radiate: and the essential character is, calyx ovate, imbricate; florets of the ray about four ; down none ; recept. chaffy. It includes twenty-seven species, most of them hardy, though natives of the south of Europe, only two being indigenous here. The achillea ptarmica, or sneezevvort, is of this description. It is used in medicine as a sternutatory ; and in Siberia in decoction, to stop haemorrhages. A beautiful double vari- ety is cultivated in our gardens under the name of white bachelors’ buttons. The other English milfoil is the yarrow, well known . in our meadows. This has also by some been re- commended in haemorrhages, dysenteries, &c. . ACHILLES, an appellation . sometimes given to the principal argument, made use of by each sect of antient philosophers, in defence of their system. It has obtained this name in allusion to the strength of Achilles ; and is particularly used for Zeno’s argument against motion, which consisted in making a compa- rison between the swiftness of Achilles and the slowness of a tortoise ; whence lie inferred, that a slow body, if but ever so small a dis- tance before a swift one, could never be over- Uiken by it. Achilles, tendon of. See Anatomy. ACHIMBASSJ, the name of an officer who presides over the practice of medicine at Cairo. AGHIROPO ETOS, in church history, a name given to certain pictures of Christ, sup- posed to have been painted in a miraculous manner. ACHOR, a kind of running ulcer on the face, chiefly infesting children, but sometimes also grown persons. ACHRAS, the wild pear-tree, a genus of plants of the class and order hexandria mono- gynia, the flower of which consists of five erect petals, of a cordated shape; and the fruit is an oval berry divided into ten cells. The essential character is, calyx six leaved ; corolla ovate, sexlid, with six scales alternate, more within ; pome celled ; seeds solitary. There are four species, and they are called mammee, sapoti, and bully tree. They are all natives of the West Indies, where the fruit is eaten. ACHROMATIC, a term used to denote telescopes contrived to remedy the aberration in colours. See Optics. ACHTEL1NG, a measure for liquids used in Germany. ACH YRANTHES, a genus of the pen- tandria monogynia class of plants, belonging to the natural order of misal lane*, Linn. The characters are : The calyx is a double pe- rianthium ; the exterior one consisting of three lanced acute leaves, which are persistent ; the interior of five leaves, also persistent. No co- rolla ; the nectarium is five-valved, surround- ing the germen, bearded at the top, concave, and killing off. The stamina consist of five filaments the length of the coralla; the an- ther* are ovate and incumbent. The pistil- lum has a lop-shaped germen ; the stylus is filiform, and the length of the stamina ; the stigma is villous, and divided into two seg- ments. The perianthium is a roundish _one- Celled capsule, not gaping. The seed is single and oblong. Of this genus eleven species are enumerated ; but the" character of tiro genus A C I does not agree in them all. They are all na- tives of the Indies. Only one of them, the altissima, is commonly cultivated in botanic gardens, and that more for the sake of variety than beauty, it grows to the height of three feet, with oblong pointed leaves. The flowers come out in long spikes, from the extremities of the branches, and appear in July, the seeds ripening in September. Plants of this kind must be reared in a hotbed, and may be transplanted when they have acquired suffi- cient strength. If kept in pots, and shelter- ed during the winter in a warm greenhouse, they will five two or three years. ACIA, a genus of the monadelphia dode- candria class and order, and natural order of pomace*. The essential character is, calyx live-parted; coralla five petalled, unequal; drupe full of chinks. W e know of only one species, a native of Guiana, which rises to a tree of sixty feet in height. The' fruit is eaten by the Creoles, and accounted pleasant. ACICULiE, certain small spikes, or pric- kles, in form of needles, wherewith nature has armed several animals, as the hedgehog, echi- nus marinas, principally for weighing rice. pound Ub0UL two drams les s than an English i a S eni,s °f the diocecia mona- delplua class and order. Its essential charac- tei is, male blossom; calix three-parted; co- rolla none; stamina many, united at the bast?, h emale, calix live-parted ; corolla none, styles 3 torn, caps, tricoccous. 1 here are three species of shrubs which bear this name, all of them natives of Ja- maica. \V e do not find them remarkable for any particular quality, and therefore, as their flower has no beauty, they are seldom culti- vated here. 'I hey may, however, be raised trom seed, and treated as stove plants. ADELPIIIANI, a sect of heretics, who always fasted on Sundays. A B t ADEMPTION, among civilians, denotes tli e revocation of some donation or favour. The ademption of a legacy may be done either in express terms, or indirectly by dis- posing of it otherwise. ADENANTIIERA, a genus of shrubby plants of the class and order decandria mono- gynia. The flower is coinpaunlate ; and the essential character is, caiix five-toothed, pe- tals five, globose glands affixed to the outer tip of the anthers (whence its name), legume membranaceous. Three species are at present known, but tire adenanthera pavonina is the only one which has been as yet cultivated in England, where, however, it has not flowered. The seeds, which are obovate, rounded, and convexly lens-shaped, are very beautiful, and froiii their equality in weight (being each four grains), are used by goldsmiths and jewellers; they are also eaten by the common people in India, and form a cement when beaten up with water and borax. It is one of the largest and handsomest trees in the East Indies, and commonly lives 200 years. The wood is solid and durable. With us it forms a hand- some shrub for the decoration of our stoves. ADEN OS, a kind of cotton, otherwise called marine cotton. It comes from Aleppo by way of Marseilles, where it pays twenty per cent. duty. ADENOSE, abscess, is used for a hard tubercle, difficult to be discussed, and re- sembling a gland. ADESSENARIANS, a sect of Christians, who maintain that Jesus Christ is really pre- sent in the eucharist, though not by way' of transubstantiation. The adessenarians differ among themselves, some of them holding that the body of Jesus Christ is in the bread ; others, that it is about the bread ; others, that it is with the bread ; and others, that it is under the bread. ADFECTED equations, in algebra, those wherein the unknown quantity is found in two or more different powers : such is x z — ax 2 -f- bx = a 2 b. For the solution of these and other equations see Algebra. ADF1LTATION, a Gothic custom, where- by the children of a former marriage are put upon the same footing with those of the second marriage. This is otherwise called anio pro- .limn, and still retained in Germany, under the name cinkindschajft. ADHESION, in physiology, is used to de- note the sticking together of two bodies. Mus- c hen brock has given many curious experiments -on the adhesion of bodies, which he properly attributes to attraction Adhesion, in medicine and anatomy. There are frequent instances of the, adhesion -of the lungs to the pleura and diaphragm, which occasions many disorders. ADFIIL, in astronomy, a star of the sixth magnitude, upon the garment of Andromeda, under the last star in her foot. ADLANTUM, maidenhair, in botany, a genus of plants of the cryptogamia class, and of the order of Alices. The generic character is, the fructifications collected in oval spots under the reflected tops of the fronds. There are thirty-nine species, but only one, the adiantum capillus Veneris, is a native of Great Britain, and even that is found only in a few places in Scotland and Wales. Like’ the other plants of this class it has no visible flower ; Vol. I. ADJ | the seeds being contained in capsule?) placed I in the sinuses and folds of the leaves, and sur- rounded each with an elastic ring, which con- tracting, bursts the capsule and scatters the mi- nute seeds: as, however, the leaves of all the species of maidenhair have one general ap- pearance, it is easy to distinguish them from other plants of the fern kind. Maidenhair was once highly esteemed as an expectorant, but is now generally rejected. Indeed, it lias been well remarked, that if the syrop of capiliaire, which is pretended to be made from it, has any virtue, it is derived from the orange-flower water, which is also an ingredient. AD1APFIORISTS, or Adiaphorites, names given to tlie modern Lutherans, in the sixteenth century. The -name imports luke- warmness, or indifference ; being compounded of the privative a., and foatpopog different. ADIAPHOROUS, an epithet given by Mr. Boyle to a spirit distilled from tartar anti some other vegetable bodies: it is said to be neither acid nor urinous, and in many respects different from any other spirit. ADJECTIVE, a word expressing some qua- lity, or other accident, of the substantive with which it is joined: thus, in the phrase, pure gold, the word pure is an adjective, shewing the quality of the gold. When the quality is the subject whereof we speak, it becomes a substantive : thus if we say, good is always to be chosen, the word good is a substantive ; but in the phrase, Peter is a good man, the word good is evidently an adjective, expressing the character of Peter. AD INQUIRENDUM, in law, a writ commanding inquiry to be made concerning something connected with a cause depend- ing in the king’s courts ; as of bastardy, or the like. ADJOURNMENT, in law, the putting off a court, or meeting, to another time or place. Adjournments of parliament differ from prorogations, in being not only for a shorter time, but also each house has the privilege of adjourning itself, whereas a prorogation can Only be the act of the king. ADIPOCIRE, is a term that denotes a body converted from a muscular to a waxy sub- stance. See Chemistry. ADIPOSE, in a general sense, denotes something belonging to the fat of the body ; and is a term chiefly used by physicians and anatomists, in whose writings we read of adi- pose cells, adipose ducts, adipose membrane, adipose vessels, &c. ADJUDICATION, is sometimes used for transferring the property of a tiling sold by auction to the highest bidder. ADJUNCT, among philosophers, some- thing added to another, to which it does not naturally belong: thus water in a spunge is an adjunct to it; so are clothes to a man. Ad- juncts are what we commonly call circum- stances : these, in ethics, are commonly reck- oned seven, aids, quid, ubi, quibus auxiliis, cur, quomoao, quando. Adjuncts, in the Paris academy of sci- ences, are a set of members attached to the study of some particular science. They are twelve in number : two for geometry, two for astronomy, two for anatomy, two for mecha- nics, two for chemistry, and two for botanv. AD JURA REGIS, inlaw, a writ which lies for a clerk presented to a living by the king, against those who endeavour to eject him, to the prejudice of the king’s title. ADJUTAGE, or Ajutage, in hydrau- lics, the tube fitted to the mouth of a jet- d’eau. It is through the adjutage that water is plac- ed, and directed into any desired figure ; so that the great diversity of fountains consists chiefly in the different structure of their adjutages. ADJUTANT, in the military art, an officer whose business it is to assist the major, and therefore sometimes called the aid-major. Each battalion of foot, and regiment of horse, has ail adjutant, who receives the orders every night from the brigade-major, and after carrying them to the colonel, delivers them out to the seijeants. When detachments are, to be made, he gives the number to be furnish- ed by each company, and assigns the hour and place of rendezvous ; lie also places the guards ; receives and distributes the ammunition to the companies ; and by the major’s orders regu- lates the price of bread, beer, &c. Adjutants general, among the jesuits, were a select number of fathers who resided with the general of that order ; they had each a province or country assigned them, as Eng- land, Germany, &c. and their business was to inform the father-general of state occurrences in such countries. ADLEGATION, in the customs of Ger- many, a right claimed by several princes of that empire to send plenipotentiaries conjunct 1 ly with those of the emperor, to all negotia- tions wherein the empire in general is con- cerned. The emperor disputes this privilege of adle- gation, but allows them to send ambassadors- about their own private affairs. ADMAN UENSES, in our old law books, a term denoting laymen, who swore by laying, their hands on the book ; whereas the clergy were forbidden to swear on the book, their* word being deemed equal to an oath. ADMEASUREMENT, in law, a writ for adjusting the shares of something to be divided. Thus, Admeasurement of denoer takes place when the widow of the deceased claims more as her dower than what of right belongs to her. And, Admeasurement of pasture may be ob- tained when any one of the persons who have right in a common pasture, puts more cattle to feed on it than he ought. ADMINICULATOR, in church-history, an officer otherwise called advocate of the poor. ADMINISTRATION, in law, the office of an administrator. See Administrator. Whenever a man dies intestate, letters of administration are taken out in the prerogative- court. Administration is also used for the ma- nagement of the affairs of a minor, lunatic, &c. Administration, among ecclesiastical writers, denotes the power wherewith a parson is invested ; and that as well in regard to the temporalities of his cure, as to its spiritualities, viz. the power of excommunicating, of admi- nistering the sacraments, &c. Administration, among anatomists, de- notes the art of properly dissecting the parts of the human body, and particularly of the muscles. Administration, in commerce, a r»gu- M ADM lation at Calao, a city of Peru, obliging aH ships allowed to trade on the coast, to unload their European goods, and pay certain duties. ADMIN 1ST RAM OR, in law, the person to whom the goods, effects, or estate, of one who died intestate, are entrusted ; for which he is to be accountable, when required. The bishop of the diocese where the party dies, is regularly to grant administration ; but it tiie intestate has goods in several dioceses, administration must be granted by the arch- bishop in the prerogative court. The persons to whom administration is granted, are a husband, wife, children whe- ther sons or daughters, the father or mother, brothers or sisters, and, in general, to the next of km, as uncle, aunt, cousin ; then to a cre- ditor. An action lies for and against an administra- tor, as for and against an executor ; he is ac- countable, however, no farther than to the value of the goods. Administrator is also used in several other senses, as for an advocate of a church ; for a person appointed to receive and manage the revenues of an hospital or religious house; for a prince who enjoys the levenues of a se- cularized bishopric ; and lastly, for the regent of a state during a minority, or a vacancy of the throne. ADMIRAL, in maritime affairs, a great officer, who commands the naval forces of a kingdom or state, and decides all maritime causes. According to Ducange, the Sicilians were the first, anil the Genoese the next, who gave the name of admiral to the commanders of their fleets ; deriving it from the Arabic amir or emir, a designation applicable to any com- manding officer. For some time past, we have had no lord- high-admiral in Britain ; that office being exe- cuted by a certain number of commissioners, called lords of the admiralty. Admiral also denotes the commander in chief of a single fleet or squadron ; or, in ge- neral, any flag officer whatever. In the British navy, besides the admiral who commands in chief, there are the vice-admiral, who commands the second squadron ; and the rear-admiral, who commands the third divi- sion. The admiral carries his flag at the main- top-mast-head ; the vice-admiral at the fore- top-mast-head ; and the rear-admiral at the mizen-top-mast head. The admiral when on shore, is entitled to re- ceive military honours, and ranks with gene- rals in the army. Admiral, Vice, likewise denotes an officer invested witli the jurisdiction of an admiral, within a certain county or district. There are upwards of twenty such vice-admirals in Great Britain ; but an appeal lies from their sentence or determination, to the admiralty- court in London. In Trance the admiral is one of the great officers of the crown, general of the marine, and of all the naval forces of the kingdom. From him the captains and masters of trading vessels are obliged to take their licences, pass- ports, commissions, and safe-conducts. The tenth of all prizes belongs to him, and the whole of all fines adjudged in the courts of admiralty. He also has the duty of anchorage, tonnage, &c. Admiral is also an appellation given to the Boost considerable ship of a fleet of jnerchant- men,.or the vessels employed in the cod-fishery of Newfoundland. 'J iiis last has I lie privilege of choosing what place he .pleases on the sandy shore, to dry his iish. He also gives proper orders, and appoints the fishing places to those who come after him ; and as long as the fish- ing season continues, he carries a flag on his main-mast. Admiral, in conchology, the name of a beautiful shell of the volute kind, much ad- mired by the curious. There are four species of this shell, viz. the grand-admiral, the vice-admiral, the orange- admiral, and the extra-admiral. The first is extremely beautiful. Of an elegant while ena- mel, variegated with bands ot yellow, which represent, in some measure, the colours oi the flags in men of war. It is of a very curious shape, and finely turned about the head, the clavicle being exerted ; but its distinguishing character is a denticulated line, running along the centre of the large yellow band ; by this it is distinguished from the vice-admiral, the head of which is also less elegantly formed. Tl>e orange-admiral has more yellow than any of the others, and the bands ot the extra- admiral run into one another. ADMIRALTY properly signifies the office of lord-high-admiral, whether discharged by one, or several joint-commissioners called lords of the admiralty. In Holland there are five admiralties, boards, or chambers, composed of the deputies of the nobles, the provinces, and towns ; who have the care of fitting out fleets, and in general, of all maritime affairs. AdxMiralty-Com?’/, or court of admiralty, in the British polity, a sovereign court, held by the lord-high-admiral, or the commissioners of the admiralty. This court has cognizance in all maritime affairs, civil as well as criminal. All crimes committed on the high-seas, or in great' rivers beneath the bridge next to the sea, are cognizable only in this court ; which, by statute, is obliged to try the same by judge and jury. But in civil causes it is otherwise, these being all determined according to the civil i.iw ; the reason of which is, that the sea is without the jurisdiction of the common law. In case any person is sued in the admiralty court, contrary to the statutes, he may have the writ of supersedeas to stop farther proceed- ings, and also an action for double damages against the person suing. Subordinate to this court there is another of equity called court-merchant ; wherein all causes between merchants are decided, agree- ably to tbe rules of the civil law. ADMIRATION, in a general sense denotes the act of being much delighted with, or highly prizing, some rare excellence ; and sometimes the astonishment conceived at some extraor- dinary event. “ It is obvious,” says Dr. Cogan, “ that the range of admiration is from the simple appro- bation of the mind, up to the most lively sen- sation, according to our conceptions of the ex- tent of excellence, and also the degrees of our interest in its effects. It is also blended with various other emotions according to different circumstances attendant upon the passion. It is frequently introduced by surprise: when, for example, the discovery of these excellences is sudden and unexpected, and then it becomes a vivid auction, It is generally connected ADO with some degree of wonder ; as we are fre- quently ignorant ot the i arises which enabled any one greatly to excel ourselves or others ; but as it ts always excited by the real discovery of some qualities, it is not to be confounded with an emotion that proceeds from ignorance and embarrassment previous to the discovery.” Grammarians have a character for expressing this affection or state of mind, called a point of admiration, and marked thus (!). ADMISSION, among ecclesiastical writers, denotes the act of a bishop’s admitting or al- lowing a clerk to be able, or qualified lor serv- ing a cure. Ibis is done alter examination, by pronouncing the formula admitto tc habi- lem. If any person presume to be admitted, who lias not episcopal ordination, he shall for- feit 100/. No person is to be admitted into a benefice with a cure of 30/. per annum in the king’s books, unless he is a bachelor in divinity at least, or a preacher lawfully allowed, or hr censed bv some bishop. ADMIT TEN DO c lerico, a writ granted to a person who has recovered his right of pre- sentation in the common pleas : by which the bishop, or metropolitan, is ordained to admit his clerk. Admittendo in socium, a writ associating certain persons, usually knights, and other gen- tlemen of the county, to the justices of assize already appointed. ADMONITIO fustium, among the Ro- mans, a military punishment, not unlike our whipping, only that it was performed with I vine-branches. ADMONITION, in clnirch-history, a part of discipline, which consists chiefly in warning an offender of the irregularities he* is guilty of, and advising him to amend. By the antient canons, nine admonitions were required before excommunication. ADMORTIZATION, in the feudal cus- toms, reducing the property of lands or tene- ments to mortmain. ADNATA, in anatomy, one of the tunics or coats of the eye, otherwise called conjunc- tiva and albuginea. It is the same part with what is called the white of the eye, formed by the tendinous ex- pansions of the muscles which move the eye. See Anatomy. Adnata, or Adnascentia, among gar- deners, terms used for such off-sets, as by a new germination under the earth, proceed from the lily, narcissus, hyacinth, and other flowers ; and afterwards grow to the roots. These by the French are called cayeux. Adnata is also a term used for such things as grow upon animal or vegetable bo- dies, whether inseparably, as hair, wool, horns, &c. or accidentally, as the several episitical plants. . ADNOUN, or Ad name, terms sometimes -1 used to denote an adjective. ADONIA, festivals kept in honour of Ve- nus, and in memory of her beloved Adonis. The adonia lasted two day s, on the first of which the images of Venus and Adonis were carried w ith great solemnity, in manner of a funeral ; the women crying all the while, tearing their hair, and beating their breasts. On the second, changing their note, they sung Ids praises, and made rejoicings, as if Adonis had been raised to life again. The adonia were celebrated by most antient nations, as the Greeks, Egyptians, Syrians, Lydaiifs, The prophet Ezekiel, c. viii. ADO TefrfS 14. ia thought to allude to these festi- vals. ADONIC, in antient poetry, a kind of verse consisting of a dhctyle and spondee or trochee. This kind of verse had its name adonic, on account of its being originally used in the la- mentations for Adonis. However, its princi- pal use among poets, is to serve as a conclusion to cadi strophe of sapphic verse. ADONICUS, a name given by the Arabs to the sun, under which appellation they wor- shiped him, by daily offering him incense and perfumes. ADONIDES, an appellation given to such botanists as have given descriptions or cata- logues of the plants cultivated in some parti- cular place. ADONIS flos, a genus of plants, called in English pheasant’s- eye. It is of the class and order poiyandria polygynia ; and the essential diu'acter is, calyx rive-leaved ; petals, live or more without a nectary ; seeds naked. r i he genus includes six species much resem- bling the anemone in appearance, only smaller. The adonis autunmahs, an annual plant, is common in our gardens, and even in the fields about London. Its flowers are of a bright scarlet, with a black spot or eye at the bottom. The adonis vernalis is also cultivated in our gardens ; but though a native of Switzerland and Germany, we have observed that it is somewhat tender, probably from its shooting so early in the spring ; it has a large yellow llovver. ADOPTIANI, a sect who maintained that Christ, with respect to his human nature, was not the natural, but adoptive son of God. ADOPTION, a solemn act, whereby one man made another his heir ; investing him with all the rights and privileges of a son. • Adoption was in frequent use among the Greek's and Homans, who had many regula- tions concerning it. The Lacedemonians, in order to prevent inconsiderate adoptions, had a law, that they should be transacted, or at least confirmed, before their kings ; at Athens, slaves, madmen, and persons under age, were incapable of adopting ; and at Rome, adop- tions were confirmed before the praetor, in an assembly of the people, or by a rescript of the emperor. Young men were not permitted to adopt their elders ; on the contrary, it was ne- cessary that the adopter should be eighteen years older than his adopted son, to give an appearance of probability of his being the na- tural father. Children, thus adopted, were in- vested with all the privileges, and obliged to perform ail the duties, of legitimate children, evenao the assuming the names of the person who adopted them ; and being thus provided for in another family, they ceased to have any claim for inheritance, or kindred, in the family they had left, unless they first renounced their ad apt ion ; which, by Solon’s laws, tiwy were not permitted to do, till they had begotten chil- dren to bear the name of their adopted father. On the other hand, the person who had once adopted children, was not permitted to marry afterwards, without express leave from the ma- gistrate ; whom it was usual to petition for such a licence, in case the adopted children acted aii ungrateful part. Among the Romans, before adoption could take place, the natural father was obliged to renounce all authority over his son, and with great formality consent that he should be trans- lated into the family of the adopter. The A D O ' adoption of a person already free was called I adrogation. the ceremonies of adoption being various, have given rise to a great many | different kinds of it : thus, we read of adoption j by testament, when a man adopted another by his last will ; adoption by arms, or presenting the adopted son with a suit of armour ; adop- tion by cutting off- the hair ; adoption by ma- trimony, or adopting the children of a wife by a former husband. By the Gentoo laws, information must be given to the magistrate, by 7 the person who is desirous of adopting a child, and a sacrifice performed, and ne is also to give gold and rice to the father of the child. A woman is not allowed to adopt a child without her husband’s order ; and he who has no son, or grandson, or great-grandson, lias liberty to adopt one son, but no more. Among the Turks, the cere- mony of adoption is performed bv obliging the person adopted to pass through the shirt of the adopter. Hence among that people, to adopt is expressed by the phrase,’ “ to draw an- other through my shirt.” Adoption is also used in speaking of the admission of persons into certain hospitals, par- ticularly that of Lyons : sometimes the term is used in the sense of incorporation ; thus the French academy of Marseilles was adopted by that of Paris. ADOPTIVE arms, in heraldry, those en- joyed by the concession of another, which the adopter is obliged to marshal with his own, as being the condition of some honour or estate left him. Adoptive is sometimes also used for bor- rowed or foreign : thus, besides their domestic gods, the Romans had a multitude of adoptive deities, borrowed from foreign nations. ADORATION denotes the act of wor- shiping God, or a being supposed to be God. The word comes from ad, to ; and os, oris, the mouth; and imports, to kiss the hand, this being universally acknowledged to be a mark of great respect. Among the Jews, adoration consisted in kissing the hands, bowing, kneel- ing, and gven prostration. Hence, in their language, the word kissing is used for adora- tion. As to the ceremony of adoration among the Romans, it was performed with the head veiled, or covered ; the devotee applying his right-hand to his lips, the fore-finger resting on the thumb, which was erect ; and then bowing, lie turned himself round from left to right. The Gauls, on the contrary 7 , thought it more reli- gious to turn from right to left ; and the G reeks, to worship with their heads uncovered. The Christians follow the Grecian rather than the Roman mode, by uncovering, when they perform any act of adoration. Adoration, barbarous, denotes that used by heathen nations. The Phenicians adored the winds, on account of the terrible effects produced by them. The same practice was adopted by the Greeks, Persians, Romans, Ac. The Troglodytes adored tortoises ; the Scythians, swords ; the- Romans, axes ; and the Arabs, stones; the Indians adored vipers ; tiie Bengalese and the Canadians, the sun. "The Manta, a Peruvian people, antiently adored a huge emerald, by offering to it eme- ralds of a lesser size ; all* of which the priests kept for their own use. Adoration is also used, in a civil sense, for any extraordinary homage or respect paid by one man to another. Thus the Persians adored their kings, by falling prostrate before them, C ? 1 striking the earth with their foreheads, and kiss' ing the ground. This was an act of servility* which Conon, a citizen of Athens, refused to comply with, when introduced to Artaxerxes ; neither would the philosopher Calisthenics per- form it to Alexander the Great, as judging it: impious and unlawful. The Roman emperors were adored, by bowing or kneeling at their feet, laying hold of their purple robe, and im- mediately withdrawing the hand, andkissing it. Adoration is more particularly used for the ceremony of paying homage to the pope, by- kissing his feet ; which not only the people, but the greatest prelates, and even princes, make no scruple of performing. Protestants have hence taken occasion, and not without reason, to charge the popes with excessive pride, and even impiety. Adoration is still more particularly used for a method of electing a new pope, when the cardinals, instead of proceeding in the usual way, unanimously fall down and adore one of their own number. Adoration is the last ce- remony of a regular election, but here it is the election itself, or rather supersedes it. Adoration, perpetual, in the church of Rome, a kind of religious society, frequent in the popish countries ; which consists ot devout persons, who, by regularly relieving each other, keep constantly praying before the eu- charist both day and night. ADO REA, in Roman antiquity, a word used in different senses ; sometimes for ail manner of grain ; sometimes for a kind of cakes made of fine Hour, and offered in sacrifice ; and, finally, for a dole or distribution of corn, as a reward for some service : whence, by me- tonymy, it is put for praise or rewards in ge- neral. ADOSSEE, in heraldry, a term used for two rampant animals, placed back to buck. It also denotes any other figures, as axes, keys, &c. placed with their heads facing different ways. ADOXTA, a genus of plants, of the class and order of octandria tetragynia. The essen- tial character is, calyx bifid, inferior ; corolla four or five cleft, superior ; berry four or five celled, united with the calyx. We know of but one species ; the adoxia moschatelina, so called from its smelling like musk. It is otherwise called bastard fumitory 7 , and grows wild in shady places, as in Hamp- stead and Charlton woods. AD PON DUS OMNIUM, among phy- sicians, denotes that the last-mentioned" ingre- dient ought to weigh as much as all the rest- put together. AD QUOD DAMNUM, in law, a tvrit which ought to be issued before the king grants certain liberties, as a fair, market, highway, Ac. ordering the sheriff to inquire by the country what damage such a grant is likely to be attended with. ADR IFF, in sea language, denotes the state of a vessel broken from her moorings, and driven by the wind or waves, ADSCENDENS caulis, denotes in bota- ny, a stalk or branch inclining upwards. ADSENTIRI, a term used to express the assent of the Roman soldiers to any proposi- tions that were made to them by their com- manders, which they did by lifting up their hands with acclamation, and striking their bucklers against their knees. ADSIDELLA, in antiquity, the table at which the fiainetis sat during the sacrifices, A D Y 20 ADV ADSTRICTION, among physicians, is', -■used to denote the too great rigidity and close- ness of the emunetories of the body, particu- larly the pores of the skin ; also for the styptic quality of medicines. AD TERM IN UM qui pr uteri it, in law, a writ of entry, that lies for the lessor or his heirs, if after the expiration of a term for life or a/ears, granted by lease, the tenant or other occupier of the lands, Ac. withholds the same from such lessor. ADVANCE, in the mercantile style, de- notes money paid before goods are delivered, ■work done, or business performed. To pay a note of hand, or bill, by advance, is to pay the value before it becomes due ; in which case it is usual to allow a discount for ■the time it is pre-advanced. Advanced ditch, or moat, fn fortification, is that drawn round the glacis or esplanade of place. Advance o-guard, or Vanguard, in the art of war, denotes the first line or division of an army, ranged or marching in order of hat- tie ; or it is that part which is next the enemy, and marches first towards them. Advance D-guard is more particularly used for a small party of horse stationed before the main-guard. ADVANCER, among sportsmen, denotes •.one of the starts or branches of a buck’s at- tire, between the back antler and the palm. ADUAR, in the Arabian and Moorish cus- toms, a kind of ambulatory village, consisting of tents ; which these people remove from one place to another, as suits their conveni- ence. ADVENTITIOUS, among civilians, de- notes all such goods as are acquired acciden- tally, or by the liberality of a stranger, &e. A'd vENTiTious/om'/s', the same with extra- neous or foreign ones, found embodied in other fossils : such are shells, bones, &c. in stone. AD VENTREM impiciendum, in law, a writ by which a woman is to be searched whe- ther she be with child by a former husband, on her withholding lands from the heir. ADVENTURE, bill of, among merchants* is a writing signed by a merchant, testifying that the goods mentioned in it to be shipped on board a certain vessel, belong to another per- son, who is to run all hazards ; the merchant only obliging himself to account to him for tfte produce of them, be it what it will. ADVENTURER, in a general sense, de- notes one who hazards something. By statute 33 Geo. II. c. 4. adventurers may obtain a charter for whatever settlements in America they shall take from the enemy. Adventurers, or merchant- Adventur- ers, a company of merchants formerly erect- ed for the discovery of lands, trades, Ac. ADVERB, in grammar, a word joined to verbs, expressing the manner, time, & c. of an •action : thus, in the phrase, it is conducive to health to rise early, the word early is an ad- verb ; and so of ethers. Adverbs are also -added to nouns, and even to other adverbs, in order to modify or ascer- tain their meaning ; whence some grammarians call them modifications : thus, in the phrase, he prayed very devoutly, the word devoutly qualifies the action- of prayer, and the word very does the same in regard to devoutly. Adverbs, though very numerous, may be reduced to certain classes ; the principal of which are those of order, of place, of time, of antity, of quality, of manner, of affirmation, nbting, comparison, interrogation* diminu- tion, Ac. Mr. H. Tookehas shown, in his JUitscc Ilrt- poeyrx, that most of the English adverbs are either corruptions of other words, or abridg- ments of sentences: thus the termination ly is the corruption of like, as honestly is honest- like. Lo is the imperative of look, Ac. By others adverbs are derived from three sources: (1.) from a species of interjection, de- noting an impulse of the mind, as mm:, then, not ; (2.) from a composition of two or three words into one, as always, altogether, Ac. ; and (3.) from adjectives, by adding a syllable void ot signification itself, but which seems to denote that the word has changed its state into that of an adverb, as greatly. The last syllable, however, was originally a contraction of some word that denoted similitude, or participation ; and indeed if we could examine language criti- cally, we have no doubt that Mr. Tooke’s theory might be demonstrated, and all of them proved to be originally words with a full mean- mg. In the Hebrew most adverbs, particularly those of quality, are expressed by nouns, both substantives and adjectives, either simply, or connected with a preposition. ADVERSARIA, among the antients, was a book of accounts, not unlike our journals, or day-books. The word is more particularly used, among men of letters, for a kind of com- mon-place-book, wherein they enters whatever occurs to them worthy of notice, whether in reading or conversation, in the order in which it occurs : a method which some persons prefer to that of digesting them under regular heads. ADVERSATIVE, in grammar, is a word expressing some difference between what goes before and what follows it. Thus in the phrase, he loves knozvlege but has no application, the word but is an adversative conjunction ; be- tween which and a disjunctive one there is this difference, that the first sense may hold good without the second opposed to it, whicii is otherwise in regard to disjunctive conjunc- tions. Mr. Tooke, in the book above-quoted, ob- serves well, tiiat there are two senses to the word but ; in the first it is a corruption of hot, the imperative of the Saxon verb betan, to boot, superadd or supply ; and in the second, it is a contraction of bt-utan, to be cut; in illustration of this theory is -given the following couplet : “ But thy work shall endure in laude and glorie. But spot or faulte condigne eterne memorie.” Tire meaning is “ superadd (to something said before) thy work shall endure in laude and glorie ; be out or without spot or faulte.” ADVERSATOR, in antiquity, a servant who attended the rich in returning from sup- per, to give them notice of any obstacles in tire way, at which they might be apt to stumble, ADVERTISEMENT is particularly used lor a brief account o' an affair inserted in the daily or other public papers, for the informa- tion of all concerned* or who may find some advantage from it. By the statute law the penalty of 50/. is inflicted on persons adver- tising a reward with u no questions to be ask- ed,” for the return of things lost or stolen. The same penalty attaches to the printer. A D U ADVICE, or letter of Advice, a letter missive, bv which a merchant, or banker, in- forms his correspondent, that he has drawn a bill of exchange, that his debtor’s affairs an- in a bad state, or that he has sent a quantity of merchandize, whereof tire invoice is usually annexed. A letter of advice for the payment of a bill of exchange should mention the name of the person for whose account it is drawn ; the day, month, and year; the sum drawn for ; the panic of him from whom the value is re- ceived ; and the person’s name to whom it is pavabie. For want of such* advice it is very allowable to refuse accepting a bill of exchange. Advice boat, a small vessel employed to carry expresses or orders with dispatch. AD MT'AM av.t culpam, denotes an office to be held quamdiu se bene gesstrit, that is, till the death or some delinquency of the pos- sessor. ADULT, among civilians, denotes a youth between fourteen and twenty-five yearn of age. ADULTERATION, in a general sense, denotes the act of debasing, by an improper mixture, something that was pure and genuine. Thus, Adulteration of coin, is the casting or making it of a metal inferior in goodness to the standard, by using too great a proportion of alloy. This is a crime which ail nations liave made capital. Adulteration, in pharmacy, is the using ingredients of less virtue in medicinal compo- sitions, to save expence ; a practice with which the dealer's in medicine and drugs are but too well acquainted. Adulteration, among distillers, vintners, Ac. is the debasing of brandies or wines, by mixing them with some improper liquor. By stat. 1. W. and M. c. 34. whoever sells adulterated wine, is to forfeit three hundred pounds. We have laws also against the adul- teration of coffee, tea, tobacco, snuff, beer, bread, wax, hair-powder, Ac. ADULTERY, tire crime of married per- sons, whether husband or wife, who are., guilty of a violation of their marriage vow. By the law ’of Moses, both man and woman, who had been guilty of adultery, were put to death. T he antient Romans had no formal law against adultery ; Augustus being the first who made it punishable by banishment, and in some cases by death. By an edict how- ever of Antoninus, a husband could not prose- cute his wife for adultery, unless he was inno- cent himself. And by the regulations of Jus- tinian, at the instance of his wife Theodora, the punishment of adultery in the woman was mitigated; whipping, and shutting up in a convent for two years, bring deemed suffi- cient, after which time, it the husband did not take back his wife, she was shut up for life. Among the Greeks, adultery w r as punished variously ; sometimes by fine, and at others by what they called paraiilmus : nay, the La- cedemonians are even said to have permit- ted it. Adultery among European nations is reckoned a private offence, none but the hus- band being suffered to intermeddle in the affair; and what is no less remarkable, though the husband be guilty of adultery, the wife, except in Scotland, is not allowed to prosecute him lor the same. In England adultery is accounted a spi- ritual offence, and therefore the injured party can have no other redress but to bring an as- A D V JE D I tion of damages against the adulterer ; and to divorce and strip- the adultress of her dower, is all the punishment she incurs. And, indeed, it must be owned, that the laying a heavy tine upon the man, and punishing the woman in the manner just mentioned, is as likely, if not more so, to prevent the fre- quency of adultery, as more severe methods. Adultery is also used for any kind of un- chastity ; in which sense divines understand the seventh commandment. Adultery, in the scripture -language, is 1 kewise used for idolatry, or forsaking the worship of the true God for that of a false one. ADUMBRATION, in heraldry, denotes the shadow of any beast or charge outlined, and painted of a darker colour than the lield. ADVOCATE, advocutus, among the Ro- mans, a person who undertook the defence of causes, which he pleaded much in the same manner as our barristers do at present. Advocates were held in great honour du- ring the first ages of the Roman common- wealth, being styled comitcs, honorati, ela- rissimi, and even patroni. The term advo- cate is still retained in ail countries where the civil law obtains. In Scotland there is a col- lege of advocates, consisting of one hundred and eighty persons, appointed to plead in all actions before the lords of session. In France there are two kinds of advocates; or those who plead, and those who only give their opinions, like our chamber-counsellors. Advocate, lord, one of the officers of state in Scotland, who pleads in all causes of the crown, or wherein the king is concerned. The lord advocate sometimes happens to be one of the lords of session ; in which case, he only pleads in the king’s causes. Advocate fiscal, fisci advocatus, in Ro- man antiquity, was an officer of state under the Roman emperors, who pleaded in ail causes wherein the fiscus, or private treasury, was concerned. A-dvocates consistorial, officers of the consistory at Rome, who plead in all oppo- sitions to tiie disposal of benefices in that court : they are ten in number. Advocate of a city, in the German po- lity, a magistrate appointed, in the emperor’s name, to administer justice. ■ Advocate, among ecclesiastical writers, a person who undertook the defence of a church, monastery, &c. Of these there were several kinds ; as elective advocates, or those chosen by the chapter, bishop, abbot, &c. no- minative advocates, or those appointed bv the emperor, pope, &c. military advocates, those who undertook the defence of the church ra- ther by arms than eloquence, &c. There were also feudal advocates, supreme and sub- ordinate advocates; and matricular advo- cates, or those of the mother or cathedral church. ADVOCATION, among civilians, the act of calling another to assist in pleading some cause. Advocation, letters of, in the law of Scotland, a writ issued by the lords of session, advocating, or calling, a cause from an incom- petent judge to themselves. ADVOCATIONE decimarum, a writ which lies for claiming a fourth part of tithes or upwards belonging to any church. ADVOVTSON, in law, is the right of pa- "trouage, or presenting to a vacant benefice. Advowsons are either appendant, or in gross. Appendant advowsons are those which depend on a manor, or lands, and pass as ap- purtenances of the same; whereas advowson in gross is aright of presentation subsisting by itself, belonging to a person, and not to lands. Whenever the property of an advowson has been once separated from the property of the manor by legal conveyance, it never can af- terwards be re-united, but remains for ever an advowson in gross. In either case, advow- sons are no less the property of the patrons than their landed estate: accordingly they may be granted away by deed or will, and are assets in the hands of executors. Papists, however, and Jews, seized of any advowsons, are disabled from presenting : the right of presentation being in this case transferred to the chancellors of the universities, or the bishop of the diocese. ADYTUM, in pagan antiquity, the most retired and sacred place of their temples, into which none but the priests were allowed to enter. The term is purely Greek, signifying inaccessible. ADZE, a kind of crooked ax, used by coopers, &c. otherwise called addice. YEACEA, in Grecian antiquity, solemn fes- tivals and games celebrated at /Egina, in ho- nour of yEachus; who, on account of his jus- tice upon earth, was thought to have been ap- pointed one of the judges in hell. yEC H MALOT ARCH A, in Jewish anti- quity, the title given to the principal leader or governor of the Hebrew captives residing in Chaldea, Assyria, and the neighbouring countries. The Jews themselves call this ma- gistrate Hosch-galuth, i. e. chief of the capti- vity. Basnage assures us, that there was no Tehmalotarch ' before the end of the second century : and Prideaux says, that the a?ch;na- lotarch, at present, is only the head of their religion, like the episcopus JudUeorum in England, tire altarch at Alexandria, and the ethnarch at Antioch. AIDES, in Roman antiquity, signified an inferior kind of temple, consecrated indeed to some deity, but not by the augurs, 'there were avast number of these in antient Rome ; thus we read of the cedes fortunes, cedes pads, cedes Her culis. Sec. JEDICULA, a term used to denote the in- ner part of the temple, where the altar and statue of the deity stood. JEDILE, in Roman antiquity, a magistrate whose chief business was to superintend build- ings of all kinds, but more especially public buildings ; as temples, aqua-duets, bridges, &c. To the adiles likewise belonged the care of the highways, public places, weights and mea- sures, '&c. They also fixed the p;ices of pro- visions, punished lewd women, and such per- sons as frequented gaming-houses. The cus- tody of the plebiscita, or orders of the people, was* likewise committed to them. They had the inspection of comedies, and other theatri- cal pieces ; and were obliged to exhibit mag- nificent games to the people at their ow n ex- pence, whereby many of them were ruined. At first the aediles were only two in num- ber, and chosen from among the common people ; but these being unable to support the expence of the public shews, two more were created out of the patrician oi’der: these last took upon. themselves all the charges of the games, and were called cediles curuks, or nia- a: g i n lores, as the fwo plebeians were denominated minor es. Julius Caesar, in order to ease these four, created two others, who were called ce elite s (Hercules, as having the inspection of all man- ner of grain committed to their care. There were also ax ales in the municipal ci- ties, who had much the same authority as those in Rome. yEDl TITIAN edict, among the Romans, was particularly used for the axlite’s sentence, allow ing redress to the purchaser of a beast or slave that had been imposed on. JED ITU US, in Roman antiquity, an offi- cer belonging to temples, why had the charge of the onei ings, treasure, and sacred utensils. The female deities had a woman-officer of this kind, called axlitua. AGAG ROPi LA, or yEgagrofii.us, in natural history, a ball composed of a sub- stance resembling hair, generated in the sto- mach of the chamois-goat. It is a kind of bezoar, called bezoar germanicitm, and is possessed of no medicinal virtue, any more than the balls of the same kind formed in the stomachs of cows, hogs, &c. See Bezoar. AG IAS, among antient physicians, a white speck on the pupil of the eye, which occa- sioned a dimness of sight, and was otherwise called aigis and aiglia. A1GICERAS, a genus of the class and or- der of the pentandria monogynia. The es- sential character is, calyx bell-shaped, half live-cleft ; capsule bow-shaped, one-cclled, gaping on the convex side ; seed inverted. It is found in the Molucca islands, and in Cey- lon. There are two species, the majus and' minus. JEGILOPS, an abscess in the corner of the eye, next the nose ; or, according to Heister, a small tumour caused by an inflammation or abscess, which in time, by the acrimonv of itA purulent matter, erodes the external skin, la- cry mal ducts, and fat round the ball of the eye; sometimes it renders the neighbouring bones ca;ious to a dangerous degree. As to the method of treatment, the surgeon is first to endeavour to disperse the tumour, by moistening it several times a day with, spirit of vitriol ; but if he finds this impracti- cable, he is to forward the suppuration as much as possible, lest an obstinate fistula, or worse consequences, should be the effects of. too long delay. For this purpose a plaster of diachylon with the gums, or emollient cata- plasms, may be used. When fully ripe, the tumour is to be laid open with a lancet or scalpel, and the ulcer cleaned or healed in the • ordinary way. See Surgery. iE Giro ps, a genus of the polygamia and monoecia class and order, and of the natural order of grasses. The essential character is,_ calyx a glume, subtriflorous, cartilaginous ; corolla a gfeme terminating in a threefold awn ; stamina three ; styles two ; seed one. There are four species of this grass, all of which seem to be annual. They grow in the southern parts of Europe. jEGIPHILA, a genus of the tetandria. monogynia class and order, and the natural order of vitices. The corolla is salver-shaped : and the essential character is, calyx four- toothed ; corolla quadrifid ; style semibifid ; berry four-seeded. There are four species ; one a native of Martinico, the others of Jamaica. They ar*- all shrubs of a moderate height. . 22 AES /E N K AG IS, in heathen mythology, is particu- larly use J for the shield or cuirass oi Jupiter and Fallas, AG OMAN TIA, a species of divination performed by means of a pout. AGOiYlI HALM US, the goafs-eye stone, in natural history, a name inditfereiitly g.ven to any of the semipellucid gems, witii circular spots in them, resembling the eve of a goat. AGOPODIUM, or goat weed, herb ge- Tcird, or wild masterwort, a genus of the pen- tandria digynia class and order, and of the na- tural order of umbellate;, or umbelliferse. 'I'he characters are, the universal calyx is a mani- fold convex umbel ; the partial one, consimi- lar and flat ; there is no invoiucrum, and the proper peruiiithium is scarcely discernible: tne universal corolla is uniform, the florets all te. tile; tne prope- one has live inverse, ovate, concave, equal petals, inflected at the top; the stamina consist of live simple filaments twice the length of the corolla: the anthers rounuish ; tne pistillum has a germen be- neath ; two purple erect styles the length of the coroliet ; the stigmata are headed ; no pe- ricarpium ; the fruit is ovate, striated, and bi- partite; the seeds ire two, ovate, on one side convex and striated, and flat on the other. i here is but one species, a native of Eng- land, and other parts of Europe. It is very common under hedges and about gardens; the leaves resemble loose oi angelica, and it bears small white flowers. AGOPRICON, a genus of the moncecia li'iOnandria class and order, the characters of which are : the calyx both of the m tie and female is a tnbuiar perianthium of one leaf di- \kk\d into tiuee segments ; corolla wanting in bom ; the stamina consist or a single erect filament longer than tire calyx, with an ovate ant; i era ; tire pistiuum has an ovate aennen, tuive divaricated styli, the simple persistent stigmata ; the pericarpium is a alobu’ar berry, three-grained within, and thremcefed : tne seeds are solitary, and angular on one side. There is but one species, which is a brandl- ing tree, a native of Surinam. AG\ P 1 IACUM, the name of several detergent ointments, used for eating off rotten flesh, and cleansing foul ulcers. i lie S'gyptheum, as ordered in the Edin- burgh dispensatory, is a composition of ver di- grease, reduced to fine powder, five ounces ; ol honey, fourteen ounces; of vinegar, seven ounces: all which are' to be boiled over a gentle lire, to tne consistence of an unguent. AGAPPILLA, in the natural history of the antients, a stone variegated with veins of a black, blue, or red e .lour; and said to be ca- pable of giving water the colour and taste of wine. The stone to which they ascribed this ima- ginary virtue, seems to have been a kind of onyx, or sardonyx. _ AINAU PA, in antiquity, a denomination given to the senators of Miletus, from holding their deliberations on board a ship, and never returning to land till matteis had been agreed oil. .ELURUS, in Agyptian mythology, the deity' or god of eats; represented sometimes like a eat, and at others like a man with a cat’s head. £N EATQRES, in Roman antiquity, a general name for the musicians of an army, m ox viz. those who played on trumpets, horns, litui, buccina:, Ac. AN [ G M A , denotes any dark saying or question, wherein some well-known tiling is concealed under obscure language. i he parable, gry pirns, and rebus, are by some accounted three species, or branches, of amigma. do compose an amigma, two things are to be chosen which bear some re- semblance to each other, on which some per- plexing and intricate question, description, or prosopopoeia, is to be founded. This last is most pleasing, as it gives life and action to tilings destitute of them. Painted aenigmas are representations of some object, whether of nature or art, con- cealed under the human figure. AO LIC, in a general sense, denotes some- thing belonging to Aolia or Aoiis. Aolic dialed, among grammarians, one of the five dialects of the Greek tongue, agreeing in most tilings with the Doric 'dia- lect. Aolic verse, in prosody, a kind of verse, consisting ot an iambus or spondee, then of two anapests separated by a long syllable. Such is, O steliiferi conclitor orbis ! AOLIPILE, a hollow metalline ball, in which is inserted a slender neck or pipe; whence, after the vessel has been partly filled with water, and heated, issues a blast of va- pour with gregt vehemence. Great care should be taken that the aper- ture of the pipe be not stopped when the in- strument is put on the fire, otherwise the a?oli- pih- will burst with a vast explosion, and may occasion no little mischief. i lie a?olipile is sometimes placed on a small carriage, and a cork thrust into the extremity oi the pipe. \Y hen the vapour is sufficiently heated, it rushes out with the cork in one di- rection, while the carriage moves the contrary way. -EOT. LA? harp, an instrument so named from its producing an agreeable harmony, merely by the action of the wind. '1 he con- struction of the instrument is as follows : Let a box be made of as thin deal as possible, its length exactly answering to the width of the window in which it is to be placed ; it must be five or six inches deep, and seven or eight inches wide. Across the top, and about four inches from each end, glue a piece of wainscot half an inch high, and a quarter of an inch thick, to serve as bridges for the strings to be stretched over, by means of pins inserted into ho’es a little behind the bridges, nearer the (“lids ; hak' the number being at one end, and half at the other. These pins are like those of a harpsichord ; and, for their bidder support in the thin deal, a piece of beech, about an inch wide, is glued on the inside of the lid, immediately under the place of the pins, the holes for receiving them being bored through this piece. It is strung with line catgut, or blue lirst-fiddlcst rings, more or less, at plea- sure, on the outside and lengthways of the lid, fixing one en 1 to one of the small pins, and tw, sting the other end about the oppo- site or stretching pin. Two sound-holes are cut in the lid, and the thinner this is the bet- ter will be the performance. AVjien the strings are tuned in unison, and the instrument placed with the stringed side outwards, in the window to which it is fitted, the air will cause the instrument to give a sound like a distant choir, increasing and de- creasing according to the strength of the wind. AON properly signifies the age or dura- tion of any thing. Aon, among the Plato- nists, however, was used to denote any virtue, attribute, or perfection : hence they repre- sented the deity as an assemblage of all pos- sible aeons, callmg it pleroma or fulness. AORA, among antient physicians, a pecu- liar kind ot exercise, which consisted in be- ing carried about in a litter or other vehicle. Sometimes the patient’s bed was hung by ropes, in the manner of a hammock, and moved backwards and forwards. Travelling in a chariot, or on board a ship or boat, were also accounted so many kinds of a'oru. ARA, in chronology, a series of rears,, commencing from a certain fixed point of time, called an epocha : thus, we say the Christian aira, that is, the number of s ears elapsed since the birth of Christ. r i lie generality of authors, however, use the terms awa and epocha in a synonymous, sense, or for the point of time from Which the computation commences; making no other difference between them, except' that the former is chiefly used by the vulgar, and the latter by chronologers. ARARltlM, in R oman antiquity, the treasury, or place where the public money was deposited. Ararium and fiscus are some- times used in a synonymous sense; though the latter, strictly speaking, contained only the money belonging to the emperor. Ararium sanctius, an appendage added t° flic former, for containing the monies arising from the twentieth part of all legacies, which was kept for the extreme necessities of the state. Ararium privatum, was the emperors P r 'vy purse, or place where the monies arising from his private patrimony were de- posited. Ararium Thlkice, or Junonis Luciine, one where the monies were deposited, which pa- rents paid for the birth of each child. There are several other treasuries mentioned in historians, as the cerarium jivoentutis, f 'cnc- ris, fir. AR ARILS was used by the Romans fora degraded citizen, whose name had been struck off tiie list of his century. 1 lie c trarii were so called on account of their being lia- ble to all the taxes and other burdens ot the -fate, without enjoying any of its privileges. Hence, inter error ios rtferri was a great deal more severe punishment than tribu moveri. AERATION of soils denotes the im- pregnation of them with air, by means of ploughing, harrowing, and other means of pulverization, which serve to introduce the air into the pores of the earth. AERIANS, a branch of Arians, who to tire doctrines of that sect added some pecu- liar dogmas of their own ; as, that there is no difference between bishops and priests ; a doctrine maintained by many modern di- vines, particularly of the presbyterian and reformed churches. AEROLOGA is a scientifical account of the nature and less obvious properties of air. See Air. AEROMETRY, the art of measuring the motion, gravity, elasticity, rarefaction, con- densation, like, of air; in which sense acrorae- JE S iE T H JE T I I 23 try is synonymous with pneumatics, a term iii more common use. See Pneumatics. AERONAUTICA denotes the art of sail- ing through the air, as a ship in the sea. This, however fanciful it was formerly accounted, has been lately reduced to a reality. See Air Balloon. AEROPHOBIA, among physicians, signi- fies the dread of air, which is a symptom of phrenzy. Dr. Franklin says he has some- times been seized with aerophobia, but expe- rience soon convinced him that fresh air is eminently conducive to health. Any air, he says, is preferable to that of a close chamber, which has been again and again respired with- out change. AERO PITY LACE A, a term used by some naturalists for certain caverns or reservoirs of air, supposed to exist in the bowels of the earth, by means of.which they account for the origin of springs. AEROSTATION. See Air Balloon. ERUGINOUS, an epithet given to such things as resemble, or partake of the nature of, the rust of copper. Thus, an airuginous co- lour is green, or that of verdegris. rERUGO sads, a kind of reddish slimy matter, separated from the Egyptian nutrum; probably a mixture of bitumen and a red earth. ERUSCATORES, in antiquity, a kind of strolling beggars, not unlike gi psies, who drew money from the credulous by fortune-teliing and juggling. 'i he priests of Cvbele were called cerusca- tores mag ace matris, on account of their beg- ging in the streets ; for which purpose they had little bells thereby to draw people’s at- tention to them, much like some orders of mendicants abroad. Eruscatores was also a denomination given to griping exactors, or collectors of the revenue. ES, properly signifies copper, or money coined of tiiat metal. Authors speak of ces mule, ces grave, and ces signatum. Some suppose the two former to denote the same thing, viz. money paid by weight and not by tale, as the ces signatum, or coined money, was. Others again consider the css grave to have been large pieces of coined copper, con- taining a whole as, or pound weight. Kuster, on the other hand, thinks that ces grave was used to denote any kind of copper money, in opposition to that made of gold or silver, which was light. Es jlavum, yellow copper, among the Ro- mans, an appellation given to the coarser kinds of brass, the finest being called oriclial- cum ■ See Brass and Orichalcum. Mkis jlos, among antient alchemists, a kind of small scales procured from melted copper, by exposing it to a vehement heat : but among the moderns it is sometimes used for aerugo or verdegris. Es iistinn, among chemists, a preparation of copper, otherwise called ces veneris, ces cre- matum, &c, There are several ways of making it; but the most frequent is, by exposing plates of copper in a reverberatory furnace till they will crumble into a powder, which is called ces ustum: this is extremely drying and detersive, and therefore used for eating off dead flesh, and cleansing foul ulcers ; and either sprinkled on the part in powder, or mixed in ointments. It is also used for co- kmring glass. Es. Per ass et libra m, was a formula in the Roman law, by which purchases and sales were ratified. The phrase was originally used in speaking of tilings sold by weight, or by scales, but it was atterwards used on other oc- casions. Idence, in adoptions, the formula expressed that the person adopted was bought per ass et libram. fiESCHY i\ OMENE, or Bastard Sen- sitive Blant, a genus of the class and or- der diadelphia clecandria. r l he corolla is pa- pilionaceous ; and the essential character is, calix bilobate, legume with truncate one- seeded joints. it is a shrubby plant, and includes eight species, all exotics. Four species the E. as- pera, Americana, Indica, and pumila, are an- nual plants. Only two of the species appear to be sensitive, viz. the E. Americana and sensitive.. '1 lie others are chietiy cultivated for their beautiful flowers ; the legumes of some of the species are a toot and a halt, and two teet, long. The E. cannabina, which is a native ut die East Indies, treated as liemp, may be used as such. r l hey are ail very ten- der stove-plants in this country. .ESC ULUS, horse chesnut, a genus of the heptamiria monogynia class and order, or the natural order of trihilatsr. The essential cha- racter is, calyx one-Leated, five-toothed, ven- tricose ; corolla five-petailed, irregularly co- loured, inserted into the calyx ; capsule three- celled. The genus embraces three species. The common horse chesnut is well known. On its first introduction into this country, lather more than a century ago, from its very quick growth, it was more cultivated than it de- served. It is now found that it will seldom resist a great storm of wind ; and the very short time its leaves continue, renders it unsightly a great part of the year ; yet it must be confessed that its form is regular, and its blossoms beautiful. The wood is of little use but for burning, though it is said that it is now employed by the turners. The nuts are eaten by deer, and Hanbury affirms that hogs will fatten on them : Haller also relates, that sheep have been fed with them whole, and poultry with them when boiled. The yellow and scarlet horse chesnut are cultivated for the beauty of their flowers. ETATE probanda, in law, a writ which formerly lay to enquire whether the king’s te- nant was of full age ; but now disused, since the abolition of wards and liveries. -ETHER, a term used by some philoso- phers for the most subtile of all fluids, which, commencing from the limits of our atmo- sphere, was thought to pervade the vast ex- panse of heaven. Authors differ widely with respect to its na- ture ; some making it a finer kind of air, others a kind of fiery effluvium from the sun and fiery stars, and others a fluid sui generis. Ether is supposed by some philosophers not only to fill up tire intermediate space between the heavenly bodies, but to permeate all bo- dies whatever ; also to be the medium of light ; and, lastly, that it was the cause of gravity in the earth and other celestial bodies, assisted in the action ot burning, and in the dissolution of other bodies, by menstruums. After all, mo- dern philosophers make it a question whether there is any such fluid. Ether or Ether, is more particularly used for an extremely volatile spirit, made by distilling alcohol with an acid, and then pre- cipitating the acid gas with an atca’i. The properties of the aft her obtained are supposed to vary a little according to the acid employed: accordingly every particular kind is distinguished by the acid "employed in its preparation. Thus the aether obtained by means of sulphuric acid is called sulphuric aether; that bv means of nitrous acid, nitrous aether. 1. Sulphuric aether is usually prepared bv the following process : A mixture of equal parts of alcohol and snip!. uric acid is put into me retort, to which a large receiver is then luted. It is proper- to sunound the receiver with ice, or at least with cc-id water. Iieat is applied ; and as soon as the mixture boils, the ather comes over and is condensed, and runs in large striae down the sides of the re- ceiver. As soon as it amounts to one half of the alcohol employed, the process must be stopt. 'i he ather thus obtained is not quite pure, almost always containing a little sul- phureous acid. This acid may be separated by pouring the ather on a little potass, and distilling it over again by means of a moderate heat. Mr. Dize affirms that black oxide of manganese produces this effect still more completely than potass. All that is necessary is, to mix a quan- tity of this black oxide in powder with the im- pure ather, and to let it remain for some time, agitating it occasionally. 1 he sulphureous add is converted into sulphuric, and com- bines with the manganese. 'I he a ther is then to be distilled over by the heat of a water- bath. r l he separation of the liquid from the sul- phureous acid, with which it is mixed, is called the rectification of the ether, The usual me- thod, and we may add the best, is the follow- ing, first employed by Mr. Woulfe : Fill three- fourths of a bottle with the impure ather, add a little water, and a portion of slacked lime. Agitate the bottle with violence, and keep it for some time in water before taking out the cork. If the smell of the acid is not removed, add a little more lime, and agitate a second time. Decant off the ather into a retort, and distil it over. 2. Ether thus obtained is a limpid and co- lourless liquor, of a very fragrant smell, and a hot pungent taste. Itsspecific gravity is only 0.7581. It is so volatile that it can scarcely be poured from one vessel to another without losing a considerable portion of it by evapora- tion. When poured cut in the open air, it disappears in an instant, and during its evapo- ration produces a very considerable degree of cold. If a glass vessel containing water, and surrounded with a cloth, is dipt into tether two or three times, and the aether each time allowed to evaporate from the cloth, the water in the glass freezes. In the open air aether boils at 98°, and in a vacuum at — 20°. Were it not, therefore, for the pressure of the atmosphere, it would always exist in the ga- seous state. It is exceedingly inflammable, and when kindled in the state of vapour, burns with ra- pidity, with a fine white flame, and leaves be- hind it a trace of charcoal. During its com- bustion carbonic acid is generated. How well soever it has been rarified, it always exhi- bits traces of sulphuric acid. When aether in the state of vapour is mad® 24 JE T H JE T H 7E T I to pass through a red hot porcelain tube, it is decomposed completely, and u great quan- tity ot carburated hydrogen gas is obtained. /Ether, when exposed to a cold of — 46°, freezes and crystallizes. 3. /Ether is soluble in 10 parts of water, ac- cording to the count de Lauraguis. 4. W hen aether is admitted to any gaseous body standing over mercury, it always doubles the bulk of the gas, as Dr. Priestley iirst ob- served. If oxygen gas, thus expanded by sether, is presented to a lighted candle, the aether burns with great rapidity, but produces no explosion. But if one part in bulk of this expanded oxygen is mixed with three parts of pure oxygen gas, and kindled, a very" loud explosion takes place : the products are water find 2 % parts of carbonic add. Mr. Cruik- shank, to whom we are indebted for this in- structive experiment, ascertains, that one part of the vapour of aither takes 6.8 parts of oxy- gen gas to consume it completely ; and from the relative proportions of the two products, lie has shewn that the carbon which tether contains is to its hydrogen as 5 to 1. 5. The action of the simple combustibles on tether has not been tried, if we except phosphorus, which it is capable of dissolving m small proportion. The solution is transpa- rent; but the addition of a little alcohol to it renders it milky. This furnishes us with a method of ascertaining whether aether is so- phisticated with alcohol. 6. /Ether lias no action on metals ; but it revives several of the metallic oxides when mixed with their solutions in acids. Jt takes gold from its solution in nitro-muriatie acid. 7. It is probable that it has no action on fixed alkalies and earths ; but it combines, or at least mixes readily, with ammonia. It absorbs nitrous gas in considerable quan- tity. ■ 8. Sulphuric acid seems capable of convert- ing it into a peculiar kind of oil, known by the name of sweet oil of wine. If we Till a bottle, capable of holding three or four English pints, with oxymuriatic acid gas, taking care to expel the water as com- pletely as possible, and then throw into it about a dram or half a dram of good aether, cover- ing its mouth immediately with a piece of light wood or paper, in a few seconds white vapour will be perceived moving circularly in the bottle: this will lie soon followed by an explosion accompanied with flame ; at the same time a very considerable quantity of charcoal will be deposited, and the bottle will be found to contain carbonic acid gas. /Ether is capable of dissolving the volatile oils. It combines with alcohol in almost any proportion. 1 be method of preparing nitrous cither, pro- posed by Navier, was this : twelve parts of alcohol are put into a strong bottle, which is kept surrounded with water, or rather with ice : eight parts of nitric acid are poured in at intervals, the mixture being agitated after every addition. The bottle is then well- corked, and the cork secured by leather. /Ether gradually forms at the surface of the liquid. After five or six days, when the for- mation is supposed to be over, the cork is to be pierced with a needle to allow a quantity of nitrous gas to escape, which would other- wise carry the aether along with it. The cork is then to he drawn ; the whole liquid is to be poured into a funnel, and by means of the finger the liquid below is allowed to run out while the aether is retained. TJiis method is somewhat hazardous ; for the quantity of nitrous gas evolved is so great as often to burst the bottle. Dr. Black sub- stituted in place of it a very ingenious process. He put into a glass phial the proper quantity of nitric acid ; over this was poured gently a stratum of water, and the alcohol was poured over all. Thus there were three strata of li- quids in the vessel : the acid lowermost, and the alcohol uppermost, separated from each other by the water. The acid and alcohol gradually combined with the water, and coming into contact acted on each other without violence ; and thus the aether was formed w ithout risk. Dehne has given another process for ob- taining nitric a'ther exceedingly tedious, but not attended with any risk. r l he alcohol is put into a tubulated retort, to which a large receiver is luted ; one 48th part of nitric acid is to be added every four hours, drop by drop, till it amounts to about one half of the weight of alcohol ; then the mixture be- comes hot, and aither passes over into the re- ceiver. After this a little more nitric acid is to be added every morning and evening. /Ether gradually forms on its surface. The acid is to be added till it falls down to the bottom of the retort in the form of green globules, indicating the formation of perfectly saturated nitrous acid. This is a proof that no more aether will be formed. Various other methods of preparing nitrous ether have been proposed by chemists; as the distillation of a mixture ot sulphuric acid, nitre, alcohol. See. But the process prefer- red by artists is that of Chaptal as corrected by Proust. A large retort is luted to a glass globular vessel furnished with a tube of safe- ty. From this globe a tube passes to a se- cond, likewise furnished with a tube of safety ; and to this last vessel are connected three Woulfe’s bottles in the usual way, which must be half full of alcohol. A mixture of 32 parts of alcohol and 24 of acid, of the spe- cific gravity 1.3, is put into the retort. The heat of a chafing-dish is applied, and removed as soon as the effervescence begins. The greatest part of the other is detained by the alcohol in the first Woulfe’s bottle. This mixture is to be saturated with an alkali, and the other separated by distillation. Nitrous other, by whatever process it is procured, is never pure at first, holding al- ways in solution a considerable portion of ni- trous gas: hence its extraordinary volatility. It contains also a certain portion of nitric acid, and a little oil to which it owes its yellow colour. The nitrous gas separates sponta- neously when the aether is mixed with a con- siderable portion of water. By distilling it repeatedly from potass or sugar, the oil may be abstracted ; and when kept for some time, the nitric acid is decomposed, and a little water and oxalic acid formed, which sink to the bottom of the vessel. Nitric aether, as far as is known, agrees very nearly in its properties with sulphuric aether : it is equally fluid, light, and combustible : its state and odour are nearly the same, but not quite so pleasant, owing most probably to the foreign bodies, from which it cannot easily be completely freed. According to Mess. Fourcrov and Vauqulin, aether is composed of the same ingredients as alcohol, but Combined in different propor- tions. According to them, aether contains at greater proportion of hydrogen and oxygen, and a smaller proportion ot carbon, than al- cohol. AT I HO PS, or /Ethiops mineral, or Hydrargyrus cion sulphure, a preparation of mercury, made by rubbing in a marble or glass mortar, equal quantities of quicksilver and flowers of sulphur, till the mercury wholly disappears, and there remains a fine deep black powder, whence it has gotthename of afthiops, and it is much used in medicine. The name is changed in modern pharmacy to that of hydrargyrus cum sulphure. /Ethiops antimonialis, a combination of' the sulphurels of antimony and mercury ; it is prepared by fusing crude antimony in an earthen crucible, and when it is on the point of fixing, add to it an equal weight of hot mercury : the mixture at first becomes more fluid, and after a while solid : when cold it must be levigated in a mortar and washed. The medical effects of this preparation in small quantities are sudorific ; in larger doses it is a purgative and emetic. /Ethiops vegetnbilis is prepared by burn- ing the sea-wrack or sea-oak in the open air, and then reducing it into a black powder, ft is used to reduce scrophulous swellings, and in cleansing the gums and teeth. /ETHUSA, a genus of the pentandria di- gynia class and order, belonging to the natu- ral order of umbellate or umbeiliferax The calyx is an universal umbel expanding, the interior rays shorter by degrees; with a partial umbel, small and expanding. There is no universal involucrum ' the partial one is dimidiated with three or five leaflets, and pendulous; the proper perianthium scarcely discernible. The universal corolla is uniform, with fertile florets ; the partial one has five heart-inflected unequal petals. The stamina consist of five simple filaments, with roundish anthers. The pistillum is a germen beneath, with two reflected styli ; the stigmata obtuse. I here is no pericarpium ; the fruit is ovate, striated, and tripartite. The seeds are two, roundish, and striated. There is but one spe- cies, viz. the a-thusa synapium, fool’s parsley, or lesser hemlock (a native of Britain), which grows in corn-fields and gardens. This plant, from its resemblance to common parsley, has sometimes been mistaken for it; and when eaten, it occasions sickness. If the curled- leaved parsley only was cultivated in our gar- dens, no such mistakes would happen in fu- ture. Cows, horses, sheep, goats, and swine, eat it. It is noxious to geese. AETIANS, in church-history, a branch of Arians, who maintained that the Son and Holy Ghost are in all things dissimilar to the Father. AETIOLOGY is a figure of speech, where- by, in relating an event, we at the same time unfold the causes of it. /ETIT/E, or TEtites, a name given to pebbles or stones of any kind, which have a loose nucleus rattling within them, and called in English the eagle-stone. So far from being a particular genus of fossils themselves, we find atita: among very different genera, but the most valued is that formed of the several varieties of our common pebbles. As to the formation of aitite, the naturalists account for it from this consideration, that as the nuclei are coarser and more debased by earth than. »: .4 A F F the rest of the pebble, they shrink and contract themselves into a smaller size ; by which means they will be separated from the surrounding crust, and become loose. /ETNA, a famous volcanic or burning mountain in Sicily. It is one of the highest mountains of the whole island, and situated on the eastern coast, not far from Catania. The height of this mountain is said to be above ten thousand feet above the surface of the sea, and its circumference at the base one hundred and eighty miles. This may pro- bably be exaggerated; but over the sides there are seventy-seven cities, towns, and vil- lages, and allowing from twelve to fifteen hundred persons to each, the number of in- habitants of mount /Etna will be from 92,400 to i 15,500. The ascent of this mountain is tedious, difficult, and dangerous. From Ca- tania to the summit, the distance is about thirty miles, and the traveller must pass through three distinct climates, which may properly be denominated the torrid, the tem- perate, and the frigid. /Etna-salt, a name used by some writers for saline substances, found near the openings of mount /Etna, and other volcanos ; being a concrete of sulphur and nitre, sublimed toge- ther. /ETOLARCHA, in Grecian antiquity, the { jrincipal magistrate or governor of the' iEto- ians. AFFA, a weight used on the gold coast of Guinea, and equal to an ounce. AFFECTIO bovina, a disorder incident to cattle, occasioned by a small worm, which eats its way all over the body. AFFEERERS, or Affeerors, in law, persons appointed in courts-leet, courts-ba- ron, &c. to settle upon oath the fines to be imposed upon those who have been guilty of faults which have no express penalty assigned by statute. ’ AFFETTUOSO, or con Affetto, in the Italian music, intimates that the part to which it is added ought to be played in a tender af- fecting way ; and consequently rather slow than fast : AFFIDATIO DOMINORUM, in old law books, denotes an oath of allegiance, taken by the lords in parliament. AFFIDAVIT is an oath in writing, taken before some person who is legally authorized to take the same. In an affidavit, the time, place of habitation, and addition, of the person who makes it, are to be inserted. Affidavits should set forth the matter of fact to be proved, without taking any notice of the merits of the cause. They are read in court upon motions, but are not admitted in evi- dence at trials. By statute, the judges of the courts at West- minster may commission persons in the seve- ral counties in England to take affidavits re- lating to any thing depending in their seve- ral courts ; but there is ati al’iidavit office in the court of chancery, under the direction of a master. AFFINITY, (iffinitas, among civilians, de- notes the relation of each of the parties mar- ried to the kindred of the other. Affinity is distinguished into three kinds : 1 . Direct af- finity, or that subsisting between the husband and his wife’s relations by blood, or between the wife and her husband’s relations by blood. 2. Secondary affinity, or that which subsists VOL. I. * A F F between the husband and his wife’s relations by marriage. 3. Collateral affinity, or that which subsists between the husband and the relations of his wife’s relations. The degrees of affinity are always the same with those of consanguinity. Hence, in whatever degree of consanguinity the kindred of one of the parties married are, they are in the same de- gree of affinity to the other. By the canon law, direct affinity renders marriage unlawful to the fourth generation, inclusive: but the case is otherwise with re- spect to the secondary and collateral kinds, it is likewise to be observed, that the affinity contracted by a criminal commerce, is an im- pediment to marriage so far as the second generation: thus, a man is not allowed to marry the sister of a woman he has lain with. Nay, with regard to contracting marriage, affinity is not dissolved by death ; for, though a woman may be admitted a witness for the brother of her deceased husband, she is not allowed to marry him. In the Romish church, a kind of spiritual affinity is supposed to be contracted by bap- tism ; so that it is not deemed lawful for a godfather to marry his god-daughter without a dispensation. AFFINITY, chemical, denotes an attrac- tive pow er by which substances of different natures will combine with others. It is some- times called elective attraction, or elective affinity. See Chemistry. AFFIRMATION is used for the ratifying or confirming the sentence or decree of some inferior court : thus, we say, the house of lords affirmed the decree of the lord chancellor, or tiie decree of the lords of session. Affirmation also denotes a solemn attes- tation of the truth of some fact which the quakers are allowed to make instead of an oath. This sect hold ail kinds of swearing to be unlawful; and therefore the legislature has appointed the following affirmation to be taken instead thereof, viz. I A. B. do sin- cerely, solemnly, and truly declare and af- firm, &c. This affirmation is by statute put upon the same footing with an oath ; every person convicted of affirming a falsehood, being liable to the penalties provided against wilful and corrupt perjury. It is also deemed equivalent to an oath, except in criminal cases, upon juries, and in places of profit or trust under the government. AFFIRMATIVE, in the Roman inquisi- tion, is a designation given to such heretics as openly avow the opinions they are charged with. AFFIX, among grammarians, denotes much the same with prefix. In the He- brew language there are a multitude of af- fixes, ‘ i. e. single letters or syllables, which, being prefixed to nouns and verbs, serve in- stead of pronouns and particles, and contri- bute greatly to the brevity of that language. AFFLATUS, among heathen mytholo- gies and poets, denotes the actual inspiration of some divinity. Thus Virgil : Afflata est numine quaudo Jam propriore Dei. Tully, however, must be understood to ex- tend the meaning of the w-ord farther, when he attributes all great actions to a divine afflatus. AFFRAY, or Affrayment, in law, for- merly signified the crime of affrighting other A G A 25 persons, "by appearing in unusual armour* brandishing a weapon, &c. But, at present, affray denotes a skirmish or fighting between two or more; and there must be a stroke given, otherwise it is no .affray. It must also be public, for in private it is not an affray but an assault. An affray is a common injury, punishable by the justices of the peace in their sessions, hy fine and imprisonment. A constable may also seize and carry af- frayers before a justice, or confine them till they provide sureties for the peace. Any private person may also part an affray, or bring the parties before a magistrate. AFFRONTE'E, in heraldry, an appella- tion 'given to animals facing one another qu an escutcheon, a kind of bearing which is otherwise called carfrontee, and stands op- posed to adossee. AFRICA, one of the quarters of the world. See Geography. AFRICAN cotnpany, a Society of mer- chants established by king Charles II. for trading to Africa ; which trade is now laid open to all his majesty’s subjects, pacing ten per cent, for maintaining the forts. African association, was formed in 1788 with a view of promoting the discovery of the interior parts of Africa. Mr. Mungo’ Park® and others are now employed in this impor- tant work. Ah F, in the sea language, the same with, abaft. AFTER -birth, in midwifery, the mem- branes which surrounded the infant in the womb, more usually called the secundines. See Midwifery. After -math, in husbandry, signifies the grass which springs or grows up after mow- ing ; or the grass or stubble cut after corn. In some counties it is called rowen. After -pains. See Midwifery. AGA, in the Turkish language, signifies a great lord or commander. Hence, the aga of the janissaries is the commander in chief of that corps; as the general of the horse is de- nominated spahielar aga. The aga of Al- giers is president of the divan or council. AG AP/E, or Ag apes, love-feasts kept bv the antient Christians as tokens of brotherly charity and mutual benevolence. AGAPANTHUS, a genus of the hexan- dria monogynia class and order. This is the African tuberose hyacinth, or African blue lily, with an umbellated flower. The coralla is one-petalled and funnel-shaped, hexape- taloid, regular, and this forms its essential character. A\ e have only one species, the flowers of which are absolutely those of the hemerocal- lis, but this genus is distinguished by its spathe. It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, was cultivated at Hampton-court in 1692 ; but now forms a frequent and most beautiful ojy nament of our green-houses. It flowers in September, and continues a long time in bloom. AGA PET JE, an order of nuns among th® primitive Christians, who attended on and served the clergy. At first there was nothing scandalous in these societies, thdffgh they gave great offence afterwards, and were wholly abolished by the council of Lateran. in 1139. AGAPIS lapis, a name given bv antient writers to a stone of the colour of the lion’s 26 A G A AGE AGE skin: it was held in great esteem in many nations on account of its supposed virtues. AGARIC US, the mushroom, a genus of the cryptogamia class and order of fungi. The generic character is apileus, or cap with gills underneath: gills differing in substance from the rest of the plant, composed of two laminae: seeds in the gills. Authors have enumerated no less than 634 species of this fungus, and Dr. Withering gives 213 as British species. The agaricus campestris, or common mushroom, is culti- vated with great success and profit in the gar- dens about London. The spawn is usually found in old hot-beds, or horse-dung, where the animals have been fed on a pasture; in which case it is supposed that the invisible seed which is scattered from the gills of the mushroom, is eaten with the grass by the cat- tle, and deposited unhurt in their excrements. There it vegetates, and forms those white fibrous radicles producing tubercles like po- tatoes, and which are called the spawn. The spawn may easily be known by the smell, which resembles that of the true mushroom, and which, if planted in a bed of fresh hot dung, and kept moderately dry, will soon pro- duce a crop. It is the agaricus orcades, ano- ther of this genus, which produces the fairy rings so frequently observed in pasture fields. The agaricus c&sareus, the most splendid of all the genus, is eatable, but is rarely found in Britain. It was made the vehicle for con- veying poison to Claudius Caesar by his wife Agrippina. AGATE, in natural history, a genus of semipellucid gems, variegated with veins and clouds, but no zones, like the onyx. The Iceland agate is found either in de- tached masses, or forming a part of rocks. It has the appearance of black glass. It is usually invested with a grey or opaque crust. Its specific gravity is 2,348 ; colour black, or greyish black ; when in very thin pieces it is green. It is composed, according to Berg- man, of 69 silica 22 alumine 9 iron 100 It is found in Iceland, Italy, and other places. Agate is also the name of an instrument used by the gold wire-drawers; so called from the agate in the middle of it, which forms its principal part. AGATHOPII'Y LLUM, a genus of the class and order dodecandria monogynia. The essential character is, calyx superior, very short, toothless ; corolla six-petalled, some- what villous; stamina alternately inserted into the calyx and petals; drupe juiceless with a half six-celled nut, and one seed. There is but one species, a large tree, a na- tive of Madagascar, where the nut and leaves arc used as spice. AGAVE, a genus of the hexandria mono- gynia class and order, called also the Ameri- can aloe. The corolla is funnel-shaped, and the essen- tial character is, corolla erect, superior ; fila- ments longer than the corolla, erect. The species are six, including some varieties with striped leaves, of which the most remarkable is agave Americana, or great American aloe. L is a vujgar jwtion that this plant does not flower in less than a hundred years. The fact ; is, that its flowering depends upon its growth. In hot climates therefore it is known to bloom much sooner, and in this country if it was kept in a dry stove instead of a green-house, we have no doubt that it would flower earlier than it does. It is chiefly remarkable for the height to which the stem shoots up when it blooms (from twenty to thirty feet), tor in our opinion there is no beauty whatever in the flower. Cortusus is said to be the first European who possessed this plant in 1561. It flowered in England about the year 1 693, and now scarcely a summer passes without one flowering in some of the nurseries about London. In the course of the year 1805, one of the striped-leaved (said to be the first which ever flowered in England of that variety) was exhibited by- Mr. Smith of Dalston. In Spain and Portugal there arc hedges of the great agave. The leaves are said to answer all the purposes of soap, and are also good for scowenng pewter and other utensils ; the in- ward spongy substance of the dried stalks may be used for tinder ; and the fibres of the leaves, when washed, dried, and beaten, will make a strong thread for common purposes. AGE is sometimes used in the same sense as generation, for a period of.30 years. Age, in chronology, denotes certain pe- riods of the durat on of the world. Thus, a- mong Christian chronologers, we meet with the age of the law of nature, which compre- hends the whole time between Adam and Moses; the age of the Jewish law, which in- cludes the time from Moses to Christ ; and, lastly, the age of grace, or the number of years elapsed since the birth of Christ. Among antient historians, the duration of the world is also subdivided into certain pe- riods, called ages; of which they reckon three: the first (reaching from the creation to the de- luge which happened in Greece, during the reign of Ogyges) is called the obscure or un- certain age ; the history of mankind, during that period, being altogether uncertain. The second, called the fabulous or heroic, termi- nates at the first olympiad; where the third, or historical age, commences. The antient poets also divide the duration of the world into four ages, or periods ; the first of which they called the golden age, the second the silver age, the third the brazen age, the fourth the iron age. Not unlike these are the four ages of the world, as computed by the East- Indians, who extend them to a monstrous length. Age also denotes certain degrees or periods of human life, commonly reckoned four, viz. infancy, youth, manhood, and old age: the first of which extends to the fourteenth year ; the second, to the twenty-fifth year; the third, to the fiftieth year; and the fourth, to the seventy-fifth year, or rather as long as a man lives. Shakspeare divides tire term of life into seven ages. Age, in law, signifies certain periods of life, when persons of both sexes are enabled to do certain acts, which for want of years and dis- cretion they were incapable of before: thus a man at twelve years of age, ought to take the oath of allegiance to the king; at fourteen, which is his age of discretion, he may marry, choose his guardian, and claim his lands held in socage. Twenty-one is called full age, a man or woman being then capable of acting for themselves, or managing their affairs, -making contracts, disposing of their estates* &c. ; which before that age they could not do. By the marriage act, no person, man or wo- man, can marry before 21, without the con- sent of parents or guardians. A woman s dowabie at nine years of age, may marry at twelve, with consent of parents or guardian, and at fourteen choose her guardian, if a man or woman acts in any of the above men- tioned capacities, before the time prescribed by law, he or she may retract at that time, otherwise they are supposed to agree to it anew, and it shall be deemed valid. Thus, if a man marries before fourteen, or a woman before twelve, they may either agree to the marriage, or not, at these several ages ; and so in other cases. At fourteen, a person may dispose of a personal estate by will, but not of lands. Age -prior, atatem precar i, is when an action being brought against a person under age, for lands descended to him, he, by mo- tion or petition, shows the matter to the court, praying the action may be staid to his full age: to which the court generally agrees. As a purchaser, however, a minor ’shall not have his age-prier ; nor in any writ of assize, of dow er, or petition ; but he may in any action of debt. By the civil law the case is otherwise, an in- fant or minor being obliged to answer by his tutor or curator. Among the Romans it was unlawful to offer for any public office, or magistracy, unless the candidate had attained to a certain age ; w hich differed according to the offices sued for. Hence the phrases consular age, praetorian, age, &c. Age of the moon, the time elapsed since her last conjunction with the sun. See As- tronomy. AGEMA, in Macedonian antiquity, was 3 body of soldiery, not unlike the * Roman legion. AGEMOGLANS, Agiamoglans, or Azamoglans, in the Turkish customs,: Christian children raised every third year, by way of tribute, from the Christians tolerated in the Turkish empire. The collectors of this odious tax used to take one child out of three, selecting always the handsomest. AGENTS, among physicians and chemists* an appellation given to allkinds of menstruums.’ Agents of bank and exchange, in the com- mercial polity of France, are much the same with our exchange-brokers. Agent and paiient, in law, is said of a per- son who is the doer of a thing, and also the party to whom it is done. Tiius, if a man who is indebted to another, makes his creditor his. executor, and dies, the executor may retain so much of the goods of the deceased, as will satisfy his debt ; by which means he becomes agent and patient; that is, the person to whom the debt is due, and the person who pays it. AGENTES in rebus, in antiquity, signi- fies officers employed under the emperors of Constantinople, and differing only in name from the frumentarii, whom they succeeded ACER, in Roman antiquity, a certain por- tion of laud allowed to each citizen. It is also used, in middle-age writers, for an acre of land. AGERATUM, a genus of the class and order syngenesia polygamia aiqualis. The corolla is compound uniform ; and the essen- tial character is, receptacle naked ; down five- A G R AGI awned ; calyx oblong, subequal : corolcts quadrilid. r rhere are two species, natives of- South America and China. They are of the descrip- tion of tender annuals. ACER AT US lapis, a stone used by the antients in dying and dressing of leather: pos- sibiy a species of pyrites. AGGER, in the antient military art, a bank or rampart, composed of various ma- terials, as earth, boughs of trees, &c. The agger of the antients was of the same nature with what the modems call lines. Ac g er was also used in several other senses : as tor a wall or bulwark, to keep off the sea: for the middle part of a military road, usually raised into a ridge ; and sometimes for the heaps of earth raised over graves, more com- monly called tumuli. AGGLUTINAN TS, a class of strengthen- ing medicines, of a glutinous or viscous na- ture ; which, by readily adhering to the solids, contribute greatly to repair their loss. They may be divided into two kinds: 1. Good nourishing food, especially jellies, whether of hartshorn, veal, mutton, See. 2. Medicines, properly so called. AGGLUTINATION, among physicians, signifies either the adherence of new sub- stance, or the giving a glutinous consistence to the animal lluids, by which they were sup- posed to become more fit for nourishing the body'. Agglutination is also a term used by astronomers to denote the meeting of two or more stars in the same part of the zodiac, or the * :eming coalition of several stars. It is more peculiarly understood of the seeming coalition of several stars, so as to form a ne- bulous star. AGGRAVATION in the Romish canon law is used for an ecclesiastical censure, threatening excommunication, after three ad- monitions used in vain. From aggravation, they proceed to re-aggravation, which is the 1 ast ex com mu n i eat ion. AG G REGALE terra, the seventh order of earths, comprehending those that are form- ed of the aggregate earths of the preceding orders. ,To this order belong the granites, gneissum, porphyrias, amygdalites, breccia, and arenarius. AGGREGATE, a term used in botany to express those tlowers which are composed of parts or tlorets, so united or incorporated by means either of the receptacle or calvx, that no one of them can be taken away without de- stroying the form of the whole. AGG REGATION, in natural philosophy, denotes a species of union, by which several things, nowise connected by nature, are col- lected together, so as to form one whole. AG I AGES, in the Turkish armies, a kind of pioneers, employed in fortifying camps, he. AGILD, or Agii.de, in old law books, denotes a person of so little account, that who- ever killed him was liable to no line for so doing. AGIO, in commerce, a term chiefly used in Holland aud at Venice, where it denotes the di tference between the value of bank stock, and the current coin. Money in bank is commonly worth more than specie: thus, at Amsterdam, they for- merly, before the barbarous French invasion, gave 103 or 104 florins for- ever}' 100 florins A G N in batik. At Venice, the agio was fixed at 20 per cent. The agio of the bank at Hamburgh is about 14 per cent., which is the supposed difference between the good standard money of the state, and the clipt, worn, and diminished currency poured into it from neighbouring states. Agio is also sometimes used for the profit arising from the discount of a note, bill, &c. Agio of assurance, the same with what we call policy of assurance. AGIOS YMAN DRUM, in the Greek church, subject to the Turks, a wooden ma- chine, used instead of bells, the use of these being prohibited. AGISTMENT, Agistage, or Agista- tion, in law, the taking in other people’s cat- tle to graze, at so much per week. The term is peculiarly used for the taking in of cattle to lie fed in the king’s forests, as well as for the profits thence arising. Agistment is also used for a tax, burden, or charge, levied for repairing the sea-banks in different parts of England. Agistment tithe, is a small tithe paid to the rector or vicar for pasturage of cattle, horses, or sheep. It is, however, understood to be payable only for dry or barren cattle, and not for cattle that are nourished for the plough or pail, because the parson has tithe lor them in other kind. It is paid by the oc- cupier of the ground, and not by the person who may happen to put his cattle there to graze at a certain hire per head. It is com- monly estimated at 2s. in the pound, accord- ing to the value of the land. See Burn’s Eccl. Law, tit. Tithes. AGISTOR, or Agistator, an officer be- longing to forests, who had the care of the cattle taken in to be grazed, and levied the moneys due on that account. AGMEN, in the Roman art of war, de- noted an army, or rather a part of it, in march : thus we read of the primum agmen, or van- guard; medium agmen, or main body ; and th epostremum agmen, or rear-guard. \Ve also meet witli the agmen pilatum, which was a part of the army, drawn up in form of an ob- long parallelogram, and answering to what the moderns call column. The agmen quadratum, however, or square form, was that mostly prac- tised in the Roman armies. AGNOET/E, a sect of heretics, so called on account of their maintaining that Christ was ignorant of many things, and particularly ot the day of judgment: an opinion which they built upon the text, Mark xiii. 32. AGNOMEN, in Roman antiquity, a kind j of fourth or honorary name given to a person on account of some extraordinary act ion, vir- tue, or other accomplishment/ Thus the j agnomen Africanus was bestowed upon Pub- / lius Cornelius Scipio, on account of his great j achievements in Africa. In cases of adop- ; tion, it was usual to retain their former cog- | nomen, or family name, by way of Y.srnomcn: \ thus Marcus Junius Brutus, being adopted by Quintus Servilius C;e io, called himself Quintus Servilius Csepio Brutus. AGNUS dei, in the church of Rome, a cake of wax, stamped with the figure of a lamb supporting a cross. 'These being con- secrated by the pope with great solemnity, and distributed among the people, are supposed to have great efficacy: as to preserve those who carry them worthily, and with faith, from all manner ot accidents ; to. expel evil spirits, D 2 ' 2 7 &c. It is also a popular name for that part of the mass, where the priest strikes his breast thrice, and says the prayer beginning with the words a gnus dei. AGONALIA, festivals celebrated in ho- nour of Janus, or of the god Agcnius, whom the Romans invoked before undertaking any affair of importance. They sc-em to have been kept three times in the year, viz. on the 5th of the ides of January, on the 12th of the calends of June, and on the 3d of the ides of December. ■AGONISTICI, a name given by Donates to such of his disciples as he sent to fairs, mar- kets, and other public places, to preach and propagate his doctrine. AGONIUM, in Roman antiquity, was used for the day on which the rex sacroriun sacri- liecd a victim, as well as for the place where the games were celebrated, otherwise called agon. AGONOTHETA, or Agonothetes, in Gr ecian antiquity, was the president or super- intendanl of the sacred games ; w ho not only defrayed the expenccs attending them, but inspected the' manners and discipline of the athletic, and adjudged the prizes io the victors. At first there was only one itgonotheta in the Olympic games ; but several colleagues were afterwards joined with him, three of whom had the direction of the horse races, three others of the pentathlon, and the re st of the other exercises. AGONACLIT2E, or Agonyclites, a sect of Christians, in the seventh century, who prayed always standing, as thinking it u.ilaw- iul to kneel. AGORANOMUS, a magistrate of Athens who had the regulation of weights and mea- sures, of the prices of provisions, See. r J lie agoranomus answered in part to the axlile of the Romans. AGOS'lUS signifies the part of the arm from the fingers to the elbow : also the palm or hollow of the hand, AGRARIAN stations, agraria stationes , in the Roman art of war, were a kind eft' ad- vanced guards, posted in the fields. Agrarian laves, among the same people, were those relating to the division and distri- bution of lands; of which there were a Great number: but that called the agrarian ft// bv vay of eminence, was published In Sperms Cassius, about the year of Rome firs, for di- viding the conquered lands equally among all the citizens, and limiting the number ot acres which each citizen might enjoy. AGR EEME.N 1, in law, signili sthe con- sent ot persons to any thing done, or to be done. 1 here are three kinds of agreement, b ird, an agreement already executed at flic beg in- ning; as when motley is paid, or other satis- faction made for the thing agreed to. Se- condly, an agreement after an act done by another, to which a person agrees: this is also executed. 1 hirdly, an agreement executory, or to be executed in time to come. An agreement is generally made prepara- tory to some more formal instrument of con- veyance. On breach of an agreement there is a remedy either at common law, or in a court of equity. But when the matter ls merely in damages, there the remedy is at law; because the damages cannot be a.-cer- tained by tire conscience of the chancellor, but by the verdict of a jury. AH aarcemen's 23 A G U AIL A I R lo be valid ought to be on a stamp, or at least duly stamped at the stamp-office within the time limited by lav/, viz. twenty-one days after the date of the -agreement. AGRICULTURE. See Gardening and Husbandry. AGRIMONIA, a genus of the dodeeandria d igynia class and order of plants, with rosaceous flowers, the cup of which at length becomes an oblong echinated fruit, containing one or two oblong seeds. The essential character is, calyx rive-cleft, fenced with one another; pe- tals rive ; seeds two, at the bottom of the calyx. There are five species ; two, the A. rupato- ria, or common A., and the A. odorata, na- tives of Great Britain. The leaves of the common agrimony make a very pleasant tea, said to be good in the jaundice, in cachectic cases, and in obstructions of the liver and spleen. The country people also formerly used it, by way of cataplasm, in contusions and fresh wounds. AGR1PPA, a denomination given by an- tient as well as modern physicians, to children born with the feet foremost. See Mid- wifery. AGROSTEMA, a genus of decandrious plants, according to Linnxus but compre- hended among the lychnises by Tournefort. The class and order is decandria pentagynia. The corolla is wheel-shaped; and the essen- tial character is, calyx one-leaved, coriaceous ; petals live, clawed ; border obtuse, undivided; capsule one-celled. There are four species, all well known as highly ornamental to our fields and gardens.. The A. githagO) or corn cockle, though a troublesome weed to the farmer, is beautiful to. the eye. It is an annual plant, and flowers in June and July- The agrostema coronaria, or rose-campion, has long been an inhabitant of our gardens, and the double variety is par- ticularly handsome. It is biennial, and some- times perennial, though apt, in the gardener's phrase, to fog off after it has flowered. '1 he A. flos Jovis is more rare, but is an elegant perennial. The A- cceli rosa is an annual, very delicate and beautiful. AGIlOSTIS, a genus of triandrious plants, called in English bent grass. It is of the class and order triandria digynia. The essen- tial character is, calyx bivalve, one-flowered, a little less than the corolla ; stigmas longitu- dinally shaped. There are not less than 35 species of this grass; most of them are foreign, and some only annual. About eight species are enu- merated as natives of Britain. AGROSTOGRAPHIA signifies the his- t » y or description of grasses. Such is that of Scheuehzer, containing an accurate descrip- tion of several hundred species of grass. A-G ROUND, expresses the situation of a ship, the bottom of which rests on the ground. AG RYPNTA, denotes much the same with watchfulness, or an inaptitude to sleep ; which is a very troublesome symptom of feverish, and other disorders, Agr.ypn.ia, in the Greek church, the vigil of any of the greater festivals. AGU E, a general' name for all intermittent fevers, which, according to the different times of the return of the feverish paroxysm,. or fit, are denominated quotidian, . tertian, or quartan agues. See Medicine. AGURAII, in Jewish antiquity, the name of a silver coin, otherwise called gerah and keshitah. AGUSADURA, Agusage, in our old customs, a certain fee paid by vassals to their lord, for the sharpening of their plough- tackle. AGYNEIA, a genus of the monoecia mona- delphia class and order. The essential cha- racter is, calyx six-leaved ; corolla none. In the male flowers the anthers are three, grow- ing to the rudiments of the style. In the fe- male the germ is perforated at top, without style or stigma. The genus comprehends two shrubs, natives of China, but of little note. AGYNIANI, a sect of heretics who con- demned all carnal commerce with women. A-HEAD, refers to any object that lies im- mediately before a-ship, or tow ards that point of the compass to which her prow is directed, used in opposition to a-stern. A-HULL, denotes the situation of a ship, when all her sails are furled, bn account of the violence of a storm, and when, having lashed her helm to the lee side, she lies nearly with her side to the wind and sea, her head being somewhat inclined to the direction of the wind. AID, in law, denotes a petition made in court to call in help from another person, who lias interest in land, or other thing contested. This is called aid prior, which not only strengthens the party that prays for the aid, but gives the other person an opportunity of avoiding the prejudice that might otherwise accrue to his own right. Thus, a tenant for life may pray aid of the person in reversion; and a city or borough that holds a fee-farm of the king, if any tiring is demanded of them, may pray for aid of the king. Aid, auxilium, in antient customs, a sub- sidy paid by vassals to their lord on certain occasions. Such were the aid of relief, paid upon the death of the lord mesne, to his heir; the aid cheval, or capital aid, due to- the chief lord on several occasions ; as to make his eldest son a knight, to make up a portion for marrying his daughter, and so in other cases. AIGIIENDALE, the name of a liquid measure used in Lancashire, containing seven quarts. AIGUILLE, an instrument used by engi- neers to pierce a rock for the lodgment of powder ; as in a mine, or to mine a rock, so as to excavate and make roads. AIGUISCE'; Ajguisse', or Eguisce', in heraldry, denotes a cross with its four ends sharpened, but so as to terminate in obtuse angles. It differs from, the cross fitchec, in- asmuch as the latter goes, tapering by degrees to a point, and the former only at- the ends. Al LAN THUS denotes, in Amboina, the tree of heaven, so called on account of its lofty growth; a genus of tree, the class and order of which are not ascertained: some accounting it polygamia monoecia, and some dioeceia de- candria. It has male, female, and hermaphro- dite flowers. It is a native of China, but grows very fast in our climate, and- is recom- mended for ornamental- plantations. If the bark is wounded, a resinous juice flows out, which hardens in a few days. The wood is hard, heavy, glossy, resembling satin. We know of only one species. AILE, or Aiel, in law, a. writ which lies where a person’s grand-father, or great-grand- father, being seized of lands, & c. in fee-simple the day that he died, the stranger abates or enters the same day, and dispossesses the heir of his inheritance." AIM FRONTLET, a piece of wood, hol- lowed out to fit the muzzle of a gun, to make, it of an equal height with the breech, formerly made use of by the gunners to level and direct their pieces. AIR. The most important discoveries of modern philosophy are those which relate to the composition of fluids, and of the elastic or aerial fluids in particular. The restricted form of a dictionary, which is confined to the al- phabetical arrangement, renders the develope- ment of science, so as to meet and satisfy the ideas of the young student, in some measure difficult. We shall depart from it in tlris in- stance, in order to render clear, if possible, the present most important article, which may serve in some measure as a key to the most valuable discoveries of modern science. The air, even of the atmosphere, was for- merly accounted an elementary principle. It never entered into the minds of philosophers that it was of a compound nature. It is indeed ' somewhat extraordinary that they never were led to investigate the causes of fluidity itself, or to enquire what were the circumstances which constituted a fluid substance. Previous tp the grand discovery of Dr. Black, Boerhaave, Hales, and some other phi- losophers, had suspected that the presence of heat, or the elementary matter of fire, was the efficient cause of fluidity. The melting of tallow, wax, and metals, by the application of heat, and the condensation of water into ice, by the withdrawing of it, had led them insen- sibly to tlris conclusion ; which was confirmed on finding that mercury, which has so strong an attraction or affinity for the matter of herit- or fire, that it remains fluid in the usual tem- perature of our atmosphere, became a solid metallic mass, ductile, and possessing all the qualities of a metal, in a certain degree of cold, beyond what is common in these cli- mates. The indefatigable Dr. Black, on investigat- ing fully the nature of heat, or elementary fire, found that the first effect of its admission, in a larger quantity than usual to solid bodies- was to expand them ; that the next effect was to reduce them to a fluid state ; and that the last effect w as to present them in the state of an elastic or aerial fluid. Thus, water, in what may be called its natural state, is ice ; by the application of a. higher degree of heat (above. 32 degrees, of our thermometer) it becomes fluid ; and by increasing the heat to above 2 12. degrees, it is converted into vapour, which is an elastic, or compressible fluid. Hence it- was concluded, that heat, elementary fire, or, as it is called in modern chemistry,- caloric, is, the only permanent fluid in nature, and the cause of ail fluidity in all other substances whatever. It was found also, that certain, substances had a stronger attraction for caloric than others ; hence it was accounted for why certain matters continued in a fluid state, and some even in that of plastic fluids, in the- ordinary state of our atmosphere.. See Ca- loric and Fluidity. Some of these aeriform fluids are found to. retain their elasticity only in a very high tern-- perature.. Such is the vapour from common, water.; such as forms smoke,. clouds, &cq. and; A I it such arc the vapours which arise in distillation, and which are condensed as soon as the -super- fluous caloric, or heat, is withdrawn (See Dis- tillation), while others retain their aerial form in all the varieties of our atmosphere, hence arose a distinction between elastic fluids and permanently elastic fluids. These latter, for a reason that will be presently as- signed, were called gases. Some of these will be found to be simple , that is, when caloric is united with some simple elementary sub- stance ; others will be found of a compound nature, when two elementary substances are held suspended in a mixed state by the matter of caloric ; and such is our common atmo- spheric air, which consists of two elementary substances ; oxi/gen in the proportion of about one-fourth, and azote about three-fourths, sus- pended iu a mass of caloric. See Oxygen, Azote, &c. Hence it is evident that the aeriform fluids differ from each other, according to the na- ture of the elementary principles which form their respective bases. This was, however, a matter which did not strike the early che- mists. Though they perceived that those fluids which were occasionally raised in their processes, were permanently elastic, and dif- ferent in their nature from common air, they did not enquire into their different properties, contenting themselves with giving them a name which meant nothing, denominating them, in general, spiritus sijlvestris. Van Helmont distinguished them by the name o i'gas, which lie defined to be a spirit, or incoercible vapour, as the word gas, or ra- t hev-ghoa-st, in the Dutch language, signifies. He supposes the gas to have beeu retained by the substances from which it is extracted, in a fixed or concrete form. lie asserts, that sixty-two pounds of charcoal contain sixty-one of gas, and only one of earth, and attributes the fatal effects which workmen experience occasionally in mines to the emancipation of this spirit. On the same principle he accounts for the eructations from the stomachand bowels, and for the floating of drowned bodies ; and he concludes by determining, that this gas is a fluid of a nature quite different from that of our common air. The existence of two different kinds of va- pour or elastic fluids, had been previously ob- served in mines and coal-works : the one was observed to affect animals with a sense of suf- focation, and to extinguish life, and. it therefore obtained the name of the c hook-damp ; the other, from the dangerous property of catch- ing fire when a caudle or any ignited body was brought in contact with it, was termed tiie fire-damp. A specimen of the fire-damp, or inflam- mable air, was collected from a coal-mine of sir James Lowtber, in Cumberland, and brought up in bladders to lie exhibited to the Royal Society at London, in the year 1733 ; and in the year 1736 Mr. John Maud procured, from the solution of iron in oil of vitriol, a quantity of the very same species of inflam- mable air, and demonstrated that the same might be procured from most of the metals in certain circumstances. The experiments of Van Helmont were greatly improved upon by the sagacious Boyle. He changed the name ot gas to that of artifi- cial air ; he demonstrated, that this artificial air was not always tiie same ; for instance, that the air produced by fermentation is es- sentially different from that which is formed from the explosion of gunpowder. He was the first who perceived that the volume of air was diminished by the combustion of certain substances. This last observation of Mr. Boyle seems particularly to have attracted the attention of Dr. I tales, and he invented instruments for determining the quantities both of the air, which was on some occasion produced, and on other occasions absorbed, by different sub- stances. These experiments deserve the at- tention of every philosopher, and for accu- racy or ingenuity have never been exceeded. Among other circumstances, which were particularly remarked by Dr. Hales, was the great quantity of air contained in the acidu- lated mineral waters, and to this air he sus- pected they were indebted for their sparkling and brightness, and some other of their pecu- liar qualities. in observing the absorption of air by bodies in combustion, he saw that this absorption had its limits : he remarked also, in some cast's, the alternate production and ab- sorption of air, as for instance in respect to the air which he produced from the burning of nitre, which air, he observed, was very soon diminished in bulk, though he did not per- ceive that the absorption w as owing to the water, which he always used in his experi- ments. The production of an air capable of inflammation from the distillation of certain substances did not escape his observation ; and he Iras advanced, that the augmentation of weight in the metallic calces was in some degree owing to the air which thev imbibed. That the phosphorus of Homberg diminishes the air in which it is burned ; that nitre cannot explode in vacuo ; and that air is in general necessary to the crystallization of salts ; are among the facts, which are noticed by this philosopher. From tire uncertainty, however, of Dr. Hales and his predecessors, with regard to se- veral material circumstances, of w'hich they appear to have had some casual glimpses, and from their total ignorance of others, the doc- trine of the aerial fluids was but in a state of infancy, till the decisive experiments of Dr. Black, Mr. Cavendish, and Dr. Priestley, fur- nished us with a new system in this important department of natural history. The first of these philosophers observed, that lime and magnesia, in their mild state, consist of an union of a certain aerial fluid with the earthy base ; that this aerial matter is actu- ally extracted by the operation of burning, which reduces ordinary calcareous earth to the state of quick-lime ; and that it is afterwards re-absorbed by the quick-lime when exposed to the air. On this principle he was able, not only to account for the loss of weight by the burning of lime-stone, but to estimate to the greatest nicety the additional weight which it could acquire from the atmosphere. He ex- tracted the gas, to which he gave the name of iixed or fixable air, also by another process, namely, by dissolving the calcareous earth in acids v he found that the causticity of lime de- pended upon its violently attracting from ve- getable and. animal matter a portion of that air of w'hich- k had been deprived, and that upon this principle lie was enabled to render caustic the alkaline salts. To Mr. Cavendish the second place in the order of this history belongs. He pursued the experiments of Dr. Black, and ascertained the 29 quantity of fixed air which could be retained by the fixed and volatile alkalies. He ac- counted for the nature of acidulated waters by the livable air which they contained. He procured a species of inflammable air from solutions of iron and zinc in vitriolic acid; and he was the first who remarked, that a solution of copper in spirit of salt, instead of yielding inflammable air, like that of iron, or zinc, afforded a particular species of air, which lost its elasticity by coming in contact with water. Dr. Priestley commenced his philosophical . career by some experiments upon fixable air: and the first of his communications to the public related to the impregnating of water with this air, by means of chalk and oil of vi- triol; a method first hinted by Dr. Brown- rigg of Whitehaven, and now commonly practised in the imitations of the acidulated mineral waters. The doctor tried the power of fixable air upon animal and vegetable life, and found it fatal to both. The indefatigable mind of Dr. Priestley w r as not, however, to be satisfied with the in- vestigation of a single object. He next turned his attention to the nature of atmospheric air. He observed, after Dr. Hales, its diminution by different processes, as by combustion, &c. but differs as to the cause. Dr. 1 laics supposed the specific gravity of the air to be increased ; but Dr. Priestley judged, that the denser part of the air is precipitated, and that the re- mainder is actually made lighter. The dis^ covery that the atmospheric air is purilied by vegetation is also Dr. Priestley’s. On pursuing the experiments of Mr. Ca- vendish on inflammable air, the doctor found that it was not only producible from iron, and zinc, but from every inflammable substance whatever. Dr. Priestley discovered the cause that air, which has been respired, is fatal to animal life, to be, that it becomes impregnated w ith something stimulating to the lungs, for they are affected in the same manner as when ex- posed to any other kind of noxious r.ir. But his most important discovery was, that the nitrons air whi<*h he procured from the so- lution of metals in the nitrous acid, had the property of destroying the purest part of tiie common air. On pursuing Ins experiments. Dr. Priestley found, on extracting airs from different substances* that the air produced from calcined mercury was of a purer nature,, and more favourable to animal life and com- bustion, than common atmospheric air : it was,, in truth, the same with the pure part of the air which was destroyed by the nitrous gas, as- well as by breathing and' combustion. He therefore denominated it pure or vital air, and this was afterwards found to be what is now called oxygen air or gas, the basis of which is oxygen, already noticed under the article Acid. Dr. Priestley continued his experiments on inflammable air, and found that all the metals which yield it when dissolved in acids, yielded it by means of heat alone ; his mode of ex- tracting it was by subjecting the filings of the different metals in vacuo to the action of a burning-glass. The next remarkable, andperhaps the most * important discovery, was that of Mr. Caven- dish, which .has explained to us the nature and composition of water. Mr. Cavendish was led to this great discoverv by an expe- riment of Mr. Warltire,. related By Dr. 30 A 1 R Priestley, in which it was found, that on in- flaming a mixture of common and inflam- mable air by the electric spark, a loss of weight always ensued, and that the inside of the vessel in which it was fired became always moist or dewy, though ever so carefully dried before. On repeating the experiment, Mr. Cavendish did not perceive the diminution of weight which Mr Warltire supposed to take place, but the latter effect was completely exemplified. In prosecuting the experiment, it appeared that it was only the pure or em- pyreal part, that is, about one-fourth, of the common air which was consumed, and the water produced was perfectly tasteless and pure ; on mixing vital with inllammable air in a due proportion, and passing through them an electric spark, the whole portion lost its ■elasticity, and was condensed into water. Mr. Cavendish pursued his experiments with remarkable success, to ascertain the constituent principles of what was then called phlogisticated air, or that which constitutes the impure and unrespirable portion of the atmospheric air; and by passing the electric spark through common air, and through a Certain mixture of vital and phlogisticated airs, he was able totally to condense the lat- ter, and to ascertain its constituent principle to be the same with that of nitrous acid, with (as he then thought) a small portion of in- flammable matter. In this latter opinion, however, he has since been corrected bv La- voisier, and other modern chemists, who have proved that azotic, or phlogisticated air (as it is called by the English chemists) is no other than the basis of the nitrous acid. In Mr. Cavendish’s experiment, as he pro- bably used air which had been rendered im- pure by combustion, some small portion of charcoal, or other inllammable matter, might be contained in the air. Some gases exi-t in nature without the aid of ait, and may be collected ; others are only producible by artificial means. The prin- cipal airs, or gases, noticed in modern philo- sophy are, • Oxygen gas or air. Phpsporated hydro- Nitrogen gas or air. gen gas. Hydrogen gas or Nitrous gas or air. air. Sulphureous acid gas. Annnoniacal gas or Gaseous oxyd of t air- azote. Carbonic acid gas. Muriatic acid gas. Carbonated hydro-. Oxygenated muriatic gen gas. acid gas. Sulphuratedhydro- Fluoric acid gas. gen gas. _ Air vital, or Oxygen gas, formerly termed also dephlogistieated and empyreal air: is a substanc e destitute both of taste and smell, but possessing in an eminent degree the power of increasing and supporting animal me and. combustion. It is heavier at the same time than atmospheric air, in the pro- portion of 103 to 100, and the latter, main- tains life only in consequence of the quantity oi this fluid it contains. This proportion is rated at 27 in 100. I his air changes the colour of animal and vegetable substances. Ir is a composition of oxygen and caloric. Combustion by it is rendered amazingly intense ; and its powers, when urged by the' blowpipe, tar exceed the powers of any burning lens. A lighted wax taper, fixed do an iron wire, and let down into a vessel of this gas, burns with an inconceivable brilliancy. If the taper is blown out, and let down into a vessel of the gas, while the snuff remains red-hot, it in- stantly re-k indies. A red-hot piece of char- coal immersed in this gas, throws out beau- tiful sparks. In this gas thin iron wire will burn with beautiful effect. During every combustion in oxygen gas, the gas suffers a material diminution ; and all bodies by com- bustion in it acquire an addition to their weight. Cxygen, or the basis of oxygen gas, is na- turally or artificially combined with a great variety of substances. From some of these it may be detached by the simple application of heat, since it has a remarkable attrac- tion tor caloric, or the matter of fire, with which, when it unites, it becomes expanded, and assumes the form of gas or air. i he substances from which it may be most easily extracted, by means of heat, are red lead, calcined mercury, nitre, and manga- nese. Dr. Priestley exposed a quantity of red lead in tire focus ot a burning glass twelve • inches in diameter. A quantity of fixed ; air, or carbonic acid gas, as it is now called, j was always produced at first ; but after that was separated, the remainder was found to support flame, and to sustain animal life, much more vigorously than common air, and to have all the characters of dephlogistieated air, °r oxygen gas. By various succeeding experiments of Dr. Priestley and others, it however appears, that dephlogistieated or oxygen air, may be ob- tained not only by means of heat, but also by the action ot the vitriolic and nitrous acids upon a number of mineral and metallic sub- stances. 1 his kind of air may also be obtained by the same process, from the native oxid, or calx of manganese, or from minium or red lead, which, it is well known, is an oxid of lead, or lead united with oxygen. I he better do understand these effects, it must be observed, that this fluid is not found in these substances in an entire state ; they only contain the basis ot it, which is the oxy- gen ; for metals neither calcine nor burn, but in consequence of their combination with oxygen, which by that means becomes solid, and joins its weight with theirs. This oxygen, is then expelled by the application of heat or caloric, which, combining with it, causes it to pass into the state of an elastic fluid ; during this process, the metal, losing the oxygen which had reduced it to the state of an oxid or calx, assumes its metallic properties; and loses the weight which it had acquired in be- coming oxidated. I here is, however, a method by which ox- ygen gas may be obtained with less heat and greater facility, and it is as follows: put some red lead into a bottle, togetherwith some good strong oil of vitriol, but without anv water. Let the red lead fill about a quarter of the bottle, and the vitriolic acid be about the same quantity, or very little less ; then apply a bent tube to the bottle, by inserting it through a cork, and having inverted another boftlc filled with water in a bason about half- filled also with water, direct the other end of the crooked tube into the bottle inverted in the water. In this stage of the process we must observe, that without heat this mixture of red lead and vitriolic acid will not afford any oxygen air, or a very inconsiderable quantity ; it is necessary, therefore, to apply the flame of a candle or wax taper to the bottle containing the ingredients, while the crooked tube opens a communication between this bottle and that inverted in the water. In this manner the red lead will yields a quan- tity of elastic fluid, which will pass through the crooked tube into the inverted bottle, and as the quantity of oxygen air increases in the inverted bottle, the water in it will be seen to subside ; this air will not be all pure, be- cause a considerable quantity of fixed air en- ters with it. In order to separate the' fixed from the pure air, the inverted bottle, when filled with the compound of both, must be agitated in a bason of lime-water, by which means the lime-water will absorb the whole quantity of fixed air, and leave t he dephlogis- ticated air or oxygen gas by itself. Oxygen gas may also be obtained in consi- derable quantities from the decomposition of water, especially from pump water, which, when exposed to the sun, emits air slowly ; but after it has remained so for a considerable time, a green matter adheres to the bottom and sides of the glass vessel in whit h it re- mained ; afterwards it emits pure oxygen air m great quantities, and continues to do so for a long time after the green matter has exhibit- ed symptoms of decay by turning yellow. Dr. Ingenhousz rightly supposed' this green matter to belong to the vegetable kingdom, and procured pure air by putting the leaves of plants into water, and exposing" them to the sun. He observes that of land vegetables the fittest for this purpose are the poisonous plants, such as hyoscyamus, lauro-cerasus, nightshade, See. But he extracted the purest air from some aquatic vegetables, and from turpentine trees, but especially from the green matter he collected from a stone trough, which had been kept filled with water from a spring near the high road. M bile Dr. Priestley was engaged in a se- ries of .experiments to enable him to purify contaminated air, he discovered that vege- tables answered this purpose most effectually. The experiment by which he illustrates His assertion was this : having rendered a quan- tity of air very noxious, by mice breathing and dying in It, he divided it into two re- ceivers inverted in water, introducing a sprig of mint into one of them, and keeping the other receiver with the contaminated air in it alone. lie found, about eight or nine days after, the air of the receiver, into which he had introduced the sprig of mint, had become respirable ; for a mouse lived very well in this, but died immediately upon being introduced into the other receiver, containing the conta- minated air alone. It has since been observed, that several ani- mal substances, as well as vegetables, have a power of separating dephlogistieated air, or oxygen gas, from water when exposed to the action of the sun fora considerable time. d he ingenious count Romford observed, that raw silk has a remarkable power of pro- ducing pur# air. lie found, that by introduc- ing thirty grains of this substance, first washed in water, into a thin glass globe four inches and a half in diameter, having a cylindrical neck three-fourths of an inch wide and twelve inches long, inverting the globe into ajar filled with the same kind of water, and exposing it to the action of the sun in the window, in less than ten minutes the silk became covered with an iniinite number of air bubbles, gradually increasing in size, till at the end of two hours the silk was buoyed up, by their means, to the. top of the water. They sepa- rated themselves by degrees, and formed a collection of air in the upper part of the globe, which, when examined by the esta- blished test, appeared to be very pure. In three days he collected three and three- fourths of a cubic inch of pure air, into which a wax taper being introduced, that had just before been blown out, the wick only remain- ing red, it instantly took lire, and burned with a bright and enlarged dame. The water in the globe had acquired the smell of raw silk, it lost something of its transparency, and as- sumed a faint greenish cast. It has been observed, that when this expe- riment was made in the dark, only a few in- considerable bubbles were formed, which re- mained attached to the silk; nor was it other- wise when the glass globe was removed into a German stove. In the latter case, indeed, some single bubbles had detached themselves from the silk, and ascended to the top, but the air was in too small a quantity to be either measured or proved. In these experiments, the oxygen or pure air was extracted by an actual decomposition of a part of the water, by means of a capil- lary attraction, aided by 'the solar influence and in effect the same philosopher was en- abled to extract it, though in a smaller quan- tity", by means of a number of very minute glass tubes immersed in water, and exposed to the sun. The reason that pure air is the most essen- tial of all the fluids to the support of life is, probably, because a great quantity of heat is necessary for this purpose, and because this fluid contains it in great quantity, and parts with it very freely when it meets with any substance with which it has an affinity. But as its basis (oxygen) combines itself very easily with the basis of coal which is found in the bfood and lungs, and during this combination, loses part of its caloric, or heat, which goes to the support of life, the remainder of the ca- loric and oxygen, combined with the coal, form the acid carbonic gas or fixable air, which is always found to exist in a larger quan- tity in air which has been respired, than in at- mospherical air which has not been subser- vient to that function. Of this a very easy experiment affords sufficient proof; it is founded on the property which the carbonic gas has of rendering lime-water turbid. A crooked tube open at both ends is partly filled with lime-water ; a person applies his mouth to one end of the tube, and inspires, by draw- ing the air through the lime-water contained in it. By this the transparency of the lime- water is not affected ; but it becomes turbid as soon as the person expires, which is owing to the carbonic acid formed in the lungs. It is therefore the great attraction which exists between the matter of coal and the basis of pure air which renders this fluid so proper for breathing. The pure air which we breathe performs two functions equally necessary to our preservation; it carries off from the blood that matter of coal, the superabundance of which would be pernicious, and the heat which this combination deposits in the lungs repairs the continual loss of heat which we experience from surrounding bodies. Ac- A I R cording to Dr. Priestley, and others, the basis of oxygen gas is also absorbed by the blood. Since, therefore, a great quantity of heat is disengaged from pure air in respiration, it foi lows, that this fluid must be very pernicious to animals who breathe this air alone for a considerable time ; which is consonant with the observations of physicians, who have at- tempted to cure phthisis by the respiration of vital air. The basisof this emyprealorpure air, oroxy- gen gas, as the French chemists term it, is one of the constituent parts of, water, it lias been mentioned, that it is also the matter which gives the acid character to the acids ; sul- phur, for instance, is a very innoxious, insipid body, till by burning, that is by absorbing oxygen, it becomes vitriolic acid.' V\ bother the basis of this empyreal air is a simple or compound substance, we are unable to de- termine; in the present state, however, of philosophical knowledge, we are justified in considering it as a simple elementary body, for it has never yet been decomposed. Air Azotic, or Nitrogen gas, named also mephitis, is a substance" unlike the former, being incapable of supporting animal life. It extinguishes flame, and is only characterised by possessing none of the distinguishing qua- lities of. the other known airs, "it is lighter than common air, in the proportion of 985 to 1 000. It may be considered indeed as the residue of common air, when vitiated by com- bustion. It is easily disengaged from animal matters, by a slight increase of temperature ; but different parts of animals afford different proportions ot it, and the concrescible fibrous matter the most. The portion of it they in general afford is proportioned to their quan- tity of volatile alkali. Azotic or nitrogen gas may be procured by mixing equal weights of iron filings and sul- phur into a paste with water, and placing the mixture in a proper vessel over water. Then invert over it a jar full of common air, and allow" it to stand exposed to the mixture a day or two. 1 he air contained in the jar will gra- dually diminish, as will appear from the ascent of the water within the jar, till at last only about three-fourths of its original bulk re- main. This gas is not absorbed by water : it im- mediately extinguishes a lighted candle, and other burning substances : it is fatal to animals confined in it : plants, however, live and flou- rish in it : by it delicate blue colours are slight- ly reddened; and when mixed with oxygen gas, in the proportion of three or four parts of azotic gas to one of oxygen, it composes a mixture resembling atmospheric air. Its basis is azote, an elementary substance, which is also the basis of nitrous acid or aquafortis. Its combination with oxygen gives it the acid character. In this state it is combined with that substance. In the state of atmospheric air it is only mixed. Air, Inflammable, or Hydrogen gas. This air, named also fire-damp, is peculiarly dis- tinguished by its great levity and inflamma- bility. It is the lightest substance whose weight we are able to estimate. When pure, it is thirteen times lighter than atmospheric air, and it immediately explodes on mixture with oxygen. It is formed by the union of hydrogen and caloric. Its lightness is parti- cularly evinced by its use in balloons. Plants grow in this fluid without impairing its in- 3l flammability. Water imbibes about one- thirteenth part of it ; and when again expelled, it is as inflammable as ever. By this addition both its bulk and specific gravity are increas- ed ; for it occupies one-eighth more space by its combination, and its weight is increased, so as to be only one-tenth lighter than com- mon air. _ Hydrogen gas is thus procured : let sulphu- ric acid, diluted with live or six times its weight of water, be poured on iron filings in a glass bottle or small retort. An effervescenc e wiil ensue, and the gas which escapes is in- flammable air or hydrogen gas. This effect is produced by the decomposition of the wa- tery parts of the acid ; the oxygen is absorbed by the metal, and with the 'sulphur forms a solid saline mass (martial vitriol or copperas); 'I he hydrogen which enters into the compo- sition of the water is disengaged in the form oi hydrogen gas. According to M. Lavoisier, water is com- posed ot eighty-five parts of oxygen and fifteen parts of hydrogen. This philosopher has in- structed us in the following method of obtain- ing this gas by heat only. Let water pass drop by drop through the barrel of a gun, while it remains red-hot amidst burning coals; let a crooked tube be placed at the end of this iron, and bent, so that it may- be passed into a glass vessel full of water in- verted in the pneumatic apparatus. There will then pass into the glass vessel an aeriform fluid, which is inflammable air cr hydrogen gas. In this process the water suffers a de- composition, and while the hydrogen passes into the glass receiver, the ox\ gen unites with the substance of the gun barrel, and oxydates or rusts its internal surface. . The electric spark also, taken in any species of oil, produces hydrogen or inflammable air, this substance being a constituent part of all. the oils. The same may be said of aether, and alcohol or spirit of wine, which contain a great proportion of hydrogen. Mr. Cavallo informs us, that he has pro- cured this kind of air from the ponds about London, in the following manner : fill a wide- mouthed bottle with pond-water, and keep it inverted in it ; then with a stick stir the mud at the bottom of the pond just under the in- verted bottle, so as to permit the bubbles of air which rise to be received in the inverted bottle ; and this air will be found to be inflam- mable. The ignes fatui are supposed to proceed from the inflammable air which abounds in marshy grounds, and to be set on fire by elec- tric sparks. The most remarkable properties of this gas are, 1st. its great inflammability, which arises from its propensity to unite with oxygen and form water. 2dly. Its extraordinary levity, as already noticed. 3dly. Metals are very ea- sily revived or reduced from a calyx or oxyd to the metallic state when heated in a receiver filled with this air. This also arises from its attraction for oxygen, which in this case is ex- pelled from the calx ; and, uniting with the hydrogen in the receiver to form water, leaves the metal pure, and in its natural state. 4thly. Plants vegetate in this fluid without impairing its inflammability . 5thly. Water will imbibe about 1-I3th of its bulk of this gas. This gas remains permanent over water ; it is inflammable. Fill a small jar or common phial with the gns, and holding it with its mouth downwards, bring the gas into contact with the flame of a candle; the air will take fire, and burn silently with a blueish flame. In a strong phial mix equal parts of hydrogen gas and common air, and apply to the mouth a lighted candle, and it will burn with a sud- den and loud explosion. One part of oxygen gas, and two or three of hydrogen gas, will give a report equal to that of a pistol. Hydrogen gas lias an unpleasant smell ; it extinguishes burning bodies ; it is fatal to ani- mals ; and is, as we have observed, consider- ably lighter than atmospherical air. I hese then are the three simple or original gases, from which, variously modified, all the rest are produced ; and the first of these pro- ductions is universally diffused, and of the first importance to life, constituting an essential part of what we constantly breathe, and by which we are surrounded, atmospheric air. , Air, combined, or atmospheric gas, is a mixture of two or three substances in the elastic state. By the powers of chemistry this fluid, when examined, is found to consist prin- cipally of oxygen air, azote, and carbonic acid, in certain proportions. From the abundant production of inflammable air, or hydrogen gas, at the surface of the earth, in consequence of the corruption or decomposition of animal and vegetable matters, this fluid must also be generated ; yet its extreme levity will natu- rally carry it to the higher regions, so that, though a part of the atmosphere, it is placed in a situation beyond the examination of che- mists. To a mixture then of oxy gen and azotic air, with carbonic acid, the term atmospheric air is applied ; and this mixture is in the propor- tion of 27 parts of oxygen air, 72 of azotic, and 1 of carbonic acid gas. The proofs of this composition of atmosphe- ric air were first offered by Mr. Scheele, who found, on its exposure to certain substances, that it suffered a diminution of volume, and that by this diminution it was rendered unfit for the support of life. This abstracted part, therefore, could not fail to be oxygen or vital air ; and from this mixture of oxygen and azote, he naturally inferred that atmospheric air came to be formed. T his he farther con- firmed by restoring oxygen to it, in conse- quence of which it regained all its properties of atmospheric air. On the same subject he was succeeded by Lavoisier, who, in addition to these facts, showed that the oxygen, or at- tracted part, was received by the substance producing the change, and could be often re- covered again from it. But though the composition of atmospheric air has been thus ascertained, something still remains wanting to complete it ; and this is the manner of combining by experiment its parts. Hence it is doubted whether its parts exist naturally in a state of chemical combi- nation, or of mechanical mixture. That the latter takes place appears probable from the different proportion of oxygen which it is found to contain in the higher and lower re- gions, it being always greater towards the sur- face of the earth ; and from the unlimited proportion in which these airs can be mixed, while the different matters present in the at- mospheric regions may tend strongly to pre- vent their separation. At the same time, as a proof of its simple mixture, it is soluble in 30 times its weight of water. From this knowledge of the composition of atmospheric air, an attempt lias been made to ascertain its purity, or its relative capabi- lity of supporting animal life in different situa- tions. T his is effected by eudiometry, or measuring the exact quantity of oxygen the air contains. To do this it requires to add to the air some body capable of combining with its oxygen, and from the diminished volume of air, the quantity of oxygen is inferred. Different substances have been employed for this purpose, and each preferred by differ- ent chemists. The first eudiometer was made in conse- quence of Dr. Priestley’s discovery, that when nitrous gas is mixed with atmospheric air over water, the bulk of the mixture diminishes ra- pidly ; in consequence of the combination of the gas with the oxygen of the common air, and tlie absorption of the nitric acid thus form- ed by the water. Vv hen nitrous gas is added to nitrogen gas, no diminution takes place ; but when it is mixed with oxygen gas in proper propor- tions, the absorption is complete. Hence it is evident, that in all cases of a mixture of these two gases, the diminution will be in proportion to the quantity of the oxygen. Of course, it will indicate the proportion of oxygen in atmospheric air, and, by mixing it with different proportions of air, it will indi- cate the different quantities of oxygen which they contain, provided the component parts of air are susceptible of variation. Dr. Priestley’s method was, to mix toge- ther equal quantities of air and nitrous gas in a low jar, and then transfer the mixture into a narrow graduated glass tube, about three feet long, in order to measure the diminution of bulk. Ide expressed this diminution by the number of hundredth parts of nitrous gas and common air: and if the sum total was 200, or 2.00 ; suppose the residuum, when mea- sured in the graduated tube, to amount to 104, or 1.04, and of course, that 96 parts of the whole hail disappeared, lie denoted the purity of the air thus tried by 104. Atmospherical air is without taste, and for the most part without smell. It is invisible, transparent, necessary to the support of com- bustion, vegetation, and animal life, particu- larly respiration. It is absorbed in a certain quantity by water, and again expelled by boiling, or by the air-pump removing pres- sure. Air, alkaline, or ammoniacal gas. This air possesses a strong pungent smell, and is even capable of inflaming the skin of ani- mals. Its lightness is next to that of inflam- mable air, and in specific gravity it falls short of atmospheric air, in the proportion of 600 to 1000, and it is incapable of supporting ani- mal life, and also combustion, though the flame of a candle enlarges before it is extinguish- ed by it. It is proved to be a compound of azote and hydrogen, 1000 parts of it contain- ing 807 of azote, and 193 of hydrogen. This air has a strong attraction for water, and is rapidly absorbed by it. When dissolved with water it produces heat ; and when dissolved with ice it produces cold. Ammoniacal gas was first discovered by Dr. Priestley : it is no where found in a na- tural state, but must be produced by an arti- ficial process. To obtain it, put into a re- tort u certain quantity of liquid ammonia, and heal the bottom of the retort, and having suf- fered some air to escape from the retort and the tube, the gas may be collected in vessels filled with mercury. This gas, which seems to be nothing but ammonia deprived of wa- ter, is perfectly absorbable by water, and the solution forms liquid ammonia (the same which is vulgarly called sal volatile and spirit of hartshorn). It is the lightest of all the saline gases, has a penetrating odour, and gives a strong tint of green to blue vegetable colours. It combines rapidly with carbonic, muriatic, and sulphureous acid gases, and forms neutral salts, throwing out a great deal of heat, which arises from the free state of the caloric that had been combined with these gases. Ammoniacal gas suffocates animals, and ex- tinguishes burning bodies ; but it is so far in- flammable, that it increases the flame of a taper before it extinguishes it. Carbonic acid gas is the first elastic aeri- form fluid, different from common air, that was known. We are indebted to Dr. Black, of Edinburgh, for a knowledge of some of its most remarkable properties. In the year 1755 he discovered the affinity between it and the alkali's ; and Bergman, in 1772, proved that it was an acid. Carbonic acid gas cannot support flame, nor animal life ; its taste is acid. Neither light nor caloric seem to produce any effect upon it, except that the latter dilates it. it is absorbed by water. These two fluids, after considerable agitation, at last unite, and form an acid fluid. I he colder the water, and the greater the pressure applied, the more car- bonic gas it will absorb. Water, so impreg- nated, sparkles upon agitation ; it lias an aci- dulous taste, and reddens tincture of litmus. Heat disengages the gas from the water. Carbonic acid gas precipitates lime from its solution in water. It is eagerly attracted by' the alkalis. Its specific weight is to that of atmospheric air, as 1500 to 1000. It may be poured from one vessel into another. Of all the bases of the gases, that of car- bonic acid gas is diffused in the greatest abundance throughout nature. It is found in the state of gas, and also in combination with a great variety of bodies. It may be easily obtained as follows : Put into a common retort a little marble, chalk, orlime- stone, and pour on it sulphuric acid, diluted with about six times its weight of water ; an effervescence will ensue, and carbonic gas will be disengaged, which may be collected over mercury; but a mercurial apparatus is not absolutely necessary, since the gas may be collected over water, if it is to be used immediately. Marble, lime-stone, and chalk, consist ofthis matter and lime. On presenting to it sul- phuric add, a decomposition takes place ; the sulphuric acid having a greater affinity to the lime than the carbonic acid has. It therefore unites to it, and forms sulphate of lime, dis- engaging, at the same time, the carbonic acid in the state of gas. Carbonic acid gas is often found in the lower parts of mines, caverns, tombs, and such other subterraneous places as contain materials for producing it : it is then called the choke-damp. The grotto Del Cane, near Naples, has long been famous for the quan- tity of this gas produced there, which is so great, that it runs out at the opening like a 33 stream of water. A dog, or any other ani- mal, is immediately killed, if its nose is thrust into the lower part of the cavern. But the upper part of the cavern is quite free from the gas, as it does not rise high enough to mix with the atmospheric air. Carbonic acid gas is likewise formed during fermentation. On account of its great weight, it occupies the empty space of the vessel in which the fermenting process is going on. It may, in this case, be collected by plunging a vessel into it. Light carbonated hydrogen gas, is hydrogen gas holding in solution carbon or charcoal. There are several kinds of it obtain- ed by different processes, which differ in their properties, and in the proportions of their con- stituent principles. Light carbonated hydrogen gas has a disa- greeable smell. It is neither absorbed nor al- tered by water. It is very inflammable, anti burns with a denser and deeper coloured flame than pure hydrogen gas. Its specific gravity is greater than that of hydrogen gas, or of com- mon air. This gas is produced from animal, veget- able, and mineral substances. It is found very commonly in marshes and ditches, on the surface of putrid water, in burying-places, common sewers, and in those situations where putrid animal and vegetable matters are ac- cumulated. It is also generated in the in- testinal canal of living animals. It may be plentifully obtained from most stagnated waters. To do this, till a wide- mouthed bottle with water, and keep it inverted with a funnel in its neck : then stir the mud with a stick at the bottom just under the funnel, so as to collect the bubbles of air which rise in various places : as soon as the bottle is tilled with gas, it must be corked under water. It may also be obtained during the distilla- tion of animal and vegetable matters. Let shavings of wood or saw-dust be put into a retort, and apply a gradual heat till the retort becomes red-hot: a great quantity of gas will be disengaged, which may he collected over water. On examining this gas, it will be found to consist of carbonic acid gas and car- bonated hydrogen gas. In order to obtain the latter in a pure state, the whole must be mixed with lime-water, or with caustic alkali dissolved in water. The carbonic acid gas will be absorbed, and the carbonated hydro- gen gas left behind. Heavy carbonated hydrogen gas is not absorbed by water. It has an odour different from that of light carbonated hydro- gen gas. It burns with a strong flame, simi- lar to that of a resinous oil. When mixed with oxygenated muriatic acid gas, its bulk is diminished, and oil is formed. 'When the mixture of these two gases is exploded, a quantity of charcoal is immediately deposited in the form of fine soot. When burned with oxygen gas, or when passed through a red- hot tube tilled with any oxyd from which oxygen is procured, carbonic acid gas is formed. This gas is obtained by decomposing spirit of wine, by sulphuric acid in a great heat. It is also obtained abundantly, when alcohol is passed through a red-hot earthen tube. Sul- phuric ether, mixed with sulphuric acid, and subjected to heat, also affords it. . Let four parts of sulphuric acid, and one of ! VOL. I. A I ft highly rectified ardent spirit, be mingled to- gether gradually in a glass retort: heat will be disengaged, the mixture will become brown, and heavy carbonated hydrogen gas will be extricated. When heat is applied, the action is very violent, and the gas is procured very copiously, and may be received over water. The gas so obtained is mixed with a consi- derable quantity of sulphureous acid gas, from which it may be freed, by agitating it with lime-water, or a solution of potash. Sulphurated hydrogen gas has the properties of an acid ; for when absorbed by water, its solution reddens vegetable blues. It combines also with alkalis, earths, and with several metallic oxyds. Sulphurated hydro- gen gas has an extremely offensive odour, resembling that of putrid eggs. It kills ani- mals, and extinguishes burning bodies. When mixed with oxygen gas, or atmosphe- ric air, it is inflammable. To obtain it, take dry sulpliuret of potash, put it into a tubulated retort in a sand-bath ; or, supported over a lamp, direct the neck of the retort under the receiver placed in a pneumatic trough ; then pour gradually upon the sylphuret diluted sulphuric acid : a violent effervescence will take place, and sul- phurated hydrogen gas will be disengaged. When no more gas is produced, apply heat by degrees till it boils, and gas will again be procured abundantly. The water employed for receiving it should be heated to about 80 or 90 degrees : at this temperature it dissolves little of the gas ; whereas, if cold water is used, a vast quantity of it is absorbed. Water impregnated with sulphurated hy- drogen gas, slightly reddens blue vegetable colours. It is this gas which gives to the mineral waters of Ilarrowgate and Aix-la-Chapelle their peculiar smell. Such waters may there- fore be artificially imitated, by impregnating common water with this gas, and adding the other constituent parts to it. This gas acts strongly on most metallic oxyds. Dip a slip of paper into a solution of lead, and expose it to the action of sulphurated hydrogen gas; and the paper will instantly become blackened. Writing performed with this solution is invisible when dry, but be- comes visible when immersed in a bottle filled with this gas. In this instance, the hydrogen of the gas takes the oxygen from these bodies, and causes them to re-approach the metallic state ; at the same time, the sulphur contain- ed in the gas combines with the metal thus regenerated, and converts it into a sulphuret. Phosphorated hydrogen gas consists of phosphorus dissolved in hydrogen gas. It is the most combustible substance in na- ture. It is distinguished from all other gases by the property of taking fire immediately when brought in contact with atmospheric air. When mixed with oxygen gas, or with oxygenated muriatic acid gas, it burns witli great violence. When bubbles of it are suf- fered to pass through water, they take fire in succession as they reach the surface of the fluid. It has an insupportable odour, similar to that of putrid fish. To obtain it, take a small retort, put into it one part of phosphorus and ten of concentrat- ed solution of potash; make the mixture E boil, and receive the gas over mercury, or, if it is intended for iimnediate use, it may be collected over water. In this process a de- composition of the water takes place. Its oxygen unites to part of the phosphorus, forming phosphoric acid, which joins to the potash, and forms phosphate of potash. The hydrogen of the water dissolves another part of the phosphorus, and is converted into phosphorated hydrogen gas. In preparing this gas the body of the retort should be tilled as nearly as possible with the mixture, otherwise the first portion of gas which is produced inflames in the retort, a vacuum is formed, and the water is forced up into the retort, which endangers the bursting of it. Phosphorated hydrogen gas is also formed by nature. The air which burns at the sur- face of certain springs, and forms what is called burning springs, and the ignis fatuus (jack o’lantern), which glides along burying- grounds, consist of this gas. If the bubbles of air which come from the retort are suffered to escape into the atmo- sphere, they w ill burst with a slight explosion, and produce flashes of fire. A circular dense white smoke rises like a ring, enlarging itself continually in an extremely beautiful manner, if the air is perfectly tranquil. This gas burns with a green light, in nas- cent oxygenated muriatic acid gas, under the surface ot w ater. Put into a deep glass some phosphoretof lime, broken into pieces of the size of a pea, and add half as much oxyge- nated muriate of potash. Fill the vessel with water, and bring into contact with the mate- rials at the bottom of the fluid some concen- trated sulphuric acid. This may be most conveniently done, by letting the acid fall through a long funnel reaching to the bottom of the vessel. As soon as the decomposition, of the w ater, and that of the oxygenated mu- riate takes place, flashes of lire dart from the fluid, and illuminate the bottom of the vessel with a beautiful green light. A ribbon, impregnated with a solution of gold, may be gilt by the action of phospho- rated hydrogen gas. Nitrous gas. This name is given to an aeriform fluid, consisting of a certain quan- tity of nitrogen gas and oxygen; first de- scribed by Priestley, but in some measure known before to Hales. It is colourless, having no sensible taste, and is neither acid nor alkaline : it cannot be respired. The greater number of combusti- ble bodies cannot burn in it. It is neverthe- less capable of supporting the combustion of some bodies. Phosphorus burns in it, when introduced in a state of inflammation; pyro- phorus takes fire in it spontaneously. To obtain it, put into a small retort some pieces of copper, and pour on them nitric acid diluted with water; an effervescence takes place, and nitrous gas will be produced. After having suffered the gas to escape for a few minutes, on account of the common air con- tained in the retort, collect the gas in the w a- ter apparatus as usual. In order to obtain this gas in a pure state, it should be shaken for some time in contact with water. We have seen before, that water was de- composed on bringing in contact with it a metal and an acid. But here the case is dif- ferent ; the water suffers no alteration ; on the contrary, the acid undergoes a partial de- composition"? the metal robs the nitric arid of the greatest part of its oxygen, and be- comes oxydated. I be remainder of the acid having lost so much of its oxygen, be- comes so altered, that, at the usual tempe- rature, it can exist no longer in the liquid state, but instantly expands, and assumes the form of gas, ceasing at the same time to be an acid. It was mentioned before, that nitrous gas greedily attracts oxygen gas from atmosphe- ric air. During this union an acid is produced. Pass up into a tall cylindrical glass vessel over water, about one part of nitrous gas and two of common air. The two fluids will spee- dily unite, red fumes will be produced, and tiie volume of the two combined gases will be diminished. A considerable degree of heat will be perceived, the water will rise in the vessel, and absorb the red vapours. "When the two gases have mixed in proper propor- tion, nothing remains at last but the nitrogen gas of the atmospheric air. Usually sixteen parts of common air are re- quisite to destroy' completely seven of nitrous gas ; tins, however, varies according to the purity of the atmospheric air. The nitrous gas, in this experiment, decom- poses the atmospheric air ; it takes the oxy- gen gas from the nitrogen gas, unites with it, and forms nitrous acid. The nitrous gas is therefore left behind ; the heat which is ge- nerated, is that which kept the gases in solu- tion, which is now set free. If, instead of atmospheric air, oxygen gas is used, this experiment will be still more striking, and the gases will almost entirely dis- appear. Upon this property which nitrogen gas has, of absorbing the oxygen of the atmosphere, Priestley formed the eudiometers, already mentioned. Gaseous oxyd of azote, or nitrous oxyd. The union of azote, or nitrogen and oxygen, which we considered before under the name of nitrous gas, does not constitute the first degree of oxygenation of nitrogen. There is another degree below this. This was formerly called dephlogisticated nitrous gas, but now gaseous oxyd of nitrogen, or nitrons oxyd. It was first discovered by Priestley. Professor Davy has examined with great ^accuracy the formation and properties of all the substances concerned in its production ; and to him we are indebted for a thorough knowledge of this gas. We shall describe its principal properties as we find them in his Researches. Gaseous oxyd of nitrogen is a permanent gas. A candle burns in it with a brilliant flame and crackling noise : before its extinc- tion the white inner flame becomes surround- ed with a blue one. Phosphorus introduced to it in a state of inflammation bums with in- creased splendour, as in oxygen gas. Sulphur introduced into it when burning with a feeble blue flame, is extinguished ; but when in a state of vivid inflammation it burns with a rose-coloured flame. Lighted charcoal burns in it more brilliantly than in atmospheric air. Iron wire with a small piece of wood affixed to it, and introduced inflamed into a vessel filled with this gas, burns rapidly, and throws out bright scintillating sparks.' Nitrous oxyd is rapidly absorbed by water which has been boiled ; a quantity of gas equal to rather more than half the bulk of the water may be thus made to disappear: the water acquires a sweetish taste, but its other pro- perties do not differ perceptibly from com- mon water. The whole gas may be expelled again by heat. It does not change blue ve- getable colours, it has a sweet taste, and a faint but agreeable odour. 'Phis gas explodes with hydrogen, when electric sparks are- made to pass through the mixture. Animals, when confined wholly in this gas, give no signs of uneasiness at first, but they soon become restless, and then die. When it is mingled with atmospheric air, and then received into the lungs, it generates highly pleasurable sensations : the effects it produces on the animal system are very ex- traordinary. It excites the body to action, and rouses the faculties of the mind, inducing a state of great exhilaration, an irresisti- ble propensity to laughter, a rapid flow of vivid ideas', and unusual vigour and fitness for muscular exertions, in some respects re- sembling the sensations attendant on intoxica- tion, without any languor, depression of spi- rits, or disagreeable feelings afterwards, but more generally followed by vigour, and a dis- position to exertion, which gradually subsides. The accounts of these wonderful effects, which, when first announced, were scarcely credited, have been confirmed In a variety of j experiments, so as to be past all kind of doubt. This gas is produced when substances, having a strong affinity with oxygen, are added to nitric acid, or to nitrous gas. It may therefore be obtained by various methods, in which nitrous gas or nitric acid is decomposed by substances capable of attracting the greater part of their oxygen. The most commodious and expeditious, as well as the cheapest mode of obtaining it, is by decomposing nitrate of ammonia by- heat in the following manner : Put into a glass retort some pure nitrate of ammonia, and apply to it an Argand’s lamp ; the salt will soon liquefy, and when it begins to boil gas will be evolved. Increase the heat gradually, till the body and neck of the retort become filled. with a milky-white vapour. In this state the temperature of the fused nitrate is between 340 and 480 degrees. After the decomposition has proceeded for some mi- nutes, so that the gas, when examined, quick- ly enlarges the flame of a taper, it may be col- lected over water. Care should be taken du- ring the whole process never to suffer the tem- perature of the fused nitrate to rise above 500 degrees Fahrenheit, which may be easily judg- ed of from the density of the vapours in the re- tort, and from the quick ebullition of the fused nitrate ; for if the heat is increased beyond this point, the vapours in the retort acquire a reddish and more transparent appearance, and the fused nitrate begins to rise, and occupy twice the bulk it did before. The nitrous oxyd, after its generation, should stand over water for several hours, and is then fit for re- spiration, or other experiments. To experience its effects in breathing it, put about a gallon into a large bladder, or oiled silk hag, having a tube attached to it of three- fourths of an inch in diameter. First, the common air must be expelled from the lungs, before the tube is received into the mouth, and the nostrils must be accurately closed with the hand. It must then be breathed backwards and forwards into the bag for a tew minutes. SuttmjREGV* ac: in cas is no where found in a natural state, ana is entirely a pro- duction of art. It is obtained by exposing to heat in a re- tort, sulphuric acid, while it is exercising an action on some combustible body, such as oil, charcoal, mercury, &c. ; in a word, on such bodies as can take up a portion of the oxygen combine^ with the sulphur contained in that acid. It is sulphur combined with a less quantity of oxygen tlian that which is ne- cessary to make it sulphuric acid ; the com- bustible body, therefore, takes a part of its oxy r gen from the sulphuric acid, which, by these means, becomes sulphureous acid ; and caloric combining with this acid, causes it to assume the gaseous form. This process re- quires a mercurial apparatus, because this gas is entirely soluble in water. , Sulphureous acid gas is more than twice as heavy as atmospheric air. It extinguishes burning bodies, and suffocates animals im- mersed in it. It first reddens, and then de- stroys most of the vegetable colours. It lias the property of whitening silk, and giving it ’a ’ lustre. Sulphureous acid gas combines with alkalis, I and forms with them neutral salts, which differ from those produced by the sulphuric acid and the same alkalis, in their form, their savour, and particularly their property of being de- composed by the weakest acids, and even the ; acetous acid. Muriatic acid gas is obtained by ex- j posing to heat filming muriated acid, put into- a retort, the beak of which is introduced be- ] low a bell filled with mercury, and placed on the shelf of a mercurial pneumatic apparatus. ] You may obtain it also with the same appa- ratus, if, instead of muriatic acid, you expose j to heat a mixture of muriate of soda, or ma- I rine salt ami- sulphuric acid; the sulphuric 3 acid combines with the soda the base of the ] marine salt, and the muriatic acid remaining j free, passes into the state of muriatic acid ] gas. Muriatic acid gas is perfectly soluble in | water, and in a very short time. If you j therefore introduce into the bell in which the ] gas has been collected, a small quantity of j water, the latter, by its relative lightness, will I rise to the surface of the mercury ; the gas I will be immediately absorbed entirely, and clis- I solved in the water; the mercury will ascend | towards the top of the bell ; and the liquor j found above the mercury will be real muriatic J acid, more highly concentrated, according as I there is more gas and less water. Muriatic acid gas, therefore, is nothing else ] than the muriatic acid itself deprived of Water ; 1 that is to say, as much concentrated as possible, j and combined with caloric, which cause 3 it to I assume the gaseous form. Muriatic acid gas has a sharp pungent j odour. If a little of it is mixed with atmo- j spheric air, it produces, like the muriatic acid, 1 white fumes or vapours, occasioned by the 1 combination of the gas with the moisture of the air. The base of the muriatic acid gas is strongly ] combined with oxygen, for which it has so ] great an affinity, that it cannot be separated * from it, The nature of this base is therefore i unknown. Its affinity for oxygen is so strong, i that it can even combine itself with a larger ! quantity of oxy gen than is necessary to consti- tute an add, and it then appears in the form of oxygenated muriatic gas. This gas is much heavier than atmospheric air. It gives the same signs of acidity as the mu- riatic acid itself; and this indeed ought to be the case, as it is the same substance, it reddens blue vegetable colours, but it destroys neither them nor any of the other colours, as the oxy- genated muriatic gas does. It combines with all the alkaline bases, and forms with them muriatic salts. If it is mixed with ammoniacal gas, it combines with it, and forms muriate of ammonia. It suffocates animals immersed in it, and extinguishes a lighted taper ; but it iirst en- larges its flame, and makes it appear of a green or bluish colour at the edges. Oxygenated muriatic acid gas. The dephlogisticated muriatic acid of Scheele, under a gaseous form, is the muriatic acid gas surcharged with oxygen. This gas is obtained by exposing the mu- riatic acid to heat and evaporation, whilst it is acting on a substance which contains oxygen ; such, for example, as the native oxyd of man- ganese: if you therefore put black oxyd of manganese and muriatic acid into a glass re- tort, and expose them to heat, a strong fer- mentation will be excited, during which the muriatic acid will be converted iirto gas, but surcharged with oxygen, which is taken from the oxyd of the manganese, because it has a greater affinity for that substance. It may In* prepared in the water apparatus, though it is absorbable by water, if care is taken to fill the bells, or air-jars, completely with the gas, and to leave no water in them. Oxygenated muriatic gas is not invisible, like the other gases ; it is of a greenish yel- low colour, which renders it very percep- tible. This gas destroys vegetable colours entire- ly. Ah flowers, and the green leaves of plants, are rendered white by it, and alkali is not capable of restoring their colours. This effect can only be ascribed to the ab- sorption of oxygen. This gas, which contains oxygen in excess, gives up a part, which ve- getable substances absorb with avidity, and by this absorption lose their colour. The ox- ygenated muriatic acid gas then becomes con- verted into common muriatic acid gas. This property lias given rise to a new method of bleaching, which has proved successful. The application of the oxyge- nated muriatic acid, either in the gaseous or the liquid state, has assisted the process of whitening thread, cotton, linen, wax, &c. in a surprising degree, and it is now very generally employed for this purpose. To shew its effects in bleaching, suspend some-unbleached calico, or linen, moistened with water, in a jar filled with the gas; the natural colour of the cloth will soon begin to fade, and at last totally disappear. If different coloured patterns Of printed calico are im- mersed for a few minutes in the gas, their co- lours will soon be destroyed, except those which are yellow. Though oxygenated muriatic acid gas is ex- ceedingly noxious to life, it does not extin- guish combustion. If a burning taper, fixed to a wire, is immersed in it, the taper burns of a red colour, 'and more vividly than in at- mospheric air ; a greater quantity of smoke is emitted at the. same time. Fill a tall receiver, furnished with a ground stopper, with oxygenated muriatic acid gas over water, and let fall into it copper, in thin AIR BALLOON. leaves, called Dutch gold. The leaf, before | it reaches the bottom of the receiver, will burn with a pale green light. Gold leaf may be burnt in the same man- ner. Copper wire, when heated to redness, also takes fire when introduced into the gas in that state. Fluoric acid gas. The radical of fluo- ric acid gas is unknown. It may be obtained by decomposing fluate of lime (Derbyshire spar), by means of sulphuric acid. For this purpose, put one part -of powdered fluate of lime into a leaden retort, and pour over it two or three parts of sulphuric acid. A violent action ensues, and fluoric acid gas is extri- cated, which must be collected over mercury, either in a leaden or tin vessel, or in a glass receiver covered within with a coat of var- nish or wax. When no more gas is produced, the action of the acid must be assisted by a gentle heat. The most remarkable property of this gas is its power of dissolving silex : it therefore dissolves glass crystals, and various precious stones. It is heavier than common air. It does not maintain combustion, nor can ani- mals breathe it. It is absorbed by water, and forms with it liquid fluoric acid. It has a pe- netrating odour. It corrodes animal and ve- getable substances. Light has no effect upon it. It emits white fumes, when in contact with moist atmospheric air. It reddens blue vegetable colours. With ammonia, it forms a concrete body. It has no action upon pla- tina, gold, silver, mercury, tin, lead, antimo- ny, cobalt, nickel, or bismuth ; but it corrodes iron, arsenic, and manganese. The property of dissolving silex has caused it to be applied to etching on glass, which is done either by means of the fluorid acid gas, or liquid fluoric acid. AIR BALLOON, a general name given to bags or other light substances filled with an aerial fluid. The art of Hying, or of imi- tating the feathered tribe, lias long been the object of earnest desire amongst men. Cars, artificial birds, wings, and other mechanisms for flying, generally absurd, and always in- sufficient, have frequently been exhibited to the undisfinguishing eye of the vulgar; but the strictest enquiry into the accounts of au- thentic history, finds no mention of any suc- cessdsaving ever attended the attempts of this nature, previous to the year 1782. The re- cent discoveries made on the nature and pro- perties of aerial fluids, by the industry of Black, Priestley, Cavendish, and others, sug- ; gested, some time before the above-mention- ed year, the practicability of forming machines sufficient to elevate considerable weights into the regions of the atmosphere. Mr. Cavendish was the first who ascertained the specific gra- vity of hydrogen gas (then called inflammable air) and found it to be a vast deal lighter than common air. His experiments on this subject are published in the Philosophical Transactions for the year 1766. In conse- quence of this discovery, it was natural to conclude, that if a large bladder, or other en- velope, was filled with hydrogen gas, and that if the weight of file envelope added to that of the contained gas, was less than the weight of an equal bulk of common air, the apparatus would mount up into the atmo- sphere for the same reason, and in the same manner, as a cork would rise from the bot- tom towards the surface of the sea, suppos- ed j ing riie cork was left at liberty in the for- mer place. Dr. Black of Edinburgh thought of filling the allantois of a calf with hydrogen gas, for the purpose of shewing at his lectures that such a body would ascend into the atmo- sphere ; but he never put tiie project to the test of actual experience. Early in the year 1782 Mr. Cavallo made the first attempts to elevate a bag full of hy- drogen gas into the surrounding air, and an account of his experiments was read at a meeting of the Royal Society on the 20th of June, 1782. The weight of hydrogen gas, the mean weight of atmospherical air, and the weight of the substance of which the vessel or bag is to be formed, being ascertained, it is easy from those particulars to determine by calcu- lation the dimensions of a vessel, which, when filled with hydrogen gas, might be lighter than an equal bulk of common air. Upon this principle Mr. Cavallo tried blad- ders, the thinnest and largest that could be procured. Some of them were cleaned with great care, removing from them all the super- fluous’ membranes, and other matter that could possibly be scraped off ; but notwith- standing all those precautions, he found the largest and lightest of those prepared blad- ders to be somewhat too heavy for the pur- pose. Some' swimming-bladders of fishes were also found too heavy lor the experi- ment ; nor could he even succeed to make any durable light balls by blowing hydrogen gas into a thick solution of gums, thick var- nishes, and oil paint. In short, soap-balls, inflated with hydrogen gas, were the only things of this sort which lie could elevate in air ; and these perhaps were the lirst air balloons that were ever constructed. Not long after this, news was received from France of the success which had attended air experiment of a similar nature made at Avig- non, by Stephen Montgolfier ; but the bag was not filled with hydrogen gas. It was filled with air rarefied by heat, which of course was lighter than an equal bulk of com- mon air of the usual temperature. It is said that the two brothers, Stephen and John Montgolfier, began to think on the experiment of the aerostatic machine as early as the middle or latter end of the year 1782. The natural ascension of smoke, and of tine clouds in the atmosphere, suggested the first idea ; and to imitate those bodies, or to en- ; close a cloud in a bag, so that the latter might be elevated by the buoyancy of the former, was the lirst project of those cele- brated gentlemen. Stephen Montgolfier, the eldest of the two brothers, made the first aerostatic experiment at Avignon, towards the middle of Novem- ber, 1782. The machine consisted of a bag of fine silk, in the shape of a parallelopipe- don, open on one side, the capacity of which was equal to about 40 cubic feet. Burning paper, applied to its aperture, served to rare- fy the air, or to form the cloud; and, when sufficiently expanded, the machine ascended rapidly to the cei ing of the room. Thus the original discovery was made, which was af- terwards confirmed, improved, and diversified, by different persons in different parts of the world. As soon as the news of Mr. Montgolfier’s successful experiment reached Paris, the 36 AIR BALLOON. scientific persons of that capital, justly con- cluding tnat a similar experiment might be made by filling a bag with hydrogen gas, im- mediately attempted to verify the supposi- tion. A subscription for defraying the ex- pences that might attend the accomplishment j of the project, was immediately opened; persons of all ranks ran with eagerness to sign their names, and the necessary sum was speedily raised. Messrs. Roberts were ap- pointed to construct the machine, and Mr. Charles, professor of experimental philoso- phy, was appointed to superintend the work. The obstacles, which opposed the accom- plishment of this first attempt, were many ; but the two principal difficulties were to pro- duce a large quantity of hydrogen gas, and to find a substance sufficiently light to make the bag of, and at the same time impermeable to the gas. At last they constructed a globular bag of a sort of silk stuff, called lutestring ; which, in order to render it impervious to the gas, was covered with a certain varnish, said to consist of dissolved elastic gum. The di- ameter of this bag, which, from its ball-like shape, was called a balloon (and from this the name air balloons was derived), was 12 feet two inches French, or about 13 feet English. It had only one aperture, like the neck of a bladder, to which a stop-cock was adapted. The weight of the balloon, when empty, to- gether with the stop-cock, was 25 pounds. The attempts to fill this bag commenced on the 23d of August, 1783. But the ope- rators met with many difficulties and disap- pointments, from inadvertences, want of ma- terials, want of precaution, &c. so much so, that the accomplishment of the experiment, viz. the actual ascent of the balloon, did not take place before the 26th of the same month. On tne morning of that day the inflated bal- loon, having a small cord fastened to its neck, was permitted to rise only to the height of about 100 feet; but at five o’clock in the afternoon of the 27th, the balloon was disen- gaged from its fastenings, in the Champ de Mars, and rose majestically in the atmo- sphere before the eyes of a great many thou- sand spectators, and amidst a copious shower of rain. In about two minutes time it rose to the height of about 3123 feet. After re- maining in the atmosphere only f of an hour, this balloon feli in a field near Gonesse, a village about 15 miles from Paris. Its fall was attributed to a rupture that was found in it, and it was reasonably imagined, that the ex- pansion of the hydrogen gas, when the bal- loon had reached a much less dense part of the atmosphere, had burst it. When this balloon went up, it was found upon trial to be o5 pounds lighter than an equal bulk of common air. Thus in the years 1782 and 1783, it was ascertained that bags full of hydrogen gas, or of rarefied common air, either of which is lighter than common air in its usual state, would ascend into the atmosphere, and that they might take up considerable weights. Soon after the success of the first attempt, the Montgolfiers repeated the experiment in the open air, and with bags of different sizes ; but their first grand and public exhibition in the presence of a very respectable and nu- merous assembly, was made on the 5th of June, 1783, with an aerostatic machine or bag that measured 35 feet in diameter. The ma- chine, inflated by the rarefied air, ascended to a considerable height, and then fell at the distance of 7668 feet from the original place of ascension. This experiment was described and recorded with great accuracy ; and ac- counts of it were immediately forwarded to the court of France, to the academy of sci- ences, and almost as far as literary and enter- taining correspondence could reach. The younger Montgolfier, arriving at Paris not long after the above-mentioned public exhi- bition, was invited by the Academy of Sci- ences to repeat his singular aerostatic experi- ment; in consequence of which invitation, that gentleman began to construct an aerosta- tic machine of about 72 feet in height, at the expence of the academy. But while this operation was going on, and as a successful experiment with an inflammable air balloon had already been performed on the 27th of August, the project of making balloons be- came general ; and those who wished to make the experiment on the smallest scale soon cal- culated the necessary particulars, and found that the performance of the experiment was far from being either difficult or expensive. The baron de Beaumanoir, at Paris, by the suggestion of a Mr. Deschamps, was induced to try gold-beater’s skin, and soon made a balloon by gluing several pieces of that skin together. This balloon was no more than 19 inches in diameter; it was of course easily filled with hydrogen gas; and on the 11th of September, 1783, it mounted with rapidity into the atmosphere. Mr. Montgolfier having completed his large balloon, agreeably to the desire of the academy, made a private experiment with it on the 11th of September, which succeeded. On the following day another experiment was made with the same, before the commis- saries of the academy, and a vast number of other spectators ; but this experiment, in con- sequence of a violent shower of rain, was at- tended with partial success : and the aerostat was considerably damaged. A similar machine was speedily con- structed by the same Mr. Montgolher, by whom the experiment was performed at Ver- sailles on the 19th of September, before the royal family of France, and an innumerable concourse of spectators. The preparation for filling the machine with rarefied air consist- ed of an ample scaffold, raised some feet above the ground; in the middle of which there was a well or chimney, about 16 feet in dia- meter ; in the lower part of which, near the ground, the fire was made. The aperture of the balioon was put round the chimney or well, and the rest of it was laid down over the well and the surrounding scaffold. As soon as the fire was lighted the machine be- gan to swell, acquired a convex form, stretch- ed itself on every side, and in 1 1 minutes time, the cords being cut, the machine as- cended, together with a wicker basket or cage, which was fastened to it by means of a rope, and in which a sheep, a cock, and a duck, had been placed. These were the first animals that ever ascended with an aerostatic machine. The apparatus rose to the height of about 1440 feet, and remained in the at- mosphere during eight minutes; then fell at the distance of about 10,200 feet from Versailles, with the animals safe in the basket. After the success of this experiment with the animals, &c. and when ten months had scarcely elapsed since Mr. Montgolfier made his first experiment of this sort, Mr. Pilatre de Rozier publicly offered himself to be the lirst adventurer in the newly invented ma- chine. His offer was accepted, his courage remained undaunted, and pn the 15th of Oc- tober, 1783, he actually ascended into the atmosphere, to the astonishment of a gazing multitude. The balloon with which he as- cended was of an oval shape, its height being about 74, and its horizontal diameter 48 feet. The aperture or lower part of the machine had a wicker gallery about three feet broad, with a ballustrade both within and without, about three feet high. The inner diameter of this gallerv, and of the neck of the machine whic h passed through it, was nearly 16' feet. In the middle ot this aperture an iroagrate or brazier was supported by means of chains, which caine down from tire sides of the ma- chine. In this construction, when the ma- chine was up in the air, with a fire lighted in the grate, it was easy for a person who stood in the gallery, and had fuel with him, to keep up the lire in the opening of the machine, by throwing the fuel on the grate through port- holes made in the neck of the machine ; by which means the machine might be kept up as long as the person in its gallery thought proper, or till he had no fuel to supply the fire with. The first aerial voyage, with an inflamma- ble air balloon, was performed subsequent to the above-mentioned experiment, viz. on the 1st of December, 1783. Mr. Charles and Mr. Robert, who had constructed a balloon of this sort, as has been already mentioned, were the first adventurers. The balloon was globular, its diameter being 27-| feet. A net went over the upper hemisphere, and was fastened to a hoop, which went round the middle of the balloon. From this hoop ropes proceeded, and were fastened to a boat which swung a few feet below the balloon. In order to prevent the bursting of the machine by the expansion of the gas in an elevated re- gion, a valve was made on the upper part of it, which, by pulling a string, would open and let out part of the gas. There was like- wise a long silken pipe, through which the balloon was filled. The apparatus for filling it consisted of se- veral wooden casks placed round a large tub full of water, every one of which had a long tin tube, which terminated under a vessel or funnel, that was inverted into the water of the tub. A tube then proceeded from this fun- nel, and communicated with the balloon, which stood just over it. Iron filings and di- luted sulphuric acid were put into the casks ; and the gas which was extricated from those materials passed through the tin tubes, then through the water of the tub, and, lastly, through the tube of the funnel into the bal- loon. See the Plate, fig. 1. When Messrs. Charles and Robert placed themselves in the boat, they had with them proper philosophical instruments, provisions, clothing, and some bags full of sand, by way of ballast. With this preparation they as- cended at three quarters after one o’clock. At the time they went up, the thermometer, Fahrenheit’s scale, stood at 52 degrees, the mercury in the barometer stood at 27 inches, from which they deduced their altitude to be nearly 600 yards. During the rest of their voyage the mercury in the barometer moved generally between 27 inches and 27,03 ; ris- ing and tailing according as part of the ballast was thrown out, or some gas escaped from the balloon. The thermometer stood generally between 53 and 57 degrees. ' » Soon after their ascent they remained sta- tionary for a short time ; they then went ho- rizontally, in the direction of N. N. W. They crossed "the Seine, and passed over several towns and villages, to the great astonishment of the inhabitants, who did not expect to see such a spectacle, and who had perhaps never heard of this new sort of experiment. This delicious aerial voyage lasted one hour and three quarters. At last they descended in a field near Nesle, a small town, about 27 miles distant from Paris ; so that they had gone at the rate of about 15 miles per hour, without feeling the least inconvenience ; and the bal- loon underwent no other alteration than \yhat was occasioned by the dilatation and contrac- tion of the gas, according to the vicissitudes of heat and cold. The success of the experiments, which have been already described, spread a uni- versal enthusiasm throughout Europe ; and the. aerostatic experiments, both in the dimi- nutive and in the large way, were soon under- taken in different countries. The first expe- riment of this kind was exhibited in London on the*25th of November, 1783, when an inflam- mable air balloon, 10 feet in diameter, was sent up by count Zambeccari, an Italian gentleman. "1 he first aerial voyage undertaken in Eng- land, with an inflammable air balloon of 33 feet in diameter, made of oil silk, was per- formed by Mr. Lunardi, another Italian, on the 15th of September, 1784. The abbe Bertholoa seems to have been the first person who made use of small bal- loons for exploring the electricity of the at- mosphere, which must be a very'useful me- thod, particularly in calm weather, when electrical kites cannot be raised. He raised several air balloons, to which long and slen- der wires were attached, the lower extremity of the wire being fastened to a glass stick or other insulated stand, whereby lie obtained from such wires electricity enough to shew its kind, and even sparks. On the 13th of January, 1784, an aerosta- tic machine, of about 37 feet in height, and 20 in diameter, was launched from the castle I)e Pisancon, near Romans, in Dauphiny. It rose with surprising velocity, and as the wind was north, it went southward : but when the machine had ascended to the height of about 1300 feet, it went back towards the north, and in less than five minutes time it ascended to the height of above 6000 feet. In less than ten minutes it fell at the distance of nearly four miles. This experiment, and indeed the similar success of many others, shews that there fre- quently are in the atmosphere currents of air in different, and sometimes quite opposite, di- rections ; this, however, is far from being al- ways the case. If different currents could always be met with at different heights above the surface of the earth, the method of guid- ing balloons would be extremely easy ; for the aerial traveller would have nothing more to do than to place himself in the favourable current, which he might do by throwing out either some ballast or some inflammable gas, according as he wished to go higher or lower. AIR BALLOON. The largest aerostatic machine ever made, and filled with rarefied air, was launched at Lyons on the lQtli of January 1784, with not less than seven persons in its gallery, amongst whom were Joseph Montgolfier, and Pilatre de Itozier. The height ot this machine was about 131 feet, and its horizontal diameter about 104. Its weight, when it ascended, including passengers, gallery, &.C. was about 1600 pounds. This machine, having suffered considerably in consequence of previous trials, was by no means in a perfect state when it ascended ; nevertheless, when the action of the fire had inflated it, the seven persons, who in spite of every remonstrance had placed themselves in the gallery, refusing to relinquish their places, the machine was released from the ropes which confined it, and ascended majestically into the atmosphere. At. a certain height, the wind turned it towards the west; but it afterwards proceeded east-south-east, ascend- ing, at the same time, until it was at least 1000 yards high. The effect which was produced on the spec- tators by this spectacle is described as the most extraordinary that was ever occasioned by any production of human invention. It was a mixture of the strangest nature imagin- able. Vociferations of joy, shrieks of tear, expressions of applause, the sound of martial instruments, and the discharge of mortars, produced an effect more easily imagined than described. Some of the spectators fell on their knees, and others elevated their sup- pliant hands to the heavens; some women fainted, and many wept ; but the confident travellers, without shewing the least appear- ance of fear, were continually waving their hats out of the gallery. At about fifteen minutes after the ascent, the wind shifted again ; but it was so feeble that the machine stood almost stationary for about four minutes. Unfortunately about this time a rent was made in the machine, which occasioned its descent ; and when it came within 600 feet of the ground, its velo- city was considerably accelerated. It is said that no less than 60,000 persons, besides the Marechaussee, ran to the spot, with the great- est apprehension for the lives of the adventu- rous aerial travellers. They were immedi- ately helped out of the gallery, and luckily no person had received any hurt, except Mr. Montgolfier an insignificant scratch. The machine was torn in several places, besides a vertical rent of upwards of 50 feet in length, which clearly shews bow little danger is to be apprehended from the use of those ma- chines, especially when they are properly constructed and judiciously managed. On the 5th of April 1784, Messrs, de Morveau and Bertrand, at Dijon, ascended with an inflammable air-balloon, which, ac- cording to their barometrical observations, seems to have reached the extraordinary height of 13,000 feet, when the cold was so great that the thermometer stood at 25°. On the 15th of July, the duke de Chartres, the two brothers Roberts, and another per- son, ascended with an inflammable air-bal- loon, from the park of St. Cloud, at 52 mi- nutes past seven in the morning. This bal- loon was of an oblong form, its dimensions being 55 feet by 34. It ascended with its greatest extension nearly horizontal; and after remaining in the atmosphere about 45 3 7 minutes, it descended at a small distance from its place of ascension. But the inci- dents that occurred during this aerial excur- sion deserve particular notice, as nothing like it had happened before to any of the aerial travellers. This machine contained an into- rior small balloon, filled with common air; by which means it was supposed that they might regulate the ascent and the descent of the machine, without ain loss of the hy- drogen gas, or of ballast. The boat was fur- nished with a helm and oars, that were in- tended to guide the mac hine, but which were in this, as well as in every other similar at- tempt, found to be quite useless. On the level of the sea, the mercury in the barometer stood at 30,25 inches, and at tiie. place of ascension it stood at 30,12. 't hree minutes after its ascension, the balloon was lost in the clouds, and the aerial voyagers lost sight of the earth, being involved in a dense vapour. Here an unusual agitation of the air, somewhat like a whirlwind, in a mo- ment turned the machine three times from the right to the left. The violent shocks which the adventurers suffered, prevented their using any of the means prepared for the direction of the machine ; and they even tore away the silk stuff of which the helm was made. Never, said they, a more dreadful situation presented itself to any eye, than that in which they were involved. An unbounded ocean of shapeless clouds rolled beneath, and seemed to forbid their return to the earth, which w r as still invisible. The agitation of the balloon became greater every moment. They cut the cords which held the interior balloon, which consequently fell on the bot- tom of the external balloon, just upon the aperture of the tube that went down to the boat, and stopped that communication. At this time the thermometer was a little above 44°. A gust of wind from below drove the balloon upwards, to the extremity of the va- pour, where the appearance of the sun shew- ed them the existence of nature ; but now both the heat of the sun, and the diminished density of the atmosphere, occasioned such a dilatation of the gas, that the bursting of the balloon was apprehended ; to avoid which, they introduced a stick through the tube, and endeavoured to remove' the inner balloon, which stopped its aperture within the ex- ternal balloon ; but the dilatation of the gas pressed the inner balloon so forcibly against that aperture, as to render every attempt in- effectual. During this time, they continually ascended, until the mercury in the barometer stood not higher than 24,36 inches, which shewed their height above the surface of the earth to be about 5100 feet. In these dread- ful circumstances they thought it necessary to make a hole in the balloon, in order to give exit to the gas ; and accordingly the duke himself, with one of the spears of the banners, made two holes in the balloon, which opened a rent of about seven or eight feet. In consequence of this, they then descended rapidly, seeing at first no object either oil earth or in the heavens ; but a moment after, they discovered the fields, and that they were descending straight into a lake, wherein they would inevitably have fallen, had they not quickly thrown over about 60 pounds weight or ballast, which occasioned their coming down at about 30 feet beyond the edge of the lake. Notwithstanding this rapid descent. 38 none of the four adventurers received any hurt ; and it is remarkable, that out of six glass bottles full of liquor, which were simply laid down in the boat, one only was found broken. In the course of the summer 1784, two per- sons, vizi one in Spain, and another near Phi- ladelphia, in America, were very near losing their lives by going up with rarefied-air ma- chines. 'The former, on the 5th of June, was scorched by the machine taking fire, and was hurt by the subsequent fall, so that his life was long despaired of. The latter, having as- cended a few feet, was wafted by the wind against the wall of a house, and some part of the machinery was entangled under the eaves, from which he could not extricate it. At last the great ascensional power of the machine broke the ropes or chains, and the man fell from the height of about 20 feet. The ma- chine presently took fire, and was consumed. We shall now relate one of the most re- markable aerial voyages that were ever made with an aerostatic machine. It is the crossing of the English channel in an inflammable-air balloon of 27 feet diameter. The adventurer in this dangerous voyage was Mr. Blanchard, an intrepid Frenchman, who had already made five other aerial voyages with the verv same balloon, botli in France and in England. Mr. Blanchard is remarkable for having made a greater number of aerial voyages in England, in France, and elsewhere, both before and after the crossing of the English channel, than any other person recorded in the history of aerostation. The only trial worth remark- ing which Mr. Blanchard appears to have made in his aerial excursions, is the ineffec- tual use of oars, wings, &c. for directing the balloon. Profit seems to have been the prin- cipal, if not the sole object of his numerous excursions. Oil Friday the 7th of January 1785, being a fme clear morning, after a sharp frosty night, and the wind being about N. N. W. though hardly perceptible, Mr. Blanchard, accom- panied by Dr. Jeffries, an American gentle- man, departed in the old balloon of 27 feet ■diameter, from Dover castle, directing their i ourse for the French coast. Previous to the ■departure, the balloon, with the boat, contain- ing the two travellers, several necessaries, and some bags of sand for ballast, were placed within two feet of the brink of the perpendi- cular cliff before the castle. At one o’clock the intrepid Blanchard desired the boat, &c. to be pushed off; hut the weight being too great for the power of the balloon, they were obliged to throw out a considerable quantity of ballast, in' consequence of which they at last rose gently and majestically, though making very little way, with only three bags of ballast of ten pounds weight each. At a quarter after one o’clock, the barometer, which on the cliff stood at 29,7, was fallen to 27,3 ; and the weather proved fine and warm. Dr. Jeffries describes with rapture the prospect which at ■this time was before their eyes. The country to the back of Dover, interspersed with towns and villages, of which they could count 37, made a beautiful appearance. On the other side the breakers, on the Goodwin Sands, appeared formidable. Upon the whole, they enjoyed a view perhaps more extended and diversified than was ever beheld bv mortal eye. The balloon was much distended, and at 50 minutes past one o’clock was descend- AIR BALLOON. ing, in consequence of which they were oblig- ed to throw out one bag and a half of sand. They were af this time about one-third of the way from Dover, and had lost distinct sight of the castle. Not long after, finding that the balloon was descending very fast, all the re- maining ballast was thrown over, as also a parcel of books, in consequence of which the balloon rose again. They were now at about half way. At a quarter past two o’clock the rising of the mercury in the barometer shewed that they were descending; in consequence of which the remaining books were thrown into the sea. At 25 minutes after two, they were at about 3-fourths of the way, and an enchanting view of the French coast appeared before their eyes ; but the lower part of the balloon was collapsed, owing to the loss or condensa- tion of the gas, and the machine was descend- ing, which obliged them to throw over pro- visions for eating, the oars or wings of the boat, and other articles. “ We threw away,” said Dr. Jeffries, “ our only bottle, which, in its descent, cast out a steam like smoke, with a rushing noise ; and when it struck the water, we heard and felt the shock very perceptibly on our car and balloon.” But the balloon still approaching the sea, they began to strip and cast away their c’othes. They even in- tended to fasten themselves to the cords and cut the boat away, as their last resource ; but at this critical point, they had the satisfaction to observe that they were rising ; their distance from the French shore, which they were ap- proaching very fast, was about four miles. Fear was now vanishing apace; the French, land shewed itself every moment more beau- tiful, more distinct, anti more extended ; Calais, and above 20 other towns and villages, were clearly distinguished. Exactly at three o’clock they passed over the high grounds about midway between Cape Blanc and Ca- lais ; and it is remarkable that the balloon at this time rose very fast, and made a magnifi- cent arch ; probably owing to the heat of the land, which rarefied in some measure the hydrogen gas. At last they descended as low as the tops of the trees, in the forest of Guin- nes, and opening the valve for the escape of the gas, they soon after descended safe to the ground, after having accomplished an enter- prise which will probably be recorded to the remotest posterity. The following is the melancholy account of an experiment which was attended with the death of two aerial adventurers, one of whom was Mr. de Rozier, the first person that ever ascended with an aerostatic machine. Mr. Pilatrede Rozier, desirous of diversify- ing and improving the new method of tra- velling through the air, formed a plan of combining the two species of aerostatic ma- chines, from which he expected to render their joint buoyancy more lasting, and of course more useful. Ills plan was to place an inflammable-air balloon at top, and to affix to it by means of ropes, a rarefied-air balloon, so that a space of several feet might inter- vene between the two. The passenger or passengers were intended to take their places in the gallery of the lower machine, whence they could regulate the fire, and might, by a proper management of the fuel, elevate or depress the whole, without the necessity of losing any inflammable gas from the upper balloon. Accordingly this plan was put in execution. The upper or inflammable-air balloon was of varnished silk, lined with a fine membrane, like goldbeaters’ skin. The other balloon was of strong linen. On the 15th of June 1785, ’at seven o’clock in the morning, every thing being ready, Mr. Pilatre de Rozier and a Mr. Remain, placed themselves in the gal- lery of the balloon, with plenty of fuel, in- struments, and other necessary articles, and rose in the atmosphere. The' machine seem- ed to take the best possible direction, but the wind being both feeble and shifting, they changed their direction two or three times ; but when they were at a considerable height, and not above f of a mile from the place of ascension, the machine appeared to be in flames, and presently the whole was precipi- tated down to the ground. The unfortunate adventurers were instantly killed, their bones disjointed arid dreadfully mangled by the tremendous fall. How the inflammable air took fire, is va- riously conjectured ; but it is natural to sup- pose, that the sparks of lire must have flown from the lower to the upper or inflammable- air balloon. On the ground, the bag of the upper balloon was in great measure burned or scorched ; that of the lower was entire. Omitting the various uninteresting, though not numerous aerial voyages undertaken In various parts of the world, during the 17 years subsequent to the above-mentioned dreadful accident of Pilatre de Rozier and Mr. llomain, we shall only add the account of two aerostatic experiments lately perform- ed in England by Mr. Garnerin, a French aeronaut. The first of these is remark- able for the very great velocity of its motion ; the second for the exhibition of a mode of leaving the balloon, and of descending with safety to the ground. On the 30th of June 1802, the wind being strong though not impetuous, Mr. Garnerin and another gentleman ascended with an in- flammable-air balloon from Runelagh-gardens on the south-west of London, between, four and live o’clock in the afternoon ; and in exact- ly three quarters of an hour they descended near the 'sea, at the distance of four miles from Colchester. The distance of that place from Ranelagh is sixty miles ; therefore they travelled at the astonishing rate of 80 miles per hour. It seems that the balloon had power enough to keep them up four or five hours longer, in which time they might have gone safe to the continent; but prudence in- duced them to descend when they discovered the sea not far off. The singular experiment of ascending into the atmosphere with an inflamtnable-air bal- loon, and of descending with a machine called a parachute, was performed by Mr. Garnerin on the 21st of September 1802. He ascend- ed from St. George’s Parade, North Audio v- street, and descended safe into a field near the small-pox hospital at Pancras. 'I’lie balloon was of the usual sort, viz. of oiled silk, with a net, from which ropes pro- ceeded, which terminated in or were joined to, a single rope at a few feet below the bal- loon. To this rope the parachute was fastened in the following manner. The reader may easily form to himself an idea of this parachute, by imagining a large umbrella of canvas of about 30 feet in dia- meter, but destitute of the ribs and handle. Several ropes of about 30 feet in length. a i n A I R A I R which proceeded from the edge of the para- chute, terminated in a common joining, from which shorter ropes proceeded, to the extre- mities of which a circular basket was fastened, and in this basket Mr. Garnerin placed him- self. Now the single rope, which has been said above to proceed from the balloon, passed through a hole in the centre of the parachute, also through certain tin tubes, which were placed one after the other in the place of the handle or stick of an umbrella, and was lastly fastened to the basket ; so that when the balloon was in the air, by cutting the enu of this rope next to the basket, the parachute, with the basket, would be sepa- rated from the balloon, and, in falling down- wards, would be naturally opened by the re- sistance of the air. The use of the tin tubes was to let the rope slip off with greater cer- tainty, and to prevent its being entangled with any of the other ropes, as also to keep the parachute at a distance from the basket. The balloon began to be filled at about two o’clock. There were 36 casks filled with iron filings and diluted sulphuric acid, for the production of the hydrogen gas. These com- municated with three other casks or general receivers, to each of which was fixed a tube that emptied itself into the main tube attached to the balloon. At six, the balloon being quite full of gas, and the parachute, &c. being attached to it, Mr. Garnerin placed himself in the basket, and ascended majestically amidst the accla- mations of innumerable spectators. The wea- ther was the clearest and pleasantest imagin- able ; the wind was gentle and about west by south; in consequence of which Mr. Garnerin went in the direction of about east by north. In about eight minutes time, the balloon and parachute had ascended to an immense height, and Mr. Garnerin, in the basket, could scarce- ly be perceived. While every spectator was contemplating the grand sight before them, Mr. Garnerin cut the rope, and in an instant he was separated from the balloon, trusting his safety to the parachute. At first, viz. before the parachute opened, he fell with great velocity ; but as soon as the parachute was expanded, which took place a few moments after, the descent became very gentle and gradual. In this descent a re- markable circumstance was observed, namely, that the parachute with the appendage of cords and basket, soon began to vibrate like the pendulum of a clock, and the vibrations were so great, that more than once the para- chute, and the basket with Mr. Garnerin, seem- ed to be on the same level, or quite horizontal, which appeared extremely dangerous : how- ever, the extent of the vibrations diminished as he came pretty near the ground. On coming to the earth, Mr. Garnerin expe- rienced some pretty strong shocks, and when he came out of the basket, he was much dis- composed; but he soon recovered his spirits, and remained without any material hurt. As soon as the parachute was separated from the balloon, the latter ascended with great rapidity, and, being of an oval form, turned itself with its longer axis into an hori- zontal position. We shall conclude this article with a de- scription of the several figures on the plate, to which we have before occasionally referred. Figure 1 represents a balloon D F, suspended by means of the poles G and II, and the cord, for the purpose of being filled with gas. It is kept steady and held down whilst filling by ropes, which are readily disengaged. A, A, are two tubs about three feet in diameter, and two feet deep, inverted in larger tubs, B, B, full of water. At the bottom of each of the inverted tubs there is a hole, to which is inserted a tin tube; to these the silken tubes of the balloon are tied. Each of the tubs, B, is surrounded by several strong casks, so re- gulated in number and capacity, as to be less than half full when the materials are equally distributed. In the top of these casks are two holes ; to one of which is adapted a tin tube, formed so as to pass over the edge of the tub B, and through the water, and to ter- minate with its aperture under the inverted tub A. The other hole, which serves for supplying the cask with materials, is stopped with a wooden plug. When the balloon is to be filled, the common air is first to be ex- pelled, then the silken tubes are fastened round the tin ones; the iron filings are to be put into the casks, then the water, and lastly the sulphuric acid. • The balloon will speedily be inflated by the hydrogen gas, and support itself without the aid of the rope G II. As the filling advances, a net is adjusted about it, the cords proceeding from the net are fastened to the hoop M N, the boat 1 K is suspended from the hoop, and whatever is wanted for the voyage is deposited in the boat. When the balloon is sufficiently full, the silken tubes are separated from the tin tubes, their ex- tremities are tied, and they are placed in the boat. When the aeronauts are seated in the boat, the ropes that held the balloon down are slipped off, and the machine ascends in the air as in figure 2. In figure 3, is a represen- tation of a part of M. Garnerin’s balloon in its ascent, to which is attached the parachute, in its contracted state, and below is the car. Figure 4 shews the manner in which M. G ar- nerin descended in the car by means of the expanded parachute, after, he had detached it from the balloon. In figure 5 is represented an apparatus as described by Mr. Cavallo, for filling balloons of the size of two or three feet in diameter with inflammable air, after passing it through water. A is a bottle with the ingredients ;BCDa tube fastened in the neck at B, and passing through C, the cork of the other bottle, in which there is a hole made to receive the tube, and to this the balloon is tied. Thus the inflammable air coming out of the tube D, will pass first through tire water of the bottle E, and then into the balloon. Two small casks may be used instead of the bottles A and E. To obtain the gas from the coarser kind of materials, the following apparatus may be re- commended. Let a vessel be made of Iron in the shape of a Florence flask (figure 6). Put the substance into this vessel, so as to fill about three-fourths of its cavity. Lute a tube of brass to the neck C of the vessel, and let the end D of the tube be shaped as in the figure, so that going into the water H I, it may terminate under a sort of inverted vessel, E F, to the upper aperture of which the balloon G is adapted. If now the part A B of the vessel is put into the fire, and made red-hot, the inflammable air produced will come out of the tube C D, and passing through the water will at last enter into the balloon G. AIR-GUN. See Pneumatics. 3p AIR-JACKET, a sort of jacket made of leather, in which are several bags, or bladders, composed of the same materials, communi- cating with each other. These are filled w ith air through a leather tube, having a brass stop-cock accurately ground at the extremity, by which means the air blown in through the tube is confined to the bladders. The jacket must be wet before, the air is blown into the bags, as otherwise it will immediately escape through the pores of the leather. By the help of these bladders, which are placed near the breast, the person is supported in the wa- ter, without making any effort to swim, AIR-PIPES, an invention for drawing foul air out of ships, or any other close places, by means of fire. These pipes were first disco- vered by a Mr. Sutton, a brewer in London ; and from him have got the name of Sutton's Air-pipes. The principle on which their operation depends, is no other than that air is necessary for the support of fire ; and, if it has not access from the places most adjacent, will not fail to come from those that are more re- mote. Thus, in a common furnace, the air enters through the ash-hole ; but if this is closed up, and a hole made in the side of a furnace, the air will rush in with great violence through that hole. If a tube of any length, whatever is inserted in this hole, the air will rush through the tube into the fire, and of con- sequence there will be a continued circula- tion of air in that place where the extremity of the tube is laid. Mr. Sutton’s contrivance then amounts to this. As, in every ship of any bulk, there is already provided a copper or boiling-place proportionable to the size of the vessel ; it is proposed to clear the bad air by means of the fire already used under the coppers or boiling-places for the necessary uses of the ship, It is well known, that, under every such copper or boiler, there are placed two holes, separated by a grate ; the first of which is for the fire, and the other for the ashes falling from it; and that there is also a flue from the fire-place upward, by which the smoke of the fire is discharged at some con- venient place of the ship. It is also well known, that the fire once lighted in these fire- places, is only preserved by the constant draught of air through these’ two holes and flue ; and that if the holes are closely stopped up, the fire, though burning ever so briskly before, is immediately put out. But if, after shutting up these holes, another hole is open- ed, communicating with any other room or airy place, and with the fire, it is clear the fire must burn as before, (here being a like draught of air through it as there was before the stopping up of the first holes. It is there- fore proposed, that, in order to clear the holds of ships of the bad air contained in them, the two holes abovementioned, the fire-place and ash-place, be both closed up with substantial- and tight iron doors, and a copper or leaden pipe, of sufficient size, be laid from the hold into the ash-place, for the draught of air to come in that way to feed the fire. And thus it seems plain, from what has been already said, that there w ill be, from the hold, a con- stant discharge of the air ; and consequently, that air, so discharged, must be as constantly supplied by fresh air down the hatches orsuch other communications as are opened into the hold. And if into this principal pipe so laid into the hold, other pipes are let in, commu- nicating respectively either with the well ox t 40 A I T lower decks, it must follow, that part of the air consumed in feeding the fire, must be re- spectively drawn out of all such places to which the communication shall be so made. AIR-PUMP, See Pneumatics. AIR SHAFTS, among miners, denote holes or apertures let down from the open air to meet the adits, and furnish fresh air, Sir Robert Murray describes a method, used in the coal mines at Liege, of working mines without air shafts. When the miners at Men- clip have sunk a groove, they will not be at the charge of an air shaft till they come at ore ; and for the supply of air have boxes of elm exactly closed, of about six inches in the clear, by which they carry it down about 20 fathom* They cut a trench at a little distance from the top of the groove, covering it with turf and rods disposed to receive the pipe, which they contrive to come in sideways to their groove, four feet from the top, which carries down the air to a great depth. When they come at ore, and need an air shaft, they sink it four or five fathoms distant, according to the con- venience of the breadth, and of the same fashion with the groove, to draw as well ore as air. AIR THREADS, in natural history, a name given to the long filaments so frequently seen in autumn floating about in the air. These threads are the work of spiders, especially of that species called the long-legged field spider. See Aran e A, AIR TRUNK, is a contrivance by Dr. Hales to prevent the stagnation of putrid effluvia in jails and other places where a great number of people are crowded together, in a small space. It consists only of a long square trunk, open at both ends ; one of which is inserted into the ceiling of the room, the air of which is required to be kept pure; and the other extends a good way beyond the roof. The putrid effluvia, therefore, being lighter than the pure air of the atmosphere, ascend, or are forced by it, through the trunk, and carried clear away. The reason why vapours of this kind ascend more swiftly through a long trunk than a short one, is, that the pressure of fluids is always according to their different depth, without regard to the diameter of their basis, or of the vessel which contains them ; and, upon this principle, a gallon of water may be made to split a strong cask. When the column of putrid effluvia is long and narrow, the difference between the column of atmosphere pressing on the upper end of the trunk, and that which presses on the lower end, is much greater than if the column of putrid effluvia was- short and wide, and consequently the ascent is much swifter. One pan of a single pair of scales, which was two inches in diameter, being held within one of these trunks over the house of commons, the force of the ascending air made it rise so as to require four grains to restore the equili- brium, and this when there was no person in the house ; but when it was full, no less than 12 grains were requisite to restore the equi- librium. AIR VESSELS are spiral ducts in the leaves, &c. of plants, supposed to be analogous to the lungs of animals, in supplying the dif- ferent parts of a plant with air. S ? ee Physio- logy of Plants. A1TONIA, (so named in honour of Mr. Aiton, his majesty’s gardener at Kew) agenus of the class and order monodelphia octandria. A K O The essential character is, style 1 , cal, four- parted, cor- four-petalled ; berry dry, qua- drangular, one-celied, many seeded, '1 here is but one species, a shrub found at the Cape of Good Hope, The segments of the calyx and the petals are red, the fruit is also red and large. It must Joe kept in a good green-house, or a moderate stove, A J l GA, Bugle, a genus of the gymno- spermia order, and didynamia class ot plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 42d order, Asperifoliaj. The characters are, the calyx is a short perianth! inn, monophyllous and persistent; the corolla is monopetalous and griiming ; the stamina consist of four erect subulated filaments ; the antherae are dimidiated ; the pistillum lias a four-cleft germen, a filiform stylus, and two slender stigmata : there is no pericarpium ; the calyx converging, and containing the seeds in 'its bosom: the seeds are four and oblong. There are six species, the principal of which are: 1. Ajuga genevensis, with woolly leaves and hairy cups, a native of Switzerland, and of the southern parts of Eur ope. 2. Ajuga orientals, with inverted flowers, is a native of tire East. 3. Ajuga fyramidalis, or mountain bu- gle, with a square pyramidal spike and blue llower.s, a native of Sweden, Germany, Swit- zerland and England. 4. Ajuga reptans, common or pasture bugle, with creeping suckers, and blue, red, or white blossoms, a native of the southern parts of Europe, and is met with in woods and moist places in many' parts of Britain, The roots are astringent, and strike a black colour with vitriol of iron. AJUTAG E, or Adjutage, a sort of tube, fitted to the mouth, or aperture of the vessel, through which the water of a fountain is to be played, and by it determined into different fi- gures. It is indeed chiefly the diversity in the ajutages that constitutes the different kinds of fountains. And hence, by having several adjutages to be supplied occasionally, one fountain comes to have the effect of many. See Hydraulics. AIZOON, a genus of the pentagynia order, and icQsandria class of plants, and in the na- tural method ranking under (lie 1 3th order, succulent;?. The characters are : the calyx is a single-leaved perianthium, divided into five segments, and persistent: there is no corolla : the stamina consist of very numerous capillary filaments; the antherae are simple: the pistillum has a five-cornered germen above, with five simple sty 1 i ; and the stigmata are simple: the pericarpium is a bellied, re- tuse, five-cornered capsule, having five cells and five valves : the seeds are many and glo- bular. There are ten species, of which 1 . Aizoon Canariense, a native of the Canary islands ; 2. Aizoon IIisfanicum, a native of Spain; and, 3. Aizoon Paniculatum, a native of the Cape of Good Hope ; are the principal. They may all be raised in this country in hot-beds ; but they are not remarkable either for beauty or any other property. AKOND, an oflicer of justice in Persia, who takes cognizance of the causes of orphans and widows, of contracts and other civil con- cerns. He is the head of the school of law, and gives lectures to all the subaltern officers. He has his deputies in all the courts of the A US kingdom, who, with the second sadra, make all contracts, AL, an Arabic particle prefixed to words; and signifying much the same with the English particle the : thus they say, alkermes, alkuran, &c. i, e. the kermes, the Koran, &c. ALA, in botany, is used for the hollow of a stalk, which either the leaf, or the pedicle of the leaf, makes with it ; or it is that hollow turning, or sinus, placed between the stalk or branch of a plant and the leaf, whence a new offspring usually issues. Sometimes it is used for those parts yf leaves otherwise called lobes, or wings. ALABARDA, the name of a spear an- ciently used by the Helvetians and Germans. ALABAS7 ER, in natural history, a species of that genus of stones whose base is calca- reous earth. It differs from marble in being combined, not with the aerial, but with sul- phuric acid; therefore, when mixed with any acid, no effervescence appears. It is soluble in about 500 times its weight of water at the temperature of 60. It is fusible alone in a long continued porcelain heat, or by the blow-pipe. Specific gravity 1.87. Texture granular, with shining particles. In compo- sition, and consequently in its chemical pro- perties, it does not differ from gypsum, se- lenite, or plaster of Paris. The fineness and clearness of this stone render it in some mea- sure transparent ; whence it has been some- times employed for windows. There is a church at Florence still illuminated, instead of panes of glass, by slabs of alabaster near 1 5 feet high, each of which forms a single window, through which the light is conveyed. The countries in Europe which abound most in alabaster are Germany, towards Coblentz; the province of Maconnois, in the neighbour- hood of Cluni in France; Italy towards Rome, where that of Montaiout is particularly remarkable not only for its whiteness, but also for the size of its blocks, some of which are so large, that statues as big as the life may be easily cut out of them. A new manufacture of basso-relievos, from a singular species of factitious alabaster, was some time ago esta- blished by Mr. Letapie, at the baths of St- Philip in Tuscany. The stream at these baths deposits a peculiar kind of sand, which, when collected and condensed in the cavities of any body employed to oppose its current, acquires the nature, hardness, and colour, of alabaster, and assumes the forms of those ca- vities in which it is thus lodged. There are three species of alabaster, viz. 1. Alabaster, the snow white shin- ing, or lygdinum of the antients. 2. The variegated, yellow and reddish. This species is the common alabaster of the an- tients. 3. The yellowish, or phengites of Pliny, is found in Greece, Germany, France, and Derbyshire in England. The alabasters are frequently used by statuaries for small statues, vases, and columns. After being cal- cined and mixed with water, they may be cast in any mould like plaster of Paris. See Gypsum and Mineralogy. ALT., in anatomy, a term applied to the lobes of the liver, the cartilages of the nostril, and sometimes to the armpits. Al^e, in botany, (the plural of Ala,) is used to signify those petals of leaves of pa- pilionaceous flowers, placed between those others which are called the vexillum and ca- rl na, and which form the top and bottom of tke Sowers. Instances of flowers of this struc- ture are seen in those of peas and beans, in which the top leaf or petal is the vexillum, the bottom the carina, and the side ones the als*. Ahe is also applied to those extremely slen- der and membranaceous parts of some seeds which appear as wings placed on them ; and likewise signifies those membranaceous expan- sions running along the stems of some plants, which are therefore called (dated stalks. ALAMODE, in commerce, a thin glossy black silk, chiefly used for women’s hoods and men’s mourning scarfs, commonly called mode. ALARAF, in the Mahometan theology, tire partition wall that separates heaven from hell. ALARES, in antiquity, are supposed by some authors to have been a kind of militia or soldiers among the Romans; so called from ala, a wing, because of their lightness and swiftness in the combat. Others make them a people of Pannonia ; but others, with more probability, take atares for an adjective, or epithet, and apply it to the Roman cavalry, because placed in two wings, or alee, of the army ; for which reason a body of horse was called ala. ALASCANI, in church history, a sect of antilutherans, whose distinguishing tenet, be- sides their denying baptism, is said to have been this, that the words, This is my body , in the institution of the eucharist, are not to be understood of the bread, but of the whole action or celebration of the supper. ' ALAUDA, Lak k, in ornithology, a genus of birds of the order of passeres; the charac- ters of which are, that the beak is cylindrical, subulate, and straight, bending towards the point; the mandibles are of equal size and opening downwards at their base ; the tongue is bifid ; and the hinder claw is straighter and longer than tire toe. 1. A. arvensis, the skylark, the specific cha- racters of which are, that the two outermost quills of its tail are white lengthwise exter- nally, and the intermediate ones are ferrugi- nous ondhe inside; the length is about seven inches. The males of this species are somewhat browner than the females ; they have a black collar, and more white on the tail; their size is larger, and their aspect bolder; and they ex- clusively possess the faculty of singing. When t he female is impregnated, she forms her nest between two clods of earth, and lines it with herbs and dry roots, being no less attentive to the concealment than to the structure of it. It sometimes builds its nest among corn and ill high grass. Each female lays four or live eggs, which are greyish, with brown spots; and the period of her incubation is about 15 days. The young may be taken out of the nest when they are a fortnight old, and they are so hardy that they may be easily brought up. Some have said that she hatches three times in the year; but this must depend on the temperature of the climate. The parent is very tender of her young; and though she does not always cover them with her wings, she directs their motions, supplies their wants, and guards them from danger. The common food of the young sky-larks is worms, cater- pillars, ant’s-eggs, and even grasshoppers; and in maturity, they live chiefly on seeds, herb- age, and all vegetable substances. 'Those birds, it is said, that are destined for singing, Should be caught in October or November; Vol. I. ALAUDA. | and the males should, as much as possible, be selected: and when they are untraetable they should he pinioned, lest they injure themselves by their violence against the roof of the cage. As they cannot cling by the toes, it is need- less to place bars across their cage ; but they should have clean sand at the bottom of the cage, that they may welter in it, and be re- lieved from the vermin which torment them. The lark is found in all the inhabited parts of both continents, as far as the Cape of Good Hope; though Yillault says that it is not found on the Gold coast ; nor, according to Averroes, in Andalusia. This bird, and the wood-lark, are the only birds which sing whilst they lly. The higher it soars, the more it strains its voice, and lowers it till it quite dies away in descending. When it ascends beyond our sight, its music is distinctly heard ; audits song, which is full of swells and falls, and thus delightful for its variety, commences before the earliest dawn. In a state of freedom, the lark begins its song early in the spring, which is its season ot pairing, and continues to warble during the whole of the summer. 2. A. pratensis, the titlark, of which the spe- cific characters are, that above it is greenish brown ; its two outermost tail-quills are exter- nally white, and it has a white line on its eye- brows. This bird is of an elegant slender shape, five inches and a half long ; its bill is black; the back and head of a greenish brown, spotted with black; the throat and lower part of the belly are white; the breast yellow, marked with oblong spots of black; the tail is dusky: the exterior feather is varied by a bar of white, which runs across the end and takes in the whole outmost web; the claw on the hind toe is very long, and the feet yellowish. The male has in general more yellow than the female, on the throat, breast, legs, and feet. 'The tit-lark is found generally in meadows and low marshy grounds ; and, like other larks, it makes its nest among the grass, and lays live or six eggs, which are roundish, of a dusky red colour, with many small spots. While the female hatches, the male sits on a neighbouring tree, and rises at times, singing and clapping his wings. It feeds chiefly on tire worms and insects which it finds in new-ploughed lands ; and it will live for a long time on no other food than small seeds. Like the wood-lark, it sits on trees ; but it is flushed at the least noise, and shoots with a rapid flight: it has a very remarkable fine note, singing in all situ- ations; on trees, on the ground, while it is sporting in the air, and particularly in its de- scent. 3. A. arborea, the wood-lark of English wri- ters, is specifically characterised by a white annular belt, encircling its head. This bird is smaller than the sky-lark, and of a shorter thicker form ; the colours of the plumage are paler ; the first feather of the wing is shorter, than the second ; the hind claw is very long and somewhat bent; it perches on trees ; it haunts the uncultivated tracts near copses, without penetrating the woods, whence its name ; its song resembles more the warble of the night- ingale, or the whistling of the blackbird, than that of the sky-lark ; its note being less sono- rous and less varied, though not less sweet ; and it is heard not only in the day but in the night, botii when it flies and when it sits on a bough. '1 his bird builds on the ground, and forms 41 its nest on the outside with moss, and on the inside with dried bents, lined with a few hairs, and conceals it with a turf; and the situation it selects is ground where the grass is rank, or become brown. It lays four or five eggs, which are dusky and blotched with deep brown; its fecundity is inferior to that of the sky-lark, and its numbers are not so great: it breeds earlier, since its young are sometimes flown in the middle of March, and therefore they pair in February, at which time, and not before, they part with their last year’s brood ; whereas the common lark does not hatch be- fore the month of May. This is a very tender and delicate bird ; so that it' is impossible to rear the young taken out of the nest ; but this i#the case only in England and such co'd cli- mates, for in Italy they are removed from the nest, and reared at first like the nightingale, and afterwards fed upon panic and millet. The wood-lark feeds on beetles, caterpillars, and seeds: its tongue is forked; its stomach mus- cular and fleshy ; and it has no craw, but a moderate dilatation of the lower part of the (Esophagus; and its caeca are very small. It lives ten or twelve years. The males are dis- tinguished from the females by their larger size; the crown of the head is also of a darker colour, and the hind nail longer; its breast is more spotted, and its great wing-quills edged , with olive, which in the female is grew ‘1 lie 1 wood-lark mounts high, warbling its notes, and hovering in the air; it flies in flocks during the winter colds; it is found in Sweden and Italy, and is probably dispersed through the intervening countries, and consequently over the greatest part of Europe. It is also "found in Siberia, as far as Kamtschatka, and in the island of Madeira. 4. A. campestris, the meadow-lark, is rather larger than the tit-lark, being six inches and a halt in length. Its specific characters are, that its tail-quills are brown ; the lower half, except two intermediate quills, white ; the throat ami breast yellow. According to Wiliughby, the meadow-lark differs from the other larks by the blackness of its bii! and feet; he adds, that its bill is slender, straight, and pointed, and the corners of its mouth edged with yellow; that it has not, like the wood-lark, the first quills of the wings shorter than the succeeding; and that in the male the wings are rather darker than in the female. 'Though the males are hardly to be distinguished from, the females by their external appearance, yet if another male is presented, shut up in a cage, they will in- stantly attack it as an enemy or a rival. This bird has a slenderer body than the sky-lark, and is distinguished from 'it by the shake of its tail, like that of the wagtail and tit-lark. It inhabits heaths and uncultivated tracts, and frequently the oat-stubble, after the corn is reaped, where birds of this species . gather to- gether in numerous flocks. In spring, the male perches to discover or woo his mate, and sometimes he mounts into the air, singing with all his might, and then descends quickly to pair on the ground. When a person approaches the nest, the. female betrays her fears by her cries; whereas, other larks are' silent un- moved, when danger is apprehended. They make their nest close to the ground, some- times in furze-bushes, and form it of moss, lined with straw and horse-hair. 5. A. trivialis, is distinguished by brown tail-quills, the outermost half white, the second white at its wedge-like tip, with a double 42 ALB ALB A L B whitish line on the wings. The German epi- thet piep, and the English pin pit funned from the Latin pipio, which signifies to utter a fee- ble cry like chickens, alludes to the sibilous notes of this bird. Its cry, especially in win- ter, is like that of the grasshopper, but stronger and shriller, and it utters this, both when perched on the tallest branches among the bushes, and when it is on the wing. Its tones are soft, harmonious, and clear. This little bird builds its nest in solitary spots, concealed under a turf, and its yoking are frequently a prey to the adders. It lays live eggs, of a light grass-green colour, thinly sprinkled with deeper coloured specks. The grasshopper larks appear in England about- the middle of September, and great numbers of them are caught in the environs of London. 6. A. cristata, is distinguished by black tail- quills, the two outermost white at their exterior edge, its head crested, and its feet black. Its length is about six inches and three quarters. It lives in the meadows and fields, on the sides of ditches and the backs of furrows : it is often seen at the margin of water, and on the high roads, rarely in the skirts of woods, perched on a tree, and sometimes ou the topsot houses, and of abbeys, &c. This lark, though not so common as the sky-lark, is found in most parts of Europe, in Italy, France, Germany, Po- land, Denmark, Russia, Scotland, and does not change its abode in winter. The song of the males is loud, and yet mellow and pleasant ; and their warbling is usually accompanied with a quivering of the wings. The crested lark is the only one that may be instructed ; in a month it learns many airs perfectly, which it repeats without confusion, and retains nothing of its native warble ; and in these particulars it is superior to the canary. The other species are, the alauda ruta, capensis, calandra, alpestris, magna, minor, italica, ludoviciana, rubra, mosellana, malabari- ca, gingica, tartarica, mutabilis, nemorosa, undata, senegalensis, testacea, lusitana, africa- na, cinerea, Novae Zeelandiae, mongolica, si- birica, Hava, obscura, most of them foreign birds. In all 33 species. . ALBARIUM opus, in the ancient build- ing, the incrustation or covering of the roofs of houses with white plaster, made of mere lime. This. is otherwise called opus album. It differs from tcctorium, which is a common name given to all roofing or ceiling, including even that formed of lime and sand, or lime and marble ; whereas albarium was restrained to that made of lime alone. ALBATItOSSE. See Diomedea. ALBE, a small piece of money, current in G ermany, worth only a French sol and seven deniers. ALBERNUO, a kind of camblet, brought from the Levant by the way of Marseilles. ALBERTUS, a gold coin, worth about 14 French livres : it was coined during the ad- ministration of Albertus archduke of Austria. ALBIGENSES, in church history, a party of reformers about 'Lou louse and the Albi- geois in Languedoc, who sprung up in the twelfth centifrv, and distinguished themselves by their opposition to the discipline and cere- monies of the church of Rome. Tins sect had their name, it is supposed, either because there were great numbers of them in the dio- cese of/Albi, or because they were con- demned by a council held in that city. In frvet it does not appear that they were known by this name before the holding of that coun- cil. The albigenseswere also called albiani, albigesei, albii, and albanenses, though some distinguish these last from them. '1 he albi- genses, by the truth of their doctrines, and their vigour and energy in propagating them, became so formidable, that the papists agreed upon a holy league or croisade against them. They were at first supported by Raimond, count of Toulouse. Pope Inno- cent III., desirous to put a stop to their pro- gress, sent a leghte into their country, which failing, he stirred up Philip Augustus, king of France, and the other princes and great men of the kingdom, to make war upon them. Upon this, the count of Toulouse, who had supported them, made his submission to the pope, and went over to the catholics; but soon after, finding himself plundered by the croisaders, he declared war against them, and was joined by the king of Arragon. Ilis army was defeated at the siege of Muret, where lie himself was killed, and the defeat followed by the surrender of the city of Toulouse, and the conquest of the greatest part of Languedoc and Provence. His son Raimond succeeded him ; who agreed with the king and the pope to establish the inquisition in his estates, and to extirpate the Albigenses. In an assembly held at Milan, the archbishop of Toulouse drew up articles ; agreeable to which the count made a most ample declaration against them, which he published at Toulouse in 1253. From this time the Albigenses dwindled by little and little, till the times of the reforma- tion ; when such of them as were left fell in with the Vaudois, and became conformable to the doctrine of Zuinglius and the discipline of Geneva. Albigenses is also a name sometimes given to the followers of Peter Valid, or Wal- do ; and hence synonymous with Waldenses, or poor men of Lyons. In this sense the word is applied by Camerarius, Thuanus, and several other writers. The reason seems to be, that the two parties agreed in their oppo- sition to the papal innovations and encroach- ments, though in many other respects diffe- rent. The bishop of Meaux labours hard to support a distinction between the two sects, alleging, that the Albigenses were heretics and Manichees ; whereas the Waldenses were only schismatics, not heretics, being sound as to articles of faith, and only separat- ing from the church of Rome on account of forms and discipline. Dr. Allix endeavours to set aside the distinction; and shows, that both of them held the same opinions, and were equally condemned and held for heretics ; and this not for points of faith, but for declaiming against the papal tyranny and idolatry, and holding the pope to be the antichrist ; which last, according to the bishop of Meaux, con- stitutes little less than Manicheism. In this sense the Lollards and Wicklifiites in England were not only Albigenses but Manichees. ALBINOS, the name by which the Portu- guese call the white Moors, who are looked upon by the neg oes as monsters. They at a distance might be taken for Europeans ; but, upon a near inspection, their white colour ap- pears like that of persons affected with a le- prosy. In Saussure’s Voyages dans les Alpes, is the following account of two boys, at Cha- mouni, who have been called Albinos : “ The elder, who w r as at the end of the year 1785 about twenty or one-and-twenty years of age. had a dull look, with lips somewhat thick, but nothing else in his features to distinguish him from other people. r I he other, who is two years younger, is rather a more agreeable figure The is gay and sprightly, and seems not to want wit. But their eyes are not blue ; the iris is of a very distinct rose-colour: the pupil too, when viewed in the light, seems decidedly red ; which seems to demonstrate, that the interior membranes are deprived of the uvea, and of that black mucous matter that should line them. Their hair, their eye-brows, and eye-lashes, the down upon their skin, were all, in their infancy, of the most perfect milk-white colour, and very fine; but their hair is now of a reddish cast, and has grown pretty' strong. I am therefore of opinion that we may consider these two lads as true albinos: lor if they have not the thick lips and fiat noses of the white negroes, it is because they are albinos of Europe not of Africa. This infirmity af- fects the eyes, the complexion, and the co- lour of the hair; it even diminishes the strength, but does not alter the conformation of the features. Besides, there are certainly in this malady various degrees: some may have less strength, and be less able to endure the light: but these circumstances in those of Chamouni are marked with characters suffi- ciently strong to entitle them to the unhappy advantage of being classed with that variety of the human species denominated albinos.” ALBORAK, amongst the Mahometan wri- ters, the beast on which Mahomet rode in his journeys to heaven. The Arab commenta- tors give many fables concerning this extra- ordinary vehicle. It is represented as of an intermediate shape and size between an ass and a mule. A place, it seems, was secured for it in paradise at the intercession of Maho- met ; which, however, was in some measure extorted from the prophet by Alborak’s re- fusing to let him mount him when the angel Gabriel was come to conduct him to heaven. ALBUCA, a genus of the hexandria-mo- nogynia class and order. The essential cha- racter is, corolla six petalled, inner ones dif- form, stamina three of the six castrated stigma, surrounded by six carps. There are eight species, rather tender, but may be kept in winter in a garden frame. ALBUGINEA, in anatomy, the outer- most coat or tegument of the eye, otherwise called adnata and conjunctiva. ALBUGO, or Leucoma, is defined by physicians to be a distemper occasioned by a white opaque spot growing on the corner of the eye, and obstructing vision. See Me- dicine. ALBULA, in ichthyology, a genus of fishes of the truttaceous kind, having no teeth. The principal species are, 1. Albula indica, a small fish resembling a herring, caught about the shores of the East. Indies, and called by the Dutch the wit-fish. 2. Albula nobilis, a truttaceous fisli caught in great plenty in the lakes of Germany and other places. Albula, in natural history, mineral waters of an aluminous kind; hence endowed with an astringent quality, and of use iu wounds. ALBUMEN. The eggs of fowls contain two very different substances : a yellow oily- like matter, called the yolk, and a colourless, glossy viscid liquid, distinguished by the name of white. This last is the substance which ALB chemists have agreed to denominate albu- men. The white of an egg, however, is not pure albumen. It contains, combined with it, some soda and some sulphur : but as albu- men is never found except combined with these bodies, and as no method is known of separating it without at the same time alter- ing the properties of the albumen, chemists are obliged to examine it while in combina- tion with these bodies. Albumen dissolves readily in water, and the solution has the property of giving a green colour to vegetable blues, in consequence of the soda which it contains, Wjien albumen is hea!,ed to the temperature of 165°, if coa- gulates into a white solid mass ; the consist- ency of which,, when other things are equal, depends, in some measure, on the time dur- ing which the heat was applied. The coagu- lated mass has precisely the same weight that it had while fluid. T his property of coagulat- ing when heated is characteristic of albumen, and distinguishes it from other bodies. The taste of coagulated albumen is. quite dift'erent from that of liquid albumen : its ap- pearance, too, and its properties, are entirely changed ; tor it is no longer soluble, as before, either in hot or in cold water. Tile coagulation of albumen takes place even though air is completely excluded; and even when air is present, there is no absorption of it, nor does albumen in coagulating change its volume. Acids have the property of coa- gulating albumen, as Scheele ascertained. Al- cohol also produces, in some measure, the same effect. Heat, then, acids and alcohol, are the agents which may be employed to coagulate albumen. Scheele and I'ourcroy have ascribed the coagulation of albumen to the addition of a new substance. According to Scheele, ca- loric is the substance which is added. Pom- eroy, on the contrary, affirms that it is oxy- gen- Albumen then is capable ot existing in two states ; the one before it lias been coagulated, and the other after it has undergone coagu- lation. Its properties are very different in each. It will be proper, therefore, to con- sider them separately. 1. Albumen, in its natural state or uncoa- gulated, is a glary liquid, having little taste, and no smell. When dried spontaneously, or in a low heat, it becomes a brittle transpa- rent glassy-like substance, which, when spread thin upon plain surfaces, forms a varnish,. and is accordingly employed by bookbinders for that purpose. When thus dried, it has a con- siderable resemblance to gum arabic, to which also its taste is similar. The white of an egg loses about 4-5ths of its weight in drying. It is still soluble in water, and forms the same glary liquid as before. Uncoagulated albumen soon putrefies un- less it is dried ; in which state it does not un- dergo any change. 2. When albumen is coagulated either by heat, alcohol, or acids, it is an opaque sub- stance of a pearl white colour, tough, and of a sweetish mucilaginous taste. It is no longer soluble in water, and is not nearly so suscep- tible of decomposition as uncoagulated albu- men, Mr, Hatchett kept it for a month under water, and yet it did not become pu- trid, It is to the experiments of this inge- nious chemist that we are indebted for almost every thing at present known relative to coa- ALB gu late cl albumen. By drying it in the tem- perature of 212°, he converted it into a brittle hard yellow substance, semitransparent like horn. r These properties indicate sufficiently that coagulated albumen is a very different sub- stance from uncoagulated albumen. During the coagulation its component parts must ar- range themselves differently. From the effects of nitric acid on albu- men and its products, when subjected to de- structive distillation, it lias been concluded that it consists of carbon, hydrogen, azote, and oxygen, in unknown proportions. As it yields more azotic gas to nitric acid, it has been considered as containing more of that principle than gelatine. It is obvious, how- ever, that it does not differ much from that body, as nitric acid spontaneously converts it into gelatine. Albumen forms the membra- nous parts of many shells, sponges, &c. It is,- in short, one of the most important and ge- neral animal substances. The property which albumen has of being coagulated by heat renders it a very useful substance for clarifying fluids. See Thomp- son’s Chemistry. Albumen, vegetable. This substance was discovered by I'ourcroy, who observed that the clarification of the expressed juices of an- tiscorbutic plants was effected by the sponta- neous coagulation of their colouring matter, at the temperature of boiling water, on which account he was led to examine whether this property did not depend on the presence of albumen. He obtained the juice of two pounds of young cresses, and filtered it while cold through blotting paper, and thus sepa- rated the grosser parts of the colouring fecula ; the liquor was still of a bright green, and upon being exposed in a broad shallow vessel to the air at the temperature of 80° Fahrenheit, in two hours it became turbid, and deposited green matter, becoming itself almost colourless; in this state it was exposed to the heat of boiling water, and in a fesv minutes there separated a quantity of whitish fiocculent matter. Ano- ther portion of the same liquor exposed to the air, deposited, at the end of two days, a simi- lar coagulum ; and the same effect was pro- duced on a third portion by the addition of sulphuric acid. T his substance exhibited all the properties of animal albumen. Albumen has since been found in the roots of various vegetables ; also in wheat, and the farinaceous seeds; and in general in all the green and succulent plants. The acid pulp of fruits are totally destitute of this substance, but they abound with jelly ; and it is sup- posed that, in all these cases, there is a con- version of albumen into jelly, by the gradual evolution of the acid, and fixation of oxygen. ALBURNUM, the soft white substance found in trees between the liber, or inner bark, and the true wood, and which, in pro- cess of time, is itself converted into that sub- stance. It is found in the largest quantities in trees which are vigorous. In an oak six inches in diameter this substance is nearly equal in bulk to the wood. In a trunk of one foot dia- meter, it is as one to three and a half ; of two and a half feet diameter, as one to four and a hafi, &c. but these proportions vary according to the health and constitution ot the trees. The alburnum is frequently gnawed in pieces by insects, which lodge in this substance, and are nourished from it. F 2 A L C U ALCA, or Auk, in ornithology, a genus of the order of anseres, r i he beak ot this genus is without teeth, short, convex, compressed, and frequently furrowed transversely : the in- ferior mandible is gibbous near the base ; the feet have generally three toes. 1 here are 12 species of the alca, of which the most remark- able are, 1. Alca alle, the little auk, or black anil white diver, with a smooth conical bill, a white streak on the belly and wings, and black feet. The size of this species exceeds not that of a blackbird. It is not very common in Eng- land. It seems to be most plentiful towards the north, being met with in various parts as far as Spitzbergen. It is common in Green- land, in company with the black-billed spe- cies ; feeds on the same food ; and lays two blueish eggs, larger than those of a pigeon. It flies quick, and dives well ; and is always (lipping its bill into the water, while swimming or at rest on the water. It grows fat in the stormy season, from the waves bringing plenty of crabs and small fish within its reach ; but from its size it is less sought after than the others. In Greenland it is called the ice-bird, being the harbinger of ice. r Ihis species is, sometimes seen of a pure white. 2. A. Arctica, known in England by the name of puffin. See Plate Nat. Hist, fig. 8. These birds are found upon several of the rocky coasts in England, in Ireland, North Britain, Iceland, and Greenland. They fre- quent Carolina in America during winter, and have been met with in Sandwich-sound, where the natives ornament the fore, parts and collar of their seal-skin jacket with the beaks of them. On the coast of Kamtschatka, and the Kurile islands, the inhabitants wear the bills of the arctica about their necks, and their priests put them on with a proper ceremony, in order to procure good fortune. They ar- rive at their breeding places here about the first week in May, and endeavour to dislodge the rabbits to save, the trouble of making holes for themselves. The female lays but one egg, and the young are hatched in the beginning of July, and about the middle of August they take their flight. The young that are late hatched, become the prey of falcons, &c. Notwithstanding their neglect of the young at this time, on every other oc- casion they are very attentive to them. They will suffer themselves to betaken by the hand, and use every means of defence in their power to save them ; and if held by the wings, will tear their bodies, as if actuated by de- spair, and when released, instead of flying away, will hurry again into the burrow to their young. 3. Alca Cirrhata, so called by Dr. Pallas, or tufted auk, is somewhat bigger than the common puffin, and the colours much the same : the bill is an inch and three quarters in length, the same in depth at the base, and crossed with three furrows; over each eye arises a tuft of feathers four inches in length, which falls elegantly on each side of the neck, reaching almost to the back; and white as far as they arc attached to the head, but afterwards of a fine buff yellow; the legs are of a bright red ; the claws black. The female is principally distinguished by having the bill crossed only with two furrows instead of three. This species inhabits the shores of Kamtschat- ka, the Kurile islands, and those intervening between Kamtschatka and America. In man- -44 A L C A L C A L C ners it greatly resembles the puffin; living all day at sea, but at no great distance from fhe jocks; it comes on shore at night ; burrows a yard deep under ground, and makes a nest with- feathers and .sea plants ; is monogamous, anti lodges there the whole night with its mate, it lays one white egg in the end of May or beginning of June, which alone is thought' fit to be eaten, the flesh of the bird itself being insipid and hard. It feeds on crabs, shrimps, and shell-fish, which last it ’ forces from tne rocks with its strong bill. 4. Alca impennis, the northern pen- guin, or great auk, with a compressed bill, furrowed on each side, and an oval spot on each side of the eyes. According to Mr. Martin, this bird breeds on the isle of St. Kikla; appearing there the beginning of May, and retiring the middle of June. It lays one egg, which is six inches long, of a white co- lour; some are irregularly marked with pur- plish line's crossing each other : if the egg is taken away, it will not lay another that sea- son. The length of this bird, to the end of its toes, is three feet: but its wings are so small, as to be useless for flight ; the length, Jrom the tip of the longest quillfeathers to the fil'd joint, being only four indies and a quar- ter. This bird is observed by seamen never to wander beyond soundings ; and according to its appearance they direct their measures, .being then assured that land is not very re- mote. It walks ill; but dives well, and is taken in the manner used for the razor bill and puffin. The skin between the jaws is blown into a bladder, and used for the darts of the Greenlanders, as is also that of some other birds. 5. Alca pica, or black-billed auk, has the bill of the same form with the torda, but is en- tirely black. Mr. Pennant observes, that it is sometimes found on our coasts ; but, ac- cording to Mr. Latham, it is in the winter season only, when the common sort has quit- ted them. They are said to be met with on the coast of Candia, and other parts of the Mediterranean. d. Alca psittacula, or perroquet auk of Dr. Pallas, is about the size of the little auk. The bill is much compressed on the sides, in shape convex both above and below, and of a bright red colour : from the remote corner of each eye is a very slender tuft of line white feathers, hanging down the neck. This species is found at Kamtschatka, in the isles towards Japan, and on the western shores of America. They are sometimes seen in Hocks, but seldom far from land, except when driven . by storms. During night they harbour in the crevices of rocks. About the middle of June they lay an egg, almost the size of a hen’s, of a dirty white or yellowish colour, spotted with brown, upon the bare rock, or sand, for they make no nest. Like most of the tribe, they are stupid birds, as is evinced by the method of catching them. One of Uie natives places himself under a loose gar- ment of fur, of a particular make, with large open sleeves, among tiie rocks at evening ; when the birds, returning to their lodging places at dusk, run under the skirts, and up the arm holes, for shelter during the night, and thus become an easy prey. Their stu- pidity likewise appears from their flying aboard ships, mistaking them for roosting places. 7. Alca Torda, or the razor bill, with four furrows on the bill, and a white line on each side running from the bill to the eyes. These birds, in company with the guillemot, appear in our seas the beginning of February, but do not settle on their breeding places till they begin to lay, about the beginning of May. They inhabit the ledges of the highest rocks that impend pver the sea, where they form a grotesque appearance ; sitting close toge- ther, and in rows one above another. They properly lay but one egg apiece, of an ex- traordinary size for the bulk of the bird, be- ing three inches long ; it is either white, or of a pale sea green, irregularly spotted with black. If this egg is destroyed, both the auk and the guillemot will lay another : if that is taken, then a third : they make no nest, de- positing their egg on the bare rock ; and though such multitudes lay contiguous, by a wonderful instinct each distinguishes its own. What is also matter of great amazement, they fix their egg on the smooth rock with so exact a balance, as to secure it from rolling off; yet should it be removed, and then attempted to be replaced by the human hand, it is extreme- ly difficult, if not impossible, to land its former equilibrium. According to Mr. Latham, it is by means of a cement that the bird lixes its egg % ALCAIC, in antient poetry, a denomina- tion given to several kinds of verse, from Al- caeus, their inventor. 1. The first kind con- sists of five feet, viz. a spondee, or iambic; an iambic ; a caesura, and two dactyles ; such is the following verse of Horace : Eheu ! | fuga|ces, | Postume, | Postume, Labnn tur an.ni ! | nec piejtas moram. 2. The second kind consists of two dactyles and two trochees : as, Aiferet, | indomjtaeque | morti. 3. Besides these two, which are called dac- tylic Alcaics, there is another styled simply Alcaic ; consisting of an epitrite/ two chori- ambus ; and a baechius : the following is of this species, Cur timetfia; vum Tiberim j tungore, cur j oli- vum? ALCAID, Alcayde, or Alcalde, in the polity of the Moors, Spaniards, and Portu- guese, a magistrate, or officer of justice, an- swering nearly to the office of the British jus- tice of peace. The alcaid among the Moors is invested with the supreme jurisdiction, both in civil and criminal cases. ALCANNA, in commerce, a cosmetic powder prepared from the leaves of the Egyp- tian privet. It is much used by the Turkish women to give a golden colour to their nails and hair. There is also an oil extracted from the berries of alcanna, and used in medicine as a quiescent. ALCANTARA, the knights of, a military order of Spain, which took its name from the above mentioned city. They make a very considerable figure in the history of the ex- peditions against the Moors. Alter the ex- pulsion of the Moors, and the taking of Gra- nada, the sovereignty of the order of Alcan- tara and that of Calatrava was settled in the crown of Castile by Ferdinand and Isabella. In 1540 the knights of Alcantara sued for leave to marry, which was granted them. ALCAVALA, in the Spanish finances, was at first a tax of 10 per cent, afterwards of 14 per cent, but is at present of only 6 per cent-, upon the sale of every sort of property, whe- ther moveable or immoveable ; and it is repeat- ed every time the property is sold. The levy- ing of this tax requires a multitude of revenue officers sufficient to guard the transportation of goods, net only from one province to an- other, but from one shop to another. It is to * the alcavala, accordingly, that Ultaritz imputes the ruin of the manufactures of Spain. ALCEA, the Holly-Hock: a genus of the polyandria order, belonging to the rnona- delphia class of plants ; and in the natural me- thod ranking under the 37th order, colum- nifei a;. The characters are : the calyx is a double perianthium, monophyllous and per- sistent; the exterior one six-cleft, the interior half live-cleft : the corolla consists of five pe- tals, coalesced at the base, heart-shaped in- versely, and expanding: the stamina consist of numerous filaments, coalesced below into a five-cornered cylinder, loose above, and in- serted into the corolla ; the autherse are kid- ney-shaped : the pistillum has a roundish ger- men; a short cylindric stylus ; and numerous bristly stigmata the length of the stylus : the pericarpium consists of many arilli, jointed into a verticillum about a columnar depressed receptacle: the seeds are solitary, reniform, and depressed. There are three species, the alcea licifblia, rosea, and africana. ALCEDO, or Kingsfisher, in ornitho- logy, a genus of the order of pies. The al- cedo has a long, straight, thick, triangular bill ; with a fleshy, plain, short, flat tongue. Of this genus there are many species, with 6ne or other of which almost every part of the world is furnished. Most of them frequent rivers, and live on fish, the singularity of catching which is admirable : sometimes hovering over the water, where a shoal of small fishes is seen playing near the surface ; at other times wait- ing with attention, on some low branch hang- ing over the water, for the approach of a single fish which is so unlucky as to swim that way ; in either case dropping like a stone, or rather darting with rapidity on its prey; when, seiz- ing it crosswise in its bill, it retires to a resting place to feast on it ; which it does piecemeal, bones and all, without reserve, afterwards bringing up the indigestible parts in pellets, like birds of prey. The wings of most of the genus are very short ; yet the birds fly rapidly and with great strength. It may be remark- ed, that throughout this genus, blue, in dif- ferent shades, is tire most predominant colour. There are above 30 species of this genus, of which the following are the most remarkable, viz. See Plate Nat. Hist. lig. 9 and 10. 1. Alcedo galbula, or green jacamar, is about the size a lark. The bill is black, of a square form, a little incurvated and sharp at the point ; the plumage, in general, in the upper part of the body, is of a most brilliant green, glossed with copper and gold in differ- ent lights. This species is found both in Guiana and Brasil, in the moist woods, which it prefers to the more dry spots, for the sake of insects, on which it feeds. Though these birds are solitary, yet they are tar from scarce; as many may be met with. They are said to have a short and agreeable note. 2. Alcedo isjpida, or common kings- fisher, is not much larger than a swallow ; its shape is clumsy ; the bill disproportionably long, it is two inches from the base to the tip, the upper chap black, and the lower yellow. But the colours of this bird atone for its inele- gant form : the crown of the head and the co* - A L C A L C A L C 45 verts of the wings are_of a deep blackish green, .spotted with bright azure ; 'the back and tail are of the most resplendent azure ; the whole under side ot the body is orange coloured ; a broad mark of the same passes from the bill * beyond the eyes. From the diminutive size, the slender short legs, and the beautiful colours of this bird, no person would be led to sup- pose it one of the most rapacious little animals that skims the deep. M. D’Aubenton has kept these birds for several months, by means of small fish put into basons of water, on which i they have fed ; for on experiment they have refused all other kinds of nourishment. 3. Alcedo Paradisea, or paradise jaca- mar, is of the same size with the former, and has a similar bill ; the throat, fore part of the neck, and under wing coverts, are white ; the rest of the plumage is of a deep dull green, in some lights appearing almost black, in others with a slight gloss of violet and copper bronze. It inhabits Surinam ; and like the galbuia it feeds on insects ; and sometimes frequents open places. It flies farther at a time, and perches on the tops of trees : it is frequently found with a companion, not being quite so solitary a bird as the other. 4. Alcedo rudis, or Egyptian kings- •fisher, is the size of the Royston crow. The bill is blackish, more than half an inch broad at the base, and two inches in length ; the head, shoulders, and back, are brown, marked with oblong ferruginous spots ; the throat is of a ferruginous white ; the belly and thighs j are whitish, marked with longitudinal broadlsh cinereous spots ; the upper tail coverts quite white ; the quills spotted with white on the inner webs, chiefly at the tips; the tail is ash- coloured ; the legs are of a pale green ; and the claws blackish. It inhabits lower Egypt, about Cairo; builds in sycamore and date trees ; and feeds on frogs, insects, and small fish, which last it meets with in the fields when they are overflowed. 5. Alcedo taparara of Buffon is about the size of a starling : the hind part of the neck, the back, and scapulars, are of an elegant blue ; the rump, and upper tail coverts bright beryl-blue ; the under parts of the body are white; the wing coverts blue; and the legs red. Inhabits Cayenne and Guiana. 6. Alcedo torquata, or cinereous kings- fisher, is about the size of a magpie. The bill is three inches and a half long, and brown; the head is crested ; the upper parts of the head and body are bluish ash ; the under parts chesnut; the throat is whitish, descending down the neck', and passing behind like a collar, ending towards the back in a point ; the under tail coverts are of a pale fulvous, transversely striated with black ; lesser wing coverts varied with blui h, ash, black, and yel- lowish. It inhabits Martinico and Mexico. ALCHEMILLA, or La-dies-Mantle, a genus of the monogynia order, and tetandria class of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 35 th order, Senticosae. The essential character is cal. 8 cleft, cor. none, seed one. There are 4 species, the principal are: 1. Alchemilla alpina, or cinque-foil la- dies-mantle. It is a native of the mountain- ous parts of Europe. Goats and cows eat it ; horses, sheep, and swine, refuse it. 2. Alchemilla minor, or least ladies- mantle. It grows naturally in Sweden,- Lap- land, and other cold countries. 3. Alchemilla vulgaris, or common ladies-mantle, with leaves plaited like a fan, and yellowish green blossoms. It grows na- turally in pasture lands in this as in most other countries in Europe. The leaves dis- cover to the taste a moderate astringency ; and were formerly much esteemed in some teniale weaknesses, and in fluxes of the body. They are now rarely made use of, though both the leaves and roots might possibly be of service in cases where mild astringents are required. ALL 1 1 EM Y, (from a!, the, Arab, and 'Krjiua, chemistry,) That obsolete branch of chemistry which had for its principal objects the transmutation of metals into gold; the panacea, or universal remedy ; an alkahest, or universal menstruum; an universal fer- ment; and many other things equally ridicu- lous. ALCHORNIA, a genus of the dioecia monodelphia class and order. The essential character is, male, calyx three, rive-leaved ; cor. none : female, calyx five-toothed, cor. none, styli two parted, caps, berried, de- corous: There is one species of which little seems to be known in this country. ALCOHOL, or Alkool, in chemistry, is used for any highly rectified spirit. Al- cohol is extremely light and inflammable, is a strong antiseptic, and therefore employed to preserve animal substances. See Che- mistry. Alcohol, ardent spirit. The term alcohol is applied by modern chemists to the purely spiritous part of all liquors that have under- gone the vinous fermentation. It is certain, that the method of procuring ardent spirits by distillation was known in the dark ages ; and it is more than probable that it was- practised in the north of Europe much earlier. Ardent spirits, such as brandy, for instance, rum and whisky, consist almost entirely of three ingredients, water, alcohol, or spirit of wine, to which they owe their strength, and a small quantity of a. peculiar oil, from which they derive their flavour. When these spiritous liquors are distilled in a water bath, the first portion that comes over is a line light transparent liquid, known in commerce by the name of rectified spirits, and commonly sold under, the denomination of alcohol or spirit of. wine. It is not how- ever, as strong as possible, still containing a considerable portion of water. 'This water may be separated, and the alcohol obtained as pure as possible, by the following process : Saturate the spirit with a quantity of carbonat of potass, which, has just immediately before been exposed for about half an hour in a cru- cible to a red heat, in order to deprive it of moisture. Carbonat of potass in this state has a strong attraction for water ; it accordingly combines with the water of the spirit ; and the solution of carbonat of potass thus formed sinks to the bottom of the vessel, and the alco- hol, which is lighter, swims over it, and may easily be decanted off; or, what is perhaps better, the solution of potass may be drawn off from below it by means of a stop-cock placed at the bottom of the vessel. Th" alcohol, thus obtained, contains a little pure potass dissolved, which may be separated by distilling it in a water bath' with a very small heat. The alcohol passes over, and leaves the potass behind. It is proper not to distil to dryness, Alcohol is a transparent liquor, colourless like water, of a pleasant smell, and a strong penetrating agreeable taste. When swallow- ed it produces intoxication. It is exceedingly fluid, and lias never been frozen, though it has been exposed to a cokl so great that the thermometer stood at — 69 . its specific gravity, when pure, is only 0.800 ; but it is seldom obtained so low. The specific gravity of alcohol, as highly rectified as possible, is 0.820; that of the alcohol of commerce is seldom less than 0.8371. It is almost unnecessary to remark, that the dimi- nution of specific gravity is always propor- tional to the purity of the alcohol. Alcohol is exceedingly volatile, boiling at the temperature of 176°; in which heat it as- sumes the form of an elastic fluid, capable of resisting the pressure of the atmosphere, but which condenses again into alcohol when that temperature is reduced. In a vacuum it boils at 56°, and exhibits the same pheno- mena ; ! so that was it not for the pressure of the atmosphere, alcohol would always exist in the form of an elastic fluid, as transparent and invisible as common air. It is exceed- ingly combustible ; and when set on lire, it burns all away with a blue flame, without leaving any residuum. Eoerhaave observed, that when the vapour which escapes during this combustion is collected in proper vessels, it it found to consist of nothing but water. Junker had made the same remark ; and Dr, Black suspected, from his own observations, that the quantity of water obtained, if pro- perly collected, exceeded the weight of the alcohol consumed. This observation was confirmed by Lavoisier ; who found that the water produced during the combustion of alcohol exceeded the alcohol consumed by about 1 -seventh part. Different opinions were entertained by chemists about the nature of alcohol; but Lavoisier was the first who attempted to ana- lyse it. From his experiments it follows, that 76.7083 grains of alcohol, consumed during the combustion, were composed of 22.840 carbon 6.030 hydrogen. 47.830 -water: 76.7 Such were the consequences which Mr. Lavoisier drew from his analysis. He ac- knowledged, however, that there were two- sources of uncertainty, which rendered his conclusions not altogether to be depended upon. The first was, that he had no method of determining the quantity of alcohol con- sumed, except by the difference of weight in the lamp before and after combustion ; and that therefore a quantity might have evapo- rated without combustion, which, however, . would be taken into the sum of the alcohol consumed. But this error could not have been great ; for if a considerable quantity of alcohol had existed in the state of vapour in. the vessel, an explosion would certainly have taken place. The other source of error was,, that the quantity of water was not known by actual weight, but by calculation. That alcohol contains oxygen, has been proved by a very ingenious set of. experi- ments performed by Messrs. Fourcroy and Van quel in. When equal parts of it and sul- phuric acid are mixed together, the sulphu- ric acid suffers no change. ; but the alcohol 46 ALCOHOL. is decomposed, being partly converted into water and partly into aether. Now it is evi- dent that the alcohol could not have been converted into water unless it had contained oxygen. Y\ hen alcohol, in the state of vapour, is made to pass through a red hot porcelain tube, it is decomposed completely. Carbu-. reted hydrogen gas and carbonic acid gas are disengaged; water passes into the receiver, and on its inner surface are deposited a number of small brilliant crystals, which Yauquelin ascertained to be a concrete vola- tile oil. The inside of the volatile tube is coated with charcoal in the state of a line black. This experiment was lirst made by Priestley ; but it was afterwards repeated with more care, and the nature of the products ascertained by the Dutch chemists. Alcohol has a strong affinity for water, and is miscible with it in every proportion. The specilic gravity varies according to the pro- portion of the two liquids combined ; but, as happens in almost all combinations, the ’spe- cific gravity is always greater than the mean of the two liquids; consequently there is a mutual penetration : and as this penetration or condensation varies also with the propor- tions, it is evident that the specific gravity of different mixtures of alcohol and water can only be ascertained by experiment. As the spiritous liquors of commerce are merely mixtures of alcohol and water in different proportions, and as their strength can only be ascertained with precision by means of their specific gravity, it becomes a point of Very great importance to determine with precision the proportion of alcohol contained in a spirit of a given specific gravity : and as the specific gravity varies with the temperature, it is ne- • cessary to make an allowance for that like- wise. The importance of this object, both for the purposes of revenue and commerce, in- duced the British government to employ Sir Charles Rlagden to institute a very minute and accurate series of experiments. An ac- count of these was published by Blagden in the Philosophical Transactions for 1790 ; and a set of tables, exhibiting the result of them, was drawn up by Mr. Gilpin, who had per- formed the experiments, and published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1794. The following little table, constructed from Dr. Thomson’s experiments, wall enable the reader to ascertain the proportion of real al- cohol and water in mixtures. Suppose alco- hol at 0.800 to be pure; then alcohol of 0.813 is composed of 100 alcohol -j- 2 water. '0.818 100 4-4 0.825 100 + 7.53 or 93 + 7. Alcohol has no action upon sulphur while solid ; but when these two bodies are brought together both in the state of vapour, they combine and form a reddish sulphuret, which exhales the odour of sulphurated hydrogen gas. This compound contains about 60 parts of alcohol and one part of sulphur. The sul- phur is precipitated by water. Alcohol dis- solves also a little phosphorus when assisted by heat. This phosphorized alcohol exhales the odour of phosphurated hydrogen gas. When a little of it is dropt into a glass of water, a flame instantly makes its appear- ance, and weaves beautifully on the surface of the water. This phenomenon, which is occasioned by the emission of a little phos- phurated hydrogen gas, can only be observed when the experiment is performed in a dark room. Alcohol has no action upon charcoal, hy- drogen gas, azotic gas, the metals, nor upon any of the metallic oxides. Alcohol dissolves the fixed alkalies very readily, and forms with them a reddish co- loured acrid solution. It is from this solu- tion only that these alkalies can be obtained in a state of purity. When heat is applied to it, the alcohol is partly decomposed; but the nature of the products has not been ac- curately ascertained. Ammonia also com- bines with alcohol with the assistance of heat : but at a temperature somewhat below the boiling point of alcohol, the ammonia flies off in the state of gas, carrying with it, however, a little alcohol in solution. None of the earths are acted upon by al- cohol. It absorbs about iis own weight of nitrous gas, which cannot afterwards be ex- pelled by heat. Sulphuric acid, nitric acid, and oxymuri- atic acid, decompose alcohol; but all the other acids are soluble in it, except the me- tallic acids, phosphoric acid, and perhaps also prussic acid. Alcohol is capable of dissolving a great many saline bodies. A considerable number of these, with the quantities soluble, is exhi- bited in the following tables: 1. Substances dissolved in large quantities. Names of the substances. Tem- pera- ture. 240 parts of alcohol dis- solve Oxysulphat of iron . . . * Nitrat of cobalt 54.5 240 parts copper .... 54.5 240 alumina .... 54.5 240 lime 300 magnesia . . . 180.5 694 Muriat of zinc 54.5 240 alumina . . . 54.5 240 magnesia . . . 180.5 1313 iron 180.5 240 copper. . . . 180.5 240 Acetat of lead 113 copper .... Nitrat of zinc decomposed iron decomposed bismuth decomposed 2. Substances dissolved in small quantities. Names of the substances. 240 parts of al- cohol, at the boiling tem- perature, dis- solve Muriat of lime Nitrat of ammonia Oxymuriat of mercury . . . Succinic acid Acetat of soda Nitrat of silver Refined sugar Boracic acid Nitrat of soda Acetat of copper Muriat of ammonia ....'. Arseniat of potass Superoxalat of potass .... 240 parts 214 212 177 112 100 59 48 23 18 17 9 7 Names of the substances. 240 parts of al- cohol, at the boiling tem- perature, dis- solve N drat of potass 5 Muriat of potass 5 Arseniat ot soda 4 White oxide of arsenic . . . 3 Tartrat of potass 1 Nitrat of lead Carbonat of ammonia .... 3. Substances insoluble in alcohol. Sugar of milk Sulphat of potass Borax soda Tartar magnesia Alum Sulphite of soda Sulphat of ammonia Tartrile of soda and lime potass barytes Nitrat of mercury iron Muriat of lead copper silver siiver Common salt mercury Carbonat of potass zinc soda These experiments were made chiefly by Macquer and Wenzel. The alcohol* em- ployed by Macquer was of the specific gra- vity 0.84b. Wenzel does not give the den- sity of his alcohol; but as he compares it with that of Macquer, we may suppose it nearly of the same strength. As the solubi- lity of salts depends upon the strength of the alcohol employed, the experiments of these chemists must be considered as defective, because they have confined themselves to one particular density. This defect is in part supplied by the following very valuable table of Mr. Kirwan’s, constructed from iris own experiments. Solubility of salts in 100 parts of alcohol of different densities. Salts. Alcohol of 0.900 0.872 0.848 0.834 0.817 Sulphat of soda 0 . 0 . 0 . 0 . 0 . Sulphat of mag- > nesia 1. 1. 0 . 0 . 0 . N itrat of potass 2.76 1. \ 0 . 0 , Nitrat of soda 10.5 6. 0.38 0 . Muriat of potass 4.62 1.66 0.38 0 . Muriat of soda 5.8 3.67 0.5 Muriat of am- monia 6.5 4,75 1.5 Muriat of mag- nesia, dried at 120° 21.25 23.75 36.25 50. Muriat of bary- tes I. 0.29 0.185 0.09 Ditto crystal- lized 1.56 0.43 0.32 0.06 Acetat of lime 2.4 4.12 4.75 4.88 A L D ALE 47 When alcohol, containing certain saline bodies in solution, is set on lire, its flame is often tinged of different colours according to the body. Thus nitrat of strontian tinges it purple \ boracic acid and cupreous salts tinge it green ; muriat of lime gives it a red co- lour ; nitre and oxynmriat of mercury a yel- low colour. The affinities of alcohol are but imperfectly known. T hose stated by Bergman are water, jether, volatile oil, alkaline sulphurets. Alcohol is also used for a very line, im- palpable powder, which women in the east make use of. Dr. Shaw, in his Travels, speak- j ing of the women in Barbary, says, that none ! of these ladies think themselves completely j dressed until they have tinged their hair and edges of their eye-lids with al-ka-hol, the ' powder of lead ore. From this impalpable powder the name was transferred to other subtile powders, and afterwards to spirit of wine, exalted to its highest purity and perfec- tion. ALCOR, in astronomy, a small star ad- 1 joining to the large bright one in the middle i of the tail of ursa major. The word is Arabic. It is a proverb among the Arabians, applied to one who pretends to see small things, but overlooks much greater : Thou canst see Al- cor, and yet not see the full moon. ALCYONIUM, in zoology, a genus of zoophytes, the characters of which are, that the animal grows in the form of a plant: the ! stem or root is fixed, fleshy, gelatinous spongy, j or coriaceous, with a cellular epidermis, pene- I trated with stellated pores, and shooting out tentaculated oviparous hydra:. There are 28 j species, as A. arboreiun, with woody stem, obtuse branches, and pores in the lorm of j pimples, found in Norway, in the white and ! Indian seas, sometimes of the human height. A. digitutum, stemless, oblong, coriaceous, and rugose, called also dead man’s hand, See. I See. See Plate Nat. Hist. lig. 11. ALDEBARAN, in astronomy, a star of , the first magnitude, called in English the | Bull’s-eye, being the eye of the constellation j Taurus. Long. 6° 32’ 9" of Gemini. Lat. j £°29'40"S. ALDER, in botany. See Betula. ALDERMAN, among our Saxon ances- tors, was a degree of nobility answering to i earl or count at present. It ranked inferior to atlieliug, but superior to thane. Alder- man was also used, in the tune ot king Edgar, for a justice or judge. In modern British po- j licy, it implies a magistrate subordinate to the j mayor of a city or town corporate. The num- I ber of these magistrates is not limited, but is ; greater or less according to the magnitude of I 4he place. In London they are twenty-six ; each having one of the wards ol the city com- ; mitted to his care. This office is for life. W hen ' one dies or resigns, a wardmote is called within i three days, who elect another, and return him | to the court of aldermen, who are obliged to admit him to supply the vacancy. All the aldermen are justices of the peace by a char- ter of 15 Geo. II. The aldermen of Lon- don, Sec. are exempted from serving infe- rior offices ; nor can they be put upon assizes, .or serve on juries, so long as they continue in office. ALDROVANDA, in botany, a genus of the pentandria class and pentagynia order of plants ; of which there is but one species. The calyx is divided into five parts ; the petals are five, and the capsule has five valves, with ten seeds, It is a native of Italy and the In- dies ; and has no English name. ALE, a fermented liquor obtained from an infusion of malt, differing from beer chiefly in having a less proportion of hops. See Brew- ing. This liquor, the natural substitute of wine in such countries as could not produce the grape, was originally made in Egypt. The natives of Spain also, the inhabitants of France, and the aborigines of Britain, all used an infu- sion of barley for their ordinary liquor; and it was called by the various names of cadi a. and curia in the first country, cerevisia in the second, and cunni in the last, all literally im- porting only the>strong water. The method in which the ancient Britons, and other Celtic nations, made their ale, is thus described by Isidores and Orosius: “ The grain is steeped in water and made to germi- nate, by which its spirits are excited and set at liberty ; it is then dried and ground ; after which it is infused in a certain quantity . of water, which being fermented, becomes a pleasant, warming, strengthening, and intoxi- cating liquor/’ 'There are various sorts of ale known in Bri- tain, particularly pale and brown: the for- mer is brewed from malt slightly dried, and is esteemed more viscid than the latter, which is made from malt more highly dried or roasted. In Staffordshire they have a secret of fining ale in a very short time. Ale is flatulent ; and hence sometimes pro- duces colics, and the cholera morbus: it is acescent ; but it does not produce calcareous diseases, as has been asserted. If malt liquor, of any degree of strength, is become flat and tar i ish, as it is used, it should be drawn out of the cask into a jug, in which as many drams of powdered chalk is put as there are to be pints of liquor: thus a new fermentation will be raised, a sprightly taste will be restored to the liquor, and its acidity will be destroyed. 'Tart liquors of this kind are apt to produce a dysury, strangury, or a gonorrhoea; in which cases a small quantity of brandy may be taken. The consumption of ale in these kingdoms is incredible. It was computed thirty years ago at the value of 4,000,000/. yearly, includ- ing Great Britain and Ireland. T he duties on ale and beer make a principal branch of the revenue in Britain. 'They were first imposed by the 12th of Car. II. and have been con- tinued by several subsequent acts of parlia- ment to first Geo. III. which lays an addi- tional duty of 3d. per barrel. In the whole, the brewer of ale and beer for sale shall pay 8s. for every barrel of either, above 6s. a bar- rel ; and for every barrel of 6s. or under, the sum of Is. 4d. Additional duties were laid on in 1803. Ale Gill, is that in which the dried leaves of gill or ground-ivy have been infused. It is esteemed abstersive and vulnerary, and consequently good in disorders of the breast and obstructions of the viscera. ALECONNER, an officer in the city of London, whose business it is to inspect the measures of public-houses. Four of them are chosen or re-chosen annually by the common-hall ; and whatever might be their use former' y, their places are now regard- ed only as sinecures for decayed citizens. They are the same as ale-tasters, which see. ALE ALEHOUSES must be licensed by jus- tices of the peace, who take recognizances of the persons licensed, and of their sureties, viz. 10/. each that they will not suffer un- lawful gaming nor other disorderly practices in their houses. Every person, excepting those who sell ale in fairs, neglecting to pro- cure a licence, is liable to a penalty of 40s. for the first offence, 4/. for the second, and 6/. for the third, with all costs. The licence is granted on the 1st September, or within twenty days after, at a general meeting ot the justices for the division to which he be- longs, upon his producing a certificate to his character, unless, by living in a city or town corporate, this last circumstance is dispensed with, and continues in force for one year only. Alehouse-keepers selling ale in short mea- sure, are liable to a penalty not exceeding 40s. and not less than 10s., and likewise to a fine of 10s. for permitting tippling, Sec. By the 29th Geo. II. c. 12. persons keeping ale- houses in Scotland shall be licensed as in England, and the justices there shall meet annually to license alehouses ; on each of which licences a fee of Is. is payable to the clerk of the peace. ALE-TASTER, an officer appointed in- every court leet, and sworn to look to the assize and the goodness of bread and ale, or beer, within the precincts of that lordship. Cowell ALECTORIA, a stone said to be formed in the gall-bladders of old cocks, to which the antients ascribed many fabulous virtues. This is Otherwise called alectorius lapis and alectbrolithos, in English the cock-stone. Modern naturalists hold the alectorius lapis to be not generated in, but swallowed down into, the stomach or gizzard ot cocks and ca- pons. It is known that many fowls swallow pebbles, which are supposed to be of service in trituration and digestion. A-LEE, in the sea language, a term only used when the wind, crossing or flanking the- line of a ship’s course, presses upon the masts and sails so as to make her incline to one side, which is called the lee-side: hence-, when the helm is moved over to this side, it is said to be a-lee or hard-a-lce. ALEGER, an inferior sort of vinegar, made of ale or malt liquor instead of wine. ALEMBICK, vessel formerly used in distilling. They were usually made of glass- or copper. The bottom, which contained, the subject for distillation, was called, from its shape, the cucurbit; the upper part, which- received and condensed the steam, was called the head, the beak being fitted into the neck of a receiver. Retorts, and the common worm-still, are now more generally em- ployed. ALETRIS, in botany, a genus of the mo- nogynia order and hexandria class of plants ; and iii the natural method ranking under the tenth order, coronariie. The characters are r the corolla is monopetalous, funnel-shaped, hexangular, much corrugated, semiquin— quefid, and persistent; the stamina consist, of six subulated filaments, the length of the corolla, and inserted into the base of the di- visions of the corolla ; the anthers: are oblong and erect: the pistillum has an ovate ger- men; the stylus subulated, and the length of the stamina ; the stigma is trifid: the pe- ricarpium is an ovated capsule, triquetrous,, pointed, and trilocular : the seeds are nunie— 43 ALO ALG AH rous, There are eight species, among which are, 1. Aietris capensis, a native of the Cape of Good Hope. It is with us a stove-plant. The liower is pink. 2, Aietris farinosa, a na- tive of North America. This, though the most hardy plant of the genus, requires to be sheltered under a frame. The flowers ap- pear in June or July, of a whitish green co- lour. 3. Aietris fragrans, a native of Africa, and, when placed in a stove, produces fine spikes of white flowers in March or April. 4. Aietris hyacinthoides, or Guinea aloe, pro- duces likewise white flowers when kept in proper warmth by a stove, in the month of July. 5. Aietris hyacinthoides, the Ceylon aloe, is -with us also a stove-plant. ALEXANDRIAN manuscript, a famous copy of the New Testament. This MS. is now preserved in the British Museum, It was sent as a present to king Charles I. from Cyrillus Lucaris, patriarch of Constantinople, by sir Thomas Rowe, ambassador from Eng- land to the Grand Signior, about the year J62S. Cyrillus brought it with him from Alexandria, where probably it was written. In a schedule annexed to it, he gives this ac- count: That it was written, as tradition in- formed him, by Theda, a noble Egyptian lady, about 1300 years ago, not long after the council of, Nice. But this high antiquity, and the authority of the tradition to which the patriarch refers, have been disputed ; nor are the most accurate biblical writers agreed •about its age. Grabe thinks that it might have been written before the end of the fourth century ; others are of opinion that it was not written till near the end of the fifth century, or somewhat later. A fac-simile was pub- lished by the late Dr. AYartle. ALEXANDRINE, a kind of verse bor- rowed from the French, first used in a poem called Alexander. They consist, among the French, of twelve and thirteen syllables, in alternate couplets; and, among us, of twelve. They are well characterized by Pope: Then, at the last, an only couplet fraught With some unmeaning thing they call a thought, A needless Alexandrine ends the song, That, Ike a wounded snake, drags its slow length along. Essay on Criticism. ALENIPHARMICS, in antient medicine, were properly remedies for expelling or pre- venting the 'ill effects of poison; but some having imagined that the. animal spirits, in acute distempers, were affected by a malig- nant poison, the term has been understood to mean medicines adapted to expel this poison, by the cutaneous pores, in the form of sweat. In this sense alexipharmics are the same as -eudoiilcs. ALFECCA, in astronomy, the star other- wise called Alfeta and Lucida coronas. ALGAE, Flags, one of the seven families, or natural tribes, into which the whole vege- table kingdom is divided by Linmvus, in 'his Philosophia Botanica. They are defined to be plants, whose root, leaf, and stem, are all one. Under this description are comprehended all •the sea-weeds, and some other aquatic plants. In the sexual system they constitute the third order of the twenty-fourth cryptogam#, and the fifty-seventh order in Limmis’s Frag* menT of a Natural Method. ALGAROT, or Algarel, in chemistry, an Arabic term for an emetic powder, pre- pared from regains of antimony, dissolved in acids, and separated by repeated lotions in warm water. ALGEBRA, a general method of resolv- ing mathematical problems by means of equa- tions: or, it is a method of performing the calculations of all sorts of quantities bv means of general signs or characters. At first, numbers and things were expressed by their names at full length; but afterwards these were abridged, and the initials of the words used instead of them ; and, as the art ad- vanced farther, the letters of the alphabet came to be employed as general representa- tions of all kinds of quantities; and other marks were gradually introduced to express the operations and combinations, so as to en- title it to different appellations. It has been called specious arithmetic by Y'ieta, on account of the species or letters of the alphabet, which he brought into general use ; and by Sir Isaac N ewton it was deno- minated universal arithmetic, from the man- ner in which it performs all arithmetical ope- rations by general symbols, or indeterminate quantities. Some authors define algebra to be the art of resolving mathematical problems: but this is the idea of analysis, or the analytic art in general, rather than of algebra, which is only one particular species of it. Indeed algebra properly consists of two parts: first, the method of calculating mag- nitudes or quantities, as represented by let- ters or other characters; and secondly, the manner of applying these calculations in the solution of problems. In algebra, as applied to the resolution of problems, the first business is to translate the problem out of the common into the alge- braic language, by expressing all the condi- ’ tions and quantities, both known and un- known, by their proper characters, arranged in an equation, or several equations if neces- sary, and treating the unknown quantity, whether it be number or line, or any other thing, in the same way as if it were a known one: this forms the composition. Then the resolution, or analytic part, is the disentang- ling the unknown quantity from the several others with which it is connected, so as to retain it alone on one side of the eduation, while all the known quantities are collected on the other side, and so giving the value of the unknown one. And as this disentang- ling of the quantity sought is performed by the converse of the operations by which it 'is connected with the others, taking them al- ways backwards in the contrary order, it hence becomes a species of the analytic art, and is called the modern analysis, in contra- distinction to the antient analysis, which chiefly respected geometry and its applica- tions. There have arisen great controversies and sharp disputes among authors concerning the history of the progress and improvements of algebra, arising partly from the partiality and prejudices which are natural to all nations, and partly from the want of a closer exami- nation of the works of the older authors on this subject. From these causes it has happened that the improvements made by the writers of one nation have been ascribed to those of another; and the discoveries of an earlier author to some one of much later date. Add to this also, that the peculiar methods of many authors have been de- scribed so little in detail, that our informa- tion derived from such histories is but very imperfect, and amounting only to some ge- neral and vague ideas of the true state of the arts. It is highly probable that the Indians or Arabians first invented the noble art ; for it may be reasonably supposed that the antient Greeks were ignorant of it, since Pappus, in his mathematical collections, in which he enumerates their analysis, makes mention of nothing like it: and he besides speaks of a local problem, begun by Euclid, and conti- nued by Apollonius, which none of them could fully resolve, a circumstance that could not have occurred had they been acquainted with algebra. Diophantus was the first Greek writer on algebra, who published thirteen books about the year 800, though only six of them were translated into Latin in the year 1575. This algebra of Diophantus only extends to the solution of arithmetical indeterminate prob- lems. Before this translation of Diophantus came out, Lucas de Burg©, a friar, published at Venice, in the year 1494, an Italian Trea- tise on Algebra. 1 his author refers to others who had preceded him, and from whom lie had learned the art ; but their writings have not come down to us. lie also assumes, that algebra came originally from the Arabs, and never mentions Diophantus, which makes it highly probable that his work was not even then known in Europe. Purge's Treatise goes no farther than quadratic equations. He was succeeded by Stifelius, who was a good author, but did not advance the science. After him came Scipio Ferreus, v Cardan, Tartagilla, and some others, who proceeded to the solution of cubic equations. • In 1590, Yieta introduced his specious arithmetic, to which we have already al- luded, which consists in denoting the quan- tities, both known and unknown, by symbols dr letters. To Yieta we are indebted for the method of extracting the roots of equa- tions by approximation, which has been since greatly improved by Raphson, Ilallev, Mac- iaurin, Simpson, and others. Yieta was followed by Oughtred and Har- riot: the former invented several compen- dious characters to show the sums, dill’er- ences, rectangles, squares, cubes, &c. of any given numbers; the latter left behind him his Analysis, which is highly esteemed •at this day. Jn 1657, Des Cartes published his geometry, in which lie made use of the literal calculus, and the algebraic rules of Harriot: he applied his method to the higher geometry, explaining the nature of curves by equations, and adding the constructions of cubic, biquadratic, and other higher equa- tions. '1 he elements of the art were compiled and published by„ Kersey, in 1671, in which spe- cious arithmetic, and the nature of equations, are largely explained and illustrated by a variety of examples. Sir Isaac Newton’s Arithmetira Universalis was published in 1707, which abounds with useful and impor- tant instruction ; and since his time we have had a great number of excellent treatises on the subject, from almost any of which the science may with very little difficulty be learned. A L G £ B it A, f-9 Algetard, as ha* been already observed, is called an Universal Arithmetic, and it pro- ceeds by operations and rules similar to those in common arithmetic, founded -upon the same principles. This, however, is no argument I against its usefulness or evidence ; since arith- metic is not to be the -less Valued that it is common, and is allowed to be one of the most clear and evident of the sciences. But as a number of symbols are admitted into this science, being necessary for giving it that ex- tent and generality which is its greatest excel- lence ; the import of those symbols is to be clearly stated, that no obscurity or error may arise from the frequent use and complication of them. Thus, The relation of equality is expressed by the sign — ; thus to express that the quantity repre- sented by a is equal to that 'which is represented by l>, we write a ~ b. But if we would express that a is greater than b, we write a ;> b ; and if we would express algebraically that a is less than b, we write a bf the sum is likewise a. In general, the subtrac- tion of a negative quantity is equivalent to add- ing its positive value. Of Multiplications In Multiplication the general Rule for the signs is. That when the signs of the factors' are like (i. e. both -j-> of both — ) the sign of the product is 4 ; hut when the signs of the factors are unlike, the sign of the product is — . Case I. When any positive quantity, -J- a , is multiplied by any positive number, 4- «, the meaning is, that -j- a is to be taken as many times as there are units in n ; and the product is evidently na. Case If. When — a is multiplied by n, then — a is to be taken as often as there are units irt n, and the product must be — na. Case III. Multiplication by a positive numbei' implies a repeated addition : but multiplication by a negative implies a repeated subtraction. And when 4- a is to he multiplied by — n, the meaning is, that 4 ( a is to be subtracted as often- as there are units in n. Therefore the product is negative, being — na. Case IV. When — a is to be multiplied by — n, then — a is to be subtracted as often as. there are units in »; but to subtract — a is equi- valent to adding -f- «■> consequently the product is -j- na. The lid and IVth Cases may be illustrated in the following manner. By the definitions, a — a ~ 0 ; therefore,, if we multiply -j- a — a by n, the product must vanish or he 0, because the factor a — a is 0_ The first term of the product is-f-na (by Case I.) Therefore the second term of the product must be — na, which destroys 4- m; so that the. whole product must he -j- na — na =0. There- fore — a multiplied by 4- » gives — na. In like manner, if we multiply 4 -a — a by — n, the first term of the product being — net , the latter term of the product must be -{- na* because the two together must destroy eacii other, or their amount be 0, since one of the factors (viz. a — , a) is 0. Therefore — a multi- plied by — n must grfe -j- na. In this genera) doctrine the multiplicator always considered as a number. A quantity of any kind may be multiplied by a number ; bttt/ 30 ALGEBRA. a pound is nst to be multiplied by a pound, or a debt by a debt, or a line by a line. We shall hereafter consider the analogy that there is be- twixt rectangles in geometry and a product of two factors. If the quantities to be multiplied are simple quantities, find the sign of the product by the last rule ; after it place the product of the -co- efficients, and then set down all the letters after one another, as in one word. examples. Mult. 4- a I — B y *- 1 — l) | — 4^ 1 6.v — 5 a Prod. ab — 8 ai * — 30 a x Mult. — 8 a 4" 3 ab By — 4a [ 5ac Prod. -j - 82 ax — IS.iabc To multiply compound quantities, you must multiply every part of the multiplicand by all the parts of the multiplier taken one after an- other, and then collect all the products into one sum : that sum shall he the product required. Mult, a -J- b y a — j — b By Prod. EXAMPLES. 2a — 36 4 a -j- 5b :4- ab -j- ah -j- bb 8 aa — \2ab -J- 10 ab — 1 56b Sum aa -f- 2 ab -}- bb Mult. 2 a — 4 b By 2 a -(- 4b 8 aa 1 5bb Prod. 4 aa — 8 ab -j- 8 ab — I6bb 2 ab — xx — ax x -j- a xxx — axx -j- axx — aax Sum 4 aa . . 0 . — 16bb xxx . . 0 . — aax Mult. aa ab -\- bb By a — b j C aaa -j- aab T- abb Pr0d - 1 -aab -abb -bib Sum aaa ... 0 .... 0 . — bbb Products that arise from the multiplication of two, three, or more quantities, as abc, are said to be of two, three, or more dimensions ; and those quantities are called factors or roots. If all the factors are equal, then these pro- ducts are called powers ; as aa , or aaa, are powers of a. Powers are expressed sometimes by placing above the root to the right hand a duce them. Thus, J 5 fist'] 1 power of the - > 2 d f root a, and 3d ) ► is shortly S J 1 4th y . expressed .s ( _5th ) thus, These figures which express the number of factors that produce powers, are called their indices or exponents; thus 2 is the index of a 2 . And powers of the same root are multiplied by adding their exponents. Thus a 2 x a 2 = a\ a 4 X a 1 = a 7 , a' X “ = « 4 - Sometimes it is useful, not actually to multi- ply compound quantities, but to set them down with the sign of multiplication (x) between them, drawing a line over each of the compound factors. Thus a -f- 6 X a — b expresses the product of a ,-f- b multiplied by a — b. Of Division. The same rule for the signs is to be observed in Division as in Multiplication ; that is, if the signs of the dividend and divisor are like, the sign of the quotient must be -j- ; if they are un- like, the sign of the quotient must be — . This will be easily deduced from the rule in Multi- plication, if you consider that the quotient must be such a quantity as, multiplied by the divisor, shall give the dividend. The general rule in Division is, to place the dividend above a small line, and the divisor un- der it, expunging any letters that may be found in all the quantities of the dividend and divisor, and dividing the co-efficients of all the terms by any common measure. Thus, when you divide \0ab -j- 1 5ac bv 20 a/.', expunging a out of all the terms, and dividing all the co-efficients by 5, i ■ . 2b 3c . the quotient is — — — ; and 2b) ab -f- bb f 5x — 9y 12 ab) 30 ax — 5 -lay ( — — -. V 2b / 4b 4- 3c 4 aa) 8 ab Gac [ — — . V 2 a [ 5a And 2 be) 5 abc I . Powers of the same root are divided by sub- tracting their exponents, as they are multiplied by adding them. Thus, if you divide a' by a 2 , the quotient is a s ~- 2 , or a'. And l>' divided by b~, gives b r> — 4 , or b 1 ; and a 7 b’' divided by a 2 b ', gives a' b 1 for the quotient. If the quantity to be divided is compound, then you must range its parts according to the dimensions of some one of its letters, as in the following example. In the dividend a 2 -j- 2 ab -J- b 2 , they are ranged according to the dimen- sions of a , the quantity a 2 , where a is of two dimensions, being placed first, 2 ab, where it is of one dimension, next, and b 2 , where a is not at all, being placed last. The divisor must be ranged according to the dimensions of the same letters ; then you are to divide the first term of the dividend by the first term of the divisor, and to set down the quotient, which in this example is a ; then multiply this quotient by the whole divisor, and subtract the product from the divi- dend, and the remainder shall give a new divi- dend, which in this example is ab -{-■ b 2 , thus, a -J- b) a 2 -|- 2 ab -| - b 2 (a b a 2 -j- ab ab -f b 2 ab -f b 2 0 0 Divide the first term of this new dividend by the first term of the divisor, and set down the quotient (which in this example is b) with its proper sign. Then multiply the whole divisor by this part of the quotient, and subtract the product from the new dividend ; and if there is no remainder, the division is finished. If there is a remainder, you are to proceed after the same manner till no remainder is left, or till it appears that there will be always a remainder. Some examples will illustrate this operation, EXAMPLE i. a 4 . 4 ) a 2 - b 1 la- b a \+ ab — ab — b 2 — ab — b 2 0 0 EXAMPLE II. a — b) aaa — 3 aab -{- 3abb — bbb (aa — 2 ab 4“ bb aaa — aab 2 aab ■ — 2 aab 4- 2abb 3 abb — bbb abb abb bbb bbb EXAMPLE HI. b) aaa — bbb (aa 4™ ab 4~ ^ ana — aab aab aab bbb abb abb — bbb abb ■ — bbb 0 0 EXAMPLE IV. 3a -— 6 ) Gaaaa — 96 ('2aaa -[- 4 aa -j- 8 a -j- It? Gaaaa — 12 aaa 12 aaa — 96 1 2 aaa - — 24 a a 24 aa — 96 24aa — 48a 48a 48a 96 S 6 0 O It often happens that the operation may be continued without end, and then you have an infinite series for the quotient ; and. by compar- ing the first three or four terms, you may find what law the terms observe; by which means, without any more division, you may continue the quotient as far as you please. Thus, in di- viding 1 by 1 — a, you find the quotient to be 1 4 . a 4- aa 4- aaa 4- a aaa 4 - See. which series can be continued as far as you please, by adding the powers of a. The operation is thus : 1 — a) 1 (1 a -j- aa 4- aaa, &C. 1 — a 4“ a 4-a t t aaa aaa — aaaa 4 - aaaa, Another Example : 2xx 2a 3 2x 4 a 4 * x ) &a -a a (a — x —I— — * ; 1 v *“— 1 o*.C* 1/1 x ' a a a J aa 4 ~ ax ax 4” xx ax — xx 2aa , 2 .v 3 4 - 2xx 4~ — - a 2a 3 a 2 x 3 4 ~ 2a 4 See. In this last example the signs are alternately -f- and v — , the co-efficient is constantly 2 after the first two terms, and the letters are the powers of a and a ; so that the quotient may be continued as far as you please without any more division. " But in division, after you come to a remain- der of one term, as 2aa in the last example, it is commonly set down with the divisor under it, after the other terms, and these together give A L G E B It A. 51 the quotient. Thus, the quotient in the last ex- 2x- ampie is found to be a — x -J . And a x lb ah, divided by b — a, gives for the quo- , . ?ab tient b -f- . b — a Not e. The sign —- placed between any two quantities, expresses the quotient of the former divided by the latter. Thus a - r b a — x is the quotient of a -\-b divided by a — x. Of Fractions. In the preceding page it was said, that the quotient of any quantity a divided by b, is ex- pressed by placing a above a small line, and b under it, thus, These quotients are also called fractions ; and the dividend or quantity placed above the line is called the numerator of the fraction, and the divisor or quantity placed under the line i3 called the denominator. <2 Thus, expresses the quotient of 2 divided bv 3 ; and 2 is the numerator and 3 the deno- minator of the fraction. If the numerator of a fraction is equal to the denominator, then the fraction is equal to unity. a b Thus, — , and —— , are equal to unit. If the a b numerator is greater than the denominator, then the fraction is greater than unit. In both these cases, the fraction is called improper. But if the numerator is less than the denomi- nator, then the fraction is less than unit, and 5 , is called- proper. Thus — is an improper fraction ; but — and — are proper fractions. A rnixt quantity is that whereof one part is an 4 integer, and the other a fraction ; as 3 — ■, and 2 1 l_ a — ; and a -j — — . 3 1 b Pros. I. To reduce a Mixi Quantity to an Impro- per Fraction. Rule. Multiply the part that is an integer by the denominator of the fractional part ; and to the product add the numerator ; under their sum place the former denominator. Thus 22, reduced to an improper fraction, a + T = — . and a — x -J- Prob. II. To reduce an Improper Fraction to a Mixt Quantity. Rule. Divide the numerator of the fraction by the denominator, and the quotient shall give the integral part ; the remainder set over the de- nominator shall be the fractional part. 12 2 ah 4- a 2 a 2 I has, — - = 2 — ; J — - xx a - j- - — — ; la 4- xx _ , — a -j- a — x Trob. III. To reduce Fractions of different Denomi- nators, to Fractions of equal Value that shall have • the same Denominator. Rule. Multiply each numerator, separately taken, into all the denominators but its own, and the products shell give the new numerators. Then multiply all the denominators into one an- other, and the product shall give the common denominator. 'Tints, The fractions equal to these fractions, — , are respectively —r- — n, and it wdl be a ~ mb, c xx nb, and d °* acd bbd ccb , . , , , , , . , a "I - c . ,.i „ „ a -j- c, ana m -j- n xz. — - — , that — which mb -4- nb bed y bed ’ bed have the same denominator bed. And the frac- tions 2., 2 ? A, are respectively equal to these ±2. A 5 ±3 6 O’ 6 O’ 6 O' Prob. IV. To Add and Subtract Fractions. Rule. Reduce them to a common denomina- tor, and add or subtract the numerators; the sum or difference set over the common denomi- nator, is the sum or remainder required. d ade -j- bee -]- d 2 b d . e bde ad — be 2 .3 a , c a 4- c — — . After the same manner, b ~ b b 3. Isay, r X— .(= X «) — ; for hi Thus, — -f 8-[-9 bd 3 12 12 16 — IS 20 3.v 2 3 6 6 Prob. V. To Midtiply Fractions. Rule. Multiply their numerators one into another to obtain the numerator of the product; and their denominators multiplied into one an- other, shall give the denominator of the product. r „, a c ac 2 4 8 1 bus, and If a mixt quantity is to be multiplied, first re- duce it to the form of a fraction (by Prob. I.). And if an integer is to be multiplied by a frac- tion, you may reduce it to the form of a frac- tion by placing unit under it. 5 3- X ^T 9 2 18 , , bx X — — = 6; b A ' ' o a ’ 1 1 " 3 ba -j- bx b + ab a 2 b -j- abx ab b e ax JC Prob. VI. To Divide Fractions. Rule. Multiply the numerator of the divi- dend by the denominator of the divisor, their product shall give the numerator of the quoti- ent. Then multiply the denominator of the di- vidend by the numerator of the divisor, and their product shall give the denominator. Thus \ 2 1 f 10 3x5/ f 35 e \ a ( J 3 ' c 12’ 7 j 8 V i 24’ d) b [ a 4“ b \ a ■ — b / a 2 — 2 ab -f- b 2 . a — b' a ' a 1 -j- a b These last four Rules are easily demonstrated from the definition of a fraction. 1. It is obvious that the fractions . — — , b ’ d ’ e -ii a df c kf e bd /> “* equal f ^ since, if you divide adfby bdf the quotient will be the same as of a divided by b ; and df di- vided by dbf, gives the same quotient as c di- vided by d\ and ebd divided by fbd, the same quotient as s divided by f 2. Fractions reduced to the same denomina- tor are added by adding their numerators and subscribing the common denominator. I say c a c a - T — ■ — Z — ' For > cal1 T - = tn, and 9 9 V C 2 bm — a, dn xx c ; and bdmn xx ac, and mn xx ac . a c ac ; that is, -rrr X — = bd b d bd a c m , ad 4. I say; — - divided by - — , or — , gives — — ; b d n co for mb xx a, and mbdxx ad ; nd xx c, and ubd xx cb ; mbd ad . m ad therefore — - — — ; that is, — = nbd cb n cb Prob. VII. To find the greatest common Measure of t-nvo Numbers ; that is, the greatest Number that can divide them both nuiihout a Remainder. Rule. First divide the greater number by the lesser, and if there is no remainder, the lesser number is the greatest common divisor required. If there is a remainder, divide your last divisor by it ; and thus proceed continually dividing the last divisor by its remainder, till there is no re- piainder left, and then the last divisor is the greatest common measure required. Thus, the greatest common measure of 45 and 63 is 9; and the greatest common measure of 256 and 48 is 16. 45) 63 (1 48) 256(5 45 . 240 18) 45 (2 36 16) 48 (3 48 9) 18 (2 18 Much after the same manner the greatest common measure of Algebraic quantities is dis- covered ; only the remainders that arise in the operation are to be divided by their simple divi- sors, and the quantities are always to be ranged according to the dimensions of the same letter. Thus, to find the greatest common measure of a 2 — b 2 and a 2 — 2 ab -{- b 2 x, a 2 — b 2 ) a 2 - 2 ab 4- b 2 (1 a 1 — b 2 — 2 ab 4 - 2 b 2 remainder, which divided by — 2b is reduced to a — b) a 2 — b 2 ( a b a 2 - b 2 O 0 Therefore a — 6 is the greatest common mea- sure required. The ground of this operation is, that any quantity that measures the divisor and the re- mainder (if there is any) must also measure the dividend ; because the dividend is equal to the sum of the divisor multiplied into the quotient, and of the remainder added together. Thus, ia the last example, a — l> measures the divisor a 2 — b 2 , and the remainder — 2ab-\-2b\ it must therefore likewise measure their sum a 2 — 2al 4 -?■ You must observe in this operation, to j make that the dividend which has the highest powers of the letter according to which the quantities are ranged. Prob. VIIT. To reduce any Fraction to its hzi’at Terms. Rule. Find the greatest common measure of the numerator and denominator; divide them by that common measure, and place the quo- 52 ALGEBRA. tients in their room, and you shall have a frac- tion equivalent to the given fraction expressed in the least terms. Thus, C 25bc \ 75aic 3a 156 aa -|— 1 56aA 2 5bc ' \2obcx 5v’ 572aa — 572aA 3 a -f- 3b a 2 — b 2 _ a -f- b _ Hi? 11 a a 5 - b 2 a a 2 -j- 2 ab b 2 a 2 -j -b 1 — 2 ab -}- A 2 a — a 2 — ba a 4 — A 1 a -}- b * a ’ — a ’A" b ’ When unit is the greatest common measure of the numbers and quantities, then the frac- 3 ab tion is already in its lowest terms. Thus, — - cannot be reduced lower. And numbers, whose greatest common mea- sure is unit, are said to be prime to one another. If it is required to reduce a given fraction to a fraction equal to it that shall have a given de- nominator, you must multiply the numerator by the given denominator, and divide the pro- duct by the former denominator, the quotient, set over the given denominator, is the traction required. Thus — being given, and it being b required to reduce it to an equal fraction whose denominator shall be c ; find the quotient of ac divided by b, and it shall be the numerator of the fraction required. Of the Involution of Quantities. The products arising from the continual mul- tiplication of the same quantity, were before called the powers of that quantity. Thus a, a\ T, a 4 , See. are the powers of a - and ab, a A b 2 , a P, a 4 A 4 , & c. are the powers of al>. And the rule given for the multiplication of powers of the same quantity was, to “ Add the exponents, and make their sum the exponent of the pro- duct.” Thus a 4 X a’ ~ a’ ; and a l P X a< b l = TA\ In the above place you have the rule for dividing powers of the same quantity, which is, “ To subtract the exponents, and make the dif- ference the exponent of the quotient.” T Thus, — r = P - 4 = a 2 ; and — = T - 4 P - 1 = ab 2 . If you divide a lesser power by a greater, the exponent of the quotient must, by this rule, be — a 4 ~ 6 = a ~ 2 . Eut i \ ~ 6 4- 4 — a w * (or — ) ; also a ~ 6 X « 4 = a — a~ 2 (or ; and a — 3 X a' = a 0 — 1 . a ' And, in general, any positive power of a mul- tiplied by a negative power of a of an equal exponent, gives unit for the product v for the positive and negative exponents destroy each other, and the product gives a 0 , which is equal to unit. -• + Likewise - — r = and ■— — a\ Eut also, X a- — — — ; therefore — — s = a 3 And, in general, “ any quantity placed in the denominator of a fraction, may be transposed to the numerator, if the sign of its exponent be changed.” Thus — p =z a — 3 , and — == T. The quantity a m expresses any power of a in general ; the exponent (»z) being undetermined; 1 and a ~ m expresses — , or a negative power of a of an equal exponent : and a m X a~ m — a m — m — a 0 — l is their product, a" expresses m -j- n . any other power of a • a m X att — a ls the product of the powers a m and a ”, and a m — n ; s their quotient. To raise any simple quantity to its second, third, or fourth power, is to add its exponent twice, thrice, or four times to itself ; therefore the second power of any quantity is had by doubling its exponent, and the third by treb- i ling its exponent ; and, in general, the power ! expressed by m of any quantity is had by mul- tiplying the exponent by m, as is obvious from the multiplication of powers. Thus the second a b — Root. X a a 2 -J- ab -}- ab -j- b 2 negative. a 4 1 Thus, —r 1 and hence — - is expressed also by T a 1 - a a 2 with a negative exponent, or a — 2 . a . . . It is also obvious, that — — « ~ = « ; but — — 1 , and therefore a 0 a 1 a 0 same manner, — ~ — =■ < a a 1 «° 1 . Aftqr the 1 , « - 3 ; so that the quantities JL -L-, &c. may be expressed thus, a 1 , a 0 . „ - \ a — 2 , a — 3 , a- 4 , & c. Those are called the negative powers of a , which have negative exponents ; but they are at the same time posi- - 1 tive powers of — , or a a Negative powers (as well as positive) are multiplied by adding, and divided by subtract- ing, their exponents. Thus the product of a — 2 (or -ig) multiplied by a power or square of a is a — a 7 ; its third 3 x i power or cube is n re a 3 ; and the ruth „ . » X 1 . , , power of a is a — a m . Also, the square o 3 X of a 4 is a" ' — a* ; the cube of a 4 is a 4 ^ T7Z — a n ; and the »zth power of a 4 is a The square of abc is a 1 b 2 A, the cube is a 2 A 3 c\ the wth power a m b m c m . The raising of quantities to any power in called Involution ; and any simple quantity is involved by multiplying the exponent by that of the power required, as in the preceding ex- amples. The co-efficient must also be raised to the same power by a continual multiplication of itself by itself, as often as unit is contained in the exponent of the power required. Thus the cube of 3 ab is 3 X H X 3 X a b' — 27 a l P. As to the signs, When the quantity to he ih>- volved is positive, it is obvious that all its powers must be positive. And when the quan- tity to be involved is negative, yet all its powers whose exponents are even numbers must be positive ; for any number of multiplications of a negative, if the number is even, gives a posi- tive ; since — X — = 4~> therefore — x — X — X — = + X + = + 5 and — x — X— X— X — X — -- 4-X+X + — 4 -1 ’ The power then only can be negative when its exponent is an odd number, though the quantity to be involved be negative. The powers of — a are — a, -{- a 1 , — a 3 , -j- a 4 , — a’,^Scc. Those whose exponents are 2 , 4, 6, See. are posi- tive ; but those whose exponents are 1, 3, 5, See. are negative. The involution of compound quantities is a more difficult operation. The powers of any binomial a 4” a are found by a continual multi- plication of it by itself, as follows. a 2 -f- 2 ab -j - b 2 — the Square, or 2d Power. X a 4" A a 3 -j- 2 a 2 b — ab 2 -j- a 2 b — 2 ab 2 -j- A 1 T- X a -\ . 3 TA -j- 3 a A 2 4 - A 5 = Cube, or 3d Power. -A P _L 3 TA 4 - 3a 2 P 4- ab' -f TA-j-3TA 2 -j- 3aP -}- A 4 “ 4 H - 4« 5 A 4 - Ga 2 P -}- 4a A 3 -|- A 4 = Biquadrate, X a H hA T -j- 4TA 4- 6a A 2 - - 4a 2 A 3 -}“ "A 4 TA-}- 4 TA 2 - - 6 a 2 A 3 -j- 4aA 4 4 - P X a T -j- 5a'b 4- IOTA 2 4- 10a 2 A 3 4- 5ap 4- A = 5th Power. 5Pb -4- IOTA 2 -f- IOTA 5 4- 5 a % 4 4 - aP — - TA -j - * 5a 4 b 2 4~ 10 a A 3 4" IOTA 4 4" SaP T 4- 6 TA 4- 15TA 2 -f 20 TA 3 -J- 15TA 4 4 - Gap 4~ P = 6 th Power, &c. If the powers of n — A are required, they will be found the same as the preceding, only the terms in which the exponent of A is an odd number will be found negative; « because an odd number of multiplications of a negative produces a negative.” Thus, the cube of a — A will be found to be a 3 — 3a 2 b 4- 3ab 2 — P ; where the 2d and 4th terms are negative, the exponent of A being an odd num- ber in these terms. In general, “ the terms of ( ■■ I A is a -z -3 \ any power of a — b are positive and negative J a _ I by turns.” It is to be observed, that “ in the first term of any power of a b, the quantity a has the exponent of the power required ; that in the following terms, the exponents of a decrease gradually by the same difference, (viz. unit) ; and that in the last terms it is never found. The powers of A are in the contrary order ; it is. not found in the first term, but its exponent in the second term is unit, in the- 3d term its expo- nent is 2 ; and thus its exponent increases, till in. the last term it becomes equal to the exponent of the power required.” As the exponents of a thus 1 - decrease, and at fcjie same time those of b increase, “ the sum of their exponents is always the same, and is equal to the exponent of the power required.” Thus in the Gth power of a -{- b, viz. a 6 -f~ Ga b -j- ■1 SaW -4- 20 a'V 4- 1 5a 2 b’ 4- Gab' 3 4- b\ the ex- ponents of a decrease in this order, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, з, 0; and those of b increase in the contrary or- der, 0, 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6. And the sum of their ex- ponents in any term is always 6. To find the co-efficient of any term, the co- efficient of the preceding term being known ; you are to “ divide the co-efficient of the pre- ceding term by the exponent of b in the given term, and to multiply the quotient by the ex- ponent of a in die same term., increased by unit.” Thus to find the co-efficients of the terms of the Oth power of a -|- b, you find the terms are o'\ ab, aV/. U : L\ a 2 b\ ab', b ; and you kno\y the co efficient of the first term is unit, there- fore, according to the Rule, the co-cfficieat of the second term will be -y- X 5 4-1=6; that of the third term will be S— x 4 4- 1 3 X 5 = 15; 2 1 that of the fourth term will be 15 — — ■y X 3 4~ 1 = 5 X 4, of the following terms will b able to the preceding table. In general, if a -}- b is to be raised to any power m, the terms, without their co-efficients, will be, a m , a” 1 ~ 1 b, a m ~ 2 b 2 , a’ n ~ 3 Z> ! , a m — V, и , n — -b', Si c. continued till the exponent of b becomes equal to m. The co-efficients of the respective terms, ac- cording to the last Rule, will be m — ■ 1 w — 1 m — 2 I > m, m X — =-> m X — : 20 ; and those 15, 6, 1, agree- m X m X — - 1 m — X — - 1 X 2 3 m — 3 X m — 3 m — 4 X 3 4 &c. continued until you have one co-efficient more than there are units in m. It follows therefore by these last Rules, that a 4~ b?)" ! — a m 4~ tna m — 'b m X — ■ — — X ■ 2 b 2 4 . m — 1 m X — 1 A L G B B H A. denominates the root required. Thus, the square root of a 8 is = a 4 ; and the square root of a 2 b 3 c 2 is a 2 b ' C. The cubfc root of a 1 ' b'hr. E. I?., — a 2 b\ and the cube root of .y 9 y b z“ is .v'y The ground of this rule is obvious from the rule for Involution. The powers of any root are found by multiplying its exponent by the index that denominates the power ; and therefore, when any power is given, the root must be found by dividing tl-.e exponent of the given power by the number that denominates the kind of root that is required. It appears from what was said of Involution, that ‘‘ any power that has a positive sign, may have either a positive or negative root, if the root is denominated by any even number. Thus the square root of -j- «' may be -{- a, or — a, because 4 * n X 4“ or — a X “ 8 ives -j- a 1 for the product. But if a power have a negative sign, “ no root of it denominated by an even number can be assigned,” since there is no quantity that mul- tiplied into itself an even number of times can give a negative product. Thus the square root of — a 2 cannot be assigned, and is what we call an “ impossible or imaginary quantity.” But if the root to be extracted is denominated by an odd number, then shall the sign of the root be the same as the sign of the. given num- ber whose root is required. Thus the cube root of —a 2 is — a, and the cube root of — af'E 2 is — a l h. If the number that denominates the root re- quired is a divisor of the exponent of the given power, then shall the root be only a “ lower power of the same quantity.” As the cube root of a 12 is u 4 , the number 3 that denominates the cube root being a divisor of 12. But if the number that denominates what sort of root is required is not a divisor of the expo- nent of the given power, “ then the root re- quired, shall have a fraction for its exponent.” Thus the square root of a 1 is al . ; the cube root of a 3 is and the square root of a itself is a\. These powers that have fractional exponents are called “ imperfect powers or surds and are otherwise expressed by placing the given power within the radical sign y , and placing above the radical sign the number that denominates what kind of root is required. Thus 53 cond member of the root. Add this second member to the double of the first, and multiply their sum (2 a -j- b) by the second member b, and subtract the product (2 ah 4 - br) from the fore- said remainder (2 ab -j- 5 2 ), and if nothing re- mains, then the square root is obtained ; and in this example it is found to be a -|- b. The manner of the operation is thus ; a 2 -f 2 ab - b 2 (a b la -j- b X l> \ 2 ab b 2 ) ‘■lab -j- b 2 0 But if there had been a remainder, you must have divided it by the double of the sum of the two parts already found, and the quotient would have given the third member of the root. ■ Thus, if the quantity proposed had hp§n a 2 -j- 2 ab lac -(- b 2 -}- 2ie -f- r 2 , after procwxl-- jng as above, you would have found theTre- mainder lac -j- 2 be -J- <4 which divided ijy la -f lb gives c to be annexed to a b as the third member of the root. Then adding c to la -J- lb, and multiplying their sum la -}- 25 -j- c by c, subtract the product lac -j- Ibc -j- c 2 from the foresaid remainder : and since nothing now remains, you conclude that a 4~ 5 -j- is the square root required. The operation is thus : a 2 -f lab -j- lac -}- b 2 -|- 2 be -j- c 2 (u.-J- 5-{- c X T“ x ■ 3 5 ’ 4 - m X — — X — X — — X ~ 4 £ 4 4~> &c. which is the general Theorem for raising a quantity consisting of two terms to any power m. If a quantity consisting of three, or more terms is to be involved, “ you may distinguish it into two parts, considering it as a Binomial, and raise it to any power by the preceding Rules ; .and then by the same rules you may substitute instead of the powers of these compound parts their values.” Thus, a 4 * b 4 - And a -f a — | — o —j — c a — b 4* 1° lab -M 2 4- lac + 2 be + ‘ 2 4- c = a 4~ b‘ 4- 3 \c x a 4" b 4* 3 a 2 b 4- 3 ab 2 -j- 5 3 4~ 3 c 2 X a 4 * b — Sa 2 c 4 - 6abc -j- 3 Pc -f- Zac 2 -]- 3 be 1 4 - c\ In these examples, a -|-54. r, is considered as composed of the compound part a b and the simple part c ; and then the powers of a-\- b are formed by the preceding rules, and substi- tuted for a 4 - b 2 and a -j- b L% \/ a\ «y=\ // a''; and a n In numbers the square root of 2 is expressed by 4/ 2 , and the cube root of 4 by \/ 4. These imperfect powers or surds are “ multi plied and divided, as other powers, by adding and subtracting their exponents.” Thus, ai X al. = flk = X *5 — a r H" 4 — a T% — « r. 3 . 2 They arc involved likewise, and evolved after the same manner as perfect powers. 6 x 1 square of ajL is a 2 — - , Thus the ’ 2 = a 3 ; the cube of X cc ^ The square root of a\~ is a X — aj, the cube root of aj is aj. The square root of any compound quantity as a 2 4- lab 4 - b 2 is discovered after this man- ner. “ First, take care to dispose the terms ac- cording to the dimensions of the alphabet, as in Division ; then find the square root of the first term aa, which gives a for the first member of The reverse of Involution, or the resolving ■ the root. Then subtract its square from the of powers into their roots, is called Evolution. | proposed quantity, and divide the first term of The roots of single quantities are easily extracted the remainder (lab -}- by tl ie double of that by dividing their exponents by the number that ■ member, vjz. 2a, and the quotient It is ffie se- Of Evolution. 2 a 4 _£\ lab 4 - la X t>) lab + * + 4- 4 >bc 4 -, lb 4 - c\ lac -\ |- 2 be -| _ 2 X e) lac - f- Ibc -j - 5“ 0 . 0 0 Another Example. xx — ax 4 " \ aa ( v — 4‘ i lx — X — t) - — ax 4 - 4^ X- 4- \a 0 . o In general, to extract any root out of any given quantity, “ First range that quantity ac- cording to the dimensions of its letters, and ex- tract the sa;d root out of the first term, and that shall be the first member of the root required. Then raise this root to a dimension lower by unit than the number that denominates the root required, and multiply the power that arises by that number itself ; divide the second term of the given quantity by the product, and the quo- tient shall give the second member of the root required.” Thus, to extract the root of the 5th power out of a 2 -]- 5« 4 5 -j- lOa’b 2 -[- 1 0 a 2 b : 4 - 5ab * 4 - b\ I find that the root of the 5th power out of a h gives a , which I raise to the 4tli power, and multiplying by 5, the product is 5a 4 ; then di- viding the second term of the given quantity 5a 4 b by 5a 4 , 1 find b to be the second member ; and raising a -{- b to the 5th power, and sub- tracting it, there being no remainder, 1 Con- clude that a 4-5 is the root required. If the root has three members, the third is found after the same manner from the first two considered as one member, as the second member was found from the first ; which may be easily un- derstood from what was said of extracting the square root. In extracting roots it will often happen that the exact root cannot be found in finite terms j thus the square root of a 1 -J- x 2 is found to be 5x 8 a + + 1 6« 3 128 « 7 4~j & c * 54 The operation is tl us :• +**(«+ 4 - ■£+ : — ,&C. 16a ~ a ^Ta) 2a 1 + ■la 2 + 8a’ 8a 4 64a 5 1 8a 4 64a 5 After the same manner, the cube root of <^ + a 3 will be found to be + + & c . ^ 3a 2 9a 5 ^ 8 la 8 243a 11 « The general theorem which we gave for the involution of binomials, will serve also for their evolution ;” because, to extract any root of a given quantity, is the same thing as to raise that quantity to a power whose exponent is a frac- tion that has its denominator equal to the num- ber that expresses what kind of root is to be ex- tracted. Thus, to extract the square root of « -j- b is to raise a -{- b to a power whose expo- nent is •§. Now, since a -j- b —a -X. m x ... m — l ... , 77i — 1 a m — 1 5 - j- ?7i X — - — - a ' n ~ 2 b~ 4- m X — — — x Z _ X a m ~ *b\ &c. 3 §, you will find 1 X a “ * b + f X - { “ J X. — i a 2 b\ Sec. T , b b 2 b 2 - a i + — r ~ 0.4 + -T7T-T ~ > &c - 3 Supposing m - 4~ b T — a \ -} fi X 2 a\ Sal 1 16a5 1 2 2 And after this manner you will find that l v -2 v 4 v& 4" a O . Sa 2 lCn' & c. as ALGEBRA. and third, and from their sum subtract the first term, the remainder shall give the fourth arith- metical proportional required.” In a series of arithmetical proportionals, “ the sum of the first and last terms is equal to the sum of any two terms equally distant from the extremes.” If the first terms are a, a 4- b, a -j- 2b, Sec. and the last term .v, the Jast term blit one will be .v — b, the last but two a- — 2b, the last but three x — 3 b. See. So that the first half of the terms, having those that are equally distant from the last term set under them, will stand thus : a, a -|- b, a -J- 2 b, a -|- 3 b, a -j- 4 b, &C. x , x — b T x — 2b, x — 3b, x — 4b, a -j- x, a — J— x, a -|* x, a -J— A", a -1- .v, &C. And it is plain that if each term be added to the term above it, the sum will be a -)- x, equal to the surh of the first term a, and the last term x. From which it is plain, that “ the sum of all the terms of an arithmetical progression is equal to the sum of the first and last taken half as often as there are terms,” that is, the sum of an arithmetical progression is equal to the sum of the first and last terms multiplied by half the number of terms. Thus, in the preceding se- ries, if n be the number of terms, the sum of all the terms will be a -j- .v x — • The common difference of the terms being b, and b not being found in the first term, it is plain that “ its co-efficient in any term will be equal to the number of terms that precede that term.” Therefore, in the last term x, you must have n — 1 x b, so that a- must be equal to a n — 1 X b. And the sum of all the terms being a 4- x X ~, it will also be equal to 2 an -{- n l b — nb nb — b , or to a 4 X ». 1 hus, 2 1 2 for example, the series 1 -]~ 2 -j- 3 -]- 4 -f- 5, &c. continued to a hundred, must be equal to 2 X 100-f 10000 — 100 5050. Of Proportion, When quantities of the same kind are com- pared, it may be considered either how much the one is greater than the other, and what is their difference ; or, it may be considered how many times the one is contained in the other, or, more generally, what is their quotient. The first relation of quantities is expressed by their arithmetical ratio; the second by their geome- trical ratio. That term whose ratio is enquired into is called the Antecedent, and that with which it is compared is called the Consequent. When of four quantities, the difference be- twixt the first and second is equal to the differ- ence betwixt the third and fourth, those quan- tities are called Arithmetical Proportionals ; as the numbers 8, 7, 12, 16 ; and tbe quantities a, a -\- b, e, t -\- b. But quantities form a series in Arithmetical Proportion, when they “ in- crease or decrease by the same constant differ- ence ;” as these, a, a -j- b, a -j- 2b, a -}- 3b, “ -j- 4b, Sec. x, x — b, x — 2b, Sec. or the num- bers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, &c. and 10, 7, 4, 1 , — 2, —5, — 8, Sec. In four quantities arithmetically proportiona 1 , “ the sum of the extremes is equal to the sum ot the mean terms.” Thus, a, a -f- b, e , e -f- b, ure arithmetical proportionals, and the sum of the extremes (,. e -(- 5) is equal to the sum of the mean terms (a -}~ b -j- e). Hence, to find the fourth quantity arithmetically proportional to any three given quantities ; “ add the second If a series have (0) nothing for its first term, then “ its sum shall be equal to half the product of the last term multiplied by the number of terms,” For then, a being — O, the sum of the terras, which is in general a x X \ > will in this case be From which it is evident, that “ the sum of any number of arithmetical pro- portionals beginning from nothing, is equal to half the sum of as many terms each equal to the greatest term.” Thus, 0 — |— 1 — {— 3 — {— 4 — j— A — J— 6 — j— 7 — {— S — 9 9 -f 9 -f- 9 -f 9 + 94-9 -|~ 9 -f 9 -f 9 + 9 — 10 x 9 _ 45 2 “ If of four quantities the quotient of the first and .second be equal to the quotient of the third and fourth, then those quantities are said to be in geometrical proportion.” Such are the num- bers 2, 6, 4, 12; and the quantities a, ar, b, hr ; which are expressed after this manner ; 2 : 6 :: 4 ; 12 . a \ ar \ \ b * br. And you read them by saying, As 2 is to 6, so is 4 to 12 ; or as a is to ar, so is b to br. In four quantities geometrically proportional, “ the product of the extremes is equal to the product of the middle terms.” Thus, a x br — ar x b. And, if it is required to find a fourth proportional to any three given quantities, “ multiply the second by the third, and divide their product by the first, the quotient shall give the fourth proportional required.” Tims, to find a fourth proportional to a, ar, and b, ] mul- tiply ar bv b, and divide the product arb by the first term’ a, the quotient hr is the fourth pro- portional required. When a series of quantities increase by one common multiplicator, or decrease by one com- mon divisor, they are said to be in “ geometrical proportion continued.” As, a, ar, a< 2 , ar 2 , a> A , ar'’, Sec. or, a a a a a a i > i T» T> ~ &c. r r r r r * The common multiplier or divisor is called their “ common ratio.” In such a series, “ the product of the first and last is always equal to the product of the second and last but one, or to the product of any two terms equally remote from the extremes.” In the series a, ar, ar 2 , ar 3 , S< c. if y be the- last term, then shall the four last terms of the series be y , - y —, ~ ; now it is plain that a x y =; y_ _ ar X — ar 2 X ~~T — ar X Sec. “ The sum of a series of geometrical propor- tionals wanting the first term, is equal to the sum of all but the last term multiplied by the common ratio.” For ar -j— ar* — p- ar , Sec. — | - — — j— " — |— y — ^ r x a -j- ar -|- ar i ^ c - 4~ Ar 4" 4* Ar 4~ ~ ' Therefore, if s be the sum of the series, s — a will be equal to s — y X r \ that is, s — a — , yr — a sr — yr, or sr — s = yr — a , ana s —*■ Since the exponent of r is always increasing from the second term, if the number of terms be a, in the last term its exponent will be « — 1. n — 1 , n — I -J-I yr ~ ar ar n • — a , ) = —■ So that having the first term of the series, the number of the terms, and the common ratio, you may easily find the sum of all the terms. If it is a decreasing series, whose sum is to be found, as of y -f- y — {- — -f- — Sec. 4- ar 2 4- r r r ar 2 -j- ar -j- a, and the number of the terms be supposed infinite, then shall a, the last term, be equal to nothing. For, because », and conse- quently r >l , is infinite, a = — /\ZT~ — Therefore y — ar ; and = ./;and, = (^) = The sum of such a series s = — 1 which is a finite sum,' though the number of terms be infi- nite. Thus, i + i + 5 + } + A+- &c - = 5 “T = " •»* » •«+*+*+*+*'•=; x 3 ’ 1 Of Equations. Drfinit. I. An equation is a proposition assert- ing the quality of tw r o quantities, and is ex- pressed by placing the sign = between them. Defuut. 2. Equations containing only one un- known quantity and its powers, are divided into orders, according to the highest power of the unknown quantity to be found in any of its terms. See the Rules under the next general head. ALGEBRA. 55 If the highest power } 1st, ) The e- C Simple, of the unknown quan- > 2d, r quation < Quadrat, titv in any term be the ) 3d, ) is called ( Cubic, : &c. &c. But the exponents of the unknown quantities are supposed to be integers, and the equation is supposed to be cleared of fractions, in which the unknown quantity, or any of its powers, enter i 3.v — b . the denominators, xhus, .*• -j- a = - — is a simple equation ; 3 a- = 12 , when clear- ed of the fraction by multiplying both sides by 2a;, becomes 6.x 1 — 5 = 24a- a quadratic ; v 3 — 2 d — at 6 — 20 is an equation of the sixth order, &c. To resolve an equation is to find the value of the unknown term in known terms. Of Simple Equations, and their Resolu- tions. Rule 1. Any quantity may be transposed from one side of an equation to the other, by changing its sign. Thus, if 3x — 10 — 2 a- -{- 5 Then, 3a- — 2x — 10 -j- 5 or r — 15 Thus also, 5a- -j - h = a -j- 2a- By transp. 3at = a — b. For equal quantities are thus addAl to or sub- tracted from both sides. Carol. The signs of all the terms of an equa- tion may he changed into the contrary signs, and it will continue to be true. Ru le 2. Any quantity by which the unknown quantity is multiplied may be taken away, by dividing all the other quantities of the equation by if. Thus, if ax — b _ b a Also, if mx -{- nb = am nb x — — = a. m For if equal quantities are divided by the same quantity, the quotients are equal. Rule 3. If a term of an equation is fractional, its denominator may be taken away by multi- plying all the other terms by it. Thus, if — — L c Also, if a — = a x x = ab -J- ac ax — b — c And by trans. ax — cx = b And by div. x = ■ . a — c For, if all the terms of the equation are mul- tiplied by the same quantity, the quantities on each side will be equal. Corol. If any quantity be found on both sides of the equation, with the same sign, it may be taken away from both. Also, if all the terms iifthe equation are mul- tiplied or divided by the same quantity, it may be taken out of them all. EXAMPLE. If 3x -j- a — a -j- b, then 3x = b. If 2 ax -(- 3 ab = ma -f- a 2 , then 2x 3b = m a. re x 4 16 , If 3 3 = -p Aen x- 4=1 6. By these rules the unknown term may be se- parated from the known, and the equation is resolved. Examples of Simple Equations resolved by these Rules. If 3x 5 ~ x - j- 9 If 5x - ,5x , 4x ---4-12= -■ 2 1 3 5x - 5x 4.v - : = 26 2 3 30a - — I5x ■ — 8.v = 84. Or 7a- = 84 84 -f 26 12 = 14 ~r 16 -f 9 = 64 Solution oi 20 -j- = 64. r 20 = 64a' — 9x = 55x __ 20 4 '' = 55 ~ lT Questions producing Simple Equations. General Rule. The unknown quantities in the question proposed must be expressed by let- ters, and the relations of the known and un- known quantities contained in it, or the condi- tions of it, as they are called, must be expressed by equations. These equations being resolved, give the answer to the question. For example, if the question is concerning two numbers, they may be called x and y, and the conditions from which they are to be inves- tigated must be expressible by equations. Thus, if it be required that the 4 sum of two numbers sought f , be 6’0, that condition is ex- f ' Y T D pressed thus: j If their difference must be 24, then x — y = 24 If their product is 1640, then xy = 1640 If their quotient must be 6 , then — = 6 . y Case I. When there is only one unknown quan- tity to be found. Rule. An equation involving the unknown quantity must be deduced from the question ; and it is obvious, that, when there is only one unknown quantity, there must be only one in- dependent equation contained in the question ; for any other would be unnecessary, and might be contradictory to the former. Ex. 1 . To find a number, to which if there be added a half, a third part, and a fourth part of Itself, the sum will be 50. Let it be z : then half of it is it is — , &c. a third of 2a- = 4 4 *= 2 — = 2 . therefore = x -J- 7 = y -J- 7 X 2 = 2y -J- 14 x = 3y — 21 -J- -7 = 3y — 14 x = 2y -J- 1 4 — 7 = 2 _y -j- 7 Therefore Sj — 14 = 2 y + 7 y = 21 , and a = 49. Ex. 3. A gentleman distributing money among some poor people, found he wanted 10 ,. to be able to give 5s. to each ; therefore he gives each 4,. only, and finds lie has 5s. left. — To find the number of shillings and poor people. If any question such as this, in which there are two quantities sought, can be resolved by means of one letter, the solution is in general more simple than when two are employed. There must be, however, two independent con- ditions; one of which is used in the notation of one of the unknown quantities, and the other gives an equation. Let tiie number of poor lie z, then the num- ber of shillings will be 5z — 10, and also 4z-j-5; therefore, 5z — 10 = 4z -j- 5 s = 15, equal the number of poor* of course the number of shill ligs is 05. Case III. When there are three or more un- known quantities. Rule. When there are three unknown quan- tities, there must be three independent equa- tions arising from the question; and from, each of these a value of one of the unknown quanti- ties must be obtained. By comparingthese three values, two equations will arise, involving only two unknown quantities; and in like manner may the rule be extended to such questions as contain four or more unknown quantities. — Hence it may be inferred, that when just as many independent equations may be derived from a question as there are unknown quantities in it, these quantities may be found by the re- solution of equations. Ex. 4. To find three numbers, so that the first with half the other two, the second with one-third of the other two, and the third with one-fourth of the other two, may each be equal to 34. Let the numbers be x,y, z , and the equations will be Therefore, * + — + - -f- -J- = 50 24z + 12 2 -f 82 -(- 6z = 1200 50z = 1 200 z = 24. Case II. When there are two unknown quan- tities. Rule. Two independent equations involving the two unknown quantities, must be derived from the question. A value of one of the un- known quantities must be derived from each of the equations ; and these two values being put equal to each other, a new equation will arise, involving only one unknown quantity. Ex. 2 . Two persons, A and B, were talking of their ages ; says A to B, Seven years ago I was just three times as old as you were, and se- ven years hence I shall be just twice as old as you will be. I demand their present ages. Let the ages of A and B be x andy, then seven years ago their ages were x — 7 and y — 7 ; and seven years hence they will be a 4- j and y 4- 7 ; ^ 2 y + _+f 3 - -} -y 34 = 34 = 34 ; then, by the first equation. 1 4 x = - ; and by the second x = 102 — 3y — z ; and by the third x = 136 — 4z — y ; therefore 68 — y 136 — y = = 102 — 3y — • s ; and by the two latter equations 34 J 2 3z — 34 therefore. 136 2 5 15z — 170 = 272 — 2z 17z = 442, or z = 26 y = 22 , and x = 10. On many occasions, by particular contriv- ances, the operations by the preceding rules may be much abridged. This, however, must be left to the skill and practice of the learner; A few examples are the following. ' 1 . It is often easy to employ fewer letters than there are unknown quantities, bv express- ing some of them from a simple relation to others contained in the conditions of tha ques- tion. 56 2. Sometimes it is convenient to express by letters, not the unknown quantities themselves, but some other quantities connected with them, as their sum, difference, &c. from which they may be easily derived. 3. in the operation, also, circumstances will suggest a more easy road than that' pointed out by the general rules. Two of the original equa- tions may be added together, or may be sub- tracted; sometimes they must be previously mul- tiplied by some quantity, to render such addi- tion or subtraction effectual, in exterminating one of the unknown quantities, or otherwise promoting the solution. Substitutions may be made of the values of quantities, in place of quantities themselves; and various other such contrivances may be used, which will render the solution much less complicated. General Solution of Problems. In the solutions of the questions in the pre- ceding part, the given quantities (being num- bers) disappear in the last conclusion, so that no general rules for like cases can he deduced from them. But if letters are used to denote the known quantities, as well as the unknown, a general solution may be obtained, because, dur- ing the whole course of the operation, they re- tain their original form. Hence also the con- nection of the quantities will appear in such a manner as to discover the necessary limitations of the data, when there are any, which is neces- sary to the perfect solution of a problem. Ex. 1. To find two numbers, of which the sum and difference are given. Let s be the sum given, and d the given dif- ference. Also, let x and y be the two numbers sought. x -j- y zz: s X — y d d -j- y — s — y 2y q: s — d i — d -f -d h thus, let the given sum be 100, and the dif- ference 24. , 124 Then *== Hr - d __ . 76 sT~ — 2 Equations are either pure or adfected. Def. 1. A pure equation is that in which only wue power of the unknown quantity is found. 2. An adfected equation is that in which dif- ferent powers of the unknown quantity are found in the several terms. Thus, a 2 -j- ax 1 = P y ax 2 — b 2 =s m 2 -j- x 2 , are pure equations. x~ — ax = b 2 , x 2 -{- x 2 = 17, are adfected equa- tions. Solution of Pure Equations. Rule. Make the power of the unknown quantity to stand alone by the Allies formerly given, and then extract the root of the same de- nomination out of both sides, which will give the value of the unknown quantity. And x — and = ( : :) 62 =) 38. EXAMPLES. If a 2 -j- ax 2 — P ax 1 = P — a 2 „ P — a 2 ax m — b — x - ax "> — X”‘ = b - b - IP — a 2 m t b — c — V ~~~a ^=\/ a — AtG'fifi R a; . Solution of Adfected Quadratic Equa- tions. An adfected quadratic equation (corhmonly called a quadratic) involves the unknown quan- tity itself, and also its square : Rule 1. Transpose all the terms involving the unknown quantity to one side, and the known terms to the other ; and so that the term containing the square of the unknown quantity may be positive. 2. If the square of the unknown quantity is multiplied by any co-efficient, all the terms of the equation are to be divided by it, so that the co-efficient of the square of the unknown quan- tity may be 1. 3. Add to both sides the square of half the co-efficient of the unknown quantity, and the side of the equation involving the unknown quantity will be a complete square. 4. Extract the square root from both sides of the equation, and by transposing the above- mentioned half co-efficient, a value of the un- known quantity is obtained in known terms. The reason of this rule is manifest from the composition of the square of a binomial, for it consists of the squares of the tw r o parts, and twice the product of the two parts. The different forms of quadratic equations, expressed in general terms, being reduced by the first and second uarts. of the rule, are these s 1. x 2 -j- = P 2. x 2 — a-x xz. P 3. x 2 — ax — — P Case 1. Case 2. : -|- a x =?. P ! 4- ax + ~P 4 - — l 1 4 '4 , a . / , . a 2 + 2“ = ± S/ + 4~ . / , , a 2 a “ ± V 6 + T“ T ax — P a 2 , c 2 : ± \A + T Case 3. x 2 = f±xA‘ + f ■ — ax zit — P , . a 2 a 2 — a 2 A — b‘ 1 4 4 * - V = ±v/ X p x — — ± v /— - P. % 4 L Every quadratic equation will have two roots, except such of the third form whose roots become impossible. 2. In the two first forms, one of the roots must be positive, and the other negative. a 2 3. In the third form, if — ■, or the square of 4 half of the co-efficient of the unknown quan- tity, be greater than P, the known quantity, a 2 the two roots will be positive. If — be equal ' . a 2 to P, the two roots become equal ; but if — is less than P, the quantity under the radical sign becomes negative, and the two roots are impossible. 4. If the equation express the relation of mag- nitudes abstractly considered, where a contra- riety cannot be supposed to take place, the ne- gative roots cannot be of use, or rather there are no such roots ; for 'the" a negative quantity by itsiif is Unintelligible, and therefore tk# square root of a positive quantity must he posn tive only. Solution of Questions producing Qua- dratic Equations. The expression of the conditions of the ques- tion by equations, or the stating of it, and the reduction likewise of these equations, till we arrive at a quadratic equation, involving only one unknown quantity and its square, are ef- fected by the same rules which were given for. the solution of simple equations. Ex. 1. One lays out a certain sum of money in goods, which he sold again for 24/. and gained as much per cent, as the goods cost him: I de- mand what they cost him ? If the rhoney laid out be y The gain will be 24 — y But this gain is \ 2400 — lOOy (y t 24 — y\\ 100) y Therefore by ) question £ J And by mult, and tr.y 2 -j- TOOy = 2400 Completing the ? y 2 -j- lOOy -|- 50 > ) 2 — 2400 square £ -f- 2500 = 4900 Extract the root y 50 — Ar \/ 4900 — 70 Trans. - y — -j- 70 — 50 = 20, or — 120 . The answer is 20/. which succeeds. The other root, — J 20, has no place in this example, a ne- gative number being here unintelligible. To find two numbers whose sum is 100, and, whose product is 20.59. Ex. 2. Let the given sum 100 — a, the pro- duct 2059 — b, and let one of the numbers sought be x, the other will be a — x. Their product is ax — x 1 . Therefore ax — x 2 — b, or x 1 — ax — — b per cent. 2400— lOOy Compl. the sq. x 2 ax h — — * 4 4 Ext. sj Transp. And the other number — .v - -- = + v / — - 2 “ V 4 J < - t V 4 } a fa 1 \ a -*—2 + v T b. By inserting numbers, x — 71 or 29, and a — x =29 or 71, so that the two numbers Sought are 71 and 29. Here it is to be observed, that b must not be a 2 greater than , else the roots of the equation would be impossible; that is, the given product must not be greater than the square of half the given sum of the numbers sought. This limita- tion can easily be shewn from other principles ; for the greatest possible product of two parts into which any-n umber may be divided, is, when each of them is a half of it. If b be equal to — there is only one solution, and x = — , 4 2 a also a — x = Of Indeterminate Problems. It may be observed, that if there are more unknown quantities in a question than equa- tions, by -which their relations are expressed, it is indetermined. In other circumstances, such problems are resolved by Various methods, not to be comprehended in general rules. Ex. 1. ’To divide a given square number into two parts, each of which shall be a square num- ber. There are two quantities sought in this ques- fion, and there is only ore equation expressing -their relation ; but it is required also that they may be rational, which circumstance cannot be expressed by an equation: another condition therefore must be assumed, in such a manner as to obtain a solution in rational numbers. Let the given square be a 1 ; let one of the squares sought be .v 2 , the other is a 2 — a 2 . Let rx — a also be a side of the last square, therefore r 2 \‘ 2 — 2rxa — a 2 ' Ter- a 1 — v 2 Bv transp. Divide by x Therefore -j- x 2 — 2rxa -j- X —Sra 2ra And rx — a = r 2 +l lr 2 a r 2 — I +T * = + 1 Let r therefore be assumed at pleasure, and 2 ra r l — 1 -~ — - — , — —a, which must always be ra- ■ r 1 -f- 1 r -j- 1 .tional, will be the sides of the two squares re- quired. Thus, if a 2 — 100; then, if r — 3, the sides of the two squares are 6 and 8, for 36 -j- 64 zz: 100. Also, let a 2 — 64. Then, if r rz: 3, the sides 32 and 24 1024 — - ; and 5 25 576 : 64. of the squares are _ 1600 ~ 25~ The reason of the assumption of rx — u as a side of the square a 1 — a- 2 , is, that being squared and put equal to this last, the equation manifestly will be simple, and the root of such an equation is always rational. Ex. 2. To find two square numbers whose difference is given. Let a 2 and y 2 be the square numbers, and a their difference. Put + r, and - zv -j- v 2 4 . If x and y are required only to be rational, then take The reason of this is derived from the com- position of the co-efficients of these terms, which consist of combinations of odd numbers of the roots, as explained in the preceding head. Prop. II. An equation may he transformed into another that shall have its roots greater or less than the roots of the given equation bv some given difference. Let e be the given difference ; then y — x -f and and if for .v and its powenTia the given equation, y -f e and its powers be in- serted, a new equation will arise, in which the unknown quantity is y, and its value will be A L y 2 -f~ 3e z y -j~ e 1 ) - pf - - p* 2 ~i~ 77 + 7“ = 0 . Cor. 1 . T he use of this transformation is to take away the second, or any other intermediate term ; for as the co-efficients of all the terms" of the transformed equation, except the first, in- volve the powers of e, and known quantities only, by putting the co-efficient of any term equal to 0. and resolving that equation, a value of e may be determined, which being substituted, will make that term to vanish. Thus let the co-effident 3r — p = 0, and e ~ jp, which being substituted for ?, the new equation will want the second term. And uni- versally the co-efficient of the first term of an 53 A L I A L G A L t equation of « dimensions being i, the second term may be taken away, by supposing x — y ± —A tl Car. 2. The second term may be taken away by the solution of a simple equation, the third by the solution of a quadratic, and so on. Prop. III. An equation may be transformed into another, of which the roots shall be equal to the roots of the given equation, multiplied or divided by a given quantity. .Let y — xe, or y — — . e Then substitute for a- and its powers, or e ye and its powers, and the new equation will have the property required. Cor. 1. An equation, in which the co-efficient ©f the first term is any known quantity, as a, may thus be transformed into another, in which the co-efficient of the first term shall be unit. Thus, let the equation be ax 3 — p.x 2 qx — r Suppose y — ax, or x — — , and for x and a . . V its powers insert — and its powers, and the ' a equation becomes — < 4- — r — 0, a 2 a" a Or y 3 — py 2 -[- qay — a 2 r — 0. Cor. 2. If there are fractions in an equation, they may be taken away, by multiplying the equation by the denominators, and by this pro- position the equation may then be transformed into another, without fractions, in which the co-efficient of the first term is 1. In like man- ner may a surd co-efficient be taken away in certain cases. Cor. 3. Hence also, if the co-efficient of the second term of a cubic equation is not divisible by 3, the fractions thence arising in the trans- formed equation wanting the second term, may be taken away by the preceding corollary. But the second term also may be taken away, so that there shall be no such fractions in the trans- formed equation, by supposing x — « +P 3 5 -j~ p being the co-efficient of the second term of the given equation. And if the equation ax 3 — px l -}- qx — r — 0 be given, in which p is not divisible by 3, by supposing x ~ — the transformed equation reduced is z 3 — -j- 9 aq X x — 2 p 3 -J- 9apq — 7 a 2 r z=z 0 ; wanting the second term, having 1 for the co- efficient of the first term, and the co-efficients of the other terms being all integers, the co-effi- cients of the given equation being also supposed integers. General Corollary to Prop. I, II, III. If the roots of any of these transformed equa- tions be found by any method, the roots of the original equation, from which they were de- rived, will easily be found from the simple equa- tions expressing their relation. Thus, if 8 is found to be a root of the transformed equation z "4” c 2i z 3 -j- 23z — 696 ~ 0. Since x — — ' — , the 5 corresponding root of the given equation 8 | c 2 Sx 3 — 6x 2 -\-7x — 30 rz: 0, must be — y— zzz2. i! is to be observed also, that the reasoning in Prop. II. and III, and the Corollaries, may be extended to any order of equations, though in them it is applied chielly to cubics. From the preceding principles and operations, rules may be derived for resolving equations of all orders, ALG ENEB, a fixed star of the second magnitude, On the right shoulder of the con- stellation Perseus. ALGOL, the namh of a fixed star of the second magnitude in the constellation Per- seus, otherwise called Medusa’s head. This star has been subject to singular va- riations, appearing at different times of diffe- rent magnitudes, from the fourth to the se- cond, which is its usual appearance. It has been conjectured that the cause of this varia- tion is owing either to the interposition of a large body revolving round Algid, or to some motion of its own, in consequence of which part of its body, covered w itii spots, is peri- odically turned towards the earth. The pe- riod of variation is said to be 2d. 20h. 49' 2". ALGOME1ZA, a name given to the star Procvon. ALGOR, among medical writers, a term used to denote an unusual coldness or chil- ness in any part of the body. ALGORAB, a fixed star of the third mag- nitude, in the right wing of Corvus. ALGUAZIL, in the Spanish policy, an officer whose business it is to see the decrees of a judge executed. ALllABOR, among the Arabians, is the star which we call Sirius. ALHIRTO, a fixed star of the third mag- nitude, in the constellation Capricorn. It is sometimes called rostrum gallincE. Near this star, in the year 1600, appeared a new star, which lasted 21 years, and then disap- peared again. ALIAS, in law, a second or farther writ issued from the courts of Westminster after a capias , Sec. has been sued out without effect. Alias Dictus, the legal description of a person known by two or more names. ALIBI, denotes the absence of the accused from the place where he is charged to have committed the crime. ALIDES, among the Mahomedans, a de- signation given to the descendants of Ali ; between whom and the Ommiades there was a warm dispute about the kaliphate. ALIEN, in law, a person born in a strange country, not within the king’s allegiance, in contradistinction from a denizen, or a natural subject. See Denizen. An alien is incapable of inheriting lands in England, till naturalized by an act of parlia- ment. No alien is entitled to vote in the choice of members of parliament, nor can enjoy an office, or be returned on any jury, unless where an alien is party in a cause ; atul then the inquest of jurors shall be one half natives and the other aliens. The issue of an English woman, bv an alien, born ’abroad, is an alien in law. But if an Eng- lishman, living beyond sea, marry a wife there, and have children born abroad, they are de- nizens, and shall be heirs to their father. Aliens can have no heirs, strictly so called, because they have not in them any heritable blood; yet natural-born subjects may inherit as heirs to their ancestors, even though their ancestors were aliens. If an alien is made a denizen by letters patent, and then purchases lands, his son be- fore his denization shall not inherit ; but a son born afterwards may inherit, even though the elder brother be living. Blacks. Every foreign seaman serving on board an English ship two years in time of war is natu- ralized. Masters of ships arriving from foreign parts are to give notice at every port of the num- ber and names of all foreigners on board, under a penalty of JO/, for each alien whose name is omitted; 33 Geo. Hi. c. 4. And by the 42d Geo. 111. c. 22, commonly called the alien bill, iiis majesty may issue a procla- mation ordering' aliens out of the kingdom, and in case ot disobedience, the alien tor the first offence shall suffer imprisonment for one month, and for twelve months for a second offence, being liable to transportation for life for the third. Secretaries of state may grant warrants for conducting such aliens "out of the kingdom as they apprehend will not pay due obedience to the proclamation. Alien-duty, an impost laid on all goods imported by aliens, over and above the cus- toms paid tor such goods imported by British and on British bottoms. Alien-priories, a kind of inferior mo- nasteries, formerly very numerous in Eng- land, and so called from their belonging to foreign abides. ALIENABLE, denotes something that may be alienated. All estates are alienable, except those in tail and for life : a bond too, with condition not to alien, is said to be good. ALIENATION, in law, denotes the act of making over a man’s property in lands, tenements, &c. to another person. To alien or alienate in fee, is to sell or convey the fee simple of lands, &c. Alienation, in mortmain, is making over lands, tenements, &c. to a body politic, or to a religious house, for which the king’s licence must first be obtained, otherwise the lands, &c. alienated, will be forfeited. See Mort- main. Alienation of crown lands is always sup- posed to be made under a faculty of perpe- i tual redemption. A perpetual copy-hold is also a kind of j alienation. Alienation, in Roman antiquity, was used for a father’s discarding a son in his own life-time. Air e n at i o N-q^// cc, is that to which are carried all w rits of covenants iind entry upon which fines are levied, in order to have lines for alienation set upon them. ALIMENT, among physicians, denotes whatever is capable of nourishing the human body. Aliment is either animal or vegetable’ of an attenuating or incrassating nature ; and with respect to tire taste, is sweet, fat, acid, astringent, salsuginous, bitter, and acrid. AL I M EN TA il\ duct, a name by which some call the intestines, on account of the food passing through them. See Anatomy. Alimentary duct is sometimes also used tor the thoracic duct. Alimentary children, in Roman anti- quity, an appellation given to those educated in houses not unlike our "hospitals, erected for that purpose. There were likewise alimen- tary girls, who owed their maintenance to the bounty of several empresses, as the boys did theirs to that of the emperors. Alimentary law, among the same people, that whereby children were obliged lo maintain their aged parents. ALIMONY, in law, denotes the main- tenance sued for by a wife, in case of separa- tion from her husband, wherein she is neither chargeable with elopement nor adultery. Anciently this was recoverable only in the spiritual courts, but at present may be obtain- ed in chancery. ALIPILARIUS, or Alipilus, in Roman A L K A L K A L K antiquity, a servant belonging to the baths, whose business it was, by means of waxen plasters, and an instrument called volsella, to take off the hairs from the ami-pits, and even arms, legs, &c. this being deemed a point of cleanliness. ALIQUANT parts, in arithmetic, those which will not divide or measure the whole number exactly. Thus, 7 is an aliquant part of 16, for twice 7 wants 2 of 16, and three times 7 exceeds 16 by 5. ALIQUOT part, is such part of a number as will divide and measure it exactly, without any remainder. For instance, 2 is an aliquot part of 4, 3 of 9, and 4 of 1 6. To find all the aliquot parts of a number, divide it by its least divisor, and the quotient by its legist divisor, until you get a quotient not farther divisible, and you will have all the prime divisors or aliquot parts of that number. Thus, 60 divided by 2, gives the quotient 30, which divided by 2 gives 15, and 15 divided by 3 gives the indivisible quo- tient 5. Hence the prime aliquot parts are 1, 2, 3, 5; and by multiplying any two or three of these together, you will find the compound' aliquot parts, viz. 4, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30. Aliquot parts must not be confounded with commensurable ones; for though the former are all commensurable, yet these are not al- ways aliquot parts : thus 4 is commensur- able with 6, but is not an aliquot part of it. ALISMA, water-plantain, a genus of plants of the class and order hexandria polygynia. The essential character is calyx three-leaved; petals three ; seeds several. There are nine species, most of which may be found in England. They are inhabitants of watry places, bogs, Szc. ALKAHEST, or Alcahest, among the old chemists, denotes an universal men- struum capable of resolving all bodies into their first matter, or ens privium ; and that without suffering any change or diminution by so doing. Van Helmont assures us in tire most po- sitive manner, that he himself was master of Such a menstruum. But, in this enlightened period, when chemical research has been ex- tended farther than it ever was before, the j - notion is deservedly ridiculed. ALKALESCENT denotes" a substance .slightly alkaline, or in which alkali is begin- ning to be formed, and to predominate. See 1 the next article. ALKALI. This word is of Arabian ori- gin, and was introduced into chemistry after it had been applied to the plant which still retains the name of kali. When this plant is burnt, the ashes washed in water, and the water evaporated to dryness, a white sub- stance remains, which is called alkali. This, however, may be obtained from other sub- stances besides the kali: and the. word alkali is now applied to all bodies which possess, 1, a caustic taste; 2, the properties of being volatilized by heat; 3, of being capable of combining with acids ; 4, of being soluble in water, even when combined with carbonic acid ; and, 5, Capable of converting vege- table blues to green. The alkalies at present known are three in number: 1, potass; 2, soda; 3, ammonia. The two first are called fixed alkalies ; they require a red heat to volatilize them: the last is called volatile alkali, because it readily assumes a gaseous form, and consequently is dissipated with a moderate degree of heat. Alkalies readi!y r unite with sulphur, form- ing compounds which have the property of absorbing the oxygen from the atmosphere, and when moistened, of giving out a peculiar and very fetid gas. These compounds were formerly called alkaline hepars or livers ; but according to the modern nomenclature, they are denominated sulphurets. The alkalies have a very powerful action on almost all vegetable and animal matters, producing speedy disorganization, and reducing them to a pulp. With oils they form a compound known by the name of soap. They unite with all the acids, and produce neutral salts, of various degrees of solubility; in which, when the contents are mutually saturated, the distinguishing properties' of both acid and alkali are neutralized, and no longer to be perceived. From their affinity to acids, al- kalies decompose the acid solutions of all metals and most earths. See Chemistry. Alkaline earths, are those earths which agree with alkali in the property of solubility in water to a certain extent; of changing blue and red vegetable colours to green ; of absorbing carbonic acid ; and of possessing those acrid qualities that distinguish the alka- lies. Magnesia, lime, barytes, and strontian, are deemed alkaline earths ; but the former is very imperfectly so, being scarcely more soluble in water than silex. Barytes and strontian approach nearer to an alkali than lime, in being largely soluble in water. Alkaline salts. See Materia Medica. ALKEKENGI, 'winter cherry. SeePHY- SALIS. ALKERMES, in pharmacy, a compound cordial confection, made of various ingre- dients, as rose-water, sugar, cinnamon, aloes- wood, &c. ; but the principal one is kermes. It is now disused. ALKjORAN, or Alcoran, [from the Arabic particle aJ, and coran, or koran, de- rived from the verb craoa or karoa, to read ; signifying the reading, or rather that which ought to be read,'} the scripture or bible of the Mahometans ; containing the revelations and doctrines of their pretended prophet. The alkoran is divided into 1 14 larger por- tions of very unequal length, which we call chapters, but the Arabians sowar, in the sin- gular sura; a word rarely used on any other occasion, and properly signifying a row, or a regular series. These chapters are not, in the manuscript copies, distinguished by their numerical order, but by particular titles, which are taken sometimes from a peculiar subject treated of, or person mentioned in them, usually from the first word of note. Some chapters have two or more titles, oc- casioned by the difference of the copies. Some of them being pretended to have been revealed at Mecca, and others at Medina, the noting this difference makes a part of the title. Every chapter is divided into smaller portions, of very unequal length also, which we customarily call verses ; but the Arabic word is ay at, signifying signs or wonders. Besides these unequal divisions, the Maho- metans have also divided their koran into 60 equal portions, each subdivided into four equal parts. But the koran is more usually divided into 30 sections only, each of twice the length of the former, and in like manner subdivided into four parts. These divisions H2 59 are for the use of the readers of the koran in the royal temples, or in the adjoining cha- pels, where the emperors and great men are interred. There are 29 chapters of the koran which have this peculiarity, that they begin with certain letters of the alphabet, some with a single one, others with more. These letters the Mahometans believe to be the peculiar mark of the koran, and to conceal several profound mysteries ; the certain understand- ing of which the more intelligent confess has not been communicated to any mortal, their prophet only excepted. The koran is universally allowed to be written with the utmost elegance and purity of language, in the dialect of the tribe of Koreish, the most noble and polite of all the Arabians, but with some mixture, though very rarely, of other dialects ; and it is con- fessedly the standard of the Arabic tongue. • The great doctrine of the koran is the uni- ty of God; to restore which Mahomet pre- tended was the chief object of his mission : that there never was, nor ever can be, more than,one true orthodox religion ; that, though the particular laws or ceremonies are only temporary, and subject to alteration, accord- ing to the divine direction, yet the substance of it being eternal truth, is not liable to change, but continues immutably the same ; and that, whenever this religion became ne- glected or corrupted in essentials, God had the goodness to re-inform and re-admonish mankind thereof by several prophets, of whom Moses and Jesus were the most distinguished, , till the appearance of Mahomet, who is their seal, and no other to be expected after him. The most excellent moral in the whole aF coran is that in the chapter al alraf, viz. “ Shew mercy, do good to all, and dispute not with the ignorant ;” or, as M r. Sale ren- ders it, Use indulgence, command that which is just, and withdraw far from the ignorant. Mahomet, according to the authors of the Keschaf, having begged of the angel Gabriel a more ample explication of this passage, re- ceived it in the following terms : “ Seek him who turns thee out, give to him wffio takes from thee, pardon him w ho injures thee ; for God will have you plant in your souls tha roots of his chief perfections.” It is. easy to see that this commentary is borrowed from the gospel. The caliph Hassan, son of Ali, being at table, a slave let fall a dish of meat reeking hot, which scalded him severely. The slave fell on his knees, rehearsing these words of the alcoran: “ Paradise is tor those w ho re- strain their anger.” “ I am not angry with thee,” answered the caliph. “ And for those who forgive offences against them,” continues the slave. “ I forgive thee thine,” replies the caliph. “ But above all, for those who re- turn good for evil,” adds the slave. “ I set thee at liberty,” rejoined the caliph; “and I give thee ten dinars.” It is the common opinion that Mahomet, assisted by one Sergius, a monk, composed this book; but the Mussulmans believe it as an article of their faith, that the prophet, who they say w-as an illiterate man, had no concern in inditing it; but that it w r as given him by God, who, to that end, made us of the ministry of the angel Gabriel; that, he - ever, it was communicated to him by little A L I CO At L •and little, a verse at a time, and in different places, during the course of 23 years. “ And hence, say they, proceed that disorder and confusion visible in the work which, in truth, are so great, that all their doctors have never -been able to adjust t hem. The alko- ran, while Mahomet lived, was only kept in loose sheets : his successor Abubeker, first collected them into a volume, and committed the keeping of it to Haphsa, the widow of Mahomet, in order to be consulted as an ori- ginal ; and there being much diversity be- tween the several copies already dispersed throughout the provinces, Othman success- or of Abubeker procured a great number of copies to be taken from that of Haphsa ; at the same time suppressing all the others not conformable to the original. ALKUSSA, a name given by the Swedes to a fish which they also call a lake . It is a species of the Silurus. ALL in the wind, a phrase which express- es the state of the ship’s sails when they are parallel to the direction of the wind. All hands hoay ! the phrase by which a ship’s company are summoned upon deck. ALLA MAN DA, a genus of the pentan- dria monogynia class and order. The corolla is monopetalous and funnel-shaped ; and the essential character is : cor. contorted ; caps, leus-shap/d, erect, echinate, one-celled, two- valved, many-seeded. There is only one spe- cies, the A. cathartica. It grows wild in Guiana. The leaves are cathartic, whence the-specific aiame ; and are used at Surinam in the cholic. ALLANTOIS, or Allantoides, in comparative anatomy, a vesicle investing the foetus of several animals, as cows, sheep, goats, &c. and filled with an urinous liquor conveyed thither from the urachus. See Comparative An atom ax ALLAY, the same with alloy. ALLEGATA, in Toman antiquitv, a kind of subscription used by the emperors, importing the writings to be verified. ALLEGATION, in law, signifies the pro- ducing instruments or deeds, to authorise or justify something. ALLEGEAS, a stuff manufactured in the .East Indies. There are two sorts ; one of cotton, and the other of herbs, which is spun like flax or hemp. ALLEGIANCE, in law, d notes the obe- dience which every subject owes to his lawful sovereign. Allegiance, oath of, in the British po- licy, is that taken in acknowledgment of the king, as a temporal prince ; as the oath of supremacy acknowledges him for the supreme head of the church. This oath may be tendered to all persons above the age of twelve years, whether na- tives, denizens, cr aliens, either in the court leet of the manor, or in the sheriff's court. It is a necessary preliminary to the holding of any office of trust under the crown. ALLEGORY, in literature, a figure of rhetoric ; also a mode of writing, wherein something else is signified, than the words in their literal meaning express. An allegory may. be considered as a series or chain of me- taphors, continued through a great part of a discourse. For example, when the prophets represent the Hebrews under the allegory of a vine planted, cultivated, and watered by the hand of God, which instead of producing good fruit, brings forth verjuice and sour grapes. A L L I Allegories have entered into most rcTigi- | ons: ttie Hebrew abounds with them, and it ! is well known that some philosophers of the ; Gentile world, undertaking to give a rational j account of the many horrid absurdit.es which I the poets had introduced into their religion, 1 found it necessary to maintain that these fic- | tions contained mysteries, and signified some- I thing very different from what they seemed I to express. Hence came the word allegory, { or a discourse that in its natural sense, I aAAo ayo&svsi, signifies some other thing | than what seemsTntended to be meant. See Rhetoric. ALLEGRO, in music, an Italian word de- ; noting that the part is to be played in a ; sprightly, brisk, lively, and gfry manner. 1 ALLELEN G Y ON, in antiquity, a tax paid by the rich for the poor, when absent in the army. ALL EM AND, a sort of grave solemn mu- sic, with, good measure and a slow movement. It is also a kind of dance very common in Germany and Switzerland. ALLERION, or Alerion, in heraldry, a sort of eagle without beak or feet, having nothing perfect but the wings. They differ from martlets in this, that their wings are expanded, whereas those of the martlet are close; and denote imperialists vanquished and disarmed, for which reason they are more common in French than in German coats of arms. ALLEVEURE, the smallest copper coin that is. struck in Sweden. It is about SJd. of English money. ALLEY, in perspective, that which, in order to have a greater appearance of length, is made wider at the entrance than at the ter- mination. ALLIANCE, in the civil and canon law, the relation contracted between two persons or two families by mairiage. An alliance is thus contracted between the husband and his wife’s relations, between the wife and her husband’s relations, but not be- tween the relations of the husband and wife. Alliance is also used for a treaty entered into by sovereign princes and states, for their mutual safety and defence. 1m this sense, alliances may be distinguish- ed into such as are offensive, whereby the contracting parties oblige themselves jointly to attack some other power ; and into de- fensive, whereby they bind themselves to support and defend each other, in case they | are attacked by others. Under this head too I may be ranked treaties of subsidy, which are 1 well known to the English nation. ALLIGATI, in antiquity, the basest and worst kind of slaves. The Romans had three kinds, or orders of slaves ; the first employed in the management of their estates ; the se- cond in the menial or lower functions of the family ; the third called alligati, these were kept in chains and dungeofis. ALLIGATION, in arithmetic, is the rule of mixture, which teaches to compound se- veral species of ingredients or commodities to- gether, according to any intent or design proposed, and is either .medial or alternate. See Arithmetic. ALLIGATOR, in zoology, the smaller kind of crocodiles. See Lacerta. ALLIOTIi, a star in the tail of the greater bear, much employed for finding the latitude at sea. The word Is also written alliot or allot, A & L denoting a horse. The Arabs give this name to each of the three stars in the tail of the Great Bear, on account of their appearing like three horses, ranged for the drawing of the- waggon, represented by four stars, called Charles’s wain. ALLITERATION, a figure or decoration of language, chiefly used in poetry, and con- sisting in the repetition of the same letter or letters at certain intervals, whence its name is derived ; thus in Lucretius : Adverse /labra ./eruntur , Alum in e. And in Shakspeare, //ad my sweet //arry /iad but half their numbers, 1 his day might I, hanging on //otspur’s neck, //ave talked. ALLION I A, a genus of plants of the class and order tetandria monogynia. The corolla is one-petalled and funnel-shaped ; and the essential character is cal. common, oblong, simple, three-flowered ; proper ob- solete, superior : corollures iwegiUar : recept. naked. There are two species, both natives ot South America. ALLIUM, Garlick, in botany, a genus of plants, ot the hexandria monogynia class and order. The corolla is six-petal led, and the essential character is cor. six-parted, spreading : spathe many-flowered : umbel heaped : caps, superior. This is a very extensive genus of plants, comprehending the A. porrum or leek, the A. cepa or onion, with all their varieties (among which the A. canadense, or Canada tree-onion, which bears excellent eatable onions on the top of the stalk, is most remarkable) the eschalot or shallot, the common garlick, the rocambole (which resembles the tree onion in bearing the garlick at the top of the stem as well as at the root), the Moly’s, and a consider- able tribe of flowering ornamental garlicks. There are in all 45 species. The A. ursinuqi or ransoms, is a most disagreeable weed, on which if cows feed, their butter is not eatable. '1 he A. .descendens and triquetrum are very or- namental ; the’ latter is treated as a greenhouse plant. Garlick is used in many preparations in medicine and farriery. ALLOC ATIONE facienda is a writ directed to the lord treasurer, or barons of the exchequer, commanding them to allow an accountant such sums as he lias lawfully- expended in the execution of his office. ALLOCATO comitatu, a new writ of exigent allowed, before any other county- court held, on a former not being complied with. ALLODIAL, an epithet given to an inhe- ritance held without any* acknowledgment to a lord or superior, in opposition to feudal. Allodial lands are free lands, for which neither fees, rents, nor services, are due. ALLODIUM nobile, that which had also civil and criminal jurisdiction annexed to it; in opposition to allodium villanum, which had no such jurisdiction. ALLONGE, in fencing, denotes a thrust or pass at the adversary. ALLOPHYLUS, a genus of the octandrra monogynia class and order, and of the natural order of guttiferae. The essential charac- ter is cal. four-leaved, leaflets orbicutate, two smaller ; pet. four less than the calyx ; germ, twin; stigma quadrifid. There are 5 spe- cies ; all trees but one, which is a shrub. They are natives of the East and West Indies. ALM ALLOTTING, or Allotment of. goods, Jn commerce, is the dividing a ship’s cargo into several parts, which are to be purchased by several persons, whose names being writ- ten upon as many slips of paper, are applied by an indifferent person to the several lots ; by whic h means the goods are divided with- out partiality, each man having the parcel upon which bis name is fixed. ALLOTMENTS- of land, are such por- tions of ground as are granted to- claimants on the division and inclosure of commons and waste lands, and which are generally propor- tionate to the extent of the right which they enjov upon them. ALLOWANCES, at the custom-house, to goods rated by weight, are two, viz. draught and tare. ALLOY, or At. lay, a proportion of a baser metal mixed with a liner one. Thus all gold coin has an alloy of silver and copper, as silver coin has of copper alone ; the pro- portion in the former case, for standard gold, being two carats of alloy in a pound troy of gold; and in the latter, eighteen penny- weight of alloy tor a pound troy of silver. According as gold or silver has more or less alloy than that mentioned above, it is said to be coarser or finer than the standard. It ought, however, to be remarked, that the coin of different nations varies greatly in this respect ; some using a larger, and others a less proportion of alloy, the original inten- tion of which was to give tiie coin a due de- gree of hardness. ALLUME'E, in heraldry, a term applied to the eyes of a bear, or other beast, when they are drawn sparkling and red. ALLUSION, in rhetoric, a figure by which something is applied to, or understood of another, on account of some similitude be- tween them. An allusion to words is trilling and low, making what we commonly call a pun. Allusions, however, to some apoph- thegm, remarkable event, or generally re- ceived custom, are not only extremely pleas- ing, but approved by the best writers, an- tient as well as modern. ALLUVIAL Limestone, a sort of stone found in many districts,, supposed to have been formed in the earliest ages of the world by the desposition of calcareous matters held in the state of solution in water. ALLUVION, among civilians, denotes the gradual increase of land along: the sea- shore, or on the banks of rivers. '1 nis, when slow and imperceptible, is deemed a lawful means of acquisition ; but when a consider- able portion of land is torn away at once, by the violence of the current, and joined to a neighbouring estate, it may be claimed by the king. 2 Black. 262. ALMAD1E, a kind of canoe or small ves- sel, about four fathom long, usually made of bark, and used by the negroes of Africa. Almadie is also the name of a kind of long boats, fitted out -ut Calicut, which are eighty feet in length, and six or seven in breadth. They are .exceedingly swift, and are otherwise called cathuri. ALM AGRA, in natural history, the name ©f a fine deep-red ochre, with a faint admix- ture of purple, used both in painting and me- dicine, being an excellent astringent. It is the same with what the antients called sil atticum. ALMANAC, a table containing the ca- lendar of days and months, the rising and A L M * setting of the sun, the age of the moon, &c. The first thing to be done in the construc- tion of almanacs is to compute the sun’s and moon’s place for each day of the year, or it may be taken from some ephemerides and entered in the almanac ; next, find the do- minical letter, and, by means thereof, distri- bute the calendar into weeks: then, having computed the time of Easter by it, iix the other moveable feasts ; adding the immove- able ones, the rising and setting of each lu- minary, the length of day and night, the as- pects of the planets, the phases of the moon, and tlxe sun’s entrance into the cardinal points of the ecliptic, i. e. the two equinoxes and solstices. * These are the principal contents of alma- nacks ; besides which there are others of a political nature, and consequently different in different countries, as the birth-days and coronation of princes, tables of interest, & c. Almanac, nautical, and astronomical ephemeris, is a kind of national almanac, pub- lished annually, by anticipation, under the direction of the commissioners of longitude. It contains among other things, the distances of the moon from the sun and fixed stars, for every three hours of apparent time, adapted to the meridian of Greenwich ; by comparing which with the distances carefully observed at sea, the mariner may readily infer his lon- gitude to a degree of exactness, that is found sufficient for most nautical purposes. ALMA11IC heresy, one broached in France, in 1209, the distinguishing tenet of which was, that no Christian could be saved unless he believed himself to be a member of Christ. ALME, singing and dancing girls in Egypt, who can occasionally chaunt unpre- meditated verse. They derive their name from having received a better education than other women, and they form a celebrated so- ciety in the country. The qualifications for admission are, a good voice, a knowledge of the language and of the rules of poetry, and an ability to compose and sing couplets on the spot, adapted tofthe occasion. ALMEHRAB, in the Mahometan cus- toms, a nich in the mosques, pointing to- wards the kebla, or temple of Mecca, to which they are obliged to bow in praying. ALMElSAR, a celebrated game among the ancient Arabs, performed by a kind of casting lots with arrows, forbidden by Ma- homet, on account of the frequent quarrels occasioned by it. ALMENE, in commerce, a weight of two pounds, used to weigh saffron in several parts of the continent of the' East Indies; ALMENDINE, Almandine, or Al- bandine, a kiiid of ruby, but softer and lighter than the oriental ruby. ALMERICANS, followers of the Aimaric heresy, which see. ALMOND-Tree, see Amygdalus. Almond, in commerce, a measure by which the Portuguse sell their oil r twenty-six almonds make a pipe. Almond-furnace, among refiners, that in which the slags of litharge, left in refining silver, are reduced to lead again, by the help of charcoal. Almond is also a name given to a species of rock-crystal, which lapidaries use in adorn- ing branch-candlesticks, &e. on account of A L O ' the resemblance they bear to the fruit of the same name. ALMONER, an officer appointed to dis- tribute alms to the poor. The lord almoner, or lord high almoner of England, is an ecclesiastical officer, usually a bishop, who has the forfeiture ot all deo- dands, and the goods of all felos-de-se, which he is to distribute among the poor. By virtue of an ancient custom, the lord almoner may give the first dish from the king’s table, to whatever poor person he pleases ; or, in lieu of it, an alms in money. The parishioners, also, of the parishes ad- jacent to the king’s place of residence, nomi- nate twenty-four poor men, to whom the lord almoner distributes four pence a day in money, bread, and small beer. Almoner is sometimes also used for a< deacon of a church, a chaplain, or even a le- gatee. Almoner is also used for a person who left alms to the poor, by his last will. It is sometimes used for a legatee : in this sense the same person cannot be both almoner and heir. ALMS, a general term for what is given, out of charity to the poor. In the early ages of Christianity, the alms of the charitable were divided into four parts, one of which was allotted to the bishop, a nor- ther to the priests, and another to the dea- cons and sub-deacons, which made their whole subsistence ; the fourth part was employed in relieving the poor, and in repairing the churches. Alms also denotes lands or other effects left to churches, or religious houses, on condi- tion of praying for the soul of the donor. Hence, Alms free, was that which is liable to no- rent or service. Alms reasonable , was a certain portion of the estates of intestate persons, allotted to the poor. ALMUCANTA.RS, in astronomy, are the same with respect to the azimuths and horY zon, that the parallels of latitude are with re 1 - gard to the meridians and equator. ALMUTAZAPHUS, a magistrate of Aragon, whose office it was to inspect mea- 'sures and weights, and search houses for stolen goods. ALNAGE, or Aulnage, in the English polity, the measuring of woollen manufac- tures, with an aul or ell, and the other func- tions of the alnager. Alnage was at first intended as a proof of the goodness of the commodity, and there- fore a seal was invented as a signal, that the commodity was made according 1o the sta- tute. But now that these seals may be bought and affixed to whatever commodity the buyer pleases, our rivals have acquired an opportunity of supplanting our trade with foreign nations, to the great prejudice of our woollen manufactures. ALNAGER, see article above-. There were three officers relating to' the alnage, namely, a searcher, measurer, and alnager ; all which were antiently comprized’ in the alnager ; the office is now abolished. ALNUDE, a measure of liquids, the same with almond. ALOA, in Grecian antiquity, a festival, kept in honour of Ceres by the husbandmen* and supposed to resemble our harvest-home- 62 A L O A L V ALOE, in botany, a genus of plants with a liliaceous flower, consisting of only one tu- bular petal, divided into six deep segments at the edge : its fruit is an oblong capsule, divided into three cells, and containing a number of angulated seeds. It is one of the hexandria monogynia class and order of Lin- naius. See Plate Nat. Hist. tig. 12. Several species of this exotic plant are cul- tivated in the gardens of the curious, where they afford a very pleasing variety, as well by the odd shape of their leaves as by the dif- ferent spots with which they are variegated. The essential character is, cor. erect with an expanded mouth, and a neetareous base ; filaments inserted into the receptacle. Some aloes are arborescent, or divided into a number of branches, like trees ; others are very small, growing close to the ground. There are in all 14 species, with a great num- ber of varieties. It is from two varieties of one of tire tree aloes, or A. arborescens, the medicine of that name isproduced. r I lie hepatic aloe is from a variety called the Barbadoes aloe, though it grows in most of the W est India islands ; the succotrine, from the aloe of that name, or sweet aloe. We are, however, of opinion, that an extract having the same pro- perties might be prepared from most of the other species* The partridge-breasted or variegata, and the mitriformis, are the most elegant in their foliage. But the humilis pro- duces, in our opinion, the largest and hand- somest flowers. It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, Most of the species are best treated as greenhouse plants ; and like all other succulent plants, must be sparingly watered, especially in winter. Aloe or Aloes, in pharmacy, the inspis- sated juice of the aloe, prepared in the fol- lowing manner : from the leaves fresh cut, is drained or pressed a juice, the thinner and purer part of which is poured off, and set in the sun to evaporate to a hard yellowish sub- stance or extract. This extract is famous for its purgative vir- tues, being frequently given in the form of a tincture in wine, which is called hiera picra ; in a solid form called pil. de ruli, &c. &c. and in the popular quack medicine, called Anderson’s Scotch Pills. Aloe rosata, a preparation of succotrine aloes, which being dissolved in the juice of roses, or violets, and exposed to the sun, or put upon a slow fire, thickens to a consistency proper for making pills. Aloes is accounted an excellent purging medicine, especially to cold constitutions, a good stomatic, and, applied outwardly, is ser- viceable in cicatrizing wounds. ALOEDARY, among antient physicians, a purging medicine, the chief ingredient of which was aloes. It is also used for a history of the class of plants, under the denomina- tion of aloes. ALOFT, a sea term, synonymous with “ up in the tops,” “ at the mast-head,” or any-where about the higher rigging. A LOG IAN S, in church-histor y, a sect of an- tient heretics, who denied that Jesus Christ was the logos or eternal word ; and consequently rejected the gospel of St. John, as spurious, ALOGOTROPHIA, among physicians, denotes an unequal nutrition, or growth in some part of the body, as is the case in the rickets. ALONG side , in sea language, express- A L P es side by side, or joined to a Ship, wharf, &c. Along shore, a phrase expressing along the coast, or a course which is in sight of and nearly parallel to the shore. Along, lying, the state of a ship that is pressed down sideways, by the weight of the sail. ALOOF, in the sea-language, a word of command to the man at the helm, to keep the ship near the wind, when sailing upon a quarter-wind. ALOPECIA, in medicine, denotes a fall- ing off of the hair, occasioned either by a defect of nourishment, or by a bad slate of the humours. Some make a distinction between the alo- pecia and defluvium eapitlorum : as in the former, certain spots are left entirely bald ; whereas, in the latter, the hair only grows excessively thin. They likewise distinguish it from the ophiasis, as the baldness in this last creeps in spiral lines about the head, like the windings of a serpent. The intention of cure, however, seems to be much the same in them all, viz. to supply proper nourishment, where that is wanting ; and to correct the bad qualities of the humours, where these are in fault. ALOPECURUS, fox- tail-grass, in botany, a distinct genus of plants, the flower of which consists of only one hollow valve, with a long awn or beard inserted on its back part, near the base : it is one of the triandria digynia of Linnaeus. The essential character is, calyx two-valved ; corolla one-valved. There are seven species. The A. pratensis, or meadow fox-tail, is esteemed by some farmers, but in our opinion its. value has been overrated. The A. arvensis, or field fox-tail, is a smaller plant of the same description, and f lowers early ; but it is even less valuable than the preceding, and we believe is never cultivated. ALOUCPII, a sweet scented gum, which runs from the tree that produces white cinna- mon. ALPHABET, in matters of literature, the natural or accustomed series of the several letters of a language. All the alphabets extant are charged by bishop W ilkins with great irregularities, with respect both to order, number, power, figure, &c. As to the order, it appears (says he) inarti- ficial, precarious, and confused, as the vowels and consonants are not reduced into classes, with such order of precedence and subse- quence as their natures will bear. Of this imperfection the Greek alphabet, which is one of the least defective, is far from being free: for instance, the Greeks should have separated the consonants from the vowels; after the vowels they should have placed the diphthongs, and then the consonants ; where- as, in fact, the order is so perverted that we find the o the fifteenth letter, in order of the al- phabet, and the a, or long o, the twenty-fourth and last ; the e the fifth, and the n the seventh. With respect to number they are both re- dundant and deficient ; redundant, by allot- ing the same sound to several letters, as in the Latin c and k, f and ph ; or by reckoning double letters among the simple elements of speech, as in the Greek % and the Latin rj or cu, x or ex, and the j consonant ; defi- cient in many respects, particularly with re- gard to vowels, of whirl; seven or eight kinds are commonly used, though the Latin alphabet takes notice only of five. Add to this, that the difference among them, with regard to long and short, is not sufficiently- provided against. Rhe powers again are not more exempt, from confusion ; the vowels, for instance, are generally acknowledged to have each of them .several different sounds ; -and among the consonants we need only bring as evidence of their different pronunciation, the letter c in the word circa, and g in the word negli- gence. Hence it happens, that some words are differently written, though pronounced in the same manner, as cessio and sessio ; and others are different in pronunciation which are the' same in writing, as give, dare, and give, vinculum. Finally, the figures are but ill-concerted, there being nothing in the characters of the vowels answerable to the different degrees of apertion ; nor in the consonants analogous to their agreements or disagreements. Alphabets of different nations vary in the number of their constituent letters. The English alphabet contains twenty-four letters, to which if/’ and v consonant are added, the sum will be twenty-six ; the French twenty- three ; the Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, and Samaritan twenty-two each ; the Arabic twenty-eight ; the Persian thirty-one ; the Turkish thirty-three; the Georgian thirty- six ; the Coptic thirty-two ; the Muscovite forty-three ; the Greek twenty-four ; the La- tin twenty-two ; the Sclavonic twenty-seven ; the Dutch twenty-six ; the Spanish twenty- seven ; the Italian twenty ; the Ethiopic, asf well as Tartarian, two hundred and two ; the Indian of Bengal twenty-one; the Baramos nineteen ; the Chinese, properly speaking, have no alphabet, except w r e call their whole language their alphabet; their letters are words, or rather hieroglyphics, and amount to about 80,000. If alphabets had been constructed by able persons, after a full examination of the sub- ject, they would not have been filled with such contradictions between the manner of writing and reading, as we have shewn above, nor with those imperfections that evidently appear in the alphabets of every nation. Mr, Lodowic, however, and bishop Wilkins, have endeavoured to ob viate all these, in their uni- versal alphabets or characters. ALPllERATZ, a fixed star of the third magnitude, in Aquarius. ALPHONSIN, in surgery, an instrument for extracting bullets out qf gun-shot wounds. r i his instrument derives its name from the inventor, Alphonsus Ferrier, a physician of Naples. It consists of three branches, which are dosed by a ring. When closed and in- troduced into the wound, the operator draws back the ring towards the handle, upon which the branches opening take hold ot the ball ; and then the ring is pushed from the haft, by which means tfte branches grasp the ball so firmly as to extract the bail from the wound. See Surgery. ALPINIA, a genus of the monandria mo- nogynia class and order. The corolla is mo- nopetalous and tubulose ; and the essential character is, calyx three-toothed, equal, tu- bulose ; corolla three-parted, equal ; nect. two-lipped, the lower lip spreading. There is but one species, called after Pros- ALT A L T ALU 63 per AT pi vi us, a famous- botaiiist. It is a na- tive of the West Indies. It is with us treated as a stove aquatic. ALQUIER, a liquid measure used in Por- tugal to measure oil, two of which make an almond. aLQUIFORK is a sort of mineral lead, very heavy, easily reduced to powder, and difficult to fuse. The potters use it to give their works a green varnish. It is found in Cornwall, and called potter’s ore. it con- tains probably some mixture of cobalt. ABEAM ECU , in astronomy, the name of a star of the lirst magnitude, otherwise called arcturus. ALSINE, chickweed, the name of a genus of plants, of the class and order of pen- tandria trigvnia. I'he corolla is live equal petals, which, with the five-leaved calyx aiiu a capsule oue-ceiled, three-valved, form the essential character. Happily for gardeners there are but three species of this vile weed, and but one in England. This however, though an annual, affords sufficient trouble. It appears to be of no use whatever, though it is called chickweed, from the notion that chickens feed on it, which must be when they can get nothing else. ALSIRAT, in the Mahometan theology, denotes a bridge laid over the middle of •hell, the passage or path whereof is sharper than the edge of a sword ; over which, how- ever, every soul must pass at the day of judg- ment, when the wicked will tumble headlong into hell, whereas the good will fly over it. ALSTON IA, a genus of the polyandria monogynia class and order. The corolla is shorter than the calyx ; and the essential character is, corolla one-petalled, eight or ten cleft ; the clefts alternated. There is only one species, a shrub of South America, the leaves of which are said to have the taste of tea. A LSTR O E M ER 1 A , a genus of plants of the hexandria monogynia class and order, and of the natural order ot lilia. The essential cha- racter is, corolla six petals, subbilabiate ; the two lower petals tuhulose at the base ; sta- mina bending down. There are six species, all natives of South America. They are cultivated here as orna- mental plants. The A. pelegrina and ligtu are the most beautiful and the most common. T he former will bear to be treated as a green- house plant, and some assert that it thrives best even in a garden frame. ALTAR-THANE, in our old law books, an appellation given to the priest, or parson of a parish, to whom the altarage belonged. . ALTARAGE, among ecclesiastical wri- ters, denotes the profits arising to a priest on account of the altar, as well as the offerings themselves made upon it. ALTERANTS, or Alterative medi- cines, in pharmacy, such medicines as are supposed to correct the bad qualities of tiie blood and other animal fluids, without occa- sioning any sensible evacuation. ALTERN Base, in trigonometry, a term used in contradistinction to the true base. Thus, in oblique triangles, the true base is either the sum of the sides, and then the dif- ference of the sides is called the alternbase; or the true base is the difference of the sides, and then the sum of the sides is called the al- tera base. ALT ERNATE, in heraldry, is said in re- spect. of the situation of the quarters. T hus the first and fourth quarters, and the second and third, are usually of the same na- ture, and are railed alternate quarters, Alternate, such a disposition of the leaves of a plant, that the first on one side of a branch stands higher than tiie first on the other side, the second the same, and so on to the top. Alternate allegation. See Arith- metic. Alternate angles. See Geometry. ALTiE'EA, Marsh-mallow, a genus of plants, with a double calyx, the exterior one being divided into nine segments ; the fruit consists of numerous capsules, each con- taining a single seed. It belongs to the mo- nadelphia polyandria class of Linnaaus. The essential character is, calyx double, outer nine-cleft ; arils many, one-seeded. There are seven species, of which the A. officinalis, or common marsh-mallow, is well known. It was formerly supposed to possess many medical virtues, but is now scarcely used in any preparation whatever. The flowers and seed are nearly the same with those of the malva, or mallow. ALT1N, in commerce, a kind of money current in Muscovy, worth three copies. ALTITUDE, in geometry, one of the three dimensions of body ; being the same with what is otherwise called height. Altitude of a figure, is the nearest dis- tance of its vertex from its base, or the length of a perpendicular let fall from the vertex to tiie base. Altitude, in optics, is the height of an object above a line, drawn parallel to the horizon from the eye of the observer, or the angle subtended between a line drawn through the eye parallel to the horizon, and a visual ray emitted from an object to the eye. See Optics. Altitude of the eye, in perspective, is its perpendicular height above the geometri- cal plane. Altitude of a star, fc. in astronomy, is an arch of a vertical circle, intercepted be- tween the star and the horizon. This altitude is either true or apparent, according as it is reckoned from the rational or sensible horizon, and tiie difference be- tween these is what is called by astronomers the parallax of altitude. The true altitudes of the sun and fixed stars differ but little from their apparent alti- tudes, because of their great distance from the earth, and the smallness of the earth’s semi-diameter compared with it. r l he quan- tity of refraction is different at different alti- tudes, and the parallax is different, according to tiie distance of celestial objects ; in the fixed stars it is too small to be observed with any degree of certainty : that of the sun is about S-~ sec. and that of tiie moon 52 min. Sailors commonly take the altitude of stars with a quadrant, but as this method is liable to an error of six, seven, or more minutes, from the motion of the ship, as well as the coarseness of their instruments, Mr. Parent lias given a new way of finding their altitudes, by means of a common watch. 11 is method is this : having observed the difference of time between the rising of two stars, the right as- cension and declination of which are known from astronomical tables, in the Nautical Al- manac, it will be easy to distinguish that part of tiie difference which arises from that diffe- rent position, from that arising from the obli- quity of the sphere. N ow this last is precisely the altitude of the pole of the place of obser- vation ; for as to the way the ship may have made between the rising of the two stars, it is so small as to be safely overlooked, or at most estimated in the common way of reckoning. The ship changing place between the two observations, renders this method liable to some objection ; but the small alteration either of the ship’s longitude or latitude will make no sensible -error, and if she happens to have run a good distance between tiie obser- vations, it is easy reckoning how much it is, and accordingly allowingfor it. See Navi- gation. Altitude, accessible, &c. See Trigo- nometry. See also Gnomon, Pin, Qua- drant, &c. Altitude refraction of, is an arc of a vertical circle, by which the altitude of a hea- venly body is increased by means of refrac- tion. This is different at different altitudes, being nothing at the zenith, and greatest at the horizon. Altitude, parallax of, the difference be- tween the true and apparent place of a star : it diminishes the altitude of the star, or increases its distance from the zenith. Altitude of motion, according to Dr. \V aliis, is its measure estimated in the line of direction of tiie moving force. Altitude, determinative, that whence a heavy body falling, acquires a certain velocity by its natural acceleration. ALTO-RELIEVO. See Relievo. ALTO RIPIENO, in music, the tenor of the great chorus which sings or plays only now and then in some particular places. ALVARID, in the history of Spain, a kind of magistrate or judge, differing very little from the alcaid. ' ALVARISTS, a branch of thomists, so called from Alvares their leader; who as- serted sufficient grace, instead of the effica- cious grace of the antient thomists. ALU DE, a kind of sheep’s leather, one side of which has the wool on. A LU DELS, in chemistry, are earthen pots ranged one above another, for retaining the products which ascend in tiie process of subli- mation. The lowest aludel is fitted to a pot, placed in the furnace, in which is the matter, to be sub- limed ; and at top is a close head to retain the sublimates which ascend highest. ALVEARIUM, among anatomists, de- notes the hollow of the auricle, or outer ear. ALVEHEZ1T, denotes, among Arabian writers, what we call falling-stars. ALVEOLATE, in botany, a term used in the same sense as honey-combed, to express something that is fun-owed by oblong depres- sions. ’ ALVEOLUS, in. anatomy, the socket-like cavity in the jaws, wherein each of the teeth is fixed. Alveolus, in the history of fossils, a ma- rine body, not known at present in its recent state, but frequently found fossile. 'I he alveoli are of a conic shape, and com- posed of a number of cells, like so many bee- hives, jointed into one another, with a pipe of communication, like that of the nautilus. They are sometimes met with entire, but more frequently truncated, or with their smaller ends broken off. ALULA notha, bastard or spurious wing, in ornithology, is a kind of appendage to the true and principal wing, placed near its 64 ALU ALU A M A outer extremity, at the base of the primary quill-feathers, and consists of from three to live small leathers of the quill kind. ALUM, a neutral salt, the base of which is alumina, argil, or clay, combined with sul- phuric acid. , Alum, ore* of , include all those minerals which .either contain alum ready formed, or are capable of yielding this salt by manufac- ture: they may be divided (1.) into the sa- line, all the species of which are almost wholly soluble in water; (2.) the earthy sa- line, the soluble particles of which are diffused through a large proportion of earth ; (3.) the earthy, which containing no alum, but the materials of it, are insoluble, and destitute of that sweetish astringent taste which charac- terises the two former. There are four varieties of alum, which are all triple salts ; two neutral, and two in the statp ot super salts. These varieties Dr. Thomson distinguishes by the following names : 1. Sulphate of alumina and potash. 2. Sulphate of alumina and ammonia. 3. Supersulphate of alumina ahd potash. 4. Supersulphate of alumina and ammo- nia. The two last of these varieties are. usually confounded under the name of alum; the two first have been called alum saturated ivith earths , or illuminated alum. We owe the discovery of alum to the Asiatics, and it continued to be imported from the East till the fifteenth century, when a number of alum-works were established in Italy! In the sixteenth century it was ma- nufactured in other parts of the continent ; and during the reign of queen Elizabeth an alum-work was established in England. The composition of alum has been but lately understood with accuracy. It has, in- deed, been Jong known that sulphuric acid is one of the ingredients, and it was equally certain that alumina is another. But these are incapable of forming alum. The addi- tion of potash, or of ammonia, or of some substance containing these alkalis, is .almost always necessary ; and where these additions are not wanted, the earth from which the alum is obtained contains already a quantity of potash. Hence it appears that alum is pro- perly a triple salt, composed of sulpTiuric acid, alumina, and potash or ammonia united. Alum crystallizes in regular octahedrons, consisting of two four-sided pyramids applied base to base, the sides are equilateral triangles. Its taste is sweetish, and very astringent. It always reddens vegetable blues : its specific gravity is 2.71 1 nearly. At the temperature of 60 degrees, it is soluble in from 15 to 20 parts of water, and three-fourths of its weight in boiling water. When exposed to -the air it effloresces slightly. When exposed to a gentle heat it undergoes the watery fusion. A very strong heat causes it to swell and foam, and to lose 44 percent, o* its weight, consist- ing chiefly of water of crystallization ; what re- mains is called calcined or burnt alum, and is sometimes used as a corrosive. By a still more violent heat, the greater part of the acid may be driven off. There are three varieties of alum in com- mrrj|: (1.) the supersulphate of alumina andpotash ; (2.) supersulphate of alumina and ammonia; and (3.) a mixture of these tv/o, which contains both potash and ammonia. This is the most common, because the ma- nufacture!* of alum use both urine and mu- riate of potash to crystallize their alum. The first variety is composed of 49 Sulphate of alumina 7 Sulphate of potash 44 water 100 . Crystallized alum contains, 17.66 acid 12.00 base 70.34 water 100. ( , Burnt alum contains, 36.25 acid . 63.75 base 100 . When an unusual quantity of potash is add- ed to alum liquor, the salt loses its usual form, and crystallizes in cubes ; this is called cubic alum, and contains an excess of alkali ; and when the potash is still farther increased, the salt loses the property of crystallizing, and falls down in Hakes : it then consists of sul- phate of potash combined with a small pro- portion of alumina. All the varieties of alum are capable of com- bining with an additional dose of alumina, and forming perfectly neutral compounds. Alum is of great importance as a mordant in dying ; it is used also in the manufacture of leather, it is employed by calico-printers, engravers, &c. and it is used in medicine, in preserving animal substances from putrefac- tion, and m preventing wood from taking lire. If three parts of alum, and one of Hour or sugar be melted together in an iron ladle, and the mixture dried till it becomes blackish and ceases to swell ; if it be then pounded small, put into a glass phial, and placed in a sand-bath till a blue flame issues from the mouth of the phial, and after burning a mi- nute or two be allowed to cool, a substance is obtained called Homberg’s phosphorus, which lias the property of catching /ire when exposed to the open air, especially if it be moist. — See Thomson’s Chemistry, vol. ii. Alum, native, or fossile Alum, that formed by nature, v itliout the assistance of art. There are still mines of native alum in the island of ChiQ, consisting of a kind of vaults, or apartments, crusted over with alum, which may be regarded as exfoliations from the rocks. Alum, plumose, or plume Alum, a kind of natural alum, composed of a sort of threads, or fibres, resembling feathers ; whence it has its name. Alum, prepared, or purified Alum, that which is dissolved in hot rain-water, and after- wards made to crystallize, by evaporating the water. Alum, Roman, a sort of rock alum, of a reddish colour, made in the country near Rome. Alum, saccharine, is a composition of com- mon alum with rose-water, and clarified by the whites of eggs, which being boiled to the consistence of a paste, is formed in the shape of a sugarloaf ; hence it obtained its name : it is used as a cosmetic. ALUMINA, derives its name from alum, of which it is the base. It is the argillaceous part of common clay, or, in other words, pure argil or clay, free from all impurities. It is smooth and unctuous to the touch, when pure, diffusible in water, and adhering to the tongue. • Its specific gravity is 20m Us bulk is diminished by great heat, and its hardness may he so increased by baking as to enable it to strike lire with steel, it forms a difficult combination with the acids. With the sulphuric it makes sulphate of alu- mina ; but its crystallization is difficult, both with the nitre and muriatic. It has a power- ful attraction tor lime. The most intense heat is not able to melt it alone, but it is easily fusible when lime or an alkali is added to it. By its mixture with water andsilex it acquires great solidity. ALUMINOUS waters, those impreg- nated, either naturally or artificially, with the virtues of alum. Of the former kind is the spa at Scar- borough represented to be ; and of the latter, the aqua aluminosa of the shops. ALUNGU is a name given by the people ot Malabar to an animal resembling a large lizard, except as to head and tail, which are both pointed. It is of the species of the manis of Linnaeus, and belongs to the family ot ant-eaters ; w hie!) have no teeth, but a round tongue, with which they catch ants. ALURNUS, a genus of insects of. the order of coleoptera, with filiform antennae, six short feelers, and a horny arched jaw. Three species of them are found at the Cape of Good Hope, viz. a. grossus, femoratus, and dentipes. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 13. ALWAIDI D, a sect of Mahometans, who believe ail great crimes to be unpardonable. ALYSSUM, or Ai.yssoxq madnort, in- botany, a genus of the tetrady n-amia siliculosa class and order, of the naturad order of sill- quosae and crucifers) of Jussieu. The flower is of tlie cruciform kind, and consists of four petals ; the fruit is a small roundish capsule, divided into two cells, in which are contained a, number of small roundish seeds. The es- sential character is, the shorter filaments marked with a toothlet ; the silicic emargi- nate. There are 17 species. The A. palimifo- lium, or sweet •alysum, is an annual plant, chiefly cultivated in gardens for its fragrance,. 1 he yellow alysson is also very ornamental, and is perennial. AMA, among ecclesiastical writers, de- notes a vessel in which wine or water were kept tor the service of the eucharist. uma is sometimes also used for a wine measure, as a pipe, See. AMABYR, or Amvabyr, a barbarous custom which formerly prevailed in \\ ales and some other parts of the kingdom ; being a certain fine, or sum of money, paid to the lord, upon marrying a maid within ins manor. AMADOVV, a kind of black match, tin- der, or touchwood, which comes from Ger- many. It is made from spungy excrescences, which often grow on old trees, especially oaks, ash, or firs. This substance being boiled in common water, and afterwards dried and well beaten, is then put into a strong ley prepared with salt-petre, after which it Is again put to dry in an oven, when it is fit for use. AM A DO WRY, a kind of cotton, which comes from Alexandria, by way of Mar- seilles. AMAIN, or Amayne, in the sea lan- guage, a term importing to lower something A M A A M £ €5 nt one?. Thus, to strike amain is to lower, or let fall the top-sails . 1 AMALGAM, a mass, of mercury united and incorporated with some other metal. Amalgams grow soft with heat and hard with cold; and the metals amalgamated with mercury, assume a consistence harder or softer, 111 proportion to the quantity of mer- curv employed in the amalgam. Amalgams are used either to render a me- tal tit to be extended on some works, as in gilding; or else to reduce the metal into a very subtile powder. T hus gilders, to lay gold on any other metal, dissolve it in hot mercury; which done, they apply the solution on the body to be gilt, then setting it over the coals, the mercury evaporates, and leaves the gold ad- hering to the body like a crust. The amalgams of gold, silver, tin, lead, zinc, bismuth, and copper, are all white ; and wnen the proportion of the quantity of the other liiqtal to that of mercury is considerable, they form a kind of paste. AMALGAMATION, in chemistry, the operation of making an amalgam, or of mix- ing quicksilver with some metal, is performed by fusing, or at least igniting the metal, and in tliis state adding a proportion of mercury to it; upon which they mutually attract and incorporate with each other. Of all metals, gold unites with mercury . with the greatest facility ; next to that, silver ; then lead, tin, and every metal, except iron and copper, the last of which incorporates with quicksilver with great difficulty, and , the'former scarcely at all. The amalgam of gold is thus made : take a dram of gold, beat it into very thin plates, and upon these, heated in a crucible red-hot, pour an ounce of quicksilver; stir the matter with an iron rod, and when it begins to fume, east it into an earthen pan tilled with water, and it will coagulate and become tractable. Gold will retain about thrice its weight of mercury. To make an amalgam of lead : melt clean lead in an iron ladle, add to it an equal weight of melted mercury, stir them to- gether with an iron rod, then let them cool, and you will have an uniform mass of a silver colour, somewhat hard, but growing softer and softer by trituration. Put this mass into a glass mortar, grind it, and mix with it anv .quantity of mercury at pleasure, and it will unite with it, as salt with water. The amalgam of tin is made exactly in the same manner, and this also may be "diluted by the addition of mercury. To have an amalgam’of copper, take a solu- tion of pure copper, made in aquafortis, so strong that the aquafortis could dissolve no more of the metal; dilute the solution w T ith twelve times its quantity of water ; heat the liquor, and put into it polished plates of iron, and the copper will be precipitated in a powder to the bottom, while the iron will be dissolved : proceed thus till all the copper is fallen, pour off the liquor, wash the powder with hot water, till it becomes perfectly in- sipid ; then dry the powder, and grind it in a glass mortar with an equal weight of hot quicksilver, and they will unite into an amal- gam, which will also receive a further ad- dition of mercury. An amalgam of copper in any other way is very difficult to make. Pure silver precipitated from aquafortis, VoL. I. A M A may in the same manner be made into an amalgam. From these operations we may perceive that the making of amalgams is "the found- ation of the art of gilding, both in gold and silver, and that, metals by that art may be mixed, confounded, and secretly concealed among one another. Amalgams are also used in electricity ; the rubber being always prepared by laving on it a small quantity of amalgam, which is in general made of zinc, triturated with tallow, bee Electricity. An amalgam of tin and mercury is used for looking-glasses. In this case, the glass-plate is laid on an even board, on which is spread very evenly some tin-foil, and on the tin-foil is spread quicksilver: the glass is then laid on the quicksilver, and a number of leaden weights, covered with baize or flannel, are laid upon the glass ; in this state it remains several days, till the tin and quicksilver, in the state of amalgam, adhere firmly to the glass, by means of which it acquires the power of reflection. AMAN, a sort of blue cotton cloth, which cornea from the Levant by the way of Aleppo. AMARANTA, or Amarante, an order of knighthood, instituted in 1653, bv Chris- tina queen of Sweden, in memory of a mas- querade, in which she had assumed that name, which signifies unfading, or immor- tal. AMARANTHUS, in botany, the name of a genus of plants, sometimes called prince’s feather, the flower of w hich is rosaceous, and its fruit an oval or roundish capsule, con- taining only one large seed of a roundish compressed shape. The characters are: the male calyx is a five or three leaved perian- th urn, erect, coloured, and persistent : there is no corolla : the stamina consist of five or three erect capillary filaments, the length of the calyx ; the anthera are oblong and ver- satile: the female calyx the same as the male, and no corolla : the pistillum has an ovate germen; the styli are three, short and subulated ; the stigmata simple and persist- ent : the pericarpium is an ovate capsule, three-beaked, unilocular, and cut round : the seed is one, globular, compressed, and large. Of this there are 29 species-; the most re- markable, of which are : Amaranthus bicolor, melancholicus, ortwo- coloured amaranthus. This greatly resembles the tricolor in its manner of growth ; but the leaves have only tw r o colours, which are an obscure purple, and a bright crimson. These are so splendid, as to set off each ci- ther, and when the plants are vigorous, make a fine appearance. Amaranthus maximus, or tree-like amaranthus, grows with a strong stem to the height of seven or eight feet. Amaranthus oleraceus, with obtuse indented leaves. This lias no beauty ; but it is used by the Indians as a substitute for cabbage. Amaranthus tricolor, or three-coloured ama- ranthus. This has been long cultivated in gardens on account of the beauty of its va- riegated leaves, which are green, yellow,, and red, very elegantly mixed. The amaranths are all annual. AMARYLLIS, a genus of the hexandria monogynia class and order, of the natural order of lilia, which ffi its fiow'er it resembles. The essential character is co- rolla hexapelaloid, irregular ; filaments in- serted into the throat of the tube, bending down, unequal in proportion or direction. There are 29 species, all of them highly ornamental, but only one, the A. lutea, per- fectly hardy in this country. The A. regina, the vittata, the jac-obea, belladonna, and Guernsey lily, are well known in the stoves and green-houses of the curious in plants. To describe them is impossible, but no llowers are more beautiful. AMASOMIA, a genus of the didynamia angiqspermia class and order. The corolla is or.e-petalied : and the essential character is corolla tubulous ; limb small, quinquefid : the seed is a nut, ovate and one-celled. We know of but one species, the erecka, a native of Surinam. The stem is herbaceous, and grows tb the height of three feet. AMAUROSIS, among physicians, a dis- temper of the. eye otherwise called guita screna. AMAUSA, a name given by chemists t» the pastes used in countefeiting gems. AMAZONS, an antient nation of women, inhabiting that part of Lesser Asia, now called Amasia. The Amazons are said to have killed all their male children, and to have cut off the right breasts of their females, to lit them for martial exercises. The existence, however, of such a nation is controverted by the most judicious authors, particularly Mr. Bryant, and defended by others, particularly Mr. Petit, a French physician, w ho has published a dissertation on the subject, wherein are se- veral curious inquiries concerning their arms, dress, &e. We also read of Scythian Amazons, of German Amazons, of Lybian Amazons, and Amazons of America, living on the banks of the great river which bears their name, who are represented as governed by a queen, no men being permitted to live among tfieni ; only, at a certain season, those of the neigh- bouring nations are suffered to visit them. The Amazons of Lybia are famous for their wars with another female nation, called Gor- gons. The whole of these stories appear to us little better than fabulous. AMAZON E, a very line antique statue, in Parian marble, in the gallery of antiques at Paris. There is also a beautiful statue of the queen of the Amazons at Wilton, represented in 'a warlike attitude, which w'as executed by Cleomenes. AMBE, among surgeons, an instrument for reducing dislocated bones, consisting of a horizontal lever, moved by a hinge, upon a vertical standard or foot. Am be, among anatomists, a term used for the superficial jutting out of a bone. AMBER is a bituminous concrete, of a yellow or brown colour, and more or less transparent. In its colour, however, there is considerable ya.icty ; some pieces being clear and transparent, some opaque and whitish, some dark coloured ; the most valued speci- mens are of a pale yellow colour. On being slightly rubbed, it acquires electric powers. Only a small portion of it is dissolved by spirit of wine. It affords the most remarkable phenomena when exposed to heat. Being rubbed, the odour of it that exhales resembles the aromatic resinous substances, and is in- creased. In a greater heat it acquires a brown colour, emits some steams, and under- goes a state oi fusion. It then becomes. quite A M B A M B 66 dark and opaque, and is employed in this state in the composition of some varnishes. In burning it emits very penetrating vapours, burns with a greyish ilame, and leaves a coaly residuum. When this substance is distilled, the em- pyreumatic oil produced is mostly thick, and of a blackish colour, and has a heavy, pene- trating odour. When it is repeatedly distilled it becomes more fluid and transparent, and can be rendered quite limpid ; in which state it is said to resemble the finer kinds of pe- trolea, particularly the naphtha. It is then termed rectified oil of amber. The origin of amber has been much dis- puted, whether it is originally a fossil, or is produced from vegetable matter. The only reason to imagine it is entirely a fossil body is, that it is found at some depth below the surface under certain strata. The greatest part that we have comes from the Baltic. A considerable quantity is found floating on the sea on these coasts, being washed out of the soil by the agitation of the waves, when they penetrate through different strata, first through one containing fossil wood, variously com- pacted together ; under this a stratum of vit- riolic minerals ; below this the amber is found dispersed in various sizes; but when it is ex- amined, we find manifest proofs of its having been produced originally at the surface of the earth ; parts of vegetables, and even insects, being occasionally found in it. Amber is used for trinkets, particularly in Turkey and the East; but the finest speci- mens are in the cabinet of the king of Prussia. AMBERGRIS resembles amber in several chemical qualities. It is a light ash-coloured body found on the sea-shores in the East Indies. It is opaque, and of a granulated structure. It has a light agreeable odour; melts with a gentle heat, without suffering any change ; and, if farther heated in close vessels, it gives an oil like that of amber. It also dissolves in spirit of wine, by means of heat, and is used in the composition of per- fumes. It is not affected by acids. The origin of this substance is uncertain. It appears to be somewhat similar to that of amber. It is found in masses, from one to a hundred ounces. The greatest quantity is found floating in the Indian ocean ; but we also meet with it in our own and in the north- ern seas. It is found likewise adhering to the rocks, and in the stomachs of the most vora- cious fishes; these animals swallowing at par- ticular times every thing they happen to meet with. It has been particularly found in the intestines of the cachalot whale, and most commonly in sickly fish, whence it is supposed either the cause or effect of disease. We often find it in relicts of animal and vegetable substances, the bones and beaks of birds, and insects ; and as it resembles bees-wax, melt- ing like it, it would appear that it has been originally bees-wax, which having been buried under the surface of the earth, or having floated a long time on the ocean, has under- gone a considerable change; and we know the amazing quantity of bees-wax and honey that is sometimes collected by bees in their wild state, as in America. In old trees quan- tities have been found, sufficient for filling several hogsheads; and in rocks and caves along the -sea-shore, quantities may be ga- thered together ; and by being buried, or lay floating on the water/they may undergo a A M B change, so as to be converted into this sub- stance. AMBIDEXTER, a person who can use both hands with the same facility, and for the same purposes, that the generality of people do their right hands. Was it not for education, some think that all mankind would be ambidexters ; and, in fact, we frequently find nurses obliged to be at a good deal of pains before they can bring children to forego the use of their left hands. It is perhaps a pity that any of the gifts of nature should be thus rendered in a great measure useless, as there are many occasions in life which require the equal use of both hands : such are the operations of bleeding in the left arm, left ancle, &c. Ambidexter, among lawyers, a juror or embracer, who accepts money of both par- ties for giving his verdict; an offence for which he is liable to be imprisoned, for ever excluded from a jury, and to pay ten times the sum he accepted of. AMBIGENAL hyperbola, a name given by sir Isaac Newton to one of the triple hyperbolas of the second order, having one of its infinite legs falling within an angle formed by the asymptotes, and the other falling without. See Conic Section. AMBIGUITY, in rhetoric and grammar, a defect of language, whereby words are ren- dered equivocal. AMBIT, in geometry, is the same with what is otherwise called the perimeter of a figure. AMBITUS, whence our word ambition, in Roman antiquity, the offering for some magistracy or office, and formally going round the city to solicit the interest and vote of the people. On these occasions it was not only usual to solicit the interest of their friends and others, with whom they were personally acquainted ; but the candidates, being attended by persons of an extensive acquaintance, who suggested to them the names 61 the citizens, and thence called nomenclatores , or interpretes, macle^ application to all they met. J his method of suing for offices was deemed allowable, and therefore never prohibited by law ; but to restrain all undue influence, whether by bribery, or by exhibiting games, shews, and the like, many laws were enacted, and severe fines imposed. Ambitus, in music, a name sometimes ap- propriated to signify the particular extent of each tone, or modification of grave and acute. AMBLE, in horsemanship, a peculiar pace by which a horse’s two legs of the same side move at the same time. Many methods have been proposed to bring a young horse to amble : some try it by new-ploughed fields ; some endeavour to bring him to amble from the gallop; and many use weights:' some attempt to procure an amble in hand, ere they mount his back ; others, by the help of hind shoes, made on purpose ; others, by folding fine soft lists about the gambrels of the horse ; and others by the trarnei . All these methods, however, are attended with great danger to the horse ; and the best way is to try with the hand, by a gentle de- liberate racking of the horse, by helping him in the weak part of the mouth with a smooth, big, and lull snaffle, and correcting him first on one side, then on the other, with the calves of the legs, and sometimes with a spur. AMBLYGON, in geometry, denotes an obtuse-angled triangle, or a triangle, one of whose angles consists of more than ninety degrees. AMBO, or Ambon, in ecclesiastical anti- quity, a kind qf pulpit, or reading-desk, where that part of the divine service called the gradual was performed. AMBROSE, or St. Ambrose in the wood, an order of religious, who use the Ambrosian office, and wear an image of that saint en- graven on a little plate : in other respects they conform to the rule of the Augustins. AMBROSIA, the name of a distinct genus of plants, with fiosculous flowers, composed of several small infundibuliform iloscules, divided into five segments ; these, however, are barren; the frait, which in some measure resembles a club, growing on other parts of the plant. T his genus belongs to tire mowoecia pen- tandria class of Linnaeus. The characters are: the male flowers are compound : the com- mon calyx is a single-leaved perianthium, the length of the florets ; the compound corolla is uniform, tubular, fiat, and hemispherical: the proper is monopetalous, funnel-shaped, and quinquefid: the stamina consist of five very small filaments ; the anthers are erect, parallel, and pointed: the pistillum has a filiform stylus, the length of the stamina; the stigma, orbicular and membraiaeous : the re- ceptaculum is naked. — Female flowers below the male ones, on the same plant, doubled : the calyx is a single-leaved pefianthum, en- tire (with the belly quinquedentated), one- flowered, and persistent : there is no corolla: the pistillum has an ovate germen in the bot- tom of the calyx ; a filiform stylus, the length of the calyx ; and two long bristly stigmata: the pericarpium is an ovate unilocular nut : the seed is single and roundish. Of this genus five species are enumerated- one of which is perennial, and may be propagated either by cuttings or by seeds. r i he plants are mode- rately hardy, so may be exposed to the open air in the summer ; and in winter may be sheltered in a common green-house with myrtles, and other hardy exotic plants. AMBROSIAN office, in church history, a particular formula of worship in the church of Milan, which takes its name from St. Ambrose, who instituted that office in the fourth century. Each church originally had its particular office ; and vjhen the pope in aftertimes took upon him to impose the Roman office upon all the western churches, that of Milan sheltered itself under the name and authority of St. Ambrose, from which time the Ambrosian ritual has prevailed in contradistinction from the Roman ritual. Ambrosian chant, in ecclesiastical music, differs very little, if at all, from the Gre- gorian chant. AMBROSIN, a coin formerly struck by the dukes of Milan, representing St. Am- brose on horseback, with a whip in his right- hand. AMBROSINIA, a genus of the class and order of gynandria polyandria. The essen- tial charaCteris: spatbe one-leaved, separated by a partition ; stamina on the inner, pistils on the outer side of it. We know of but one species, a native of Sicily. It requires AM! the protection of a green-house in this country. AMBRY, a place in which are deposited all utensils necessary for house-keeping. In the antient abbies and priories, there was an office under this denomination, wherein were laid up all charities for the poor. 1 AMBUBAJ.E, in Roman antiquity, were immodest women who came from Syria to Rome, where they lived by prostitution, and by playing on the flute: the word is derived from theSyri&cabbub, which signifies a flute; although others make it come from am and Bairn, because these prostitutes often retired to Baiae. According to Cruquius, these wo- men used likewise to sell paint for ornament- ing the face, &c. AMBULANT, the name of brokers, or exchange-agents, who have not been sworn before magistrates. They transact brokerage business, but their testimony is not admitted in the courts of justice. ■ AMBU LA' ITON, in surgery, a term given to the spreading of a gangrene or mortifi- ‘ cation. AMBULATORY, a term applied to such courts as were not fixed, but removed some- times to one place, sometimes to another: thus the court of parliament and court of i king’s bench were formerly ambulatory. Ambulatory will is such a will “as can be at any time revoked before the person’s death. AMBULIA, a genus of the didvnimia angiospermia class and order. It grows in Malabar, has an aromatic smell, and is ad- ministered in cases of fever in the form of a decoction. AMBURBIUM, in Roman antiquity, a procession made by the Romans round the city and ponumum, in which they led a victim, and afterwards sacrificed it, in order to avert some calamity that threatened the city. AMBURY, or Anbury, among farriers, denotes a tumour, wart, or swelling, which is soft to the touch and full of blood. See Farriery. AMBUSTA, a term used in surgery for a solution of continuity, caused by the appli- cation of heated substances. AME, a musical term used by the French •to denote feeling and expression. AMEDIANS, in church history, a con- gregation of religious in Italy, so called from their professing themselves a mantes deum, lovers of God; or rather, amati deo, beloved of God. AMELLUS, star wort, a genus of the polygamia superflua order, belonging to the syngenesis class of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 4 place very rapidly. AMMONIAC, or Gh;//-Ammoniacum, in the materia medica, a gum, or more pro- perly a gum-resin, extracted from an umbel- liferous plant, growing in some parts of Africa and Asia. It is brought to us in drops or’ granules, and sometimes in large masses, com- posed of a number of these granules connected together by other matter of the same kind. T he best ammoniac is always most free from dross, of a yellowish colour without and white within, of a bitterish taste and castor smell. Ammoniac, sal. See Muriate of Am- monia, in Chemistry. AMMONIACAL gas, an elastic fluid, as transparent as air, but little more than half as heavy. Its smell and taste. are sharp .and caus- tic. ft destroys animal and vegetable life, and extinguishes flame. The electric spark separates it into its constituent principles, hydrogen and azotic gas. On being mixed with acid gases, clouds are produced by the formation of neutral ammonial salts. . Ammoniacal preparations. . See Phar- macy. AMMONITE, in natural history, the same with the cornua ammonis, or snake- stones. AMMOSCHISTA, a genus of stones of a laminated structure, and Splitting only hori- zontally, or into flat plates. AMMUNITION, a general term for all warlike provisions, but more especially pow- der, ball, &c. Ammunition, arms, utensils of. war, gun- powder, imported Without licence from his majesty, are, by the laws of England, forfeited and triple the value. And again, such licence obtained, except for furnishing his majesty’s public stores, is to be void, and the offender to incur a p ra- in uni re, and be disabled from holding any office from the crown. 70 A M 0 AMMUNITION BHF. AD, ‘SHOES, &C. SUctl as are served out to the soldiers of an army or garrison. AMNIOS, a thin pellucid membrane, which surrounds the foetus. See Anatomy and Physiology. AMOEBCEUM. a poem, or other compo- sition, in which two parties speak alternately in the same number of verses, but so as that he who answers, either goes beyond or con- tradicts the other; such are the third and se- 'venth Eclogues of Virgil. A MOGABARI, antient Spanish soldiery greatlv celebrated for bravery. AMOGLOSSUS, a name of a peculiar kind of flat fish, something resembling a soul, and called also a lantern. AMOK, a term used as a catch-" ord among the slaves in Batavia ; who, when they consider themselves as aggrieved, sally forth, shouting out amok, amok, and murder all they meet. AMOMUM, a genus of the monondria tnonogtjnia class and order. The characters are • the calyx is an obscure three-toothed perianthium, above: the coi'olla is monope- talous, the tubes short, the limbus tripartite ; the stamina is an oblong filament, with the anthera adjoining ; the pistilium has a round- ish germen, beneath ; the style is filiform, the stigma obtuse ; the pericarpium is leathery, subovate, trigonous, trilocular, and three- valved ; the seeds are numerous. Of this ge- nus there are 12 species, the principal of which are, 1. Amomum Zinziber, or common ginger, a native of the East, and also of some parts of the West Indies ; where it grows naturally without culture. The roots are jointed, and spread in the ground : they put out many green reed-like stalks in the spring, which rise to the height of two feet and a half, with narrow leaves. The flower stems rise by the side of these, immediately from the root ; these are naked, ending with an oblong scaly spike. From each of these scales is produced a single blue flower, whose petals are but little lower than the squamous covering. All the species are tender, and require a stove to preserve them in this country. They are easily propagated by parting the roots in the Spring. 2. Amomum Zerumbet, or wild ginger, also a native of India. The roots are larger than /chose of the common ginger, but are jointed in the same manner. 'The stalks grow from 3 to near 4 feet high, with oblong leaves placed alternately. The flower-stems arise immediately from the root : these are termi- nated by oblong, blunt, scalv heads ; out of each scale is produced a single white flower, whose petals extend a considerable length beyond the scaly covering. 3. Amomum Cardamomum, or carda- mom, is a native of India, but is littie known in this country except by its seeds, which are used in medicine. Of this there is a variety, with smaller fruit, which makes the distinc- tion into cardamomum majus and minus. 4. Amomum Grana Paradisi, is likewise a native of the East Indies. The fruit contain- ing the grains of paradise is about the size of a fig, divided into 3 cells, in each of which are contained two small seeds like car- damoms. They are somewhat more grate- ful, and considerably more pungent, than cardamoms! The dried roots of the 1st species are of AMP great use in the kitchen, as well as in medi- cine. T hey furnish a considerable export from some of the American islands. The green roots, preserved as a sweetmeat, are preferable to every other. The Indians mix them with their rice, w hich is their com- mon food, to correct its natural insipidity. Ginger is a very useful spice in cold flatulent colics, and in laxity and debility of the intes- tines ; it does not he*i so much as those of the pepper kind, but its effects are much more durable. The cardamoms and grains of paradise have the same medicinal qualities with ginger. Amomum, in the materia medica, a name given to the seed of an aromatic plant, esteemed a powerful diuretic, and aperient ; and consequently thought good in nephritic cases, obstructions of the viscera, and sup- pression of the menses, It is now disused. AMOPHILA, a name proposed for a new genus of hymenopterous insects, with beak conic, inflected, concealing a bilid, retractile, tubular tongue. AMORPHA, in botany, a genus of plants, belonging to the diadelphia decandria class and order of Linnams ; the flower of which consists of one petal vertically ovated, hollow and erect ; and the fruit is a lupulated pod, of a com- pressed form, and covered with tubercles, in which are contained two seeds, of an oblong kidney-like shape. The essential character is : standard of the corolla ovate, concave : wings none, cal. none. We know of but one species, a very elegant shrub, vulgarly called bastard indigo, as formerly in Carolina a coarse sort of indigo was made from the young shoots. With us it is perfectly hardy. AMORTIZATION, in law, the alienation of lands or tenements to a corporation or fraternity and their successors. Amortization also denotes the privilege of taking lands, See, in mortmain, for which pur- pose the king’s consent must first be obtained. Phis licence is granted upon paying to the king and the superior a certain sum to indem- nify them for several incidental dues, which in the common way would have fallen to them, but by the amortization are cut off. AMPELlS, in zoology, the chatterer, a genus of birds belonging to the order of pas- seres ; the distinguishing characters of which are, that the .tongue is furnished- with a rim or margin all round, and the bill is conical and straight. There are <7 species, all natives of foreign countries, except the garrulus, which is a native both of Europe and the West In- dies. In the former, the native country of these birds is Bohemia; whence they wander over the rest of Europe, and were once superstitiously considered as presages of a pestilence. They appear annually about Edinburgh in February, and feed on the ber- ries of the mountain-ash. They also appear as far S. as Northumberland; and, like the fieldfare, make the berries of the white thorn their food. It is but by accident that they ever appear farther south. They are gregari- ous ; feed on grapes, where vineyards are cul- tivated ; are easily tamed, and are esteemed delicious food. This species is about the size of the blackbird; the hill is short, thick, and black; on the head is a sharp- pointed crest reclining backwards ; the lower part of the tail is black, the end of a rich yellow; the quill feathers are black, the three first tipt with white, the six next have half an inch of their exterior mar- gin edged with line yellow, the interior with AMP white. But what distinguishes this from all other birds, are the thorny appendages from the tips of seven of the secondary feathers, of the colour and gloss of the best red wax. See Plate, Nat. Hist. fig. 15,* 16*. AMPELITES, Cannei-coal, in natural history, a solid, dry, opake fossil, very hard, not fusible, but easily inflammable, and burn- ing with a bright, vivid, white flame. This mineral is found in Lancashire, and in differ- ent parts of Scotland, where it is known by the name of Parrot coal. Colour black'; structure sometimes slaty. It burns like a candle, and lasts but a short time. It does not cake, and leaves a stony or sooty resi- duum. A specimen of Lancashire cannel coal, analysed by Mr. Kirwan, contained ' 75.20 'charcoal 21.68 maltha '3.10 alumina and silica 99.98 Cannel coal is susceptible of polish, and, like jet, is frequently wrought into snuff-boxes, and other trinkets. AMPHERES, in antiquity, a kind of ves- sels, wherein the rowers plied two oars at the same time, one with the right, hand, and the other with the left. AM PHIARTHROSIS, in 1 anatomy, a term under which some comprehend all those junctures of the bones, which have a mani- fest motion, and which differ from the several articulations of the . diarthrosis either in re- gard to their figure or motion. AMPHIBIA, the third class of animals in the Linnaean system, including those which possess, in a certain degree, the power of re- spiration, and are thereby enabled to live either in water or on land. This, class is subdivided into four orders, viz. 1st. Amphibia reptiles, 2d. Amphibia serpentes, 3d. Amphi- bia nantes, and 4th. Amphibia meantes. The distinguishing characters of this class are these; they have either naked or scaly bo- dies, and sharp-pointed fore-teeth, but with- out grinders, or dentes molares : to which add, that they have no radiated fins. The class includes the tortoise, the frog kind, and the lizard and serpent kinds: 289 species. Anatomists observe, that the lungs of am- phibious animals are so formed, that though respiration is necessary to them, yet it is not requisite to be performed at short intervals. Hence it is, that they can remain a long time under water without being suffocated, and many of them even a considerable part of their lives. Am ph ib io us,a term descriptive of the class Amphibia: it also applies, however, to the otter, seal, beaver, and some animals of the other classes, who live on the land, and occasionally go into tiie water in search of prey. Most of the amphibious animals of this de- scription have peculiar provisions in their structure to fit them for their mode of living, particularly in the heart, lungs, foramen ovale, &c. T here are two very curious and important disquisitions by Dr. Parsons on this subject, in the 56 vol of the Phil. Trans, the substance of which is as follows. Dr. Parsons classes amphibious animals under two divisions: 1. Such as enjoy their chief func- tions by land, but occasionally go into the water. 2. Such as chiefly inhabit the water, but occasionally go on shore. AMP AMP AMP Of the first he particularly considers the j phoc® or seal tribe ; and endeavours to show, that none of them can live chiefly in the wa- ter, but that their chief enjoyment of the functions of life is on shore. These animals, he observes, are really quadrupeds ; but as their chief food is fish, they are under the necessity of going out to sea to hunt their prey, and to great distances from shore; taking care that, however great the distance, rocks or small islands are at hand, as resting- places when they are tired, or when then- bodies become too much macerated in the water. lie proceeds : It is well known, that the only essential difference (as to the general structure of the heart) between amphibious and mere land animals, or such as never go into the water, is, that in the former the oval hole remains always open. Now, in such as are without this hole, if they were to be im- mersed in water but for a little time, respira- tion would cease, and the animal must die. There are three necessary and principal uses of respiration in all land animals, and in those kinds that are counted amphibious. The first is, that of promoting the circulation of the blood through the whole body and extremi- ties. In real fishes, the force of the heart is alone capable of sending the blood to every part, as they afe not furnished with limbs or extremities ; which, being so remote from the heart, have need of such assistance, otherwise the circulation would be very lan- guid in these parts. Thus we see, that in persons subject to asthmatic complaints, the circulation grows languid, the legs grow cold and oedematous, and other parts suffer by the defect in respiration. A second use of breath- ing is, that, in inspiration, the variety of par- tides, of different qualities, which float always in the air, might be drawn into the lungs, to be insinuated into the mass of blood, being highly necessary to contemperate and cool the agitated mass, and to contribute refined pabulum to the liner parts of it, which, meet- ing with the daily supply of chyle, serves to assimilate and more intimately mix the mass, and render its constitution the fitter for sup- porting the life of the animal. Therefore it is, that valetudinarians, by changing foul or unwholesome air for a free, good, open air, often recover from lingering diseases. A third principal use of respiration is, to pro- mote the exhibition of voice in animals ; which all those that live on the land do ac- cording to their specific natures. From these considerations it appears, that the phoc® of every kind are under an absolute necessity of making the land their principal residence. But there is another very convincing argu- ment why they reside on “shore the greatest part of their time, viz. that the flesh of these creatures is analogous to that of other land animals ; and therefore, by over-long maceration, added to the fatigue of their chasing their prey, they would suffer such a relaxation as would destroy them. It is well known, that animals which have lain long under water, are reduced to a very lax and even putrid state ; and the phoca must bask in the air on shore. Let us now examine by what power these animals are capable of re- maining longer under water than land animals. Ail these have the oval hole open between the right and left auricles of the heart, and in many the canalis arteriosus also; and while the phoca remains under water, which he may continue ah hour or two, more or less, his respiration is stopped ; and tire blood, not finding the passage through the pulmonary artery free, rushes through the arterial canal, being a short passage to the aorta, and thence to every part of the body, maintaining the circulation ; but upon rising to come ashore, the blood finds its passage again through the lungs the moment he respires. Thus the foetus in utero, during its confinement, hav- ing the lungs compressed, and consequently the pulmonary arteries and veins impervious, has the circulation of the blood carried on through the oval hole and the arterial canal. ■ Now so far the phoca in the water, and the foetus in utero, are analogous ; but they differ in other material circumstances. One is, that the foetus having never respired, remains sufficiently nourished by the maternal blood circulating through him, and continues to grow till the time of his birth, without any want of respiration, during nine months con- finement ; the phoca, having respired the mo- ment of his birth, cannot live very long with- out it, for the reasons given before ; and this hole and canal would be closed in them, as it is in land animals, if the dam did not, soon after the birth of the cub, carry him so very frequently into the .water to teach him ; by which practice these passages are kept open during life, otherwise they would not be ca- pable of attaining the food designed for them by Providence. Another difference is, that the phoc®, as was said before, would be relax- ed by maceration in remaining too long in the water ; whereas the foetus in utero sutlers no injury from continuing its full number of months in the fluid it swims in : the mason is, that water is a powerful solvent, and penetrates the pores of the skins of land animals, and in time can dissolve them; whereas the liquor amnii is an insipid soft fluid, impregnated with particles more or less mucilaginous, and utterly incapable of making the least altera- tion in the cutis of the foetus. Otters, bea- vers, and some kinds of rats, go occasionally into the water for their prey, but cannot re- main very long under water. “ I have often gone to shoot otters (says our author), and watched all their motions : I have seen one of them go softly from a bank into the river, and dive down ; and in about two minutes rise, at 10 or 15 yards from the place he went in, with a middling salmon in his mouth, which he brought on shore : I shot him, and saved the fish whole.” Now, as all foetuses have these passages open, if a whelp of a true water-spa- niel was, immediately after its birth, served as the phoca does her cubs, and immersed in water, to stop respiration for a little time every day, it is probable tiiat the hole and canal would be kept open, and the dog be made capable of remaining as long under water as the phoca. Frogs, how capable soever of re- maining in the water, yet cannot avoid living- on land, for they respire; and if a frog is thrown into a river, he makes to the shore as fast as he can. The lizard kind, such as may be called water lizards, are all obliged to come to land, in order to deposit their eggs, to rest, and to sleep. Even the crocodiles, who dwell much in rivers, sleep and lay their eggs on shore ; and, while in the water, are compelled to rise to the surface to breathe ; yet, from the texture of his scaly covering, he is papable of remaining in the water longer by far than any species of the phoca, whose skin is analogous 7 1 to that of a horse or cow. The hippopotamus who wades into the lakes or rivers, is a qua- druped, and remains under the water a con- siderable time ; yet his chief residence is upon land, and he must come on shore for respira- tion. The testudo, or sea tortoise, though he goes out to sea, and is often found far from land, yet being a respiring animal, cannot re- main long under water. He has indeed a power of rendering himself specifically heavier or lighter than the water, and therefore can let himself down to avoid an enemy or a storm: yet lie is under a necessity of rising frequently to breathe, for reasons given before ; and his most usual situation, while at sea, is upon the surface of the water, feeding upon the various substances that float in great abundance every where about him. These animals sleep se- curely upon the surface, but not under water, and can remain longer at sea than any other of this class, except the crocodile, because, as it is with the latter, his covering is not in danger of being too much macerated. 1 lie second division of amphibious animals, according to Dr. Parsons, comprehends such as chiefly inhabit the waters, but occasionally goon shore. These are but of two kinds ; the eels, and water serpents, or snakes of every kind. It is their form that qualifies them for loco-motion on the land, and they know then- way back to the water at will ; for by their structure they have a strong peristaltic mo- tion, by which they can go forward at a pret- ty good rate; whereas all other kinds of fish, whether vertical or horizontal, are incapable of a voluntary loco-motion on shore ; and there- fore, as soon as such fish are brought out of the water, after having flounced a w hile, they lie motionless, and soon die. Let us now exa- mine into the reason why these vernacular fish, the eel and serpent kinds, can live a considerable time on land, and the vertical and horizontal kinds die almost immediately when taken out of the water -. and, in this re- search, we shall come to know' what analogy there is between land animals and those of tire waters. All land animals have lungs, and can live no longer than while these are inflated by the ambient air, and alternately com pressed for its expulsion ; that is, while respiration i* duly carried on, by a regular inspiration and exspiration of air. In like manner, the fish in general have, instead of lungs, gills or bron- chi® : and as, in land animals, the lungs have a larger portion of the mass of blood circu- lating through them, which must be stopped if the air has not a free ingress and egress into and from them ; so, in fish, there is a great number of blood vessels that pass through the bronchi®, and a great portion of their blood circulates through them, which must in like manner be totally stopped, if the bronchi® afe not perpetually wet with wafer. So that, as the air is to the lungs in land animals, a con- stant assistant to the circulation; s6 is the water to the bronchi® of those of the rivfots and seas : for when these are out of the water, tire bronchi® very soon grow crisp and dry, the blood-vessels are shrunk, and the blood “is obstructed in its passage; so, when the former are immersed in water, or otherwise prevented from having respiration, the circulation ceases, and the animal die*. Again, as land-animals would be destroyed by too much maceration in water, so fishes would, on the other hand. Ire ruined by too much exsiccation ; the latter being, from their 'general structure andfoonsti- A M U 73 AMP ' tution, made fit to bear and live in the water ; the former, bv their constitution and form, to • breathe and dwell in the air. But it may be asked, why eels and water-snakes are capable • of living longer in the air than the other kinds of tisii ? This is answered, by considering the providential care of the great Creator for these ■ ami'every one ot his creatures; for since they were capable of loco-motion by their form, which they heed not be if they were never to go on shore, it seemed necessary that they should be rendered capable of living a consi- derable time on shore, otherwise their loco- motion would be in vain, flow is this pro- vided for? Why, in a most convenient man- ner ; for this order of fishes have their bron- chia; well covered from the external drying .air: they are also furnished with a slimy 'mu- cus, which hinders their becoming crisp and dry for many hours; and their very skins al- ways emit a mucous liquor, which keeps them supple and moist for a long time ; whereas the bronchia; of other kinds offish are much ex- posed to the air, and want the slimy matter to keep them moist. Now, if any of these, when brought out of the water, were laid in a vessel without water, they might be preserved alive a considerable time, by only keeping the gills and surface of the skin constantly wet, even without any water to swim in. Some kinds of insects, and some birds, are amphibious. The term lias been applied to men who have the faculty of living long under water. The divers employed in the pearl fish- eries possess this power in an eminent degree. AMPHIBOLOGY, in grammar and rhe- . toric, a term used to denote a phrase suscep- tible of two different interpretations. AMHlBRACHYS, in antient poety, the name of a foot consisting of three syllables, whereof that in the middle is long, and the other two short. AMPHLCTYON-1, in Grecian antiquity, an assembly compos ;d of deputies from the different states of Greece, and resembling, in some measure, the diet of the German empire. The amphictyons met regularly at Delphi, twice a year, viz. in spring and autumn, and decided all difterenas between any of the Gre- cian states, their determinations being held sacred and inviolable. AMPHIMACER, in antient poetry, afoot consisting of three syllables, whereof 'the first and last are long, and that in the middle short. AM PRIM ASC A LOS, a tunic, or coat, worn by the Greeks, with two short sleeves, so as to cover part of the arm to the elbow. The coats of freemen were amphimascalos , those of slaves had only one. AMPHIBOLES, the principal magistrates of S yracuse, in Sicily, called archons at Athens. AMPHIPPII, in Grecian antiquity, sol- diers, who in war used two horses without saddles, ami were dextrous enough to leap from one to the oilier. AM PHIPRO ILL, in the naval affairs of the aritients, vessels with a prow at each end. They were used chiefly in rapid rivers and nar- row channels, where it was not easy to tack about. AMPHISBiENA, in zoology, a genus of serpent so called, because it moves with either end forward. The body of the amphisbauia has a number of circular annuli, surrounding _t from the head to the extremity of the tail ; io that it seems composed of a number of nar- row and somewhat rounded rings applied close . A M V to one another, and having deep furrows be- tween them. Only two species of this genus have hitherto been discovered, the white and the black. \ he white is from 15 to 18 inches long ; it is found preying on m eets, worms, &c. It is harmless, blit on handling it, the Tin becomes affected with a slight itching, accompanied with small pustules. The other is rarely so large, and is equally harmless. The skin of the amphisba-na is strong and tenacious, and of a smooth glossy surface ; and it is probable that they are .enabled with facility to perforate the ground in the manner of earth worms, in order to obtain occasional supplies of food. See Nat. Hist. fig. 14*. AM PH ISC 1 1, among geographers, a name applied to the people Who inhabit the torrid zone. Amphiscii, as the word imports, have their shadows one part of the year towards the north, and at the other towards the south, ac- cording to the sun’s place, in the ecliptic. They are also called Ascii. AMPHITAPA, in antiquity, a garment frizzed or shagged on both sides, which was laid under pe sons going to sleep. AMPHITHEATRE, in, antiquity, a spa- cious edifice built either round or oval, with a number of rising seats, upon which the people used to sit and behold the combats of gladia- tors, of wild beasts, and other sports. Amphitheatres were at first only of wood, audit was not till the reign of Augustus, that Statilius Taurus built one for the first time of stone. The lowest part was of an oval figure, and called arena, because, for the conveniency of the combatants, it was usually strewed with sand; and round the arena were vaults styled cavecE, in which were confined the wild beasts appointed for the shews. Above the cavese was erected a large circular peristyle podium, adorned with columns. This was the place of the emperors, senators, and other persons of distinction.- The rows of benches were above the podium. Their figure was circular, and they were entered by avenues, at the end of which were gates, called vomiloria?. The most perfect remains we now have of antient amphitheatres are that of Vespasian, called the coliseum, that at Verona in Italy, and that at Nismes in Languedoc. AMPHORA, in antiquity, a liquid mea- sure in use among the Greeks and Romans. The Roman amphora contained forty-eight sextaries, and was equal to about seven gal- lons one pint, English wine-measure ; and the Grecian, or attic amphora, contained one- third more. Amphora, was a dry measure, likewise in use among the Romans, and contained three bushels. Amphora, among the Venetians, the lar- gest measure used for liquids. It contains four bigorzas, the bigorza being four quarts, the quart four sachies, and each sachie four leras ; but by wholesale the amphora is 14 quarts, and the bigorza three quarts and a half. AM PH OR AR I U M vinum, wine that is drawn into pitchers, distinguished from cask wine. The Romans had a method of keep- ing wine in anaphoras for many years to ripen, by fastening the lids down with pitch or gyp- sum, and placing them either under ground, or in the smoke. AMPHO PEROPLON, a kind of naval insurance, where insurers run the risk both in the going out, and return of the vessel. - AMFHOTIDES, in antiquity, a kind of armour or covering for the ears, worn by the antient pugilists, to prevent their adversaries from laying hold of this part. AMPLIATION, in Roman antiquity, was the deferring to pass sentence in certain causes. '1 his the judge did, by pronouncing the word amplius ; or by writing the letters N. L. for non liquet ; thereby signifying, that as the cause was not clear, it would be necessary to bring farther evidence. AMPLn UDE, an arch of the horizon in- tercepted between the east or west point, and the centre of the sun, or a planet at its ris- ing and setting, and so is either north and south, or ortive and occasive. The sun's -amplitude, either rising or sot- ting, is found by the globes,- by bringing the sun’s place to the horizon, either on the east or west side, and the degrees from the east- point, either north or south, are the ampli- tude required. To- find the amplitude trigo- nometrically, say, - as the cosine of the lati- tude : radius : : sine ot the present declina- tion : sine of the amplitude. ’I’his problem is useful in navigation, to find the variations of the compass. Amplitude Magnetical, the different rising or setting of the sun, from the- east or west points of the. compass. It is found by observing the sun, at his rising, and setting, by an amplitude-compass. . Amplitude of the range of a projectile, the horizontal line, subtending the path in which the projectile moved. AMPULE A, in antiquity, a round big- bellied vessel, which the antients used in their baths, to contain oil for anointing their bodies. Ampulla was also a cup made of glass, and sometimes of leather, for drink- ing out of at table. AMPUTATION, the cutting off a limb, or other part of the body. See Surgery. AM PYX, among the ancients, a kind of golden chain, which served to bind the hair of the horses on the forehead. The term was af- terwards used to denote a fillet which formed part of their dress ; this whs frequently encir- cled with gold and precious stones. AMSDORFIANS, a sect of protestants, i in the 1 6th century, -who took their name from Amsdorf, their leader. They maintained, that gqod works were not only unprofitable, but even opposite and pernicious to salvation. AMULET, a charm or preservative against mischief, witchcraft, or diseases. Amulets were made of stone, metal, simples, animals, and in a word, of.everv thing wnich fancy or caprice suggested ; and sometimes they consisted of words, characters, and sen- tences, ranged in a particular order, and en- graved upon wood, &c. and worn about the neck, or some other part of the body. At other times they- were neither written nor engraved, but prepared with many super- stitious ceremonies, great regard being usual- ly paid to the influence of the stars. The Arabians have given to this species of amulet the name of talisman. All nations have been fond of amulets : the Jews were extremely superstitions in the use of them to expel diseases: and the Misna for- bids them, unless received from an approved man, who had cured at least three persons before, by the same means. Evert amongst the Christians of the early tunes, amulets were made of the wood of the ANA AMY cross, or ribbands with a text of scripture \v l'itteu iii them, as preservatives against dis- eases ; and therefore the council of Laodicea forbids ecclesiastics to make such amulets, and orders all such as wore them to be cast out of the church, AMUSE ITE, an instrument of war, i)io anted like a cannon, and tired off like a musket. 1 . - AMY, in law, the next friend or relation to be intrusted for an infant. AMY GLADOIDES lapis, in natural his- tory, a fossile body, resembling the kernel of an almond in shape, being the petrified spine of a species of echinus marinus, or sea urchin. AM YG DALUS, the Almond and Peach : a genus of the monogynia order, belonging to the icosandria class of plants ; and in the na- tural method, ranking under the order po- maceac, The characters are: the calyx is a single-leaved perianthium beneath, tubular, and quinqueiid : the corolla consists of live oblong petals, which are inserted into the calyx : the stamina of 30 slender erect fila- ments, half the length of tire corolla, and in- serted into the calyx ; the anthers are simple : the pistillutn has a round villous gennen above ; a simple stylus, the length of the sta- mina ; and the stigma headed : the pericar- pium is a large roundish villous drupa, with a longitudinal furrow; the seed is an ovate Compressed not perforated in the pores. The nut of the almond is covered with a dry skin, that of the peach and nectarine with a soft pulp. The nectarine again is smooth, the peach downy. There are 7 species with innumerable va- rieties, the principal of which are : 1. Amygdalus communis, or common al- mond, a native of Africa, grows to near 20 feet high. The white flowering almond is a variety of this species, and is cultivated for the sake of the flowers and the fruit, though the flowers are inferior to the red. 2. Amygdalus liana, the-. dwarf almond is a native ot Asia Minor. Of, this shrub there are two varieties, the single and the double. Both grow to about four or live feet high, and are in the first esteem as flowering shrubs. 3. Amygdalus Persica, or the Peach, is said to be a native of Europe; but of what place is not known. Cultivation has produ- ced many varieties of this fruit ; of which the following are the most esteemed : 1. Admirable. 2. Beautiful Chevreuse. 3. Bellegarde. 4. Bloody Peach. 5. Bourdine. 0. Catharine. 7. Chancellor. 8. Early Purple. 9. Great French Miguon. 10. Late Admirable. 1 1 . Late Purple. 12. MYlta. 13. Monstrous Pavy. 14. Montauban. 15. Nivette. 16. Old Newington. 17. Persique. 18. Portugal. 1 9. Rarabouillet. 20, Red Magdalen. 21. Red Nutmeg. 22. Rossan- na. 23. Royal. 24. Small Miguon. 25. Smith’s Newington. 26. Venus’s Nipple. 27. \ineuse. 28. White Magdalen. 29. White Nutmeg. 30. Yellow Alberge. 31. Noblesse. 32. Double Montague. 4. Amygdalus nuci-Persica, or the Nec- tarine. Ot this many varieties are now culti- vated ; and the following are some of the ' most esteemed. 1. Elruge. 2. Golden. 3. Italian. 4. Mur- rey. 5. Newington. 6. Roman. 7. Scarlet. 8. Temple’s. -'9. Clermont’s. 10. Fairchild’s early. Y’ql. I. The good kinds of all these species are pro- pagated by budding or inoculation. '1 hey will thrive and bear against any wall but one with a -north aspect, but the best aspect is south, in the pruning, care must he taken to leave enough of the young bearing w ood, and not lay in the branches too close, or to cross each other. AMYRIS, a genus of the octandria mono- gynia class and order, and of the natural order of terebintaceax The calyx is a small single-leaved perianthium, four-toothed and persistent : the corolla consists of four oblong- petals, concave and expanding: the stamina consist of eight erect stipulated filaments: the anther® are oblong, erect, and the length of the corolla: tiie pistillum has an ovate' germen above ; a thickish stylus the length- ot the stamina; and a four-cornered stigma: the pericarpium is a round drupaceous berry : the seed is a globular glossy nut. There are nine species : the most remarkable are : 1. Amyris balsamifera, or rose-wood, is found on gravelly hills in Jamaica and others of the West India islands. It rises to a con- siderable- height, and the trunks are remark- able for having large protuberances on them. The leaves are laurel-shaped ; the small blue flowers are on a branched spike ; and the berries are small and black. 2. Amyris elemifera, or shrub- which hears the gum elemi, a native of South America. It grows to the height of about six feet. 3. Amyris Gileadensis, or opobalsamum, is an evergreen shrub, growing spontaneously in Arabia Felix, from whence the opobalsam, or balm of Gilead, is procured. 4. Amyris toxifera, or poison wood, is a small tree, with a smooth light coloured bark. From the trunk of this tree distils a liquid as black as ink. Birds seed on the fruit ; par- ticularly one called the purple grosbeak, on the mucilage that covers the stone. It grows usually on rocks, in Providence, Uathera, and others of the Bahama islands. AMZEL, in ornithology, the name of a bird of the merula or blackbird kind, of which there are tv, r o species ; the ring amzel or merula torquata, and the merula montana, called simply the amzel. The ring amzel is a little larger than the common blackbird. Its back is ot a dusky blackish brown, and its throat and breast are beautifully variegated with spots and streaks of white ;. and the low- er part of the throat is adorned with a tine broad white ring, whence the bird has its name. This ring is of a lunated shape, the points ending at the sides of the neck. The w ings and tail are blackish, but in the female variegated with white. This bird feeds on insects and berries, and is common about the peak of Derbyshire, where it is called the Rock Ouzel. AN jour and waste, in law, signifies a forfeiture of lands for a year and a day to tire king, by persons committing petit treason and felony, and afterwards the land fails to the lord. ANA, among physicians, denotes an equal quantity of the ingredients which im- mediately precede it in prescriptions: it is written by- abbreviation a or a a ; tints, Be thur. myrrh, alum, aa, i [) : that is, fake: frankincense, myrrh, and alum, each a scruple. Ana, in matters of literature, aLatinter- A N A 73 initiation added to the titles of several books in other languages. T hey are collections of the conversation and memorable sayings of men of wit and learning : the Scaligeriana was the. first book that appeared with a title in ana, anti was af- terwards followed by the Perroniana/j liuana, Naudaiana, Menagiana, anti even by Arle- quiniana, in ridicule of all books in ana. ANABAPTISTS, in church-history, a sect- of protestants, w hich sprung up in Germany, in 1521, immediately after the rise of Luther- anism. At first, they preached up an entire freedom from all subjection to the civil, as well as ecclesiastical power; hut the tenet from whence they take their name, and w hich- they still maintain, is their re-baptizing all new converts to their sect, and condemn- ing infant-baptism. Great troubles were occasioned in Ger- many by this sect.; but of all places where they prevailed, none suffered so much by them as the town of Munster.. The anabap- tists, however, of Holland and Friezland dis- approved the seditious behaviour of their brethren of Munster: and, at present, though this, sc-ct still subsists as well in Britain as abroad, yet they no longer pretend to be di- vinely inspired, they no longer oppose ma- gistrates, nor preach up a community of goods, See. ■ I he anabaptists support their principal- doctrine upon those words of our Saviour, “ He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved.” Now', as adults, or grown persons, are alone capable of believing, they argue, that none but adults are fit to be baptized. Ibis doctrine is opposed by alleging the contrary practice of the primitive church, as- well as from scripture, which tells us, that children are capable of the kingdom of hea- ven, and at the same time assures that, “ ex- cept a man be baptized, he cannot enter into, the kingdom of God.” ANA BATA, a cope or sacerdotal- vest, to cover the back and shoulders of the priest. ANABATIIRA, in antiquity, a kind of stones erected by the sides of highways, to- assist travellers to mount their horses. ANAB1BAZON, • in. astronomy, a name given to the northern node of the moon, or. dragon’s head. ANABLEPS, in ichthyology, a genus of malacopter.ygious fishes, with six bones in the branch iostege membrane, and only, two small fins at the extremity of the back. Of this genus there is only one known species. It inhabits the sea shore of Surinam. ANABOL/EUM, or Anabole, in anti- quity, a kind of great or upper coat, w r orn over the tunica.. ANABOLEUS, in antiquity, an appella- tion given to grooms of the stable, or equer- ries, who assisted their masters in mounting their horses. As the antients had no stirrups, or instru- ments that are now in use for mounting a. horse, they either jumped upon his back, or were aided in mounting by anabolei. AN AC A Lb PTERlA, in antiquity, fes- tivals among the Greeks on the day that the bride was permitted to lay aside her veil, and, appear in public. The w ord is derived from a verb which signifies to uncover. ANACAMP PER I A, in ecclesiastical an- tiquity, a Find of little edifices adjacent to. 74 A 'N A the churches, designed for the entertainment of strangers and poor persons. ANACARD1UM, or Cashew-nut tree : a genus of the monogynia order, be- longing to the decandria class of plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the 12th order, holoraceae. The characters are: the calyx is divided into live parts, the divisions ovate and deciduous : the corolla consists of live retlected petals, twice the length of the calyx : the stamina consists of ten capillary filaments shorter than tiie calyx, one of them castrated ; the anthers are small and round- ish : the pistillum has a roundish germen ; the stylus is subulated, inflected, and the length of the corolla; the stigma oblique: there is no pericarpium ; the receptaculum is very large and fleshy : the seed is a large kidney- shaped nut, placed above the receptaculum. Only one species is known, viz. Anacardium occidentals. It grows natu- rally in the A Vest Indies, and arrives at the height of 20 feet in those places of which it is a native. The fruit of this tree is as large ns an orange; and is full of an acid juice, which is frequently made use of in making punch. To the apex of this fruit grows a nut, of the size and shape of a hare’s kidney, but it is much larger at the end which is next to the fruit than at the other. The shell is very hard ; and the kernel which is sweet and pleasant, is covered with a thin film. Be- tween this and the shell js lodged a thick, blackish, inflammable liquor, of such a caus- tic nature in the fresh nuts, that if the lips chance to touch it, blisters will immediately follow. 'The kernels are eaten raw, roasted, or pickled. The caustic, liquor just mention- ed is esteemed an excellent cosmetic with the West India young ladies, but they must cer- tainly suffer' a great deal of pain in its appli- cation. The milky juice of this tree will stain linen of a good black, which cannot be washed out. This plant is easily raised from the nuts, which should be planted each in a separate pot filled with light sandy earth, and plunged into a good hot-bed of tanner’s bark ; they must also be kept from moisture till the plants come up, otherwise the nuts are apt to rot. tf the nuts are fresh, the plants will come up in about a month ; and in two months more they will be four or five inches high, with large leaves : from, which quick progress many people have been deceived, imagining they would continue the like quick growth afterwards ; but with all the care that .can be taken, they never come to any kind of perfection even in our best stoves. See Plate jN at. Hist. fig. 14. ANACHORET, in church-history, de- notes a hermit, or solitary monk, who retires from the society of mankind into some desert, with a view to avoid the temptations of the world, and to be more at leisure for medita- .tion and prayer. ANACHORITA, a name given to the cells of recluses ; by the antient canons, no anachorita could be erected without the con- sent of the bishop. ANACRHON ISM, in matters of literature, an error with respect to chronology, wdiereby an event is placed earlier than it really hap- pened. Such is that of Virgil, who placed Dido in Africa at the time of Tineas, though in reality, she did not come here till 300 wears after the taking of Troy. ANACLASTICS, anaclasfica, that part A N A of optics, which considers the refraction of light. Anaclastic glasses, a low kind of phials, which have the property of being flex- ible, and emitting a vehement noise, by the application of the human breath. They are made of a fine glass, with fiat bellies resemb- ling inverted funnels, with bottoms almost as thin as the skin of an onion. The bottom which is convex, by the action of inspiration will be drawn in with a prodigious crack, and from convex becomes concave ; on the con- trary, by expiring or breathing gently into them, the bottom returns to its place with the same noise. ANACLETICUM, among the ancients, a particular blast of the trumpet, by which the feafulr and flying soldiers were rallied and recalled to the combat. ANACREONTIC verse, in antient poetry, a kind of verse, so called from its being much used by the poet Anacreon. It consists of three feet and a half, usually spondees and iambuses, and sometimes ana- pests; such is that of Horace, Lydia die per onines. ANACYCLUS, a genus of the syngenesia polygamist class and order. The essential character is, recept. chaffy : down emargi- nate : seeds solitary with membranous wings. There are 4 species, all annuals, and somewhat resembling the chrysanthemum in the flower, foliage, and habits. ANADEMA, in antiquity, denotes the fillet which the kings of Persia wore round their head. Anadema denotes also a kind of ornament which women wore on their heads like a garland. ANADIPLOSIS, in rhetoric and poetry, a repetition of the last word of a line, or clause of a sentence, in the beginning of the next : thus, Pierides, vos line facietis maxima G alio : Gallo, cujus amor, &c. Et matutinis accredula vocibus instat, Vocibus instat, & assiduas jacit ore querelas. Among physicians, the renewal of a cold fit, in a semitertian fever, before the fit is entirely ended. ANADROMOUS, among ichthyologists, a name given to all fish which, at stated sea- sons, go from the fresh waiters into the sea, and afterwards return back again. Such are the salmon, and some other truttaceous fishes. AN A. DEI A, in Grecian antiquity, a stool whereon the accused person w T as placed to make his defence. ANAGALLIS, in botany, a genus of plants belonging to the pentandria monogynia class and order. The essential character is cor. rotale ; caps, opening horizontally. There are 7 species. The A. arvensis, or com- mon phupernil, is a beautiful little scarlet flower well known in our fields, and called the poor man’s weather-glass, from its property of opening in fair weather, and Shutting up on the approach of rain. There are some foreign species with larger flowers, cultivated in our gardens ; particularly the A. fruticosa, a beautiful flower, figured in Curtis’s Maga- zine, vol. 21. p. 331 . ANAGLYPH ICE, the art of embossing. ANAGNOSTA, or Anagnostes, in an- tiquity, a kind of literary servant, retained in the families of persons of distinction, whose chief business was to read to them during ANA meals, or at any other time when they were at leisure. ANAGRAM, a transposition of the letters of some name, whereby a new word is form- ed, either to the advantage or disadvantage of die person or thing to which tire name be- longs : thus, from Galenus is formed Ange- lus : from James, Sinrea ; and so of others. A miserable species of false wit. ANAGROS, in commerce, a measure for grain used in some cities of Spain, particular- ly at Seville. Forty-six anagros make about 10J quarters of London. ANAGYRIS, Bean-trefoil, in botany, a genus -of plants with papilionaceous flowers, the vexillmn of which is shorter than any of the other petals, and its fruit an oblong pod, containing kidney-like seeds : to tiris is to be added, that three leaves stand on every petal. It belongs to the decandria monogynia class and order of Linnaius. There are three spe- cies. ANALEMMA, in geometry, a projection of the sphere on the plane of the meridian, orthograph ically made bv straight lines and ellipses, the eye being supposed at an infinite distance, and in the east or west points of the horizon. Analemma denotes likewise an instrument of brass or wood, upon which this kind of projection is drawn, with an horizon and cur- sor fitted to it, wherein the solstitial colure, and all circles parallel to it, will be concent- ric circles ; all circles oblique to the eye, will be ellipses ; and all circles whose planes pass through the eye, will be right lines. The use of this instrument is to shew the common astronomical problems, which it will do, though not very exactly , unless it be very large. ANALEPTICS, in pharmacy, restorative medicines. ANALGISTA, among civilians, denotes a tutor who is not obliged to give an account of his conduct. ANALOGY, in literature, a certain re- lation and agreement between two or more things, which in other respects are entirely different : thus the foot of a mountain bears an analogy to the foot of an animal, although they are two very different things. There is likewise an analogy between be- ings that have some conformity or resemb- lance to one another : for example, between animals and plants, and between metals and vegetables ; but the analogy is still stronger between two different species of certain ani- mals. Analogy enters much into all our reason- ing, and serves to explain and illustrate but not to demonstrate. Reasoning by analogy, however, may sometimes induce to error : thus, tire analogy between the constellation called Leo, and the animal of that name, has given room to some astrologers to imagine that children born under that constellation were inspired with a martial spirit. Analogy, in botany, is a term that has been used to denote the resemblance which plants bear to each other, with regard to their medical properties and uses. Analogy, among geometricians, denotes a similitude of ratios. Analysis, among logicians, is a method of tracing things backward to their source, and of resolving knowledge into its original principles. ANA It is also called the method of resolution, and stands opposed to the synthetic method, or method of composition. The art of this method consists chiefly in combining our perceptions, and classing them together with address ; and in contriv- ing a proper expression of our thought, so as to represent their several divisions, classes, and relations. This is clearly seen in the manner of computing by figures in arithme- tic, but more particularly in the symbols ap- plied in resolving algebraical problems. Analysis, among mathematicians, the art of discovering the truth or falsehood of a pro- position, or its possibility and impossibility. 'Phis is done by supposing the proposition, such as it is, true ; and examining what fol- lows from thence, until we arrive at some evident truth, or some impossibility, of which the first proposition is a necessary conse- quence ; and from thence establish the truth or impossibility of that proposition. The analysis of the antient geometricians consisted in the application of the proposi- tions of Euclid, Apollonius, &c. till they ar- rived, proceeding step by step, at the truth required. That of the moderns, though not so elegant, must, however, be allowed more ready and general. By this last, geometrical demonstrations are wonderfully abriged, a number of truths are frequently expressed by a single line, and whole sciences may some- times" be learned in a few minutes, which otherwise would be scarcely attained in many years. Analysis is divided, with regard to its ob- ject, into that of Unites and infinites. Analysis of finite quantities, is that which is called specious arithmetic. Analysis of infinites, is the same with flux- ions. Analysis, in chemistry, the reduction of a mixed body into its principles. This is the chief object of chemistry, and is effected by means of heat and mixture. Analysis of powers, is the operation of resolving them into their roots, otherwise call- ed evolution. See Algebra. ANAMORPHOSIS, in perspective and painting, a monstrous projection, or repre- sentation of an image on a plane or curve surface, which beheld at a proper distance, shall appear regular and in proportion. See Optics. ANANAS, the trivial name of a species of the pine apple. See Bromelia. ANANCIT1S, in antiquity, a kind of figured stone, otherwise called synochitis, celebrated for its magical virtue, of raising the shadows, umbrae, ot the infernal gods. AN APT. ST, anapestus, in antient poetry, a foot consisting of two short syllables and one long. It is just the reverse of the dac- tyle. ’ ANAPHORA, in antient astronomy, an ascension of the twelve signs of the zodiac from the east, by the daily course of the hea- vens. Anaphora, in rhetoric, the repetition of the same word or words in the beginning of a sentence or verse : thus Virgil ; Pan etiam Arcadia mecum sejudice certet, Pan etiam Arcadia dicat sejudice victum. Anaphora, among antient physicians, denotes the throwing up of purulent matter by the mouth. ANA ANAPLASIS, among antient physicians, the replacing of a fractured bone in the same situation it obtained belore it was broken. ANAPLEROSIS, among surgeons, ex- presses the restoring deficiencies ; and in this sense is the same with prosthesis. ANAPLEROTICS, in pharmacy, such medicines as promote the growth oi flesh in wounds and ulcers. ANARRRICHAS, the name of a genus of malacopterygious fishes, called by other writers lupus-marinus, the sea-wolf. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 15. ANAS, in zoology, a genus of birds of the order of anseres, according to Linnaeus, the beak of which is convex, with an obtuse point, and the whole verge furnished with transverse lameilose teeth ; the tongue is ob- tuse and ciliated. The nostrils are small and oval ; the toes are four in number, three tare placed before, one behind, and the middle one is the longest: See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 16. There are a great many species of this genus, amounting to at least 98, besides many varieties. The most noted species are : 1. Anas Aborea, or biack-billed whistling- duck of Edwards. It is a native of America, and makes a kind of whistling noise. 2. Anas acuta, pin-tail, or sea-pheasant of Ray. These birds, it is said, are found in great abundance in Connaught in Ireland, in the month of February only ; and are much esteemed for their delicacy. 3. Anas Americana, American wigeon, is rather bigger than our wigeon. It inhabits North America, from Carolina to Hudson’s Bay ; but is no where a common bird. 4. Anas Anser, the goose. Of this species there are several varieties, of which w T e shall only mention tw'o : the anser ferns, or wild goose, and the anser mansuetus, or tame goose. 5. Anas bernicla is of a brown colour, with the head, neck, and breast, black; and a white collar. These birds, like the bernacles, frequent our coasts in winter; and are par- ticularly plenty, at times, on those of Holland and Ireland, where they are taken in nets placed across the rivers. 6. Anas boschas, common wild duck, or mal- lard. They abound particularly in Lincoln- shire, the great magazine of wild-fowl in this kingdom; where prodigious numbers are taken annually in the decoys. 7. Anas Canadensis, is found during the summer in H udson’s-bay, and parts beyond ; also in Greenland ; and, in the summer months, in various parts of North America, as far as Carolina. This species is now pretty common, in a tame state, both on the continent and in England, where they are thought a great ornament to the pieces of water in many gentlemen’s seats. 8. Anas Candida, the snow goose, the general colour of whose plumage is snow white, except the first ten quills, which are black with white shafts ; they are very nu- merous at Hudson’s-bay ; they visit the Se- vern in May, and stay a fortnight ; but go farther north to breed. 9. Anas Casarca, or ruddy goose, is found in all the southern parts of Russia and Si- beria in plenty. In winter it migrates into India, and returns northward in spring. They have been attempted to be domesticated, by rearing the young under tame ducks; but without success, as they make their escape * K 2 ANA 75 the first opportunity. The flesh is thought very delicate. 10. Anas Clangula, or golden eye of Ray, is not unfrequent on our sea coast in winter, and appears in small flocks ; but passes to the north in spring, in order to breed. 1 1 . Anas Ciypeata, or shoveler of Ray, is sometimes met with in England, though not very commonly. It is said they appear in France in February, and that some of them stay during summer. 12. Anas Creca, or common teal, is fre- quent in the London markets, along with the wild duck. It is found to the north as high as Iceland. 13. Annas cursor, the race-horse or logger- head goose, inhabits the Falkland Islands, Staaten Land, Ac. They are mostly seen in pairs, though sometimes in large flocks, f rom the shortness of the wings they are unable to fly ; but in the water they seem to run, at least they swim, with the assistance of the legs used as oars, at an incredible rate. 14. Anas cygnoides, is the swan goose of Ray, from Guinea, and there is likewise a variety of this species of a less size, called the goose of Muscovy. They are sufficiently common in Britain, and readily mix with the common goose ; the breeds uniting as freely, and continuing to produce as certainly, as if no such mixtuL'e had taken place. 15. Anas cygnus, or the swan. Of this species there are several varieties, of which we shall only mention two, viz. the ferus and the mansuetus. 16. Anas Erythropus, or laughing goose of Edwards, is a native of Europe and America. These visit the fens during winter, in small flocks; and disappear by the middle of March. 1 7. Anas fabalis, the bean goose, arrives in Lincolnshire in autumn, and retreats to the north of Europe in May. It is called the bean-goose, from the likeness of the nail of the bill to a horse-bean. 18. Anas ferina, pochard, or red-headed wigeon of Ray, frequents the fens in the win- ter season, and is brought up to the London markets sometimes in considerable numbers, where they are known by the name of. Dun Birds, and are esteemed excellent eat- ing. 19. Anas filigula, or tufted duck of Ray, in the winter months is not unfrequent in Eng- land ; it is common also throughout the Rus- sian empire, going northward to breed. 20. Anas fusca, the brown, or velvet duck, frequents Hudson’s-bay in summer, where it breeds. It feeds on grass, and retires south in winter; when it is frequently seen as far south as New York. It is now and then seen on the coasts of England. 21. Anas galericulata, or Chinese teal of Edwards. This most singular and elegant species Is a native of China and Japan, where it is kept by the inhabitants for the sake of its beauty. See Plate, Nat. Hist. tig. 1 7. 22. Anas glacialis, or long-tailed duck, breeds in the most northern parts of the world ; and only visits our coasts in the se- verest winters. 23. Anas histrioniea, or dusky spotted duck of Edwards, inhabits from Carolina to G-reen- land. In winter it seeks the open sea, flies high and swiftly, and is very clamorous. 24. Anas magna, the great goose, is of a very large size, weighing near 25 or 30. Rxis- fO A N A , stan pounds. It is found in tin' oast of Si- beria, from the Lena to Kamc hatka. 25. Anas mania, or scaup duck, is less than the common duck. These birds are said to take their name from feeding on scaup, or broken shell-fish. They differ infinitely in co- lours, so that in a flock of forty of fifty there are not two alike. 26. Anas mersa, or Ural duck of Pallas, is Somewhat bigger than the common teal. It is not seen on the ground) as' from the situa- tion of its legs it is unable to .walk; but it swims very well and quick. 27. Anas minuta, or little white and brown duck ot Edwards, d his and the' former, ac- cording to Latham, are found both on the old and new continents. 28. Anas irtollissima, or eider duck, is double the size of the common duck. "This species is found in the Wesh rn Isles of Scotland, and on the FaFi Isles; but in greater numbers in Norway, Iceland, and . Greenland ; whence a vast quantity of the down, known by the name of eider or odder, which these birds furnish, is annually im- ported. Its remakrably light, elastic, and warm qualities, make it highly esteemed f« r 1 coverlets. This down is produced from the breast of the birds in the breeding season. It lays its eggs among the stones or plants near the shore-; and prepares if soft bed for them, by plucking the dpWii from its own breast. 'I'he natives watch the opp< rtunity, and take away both eggs and nest : the duck lays again, ^ and repeats the plucking of its breast : if she is robbed after that, she will still lay ; but, the drakes must supply the down, as her stock is now exhausted : but if her eggs are taken a third time, she wholly deserts the place. 29. Anas Mosehata, or Muscovy duck of Ray, has' a naked papillous face, and is a na- tive of India. This species is' pretty conurion in a domesticated state in almost every na- tion. '1 he male will not unfrequently asso- ciate and produce a mongrel breed with the common duck. The name arises from their ' exhaling a musky odour, which proceeds - from the gland placed on the rump in com- mon with <5lher birds. 30. Anas nigra, the black goose, or scoter, is totally black, and has a gibbosity at the' base of the bill. It is the lesser black diver ' of Ray, and measures in length 22 inches. These birds are found on the northern coasts of Erigland and those of Scotland in the win- ter season; but 'no where so common as on the French coasts, where they are. sometimes seen in prodigious numbers) Their chief food is a glossy bivalve shell, near an inch long, called by the French vaimeaux.. See Plate, Nat. Hist. fig. 18. 31. Anas quefquedula, garganev, or first teal of Aldrovandus. In many places it is called the summer teal. 32' Anas fulicolis, or red-breasted goose. This most elegant of geese is found to breed from the mouth of the Ob, along the coasts of the Icy Sea, to that of the Lena. - • 33. Anas speetabilis, is common in Green- land, wltere the flesh is accounted excellent. It produces a down as valuable as the eider'; and the skins sewed together make very' W; rm garments. 34. Anas spbnsa, or summer duck ofCates- by, is a- most elegant species. It inhabits Mexico,' and some Of the West India- isles, mi- grating in the summer seasoiras far north as 40 degrees, or a little beyond.' ana 35. Alias strepera, or gad-wal, lias the w ings variegated with black, white, and red. It inhabits England in the winter months, and is also found at the same season in various parts of France and Italy. 36. Anas tadorna, or sifieldrake, has a flat bill, a compressed' forehead, a greenish black head, and the body is variegated with white. Ibis species is found as fVr north as Iceland. It breeds in deserted rabbit-holes, or occu- pies them in the absence of the owners, who rather than make an attempt at dislodging the intruders, form others ; though, in defect of ready-made quarters, these birds' will fre- quently dig holes for themselves. They lav 15 or 16 roundish white eggs. T his spe- cies, Air. Latham informs us, may be hatched under a tame duck, and the young readily brought up ; but are apt after a few years, to attempt the mastery over the rest of the poultry. 37. Anas tetrax, of campestris, is of the size of a pheasant, ami of the nature of the bustard, having no hinder toe. It runs very swiftly, and sits on the ground as the duck does in the water, whence it has its name Anas. ANASARCA, in medicine, a species of dropsy, wherein the skin appears puffed up and swelled, and yields to the impression of the fingers like dough. See Medicine. ANASTATICA, in botany, the name of a genus of tetrad) namious plants of the or- der siiiculosa, called in English, the rose of Jericho: its down* consists of four roundish petals, disposed in the form of a cross ; and its fruit is a short bilocular pod, containing in each cell a single roundish seed. T wo spe- cies annual. Anastatica, a species of vorticella, in the fifth order of vermes, infusoria. It is compound, with bell-shaped tlqwers, foot stalks scaly and rigid. This is the second species of clustering polypi described by Trembley. AN ASTO MASTS, or Anastomosis, in anatomy, the opening of the mouths of ves- sels, in order to discharge their contained fluids. It likewise denotes the communica- tion, of two vessels at their extremities; for example, the inosculation of a vein with a vein, of an artery with an artery, or of an a r- tery with a vein. ANASTOMATTCS, in pharmacy, medi- cines supposed to have the power of opening the mouths of vessels, and promoting the circulation of the blood. ANASTROPHE, in rhetoric and gram- mar, denotes the inversion of the natural or- der of the words : suchis Saxaper & scopu- los, for Per saxa & scopulos. ANATHEMA, among ecclesiastical writ- ers, imports whatever is set apart, sepa rated, or devoted ; but is most usually meant to express the cutting offp* person from the privileges of a society and communion with the faithful. The anathema differs from ex- communication in the circumstance' of being attended with curses and execrations. Several councils have pronounced anathe- mas against such as they thought corrupted the purity of the faith. There are two kinds of anathemas, the one judiciary, and the other abjuratory. The former can only be denounced by "a council, a pope, or a bishop ; the latter makes a part of the ceremony of abjuration, A NT A the convert being obliged to anathematise the heresy he abjures. Anathema, in Heathen antiquity, was an offering or present made to some* deity, so called from its being hung up in thetempfe. VV henever a person left off his employ- ment, it Was usual to dedicate tire tools to the patron-deity of such a inde. Persons too who had escaped some imminent danger, as shipwreck and the like, or had met with any other remarkable instance of good for- tune, seldom failed to testify their gratitude by some present of this kind. * ANATINUS, in conchology, a species of solen ; found on the sandy shores ot the In- dian ocean. It is also a species of the inytillus common in the rivers of England, and known by the name of duck, or small horse-muscle. ANAT1S, a species of pediculus insect, that infests the wild duck. It is the name also of another creature that is found in the intestines of (lie velvet duck : and a species ot arcaris, of the order intestina in the vermes class. ANATOMY is the science which teaches us the internal conformation of the human body, both the solids and fluids of which are its particular objects. T he solids ot the human body consist of, I. Bones, which give support to the other parts of the body. j 2. Cartilages, which are much softer than the bones, and also flexible and elastic. 3. Ligaments, which are more flexible still, and connect the ends of the bones to eaoh Other. 4. Membranes, or planes of minutely in- terwoven fibres. 5. Cellular substance, which is formed of membranes minutely interwoven with each other. 6. Muscles, which ate soft and contractile bundles of fibres. 7. Tendons, which generally form the hard and inelastic terminations of muscles. 8. Viscera, which are portions of the body loosely contained in great cavities. 9. Glands, which separate various fluids from the blood. 10. Vessels, which are membranous canals dividing into branches and transmitting blood and other fluids. II. Adipose substance, an animal oil con- tained in the cells of the cellular membrane. 12. The cerebral substance, which is of a peculiar nature. 13. Nerves, which are bundles of white cords connected by one end to the brain or spinal marrow, and thence expanded over every part of the body in order to receive im- pressions from external objects, or to produce muscular motion. Th £ fluids of the human body are, 1. Blood, which circulates through the ves- sels and nourishes the whole fabric. 2. Perspirable matter, excreted by the ves- sels of the skin. 3. Sebaceous matter, by the glands of the skin. 4. Urine, by the kidneys. 5. Ceruminous matter, secreted by the ceruminous glands of the external ear. 6. Tears, by the lachrymal glands. 7. Saliva, by the salival glands of the mouth,. &c) ' 8. Mucus, by the mucous glands of the mouth, &c. 9. Pancreaticjuice, by the pancreas. IA, Me, tvv the livef.. 3 1 . Gastric juice, by the stomach, 12. Oil, by the vessels of the adipose mera- - lorane. 13. Synovia, by the synovial glands of the joints. • 14. Seminal fluid, by the testes. 15. Milk, by the mammary glands. Anatomy, therefore, from the names of the 'parts which it considers, is divided into 1. Osteogeny, which is the doctrine of the growth of the bones, 2. Osteology, or the doctrine of adult bones. 3. Chondrology, or the doctrine of car- tilages. 4. Syndesmology, or the doctrine of liga- ments. 5. • Myology, or the doctrine of muscles. 6. Bursalogy, or the doctrine of the bursa; mucosae. 7. Splanchnology., or the doctrine of the • viscera. 8. Angiology, or the doctrine of the ves- . sels. • . 9 ■ Adenology, or the doctrine of the glands. 10. Neurology, or the doctrine of the nerves, &c. Sec. Sec. ftSTEOGONY. Osteogeny treats of ossification, or the 'growth of bones. It takes place in the flat bones of the head • in the form of radii, which diverge from a com- : mon centre.— -In the middle of the cylindri- cal bones, it takes place in the form of a flat ring, surrounding the internal, and surrounded • by the external periosteum or membranes of the bone. — In irregular bones, it commences by a number of minute points. OSTEOLOGY. This division of anatomical science treats of tire adult or full-grown hones. It is at present taught in the medical schools • of London, that bones consist of fibres and tamh Ike. The doctrine is nevertheless a false ! one, for the celebrated Scarpa of Pavia has several years since demonstrated that a cellu- lar, reticular, and vascular parenchyma con- stitutes the basis in which are secreted the earthy matters to which bones owe their so- lidity, and that consequently their intimate ' structure is the same with that of the soft parts of the body. The long cylindrical or triangular bones ' consist of two epiphyses, which form their ter- mination, and are internally spongy, and of a diaphysis or middle portion, 'which is placed between the two epiphyses, and is externally of a compact structure, and internally reticu- ' lar, where its net-work supports the bags of the • marrow. The broad or flat bones of the body ■ are extremely irregular in their form. The periosteum of bones is that membrane which covers them, gives attachment to their ligaments and muscles, and conducts to them vessels and nerves. ' The marrow of bones is an oleaginous fluid ' contained within the membranous bags, oc- cupying their cells; but its use is totally un- known. - Numerous bloodvessels pass into bones by small holes on their surface ; and the minute manner in which these vessels are distributed is beautifully demonstrated by observing the ANATOMY, fed tinge which they assume in animals with whose food madder is mixed. In considering the individual bones of the human body, it is proper to commence with those of the head, which are generally ar- ranged into bones of the skull, and bones of the face. The bones of the skull are eight in number, namely, the os fronds, the two ossa parietalia, the os occipitis, the two ossatem- porum, the. os sphenoid es, and the os eth- moides. The two last of these are said to be common to the head and face, because they constitute apart of both. We shall proceed to consider them in the order in which they are here enumerated. The os fronds is placed in the fore part of die skull, and forms the brow and the upper part of the orbits of the eyes. It is convex ex- ternally, and concave internally, and has a serrated semicircular edge, which is turned upward, while its lower part is extremely irre- gular. It bears, in form, a great likeness to the shell of the common cockle. In children, and sometimes in women, it is divided down the middle by a longitudinal suture, or ser- rated junction. The ossa parietalia form all the superior, and some of the lateral parts of the skull. They are convex externally, concave inter- nally, and of an irregular quadrangular form. Their sides are anterior, posterior, superior, and inferior, which last is of a semicircular form. Their angles are.posterior superior, pos- terior inferior, anterior superior, and anterior inferior ; which last is produced into a process. The os occipitis is situated in the lower and back part of the skull. It is convex exter- nally, concave internally, and irregularly rhoni- boidal in its form. The ossa temporum are situated at the lower part of the sides and base of the cra- nium, and are of a very irregular figure. Their upper part, named os squamosum, is externally smooth, and lias a thin semicircular edge; their posterior part, called pars mam- millaris, is thicker and less regular ; and their inferior part becoming smaller, and extending horizontally inward and forward, obtains the name of os petrosum, from its excessive hard- ness. The os sphenoides is situated in the middle of the base of the skull, and extends across it from one temple to the other. It is extremely irregular in its figure, and is divided into a body placed in the middle, two a he on the sides, and two pterygoid processes projecting downward from the junction of the body and alx. The os ethmoides is placed in the middle of the forepart of the basis of the cranium. It consists of a cribriform portion, which is placed horizontally ; a nasal portion, which, passing downward, contributes to separate thenares; two ossa turbinata, which are external to the last ; the cells of the bone, which are placed still more externally ; and the ossa plana, which are most external, and assist in the for- mation of the inner sides of the orbits. These bones of the cranium are connected by certain sutures or serrated junctions : which are, the coronal, ascending over the forepart of the skull ; the lambdoidal, placed at its posterior part ; the sagittal, joining these two in the middle of the upper part of the skull ; the squamous, which are placed on each side ; and the sphenoidal and ethmoidal, surrounding the bones of the same name. 11 The bor.es of the face are fourteen in num- ber ; and ot these The ossa nasi constitute the arch of the nose. The ossa lachrvmalia are placed at the lore- part of the inner edge ot the orbits of the eyes. " The ossa malarum, of an irregular square form, constitute tire prominences ot tne cheeks. The cssa. maxillaria superiora are of a very irregular form, constitute the upper jaw, and contain the sixteen upper teeth. The ossa palati are also very .irregular, and situated at the posterior part ot the palate, nares, and orbit. The ossa turbinata inferiora very much re- semble those of the ethmoid bone. The vomer is a thin plate of bone, which contributes to complete the septum narium, or division of the nares. . . The maxilla inferior is, as its name Indi- cates, the bone of the lower, jawyuantl con- tains the inferior sixteen teeth. ■ The teeth are thirty-two i.n munber, inter- nally composed of a bony substance, harder in its texture than common bone, find cover- ed at their greater extremity vyith a cortex, or enamel, which is much harder still. 1 eter- nally each tooth consists of a head, a neck, or narrow place immediately bi;iow the heed, and one or more tangs, or roots, which. -are sunk in the jaws. They consist of. three classes, viz. four inciscres, the front t.eeth of each jaw; two euspidati, placed on . each side of the former; four, bicuspides- .behind the last ; and six molares behind these. 1 he last of the molafes, -from the lateness of thy period at which it makes its appearance, is termed dens sapientiax , The os hyoides, or bone of tire tongue, re- sembles in form the Greek v, whence its name. It consists of a body, two cornua, and two appendices. The bones of the trunk consist of those of the spine, the pelvis, and the thorax. The spine consists of twenty -four true or moveable, and five false or immoveable ver- tebra-, likewise denominated the 1 os sacrum, and of one small bone named os coccy gis. The true vertebrae consist of a body, a ring placed behind the body-transmitting the spi- nal marrow, and of seven processes,- four ot which are articular, or serve to connect the vertebra; with each other ; and three are tor the purposes of muscular attachment ; of these two are termed transverse, from their pro- jecting laterally ; and one spinous, from its forming the ridge or spine of the back. The- true vertebra; are also divided into classes, from their situation in the cervix cr neck, in the dorsum or back, and in the lumbar re- gions or loins. The first class is the -cervical, including the first seven ; the first of which is termed atlas, from its supporting the head ; and the second dentatus, from its having a tooth-like process, which passes upwards into the former, and all of which have their trans- verse processes perforated by a hole for trans- mitting the vertebral arteries to the head. The second class is the dorsal, consisting of twelve, which are larger than the cervical, and are distinguished by having their sides and transverse processes depressed for con- nection with the ribs. The third class is the lumbar, consisting of five, which are large? ANATOMY. 73 than any of the superior ones. The os sacrum resembles a pyramid reversed, somewhat con- cave internally and convex externally. It constitutes the posterior part of tire pelvis, and in the young animal consists of live dilie- rent portions, resembling considerably the true -vertebra*, whence its name of false ver- tebra*. The os coccygis, inform, very much resembles the os sacrum, of which it is mere- ly an appendix lixed to its lower part. The pelvis, or inferior cavity of the trunk, in arlcli k n to the two bones last mentioned, consists ci the two ossa irmominata. These, in the young, subject, are formed of three distinct bones, Viz. the ossa ilium or haunch bones, which are placed at their upper part, the ossa pubis or share Bones, which compose their fore part, and the ossa ischium which constitute their inferior part. The tliorax, or superior cavity of the trunk, in addition to the vertebra*, is formed ante- riorly by a long narrow bone, named sternum, and laterally, as well as in some measure ante- riorly and posteriorly by the twenty-four nbs, which are long, narrow*, and curved bones, attached by their heads, or posterior ends to the vertebra*, arid by their anterior carti- lages either to the sternum or each other. The upper seven, from their being attached in the former way, are named time ribs;, the inferior live are termed false. The bones of the upper extremities are ge- nerally divided into those of the shoulder, arm, fore arm, and hand. The shoulder consists of two bones, viz. the clavicula and the scapula. The clavicula or collar bone, is situated between the top of the sternum or breast-bone and the extremity of the shoulder, and sometimes resembles in form an italic f. The scapula is a triangular flat bone, which forms the greatest part of the shoulder. It is in some measure situated be- hind the upper part of the thorax. Its supe- rior and inferior sides are denominated costae ; its posterior side is called its base. 'i'lie arm has only one bone, termed the os humeri, the upper part of which forms a round head, which is received by the scapula, and its lower part terminates in two condyles, giving attachment to muscles, and a trochlea or pulley between them, for articulation with the following bones: 'Idle fore arm consists of two bones, viz. the radius and ulna, the latter of which is placed on the inside of the fore arm, and chiefly allows of flexion and extension, while at the same time it serves as an axis to the radius, which so revolves around it as to ef- fect that which is called the supination and pronation of the hand. The bones of the hand are divided into those of the carpus,' metacarpus, fingers and thumb. The carpus consists of eight small irregular Bones, named schaphoides, lunare, cunei- forme, and piziforme, which form the first row; and trapezium, trapezoides, magnum, and unciforme, which form the second. The metacarpus consists of four bones, having Broad bases attached to the carpus, and round heads for articulation with the fingers. Each of the fingers, as well as the thumb, consists of three bones ; all of which, except the terminating ones, possess a head and base tipped with cartilage for articulation with its fellows. The bones of the lower extremities consist of those pf the thigh, leg, and foot. The thigh has only one bone, termed os fe- moris, the upper part of which forms a round head, received by a cup-like cavity, called acetabulum, of the os innominatum. Below this is the neck of the bone, and at its base two protuberances called trochanters, into which are lixed the muscles' which rotate the thigh. '1 he back of the bone is marked by a rougli line which divides into two at its lower part, and terminates in the condyles of the bone ; which inferior!)’ are joined to the tibia, a bone of the leg, and laterally give at- tachment to various muscles. The bones of the leg are three in number, viz. the patella or knee-pan, a small round bone, requiring no particular description; the tibia, which is superiorly large, has a trian- gular body, and terminates interiorly in the malleolus internus, or inner ankle; and the fibula, a long triangular bone, placed oh the outside of the leg, articulated above to the tibia, and below terminating in the mal- leolus externus or outer ankle. The bones of the foot are divided into those of the tarsus, metatarsus, and toes. The tar- sus consists of seven bones, named astragalus, os calcis, naviculare, cuboides, cuneitorme externum, medium, and internum. The me- tatarsus is composed of five bones, having- broad bases arid round heads. The phalanges of the toes are three in number: each of their bones are shorter than those of the finger, and the great toe possesses only two. CHONDROLOGY. Under this head it is only necessary to state that, in the recent subject, all the articular surfaces of bones are covered by cartilage. Interarticular cartilages are also placed in some of them, as in the joint of the lower jaw, of the clavicle and sternum, of the knee, &c. SYNDESMOLOGY. Capsular ligaments surround all the joints, but those which possess the hinge-like motion have also lateral ligaments to render them firm, and to prevent their moving from side to side, while those possessing motion in every direction have generally ligaments internal to the capsular, as the. round ligament of the hip- joint, the beginning of the bicipital tendon in the shoulder, the perpendicular ligament of the processus dentatus, &c. BURSALOGY. The mucous bags, called bursae mucosae, are placed wherever tendons pass over each other, or over any solid part, and serve the purpose of lubricating these tendons. MYOLOGY. Of the muscles of the teguments of the cra- nium. The skin that covers the cranium is moved by a single broad digastric muscle, and one small pair. 1. The occipito-frontalis arises from the transverse protuberant ridge of the os occi- pitis ; thence it crimes straight forwards by a broad thin tendon, which covers the upper part of the cranium at each side ; when it conies a's far forwards as the hair of the front, it becomes fleshy, and descends to be insert- ed into the orbicularis palpebrarum of each side. Its use is to pull the skin of the head backwards. 2, r i he corrugator supercilii arises from the internal angular process of the os frontis, arid is, inserted into the inner and inferior fleshy part of the occipito-frontalis muscle. Its use is to draw the eyebrow of that side towards the other. Of the muscles of the car. The muscles of the ear may be divided into three classes, viz. the common, proper, and internal. The common move the whole ear, the proper only affect the particular parts of it to which, they are connected, and the inter- nal the small bones within the tympanum. The common muscles arc, 1. The attollens aurem arises from the ten- don of the occipito-frontalis, and is insert .1 into the upper part of the ear, opposite to the antihelix. Its use is to draw the ear up , wards. 2. The anterior auris arise near the poste-* rior part of the zygoma, and is inserted inter a small eminence on the back of the helix. Its use is to draw this eminence a little for- wards and upwards. 3. The retrahentes auris arises from ther root of the mastoid process, and are inserted into that part of the back of the ear which isj opposite to the septum conclue. Their use: is to draw the ear back. The proper muscles are, 1. The helicis major arises from the acute- process of the helix, and is inserted a little above. Its use is to depress that part from which it arises. 2. The helicis minor arises from the inferior and anterior part of the helix, and is inserted into the crus of the helix near its fissure. Its. use is to contract the fissure. 3. The tragicus arises from the root of the tragus, and is inserted into the point of the tragus. Its use is to pull the point of the Ira- \ gus a little forwards. 4. The antilragicus arises from the internal part of the antitragus, and is inserted into the tip of the antitragus. Its use is to turn the tip of the antitragus outwards. 5. 7'he transversus auris arises from the prominent part of the concha on the dorsum of the ear ; and is inserted opposite into the contiguous part of the antihelix. Its use is to draw the parts to which it is connected to- wards each other. The muscles of the internal ear are three : 1. The laxator tympani arises from the spi- nous process of the sphenoid bone, and passes through the fissura glass'eri to be inserted into the long process of the malleus. Its use is to draw the malleus obliquely forwards. 2. The tensor tympani arises from the car- tilaginous extremity of the eustachian tube, and spinous process of the sphenoid bone, from thence running backwards through its osseous semicanal, it is inserted into the poste- rior part of the handle of the malleus. Its use is to pull the malleus and membrana tym- pani inwards. 3. The stapedius arises from a little cavern in the posterior part of the tympanum, and is inserted into the posterior part of the head of the stapes. Its use is to draw the stapes obliquely upwards. Of the muscles of the eye-lids. The palpebrae, or eye-lids, have one muscle common to both, and tke upper eye-lid one proper to itself. 1. The orbicularis palpebrarum arises from the outer edge of the orbitar process of the superior maxillary bone, and from a tendon near the inner angle of the eye then sur- rounding the aye, and covering the eye-lids, it is inserted into the nasal process of the superior maxillary bone. Its use is to shut the eye. 2. The levator palpebrae superioris arises [from the upper part of the foramen opticum, I and is inserted into the tarsus of the upper •eye-lid. Its use is to open the eye. Muscles of the eye-ball. The muscles which move the globe of the -eye are six, viz. four straight and two oblique. The four straight muscles very much re- 'Semble each other, and arise from the bottom [ of the orbit around the foramen opticum of the sphenoid bone. They are inserted at the fore part of the globe of the eye into the an- terior part of the tunica sclerotica, and under tiie tunica adnata, at opposite sides, which indicates both their names and use ; so that they scarcely require any further description, but to name them singly. They are the le- vator oculi, depressor oculi, adductor oculi, jasul abductor Oculi. The oblique muscles are two: 1. The obliquus superior, or trochlearis, " .arises from the edge of the foramen opticum at the bottom of the orbit, between the leva- j tor and adductor; hence it runs through a I cartilaginous trochlea on the inside of the in- | ternal angular process of the os frontis, and is inserted into the tunica sclerotica, between the attollens and optic nerve. Its use is to roll the globe of the eye, and to turn the pu- pil downwards and outwards. 2. The obliquus inferior arises from the outer edge of the orbitar process of the supe- | -rior maxillary bone, and is inserted into the [ sclerotica, between the abductor and optic nerve. Its use is to oppose the superior. Of the muscle of the nose. There is only one muscle on each side that . J he rectus capitis posticus minor arises from the back part of the atlas. It is in- ANATOMY. £3 sorted behind the foramen magnum. Its use is to assist the rectus major. 7. The obliques capitis superior arises from the transverse process of the atlas. It is in- serted into tile os occipitis, behind the back ot the mastoid process. Its use is to draw the head backwards. 8. 'i he obliquus capitis inferior arises from the spinous process ot the dentata, and is in- serted into the transverse process of the atlas. Its use is to rotate the head. fin the back near to the spine : 1. The sacro-lumbalis arises in common with the longissimus dorsi, inserted into the curve oi all the ribs. Its use is to pull the ribs down, and assist to erect the trunk of the body. 2. The longissimus dorsi arises from the side, and all the spines of the sacrum; from the posterior spine of the ilium, from the spines, and from the transverse processes of the lumbar vertebrae. It is inserted into the transverse processes of the 'dorsal vertebra*, and into the lower edge of all the ribs except the two inferior, near their tubercles. Its use is to extend the trunk. 3. The spinalis dorsi arises from the spines of the two uppermost lumbar vertebra;, and the three inferior dorsal vertebrae. It is in- serted into the spines of the nine uppermost dorsal vertebrae, except the first, its use is to fix the vertebrae, and to assist in raising the spine. 4. The semispinalis dorsi arises from the transverse processes of the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth dorsal vertebra*, and is in- serted into the spines of all the dorsal vertebrae above the eighth, and into the two lowermost cervical vertebrae. Its use is to extend the spine, obliquely backwards. On the neck : 1. The semispinalis colli arises from the transverse processes of the six uppermost vertebrae of the back. It is inserted into the spines of all the cervical vertebra*, except the first and- last. Its use is to extend the neck obliquely backward. 2. The multifidus spina arises from the side and spine of the sacrum, and from the posterior part of the ilium; from all the oblique and transverse processes of the lumbar vertebrae; from all the transverse processes of the dorsal vertebra ; and from those of the cervical, except the three first. It is inserted into all the spines of the lumbar, dorsal, and cervical vertebrae, except the first. Its use is to extend the vertebra backwards. 1. The jnterspinales colli arise from the spine of the inferior vertebra of the neck, and ascend to be inserted into tire spine of the superior vertebra. They are five in number. Their use is to draw these processes nearer to each other. 2. The intertransversales colli arise from the inferior transverse process of each ver- tebra of the neck, and first of the back, and are inserted into the superior transverse pro- cesses. Their use is to draw, these processes towards each other, and turn the neck to one side. 3. 4, and 5. The interspinales dorsi et lumborum, and the intertransversales dorsi, are rather small tendons than muscles, serv- ing to connect the spinal and transverse pro- cesses. 0. The intertransversales lumborum are four distinct small bundles which fill up the spaces between the transverse processes of the lumbar vertebra*, and serve to draw them towards each other. Muscles oti the shoulder. 1. Deltoides arises from the clavicle, pro- cessus, acromion and spine of the scapula, it is inserted into the anterior and middle part of the os humeri. Its use is to raise the arm. 2. Supraspinatus arises from the basis, spine, and upper costa of the scapula. It is inserted into a large tuberosity gt the head of the os humeri, its use is to raise the arm. 3. infraspinatus arises from the basis and spine of the scapula. It is inserted into Hie upper and middle part of the tuberosity. Its use is to roll the os humeri outwards. 4. Teres minor arises, from the inferior costa of the scapula. It is inserted into the lower part of the tuberosity, and rolls the humerus outward. 5. Teres major arises from the inferior angle, and costa of the scapula, it is inserted into the ridge at the inner side of the groove formed for the long head of the biceps. Its use is to assist in the rotatory motion of the arm. 0. Subscapularis arises from the basis, su- perior and inferior costa; of the scapula, it is inserted into the upper part ot a small tuberosity at. the head or the os humeri. Its use is to roll the arm inwards. 7. Coraeo-brachialis arises from the cora- coid process of the scapula, ft is inserted into tiie inner side of the os humeri. Its use is to raise the arm forwards and upwards. Muscles on the arm. 1. Biceps flexor cubiti arises by two. heads, one from the coracoid process, and the other, or long head, from the upper and outer edge of the glenoid cavity of the scapula. It is inserted into the tuberosity at the upper end of the radius. Its use is to bend the fore- arm. 2. Brachial is internus arises from the os humeri, below', and at each side of the tendon of the deltoides. It is inserted into a small tuberosity at the fore part of the coronoid process of the ulna, and into the upper and outer part of the olecranon. Its use is to assist in bending the fore-arm. 3. Triceps extensor cubiti arises by three heads : the first from the inferior costa of the scapula; the second from the upper and outer part of the os humeri ; and tiie third from the back part of that bone. Muscles on the fore arm. 1. Supinator longus arises from the ridge and anterior surface of the os humeri, a little above its outer condyle. It is inserted into the radius near its styloid process. Its use is to assist in turning the palm of the hand up- wards. 2. Extensor carpi radialis longus arises immediately below the origin of the supinator longus. It is inserted into the upper part of the metacarpal bone of the middle finger. Its use is to assist the extensor longus. 3. Extensor carpi radialis brevis arises from the outer and lower part of the outer condyle and the upper part of the radius. It is in- serted into the back part of all the bones of the four fingers. Its use is to extend the fingers. 4. Extensor digitorum communis arises from the outer condyle of the os humeri It h> in- serted into the back part of ail the bones of the four fingers. 5. Extensor minimi digiti arises from the outer condyle of the os humeri. It is inserted into the bones of the little finger. Its use is to extend the little finger. (i. Extensor carpi ulnaris arises from the condyle of the os humeri. It is inserted into the metacarpal- bone of the little finger. Its use is to assist in extending the wrist. 7. Ancomens arises from the outer condyle of the os humeri, it is inserted into the outer edge of the ulna. Its use is to extend the fore-arm. 8. Flexor carpi ulnaris arises from the inner condyle of the os humeri, and anterior edge of the olecranon. It is inserted into the os pyriforihe. Its use is to assist in bending the hand. 9. Palmaris longus arises from the inner condyle of the os humeri. It is inserted into the internal annular ligament. Its use is to bend the hand. 10. Flexor carpi radialis arises from the inner condyle of the os humeri, it is inserted into the metacarpal bone of the fore finger. Its use is to bend the hand. 11: Pronator radii brevis arises from the outer condyle of the os humeri, and coronoid process of the ulna. It is inserted into the anterior and convex edge of the radius, near its middle. Its use is to roil the band in- wards. 12. Flexor sublimis perforates arises from the inner condyle of the os humeri, inner edge of the coronoid process of the ulna, and upper and anterior part of the radius. It is inserted into the second bone of each finger. Its use is to bend the second joint of the fingers. 13. Supinator radii brevis arises from the outer condyle of the os humeri, the posterior surface and’ outer edge of the ulna. It is in- serted into the anterior, inner, and upper part of the radius. Its use is to roll the ra- dius outwards. 14. Abductor pollicis longus arises from the middle and back part of the ulna, inteross- eous ligament, and radius. It is inserted by two tendons into the os trapezium, and first bone of the thumb. Its use is to stretch the first bone of the thumb outwards. 15. Extensor minor pollicis arises from the back part of the ulna, and interosseous liga- ment and radius. It is inserted into the con- vex part of the second bone of the thumb. Its use is to extend the second bone of the thumb obliquely outwards. 16. Extensor major pollicis arises from the back part of the ulna and interosseous liga- ment. It is inserted into the third and last bone of the thumb. Its use is to stretch the thumb obliquely backwards. 1 7. Indicator arises from the middle of the ulna. It is inserted into the metacarpal bone of the fore’ finger. Its use is to extend the fore finger. 18. Flexor profundus performs arises from the upper and forepart of the ulna, and inter- osseous ligament. It is inserted into the fore part of the last bone of each of the fingers. Its use is to bend the last joint of the fingers. 1 9. Flexor longus pollicis arises from the upper and fore part of the radius. It is in- serted into the last joint of the thumb. Its use is to bend the last joint of the thumb. BO? Prbnstor radii quadratics arises from ilte inner and lower part of the ulna. It is inserted into the radius, opposite to its origin. Its use is to roll the radius inwards, ami" of course, to assist in the pronation of the hand. Muscles on the hand. I . Lumbricales arise from the tendons of the perforans. They are inserted into the tendons of the extensor digitorum communis. ’I heir use is to bend the first, and to extend the two last joints of the fingers. Abductor -brevis pollicis arises from the foie pai t of the internal annular ligament, os scaphoides, and one of the tendons of the ab- ductor longus pollicis. It is inserted into the outer side of the second bone of the thumb, near its root. Its use is to move the thumb from the fingers. 3. Opponens pollicis arises from the inner and anterior part of the internal annular liga- ment, and from the os scaphoides. It is in- setted into the first bone ot the thumb. Its use is to move the thumb inwards, and to turn it upon its axis. 4. Flexor brevis pollicis arises from the os trapezoides, internal annular ligament, os magnum, and os unciforme. It is inserted into the ossa sesamoidea and second bone of the thumb. ■’ • Abductor pollicis arises from the meta- carpal bone of the middle finger. It is in- serted into the basis ot the second bone of the thumb. Its use is to bend the second joint of the thumb. . d. Abductor indicis arises from the inner side ot the first bone of the thumb, and from the os trapezium. It is inserted into the first bone of the fore finger posteriorly. Its use is to move the fore finger towards the thumb. 7. Palmaris brevis arises from the internal annular ligament, and aponeurosis palmaris. It is inserted into the os pi.-iforme, and the skin covering the abductor minimi digiti. Its use is to contract the palm of the hand. . 8 - Abductor minimi digiti arises from the internal annular ligament and os pisiforme. It is inserted into the side of the first bone of the h tie finger. Its use is to draw the little finger from the rest. 9. Flexor parvus minimi digiti arises from the os unciforme, and internal annular limi- ment. It is inserted into the first bone of die hide finger. Its use is to bend the little finger. 10 . Abductor metacarpi minimi digiti arises from the os unciforme, and internal annular ligament If is inserted into the metacarpal hone o' tne little finger ._ Its use is to move that bone towards the rest. II. Interossei intend, situated between the metacarpal bones. They are inserted into tne roots ol the lingers. ' Their use is to ex- tend the lingers and move them towards the thumb. 12. Interos-ei extend, situated between the metacarpal bones on the ha k of the hand 1 hey are inserted into the roots of the Aimers 1 heir use is to extend the fingers; but the first draws the middle linger inwards, the second draws it outwards, and the third draws the ring-finger inwards. f Muscles on the upper part, of the thigh. f'Fita'us maximus arises from the spine ottlie i hum, posterior sacro-ischiatic ligaments os sacrum, and os cdecygis. inserted into ANATOMY. the upper part of the linea aspera of ihe os femoris. Its use is to extend the thigh and draw it outwards. 2. Glutaeus medius, arises from the spine and superior surface of the ilium. It is in- serted into the outer and back part of the great trochanter. Its use is to draw the thigh outwards and a little backwards, and when it is bended, to roll it. ’ 3. Glutaius minimus, from the outer sur- face of the ilium, and the border of its great niche. It is inserted into the upper and in- terior part of the great trochanter. Its use is to assist the former. 4. Pyriformis arises from the anterior part of the os sacrum. It is inserted into a cavity at the root of the. trochanter major. Its use is to roll the thigh outwards. 5. Gemini, arises by two portions, one from the outer surface of the spine of the ischium, the other from the tuberosity of the ischium, and posterior sacro-ischiatic liga- ment. It is inserted into the same cavity as the pyriformis. Its use is to roll the thigh outwards, and likewise to confine the tendon of the obturator interims, when the latter is in action. 6. Obturator internus arises from the su- perior half of the inner border of the fora- men thyroideum. It is inserted into the same cavity with the former. Its use is to roll the thigh outwards. 7. Quadratus femoris arises from the tube- rosity of the ischium. It is inserted into a ridge between the trochanter major and tro- chanter minor. Its use is to move the thigh outwards. Muscles on the thigh. 1. Biceps flexor cruris arises by two heads; one from the tuberosity of the ischium, the other from the linea aspera, near the inser- tion of the glutxus maximus. It is inserted into the upper and back part of the libula. Its use is to bend the leg. 2. Senfitendinosus arises from the tube- rosity of the ischium. It is inserted into the upper and inner part of the tibia. Its use is to bend and draw the leg inwards. 3. Semi-niembranosus arises from the tu- berosity of the ischium. It is inserted into the upper and back part of the head of the tibia. Its use is to bend the leg. 4. Tensor vagime femoris arises from the superior and anterior spinous process of the ilium. It is inserted into the inner side of the iascia lata, which covers flic outside of the thigh. Its use is to stretch the fascia. 5. Sartolius arises from the superior and anterior spinous process of the ilium. It is inserted into the upper and inner part of the tibia. Its use is to bend the leg inwards. 6. Rectus arises by two tendons ; one from the anterior and interior spinous process of the ilium, the other from the posterior edge ol the cotyloid cavity. It is inserted into the upper and fore part of the rotula. Its use is to extend the leg. 7. Gracilis, arises from the fore part of the iscimmi and pubis. It is inserted into the upper and inner part of the tibia. Its use i' s to bend the leg. H. Vastus externus arises from the anterior and lower part of the great trochanter, and tne outer edge of the linea aspera. Jt is in- serted into the upper and outer part of the rotula. Its use is to extend the l®g L 2 & 9. Vastus interims arises from the inner edge of the linea aspera, beginning between the fore part of the os femoris and the root of the lesser trochanter. It is inserted into the outer and inner part of the rotula. Its use is to extend the leg. "10. Crurseus arises from the outer and anterior part of the lesser trochanter. It is inserted into the upper part of the rotula. Its use is to extend the leg. 11. Pectinalis arises from the anterior ed^e of the os pubis. It is inserted into the upper and lore part of the linea aspera. Its use is to draw the thigh inwards, upwards, and to roll it a little outwards. 12. Adductor longus femoris arises from the upper and fore part of the os pubis. It is inserted near the middle and back part of the linea aspera. Its use is to draw the thierh in- wards, upwards, and to roll it a little" out- wards. 13. Adductor brevis femoris arises from the tore part of the ramus of the os pubis. It is inserted into the inner and upper part of the linea aspera. , ‘ Adductor magnus femoris arises from the lower and fore part of the ramus of the os pubis. It is inserted into the whole length of the linea aspera. 15. Obturator externus arises from part of the obturator ligament, and the inner half ot the circumference of the foramen thyroi- deum. It is inserted into the os femoris, near the root ot the great trochanter. Its use is to move the thigh outwards in an oblique direc- tion and likewise to bend and draw it in- wards. Muscles on ihe leg. 1. Gastrocnemius externus arises by two heads ; one from the inner condyle, the other from the outer condyle of the os femoris It is inserted by a great round tendon, common to this and the following muscle. Its use is to extend the foot. 2 Gastrocnemius interims arises by two beads; one from the back part of the head of the fibula, the other from the upper and back pai t ot the tibia. It is inserted by a large ten- don (the tendo Achillis), common to this and the former muscle, into the lower and back part ot the os calcis. Its use is to extend the toot. 3. Plantaris arises from the upper and pos- terior part ot the outer condyle of the os lemons. It is inserted into the inside of (hr back part of the os calcis. Its use is to assist m extending the toot. 4 Popliteus arises from the outer condyle of the thigh. It is inserted into the upper and inner part ot the tibia. Its use is to 1 assist in bending the leg and rolling it inwards. m flexor longus digitorum pedis arises mom the upper and inner part of the tibia. It is inserted by four tendons, which, after pass- ing tin ongh the perforations in those of the flexor digitorum brevis, are inserted into the last bone ot all the toes, except the great toe. Its use is to bend the last joint of the toe T X or ;° n S l | s Pollicis pedis arises from , , P ait > , anc l a little below the head of me fibula It is inserted into the last bone of the great toe. Its use is to bend the ®reat toe. . » 1 7. i lbiahs posticus arises from the back mu 10 edge ° f the tibia > aju! likewise m * llL mterosseous ligament and adjacent 84 ANATOMY Part of the fibula. Tt is inserted into the inner ‘hul upper part of the os naviculare, and side of the os cuneiforme medium. Its use is to move the foot inwards. 8. Peroneus longus arises from the outer side of the head of the tibia, and also from the upper anterior and outer part of the fibula, to winch it adheres for a considerable way down. It is inserted into the metatarsal bone of the great toe. Us use is to extend and to move the loot outward. 9. Peroneus brevis arises from the outer and fore part of the fibula. It is inserted into the metatarsal bone of the little toe. Its use is to assist the last-described muscle. 10. E,x Censor longus digitorum pedis arises from the upper, outer, and fore part of the tibia, interosseous ligament, and inner edge of the fibula. It is inserted by four tendons into the first joint of the smaller toes. Its use is to extend the toeS. 11. Peroneus tertius arises from the fore part of the lower half of the libula, and from the interosseous ligament. It is inserted into the metatarsal bone of the little toe. Its use is to bend the foot. 12. Tibialis anticus arises from the upper and fore part of the tibia. It is inserted into the os cuneiforme internum. Its use is to bend the foot. 13. Extensor proprius pollicis pedis arises from the upper and fore part of the tibia. It is inserted into the convex surface of the bones of the great toe.. Its use is to extend the great tae. Muscles on the foot. 1. Extensor brevis digitorum pedis arises from the upper and anterior part of the os raids. It is inserted by four tendons; one of which joins the tendon of Ihe externus longus pollicis, and the other three the tendons of the extensor digitorum longus. Its use is to extend the toes. 2. Flexor brevis digitorum pedis arises from the lower part of the os calcis. It is in- serted by four tendons, which, after affording a passage to those of the flexor longus, are inserted into the second phalanx of each of the small toes. Its use is to bend the second joint of the toes. 3. Abductor pollicis pedis arises from the in- ner and lower part of the os calcis. It is insert- ed into the first joint of the great toe. Its use is to move the great toe from the other toes. 4. Abductor minimi digiti arises from the outer tubercle of the os calcis, the root of the metatarsal bone of the little toe, and also from the aponeurosis plantaris. It is inserted into the outer side of the first joint of the little toe. Its use is to draw the little toe outwards. 3. Lumbricalis pedis arises from the ten- dons of the flexor longus digitorum pedis It is inserted into the tendinous expansion, at the part of the toes. Its use is to draw the toes inwards. 6. Flexor brevis pollicis pedis arises from the inferior and anterior part of the os calcis, and also from the inferior part of the cunei- forme externum. It is inserted by two ten- dons into the fir t joint of the great toe. Its use is to bend that joint. 7. Adductor pollicis pedis arises from near the roots of the metatarsal bones of the second, third, and fourth toes. It is inserted into the outer sesamoid bone, or first joint ot the great toe. Its use is to draw the great toe nearer to the rest, and also to bend it. 8. Transversales pedis arises from the outer and under part of the anterior end of the metatarsal bone of the little toe. It is insert- ed into the inner os sesamoideum and anterior end of the metatarsal bone of the great toe. Its use is to contract the foot. 9. Flexor brevis minimi digiti pedis arises from the basis of the metatarsal bone of the little toe. It is inserted into the first joint of the little toe. Its use is to bend the little toe. 10. Interossei pedis interni et externi, si- tuated between the metatarsal bones. Splanchnology explains the doctrine of the viscera. These are, according to their si- tuation, divided into thoracic, abdominal, and pelvic. The cavity of the thorax is divided into five lesser cavities, viz. the anterior cavity of the mediastinum, the posterior cavity of the mediastinum, the cavity of the pericardium, and the right and left cavities ot the thorax. The contents of the thorax are the pleura, pe- ricardium, heart, lungs and bronchi®, thymus gland, oesophagus, thoracic duct, arch of the aorta, descending cava, vena azygos, par va- gtim, and great intercostal nerve. The pleura is, from its situation, lining the ribs, or covering the lungs, divided into pleura pulmonalis, and costahs. The pericardium, or capsule of the heart, exhales from its internal surface a va- pour which in the dead subject forms the aqua pericardii. The heart consists of a base, sides, and an apex; its right side being also anterior, and its left posterior ; the auricles are placed toward its base, the ventricles extend to its apex ; the last-mentioned cavities con- tain the column® carni® and chord® tendi- ng®, give exit to the great arteries, and are separated from the auricles by the tricuspid valves, while the mouths of the arteries are protracted by the semilunar valves ; the right auricle contains the musculi pectinati, tuber- culum Loweri, fossa ovalis, Eustachian valve, and opening of the coronary vein, as well as the terminations of the ven® cav® ; the left auricle contains the openings of the pulmo- nary veins ; the auricles are separated by the septum auriculorum, the ventricles by the sep- tum ventriculorum. The lungs consist ot a right and left ; the right having three lobes, the left only two ; the bronchi® continued from the trachia, and consisting of smaller cartila- ginous circles, divide into capillary tubes,which terminate in the vesicul® bronchioles; the combination of these vesicles form the lobuli, which are connected by the interlobular sub- stance. The thymus gland is peculiar to the fetus, nor lias its duct "been discovered. The oesophagus is a membranous and muscular canal, requiring no particular description ; and the thoracic duct, arch of the aorta, &c. as well as the minuti® of the thoracic viscera in general, are described elsewhere. The mamma; on the external part of the thorax consist of a body containing the mammary gland and lactiferous ducts, an areola, and a papilla or nipple. Before describing the abdominal viscera, we may enumerate the salival glands, as they also are referable to the article splanchno- logy. They are the parotid, maxillary, sub- lingual, thyroid, molar, buccal, labial, lin- gual, amygdaline, palatine, uvular, arytenoid, &c. the names of most of which explain their situation. The mouth, fauces, pharynx, and oesophagus, are the continuations of one cavity. The abdomen is divided into the epigastric, hypochondriac, umbilical, epicholic, hypogas- tric, and inguinal regions. Its contents are the peritoneum and its productions, the sto- mach, the small and large intestines, the liver and gall-bladder, the spleen and the pancreas, the kidneys, ureters, &c. The chief productions of the peritoneum are the great and small omentum and the mesentery, sup- porting and conveying the vessels to the intes- tines. 'Ehe stomach consists of a great and small curvature, a great and small extremity, one orifice named cardiac, and another termed pylorus. The small intestines con- sist of the 'duodenum, distinguished by its val- vul® conniventes and glandul® Brumeri, the jejunum, remarkable for its ligamentary band, valvul® conniventes, and plexus glandulosi Peyeri, and the ileum, distinguished also by its ligamentary band, but having less promi- nent valves and glands. The great intestines consist of the c®cum, which possesses an ap- pendix, and has upon it the commencement of three ligamentary bands of the colon, con- sisting of an ascending, transverse, and de- scending portion, and having externally ap- pendices epiploic®, and strong ligamentary bands, and internally valvul® conniventes forming between them the cells of the colon, and that valve which has been called the great valve of the colon, cxcum, or ileum, and of the rectum terminating in the anus. The liver consists of two great and one small lobe, termed lobulus Spigellii ; it has a middle, right, left, and a round ligament ; its internal structure is composed of the penecilli, or ter- minations of the veil® port®, the pori biiiarii, in which the bile is secreted, and the hepatic ducts, which terminate in one trunk, and con- vey the bile from the liver. The gall-bladder consists of a fundus, a body, and a neck, which terminates in the duct called cysticus, and this joining the hepatic, they form together the ductus communis choledochus. The spleen is not properly understood, either in its struc- ture or uses. The pancreas resembles in structure the salivary glands, and possesses a duct which terminates together with the duc- tus communis choledochus, in the duodenum. The kidneys are placed behind the peritone- um, and consist internally of a papillary, and externally of a cortical substance, while their middle part is striated;* their internal cavity is called pelvis, and opens into tl>e ureter. The renal capsules are placed at the upper art of the kidney, and their uses are uil- nown. The pelvic viscera consist of the urinary bladder, and the male and female organs of generation. The bladder consists of a fundus or bottom, a body, and a neck ; its coats are a muscular, a cellular, and a villous. The male organs of generation consist of the testis, which has three coats, the tunica vaginalis, the cre- master, and the tunica albuginea, the internal structure of which consists of delicate tubes, membranous septa, cells, and semeniferous ducts, terminating in the epididymis. This convoluted vessel afterwards assumes the name of vas deferens, and opens within the prostate gland along with the vesicul® seminales, which are apparently cellular, but in reality tubular bodies, placed between the rectum and inferior part of the bladder. The prostate gland is situated between the neck ot the bladder and the bulb of the urethra ; the small projection on its inner surface is named caruncula, or verumontairum, and on each side of it several j ducts open from the gland. The penis itself consists of the corpora cavernosa on each side, the urethra interiorly, the corpus spongiosum surrounding the former, the glans penis termi- nating the corpus spongiosum, and the integu- ments and preputium, which invest the whole. The female organs of generation consist of the pubes, or mons Veneris, the labia, the clitoris consisting of two crura and a body , the nymplue internal to the labia, the urethra much shorter i than that of the male, and having similar lacuna 1 , f and the vagina, which in virgins contains the : hymen or circulus membraneus, and in mar- ried women its remains called carunculic myr- tiformes. These are the external parts of ge- neration in the female. The internal are the uterus and its appendages. T he uterus con- sists of a neck, a body, and a fundus, and has a triangular cavity within it; its inferior aperture \ is called 6s tinea-. 'The ligamenta lata tie the ; uterus to the sides of the pelvis. The ovaria j are fixed by the round ligaments to its corners, ■ and the Fallopian tubes proceed from its fundus j toward the sides of the pelvis, terminating in a fimbriated manner, and being enveloped, as ! well as the ovaria, in the broad ligaments. Angiology, or the doctrine of the vessels of the body, (from ayyuov, a vessel, and xoyos, a discourse) is divided into three parts, one which treats of the absorbents, another the ar- teries, and a third of the veins. Of the absorbent system. For the discovery of the principal parts of this system, we are chiefly indebted to Asel- I lius, Pacquet, Rudbeck, Jolyflfe, and Barlho- lin. Some of the vessels of which it consists had indeed been seen and mentioned by their predecessors, but it was in too cursory a man- I ner to give them any title to the discovery. Thus the lacteals had been seen in kids by ! Erasistratus, who calls them arteries, as we j are informed by Galen : and the thoracic duct j had been seen by Eustachius, who speaks of it as a vein of a pa- tit uiar kind, in 1622, Aselljus discovered those vessels ! on the mesentery, which, from their carrying a milk-white fluid, he denominated lacteals. This discovery being made by opening a liv- ing dog, anatomists were thence encouraged to make experiments on living animals ; and Pacquet, on opening a dog, in the year 1051, found a white fluid mixed with the blood in the right auricle of the heart : suspecting this fluid to be chyle, he endeavoured to determine how it got from the the lacteals into the heart. 'Phis he found was by means of the ductus thoracicus, which he traced from the lacteals to the subclavian vein ; and thus he clearly proved the existence of that duct which we now consider as the trunk of the system. Just before this time, the lacteals had been suppos- ed to terminate in the liver, conformably to the idea which the physiologists of that period had adopted about the use of this organ, which, from the authority of the older anatomists, they believed was the viscus haunatopoeticum, or received the chyle from the intestines to convert it into blood. In the years 1651 and 1652, Rudbeck, Jolyffe, and Bartholin, discovered the other parts of this system, which, from their carry- ing a transparent and colourless fluid, are called the lymphatic vessels. 'I hus there was proved to exist in the animal body a system of small vessels, containing fluids very different ANATOM V, from the blood, and opening into the sangui- ferous vessels at the leu subclavian vein. After this period, Nuck added to our know- ledge of this system, by his injection's of the lymphatic glands: Ruysch, by his description of the valves of the lymphatic vessels; and Dr. Meekel, by his accurate account' of the whole system, and by tracing those vessels in many parts where they had not been before de- scribed. Besides these, doctors Hunter and Monro have called the attention of the public to this part of anatomy in their controversy concern- ing the discovery of the office of the lympha- tics.' When the lymphatic vessels were first seen and traced into the thoracic duct, it was na- tural for anatomists to suspect, that as the lac- teals absorbed from the cavity of the intestines, the lymphatics, which are similar in figure and structure, might possibly do the same office with respect to the other parts of the body. And accordingly, Dr. Glisson, who wrote in 1654, supposed these vessels arose from cavi- ties, and that their use was to absorb. And Frederick Hoffman has very explicitly laid down the doctrine of the lymphatic vessels being a system of absorbents. But anatomists in general have been of a contrary opinion ; for from experiments, particularly such as were made by injections, they have been per- suaded that the lymphatic vessels did not arise from cavities, raid did not absorb, but were merely continuations from small arteries. 'Fire doctrine therefore that the lymphatics, like the lacteals, were absorbents, as bad been sug- gested by Glisson and by Hoffman, has been revived by Dr. Hunter and by Dr. Monro, who have controverted the experiments of their predecessors in anatomy, and have en- deavoured to prove that the lymphatic vessels are not continued from arteries, but are ab- sorbents. To this doctrine, however, several objec- tions were started, particularly by Haller ; and it was found, before the doctrine of the lym- phatics being a system of absorbents, could be established, it was first to be determined whether this system existed in other animals besides man and quadrupeds. Mr. Hewson claims the merit of having proved the affirma- tive of this question, by discovering the lym- phatic system in birds, fish, and amphibious animals. T he celebrated Soemmerring has observed, that these vessels are more than pro- portionablv larger in tall men, and more than proportionablv less in men of inferior stature. r J he absorbent system consists of the lac- teals, the lymphatic vessels, their common trunk, the thoracic duct, and tire glands called conglobate. The lacteals begin from the intestinal tube, and can, for the most part, be seen in a dog, or other large quadruped, that is killed two or three hours after eating, when they appear filled with a white chyle; but they do not al- ways convey a fluid of this colour ; for even in a cfog, if opened long after a meal, they are found distended with a liquor that is transpa- rent and colourless, like the lymph ; and in birds the chyle is never found white, but al- ways transparent. These vessels therefore might, with as much propriety, be called the lymphatics of the intestines. The lymphatic vessels are small pellucid tubes, that have now been discovered in most parts of the human body. The fluid they con- 65 tain is generally as colourless as water; a cir- cumstance which procured them at first the name of ductus aquosi, and afterwards that of vasa lymphatiea. The course of the lymph, like that of the chyle, is from the extreme parts of the body towards the centre ; and many of the lymphatic vessels lie close to the large blood-vessels. If, therefore, a ligature be thrown round the large blood-vesselsof the ex- tremities of a living animal, or of one just dead, that ligature, by embracing the lymphatics, will stop the course of the lymph, which, by distending the vessels, will make them visible below the ligature. All the lacteals, and most of the lymphatic vessels,' open into the thoracic duct, which lies upon the spine, and runs up towards the neck of the animal, where it commonly opens into the angle between the internal jugular and subclavian veins of the left side: and thus both the chyle and the lymph are mixed with the blood. If therefore a ligature be thrown round the thoracic duct immediately after killing an animal, not only the lacteal, but also the lymphatic vessels in the abdomen and lower extremities, become distended with their natural fluids. T he lacteals, tire lymphatics, and the tho- racic duct, all agree in having their coats thinner and more pellucid than those of the blood-vessels. But although their coats are so thin, they are very strong ; as we daily see on injecting them with mercury, since they resist a column of that fluid whose weight would make it burst through blood-vessels, the coats of which are many times thicker than those of the lymphatic system. The thinness of the coats prevents our di- viding them from one another, and thereby ascertaining their number as we do those of the blood-vessels. But as the blood-vessels have a dense internal coat, to prevent transu- dation, we have reason to believe the lympha- tics have the same. And as the blood-vessels have a muscular coat, which assists in the cir- culation, so may the lymphatics. This is rendered probable from what Dr. Haller says of his having found them irritable in his ex- periments, and also from what is observed on seeing them in living animals distended with their lymph, in which case they appear of a considerable size ; but upon emptying them of their contents, they contract so much as not to be easily distinguished. This experi- ment, Mr. Hewson informs us, he frequently made in the trunk of the lacteals in a goose, and on the lymphatic vessels on its neck ; both of which, when distended with their natural fluids, are as large as a crow-quill ; but upon emptying them in the living animal, he has seen them contract so much, that it was with the greatest difficulty lie could distinguish them from the fibres. * The coats of lymphatic vessels have, in common with all other parts of the body, ar- teries and veins For their nourishment. This is rendered probable by their being suscep- tible of inflammation; for they are frequently found in the form of a cord, painful to the touch, and extending from an ulcer to the next lymphatic gland. These painful swell- ings of lymphatic vessels likewise show that their coats have sensibility, and therefore that they have nerves as well as arteries and veins. Besides, we can clearly trace in different parts of the body, blood-vessels running along their surfaces. The lymphatic system in most animals, but particularly in man and quadrupeds, is full of valves. These valves have been painted by the celebrated Nuek, Ruysch, and others, and are much more frequent than in the com- mon veins; and thence these lymphatics have sometimes been distinguished by the name of valvular lymphatic vessels. Those valves are generally two in number, are of a semilunar shape, and one is sometimes much larger than the other. In some parts of the body, these valves are so numerous, that there are three or four pair in an inch of space ; but sometimes there is no more than one pair, sometimes several inches of a lymphatic ap- pear without a valve. They are less nume- rous in the thoracic duct than in the branches of the system. Thence it might be supposed, that in proportion as we go from the trunk to the branches, we should find them thicker set. But' this not always true; for Mr. Idew- son observed them more numerous in the lymphatic vessels of the thigh than on those of the leg. When the vessels are distended with lymph, they appear larger on that side of the valves next the heart, which sometimes gives a lymphatic vessel an appearance of being made of a chain of vesicles ; as sfich they are represented by some authors ; but it is an appearance that very seldom occurs in the human body. In quadrupeds, however, this appearance is very remarkable. Wherever a lymphatic vessel enters the thoracic duct, we i ind either one or two valves which prevent the return of the lymph. Lastly, the lymphatic system in different parts of its course has the glands, called con- globate or lymphatic. These glands are so placed, that the vessels come in on one side, and pass out on the other, in thdr way to the thoracic duct. They are commonly of an oval, though sometimes of a round shape, and frequently somewhat flattened, and of various sizes; some being no larger than a millet seed, while others are almost an inch in diameter. They vary in colour in different parts of the body, and at different times of life. In young people they are generally of a reddish or brown colour, but become paler with age. They have a shining external surface, which is owing to a smooth dense coat that covers them. Like other glands, they have arteries, veins, and nerves, which enter into their com- position ; but with respect to the rest of their structure, anatomists are much divided in opnion. Soemmerring has endeavoured to prove that they are partly cellular and partly vascular. That these glands are wanting in some animals is now known. The absorbent system, besides the glands, is divided into three parts, viz. the lacteal, the lymphatic vessels and the lacteal sac, and the lymphatic duct. The lacteals belong to the intestinal tube, the lymphatics to all the other parts of the body, and the lacteal sac and thoracic duct is the common trunk which receives both the lacteals and lymphatics. We shall give a particular description of the latter from the celebrated Monro, as being that part of the absorbent system which is most important, both to the general reader and to the medical student. “ The receptaculum chyli, or saccus lac- feus, is a membranous, somewhat pyriform bag, two-thirds of an inch long, one-third of ,an inch over in its largest part when collapsed ; situated on the first vertebra of the loins of the ANATOMY. right of the aorta, a little higher than the right emulgent artery, behind the right infe- rior muscle of the diaphragm ; it is formed by the union of three tubes, one from under the 'aorta, the second from the interstice of tjie aor- ta and cava, the third from under the emul- gents of the right side. “ The lacteal sac becoming gradually smaller toward its upper part, is contracted into a slender membranous pipe, of about a line diameter, which is generally .named the thoracic duct. This passes betwixt the mus- cular appendices, or inferior muscles of the diaphragm, on the right of, and somewhat be- hind the aorta; then being lodged in the cellular substance, behind the pleura, it mounts be- tween the aorta and the vena azygos, as far as the fifth vertebra of the thorax, where it is hid by the azygos, as this vein rises forward to join the descending or superior cava; after which the duct passes obliquely over to the left side behind the oesophagus, aorta de.-cen- . dens, and the great curvature of the aorta, until it reaches the left carotid artery ; behind which, on the Ifc-ft side of the oesophagus, it runs to the interstice of the first and second vertebra; of the thorax, where it begins to se- parate from the carotid, stretching further to- ward the left internal jugular vein by a cir- cular turn, whose convex part is uppermost. At the top cf this arch it splits into two for a line and a half; the superior branch receiving into it a large lymphatic vessel from the cer- vical glands. This lymphatic appears by blowing air and injecting liquors into it, to have few valves. When the two branches are again united, the duct continues its course to- ward the internal jugular vein, behind which it descends, and immediately at the left side of the insertion of this vein, enters the superior posterior part of the left subclavian vein, whose internal membrane duplicated forms a semi- lunar valve, that is convex externally, and covers two-thirds of the orifice of the duct; immediately below this orifice, a cervical vein from the musculi scaieni enters the subcla- vian. “ The coats of the sac and duct are thin transparent .membranes, from the inside of which, in the duct, small semilunar valves are produced most commonly in pairs, which are so situated, as to allow the passage of liquor upward, but oppose its return in an opposite course. The number of these is generally ten or twelve. _ “ This is the most simple and common course, situation, and structure, of the recep- taculum chyli, and thoracic duct.” Of the heart, lungs, and arterial system. Previous to describing the arterial system of the human body, it will be necessary to give a general account of the thorax and its contents. By the thorax we commonly understand all that part of the body which answers to the ex- tent of the sternum, ribs, and vertebras of the back, both outwardly and inwardly. The thorax is divided into the anterior part, called commonly the breast; the poste- rior part called the back, and the lateral parts called the right and left sides. The internal parts cf the thorax are con- tained in the cavity or the portion of the trunk, which is. named the cavity of the breast. 'Phis cavity is lined by a membrane called pleura, which forms the mediastinum, and contains the heart and lungs, with the vessels, & c . which go into or out from them ; through it likewise the oesophagus passes to the stomach, and part of the nerves are contained in it which go to the contents of the abdomen. , Carit U °J ^ ie thorax. The hard parts which form the sides of this cavity, are. the twelve vertebra? of the back, all the ribs, and the sternum. 'I he soft parts, which complete the sides, are, the membrane called pleura, which lines the cavity, and the musculi inter- costales, sterno-costales* and diaphragma, al- ready described. ° All these hard and soft parts taken together represent a kind of cage, in some measure of a conical figure, flatted on the foreside, de- pressed on the back side, and in a manner di- vided into two nooks, by the figure of the ver- tebra of the back, and terminated below a broad arched basis, inclined backward. The intercostal muscles fill up the intestines be- twixt the ribs, and so complete the sides of the cavity. r i he basis is the diaphragm ; and the pleura not only covers the whole inner surface of the cavity, but by forming the me- diastinum, divides *it into two, one on tiie right, the other on the left. Pleura and mediastinum. The pleura is a membrane which adheres very closely to the inner surface of the ribs, sternum, and musculi intercostales, sub-dos- tales, and sterno-costales, and to the convex side of the- diaphragm. It is of a very firm texture, and is supplied with blood-vessels and nerves, in all which it resembles the perito- nanun ; and likewise in that it is made up of an inner true membranous lamina, and a cel- lular substance on the outside. Each side of the thorax has its particular pleura entirely distinct from the other: and making, as it were, two great bladders, situ- ated laterally with respect to each other in the great cavity of the breast ; in such a manner as to form a double septum, or partition, running between the vertebra and the sternum, their other sides adhering to the ribs and dia- phragm. This particular duplicature of the two pleu- ra* is termed mediastinum: the two lamina; of which it is made up are closely united toge- ther near the sternum and vertebrae; but in the middle, and toward the lower part of the fore side, they are separated by the pericardium and heart, as we shall see hereafter. A little more backward they are parted in a tubular form by the oesophagus, to which they serve as a covering; and in the most poster, or part a triangular space i.s left between the vertebra and flie two pleura from above downward, wine n is filled chiefly by the aorta. i Before the heart, from the pericardium to the sternum, the two lamina* adhere very closely, and there the mediastinum is transpa- rent, except for a small space near the upper part, where the thymus gland is situated, so that in this place there is -naturally no inter- stice, or particular cavity. The apparent se- paration is owing entirely to the common method of raising the sternum, as was plainly demonstrated by Burtholinus in his treatise oH iie diaphragm, published at Paris in 1676. i he mediastinum does not commonly ter- minate along the middle of the inside of the sternum, as the common opinion has been. Muslow demonstrated, in the year 1715, to the Royal Academy of Sciences, that from : above downward, it inclines towards the left | side; and that if before the thorax is opened, | a sharp instrument be run through the middle of the sternum, therevrill be almost the breadth of a finger between 'the instrument and the ! mediastinum, provided that the sternum re- main in its natural situation, and the cartilages of the ribs be cut at the distance of an inch from it on each side. From all this, we see not only that the ; thorax is divided into two cavities, entirely separated from each other by a middle septum, Without any communication, but also that by ; the obliquity of this partition, fhe right cavity i is greater than the left ; but thefts are cxcep- [ tions to the above descriptions. Lientand | says he has met with several subjects in which the mediastinum descended along the middle • of /the sternum ; and ethers, where it was in- | dined to tiie left side. Sabatier observes this i is rare; but he has likewise met with several examples, where an instrument thrust through the middle of the sternum, got into the left cavity of the thorax. And he has sometimes seen the right lamina of the mediastinum fixed to the middle of the sternum, while the left ; one was fixed opposite to the articulation, i with the cartilages of the ribs ; a space being left between the two, which was Idled with cellular substance intermixed with fat. The pleura is connected to the membra- nous portion of the sternum,’ ribs, and mus- cles ; to the diaphragm, pericardium, thymus gland, and vessels : and', in a word, to what- ever lies n< ar its convex side. The surface of the pleura turned to the ca- vity of the breast, is continually moistened by a lymphatic serositV, which transudes through the pores' of the membranous portion. This fluid is said to be secreted by imperceptible glands; but the existence of these glands has not been hitherto demonstrated. Use. The pleura serves in general for an inner integument to the cavity of the thorax. The mediastinum cuts oil’ all communication between the two cavities, and hinders one lung from pressing on the other when we lie on one side. It likewise forms receptacles for the heart, pericardium, oesophagus, &c. and it is continued over the lungs in the manner which shall be explained hereafter. Before we leave the pleura it must be ob- served, that it adheres firmly to the ribs. This adhesion keeps the pleura stretched, and hin- ders it from slipping, or giving way. It like- wise renders this membrane extremely sensible of the least separation, caused by a coagulable lymph or accumulated blood ; the nervous filaments being likewise in this case very much compressed in inspiration by the swelling of the intercostal muscles. Pericardium. The heart, with all the parts belonging to it, is contained in a membranous capsula, called pericardium, which is, in some measure, of a conical figure, and somewhat bigger than the heart; but the difference must be less during life, when tire heart is full of blood. It is not fixed to the basis of the heart, but round the large veins above the auricles, before they send off the ramifications, and round the large arte- ries before their division. The pericardium is made up of three lami- na- ; the middle and chief of which is composed of very fine tendinous filaments, which are best seen in old persons ; they are closely in- ANATOMYr terwoven, and cross each other in different di- rections, The internal lamina seems to be a continuation of the outer coat of the heart, auricles, and great vessels. The trunks of the aorta and pulmonary artery 1 have one com- mon coat, which contains them both, as in a sheath, and is lined on the inside bv a cel- lular substance, chiefly in that space which lies between where the trunks are turned to each other and the sides of the sheath. There is but a very small portion of the vena cava contained in the pericardium. It is the middle lamina which chiefly forms the pericardium; and the figure of this bag is not simply conical, its apex or point being very round, and the basis having a particular elongation, which surrounds the great vessels, as lias been already said, as amply as the other portion surrounds the heart. The pericardium is closely connected to the diaphragm, not at the apex, but exactly at that place which answers to the flat or lower side of the he;irt ; and it is a very difficult matter to separate it from the diaphragm in dissection, the tendinous fibres of the one sub- stance intermixing, with those of the other. This adhering, portion is in some measure of a triangular shape, answering to that of the lower side of the heart; and the rest of the bag lies upon the diaphragm, without any ad- hesion. The external lamina, or common covering, as it may be, called more properly, is formed by the duplicature of the mediastinum. It adheres to the proper bag of the pericar- dium by the intervention of the cellular sub- stance in that duplicature, but leaves it where the pericardium adheres to the diaphragm ; on the upper surface of which it is spread, as being a continuation of the pleura. 'The internal lamina is perforated by an infinite number of very small holes through which a serous fluid continually transudes, in the same manner as in the peritonaeum, there being no glands for this purpose as some have supposed. This fluid being ge- nerally collected after death, makes what is called aqua pericardii, which is found in con- siderable quantities in opening dead bodies while they remain fresh. Sometimes it is of a reddish colour, which may be owing to a transudation of blood through the fine mem- brane of the auricles. Of the Heart. Situation in general, and conformation. The heart is a muscular body situated in the cavity of the thorax on the anterior part of the diaphragm between the two lamina; of the mediastinum. It is in some measure of a conical figure flatted on fhe sides, round at the top, and oval at the basis. According- ly we consider in the heart, the basis ; the apex ; two edges, the one right and the other left ; and two sides, one of which is generally flat and inferior, the other more convex and superior. Besides the muscular body, which forms what we chiefly call the heart, its basis is accompanied by two appendices called auri- cula;, and by large blood-vessels; of which hereafter : and all these are included in the pericardium. The heart is hollow within, and divided by a septum which runs besween the edges into two cavities called ventriculae, one of which 67 is thick and solid, the other thin and soft. This latter is generally termed the right ven- tricle, the other the left ventricle; though in their natural situation, the right ventricle is placed more anteriorly than the left, as we shall see. hereafter. ■Each ventricle opens to the basis by two orifices ; one of which answers to the auricl. s, the other to the mouth of a large artery ; and accordingly, one of them may be termed the auricular orifice, the other the arterial orifice. 1’he right ventricle opens into the right auricle, and into the trunk of the pul- monary artery ; the left into the left auricle, and into the great trunk of the aorta. At the edges of these orifices are found several moveable pellicula;, called valves, of which some are turned inward toward the cavity of the ventricles called the tricuspid ; others are turned toward the great vessels, called semilunar, or sigmoid, 'fhe tricuspid valves of the left ventricle are likewise termed mi- tral. Ventricles . The inner surface of the ven- tricles is very uneven, many eminences and' cavities being observable therein. The most considerable eminences are thick fleshy pro- ductions, called columnae carniaq fleshy co- lumns. To the extremities of these pillars are fastened several chorda; tending, tendi- nous cords, the other ends of which are join- ed to the valvulae tricuspides. There are: likewise other small short tendinous ropes along both edges of the septum, between the ventricles. These small cords lie in art obliquely transverse situation, and form a kind of net-work at different distances-. The cavities of the inner surface of the. ventricles are small deep fossula; or lacuna; placed very near each other, with small pro- minent interstices between them. The great- est part of these lacunae are orifices of the ve- nal duct, to be described hereafter. Structure of the ventricles. 'Fhe fleshy or muscular fibres of which the heart is made up, are disposed in a very singular manner, especially those of the right or anterior ven- tricle, being either bent into arches or folded into angles. The fibres which are folded into angles are longer than those which are only bent into arches. The middle of these arches and the angles of the folds are turned toward the apex' of the heart, and the extremities of the fibres towards the basis.. These fibres differ not only in length ; but in their directions, which are very oblique in all, but much more so in. the long or folded fibres than in the short ones-which are simply bent. It is commonly said, that this obliquity re- presents the figure 8 ; but the comparison is very false, and can only agree to some bad drawings made by persons ignorant of the laws of perspective. Ail these fibres, regard being had to their different obliquity and length, are disposed in such a manner as that the longest form partly the most external strata of the convex side 'of the heart, and partly the most inter- nal on the concave side, the middle of the arches and the angles meeting obliquely and successively to form the apex. The fibres situated within these long ones, grow gradually shorter and straighter all the way to the basis of the heart, where they are very short and very little incurvated. By this disposition, the sides of the ventricles are 83 ANATOMY. very thin near the apex of the heart, and very thick towards the basis. Lach ventricle is composed of its proper distinct fibres; but the left ventricle has many more than the right, its substance being considerably thicker. Where the two ventricles are joined, they form an impervi- ous septum which belongs equally to both. Opposite to this septum a groove is seen on the outside of the heart, one running longi- tudinally on the upper, the other on the un- der surface: in these grooves the great branches of the coronary arteries and veins are lodged. There is this likewise peculiar to the left ventricle, that the fibres which form the in- nermost septum of its concave side, form the outermost stratum of the whole convex side of the heart, which consequently is common to both ventricles : so that by carefully un- ravelling all the fibres of the heart, we find it to be made up of two bags contained in a third. The anterior or right ventricle is some- what larger than the posterior or left, as well observed by the ancients, and clearly de- monstrated by Mr. Iielvetius. The left is a little longer than the right, and in some subjects they end exteriorly in a kind of double apex. But it appears from experiments, that the inequality between the parts or the right and those of the left side of the heart, is not so great during life as after death; for in the hearts of animals killed by cutting across the vessels of the neck, and in those of persons who have died in battle from a wound in the vena cava, or pulmonary ar- tery, the inequality is less than we commonly perceive. This was first observed by M. \ ienssens, professor of anatomy at Altorf. Sabatier has made several experiments on animals, the result of which is nearly the same wit'n that mentioned above. All the fibres are not directed the same way, though they are all more or less oblique : for some end toward the right hand, others toward the left, some forward, some back- ward, and others in the intermediate places ; so that in unravelling them, we find that they cross each other gradually, sometimes accord- ing to tire length of the heart, and sometimes according to its breadth. The tubes which cross each other trans- versely, are much more numerous than those which cross longitudinally : which ought to be taken notice of, that we may rectify the false notions that .have been entertained con- cerning the motion of the heart ; namely, that it is performed by a contortion or twist- ing like that of a screw, or that the heart is shortened in the time of contraction, and lengthened in dilation. The fibres which .compose the inner or concave surface of the ventricles do not all reach to the basis ; some of them running into the cavity and there forming the fleshy columns to which the loose floating portion of the tricuspidal valves is tastened by tendi- nous cords. Besides these fleshy pillars the internal fibres form a great many eminences and de- pressions, which not only render the inner surface of the ventricles uneven, but give it a great extent within a small compass. Some of these depressions are the orifices of the vena! ducts, found in the substance of the ventricles, which have been already mention- ed. 'The circumference of the great open- ings of the basis of the hei.rt are tendinous, and may be looked upon as the common tendon of all the fleshy fibres, of which the ventricles are composed. Valves. The valves at tire orifices of the ventricles are of two kinds; one kind allows the blood to enter the heart, and hinders it from going out the same way ; the other kind allows the blood to go cut of the heart, but hinders it from returning. r l lie valves of the first kind terminate the auricles ; and those of the second lie in the openings of the great arteries. The first are termed semilunar or sigmoid valves; the others tricuspidal or mitral. The tricuspidal valve of the right ventricle is of a circular form, and is fixed to the open- ing of the auricle, while the other end is attached to the internal surface of the ven- tricle. The circular membrane of the valve soon divides into many parts, three of which are more considerable than the rest ; and those have got the name of tricuspid valves, though they are now generally considered as forming one. That which is next the month of the pulmonary artery is the largest, and is said by some to prevent the blood from getting into the artery, while the ventricle is filling. It has three triangular productions, very smooth and polished, on that side which is turned towards the auricle ; and on the side next the cavity of the ventricle, they have several membranous and tendinous expan- sions, and their edges are notched or indent- ed. The valve of the auricular orifice of the left ventricle is of the same shape and struc- ture, but it is only divided into two parts ; and, from some small resemblance to a mitre, has been named mitralis. That which is next the mouth of the aorta is the largest. The semilunar valves are six in number, three belonging to each ventricle, situated at the mouths of the great arteries, and they may be properly enough named valvulae ar- teriales. Their concave sides are turned to- ward the cavity of the arteries, and their convex sides approach each other. In ex- amining them with a microscope, v r e find fleshy fibres lying in the duplicature of the membranes or which they are composed. They are truly semilunar, or in form of a crescent 'on that side by which they adhere ; but their loose edges are of a different figure, each of them representing two small cres- cents ; the two extremities of which meet at tiie middle of this edge, and there form a kind of small papilla, first described by Arantius, and afterwards bv Morgani, and therefore named from them. The great artery that goes out from the left ventricle is termed aorta. At the beginning of the aorta, and behind the semi- lunar valves, three elevations are observed on the outside: these correspond to an equal number of pits on the inside, which from the discoverer have been called sinuses of Val- solva. Their use is not well known. The trunk of the artery which goes out from the right ventricle is called arteria pul- monaris. T his trunk, as it is naturally situ- ated in the thorax, runs first of all directly upward for a small space, then divides later- ally into two principal branches, one for each lung; that which goes to the right lung being the longest, for a reason that shall be given hereafter. Auricles. The auricles are muscular bags situated at the basis of the heart, and their capacities are in proportion to those of their respective ventricles ; one toward the right ventricle, the other toward the left, and joined together by an inner septum, and ex- ternal communicating fibres, much in the same manner with the ventricles ; one of them being named the right auricle, the other j the left. Ihey are very uneven on the in- j side, but smoother on ihe outside, and ter- minate in a narrow, fiat, indented edge, re- presenting a cock’s comb, or in some measure j the ear ot a dog ; this properly gets the name of auricle, the larger and smooth part of the cavity being called sinus venosus ; but as the two parts make one general cavity, the name of auricle is commonly applied to the whole. They open into the orifices of each ven- tricle, which 1 name auricular orifices ; and they are tendinous at their openings, in the same manner as the ventricles. The right auricle is larger than the left, and joins the right ventricie by a common tendinous opening, as has been already ob- served. It has two other openings united into one, and formed by two large veins which meet and terminate there almost in a t direct line, called vena cava, superior and inferior. Highmore has described an eminence in form of a valve, placed between the mouths of the two venae cava; : this he supposed directs the blood from the veins into the auricle ; afo terwards Lower described and delineated it ; and other anatomists have called it tuber-- eulum Loweri, till Morgagni denied its ex- istence in the human subject. At the mouth of the inferior cava, we find a membrane in form of a crescent, described by Lustuchius, and named from him. Its convex edge is fixed to the union of the vein and right au- ricle, while its concave edge is turned up- ward over the mouth of the vein. It is most complete in the foetus ; but it is found like wise in a person of advanced age, though it sometimes from use lias a reticular appear- ance. It is said to prevent the blood in the; auricle from returning into the cava ; but it has a different use in the foetus.. The notch- ed edge of this auricle terminates obliquely in a kind of obtuse point, which is a small particular production of the great bag, and i turned toward the middle ot the basis of the heart. The whole inner surface of the right au-j ride is uneven, by reason of a great number] of prominent lines which run across the side of it, and communicate with each other smaller lines which lie obliquely in the intes-j tines between the former, 'i he lines of the [ first kind represent trunks, and the other small branches run in an opposite direction to each other : these are called musculi pectinat* In the interstices between these lines the sides! of the auricle are very thin and almost! transparent, seeming to be formed merely by the external and internal coats of the au-j { ride joined together, especially near the j point. j The left auricle is in the human body a 1 kind of muscular bag or reservoir of a pretty! j considerable thickness, and unequally square, ! into which the four veins open called veiuej j pulmonarcs, and which has a distinct ap- i pendix belonging to it like a third small au- 1 ride. This bag is very even on botli sur- I faces, and is therefore called sinus venosus ; j J but to distinguish it from the one on tliej tight side, it is called sinus venosus sinister. How-efer,the bag and appendix have but one common cavity, and therefore may still be both comprehended under the common name of left s auricle. In men the small portion may likewise be named the appendix of the left auricle ; but in other animals the case is l different. This small portion or appendix of the left I auricle is of a different structure from that of the bag or large portion. Exteriorly it resembles a small oblong bag bent different ways, and indented quite round the edges. Interiorly it is like the inside of the right au- ricle. The whole common cavity of the left l auricle is smaller in an adult subject than 1 that ol the right ; and the ileshy fibres of the left auricle cross each other obliquely in stra- | ta differently disposed. Coronary arteries and veins. — Besides the I great common vessels, the heart has vessels [ peculiar to itself called the coronary arteries and veins, because they in some measure crown the basis of the heart. The coronary | arteries, which are two in number, go out from the beginning of the aorta, and after- I ward spread themselves round the basis of the heart, to the substance of which they send | numerous ramifications. Vieussens believed that some of the branch- -es of the coronary artery opened into the ca- | vities of th* ventricles and auricles ; for by j throwing a line injection into these arteries, he found it ru£ out into all sides of the right ventricle and auricle. Thebesius ot Aile- | mand being nearly of the same opinion, en- [ deavoured to prove that there were veins which carried part of the blood from the co- I ronary arteries immediately into the cavities j of the heart ; and these have therefore got | the name of veins of Thebesius, though lie is not the first discoverer. Winslow, Haller, and several others describe such veins ; but Duverney, after injecting the heart of an [ elephant, doubts of their existence. Senac, who has paid much attention ter this subject, denies it altogether ; and Sabatier coincides with him in opinion. There are seldom more than two arteries, of which one lies toward the right hand, the other toward the left of the anterior third j part of the circumference of the aorta. The right coronary artery runs in between the basis and right auricle, all the way to the flat [ side of the heart, and so goes halt-way round. The left artery has a like course between the basis and left auricle, and before it turns on the basis, it sends off a capiuil branch which runs in between the two ventricles. Another ' principal branch goes off from the union of the two arteries on the fiat side of the heart, •which running to the apex, there joins the other branch, The .coronary veins are distributed exte- ■ riorly much in the same manner. The largest opens into the posterior inferior part of the right auricle, by an orifice which is furnished with a valve first described by Eu- stachius. Besides the coronary veins, the ■heart has other anterior veins, which have been called by Vieussens venie innominate. Some of them go into the right auricle, others end in the right ventricle ; and there are . -other veins still smaller, which are found in the substance of the heart, and which termi- nate in the right sinuses and auricle. Particular situation of the heart. — The heart VOL. I. ASrATUSTr; lies almost transversely on the diaphragm. tbA i greatest part of it being i» tK« no. i Wivy ol the thorax, and the apex being turned toward the bony extremity of the sixth true rib. The basis is toward the right cavity ; and both auricles, especially the right, rest on the dia- phragm ; but the situation of the heart during life changes a little, according to the state of respiration, and to the position of the body. The origin or basis of the pulmonary ar- tery is, in this natural situation, the highest part of the heart on the fore side ; and the trunk of this artery lies in a perpendicular plane, which may beperceived to pass between the sternum and spina dorsi. T herefore some part of the basis of the heart is in the right cavity of the thorax ; and the rest, all the way to the apex, is in the left cavity ; and it is for this reason that the mediastinum is turned to- ward that side. According to this true and natural situation of the heart, the parts are commonly said to be on the right side, or rather anterior, and those on the left side posterior ;■ and that side of the heart which is thought to be the fore side, is naturally the upper side, and the back side consequently the lower side. The lower side is very fiat, lying wholly on the diaphragm ; but the upper side is a little convex through its whole length, in the di- rection of the septum, between the ven- tricles. Uses in general. — The heart, and parts be- longing to it, are the principal instruments of the circulation of the blood. The two ven- tricles ought to be considered as two sy- ringes, so closely joined together as to make i) ut one body ; and furnished with suckers, placed in contrary directions to each other, so that by drawing one of them a fluid is let in, and forced out again by the other. Lungs. Situation and general figure. — The lungs are two large spongy bodies, of a reddish co- lour in children, greyish in adult subjects, and bluish in old age ; tilling the whole ca- vity of the thorax, one !■ ing seated in the right side, the other in the left, parted by the mediastinum and heart ; and ofa figure answer- ing to that of the cavity which contains them ; that is, convex next the ribs, concave next the diaphragm, and irregularly Hatted and depressed next the mediastinum and heart. Division and figure in particular. — They are distinguished into the right and left lung ; and each of these into two or three portions, called lobes, of which the right lung has com- monly three, or two and a half, and the left lung two. The right lung is generally larger than the left, answerably to the cavity of the breast, and to the obliquity of the mediasti- num . In the lower edge of the left lung there is an indented notch or sinus, opposite to the apex of the heart, which is therefore never covered by that lung, even in the strongest respiration ; and consequently the apex of the heart and pericardium may always strike against the ribs, the lungs not surrounding the heart in the manner commonly taught. Structure. — The substance . of the lungs is almost all spongy, being made of an infinite number of membranous cells, and of different sorts of vessels spread among the cells in in- numerable ramifications. M SC) i r> — i- * — : *;•- - • — , a membrane continued from each pieuca* which is commonly said to be double ; but what is looked upon as the inner membrane, is only an expansion and continuation of a cellular substance, which shall be spoken of after we have described the vessels of the viscus. Bronchia.- — The vessels which compose part of the substance of the lungs are of three or four kinds ; the principal of these are air- vessels and blood-vessels. The air-vessels make the. chief part, and are termed bron- chia. These bronchia are conical tubes, com- posed of an infinite number of cartilaginous fragments, like so many irregular arches of circles, connected together by a ligamentary elastic , membrane ; and disposed in such a manner, that the lower easily insinuates them- selves within those above them. They are lined on the inside by a very fine membrane, which continually discharges a mucilaginous fluid ; and in the substance of the membrane are a great number of small blood-vessels, and on its convex side many longitudinal lines, which appear to be partly lieshy, and partly made up of an elastic sub- stance of another kind. The bronchia are divided, in all directions, into an infinite number of ramifications, which diminish gradually in size ; and as they become capillary, change their cartilaginous structure into that of a membrane. Besides these very small extremities of this numerous series of ramifications, we find that all the subordinate trunks, from the greatest to the smallest, send out from all sides a vast num- ber of short capillary tubes of the same kind. V esiculs bronchiajes.— Each of these bron- chial tubes is widened at the extremity, and thereby formed into a membranous cell, com- monly called a vesicle. These cells or folli- culi are closely connected together in bun- dles ; each small branch producing a bundle proportionable to its extent, and the number of its ramifications. Lobuli. — These small vesicular or cellulous bundles are termed lobules ; and as the great branches are divided into small rami, so tire great lobules are divided into several small ones. The cells or' vesicles of each lobule have a free communication with each other, but the several lobules do not communicate so readily. Interlobular substance. — The lobules ap- pear to be distinctly parted by another cellu- lar substance, which surrounds each of them in proportion to their extent, and fills up the interstices between them. This substance forms likewise a kind of irregular membra- nous cells, which are thinner, looser, nnd broader, than the bronchial vesicles. This substance is dispersed through every part of the lungs, forms cellulous or spongy vaginae, which surround the ramifications of the bronchia and blood-vessels, and is after- wards spread over the outer surface of each lung, where it forms a kind of fine cellulsif coat, joined to the general covering of that viscus.’ When w-e blow into this interlobular sub- stance, the air compresses and flattens the lobuli ; and when we blow into the bronchial vesicles they presently swell ; and if w-e con- tinue to blow with force, the air passes iusen- 'go - observation to M. Helvef'usT We Vascular texture. — All the bronchial cells are surrounded by a very fine reticular texture of the small extremities of arteries and veins, which communicate every way with each other. The greatest part of this admi- rable structure is the discovery of the illus- trious Malphigi. Blood-vessels. — The blood-vessels of the lungs are of two kinds ; one common, called the pulmonary artery and veins; the other proper, called the bronchial arteries and veins. The pulmonary artery goes out from the right ventricle of the heart ; and its trunk, having run directly upward as high as the curvature of the aorta, is divided into two lateral branches, one going to the right hand, called the right pulmonary artery ; the other to the left, termed the left pulmonary artery. The right artery passes under the curvature of the aorta, and is consequently longer than the left. They both run to the lungs, and are dispersed through their whole substance by ramifications nearly like those of the bronchia, and lying in the same direction. The pulmonary veins having been distri- buted through the lungs, in the same manner go out on each side by two great branches, which open laterally into the reservoir or muscular bag of the right auricle. 'Fhe ramifications of these two kinds of vessels in the lungs, are surrounded every where by the cellular substance already men- tioned, which likewise gives them a tind of vagina ; and the rete mirabile of Malphigi, described above, is formed by the capillary extremities of these vessels. It must be ob- served, that the ramifications of the arteries are more numerous and larger than those of the veins, which in all other parts of the body exceed the arteries both in number and size. Bronchial arteries and veins. — Besides these capital blood- vessels, there are others called the bronchial arteries and veins, which are very small, but they follow the bronchia through all their ramifications. They communicate with the pulmonary arteries and veins in many places, likewise with the arteries and veins of the oesophagus, and with branches of the coronary artery and vein. These are nutrient vessels of the lungs. Ligaments. — Under the root of each lung, '♦hat is, under that part formed by the subor- dinate trunk of the pulmonary artery, by the trunks of the pulmonary veins, and by the trunk of the bronchia, there is a pretty broad ligament, which ties the posterior edge of -each lung to the lateral parts of the vertebrae of the back from the root all the way to the , diaphragm. Trachea arteria. — The bronchia, already described, are branches or ramifications of a large canal, partly cartilaginous, and partly membranous, called trachea, or aspera arte- ria. It is situated anteriorly in the lower part of the neck, whence it runs down into the thorax between the two pleurae through the upper space left between the dnplicature of the mediastinum, behind the thymus. Having reached as low as the curvature of the aorta, it divides into lateral parts, one to- ward the right hand, the other toward the left, which enter the lungs, and are distribut- ed through them in the manner already said. ANATOMt. These two branches are called bronchia ; and U, other, they first proceed transversely ; then, rising between the layers of the mesentery, divide into smaller branches, which so. diverge, that in whatever direction they go, they are soon alter divided into two. These branches, as they meet, form various arches, from whose • ANATOMY. {H convex margin new parallel branches arise, which again soon dividing, inosculate with the adjacent branches, forming smaller and more numerous arches. From the convexity of t hose arches other branches arise, forming a third series of arches, and where the branches are longest, even the fourth or fifth series, til! the last branches near the intestines, dividing into anterior and posterior, encircle these vis- cera, and gradually penetrating their coats, form most beautiful arborescent ramifications on the cellular membrane. These arches, by means of their twigs, not only form various inosculations among themselves, but also with the arborescent ramifications of the two sur- faces. The inner intestinal coat is so covered by these branches and the veins, as to give it the appearance of being wholly vascular. The trunks of these arborescents lie on the roots of the valvular. The arches are polygons; and the first series larger than the .rest. The lymphatic glands and coats of the vessels are surrounded with numerous and various twigs as variously described. IV. The inferior mesenteric or left colic. — This artery rises between the venal and com- mon iliacs, from the anterior and left side of the aorta, descends behind the peritoneum to the left side of the trunk ; and having reached that place where the aorta divides into two remarkable crura forming the iliacs, sends oif a large branch; and after passing the iliac artery, sinks behind the rectum into the pel- vis. As it here rises forward and to the right, it enters the duplicature of the meso-reclum, and accompanies the intestine as far as its in- ternal sphincter. V. Capsular or atrabiliary, right and left. — These are distinct small arteries, which, though never wanting, as they distribute many branches to the capsular gland, yet, in almost every individual, they present irre- gularities in number, size, or direction. They do not, like the vein, issue from one common trunk, but from various branches, coming ii^ar together nigh the seat of the gland. VI. The renal or emulgent artery, right ■and left. — It is unnecessary to enumerate the varieties which anatomists have observed as to the number, origin, and magnitude of this arterv. It generally rises single from the side of the aorta between the superior and inferior mesenteric artery, from which it de- scends transversely at less than a right angle. The left, which 'is rather shorter than the right, and more posterior in its origin, turns, near the kidney, over its concomitant vein ; while the right, "which is longer, is covered by its concomitant vein. Approaching the renal depression, it divides into two or four branches, which, sinking separately before and behind the pelvis of the kidney, are again divided, and distribute their spread- ing branches to the papillary ones. These, as they encircle the convex margin of the papilla;, form arches with the adjoining branches, and seem to separate the cortical from the tubular substance. From the con- vex and concave margin of each arch rise in- numerable small arteries, of which the former encircle the cortex, and with some of their branches, pass through its substance, and dis- appear on the fat ; while the rest are chiefly dispersed and exhausted on the tubular part. Before entering the kidney, the renals give out, VII. The spermatic artery, right and left. — This artery is very slender, but; con- sidering the smallness of its diameter, is the longest that rises from the lateral part of the aorta. It generally has its origin between the renal and mesenteric arteries, though the right and left do not always issue from the same place ; the left often rising higher, and proceeding frequently from the renal or the inferior capsular. I have observed at times, two on each side. It descends from the aorta somewhat tortuously, at a very acute angle, behind the peritoneum, and passes before the vena cava on the right side. It is more tortuous in women than in men, in whom it passes through the abdominai ring. It joins its concomitant vein upon the surface of the psoas muscle. Received by the sper- matic cord, it is divided, at some inches before reaching the testes, into five branches: two of which go to the head and upper ex- tremity of the epididymis ; while the rest running down to the testicle itself, penetrate the tunica albuginea, and send off new branches in every new direction ; which, proceeding in a winding course, and reduced to the inferior margin of the testes, are partly exhausted on its substance, and partly on the convolutions ©f the seminiferous ducts. VIII. The lumbar arteries, right and left — five in number ; issuing from the lateral and posterior part of the aorta, at nearly a right angle. The first runs transversely under' the first vertebra of the loins; the fifth, between the last vertebra and os sacrum; and the rest between the vertebral intestines’ while all of them, after being reflected round the'spine, sink into the intervening spaces ot the vertebra?. The right are longer than the left. The superior proceed in a straight line, while the inferior incline a little downwards. Two sometimes arise from a single trunk, and all except the first are covered by the psoas muscle. THIRD SUBDIVISION. Branches from the termination of the aorta. Distribution of the common iliacs. The common iliacs exhaust the whole of the aorta. The right iliac crosses the lower part of the vena cava, near the origin of the iliac vein. The left leans on the outside of its concomitant vein, but does not cover it. A little below, each divides into two branches : the one, named the internal iliac or hypo- gastric, sinks into the cavity of the pelvis ; the other, called the external iliac, passes to the thigh, where it receives the name of the femoral. The sacro-median, and, at times, some minute arteries, are in general, the only branches of the common iliacs. The sacro-median — similar in size to the lumbar, is an azygous artery; and, rising from the bifurcation, or a little higher from the middle of the aorta, or from one of the lumbars, or some- times from one of the common iliacs, runs down along the middle of the an- terior surface of the sacrum, as far as the coccyx, where it forms with the sacro-laterals, an arch whose convexity is downward. (I.) The internal iliac or hypogastric — five times larger in the foetus than the ex- ternal; but, after a year, only equal in size; for while the umbilical exhausts almost the whole blood of the trunk, it seems con- tinued into this artery, forming an arch convex downward, from whose circumference the olher small arteries of the pelvis are sent' off. When passing the brim of the pelvis, behind the peritoneum, it lies, with a more obtuse angle, in the middle, between the ileum and sacrum ; thence bending gradu- ally downwards, between the pelvis and its viscera. When the umbilical artery decays, the trunk distributes its numerous branches in directions so various, that none of them seem to follow its course. As the common pudic and ischiadic, however, run most directly downward, they have generally been considered by anatomists as its continuation. Its branches, though constant in their desti- nation, are irregular in their origin ; some being distributed to the pelvic viscera, while others run to the external and adjoining parts. 1. The sacro-lateral arteries — irregular in origin and number. Sometimes only one, sometimes more, even to five, come off from the trunk, from the posterior iliac, or the ileo-lumbar. If only one be present, it goes down, near the foramina of the sacrum as far as the coccyx, and there forms the arch already mentioned. If more, the su- perior inosculate among themselves ; while the inferior terminates in the sacro-median. 2. The obturator artery — rising some- times from the epigastric branch of the ex- ternal iliac, and running toward the pelvis ; more frequently, issuing from the trunk of the ; hypogastric, the posterior iliac, the ischiadic or ileo-lumbar. It runs downward and for- j ward, connected to the bones of the pelvis by cellular membrane, following the superior edge of the obturator interims : and passing through the sinuous depression of the thyroid hole, runs to the thigh with its concomitant nerve and vein. 3. The posterior iliac, or gluteal — the] largest of all the arteries, issuing from the hypogastric. It rises from the back part of the trunk, soon after the sacro-lateralis and obturator ; passes, deeply upward and back- ward, to the superior edge of the pyriform muscle, till concealed by the two origins of tiie ischiadic nerve, it leaves the pelvis ; then winding externally around the pyriformis, if distributes its branches among the gluteal muscles. Within the pelvis, it sometimes gives rise to the ileo-lumbar, obturator, sacro- lateralis, ischiadic, and common pudic. 4. The ischiadic — smaller than the for- mer artery, but observing the same course with the hypogastric. It passes from the pelvis, between the lower edge of the pyri- formis and the levator ani, and descends under the great gluteus, parallel with the larger ischiadic ligament. We have observed the trunk divide into two, sending off the middle haemorrhoidal and pudic. 5. 'Fhe common pudic — the pudic — cir- cumflex, internal, middle, or external pudic — rising often from a common trunk, with the ischiadic, but easily distinguished by its smaller size, by its bending more forward and inward while in the pelvis, by its passing out between the pyriformis and the posterior part of the levator ani, and by its greater distance from that extremity of the pyri- formis which is attached to the sacrum. Having passed from the cavity of the pelvis, it is concealed by the great sacro-1 sciatic ligament, under which it runs to the spine of the ischium, and enters the spaced between the lesser and greater sacro-sciatio ligaments. Having passed the spine, it next runs to the Internal surface of the tuberosity of the ischium, where, being attached to the bone by the aponeurosis of the obturator interims, it follows the curved margin of the ischium, and bends forward to the ramus. The artery is here exhausted by two branches i sent off near the transverse muscle of the j perineum. [ (II.) The external iliac — the other branch of the common iliac, after it has divided into two branches, near, or a little below, the I junction of the sacrum and ileum. It observes the same oblique direction outwards as the j common iliac. Having passed obliquely lover the inner edge of the psoas, and run- 1 ning behind the peritoneum, upon this muscle ] and the tendinous portion of the lliacus, it j passes to the thigh under the Fallopian liga- ijnent, along with the vein covering it before, | ail d the crural nerve attached to its external : side. Having passed Poupart’s ligament, it i becomes the common femoral. The branches | of this artery are, 1. /lhe epigastric — rising at an acute angle, from the inner side of the trunk, near the external lateral margin of the abdominal j ring, and the inferior part of the Fallopian ligament. It first descends; then, being immediately reflected, proceeds inward, behind the internal and posterior surface of the spermatic cord and epigastric vein. Now rising a little higher, and resting upon the peritoneum as it lines the abdominal muscles, it passes the outer and upper commissure of the abdominal ring, and then proceeds inward junder the inferior part of the transverse mruscle, bending to the rectus, behind which it ascends to the umbilicus. 2. 1 lie circumflex iliac, abdominal, or small external iliac — generally smaller than Ithe last, and sent off a little lower than the .external side of the trunk; passes upward jand outward, in a retrograde course, under .the peritoneum ; reaches the crest of the ileum ; and bending, parallel to the arched circumference of this bone, proceeds between the extremity of the iliacus interims and [transversal is, as also betwixt the transversalis [and obliquus interims, where it is finally ex- pended among the abdominal muscles. i Distribution of the common femoral. 1 he common femoral, a continuation of the external iliac, runs without the Fallopian ligament in the groin. The femoral vein tinder which it lies, conceals its internal margin, while the whole is covered by a large quantity ot cellular substance, fat, inguinal glands, and the fascia of the thigh. Advanc- ing about two inches, it divides on the Inferior part ot the iliacus interims, into two arteries ol nearly equal size. Of these, the continu- ation of the trunk is called the superficial Ifemoral ; and that which rises from the back mart ot the trunk, the deep femoral or fe- moral profunda. From the common trunk generally arise, (T.) The deep femoral— concealed at its origin by the superficial femoral, the glands, and a quantity of fat, lies in the deep trian- gular cavity, between the iliacus, pectineus, and adductors ; and bending convexly out- ward, over the united iliacus and psoas, runs backward and downward, to the higher ex- tremity of the vastus interims. Having reached the bottom of the cavity, it again bends greatly forward ; and passing between tke long and short adductors, and the vastus ANATOMY. interims, runs, downward and backward, near to the middle of the femur. At last, entering the space between the long and short adduc- tors, or perforating this last muscle, it reaches the adductor magnus, and passes through it with various branches, running among the posterior muscles of the thigh. The first direction and size of the trunk vary consider- ably, according as it issues, sooner or later, from the common femoral, and according to the number and size of the branches which it sends off. Of these some are of little conse- quence; but there are some which merit attention. 1 . The externa] circumflex— a conspicuous branch, and often the first when it arises from this artery ; though it sometimes issues from the superficial femoral. It bends outward, between the iliacus interims, the rectus and sartorius, and between the tensor faciae and the anterior surface of the middle gluteus ; then passing transversely under the tendi- nous head of the vastus externus, disappears at last near the root of the large trochanter. 2. The internal circumflex — rises near the origin of the external, from the internal and posterior part of the trunk; passes to the middle of the pectineus through the adipose substance, between this muscle and the tendon of the psoas, and runs deeply back- ward above the trochanter minor. Con- cealed here by muscles and fat, it divides into branches between the short and great adductor, or between the adductor and pec- tineus. Of these branches, the largest ap- proaches the neck of the femur, acetabulum, and obturator externus, and proceeding s out- wards and backwards to the insterstice be- tween the qua drat us and adductor rnagnus, divides into two branches ; and is partly ex- pended on the muscles attach k 1 to the femur, and partly through the interstice to the flexus of the thigh. 3. The perforants. (IT.) The superior femoral artery, lying externally, and covered through its whole course by the broad facia, by the inguinal glands above, and on the middle part by the sartorius, as it runs obliquely across the femur. It then proceeds downward, inward, and backward, passing gradually from the anterior to the inner surface of the thigh, and from that <:o the ham or poples. At first it is sepa- rated from the deep femoral, by a quantity of fat, and by the glands ; then lies upon the vastus interims, and, passing along in a de- clivity between the vastus interims and ad- ductors, enters the oblique canal in the com- mon tendon of the adductors. Having passed through this canal, it takes the name of pop- liteal artery, where it runs from the inner to the back part of the thigh. Before reaching the posterior part, it passes over two-thirds of the femur; and though the thigh be here more slender than at the superior part, it lies more deeply concealed among the muscles. 1. The large anastomatic branch, rising from the inner surface of the trunk, at the superior margin of the tendinous canal ; and, bending downwards, spreads, with many ser- pentine ramifications, on the vastus internus, into which it sinks. 2. The several perforants. The popliteal artery; that part of the su- perficial femoral which runs along the ham. Its superior part is bounded by the posterior margin of the tendon of the triceps, audits in- 05 ferior by the higher extremity of the soleus muscle, under which it divides into the an- terior and posterior tibial arteries. Being co- vered externally by the aponeurosis which surrounds the joint, it runs obliquely out- ward and downward, through the adipose substance, between the flexor tendons, passing, into the cavity between the condyles and the heads of the gustrocnemii. As it proceeds over the joint of the knee, it lies upon the capsules and afterwards on the popliteal mus- cle. The numerous branches to which, in this course, it gives origin, are divided into articular and muscular. 1 . The anterior tibial artery, smaller than the posterior, rises anteriorly "from the pop- liteal, at the inferior margin of the popliteal muscle, and, perforating the interosseous ligament, runs to the anterior part of the leg. It descends on the ligament, at first between the tibialis anticus and common extensor, then between the anticus and extensor longus of the great toe. In this course it lies nearer the fibula than the tibia ; but gradually sepa- rating from the ligament, it turns forwards and inwards the farther it descends; and pass- ing over the lower extremity of the tibia and the tarsus, along with the extensor tendons, under the crucial ligament, divides s between the first and second metatarsal hones into two branches ; of which one, sinking between the bones to the planta of the foot, inosculates with the branches of the posterior tibial, while the other, passing along the dorsum of the foot, runs to the great toe. (II.) The posterior tibial, the other branch of the popliteal, passes down under the soleus upon the posterior surface of the flexor longus and tibialis posticus, to the lower extre- mity of the tibia, and is afterwards inflected to the sole of the foot, behind the internal ancle. While there covered by the laciniated liga- ment and fat, it meets the broad extremity ot the abductor pollicis, and divides into two branches: one of which passing to the great toe, is the internal plantar ; the external planter runs- to the sole, between the flexor brevis and longus, and under these, still deeper, to the fifth metatarsal bone. Here returning to the great toe, by an oblique and transverse flexion under the tendons of the flexor longus, it forms the plantar arch. Its chief branch is, 1. 'File common fibular or peroneal, very irregular in size and in the distribution of its branches. It often equals in dimension the anterior tibial; sometimes is entirely wanting, and at other times is rather smaller than the posterior tibial. Rising near the upper part of the tibialis posticus, it descends between the muscle and the flexor pollicis, by which a little lower it is covered ; and at last it touches the interosseous ligament. Near the inferior part of the bones, it divides into the anterior and posterior fibular. V tins. Veins are membranous canals, which either terminate in the vena cava superior, vena cava inferior, or vena ports. Like the arteries, they also consist of three tunics, but they have no pulsation, collapse when divided, possess a greater diameter than the arteries, have more numerous branches, a more reti- cular arrangement, and run more super- ficially. Except the veins of the viscera and brain, these vessels also possess valves. The veins of the external part of the head ANATOMY. $6 and neck are the frontal, angular, temporal, auricular, lingual, occipital, and muscular. Ail these terminate in the external jugular, which opens into the subclavian. The veins or sinuses of the brain, viz. the cavernous, circular, petrosal, occipital, longitudinal, su- perior, and inferior, the torcular, herophili, and the lateral, on the contrary, terminate in ■ the internal jugular, which also opens into the subclavian, '1 lie vertebral veins returning from the brain, terminate similarity. The chief veins of the upper extremities are the axillary in the axilla, the brachial in the arm, and the cephalic on the outside, the median on the middle, and the basilic on the inside, of the fore-arm. The cephalic and basilic veins being joined by the mediana ce- phalica and mediana basilica, pass up the arm. .. The veins of the thorax are the internal thoracic veins, the vena azygos, which returns the blood of the intercostal veins, and the two subclavian, of which the left is longer than the right, on account of the situation of the superior cava toward the right side. The vena porta;, which is distributed through the liver, derives its blood from the mesenteric and splenic veins. Those of the loins and pelvis exactly cor- respond to the lumbar and pelvic arteries. The veins of the lower extremities are the* vena saphena major, which passes up the in- side of the leg and thigh, and terminates in the groin ; the vena saphena minor, which passes up the outside of the leg, and ter- minates in the ham ; the popliteal and the crural veins, which accompany their corre- sponding arteries. It must be observed that both in the leg and in the thigh, each deep-seated artery is accompanied by two corresponding veins, de- nominated vena; sodales. Of the eye. The principal and most essential part in each organ, is the globe or ball of the eye ; the others are partly external and partly in- ternal. The external parts are the supercilia, or eye-brows, the palpebrse, or eye-lids, the ■caruncula lachrymalis, and the puncta lachry- malia ; and the internal parts are the muscles, fat, lachrymal gland, nerves, and blood-ves- sels. The globe or ball of the eye. Composition. — The globe of the eye being the most essential of all the s®ft parts belong- ing to the organ of sight, and being likewise a part which we are obliged to mention as often as we speak of the other soft parts, must be first described. It is made up of several proper parts ; some of which being more or less solid, represent a kind of shell formed by the union of several membranous strata, called the coats of the globe of the eye ; and the other parts being more or less fluid, and con- tained in particular membranous capsula;, or in the interstices between the coats, are term- ed the humours of the globe of the eye. The coats of the globe of the eye are of three kinds. Some form chiefly the shell of the globe; some are additional, being fixed only to a part of the globe ; and some are capsular, which contain the humours. The coats, which form the globe of the eye, are, the sclerotic, to which the convexity of the globe is owing ; the cornea, which forms the an- terior part of the globe ; the iris, or circle, surrounding the pupil, choroides, and retina. or expansion of the optic nerve. The addi- tional is the conjunctiva, which covers the whole fore-part of the eye, and lines the eye- lids. The capsular tunica; are two, the vitrea; and crystaliina. The globe of the eye thus formed, receives from behind a pretty large pedicle, which is the continuation of the optic nerve. It is situated about the middle of the orbit, in the manner which we shall afterwards see ; and it is tied to it by the optic nerve, by six muscles, by the tunica conjunctiva, and by the pal- pebra;. The back part of the globe, the optic nerve, and muscles, are surrounded by a soft, fatty substance, which fills the rest of the bottom of the orbit. The humours are three in number : the aqueous, vitreous, and crystalline. The first is contained in a space formed in the interstices of the anterior portion of the coats. The second or vitreous humour, is contained in a particular membra- nous capsula, and fills above three-fourths of the shell or cavity of the globe of the eye. It has been named vitreous, from its supposed resemblance to melted glass ; but is really more like the white of a new-laid egg. The crystalline humour is so called from its re- semblance to crystal, and is often named simply the crystalline. It is rather a gummy mass than an humour, of a lenticular form, more convex on the back than on the fore- side, and contained in a fine membrane called membrana or capsula crystaliina. The external parts of the eye. The supercilia, or eye-brows, are the two ridges covered with hair, situated at the lower part of the forehead, between the top of the nose and temples. The palpebra; are a kind of veils or cur- tains placed transversly above and below the anterior portion of the globe of the eye. The superior is the largest and most moveable in man. The tarsi are thin cartilages forming the principal part of the edge of each palpebra ; and they are broader at the middle than at the extremities. The broad ligaments of the tarsi are membranous elongations formed by the union of the periosteum of the orbits, and pericranium along both edges of each orbit. The lacrymal gland, the use of which till oflate years was not known, is yellowish, and of the number of those called conglome- rate glands. From this gland several small ducts go out, which run down almost parallel to each other, through the substance of the tunica interna or conjunctiva of the superior palpebra', and afterwards pierce it inwardly near the superior edge of the tarsus. The flat edge of each palpebra is adorned with a row of hairs, called cilia, or the eye- lashes. Those belonging to the superior palpebra; are bent upward, and longer than those of the lower palpebra, which are bent downward. Along the same border of the palpebra, near the internal membrane, or toward the eye, we see a row of small holes, which may be named foramina, or puncta ciliaria. They are the orifices of the same number of small oblong glands which lie in the sulci, channels, or grooves, on the inner surface of the tarsus. Near the great and internal angle of the palpebra lacrymales, and duc- tus, two small holes are very visible, com- monly named puncta lacrymalia, being the orifices of two small ducts called lacrymal, which unite beyond the angle of the eye, and open a little below the upper end of a par- ticular reservoir, termed sacculus lacrymalis. The caruncula lacrymalis is a small reddish, granulated, oblong body, situated precisely between the internal angle of the palpebrae and globe of the e\e. The fold which has the name membrana semilunaris, appears most when the eye is turned toward the nose ; it is shaped like a crescent, the two points of which answer to the puncta lacrymalia, and conduct the tears into the puncta. The vessels, nerves, and muscles of the eye, are each described in their place. Of the nose. The parts of which the nose is composed may be derived in two different ways, viz. from their situation, into external and internal parts ; and from their structure, into hard and soft parts. The external parts are from the root of the nose, the arch, the back or spine of the ! nose, the sides of the nose or of the arch, the tip of the nose, the ahe, the external nares, ] and the part under (he septum. The internal parts are the internal nares, the septum Barium, the circumvolutions, the choncha; superiores, -or ossa spongiosa supe- riora, choncha; inferiores, the posterior open- ings of the internal nares, the sinus frontales, sinus maxillares, sinus sphenoidal es, the due- ] tus palatini. The firm or hard parts are mostly bony, and the rest cartilaginous, viz. j the os frontis, os ethmoides, os sphenoides,] ossa maxillaria, ossa nasi, ossa unguis, ossa palati, vomer, choncha; inferiores, and the cartilages. To these we may add the periosteum and perichondrium, as parts be-] longing to the bones and cartilages. The soft parts are the integuments, mus-1 cles, sacculus lacrymalis receiving the tears,! membrana pituitaria lining all the cavity of the nose, vessels, nerves, and hairs of the nares. The bony parts have been all ex-; plained in the description of the skeleton ; and therefore we need only in this place to set down the distribution and disposition thereof, for the formation of some of the principal parts. The septum is formed by the descending lamina ol the os ethmoides,] and by the vomer, and it is placed in the groove formed by the crist ce of the ossa max- illaria, and rising edges of the ossa palati. The fore part of the nose is formed by the ossa nasi; and the sides by the superior apophyses of the ossa maxillaria. The internal nares, or the two cavities of the nose, comprehend tire whole space be-! tween the external nares and posterior open- ings, immediately above the arch of the palate, whence these cavities reach upward- as far as the lamina cribrosa of the os eth- moides, where they communicate forward with the sinus frontales, and backward with the sinus sphenoidales. Laterally, these ca- vities are bounded on the inside by the sep- tum narium ; and on the outside, or that next the cheek, by the concha;, or ossa spon- giosa, between which they communicate with the sinus maxillares. Of the ear. The external ear. — Two portions are dis- tinguished in the external ear ; one large and solid, called pinna, which is the superior, more cartilaginous, and by much the greater 4 ANATOMY'. part ; the other small and soft, called the lobe, which makes the lower part. We may like- wise consider two sides in the outward ear, one turned obliquely forward, and irregularly concave; the other turned obliquely back- ward, and unequally convex. The foreside is divided into eminences and cavities. The eminences are four in number, called helix, antihelix, tragus, and antitra- gus. The helix is the large folded border, or circumference of the great portion of the ear. The antihelix is the large oblong eminence, or rising, surrounded by the helix. The tra- gus is the small anterior protuberance below the anterior extremity of the helix, which, in an advanced age, is covered with hairs. The antitragus is the posterior tubercle, below the inferior extremity of the antihelix. The cavities on the fore side are four in number ; the hollow of the helix, the depres- sion at the superior extremity of the antihelix, called fossa auricularis ; the concha?, or great double cavity, that lies under the rising term- ed antihelix, the upper bottom of which is dis- tinguished from the lower by a continuation of the helix, in form of a transverse crista ; and lastly, the meatus of the external ear, situated at the lower part of the bottom of the concha. The other parts of the external ear are ligaments, muscles, integuments, sebaceous and ceruminous glands, vessels, and nerves. 'Fhe bony part of the organ of hearing may be divided into four general parts. 1. The meatus auditories externus. 2. The tympa- num. 3. The labyrinth. 4. The meatus audi- torius intern us. It may likewise be divided into immoveable or containing parts, which take in all the four already mentioned ; and moveable or contained parts, which are four little bones lodged in the tympanum, called incus, malleus, stapes, and os orbiculare or lenticulare. The meatus externus is somewhat more than half an inch in length, running obliquely from behind forward in a curved direction. It terminates inwardly by an even circular edge, which is grooved quite round, for the attachment of the membrana tympani. The tympanum, or drum of the ear, is a cavity somewhat spherical, or rather hemi- spherical, the bottom of which is turned in- ward, and the mouth joined to the circular groove already mentioned. The remarkable eminences are three in number ; a large tu- berosity, lying in the very bottom of the tympanum, a little toward the back part, and a small irregular pyramid, situated above the tuberosity, and a little more backward, the apex of which is perforated by a small hole. In the third eminence is a cavity situated at Ihq upper end, a little toward the anterior part of the bottom of the tympanum. This cavity is part of a halt-canal, which, in a na- tural state, has one of the muscles of the mal- leus lodged in it. The principal cavities in the tympanum are, the opening of the mastoid cells, the opening of the Eustachian tube, the bony half- canal, the fenestra ovalis and rotunda; and to these may be added the small hole in the pyramid. The labyrinth is divided into three parts; the anterior, middle, and posterior ; the mid- dle portion is termed vestibulum, the anterior cochlea, and the posterior labyrinth in parti- cular, which comprehends the three semi- circular canals. Yol. I. The cochlea lies forward and inward, to- ward the extremity of the pars petrosa; the semicircular canals backward and outward, toward the basis of the process, and the vesti- bulum between the other two. The meatus auditorius internus, is on the back side of the pars petrosa, in some mea- sure behind the vestibule and basis of the cochlea fossula- ; one large and the other small. The ductus auris palatinus, or Eustachian tube, is a canal or duct, which goes from the tympanum to the posterior openings of tire nares, and toward the arch of the palate. The membrana tympani is a thin, transpa- rent, ilattish pellicle, the edge of which is round, and strongly fixed in the orbicular groove which divides the bony meatus of the external ear from the tympanum, or barrel. The whole internal cavity of the labyrinth is filled with a watery fluid, secreted from the vessels, which are dispersed upon the perios- teum. This fluid transmits to the nerves the vibrations it receives front the membrane situ- ated between the tympanum and labyrinth. The superfluous part of this fluid is suppos- ed to pass off through two small canals, called aqueducts of Cotunnius. The portio mollis of the auditory nerve ends, by its trunk, at the great fossula of the internal auditory hole, whence the filaments pass through the cochlea, the vestibule, and the semicircular canals, upon membranous canals, and bags disposed within them. Of the mouth . , and organ of taste. The mouth may be distinguished into ex- ternal and internal ; and the parts of which it consists may likewise come under the same two general heads. The bony parts are the ossa maxillaria, ossa palati, maxilla inferior, and the teeth; to these we may add os hy- oides, and the upper vertebra of the neck. The external parts of the mouth are, the two lips, one upper the other under; the bor- ders, or red part of- the lips, the corners, or commissures of the lips ; the fossula of the up- per lip, the basis of the under lip; the chin, the basis of the chin; the skin ; the beard; and even the cheeks, as being the lateral parts of the mouth in general, and of the lips in par- ticular. The internal parts of the mouth are, the gums, palate, septum palati, uvula, amyg- dala-, the tongue, the membrane which lines the whole cavity, the salival duct and glands, and the bottom of the mouth. The palate is that arch or cavity of the mouth, surrounded anteriorly by the alveo- lar edge and teeth of the upper jaw, and reaching thence to the great opening of the pharynx. The arch is partly solid and im- moveable, and partly soft and moveable. 1 he solid portion is that' which is bounded by the teeth, being formed by the two ossa .maxilla- ria, and two ossa palati. The sott portion lies behind the other, and runs backward, like a veil fixed to the edge of the ossa palati, being formed partly by the common mem- brane of the whole arch, and partly by several muscular fasciculi, &c. The velum palati, terminates below by a loose floating edge, representing an arch, si- tuated transversely above the basis, or root, of the tongue. 'Fhe highest portion, or top, of this arch, sustains a small, soft, and irregularly conical glandular body, fixed by its basis to 97 the arch, and its apex hanging down, without adhering to any thing, which is called uvula. On each side of the uvula there are two mus- cular half-arches, called columpa? septi pa- lati, which contain between them the glands called amygdala?. The tongue is divided into the basis and point, the upper and under sides, and the lateral portions, or edges. The basis is the posterior and thickest part; the point the an- terior and thinnest part. The upper side is not quite flat, but a little convex, and divided into two lateral halves, by a shallow depressed line, called linea lingua? mediana. The edges are thinner than the other parts, and a little rounded, as well as the point. The lower side reaches only from tire middle of the length of the tongue to the point. Three sorts of pa- pilla? may be distinguished in the upper side of the tongue, capital*, semi-lenticulares, and villosai. Of the skin and organ of touch. The common integuments are divided into cuticula, rete mucosum, cutis vera, and cor- pus adiposum. The outside of the skin is covered by a thin transparent insensible pellicle, closely joined to it, which is called epidermis, cuticula, or scarf-skin. Under the cuticle, we meet with a sub- stance of a greyish colour, which has got the name of corpus cuticulare, or rete mucosum ; it is of a soft, mucilaginous, and viscid nature, and tills up the interstices of the fibres run- ning between the cutis vera and cuticula. After raising the cuticle in a negro, where it is thickest and most distinct, this substance appears of a black colour, and is composed of two layers. It is this that chiefly gives the colour to the skin, for it is black in the Afri- can, and white, brown, or yellowish, in the European. The cutis vera, or skin, properly so called, is a substance of very large - extent, made up of several kinds of iibres, closely connected together, and running in various directions, being composed of the extremities of nume- rous vessels and nerves. • It is not easily torn, may be elongat ed in all directions, and afterwards recovers itself, as we see In the persons, in women with child, and in swellings ; and it is thicker and more compact in some places than in others. In' different parts of the body, we meet with small glands, or follicles, of an oval form, and seated chiefly under the skin in the cor- pus adiposum. These are called sebaceous and miliary. The last universal integument of the human body is the membrana adiposa, or corpus adi- posum. The nails are productions of the epidermis. The hairs belong as much to the integu- ments as the nails. Their roots, or bulbs, lie toward that side of the skin which is next the membrana adiposa. Of the brain. This mass is divided into three particular portions; the cerebrum, or brain, properly so called, the cerebellum, and medulla oblon- gata. To these three parts, contained within the cranium, a fourth is added, which tills the great canal of the spina dorsi, by the name of medulla spinalis, being a continuation of the medulla oblongata. §8 1 lie meninges, or membranes of the. brain, ere two in number ; one of which is very strong, and lies contiguous to the cranium; the other is very thin, and immediately touches the brain. The first is named dura mater, the second pia mater. The last is again divided into two, the external lamina being termed arachnoides, the internal re- taining the common name of pia mater. From the former are the falx pentorium, & c. which are septa of the brain, while the latter more immediately invest the cerebral mass. Cerebrum. Situation and figure,— The cerebrum, pro- perly so called, is a kind ot medullary mass, of a moderate consistence, and of a greyish colour on the outer surface, filling all' the superior portion of the cavity of the cranium; or that portion which lies above the trans- verse septum. The upper part of the cere- brum is of an oval figure. It is flatter on the lower part, each lateral half of which is di- vided into three eminences, which correspond with the cavities at the base of the cranium. Division and lobes. — The cerebrum is di- vided into two lateral portions, separated by the falx, or great longitudinal septum of the dura mater. They are generally termed hemispheres, but they are more like quarters of an oblong spheroid. Each of these por- tions is divided into two extremities, one an- terior, and one posterior, which are termed the lobes of the cerebrum, between which there is a large inferior protuberance, which goes by the same name; so that in each he- misphere there are three lobes, one anterior, ine middle, and one posterior. The anterior and middle lobes of the cerebrum on each side are parted by a deep p arrow sulcus, termed tissura magna sylvii. Sides and inequalities. — Each lateral por- tion of the cerebrum has three sides; one su- perior, which is convex, one inferior, which is uneven, and one lateral, which is Hat, and turned to the falx. Through the whole sur- face ot these three sides, we see inequalities, er windings, like the circumvolutions of intes- tines, formed like weaving streaks or furrows, very deep and narrow, into which the septa, ©r duplicatures of the pia mater, insinuate themselves, and thereby separate these cir- cumvolutions from each other. Near the surface of the cerebrum, these circumvolutions are at some distance from each other, representing serpentine ridges; and in the interstices between them, the su- perficial veins of the cerebrum are lodged. Substance. — r J lie substance of the cerebrum is of two kinds, distinguished by two different colours, one part of it being of a greyish or ash colour, the other, which is somewhat firmer than the former, is remarkably white, but redder in the foetus. The ash-coloured substance lies chiefly on the outer part of the cerebrum, like a kind of cortex, whence it has been named substantia corticalis, or cinerea. 'I he white substance occupies the inner part, and is termed substantia medullaris, or sub- stantia alia. T his abounds in greater quan- tity than the other, and in many places is per- forated with red arteries. Corpus callosum. — Having cut off the falx from the crista galli, and turned it backward; it we separate gently the two lateral parts or hemispheres ot the cerebrum, we see a lon- gitudinal portion of a white convex body, ANATOMY. which is named corpus callosum, Both ex- tremities of this medullary body terminate by a small edge, bent transversely downward. Medullary arch and centrum ovale.— The corpus callosum becomes afterward conti- nuous on each side, with the medullary sub- stance, which, through all the remaining parts of its extent, is entirely united with the cor- tical substances and together with the cor- pus callosum forms a medullary arch or vault, of an oblong or oval figure. To perceive this, the whole cortical substance, together with the medullary laminae mixed with it, must be cautiously and dextrously cut in the same direction with the convexity of the ce- rebrum. Ventriculi laterales. — Under this arch are two lateral cavities, much longer than thev are broad, and very shallow, separated by a transparent medullary septum ; of which here- after. These cavities are generally named the lateral ventricles of the brain. The lateral ventricles are broad, and rounded at those extremities which lie next the transparent septum. They go from be- fore backward, contracting in breadth, and separating from each other gradually in their progress. Afterward they bend downward, and return obliquely from behind forward, in a course like the turning of a ram’s horn, and terminate almost under their superior ex- tremities, only a little more backward and outward. At the posterior part, where they begin to bend downward, there is on each side a par- ticular elongation, which runs backward, and terminates in a triangular pointed cavity, turned a little inward, the two points resemb- ling horns. These ventricles are every where lined with a continuation of the pia mater. Septum lucidum. — The transparent parti- tion, or septum iucidum, as it is commonly called, lies directly under the raphe, or su- ture of the corpus callosum, of which it is a continuation, and a kind of duplicature. It is made up of two medullary lamina?, more or less separated from each other bv a nar- row medullary cavity, sometimes filled with a serous substance. Fornix. — The septum lucidum is united by its lower part, to the anterior portion of the particular medullary body, called improperly the fornix with three pillars. It is in reality nothing but the corpus callosum ; the lower side of which is like a hollow ceiling, with three angles, one anterior, and two posterior, and three edges, two lateral and one poste- rior. The lateral edges are terminated each by a large semicylindrical border, like two arches, which, uniting at the anterior angle, form by their union what is called the anterior pillar of the fornix; and as they run backward separately toward the two posterior angles, they have then the name of the posterior pil- lars. The anterior pillar being double, is larger than either of the posterior ; and the marks of this - duplicity always remain. Immediately below the basis of this pillar we observe a large, white, short medullary rope, stretched transversely between the two hemispheres, and commonly called the anterior commissure of the cerebrum. It is to this pillar that the septum lucidum adheres. The posterior pil- lars are bent downward, and continue through the lower portions of the ventricles all the way to their cavities, resembling a ram’s horn. which is ci name that has been given to them. They diminish gradually in thickness during 1 this course, and at their outsides have each a small, thin, Hat, collateral border, to which ] the name of campora fimbriata is applied. 'I he posterior pillars of theemra ot the fornix unite with two medullary protuberances, call- ed pedes hippocampi, ’i lie inferior surface of the triangular ceiling, which lies between these arches, is full of transverse, prominent, ! medullary lines; for which reason the ancients I called it psallo.des and lyra, comparing it to a I stringed instrument, something like what is I now called a dulcimer. Under the fornix, and immediately behind its anterior crura, there is a hole, the'ibramen i Monroi, of a considerable size, by which the | two lateral ventricles communicate, and an- \ other passage leads down from this under the ] different appellations of foramen commune 1 anterius, valva, iter ad infundibulum, but more I properly iter ad tertium ventriculum. Eminences. — 'I he fornix being cut off, ] and inverted, or quite removed, we see first ] of all avascular web, called plexus choroides, and several eminences move or less covered j by the expansion of that piexus. There are 1 four pairs of eminences, which follow each I other very regularly, two large, and two J small. live first two great eminences are 1 named corpora striata, and the second tha- | land nervorum opticorum. The four small J eminences are closely united together; the 1 anterior being called nates, and the posterior I testes ; but it would be better to call them 1 simply anterior and posterior tubercles. Im- 1 mediately before these tubercles, there is a | single eminence, called glandula pinealis. Corpora striata. — -The corpora striata got 1 that name, because, by cutting them with tire 1 knife, we meet with a great number of white I and ash-coloured lines,' alternately disposed, I which arc only the transverse sect'on of the 1 medullary and cortical laminae, mixed toge- 1 ther, in a vertical position, in the basis of the 1 cerebrum, as appears evidently by incisions 1 made from above downward.* ’t hese two 1 eminences are of a grej ish colour on the sur- 1 face, oblong, roundish, pyriform, and larger 1 on the fore than on the back part, where they J are narrow and bent. J 1 They lie in the bottom of the superior ca- 1 vity of the lateral ventricles, which they re- 1 seinble in some measure in shape, their an- 1 lerior parts being near the septum lucidum, 1 from which they separate gradually, as they I run backward, and diminish in size. They 1 are in reality the convex bottoms of the ven- 1 tricles ; and it is at the lower part of the in- 1 terstice, between the largest, portions of them, j that we observe the greatest transverse cord, j termed the anterior commissure of the cere- ] brum, which we mentioned already in de- .] scribing the anterior pillar of the fornix. 1 I his cord communicates more particularly 1 with the bottom of the corpora striata, bv a 1 turn toward each side. Thalami nervorum opticorum. — The tha- 1 ianvi nervorum opticorum are so named, be- J cause these nerves rise chiefly from them. 1 They are two large eminences by the side of 1 each other, between the posterior portions or I the extremities of the corpora striata. Their ] figure is semispheroidal, and a little oval, and | they are of a whitish colour on the surface, 1 and their inner substance is partly greyish ] and partly white ; so (hut in cutting them we I ANATOMY. 99 I see- streaks of different colours, like those of !«j the corpora striata. These two eminences are closely joined to- ! gether; and at their convex part they are so far united, as really to become one body; the whitish outer substance being continued uni- formly over them both. Third ventricle. Immediately under the I union, or beginning of the thalami nervorum jf opticorum, lies a particular cavity, called the I third ventricle of the cerebrum. This cavity I communicates, at its upper and fore part, | with the passage between the two lateral ven- j tricles, and sends down from its under and I I fore part a passage through the infundibulum. I It opens backward into the passage called toe iter ad quartum ventriculum. Infundibulum. Between the basis of the anterior pillar of the fornix, and the anterior part of the union of the optic thalami, lies a jj small medullary canal, named infundibulum. | It runs down toward the basis of the cerebrum, I contracting gradually, and terminates in a | straight course by a small membranous canal, | in asoftish body, situated in the sella Turcica, i* named glandula pituitaria. Plexus choroides. The plexus chorokk s is la very fme vascular texture, consisting of a | great number of arterial and venal ramifica- | tions, partly collected in two loose vasculi, | which lie on each lateral ventricle, and partly I expanded over the neighbouring parts, and I covering in a particular manner the thalami | nervorum opticorum, glandula pineal is, tu- $ bercula quadrigemina, and the other adjacent | parts, both of the cerebrum and cerebellum, | to all which it adheres. Glandula pituitaria. The pituitary gland | is a small spongy body, lodged in the sella f Turcica, between the sphenoidal folds of the l dura mater. On the outside it is partly grey- I ish, and partly reddish, and white within. It I is transversely oval or oblong ; and on the I lower part, in some subjects, is divided by I a small notch in two lobes, like a kidney- 1 bean. It is covered by the pia mater, as by I a bag, the opening of which is the extremity l of the infundibulum : and is surrounded by I the small circular sinuses, which communicate I with the sinus of the cavernosi. Tubercula. The tubercles are four in I number, two anterior and two posterior; ad- I bering together, as if they made but one I body, situated behind the union of the thalami 1 nervorum opticorum. They are transversely ■ oblong, the anterior being a little more round- led, and broader, or larger, from before back- I ward than the posterior. Their surface is I white, and their inner substance greyish. I ® D.rectly under the place where the tuber- cles of one side are united to those ot the other side, lies iter ad quartum ventriculum, which communicates by its anterior opening with the third ventricle, under the thalami nervo. urn opticorum, and by its posterior opening with the fourth ventricle, which be- longs to the cerebellum. ! Foramen commune posterius, where the convex parts of the two anterior tubercles join these posterior convex parts of the thalami nervorum opticorum, an interstice, or open- ing, is left between these four convexities ; but it does not communicate with the third ven- tricle, for the bottom of it is shut up by the pia mater. It has got the name of anus ap- Splied to it, i Glandula pinealis. The glandula pineal is is a small, sott, greyish body, about the size of an ordinary pea, irregularly round, and sometimes of the figure ot a pine-apple, situ- ated behind the thalami nervorum opticorum, above the tubercula quadrigemina. it is fixed like a small button to the lower part of the thalami, by two very white medullary peduu- cuii, which at the gland are very near each other, but separate transversely towaid the thalami. 'Phis gland is almost always found to contain a peculiar gritty substance : below the glandula pinealis there is a medullary tranverse cord, called the posterior commis- sure of the hemispheres of the cerebrum. Cerebellum. Situation and figure. The cerebellum is contained under the transverse septum of the dura mater, in the under and back part of the cranium. It is broader laterally than on the fore or back sides, flatted on the upper side, and gently inclined both ways, answerable to tiie septum, which serves it as a kind of tent or ceiling. On the lower side it is rounder ; and on the back side it is divided into two lobes, separated by the occipital septum of the dura mater. Structure. It is made up like the cere- brum, of two substances. It has two middle eminences, called appendices vermiformes : one anterior and superior, and turned for- ward ; the other posterior and inferior, which goes backward. There are likewise two la- teral appendices, both turned outward. They are termed vermiformes, from their resem- blance to a large portion of an earthworm. Fourth ventricle. When we separate the two lateral portions or lobes, having first made a pretty deep incision, we discover first of all the posterior portion of the medulla oblon- gata, of which hereafter: and in the posterior surface of this portion, from the tubercula quadrigemina, all the way to the posterior notch, in the body of the cerebellum; and a little below that notch, we observe an oblong cavity, which is called the fourth ventricle ; this terminates backward, like^the point of a writing pen. Hence the under end of it is called calamus scriptorius. If we cut one lobe of the cerebellum vertically, from above downward, the medullary substance will ap- pear to be dispersed in ramifications, through the cortical substance. These ramifications have been named arbor vita?, and the two trunks, whence these different lamina: arise, are called pedunculi cerebelh. Medulla oblongata. The medulla oblongata is a medullary sub- stance, situated from before backward in the middle part of the basis of the cerebrum and cerebellum, without any discontinuation be- tween the lateral parts of both these bases. The chief medullary productions are these ; the large, or anterior branches of the medulla oblongata, which have likewise been named crura anteriora medulla: oblongata?, and pe- dunculi cerebri ; the transverse protuberance, called likewise processus annularis, or pons Varolii ; the smaller posterior branches, call- ed pedunculi cerebelli, or crura posteriora medulla; oblongata? ; the extremity, or cauda, of the medulla oblongata, with two pairs of tubercles ; one of which is named corpora olivaria, the other corpora pyramidaiia ; and to all these productions we must add a pro- duction of the infundibulum, and two medul- lary papillae. Medulla spinalis. The medulla spinalis is only an elongation of the extremity of the medulla oblongata, and it lias its name from its being contained in the bony canal of the spina dorsi. It is con- sequently a continuation or common appen- dix of the cerebrum and cerebellum, as well because of the two substances of which it is composed, as because of the membranes by which it is invested. NEUROLOGY. Of the Nerves in general. The continuity of the cortex with the me- dulla of the encephalon and spinal marrow is observable with the naked eye, and is more distinctly seen with the assistance of a micro- scope. In dissecting the brain and cerebel- lum, we see the small beginnings of the me- dulla proceeding from the cortex, and can trace its gradual increase by the addition qf more such white substance coming from the cortex. Both these substances are very suc- culent ; for being exposed to the air to dry, they lose more of their weight than most parts of the body do. In several places we can observe the me- dulla to be composed of fibres laid at each other’s sides ; and it is employed in forming the white fibrous cords, which have now tke name of nerves appropriated to them. With- in the skull we see the nerves to be the me- dullary substance continued, and the spinal marrow is employed in forming all nerves. The common opinion concerning the use of the nerves, founded on a superficial inspec- tion of those parts, is, that the nerves are pro- pagated from that side of the encephalon at which they go out of the skull. But it having been remarked, after a more strict en- quiry, and preparing the parts by maceration in water, that the medullary fibres decussate or cross each other in some parts of the me- dulla, as, for example, at the corpus annu- lare, and beginning of tire spinal marrow ; and practical observations having related se- veral examples of people whose brain was hurt on one side, while the morbid symp- toms, palsy, appeared on the other side of the body, of which we have seen some in- stances; and experiments on brutes having confirmed these observations, it has been thought that the nerves had their rise from that side of the encephalon which is opposite to their egress from the skull. It may, how- ever, still be said, that this last opinion is not fully demonstrated, because a decussation in some parts is not a proof that it obtains uni- versally ; and if there are examples of palsy of the side opposite to where the lesion of tin* brain was, there are also others, where the injury done to the brain and the palsy were both on the same side. The nerves are composed of a great many, threads ly ing parallel to each other, or ne wly so, at their exit from the medulla. This fibrous texture is evident at the origin of most of the nerves within the skull; and in the cauda equina of the spinal marrow, we can divide them into such small threads, that a very good eye can scarce perceive them : but these threads, when looked at with a mi- croscope, appear each to be composed of a great number of smaller threads. How small one of these fibres of the nerve is, we know not ; but when we consider that every, even the most minute, part of the body 'is se*-> ANATOMY. 400 sible, and that this must depend upon the Uerves (which, all conjoined, would not make a cord of an inch diameter) being divided into branches or filaments, to be dispersed through all these minute parts, we must be convinced that the nervous fibrils are very small. Prom the examination of the mini- mum visible, it is demonstrated, that each fibre in the retina of the eye, or expanded optic nerve, cannot exceed the size of the 32400th part of a hair. The medullary substance of which the ner- vous fibrils are composed, is very tender, and would not be able to resist such forces as the nerves are exposed to within the bones, nor even the common force of the circulating fluids, were not the pia mater and tunica arachnoides continued upon them; the for- mer giving them firmness and strength, and the latter furnishing a cellular coat to connect the threads of the nerves, to let them lie soft and moist, and to support the vessels which go with them. It is this cellular substance that is distended, when air is forced through a blow-pipe thrust into a nerve ; and that makes a nerve appear all spongy, after being dis- tended with air till it dries : the proper ner- vous fibrils shrivelling so in drying, that they scarce can be observed. These coats would not make the nerves strong enough to bear the stretching and pressure they are exposed to in their course to the different parts of the body; and therefore, where the nerves go out at the holes in the cranium and spine, the dura mater is generally wrapped closely round them to collect their disgregated fibres into tight firm cords; and that the tension which they may happen to be exposed to • may not injure them before they have got this additional coat, it is firmly fixed to the sides of the holes in the bones through which they pass. The nervous cords, thus composed of ner- vous fibrils, cellular coat, pia and dura ma- ter, have such numerous blood-vessels, that after their arteries only are injected, the whole cord is tinged of the colour of the in- jected liquor ; and if the injection is pushed violently, the cellular substance of the nerves is at last distended with it. A nervous cord, such as has been just now described, has very little elasticity, compared with several other parts of the body. When cut out of the body, it does not become ob- servably shorter, while the blood-vessels con- tract three-eighths of their length. Nerves are generally lodged in a cellular or fatty substance, and have their course in the interstices of muscles and other active organs, where they are guarded from pres- sure ; but in several parts they are so placed, as if it was intended that they should there suffer the vibrating force of arteries, or the pressure of the contracting fibres of muscles. The larger cords of the nerves divide into branches as they go off to the different parts ; the branches being smaller than the trunk from which they come, though not propor- tionally so ; for, as Soemmerring observes, they rather form cones with apices toward the brain, and bases toward the superficies of the body. Where the nerves separate, they generally make an acute angle. In several places different nerves unite into one cord, which is commonly larger than any of the nerves which form it. Several nerves, particularly those which are distri- buted to the bowels, after such union, sud- denly form a hard knot, considerably larger than all the nerves of which it is made. '1 hese knots were called corpora olivaria, and are now generally named ganglions. The ganglions have thicker coats, more numerous and larger blood-vessels, than the nerves ; so that they appear more red and muscular. On dissect- ing the ganglions, fibres are seen running longitudinally in their axes, and other fibres are derived from their sides in an oblique di- rection to the longitudinal ones. Commonly numerous small nerves, which conjunctly are not equal to the size of the ganglion, are sent out from it, but with a structure no way dif- ferent from that of other nerves. The nerves sent to the organs of the semen lose there their firm coats, and terminate in a pulpy substance. The optic nerves are expanded into the soft tender webs, the re- tins. The auditory nerve has scarce the con- sistence of mucus in the vestibulum, cochlea, and semi-circular canals of each ear. The papillae of the nose, tongue, and skin, are very soft. The nerves of muscles can likewise be traced till they seem to lose their coats by becoming very soft ; from which, and what we observed of the sensatory nerves, there is reason to conclude, that the muscular nerves are also pulpy at their terminations, which we cannot indeed prosecute by dissection. It would seem necessary that the extremities of the nerves should continue in this soft flex- ible state in order to perform their functions right ; for, in proportion as parts become rigid and firm by age, or any other cause, they lose their sensibility, and their motions are more difficultly performed. Though the fibres in a nervous coat are firmly connected, and frequently different nerves join into one trunk, or into the same ganglion, yet the sensation of each part of the body is so very distinct, and we have so much the power of moving the muscles separately, that, if the nerves are principal agents in these two functions, we have reason to believe that there is no union, confusion, or immediate communication of the proper nervous fibrils, but that each fibre remains distinct from the origin to its termination. Many experiments and observations con- cur in proving, that when nerves are com- pressed, cut, or any other way destroyed/the parts served by such nerves, farther from the head dr spine than where the injuring cause has been applied, have their sensations, mo- tions, and nourishment, weakened or lost, while no such effects are seen in the parts nearer to the origin of those nerves ; and in such experiments, where the cause impeding the nerves from exerting themselves could be removed, and the structure of the nerves not injured, (as, for example, when a ligature made upon a nerve, and stopping its influ- ence, has been taken away,) the motion and sensation of the parts soon were restored ; from which it would appear, that the nerves are principal instillments in our sensations and motions ; and that this influence of the nerves is not inherent in them, unless the communication between these cords and their origin is preserved. Experiments and observations show, too, that when parts of the encephalon or spinal marrow have been irritated, compressed, or destroyed, the parts of the body, whose nerves had their origin from such affected parts of the encephalon or spinal marrow, became convulsed, paralytic, insensible, or wasted ; and in such cases, where the injuring cause could be removed from the origin of the nerves, the morbid symptoms observed in the parts to which these nerves were dis- tributed, went off upon the removal of that cause; from which it is thought reasonable- ter conclude, that the nerves must not only ha\ e a communication with their origin, but that the influence they have upon the parts they! are distributed to, depends upon the influence! which they derive from the medulla encephali j and spinalis. If such causes produce constantly such ef-l fects in us and other creatures living in nearly! the same circumstances as we do, the con-j elusions already made must be good, notwith-J standing the examples of children and otheil creatures being born without brains or spinal! marrow, or notwithstanding that the brains of adult creatures can be much changed in their texture by diseases, and that tortoises and some other animals continue to move a coni siderable time after their heads are cut off! We may be ignorant of the particular cir- cumstances requisite or necessary to the! being or well being of this or that particular creature, and we may be unable to account for a great many phenomena ; but we must believe our eyes in the examination of facts ; and if we see constantly such consequences from such actions, we cannot but conclude the one to be the cause and the other the effect. It would be as unjust to deny the conclusions just now made, because of the seemingly preternatural phenomena mention] edat the beginning of this head, as it would be to deny the necessity of the circulation of the blood in us and most quadrupeds, because a frog can jump, or a tortoise can walk aboui after all the bowels of its thorax and abdo- men are taken out, or because the different parts of a worm crawl after it lias been cuf into a great many pieces. It is therefore at most universally allowed, that the nerves are principal instruments in our sensations, mo- tions, and nourishment ; and that the influence which they have, is communicated from theif origin, the encephalon and medulla spinalis. But authors are far from agreeing about the manner in which this influence is communi- cated, or in what way nerves act to produce their effects : some alleging that the nen vous fibres are all solid cords, acting by das ticity, or vibration ; others maintaining that these fibres are small pipes conveying liquors by means of which their effects are produced and certainly very considerable objection! may be made to both doctrines. render it impossible to trace them far, which lias made some authors deny them to be nerves ; bat when we break the circumfer- ence of the cribriform lamella, and then gently raise it, we may see the distribution of the nerves some way on the membrane of the nose, where they form a beautiful net-work, which has been exquisitely delineated by Scarpa, in his treatise De Olfactu et Au- ditu. The contrivance of defending these long soft nerves from being too much pressed by the anterior lobes of the brain, under which they lie, is singular ; because they have not only the prominent orbitar processes of the frontal bone to support the brain on each side, with the veins going into the longitudinal sinus, and other attachments bearing it up, but there is a groove formed in each lobe of the brain itself for them to lodge in. Their splitting into so many small branches before they enter the bones of the skull is likewise peculiar to them ; for generally the nerves come from the brain in aggregated filaments, and unite into cords, as they are going out at the holes of the bones. This contrivance is the best for answering the purpose they are designed for, of being the organs of smelling ; for had they been expanded upon the mem- brane of the nose into a medullary web, such as the optic forms, it would have been too sensible to bear the impressions of such ob- jects as are applied to the nose ; and a distri- bution in the more common way of a cord sending off branches, would not have been equal "enough for such an organ of sensa- tion. The second pair of nerves, the optic, rising from the thalami nervorum opticorum, make a large curve outward, and then run obliquely inward and forward, till they unite at the forepart of the sella Turcica ; these soon di- vide, and each runs obliquely forward and outward, to go out at its proper hole in the sphenoid bone, accompanied with the ocu- lar artery to be extended to the globe ot the eye, within which each is expanded into a very fine cup-like web, that lines all the in- side of the eye, to within a little distance ot the edge of the crystalline lens, and is uni- versallv known by the name of retina. Though the substance of this pair of nerves seems to be blended at the place where they are joined, yet observations of people whose optic nerves were not joined, and others who were blind of one eye from a fault in the optic nerve, or in those who had one of their eyes taken out, make it doubtful whether there is any such intimate union of substance ; the optic nerve of the affected side only being wasted, while the other was large and plump. In many fishes indeed, the doctrine of decus- sation is favoured; for their optic nerves plainly cross each other, without any union at the part where they are joined in men and most quadrupeds. Those people whose optic nerves were not joined, having neither seen objects double, nor turned their eyes different ways, is also a plain proof, that the conjunction of the optic nerves will not serve to account for either the uniform motions of our eyes, or our seeing objects single with two eyes, though it may be one cause of the remarkable sympathy of one eye with the other in many diseases. The retina of a recent eye without any ANATOMY. preparation, appears a very fine web, with some blood-vessels coming Irom its centre to be "distributed on it; but after a good in- jection of the arteries that run in tiie sub- stance of this nerve as is common to other nerves, it is with difficulty that we can ob- serve its nervous medullary substance. 1 he situation of these vessels in the central part of the optic nerve, the want of medullary fibres here, and the firmness of this nerve before it is expanded at its entry into the ball of the eye, may be the reason why we do not see such bodies, or parts of bodies, whose picture falls on this central part of the retina. An inflammation in ti.ose arteries ot the retina which several fevers and an oph- thalmia are generally attended with, may well account for the tenderness of the eyes, and inability to bear the light, which people have in these diseases. The over-distension of these vessels may likewise serve to account tor the black spots observed on bright-co- loured bodies especially, and for that smoky tog through which all objects are seen by people in some fevers. If these vessels lose their tone, and remain preternaturally dis- tended, no object affects our retina, though the eye externally appears sound; or this may be one cause" of amaurosis or gutta se- rena. From a partial distension oi these ves- sels, -or paralysis of part of the retina, the central part, or the circumference, or any other part of objects, may be lost to one or both eyes. The third rise from the anterior part of the processus annularis ; and piercing the dura mater a little before and to a side of the ends of the posterior clinoid process of the sphe- noid bone, run along the receptacula or ca- vernous sinuses, at the side of the ephippium, to get out at the foramina lacera ; after which each of them divides into branches, of which one, after forming a little ganglion, is distri- buted to the glebe of the eye ; the others are sent to the muscular rectus ot the palpebra, and to the attollens, adductor, deprimens, and obliquus minor, muscles of the eye-ball. These muscles being principal instruments in the motions of the eye-lid and eye-ball, tins nerve has therefore got the name of the motor oculi. We have frequently observed in convul- sions that the eye-lids widely opened, the cor- nea turned upward and outward, and the eye- balls sunk in the orbit, which well described the conjunct action of the muscles which this pair of nerves serves. The distension of a considerable branch of the carotid which passes over this nerve near its origin on each side, may possibly be the reason of the heavi- ness in the eye-lids and eyes after drinking hard or eating much. The fourth pair, which are the smallest nerves of any, derive their origin from the back part of the base of the testes; and then making a long course on the side of the an- nular protuberance, enter the dura mater a little further back, and more externally, than the third pair, to run also along the recepta- cula, to pass out at the foramina lacera, and to be entirely spent on the musculi trochleares, or superior oblique muscles of the eyes. These muscles being employed in performing the rotatory motions, and the advancement of the eye-balls forward, by which several of our passions are expressed ; the nerves that serve them have got the name of pathetici. Why these small nerves should be brought so far to 101 this muscle, when it could have been supplied easily by the motor oculi, we know not. The fifth pair are large nerves, rising from the annular processes, where the medullary processes of the cerebellum join in the ior- maticn of that tube to enter the dura mater, near the point of the petrous process ot t he temporal bones ; and then sinking close by the receptacula at the sides of the sella i ur~ cica, each becomes in appearance thicxeiy forms a distinct ganglion, and goes out of the skull in three great branches. The first branch of the fifth is the ophthal- mic, which runs through the foramen lacei inn to the orbit, having in its passage thither a connection with the sixth pair. It is after- ward distributed to the ball ot the eye with the third: to the nose, along with the olfac- tory, which the branch of the fifth that passes through the foramen orb.tarium _ internum joins, as was already mentioned in the de- scription of tiie liist pair, lifts ophthalmic branch likewise supplies the parts at the in- ternal canthns of the orbit, the glandula la- chrymalis, fat, membranes, muscles, and te- guments, of the eye-lids; its longest farthest extended branch passing through the fora- men superciliare of the os frontis, to be dis- tributed to the forehead. The small fibres which this first branch of the fifth and third pair of nerves send to the eye-ball, being situated on the optic nerves, and after piercing the sclerotic coat, running along the clinoid coat, on the outside of the reiina, in their course to the uvea or iris, may be a cause of the sympathy between the optic nerve and the uvea, by which we more readily acquire the habit ot contracting the iris, and thereby lessen the pupil, when too- strong light is excluded ; and, on the con- trary, enlarge the pupil when the light is too faint. This, with the sympathy which must arise from some of the nerves of the mem- brane of the nostrils being derived from the first branch of the. fifth pair of nerves, may also be the cause why an irritation of the re- . tina, by too strong light, may produce sneez- ing, as if a stimulus had been applied to the membrane of the nose itself; why pressing the internal canthus of the orbit sometimes- stops sneezing ; why irritation of the nose, on the oilier hand, causes the eye-lids to shut convulsively, and makes the tears to flow plentifully ; and why medicines put into the nose affect diseases of the eyes. The second branch of the fifth pair of nerves may be called maxillaris superior, from its serving principally the parts ot the upper jaw. It goes out at the round hole of the sphenoid bone, and sends immediately one branch into the channel on the top of the antrum maxillare ; the membrane of which, and the upper teeth, are supplied by it in its passage. As this branch is about to go out at the foramen orbitarium externum, it sends a nerve through the substance of the os maxillare to come out at Sterno’s duct, to be distributed to the fore part of the palate ; and what remains of it escaping at the exter- nal orbitar hole, divides into a great many branches that supply the cheek, upper lip, and nostril. The next considerable branch of the superior maxillary nerve, after giving branches which are reflected through the sixth hole of the sphenoid bone, to join the intercostal where it is passing through the skull with the carotid artery', and the portio 102 ANATOMY. dura of the seventh pair as it passes through the os petrosum, is sent into the nose by the hole common to the palate and sphenoidal bone ; and the remaining part of this nerve runs in the palate-maxillary canal, giving off branches to the temples and pterygoid mus- cles, and comes at last into the palate to be lost. Hence the ache in the teeth in the up- per jaw occasions a growing pain deep-seated in the bones of the face, with swelling in the eye-lids, cheek, nose, and under lip ; and, on the other hand, an inflammation in these parts is often attended with sharp pain in the teeth. The third or maxillaris inferior branch of the fifth pair, going out of the oval hole of the sphenoid bone, serves the muscles of the lower jaw, and the muscles situated between the os hyoides and jaw. All the salivary glands, the amygdales, and the external ear, have branches from it: it has a large branch lost in the tongue, and sends another through the canal, in the substance of the lower jaw, to serve all the teeth there, and to come out at the hole in the fore part of the jaw, to be lost in the chin and under lip. Hence a convul- sive contraction of the muscles of the lower jaw, or the mouth’s being involuntarily shut, a great flow of spittle or salivation, a pain in the car, especially in deglutition, and a swelling all about the throat, are natural consequences of a violent irritation of the nerves of the lower teeth in the tooth-ache ; and pain in the teeth and ear is as natural a consequence ot angina. Perhaps the sympathy of the or- gans of tasting and smelling may, in some measure, depend on their both receiving nerves from the fifth pair. The sixth pair, which is the smallest ex- cept the fourth, rises from the fore part of the -corpora pyramidalia: and each entering the dura mater some way behind the posterior clinoid process of the sphenoid bone, has a long course below that membrane, and with- in the receptaculum at the side of the sella Turcica, where it is immersed in the blood of the receptacle. It afterwards goes out at the foramen lacerum into the orbit, to serve the abductor muscle of the eye. In the passage of this nerve below the dura mater, it lies very contiguous to the internal carotid ar- tery, and to the ophthalmic branch of the -fifth pair of nerves. At the place where the ■sixth pair is contiguous to the carotid, a nerve either goes from each of them in an uncom- mon way, to wit, with the -angle beyond where it rises obtuse to descend with the ar- tery, and to form the beginning of the inter- costal nerve, according to the common de- scription ; or, according to other authors, this nerve co nes up from the great ganglion of the intercostal to he joined t.> the. sixth here. The arguments for this latter opinion are, that, according to the common doctrine, this beginning of the intercostal nerve, as it is called, would rise in a manner not ordi- nary iii nerves. In the next place, it is ob- served, that the sixth pair is larger nearer to the other than it is before it comes to the place where this nerve is said to go off ; and therefore it is said to be more probable that ii receives an addition there, rather than gives -off a branch. Lastly, it is found that, upon cutting the intercostal nerves of living ani- mals, the eyes were plainly affected ; they lost their bright water; the gum or gore, as we call it, was separated in greater quantity ; the pupil was more contracted ; the cartila- ginous membrane, at the internal ca'nthus, came more over the eye ; and the eye-ball it- self was diminished. To this it is answered, in defence of the more common doctrine, 1st. That other branches of nerves go off in a reflected way, as well as this does, supposing it to be the be- ginning of the intercostal ; and that the re- flection would rather be greater, if it is thought to come up from the intercostal to the sixth. 2d. It is denied that this nerve is in ordinary thicker at its fore than at its back part ; and if it was to be the thickest nearest to the orbit, the conclusion made above could not be drawn from this appearance, because other nerves enlarge sometimes where there is no addition made to them, as in the in- stance already mentioned of the trunk of the fifth pair, while below the dura mater. 3dly. The experiments on living animals show, in- deed, that the eyes are alfected upon cutting the intercostal nerve ; but not in the way which might have been expected, if the in- tercostal had furnished such a share of the nerve that goes to the abductor muscle of the eye: for it might have been thought that this muscle would have been so much weakened immediately upon cutting the intercostal, that its antagonist, the adductor, would have greatly prevailed over it, and have turned the eye strongly in toward the nose ; which is not said to be a consequence of this experi- ment : so that the arguments are still equi- vocal ; and more observations and experi- ments must be made before it can be deter- mined with certainty whether the sixth pair gives or receives a branch here. In the mean time, we shall continue to speak about the origin of the intercostal with the generality of anatomists. At this place, where the intercostal begins, the fifth pair is contiguous, and adheres to the sixth ; and it is generally said, that the oph- thalmic branch of the fifth gives a branch or two to the beginning of the intercostal, or re- ceives such from it. Others deny any such communica.ion between them ; and those who affirm the communication confess that, in some subjects, they could not sec it. The seventh or auditory pair comes out from the lateral part of the annular process, behind where the medullary process of the cerebellum is joined to that tube; and each being accompanied with a larger artery than most other nerves, enters the internal meatus auditorius, where the two large bundles of fibres, of which it appeared to consist within the skull, soon separate from each other : one of them entering by several small holes into the vestibule, cochlea, and semicircular canal, is stretched on the inner camera of the ear in a very soft pulpy substance ; and being never seen in the form of a firm cord, such as the other parcel of this and most other nerves become, is called the portio mollis of the auditory nerve, The other part of the seventh pair passes through Galen’s foramen ccecuni, or Fallo- pius’s aqueduct, in its crooked passage by the side of the tympanum ; in which passage a nerve sent to the lingual branch of the infe- i' o; maxillary nerve along the outside of the tuba Eustachiana, and across the cavity of the tympanum, where it has the name of chorda tympani, is commonly said to be joined to if. The very acute angle which tlus nerve makes with the fifth, or the sudden violent reflection it would suffer on the supposition of its coming from the fifth to the seventh, ap- pears unusual ; whereas if we suppose that it comes from the seventh to the fifth, its course would be more in the ordinary way, and the chorda tympani would be esteemed a branch ot the seventh pair going to join the fifth, the size of which is increased by this acqui- sition. This smaller bundle of the seventh gives branches to the muscles of the mal- leus, and to the dura mater, while it passes tin ’ough the bony crooked canal ; and it last comes out in a firm chord, named portio du- ra, at the end of this canal, between the stv- loid and mastoid processes of the temporal bone, giving immediately filaments to the little oblique muscles of the head, and to those that rise trom the styloid process. It then pierces through the parotid gland, and di- vides into a great many branches, which are dispersed in the muscles and teguments that cover all the side of the upper part of the neck, the whole face and cranium, as far back as the temples, including a considerable part of the external ear. Its branches having thus a considerable connection with all the three branches of the fifth pair, and with the second cervical, occasions a considerable sym- pathy of those nerves with it. Hence in the tooth-ache the pain is occasioned very little in the affected tooth, compared to what it is all along the side of the head and in the ear. B y this communication or connection possi- bly too it is that a vibrating string held' be- tween one’s teeth, gives a strong idea of a sound to the person who holds it, which no- body else can perceive. Perhaps too the distribution of this nerve. occasions the head to be so quickly turned upon the impression of sound on our ears. The eighth pair of nerves or par vagum rise from the lateral bases of the corpora oli- varia in disgregated fibres, and as they are entering the anterior internal part of the holes common to the os occipitis and tempo- rum, each is joined by a nerve which ascends within the dura mater from the tenth of the head, the first, second, and inferior cervical nerves: this every body knows has the name of the nerves accessorius. When the two get off the skull, the accessorius separates from the eighth, and descending obliquely outward passes through the - sterno-mastoi- deus muscle, to which it gives branches, anil afterwards terminates in the trapezius muscle of the scapula. In this course it is generally, more or less, joined by the second cervical nerve. Why this nerve, and several others which are distributed to muscles, are made to pierce through muscles, which they might have only passed near to, we do not know. _ The large eighth pair, soon after its exit, gives nerves to the tongue, ■ larynx, pharynx, and ganglion, of the intercostal nerve ; and being disjoined from the ninth and intercos- tal, to which it adheres closely some way, runs straight down the neck behind the in- ternal jugular vein, and at the external side of the carotid artery. As it is about to enter the thorax, a large nerve goes off from the eighth of each side ; this branch of the right side turns round from the fore to the back part of the subclavian artery, while the branch of the left side turns round the great curve of the aorta ; and both of them mounting up ANATOMY, 103 again at the side of the oesophagus, to which, they give branches, are lost at last in the la- rynx. These are called the recurrent nerves. The muscles of the larynx being in a good measure supplied with nerves from the re- current, it is to be expected that the cutting of them will greatly weaken the voice, though it will not entirely be lost so long as the su- perior branches of the eighth pair are entire. Why the recurrent nerves rise so low from the eighth pair, to go round a large artery, and to have such a long course upward, we know not. The eighth pair above, and at or near the place where the recurrent nerves gooff from it, or frequently the recurrents themselves, send off small nerves to the pericardium, and to join with the branches or the inter- costal that are distributed to the heart; but their size and situation are uncertain. After these branches are sent off, the par vagum on each side descends behind me great branch of the trachea, and gives nu- merous filaments to the lungs, and some to the heart, in going to the oesophagus. The one of the left side running on the fore part of the oesophagus, communicates by several branches with tire right one in its descent to be distributed to the stomach ; the right one goes behind the oesophagus, where it splits and rejoins several tunes before it arrives at the stomach, to which it sends nerves ; and then being joined by one or more branches from the left trunk, they run toward the c ce- liac artery, there to join into the great semilu- nar ganglion formed by the two intercostals. From" the distribution of the par vagum we may learn how tickling the fauces with a feather, or any such substance, excites a nau- sea and inclination to vomit ; why coughing occasions vomiting, or vomiting raises a cough ; why an attempt to vomit is some- times in danger of suffocating asthmatic peo- ple ; why the superior oriiice of the stomach is so sensible as to be looked on as the seat of the soul by some; why people subject to distensions of the stomach have so often the sensation of balls in their breast and throat ; why the globus hystericus is so often attended with a violent strangulation of the glottis. The ninth pair of nerves comes from the inferior part of the corpora pyramidalia, to go out of the skull at their proper holes of the occipital bone. After their egress they ad- here for some way to the eighth and inter- costal ; and then sending a branch that, in many subjects, is joined with branches ot the lirst and second cervical nerves, to be diffri- buted to the thyroid gland and muscles on the fore part of the trachea arteria, the ninth is lost in the muscles and substance of the tongue. Some have thought this nerve, and others have esteemed the third branch of the fifth pair of nerves, to be the proper gustatory nerve. We know no observation or experi- ments to prove either opinion, or to assure us that both nerves do not serve for tasting and for the motion of the tongue. May not the distribution of. this nerve to the muscles be- low as well as above the os hvoides, contri- bute to their acting more uniformly in de- pressing the lower jaw or head ? The tenth pair rises in separate threads i from the sides of the spinal marrow, to go i out between the os occipitis and lirst vertebra ' of the neck. After each of them has given s branches to the great ganglion of the inter- t costal, eighth, ninth, and firff cervical nerves-, it is distributed to the straight, ob- lique, and some of the extensor muscle ol the head. \\ hether the name of the tenth of the head, or of the lirst vertebral, ought to be given to this pair of nerves, is of no such consequence as to deserve a debate, though it has some of the mark of spinal nerves ; to w it, its being formed of lilaments, proceeding from both the fore and back part of the medulla; and a little ganglion being formed where these ldaments meet. In the description of the sixth pair we' fol- lowed the usual way ot speaking among ana- tomists, and called that the beginning of the intercostal nerve which comes out of the skull ; and shall therefore here subjoin a cur- sory description ot this nerve, notwithstanding its much larger part is composed of nerves coming out from the spinal marrow. There is no greater incongruity in point of method to say, that the nerve we are describing re- ceives additions from others that have not been described, than it is to repeat in the description of a great many nerves, that each of them gives branches to form a nerve which we are ignorant of; which is all the difference between describing the intercostal before or after the spinal nerves. 1 lie branch rellected from the sixth pair, joined possibly by some lilaments of the oph- thalmic branch of the lifth, runs along with the internal carotid artery, through the crooked canal formed for it in the temporal bone, where the little nerve is very sott and pappy, and in several subjects divides and unites again, and is joined by one or more branches from the tilth, particularly of its superior maxillary branch, before it comes out ol the skull. May not the compression of this nerve by the carotid artery, when stretched during the systole, contribute to the diastole ot the heart ? As soon as the nerve escapes out of the bony canal, it is con- nected a lutle way with the eighth and ninth ; then separating from these, after seeming to receive additi onal nerves from them, it forms a large ganglion, into which branches from the te nth of the head, and from the lirst and second cervical, enter. From the ganglion the nerves come out again small, to run down the neck along with the carotid artery, communicating by branches with the cervi- cal nerves, and giving nerves to the muscles that ->end the head and neck. As the inter- costal is about to enter the thorax it forms another ganglion, from which nerves are sent to the trachea and to the heart ; those de- signed for the heart, joining with the branches of the eighth, and most of them passing be- tween the two great arteries and the auricles, as the substance of that muscle. The inter- costal alter this consisting of two branches, one going behind, and the other running over, the fore part of the subclavian artery, forms a new ganglion where the two brandies unite below the artery ; and then descending along the sides of the vertebrae of the thorax, re- ceives branches from each of the dorsal nerves; which branches appearing to come out between the ribs, have given the name of in- tercostal to the whole nerve. Where the addition is made to it from the lifth dorsal nerve, a branch goes off obliquely forward ; which being joined by such branches from the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth dorsal, the anterior trunk is formed, and passes between the fibres of the appendix rouficulosa of the diaphragm to them, along with the other intercostal and the branches of the eighth, pair, a large semilunar ganglion, situated be- tween the cellular and superior mesenteric arteries ; the roots of which are as it jjvere involved in a sort of nervous net-work of tins ganglion, from which a great number of very email nervous threads run out to be extended on the surface of all the branches of those two arteries, so as to he easily seen when any of the arteries are stretched, but not to be raised trom them by dissection; and thus the liver, gall-bladder, duodenum, pancreas, spleen, je- junum, ilium, and a large share of the colon, have their nerves sent from this great solar ganglion or plexus. May not the peristaltic motion of the intestines depend, in some mea- sure, on the passage of the intercostal nerves through tire diaphragm ? Several fibres ot this ganglion, running down upon the aorta, meet with other nerves, sent trom the posterior trunk of the intercos- tal, which continues its course along the sides of the vertebra: : they supply the glandular re- nales, kidneys, and testes in men, or ovaria in women ; and then they form a net-work on the inferior mesenteric artery, where the nerves of the two sides meet, and accompany the branch- es of this artery to the part of the colon that lies in the left side of the belly, and to the rec- tum, as far down as the lower part of the pelvis. r l he intercostal continuing down by. the sides of the vertebra: of the loins, is joined bv. nerves coming from between these vertebra:, and sends nerves to the organs of gene- ration, and others to the pelvis, being even joined with those that are sent to the inferior extremities. r i he spinal nerves rise generally by. a num- ber of disgregated fibres from both the fore and back part of the medulla spinalis ; . and soon after form a little knot or ganglion, . where they acquire strong coats, and are extended into firm cords ; but the ganglion is entirely formed by the posterior bundle. They are distinguished by numbers, according to the vertebra' from between which they come out ; (he superior of the two bones forming the hole through which they pass, being the one from which the number is applied to each nerve.. I here are generally said to be thirty pair of them; seven of which come out between the ■ vertebra of the neck, twelve between those of the back, five between those of the loins,, and six from the false vertebra. I he first cervical pair of nerves comes out between the first and second vertebra of the neck ; and having given branches to join with the tenth pair of the head, the second cer- vical, and intercostal, and to serve the mus- cles that bend the neck, it sends its largest branches backwards to the extensor muscles of the head and neck; some of which piercing through these muscles, run up on the occiput to be lost in the teguments here ; and many fibres of it advance, so far forward as to be connected with the fibrils of the first branch of the fifth pair of the head, and of the portio dura of the auditory nerve. Hence possibly it is, that a clavus hystericus changes suddenly sometimes, from the forehead to a violent pain ■ and spasm in the back part of the head and neck. The second cervical is soon joined by some branches to the ninth of the head and inter- 104 costal, and to the first and third of the neck ; then has a large branch that comes out at the exterior edge of the sterno-mastoideus muscle, where it joins with the accessorius of the eighth pair ; and is afterwards distributed to the pla- tysmA my o ides, teguments of the side oi hie neck and head, parotid gland, and external ear, being connected to the portio dura of the auditory nerve, and to the first cervical. The remainder of this second cervical is spent on the levator scapulae and the extensors of the neck and head. Generally a large branch is here sent off to join the accessorius of the eighth pair, near the superior angle of the scapula. From the irritation of the brandies of this nerve it probably is, that in an inflam- mation of the parotid gland, the neck is pained so far down as the clavicle, the head is drawn towards the shoulder of the affected side, and the chin is turned to the other side. The third pair of the neck passes out be- tween the third and fourth cervical verte- bra" ; having immediately a communication with tiie second, and sending down a branch, which, being joined by a branch from the fourth cervical, forms the phrenic nerve. 1 his descending enters the thorax between the subclavian vein and artery ; and then be- ing received into a groove formed by it m the pericardium, it has its course along the caps' ila of the heart, till it is lost in the middle part of the diaphragm- 1 he right phrenic has a straight course ; but the left one is ob- liged to make a considerable turn outwards, to go over the prominent part of the pericar- dium, where the point of the heart is lodged. Hence in violent palpitations ot the heart, a pungent acute pain is felt near the left ori- fice of the stomach. The middle of the dia- phragm scarce could have been supplied by any other nerve which could have had such a straight course as the phrenic has. The other branches of the third cervical nerve are distributed to the muscles and te- guments at the lower part of the neck and lop of the shoulder. No wonder then that an inflammation of the liver or spleen, an ab- scess in the lungs adhering to the diaphragm, or any other cause capable of irritating the diaphragm, should be attended with a sharp pain on the top of the shoulder, as well as wounds, ulcers, &c. of the muscle itself. If the irritation of the muscle is very violent, it may occasion that convulsive contraction of the diaphragm which is called an hic- cough. The fourth cervical nerve, after sending off that branch which joins with the third to form the phrenic, and bestowing twigs in the mus- cles and glands of the neck, runs to the arm- pit, where it meets with the fifth, sixth, and seventh cervical?, and first dorsal, that escape in the interstices of the musculiscalcnitocome at the armpit, where they join,, separate, and rejoin, in a way scarcely to be rightly express- ed in words; and, after giving several consi- derable nerves to the muscles and teguments which cover the thorax, they divide into se- veral branches, to be distributed to all the parts of the superior extremity. Several of these branches we shall describe under parti- cular names. 1. Scapularis runs straight to the cavitas semilunata of the upper coats of the scapula, which is a hole in the recent subject, by a li- gament being extended from one angle of the bone to the other; giving nerves, m its ANATOMY. way, to the muscles of the scapula. When it has passed this hole it supplies the supraspi- natus muscle, and then descending at the an- terior of the spme of the scapula, it is lost in the other musclesthat lie on the dorsum of that bone. 2. Articularis sinks downwards at the ax- illa, to get below the neck of the head ot the os humeri, and to mount again at the back part of it ; so that it almost surrounds the articula- tion, and is described in the muscles that draw the arm back, and to those that raise it up. 3. Cutaneus runs down the fore part ot the arm, near the skin, to which it gives off branches ; and then divides on the inside of the fore-arm into several nerves which supply the teguments there, and on the palm of the hand. In opening the basilic vein of the arm, at the usual place, the same symptoms are sometimes produced as in opening the exter- nal jugular vein, and from a like cause ; to wit, from hurting a branch ot this cutaneous nerve with the lancet. 4. M usculo-cutaneus, or perforans casseri, passes through the coraco-brachialis muscle , and after supplying the biceps, flexor cubiti, and brachialis internus, passes behind the tendon of the biceps, and over the cephalic vein, to be bestowed on tiie teguments on the outside of the fore arm and back of the hand. This nerve is sometimes hurt in open- ing the cephalic vein, and causes pain and numbness tor a short time. 5. Muscularis has a spinal course from t.ie axilla, under the os humeri, and backward to the external part of that bone ; supplying by the way the extensor muscles ot the fore- arm, to which it runs between the two bra- chial muscles, and within the supinator radii longus. At the upper part of the fore arm, it sends off a branch which accompanies tiie supinator longus, till it comes near the wrist ; where it passes obliquely over the radius, to be lost in the back ot the hand and fingers. The principal part of this nerve pierces through the supinator radii brevis, to serve the muscles that extend the hand and fin- gers, whose actions are not injured when the supinator acts. Part of this nerve seems to be lost upon the ligament ol tiie wrist. 6. Ulnaris is extended along the inside of the arm, to give nerves to the muscles that ex- tend lire fore arm, and to the teguments of the elbow : toward the lower part of the arms it slants a little backward to come at the groove behind the internal condyle of the os humeri, through which it runs to the ulna. In its course along this bone it serves the neighbouring muscles and teguments; and as it comes near the wrist, it detaches a branch obliquely over the ulna to the back of the hand, to be lost in the convex part of the several fingers The larger part of the nerve goes forward to the internal side of the os pisiform e of the wrist ; where it sends oil a branch, which sinks under the large tendons in the palm to go across to the other side the wrist, serving the musculi lumbricales and intefossei, and at last terminating in the short muscles of the thumb and fore-ringer. VV hat remains of the ulnar nerve after supplying the short muscles of the little linger, divides into three branches : whereof two are ex- tended along the sides of the sheath of the tendons of the flexors of the little finger, to furnish the concave side of that finger ; the third branch is disposed in the same way upon the side of the ring-finger, next to the little finger. When we lean or press upon the internal condyle of the os humeri, the numbness and pricking we frequently feel, point out the course of this nerve. We have seen a weakness and strophy in the parts which we mentioned this nerve to be sent to, after a wound in the internal lower part of the arm. 7. Radius accompanies the humeral artery, to the bending of the elbow, serving the flexor of the cubit in its way ; then passing through the pronator radii teres muscle, it gives nerves to the muscles on the fore part of the fore arm, and continues its course near to the radius, bestowing branches on the circum- jacent muscles. Near the wrist it sometimes gives off a nerve which is distributed to the back of the hand, and the convex part of the thumb, and several of the fingers, instead of the branch of the muscular. The large part of the nerve passing behind the annular ligament of the wrist, gives nerves to the short muscles of the thumb ; and afterwards sends a branch along each side of the sheath of the tendons of the flexors of the thumb, fore-finger, middle-finger, and one branch of the side of the ring-finger, next to the middle one, to be lost on the concave side of those lingers. Though the radial nerve passes through the pronator muscle, and the muscular nerve seems to be still more unfavourably placed within the supinator brevis; yet the action of these muscles does not seem to have any effect in hindering the influence of these neives; for the fingers or hand can be bent while pronation is performing vigorously, and they can be extended while supination is exercised. The manner of the going off of these nerves of the fingers, both from tiie ulnar and the radial, is, that a single branch is sent from the trunk to the side of the thumb and little finger farthest from the other fingers ; and all the rest are supplied by a trunk of a nerve, which splits into two in some way before it comes as far as the end of the meta- carpus, to run along the sides of the different fingers that are nearest to each other. It might have been observed, that in de- scribing the posterior branches of the ulnar and muscular nerve, we did not mention the particular fingers, to the convex part of which they are distributed. The reason for this omission is, the uncertainty of their distri- bution ; for though sometimes these pos- terior branches go to the same fingers, to the concave part of which the anterior branches of the ulnar and radial are sent, yet frequently they are distributed otherwise. The twelve dorsal nerves of each side, as soon as they escape from between the verte- bra, send a branch forward to join the inter- costal, by which a communication is made among them all ; and they soon likewise give branches backward to the muscles that raise the trunk of trie body, their principal trunk being extended outwards to come at the furrow in the lower edge of each rib ; in which they run toward the anterior part of the thorax, between the internal and external intercostal muscles, giving off branches in their course to the muscles and teguments of the thorax. The first dorsal, as was already observed is particular in this, that it contributes to form the brachial nerves ; and that the two branches of the intercostal which come down to the thorax form a considerable ganglion with it. The sixth lower dorsal nerves give branches to tin; diaphragm and abdominal muscles. The twelfth joins with the first lumbar, and bestows nerves on the musculus qua- dratus lumborum and illiacus interims. May not the communications of all these nerves be one reason why the parts they serve act so uniformly and conjunctly in respiration, and conspire together in the convulsive motions of coughing, sneezing, &c. ? The communications of these lower ones with the intercostals, may serve to explain the violent efforts of the abdominal muscles in a tenesmus, and in childbearing. As the intercostal is larger in the thorax than any where else, and seems to diminish gradually as it ascends and descends, there is cause to suspect that this is the trunk from which the superior and inferior parts are sent as branches. The five lumbar nerves on each side, com- municate with the intercostal and with each other, and give branches backward to the loins. The first communicates with the last dorsal, sends branches to the abdominal muscles, to the psoas iliacus, and to the tegu- ments and muscles of the fore-parts of the thigh ; while its principal branch joins with the other nerves, to form the crural nerve. The second lumbar nerve passes through the psoas muscle, and is distributed nearly in the same way as the former; as is also the third. Branches of the second, third, and fourth, make up one trunk which runs along the fore part of the pelvis, and passing in the notch at the fore part of the great hole, common to the os pubis and ischium, is spent on the adductor muscles, and on the tegu- ments on the inside of the thigh. This nerve is called the obturator or posterior crural nerve. By uniting branches from the second third and fourth lumbar nerves, a nerve is formed that passes along the psoas muscle, to escape with the external iliac vessels out of the abdomen, below the tendinous arcade of the external oblique muscle. This nerve which is named the anterior crural, is dis- tributed principally to the muscles and tegu- ments of the fore part of the thigh. A branch however of this nerve runs down the leg to the upper part of the foot, keeping near the vena saphena ; in opening of which with a lancet at the ankle, the nerve is somewhat hurt, and occasions sharp pain at the time of operation, and afterwards numbness. The remainder of the fourth lumbar and the fifth, join in composing the largest nerve of the body, which is soon to be described. Whoever attends to the course of these lumbar nerves, and of the spermatic vessels and nerves upon the psoas muscle, with the oblique passage of the ureter over that muscle, will not be surprised that when a stone is passing in this canal, or even when it is inflamed, the trunk of the body cannot be raised erect without great pain, or that the skin of the thigh becomes less sensible, and Voi. I. ANATOMY. the thigh is drawn forward, and that the testicle often swells, and is drawn con- vulsively towards the ring of the abdominal muscles. The sixth pair of the false vertebrae consist each of small posterior branches sent to the hips and large anterior branches. The first, second, and third, after coming through the three upper holes of the os sacrum, join together with the fourth and fifth of the loins, to form the largest nerve of the body, which is well known by the name of schiatic or ischiatic nerve : this, after send- ing large nerves to the different parts of the pelvis, and to the external parts of gene- ration and the povex, as also to the muscles of the hips, passes behind the great tuber of the os ischium, and then over the quadri- gemini muscles to run down near to the bone of the thigh at its back part, giving off nerves to the neighbouring muscles and tegu- ments some way above the ham, where it has the name of popliteus nerve, it sends off a large branch that passes over the fibula, and sinking, among the muscles on the an- terior external part of the leg, runs down to the foot to be lost in the upper part of the larger toes, supplying the neighbouring muscles and teguments every where in its passage. The larger branch of the schiatic, after giving branches to the muscles and teguments above the ham and knee, and sending a large cutaneous nerve down the calf of the leg to be lost at last on the outside of the foot, and the upper part of the lesser toes, sinks below the gemellus muscle, and distributes nerves to the muscle on the back of the leg, among which it continues its course till passing behind the malleolus in- ternal, and in the internal hollow of the os calcis, it divides into the two external and internal plantar nerves. The internal is distributed to the toes in the same manner that the radial nerve of the hand serves the concave side of the thumb and fingers ; and the external plantar is divided and distributed to the sole of the foot and toes, nearly as the ulnar nerve is in the palm of the hand, and in the concave part of the fingers. Several branches of these nerves that serve the inferior extremities, pierce through muscles. The fourth, which with the two following, is much smaller than the three superior, soon is lost in the vesica urinaria and intestinum rectum. The fifth comes forward to the extremity of the os sacrum and coccygis to be distri- buted principally to the levatores ani. The sixth may be considered as the termi- nation of a substance called ligamentum den- ticulatum. For the uses of the various parts of the human body, see the article Physiology. See also Comparative Anatomy. EXPLANATION OF THE ANATO- MICAL PLATES. EXPLANATIONS OF THE BONES. Fig. 1. 1. The Cranium. 2. The Cervical Vertebrae. 3. The Clavicles. 4. The Acroniums. 6. The Humerus. 7. The Radius. 105 9. The Ulna. 9. The Carpus. 10. The Metacarpus. It, 12. The Sternum. 13. The Ribs. а. The true Ribs. c. The false Ribs. c. The transverse processes of the Lumbar Vertebral. 1 4. The Lumbar Vertebra. 15. The os Sacrum. 16. The os Innomin&ta. 17. The ossa Ilii. 18. The ossa Pubis. 19- The ossa Ischii. r. The brim of the Pelvis. s. The foramen Thyroideum. t. The trochanter Major. u. The trochanter Minor. 20. The Femur. 21. The Patella. 22. The Tibia. 23. The inner Ancle. 24. The Fibula. 25. The Astragabes. 26. 27, 28, 29- The Tarsu3. 30. The Metatarsus. Fig. II. 1. The Cranium. 2. The os occipitis. 4. The os Temporis. 5. The os Sphenoidesv б. The Scapula. 7. Its Spine. 8. The Humerus. 9- The Radius. 10. The Ulna. 11. The Olecranon. 12. The Carpus. 13. The Metacarpus. 14. The cervical Vertebra. 15. The Clavicles. a. a. 'Phe Spines of the cervical Vertebra. р. The Ribs. 1 6. The lumbar Vertebra. 17. The ossa Innominata. 18. Their Spines. 19. The ossa Pubis. 20. The os Sacrum. 22. The Femur. 24. The trochanter Minor. 25. The Patella. 26. The Tibia. 27. Fibula. 28. The os Calcis. a, b, c, d, e. The bones of the Foot EXPLANATIONS OF THE MUSCLES. Fig. 1. Superficial Muscles. a. Platystica Myoides. b. Deltoides. с. Biceps. d. Pro vat or Teres. e. Supinator Longus. f Flexor Radialis. g. Palmaris Longus. h. Flexor Ulnaris. i. Pectoralis Major. k. Obliquus Externus. l. Linea Semilunaris. m. Linea Alba. 7i. Abdominal Ring. o. Sartorius. p. Tensor Femoris Vaginae. q. Long head of the Triceps. ANA 100 f. Pectinalis. -s. Short head of Triceps. t. Great head of Triceps. v. Obturator Externus. v. Fascia of the Thigh. u\ Rectus Cruris. x. Its termination in the Patella. Fig. 2. a. Sterno-Cleido-Mastoideus. b. Sterno-Hyoideus. c. Biceps. d. Flexor Digitorum. e. Pectoralis Minor. J. Serratus Magnus. g. Trans versalis. h. Pyravnidalis. i. Obliquus Internus.. k Pectinalis. l. Obturator Externus. . m. Triceps Brevis. n. Triceps Magnus. o. Triceps Longus. , p. Vastus Externus. q. Cruralis., r. Vastus Internus.. a. Ligament of the Patella-. Fig. 3. a. Trapezius. b. Latissimus Dorsi. c. Deltoides. d. Triceps Cubiti. e. Gluteus Magnus. f. Biceps Cruris. g. Semitendinosus. h. Semimembranosus. Fig. 4. a. Levator Seapulse b. Supra-Spinatus. c. Infra-Spinatus. d. Riiomboideus Minor. e. Riiomboideus Major. j. Triceps Cubiti. g. Serratus Inferior Posticus. /(. Gluteus Minimus. i. Obliques Internus. k. Biceps. /. Gracilis. m. Semitendinosus,. n. Plantaris. o. Soleus. p. Serratus Superior Posticus.. EXPLANATIONS OF THE VISCERA. Fig. 1. L The Liver. 2. The round Ligament. 3. The Gall Bladder. 4. The Pancreas. '5. The Spleen. 0. The-Kidneys, 7. The Aorta. 8. The Vena Cava. 1 0. A Probe passed under the inferior Me- senteric and spermatic Vessels, and above the Ureters, Aorta,. and Vena Cava. 11. The Parieties of the Abdomen. 12. A portion of the same reflected. 33. The Rectum. } 4, The Bladder. . A N C Fig. 2. 1. The Vertebra: of the Neck. 2. The Jugular Veins. 3. The Subclavian Veins. 4. The descending Cava. 3. The right Auricle. 6. The right Ventricle. 8. The Aorta. 9. The pulmonary Artery. 10. 11. The Lungs. 13. 'lire Liver. 1 4. The broad Ligament. 15. The Gall Bladder. 16. The Stomach. 17. The Intestines. 18. The Spleen. Fig. 3. 1, 1. A part of the Aorta. 2. The Cadiac Artery. 3. The Superior Mesenteric. 4. The Renal. 5. The Spermatic. 6. The branches of the Superior Mesen- teric. Fig. 4. 1 . The right Ventricle. 2. The right Auricle. 5. The branches of the pulmonary Artery. 6. The descending Cava. 7. The Aorta. 8. The trunk of the pulmonary Artery. 9. The Ductus Arteri sus. Fig. 5. ft. The anterior lobes of the Brain. b. The middle lobes of the Brain. c. The Cerebellum. d. The Medulla Oblongata. e. The pituitary Gland. g. The Corpora Olivaria. It. The olfactory Nerves. i. The optic Nerves. k, m, n, o. Branches of the basilary Ar- tery. p. The seventh pair of Nerves. q. The eighth pah. r. The accessory Nerve. s. I he Corpora Pyramidalia. x. Branches of the carotid Artery. y. Fissura.Sylvii. Fig. 6. a, a. The convolutions of the Cerebrum. b, c. The Dura Matter reflected. d. The Piamata and Tunica Arachnoidea, covering the Cerebrum. ANATROPE, a relaxation of the stomach, attended with loss of appetite, vomiting and nausea. ANAUMACIION, among the ancients, the crime of refusing to serve in the fleet, the punishment of which was infamy. ANCH1LOPS, in medicine, a small tu- mour in the great angle of the eye, frequently degenerating into an abscess, or fistula laohry- malis. ANCHOR, in maritime affaire, is a very large and heavy iron instrument, with a double hook at one end, and a ring at the other, by which it is fastened to a cable. It is cast into the bottom of the sea, or rivers, where taking its hold, it keeps ships from A N C being drawn away by the wind, tide, or cur- rents. ’t here are several kinds of anchors : 1 . the sheet anchor, which is the largest, and is never used but in violent storms, to hinder the ship from being driven ashore. 2. The two bowers, which are used for ships to ride in a harbour. 3. The stream anchor. 4, The grapnel. The iron of which anchors are made, ought neither to be too soft nor too brittle. In order to give them a proper temper, it is the practice to join brittle with j soft iron, and for this reason the Spanish and Swedish iron ought to be preferred. The shank of an anchor is to be three times tire length of one of its flukes, and a ship of I 500 tons lias her sheet anchor of 2000 weight ; ] and so proportionably for others smaller or j greater. The anchor is said to be a-peak, when the | cable is perpendicular between the hawse and 1 the anchor. An anchor is said to come home ' when it cannot hold the ship. An anchor is j foul, when by the turning of the ship, the J cable is hitched about the fluke. To shoe ] an anchor, is to fit boards upon the flukes, j that it may hold the better in soft ground. j When the anchor hangs right up and down j by the ship’s side, it is said to be a cock bell, \ upon the ship’s coming to an anchor. Riding at anchor, is the state of a vessel | moored and fixed by her anchors. Dropping an anchor, imports the letting it down into- J the sea. In some cases it is necessary to ] drop two anchors opposite to each other ; one ] to keep the ship firm against the tide or flow, I the other against the ebb. Weighing anchor, \ is the recovering it into the vessel in order for 1 sailing. The anchor is ordinarily weighed by | means of a windlass. Anchor, in architecture, a sort of carv- ing, something resembling an anchor. It is 1 commonly placed as part of the enrichments-] of the boultins of capitals of the Tuscan, Doric, I and Ionic orders, and also of the boultir.s of j bed-mouldings of the Doric, Ionic, and Co- j rinthian cornices ; anchors and : eggs being : carved alternately through the whole building, j Anchors, in heraldry, are emblems of hope, and are taken for such in a spiritual ] as well as in a temporal sense. ANCHORAGE, or Anchoring- j ground, a place where a ship may cast 1 anchor. The best anchoring-ground is stiff clay or - hard sand ; and the best place for riding at j anchor, is where a ship is land-locked, andj out of the tide. Anchorage, in law, is a duty taken of.' ships for the use of the port or harbour. ANCHOVY, in ichthyology and cona-- merce,.a species of clupea, with the upper, i jaw longest. See Clupea. The anchovy is so like the common sprat, , another species of clupea, that it is no wonder f this fish is often pickled and sold under its-^ name. The fishing for anchovies is carried an... chiefly in the night-time ; when a light being! put on the stern of the vessels, the fish flock! round,, and are caught in the nets. ANCIiUSA, Alcanet, or Bugloss:| a genus of the monogynia order belonging to-. the pentandria class of plants. The calyx is- a quinquepartite perianthium, oblong and 4 persistent: the corolla is monopetalous and-, funnel-shaped, the Upoat closed with scales -j AND AND A N E tiie stamina consist of live short filaments ; the anthers: oblong and covered: the pis- tiiium has four germina, a filiform stylus, and obtuse stigma : there is no pericardium, the calyx containing the seeds in its bosom : the seeds are four, oblong, gibbous, and engraven at the base. There are eight species, all of which may lie propagated by seeds. ANCHYLOSIS, in surgery, an immo- bility of the joints. This term is used when any joint of the body becomes, whether from external or internal causes, stiff and indexi- ble. ANCISTJiUM, a genus of the dianclria mondgi/nia class and order, and of the natural order ot rosacea. The essential character is, cal. tour-leaved; cor. none : stigma, many parted : drupe, dry, hispid, one-celled. There are three species, but scarcely de- serving notice. ANCLE. See Talus in An atomy. ANCON, in anatomy, the gibbous emi- nence, or flexure of the arm, the middle of the eminence on which we rest when we lean. See Anatomy. ANCONES, in architecture, the corners or coins ot walls, cross-beams, or rafters. Vitruvius calls the consoles, which are a sort of shouldering pieces, by the name ancones. AN CONY, in mineralogy, denotes a piece of iron fashioned into a flat bar, about three feet long, with a square rough knot at each end. , ANCRE'E, in heraldry, the same with anchored. ANCYLE, in antiquity, a kind of shield which fell, as was pretended, from heaven, in the reign of Nuraa Pompilius ; at which time, likewise, a voice was heard, declaring that Rome should be mistress of the world as long as she should preserve this holy buckler. Ancyle, in surgery, a distortion of the joints, caused by a settlement of the humours, or a distension of the nerves ; in which case remedies of a mollify ing and relaxing nature are required. AN C YLOGLOSSUM, a contraction of the ligaments of the tongue, hindering speech. Tdiis happens, either when the membrane which supports the tongue is naturally im- perfect, or of too hard substance, or is oc- casioned by a preceding ulcer, and a hard cicatrix left under the tongue. It is to be cured only by manual operation by the surgeon. ANCYLOTOMUS, a knife for loosening the tongue. It is applied also to all crooked bladed knives. AND A BAT /E , in antiquity, a sort of gla- diators, who mounted on horseback, or in chariots, fought hoodwinked, having a helmet that covered' their eyes. ANDAMENTO, in music, the movement in giving out the subject of a fugue ; a theme, longer, and more important than a point. AND ANTI, in music, signifies, especially in thorough basses, that the notes are to be played distinctly 7 . AND IRA, a tree in the Brazils, the wood of which is well adapted for building. It is a genus of the diadelphia decandria, class and order. It is scarcely known in Europe. ANDRACilNE, in botany, the name given by Linnaeus to a genus of plants, of the gynandria order, belonging to the mo- noecia class - of plants. The characters are: the male calyx consists of five leaves ; the corolla has five petals; and the stamina, which are also five in number, are inserted into the stylus : the female calyx is divided into five leaves ; there is no corolla ; the styli are three: and the capsule is trilocular, containing three seeds. Three species of no account. ANDREW, or Knights of St. Andrew, an order of knights more usually called the order of the thistle. Andrew, knights of St., is also an order instituted by Peter the Great of Muscovy, in 1698 ; the badge of which is a golden medal, on one side whereof is represented St. An- drew’s cross, and on the other are these words : Czar Pierre monarque de loute la Russie. ANDRIA, in Grecian antiquity, public entertainments first instituted by Minos of Crete, and, after his example, appointed by Lycurgus at Sparta, at which a whole city, or a tribe, assisted. They were managed with the utmost frugality, and 'persons of all ages were admitted, the younger sort being obliged by the lawgiver, to repair thither as to schools of temperance and sobriety. ANDRAPODOCAPELI, were dealers in slaves in ancient times. At Athens, several places in the forum were appointed for the sale of slaves. Upon the first day of each month, the merchants brought them into the market, and exposed them to sale, while the crier, standing upon a stone erected for that purpose, called the people together. ANDROGYNA, in botany 7 , plants bearing male and female flowers, with sta- mens only 7 , and some with pistils only on the same root : such are the cucumber and melon. ANDROLEPSY, in Grecian antiquilv, an action allowed by the Athenians, against such as protected persons guilty of murder. The relations of the deceased were empow- ered to seize three men in the city or house, whither the malefactor had tied, till he were either surrendered, or satisfaction made some other way for the murder. ANDROMEDA, in astronomy, a small northern constellation, consisting of twenty 7 - seven stars, visible to the naked eye ; be- hind Pegasus, Cassiopeia, and Perseus. Andromeda, in botany, the marsh cystus : a genus of the monogynia order, belonging to tire decandria class of plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the eighteenth order, bicornes. The characters are : the calyx is a quinquepartite peri- anthium, small, coloured, and persistent : the corolla is monopetalous, campanulated, and quinquefid, with reflected divisions : the stamina consist of ten subulated filaments, shorter than the corolla: the anthers two- horned and nodding : the pistillum has a roundish germen, a cylindric stylus larger than the stamina, and persistent, and an obtuse stigma : the pericarpium is a roundish five-cornered capsule, with five cells and five valves ; the seeds are very 7 numerous, round- ish, and glossy 7 . There are twenty-five species chiefly American plants and hardy. They are planted in black earth with other bog plants, and are on the whole ornamental. ANDRONA, among the ancients, de- notes a street, or public place, where people met and conversed together. It is also used for that part of churches destined for the men. O 2 107 ANDROPOGON, a genus of the pnhj- gamia moaoecia class and order, and of the natural order of grasses. The essential cha- racter is the same in the male as in the her. only in the former the styles are three ; in the hermaph. the cal. is a glume ; one flowered cor. glume, awned at both ends, except the A. nardus, yvhicli produces three, styles two, seed one. There are thirty-five species, one deserv- ing notice. Androfogon nardus, which produces the Indian nard, or spikenard of the shops. The spikenard, as brought from the East Indies, is a congeries of small fibres issuing from one head, and matted close together, so as to form a bunch about the size of the finger, with some small strings at the opposite end of the head. The matted fibres (which are the parts chosen for medicinal purposes) are supposed by some to be the head or spike of the plant, by others the root : they seem rather to be the remains of the withered stalks, or ribs of the leaves : sometimes entire leaves and pieces of stalks are found among them : we likewise now and then meet with a number of these bunches issuing from one root. Spikenard has a warm, pungent, and bitterish taste ; and a strong, not very agree- able smell. It is stomachic and carminative ; and said to be alexipharmic, diuretic, and emmenagogue; but at present it is perhaps improperly very little employed, ANDROSACE, in botany, a genus of plants, the flower of which consists of one saucer-like petal, very wide at the mouth, and divided into five segments ; and its fruit is a globose, unilocular capsule, containing a number of small oval or roundish seeds, affixed to a placenta. This genus belongs to the pentandria monogynia class of Linnams, takes its name from the relief it was supposed to give mankind ; being aperitive, and good in the gout, dropsy 7 , and retention of urine. There are seven species, but now of little account. ANDRYALA, in botany, a genus of plants, the flower of which is monopetalous, and tire seed, which is single, oval, and crowned with down, has no other cover but the cup. It belongs to the syngencsia polrgamiu class of Linnaeus. Six species. ANEE, in commerce, a measure for grain, used in some provinces of France. At Lyons, it signifies a certain quantity of wine, which is the load an ass can carry at once. That load is fixed at eighty English quarts, wine measure. ANEMOMETER, among mechanical philosophers, an instrument contrived for measuring, tire strength of the wind. See Pneumatics. ANEMONE, wind-fi.ower : a genus of the polygamia order, belonging lo the polyandria class of plants ; and in tire natu- ral method ranking under the twenty-sixth order, Multifiliquse. Jt has its name from the Greek anp®*, signifying the wind; because the flower is supposed not to open unless the wind blows. The characters are : there is no calyx ; the corolla consists of petals of two or three orders three in each series, ob * longish : the stamina consist of numerous capillary filaments; the aulherie didymous and erect. The pistillum has numerous germina collected into a head ; tin* styli are los A N E pointed ; the stigmata obtuse : there is no pericarpium ; the receptaculum is globular : the seeds are very numerous. Of this genus there are twenty-eight species ; but those valuable on account of the beauty of their ii overs arc the following : 1 . Anemone Appen’ma is a native of Bri- tain, and grows in woods. The Bowers of this species are sometimes single, and some- times doable; their colours are white, blue, or violet. They appear in April. 2. Anemone Coronaria. 3. Anemone Hor- tensis. These two are natives of the Levant, particularly of the Archipelago islands, where the borders of the lields are covered with them of the most beautiful colours. When they grow wild, the flowers are commonly single; but by culture they are greatly improved : they become large and double, making some of the greatest ornaments of gardens. Their principal colours are red, white, purple, and blue ; some of them are finely variegated - with red, white, purple, and many inter- mediate shades of these colours. 4. Anemone Nemorosa grows wild in the woods in many parts of Britain, where it flowers in April and May. The flowers are white, purple, or reddish purple, sometimes single, and sometimes double, so that they make a pretty appearance. The hepaticas and pulsatillas are now classed among the anemonies. All the single kinds are easily cultivated by seed, which must be sown in the spring in a wide pot or pan, and scarcely covered. The pot must stand out of the way of the sun, till the plants are strong, and they may be planted out in the autumn. The double anemonies are propagated by offsets. All the sorts are considered as among the finest ornaments of our gardens. AN EMOSCOPE, according to Vitruvius’s description, a machine shewing from what 'point of the compass the wind blows. This is done by means of an index moving about au upright circular plate, the index being turned by an horizontal axis, and the axis by an upright staff, at the top of which is the fane moved about by the wind. ANETHUM, Dill, in botany, a genus of umbelliferous plants, of the digynia order, belonging to the pentandria class of plants, The essential characters are : the fruit is oval, compressed, striated ; and the petals, five, are involute, entire, and very short. There are three species. 1. Akethum feniculum, or fennel; of which there are two varieties, the common and the sweet. Both sorts are cultivated in our gardens : the common is a perennial plant : the sweet fennel perishes, after it has given seed ; nor do its seeds come to per- fection in this climate. 2. AnETHUM GRAVEOLENS, OV dill, is an annual plant. 3. Finochio, a sallad herb. Of the first species, the fennel, both the seeds and roots are used in medicine. The seeds of both the fennels have an aromatic smell, and a moderately warm pungent taste: those of the sweet fennel are in flavour most agreeable, and have also a considerable degree of sweet- ness ; hence our colleges have directed the use of these only. They are ranked among the hot seeds, and are undeservedly looked upo i as stomachics. The whole of the genus are indeed only filthy weeds, unpleasant in the A N G taste, and causing the breath to smell of those who are so indelicate as to eat them. ANEURISM, or Aneurysm, in surgery, a throbbing tumour, distended with blood, and iormed by a dilatation or rupture of an artery. See Surgery. ANGARIA, in Roman antiquity, a kind of public service, imposed on the provincials, which consisted in providing horses and car- riages for the conveyance of military stores, and other public burdens. ANG ElOGRAPllY, or Angeiology, among anatomists, the description and his- tory of the several vessels of the human body, as the arteries, veins, lymphatics, &c. ANGEIOLOGY, the description of the vessels of the body, which are concerned in the circulation of the blood, and hi absorption. See Anatomy. ANGEL is a title given to bishops of se- veral churches. In this sense is St. Paul understood by some authors, where he says women ought to be covered in the church, because of the angels ; and thus in the Revela- tions, the seven stars are the angels, that is, bishops of the seven churches. Angel, in commerce, the name of an antient gold coin in England, of which some are still to be seen in the cabinets of the curious. It had its name from the figure of an angel, re- presented upon it. It was 2 3f carats fine, and weighed four pennyweights. Its value differed in different reigns. In the reign of Henry VI. it was 6s. 8d. ; in the 1st Henry VIII. 7s. 6d. ; in the 34th Henry VIII. 8s.; in the 6th Edward VI., and in the succeeding reigns of Mary and Elizabeth, it was 10s. ANGELIC garment, one which, among our ancestors, was put on a little before then- death, that they might have the prayers of the monks. ANGELICA, a genus of the digynia or- der, belonging to the pentandria class of plants, and in the natural method ranking under the 45th order, umbellate. The essential cha- racters are : the fruit is roundish, angled, solid, with reflecting styli ; the corolla: are equal, and the petals meurvated. There are six species. The angelica arch-angelica, sativa, or common angelica, which is cultivated in gardens for medicinal use, and likewise for a sweetmeat, grows naturally in the northern countries. All the parts of angelica, especially the root, have a fragrant aromatic smell, and a pleasant bitterish warm taste, glowing upon the lips and palate for a long time after they have been chewed. The flavour of the seeds and leaves is very perishable, particularly that of the latter, which, on being barely dried, lose the greatest part of their taste and smell : the roots are more tenacious of their flavour, though even these lose part of it upon keep- ing. Angelica is one of the most elegant aro- matics of European growth, though little re- garded in the present practice. The root, which is the most efficacious part, is used in the aromatic tincture ; and the stalks make an agreeable sweetmeat. ANGELICS, in church history, anantient sect of heretics, supposed by some to have gained this appellation from their excessive ve- neration of angels, and by others from their maintaining that the world was created by angels. Angelics is also the name of an order of knights, instituted in 1191, by Angelus ANG Flavius Comnenus, emperor of Constan- tinople. ANGELITES, in church history, an an- tient sect of heretics, whose distinguishing tenet was, that the persons of the Trinity have uo distinct subsistence, but partake in com- mon of the same divine essence. ANGELQT, in the history of coins, a gold coin struck at Paris, while subject to the English, so called from the representation of an angel supporting the arms of England and France. AN G ERON ALIA, in antiquity, feasts ce- lebrated at Rome in honour of Angerona, the goddess of silence and patience. ANGINA, in medicine, a violent inflam- mation of tlie throat, otherwise called quinscy. Angina pectoris, a disease so called from thejseat of the disorder, and the sense of anx- iety and strangling with which it is attended. See Medicine. AN G 1 0 SP ER M I A, in the Linnsean sys- tem of botany, denotes those plants of the didynamia class, which have their seeds in- closed in a capsule, or seed-vessel. ANGLE, in geometry', the inclination of two lines meeting one another in a point, and called the legs of the angle. See Geometry. ANGLING, among sportsmen, the art of fishing with a rod, to which are fitted a line, hook, and bait. In angling the following rules are to be ob- served. 1. To place yourself so that your shadow does not at any time lie upon the wa- ter, if shallow. 2. To angle in a pond near the ford where the cattle go to drink, and in rivers, in such places as the fish you intend to angle for, usually frequent ; as tor breams, in the deepest water; for eels, under banks; for chub, in deep shaded holes; for perch, in scowrs ; for roach, in the same places ; for trouts, in quick streams. The best times for angling are from April to October; for in cold stormy weather, or bleak easterly winds, the fish will not bite. The time of the day, in the warm months, is in the morning, about nine o’clock, and in the afternoon, between three and five. In order to attract the fish to the place intended for angling, it will be proper once in four or five days to cast in some corn boiled soft, gar- bage, worms choptto pieces, or grains steeped in blood, and dried; and if you fish in a stream, it will be best to cast in the grains above the hook. The best way of angling with the fly, is down the river; and in order to make them rise freely, be sure to use such flies as you know they arc naturally inclined to, and in such manner as they are accustomed to re- ceive them. ANGON, in the^mtient military art, a kind of javelin used by the French. They darted it a considerable distance. The iron head of this weapon resembled a flower-de-luce. It is the opinion of some writers, that the arms of France are not flowers, but the iron point of tlie angon, or javelin of the antient. French. ANGUINUM, ovum, among antient na- tualists, a fab ulous kind of egg, said to be produced by the saliva of a cluster of ser- pents, and possessed of certain magical vir- tues. This name is also given by Mercatus to the lapis scol pendrites. AN GUIS, in zoology, the name of a genus A N G A N N of serpents, distinguished from the rest by having the belly and under part of the tail covered with scales, like those on the other parts of the body. The body is shorter, and more uniformly 'cylindric, than in the genus of the coluber, and the eyes are in general small, and the tail rather obtuse. No poi- sonous species of anguis has yet been dis- covered. There are 15 species; the most remarkable are: Anguis bipes, or two-footed snake ; it is a na- tive of the Indies, and has two shortfeet, with two toes, near the anus. In every scale of this species there is a brown point. 2. Anguis cerastes, a native of Egypt. 3. Anguis colu- brina, an inhabitant of Egypt. 4. Anguis eryx, a native of Britain, and likewise of America, is about a span in length, and about the thickness of a man’s finger. One from Aberdeenshire, described by Mr. Pennant, was fifteen inches long: the belly is of a bluish lead colour, marked with small white spots, irregularly disposed; the rest of the body of a greyish brown, with three longi- tudinal dusky lines ; one extending from the head, along the back, to the point of the tail ; the others broader, and extending the whole length of the sides. 5. Anguis fragilis, (seeplate, Nat. Hist. hg. 20) or glass snake of Catesby. The skin is smooth, with small scales, closely connected. A small blow with a stick wall cause the body to separate, not only at the place struck, but at two or three other places, the muscles being articulated in a singular man- ner quite through to the vertebra. 'They ap- pear earlier in the spring than any other serpent, and are numerous in the sandy woods of Virginia and Carolina. 6. Anguis jaculus, or dart snake. Anguis laticauda, a native of Suiinain. 7. Anguis lumbricalis, a native of America. 8. Anguis maculata, a native of America. 9. Anguis ineleagris, is a native of the Indies. 10- Anguis plat ura : the head is ob- long and without teeth ; the body is about a foot and a half long, black above and white below. 1 1. Anguis quadrupes, or four-footed snake. The body of this species is cylindri- cal, with 14 or 15 longitudinal ash-coloured streaks ; the teeth are extremely small ; it has no ears : the feet are at a great distance from each other, very short, with five toes and small nails ; but the toes are so minute, that they can hardly be numbered. It is a native of Java. 12. Anguis reticulata, a native of America. 13. Anguis scytale, a native of the Indies, is white, interspersed with brownish rings. 14. Anguis ventral is, blind worm, or slo w worm, grows to about afoot in length, and to the thickness of a man’s little finger ; the head is small ; the neck still more slender; from that part the body grows suddenly, and con- tinues of an equal bulk to the tail, which ends quite blunt. The colour of the back is cine- rous, marked with very small lines, composed of minute black specks. It resembles the viper, in the manner of producing its young, which are put forth alive. It is frequent with us in gardens and pastures, where it lives principally under ground, feeding on worms. ANGUIUM lapis, the name of a sup- posed stone in Germany, which is cylindric, with a cavity capable ot admitting the linger ; of a yellow colour, with variegations. The vulgar think it derives its origin from a ser- pent ant, but it is certainly made of glass, tinged with two or three colours. They were A N I probably used for the same purposes with the anguinum ovum. ANGURIA, the water-melon, a genus of the diandria order, belonging to the moncecia class of plants, and in the natural method ranking under the 34th order, cucurbitaceic. The essential characters are these: the male calyx is quinquefid, and the corolla quinque- petalous: the female calyx and corolla the same: the pericarpium is a pome beneath, with two cells: the seeds are numerous. Of this genus, Linnaeus reckons three species, viz. 1. Anguria pedata; 2. Anguria trifoliata; and, 3. Anguria trilobata. Of these only one species is known in this country, by the name ofCitrul. The. fruit is cultivated in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and other warm countries of Europe ; as also in Africa, Asia, and Ame- rica, where it is esteemed on account of its cooling quality; but iu Britain it is deservedly held in little estimation. ANGUSTIGLAVIA, in Roman antiquity, a tunic embroidered with little purple studs. It was worn by the Roman knights, as the laticlavia was by the senators. ANIMAL, in natural history, an organ- ized and living body, which is also endowed with sensation: thus, minerals are said to grow or increase, plants to grow and live, but animals alone to have sensation. The description, history, and classing of animals, makes not only a considerable, but the most excellent part of natural history, known by the name of zoology. Different authors have established different divisions or families of animals; but the most natural one seems to be into quadrupeds, birds, fishes, amphibious animals, insects, and ani- malcules, visible only by the help of a micro- scope. Animals, in heraldry, are much used, both as bearings and supporters. Animal manures, in agriculture, are all such as are formed from the decomposition of animal substances of any kind, as flesh, blood, hair, wool, bones, fat, &c. these are generally considered as more powerful in their effects, in promoting vegetation, than such as arc derived from vegetable bodies. Animal matter, in chemistry. See Che- mistry. Animal secretion, the separation of the several fluids of the body from the blood. Animal si/stem denotes the whole class of beings endowed with animal life, otherwise called the animal kingdom, An mal fossile substances, those found buried in the earth at various depths, and embedded among various strata: these are principally, (1) sea-shells: (2) the teeth, bony palate, and bones of fishes; (3) the bones of land animals ; (4) complete fish. - Animal economy, the structure and uses of the different parts of the body . • ANIMALCULE, an animal so minute in its size, as not to be the immediate object of our senses. Animalcules are seen only by the assistance of microscopes, and are perhaps more nume- rous than any other part of the animal creation; but the species, on a close examination, are found, to be but few, in proportion to the number of individuals. The most obvious distinction among them is, that some have, and others have not tails ; and that some have, and others have not visible limbs. Ac- 109 - cording, therefore, to these characters, they are arranged under three classes, distinguished by the names of gvmnia, cerca; in, arthronia ; the first containing those which have no visible limbs, nor any tail; the second, those which have tails ; the third, those which have visible limbs. Animalcules arc discovered by the micro- scope in most liquors, as water, wine, vinegar, &c. in several chalybeat waters, in oats, bar- ley, &c. and in the pustules of the itch. See Microscope. ANIMATED power, in mechanics, de- notes a man, or other animal, in opposition to weights, &c. ANIMATION, suspended. See Drown- ing. ANIME, or Gum animye, in natural his- tory and pharmacy, a kind of gum, or rather resin, being a friable substance, inflammable, and soluble in highly rectified spirit. T here are two kinds, the oriental and occidental : the oriental is a dry resin, brought in large casks, and of a very uncertain colour, some being greenish, some reddish, and some of the colour of myrrh. See Hymen^a. The occidental ' is a yellowish white, re- sembling frankincense in colour. Both kinds are used in perfumes, and in medicine .ex- ternally. An imf/, in heraldry, a term used when the eyes of any rapacious creature are borne of a different tincture-from the creature itself. AN IM ELL/E, the glands under the ears, called also lactiinea. ANINGA, in commerce, a root which grows in the Antilles islands, and is pretty much like the china plant. It is used by sugar-bakers for refining the sugar, and is more effectual and less dangerous than the sublimate of mercury and arsenic. ANISE, anisum, in the materia medica, a small seed; of an oblong shape, ending each way in an obtuse point, with a surface very deeply striated, and of a lax and brittle sub- stance. For the plant which produces it, sec PlM PIN ELLA. ANKER, a liquid measure at Amsterdam. It contains about thirty-two gallons English measure. ANNALE, in the church of Rome, a term applied to the masses celebrated for the dead, during a whole year. ANNALS, a species of history, which re- lates events in the chronological order w here- in they happened. A NN ATES, • or first fruits, - a year’s in- come of a spiritual living. These were, in antient times, given to the pope throughout all Christendom, upon the decease of any bishop, abbot, or parish-clerk, and were paid by his successor . In England, the pope claimed them first- of such foreigners as he conferred benefices upon, by way of provision; but afterwards they were de- manded of all other clerks on their admission to benefices. At the reformation, they were taken from the. pope, and vested in the king; and finally, queen Anne restored them to the church, , by appropriating them to the aug- mentation of poor livings. ANNEALING, or N ealing, as it is called by the workmen, is a process particu- larly employed in the glass-houses, and con- sists in putting the glass- vessels as soon as they are formed, and while they are yet hot, into a furnace or oven, not so hot as to remelt HQ A N N ANN A N N Uirm, and in which they are suffered to <*ool gradually. This is found to prevent their breaking so easily as they otherwise would, and particularly on exposure to heat. There is also this difference between annealed and unannealed glass, that when the latter is bro- ken it often flies into small powder, as is re- markably exemplified in the little glass bub- bles sold in the streets, and called Prince Ru- pert’s drops, which are drops of common bottle glass which fall from the rods on which bottles are made, into water, which suddenly cools them. See Rupert’s Drops. Va- rious theories have been started to account for these phenomena, but none of them quite satisfactory, and all that can be said is, that by gradually cooling, the glass becomes per- fectly chrystallized. A similar process is'used for rendering cast- iron vessels less brittle, and the effect depends probably on the same principles. ANNEXATION, in law, a term used to imply the uniting of lands or rents to the crown. ANNONA, in Roman antiquity, denotes .provision for a year of all sorts, as of flesh, wine, & c. but especially of corn. Annona is likewise the allowance of oil, salt, bread, flesh, corn, wine, hay, and straw, which was annually provided by contractors for the maintenance of an army. Annona, or Custard Apple, a genus of the polyandria polygynia class and order. The characters are: the calyx is a tviphylous pe- rianthium : the corolla consists of six heart- shaped petals: the stamina have scarcely any filaments; the anthers are numerous, sitting on the receptaculum: the pistilhim has a roundish germen; nostyli: the stigmata ob- tuse and numerous: the pericarpium is a large roundish unilocular berry, covered with a scaly bark: the seeds are numerous. There are 10 species; the most remarkable are: 1. The annona muricata, or sour-sop, which rarely rises above 20 feet high: tiie fruit or apple is large, of an oval shape, irregular, and pointed at the top, of a greenish yellow co- lour, and full of small knobs on the outside: the pulp is soft, white, and of a sour and sweet taste intermixed, having many oblong, dark coloured seeds. It much resembles the black currant, and is a native of the West In- dies. 2. The annona palustris, or water-apple, grows to the height of 30 or 40 feet ; the fruit is seldom eaten but by negroes, and the tree grows in, moist places in all the West India islands. 3. "The annona reticulata, or custard apple, is also a native of the West Indies, where it grows to the height of 25 feet; the fruit is of a conical form, as large as a tennis- ball, of an orange colour when ripe, hav- ing a soft, sweet, yellowish pulp, of the consistence of a custard, whence it has its name. 4. The annona triloba, or North Ame- rican annona, called by the inhabitants papaw, is a native of the Bahama islands, and like- wise of Virginia and Carolina. The trunks of the trees are seldom bigger than the small part of a man’s leg, and are about 10 or 13 feet high. The fruit grows in clusters of 3 or 4 together: when ripe, they are yellow, co- vered with a thin smooth skin, which contains a yellow pulp of a sweet luscious taste. All parts of the tree have a rank, if not a fetid, smell ; nor 5 is the fruit relished by many ex- cept negroes. This last sort will thrive in the open air in England, if it is placed in a warm and sheltered situation ; but the plants should be trained up in pots, and sheltered in winter for 2 or 3 years till they have acquired strength. The seeds frequently remain a whole year in the ground; and therefore the earth in the pots ought not to be disturbed, though the plants do not come up the first year. All the other sorts require to be kept in a warm stove. ANN ONrE prospectus, in antiquity, an extraordinary magistrate, whose business it was to prevent a scarcity of provision, and to regulate the weight and ‘fineness of bread. ANNOTATION, in matters of literature, a brief commentary or remark upon a book or writing, in order to clear up some passage, or draw some conclusion from it. ANNOTTO, in commerce, a kind of red dye, brought from the V est Indies. It is procured from the pulp of the seed-capsules of a tree called bixa in South America. See Bixa. The annotto is prepared only by the Spa- niards ; the mode is as follows : the contents of the fruit or capsule are thrown into a wooden bowl, where as much hot water is poured on them as is necessary to suspend the red matter or pulp. When the seeds are left quite naked, they are taken out, and the wash is left to settle. The water is then poured off, and the sediment dried by degrees in the shade, after which i.t is made into balls or cakes for exportation. ANNUAL, an appellation given to what- ever returns every year : thus we say, the annual motion of (he earth, annual plants, &c. Annual, or Annuel, in the Scotch law, any yearly revenue, or rent, payable at the two great terms, "Whitsuntide and Martinmas. Annual plants, called also simply annuals, are such as only live their year, i. e. come up in the spring, and die again in I the autumn. Annual leaves, are such as come in the spring, and perish in autumn. aNnuent ES musculi, in anatomy, the same with recti inter ni minor es. ANNUITIES, periodical payments of money, amounting to a fixed sum in each year, and con- tinuing for a certain period, as for 10, 50, or 100 years, or for an uncertain period, to be de- termined by a particular event, as on the failure of a life, or for an indefinite term ; which latter are called perpetual annuities. The times of payment are either yearly, half-yearly, quar- terly, weekly, or at any other intervals that may be determined on previous to the commence- ment of the annuity, or regulated during its continuance. All calculations relating to annuities are made on the principle of improving money at Com- pound Interest, and are generally for an an- nuity of 1/., from which the value of any other annuity is easily derived. Let r represent the amount of 17. in one year ; that is, one pound increased by a year’s interest, then r n , or raised to the power whose exponent is any given number of years, will he the amount of 1/. in those years ; its increase in the same time is r n — 1 ; now the interest for a single year, or the annuity answering to the increase, is r — 1 ; therefore, as r — 1 is to r 11 — 1, so is u (any given annuity) to a its amount. Hence vve have « X r n — 1 by which the amount of an annuity for any number of years at any given rate of interest is found. In the same manner the present value of annuities is obtain i;l ; for, as 1/. is the present- value of r n , its amount in n years, and as the present value of any other amount, and conse- quently of — must bear the same r — 1 proportion to that amount, we have X 1 - — 1 -> or From these theorems, the other cases relating to annuities may be easily deduced ; but as the involution of high powers is a tedious operation by common arithmetic, most questions relative to annuities may he more conveniently answered by the help of logarithms. It is, however, sel- dom necessary to have recourse to either of j these methods, as very accurate tables of the 1 amount and present worth of annuities have been calculated by Mr. J. Smart and others, and are inserted in most books that treat of Com- pound Interest or Annuities. TABLE I. Shewing the Amount of an Annuity of £.1, in any Number of Years, not exceeding 100, when improved at 5 per Cent, per Annum, Compound Interest. Yrs. Amount. Yrs. Amount. Yrs. Amount. I 1,0000 35 90,3203 69 559,5510 2 2,0500 36 95,8363 70 588,5285 3 3,1525 37 101,6281 71 618,9549 4 4,8101 38 107,7095 72 650,9027 5 5,5256 39 114,0950 73 684,4478 6 6,8019 40 120,7998 74 719,6702 7 8,1420 41 127,8398 75 756,6537 8 9,5491 42 135,2317 76 795,4864 9 11,0266 43 142,9933 77 836,2607 10 12,5779 44 151,1430 78 879,0738 11 14,2068 45 159,7002 79 924,0274 12 15,9171 46 168,6852 80 971,2288 13 17,7130 47 178,1194 81 1020,7903 14 19,5986 48 188,0254 82 1072,8298 15 21,5786 49 1 98,4267 83 1127,4713 16 23,6575 50 209,3480 84 1184,8448 17 25,8404 51 220,8154 85 1245,0871 18 28,1328 52 232,8562 86 1308,3414 19 30,5390 53 245,4990 87 1374,7585 20 33,0659 54 258,7739 88 1444,4964 21 35,7192 55 272,7126 89 1517,7212 22 38,5052 56 287,3482 90 1594,6073 23 41,4305 57 302,7157 91 1675,3377 24 44,5020 58 318,8514 92 1760,1045 25 47,7271 59 335,7940 93 1849,1098 26 51,1135 60 353,5837 94 1942,5653 27 54,6691 61 372,2629 95 2040,6935 28 58,4026 62 391,8760 96 2143,7282 , 29 62,3227 63 412,4698 97 2251,9146 30 66,4388 64 434,0933 98 2365,5103 31 70,7608 65 456,7980 99 2484,7859 32 75,2988 66 480,6379 100 2610,0252 33 80,0638 67 505,6698 34 85,0670 68 531,9533 EXAMPLE. To what sum will an annuity of £.42 amount in 30 years, at 5 per cent, compound interest ? The amount in the Table against 30 years is 66,4388, which multiplied by 42, gives the an- swer 2790/. 8s. Id. TABLE II. Shewing the present Value of an Annuity of £.1 for any Number of Years, not exceeding 100, at 5 per Cent, per Annum, Compound Interest. By the help of these tables many practical problems, which are daily occuring, may be worked by any persons versed in com- mon arithmetic. ANN A N O ANT Y rs. Value. Yrs. Value. Yrs. Value. 1 ,952381 35 16,374194 69 19,309810 2 1,859410 36 16,546852 70 19,342677 3 2,723248 37 16,711287 71 19,373978 4 3,545950 38 16,867893 72 19,403788 5 4,329477 39 17,017041 73 19,432179 6 5,075692 40 17,159086 74 19,459218 7 5,786373 41 17,294368 75 19,484970 8 6,463213 42 17,423208 76 19,509495 9 7,107822 43 17,545912 77 19,532853 10 7,721735 44 17,662773 78 19,555098 11 8,306414 45 17,774070 79 19,576284 12 8,863252 46 17,880066 80 19,596460 13 9,393573 47 17,981016 81 19,615677 14 9,898641 48 18,077158 82 19,633978 15 10,379658 49 18,168722 83 19,651407 16 10,837770 50 18,255925 84 19,668007 17 11,274066 51 18,338977 85 19,683816 18 11,689587 52 18,418073 86 19,698873 19 12,085321 53 18,493403 87 19,713212 20 12,462210 54 18,565146 88 19,726869 21 12,821153 55 18,633472 89 19,739875 22 13,163003 56 18,698545 90 19,752262 23 13,488574 57 18,760519 91 19,764059 24 13,798642 58 18,819542 92 19,775294 25 14,093945 59 18,875754 9.3 19,785994 26 14,375185 60 18,929290 94 19,796185 27 14,643034 61 18,980276 95 19,805891 28 14,898127 62 1 9,028834 96 19,815134 29 15,141074 63 19,075080 97 19,823937 30 15,372451 64 19,119124 98 19,832321 31 15,592810 65 19,161070 99 19,840306 32 15,802677 66 19,201019 100 19,847910 33 16,002549 67 19,239066 34 16,192904 68 19,275301 EXAMPLE. What is the present worth of an annuity of I £.30, t0 continue for 16 years, at 5 per cent, compound interest ? The value in the Table against 16 years is 10,83777, which multiplied I by 30, gives the answer 32 51. 2s. Id. Reversionary Annuities are those which do not commence till after a certain number of I years, or till the decease of a person, or some other future event, has happened. The present value of an annuity which is not to commence till the expiration of a certain period, may be found by Table II., by deducting from the value of an annuity for the whole period, the value of an annuity to the time at which the rever- sionary annuity is to commence. Example. What is the present value, at 5 per cent, compound interest, of £.50 per annum for 20 years, commencing at the end of 7 years from the present time ? The value of an an- nuity f»r 21 years is 14,643034, and the value of an annuity for 7 years is 5,786373, the latter deducted from the former leaves 8, 856661, which multiplied by 50, gives 442/. 16r. 7 d. the value of the reversionary annuity. For the value of Annuities on Lives, and of Reversionary Annuities on Lives or Survivor- ship, see Life-annuities. Annuities, Public. See National Debt and Funds. ANNUITY, in law, a contract very dis- tinct from a rent-charge, with which it is fre- quently confounded a rent-charge being a burthen imposed upon- and issuing out of lands, whereas an annuity is a yearly sum, chargeable only upon the person of the granter. Therefore, if a man by deed grant to another the sum of 20/. per annum, with- out expressing cut of what lands it shall issue, no land at all shall be charged with it; but it is a mere personal annuity, which is of so little account in tiie law, that if granted to an eleemosynary corporation, it is not within the statutes of mortmain ; and yet a man may have a real estate in it, though his security is merely personal. Blacks. Cam. b. ii. ch. 3. f or the provisions respecting grants of an- nuities for lives, see Life Annuities. ANNULAR, in anatomy, something in the form of or resembling a ring. Hence, the annular cartilage is the second cartilage of the larynx ; annular ligament that which encom- passes the wrist, and binds tiie bones of the arm together ; annular process, or protube- rance, a part of the medulla oblongata. The sphincter muscle of the anus is, from its figure, called the annular muscle. Annular eclipse. See Astronomy. ANNULET, in architecture, a small square member in the Doric capital, under the quarter round. Annulet is also a narrow flat moulding, which is common to divers places of the columns, as in the bases, capitals, & c. It is the same member which Vitruvius calls a fillet ; Palladio a listel or cincture ; Scamozzi and Mr. Brown, asupercilium, list, tinea, eye- brow, square, and rabbit. Annulet, in heraldry, a mark of distinction which the fifth brother of a family ought to bear in his coat of arms. ANNULLING, a term sometimes used for cancelling or making void a deed, sentence, or the like. ANNULUS, a ring, in geometry, the area of which is equal to- the difference of the areas of the outer and inner circles : or it may be found by multiplying the sum of their diame- ters by the difference, and the product by .7854. ANNUNCIADA, Annuntiada, or An- nuntiata, an order of knighthood in Savoy, first instituted by Amadeus I. in the year 1409. Annunciada is also the title of several re- ligious orders, instituted at different times, and at different places, in honour of the An- nunciation. ANNUNCIATION, the tidings brought by the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary; a festival on the 25th of March, vulgarly called lady-day. In the Romish church, on this feast the pope performs the ceremony of marrying or cloistering a certain number of maidens, who are presented to him in the church della Mi- nerva, clothed in white serge, and muffled up from head to foot : an officer stands by, with purses containing notes of fifty crowns for those who make choice of marriage, and notes of an hundred for those who choose the veil. ANN.UNTIATOR, the name of an officer in the church of Constantinople. It was his business to inform the people of the festivals that were to be celebrated. ANODYNE, in pharmacy, a term applied to*medicines which mitigate pain. ANOLYMPIADS, in Gre- cian antiquity, an appellation given by the E beans to such Olympic games as had been celebrated under the direction of other states besides themselves. ANOMALISTICAL year-, in astronomy, the time that the earth takes to pass through her orbit: it is also -called the periodical year. The space of time belonging to this year is greater than the tropical year, on. account of the precession of the equinoxes. . ANOMALOUS verbs, .in grammar, such as are not conjugated conformably to .the pa- radigm of their conjugation, 111 ANOMALY, in astronomy, an irregularity in the motion of the planets, whereby they deviate from the aphelion or apogee; which inequality is either mean, excentric, or co- equate and true. See Astronomy. AN O MIA, in conchology, the name of an extensive genus of bivalves, defined as inequi- valve, one valve gibbous towards the beak, the other flat, and perforated near the hinge. The animal, which is but imperfectly known, is described — body thin and slender, emar- ginated, and fringed; the hairs aiiixed to the upper valve ; and it has two arms, which are linear and longer than the body. Some cbn- chologists separate the fossil kinds from those which are found in a recent state. There are 25 species, among which is the anomia te- rebratula. See Plate, Nat. Hist. fig. 21. ANOMOEANS, a sect of Christians, who asserted that the Son was of a nature diffe- rent from and in nothing like to that of the Father. This was the name by which the pure Arlans were distinguished, in contra- distinction to the semi-arians, who acknow- ledged a likeness of nature in the Son, at the same time that they denied, .with the pure Arians, the eonsubstantiality of the Word. The semi-arians condemned the anomoeans in the council of Seleucia;. and the Anonioe- ans in their turn condemned the semi-arians in the council of Constantinople.. ANOMORHOMBOIDIA, in natural his- tory, a genus of crystalline spars, of no deter- minate form, easily fissile, but cleaving more readily in an horizontal than in a perpendi- cular direction, their plates being composed of irregular arrangements of short and thick rhomboidal concretions. See Mineral logy. ANONIS, rest-harroiv, in botany, a genus of plants, the flower of which is papiliona- ceous* and its fruit a turgid villose, pod, con- taining a few kidney-hke seeds. This genus belongs to the diadelphia-de- candria class of Linnaeus, who calls it ononis. The essential character is, calyx quinque— partite; segments linear; vexillum striated; legumen turgid and sessile; filaments coar tited, without a fissure. A NS/E, in astronomy, the parts of Saturn’s ring, which are to be seen on each side of the - planet, when viewed through a telescope, and the ring appears somewhat open. They are so called because they are like handles to the body of the planet. A'NSE L-ica'ght,. the same with auocel- weight. ANSER, the trivial name of the common goose. See Anas. Anser, in astronomy, a star of the fifth or sixth magnitude, in. the milky-way, between the swan and eagle. ANSPESSADES, in the French armies, a kind of inferior officer in the foot, below the - corporals, but above the common sentinels. . There are usually four or five of them in a company. . AN T, in entomology, a well-known insect, much celebrated for its industry and (eco- nomy. See Formica and Termes. ANTA,, in the antient architecture, a square pilaster, placed at the corners of ' buildings. Anta is used by M. Le Glerc for a kiud of shaft of. a pillar, without base or capital, and even without any moulding. ANTACIDS, in pharmacy, an appellation given to all medicines proper to . correct .and A N T ANT 112 ANT resist add, or sour humours. See M ateria Medica. ANTAGONIST muscles, in anatomy, tliose which have opposite functions, as ilex- ors and extensors, abductors and adductors, &c. See Anatomy. ANTALKALIN ES, in the materia me- dica, signify medicines fitted to correct alka- line salts, or alkaline matters in the whole body. ANATANACLASIS, in rhetoric, a figure which repeats the same word, but in a diffe- rent sense, as, dim vivimus, vivamus. And the English, Let the dead bury the dead. ANTANAGOGE, in rhetoric, a figure by which, when the accusation of the adversary is unanswerable, we load him with the same or other crimes. This is usually called re- crimination. ANTAN ISOPHYLLUM, in botany, see Boerhaavta. ANTARCTIC, in a general sense, de- notes something opposite to the arctic, or northern pole. Hence, Antarctic circle, in geography and astronomy, is one of the lesser circles of the sphere, and distant only 23° 30' from the south pole, which is likewise called antarctic, for the same reason. ANT ARES, a star of the first magnitude, otherwise called the Scorpion’s heart. See Scorpion. ANTE', in heraldry, denotes that the pieces are let into one another in such form as is there expressed; as, for instance, by dove-tails, rounds, swallows’ tails, or the like. ANTEAMBULONES, in Roman anti- quity, servants who went before persons of distinction to clear the way before them. They used this formula, Date locum domino ineo; i. e. make way for my master. ANTECEDENT, in grammar, the word to which a relative refers: thus, God whom we adore, the word God is the antecedent. Antecedent, in logic, is the first of the tw o propositions in an enthymema. Antecedent, in mathematics, is the first of two terms of a ratio, or that which is com- pared with the other, as in the ratio of 2 to 3, or a to b, 2 and a are each antecedents. Antecedent signs, in medicine, such as are observed before a distemper is so formed as to be reducible to any particular class, as a bad disposition of the blood. Antecedent term, in mathematics, the first one of any ratio: thus, if the ratio be a : b, a is the antecedent terra. ANTECEDENTLY, in astronomy, an ap- parent motion of a planet towards the west, or contrary to the order of the’Vigns, viz. from Taurus towards Aries, &c. ANTEDATE, among lawyers, a spurious or false date, prior to the true date of a bond, bill, &c. ANTEDILUVIAN, whatever existed be- fore Noah’s Hood: thus, the generations from Adam to Noah are called the antediluvians. There have been great disputes among phi- losophers about the form, constitution, figure, and situation of the antediluvian earth. Dr. Burnet contended that it was only a hollow crust, with an uniform equable surface, with- out mountains and without seas, and in all respects different from what we now find it to be. Dr. Woodward undertook to prove that its appearance was the same as at pre- sent ; that it had the same position in respect of the sun, and consequently the same vicis- situdes of seasons: and Mr. Whiston ima- gined that the chaos of which our earth was formed, had been the atmosphere of a comet ; that the annual motion of the earth began as soon as it assumed a new form ; but that the diurnal motion did not take place till the fall of Adam ; that before tire deluge the year began at the autumnal equinox ; that the orbit of the earth was a perfect circle ; and that the solar and lunar years were the same, each consisting of just three hundred and sixty days. The state of the antediluvian philosophy has been the subject of much de- bate among authors, and so also has the state of the population. AN TEJ U R AMENTU M, by our ances- tors called juramevtum calumnicc, an oath which anciently both accuser and accused were to take before any trial or purgation. Tire accuser was to swear that he would prosecute the criminal ; and the accused to make oath, on the day he was to undergo the ordeal, that he was innocent of the crime charged against him. ANTELOPE, in zoology, a genus of qua- drupeds. The generic character is, horns hollow, with a bony core, pointing upwards, annulated or wreathed, permanent ; front teeth, in the lower jaw, eight; no canine teeth. Antelopes have but lately been in- cluded in a separate genus ; they were for- merly placed under that of the goat. They form a link indeed between the goat and deer kind, but possess sufficient distinctive marks to entitle them to stand apart from them both. They are in general natives of the hottest part of the globe, and peculiarly of Asia and Africa, Europe having but two species, and America none. Antelopes have a slender elegant make, and are singularly agile and swift in their motions: they are restless, timid, vigilant, and full of animation. Their chace is a fa- vourite amusement in the east ; and such is their speed, that the fleetest dogs cannot overtake them ; on which account falcons are trained to assail them, and by pecking at their eyes, to check their course, and throw them into confusion. A species of leopard is employed also to steal upon them unawares, and seize them by a few bounds. Antelopes have the singular property of sometimes stopping short, and gazing at their pursuers. The beauty of their eyes affords a favourite object of comparison to eastern poets. They usually prefer hilly countries, and associate in numerous herds. They graze on herbage, or crop the shoots of trees, and their flesh is generally of a very delicate flavour. There are 28 species of the ante- lope. 1. Oryx, or Egyptian antelope. The Egyptian antelope, or pasan, is more easily distinguished than many others in this exten- sive race ; the horns affording a character perfectly clear and constant : they are almost entirely straight, nearly three feet in length, very slender in proportion to their length, annulated at the lower part or towards the base, the remainder smooth, and gradu- ally tapering to the point. The size of the animal is somewhat superior to that of a deer. 'fiie pasan is nearly four feet high, mea- sured from the top of the shoulders to the ground : it is found about the Cape of Good Hope, as well as in other parts of Africa. 2. Leucoryx, or white antelope. The leucoryx is entirely milk-white, except the markings on the face and limbs: these are described as of a red colour, and not black, as in the pasan ; the nose is thick and broad, like that of a cow ; the ears somewhat slouch- ing; the body heavy; the limbs somewhat less so; the horns very long, very slightly incurvated, slender, and annulated about half ' way upwards; their colour is black, and they are sharp-pointed ; the hoofs are black, and 1 the tail somewhat flocky, or terminated by loose hairs. The size of this species is com- j pared by Mr. Pennant to that of a Welch \ runt. It is an inhabitant of an island called . Gow Bahrein, in the gulph of Bassora. 3. Antilope gazella, or algazel. This spe- cies is a native of India and Persia, and i> also found in many parts of Africa. It is about the size of a fallow deer, and is of a reddish or bright bay colour, with a white breast: the horns are very long, thin, and black, nearly upright, bending inwards at their extremities ; they are nearly smooth; the rings with which they are marked being very slight, except near the base, where they are somewhat more distinct : they are almost three feet in length. In celerity and general manners this spe- cies agrees with many others of its tribe, and is said, to be easily tamed. 4. Oreas, or Indian antelope. This is one of the largest of the whole genus, and is found both in India and Africa, living in numerous herds. It is not much inferior in size to a cow, and is of a bluish grey or slate- colour, with the head of a bright bay. Along the upper part of the neck, and a part of the the buck, runs a coarse black mane : on the breast is a very large pendent tuft of hair, as in the Nilgau : the tail is also tipped with long black hairs ; the horns are extremely stout, strait, sharp-pointed, and marked with two very thick prominent wreaths or spires : they are sometimes above two feet in length, and are of a blackish colour. The oreas is said to be an animal of great strength, and it has been thought not impracticable to train it to agricultural purposes, in the same manner as the horse or ox. It is said sometimes to grow extremely fat, so as to be easily run down. The flesh is reckoned extremely good ; and the skin is very strong and serviceable for the purpose of leather. The female is said to be horned like the male. 5. Antilope ourebi, or ourebi. This is described by Mr. Pennant as the antelope with small strait horns, small head, long neck, long pointed ears: colour above a deep tawny, brightening towards the sides, neck, head, and legs ; lower part of breast, belly, buttocks, and inside of thighs, white : tail only three inches long, and black : hair on the body short, under the chest long and whitish, on each knee a tuft of hair. The fe- males are hornless : length three feet nine inches to the tail : inhabits the country very remote from the Cape of Good Hope. Sel- dom more than two are seen together. They generally haunt the neighbourhood of foun- tains surrounded with reeds ; are excellent venison. 6. Antilope oreotragus, ot klipspringer. This species is to be numbered among the 1 late acquisitions in natural history, having been first described by Dr. Eorster ANTELOPE. 7. Scripts, or harnessed antelope. This, which is numbered among the smaller ante- lopes, is of an elegant tawny chesmit -colour both above and below, each side of the body being marked by two longitudinal bands of white, crossed, at nearly equal distances, by- two transverse ones: the rump is also marked on each side by two white descending stripes; and die thighs are variegated with seven or eight roundish white spots: the checks have a white spot or patch beneath the eye, and the under part of the throat is of the same, colour: the tail measures ten inches, and is covered with long and rough hair : the horns point backward, and are nine inches long, of a black colour, and marked by two spiral ribs or wreaths. This elegant species is a native of Senegal, living in woods in large herds. 8. Grimmia, or Guinea antelope. The Guinea antelope, or grimrn, is considerably smaller than a roebuck, and is of an elegant and lively aspect. Its colour on all parts ex- cept the throat, abdomen, and insides of the thighs, where it is pale cinereous, is a beautb ful light yellowish or tawny brown. Like most other quadrupeds, however, it differs as to the intensity of its colour. The horns are very short, thick at the base, very slightly an- nulated to a small distance Beyond, and are sharp-pointed, smooth, and-black : the limbs are slender; the tail' rather short, blackish above, white below, and is somewhat flocky or loose-haired : but what principal! v distin- guishes this 1 species is an upright pointed tuft of strong black hairs rising from the top of the forehead, between the horns, to the height of about two inches and a half : the sinus lachrymalis, as in many other antelopes, is extremely conspicuous. The grimm is found in several parts of Africa, extending, according to Dr. Pallas and Mr. Pennant, from Guinea, to the Cape of Good Hope; residing principally in places overgrown with brushwood, into which it may retire on the approach of danger. 9. Pygmaea, or pygmy antelope. This beautiful and diminutive species appears to have been frequently confounded with the moschw v pugmceiis , or pygmy musk, which it resembles in size as well as in colour and manners. It is a native of the hottest parts of Africa, and is easily tamed, but is of so tender a nature as not to admit of being brought in a living state into Europe. So remarkable are its powers of activity in its native regions, that it is said to be able to leap over a wall of twelve feet high. Jts co- lour is a bright bay, paler beneath, and on the insides of the limbs ; and its height not more than nine inches. The horns are strait, short, strong, sharp-pointed, smooth, aqd per- fectly black. The legs are scarcely thicker than a quill, and have been used for similar •purposes with those of the moschus pygmasus. '1 he female is said to be hornless. 10. Antilope picta, or nilghau. The nil- ghau, or white-footed antelope, is a large and beautiful species, known only within the space of a few years past. It has of late years been often imported into Europe, and has bred in England. In confinement it is generally pretty gentle, but is sometimes seized with fits of sud- den caprice, wjjen it will attack with great vio- lence the objects of its displeasure. When the males fight, they drop on their knees at some distance from each other, and gradually advance in that attitude, and at length make VOL. I. a spring at each other with their heads bent low. This action, however, is not peculiar to the nilghau, but is observed in many others of the antelope tribe. See Plate Nat. Hist, fig. 22. 11. Tragocamelus, or Indostan antelope. The Indostan antelope is of a far less elegant appearance than the rest of the antelopes, and seems to partake, in some degree, of the form of a camel, having a strong bending neckj and a large elevation or protuberance over the shoulders. Along the neck runs a short mane ; and the protuberance before mentioned is co- vered or tufted with long hair: the breast is furnished with a kind of dewlap, or loose pen- dent skin, resembling that of a cow: the hind part of the animal is small in proportion to tiie fore ; the limbs are slender, and the tail is nearly two feet in length, and terminated by a hairy tuft. . This highly singular animal is a native of India, and in its habits and manner of lying down is said to resemble a camel. 12. Bubalis, or cervine antelope. Tips species is said to be common in Barbary, and in all the northern parts of Africa. It is also found, though less frequently, in many other parts of that continent, and even extends as far as the Cape of Good Hope. It is sup- posed to have been the bubalus of the an- tients, instead of the common buffalo, as sometimes erroneously imagined. In its ge- neral form it seems to partake of the stag and heifer, having a large head, like that of an ox ; and a thick broad nose. The height of the animal, when measured to the top of the shoulders, is about 4 feet; the general colour a reddish brown, white about the rump, in- sides of the limbs, and lower part of the bel- ly; the upper part of the fore legs is marked iii front by a dusky patch, as is also- the hind part of the thighs ; and on the upper part of the back is a stripe of the same colour. The horns bend' outwards and backwards, and are very strong and black, thickly or coarsely annulated towards the base, and seated pretty close to each other on the head ; they are about 20 inches in length, and 11 inches round at the base ; the teeth are large, the lower lip black, with a sort of tuft of bristles on each side ; along the snout and forehead runs a black band, terminated at the fore- head by a tuft of hair between the horns. 13. Strepsiceros, or striped antelope. The striped antelope is a native of the country about the Cape of Good Hope, where it is said to be called coedoes. It is one of the larger kinds of antelopes, measuring near 9 feet in length, and being 4 feet high. Its colour is a rufous-grey, with the face brown, marked by two white lines, eacli proceeding from the corner of the eye, and uniting in a pointed form on the top of the nose, which is smooth and black ; down the forehead runs a broad dusky stripe, and a streak of the same colour is continued down the upper part of the neck ; the lower part of the back is mark- ed by a white stripe, from which proceed several others, each about an inch broad, down the sides of the animal, three or four of them falling over the upper part of the thighs : the female of this species is said by Mr. Pennant to be destitute of horns', but Dr. Pallas affirms that it is horned like the male. The number of white stripes in this animal seems to vary. 14. Rupcapra, or common antelope. Of 113 this numerous tribe there is perhaps no spe- cies more truly elegant in its appearance than the present, which is a native of many parts of Africa, as well as of India. It is particu- larly frequent in Barbary. Its general size is somewhat smaller than that of a fallow deer, and its colour is a reddish tawny brown above, and white below ; the insides of the limbs are white, and on the head, back, and outsides of the limbs, the hair is darker than on other parts : the orbits of the eyes are white, and this colour is generally continued into a white spot or patch on each side the forehead ; the muzzle is black ; the horns are of a peculiarly beautiful form, having a double flexure, first inwards, and again outwards : their colour is black, and they are very elegantly and dis- tinctly marked throughout almost their whole length by numerous prominent rings. Their general length is about fourteen inches, and they are about sixteen inches distant from each other at the tips. See Plate Nat. Hist, fig. 23. 15. Lerwia, or Gambian antelope. 1 his seems a species not very distinctly under- stood. 16. Antilope saiga, or saiga. The saiga, or Scythian antelope, is an inhabitant of all the deserts from the Danube and the Dnieper to the river Irtish, but not beyond ; nor is it ever seen to the north of 54 or 55 degrees of latitude. It is therefore found in Poland, Moldavia, about Mount Caucasus, and the Caspian Sea, as well as in the dreary open deserts of Siberia, where salt-springs abound, feeding on the salt, acrid, and aromatic plants of those countries. The females of this species go with young the whole winter, and bring forth in the north- ern deserts in May, producing only one young at a birth, which is covered with a soft curling fleece, like that of a new-fallen lamb. It i9 said that a flock of saigas seldom lies down all at once, some always acting as a kind of sentinels, and being relieved in their turn by others; and thus they preserve themselves* from the attacks both of wolves and hunters. r l hey are so extremely swift as easily to out- strip the fleetest horse, but cannot run for any great length of time in this manner with- out stopping, as if to take brea h. If bit by a dog, they instantly fall down, without at- tempting to rise, being entirely disabled through extreme terror. In their flight they appear to incline to one side, and their course is so rapid, that they scarcely seem to touch the ground with their feet. When taken young they may be easily tamed ; but when caught at full age, are so wild and obstinate as to refuse all kind of food. These animals are hunted for the sake of tffeir flesh, horns, and skins, which latter are said to he excellent for gloves, belts, See. The hunters are careful to approach them against the wind, lest the animals should per- ceive them by their smell : they also avoid putting on red or white clothes, or any co- lours which might attract their notice. They are both shot and taken with dogs, and some- times by a species of eagle trained to this kind of falconry. 17. Gutturosa, or Chinese antelope, This is a species which is said to abound in the southern parts of the deserts between Tibet and China, and in the country of the Mon- gol' Tartars, frequenting principally the dry and rocky plains and hills of those regions, ] 14 ANT ANT and feeding on the finer and more aromatic plants. It is said to be so averse to water, that it will not go into it even to save its life, when driven by dogs to the brink of a river. If taken young it maybe easily tamed. Its liesh is much esteemed as a food, and the horns are in great request among the Chinese for various purposes. The female has no horns. 18. Subgutturosa, or Guldeusted’s ante- lope. This species was first described by IS 1 r. Guldensted, in the Petersburgh Trans- actions. It is found in Persia, between the Caspian and the Black Seas ; its size and ge- neral appearance is that of a roebuck, of a gregarious nature, and it feeds principally on the artemisia pontica. 19. Antilope euchore, or springer. “ This elegant species weighs about fifty pounds, and is rather less than a roebuck ; inhabits the Cape of Good Hope; called there the spring-bock, from the prodigious leaps it takes on the sight of any body. When alarmed it has the power of expand- ing the white space about the tail into the form of a circle, which returns to its linear form when the animal is tranquil. They migrate annually from the interior parts in small herds, and continue in the neighbour- hood of the Cape for two or three months, then join companies, and go off in troops, consisting of many thousands, covering the great plains for several hours in their passage ; are attended in their migrations by numbers of lions, hyaenas, and other wild beasts, which make great destruction among them ; are excellent eating, and, with other antelopes, are the venison of the Cape. They make periodical migrations in seven or eight years, in herds of many hundred thousands, from the north, from the interior parts of Terra de Natal. They are compelled to it by the excessive drought which happens in that re- § ion, where sometimes there does not fall a rop of rain for two or three years. These animals, in their course, desolate Caffraria, spreading over the whole country, and not leaving a blade of grass. Lions attend them : where one of those beasts of prey are, the place is known by the vast void visible in the midst of the timorous herd. On its- approach to the Cape, it is observed that the avant guard is very fat, the. centre less so, and the rear guard almost starved, being reduced to live on the roots of the plants devoured by those which went before ; but on their return they become the avant guard, and thrive in their turn on the renewed vegetation ; while the former, now changed into the rear guard, are famished, by being compelled to take up with the leavings of the others. These animals are quite fearless, when as- sembled in such mighty armies ; ncr can a man pass through, unless he compels them to give way with a whip or a stick. W hen taken young, they are easily domesticated : the males are very wanton, and are apt to butt at strangers with their horns.” 20. Antilope arundinacea, or ritbock. The ritbock, or ritrebock, is so named from its chiefly frequenting reedy places. Its size is that of a roebuck, and its colour a very ele- gant pale grey, with the throat, belly, hips, and insides of the limbs, white, but without any dusky line of separation along the sides of the body, as in many other antelopes. 21. Antilope sylvatica, or bosbock. Jn its general form this seems most allied to the harnessed antelope, but is said to be rather smaller. Like that species, it inhabits woods, and is found at a great distance above the Cape of Good Hope. Its colour is a dark brown above, and white beneath ; the head and neck having somewhat of a rufous cast, and the thighs are marked with several small round white spots. 22. Eleotragus, or cinereous antelope. This appears to be an elegant species, and is sup- posed to be a native of Africa. The head, hind part, and sides of neck, back, sides, shoulders, and thighs, of a most elegant grey- ish ash-colour ; front of the neck, breast, bel- ly, and legs, pure white; horns marked with spiral wreaths. Mr. Pennant places it among those whose horns incline forw ards. 23. Dorcas, or Barbary antelope. This species is about half the size of a fallow- deer ; its colour is reddish-brown above, and white beneath; the two colours being separated by a dark or blackish lateral line or stripe; on each knee is a tuft of blackish hair; the horns are 12 inches long, of a round or cylindric form, and incline liist backwards, then bend in the middle, and lastly, revert forwards at their tips ; they are of a black colour, and are annulated with about 13 rings on- the lower part. 24. Keve'lla, or flat-horned antelope. This animal, in its general appearance, so exceed- ingly resembles the Barbary antelope, that it might readily pass for a variety of the same species, was it not that the horns, instead of being round, are flattened on their sides, and marked by somewhat more numerous rings. Its size is that of a small roebuck, and it is chiefly found, in Senegal, but is said to occur also in Barbary and in Persia. It lives in large flocks, and has an odour resembiing-that of musk. 25. Pygarga, or white-faced antelope. So great is the similitude between this species and the flat-horned antelope, that the chief difference appears to consist in size; this being larger than a fallow deer. The horns resemble those of tire animal before-men- tioned, and are 16 inches long, and about 5 between tip and tip ; they are very Strongly annulated in the male, but said to be nearly smooth in the female; the face is white ; the cheeks and neck, in the living animal, of a bright bay ; the back and upper parts of ferru- ginous brown, with a dark stripe down the back ; the belly and rump white, as is also, in theLeverian specimen, the lower half of the legs ; the sides of the body are* marked, as in many others of this genus, with a dark or blackish stripe ; the tail is about seven inches long, covered with black hairs, which extend some inches beyond the end. 26. Antilope corinna, or corine. The co- rine is somewhat smaller than a roebuck, and is a native of Senegal and other parts of Africa. 27. Sumatrensis, or Sumatran antelope. The Sumatran antelope was first mentioned by Mr. Marsden, in his account of (hat island, under the name of cambing ootan, or goat of the woods. '28. Leucophsea, or blue antelope. This, is a species of very considerable size, being larger than a fallow deer, and from the form of its horns, and the length of its hair, may be said to connect, -in some degree, the an- telope with the goats. A N-T ANTENNiE, in the history of insecfs, slender filaments with which nature has fur- j nished the heads of these creatures, being the same with what in English are called horns, or feelers. The structure of the antenna? in different I bisects are thus characterized. ^ Setaceas, I those which resemble a bristle: Filiformes, uniform, like a thread: Moniliforms, like I the filiform, but consisting of a series of round I knots: Clavataj, club-shaped, increasing. I from the base to the extremity : Capitatas, I like the former, but the last articulation larger 1 than the rest, and forming a capital or head : J Fissiles are capitatcc, but have the head di- | vided horizontally into lamina:: Perfolia- I tas are likewise capitata?, but the head di- I viued horizontally, and connected by a kind. I of thread that passes through the centre: Pec- a TiNATiE, resembling a comb or feather, hav-ji ing lateral appendages on both sides: Aris-tT tat as, have a lateral hair, which is either.-l naked or furnished with lesser hair. ANTEPAGMENTA, in the undent ar-j chitecture, the jams of a door. r I hey are also ;! ornaments in carved work, of men, animals,! &c. made either of wood or stone, and set oil i| thoarcliitrave.. ANTEPENULTIMA, in grammar, the! last syllable but two from the end of a word, j ANTEPREDIC AMENTS, among logi-| cians, certain preliminary questions, whicljJ illustrate the doctrine of predicaments and ca-1 tegories. They are so called because Aris- J totle has placed them before the predica-| merits, in order to treat that subject afterwards! without interruption. ANTESIGNANI, in the Roman armies J soldiers placed before the standards, in order! to defend them, according to Lipsius ; but! Caesar and Livy mention the antesignani asl the first line, or first body, of heavy-armecLj troops. The velites, who used to skirmish be^ fore the army, were likewise called antesig*! nani. ANTESINISTRA, a name given by the* augurs of Rome to thunderbolts, or birds J which proceeded from the south and passed; to the east, and were supposed to afford urfl favourable presages. ANTESTARJ, denoted to bear witness! against any one who refused to make his ap-i pearance in the Roman courts of judicature! on the day appointed, according to the tenor! of his bail. He might then be brought by ! force into court, some persons being called^ to bear witness of the fact. ANTHELION, a mock sun, or meteor,* seen through the clouds, larger than the disk] of the sun. In its most refulgent state it is' yellow as the sun, but the lucid tract sur- rounding it is of a paler yellow, interspersed! with reddish spots. _ 4 ANTHELIX, in anatomy, the inward pro- tuberance of the external ear, being a semi- circle within, and almost parallel to the hefrx.j ANTHELMINTICS, medicines to de- stroy worms. See Materia Medica. .1 ANTHEMIS, camomile, a genus of the polygamia superllua order, belonging to the syngensia class of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 49th order, com- posit as discoides. The essential character! are these; the receptaculum is chaffy there is no pappus ; the calyx is hemispheric am subequal ; and the florets of the ray are mow than five. Of this genus there are 19 sp* ANT ns ANT tip?; ot winch the most remarkable are the following. 1. Anthemis Arabica has a branching em- palement. It grows near two feet high, with an upright stem, having a single flower at the top, from whose empalement there are two or three footstalks, each having a single flower smaller than the first, like the ehilding marigold, or hen-and-chicken daisy. 2. Anthemis nobilis, or . common camo- mile, grows iu plenty upon commons, and other waste land. There is a variety with double petals. Formerly this plant was used for planting of walks, which, when mowed and rolled, looked well for some time ; but it was subject to decay in large patches, and the walks became unsightly. 3. Anthemis pyrethrum, or pellitory of Spain, is a perennial plant, which grows natu- rally in Spain and Portugal. The branches trail upon the ground. At the extremity of each branch is produced one large single flower, like camomile, but much larger ; the rays of which are of a pure white within, but purple on the outside. The seeds will not come to perfection in this country. 4. Anthemis tinctoria is a perennial plant, which dowers from June to November, and makes a very pretty appearance, some of the flowers being of a white, others of a sul- phur, and some of a bright yellow colour. Of these the nobilis and the pyrethrum are chiefly used in medicine. They are ac- counted carminative, aperient, emollient, and in some measure anodyne. These flowers are frequently also used externally in discu- tient and antiseptic fomentations, and in emollient glysters. An essential oil was for- merly directed to be prepared from them, but it is now omitted. A simple watery in- fusion of them taken in .a tepid state, is at present frequently employed to promote the operation ot emetics. , ANTIi ERA, among botanists, that part of the stamen which is fixed on the top of the filamentum, within the corolla ; . it con- tains the pollen or fine dust, which, when mature, it emits for the impregnation of the , plant ANTHERICUM, spider-wort, a genus of the monogynia order, belonging to the hexamlria class’ of plants; and, in the natural method, ranking under the 10th order, coro- nariai. The essential character is, corolla of ■six oblong petals, expanding. The pericar- pium is an ovale trisulcated capsule, with three cells and three valves. There are 39 species. The anthericum frutescens was formerly known among the gardeners near London by the name of onion-leaved aloe. It ■produces many ligneous branches from the root, each supporting a plant with long taper .leaves, in shape like those of an onion, and full of a yellow pulp very juicy. The flowers ;are yellow, produced oh long loose spikes. It is' a native of the Cape of Good Hope, and requires shelter in winter. 'fhe anthericum liliastrum is a perennial plant; it flowers in June and July, and is Known by the name of St. hr u no’s lily. ANTHESTERIA, in Grecian antiquity, festivals celebrated in the spring by the an- tient Athenians, in honour of Bacchus, during which the masters feasted their slaves, as the Romans did in the time of the Saturnalia. It was usual, during these feasts, to ride in cha- riots, and pass jests upon all that passed by. A NT ANTHISTI RIA, in botany, a genus of the trigynia order, belonging to the trianclria class of plants, and, in the natural method, ranking under the 4th order, gramina. The essential character is: the corolla, a two-valved glume, cleft at the base into four divisions. There is only one species of this grass, the ciliata Or fringed anthistiria, a native of India. ANTlfOCEROS, or horn-flower, a genus of the order of alga;, belonging to the cryp- togamia class of plants, and, in the natural method, ranking under the 57th order, algae. The essential characters are : the calyx of the male is sessile, cylindric, and entire; thean- thera (one) is subulated, very long, and two- valved; the calyx of the female is monophyl- lous, divided into six parts, and expanding ; the seeds are about three, naked and round- ish. There are only three species of the an- thoceros, viz. 1. Anthoceros lev is, a native of Europe and America. 2. Anthoceros multifidus, a native of Ger- many, found in moist shady places, and on heaths. 3. Anthoceros punctatus, or spotted antho- ceros, a native of Britain. A NTH O LO G 1 ON , the title of the service book used in the Greek church. It is divided into twelve months, containing the offices sung throughout the year, on the festivals of our Saviour, the Virgin, and other remarkable saints. Anthology, «v9oxo indeed charges the whole nation wit \ ’ a sullen hatred of all mankind. In one or two cases he gives something that appears ton border on the truth. But, in the general ac- count, he relates the various opinions that ANTIQUITIES, ■il« were floating in (he ’world, ami leaves the truth to rest on belter authority : apparently thinking that with regard to such a race mi- nute enquiry was unnecessary. Though, at this period, the page of Jewish history was •fully disclosed, and accessible to the curiosity of every Roman ; Josephus lived, at Rome, tinder v espasian, Titus, and Domitian ; and .under . the last of those emperors his Jewish .Antiquities were given to the world. A sufficient knowledge , of the general an- tiquities of the Hebrews may be obtahied from the Bible, JPhilo and Josephus, and the Talmud ; and, among the writers of more .modern date, Arias Montanus-, Carpsovius, .-Maim Guidos, Buxtorf, Reland, Leusden, Cal- inet, Witsius, Bucher, Benzelius, Basnage, Hottinger, and Miehaelis, may be deemed -The best. Among the English, Selden, God- wyn, and Lewis. Calmet’s Dictionary of the Bible also contains many references for the curious reader ; and those who would know .how far their antieut and modern practices agree, may consult Levi’s Jewish Ceremo- nies. On the civil history of the Jews, Josephus .may be consulted: with Struckford, and Pri- Meaux’s Connections. On the life and death .of Moses, however ; on the Exodus of the Israelites, and their leaders; on the Jewish Lings ; the Babylonish captivity ; and on the history and condition of the Jews in different .countries subsequent to their dispersion ; the writers are extremely numerous : and a com- plete catalogue of them may he found in Mensel’s 'Bibliotheca Historica. On the de- struction of Jerusalem, Josephus and Tacitus are the principal writers in repute. And for the history of the Jews in England, Tovey’s .work may be referred to. But the most copious work on Jewish anti- quities is Ugolinus’s Thesaurus, in thirty-four volumes folio ; the first bearing the date of 1744, the last 17C9 ; containing all the best ■works which, previously to that time, had ap- peared, on the manners, laws, rites, and in- stitutions of the Hebrews : amounting in num- ber to no less than four hundred and eighty- eight distinct treatises. The most curious collection of Hebrew manuscripts in this country which illustrate -the literary antiquities of the Jev/s, maybe found in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. >Few of them, in point of age, run beyond eight hundred years ; and the most antient, we believe, were brought by Dr. Pococke Jrom Constantinople. We cannot , close this part of our article without recommending to attentive perusal ihe late bishop Lowth’s Lectures on the Poet- ry of the Hebrews, which afford a better view than any other work of the taste and learning of that extraordinary people. We now come to the Antiquities of Egypt : a country once as remarkable for the scheme of its laws, and the dark oracles of its priests, as for the commerce of its ci- ties, the grandeur of its buildings, and the fertility of its territory. The earliest nations -of the world are emphatically described by Dr. White to have been fed with the produce -of her soil, and enriched with the treasures of her wisdom ; and not only the more .-civilized .countries at the present day, but the Arabs and the Indians, still view the relics of her greatness with a reverential regard. In .1801, when General Baird led his army from the Red Sea, a party of Seapqys, who saw the hooded serpent upon one of the antient mo- numents ot Egypt, fell down and worshipped it. The quarries of marble and porphyry of Upper Egypt furnished the principal mate- rials with which the first inhabitants raised their most stupendous works of art. But whence their oracular intelligence was drawn it is impossible to say. To Hermes Trisme- gistus, a sage as highly reverenced among them as Zoroaster was among the Persians, the Egyptians ascribed the inventions of chief use to human life ; and like every people who are unable to settle the antiquity of their origin, they represented his works to have outstood the shock even of the universal de- luge. They otherwise called him Thoth ; and their priests as constantly maintained that from the hieroglyphic characters upon the pillars lie erected, and the sacred books, all the philosophy and learning of the world has been derived. Both the earliest and the latest writing of the country, to the time of Cleopatra, appears to have been symbolic ; and the use of hiero- glyphic characters was not only applied to sa- cred, but to other uses : through them alone the avenues to knowledge could be opened ; and their secret appears principally to have lain in certain analogies and correspondences between the forms, actions, and qualities of animals, and 'certain facts in nature, morals, or history. The animals which in the grosser periods of Egyptian history received the worship of the people, in the first ages it is probable were only used to express the attri- butes of the Egyptian gods ; and their regard for them perhaps was much increased by their adherence to the doctrine of transmigration. A black ox, the symbol of the sun, was sacred to Osiris ; and Isis typified the moon. Isis and Osiris indeed were every where adored, though differently represented ; and the Mne- vis, Apis, and Mendesian goat, are looked upon by the best writers but as different sym- bols of the same deity, or as animals in which the same deity was manifest. Thebes was in early times the grand deposit of Egyptian mystery : it is mentioned by Homer ; and exists in ruins to the present hour. Dendera and Heliopolis present other ruins. To enter deeply here either into the particular cere- monies, or the mythological doctrines of Egypt, to seek for the phenomena of nature which were allegorized in the history of Isis and Osiris, or to detail the history of the priestly orders, would be impossible- Of the latter, the first after the inferior degrees was the chief of the music band, who usually carried some musical instrument as the ensign of his office ; the next was. the diviner, who in public processions bore the symbols of as- trology ; the third was the master of the sa- cred wardrobe; and the fourth, or chief priest, was the prophet, who interpreted the laws of Hermes, and presided over the cere- monies of religion. To these exclusively the Hennaic doctrines were accessible : and upon them the constitution of their country seems entirely to have depended. In regard to Egyptian history, its early chronology is so perplexed, its facts and fable so heterogeneously blended, and its vanity of a remote antiquity so great, that little certain can be collected. ’ Egypt was antiently di- vided into three parts. Thebais was a distinct district ; -the dynasty of Memphis was the upper Egypt ; and that of Heliopolis, com- prehending the rest of the Delta, the lower region, f rom Menes the Egyptian, priests were accustomed to reckon no less than three hundred and thirty kings. Like other states, however, it had its revolutions ; and the three districts did not in every period of its history form separate states. Under the shepherd kings, two of them were united. At a period considerably • lower, Egypt be- came a kingdom still more flourishing than - r er ; and increased gradually till Sesostris, one of the greatest of its sovereigns, erected an universal empire. At a period still more subsequent, it was subjected by Cambyses to the Persian empire ; and to his ravages it appears that Egyptian grandeur was princi- pally indebted for its fall. In the wreck of greatness which it still pre- sents, the following are the principal remains : the colossal sphinx, and the pyramids among the level plains by Memphis ; the statues which bear the name of Memnon ; the catacombs of Saccara \ the temples of Thebes, Tentyris, and Apollinopolis ; and the Needle of Cleopatra. Pompey’s Pillar is- imdoubtedly a monument of subsequent erec- tion. One" or two of the antient obelisks were transported to Italy at a very early pe- riod. But the finest remnants of Egyptian grandeur, which have been brought away of late years, are now in the metropolis of Rug- land. The sarcophagus of brecciated mar- ble, reputed to be Alexander’s tomb; and the triple inscription from Rosetta, in the hie- roglyphic, the vernacular Egyptian, and the Greek characters ; are undoubtedly the most curious. The latter, when in possession of the French, was termed the gem of anti- quity. To recite even the titles of the different works in which the antiquities of Egypt h ve been treated, would be endless. Among the an- tient writers, Herodotus, Pausanias, Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, and Plutarch, are the prin- cipal. Herodotus, Thales, and Pythagoras, it will be remembered, were initiated among the Egyptian priests. The best work on the m ) (hoiogy of Egypt is Jablonski’s Pantheon Egyptiacmn. On its present remains, Po- cocke, Norden, Niebuhr, Sonnini, and De- non, may be consulted : G reaves and Norden have expressly written on the pyramids : Kircher on the mummies: and all that is material on the subject of the obelisks, may be found in Zoega De Obeliscorum Usu. In the simple and authentic narrative of Dr. Wittman, modern readers will find some facts worthy of their attention, relative to the mo- numental remains still existing in Egypt. For the illustration of the Antiquities of India our accessible materials are less nu- merous and less distinct. The light which so strongly radiates from the page of classical antiquity upon most other abstruse points of literary research, casts but a glimmering ray on this subject. Whatever genuine informa- tion may be obtained on other points, its early history and literature can only be ac- quired by the generality of readers through the medium of faithful versions from the San- screet, the antient original language of the country, and the grand repository of all its 4 history and sciences. . So long ago as 1776, Mr. Halhed, in the Code of G entoo Laws, compiled under the ANTIQUITIES. direction of Mr. Hastings gave the first spe- cimen which appeared of the early wisdom of the Indians, and their extensive skill in jurisprudence. But the attention of the world was principally roused by the publication of the Bhagvat Geeta, edited in 1785 by Mr. Wilkins? It was the episode only of a larger poem ; but its theological and metaphysical doctrines were of the profoundest kind : it was represented to contain all the grand mysteries of the Hindoo religion ; and laid claim to the venerable antiquity of four thousand years. Tire Heetopades, the Sa- contala, and Ayeen Akbery, were the prin- cipal succeeding publications ; the lights from which, added to those of the Asiatic Researches, occasioned Mr. Maurice to give the antiquities ot India a more deep and elaborate investigation, than they ever had received before." Till this book appeared, the antiquities of the Hindoos were consi- dered by the generality of readers as unfa- thomable ; and by the sceptical philosopher as affording arguments in respect to the age of the world, which struck at once at the root of the Mosaic system. With these au- thorities in hand, Mr. Maurice proceeded to elucidate the obscure history of the Ava- tars, or the ten descents of Veeshnu. The persons who are stated by the Indian writers to have flourished so many thousand years in the earliest ages, he supposes to have been not of terrestrial but celestial origin; and that their empire was rather the empire of imagination in the skies than that ot real power on the earth. He considers that the year of ordinary reckoning, and the year of Brahma, are of a nature very widely differ- ent ; and that the whole jargon of yugs, or grand periods, has no foundation but in the great solar and lunar cycles, or planetary re- volutions. In the Indian Antiquities the greater part of the preliminary ground, which the student must of necessity go over, is cleared. The antient geographical divisions of India, according to the classical writers of Greece and Rome, and of Hindostan, ac- cording to the Hindoos themselves, are re- conciled : the analogies of the Brahmanic with other systems of theology considered ; and the grand code of civil laws, the ori- ginal form of government, and the various and profound literature of Hindostan, are compared throughout with the laws, govern- ment, and literature, of Persia, Egypt, and Greece. But after all, perhaps, the clearest notions of what the student may expect to discover in his Indian inquiries, may be gathered from the few papers published in the Asiatic Researches, by sir William Jones ; written in consequence of the institution of a so- ciety for inquiring into the history, civil and natural, the antiquities, arts, sciences, and literature, of Asia. His first dissertation was on the orthogra- phy of Asiatic words in Roman letters, a want of attention to which had occasioned great confusion in history and geography; and he proposed a system, which was not only at once useful to the learned, and es- sential to the student, but the convenience of which had been proved by careful observa- tion and long experience. The gods of Greece, Italy, and India, were the next ob- jects of attention ; and in this dissertation the general union or affinity between the most distinguished inhabitants of the primi- tive world in regard to theological concerns, at the time when they first deviated from the rational adoration of the true God, is inferred. The general character and affini- ties of the antient pantheon of India are con- sidered with the best attention. Ganesa, the Hindoo divinity of Wisdom, is compared with the Janus ot the Romans ; Menu, or Satyvrata (whose general history bears a trong resemblance to Noah’s), with Saturn ; the Lachsmi of the Hindoos, or goddess of Abundance, with Geres ; and Zeus, or Jupi- ter, in his various capacities, compared with the triple divinity Veeshnu, Siva, Brahma. Others of minor consideration are also fully noticed, the explanation of whose various at- tributes must be sought for in the disserta- tion itself : in which it seems to be fairly proved, that a connection subsisted between the old idolatrous nations of Egypt, India, Greece, and Italy, long before they migrated to their several settlements, and consequent- ly before the birth of Mpses.; a proposition, says sir William Jones, which will in no de- gree affect the truth and sanctity of the Mo- saic history. From Goverdhan Caul, the society al- ready mentioned received a valuable com- munication on the literature of the Hindoos, from a work in the Sanscrit. It was trans- lated, and a commentary added. In the text, the Vedas are considered by the Hin- doos as the fountain of all knowledge human and divine ; and the commentary concludes with this remarkable expression, that if Eu- ropeans wish to form a correct idea of Indian religion and literature, let them begin with forgetting all that has been written on the subject by antients or moderns, before the publication of the Gita. From sir William Jones’s fourth anniver- sary Discourse, delivered to the Asiatic So- ciety in 1786, we may form some notion of the various discoveries to which future ex- ertions may give rise, not only in the litera- ture, but the history, sciences, and art, of Asia. India on its most enlarged scale, in which the antients appear to have understood it, comprizes an area of near forty degrees on each side: it is divided on the west from Persia by the Arachosian mountains ; limited on the east by the Chinese part of the far- ther peninsula ; confined on the north by the wilds of Tartary ; and extending to the south as far as the isles of Java. By India, in short, is meant that whole extent of country in which the primitive religion and language of the Hindoos prevail at this day with more or less of their antient purity ; and in which the NV.gari letters are still used with more or less deviation from their original form. Its inhabitants have no resemblance either in their figure or manners to any of the na- tions contiguous to them ; their sources of wealth are still abundant : in their manufac- tures of cotton they surpass all the world ; and though now degenerate and abased, there remains enough to show that in some early age they were splendid in arts and arms, happy in government, wise in legisla- tion, and eminent in various knowledge. The Sanscrit language , whatever may be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure ; more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than 119 either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and in the forms of grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident. The characters, as we have already mentioned, are Nagari. Of the Indian religion enough has been al- ready said. Of their philosophy, sir William Jones observes, that in the more retired scenes, in groves and in seminaries of learn- ing, we may perceive the Brahmans and the Sarmanas of Clemens disputing in the forms of logic, or discoursing on the vanity of hu- man enjoyments, on the immortality of the soul, her emanation from the eternal Mind, her debasement, wanderings, and final union with her source. The six philosophical schools, whose principles are explained in the Dersana Sastra, comprise all the meta- physics of the old Academy, the Stoa, the Lyceum : nor is it possible to read the Ve- danta, or the many fine compositions in the illustration of it, without believing that Py- thagoras and Plato derived their sublime theories from the same fountain, with the sages of India. The remains of architecture and sculpture seem to prove an early con- nection between India and Africa. Of their antient arts and manufactures, little but the labours of the Indian loom and needle are at this day known ; but from a curious passage in one of their sacred law tracts relating to the extraordinary interest of money, in re- - gard to maritime concerns, it should seem - that they were in the early ages a commer- cial people. The Hindoos are said to har e boasted of three inventions, all of which are indeed admirable ; the method of instructing by apologues, the decimal scale, and the game of chess : and could their numerous works on grammar, rhetoric, and music, which are now extant, be explained in some language generally known, it would be found that they had still higher pretensions to the . praise of a fertile and inventive genius,. Their- lighter poems are lively and elegant;* their epic magnificent . and sublime. Their most antient medical book, entitled Chereca, • is believed to be the work of Siva: for each-* of the divinities in their triad has at least on a. sacred composition ascribed to him. On . history and geography their works are few ; . and their astronomical and mathematical writings are still secret. Cursory as the observations are which have been here brought together, their expansion, and illustration would require volumes. Of the Avatars, or descents of the Deity in his capacity of preserver, we have little to say. The three first, says sir William Jones, apparently relate to some stupendous con- vulsion of our globe from the fountains of the deep; and the fourth exhibits, the miracu- lous punishment of pride and impiety. The three first, he thought, related to the same event, shadowed by a moral, a metaphysical, , and a metaphysical and an astronomical al- legory ; and all three, connected with the hieroglvphical sculptures of the old Egyp- tians. The fourth avatar was a lion issuing from a bursting column of marble to devour a blaspheming monarch, who would other- wise have slain his religious son ; and of the remaining six he says, not one has the least relation to the deluge.. The tenth avatar, we are told, is yet to come ; and is expected to appear mounted (like the crowned con- queror in the Apocalypse) on a white horse,. 120 ANTIQUITIES. ■with a cjracter blazing like*, a comet to mow down ail incorrigible ami impenitent offend- ers who shall then be on earth. Among the most curious of the existing monuments of antient India, we must reckon the sculptures and ruins of Mavalipuram, a few miles nonh of Sadras, and known to sea- men by the name of tire Seven Pagodas ; tire vast excavations or Canarah ; the various temples and images of Buddha ; and the idols which are continually dug up at Gaya, or in its vicinity. The principal of the Hindoo excavations have been engraved and published by Mr. Daniel; and deserve the closest attention front all who are studious of tire antiquities of India. “ The first accounts of Greece” says Mr. Mitford, “ are derived from ages long be- fore the common use of letters in the country.” But so mysterious are the ages of antiquity, and so precarious are traditions, that we scarcely know by what method to distinguish where fable concludes, or truth begins. Certain however it is, that from the Phoeni- cian and Egyptian colonies the Greeks first received tire culture o£ humanity. By the Phoenicians they were undoubtedly instructed in trade, navigation, and the use of letters ; and by the Egyptians in civil wisdom, the politer sciences, and religious mysteries. The antiquities of such a country then, which was afterwards so singularly illustrious in the annals of mankind, the introduction ot its institutions, and the invention or in- troduction of its arts, must surely carry with them ah interest still more striking than those either ot Egypt or India. Its antiqui- ties, ol course, in every accessible period have been more carefully and more minutely in- spected ; and have received such deep and extensive investigation, that to attempt a summary here would be impossible. We shall only observe, that the Athenians were the* first civilized people of Greece; and that in all the greatness of the Grecian states they still-retained the highest polish. t Gronovius has given a collection of the chief writers on the antiquities of Greece, to which < we shall refer the reader once for all; and Rouse, Pfeiffer, Bos, and bishop Potter, have given shorter systems ; the last of which is certainly esteemed the best, and which no scholar’s library should be without. In what relates to the religion, the gods, vows, and temples of Greece, it has been deemed too summary ; but in the military affairs and miscellaneous customs it remained till lately without a rival. A work which supersedes it, and perhaps all others in the English language, for accuracy and completeness, has just made its appearance from the pen of Mr. Robmson of Ravenstondale. On the gods, temples, oracles, and priests of G reece, the writers are extremely nu- merous: on the public weal and magistracy of Greece, Stephanas, Laurentius, and Van Dale, ot modern writers, have perhaps the greatest share of credit ; on the court of Are- opagus, Meursius, and Freher; on the laws and punishments of Greece, Prateius, Meur- sius, and Petit; on military concerns, Arrian, Polysenus, and /Elian ; on the gymnastic art, and exercises of the Greeks, Hieronymus Mer- curialis, Joubert, Faber, and Burette ; on the theatres and scenic exhibitions, Donatus, Scaliger, Brindin, and the abbe Barthelemy ; on their entertainments, luxury, and baths, ! Cornarius, Meusonius, Gedovii, Du Choul, Ferrarius, and Kuhn ; on their marriages and institution of their children, besides the gene- ral writers, Hauptmann, Junius, Stisser, and Zeibich, are the more particular ; and .on their funerals, Nicolai, ixmgius, and jJcG hard. i The best relics which still mark the former splendor of the Grecian states have been pre- served by Stuart in his Athens ; in the Ionian Antiquities, published under the direction of the Dilettanti society; in the. Voyage Pilto- resque de la Grece ; anu in the Museum Horsleyanum. The best relics of its' sculp- ture in this country are to be found among the Tow nicy marbles ; and of its beautiful coinage, in the cabinet of Dr. Hunter. Poetry, sculpture, architecture, and paint- ing, perhaps attained the summit of perfec- tion under the respective cultivation of Ho- mer, Phidias, Praxiteles, and Zeuxis. Nothing, says Dr. Adams, has more en- gaged the attention of literary men, since the revival of learning, than to trace from antient monuments the rites and customs of the Ro- mans, comprehended under the general name of Roman Antiquities. This branch of knowledge, he observes, is not only curious in itself, but absolutely necessary tor under- standing the classics, and for reading with advantage the history of that celebrated peo- ple. And it is particularly requisite for such as prosecute the study of the civil law. Scarcely on any subject have more books been written, and many of them by persons of the most distinguished credit. Among the oldest of the good writers may be reckoned Dionysius Haiicarnasseus, who traced the origin of the Romans, with the utmost fide- lity, back to the remotest ages. His accounts are generally preferred to Livy’s. They are more ample, and his facts described with more particulars; and on their ceremonies, worship, sacrifices, manners, customs, disci- pline, policy, courts, laws, Ac. he is perhaps the most authentic writer. A body of the authors on the Roman anti- quities was published by Gnevius in the The- saurus; and Danetand Pitiscus published lexi- cons of them. For the most part however they are too voluminous, not only to be gene- rally useful, but even to refer the studious reader to, except on single points. On this account a number of abridgements have been published ; of which, till of very late years, those of Kcnnet and Nieuport were esteemed the best. The latter was written in Latin, but it abounded in difficult phrases, and was deficient in one or two material parts, which were supplied by Rennet. Both, however, have been since superseded by the work of Dr. Adams which of all the abridgements is the best adapted to illustrate the classics. It is suf- ficient to say that he has borrowed with freedom from all hands whatever he judged fit for his purpose ; and the enumeration of his sources will prove the best aid to an enquiring reader. He was chiefly indebted to Mauritius, Bris- sonius, and Middleton, on the senate : to Pig- norius on slaves ; to Sigonius and Grucchius, Mauritius, Huber, Gravina, Merula,and Hei- neccius, on the assemblies of the people, the rights of citizens, the laws and judicial pro- ceedings ; to Lipsius on the magistrates, the art of war, shows of the circus, and gladiators ; to Shelter on naval affairs and carriages ; ! to Ferrarius on the Roman dress; to Kirk- mannus on funerals ; to Arbuthnot on coins ; to Dickson on agriculture; to Donatus on the city; to Turnebius, Abraham us, Rossinus, Salmesius, Hoitomanus, Graivius and Grono- vius, Montfaucon, Pitiscus Ernesti, and par- ticularly Gesner, in different parts of the work. « On the antiquities of antient Rome, the works of Publius Victor, Fulvius, Fabricius, Onuphrius Panvinius, Boissard, and Adler, are perhaps the best: on its antient edifices, the work of Desgodetz, in which the views are given from actual measurement ; Venuli’s Descrizione Topografica delle Antichita di Boma; and D’Overbeke’s Restes de l’An- cienne Rome: on its public ways, its walls, aqueducts, and bridges, Bergier, Gautier, and D’ An ville, may be referred to : while the statues and other works of art with which Rome and her provinces abounded have fre- quently furnished subjects for separate disqui- sitions. The arts it 'should seem in the best periods of the Roman history flourished in the greatest perfection at Rome ; where the specimens which remain are still viewed with singular veneration. Among the best of them are the columns of Antoninus and Trajan ; the statue of Marcus Aurelius ; the- arches of Sep- tiinius Severus and Constantine ; the am- phitheatre ; the theatre of Marcellus; and the different baths. The columns of the temple of Concord arc the only eminent specimens in Rome of the Ionic order, where the vo- lutes of the capital stand in a diagonal direc- tion ; and the first and purest specimen of the Corinthian order -is exhibited in the three columns of the campo vaccino, supposed to have belonged to the temple of Jupiter Stator. A correct view of the Antiquities of Bri- tain. from the earliest period to the end of Henry the Eighth’s reign, may perhaps fra best collected f.Mn Dr. Henry’s History. The writers he refers to will present the read- er with all the most authentic sources of enquiry. Of what relates to the early Britons, how- ever, much that has been written is too nearly connected with the fabulous ; and instead of seeking for information on Druidical history, where it was most likely to be obtained cor- rectly, the generality of our writers have been too apt to busy themselves with theory and etymology. “ Druidism,” says one, “ was palpably Phoenician. The Druidical system was taught the Gauls by Pythago- ras /” The opinion, however, which in Cae- sar’s time was generally entertained in Gaul, has been overlooked. Caesar evidently took considerable pa ns to learn every particular relating to the Druids ; and he states it to have been the received opinion that Druid- ism originated in Britain. And in corrobo- ration of this idea, it has been both strongly and correctly urged, that there is not a single authority for the existence of Druidism any where but in Celtic Gaul and part of Eng- land. Caesar, however, did not himself witness its existence in Britain : Tacitus is the first, and, we believe, the only author who notices it ; for the Romans did not meet with it till they had advanced far into Wales. Caesar, Dio Cassius, and Tacitus, are the prin- cipal authorities in regard to British history. On the religious system, and the mysteries of ANT Druidism, the writers are more numerous ; but Cxsar, Diodorus Siculus, A.lian, Strabo, Tacitus and Pliny, are perhaps the most valu- | nble of the antients. Cluverius’s Germania Antiqua, and the works of Pezron and Pellou- tier upon the Celts, are however more recent authorities. Of the structures which the Britons erected the remains are few: Abury and Stonehenge may be deemed the principal. On the vast ! tracts of solitary down with which our island abounds, relics of a smaller kind are conti- nually discovered. Rowbright in Oxfordshire affords the best, perhaps ; and they are very : numerous in Anglesey. On these Stukeley and Rowland are perhaps the best authorities": ; for the history of the Britons under the Roman government, we refer to Horsley’s Britannia Roman a. Antonine’s Itinerary preserves the names of the towns and stations on the Ro- man military ways, with the number of miles between each town. On the antiquities of our Saxon ancestors there is more to say ; and we can trace their history with tolerable certainty. The devastations of the Danes, however, prov- : ed a great destruction to their monuments ; and though the Normans were the de- scendants of- the same ancestors, they were not less injurious to the institutions of the j people who had gone before them. The best of their remains of art were evidently fabri- cated upon Roman models. Their architec- ture exhibited, as its leading feature, a bad imitation of the Roman arch ; and their coins had Latin inscriptions. The little science they possessed during the middle and latter i periods of their existence, though originally | perhaps obtained from abroad, was cultivated with uncommon zeal: and Alcuin, Bede, and Alfred, are names in the history of their j literature that will never be forgotten. The | illuminations of the Saxon manuscripts are the best records of their manners in the dif- ferent centuries ; and the most curious infor- mation relating to them will be found in the elaborate works of Mr. Strutt and Mr. Turn- er. In this branch of our antiquities the field of investigation is still open. They have never yet been viewed upon that en- larged scale on which they deserve to be considered. The best collection of Saxon coins is that w hich is now deposited in the British Museum. Their remains of art are numerous, but for the most part undecided : the Normans having imitated their exertions with little other difference than an occasional enlargement of the scale. Of Saxon manu- scripts, the best collection will be found in the library of the British Museum, and in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. Mr. King has treated their military antiquities in his History, of Castles, and Dr. Uickes’s Thesaurus may be viewed as the grand repository of their general literature. Of the English nation at nearer periods, our documents, as may be naturally ex- pected, occur in still greater variety. There ! fs scarcely a county-history but sets our an- tient manners in npw points of view. They have been often and systematically treated"; and the names of Camden, Henry,. Strutt, and Gough, are sufficient to be noticed. Thus much may su(Hpe as an outline of • the national antiquities of the more consi- derable people of the world, though there is scarcely a nation under heaven" but lays Vor. I. ANT. A O U 121 claim to a greater degree of antiquity than the rest of its neighbours. The Scythians, the Phrygians, the Chaldeans, Egyptians, Greeks, and Chinese, pretend each to have the honour of being the first inhabitants of the earth ; and even so far have folly and etymo- logy in these researches borne each other company, that Goropius Becanus asserted high Dutch to have been the primitive lan- guage of the world. To go further in this extensive science here, or to treat every class of antiquities which writers have separately considered, would be endless. Reland has expressly- treated on sacred antiquities; Fabvicius on Hebrew and ecclesiastical antiquities ; Bing- ham on Christian antiquities ; bishop Stilling- fleet on the antiquities of the British churches ; Cave on apostolical antiquities ; Consingicus on academical ; Hemeccius on such of the Roman as illustrated the civil law- ; Mallet on northern, and bishop Kennet on parochial an- tiquities. Under the title of antiquities how- ever, it may be proper we should notice that industry has sometimes been exerted upon the pettiest trifles ; and not unfrequently on objects the most frivolous and absurd. ANTIRRHINUM, snapdragon, or calves-snout : a genus of the angiospeh- mia order, belonging to the didynamia class of plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the 40th order, personatx. The essen- tial characters are these: the calyx consists of live leaves : the basis of the corolla is bent backwards, and furnished with pectoria ; the capsule is bilocular. There are 52 species of the antirrhinum ; the most remarkable are : 1. Antirrhinum arvense, the com blue toad-flax. 2. Antirrhinum cymbalaria, the ivy-leaved toad-grass. 3. Antirrhinum elatine, the sharp-pointed fluellin. 4. Antirrhinum linaria, the common yellow toad-flax. It is said to be cathartic and diu- retic, but is not used in the shops. 5. Antirrhinum majus, the greater snap- dragon. 6. Antirrhinum minus, the least toad-flax. 7. Antirrhinum monospermum, the sweet- smelling toad-flax. . 8. Antirrhinum orontium, the least snap- dragon. 9. Antirrhinum repens, the creeping toad-flax. 10. Antirrhinum spurium, the round-leaved fluellin. The snapdragon is an old inliabitant of our gardens, and we have hardly yet a more beautiful flower. The scarlet and crimson kinds are particularly ornamental, especially upon walls, where they will thrive best. ANTI-SABBATARIANS, a modern re- ligious sect, who oppose the observance of the Christian sabbath. ANTISCII, in geography, people who live on different sides of the equator, whose shadows at noon arc projected opposite ways:, the people of the north are antiscii to those of the south, ANTISEPTICS, among physicians, a de- nomination given to all substances that resist putrefaction. Concerning these, which are extremely, numerous, we have several c urious observa- tions in sir John Pringle’s Diseases of the Army. The following tab'e exhibits a com- parative view of the antiseptic virtue of salts, the common sea-salt being reckoned equal to unity. Sea-sa!t Sat gemma: 'Tartar vitriolat. Spirit, minder. 'Tartar solub. Sal diuret. Sal ammoniac. Saline mixture N itre Salt of hartshorn Salt of wormwood Borax Salt of amber Alum 3 4 4 4 12 20 30 Some resinous, and other substances, were found to be twelve times more antiseptic than sea-salt ; such are myrrh, asa-foetida, snake-root, pepper, ginger, saffron, contray- erva-root, &c. ANTISPASMODICS, medicines proper for the cure of spasms and convulsions. See Materia medic a. ANTISTASIS, in oratory, a defence of an action, from the consideration that if it had been omitted worse would have ensued. ANTISTROPHE, among lyric poets, that part of a song and dance in use among the antients, which w r as performed before the altar, in returning from w r est to east, in op- position to strophe. A N TIT AC l' it), in church-history, a branch of gnostics, who held that God was good and" just, but that a creature had created evil ; and, consequently, that it is our duty to oppose this author of evil, in order to avenge God of his adversary. ANTITHESIS, in rhetoric; a contrast, drawn between two things, which serve as shades to set off the oppasite qualities of each other. ANTITRAGUS, or Antitragicus mus- culus, in anatomy, a muscle of the ear. ANTLER, among sportsmen, a start or branch of a deer’s attire. ANTOECI, in geography, an appellation given to those inhabitants of the earth who live under the same meridian, but on differ- ent sides of the equator, and at equal dis- tances from it. The antoeci having the same longitude, and equal degreys of latitude, one north and the other south : their hours of day and night are the same, but they have opposite seasons, of course the longest day to the one is the shortest to the other. ANTONOMASIA, in rhetoric,, a figure by which the proper name of one thing is applied to several others ; or* on the contrary, the name of several things to one. Thus we call a cruel person a Nero ; and we say the philosopher, to denote Aristotle. ANTRUM, among anatomists, a term used to denote several cavities of the body; as the antrum gena% or that in the cheek- bone. See Anatomy. AORIST, among grammarians, a tense peculiar to the Greek language, compre- hending all the tenses ; or rather, expressing an action in an indeterminate manner, with- out any regard to past, present, or future. AORTA, in anatomy, called also arteria magna, a large artery arising with a single trunk from the left ventricle of the heart above its valves,, called semilunares, which serves to convey the mass of blood to all parts of the body. See Anatomy. AOUTA, the name of the paper mulberry- tree at Otaheite, from which cloth is manu- factured and worn, by the principal inhabit- ants. The bark of the trees is stripped off, macerated and reduced to a fine pulp : it is then drained, and the fibres will adhere to* gether in a piece. It is afterwards to be 122 APE beaten till it becomes as thin as muslin, when it is dyed red or yellow. APACTIS, in botany, a genus of the do- decandria monogynia class and order. The essential character is, cor. four-petalled : cal. none. 'There is only one species, a tall tree, a native of Japan. APANAGE, or Apknnage, in the F rench customs, lands assigned by a sove- reign for the subsistence of his younger sons. A PARC I A, a genus of the class and order syngenesia polygamia aequalis. The essen- tial character is, cal. subimbricate, with linear, parallel, unequal stales ; down plumose, subsessile ; recept. naked, subvillose. There are seven species, much resembling the dan- delion, with which they were formerly con- founded. APATIT, a mineral divided by the Ger- man mineralogists, into two varieties, the crystallized and earthy. It is the phosp-holite of Kirwan. APATURIA, in Grecian antiquity, an Athenian festival kept in honour of Bacchus. It was during this solemnity, that the young people were registered in the respec- tive wards of their fathers. APAUME, in heraldry, expresses a hand open and extended, so that the lull palm ap- pears, as is seen by the hand of Ulster, borne by the baronets of England. APELLITES, Christian heretics in the second century, who affirmed that Christ received a body from the four elements, which at his death he rendered back to the world, and so ascended into heaven without a body. APEPSY, in medicine, denotes crudity or a bad digestion, arising from a rawness of the stomach, and a want of concoction of the aliments. See Medicine. APERIENTS, in the materia medica, an appellation given to such medicines as faci- litate the circulation by removing all obstruc- tions. See Materia Medica. APERTURE, in geometry, the space be- tween two right lines which meet in a point and form an angle. Aperture, in optics, a round hole in a turned bit of wood or plate of tin, placed withinside of a telescope or microscope, near to the object-glass, by means of which more rays are admitted, and a more distinct appearance of the object is obtained. Ac- cording to Huygens, the best aperture for an object-glass of thirty feet, is as thirty to three ; that is, as ten to one, so is the square root of the focal distance of any lens, multi- plied by thirty, to its proper aperture. Mr. Auzout says, he found by experience, that the proper apertures of telescopes ought to be nearly in the subduplicate ratio' of their length. It is certain that object-glasses will admit of greater apertures, if the tubes are blackened withinside, and their passage fur- nished with wooden rings. Apertures, or Apertions, in archi- tecture, are used to signify doors, windows, chimneys, outlets and inlets for light, smoke. See. They ought to be as few in numbes, and as moderate in dimensions, as possible, and never made too near (.he angles of the walls. Apertura tabularum, in law books, the breaking open a last will and testament. See the article Will, &c. A P H Apertura feudi, in the civillaw, sig- nifies the loss of a feudal tenure, by default of issue to him to whom the feud was first granted. AP P ETALOU S, among botanists, an appel- lation given to such plants as have no flower- leaves, or corolla. APEX, in antiquity, the crest of a helmet, but more especially a kind of cap worn by the flamens. APILERESIS, in grammar, a figure by which a letter or syllable is cut off from the beginning of a word. APHANES, a genus of the monogynia order, and tetandria class of plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the 35th order, senticosae. The essential characters are : the calyx is divided into eight parts ; there is no corolla ; the seeds are two and naked. There is only one species, viz. Aphanes arvensis, or pensley-piert, a na- tive of England. It is common in corn-fields. The stalks rise 5 or 6 together ; the flowers are of a greenish white. APHELIUM, or Aphelion, in astrono- my, is that point in any planet’s orbit, in which it is farthest distant from the sun ; being that end of the greater axis of the el- liptical orbit of the planet, most remote from tiie focus wherein the sun is. The times of the aphelia of the primary planets, may be known by their apparent diameters appearing least ; as also, by their moving slowest in a given time. They may likewise be found by calculation; the method of doing which is delivered in most astrono- mical writers. APELLAN, the name of a bright star in Gemini. APHIS, in entomology, the puceron, vine- fretter, or plant louse, an extensive genus of the hemiptera order. The character is : beak inflected ; sheath of five articulations, with a single bristle : antennas setaceous and longer than the thorax ; either four erect wings or none ; feet formed for walking ; posterior part of the abdomen usually fur- nished with two little horns. There are many species which infest an endless varietyof plants, and it is probable that each species is par- ticularly attached to one or a few kinds of ve- getable only : on this account each kind has been usually named after the plants on which it feeds. The aphides are known by the in- discriminate name of plant lice ; they abound with a grateful moisture, and are eagerly sought for by ants, and many other creatures, or they would become very probably more de- structive to the whole vegetable creation than any other race of insects whatever. Lin- naeus enumerates 33 species. The extraordinary nature of these insects- has for some time past justly excited the wonder and attention of naturalists. They were ranked among the animals which had been classed with the true androgynes spoken of by Mr. Breynius, till Mr. Bonnet seemed to have cleared it up in the affirmative, by taking and shutting up a young aphis at the instant of its birth, in perfect solitude, which yet brought forth in his sight 95 young ones. The same experiment being made on one of the individuals of this family, soon after it was produced, the new hermit soon multiplied like its parent ; and one of this third generation, in like manner brought up in solitude, proved no less fruitful than the A P H former. Repeated experiments, in this re- spect, as far as the fifth or sixth generation, all uniformly presenting the observer with fecund virgins, were communicated to the Royal Academy of Sciences ; when an un- foreseen and very strange suspicion, imparted by Mr. Trembley to Mr. Bonnet, engaged him anew in a series of experiments. Mr. Bonnet therefore reared to the affipunt of the! tenth generation of solitary aphides, and had 1 the patience to keep an account of the days ] and hours of the births of each generation, j In short, it was discovered, that they are really distinguished by sexes : that there are males and females amongst them, whose] amours are the least equivocal of any in the j world: that the males are produced only in the tenth generation, and are but few in num- ; ber : that these, soon arriving at their full f growth, copulate with the females: that the- 1 virtue of this copulation serves for ten gejie- I rations : that all these generations, except 1 the first, (from the fecundated eggs) are pro-] duced viviparous-; and all the individuals are ] females, except those of the last generation^, as already observed. These circumstances! have been confirmed by other naturalists. | In particular, we have a curious and accurate } detail of them by Dr. Richardson of Rippon, in the Philosophical Transactions, vol. xi.. art. 22. the perusal of which we earnestly" ’ recommend to our readers. APHORISM, a maxim or principle of a; science, or a sentence which comprehends a great deal in a few words. The term is- seldom used but in medicine and law. APHRACTI, in the maritime affairs oft- the antients, were open vessels without any- decks. APHRODISIA, in antiquity, festivals kept in honour of Venus, the most remarkable of which was that celebrated by the Cyprians. APHROD1TA, in zoology, one of the; naked sea-insects, of an oval shape, and a- culeated, with a perforation in the middle of the back. APHTILE, in medicine, small, round, andt superficial ulcers, arising in the mouth. The principal seat of this disease, is the extremity of the excretory vessels, saliva! glands, and in- short all glands that luniish a humour like the saliva, as the lips, gums,. &e. APFIYA coifiTEs, in ichthyology,. a spe-f cies of gob i us, called' in English the sea- loch. APHYLLANTHES, leafless flower,. or blue montfellier PlNk : a genus of the monogynia order, belonging to the hexandria, class of plants : and fti the natural method' ranking under the 5th order, tetrapetaloidanl. In character it differs not from the j uncus oc rush, but in having a calyx of six petals,, whereas the j uncus has no calyx. There is.' only one species ; viz. Aphyllanthes Monspeliensis, a native of France. The root consists of a number oft slender fibres : the radical leaves are very, numerous, two inches long. The stalk if round, smooth, without a joint or knot, 1 naked, and tolerably firm ; at its top stands a single and very beautiful blue flower, but for which it would be a rush. APIARY, a place where bees are kept, which 1 should be properly defended from high winds, as well as from poultry, hogsL &c. whose dung is extremely offensive to the- bees. ‘ ' ' * J12? i AVIS, the bet', in zoology, a genus of in- sects belonging to the order of insecta hy- I inenoptera. The mouth is furnished with two jaws, and a proboscis enfolded in a dou- ble sheath ; the wings are four in number, the two foremost covering those behind when at rest ; in the anus or tail of the female and working bees, there is a hidden sting. These insects are distinguished into several species, each of which has its peculiar genius, talent, manners, and disposition. Variety prevails I in the order of their architecture, and in > the nature of their materials. Some live in ■ society, and share their toils ; such are the f common bee. Others dwell and work in ( solitude, building the cradles of their families, as the leaf-cutter bee does with the rose-tree leaf, the upholsterer with the gaudy tap.es- try of the corn-rose, the mason bee with a plaister, the woodpiercer with sawdust. All are employed in their little hermitage, with the care of providing for their off- spring. The species enumerated by Lin- naus, are no fewer than 55 ; of which the following are the most remarkable: 1. Apis Brasilianorum, or pale red hairy bee, with the basis of the thighs black. This is a very large bee, every where covered j with a testaceous skin. It is a native of Ame- j rica. I 2. Apis cariosa is a yellowish hairy bee ; and the feet and front are of a bright yel- j low colour. It builds in the rotten trees of j Europe. 3. Apis centuncularis, leaf-cutter, or | black bee, having its belly covered with yel- low down. The nests of this species are made with leaves, curiously plaited in the j form of a mat or quilt. There are several varieties of the leaf-cutting bees, all equally industrious. They dig into the ground and build their nests, of which some have the form and size of thimbles inserted one within another, others the size and shape of goose quills. These nests are composed of pieces of leaves. Each sort of bees cut into its own materials ; some the rose-tree leaf, others the horse-chesnut. A careful observer may discover rose-tree leaves, cut as with a pinking iron ; and there he may procure himself the pleasure of seeing with what dexterity a bee, destitute of any mathematical instrument, cuts out a circular piece, fit to be either the bottom or the lid of one of those nests ; others it cuts out into ovals and semi-ovals, which form the sides of the nests, into each of which it deposits one egg with ready-prepared vic- tuals. 4. Apis dentata, or shining green bee, with black wings, and a kind of teeth on the hind thighs. .The tongue of this bee is as long as its body. 5. Avisftrrruginea, or smooth black bee, .with the feelers, mouth, belly, and feet, of an iron colour. This is a small bee, and sup- posed to be of an intermediate kind be- tween the bee and wasp. It is a native of Europe. 6. Apis Jlorisomnte, or black bee with a cy- lindrical incurvated belly, having two tooth- like protuberances at the anus, and a kind of prickles on the hind legs. This bee sleeps -in .flowers; whence the name. ' 7. Apis lapidnria, or red hairy bee, with a yellow anus, builds jn holes of rocks. 8. Apis niuscoruin, or yellow hairy bee w ith a white belly, builds in mossy grounds. APIS. The skill displayed by these builders is ad- mirable. In order to* enjoy the pleasure of seeing their operations, let a nest be taken to pieces, and the moss conveyed to a dis- tance. The bees will be seen to form them- selves into a chain, from their nest to the place where the moss has been laid. The foremost lays hold of some with her teeth, clears it bit by bit with her feet (which cir- cumstance has also procured them the name of carding bees), then, by the help ofher feet, she drives the unravelled moss under her belly; the second, in like manner, pushes it on to the third, d’hus there is formed an uninterrupted chain ofmoss, which is wrought and interwoven with the greatest dexterity by those that abide by the nest ; and that their nest may not be the sport of the winds,' and may shelter them from rain, they throw an arch over it, which they compose with a kind of wax, which dissolved in oil of turpentine, may be used in taking off impressions. 9. Apis rostrata is distinguished by the upper lip being inflected and of a conical shape, and by the belly being invested with blueish belts. They build their nests in high sandy grounds, and there is but one young in each nest. 10. Apis terrestris is black and hairy, with a white belt round the breast, and a white anus ; it builds its nest very deep in the earth. 11. Apis variegata: the breast and belly are variegated with white and black spots*; the legs are of an iron colour. In Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 25, 26, and 28 are represented the kirsuta, nidulans, and socialise and fig 27 is a section of the nest of the nidulans. 12. Apis vio’acea is a red bee, and very hairy, with blueish wings. The violacea is said to perforate trees, and hollow them out in a longitudinal direction ; they begin to build their cells at the bottom of these holes, and . deposit an egg in each cell, which is composed of the farina of plants, and honey or a kind of gluten. Plate Nat. Hist, fig 29. 13. Apis melliiica, the domestic honey bee. This wonderful insect requires a three- fold description ; under its various characters of queen bee, drone bee, and working bee ; for though this last kind is, strictly' speaking, the only honey bee, yet all the three kinds are found and seem to he necessary in every community or hive of bees. The drones may easily be distinguished from the com- mon or working bees : they are both larger and longer in the body: their heads are round, their eyes are full, and their tongues short. The form of the belly differs trom those of both queen and common bees ; and their colour is darker than either. They have no sting, and they make a much greater noise when living, than -either the queen or the common bees; a peculiarity of itself suf- ficient to distinguish them. If a hive is opened in the beginning of spring, not a single drone will be found Jn if; from the middle of May till the end of June, there will be found commonly trom 200 or 300 to 1000; but from August to the following spring it would be in vain to seek for them. They go not out till 1 1 in the morning, and return before six in the evening. But their expeditions are not those of industry'. Their rostrum and feet are not adapted for collect- ing wax and honey, nor indeed are they oblig- ed to labour. Thev only hover upon dowers *Q 2 J to extract the sweets, and all their business is pleasure. Their office is thought to be to impregnate the eggs of the queen after they are deposited in the cells ; and while their presence is thus, necessary, they' are suffered to enjoy life; but as soon as they become useless in the hive, the working bees declare a war of extermination against them. This war affects not only the drones already in life, but even the eggs and maggots in the drone cells; for after the season proper for increasing the number of bees is past, every vestige of the drones is destroyed, to make room for honey. Mr. Bonner, however, one of the latest and best writers on the sub- ject, doubts the long established doctrine of the fecundating powers of the drones. He urges the following, among many, arguments: “ That the queen stands in no need of their assistance to fecundate or impregnate her, appears from this consideration ; that she lays eggs, which produce young bees, without having had any previous communication with the drones. 1 will not, however, suppose that the drones are of no use in the hive ; but that the queen lays eggs which produce young bees, without so much as seeing a drone, I can with the utmost confidence af- firm. The advocates for the old doctrine, that the drones are males, allege, that they impregnate (he queen, before their brethren kill them. According to this theory, she should continue for no less a period than 7 or 8 months, with about 12,000 impregnated eggs in her ovarium, w hich would certainly make her appear very large during the whole of that period. But it is unnecessary to w r aste arguments in refutation of this doc- trine, as I have repeatedly had queens breed and lay eggs, and those eggs become bees, although these queens were bred 7 months after all the drones were dead, and some weeks before any new ones were hatched. These experiments, I think, are sufficient to silence ah the arguments advanced by the advocates for the drone system. Mr. De- braw, indeed, creates little drones, and gives them pow'er to live all the year-* and to im- pregnate the queen at pleasure. But as room does not permit me to narrate the ex- periments whereby he attempts to prove this, I shall content myself with stating his sentiments in as few w ords as possible. I le asserts, that, besides the common large drones, which every person acquainted with bees, knows at first sight, there is a small kind of drones, w hich are, to all appearance, like the common bees, there being no visible difference, except that they have no sting, which he discovers by immersion in water, and pressure. After relating an experiment i on < his head, he says, ‘ J once more immers- ed all the bees (of a small swarm) in water, and when they appeared t© be in a senseless state, I gently pressed every one of them be- tween my fingers, in order to •distinguish those armed w ith stings from those that had none, which last I might suspect to be males. Of these I found fifty-seven exactly of the size of common bees, yielding a little whit- ish liquor on being pressed" between the fingers/ In answer to this, I shall here nar- rate an experiment I made several years ago. On the 1st of Sept. 1788, I took all the bees out of a hive that was breeding very fast, and in which I found only four drones : these 1 killed. I jmt the bees into a hive that had 124 nothing in it but empty combs, ft fter wait- ing ten days, upon looking between the comb', I found maggots, newly sealed up, in the cells. I then took out all the bees, and shook them, into a tub full of water, from which immersion I recovered them gradu- ally, and while doing this, I pressed each bee individually, to try if l could discover any of those stingless little drones ; but not one appeared, all of them having stings, to the number of 3000. After this I searched the old hive I had taken them out of, and cut oat all the combs that had eggs or young in them ; among which I found some cells that had new eggs in them; others whose eggs were converted into a small worm, and other some with maggots in them. I then restored the queen, and all the bees, putting them into the same hive again, but without leaving a single egg in it. During the suc- ceeding 20 days, I inspected the hive, and found the bees, in fine weather, working with great alacrity, a sure sign that the queen was breeding again. After this, on turning up the hive, and cutting out one of the brood coy rbs, I found new-laid eggs in some of them; others containing maggots ; besides some young bees, almost ready to emerge from their cells. I made another experiment, about the same time, upon a hive that had some brood combs, but had not had a large drone for several weeks preceding. This hive did not contain above 500 bees, a cir- cumstance that was in my favour ; as being less numerous, the trouble was proportion- ally less. I carried the hive into a close room in my house, that not a single bee might es- cape me ; but after repeating the former ex- periment of immersing them in water, re- covering, and pressing them one by one, 1 found that every one of them had a sting. “ The queen, (adds Mr. Bonner,) is easily distinguished from all the other bees in tile hive, by the form, size, and colour of her body. 'She is considerably longer, and her wings are much shorter in proportion to her body, than those of the other bees. T he wings of both common bees and drones cover their whole bodies, whereas those of the queen scarcely reach beyond the middle, ending about the third ring of her belly. Her hinder part is far more tapering than those of the other bees : her belly or legs are yellower, and her upper parts of a much darker colour than theirs. She is also furnished with a sting, though some authors assert that she has none, having been induced to form this opinion, because she is extremely pacific ; so much so, indeed, that one may handle her , and even teaze her as he pleases, without I rovoking her resentment. For my part,- never can excite a queen bee to draw her sting, nor could I even get a sight of it, but when I pressed her body. A young queen is a great deal smaller in size than a full grown one, being not much longer than a common bee, and is therefore not sp easily observed when sought for. "W hen only three or four days old, she is very quick in her motions, and runs very fast; but when preg- nant with eggs, she becomes very large, and her body is heavy. Almost all writers are of opinion that the queen lays three diflei cut kinds of eggs, viz. one kind for the produc- tion of a queen bee, another species for that of the working bee, and a third for pro- ducing the drones. It Svas also long a re : AITS. ceivM opinion, that no queen could lay eggs that were capable of producing bees, without the assistance of drones. Schirach refutes this doctrine, and entirely denies such an use of the drones. He advances this opinion, that ‘ the queen lays eggs which produce young bees, without any communication with the drones; and affirms that all the working bees are females in disguise ; every one of whom, in an early stage of her existence, was capable of becoming a queen ; from a knowledge of which fact, swarms may artifi- cially be' obtained from the early months of spring, and in any succeeding month, even to November.’ lie asserts, which is indeed the grand and decisive proof, that ‘ the prac- tice of this art, (of raising artificial queens) has already extended itself through Upper Lusatia, the Palatinate, Bohemia, Bavaria, Silesia, and several parts of Germany, and even of Poland.” These experiments were repeated by Mr. Bonner, and the result of them is summed up in the following words : “ Having repeated the experiment again and again, I can now affirm, with the utmost confidence and certainty, that the common or working bees, are endowed with the powerful faculty of raising a queen bee from an egg in a common cell, when their com- munity stands in need of one. Their me- thod is this: they make choice of a common cell with an egg in it, and inject some white liquid matter from their proboscis, of a thickish substance. They then begin to build upon the edges of the cell, and enlarge it. On the third day it appears fairly on the out- side of the comb, in the form of a royal cell, and may now be properly so denominated. On the fifth day, the cell being now greatly enlarged, and a great deal ot the whitish matter thrown into it, the royal maggot ap- pears in the form of a semicircle, not unlike a new moon, being biggest in the middle part, and small at each end. In this form it is to be seen for two days swimming on the top, and in the midst of the matter in the cell; and on the seventh day it is sealed up. During this period she undergoes various metamorphoses. I have opened the royal cell on tire 10th day, and have found the maggot still on the 'top of tfie white liquor ; and having taken it into my hand to show it to any friend, it would move for a short time, although at this period it had not the smallest resemblance to a bee, being still only a maggot. But on the 1 4th or 15th day, the metamorphosis is so complete, that instead of a gross white worm, it comes forth a charm- ing young queen bee.” When a queen dies by any accident, the bees of her hive' immediately cease working, consume their own honey, fly about then- own and other hives at unusual hours, when other bees are at rest, and pine away if not soon supplied with another sovereign. Her loss is proclaimed by a clear and uninterrupt- ed humming. This sign should be a warn- ing to the owner of the bees to take what honey remains in the hive, or to procure them another queen. In this last case the flock instantly revives, and pleasure and activity are apparent through the whole hive. The dissection of the queen bee shows evi- dently that she lays many thousand eggs. It is computed that the ovaria ot a queen bee contain more than 5000 eggs at one time; ahd therefore it is not difficult to conceive that a queen bee may produce 10,000 oi- ls, 000 bees, or even more, in the space of two months. “ The working, or common bee,” says Mr. Bonner, “ is smaller than either the queen or the drone bee. They have four wings fastened to their middle part, by which they are not only enabled to liy with heavy loads, but also to' make those well-known sounds and hummings to each other, which are sup- posed to be their only form of speech. They have also six legs fastened, to their middle. The two foremost of these are the shortest, and with these they unload themselves of their treasures. The two in the middle are some- what longer, and the two last are longest. On the outside of the middle joint of these last, there is a small cavity in the form of a marrow-spoon, in which the bees collect by degrees those loads of wax they carry home to their hives: this hollow groove is peculiar to the working bee. Neither the queen nor the drones have any resemblance of it. Each foot terminates in two hooks, with their points opposite to each other; in the midtile of these hooks there is a little thin appendix, which when unfolded enables the insects to fasten themselves to glass or the most polish- ed bodies. This part they likewise employ for transmitting the small particles of crude wax which they find upon flowers, to the cavity in their thighs. The honey-bladder is a reservoir, in which is deposited the! honey that the bee sips from the cups of the flowers, after it has passed through the pro- j boscis, and through the narrow pipes that connect the head, breast, and belly of the bee. This bladder, when full, is of the size of a small pea, and is so transparent that the colour of the honey can be distinguished through it. The sting is situated at the ex- tremity of the belly, and the head or root of it is placed contiguous to the small bladder that contains the venom. It is connected to the belly by certain small muscles, by means of which thef bee can dart it out and draw it in with great force and quickness. In length it is about the 6th part of an inch. It is of a horny substance ; is largest at the root, and tapers gradually towards the point, which is extremely small and sharp; and when ex- amined by the microscope, appears to be po- lished exceedingly smooth. It is hollow within like a tube, that the venomous liquor may pass through it when it strikes any ani- mal, which it does the very instant that the sting pierces the skin, and insinuates itself into the wound, which proves mortal to many small insects, as well as to the bee her- self when she leaves her sting in the wound ; as it draws after it the bladder, and sometimes part of the entrails of the bee. These work- ing bees may be said to compose the whole community, except in the season of the drones, which hardly lasts three months. During all the other nine months, there are no other bees in the hive, except them and the queen.” In the Philosophical Transactions, No. clxxii. vol. i. we have an account ot a species of honey bee found in some parts of America, very different in form and manners from the common bee of Europe. Their combs are composed of a series of small bottles or blad ders of wax, of a dusky brown or blackish colour; and each nearly ol the size and shape APIS. 125 of a Spanish olive. They hang together in clusters, almost tike a bunch of grnpes, and are so contrived that each of them lias its aperture, white the bees are at work upon it; but as soon as it is tilled with honey, this aperture is closed, and the bees leave it and go to work upon another vessel. Their lodgings are usually taken up in the hollow of an old tree, or in some cavity of a rock by the sea-side. They are sagacious in choosing the most secure retreats, because their honey is so delicious a bait that they are hunted after by many animals; and they have no power of defending themselves, having no stings as our bees have. The combs are brittle, and the honey is clear and liquid like rock water. It is used by the natives rather as a drink with their food than as honey. They use it also in medicine as a purge, drinking half a pint of it in the morning fasting. With regard to the age of bees, the drones live but a little while, being destroyed with- out mercy by the working bees, probably to save honey. As to the age of the working bees, writers arc not agreed. Some maintain that they are annual, and others suppose that they live many years. Many of them, it is well known, die annually of hard labour; and though they may be preserved by succession in hives or colonies for several years, the most accurate observers are of opinion that their age is but a year, or no more than two summers at the utmost. These, industrious insects, Mr. Bonner remarks, “ have their vices as well as their virtues.” The most savage Indian tribes do not wage more deadly wars, than the bees of different hives, and sometimes of the same hive, occasionally do. Their light- ing and plundering one another ought chiefly to be imputed, as Mr. Thorley observes, to their perfect abhorrence of sloth and idle- ness, or to their insatiable thirst for honey ; for when, in spring or autumn, the weather is fair, but no honey can be collected from plants, and is to be found only in the hives of other bees, they will venture' their lives to get it there. Sometimes one of the queens is killed in battle. In this case the bees of both hives unite as soon as her death is generally known among them. The command which some persons have obtained over bees is very extraordinary. Mr. Wildman, some years ago, surprised the whole kingdom. He caused swarms to light where he p’eased almost instantane- ously: he ordered them to settle on his head, then removed them to his hand, and commanded them to depart and settle on a window, table, &c. at pleasure. We sub- join this method of performing these feats, in ills own words : ‘ Long experience has taught me, that as soon as I turn up a hive, and give it some taps on the sides and bottom, the queen immediately appears to know the cause of this alarm ; but soon retires again among her people. Being accustomed to see her so often, I readily perceive her at first glance ; and long practice has enabled me to seize her instantly, with a tenderness that does not in the least endanger her person. When possessed of her, I can without injury to her, or exciting that degree of resentment that may tempt her to sting me, slip her into my other hand, and, returning the hive to its place, hold her there, till the bees missing her, are a’l on wing, and in the utmost confusion. When the bees are thus distressed, I place the queen wherever I would have the bees to settle. The moment a few of them discover her, they give notice to those near them, and those to the rest ; the knowledge of which soon becomes so general, that in a few minutes they all col- lect themselves round her ; and are so happy in having recovered this sole support of their state, that they will long remain quiet in their situation. ' Nay, the scent of her body is so attractive of them, that the slightest touch of her, along any place or substance,, will attach the bees to it, and induce them to pursue any path she takes.” When the bees begin to work in their hives, they are said to divide themselves into four companies ; one of which roves in the fields in search of materials; another em- ploys itself in laying out the bottom and par- titions of their cells ; a third is employed in making the inside smooth from the corners and angles; and the fourth company brings food for the rest, or relieves those who return with their respective burdens. But they are not kept constant to one employment; they often change the tasks assigned them; those that have been at work being permitted to go abroad, and those that have been in the fields already take their places. They seem even to have signs by which they understand each other; for when any one of them wants food, ib-bends down its trunk to the bee from whom it is expected, which then opens its honev- bag, and lets some drops fall into the other’s mouth, which is at that time opened to re- ceive it. Their diligence and labour are so great, that, in a day’s time, they are able to make celis, which lie upon each other, nu- merous enough to contain 3000 bees. As the combs would be apt, when full, to overcome by their weight all the security which the bees can give them against falling, those who prepare hives set in them cross- wise, sticks, which serve as props to the combs, and save the bees great labour. The habitations of bees ought to be very close ; and what their hives want from the neg- ligence or unskiifulness of man, these animals supply by their own industry. For this pur- pose they make use of a resinous gum, which is more tenacious than wax, and differs great- ly from it. This the ancients called propolis. It will grow considerably hard in the hive, though it will in some measure soften by heat, and is often found different in consist- ence, colour, and smell. It has generally an agreeable aromatic odour when it is wanned ; and by some it is considered as a most grate- ful perfume. When the bees begin to work with it, it is soft ; but it acquires a firmer consistence every day, till at length it as- sumes a brown colour, and becomes much harder than wax. The bees carry it on their hinder legs ; and some think it is met with on the birch, tire willow, and poplar. Bees anxiously provide against the en- trance of insects into the hive, by gluing up with wax or propolis the smallest holes in it. Some stand as sentinels at the mouth of the hive, to prevent insects of any kind from get- ting in. But if a snail or other large insect should get in, notwithstanding all resistance, they sting it to death ; and then cover it over j with a coat of propolis, to prevent the bad smell or maggots which might proceed from j the putrefaction of such a large animal. Bees seem to be warned of the appearance of bad weather by seme particular feeling. It sometimes happens, even when they are very assiduous and busy, that they on a sud- den cease from their work; not a single bee stirs out ; and those that are abroad hurry home in such prodigious crowds, that (he doors of their habitations are too small to ad- mit them. On such occasions, if we look up to the sky, we shall soon discover some of those black clouds which denote impending rain. So correct is their instinct, that it ex- ceeds the sagacity of the philosopher. When a hive of bees is become too much crowded by the addition of the young brood, a part of the bees think of finding themselves a more commodious habitation, and with that view single out the most forward of the young queens. A new swarm is therefore constantly composed of one queen at lca-t, and of several thousand working bees, as well as of some hundreds of drones. The work- ing bees are some old, some young. Scarce- ly has the colony arrived at its new habita- tion, when the working bees labour with the utmost diligence to procure materials for food and building. They make more wax during the first fortnight, if the season is fa- vourable, than they do all the rest of the year. Other bees are at the same time busy in stopping all the holes and crevices they find in the new hive, in order to guard against the entrance of insects which covet their honey, their wax, or themselves; and also to exclude the cold air, for it is indispensably necessary that they be lodged warm. W hen the bees first settle in swarming, indeed when they at any time rest themselves, there is something very particular in the method of taking their repose. It is done by collect- ing themselves in a heap, and hanging to each other by their feet. W hen a swarm divides into two or more bands, which settle separately, this division is a sure sign that there are two or more queens among them. One of these clusters is generally larger than the other. The bees of the smaller cluster or clusters detach themselves by little and little, till at last the whole, together with the queen, unite with the larger cluster. As ScOn as the bees are settled, the supernumerary queen or queens must be sacrificed to the peace and tranquil- lity of the hive. This execution generally raises a considerable commotion in the hive ; and several other bees, as well as the queen, lose their lives. Their bodies may be ob- served on the ground near the hive. The queen that is chosen is of a more reddish colour than those which are destroyed: so that fruitfulness seems to be a great motive of preference in bees ; for the nearer they are to the time of laying their eggs, the bigger, redder, and more shining are their bodies. The balls which v r e see attached to the legs of bees returning to the hives, are not wax, but a powder collected from the stamina of flowers, not yet brought to the state of wax. The substance of these balls, heated in any vessel, does not melt as wax would, but becomes dry, and hardens: it may even be reduced to a coal. If thrown into water it will sink; whereas rvax swims. To reduce this crude substance into wax, it must first be digested in the body of the bee. Every bee, when it leaves the hive to collect 126 APIS. this precious store, enters into the cup of the flower, particularly such as seem charged ■with the greatest quantities of this yellow fa- rina. As the animal’s body is covered over with hair, it rolls itself within the flower, and quickly becomes quite covered with the dust, which it soon after brushes off with its two hind legs, and kneads into two little balls. In the thighs of the hinder legs there are two cavities, edged with hair; and into these, as into a basket, the animal sticks its pellets. Thus employed, the bee flits from flower to flower, increasing its store, and adding to its stock of wax, until the ball upon each thigh becomes as big as a grain of pepper: by this time having got a sufficient load, it returns, making the best of its way to the hive. After the bees have brought home this crude sub- stance, they eat it by degrees; or, at other times, three or four bees come and ease the loaded bee, by eat : ng each of them a share, -the loaded bee giving them a hint so to do. Hunger, however, is not the motive of their -thus eating the balls of waxy matter, espe- cially when a swarm is first hived ; but it is their desire to provide a speedy supply of real wax for making the combs. At other times, when there is no immediate want of wax, the bees lay this matter up in reposito- ries, to keep it in store ; and it is then known by the name of bee-bread. It is agreed by the most judicious observers that the apiary, or place where bees are kept, •should face the south, and be situated in a place neither too hot nor too much exposed to the cold; that it be near the mansion- house, on account of the convenience of watching them ; but so situated as not to be -exposed to noisome smells, or to the din of -men or cattle; that it be surrounded with a wall, which, however, should not rise above .three feet high ; that, if possible, a running -stream be near them ; or, if that cannot be, that water be brought near them in troughs ; as they -cannot produce either combs, honey, or food for their maggots, without water: and that the garden in which the apiary stands, be well furnished with such plants as .afford the bees plenty of good pasture. Furze, broom, mustard, clover, heath, &c. have been found excellent for this purpose. Hives have been made of different mate- rials, and in different forms, according to the fancy of people of different ages and coun- tries. Not only straw, which experience now proves to be rather preferable to every thing else, but wood, horn, glass, &c. have -been used for the construction of them. Single box-hives, however, when properly made, •answer very well, and when painted last long. They have several advantages above straw hives: they are quite cleanly, and always .stand upright ; they are proof against mice ; and are cheaper in the end than straw hives, for one box will last as long as three of them. They are, however, rather colder in winter; but a proper covering will prevent all danger •from that quarter. Straw hives are easiest obtained at first, and have been used and re- commended by the best of bee-masters. If the swarm be early and large, it will require a large hive ; but if otherwise, the hive should be proportionably less, if the bees appear to want more room, it can easily be enlarged, fyy putting a roll or two below it; but if it be heavy enough for a stock hive, it will do, although it -should not be quite full of combs. Any person (says Mr. Bollner) who in- tends to erect an apiary, must take particu- lar care to have it filled with proper inha- bitants. He must be peculiarly attentive to this, as all his future profit and pleasure, or loss and vexation, will, in general, depend upon it. He must therefore pay the utmost attention to the choice of his stock hives; for the man who takes care to keep good stock hives will soon gain considerably by them ; but he who keeps bad ones, will, be- sides a great deal of trouble, and little or no success, soon become a broken bee-master. In September every stock hive ought to con- tain as much honey as will supply the bees with food till June following; and as many bees as will preserve heat in the hive, and thereby resist the severity of a cold winter, and act as so many valiant soldiers to defend the community from the invasions of foreign enemies in spring. They should be full of combs, and well stored with bees and honey, and should weigh at least 30lb. each ; if hea- vier, so much the better ; for light hives run a great risk of perishing bv famine, unless the bees are supplied with food; whereas a well-chosen hive of 30lb. weight, allowing 121b. for the empty hive, bees,, combs, &c. will cont ain 181b. of 'honey, which will sup- ply the bees with food till June: a time when, it may be presumed, they null find abundance of provisions for themselves among the flowers. When a choice can be obtained, the youngest hive should always be preferred, because old hives are liable to vermin, and other accidents. But although a hive should be four or five years old, it should not be rejected, if it possess these two essential qualities, plenty of bees, and abun- dance of honey. Bees first swarm in May, or in the end of April, but earlier or later according to the warmth of the season. They seldom swarm before ten in the morning, and seldom later than three in the afternoon. We may know when'they are about to swarm, by clusters of them hanging on the outside of the hive. But the most certain sign is, when the bees refrain from going into the fields, though the season be inviting. Just before they take flight there is an uncommon silence in the hive ; after this, a? soon as one takes flight, they all follow. Before the subsequent swarmiugs there is a great noise in the hive, which is supposed to be occasioned by a contest, whether the young or the old queen should go out. When the bees of a swarm fly too high, they will descend lower, upon throw- ing handfuls of sand or dust among them, which they probably mistake for rain. For the same purpose it is usual to beat on a kettle or frying-pan: this practice may have taken its rise from observing that thunder, or any great noise, prompts bees in the fields to return home. As soon as the swarm is set- tled, the bees which compose it should be got into a hive with all convenient speed, to prevent their taking wing again. If they set- tle on a small branch of a tree, easy to come at, it may be cut off and laid upon a cloth, the hive being ready immediately to put over them. If the branch cannot be conveniently cut, the bees may be swept from off it into the hive. Loctge but the queen into the hive, and the rest will soon follow.. If the bees must be considerably disturbed in order to get them into a hive, the most ad- visable way is to let them remain in the place where they have pitched till the evening, when there is less danger of their taking wing. If it be observed that they still hover about the tree they first alighted upon, the branches may be ‘rubbed with rue, elder leaves, or any other thing distasteful to them, to prevent their returning t© it. The hive employed on this occasion should be cleaned with the utmost care, and its inside rubbed with fragrant herbs or flowers, the smell of which is agreeable to the bees, or with ho- ney. The hive should not be immediately set on the stool where it is, to remain, but kept near the place at which the bees set- tled, till the evening, lest some stragglers should be lost. It should be shaded either ] with boughs or with cloth, that the too great heat of the sun may not annoy the bees, i We sometimes see a swarm of bees, after ; having left their hive, and even alighted upon a tree, return to their first abode. This never happens but when the young queen did not come forth with them, for want of strength, or perhaps courage to trust to her \ wings for the first time ; or possibly from a consciousness of her not being impregnated, | When a swarm is too few in number for a hive, another may be added. The usual method of thus uniting swarms is very easy, j Spread a cloth at night upon the ground close to the hive in which the two casts or swarms are to be united ; lay a stick across 1 this doth; then fetch the hive with the new swarm, set it over the stick, give a smart stroke on the top of the hive, and all the bees \ will drop down upon the cloth in a cluster, 1 This done, throw aside the empty hive, take the other from off the stool, and set this last \ over the bees, who will soon ascend into it, mix with those already there, and become one and the same family. Others, instead of striking the bees down upon the cloth, place : with its bottom upmost the hive in which the united swarms are to live, and strike the bees of the other hive down into it. The ; former of these hives is then restored to its natural situation, and the bees of both hives soon unite. If some bees still adhere to the other hive, they may be brushed oft on the cloth, and they will soon join their brethren* Or we may take the following method, which gives less disturbance to the bees.j Set with its mouth upmost the hive into- which the young swarm has been put, and set upon it the other hive, 'lhe bees in the j lower hive, finding themselves in an inverted j situation, will soon ascend into the upper. A large swarm may weigh 8lb., and so gra-i dually less to lib.: consequently a very! good one may weigh 5 or (fib. Ail such as j weigh less than 41b. should be strengthened, ' by uniting to each of them a less numerous swarm. Providence has ordained that inserts which feed on leaves, flowers, anti green succulent plants, are in an insensible or torpid stale, from the time that the winter’s cold has de- prived them of the means of subsistence : 1 thus the bees during the winter are in so lethargic a state, that little food supports ; ■them', but as the weather is very change- able, and every warm or sunny day revives J - •them, and prompts them to return to exer- cise, food becomes necessary on these occa- ' sions. Many hives of bees which are * thought to die of cold in winter, in truth die APIS. of famine, u hen a rainy summer has hin- dered tiie bees from laying in a sufficient store of provisions. The hives should there- fore be carefully examined in autumn, and should then weigh at least 18 pounds. The common practice is, to feed them in autumn, giving them as much honey as will bring the whole weight of the hive to near 20 pounds. The easiest and most rational me- : thod is, to set under the hive a plate of liquid honey, with a paper pierced full of holes, through which the bees will suck the honey 1 without daubing themselves, in case honey cannot be procured, a mixture of brown i sugar, wetted with strong beer, will answer every purpose. Another circumstance which may render it very necessary to feed the bees is, when several days of bad weather ensue immediately after they have swarmed ; for then, being destitute of every supply be- yond what they carried with them, they may be in great danger of starving. In this case, honey should be given them iq propor- : tion to the duration of the bad weather. In this country it is usual, in seizing the stores of these little animals, to rob them also of their lives. The common method is, that when those which are doomed for slaughter have been marked out, (which is generally done in September,) a hole is dug near the hive ; and a stick, at the end of which is a rag that lias been dipped in melted b.imstone, being stuck in that hole, the rag is set on lire, the hive is immediately set over it, and the earth is instantly thrown up all aro.nd, so that none of the smoke can escape. In a | quarter of an hour, all the bees are seemingly dead ; and they are rendered soon after ir- recoverably so, by being buried in the earth that is returned back into the hole. By this last means it is that they are absolutely killed; for it has been found by experiment, 'that all the bees, which have been affected only by the fume of the brimstone, recover again, ex- cepting such as have been singed or hurt bv the flame. Hence it is evident, that the fume of brimstone might be used for intoxi- cating the bees, with some few' precautions. The heaviest and the lightest hives are alike treated in this manner ; the former, because they yield the most profit, with an immediate return; and the latter, because they would not be able to survive the winter. Those hives which weigh from 15 to 20 pounds : are thought to be the* fittest for keeping. Mr. Wheler, in his Journey into Greece, (p. 4l 1) tells us, that at Mount Hymethus they have a method of saving the bees, which 4s as follows : The hives they keep the bees in are made of willow’s or osiers* fashioned like our common dust baskets, ,wide at top and narrow’ at the bottom, and plaistered over with clay. They are set with the wide end uppermost. The tops are covered with broad fiat sticks, which are also plaistered over with clay; and, to secure them from the weather, they cover them with a tuft of straw, as we do. Along each side of these sticks, the bees fasten their combs : so that a comb may be taken out whole, without the •least bruising; and with the greatest ease; imaginable. To increase them in spring time, that is, in March or April, until the beginning of May, they divide them;- first scparating : the sticks on which the combs and • bees are fastened, from one another, with a knits; so, taking oat -the first comb and bees together on each side, they put them into another basket, in the same order as they were taken out, until they have equally di- vided them. After this, when they are both again accommodated with sticks and plaister, they set the new basket in the place of the old one, and the old one in some new place. All this they do in the middle of the day, at such time as the greatest part of the bees are abroad ; who, at their coming home, without much difficulty, by this means divide themselves equally. This device hinders them from swarming and flying away. In August, they take out their honey ; which they do in the day-time also, while they are abroad ; the bees being thereby, say they, disturbed least: at which time they take out the combs laden wfith honey, as before > that is, beginning at each outside, and so taking away, until they have left only such a quan- tity of combs, in the middle, as they judge will be sufficient to maintain the bees in winteij; sweeping those bees that are on the comb:j into the basket again, and then cover - ing it with new sticks and plaister. Various methods have also been adopted in England, to attain the desirable end of getting the honey and wax without destroying the bees; the most approved of which is Mr. Thorley’s, w ho in his Inquiry into the Nature, Order, and Government of Bees, thinks colonies preferable to hives. He tells us, that he has in some summers taken two boxes filled with honey from one colony ; and yet sufficient store iias been left for their maintenance during the w inter, each box weighing forty pounds. His boxes are made of deal, anil an octagon, being nearer to a sphere, is better than a square form ; for as the bees, in w inter, lie in a round body near the centre ot the hive, a due heat is then conveyed to all the out parts. The dimensions which Mr. r \ horiey* after many years experience, recommends for the boxes, are ten inches in depth, and twelve or fourteen inches in breadth in the inside. r l he best and purest honey is that w hich is gathered in the first five or six weeks : and in boxes - of less di- mensions we may take within a month, pro- vided the season be favourable, a boxfull of the finest honey. The top of the box should be made of an entire board, a full inch thick aftev it has been planed ; and it should pro- ject on all sides, at least an inch beyond the dimensions of the box. In the middle of this lop there must be a hole five inches square, for a communication between the boxes ; this hole should be covered with a sliding shutter, of deal or elm, running easily in a groove over the back window. The eight pannels, nine inches deep, and three quarters ot an inch thick when planed, are to be let into the top so far as to keep them in their proper places ; to be secured at the corners with plates of brass, and to be cramped' with wires at the bottom to keep them firm ; for the heat in summer will try th-eir strength. I here should be a glass window behind fixed in a frame, with a thin deal cover, two small, brass hinges, and a button to fasten it. This window Will be sufficient for inspecting the progress of the bees.. Two brass handles, one oiv each side, are necessary to life up the box) these should be fixed in with two thin plates . of iron, near three inches long; so as to turn up, and down, and put three inches below the top board, which is nailed close down with sprigs *27 to tlie other parts of the box. Those who choose a frame within, to which the bees may fasten their combs, need only use a couple of deal sticks of an inch square, placed across the box. One thing more, which perfects the work, is, a passage four or five inches long, and less than half an inch deep, for the bees to go in and out at the bottom of the box. In keeping bees in colonies, a house is necessary, or at least a shade ; without which the w’eather, especially the heat of the sun, would soon rend the boxes to pieces. The house may be made of any boards, but deal is the best ; and it must be painted, to secure it from the weather. The length of it for six colonies, should be full twelve and a half feet, and each colony should stand a foot distant from the other. It should be three and a half feet high, to admit four boxes, one upon another; but if only three boxes are employed, two feet eight inches will be sufficient. Its breadth in the inside should be two feet. The best time to plant the colonies is, either in spring with new stocks full of bees, or in summer with swarms. If swarms are used, procure if possible two of the same day: hive them either in two boxes, or in a hive and a box : at night, place them in the bee-house, one over the other ; and with a knife and a little lime and hair, stop close the mouth of tlie hive or upper box, so that not a bee may be able to go in or out but at- the front- door. Within a week or ten days tlie combs will appear in the boxes ; but if it be an hive, nothing can be seen till the bees have wrought down into the box. Never plant a colony with a single swarm. When the second box,, or the box under the hive, appears full of bees and combs, it is time to raise the- colony. This should be done in the dusk of the even- ing, and in the following manner- Place the empty box, with the sliding shutter drawn back, behind the house, near tlie colony that is to be raised, and at nearly the height of the floor : then lifting up the colony as quickly as possible, let the. empty box be put in the- place where it is to stand, and the colony upon it ; and shut up the mouth of the then upper box with lime and hair, as directed before. When upon looking through the windows iiv the back of the boxes, the middle box appears full of combs, and a quantity of honey sealed up in it, the lowest box half full of combs, and few bees in the uppermost box, proceed thus- About five o'clock P. M. drive close with a mallet the sliding shutter under the hive or box. that is to be taken from the colony. If the combs are new, the shutter may be forced home without a mallet ; but be sure it is close, that no bees may ascend into the hive or box to be removed. After this shut close the doors of the house, and leave the bees thus cut off from the rest of their companions, for half an hour or more. In this space, having lost their queen, they will fill themselves with ho- ney, and be impatient to be set’ at liberty.. If, in this interval, upon examining the box or boxes beneath, all appears to be quiet in them, it is a sign that the -queen is there and in safety. Hereupon raise the back part of the hive or box so far, by a piece of wood slipped under it, as to give the prisoners room to come oat, and they will return to their fel- lows;: then lifting the box from off tlie colony, and turning its bottom upmost, cover it with a cloth all night ; and tlie next morning i29 when this cloth is removed, the bees that have remained in it will return to the colony. 'I hus a box. of honey is procured, and all the bees are preserved, if the bees do not all come out in this manner, Dr. Warder's method may Toe followed, especially if it be with a hive : viz. to place the hive with the small end down- ward in a pail, peck, or flower-pot, so as to make it stand firm ; then to take an empty hive, and set it upon the former, and to draw a cloth tight round the joining of the two hives, so that none of the bees may get out : after this, to strike the full hive so smartly as to dis- turb the bees that are in it, but with such pauses between the strokes as to allow them time toascend into the empty hive ; which must be held fast whilst this is doing, lest it fall off by the shaking of the other. When by the noise of the bees in the upper hive, it is per- ceived that they are got into this last, carry it to a cloth spread for this purpose before the colony, with one end fastened to the landing- place, and knock them out upon it: they will soon crawl up the cloth, and join their fellows, who will gladly receive them. Mr. Thorley’s method of preserving bees in common hives, is incorporation, or uniting two stocks into one, by the help of a peculiar fume or opiate, which will put them entirely in the heemaster’s power for a time to divide and dispose of at pleasure. But as that do- minion over them will be of short duration, he must be expeditious in this business. '1 he queen is immediately to be searched for, and killed. Hives which have swarmed twice, and are consequently reduced in their num- bers, are the fittest to be joined together, as this will greatly strengthen and improve them. If a hive is both rich in honey and full of bees, it is but dividing the bees into two parts, and putting them into two boxes instead ot one. Examine whether the stock, to which the bees of another are to be joined, have honey enough to maintain the bees of botli : it should weigh full 20 pounds. The narcotic, or stupifying fume, is made with the fungus maximus or ulverulentus, the large mushroom, commonly nown by the name ot bunt, puck-list, or frog-cheese. It is as big as a man’s head, or bigger . when ripe ; it is of a brown colour, turns to powder, and is exceedingly light. Put one of these pucks into a large paper, press it to | or near half the bulk of its former size, and tie it up very dose ; then put it into an oven some time after the household bread has been drawn, and let it remain there all night : when it is dry enough to hold fire, it is lit for use. The manner of using it is this : cut oft a piece of the puck, as large as a hen’s egg, and fix it in the end of a small stick slit for that purpose, and sharpened at the other end! ; which place so that the puck may hang near the middle of an empty hive. This hive must be set with the mouth upward, in a pail or bucket which should hold it steady, near the stock intended to be taken. This done, set fire to the puck, and immediately place the stock of bees over it, tying a cloth round the hives, that no smoke may come forth. In a minute or little more, the bees, will be heard falling like drops of hail into the empty hive. Then beat the top of the full hive gently, to get out as many of them as possible: alter this, loosing the cloth, lift the hive otf to a table, knock it several times against the table, several more bees will tumble out, and per- haps the queen among them. Slie often is APIS. one of the last that falls. IT she is not there, search for her among the main body in the empty hive, spreading them for tiiis purpose on a table. Proceed in The same manner with the other hive, with the bees ot which these are to be united. One of the queens being secured, put the bees of both hives together, mingle them thoroughly, and drop them among the combs of the hive which they are intended to inhabit. Then cover it with a coarse cloth which will admit air, and let them remain shut up all that night and the next day. It will easily be known when they arc awaked from this' sleep. The second night after their union, in the dusk of the evening, gently re- move the cloth from off the mouth ot the hive, and the bees will immediately sally forth with a great noise ; but being too late, they will soon return: then inserting two pieces of tobacco-pipes to let in air, keep them confined for three or four days, after which the door may- be left open. The best time for uniting bees is, after their young brood are all out, and before they begin to lodge in the empty cells. As to the hour of the day, Mr. r l honey ad- vises young practitioners to do it early in the afternoon, in order that having the longer light, they may the more easily find out the queen, lie never knew such combined stocks conquered by robbers. They will either swarm in the next summer, or yield an hiveful of honey. Boxes placed laterally will answer every purpose of these of Mr. Thorlev, and they may be made square and in the simplest manner. Bees have various enemies ; mice should be guarded against, by diminishing the entrance into the hives when the cold comes on, and- the bees. are less able to de- fend themselves; and the hives may be placed in such a manner, that it will be im- i possible for the mice to reach them. Spiders ! and caterpillars are very destructive to bees ; a species of the latter, called the wax-worm, or wax-moth, because it feeds on wax, lays its eggs in the hive, which turn to maggots that are very noisome and prejudicial. Dives of bees that have swarmed more than once, and such as contain little honey, are most exposed to these insects ; for the empty combs serve them for shelter, and t lie wax supplies them with food. '1 hese hives should be cleaned at least once a week ; and the stools on which they rest, where the moths are laid by the bees, should be cleaned every morning. But they cannot be entirely de- stroyed*. without taking away the infected hiye, removing the bees, and cleansing it ot the moths, before it is restored to its former occupiers. Bees are often troubled with lice, which may .be -destroyed by strewing tobacco over them. The depredations of birds, and particularly of the house-lark and swallow, should be carefully prevented. Ants, woodlice, and earwigs, are also enu- merated among the enemies of the begs. Mr. Keys says, “ the earwigs steal into the hives at night, and drag out bee after bee, sucking out their vitals, and leaving nothing but their skins or scalps like so many trophies of their butchery.” Wasps and hornets are, however, the most formidable enemies that bees have to encounter. Wasps are very destructive to bees, on account of their superior strength and pro- digious numbers, especially in a year favour- able to their breeding; They are most nu- merous in July and August. ‘Soon after that the workers die ; but the mothers survive the w inter, and commence breeding about April. If cold and wet weather ensues, the greater part of the brood are starved ; because the workers cannot fly out for forage, and wasps never lay up any store. W et is very inju- rious to their nests, and therefore, in a long season of heavy rain, few wasps will appear till September ; but a mild winter, succeed- ed by a hot spring, will so favour the increase of wasps, that without the greatest vigilance many stocks will fall victims to their power. One wasp is a match for three bees.- They are very bold, and frequently encounter the most evident danger, undauntedly opposing a host of bees, to obtain a belly -full of honey, j Therefore, when cold weather commences, 1 knowing that the bees keep no guard then, great numbers get quietly in, and carry off abundance of honey ; and having once tasted J of the sweets, they will not desist till they ’ possess the whole. Perhaps the same method of destroying them, in this case, as directed for bee-robbers, would prove as effectual against wasps. In the spring the mother wasps may be seen about old timber, with the splints of which they compose their nests. On the blossoms of goosberries and raspberries they will be found often, and may easily be knock- j ed down and destroyed. Their death, at that time, will prevent a like number of nests from existing the next summer. A nest ] of wasps is said to consist of 30,000. Effec- j tuallv to destroy a nest ; in the evening, when the wasps have done labour, repair to the place, and stop all the holes of their egress or regress. Introduce a squib into the chief passage, and distantly stopping it with a sod. See. they will presently lie suffocated. Dig the nest up, and bum it. Perhaps a wild-fire of damp gunpowder placed on a piece of wood, and introduced, WQ.uld answer tike same purpose. Hornets, in the spring* will watch the bees as they issue from the -hives. When they are seen about the hives, they should be knoc ked down and trodden upon. They may be trepanned, by placing an empty hive* ; with its inside smeared with honey, among the stocks. Allured by this, the mother hor- nets will begin to build in it. Jn the evening lift up the hive, which may be done with safe- ty, if the mother is there ; then set it down again, and in about half an ho.ur after have a vessel with. water ready; take the hive and plunge it a little way into the water ; then strike smartly on the top of the hive, and the hornets will tall into the water, and by a pair of tongs may be crushed to death. Or, the hive may be closely stopped up till monr- ing; apd then taking it into a room, raise the: edge next the window ; the hornet will fly di- rectly to it, and may readily be destroyed. Their nests are usually hung on the rafters* beams, or roofs of barns, or out-houses, or fixed in hollow trees. They resemble a globe of brownish paper. - The nest may he taken by preparing ,a large-mouthed bag, with a running string to draw the mouth close. On a rainy day, or in an evening,, put on the bee-dress, and w itji great stillness approach the nest, and draw' the bag gently over it, instantly pulling the moutti socipse that -not a hornet may escape. - - j A P O A P O APIS, or mu sc a, in astronomy, a southern constellation, containing four stars. APIUM, parsley, in botatny, a genus of the digynia order, belonging to the petan- dria class of plants ; and in the natural me- thod ranking under the 45th order, umbel- iaUr. Tiie fruit is of an oval shape, and streaked ; the involucruin consists of one leaf; and the petals are inflected. There | are only two species, the culture of which [ are well known, viz. 1. Apium graveolens, or smallage, or ce- lery, a native of England ; and 2. Apium petroselinum, or common par- sley, a native of Sardinia. Smallage, when improved by culture, is termed celery, and there is scarcely a more desirable root, especially as it is a winter sallad. It is aperient and tonic. With respect to the 2d sort, the roots and seeds of the petroselinum are used in medicine. The root of parsley is one of the five aperient roots; if liberally used, it is apt to occasion flatulencies; and thus, by dis- tending the viscera, produces a. contrary effect to that intended by it : the taste of this root is somewhat sweetish, with a light de- -gree of warmth and aromatic flavour. The seeds are an ingredient in the electuary of bay-berries, are moderately aromatic, and i were formerly used as carminatives. The common parsley is also reckoned an effec- tual cure tor the rot in sheep, provided they are fed with it twice a week for two or three hours each time ; but hai'es and rabbits are so fond of this herb, that they will come from a great distance to feed upon it ; so that whoever has a mind to have plenty of hares in their fields, may draw them from all parts of the country by the cultivation of parsley. APLANATIC, a term applied to that kind of refraction which entirely corrects the aberration of the rays of light, and the colour depending on it, in contradistinction to the word achromatic, in which there is only a partial correction of colour. APLUDA, a genus of the monoecia order, belonging to the polygamia class of plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the 4th order, gramma. The calyx is a bivalved gluma : the floscules of the. female are sessile, and the male floscules are furnished with pedunculi ; the female has no calyx ; the corolla has a double valve ; there is but one stylus, and one covered seed. The male has three stamina. There are 4 species. APOCYNUM, (Ku»(^-, a dog, because the ancients believed this plant would kill dogs,) Dogssane : A genus of the digynia order, belonging to the pentandria class of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 30th order contortic. The essential charac- ters are : the corolla is bell-shaped ; and the filaments are five, alternate with the stamina. Of this genus botanical writers enumerate 1 7 species ; of which the following are the most remarkable : 1. Apocynum cordatum and villosum, na- tives of New Spain, and both climbers. 2. Apocynum speciosissimum, a native of Jamaica and of Savannah, whence it has the name of Savannah flower. It rises three or tour feet high : the flowers are produced from the sides of the branches, and are very large, and of a bright yellow colour. Yol. I. 3. Apocynum ventum ; there are two va- rieties of this; one with a purple, and the other with a white flower. This species is hardy enough to live in England. All the species of this plant abound with a milky juice, which flows out from any part of their stalks and leaves when they are broken ; this is generally supposed to be hurtful if taken inwardly, but does not blister the skin when applied to it as the juice of spurge and other acrid plants do. The pods of all the sorts are filled with seeds, which have each a long plume of a cottony down fastened to their crowns. This down is in great esteem in France, for stuffing of easy chairs, making quilts, &c. for it is exceed- ingly light and elastic. APOCOPE, among grammarians, a figure which cuts off a letter or syllable from the end of a word, as ingem for ingenii. APOCRISIARIUS, in antiquity, an offi- cer who delivered the messages of the em- peror. He became afterwards chancellor, and kept the seals. It was also a title given to a bishop’s resident at court, to the pope’s deputy at Constantinople, and to the trea- surer of a monastery. APOGEE, that point of the orbit of a planet, or the sun, which is farthest from the earth. APOLLINARIAN games, in Roman antiquity, an appellation given to certain theatrical entertainments, celebrated annually in honour of Apollo. APPOLL1NARIANS, or Apollinar- ists, in church history, a sect of heretics who maintained, that Jesus Christ had neither a rational human soul, nor a true body. APOLLON I A, in antiquity, an annual festival celebrated by the iEgialians in ho- nour of Apollo. APOLLO belvidere, a very celebrated antique statue, esteemed by artists the most excellent and sublime of all the antient pro- ductions. It was found in the 15th century, about 12 leagues from Rome,, in the ruins of ancient Antium, and purchased by pope Julius II. who removed it to the Belvidere of the Vatican, whence it takes its name, and where it remained 300 years, but it is now in the musaeum at Paris. See Sculp- ture. APOLOGUE, in matters of literature, an ingenious method of conveying instruction by means of a feigned relation, called a moral fable. The only difference between a parable and an apologue is, that the former being drawn from what passes among mankind, re- quires probability in the narration : whereas the - apologue being taken from the supposed actions of brutes, or even of things inanimate, is not tied down to the strict rules of proba- bility. cEsop’s fables are a model- of this kind of writing. APONEUROSIS, among physicians, a term sometimes used to denote the expan- sion of a nerve or tendon in the manner of a membrane ; sometimes for the cutting off a nerve; and, finally, for the tendon it- self. APOPHYSIS, in anatomy, an excrescence from the body of a bone, of which it is a true continuous part, as a branch is of a tree. See Anatomy. APOPLEXY, a distemper in which the R A PO rig patient is suddenly deprived of the exercise ot all the senses, and of voluntary motion ; while a strong pulse remains with a deep respiration, attended with a stertor, and the appearance of a profound sleep. See Me- dicine. APOSIOPESIS, in rhetoric, the suppress- ing or omitting to relate a part of the sub- ject : thus the poet omits the circumstance of Dido's killing herself. Dixerat, atque illam media inter tallia ferra Collapsam adspiciunt. APOSTATE, among the Romanists, sig- nifies a man who, without a iegal dispensa- tion, forsakes a religious order of which he had made profession. Hence, APOSTATA capiendo, in the English law, a writ which formerly lay against a per- son who, having entered into some order of religion, broke out again, and wandered up and down the country. APOSTILICI, an early sect of Christians, who pretended to lead their lives in imita- tion ot the apostles. They condemned mar- riage. APOSTROPHE, in rhetoric, a figure hy which the orator addresses a person either absent or dead as if he was present ; or ap- peals to angels and to men, to rocks, groves, &c. Thus Adam in Milton’s Paradise Lost, O woods, O fountains, hillocks, dales, and bowers, With other echo, &c. Apostrophe, in grammar, a mark placed over a letter to shew that a vowel is cut oil, as call’d for called, th’ audience, for the au- dience. APOTACTITES, in church-history, a name given to the apostolici, from the shew they made of renouncing the w orld more than other men. APOTHECARY, one who practises the art of pharmacy. In London, the apothe- caries are one of the city companies, and by an act which was made perpetual in the ninth yecr of George I. are exempted from serving upon juries, or in ward and parish offices. They are obliged to make up their medicines according to the formulas pre- scribed in the college dispensatory, and are liable to have their shops visited by the cen- sors of the college, who are impowered to destroy such medicines as they think not good. APOTHEOSIS, in antiquity, a ceremony by which the antient Romans complimented their emperors and great men after their death, w ith a place among the gods. It is described as follows. After the body of the deceased had been burnt with the usual so- lemnities, an image of wax, exactly resemb- ling him, rvas placed on an ivory couch, where it lay for seven days, attended by the senate and ladies of the highest quality in mourning ; and then the young senators and knights bore the bed of state through the via sacra to the old forum, and thence to the campus Martins, where it was deposited upon an edifice built in form of a pyramid. The bed being thus placed, amidst a quantity of spices and other combustibles, and " the knights having made a procession in solemn measure round the pile, the new^emperor, with a torch in his hand, set fire to it, whilst an eagle, let fly from the top of the build- ing, and mounting in the air with a firebrand;, 130 A P P was supposed to convey the soul of the de- ceased to heaven, and thenccfo. ward he was ranked among the gods. APOTOME, in geometry, the difference between two incommensurable lines : such is the difference between 2 and 1, and such is the excess of the diagonal of a square above its side. APOTOME, in music, the difference be- tween a greater and lesser semi-tone, expres- sed by the ratio 128 : 125. Apparent, among mathematicians and astronomers, denotes things as they appear to us, in contradistinction from real or true; thus we say, the apparent diameter, distance, magnitude, place, figure, &c. of bodies. APPARITION, in astronomy, signifies a star or other luminary’s becoming visible, which before was hid. " It stands opposed to occultation. APPARITOR, among the Romans, a ge- neral term to comprehend all attendants of judges and magistrates appointed to receive and execute their orders. Apparitor, with us, is a messenger, tliat serves the process of a spiritual court, or a beadle in an univer- sity, who carries the mace. APPEAL, in law, the removal of a cause from an inferior to a superior court or judge, when a person thinks himself aggrieved by the sentence of the inferior judge. Appeals lie from all the ordinary courts of justice to the house of lords. In ecclesiastical causes, if an appeal is brought before a bishop, it may be removed to the archbishop ; if before an archdeacon to the court of arches, and thence to the archbishop ; and from the archbishop’s court to the king in chancery. Appeal, in our old common law, is taken for the accusation of a murderer by a person who had interest in the party killed ; of a felon by an accomplice ; or for rape or may- hem by the party injured. It was prosecut- ed either by writ or by bill : by writ, when a writ was purchased out ot the chancery by one person against another, commanding him to appeal some third person of felony, and to find pledges for doing it effectually : by bill, when the person himself gave in his accusation in writing, offering to undergo the burden of appealing the person therein named. The extreme nicety of conducting appeals has caused them to be wholly dis- used, and the proceeding is now always by indictment. 4 Black. 313. APPEARANCE, in law, signifies a de- fendant’s filing common or special bail, on any process issued out of a court of judica- ture. In actions by original, appearances are entered with the phiiazer of the county ; and by bill, with the prothonotary. In perspective, appearance is the projec- tion of a figure or bodyon the perspective plane. In astronomy it signifies the same as phe- nomena or phases ; and in physiology, the same as phasmata. APPELLANTS, in church-history,.an ap- pellation given to such of the Roman catho- lic clergy, as appealed from the constitution unigomtus, to a general council. APPELLATIVE, in grammar, a noun which is applicable to a. whole species or kind, as man, horse ; in. contradistinction to a pro- per noun. APPENDANT, in law, any thing that is inheritable, belonging to some more worthy inheritance ; as an advowson, common, or court, may be appendant to a manor, land A P P to an office, &c. but land cannot be append- ant to land, for both are corporeal inherit- ances, and one thing corporeal cannot be appendant to another. APPLICATION, in geometry, is used for applying one quantity to another, whose areas, but not figures, shall be the same ; or for transferring a given line into a circle, or other figure, so that its ends shall be in the perimeter of the figure. By application it is proved in Euclid’s ele- ments that two triangles having two sides of one equal to two sides in the other, and the included angles equal, are equal in all respects. Application is used in arithmetic for di- vision ; thus 16 applied to, or divided by 4, gives 4. Application, of one science to another, signifies the use that is made of the princi- ples of the one for augmenting and perfect- ing the other. Thus algebra has been ap- plied to geometry, and vice versa, and both are made use of in illustrating and demon- strating the principles of mechanics, astro- nomy, navigation, &c. See Geometrv. APPOINTEE, in heraldry, the same as aguisee: thus we say, a cross appointee, to signify that which has two angles at the end cut off, so as to terminate in points. APPORTIONMENT, in law, the divi- sion of a rent into parts, in the same manner as the land out of which it issues is divided : for example, if a person leases three acres of land for a certain rent, and afterwards grants away one acre thereof to another, the rent shall be apportioned between them. APPOSAL of sheriffs, the charging them with money received on their accounts in the exchequer. APPOSITION, in grammar, the placing two or more substantives together, in the same case, without any copulative conjunc- tion between them ; as Ardebat Alexim deli- cias domini. APPRAISING, the valuing or setting a price on goods. This is usually done by a sworn appraiser, who, it he values (lie goods too high, is obliged to take them at the price appraised. APPREHENSION, in logic, denotes the simple attention of the mind to an object pre- sented either to our senses or our imagina- tion, without passing a judgment, or making any inference. The word is also used to express an inadequate and imperfect idea. APPRENTICE, a young person bound by indenture to some tradesman, in order to be instructed in the mystery or trade. By the laws of England, a master may be in- dicted for not providing for, or for turning away his apprentice : and upon complaint from a master, that he neglects his duty, an apprentice may be committed to Bridewell, or be bound over to the sessions. By 5 Eliz. no person can exercise any trade in any part of England, without having served a regular agprenticeship of at least seven years. No trades, however, are held to be within the statute but such as were in being at the making of it in the reign of Elizabeth. Apprenticeships are not ne- cessary to carry on a trade in a country vil- lage. "And following a trade seven years, either as master or servant, without effectual prosecution, is sufficient without an appren- ticeship. A duty of fid. in the pound is grantee? for every sum of 50/. or under, and 12d. An the- A P P pound for sums not exceeding 50/. given I with all apprentices, except such as are I placed out by church- wardens, &c. 1 APPRISING, in Scots law, the name of I an action by which a creditor formerly be- I came invested with the estate of his debtor I for payment. . ] APPROACH, curve of equable, is of such j a nature, that a body descending in it by the j sole power of gravity, approaches the hori- j zon equally in equal times. See Cur ve. APPROACHES, method of, in mathe- j matics, a name given to a mode of resolving j ; certain problems relating to square numbers, j by first assigning certain limits to the quanti- 1 ties required, and then approaching nearer and nearer till a coincidence is obtained. I he J double rule of false position may be considered J as a method of approaches.^ Approaches, in fortification, the works | thrown up by the besiegers, in order to get I nearer a fortress, without being exposed to | the enemy’s cannon : such, in a more parti- 1 cular manner, are the trenches, which, I should be connected by parallels, or lines ol V communication. j Approaching, in fowling, a method of j getting near the birds by means of a ma-i chine, made of hoops and boughs of, trees I within which the sportsman conceals himself. | APPROPRIARE com muni am, in law, j is to discommon, or inclose any parcel ofjl land that before was open and common. APPROPRIATION, the annexing a be- 1 nefice to the proper and perpetual use of a j religious house, bishopric, college, &c. | Where the king is patron, he may make ap- j propriations himselt ; but in other cases, 1 after obtaining his licence in chancery, the I consent of the ordinary, patron, and incumb-| ent, is requisite. Appropriations cannot be I assigned over, but those to whom they 7 are I granted may make leases of the profits, j There are in England 2345 impropriations. 8 APPROVEMENT, in law, is the inclosl ing'part of a common by the lord of the manor. APPROVER, in law, one who before im- prisonment, confessing that lie has committed a felony, accuses one or more of his accom- plices. ' Approvers, also, signify bailiffs off lords in their franchises, sheriffs, and likewise j such persons as have the letting the king’s! demesnes in small manors. APPROXIMATION, in arithmetic and I algebra, the coming nearer and nearer to ar root or other quantity sought, without expect-j ing to be ever able to find it exactly. r l here! are several methods fordoing this, to be found in mathematical books, being nothing but in- j finitely coverging series, some approaching! quicker, others slower towards the truth. By such an approximation the value of aj quantity may be found, though not to the ut-l most degree of exactness, yet sufficiently so for! practice. Thus 2 = 1.41421356, See. — the! 4 1 4 j approximating series 1 + ^ ^ + Y5555 +> &c - or supposing * = jQ , equal 4 1 4 2 J to the series 1 x — + -jr + + ijr'T’ &e ! = x+ 4 x - 1 +*- 2 -f 4*~ 3 + 2*-<-M &c. The most easy and general method of ap 4 proximation, is perhaps by the rule of Double Position, or, what is sometimes called, the Me| thod of Trial-and-error ; which method see unj der its own name. And among all the method^ A P P APR A a U 131 for the roots of pure powers, of which there are many., the best is that which was dis- covered by Dr. Hutton, and given in the first volume of his Mathematical Tracts, in point of ease, both of execution and for remembering it. The method is this : if N denote any number, out of which is to be extracted the root whose index is denoted by r, and if n be the nearest root _ , . , ,,r-]-l.N-|-r — l.nr first taken ; then shall — v » r — l.N-fr-f 1. nr be the required root of N very nearly; or as r — 1 times the given number added to r -|- 1 times the given number added to r — 1 times the nearest power, so is the assumed root », to the required root, very nearly. Then this last value of the root, so found, if one still nearer is wanted, is to be used for n in the same theo- rem, to repeat the operation with it. And so on, repeating the operation as often as necessary. Which theorem includes all the rational formulae of Halley and De Lagny. For example, suppose it were required to double the cube, or to find the cube root of the number 2. Here r = 3 ; consequently r -f- 1 =4, and r — 1=2; and therefore the general theo- 4n 4- 2 n l 2n -f- n 3 l-em becomes — — r - , X « or 2 x n 2n -f- 4tr n -j~ 2n 3 for the cube root of N ; or as N -j- 2 n } ’ 2n -|- »' • * n * the root sought nearly. Now, in this case, N = 2, and therefore the nearest root « is 1, and its cube h ! = 1 also : hence N -}- 2 « 3 — 2 -j- 2 = 4, and -2N — j— « 3 =r 4 — (— 1 = 5 ; there- fore, as 4 ; 5 ” 1 ; s or lj = 1.25 the first ap- proximation. Again, taking r = and r % = 125 . . . „ . 250 378 , , ■ — ; hence k 4- 2 =24 = — , and 64 T r 64 64 ’ ‘ :2n -f" n 3 = 4 -j- 125 64 381, or as 126 l 127 ; therefore, as 378 635 = 1.259921, 381 ' 64 5 4~ * 504 which is the cube root of 2, true in all the 635 figures. And by taking — for a new value of n, and repeating the process, more figures may be found. Approximation, of the roots of equa- tion, bjj. Sir Isaac Newton’s method for approximating roots is this : first take a value of the root as near as may b«, by trials, either greater or less ; then assuming another letter to denote the unknown difference between this and the true value, substitute into the equation the sum or difference of the ap- proximate root and this assumed letter, in- stead of the unknown letter or root of the equation, which will produce a new equation having only the assumed small difference for its root or unknown letter ; and, by any means, find, from this equation, a near value of this small assumed quantity. Assume then another letter for the small difference between this last value and' the true one, and substitute the sum or difference of them into the last equation, by which will arise a third equation, involving the second assumed quantity ; whose near value is found as be- fore. Proceeding thus as fir as we please, all the near values, connected together by their proper signs, will form a series ap- proaching still nearer and nearer to the true value of the root of the first or proposed equation. The approximate values of the several small assumed differences, may lie found in different ways : Sir I. Newton’s me- thod is this ; as the quantity sought is small, its higher powers decrease more and more, and therefore neglecting them will not lead to any material error. lie therefore neglects all the terms having in them the second and higher powers, leaving only the (irst power and the absolute known term ; from which simple equation he always finds the value of the assumed unknown letter nearly, in a very neat and easy manner. For example, let it be required to find the root of the equation a 2 — 5x = 31 , or x 2 — 5x — 31 = 0 : Here the root x, it is evident, is nearly = 8 ; for x therefore take 8 + *> and substitute 8 + z for x in the given equation, and the terms will be thus ; a- 2 = 64 -j- 16z -p a 2 — 5x = — 40 — 5z — 31 = — 31 the sum is — 7 -|- 1 1 z -j- z 2 = 0. Then, rejecting z 2 , it is 1 lz — 7=0, and z = — 7 — = .6363, &c., or = .6 nearly. Assume now z = .6 + y : then 11s = .36 -j- 1.2 'y -{“J 2 = 6 . 6 -}- 1 by -/ = 0 , the sum — .04 1 2.2_y • , .04 where y = = .003278 nearly. Assume it y = .003278 — * : then y 1 = .000010745284 — .006556* -{- * 2 12.2 y =.0399916 — 12.2--* — .04 — — 04 the sum .000002345284 — 1 2.206556* -j- * 2 = 0, where * = .000002345284 .000000192133. 12.206556 Hence, then, collecting all the assumed differ- ences, with their signs, it is found that x = 8 -f- z -f-jy — * = 8 -}- .6 -f- .003278 — .000000192133 = 8.6003277807867 the root of the equation re- quired, by Newton’s method. Example 2. Again, taking the cubic equation y 1 — 2 \y — 5 = 0; Newton proceeds thus : y is nearly = 2 ; take it therefore y = 2 -f- / ; then y 2 " 8 — j— 12^ — Gp 2 — j— f — 2y- = — 4 — 2 p the sum — 1 + 10 / -T C 'P 1 +/> 3 = 0 ; hence p = _1_ = .1 nearly. Assume it/> = .1 -f- q ; then />’= 0.001 4* 0.03 q -j-0.3 / 4- / 4- Op 2 = 0.06 4-1.2 -j- 6 -f 10/ = 1 -f 10 the sum 0.06 1 — }- 1 1 .23 q 6.3/ -J- q ' = 0 ; hence q = — 0.0054 nearly, j Assume it q = — 0.0054 -j- r ; then / = —0.0000001 57464 -f- 0.00008748/-, &c. ! 4- 6.3 ? 2 = 4-0.000183708 — 0.06804/-, &c. -j- 1 1 .23? = — 0.060642 -f 1 1 .23r - j - 0.061 = 4 - 0.061 the sum 4*0.000541550536-)- 1 1.16204748/ ; hence /- = — 0.000048517, & c. | Hence, y ~ 2 -j- p -J- q -j- r — 2 4- 0.1 — 0.0054 — 0.000048517 = 2.094551483, the root of the equation yd — 2y = 5. And in the same manner Sir I. Newton performs the ap- proximation for the roots of literal equations. APPIT, in the manege, the sense of the action of the bridle in the horseman’s hand. APPULSE, in astronomy, the approach of a planet towards a conjunction with the sun, or any of the fixed stars. APPURTENANCES, in common law, signify tilings corporeal and incorporeal that appertain to another tiling as principal; as hamlets to a manor, and common of pasture and fishery. Things 'must agree in nature and quality to be appurtenant, as a turbary, or a seat in a church, to a house. A PRIORI, a kind of demonstration. 112 APRON, in gunnery, the piece of lead which covers the touch-hole of a cannon. . APSIS, in astronomy, a term used indif- ferently for either of the two points of a pla- net’s orbit, where it is at the greatest or least distance from the sun or earth. Hence the line connecting these points is called the line of the apsides. APTENODYTES, in ornithology, a ge- nus of birds that seems to hold the same place in the southern parts of the world as the awks do in the northern. According to Latham, this is the genus penguin. It is seen only in the temperate and frigid zones on that side of the equator which it frequents. The same is observed of the awk in opposite latitudes. Sec Alca. APTERA, in the Linnccan system of zoo- logy, the seventh and last order of insects, the distinguishing characteristic of which is, that the insects comprehended in it have no wings : such are the louse, the flea, the no- dura, the monoculus, the acarus, the spicier, the scorpion, and the crab. API 01 E, among grammarians, an inde- clinable noun, or one which lias no variation of cases. APUS, avis indica, a constellation of the southern hemisphere, near the pole, which, according to Payer’s catalogue, contains 12 stars; the largest is of the fifth magnitude. AQUA, water, a term frequently met with in the writings of physicians, chemists, &c. for certain medicines or menstruums, in a liquid form, distingui -he'd from cadi other bv peculiar epithets, as aqua alexiteria, aqua aluminosa, aqua fortis, See. Though for- merly thought an element, pure or distilled water is now found to be a compound body of three parts hydrogen and one of oxygen. See Air, &c. Aqua fortis, nitric acid. SeeCiiEMisTRv, Aqua marina, or Aqua marine, a name by which the jewellers call the beryl, on ac- count of its sea-green colour. Aqua regia, a combination of nitric and muriatic acids. In the new nomenclature it is called nitre-muriatic acid; it is called aqua regia, as the only acid formerly known to dissolve gold. Aqua secunda, aquafortis diluted with wider, and employed in the arts. Aqua vita:, answers to the eau de vie of the I rencli, usquebaugh of the Irish; whisky ot the Scotch, and is a name familiarly ap- plied to native distilled spirits. AQU/LDUCT, in hydraulics and archi- tecture, a conveyance made for carrying water from one place to another. T hose of the antient Romans were surprisingly mag- nificent. 1 hat which Lewis XIV. built near Maintenon, for carrying the Pucq to Versail- les, is perhaps the greatest now in the world : it is seven thousand fathoms long, with two thousand live hundred and sixty fathoms of elevation, and contains two hundred and forty-two arcades. AQUARIANS, in church history, an an- tient sect of Christians, who, under pretence of abstinence, made use of water instead of wine in the cut harist. AQUARIUS, in astronomy, a constel- lation, which makes the eleventh sign in the zodiac, marked thus, m. It consists of forty- live stars in Plolemy’s catalogue, of forty in T ycho’s, and in the Britannic catalogue of 108 . • u l • ■ - . - . *32 A Q U A R JE A R A AQUARTIA, in botany, a genus of the class and order, tetandria nionogynia. The 'essential character is, calyx bell-shaped, co- rolla wheel-shaped, with linear divisions, berry many seeded. There is one species, a native of South America. AQUATINTA, a method of engraving which very much resembles drawing in In- dian ink. This process consists in corroding the copper with aqua-fortis, in such a manner, that an impression from it has the appearance of a tint laid on the paper. This is effected by covering the copper with a substance, which takes a granulated form, so as to pre- vent the aquafortis from acting where the particles adhere, and by this means cause it to corrode the copper partially, and in inter- stices only. When these particles are ex- tremely minute, and near to each other, the impression from the plate appears to the naked eye like a wash of Indian ink. But when they are larger, the granulation is more distinct*, and as this may be varied at plea- sure, it is capable of being adapted to a va- riety of purposes and subjects. The matter generally used for this purpose, is composed of equal parts of asphalt um and transparent rosin, reduced to powder and sifted on the plate, (which has been previ- ously greased) through a tine sieve. The plate is then heated so as to make the powder adhere, and the artist scrapes it away when a verv strong shade is wanted, and covet* those "parts with varnish where he wishes a very strong light to appear. The aqua fortis properly diluted with water, is then put on within a fence of wax, as in common etching for engraving, and by repeated applications, covering the light parts still with varnish, the effect is produced. AQUEOUS humour, in anatomy, called also the albugineous matter, is the front of the three humours of the eye, and rills up the space between the cornea and crystalline. AQUILA, in astronomy, a constellation of the northern hemisphere, consisting of fif- teen stars in Ptolemy’s catalogue, of seven- teen in Tycho’s, and of seventy-one in the Britannic catalogue. AQUILARIA, a genus of the class and •rder decandria monogynia. The essential character is, calyx five cleft ; corolla, none ; nectarium pitcher shaped, half five cleft with bifid clefts; capsula superior, woody, two celled, two valved ; seeds solitary. There is only one species, a large tree, a native of the mountains of Malacca and Cochin China. The lignum aloes, or aloes wood, is a resinous matter produced by a disease in this tree, which finally kills it. The lignum aloes is highly esteemed in the east as a perfume, and from the bark of this tree is made the common paper, which the Co- chin-Chi nese use for writing. AQUILEGIA, Columbine, in botany, a genus of the pentagynia order, belonging to the polyandria class of plants ; and, in the natural method, ranking under the sixteenth order, Multisiliqua;. It has no calyx; the petgls are live, with a horn-iike nectarium inserted between each ; and there are five separate capsules. There are five spe- cies: L Aquilegia Alpina, grows naturally in Yorkshire. The flowery are much larger than those of the garden columbine. 2. Aquilegia Canadensis, or Canada co- lumbine, flowers almost a month before the other sorts. 3. Aquilegia Inversa, or garden colum- bine. Of this there are great varieties ; the colours are chesnut, blue, red, and white, and some are finely variegated. 4. Aquilegia Vulgaris, or wild columbine, with blue flowers, is found growing wild in some woods of England. 5. Aquilegia, viridiflora. AQUILICIUM, or Aquiliciana, in Ro- man antiquity, sacrifices performed in times of excessive drought, to obtain rain of thegods. ARA, in astronomy, a southern constel- lation, containing eight stars. ARABESQUE, or Moresque, denotes a style of painting, or of sculpture, so called from. the Arabians and Moors, who employed certain ornaments for want of human and animal representations, which their religion prohibited them from using. ARABIC characters or figures, are the numerical characters made use of in all our arithmetical computations. Arabic, gum, the name of a gum which distils from a species of mimosa. It is very common among us, but little is to be met with genuine; that is accounted the best which is in smaller pieces, and almost of a white colour. It is useful in all kinds of fluxes, paritcularly catarrhs. ARABICI, a sect of Christians, who held that the soul both dies and rises again with the body. ARABIS, bastard tower-mustard : a genus of the siliquose order, belonging to the tetra- dynamia class of plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the 39th order, sili- quose. The generic mark consists in 4 nec- tiferous glands which lie on the inside of each leaf of the calyx. There are 1 4 species ; but none of them remarkable for their beauty or their properties. Only one of these, viz. Arabis thaliana, or the mouse-ear, is a native of Britain. It grows naturally on sandy ground, or old walls. A R AC HIS, in botany, a genus of the diadelphia-decandria class of plants, the flower of which is papilionaceous, and consists of three petals ; and its fruit is an oblong uni- locular pod, contracted in the middle. There are 2 species chiefly cultivated in Peru, Brasil, and Carolina, for the seed, which constitutes a considerable article of food for the negroes. This seed is a kind of nut, which is perfected in a most extraordinary manner ; for as soon as the flower falls off, "the germ thrusts itself into the ground, and there the pod is formed and ripened, whence the popular name ground-nuts. ARACHNOIDES, in zoology, a name given to shose echini marini, or sea-hedge- hogs, which are of a circular form, but variously indented at the edges. Arachnoides, is a also a species of Ma- drepora, found fossil. The stars are very small, crowded, and flattened ; rays undu- lated, short and equal. Arachnoides, in anatomy, an appel- lation given to several different membranes, in the tunic of the crystalline humour of the eye, the external lamina of the pia mater, and one of the coverings of the spinal mar- row. ARAEOMETER, an instrument to mea- sure the gravity of liquors, which is usually made of a thin glass ball, with a taper neck, 5 sealed at the top, there being first as much mercury put into it as will keep it swimming in an erect posture. The neck is divided into parts, which are numbered, that so !>y I the depths of its descent into any liquor, its lightness may be known by these divisions, for that fluid in which it sinks the least, must be heaviest, and that in which it sinks low- est is the lighest. See Hydrometer. AR iEOST Y LE, in architecture, a term used by Vitruvius, to signify the greatest inter- j val which can be made between columns, I which consists of eight modules or four dia- | meters. ARAIGNEE, in fortification, signifies the : branch, return, or gallery of a mine. ARALIA, in botany, a genus of plants j with ro.aceous flowers, and succulent ber- j lies, containing each a single oblong, and ! hard seed. It belongs to the pentandria- j pentagi/nia class of Linnaius. The essential j character is flowers, in an umbellule, with an j involucrum ; cal. 5 toothed superior; cor. 5 petalled ; berry 5 seeded. There are 9 species, I most of them shrubs and natives of China ■ and America; some are hardy enough to stand our climate in sheltered situations. ARAMPO, or Man-eater, a name given by the negroes oh the coast of Africa, to a long slender animal, in shape resembling a j weasel, with a long tail, and large brush at its extremity. It takes its name from digging up graves and devouring human flesh. ARANEA concha, the spider-shell, a name given to several kinds ofmurex. Aranea, a genus of apterous insects, well known by the common name of spider. The j mouth is furnished with short horny jaws ; I lip rounded at the apex ; feelers two, in- j curved, jointed, v r y acute at the tip, clubbed \ with the genitalia in the male ; no antennae ; ] the eyes are eight, or rarely six ; feet eight, j the anus furnished with papilla', or teats for spinning. r l hey iix the ends ot their threads by applying these nipples to any substance, and the thread lengthens in proportion as the animal recedes from it. r I hey can stop ; the issuing of the threads by contracting the j nipples, and rcascend by means of the claws! on their feet, much in the same manner as sailors warp up a rope. The darting out of long threads, which has been observed by naturalists, and by means of which some species of spiders can convey] themselves to great distances, deserves par- ticular notice. Dr. Lister tells us, that at- tending closely to a spider weaving a net, he observed it suddenly to desist in the mid- work ; and turning its tail to the wind, it darted out a thread with the violence and stream we see water spout out of a jet: this thread, taken up by the wind, was immedi- ately carried to some fathoms loug ; still issuing out of the bellv of the animal. By- and-by the spider leaped into the air, and the thread mounted her up swiftly. After this discovery, he made the like observation on near thirty different species of spiders ; and found the air filled with young and old, sail- ing on their threads, and doubtless seizing gnats and other insects in their passage, there being often manifest signs of slaughter, legs,, and wings of flies, & c. on these threads, as well as in their webs below. The matter of which the spider’s threads are formed, is a viscid juice, elaborated in the body of the A R A ARB 133 animal. The young no sooner quit their j egg than they begin to spin. Indeed their threads can scarcely be perceived, but the webs may; and no wonder, there being often 400 or .500 little spiders concurring to the same work. There are some kinds of spi- j tiers so small at their birth, that they are not visible without a microscope. There are usually found an infinity of these in a cluster, and they only appear like a number of red ; points : and yet there are webs found under them, though almost imperceptible. What must be the tenuity of one of these threads ? I Mr. Lewenhock has computed that 100 of j the single threads of a full grown spider are j not equal to the diameter of the hair of his beard ; and consequently, if the threads and hair are both round, ten thousand such threads are not bigger than such a hair. Garden-spiders, (Plate, Nat. Hist. iig. 30.) particularly the short-legged species, y ; eld silk which has been judged scarcely inferior to thatof the silkworm. Mr. Bon of Langue- doc, about 70 years ago, contrived to'manu- ] facture from it a pair of silk stockings and ! mittens, of a beautiful natural grey colour, | which were almost as handsome and strong j as those made with common silk ; and he | published a dissertation concerning the dis- | co very. But M. Reaumur, being appointed by the Royal Academy to make a farther j enquiry into this new silk work, raised several objections and difficulties against it; The ] sum of which amounts to this. The natural j fierceness of the spider renders them unlit to I be bred and kept together. Four or five thousand being distributed into cells, 50 in some, 100 or 200 in others, the big ones soon killed and eat the less, so that in a short time there were scarcely left one or two in each cell ; and to this inclination of mutually I eating one another M. Reaumur ascribes the scarcity of spiders, considering the vast num- bers of eggs they lay. But lie affirms, that the silk of the spider is nut one-fifth of the strength of that of the silk-worm. Add to this, that the Spider's thread cannot be wound off as that of the silk-worm may, but must of 1 necessity be carded ; by which means being torn in pieces, its evenness which contributes | much to the lustre, is destroyed. Again, .spi- • ders furnish much less silk than the worms: the work of 12 spiders only equals that of j one silk-worm ; and a pound of silk will re- i quire at least 27,648 spiders. The species of aranea enumerated bv natu- ralists amount to upwards of 50; of which it may here suffice to mention a few of the most remarkable. 1. Aranea aquatica, or the water-spider, frequents the fresh waters of Europe. But it is in some sort amphibious : for it can live on land as well as in the water, and comes often on sliore for its food ; yet it swims well in water, both on its belly and back : it is distinguishable by its brightness. In the water its belly appears covered with a silver varnish, which is only a bubble of air attached to the abdomen by means of oily humours which transpire from its body, and prevent the immediate contact of the water. This bubble of air is made the substance of its dwelling, which it constructs under water : for it fixes several threads of silk, or such fine matter, to the stalks of plants in the water ; and then ascending to the surface, thrusts the hinder part of its body above water, drawing A R A it back again with such rapidity, that it at- taches underneath a bubble of air, which it has the art of de fining under water, by placing it underneath the threads, and which it binds like a covering almost all around the air bubble. Then it ascends again for an- other air bubble ; and thus proceeds iflitil it lias constructed a large aerial apartment under water, which it enters into or quits at pleasure. It lodges during the winter in empty shells, which it dextrbusly shuts up with a web. 2 . Aranea Avicularia, is a native of Ame- rica, and feeds upon small birds, insects, &c. The bite of this spider is accounted as veno- inous as that of the serpent. 3. Aranea calycina, lives in the cups of flowers, after the flower-leaves have fallen off; and catches bees, and other flies, when they are in search of honey. 4. Aranea Cucurbitina has a globular yel- low belly, with a few black spots. It lives in the leaves of trees, and incloses its eggs in a soft net. 5. Aranea Diadema is the largest spider which this country produces. The abdomen is of an oval form, downy, and of a ruddy yellow colour. The upper part is beauti- fully adorned with black and white circles and clots, having* a longitudinal band in the middle, composed of oblong and oval shaped pearl coloured spots, so arranged as to re- semble a fillet, similar to those worn by the eastern kings. The legs are of a fine pale green colour ; annulated with dark purple or black. It inhabits the birch tree. 6. Aranea Fasciata, with yellow bands round the belly, and dusky rings on the legs, is a native of Barbary, and is as large as the thumb. It inhabits hedges and thickets : its webs have large meshes, and it resides in the centre. Twelve of these spiders, by way of experiment, were shut up together ; and, after a battle of eight days, the strong- est only remained alive. 7. Aranea Eiinbriata, has a black oblong belly, with a white line on each side, and dusky coloured legs. It lives in water, upon the surface of which it runs with great swift- ness. 8. Aranea Ilolosericea, has an oval belly covered with a down, like velvet; at the base, or under part, it has two yellow spots. It is found in the folded leaves of plants. 0. Aranea Labyrinthica, with a dusky oval belly, a whitish indented line, and "a forked anus. The web of this species is horizontal, with a cylindrical well or tube in the middle. 10. Aranea Ocellata, has three pair of eyes on its thighs. It is about the same size with the tarantula, of a pale colour, with a black ring round the belly, and two large black spots on the sides of the breast. It is a native of China. 11. Aranea Saccata, lives in the ground, and carries a sack with its eggs, wherever it goes. This sack it glues to its belly, and will rather die than leave it behind. 12. (1) Aranea Tarantula has the breast and belly of an ash-colour; the legs are likewise ash coloured, with blackish rings on the under part ; two of its eyes are larger than the other, red, and placed in the front ; four other eyes are placed in a transverse direction towards the mouth. It is a native of Italy, Cyprus, Barbary, and the East Indies. It lives in bare fields, where the lands are fallow, but not very hard. Its dwelling is about four inches deep, and Half an inch wide; at the bottom it is curved, and there the insect sits in wet weather, and cuts its way out if water gains upon it. It weaves a nest at the mouth of the hole. These spiders do not live quite a year. In July they shed their skin. They lay about 730 eggs, which are hatched in the spring ; but the parent does not live to see her pro- geny, as she expires early in the winter. The ichneumon fiv is their greatest enemy. The bite of the tarantula is said to occasion an inflammation in the part, which in a few hours brings on sickness, difficulty of breath- ing, and universal faintness; the same symp- toms return annually, in some cases, for several years; and at last terminate in death. Music, it has been pretended, is the only cure. Such are the circumstances that have been generally related, and long credited, concerning the bite of this animal. But it is now generally agreed, that no such effects attend th ; s bite ; and that the exhibitions of dancing to music by persons pretending to be so affected, are only villainous deceptions to excite the compassion and extract the mo- ney of the spectators. Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 31. 13. Aranea Viatica, or wanderer, is gene- rally of a yellow colour, more or less deep. It is found upon plants; and is a lively, active, indefatigable hunter. Without any motion of the head, which is furnished with immoveable eyes, it perceives all the flies that hover round about, does not scare them, but stretches over them its arms, fur- nished with feathers, which prove nets in which their wings entangle. It is said to sit on its eggs; which, however, it often carries about with it, wrapt up in a hall of white silk.' Aranea, in mineralogy, a silver ore found only in the mines of Potosi. It owes its name to the faint resemblance it bears to a cobweb, being composed of threads of pure, silver, which to the sight appear like silver lace, when burnt to separate the silk from it. ARBITER, in civil law, a judge nomi- nated by the magistrate, or chosen volun- tarily by two parties, in order to decide their differences according to law. The civilians' make this difference between arbiter and arbitrator : thongh both ground, their power on the compromise of the par- ties, yet their liberty is different; for an arbiter is to judge according to the usages of the law, but the arbitrator is permitted to use his own discretion, and accommodate the difference in the manner that appears to him most just and equitable. ARBITRATION, a power given by two or more contending parties, to some person or persons to determine the dispute between them. Matters relating to a freehold, debts due on bond, and criminal offences, are not to be arbitrated. If the party injured by a criminal act, however, proceeds by way of civil action, as in assadit or libel, ixc. the damages may be submitted to arbitration ; also in case of a breach of promise of mar- riage. The submission to arbitration given by the parties must be an agreement or bond upon a stamp, and must not be construed strictly but largely according to the intent of the parties submitted. It commonly con- tains a clause to protect the arbitrators from 134 A R C ARC A R C any suit in equity that might be brought against them in consequence of their award ; also one to enable them in case they cannot agree, to call in a third arbitrator, by mutual agreement, who is called an umpire. An action of debt may be brought tor money adjudged to be paid by arbitrators. ARBOR, in mechanics, the principal part of a machine which serves to sustain the rest: also the axis or spindle on which a machine turns, as the arbor of a crane, windmill, &c. ARBOR! BONZES, wandering priests of Japan, who subsist on alms. They dwell in caverns, and cover their heads with bonnets made of the bark of trees. ARBUTUS, the strawberry-tree, in bo- tany, a genus of plants with a one-leaved bell- fashioned flower, and a berry or fruit resemb- ling a large strawberry. See plate The strawberry-tree belongs to the decan- dria monogynia class of Linneus. The es- sential character is, calyx five parted ; corolla, ovate, diaphonous at the base ; capsule five celled. There are ten species of this beauti- ful shrub, all of them tolerably hardy, but they will not bear fruit, except when they are sheltered from the cold winds. The fruit is eatable. ARC, in geometry, any part of the cir- cumference of a circle, or curved line, lying from one point to another, by which the quantity of the whole circle or line, or some other thing sought after, may be gathered. Arch of a Circle , the length of an arch may be found by this rule : as 180° is to the number of degrees in the arc, so is 3.1416 times the ra- tlins to the length : for when radius is 1-half, the circumference is 3.14159, &c.,; therefore, 3.14159 „ , , — — , &c. = .01745329, &c. = the length of an arch of 1 degree. Hence r X .01745, &c. = the length of 1° to the radius r; and there- fore r x 0.1745, Sec. X the number of degrees in any arc = the length of that arch. The length of circular archs may be found in the following manner : The radius of a circle being 1 ; and of any arc a, if the tangent be t, the sine s, the co-sine c, and the versed sine v : then the arc a will be truly expressed by several series, as follow, viz. the arc • = t - + - 1 / - y + v* &c - 1.3 7 • 1.3.5 & c. : H d 4- / _L ._m / &c- 2.3 ‘ 2.4.5 ‘ S.4.6.7 , , , 1 v. , 1.3 id , - \Z-V X f + 2 4^5 • + 1.3.5 id ‘ 2 s &c. 180 - d — .01745329 &c. X where d denotes the numher of degrees in the given 8c — c . arc. Also, a — nearly ; where c is the 3 1 chord of the arc, and c the chord of half the arc ; whatever the radius is. To investigate the length of the arc of any curve. Put x — the absciss, y = the ordinate, of the arc x, of any curve whatever. Put z — y 2 ; then, by means of the equation of the curve, find the value of x in terms of y, or of y in terms of x, and substitute that value instead of it in the above expression % ~ V at -f-/; hence, taking the fluents, they will give the length of the arc z, in terms of x or y. See Fluxions. Akch of equilibration, is that which is ill equi- librium in all its parts, having no tendency to break in one part more than in another, and which is therefore safer and stronger than any other figure. Every particular figure of the cx- trados, or upper side of the wall above an arch, requires a peculiar curve for the under side of the arch itself, to form an arch of equilibra- tion, so that the incumbent pressure on every part may he proportional to the strength or re- sistance there. When the arch is equally thick throughout, a case that can hardly ever hap- pen, then the catenarian curve is the arch of equilibration ; but in no other case ; and there- fore it is a great mistake in some authors to suppose that this curve is the best figure for arches in all cases ; when in reality it is com- monly the worst. This subject is fully treated in Dr. Hutton’s Principles of Bridges, prob. 5, where the proper intrados is investigated for every extrados, so as to form an arch of equi- libration in all cases whatever. It there appears that, when the upper- side of the wall is a straight horizontal line, as in the figure (Plate IX. fig. 3.}, the equation of the curve is thus expressed, i . a -f- at -f- 2aX + log. of — 5 5 J ~ /N , . a r -4- \/ 2ar T- rr log. of — L—JUA Z a where x — DP, y — PC, r — DQ, h — AQ, and a — DK. And hence, when a , h, r, are any given numbers, a table is formed for the corresponding values of x and y, by which the curve is constructed for any particular occasion, Thus, supposing a or DK = 6, h or AQ = 50, and r or DQ = 40 ; then the corresponding values of KI and IC, or horizontal and vertical lines, will be as in this table. Table for constructing the Curve of Equilibration. Value of KI. Value of IC. Value of KI. Value of IC. Value of KI. Value of IC. 0 6.000 21 10.381 36 21.774 Q 6.035 22 10.858 37 22.948 4 6.144 23 1 1.368 38 24.190 6 6.324 24 11.911 39 25.505 8 6.580 25 12.489 40 26.894 10 6.914 26 13.106 41 28 364 12 7.330 27 13.761 42 29.919 13 7.571 28 14.457 43 31.563 14 7.834 29 15.196 44 33.299 15 8.120 30 15.980 45 35.1 35 16 8.430 31 16.811 46 37.075 17 8.766 32 17.693 47 39.126 18 9.168 33 18.627 48 41.293 19 9.517 34 19.617 49 43.581 20 9.934 35 20.665 50 46.000 Arcs, similar. If the arc ot one curve contains the same number of degrees as the arc of another ; or if the radius of one curve is to the radius of another, as the arc of one curve is to its corresponding one, then these two arcs are similar. Arcs, equal, those which contain the same number of degrees, and whose radii are equal. Arc, diurnal, that part of a circle described by a heavenly body, between its rising and setting; as the nocturnal arch is that described between its setting and rising ; both these together are always equal. Arc of progression or direction, an arch of the zodiac, which a planet seems to pass over, when its motion is according to the signs. Arc of retrogradation, an arch of the zodiac, described by a planet, while it is re- trograde, or moves contrary to the order of the signs. A RCA, in conchology, a genus of bivalves, j the animal of which is supposed to be a tethys : the valves are equal ; and the hinge beset with numerous sharp teeth, inserted between each other. T Jie species are di- j vided into two sections; the first has an entire margin, and in the other the marg n is crenulated. ARCADE, in architecture, is used to 1 denote any opening in the wail of a building j forming an arch. ARCH, in architecture, a concave build- I ing, with a mold bent in form of a curve, | erected to support some structure. See I Architecture. ARCHBUTLER, one of the great officers j of the German empire, who presents the j cup to the emperor, on solemn occasions. ] This office belongs to the king of Bohemia. ARCHCHAMBERLAIN, an officer of the empire, much the some with the great j chamberlain in England. The elector of Brandenburgh was appointed, by the golden I bull, arehchamberlain of the empire. ARC II C HAN C ELLO R , an high officer, j who, in antient times, presided over the se- | •cretaries of the court. I 'nder the two first 1 races of the kings of France, when their ter- ] ritories were divided into Germany, Italy, J and Arles, there were three archchancellors ; 1 and hence the three archchancellors still sub- ] sisting in Germany, the archbishop of Alentz j being archchancellor of Germany, the arch- j bishop of Cologn of Italy, and the archbishop ] of Treves of Arles. ARCHDEACON, an ecclesiastical dig-| nitary or officer, next to a bishop, whose 1 jurisdiction extends eit her over the whole J diocese, or only a part of it. We have sixty ] archdeacons in England. ARCHDUKE, a title given to dukes of greater authority and power than other dukes. I ARCHED legs, a fault in g horse, when! his knees are bent arch-wise. ARCHER, in the antient military art J one who fought with bows and arrows. The English archers were esteemed the best in Europe, to whose prowess and dex-j terity the many victories over the French ■ were in a great measure owing. ARCH ERY, the art of shooting with a bow ' and arrow. This art cither as an instrument] in war or an object of amusement, may be traced in the history of almost every country.] Our own was in its earliest periods highly ’ celebrated for its skill in archery ; and it ap-j pears that the English monarchs took great] pains to encourage the exercise of the long bow. Edward III. ordered a complaint to] be lodged against the sheriff of London, fori permitting other useless games to be pur- sued, when the leisure time of his people upon = holidays ought to be spent in the recreations of archery. In the reign of Ed. 1 V. an act was made that every Englishman should have a bow of his own height to be made of yew, I hazel, ash, &c. : and mounds of earth w ere! ordered to l>e made in even township, and | the inhabitants to practise archery, under! certain penalties. During the reigns of * Henry \ II. and VIII. archery was also en-1 couragcd; in the third of Henry VIII. a I statute was made commanding every father! to provide a how and tw r o arrows for his son, j when he was seven years old. By the found- -i ARC ARC J 35 ARC { er of Harrow-school, shooting with bow and arrow was insisted upon as a fundamental part of the regulations. ARCHES, or Court of Arches, the su- preme court belonging to the archbishop of Canterbury, to which appeals lie from all the inferior courts within his province. ARCHIL, a moss of a grey colour, which grows on the rocks in many parts of the Ar- chipelago, and on the western coast of Eng- land. It yields a purple tincture, fugitive indeed, but very beautiful, which is the best ; chemical test for acids and alkalis, and is known by the name of tincture of litmus. By the addition of tin it is rendered durable as a dye, and it then approaches to scarlet. Archil is however most commonly used to give a bloom to pinks and other colours. It readily gives out its colouring matter to water or any spirit. ARCHILOCH1AN, a term in poetry ap- plied to a sort of verses, of which Archilochus was the inventor, consisting of seven feet, the four first whereof are ordinarily dactvls, though sometimes spondees, the three last trochees : as in Horace, Solvitur acris hyems, grata vice veris & Favoni. ARC HITEC' I’( Ap^tnxroiv, of afyot chief, and rsicrwu an artificer or bunder), a professor of tiie art of building. The architect’s business and his glory, is the designing of a work, and his genius is displayed, as well in the general symmetry, ornaments, and magnificence of his plan, as in the useful arrangement of its inter- nal distribution. The necessary qualifications of a great and p erfect arch.tect, are numerous and hard of attainment. He should be profoundly skilled in the knowledge of the properties of the ma- terials he employs, the strength and durability of them, the method of connecting them toge- ther in the nearest direction to that in whicli they can be employed with their full strength; and this implies geometrical skill as well as physical knowledge. He should be skilled in perspective ; and it is necessary that he should be a* quick and , correct, though tie may not attain to be a fine, draftsman. Some of the time employed by young architects in practising this art, would {re much more usefully spent in acquiring a general knowledge of natural philosophy. tie should have a full knowledge of the various practised modes of combining together the materials of his building ; to guide nis ma- thematical reasoning, on the variety of new combinations his own practice may acquire : he should not merely design his roof, and trust to tiie carpenter for the judicious execu- tion ; nor plan the figure of his stair, and let the mason find out the safe means of sustain- ing its weight, with regular and proportionate solidity. In our climate, lie should perfectly under- stand the best means of generating, distribut- ing, and retaining warmth in his building, and plan his apartments with this material object in view. He should be able to direct the unscientific mere manufacturer, of grates and contrivances to contain the necessary fuel for this purpose. He should never build an im- perfect chimney to infest his house with smoke in t ie apartments, and counteract the ten- dency of the fire, to carry it off into the at- mosphere. In warmer regions his skill must be displayed in arranging the facilities for cooling his apartments. He should have a perfect knowledge of the proportions of the beautiful models of anti- quity, and genius to animate and direct him in the application of his acquirements. Vitruvius, Palladio, Vignola, Inigo Jones, de Lorme, Sir Christopher Wren, the Earl of Burlington, and Sir William Chambers, were very celebrated architects. ARCHITECTURE, the art of building, or a science which teaches how to erect build- ings, either for habitation or defence. The origin of this noble science may be traced in the Indian’s hut and the Greenlander’s cave; they shew the rude beginning from which it has grown to its present perfection and magnificence. It is an art of the first ne- cessity, and almost coeval with the human species. Man, from seeking shade and shelter under the trees of the forest, soon felt the ne- cessity and saw the utility of bending them to more commodious forms than those in which he found them disposed by nature. To huts made of trees and branches leaning together at top, and forming a conical figure plaistered with mud, succeeded more convenient, square, roofed habitations. The sides of these habi- tations, and tire inner supports for the cross beams of the roofs, being trunks of trees ; from them were derived those beautiful, symmetrical columns, the Orders of Architecture. Though the art of building was cultivated by the ancient Egyptians, Assyrians, and Per- sians, with great success in the production of such gigantick structures as the pyramids of Egypt which exist to this day, and the Laby- rinth seen by Herodotus, with other works of extraordinary and vast magnificence ; yet we owe to the Greeks, the first structures, in which elegance and symmetry were combined with comfort and convenience in the plan. The established five orders of architecture, the Tuscan, tiie Doric, the Ionic, the Corin- thian, and the Composite, were brought to perfection under the Greeks and Romans. Modern efforts have added little or nothing to the beauty and symmetry of these columns, and the parts dependant on them; but much has been done in the internal improvement of mansions and houses. Roman and Grecian architecture, which teaches the proportions and arrangement -of the orders invented by them, being called ancient; modern, or practical architecture, will chiefly relate to the art of distributing the apartments with more attention to do- mestic economy, convenience, and comfort. And if we have not surpassed the taste of the ancients, in external design and ornament, nor equalled them in the durability and vast extent of their buildings, the ruins of which astonish us this day ; yet doubtless the natural and first purposes- of the art are more com- pletely answered, and the people in general are more comfortably lodged. A practice of raising up houses of a too ex- pensive and heavy solidity, is unfavourable to the general improvement of the art in respect of domestic economy and. convenience. Ac- cordingly the facility of procuring stone, and the want of brick earth, has produced in the capital of France, houses of enormous strength, and the buildings last too long ; while the slighter ones of London are more easily sus- ceptible of the changes necessarily introduced by improvements in the arts, and inventions for promoting domestic economy and comfort. The speculations of needy or avaricious build- ers, however, lead us into the opposite ex- treme but too often, and buildings are erected which very soon after they arefinished require essential repairs to keep them up during tire terms of the leases. Besides ancient and modern architecture, a third style of building may be traced from the same source with the former. Amongst the northern nations of Europe originated the style called Gothic ; which after the destruc- tion of the Roman empire by these people, they introduced in Europe to the exclusion of the Greek and Roman manner of architecture. Like the ancient Egyptians, they sometimes seem to have been more studious to astonish the eye with great and vast masses of stone, than to please by symmetry of design, orbeauty of ornament. But there are two species of Gothic ; the Saxon, heavy, plain, and robust, like the Tuscan ; the other, like Corinthian or Compo- site architecture, light, airy, and ornamental,, received its finish, from the hand of the Nor- mans, and was by them introduced into this- country. A grove of tall trees, meeting at top with interweaved branches, is the natural and beau- tiful model from which the aisle of the Norman Gothic cathedral is derived. A mistaken prejudice has prevented the due study of this style of building, though the most exquisite remains of it adorn our island; in the structures of which, much mathematical and geometrical skill may be observed : and we cannot help observing with bishop War- burton, that “ our Gothic ancestors had juster and manlier notions of magnificence on Gre- cian and Roman ideas, than those enemies of taste, who profess to study only classic ele- gance.” Sir William. Chambers remarks, “ that to those usually called Gothic architects we are indebted tor the first considerable improve- ments in construction ;” — “ that- there is a. lightness in their works, an art and boldness of ex -cution, to which the ancients never arrived, and which the modems comprehend and imitate with difficulty.” But to this manner of building, modern improved distri- bution is not- easily adapted ; though it seems peculiarly proper for religious edifices., OF THE. FIVE ORDERS, The Tuscan Order. Although there are no ancient remains of it, this order is generally placed first on account of its plainness ; and Vitruvius only mentions in an indistinct manner the general propor- tions of it. The Trajan and Antonine columns at Rome are commonly called of the. Tuscan order, though they have eight diameters for their height, and the torus and capitals do not exhibit Tuscan plainness.- It is highly proba- ble the Tuscan is only a simplification of the Doric, of which there are so many very ancient remains ; but to Tuscany it evidently owes its name, from being employed, there, in several large edifices. Its proportions are, fourteen modules or seven; diameters for the height of the column ; three modules and a half for the whole entablature, which being divided into ten equal parts, three are for the height of the architrave, three for the frize, and tour for the cornice : the capital" 13(3 is in height one module. The base, includ- t ing (as is peculiar to the measurement of this order) the lower cincture of tiie shaft, is one module ; and the shaft with its upper cincture and astragal is twelve modules. For interior use the height ot the column may be fourteen modules and a half, or fifteen modules, and the increase may be in the column only. It is customary to diminish this order one quar- ter, but the diminution of one eighth or sixth would better accord with its character of strength. The Doric Order. Of the Doric order, the very ancient re- mains exhibit proportions so dissimilar to the practice of latter times, that they must have been produced before experience had matured the rules of art. In several parts of the ruins of Athens, these columns are seen of a height not exceeding four diameters, and four and a half. ■ Strength was more regarded than elegance of design in these low propor- tions. Columns of near six diameters may be found in the temples, of Minerva and Theseus, at the same place ; and the columns of the more ancient temple of Apollo, at Delos, have five diameters, and are fluted in the neck, and on tire foot. There are columns of upwards of six diameters in height found in other buildings at Athens; and the temple of Hercules at Cora, has columns of eight diameters and three quarters, and they are on bases, which the others are not. Vitruvius, allowing it to he the most an- cient order, ascribes its origin to Dorus, who built a temple to Juno, in the ancient city of Argos. But afterwards. Ion, who built a tem- ple to Apollo in Asia, fixed the proportions of this order; and being guided by the example of nature ' in the structure of man, gave six times the length of the foot, or diameter of its base, for the height. The practice of the moderns allows eight diameters, with a base ; an addition to the ancient plan of this column, no less useful than elegant. Some of the most ancient columns of this order are fluted, and some squared off, or wrought with pans instead of hollows. The cracks, or divisions, in the bark of the trees originally employed for pillars, very naturally suggested fluting when any ornament was de- sired. The place and form of the triglyph, an or- nament peculiar to this order, are both evi- dently derived from the ends of projecting joints, laid from the inner to the outer walls of buildings. When as much of the timber as appeared unhandsome was cut off, tablets like the triglyphs now in use were fastened on the sawed ends, and produced a pleasing effect. The triglyphs, interjoists, and metope, in Do- ric work, had their origin from the disposition of the timbers in the roof; afterwards, in other works, some made the rafters that were per- pendicular over the triglyphs to project outward, and carved theiFprojecture ; hence as the triglyphs arose from the disposition of the joists, so the mutules under the corona, were derived from the projectureof the rafters; wherefore in stone or marble structures, the mutules are represented declining in imitation of the rafters; and also on account of the drop- pings from the eaves, it is proper they should have such declination. This also explains the situation and form of the. gutta: or drops. The ornaments on the metope, or space between the triglyphs, may have been originally tro- phies of (lie deity, or implements of sacrifice ARCHITECTURE. placed there ; the bull's skull is peculiar to the Doric order. According to the modern proportions of this order, let the height of the column, in- cluding its capital and base, be sixteen mo- dules, the height of the entablature four mo- dules, which being divided into eight parts, two are for the architrave, three for the frize, and three for the cornice : the base will be one module in height, the capital thirty-two mi- nutes, or a little more. The Ionic Order. To the before-mentioned Ion, is ascribed by Vitruvius, the origin of this more delicate or feminine order ; of which the volutes of the capital, ornamented with festoons, are like locks of hair decorated with flowers. Suc- ceeding architects much approving the taste and ingenuity of this design, allowed eight diameters and a half to the order. The cele- brated Hermogenes, when building the temple of Bacchus at Teos, rejected the Doric after all the marbles were cut, and adopted the Ionic instead. And indeed the difficulties of adjusting the mutules, meffipe, and triglyphs, with propriety in Doric structures, and the massive appearance of the order, caused a frequent preference of the Ionic. Denteles belong to the Ionic cornice : thev represent the assers, or smaller rafters, supporting the tiles. On the antique Ionics, the volutes are ge- nerally placed parallel, and to Michael Angelo is attributed, as a new invention, the executing them on an angular plan, though some ancient examples of this manner may be seen. It has been attempted to prove, that the accidental pleasing forms of convolution in shells, gave the first idea of the Ionic volute. Eighteen modules are given, as a modern proportion for the height of the column of this order ; and for the entablature, four mo- dules, or four and a half, which is less than the antique Ionics. The capital is twenty-one minutes, and the base thirty minutes in height; the shaft may be plain, or fluted with twenty or twenty-four flutings, whose plan should be a trifle more than a semicircle, and the breadth of the fillet between them should not be more than one third of the flute. The ornaments of the capital are to correspond with the flut- ings of the shaft, and there must be an ove above the middle of each fluting. The en- tablature being divided into ten equal parts, three are for the architrave, three for the frize, and four for the cornice. In interior work, where delicacy is required, the height of the entablature may be reduced to one fifth of the height of the column. The Corinthian Qrder. The Corinthian order lias arisen out of the two former, and has nothing. but the capital peculiar to itself; of which the origin, from the leaves of a root of acanthus springing round a basket, and curling in the manner of a volute againsta tile which covered it (which answers to the abacus) is recorded by Vitruvius. This pleasing accidental combination, was copied by Callimachus ; who saw it, and was struck with the elegance and novelty of the effect. The other members placed on the Corinthian pillar, are common to the Doric and Ionic orders. The many examples existing amongst the fragments of antiquity, evince the great preva- lence of the Corinthian order, amongst the ancients : but the Romans anniliilated every vestige of it in Corinth, where it had Its origin, in their barbarous destruction of that rival city. The moderns have adopted these proper*! tions : the columns are twenty modules in height ; the entablature, live modules ; the base one module, and may be either attic or Corinthian. The capital has seventy minutes in height ; the proportion of the members in the entablature, is the same as in the Tuscan and Ionic orders. If the entablature is en* : riched, the shaft of the column may be fluted, and the flutings may be fitted to one third part of their height with cabling ; and in very rich decorations, the cabling may be com* .! posed of reeds, husks, ribbons, flowers, See. The capital is enriched with olive-leaves, as are almost all the antiques of this order at Rome ; the acanthus being seldom employed, but in the composite. The entablature may be reduced to two ninths or one fifth of the height of the column : in which case it is best to use the Ionic entablature, or reduce the denteles of the cornice. The Composite Order. In a successful attempt at pleasing variety ! and novelty, the Romans produced the com* posite order, by combining the proportions and enrichments of the Corinthian, with the , angular volute of the Ionic. The omission of the upper row of leaves in the capital, and the ^addition of the Ionic volute, give it a bolder aspect than the Co - ] rinthian: uniting elegance and a very pleas*! ing projection. In the triumphal arches of Rome, erected at the very height of its] splendour, it was used with a happy effect, as , well as in many other examples in that city. . \ The height of the column is twenty mo-, dules, according to modern proportions; that of the entablature five modules ; the capitaH has seventy minutes in height. The base: measures the same as in the Doric and Ionic orders; and as the module is less all its parts will be more delicate. The shaft may be enriched with twenty or twenty-four flut- ings, and the principal members of the en- tablature may have the same proportions as in the two former orders. If we class the orders of architecture ac- cording to their destination, we shall limit them to three: the first class, including the Tuscan and Doric, for supporting plain and massy buildings; one for buildings of a more elegant and light form, and one between these two. The Ionic, and the Corinthian, with, their varieties, will compose the last classes. 1 The cyma and cavetto are constantly used as finishings by the antients, and never applied where strength is required. The ovolo and talon are always employed as sup- porters to the essential members of the com-] position, such as the modillions, denteles, andl corona. The chief use of the torus and of the] astragal, is to strengthen the tops and bottoms of columns, and sometimes of pedestals, where they are frequently cut in the form of ropes. The scotia is employed only to sepa- rate the members of bases. The fillet is also] used for this purpose in all kind of profiles,] as well as in bases. An assemblage of essential parts and mould- ] ings is called a profile: the best are composed i of few mouldings, varied in form and size, I fitly applied ; the straight and curved ones] placed alternately. Every profile should have a predominant member, which the others j should seem marie to support, fortify, or shelter from the injuries of the weather : as in 1 ARCHITECTURE. a caruice, where the corona is principal, the cyma or cavetto cover it, and the modilfions, denteles, ovolo, and talon, support it. When ornaments are employed to adorn the mouldings, all of them must not be carv- ed, that the eye may find a proper repose on the plain ones, or the figure of the proiile will be lost. T.he square members being ge- nerally either principal in the composition, or used as boundaries to other parts, should rarely be carved. When mouldings of the same size and form occur in one profile, they should be enriched with the same kind of ornament. The addi- tion of rusticated cinctures to columns, is an ungraceful modern invention ; but rustic work is introduced with great propriety and effect into gates, large entrances, grottos, baths cr fountains, and for low-basement stories. To each order belongs a particular base : the Tuscan has only a torus and a plinth : the Doric base has an astragal more than the Tuscan; the torus is larger, on a double scotia, with two astragals between them on the Ionic base. The Corinthian base has two toruses, two scotias, and two astragals ; the Composite base has one astragal less than the Corinthian. Columns are generally diminished one-sixth part of their lower diameter, which diminution begins at one-third part of their height, Some architects allow a small swell in the lower part of the middle division of the pillar. Rut in columns from fifteen to twenty feet high, the lower diameter being divided into six parts and a half, take five parts and a half for the diameter at the top. Columns from twenty to thirty feet high are diminished one- seventh. From thirty to forty feet, the lower diameter being divided into seven parts and a half, six and a half may be taken for the upper diameter : and from forty to fifty feet high, they may be diminished one-eighth part, and so on in proportion. Pedestals consist of three principal parts, the base, the dye, and the cornice, and are used only to elevate the columns to a neces- sary height. No particular proportions can be assigned for them ; but it is common to give them from one-third to one-quarter of the height of the column and entablature, which bqing divided into nine parts, two are for the base, one for the cornice, and six for the dye of the pedestal, which is of equal dimensions with the plinth of the column. The enrichments are of course regulated by those of the entablature of the particu- lar order which the pedestal may carry. One pedestal only is necessary for two columns placed together, and a continued pe- destal with project iorr? in the cornice, under each column, must be used for a colonnade or peristyle; but if other circumstances permit, columns the whole necessary height, without pedestals, should be used, and will always, have a more majestic appearance. Pilasters follow in their parts the orders of columns, and admit of a like diminution, but are square instead of round in their plan. They are however to be seen, not diminish- ed, in antieqt and modern works, and chiefly so, when they occur on outer corners. Pilasters are employed in internal decora- tions to save room, and seldom project be- yond the solid wall, above one quarter of their diameter; and sometimes they are seen on the external part of buildings, alone and -Voi,, 1 with columns. When placed behind, and very near columns, they need not project above one-eighth part of their diameter. Pil- asters are adoi ned like columns, and the pro- file of their capitals is nearly the same. Attics. — In Athens, where it was for many ages a rule to conceal the roofs of buildings, attics had their origin. A line of low columns and pedestals, or of columns and balusters, may be employed for this purpose. They should be less in height than one-third of the order on which they are placed, but not lower than one-quarter. If the attic is composed of a low order, the base and cornice may have the same mouldings as the pedestals of the columns, and with the dye, bear tire same proportion to each other; and when they torm pilasters over the columns of the build- ing, the breadth of the bases must not ex- ceed the upper diameter of the columns which they surmount. Caryatides. — Representations of the hu- man figure, the male called Persians, and the female Carians, or Caryatides, have been employed to support the entablatures of buildings. These were invented and used in memory of the captivity of the Persians and Cariairs by the Athenians. The Per- sians may be of any size, with a Doric en- tablature, bearing the same proportion to the figure as to columns of the same height; but the Caryatides or female figures, ought to have Ionic or Corinthian entablatures, and not to be larger than life. Termini, figures which owe their origin to the stones used by the antients to distinguish the limits of their* possessions, are employed to support the entablatures of monuments, chimney-pieces, and such small compositions, and as ornaments in gardens or fields. Of the temples of the antients. Of the many remaining sacred buildings of the antients, seven orders may be dis- tinguished. Antis. — The first order has anta: or pil- asters in front, at the corners of the walls which form the cell (or inclosed space within the walls), and between the pilasters in the middle, two columns which support the pe- diment or porch. The prostyle is the same as the antis, only columns are added opposite the pilasters of each corner, which support a chapiter or architrave, as in the antis. The amphiprostyle has only a postern, or back-front added, with columns and pedi- ment, like the prostyle. The peripteral has in the front and hinder porch six columns, and eleven, including the corner ones on each side ; and these columns are placed with the space of an intercolum- niation between them and the wall of the building, leaving an ambulatory round the cell of the edifice. In the pseudo- dipteral the columns are so placed, that in front and behind there are eight, and on each side fifteen with the corner columns; and the walls of the cell must correspond with the four centre columns before and behind, leaving the space of two intercolumniations, and the thickness of one column between the walls and the outer column. The dipteral is octostyle, or eight-columned before and behind, but it has a double row of .columns round the cell. S 13 ? The hvpaethral is decastyle, or ten-co- lumned before and behind, having the other parts the same as the dipteral ; but it has 4 double row of colunms within, all round, one above another, resembling a porch, which is called a peristyle: the middle has no roof, and it has folding-doors before and behind. Of round temples. — Some are monopteral, without cells, and built on columns; others are called peripteral, and have an ascent of two steps, on which the pedestals of the columns are placed. The wall of the cell is distant one-fifth part of the diameter of the temple from the pedestals of the col many, 'fhe monopteral have a tribunal or throne, and are ascended by steps-; and the columns placed on pedestals are as high as the dia- meter of the temple, taken at the outside of the pedestals. On the proper disposition of columns, de- pend the elegance and grandeur of a build mg, for which Vitruvius lays down the rule* observed by the antients, and admitted bv the moderns. The five species of buildings, according to the disposition of the columns, are the py cno- style, thick of columns; the systyle, with columns wider apart; the diastyle, still wider; the araostyle, more distant than is proper ; and the eustyle, with columns at a proper distance. In the pycnostyle, the distance of the intercolumniation is one diameter and a half of the column, The systyle has two dia- meters. The diastyle has three diameters of the column for the intercolumniation, but the architrave, on account of the distance, is liable to break. In the araostyle the beams are made of durable timber. The eustyle is formed by allowing the distance of two dia- meters and a quarter fox the intercolumnia- tions, except the middle one, which must have three diameters. For the eystyle, the rule is, that the front of a building, if it is tetrastyle (of four columns), is divided into eleven parts and a half, without reckoning the projection of the base of the column. If h'exastvie (of six columns), into eighteen parts. If octostyle (of eight columns), into twenty -four parts and a half. Of these parts each shall be equal to the diameter of a column. Each inter- columniation must be two and a quarter of these parts; but three must be allowed for the middle one ; and for the height, eight diameters and a half. The columns to fhe araostyle should have for their thickness one-eighth part of their height. For the diastyle, the height of the column is to be divided into eight parts and a half, and one part taken for thd thickness of the column. For the systostyle, the height must be di- vided into nine parts and a half ; one part be- ing the thickness of the column. In the py cnostyle, the height shall be divided into ten part’s, each equal to the diameter of the column. The eustyle is also divided into eight parts and a half, like the diastyle. As the space between the columns increases, sp ought the thickness of the columns. If it is araostyle, and they should have only a ninth or tenth part for their thickness, they will appear tall and slender, on account of the breadth of the intervals. If it is pycnostvle, and the columns have an eighth part for tfieir thickness, they will, on the contrary', have a heavy and ungraceful appearance. The 133 thickness of corner columns must be increas- ed one-liffieth part, tor the great surrounding space will diminish their eifect on the eve, and make them appear smaller than they really are. It must not, however, be omitted that the antients did not always rigidly adhere to .these rules of Vitruvius for the disposition of co- lumns, which therefore should not fetter the genius, nor hinder the researches, of mo- derns. Of the private buildings of the antients, \ itruvius says, (describing the houses of per- sons" of distinction), the Greeks used no atrium or hall, but from the gate of entrance made a passage of no great breadth, ©n one side of which was the stable, and on the other the porter’s rooms ; and these were terminated by the inner gate. Passing on, was the pe- ristylium, having porticos on three sides. On the south side were two ant a, which support and form a passage, within which, to the right and left, were die great oeci, in which the mistress of die family and the work-wo- men resided. To the right and left were cubiculi or chambers, of which one was called thalamus, the other amphithalamus ; and under the porticos of the peristyle, were the common dining-rooms, chambers, or family rooms. This part of the edilice w as called gnyieconitis. Through the passage, with the antx, was a larger house, with a more spacious peristyle, in which were four porticos of equal height : or sometimes the one which looked towards the south had higher columns, and this peri- style which had one portico higher than tiie rest was called Rhodian. These houses had elegant vestibules, magnificent gates, and the porticos of the peristyle were ornamented with stucco, plaister, and lacunariae (com- partments). In the portico which looks to the north, were the Cyzican triclinium, and the pinaccetheca ; to the east the libraries; to the west the exhedrx; and in those looking to the south, were the square scci for dining, and a spacious place for the use of the games. This peristylium and part of the house were called andronitides, because here the men only were invited, without being accompanied by the women. On the right and left, small houses were erected for the reception and entertainment of strangers on their arrival. The usual mode of distribution of the houses of magistrates among the Romans was; from the vestibulum, which we call portico, you entered the atrium or hall, at the extremity of which was the tablinum, or repository for books or records. From the sides of the atrium, you passed by ala; or aisles, to the cavxdium, which was an open court, surrounded by a portico or piazza, at the extremity of which was the basilica or place to administer justice in. The triclinia or dining-rooms, with their procoeton, or room for attendants, the cubicula or cham- bers, with the baths, were disposed on the side of the cavaedium ; also on the sides of the basilica were the pinacsetheca, or rooms for pictures and library. Passing all these apartments, you Entered the peristylium, which was as spacious as possible, surrounded with a portico or piazza; this was always of an oblong form. At the extremity of the erlstylium were the oeci or halls, of which ’itruvius mentions the Corinthian, the tetra- ARC H ITECTUItE , style, the Egyptian, and the Greek or Cyzican, .The Corinthian oeci had columns placed either on the podium (dado) or on the tloor, and above have an architrave and cornice ;the Egyptian had the columns detached from the wall, in the manner of a peristyle : the space between the columns and the wall formed a walk round. This range of columns supported an entablature, on which was placed another range of columns, one-fourth part smaller than the former, between which were the windows. The Greek or Cyzican oeci were situated towards the north, and generally had a view of the garden, with folding doors to the mid- dle, and to the right and left. The tfctrastyle oeci, from the name, appear to have had only four columns, and were consequently of a less- enriched form . Roman villas consisted of three parts : ur- bana, where the master and his family dwelt ; rustica, for the uses of husbandry ; and fruc- tuaria, or receptacle for the fruits of the earth. Having only the lapis specularis, a species of talc, and” an expensive substitute for glass, the Romans were obliged to be very- particular in the choice of situation and aspect for their buildings, that rooms unfurnished with this kind of expensive windows might be inhabitable hi bad weather. Vitruvius says the winter dining-room and bath should face the winter’s declining sun, that they may have the benefit of his rays in the evening ; but the bed-chambers and libraries should look to the east, for there the morning light is required, and south and west rooms are more exposed to damps and worms, which humid winds generate and nourish. The spring and autumn dining-room should look to the east, for the windows ! icing turned from the sun, these places will be temperate at the time they are used. The summer dining-room should look to the north, that it may remain cool and temperate for use. To the same aspect, the pinacotheea (picture rooms) should be disposed, to preserve the colours from the too strong eifect of the sun’s light. Some adequate idea of the extent, grandeur, and accommodation, of the villas of the Ro- mans, may be formed from Pliny’s description of his at Laurentinum, which was considered as on a small scale, but would be called a mansion in modern language. Pie says “The part which first presents itself is the atrium, (court-yard) plain but not mean; then the portico, in form of the letter O, which sur- rounds a small but pleasant area; this is an excellent retreat in bad weather, being shel- tered by glazed windows, but more by the projection of the roof. Beyond the portico is a pleasant cavaedium (open court), passing which is a handsome triclinium, which ad- vances upon the shore, so that it is gently washed by the waves when the south-west wind blows. On every side there are folding doors, or windows as large, so that from the sides and front you enjoy a prospect as it were of three seas, and backwards are seen the cavaedium, the portico, and the area ; again the portico and atrium, terminated by woods and distant mountains. On the left of tire triclinium, but not so forward, is a large cubiculum (or chamber), and then a smaller one, where one window admits the rising, and another the setting sun. From here you view the sea, more distant, but more securely. This cubiculum and triclinium, by their projecture, form an angle, wh.ch not only retains, but augments, the heat of the sun’s rays. “ Here is my hybernaculum (winter apart- ment) and the gymnasium (place tor exer- cise) for my family, which is never incom- moded by any winds but such as bring cloudy weather, and destroy the otherwise serene situation of the place. Adjoining to this angle is a cubiculum, of a curved or round form, the windows of which admit the sun, in consequence, during its whole course. In the j nails are inserted library-presses, furnished with books, more for amusement than study ; close to tins is the dormitorium (sleeping- room), separated by a space having a cover- ing of wood work, which collects and dis- ; tributes the vapours to the room in salubrious ] temperament. The remainder of this wing j is allotted to servants and slaves. “ On the right side of the triclinium is a most elegant cubiculum, with another large | cubiculum, or moderate carnation (common : eating or supper room), which receives tight ' both from the sun and the sea; after this is a t cubiculum, with a procaeton (servants’ room), 1 for height a summer, but for shelter, a winter apartment, being screened from all winds: j a wall only separates another cubiculum, with a procoeton; there you enter the spa- : cious and extensive ceila frigidaria of the. ! bath, against the walls of which are two pro- jecting baptisteria, sufficiently large to swim in; joining this is the unctuarium, the hypo- i eaustum, and propiiigeon of the baths, and two other cells more elegant than sumptuous. 1 Skilfully contrived adjoins the callida piscina : (warm bath), where those who swim enjoy 'a ; view of the sea ; not far distant is the sphraei- ; sterium (tennis-court, of a circular form), j which enjoys the warmest rays of the declin- ing sun. “ Flere rises a turris (pavilion or summer- house), under which are two diaffie (suite or set of apartments), and also two above, be- j sides a coe.natio, frera which is a beautiful prospect of the sea ; there is also another < turris, containing a cubiculum, exposed to the rising and setting sun; behind this is an apotheca, and horreum (cabinets or store- ] rooms), and under, a triclinium, where the noise of the sea is only faintly heard in storms. • This looks on the gestatio (or place . of exercise on horseback or in a carriage), and the surrounding garden. The prospect here, not less pleasant than that of the sea, is enjoyed from a coenatio, rather distant from the sea ; on the back it is encompassed with two diaetac, whose windows look to the ves- tibule of the villa, and to a kitchen-garden. “ Hence a crypto-porticus (a long inclosed room or portico) extends, for size comparable to a public building, with windows on both sides, those next the sea the most numerous; on the garden side they are single, with fewer in the upper row. Before the crypto-porticus , is a xystus (a spacious place for exercise), or a terrace. “At the top of the xystus, projecting from the crypto-porticus, is the diaeta of the gar- den. In this is an heliocaminus (an apart- ment made warm by the sun) ; from the fold- ing doors is seen the cubiculum, from the windows the crypto-porticus ; on the side next the sea, and opposite the wall, a very elegant zotheca (closet or small room) re- cedes, to which a cubiculum is either added or separated, by means of glazed windows and curtains. Adjoining is a cubicolum for night and sleep, protected from noise by an andron, an open court or space, which is be- tween the wall of the cubiculum, and that of the garden. “ Close to the cubiculum is a small hvpo- caustum (stove), the heat from which, by a small window, may be regulated at pleasure. Thence a procceton and cubiculum extend into the sun.” These latter .apartments were the retiring places of the philosophic owner of the villa, where he pursued his studies without interrupting the diversions of his ser- vants, or being disturbed by them. There are no remains of this villa nor of others, the descriptions of which have come down to us. REFERENCES TO THE PLATES. Plate I. Architecture, — represents the Tus- can and Doric orders, the latter with the triglyphs and guttas on the frize and arch- itrave, and an outline expressing the names of the parts of the orders. Plate II. represents the antient Ionic order, with parallel volutes. The disposition of the volutes of the modern Tonic is seen in those of the composite order. The Corinthian order. The composite order. The proportions of these columns are treated of, under the proper heads, in the preceding pages. Of the architecture commonly called, Gothic. It is not necessary to seek abroad for the origin of the pointed arch, the gradations of winch we can distinctly trace at home in the twelfth century, that age of improvement and magnificence, and among a people great in arts and arms. About that time many illus- trious Norman prelates, chietiy in our own country, exhausted their talents and their wealth in carrying tire magnificence of their churches, and other buildings, to the highest degree. But above all, our Henry of Win- chester probably contributed most to the im- provements which gradually changed the early Norman into the architecture com- monly distinguished by the name of Gothic. The Normans admired height no less than length in the construction of their churches, and were accustomed to pile arches and pillars on each other. By way of orna- ment and variety they often imitated these arches and pillars on their walls, and they sometimes caused these plain round arches to intersect each other, as on the upper part of thesouth transept of Winchester cathedral, which is probably the naost antient instance of this intersecting ornament to be met with in this kingdom. They were probably not then aware of the happy effect of this inter- section in forming the pointed or lancet arch, until de Blois, having resolved to ornament the whole sanctuary of this cathedral with these intersecting semicircles, after richly embellishing them with mouldings and pellet ornaments, conceived the idea of opening them as windows, to the number of four above the altar, and of eight on each side of the choir, which at once produced a series of highly-pointed arches. Pleased with this first essay at the east end, we may suppose he tried the effect of tiiat form in various other ! ARCHITECTURE. windows and arches, which we find amongst many that are circular in various parts of the church or tower. However that may be, 'and wherever the pointed arch was ’first produced, its gradual ascent naturally led to a long and narrow form of window and arch, instead ot the broad circular ones which had hitherto obtained. It was necessary that the pillars belonging to them should be pro- portionally tall and slender. Hence the adoption of Purbeck marble for this pur- pose, and the multiplication of these slender columns, which was found necessary for sup- porting the incumbent weight, produced the cluster column. The windows being made very narrow at the first adoption of the pointed arch.it became necessary sometimes to place two of them close to each other. I Ins disposition of the two lights occasioning a dead space between their heads, a trefoil, or quatrefoil, one of the simplest and most antient kinds of ornaments, was introduced between them, as in the west door of the present church of St. Cross, near Winchester. The happy effect of this simple ornament caused the upper part of it to be introduced into the heads of the arches themselves, so that there is hardly a small arch, or resem- blance ot an arch of any kind, from the days of Edward the Second, down to those of Henry the Eighth, which is not ornamented in this manner. The trefoil by an easy ad- dition became a cinquefoil, and being made use of in circles and squares, produced fans and Catherine-wheels. In. like manner, large east and west windows beginning to obtain, about the reign of Edward the First, it was necessary they should have numerous divi- sions, or mullionsf, which, as well as the ribs and transoms of the vaulting, began to ramify into a great variety of tracery, according to the architect’s taste; all of them uniformly ornamented with the trefoil or cinquefoil head, That most magnificent object, a grove of tall trees^ was very j naturally and beautifully imitated in the aisles of the cathedrals of this light architecture : the ribs ot the vaulting, springing from the tops of the tall pillars, and meeting in the pointed arch in the roof, produced a happy effect; and pursuing this idea, the lightness of all the parts, and the rich variety of tracery, contributed to make the resemblance more perfect. The painted windows, the gloom and perspective of these edifices, concur in affecting the imagination with pleasure and delight, in filling it with awe and devotion. The aspiring form of the pointed arches, the lofty pediments, and the tapering pinnacles, which adorn our cathedrals, contribute to produce an effect of height beyond their real elevation. In like maimer the perspective of uniform columns, ribs, and arches, re- peated at equal distances, as they are seen in the aisles of tliese fabrics, produces an artifi- cial infinite in the mind of the spectator, when the same extent of plaid surface would perhaps hardly affect it. For a similar reason, the effect of antient cathedrals is greatly helped by the variety of. their constituent parts and ornaments, though all finished in one uniform style : for the eye is quickly satiated by any object, however great and magnificent, which it can take in at once, as the mind is with what it can com- pletely comprehend ; but when the former, ; having wandered through the intricate and 1 S 2 I3J interminable length of a pointed vault in an antient cathedral, discovers two parallel lines of equal length and richness ; thence pro- ceeding discovers the transepts, the side cha- pels, the choir, the sanctuary, and the Lady chapel, all equally interesting for their design and execution : the eye is certainly much more entertained, the mind more dilated and gratified, than it could possibly be by any single view. Durham cathedral, supported by massive columns and circular arches, is the grandest specimen of the Saxon or early Norman manner, before the invention of the pointed arch introduced that exquisite lightness to be seen in the west end of the cathedral church of W estminster. The sumptuous vaulting of the chapel of Henry the Seventh at the east end of the latter cathedral, enriched with clusters of pendant ornaments, like the na- tural roof of a beautiful grotto, exceeds any other specimen of the kind. t The pointed arch, which may be described from two centres, taken at two angles of an equilateral triangle, was well adapted for the raising up of spires to a great height, and generally for lofty buildings, as it required little centring, lighter key-stones, and less buttament. indeed, in many instances, no stones larger than a man could carry were used ; and the same elevation was attained with much less labour and expence than it could have been in the Grecian and Roman manner. Of domes or cupolas. The towers which the early architects of Christian churches were in the habit of rais- ing over the intersection of the cross aisles of cathedrals, no doubt, suggested the sublime idea of raising a vault or dome in the same place, on churches built after the Grecian or Roman manner, in order to preserve an uni- form character or style in the building. This is an effort of architectural skill which we have no reason to believe the antients ever attempted ; for all the domes raised by them were directly sustained by numerous arches and pillars, or placed on circular walls. Of domes raised in the modern manner, those of St. Peter’s at Rome, and St. Paul’s London, are the most celebrated. Of modern or practical architecture. In considering architecture or building in its most practical and useful point of view, the situation of the edifice presents itself first to our attention. A neighbourhood where cattle thrive, and where the inhabit- ants look rtuldy and cheerful, should be chosen. For the precise spot, that which is moderately elevated, if it be contiguous to some river, will be best adapted for health, pleasure, and convenience. It is injudicious to build a country-house too near a fen or standing water, or close to a great stream, because unwholesome fogs and mists rise from large rivers, early in a morning, before day-light. It is most. important to choose a good air and soil ; and always useful to look towards the south. The conveniences of W'ater, fuel, and w r ays to arrive at the man- sion, of easy access, are indispensable. A prospect not too extensive, of land and water diversified, will most agreeably entertain the sight. A fair entrance, with an easy ascent, gives grace to a building ; and the hall should J40 not be too large, that the effect of the capa- city of the principal apartments may not be injured by it. Having fixed on a situation, with the as- sistance of some one who is acquainted with the theory and practice of building, let a plan be made, with the necessary elevations. For small buildings this may be a sufficient guide ; but it is advisable for large buildings to have a perfect model of the. intended •structure, with. all its minute parts; and that this model be plain, without colours, or other beautifying, that the pleasure of the eye may not prejudice the judgment. In the choice of the materials we must em- ploy, we are necessarily influenced by the circumstances ofthe situation. Wherestone is plenty, it will be preferred in the construc- tion of a stately edifice ; for though bricks retain their beauty longest, they do not easily admit of proper architectural ornaments. The circular^form of building is strongest, but does not admit of a convenient distribu- tion of light ; and is besides more expensive and less commodious. Though there exists at Caparole a celebrated building by Vignola, in the form of a pentagon, the same objec- tions apply to it, and the architect had great •difficulties to contend with. A rectangular, but not exactly square figure, is useful in many cases : when the length does not exceed the breadth more than one-third, the proportion is good. Mixed figures, including uniformity and variety, are most applicable for the plans of large edifices : a centre and principal part with wings, is a form that combines conve- nience with elegance. When houses are planned too long, much room is consumed in passages ; and it is dif- ficult to light them. Sir William Chambers, in the plan of Somerset-house, lias succeeded very well in lighting and disposing of the passages that were necessary for the easy communication of so many offices ; but his methods will seldom be applicable, except to public, buildings of the same nature. Palladio says, the ground for the founda- tion should be penetrated to a sixth part of the whole height of the building, in order to ascertain its firmness ; which done, the first course of stone or brick should be laid, at least twice the breadth or thickness of the wall, and on a horizontal line and level sur- face. If the building has internal walls, their foundations must be level with the prin- cipal wall. The nature and solidity of the soil will be best ascertained by the use of a well-digger’s borer. If the ground is sandy, or marshy, or has been lately dug up, it wall be necessary to take many precautions. The loose earth either must be dug away, till you come to sound ground ; or if that is not to be had, put pieces of good oak across the breadth of the trench in which the wall is to stand, at about two feet apart, which being firmly bedded and rammed down, lay long planks on them, about four inches wider than the basis or first course of the wall is to be, and spike them down to the pieces of oak. If the earth is very bad, it will be neces- sary to drive piles of such a length as wall f£ach the good ground ; but if ft is faulty only here and there, arches may be turned over the loose places. Sound ground, fit to carry a building, is of ARCHITECTURE, divers kinds; in some places very hard, in others very stiff: sometimes it is to be found blackish, and the whiter kinds are accounted the weakest. Some foundations are like chalk, others sandy: but of all these, that is the best which requires most labour in cutting or digging, and which when wet, does not quite lose all consistency. In masonry, the stones must be so cut, as to lie in the same direction as they did in the quarry, in order that their strength and solidity may be fully employed; for it' their position be changed, and they are placed vertically, they are apt to split ; and the smallest crevice in the foundation will pro- duce a great cleft in the superstructure of a building. It is very useful always to lay a platform of good board in the trench dug for tiie founda- tion ; and quite necessary that the first course of stone or brick should be laid closely with- out mortar, for mortar corrodes the timber. The walls should be of bound masonry or brickwork, standing perpendicularly, with the heaviest materials lowest ; and they must be judiciously diminished in thickness as they rise. Certain courses of more strength than the rest must be laid to help to sustain the fabrick, should a faulty part give way: this is done by bond timbers in brick walls. Par- ticular attention is necessary to make the angles firm, which is sometimes done in brick edilices with great neatness and ef- fect, by building the corners of squared stones. AValls, if not connected with others at right angles, or nearly so, as the partition or separating walls of a house stand in respect to the front, should have an angle set out of about two feet, at every twenty foot distance, which will make them stand firmer than if twice the materials had been used. In building walls, the bricks should be laid, in summer as wet, in winter as dry, as possible ; that in warm weather the mortar may not harden too fast, and in winter, care must be taken to protect them from rain, snow, and frost. They should be laid point and joint in the wall as little as may be, that the whole may be well bonded. together. It is not adviseable to raise any wall above eight feet high before the one adjoining be •wrought up to it ; but the front and party- walls should be carried up as nearly as possi- ble together. When all the materials are ready, a good workman with his labourer will in one day lay 1000 or 1200 bricks. Walls are less solid when the joints of mortar are too large. Of the apertures in the walls, doors should be mentioned first. External doors should be as few in number as possible, and sel- dom less than four feet and a half in breadth, in middling-sized buildings, for the principal entrance. Double doors, having a sufficient space between them to allow them to open, are essentially useful in preserving the tem- perature of a house and preventing the admis- sion of cold winds. The modern mode of uniting when neces- sary two or more principal rooms of a good house into one, on the occasion of entertain- ments, by throwing back the folding doors which separate them, is a very great improve- ment. For by this means a small house may have some part of the convenience and mag- nificence of the largest ones, with less ex- pence of space and materials. The hali or entrance, the dimensions of which are determined by the scale of the building, should always be furnished with a fire-place ; and if it is connected with the stair- case, the warmth produced there will tend very strongly and effectually to regulate the temperature of the whole house, Of the stairs in sumptuous buildings, the steps should not be less than four; nor more than six inches high ; not more than eighteen nor Tess than twelve inches broad ; not less than six feet, nor more than fifteen feet long. In ordinary houses they may be somewhat higher and narrower, and they must be much shorter in general, but eight, or even seven inches, is too high for an easy ascent ; and they ought never to be less than nine or ten inches broad, nor shorter than three feet.. The stej.s should be laid somewhat sloping, or a little higher behind, which is found to diminish in some degree the apparent labour of a * vending. The construction and placing of the stairs is one of the most difficult works in building. Sufficient ease of ascent being obtained, the admission of an ample portion of light is a next consideration. This is obtained most advantageously in houses of a moderate size by windows at each turning, which give an uniform light, and a more airy and spacious appearance to the whole. V» ell-stairs, lighted by a skylight in the roof, are only magnifi- cent and convenient in large mansions, and for the ascent to the first or principal floor, where the light is not broken by Ja repeti- tion of the flight 6f steps to the next story. The small uniform modern ramp cr hand-rail is a very great improvement and ad- dition to stairs, as well as the light iron-work by which the rail is supported; this in many cases may be advantageously constructed of cast iron. Ingenious architects have displayed their invention and their skill in the construction of stairs more curious than useful. Double and quadruple winding stairs have been built, rising in parallel spirals; so that two or four persons or companies may go up and down within the same stair-case, and see one ano- ther without meeting. It is an old fault in the distribution of lodg- ing rooms, to dispose them so that, when the doors' are all open, one may see through the whole house. The modern mode of placing a bed-chamber and dressing-room to- gether with a door of communication between them, each room having besides only a door into the stair-case or passage, is much more' conve'nient and rational. The drawing-rooms however should be disposed so uniformly, as to be converted into one room, on the opening of folding-doors between them. This contrivance, so useful in small buildings, is admissible in the largest. If two or more rooms thus laid into one, have in the middle of the wall at each end door-cases filled with looking-glasses, placed in a true position op- posite each other : the appearance of the apartment will be artificially multiplied, and the effect when illuminated' very splendid. This arrangement is not necessary for tire dining-rooms, where we have chiefly to attend to the convenience of easy access for servants who wait at table; and the fire-place may. be so disposed, as to 'warm the room as uni- formly as possible. In the building of chambers regard ought. tofefthad, as well to the place of the bed, which is generally six or seven feet square, and the passage, as to the situation of the chimney ; which for this consideration, ought not to be placed just in the middle, but d s- tant from it about two feet, or two and a half, to the end that it may leave room for the bed ; and the inequality is hardly dis- cernible in buildings of four-and-twenty feet ' within the work ; in such houses it may be placed just in the middle. All precautions should be taken to prevent, as much as possible the communication of | sound to the bed-room’. To this end, the best method is to till the space between the joints of the floor above the bed-room (if there should be any rooms there) with saw- dust ; which must be sustained by short pieces of board nailed between the joists, just above the deling of the lower apartment. In arranging servants’ rooms, we have only to consult the facilities our general plan ad- mits of; and, if possible, to make no cham- bers without fire-places. In country mansions, we are generally not confined in placing the kitchen, and have only to contrive it as near the dining apart- ment as other circumstances will-adinit ; and to arrange so that the effluvia produced by the cooking may not be inclined to penetrate to the dining-room, by the covered passage, which should always form the communication between these two apartments. But in town houses, the kitchen must al- ways be beneath the parlour floor ; and being nearer the dining-room than we would place it in a country mansion, and on a lower level ; the lighter, warmed air, charged with the smell of the various operations of cookery, is more apt to annoy us. A separate funnel, like the kitchen chim- ney, carried up in the stack with the rest, •and next to that of the kitchen, will almost always afford an effectual remedy against this inconvenience. This funnel, to be used only for this purpose, must have its throat or opening level with the deling of the kitchen; and, of course, higher than the mantle of the fire-place used for the cooking. The lighter air charged with the vapours of the cooking will then pass off into the atmosphere by this opening, instead of collecting under the del- ing in the kitchen, and forming a stratum of air, as low as the top of the kitchen-door, and then passing off, and ascending through the house by the stairs and passages. The open- ing'of this funnel or pipe may be closed by a hinged door, when no operation is going on in the kitchen, which can create a disagreea- ble smell. The modern improvement of traps, made of cast iron and other materials, or pipes bent down, so as to form an elbow, which always contains, and is filled in its whole diameter by, the last portion of fluid thrown down, effectually prevents the as- cent of air charged with the noisome ef- fluvia of drains, and courses for waste water. This neater invention renders superfluous the advice of the Italian builders, who prescribe upright vents or channels rising through the house like chimneys for carrying off these smells. Upon this principle is the invention of water-closets, which are now brought to such perfection, that they may be placed with- out inconvenience in any necessary part of a house) and are subject to no accidents except ARCHITECTURE. the bursting of the water-pipes and bason belonging to them in frosty weather. But this danger may be, in some degree, re- moved, provided the whole building is planned with due attention to the economical distribution of heat, and the pipes are so dis- posed as to receive the benefit of the warmth ; which may easily be done. The offices connected with the kitchen should generally be placed towards the north ; in town houses we cannot always do this, but are governed by the circumstances of the si- tuation. The larder should however be carefully placed out of the influence of the heat of the kitchen stoves. In the plan and construction of fire-places, more attention should be paid to their best form for reflecting into the apartments the heat generated in them, and earning off into the atmosphere the smoke which arises from the combustion of the fuel, than to any proportions prescribed by architects who had nothing in view but the symmetry of the apart- ment according to their ideas. Indeed a neater form may be obtained in following strictly the rules founded on the rational the- ory, and accurate experiments of the count Rumford ; and the invention of a good archi- tect will hardly stumble, at making that low compact dimension agree with the other members of the most magnificent apart- ment. The due inclination of the inner sides of the jaurnbs of the chimney, forming a very obtuse angle with the back, is most impor- tant, as well as the colour and material of which those jaurnbs are composed, for the purpose of obtaining as much reflected heat as possible from the combustion of a certain quantity of fuel. The breadth of chimney fire-places is not important, but they should not be narrow, that the sides may stand with their greatest power of reflection towards the room. But the height should seldom ex- ceed two feet six inches to the under part of the mantle ; the whole depth of the chim- ney should not be more than twelve or four- teen inches ; and the throat, or opening where the funnel begins, not more than four inches wide, with a part of the back moveable to al- low of sweeping. The size of the flue or fun- nel should not be less than twelve inches in diameter ; and circular is the best form, but most expensive in building. The flues should never contract or taper as they rise, but ra- ther increase in internal capacity ; and they should always be made with a view to the use of the new machinery for sweeping, approved of by the Society of Arts, and confirmed by experience. Stone and brick are the best possible materials for the sides and the back of a chimney fire-place. Architects however do not always think it a part of their business, or their duty, to enter into the arrangement of these details, relative to the internal comfort cf a building. If it were not so necessary to har- monise the whole together, they present field enough for a separate profession ; but the pos- sibility of completing these essential, though minnte parts, upon the principles of true philo- sophy and experience, with a view to economy and comfort, will in great measure depend'on the general plan of the building. Besides the precaution of double external doors, to preserve the internal temperature of a house, double windows, with a certain space between, should be used to winter Ml apartments ; for it is no less useful to confine the heat generated by the fuel consumed in a house, than it is to place it so that it shall give but in the apartments its full portion of warmth. It is hardly necessary to say that windows should be made perpendicularly one above another, and not too near the angles of a building. No particular proportions can be assigned for them ; but their jaurnbs should be bevelled off on the inside, so (hat the full benefit of the real size of the window may be received, in light spread over the apartment. A w indow so expanded will admit to diffuse in the room as much light as if its whole in- ternal size had been equal to its increased inner breadth, gained by cutting off the right angular corner of the wall. Till lately architects have neglected to avail themselves, by this means, of the full benefit of the openings of their windows, and to admit as much light as possible, with as little diminution of strength to the wall. The immense thickness of the walls of old Gothic edifices generally obliged the antient archi- tects to do it ; but in the more modern brick buildings, which succeeded, it was omitted. 1 ,ofty windows, descending nearly to the floor, are most: graceful, noble, and airy ; and balconies, railed with cast iron for build- ings not of the most superb class, are a very great ornament and convenience. Ballusters of stone may agree more than, iron railings tor these projections, where’ the ornaments of- the front are bold and solid. Sky-lights, in our climate, so subject to damps, driving rains, and to snow, are pro- ductive of many inconveniences, and should never be admitted but for stairs, halls, pas- sages, or large public rooms. Unless they are doubled by a horizontal frame of glass beneath them, to produce a cavity of con- fined air, they waste the heat generated in a house very much ; as without this precaution the warmed air of the house escaping di- rectly upwards to the glass, easily mixes its acquired heat with the c.old external air of the atmosphere. To which operation a sin- gle pane of glass, however thick (though glass is a bad conductor of heat) affords but little retardation. When sky-lights are necessary, the aper- tures through the roof should spread as much as possible in descending, that the rays of light may not be confined from spreading as they would be were the sides vertical. I'or the form and proportion of rooms, we may observe that an oblong plan is most agreeable to the eye, and generally more con- venient than a square, or any other form. The length ofawell-proportipned. room should be equal to the breadth and a half of the same, and never more ; and for the height, take thTee-fourths of the breadth. An error in favour of height is preferable id making a room too low. ( T he height of rooms on the second story may be one-twelfth part less than that of the chambers below ; and if there is a third story, divide the height of the second into twelve equal parts, of which take nine for the height of these room?. The ‘length of galleries may be five times their breadth, ; and a gallery should rarely exceed eight times its width in length. When the walls of a building have been raised to tire' desired height, the vaults made. 142 A R C A R C ARC the joints laid, and the stairs brought up, then the roof is to be raised ; which embracing every part of the building, with its weight equally pressing upon the walls, acts as a band to all the work. Its weight, within cer- tain limits, is. of service to the building ; but too much charge will make a house top- heavy, which is a great fault. The pitch of a roof is regulated according to the climate we build in, and the materials employed to defend the timbers from the weather. Hoofs covered with lead may be nearly flat: but this method is not much in use, and is very expensive. For tiles a roof must be higher than the pediment pitch, which is one-fourth of the whole building. This pitch is rarely high enough for slates. Copper coverings have lately come much into use in this country, and may be laid on roofs of a low pitch. Whoever plans a .building to be erected within the limits of the building-act, must ne- cessarily consult it before he can arrange his design. Architecture, aquatic. See Bridge. Architecture, military. See Fortifi- cation. Architecture, natal. See Ship-build- ing. Architecture, counterfeit : that which consists of prefectures, painted in black or white, or in colours, after the manner of marble, which is also called scene-work, in the painting of columns, &c. for the decoration of theatres. Architecture, in perspective, a sort of building, the members of which are of differ- ent modules, and diminish proportionably to their distance, in order to make the work ap- pear longer to the view than it really is. ARCHITRAVE, in architecture, that part of a column, or order of columns, which lies immediately upon the capital, being the low- est member of the entablature, and so called from its representing the principal beam in timber buildings. Over a chimney, this member is called the mantle-piece; and over doors or windows, the hyperthyron. ARCHIVE, or archives, an apartment in which are deposited the records, charters, and other papers, of a state or community. The archives of the court of chancery are in the rolls office. ARCH MARSHAL, the grand marshal of the empire, a dignity belonging to the elector of Saxony. ARCHON, in Grecian antiquity the chief magistrate of Athens, after the abolishing of monarchy ; and also the appellation given to several officers, both civil and religious, under the Greek empire. Thus we read of the arclion of the gospel, the archon of the walls, &c. ARCHONTICI, in church-historv, a branch of Valentinians, who maintained that the world was not created by God, but by angels called archontes. ARCHTREASURER, the great treasurer of the German empire, a dignity belonging to the duke of Brunswic, king of Great Bri- tain, but also claimed by the elector-palatine. ARCTIC, in astronomy, an epithet given to the north pole ; and likewise to a circle of the sphere, parallel to the equator, and 23 degrees 28 minutes distant from the north- pole. ARCTIUM, burdock, a genus of the poly- gamia order, and syngenesis class of plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the 49th order, compositai capitate : the calyx is globular, with scales having hooks reflected at the tops. 1 here are three species, viz. L Arctium lappa ; 2. Arctium personata ; and 3. Arctium tornentosum. They are all troublesome weeds. The tender stems of the lappa, or common burdock, however, de- prived of the bark, may be boiled and eaten like asparagus. When raw, they are good with oil and vinegar. Boys catch bats by- throwing the prickly heads of this species into the air. The seeds, which have a bitterish subacrid taste, are recommended as very efficacious diuretics, given either in the form of emulsion, or in powder, to the quantity of a drachm. r I he roots, which taste sweetish, with a slight austerity and bitterishness, are esteemed aperient, diuretic, and sudorific ; and said to act without irritation, so as to be safely ventured upon in acute disorders. ARCTOMV S, marmot, a genus of qua- drupeds. The generic character is ; front teeth two in each jaw, strong, sharp, and cu- neated ; grinders in the upper jaw five on each side, in the lower jaw four ; clavicles, or collar-bones, in the skeleton. The genus arctomys or marmot differs from that ofmus in so few particulars, as to make it somewhat doubtful whether it ought to be kept separate or not. These animals are of a thick form, with large, roundish, and somewhat flattened heads, small mouths, the fissure having a somewhat perpendicular appearance ; ears very short, and sometimes none ; a short vil- lous tail ; tetradactyle fore-feet, with a very small thumb, and pentadactyle hind-fec-t : the skeleton is furnished with clavicles, or collar bones; and the caecum or appendicular intes- tine is very large They are diurnal animals ; and feed on roots, grain, &:c. which they often collect into heaps. They reside in subter- raneous holes or burrows, and sleep during the winter. There are 7 species, as follows. 1 . Marmot alpine is a native of the Alps and Pyrenean mountains, and is most fre- quent in those of Savoy and Swisserland, in- habiting the higher regions, and feeding on various roots, plants, insects, & c. It climbs readily, and can ascend the rocky eminences and fissures with great facility. Its general size is somewhat larger than that of a rabbit, measuring about 16 inches to the tail, which is about six inches long. The colour of the marmot, on the upper parts, is a brownish or rather tawny ash-colour ; the legs and under parts being of a bright tawny or ferruginous tinge ; the head is rather large, and flatfish ; the ears short, and hid in the fur, and the tail thick and bushy. It is an animal which de- lights in the regions of frost and snow, and is found only on the tops of high mountains. In suclp situations several individuals unite in forming a place of retreat, which is contrived with great art, and consists of an oval cavity or general receptacle, large enough to con- tain several of the animals, and having a large canal or passage, which divaricates in such a manner as to present tw r o outlets to the sur- face of the ground. These recesses are pre- pared on the declivities of elevated spots, and the cavern or receptacle is well lined with moss and hay, which they prepare during summer, as if conscious of the necessity of providing for their long hybernal sleep. ' In line weather they are seen sporting about the neighbourhood of their burrows ; and delight in basking in the sunshine, frequently assum- ing an upright posture, sitting on their hind- feet. When assembled in this manner, it is observed, that one of the exterior number seems to act as a sentinel, and on the ap- proach of any danger, alarms the fraternity by a loud and shrill whistle, on which they in- stantly retire to their cavern. These animals make no provision for winter ; but as soon as Die autumnal frosts commence, they carefully ' stop up the entrances to their mansions, and j gradually fall into a state of torpidity, in which they continue till the arrival of spring, when they again awake, and recommence ; their excursions. Before they retire to their winter quarters they are observed to grow excessively fat ; and, on the contrary, appear greatly emaciated on first emerging from them. If carefully dug up during the winter, ; from their holes, they may be conveyed away i in their sleeping state ; and when brought into a warm chamber, gradually awaken, nearly in the same manner as the hamster. ' If kept in a warm situation, they do not be- come torpid in winter. They breed early in ■ the summer, and the litter commonly con- ! sists of three or four, the growth of which is, observed to be very rapid. See Plate Nat.] Hist. fig. 33. 2. Marmot Maryland is a North Ameri-j can animal, and is principally found in Vir-j ginia and Pennsylvania. It also occurs in the-: Bahama islands; and in its way of life resem- bles the European or Alpine marmot, living on vegetable substances, retiring into hollows - under the roots of trees, &c. in winter, and' falling into a temporary state of torpidity ; it is) doubtful, however, whether this is the case in' those which are found in the Bahama islands. The size of this species is nearly that of the; rabbit ; its colour is a ferruginous brown above, and paler or inclining to whitish be-! neath ; the muzzle, as far as the eyes, is of a pale bluish ash-colour; the ears are short and rounded; the eyes are rather large and black,; and the snout sharpish ; the tail is longer than in others of this genus, being nearly half the length of the body, and covered with'! longish or rather bushy hair, of a deep brown or blackish colour ; the feet are blackish, and are furnished with large and sharp claws. 3. Marmot Quebec is said to be found in! various parts of North America, but it ap- pears to be most frequent in Hudson’s-b •>- and Canada. Its size is that of a rabbit, or rather larger, and its colour is brown on the upper parts, undulated with whitish or pale grey, the tips of the hairs being of that co- lour; the legs and under parts of the body are rufous or ferruginous ; the face is dusky; the nose black and obtuse, the cheeks grey] and the tail short and dusky, especially at the tip. In its manners it is supposed to resemble the rest of its congeners. 4. Arctomys bobac. (See Plate, Natural History, figure 32.) The bobac is of the, size of the Alpine marmot, and is a native of the high but milder and sunny sides of mountainous countries, which abound with fissile or free-stone rocks, w here it is found in dry situations, and such as are full of springs! woods, or sand. It abounds in Poland and Russia, among the Carpathian hills. Its co- 1 lour is grey above, with the throat, insides of the limbs, and under parts of the body, fulJ vous or ferruginous ; the tail is short, rather A R C A R D 113 slender, and full of hair. Its manner of life extremely resembles that of the common or Alpine marmot, with which, indeed, it ap- pears to have been sometimes confounded i>y naturalists. The holes or receptacles- of these animals are lined with the finest hay, and it is said that the quantity found in one nest is sufficient for a night’s provender for a horse. They are fond of sporting about in the sun- shine near their holes, like the common mar- mot, set up a -similar whistle when disturbed, and retire with precipitation to their recep- tacle. They may be easily rendered domes- tic, like that species, and are of a mild and gentle disposition. In winter they lie torpid, unless kept in warm rooms. They breed early in the. spring, and are said to produce six or eight young. 5>. Arctomys pruinosa, or hoary marmot. This species is about the size of the monax, or Maryland marmot, and is of a hoary ash- colour ; the hair, which is long and rather coarse, being cinereous at the roots, black in the middle, and white at the tips ; the tip of the nose, legs, and tail, are black; the cheeks whitish, and the top of the head dusky, with a ferruginous cast. It is a native of North America. 6lh. Arctomys maulina, or mauline mar- mot. This animal was discovered in the province of Maule, in Chili, where it inhabits woods. It is said to be about twice the size ot the common or Alpine marmot, nearly of the same colour, but has pointed ears, length- ened nose, four rows of whiskers, and a longer tail than the common marmot. On each foot are also said to be five toes. It is represented as a strong animal, and not easily conquered by dogs which happen to attack it. 7. Arctomys gundi, or gundi marmot. This species is a native of Barbary, towards mount Atlas, near Masuffin. It is about the size of a small rabbit, and is entirely of a tes- taceous red colour; the ears are truncated, with large apertures ; the tail short, the upper teeth truncated, and the lower slender and pointed. It is called by the Arabs gundi. Its particular history seems as yet to be not fully understood. Arctomys citillus, or variegated marmot. Of all the marmots this is the most elegant in its appearance, exhibiting generally a beau- tiful variegation of yellowish brown and white, the former constituting the ground-colour, and the latter the variegations, which are sometimes in the form of spots, and sometimes ot transverse undulations; the legs and under parts of the body are of a yellowish white ; the tail is short, well covered with hair, and is brown above and ferruginous beneath ; there is scarce any appearance of external ears, fitM. merely an edging to the auditory canal. The length of the animal is about afoot, and of the tail four inches and a half ; but this species varies as much in size as in colours, some of the varieties are scarce larger than a water rat, while others are nearly equal in size to the marmot. The variegated marmot inhabits Bohemia, Austria, Hungary, and from the banks of the Volga to India and Persia, through Siberia and Great Tartary to Kamtschatka, some of the intervening isles, and even the continent of America. It is sometimes found in woods, but seems principally to delight in dry hilly places, where the herbage is of short growth. I hey form subterraneous burrows, in which A R D they deposit heaps of grain, roots, nuts, &c. , for their winter food; for it does not appear that they sleep during that period, like some i others of tins genus, 'i hey breed in the spring, and produce from five to eight at a time. M hey are extremely irrascible and quarrelsome among themselves ; their bite is very severe. They are extremely cleanly, and after feeding, generally wash their faces, like cats, and clean their fur with the greatest diligence. ARCTOPHYLAX, a constellation, other- wise called bootes. • ARCTOPUS, in botany, a genus of the polyganiia dicecia class and order, and in the natural method ranking under the 45th or- der, umbellatae. The umbella of the male is compound; the involucrum consists of five leaves ; the corolla has five petals ; the sta- mina are five ; and two pistilli ; the umbella of the hermaphrodite is simple ; the involu- crum is divided into four parts, is spinous, large, and contains many male Bowers in the disk. There is but one species of arctopus, viz. Arctopus eehinatus, a native of Ethiopia. ARCTOTiS, in botany, a genus of the polyganiia necessaria order, belonging to the syngenesia class of plants ; and ~In the natural method ranking ; under the 49th or- der, coinpositai-discoites. The receptacle is bristly ; the corona of the pappus is penta- phyllous ; and the calyx is imbricated with scales loose at the top. There are 11 species; natives of Ethiopia, or the Cape of Good Hope. Of these, 1. Arctotis angustifolia, with spear-shaped leaves; and 2. Arctotis aspera, with wing-shaped woolly leaves, are most remarkable lor their beauty. They are treated with us as green-house plants. ARCTURUM, a small star, of the seventh or eighth magnitude to the south of arctu- rus. ARCTURUS, a fixed star of the first magnitude, in the skirt of bootes. ARC! US, in astronomy, the Greek name for the ursa major and minor, whence the words arctic, arctic circle, ckc. ARCUATION, in gardening, the raising of trees by layers, which is done thus: strong mother plants, or stools, must be planted in a clean border, and when they have shot five or six main branches from the root, and as many collateral branches, these main branches must be bent to the ground; for which reason, some cut them half through, and peg them fast down. The small branches must be co- vered three inches thick upon the joints, and have a large bason of earth made round them to hold the water. Some persons give the branches a twist, to make them root the sooner. ARCUTIO, a machine consisting of hoops used in Florence by nurses, in order to pre- vent the child from being overlaid. Every nurse is obliged to lay her child in an arcutio, under pain of excommunication. ARDASSES, the coarsest of all the silks in Persia. ARDEA, the heron, a genus of the order of grallac. The general characters of this or- der are ; the bill is straight, sharp, long, and somewhat compressed, with a furrow that runs from the nostrils towards the point ; the nostrils are linear, and the feet have four toe*. Under this genus Linnaeus comprehends the gras 'or crane, the ciconia or stork, and the ardea or heron. There are 79 species, of which the following are tire most remark- able. > p 1. Ardea americana, or hboping crane of Edward's, is a native of America. The crown of the head and temples are naked and papil- lous; the forehead, nape of the neck, and prime wing feathers, are black, but the body is white. r I his species is often seen at the mouths of the Savanna, Aratamaha, and other rivers near St. Augustine. They lay two white eggs, like those of the swan, and sit 20 days ; the young are at first yellow, changing- to white by degrees. 2. Ardea argil, or hurgil,of Ives, is a very large species ; from tip to tip of the wings, measuring 14 feet 10 inches, and from the tip of the bill to the claws 7 feet and a half; the bill is 16 inches round at- the base, of different colours, and nearly of a triangular shape ; the feathers of the back and wings are of an iron colour, those of the breast long; over the belly a great deal of down, of a dirty white ; the legs and half the thighs are naked ; the naked parts fuli three feet in length. This monster inhabits Bengal. On opening one of these, a terapin, or land-tortoise, 10 inches long, was found in its craw, and a large male black cat was found entire in its stomach.- One of these, a young bird, about five feet in height, was brought up tame, and pre- sented to the chief of the Bananas, where Mr. Smeathman lived; and being accustomed to be fed in the great hall, soon became familiar, duly attending that place at dinner time, and placing itselt behind its master’s chair, fre- quently before any of the guests entered. I he servants were obliged to watch it narrow- ly, and defend the provisions with switches in their hands ; but notwithstanding this, it would frequently snatch off somewhat; and it once purloined a whole boiled fowl, which it swal- lowed in an instant. The individual above- mentioned used to fly about the island, and roost very high among the silk-cotton trees, whence at two or three miles distance it could spy the dinner carrying across the yard, when, darting from its station, it would enter promiscuously with the women who carried in the dishes. It sometimes stood for near half an hour alter dinner, with the head turning alternately, as if listening to the conversa- tion. 3. Ardea ciconia, or white stork of Ray, has naked eye -balls, and biack prime wing fea- thers. 1 he skin below the feathers, as also the beak, feet, and claws, are of a blood-co- lour. It is a native of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and feeds upon amphibious animals. It is such an enemy to serpents, that it is reck- oned almost a crime to kill a stork. From this favourable treatment, they are seen in Holland and the Low Countries walking un- concerned in the middle of the streets. Storks are birds of passage ; they spend the summer in Europe go off to Egypt, Ethiopia, &c. all at once before winter, and do not return till about the middle of March. 4. Ardea garzetta, or egret, is crested be- hind ; the body is white, the beak black, and the feet greenish. It. is a most elegant bird. It weighs about one pound, and the length is- 24 inches, to the end of the legs 32. It is a, native of the east. But that formerly it was very frequent in Britain, appears by some of- 144 A R D A R E ARE the old bill of fare. In the famous feast of archbishop Neville, we lind no less than 1000 astcrides, egre ts or egrfttes, as the word is differently spelt. 5. Ardea grus, or common crane of Eng- lish authors, has a naked papillous crown; the rime leathers of the wings are black; the ody is ash-coloured. 1 his species is far spread, being met with in great flocks through- out northern Europe and Asia. It seems to have been formerly a native of Britain. They feed on .reptiles of all kinds, as well as on green corn, which last they make such havock of, as to ruin the farmers wherever flocks of them alight. 6. Ardea herodias, or cristata maxima of Catesby, .is crested behind, has a dusky-co- loured back, reddish thighs, and the breast speckled with oblong black spots. It is four feet and a half when erect. It is a native of 'Virginia, and feeds upon fish, frogs, lizards, efts, &c. 7. Ardea leucogcranos of Pallas, or the Si- berian crane of Pennant, is four feet and a ■half when standing erect. The bill is of a red colour ; the irides are white ; the plumage is white as snow, except the 10 first greater quills, with the coverts of them, which are •black; the legs are long and red. This spe- cies inhabits the vast marshes and lakes in Siberia. It makes its nest among the reeds, seldom accessible by man, upon rising green grassy tufts, made up of herbs and grass heap- ed together ; and lays two ash coloured eggs, spotted with brown. They are shy birds, and always upon their guard against an ene- my ; having a sentinel to warn them of an ap- proach ; on the least alarm they cry aloud, not unlike the swan, and fly off directly. The Sportsman finds, in course, much difficulty in approaching them. Sometimes indeed he approaches them under the cover of a stalking thorse, or other objects ; at other times a small dog will divert their attention, as they will without fear attack the dog, while his master gets within reach. In breeding time, however, they are more bold, as they will then defend their young even against men, 8. Ardea major, or common heron, has a black crest depending from the back part of the head, an ash coloured body, and a black line and belt on the neck and breast. It is a native of Europe. It perches and builds in trees, and sometimes in high .cliffs over the sea, commonly in company with others, like rooks. It was formerly in this island game, heron-hawking being a favourite diversion of our ancestors. Not to know the hawk from the heronshaw was an old proverb, (since ab- surdly corrupted to ‘ He does not know a ■hawk from a handsaw,’) taken originally from this diversion, but in course of time served to express great ignorance in any science. This bird was formerly much esteemed as food ; made a favourite dish at great tables, and was valued at the same rate as a pheasant. It is said to be very long-lived ; by Mr, Keysler’s account it may exceed 60 years. 9. Ardea pavonia, or the crowned crane, has an erect bristly crest, with th<£ temples and two wattles .naked. It is a native of Africa, particularly of the coast of Guinea, as far as Cape Verd ; at this last place they are said to be exceedingly tame, and will often come into the court yards to feed with the poultry. Their chief food is supposed to be .worms, and such other insects as the heron tribe usually feed on, with vegetables of all kinds. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 34. 10. Ardea steliaris, or the bittern, has a smooth 'head, and is variegated through the body with dark coloured spots of different figures and sizes. It is a native of Europe, and inhabits the fen countries. Itwiii suffer persons to come very near it without rising, and has been known to strike at boys and at sportsmen, when wounded and unable to make its escape. It flies principally about the dusk of the evening, and’then rises in a very singular manner, by a spiral ascent, till it is quite out of sight, it builds its nest with the leaves of water plants on some dry clump among the reeds, and lav s five or six eggs of a cinerous green colour. r l his bird and the heron are very apt to strike at the fowler’s eyes when only maimed. The food of the bittern is chiefly frogs ; not that it rejects fish, for small trouts have been met with in their stomachs. In the reign of Henry VIII. it was held in much esteem at our tables, and valued at one shilling. Its flesh has the flavour of a hare, and nothing of the fishi- ness of that of the heron. 11. Ardea violacea, or crested bittern of Catesby, has a white crest ; the body is varie- gated with black and white, and bluish below. These birds are seen in Carolina in the rainy seasons ; but in the Bahama islands they breed in bushes growing among the rocks in prodigious numbers. They are called by the Bahamians crab-catchers, crabs being what they mostly subsist on ; yet they are well tast- ed, and free from any rank or fishy savour. 12. Ardea virgo, has a straight greenish bill and crimson i.ides. The crown of the head is ash-coloured ; the rest of the head, the upper, and all the under parts, to the breast, black ; the back, and all the under part from the breast, of a bluish ash colour ; behind each eye springs a tuft of long white feathers, \vjfich decline downwards. It is found in many parts of Asia and Africa. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 35. " ARDENT spirits, those distilled from fer- mented vegetables, so called because they will take fire and burn, such as brandy, rum, &c. AllDISIA, a genus of the tentandria mo- nogynia class and order. The essential cha- racter is, calyx live-class, corolla onepetalled, five patred, reflex, stigma simple berry round one seeded. There are seven species, all trees or shrubs, chiefly natives of the West Indies. ARDUINA, a genus of the pentandria monogynia class and order. The essential character is ; cor. one petalled ; stigma bifid ; berry two celled ; seeds solitary. There is one species, -a native of the Cape, which with us is treated as a green-house plant. AREA, in geometry, denotes the superfi- cial content of any figure : thus, if we suppose a parallelogram six inches long, and four broad, its area will be 6 X 4 = 24 square inches. The method of finding the areas of different figures, as triangles, circles, &e. will be given hereafter. ARECA, the Fausel-nut, in botany, a ge- nus of the order of the palm* pennatifolTtr. The male has uo calyx, but three petals, and nine stamina : the female has no calyx ; the corolla has three petals, and the calyx is im- bricated. There are three species, viz. 1. Areca cathecu, a native of India. It has no branches, but its leaves are very beau- tilul ; they form a round tuff at the top of lire trunk, which is as straight as an arrow. It grows to the height of 23 or 35 leet, and is a great ornament in gardens.' The shell which contains the fruit is smooth without, but rough and hairy within ; in which it pretty much re- sembles the shell of the cocoa nut. Its size is equal to thatofapretty large walnut. Itskernel semblance without, and lias also the same ; whitish veins within when cut in two. In the ' centre of the fruit, when it is soft, is contained a greyish and almost liquid substance, which ] grows hard in proportion as it ripens. 4 he extract ol this nut has been supposed to be ll e terra juponica of the shops : but according to later observations, the genuine drug seems to l be obtained from the mimosa catechu. The] fruit when ripe is astringent, but not unpala- ■ table, and tire shell is yellowish. * Of this fruit there is a prodigious consumption in the East Indies, l ire chief use that is made of it is to chew it with the leaves of betel, mixing with it lime made of sea shells. 2. Areca oleracea, Plate Nat. Plist. fig. 3fy or true cabbage palm, is the most beautiful', and perhaps the tallest, of all trees. The trunk is perfectly straight, and marked will rings at the vestigial of the footstalks of the leaves. Near the ground it is about seven feet j in circumference ; but tapers as it ascends, and attains the height of 170 or 200 feet. 1 he bark is of an ash colour, till within 23 or 30 feet of the extremity of the tree; when it alters at once to a deep sea-green, which eoij4 : tinues to the top. About five feet from the; beginning of tlie green part upwards, tin* trunk is surrounded with its numerous branches, in a circular manner; all the lowermost spreading horizontally with great regularity ; and the extremes ot many ol the higher branches bend wavingly downwards, like so many plumes of feathers, 4hese branches, when lull grown, are 20 feet long, more or less ; and are thickly set on the trunk alternately, rising gradually superior one to another : their broad curved sockets so sur- round the trunk, that the sight of it, whilst among these, is lost, which again appears among the uppermost branches, and is there inveloped in an upright green conic spire, which beautifully terminates its great height. As there are many thousand leaves upon one tree, every branch bearing many scores upon it, and every leaf being set at a small and equal distance from one another, the beauty ot such a regular lofty group of waving foliage, susceptible of motion, by the most gentle gale of wind, is not to be described. : The middle rib, in each leaf, is strong and prominent, supporting it on the under side, the upper appearing smooth and shining, l he pithy part of the leaf being scraped off, the inside texture appears to be so many lon- gitudinal thread-like filaments. 4 hese, being spun in the same manner as they do hemp, or flax, are used in making cordage of every kind. Upon removing the large leaves, or branches, which surround the top of the trunk, a little way above the beginning ol the green bark, what is called the cabbage is discovered lying in many thin, snow white, brittle flakes*] in taste resembling an almond, but sweeter. This substance, which cannot be procured without destroying the tree, is boiled, anil eaten $vith mutton by the inhabitants of the 145 ARE W est Trudies, in the same manner as turnips and cabbage are with us. What is called the cabbage flower, grows from that part of the tree where the ash-coloured trunk joins the green part already described. Its first ap- pearance is a green husky spatha, growing to above 20 inches long, and about four broad. As this husky spatha is opening while thus young, the farinaceous yellow seed in em- bryo, resembling fine sawdust, is very plen- tifully dispersed among stringy filaments, which answer the use ot apices ixl other more regular flowers : these filaments being cleared ot this dust, are pickled, and esteemed among tire best pickles either in the West Indies or in Europe. But if this spatha is not cut down and opened whilst thus young ; if it be suffer- ed to continue on the tree, till it grows ripe and bursts ; then the inclosed part, which whilst young and tender is fit for pickling, will by that. time have acquired an additional hardness, become soon after ligneous, grow bushy, consisting of very small leaves, and in time produce a great number of small oval tlrin-shelled nuts, about the size of unhusked coffee berries : these, being planted, produce young cabbage trees. The sockets or grooves, formed by the broad part of the footstalks of the branches, are used by the negroes as cradles for their children. ‘On the inner side' of the very young footstalks are tender pel- licles, which when dried, it is said, make a writing paper. I he trunksserve as gutterings ; the pith makes a sort of sago ; and the nuts yield oil by decoction. In the pith also, af- ter the trees are felled, there breeds a kind of worm or grub, which is eaten and esteemed a great delicacy by the French ofMartinico, hit. Domingo, and the adjacent islands. 3. Areca oryzoeformis. This is a native of Cochin China, Amboina, &e. It is a slender elegant palm, and the fruit is used for chewing with the betel leaf as well as that of the first species. All ENA, in Homan antiquity, a place Where the gladiators fought ; so called from its being always strewed with sand, to conceal from the view of the people the blood spilt in the combat. Arena, in architecture, the middle or body of a temple, that comprehends the whole space between the anta:, and the extreme wall of the building. AREN ARIA, in ornithology, called the turnstone or sea dotterel by English writers : also a species of tringa that inhabits the sandy shores of Europe and the Caspian Sea. Aren aria, in botany, sandwort : a genus of the decandria trigynia class ; and in the natural method ranking under the 22d order, caryophyllae. The calyx has five open leaves ; the petals are five, and entire ; the capsule is unilocular, and contains many seeds. * There are 20 species, only seven of which are natives of Britain, viz. 1. Arenaria laricifolia, larch-leaved sand- wort. 2. Arenaria peploides, sea sandwort. 3. Arenaria rubra, purple-flowered sand- wort. 4. Arenaria saxatilis, mountain sandwort. 5. Arenaria serpyllifolia, least sandwort. Arenaria tenuifolia, fine-leaved sand- wort. 7 . Arenaria trinervis, plantain-leaved sand- wort. ARENARII, in antiquity, gladiators who VOL. I. ar a combated with beasts in the arena or Amphi- theatre. r l hey were slaves of the lowe-t or- der, and not capable of becoming Roman citizens. * ARENAR1UM, a cemetery or burying ground. The arenaria were a kind of pits in which the ancient Christians buried their dead, and held their religious assemblies in times of persecutions. ARENA lUUS, in ornithology, a species of tetrao, called also the sandgrous, found only in the deserts towards the Caspian Sea. It is common about Astrachan in summer, and passes the winter ill Persia. They drink much water, and go to the pools thrice every day ; when they are so eager, that they do not mind the sportsmen/though at other times they are very shy. AHENATION, a kind of dry bath, in which the patient sits with his bare feet on hot sand. AREOPAGUS, or Aneopagus, in Grecian antiquity, a sovereign court at Athens, so fa- mous for the justice and impartiality of its de- crees, that the gods themselves are said to have submitted their quarrels to its determi- nation, ARETIIUSA, in botany, a genus of the gynandria diandria class ; and in the natural method ranking under the seventh order, orchideae. The generic character is taken from the nectarium, which is tubular, situated at the bottom of the corolla, and the inferior labium fixed to the stylus. There are seven species, all natives of America. ARETIA, in botany, a genus of the pen- tandria monogynia class ; and in the natural method ranking under the 21st order, pretise. The corolla is divided into five parts ; the tube ot the corolla isovated; and the capsule is globular, and consists but of one cell. There are three species. ARGEA, or Argei, in Roman antiquity, thirty human figures, made of rushes, thrown annually by the priests, or vestals, into the Ti- ber, on the day of the ides of May. ARGEMGNE, prickly poppy, a genus of the monogynia order, belonging to the poly- andria class of plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the 27th order, rhaea- cleax The corolla consists of six petals ; the calyx is tryphillous ; and the capsule is seml- valved. Of this genus there are three species, one of which is comfnort in many parts of the West Indies, and called by the Spaniards the devil’s fig ; but they are Of no use, and have very little beauty. ARGENT, in heraldry, the white coloilr in the coats of gentlemen, knights, and baro- nets : the white in the arms ot the sovereign princes is called lima, and that in the arms of the nobility, pearl : this is expressed in en- graving, by the parts being left plain, without any strokes from the graver. See Heraldry. ARGENTEIJS codex, a M.S. of the four gospels, that derives its name from its silver letters, supposed to be a copy of the Gothic version made by Ulphilas, the apostle of the Goths, in the fourth century. It is 4to. the leqves violet-dolour parchment ; and on this ground the letters, which are all capitals, were painted in silver, except the initials, and a few passages, in gold. It is now in the uni- versity of Upsal. ARGENTINA, in ichthyology, a genus of fishes belonging to the order of abdominales. — The generic characters are these: the T a r a teeth are In the tongue, as well as the jaws ; the branclriostege membrane lias eight radii or rays ; the anus is near the tail ; and the belly fins consist of many rays. There are two species ofargentina, viz. 1 . Argentina Carolina has likewise 15 rays in tl\e fin near the anus; the tail is forked, and the lateral lines are straight. It inhabits the fresh waters of Carolina. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 38. 2. Argentina sphyrama has 15 rays in the fin at the anus ; the air bladder of this species is conical on both sides, and shines like silver: false pearls are sometimes made of it. ARGENTUM arborescens . Most me- tallic substances are capable of decomposing a nitric solution of silver. r l he separation of this metal by mercury, on account of the phe- nomena which it presents, has been called the argentum arborescens, or more commonly the arbor Diana.-. It is obtained by the following process : mix together six parts of a solution of silver, and four of a solution of mercury, both made with nitric acid, and completely saturated ; add to them a little distilled water, and put the mixture into a conical vessel, into which has been previously introduced six parts of an alloy made in the proportion of seven pails of mercury and one of silver* At the end of a few hours there will be formed, at the surface of the small mass of alloy, a ve- getation in the form of a bush, as in Plate .Nat. Hist. fig. 37. To obtain a beautiful spe- cimen, it is necessary that all the ingredients be very pure : the glass best adapted to the purpose is conical or cylindrical. AltGlLLA, clay, in natural history. See Chemistry. ARGO, in astronomy, a constellation of fixed stars in the southern hemisphere : the number of stars in Ptolemy’s catalogue is 8, hi Tycho’s 1 1 , and in Mr. Flamsteed’s 25. Argo, the vessel in which the Argonauts, of whom Jason was the chief, made an expe- dition in quest of the golden fleece. ARGONAUT A, in conchology, the name of one of the Linna-an genera : animal a sepio or clio; shell univalve, spiral, involuted, membranaceous, and containing only one shell. There are two species, the most re- markable of which is the argon auta argo. (See Plate Natural Flistory, fig. 39.) r i he animal which is the inhabitant of this shell attracted the notice of the earliest writers on natural history. It is a native of the Mediter- ranean and Indian seas, and is supposed to have taught mankind the use bf sails, and the art of navigation : it is the nautilus of English collectors. When this little Creature intends to sail, it discharges a quantity of water, bv which operation its specific gravity is rendered less than that of sea water ; and rising to the surface, erects its arms, and expands a mem- brane between them, by means bf which it is driven before the wind, like a vessel under sail ; at the same time that two of its arms, which hang over the side of the shell, serve for oars and a rudder. In this manner it sports on the water in calm weather ; but on the first indication of a storm, it lowers its sail, draws in its arms, takes in water, and sinks. ARGOPHYLLUM, in botany, white-leaf. A genus of the monogynia order, belonging to the pentandrla class of plants. The capsule is trilocular ; the nectarium is pyramidal, penta- gonous, and the length of the corolla. There is but one species, viz. 346 ARI A R I Argophyllum mtidurn, or the glossy argo- phyllum, a native of New Caledonia. Ihis spec ies has some affinity with the ivy. ARGUMENT, arguinentmn, in rhetoric and logic, an inference drawn from premises, the truth of which is indisputable ; or at least highly probable. Argument, in astronomy, denotes a known arch, by means of which we seek ano- ther one unknown. The argument of the moon’s latitude is her distance horn the node ; and the argument of inclination is an arch of a planet’s orbit, inter- cepted between the ascending node and the place of the planet from the sun, numbered according to the succession oi the signs of the zodiac. Argument of inclination, or argument of latitude, of any planet, is an arch ot a planet’s orbit, intercepted between the ascending node and the place of the planet from the sun, numbered according to the succession of the signs. . Argument, menstrual, of latitude, is the distance of the moon’s true place. from the sun's true place. — By this is found the quantity of the real obscuration in eclipses, or how many digits are darkened in any place. Argument, annual, pf the moon’s apogee, or simply, annua! argument, is the distance of the sun’s place from ihe place of the moon’s apogee ; that is, the arc of the ecliptic com- prised between those two places. ARGUS-SHELL, a species of porcelain- shell, beautifully variegated with spots re- sembling, in some measure, those in a pea- cock’s tail. ARGYTHAMNIA, in botany, a genus of the class and order monoecia tetandria ; the essential character is, male cal. four-leaved ; cor four-petalled ; fern. cal. five-leaved, cor. none, styles dicchotomous, caps, nicoceqiis, solitary seeds. There is one shrubby species, a native of Jamaica. ARIADNE, a beautiful statue of Parian marble, which was for nearly 300 years one of the chief ornaments of Belvidere, where it was placed by pope Julius II. It is now in the museum ot Paris. Ariadne is represented sleeping on the rocks of Naxos, where she lias been ungratefully left by Theseus. ARIANS, in church-history, a sect of an- cient Christians, who denied the three persons in the Holy Trinity to be of the same essence, and affirmed Christ to be a creature ; that he was inferior to the Father as to his deity ; that lie was neither co-eternal, nor co-equal with him ; also, that the Holy Ghost was not God, but a creature of the Son. In their doxologies, they ascribed glory to the Father iti the Sou, through the Holy Ghost. The term Arian, in modern times, is applied to all who believe in the pre-existence ot Christ, but who consider him as inferior and subordinate to the Father. ARI DAS, a kind of taffety, manufactured in tiie East Indies, from a shining thread which is got from certain herbs, whence they are stvled aridas of herbs. ARID ED, a fixed star of the second magnitude, in the extremity of the swan s tail. . . v ARIDULLAM, in natural history, a Jund of zarnich found in the East Indies. ARIES, in zoology. See Ram. Aries, or the Ram, in astronomy, one of the constellations of the northern hemisphere, and the first of the old twelve signs of the zo- diac, and marked Y in imitation ot a rain’s head. It gives name to a twelfth part of the ecliptic, which the sun enters commonly about the 20th of March. 1 lie stars of this constellation, in Ptolemy’s catalogue, are 1 8 ; in Tycho Brahe’s 21 ; in Helvelius’s 27 ; and in Flamsteed’s 66: but they are mostly very small, only one being ot the 2d magnitude, two of the 3d magnitude, and all the rest smaller. ARILLUS, in botany, the proper or exte- rior coat or covering oi the seed, which dry- ing, falls off spontaneously. All seeds have not this appendage ARISH, a Persian long measure, containing about 38 English inches. ARISTA, among botanists, a long needle- like beard, which stands out from the husk oi a grain of corn, grass, &c. AR1STEA, i'n botany, a genus of the tri- andria monogynia class and order. T he es- sential character is, petals six, style decimate, stigma funnel-shaped gaping, caps.inferior with many seeds. There is one species, a native of the Cape. ARISTIDA, in botany, a genus of the class and order triandria digynia. The essential cha- racter is, calyx two-valved, corolla one-yalved, with three terminal awns. There are six spe- cies, all of them natives ot the East and YY est Indies. AllISTO LOCHIA, birthwort, a genus of the hexandria order, belonging to the gynan- dria class of plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the 1 1th order, sarmentaeeax It has no calyx ; the corolla consists of one entire petal ; and the capsule, which is below the flower, has six cells. 1 he species are twenty-one ; but only the following merit de- scription. Aristolochia Indica, or contrayerva of Jamaica, is a native of that island, where its roots are used instead of the true contrayerva. It has long trailing branches, which climb upon the neighbouring plants, and sometimes rise to a considerable height. r l he flowers are produced in small clusters towards the upper part of the stalks, which are oi a dark purple colour. Aristolochia serpentaria is a native of Virginia and Carolina, whence the radix ser- pentaria, or snake-root, so much used in me- dicine, is brought over. The leaves grow close to the ground on footstalks an inch long, oi a singular shape, and of a dark purple co- lour. A round canulated capsule succeeds the flower. It is filled with seeds, which are ripe in May. When planted, in gardens, in coun- tries where they are natives, they increase so much in two years, that one can scarce grasp the stalk of a single one. This species is usually found in woods near the roots ol great -trees. The usual price of the root, when dried, is 6d. per lb. both in Virginia and Carolina ; and the negro slaves employ a great part of the time allowed them by their masters in search after it. Another species is the elematitis, the root of which has an aromatic bitterness, which is by no means unpleasant. 1 his root is de- servedly esseemed as a remedy in the ma- lignant fevers and epidemic diseases ot warm climates. It is given in substance in doses of from ten to thirty grains, and in infusions, from one to two drams. A R I ARITHMETIC is the science of numbers, and teaches the art of computing by them. At what time this science was introduced into the world cannot be easily determined. History fixes neither the author nor the time. The Greeks verv early made use of the letters of the alpha- bet "to represent their numbers. The 24 letters, taken according to their order, at first denoted the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 , 9, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, and 800 ; to which they added the three follow- ing* r, k "), to represent 6 , 90, and 900. The Romans followed a like method ; and be- sides characters for each rank of classes, intro- ; dneed others for five, fifty, and five hundred. ; Their method is still used for distinguishing the ; chapters of books, and some other purposes, j Their numeral letters and values are the fol- lowing : I V X L C D One, five, ten, fifty, one hundred, five hundred;, M one thousand. Any number may be represented by repeat- ing and combining these according to the follow- ing rules. (1) When the same letter is repeated twice, or oftener, its value is represented as often. Thus II signifies two ; XXX thirty, CC two hundred, j (2) When a numeral letter is placed after one of greater value, their values are added : thus XI signifies eleven, LXV sixty-five, MDCXXVIII one thousand six hundred and twenty-eight. (3) When a numeral letter is placed before one of greater value, the value of the less is taken j from that of the greater : thus IV signifies four, XL forty, XC ninety, CD four hundred. Sometimes I 3 is used instead of D for 500, and the value is increased ten times by annex- ing 3 to the right hand. Thus, I 3 signifies 500 I 33 - 5000 I 333 _ 50000 Also, C 13 is used for 1000 CC 133 for 10000 CCCI 333 for 100000 Sometimes thousands are represented by drawing a line over the top of^the numeral, V being used for five thousand, L for fifty thou- sand, CCT two hundred thousand. About the year of Christ 200, a new kind of arithmetic, called sexagesimal, was invented probably by Ptolemy, to remedy the difficul- ties of the common method, especially with re- gard to fractions. Every unit was supposed to be divided into 60 parts, and each of these into 60 others, and so on. Thus from one to 59 were marked in the common way : then 60 was called a sexagesima prima, or first sexagesimal integer, and had one single dash over it ; so . 60 was ex- pressed thus V ; and so on to 59 times 60, or 3540, which was thus expressed LIX' He now proceeded to 60 times 60, which he cahed z sexagesima secunda, and was thus expressed I • In like manner, twice 60 times 60, or 7200, was expressed by II // ; and so on till he came to 60 times 3600, which was a third sexagesimal, and expressed thus V" . If any number less than 60 was joined with these sexagesimals, it was added in its proper characters without any dash : thus I'XV represented 60 and 15, or 75 ; EV XXV is four times 60 and 25, or 265; XAEAV is t ;ti times 9000, twice 60 and 15, or 36, 135, &c. Sexagesimal fractions were marked by putting the dash at the foot, or on the left-hand of the: letter : thus I /f or 'I; denoted \ /p or A, &c. So nearly did the inventor of this method approach the Arabic, or common mode of not a- ‘ tion ; instead of sexagesimal progression, it was Wcjuir&d only to substitute decimal, to make the signs of numbers from 1 to 0 simple characters, and to introduce the O, a character which sig- nifies nothing of itself, but which serves to fill tip places. Though the sexagesimal whole num- bers were soon laid aside after the introduction of the Arabic notation, sexagessimal fractions Continued tiii the invention of decimals, and are even still used in the subdivisions of circular arcs and angles. The method of notation, which we now use, came into Europe from the Arabians, by the way of Spain. Hie Arabs, however, do not E retend to be the inventors of the characters, at acknowledge that they received them from the Indians. Some imagine that the)' - were found out by the Greeks, which is not probable ; as Maximus Plumules, who lived towards the close pf the 13th century, is the first Greek who makes use of them; and Dr. Wallis is of opinion that these characters must have been used in tngland at least as long ago as the year 1050, if not in ordinary affairs, at least in mathematical Ones, and in astronomical tables. The oldest treatises extant upon the theory of arithmetic, are the seventh, eighth, and ninth books of Euclid’s Elements, which treat of pro- portion and of prime and composite numbers. Nicomachus the Pythagorean, wrote a treatise on the theory of arithmetic, consisting chiefly of the distinctions and divisions of numbers into classes, as plain, solid, triangular, quadrangular, and the rest of the figurate numbers as they are called, numbers odd and even, &c. with some of the more general properties of the several kinds. His arithmetic was published at Paris in 1538. The next remarkable writer on this sub- ject is Boethius, who is supposed to have copied most of his work from Nicomachus. Fro hi this time no remarkable writer on arith- metic appeared till about the year 1200, when Jordanus of Namur wrote a treatise on this sub- ject, which was published and demonstrated by Joannes Faber Stapulensis in the 15th century: and, as learning advanced in Europe, the num- ber of writers on arithmetic increased. About the year 1464, Regiomontanus, in his triangular tables, divided the radius into 10,000 parts in- stead of 60,000; and thus tacitly expelled the \ sexagesimal arithmetic ; which, however, still remains in the division of time. Ramus, in his arithmetic, written about the year 1550, and published by Lazarus Schonerus in 1586, uses decimal periods in carrying on the square and Cube roots to fractions. The same had been thine before by our countrymen Buckley and Record; but the first who published an express treatise on decimals was Simon Stevinius, about the year 1582. Dr. Wallis is the first who took much notice of circulating decimals, and the honour of inventing logarithms is unquestion- ably due to lord Napier, baron of Merchiston in Scotland, about the end of the 16th or be- ginning of the 17th century. Arithmetic has thus advanced to a degree of perfection which the ancients could never have imagined possible, much less hoped to attain ; and it may now be reckoned one of those few sciences which is in its nature capable of little further improvement. The following marks are used as abbrevia- tions in arithmetic. zz is the sign of equality. -}- signifies Addition thus ; 2 -j- 3 — 5, is 2 add- ed to 3 equal to 5. — signifies Subtraction thus ; 5 — 2 — 3, is 5 less 2 equal to 3. X signifies Multiplication ; 9 X 5 — 45, is 9 multiplied by 5 is equal to 45. .signifies Division ; 54 9, is 54 divided by 9 is equal to 6. •signifies the Square Root, \/ 9 is the square ! root of 9, which is equal to 3, ARITHMETIC. Notation and Numeration. The first elements of arithmetic are acquired during our infancy : small numbers are most easily apprehended : a child soon understands what is meant by two, or three, or four, but has no distinct notion of twenty or thirty. Experi- ence removes this difficulty, and enables us to form many units into a class, and several of these smaller classes into one of a higher kind, and thus to advance through as many ranks of classes as occasion requires. If a boy arrange an hundred stones in one row, he would be tired before he could reckon them ; but if he place them in ten rows of ten stones each, he will reckon an hundred with ease ; and if he collect ten such parcels, he will reckop a thousand. There does not seem to be any number na- turally adapted for constituting a class of the lowest, or any higher rank to the exclusion of others. However, as ten has been generally used for this purpose by most nations who have cultivated this science, it is probably the most convenient for general use. Other scales may be assumed : thus, if eight were the scale, 6 times 3 would be two classes and two units, and the number of 18 would then be re- presented by 22. If 12 were the scale, 5 times 9 would be three classes and nine units, and 45 would be represented by 39, &c. By not ob- serving the same scale in the various kinds of monies, weights, and the like, much of the diffi- culty in the practice of arithmetic arises. All numbers are represented by the ten fol- lowing characters. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, 9 0 nine, cypher. The nine first are called significant figures or digits. When placed singly, they denote the simple numbers subjoined to the characters. When several are placed together, the first or right-hand figure only is to be taken for its sim- ple value : the second signifies so many tens, the third so many hundreds, and the others so many higher classes, according to the order in which they stand. And the cypher in any place de- notes the want of a number in that place: thus, 20 denotes two tens and no units or simple number. The following table shows the names and di- visions of the classes. 8. 4 3 7, 9 8 2. 5 6 4, 7 3 8. 9 7 2, 6 4 5 a a c a a c o o o o : 42 42 1 ^ 'TJ i n y =3 =3 42 IS -a a ; -r< J o O U ^ w"S-5 T5 a c a T3 ’■d ctf 03 rt P-i c .3 - 3 D 3 § H3 K The first six figures from the right hand are called the unit period, the next six the million period, after which - the trillion, quadrillion, quintillion, sextillion, septillion, octillion, and nonillion periods, follow in their order. The whole art of arithmetic is comprehended in two operations, Addition and Subtraction. But as methods have been invented for facili- tating these operations, and distinguished by the names of Multiplication and Division ; these four rules are the foundation of all arithmetical operations. Addition. Addition is that operation by which several numbers of the same denomination are collected into one total. T 2 767345 234672 142131 223164 3898751 ur £ \ ample. Rule. Write the numbers distinctly, 468632 units under units, tens under tens, and so on. Then reckon the amount of the right-hand column. If it be under ten, mark it down. If it exceed ten, mark the units only, and carry the tens to the next place. In like manner, carry the 796543 tens of each column to the next, and mark down the full sum of the left- 3022366 hand column. The best method of proving the truth of sums in Addition, is to add up the lines in a contrary direction : thus, if I begin at the bot- tom of the lines, when the sum is done, I add the figures again together, beginning each line from the top ; and if the total in both cases cor- respond, it may be supposed right. Compound Addition. Compound Addition teacheth to collect several numbers of different denominations into one total. Rule. (1) Place the numbers so that those of the same denomination may stand direct*- ly under each other, and draw a line below them. (2) Add up the figures in the lowest de- nomination, and find how many ones of the next higher denomination are contained in their sum, (3) Write down the remainder, and carry the ones to the next denomination ; with which pro- ceed as before ; and so on, through all the de- nominations to the highest, whose sum must be all written down ; and this sum, together with, the several remainders, is the total sum required. The method of proof is the same as in simple addition. £■ s. d. 34 15 2f 27 12 30 9 Ilf 79 15 4i 172‘ 13 Si £■ s. J. 51 18 9i 15 9 ll| 76 4 9 59 19 7i 203 13 U The reason of this rule is evident : for, in ad- dition of money, as 1 in the pence is equal to 4 in the farthings; 1 in the shillings to 12 in the pence ; and in the pounds to 20 in the shillings ; carrying as directed is nothing more than pro- viding a method of digesting the money arising’ from each column properly in the scale of de- nominations : and, this reasoning will hold good in the addition of numbers of any denomination whatsoever. Thus to take an example in Troy ' 20 pennyweights one ounce, and 12 ounc pound. lb. oz. dxvts. gr. ib. OZ . dxvts. s r - 45 11 19 22 54 9 17 15 53 9 17 15 97 8 15 7 24 10 18 23 41 3 19 23 99 9 10 8 88 n 7 16 224 6 6 20 282 10 0 13 Hence it is evident, that for a person to be expert in compound addition requires- only a knowledge of the several tables of weights and measures : if, for instance, I have to pay for the carriage of four packages, marked A, B, C, and D ; A weighing 4 tons, J 6 cwt. 3 qrs. ; B 1 ton, 14cwt. 2 qrs. 24 lb. ; C 12 cwt. 3 qrs. 25 lb. ; and D 3 tons, 17 cwt. 0 qr. 26 lb. ; to be able to ascertain the weight of the whole, it is necessary that I should know the Avoirdupoise Table, of which a part is, that 28 lb. make 1 quarter of a hundred weight, 4 quarters 1 hundred weight, and 20 hundred 1 ton ; then I proceed as fol- lows : Tons. exit. qr. lb. 4 16 3 0 1 14 2 24 0 12 3 25 3 17 0 26 11 1 2 •IS 148 » And I now find that I have to pay for 11 tons, 1 cwt. 2 qr. 19 lb. Subtraction. Subtraction is the operation by which we take a less number from a greater, and find their dif- ference. The greater is called the minuend, and the less the subtrahend. If any figure of the subtrahend be greater than the corresponding figure of the minuend, and having found and marked the difference, we add one to the next place of the .subtrahend. This is called borrowing ten, because adding one to the subtrahend produces the same effect as taking one from the minuend. Rule. Subtract units from units, tens from tens, and so on. If any figure of the subtrahend be greater than the corresponding one of the minuend, borrow ten. Example. Minuend 5173694 47386414 Subtrahend 2421453 23792352 Remainder 2752241 ^ 23594062 To prove subtraction, add the remainder and subtrahend together ; if their sum be equal to the minuend, the sum is right. Or subtract the remainder from the minuend. If the difference be equal to the subtrahend, the sum is right. Rule for Compound Subtraction. “ Place like denominations under like, and borrow, when necessary, according to the value of the higher place.” lb. oz. dnvts. grs. £,• i. d- 45 8 14 15 95 7 6^ 29 8 17 17 59 16 9| 15 11 16 22 .35 10 8i The reason for borrowing is the same as in simple subtraction. Thus in subtracting pence, we add 12 pence when necessary to the minu- end, and at the next step, we add one shilling to the subtrahend. The learner should acquire the habit, when two numbers are marked down, of placing such a number under the less, that, when added to- gether, the sum may be equal to the greater. The operation is the same as subtraction, though conceived in a different manner, and is useful in balancing accounts, and on other occasions in the concerns of life. Multiplication. Multiplication is a compendious mode of ad- dition, and teacheth to find the amount of any given number by repeating it any proposed number of times. Thus, 8 multiplied by 5, or 5 times 8, is 40. The given numbers (8 and 5) are called factors ; the' first (8) the multiplicand, the second (5) the multiplier ; and the amount (20) the product. Ex. 76859 mult, by 4, or 76859 added 4 times. 4 7685-9 76859 807436 76859 307436 If the multiplier be 10, we annex a cypher to the multiplicand. If the multiplier be 100, we annex two cyphers ; and so on. d he reason is obvious, from the use of cyphers in notation. RuLp. Place the multiplier under the multi- plicand, and multiply the latter successively by the significant figures of the former; placing the right-hand figure of each product under the figure of the multiplier from which it arises; then add the product. Ex.< a) 7329 37846 93956 365 235 8704 ARITHMETIC. multiplication of two others is called a prime number ; as 3, 5, 7,11. A number which may be produced by the multiplication of two or more smaller ones, is called a composite number. For example, 27, which arises from the multiplication of 9 by 3; and these numbers (9 and 3) are called the com- ponent parts of 27. If the multiplier be a composite number, we may multiply successively by the component parts. Ex.] 7638 by 45, or 5 times 9 7638 45 9 38190 30552 68742 5 343710 . 343710 Because the second product is equal to. five times the first, and the first is equal to nine times the multiplicand, it is obvious that the second product must be five times nine, or forty-five times, as great as the multiplicand. If the multiplier be 5, which is the half of 10, we may annex a cypher and divide by 2. If it be 25, which is the fourth part of 100, we may annex two cyphers, and divide by 4. Other con- tractions of the like kind will readily occur to the learner. To multiply by 9, which is one less than 10, we may annex a cypher ; and subtract the mul- tiplicand from the number it composes. To multiply by 99,999, or any number of 9’s, an- nex as many cyphers, and subtract the multipli- cand. The reason is obvious; and a like rule may be found, though the unit place be different from 9. Multiplication is proved by repeating the operation, using the multiplier for the multipli- cand, and the multiplicand for the multiplier. Or it may be done by casting out the nines ; that is, cast out the nines of the multiplier and multiplicand, and set down the remainders. Multiply the remainders together, and if the excess of nines in their product be equal to the excess of 9’s in the total product, the work may be deemed right: thus, in Ex. (a) above, the excess of nines in the multiplicand is 3, and in the multiplier it is 5, and 3x5= 15, or 6 above nine, which I find is the excess of nines in the total product. The best method of prov- ing Multiplication is by division ; and if that be adopted, the two rules must be learnt at the samexime. Then the proof of each example in Multiplication becomes a sum in Division, and nice versa. Compound Multiplication. Compound Multiplication teacheth to find the amount of any given number of different denominations, by repeating it any proposed number of times. Rule. (1) Place the multiplier under the lowest denomination of the multiplicand. (2) Multiply the number of the lowest denomina- tion by the multiplier, and find how many ones of the next higher denomination are contained in the product. (3) Write down the excess, and carry the ones to the product of the next higher denomination, with which proceed as before ; and so on, through all the denominations to the highest ; whose product, together with the se- veral excesses, taken as one number, will be the whole amount required. Examples of Money. 9 lb. of tobacco, at 4s. 8-§d. per lb. 4 8| 9 36645 43974 21987 189230 375824 113538 657692 75692 751648 2675085 8893810 817793024 Jknuimber which cannot be produced by the £. 2 2 4§ the answer. The product of a number consisting of seve- ral parts, or denominations, by any simple num- ber whatever, will evidently be expressed by taking the product of that simple number and each part by itself as so many distinct questions; thus, 2 51. 12s. 6d. multiplied by 9, will be 22 54 108s. 54 d. = (by taking the shillings from the pence, and the pounds from the shillings, and placing them in the shillings and pounds re- spectively) 230/. 12s.6a'. which is the same as the rule ; and this will be true when the multipli- cand is any compound number whatever. Case I. If the multiplier exceed ] 2, multiply successively by its component parts, instead of the whole number at once, as in simple multi- plication. i'.v.l 16 cwt. of cheese, at 11. 18s. 8 d. per cwU 1/. 18s. 8 d. 4 30/. 18 s. 8 d. the answer. Case II. If the multiplier cannot be produced by the multiplication of small numbers, find the nearest to it, either greater or less, which can be so produced ; then, multiply by the compo- nent parts as before, and for the odd parts, add or subtract according as is required. Ex.] 17 ells of holland, at 7s. 8 \d. per ell. 7s. 8 kd. 4 1 10 10 4 6 3 4 7 61. 11s. 0 \d. the answer. Division. Division teacheth to find how often one num- ber is contained in another of the same denomi- nation, and thereby performs the work of many subtractions. The number to be divided is called the divi- dend. The number you divide by is called the divisor- The number of times the dividend contains the divisor is called the quotient. If the dividend contains the divisor any num- ber of times, and some part or parts over, those parts are called the remainder. Rule. (1) On the right and left of the divi- dend draw a curved line, and write the divisor on the left hand, and the quotient as it arises on the right. (2) Find how many times the divi- sor may be had in as many figures of the divi- dend as are just necessary, and write the number in the quotient. (3) Multiply the divisor by the quotient figure, and set the product under that part of the dividend used. (4). Subtract the last-found product from that part of the di- vidend under which it stands, and to the right hand of the remainder bring down the next figure of the dividend ; which number divide as- before ; and so on, till the whole is finished. When the divisor does not exceed 12, the whole computation may be performed without setting down any figures except the quotient. Ex.] 7)35868(5124 or 7)85868 5124 When the divisor is a composite number, and one of the component parts also measures the dividend, we may divide successively by the component parts. EXAMPLE I. EXAMPLE II. 30114 by 63 975 by 105 = 5 X 7x3 9)30114 5)975 7)3346 3)195 Quotient 478 7)65 Quotient 92. This method might he also used, although the component parts of the divisor do not measure the dividend ; but the learner will not under- island how to manage the remainder till he be acquainted with the doctrine of vulgar fractions. When there are cyphers annexed to the di- visor, cut them off, and cut off an equal number of figures from the dividend ; annex these figures to the remainder. Ex.] To divide 378643 by 5200. 52!00)3786l43(72f|4§-. 364 146 104 4243 The reason will appear by performing the Operation at large, and comparing the steps. Compound Division. Compound Division teacheth to find how often one given number is contained in another of different denominations. Rule. (1) Place the numbers as in simple di- vision. (2) Begin at the left-hand, and divide each denomination by the divisor, setting the quotients under their respective dividends. (3) But if there be a remainder, after dividing any of the denominations. except the least, find how many of the next lower denomination it is equal to, and add it to the number, if any, which was in this denomination before ; then divide the sum as usual, and so on till the whole is finished. The method of proof 19 the same as in simple division. Examples of Money. Divide 225/. 2s. 47. by 2.. 2)225/. 2s. 47. 112/. ID. 2d. the quotient. Case I. If the divisor exceed 12, divide con- tinually by its component parts, as in simple division. Ex.] What is cheese per cwt. if 16 cwt. cost 30/. 18/. 8 d. 4)30/. 18/. 8 d. 4) 7/. 14 s. 87. 1/. 18s. 87. the answer. Case II. If the divisor cannot be produced by the multiplication of small numbers, divide by it after the manner of long division. Ex.] Divide 74/. 13s. 6d. by 17. 17)74/. 13s. 67.(4/. 7s. 107. the quotient. 68 ' 6~ 20 lslT 119 “ 12 174 170 4 Reduction. Reduction teaches to bring numbers from ©ne name or denomination to another, without changing their value. Rule. All great names are brought into smaller ones by multiplying with so many of the next less as make one of the greater, adding to the product the parts of the less name, if the number to be reduced be a compound one ; — and all small names are brought into greater by dividing by as many of the less as make one of the greater. EXAMPLES. 1. Reduce 2551. 6s. 97. into pence* 20 5106 12 ARITHMETIC. Here it is evident that 61281 pence is equal to 2551. 6s. 97. 2. How many pounds are there in 122562 pence ? 12)122562 20)10213 — 6 Answer £. 510 13 6 The Rule of Three Direct. The Rule of Three Direct teacheth, by having three numbers given, to find a fourth, that shall have the same proportion to the third as the second has to the first. Rule. (1) State the question: that is, place the numbers so, that the first and third may be the terms of supposition and demand, and the second of the same kind with the answer re- quired. (2) Bring the first and third numbers into the same denomination, and the second into the lowest name mentioned. (3) Multiply the second and third numbers together, and di- vide the product by the first, and the quotient will be the answer to the question, in the same denomination you left the second number in ; which may be brought into any other denomi- nation required. The method of proof is by inverting the question. Ex. If 12//. of cheese cost 9/. 67. what wall 4 cheeses cost, each weighing Iqr. 616.} If 12//. : 9 j. 67. Iqr. 51b. X 4. 12 28 114" ~~33~ 4 132 144 528 1452 12)15048 12)1254 pence 20)104 6 £-5 4 ' 6 Note. This rule, on account of its great and extensive usefulness, is oftentimes called The Golden Rule of Proportion; for, on a proper ap- plication of it, and the preceding rules, the whole business of arithmetic, as well as every mathe- matical enquiry, depends. The rule itself is founded on this obvious principle, that the mag- nitude or quantity of any effect varies constantly in proportion to the varying part of the cause : thus, the quantity of goods bought is in propor- tion to the money laid out; the space gone over by an uniform motion is in proportion to the time, &c. — As the idea annexed to the term pro- portion is easily conceived, it would be more per- plexing than instructive to explain, in this place, what is meant by it, in a strict geometrical sense. It may be sufficient, therefore, to observe, that, independent of the precise meaning of that word, and its deducible properties, the truth of the rule, as applied to ordinary enquiries, may be made very evident, by attending only to princi- ple? already explained. — It is shewn in multipli- cation of money, that the price of one multiplied by the quantity is the price of the whole : and in division, that the price of the whole divided by the quantity is the price of one. Now, in all cases of valuing goods, &c. where one is the first term of the proportion, it is plain that the an- swer found by this rule will be the same as that found by multiplication of money ; and where one is the last term of the proportion, it will be the same as that found by division of money. In like manner, if the first term be any number whatever, it is plain that the product of the se- cond and third terms will be greater than the true answer required; by as much as the price in 1 4g‘ the second term exceeds the price of one, or as the first term exceeds an unit. Consequently this product divided by thefirst term will givethe true answer required, and is the rule. The Rule of Three Inverse. The Rule of Three Inverse teacheth by having three numbers given, to find a fourth, that shall have the same proportion to the second as the first has to the third. If more require more, or less require less, the question belongs to the rule of three direct. But if more require less, or less require more, it belongs to the rule of three inverse. Rule. (1) State and reduce the terms as in the rule of three direct. (2) Multiply the first and second terms together, and divide their pro- duct by the third, and the quotient is the answer to the question, in the same denomination you left the second number in. The method of proof is by inverting the question. Ex.] What quantity of shalloon, that is S quarters of a yard wide, will line l-\ yards oi cloth, that is yard wide ? 1 yd. 2 qrs. * 7 yds. 2 qrs. ** 3 qrs. 4 4 If SO 6 3)180 4)60 15 yards, the answer. More requiring more, is when the third term is greater than the first, and requires the fourth term to be greater than the second. And less requiring less, is when the third term is less than the first, and requires the fourth term to be less than the second. In like manner, more requiring less, is when the third term is greater than the first, and re- quires the fourth term to be less than the second. And less requiring moire, is when the third term is less than the first, and requires the fourth term to be greater than the second. The reason of this rule may be explained from the principles of compound multiplication and division, in the same manner as the direct rule. For example : If 6 men can (jlo a piece of work in 10 days, in how many days will 12 men do it ? , 6X10 As 6 men * 10 days * * 12 men * — - — = 5 days, the answer. And here the product of the first and second terms, i. e. 6 times 10, or 60, is evi- dently the time in which one man would per- form the work: therefore 12 men will do it in one twelfth part of that time,or 5 days; and this reasoning is applicable to any instance whatever- Compound Proportion. Compound Proportion teacheth to resolve such questions as require two or more statings by simple proportion; and that whether they are direct or inverse. Rule. (1) Let that term be put in the second place which is of the same denomination with the term sought. (2) Place the terms of sup- position, one above another, in the first place ; and the terms of demand, one above another, in the third place. (3) The first and third term of every row will be of one name, and must be reduced to the same denomination.. (4) Ex- amine every row separately: by saying, if the first term give the second, does the third require more or less? If it require more, mark the less extreme with a cross; but if less, mark the greater extreme. (5) Multiply all those numbers to- gether which are marked for a divisor, and those which are not marked for a dividend, and the quotient will be the answer sought. Note. When the same numbers are found in the divisor as in the dividend, they may be- 6128 1 150 thrown cut of both. Or any numbers may be divided by their greatest common divisor, and the quotients taken instead of them. k i.j If lti horses can eat up 9 bushels of oats in b days, how many horses will eat up 24 bushels in 7 days at the same rate? -{- 9 bushels * 16 horses ** 24 bushels 0 days ; ; j 7 days -f- 6 X 16 x 24 , . 2 x 16 X 24 9 X 7 ^ contract ’ on — 2 X 16 X 8 3X? 2 56 , „ — - = 364 horses, the answ. 1X7 7 7 ’ The reason of this rule may be readily shown from the nature of direct andinverse proportion: for every row' in this case is a particular stating in one of those rules; and therefore if all the se- parate dividends be collected together into one dividend, and all the divisors into one divisor, their quotient must be the answer sought. Thus, in the example: 24 V 1 6 As 9 bush. * 16 horses ** 24 bush. ‘ - by rule of three direct. As 6 days 16 . 24 x 16X6 7 days . by rule of 3 J 9x7 1 horses inverse, which is the same as the rule. Practice. Practice is a contraction of the rule of three direct, when the first term happens to be an unit, or one; and has its name from its daily use amongst merchants and trademen, being an easy and concise method of working most questions that occur in trade and business. The method of proof is by the rule of three direct. An aliquot part of any number, is such a part of it, as being taken a certain number of times doth exactly make the number. General Rule. ( 1 ) Suppose the price of the given quantity to be 1 1 . or Is. as is most convenient; then will the quantity itself be the answer at the supposed price. ( 2 .) Divide the given price into aliquot parts, either of the supposed price, or of ano- ther, and the sum of the quotients belonging to each will be the true answer required. £v.] What is the value of 526’ yards of cloth, at 3s. lCfjd. per yard. 526 AnS. at ll. 35. 4d. is ± 87 13 4 ditto tit 0 3 4 fi 4d. is JL_ 8 15 4 ditto at 0 0 4 2d. is \ 4 7 8 ditto at 0 0 2 i is 4 0 10 111 ditto at 0 0 101 -7 3| ditto at 0 3 10^ the full price. In the above example, it is plain that the quantity 526 is the answer at 11. consequently, as 3s. 4d. is the *. of a pound, 1. part of that quantity, or 871. 13s. 4d. is the price of 3s. 4d. in like manner, as 4d. is the part of 3s. 4d. so i ° . ,J_ of 871. 13s. 4d. or 81. 15s. 4d. is the answer at 1 ° 4d. And by reasoning in this way 41. 7s. 8 d. will be shewn to be the price at 2 d. and 10 s. 1 l^d. the price at J. Now as the sum of all these parts is equal to the whole price (3s. 10-|d.), so the sum of the answers belonging to each price will be the answer at the full price required. And the same will be true in any example what- ever. Vulgar Fractions. In order to understand the nature of Vulgar Fractions, we must suppose unity (or the num- ber 1) divided into several equal parts. One or more of these parts is called a fraction, and is represented by placing one number in a smaller character above a line, and another under it : AftmiMEtte. For example, a two fifth part is written thus, The number under the line (5) show's- how many parts unity is divided into, and is called the de- nominator. The number above the line ( 2 ) show's how many of these parts are represented, and is Called the numerator. It foliow'S from the manner of representing fractions, that when the numerator is increased, the value of the fraction becomes greater ; but, when the denominator is increased, the value becomes less. Hence we may infer, that, if the numerator and denominator be both increased, or both diminished, in the same proportion, the value is not altered; and, therefore, if We mul- tiply both by any number whatever, or divide them by any number which measures both, w r e shall obtain other fractions of equal value. Thus, every fraction may be expressed in a variety of forms, which have all the same signification. A fraction annexed to an integer, or whole number, makes a mixed number : For example, five and tw'o third-parts, or 5|-. A fraction, whose numerator is greater than its denominator, is called an improper fraction : For example, seventeen third-parts, or . Fractions of this kind are greater than unity. Mixed numbers may be represented in the form of improper fractions, and improper fractions may be reduced to mixed numbers, and sometimes to integers. A whole number may be treated as a fraction by making ils denominator unity. “ To reduce mixed numbers to hnproper frac- tions: Multiply the integer by the denominator of the fraction, and to the product add the nu- merator. The sum is the numerator of the im- proper fraction sought, and is placed above the given denominator.” Examples. : 8 - 5 - : 9^ 4 5 2 Ex. Required th& greatest number v/hicll measures 475 and 569? 29 The answers are 43 19 and . 4 3 gr’ T Because one is equal to two halves, or 3 third- parts, or four quarters, and every integer is equal to twice as many halves, or four times as many quarters, and so on ; therefore, every inte- ger maybe expressed in the form of an improper fraction, having any assigned denominator. The numerator is obtained by multiplying the integer into the denominator. Hence the reason of the foregoing rule is evident. 5, reduced to an im- proper fraction, whose denominator is 3, makes i_5 , and this added to 4, amounts to \J . 3 ’ . 3 . 3 “ To reduce improper fractions to whole or mixed numbers: Divide the numerator by the denominator.” 5 7 • 8 4 • in . Examples. 9)57 11)84 18)91 (5 T V 90 The answers are 6JL, 7 7 , and 5JL. 9’ 11 18 This problem is the converse of the former, and the reason may be illustrated in the same manner. “ To reduce fractions to lower terms : Divide both numerator and denominator by any num- ber which measures both, and place the quotients in the form of a fraction.” Examples. JL£ : : 5 7 0 . 1 27 16 360 The answers are 2 ~3 ; 16; for both the humerator and denominator of the first fraction is divisible by 3 ; of the second by 16; and of the third by 90 : but the answers are of pre- cisely the same value as the original fractions. To find the greatest common measure of two numbers: Divide the greater by the less, and the divisor by the remainder continually, tillnothing remain ; the last divisor is the greatest common measure. 4751589(1 475 114)475(4 456 Here divide 589 by 47.7, and the remainder is 114; then divide 475 by 114, and the remainder is 19 ; then 1 14 by 19, and there is ro re- 19)11476 mainder : from which we in* 114^ fer, l ^ at the' last divisor, — — is the greatest common mca j 0 sure. To explain the reason of this, we must ob- serve, that any number which measures two others, will also measure their sum, and their difference, and will measure any multiple of ei- ther. In the foregoing example, any irumbef which measures 589 and 475, will measure their difference 114, and will measure 456, which is a multiple of 114; and any number which measures 475, and 456, will also measure their difference 19. Consequently, no number greater than 19 can measure 589 and 475. Again 19 will measure them both, for it measures 114, and therefore measures 456, which is a multiple of 114 and 475, which is just 19 more than 456 : and, because it measures 475, and 114, it will measure their sum 589. To reduce to the lowest possible terms, we divide both number* by 19, and it comes to If there be no common measure greater than 1, the fraction is already in the lowest terms. If the greatest common measure of 3 numbers be required, we find the greatest measure of the two first, and then the greatest measure of that number, and the third. If there be more num- bers, we proceed in the same manner. « To reduce fractions to others of equal value that have the same denominator: 1st. Multiply the numerator of each fraction by all the deno- minators except its own. The products are numerators to the respective fractions sought.” 2d. “ Multiply all the denominators into each other; the product is the common denominator.’* Ex. 4 and 7 and f = ff « and and 4 X 9 X 8 =r 288 first numerator. 7 X 5 X 8 =r 280 second numerator. 3 x 5 X 9 = 135 third numerator. 5 X 9 X 8 = 360 common denominator. Here we multiply 4, the numerator of the first fraction, by 9 and 8, the denominators of the two others; and the product 288 is the numerator of the fraction sought, equivalent to the first. The other numerators are found in like manner, and the common denominator 360, i&^obtauied by . multiplying the given denominators 5, 9, 8, into each other. In the course of the whole operation the numerators and denominators of each fraction are multiplied by the same numbers, and there- fore their value is not altered. Addition of Vulgar Fractions. Rule. Reduce them, if necessary, to a com- mon denominator; add the numerators, and place the sum above the denominator. Ex. 1. 3. a. — 2_7 4- i° = 37 . 5 * 9 4 5 1 4 5 4 S 2 5 _1_ 8 I _2_ — 4.5 o _L 510 5 6 7 7 ‘ T ~ 10 6 3 0 1 6 30 1 630 — 1 16 7 7. 6 3 0 The numerators of fractions that hax'e the same denominator signify like parts; and the reason for adding them is equally obvious, as that for adding shillings or any other inferior denomination. Subtraction of Vulgar Fractions. Rule. “ Reduce the fractions to a common denominator; subtract the numerator of the subtrahend from the numerator of the minuend, and place the remainder above the denomi- nator.” ARITHMETIC. 151 Examples. Subtract 3 from ±1 : and 5 from £. - X_ 5 TT T 11 X 7 = 77 3 X 12 = 36 41 '*• ii 3 X 11 =33 5 X 4 = 20 13 rem. 12 X 7 = 84 4 X 11 = 44 1'he answers are 4J and .13. 8 4 4 4 To subtract a fraction from an integer: Sub- tract the numerator from the denominator, and place the remainder above the denominator; prefix to this the integer diminished by unity. Ex. Subtract JL from 12. Remainder 11*. 5 3 Multiplication of Vulgar Fractions. Rule. “ Multiply the numerators of the fac- tors together for the numerator of the product, and the denominators together for the denomi- nator of the product.” Ex. 1st. §■ X i- = 4-5- 2 x 5 = 10 numerator 3x? = 21 -denominator. 82 . — 4 _2 b b 74 — 3 T 42 X 5 X 31 = 1302 4 = 20 To Multiply 5. by | is the same as to find what two-third parts, of 4 comes to ; if one-third part only had been required, it would have been obtained by multiplying the denominator 7 by 3, because the value of fractions is lessened when their denominators are increased ; and this comes to JL : and, because two-thirds were required, 2 1 we must double that fraction, which is done by multiplying the numerator by 2, and comes- to JL2. Hence we infer that fractions of fractions, 2 i , of compound fractions, such as ■*. of , are re- duced to simple ones by multiplication. The same method is followed when the compound fraction is expressed in three parts or more. If a number be multiplied by any integer, its value is increased. If it be multiplied by' 1, or taken one time, it undergoes no alteration. If it be multiplied by a proper fraction, or taken for one half, two-thirds, or the like, its value is diminished, and the product is less than the number multiplied. Division of Vulgar Fractions. Rule. (1) “ Multiply the numerator of the dividend by tile denominator of the divisor. The product is the numerator of the quotient.” (2) « Multiply the denominator of the dividend by the numerator of the divisor. The product is the denominator of the quotient.” Ex. Divide J. by 1. Quotient 2X9 = 18 5X7 = 35 _ To explain the reason of this operation ; sup- pose it required to divide -f by 7, or to take one- seventh part of 2. This is obtained by multi- plying the denominator by 7 (for the value of fractions is diminished by increasing their deno- minators), and it comes to J-_, Again, because 7. is nine times less than seven, the quotient of any number divided by .* will be nine times greater than the quotient of the same number divided by 7. Therefore we multiply JL. by 9,, and obtain JJL. . .3 5 If the divisor and dividend have the same de- nominator it issufficient to divide the numerators. Ex. divided by _3_ quotes 4. The quotient of any number divided by a proper fraction is greater than the dividend. It is obvious, that any integer contains more halves, more third parts, and the like, than it contains units; and, if an integer and fraction be divided alike, the quotients will have the same proportion to the numbers divided; but the value of an integer is increased when the divisor is a proper fraction; therefore the value of a fraction in the like case is increased also. The foregoing rule may be extended to every case, by reducing integers and mixed numbers to the form of improper fractions. Decimal Fractions. A decimal fraction is a fraction whose denomi- nator is ten or some power of ten : but instead of writing down the denominator, a comma is placed before the number, to mark the fraction’; and whatever number of figures follows the comma, the same is the index of the power of ten in the denominator, or there must be as many cyphers after unit in the denominator, as figures after the comma. Thus 4,7 is 4 and _Z_. . . 1 ° .47 signifies Forty-seven hundredth parts. .047 Forty-seven thousandth parts. .407 Four hund. and 7 thousandth parts. 4.07 Four, and seven hundredth parts. 4.007 Four, and seven thousandth parts. To reduce vulgar fractions to decimal ones : “An- nex a cypher to the numerator and divide it by the denominator, annexing a cypher con- tinually to the remainder.” EXAMPLES- 44 = -Lj. = .078125 | = .6 66 8cc. 75)120(16 6 64)500(078125 3)20(666 75 448 18 450 520 ' 20 450 512 18 0 80 20 64 18 160 20 328 320 320 The reason of this operation will be evident, if we consider that the numerator of a vulgar fraction is understood to be divided by the de- nominator ; and this division is actually per- formed when it is reduced to a decimal. Some vulgar fractions may be reduced to de- cimals, and are called finite decimals. Others cannot be exactly reduced, because the division always leaves a remainder; but, by continuing the tfivision, we shall perceive how the decimal may be extended to any length whatever. These are called infinite decimals. Lower denominations may be considered as fractions of higher ones, and reduced to decimals accordingly. The value of decimal places decreases like that of integers, ten of the lower place in either being equal to one of the next higher; and the same holds in passing from decimals to integers. Therefore, all- the operations are performed in the same way with decimals, whether placed by themselves or annexed to integers, as with pure integers. The only peculiarity lies in the ar- rangement and pointing of the decimals. In addition and subtraction, “ Arrange units under units, tenth-parts under tenth-parts, and proceed' as in integers.” Add 32.035 from 13348 136.374 160.63 12.3645 take 9.2993 4.0487 341.4035 In multiplication, “ Allow as many decimal places in the product as there are in both factors. If the product has not so many places, supply them by prefixing cyphers on the left hand,” Ex. 1st. 1.S7 2d. .1572 1.8 ' -12 1096 .018864 137 ' 2.466 The reason of this rule may be explained, by observing that the value of the. product depends on the value of the factors : and since each de- cimal pkjpe in either factor diminishes its value ten times, it must equally diminish the value of the product. To multiply decimals by 10, move the deci- mal point one place to the right; to multiply by 100, 1000, or the like, move it as many places to the right as there are cyphers in the multiplier. In division, “ Point the quotient so that there may be an equal number of decimal places in the dividend as in the divisor and quotient together. Ex. Divide 14 by .7854. .7654) 1,4.-000000(1 7.82 &c. 7854 61460 54978 64820 62832 ^ 19880 Therefore, if there be the same number of decimal places in the divisor and dividend, there will be none in the quotient. Ex. Divide .75 by .25. Answer 3, which is a. whole number. If there be more in the dividend, the quotient will have as many as the dividend has more than the divisor. See above. If there be more in the divisor, we must annex (or suppose annexed) as many cyphers to the dividend as may complete the number of deci- mals in the divisor, and all the figures of the quo- tient are integers. Ex. Divide 8 by .125. .125)8.000(64 Answer in whole numbers. 7.50 500' 500. 0 To reduce numbers of different denominations to their equivalent decimal values: Rule, (1) Write the given numbers perpendicularly under each other, beginning at the least.. (2) Opposite each dividend, on the left hand, place such a number for a divisor as will bring it to the next superior name, and draw a perpendicular line between them. (3) Begin with the highest’; and write the quotient of each division, as decimal parts, on the right hand of. the dividend next below it, and so proceed to the. last ; and the last quo- tient is . the decimal sought. Ex. Reduce 15s. 9gd. to the decimal of a £. 4 ) 3. 12 j 9.75 20 j 15.8125 .790625 the decimal. required. To fnd the value of any given decimal in terms of . the integer. Rule. Multiply the decimal by the- number of parts in the next less denomination, and cut ofFas many places for a remainder, to the right hand, as there are places in the given decimal ; and so proceed with the rest. Ex. What is the value of .875 of a Jf. .375 20 s. 7.500, 12 . d. 6.000 Answer 7s. C d. If the divisor leave a remainder, the quo- tient may be extended to more decimal. pH es ; 152 but those are not regarded in fixing the decimal point. See above. The reason for fixing the decimal point as directed, may be inferred from the rule followed in multiplication. The quotient multiplied by the divisor produces the dividend; and there- fore the number of decimal places in the divi- dend is equal to those in the divisor and quotient together. Some decimals, . though extended to any length, are never complete ; and others, whieh termi- nate at last, sometimes consist of so many places, that it would be difficult in practice to extend them fully. In these cases, we may extend the decimal to three, four, or more places, according to the nature of the articles, and the degree of accuracy required. In this manner we may per- form any operation with ease by the common rules, and the answers we obtain are sufficiently exact for any purpose in business. On the Extracting of Roots. The root is a number, whose continual mul- tiplication into itself produces the power; and is denominated the sqtiare, cube, 4th, 5th, root, See. according as it is, when raised to the 2d, Sd, 4th, 5th, Sec. power, equal to that power. Thus 2 is the square root .of 4, because 2 X 2=4; and 4 is tire cube root of 64, because 4 x 4 x =: 64; and so on. Although there is no number of which we cannot find any power exactly, yet there may be many numbers of which a precise root can never be determined. But, by the help of decimals, we can approximate towards the root, to any as- signed degree of exactness. The roots which approximate are called surd roots, and those which are perfectly accurate are called rational roots. Roots are sometimes denoted, as in algebra, by writing the character before the power, with the index of the root against it : thus, the third root of 70 is expressed f/ 70, and the se- cond root of it is 70, the index 2 being al- mays omitted when the square or second root is designed. If the power be expressed by several num- bers, with the sign -j- or — between them, a line is drawn from the top of the sign over all the parts of it; thus, the third root of 28 — 13 is \/ 28 — 13. Sometimes roots are designed like powers, with fractional indices ; thus, the square root of £ I 5 is 5 2 , the third root of 19 is 19 T , and the akrnrth root of 40 — 12 is 40 — 12*’ & c. To EXTRACT THE SQUARE ROOT. Rule. (1) Distinguish the given number into periods of two figures each, by putting a point •over the place of units, another over the place of hundreds, and so on. (2) Find a square number either equal to, or the next less than, the first period ; and put the root of it to tbe'right hand of the given number, after the manner of a quotient figure in division, and it will be the first figure of the root required. (3) Subtract the assumed square from the first period, and to the remainder bring down the next period for a dividend. (4) Place the double of the root al- ready found, on the left hand of the dividend, for a divisor. (5) Consider what figure must be annexed to the divisor, so that, if the result be multiplied by-it, the product may be equal to, or the next l6ss than, the dividend, and it will be the :id figure of-the root. (6) Subtract the product' from the dividend, and to the remainder bring down the next period, for a new dividend. (?) Find a divisor as before, by doubling the figures already in the root; and from these find the next figures of the root, as in the last article ; and so oh through all the periods to the last. ARITHMETIC. Note. If there nre decimals in the given num- ber, it must be pointed both ways from unity, and the root be made to consist of as many whole numbers and decimals as there are periods belonging to each; and when the figures belong- ing to the given number are exhausted, the ope- ration may be continued at pleasure by adding cyphers. EXAMPLES. Required the square root of 5499025. 5499025(2345 the root. 4 43)149 129 464)2090 1856 4685)23425 23425 0 Extraction of the Cube Root. Rule. (1) Find by trial the nearest rational cube to the given number, and call it the as- sumed cube. (2) Then, as twice the assumed cube added to the given number, is to twice the given number added to the supposed cube, so is the root of the supposed cube to the root re- quired nearly. (3) By taking the cube of the root thus found for the supposed cube, and re- peating the operation, the root may be had to a still greater degree of exactness. Ex. 1. What is the cube root of 12484? By trial I find the nearest root, less than the given number, is 23, the cube of which is 12167. Then 12167 xH 12484 = 36818, and 12484 X 2 12167 = 37135. There- fore as 36818 : 37135 ” 23 ) 23.198, and 23.198 is the root required nearly. 2. What is the cube root of 2 ? As the nearest rational root is 1, we have 1 X 2 -f- 2 = 4, and 2 x 2 -f- 1 z= 5. Then 4 * 5 ** 1 ) A. = 1.25 = root nearly. Again, the cube of 5 = 1*5 therefore 4 6 4 W X 2 -f 2 : 2 X 2 + 1.25 :: 5 , or To EXTRACT THE ROOTS OF POWERS IN General. Rule I. Prepare the given number for extrac- tion, by pointing off from the units place as the root required directs. 2. Find the first figure of the root by trial, and subtract its power from the given number. 3. To the remainder bring down the first figure in the next period, and call it the dividend. 4. Involve the root to the next inferior power to that which is given, and multiply it by the number denoting the given power for a divisor. 5. Find how many times the divisor may be had in the dividend, and the quotient will be an- other figure of the root. 6. Involve the whole root to the given power, and subtract it from the given number as before. 7. Bring down the first, figure of the next pe- riod to the remainder for a new dividend, to which find a new divisor, and so on till the whole is finished. Ex. What is the cube root of 53157376? 53157376(376 ? 27 = 3’ 3 2 X 3 = 27)261 dividend. 50653 = 37 5 3 - 4107)25043 second dividend. 53157376 0 • The reason of the process in the Extraction of Roots may be seen in Algebra, p. 53. Thus have we gone over all the principal ! rules in cojruhon arithmetic, giving under each an example or examples, by the assistance of which the reader may invent any number of others for his own improvement in the branch of science. We have not touched upon simple interest, discount, loss and gain, &c. because these are but modifications of the Rule of Three; and may be done either by the rules there given, or by Practice. We doubt not that this article, if followed by that under the word Algebra, (which though first in order in a dictionary ne- ■ cessarily comes last in practice) will be found sufficient for almost all purposes in common life. ARITHMETIC, decimal, that containing j the doctrine of decimal fractions. See Arith- * METIC. Arithmetic of infinites, the doctrine of i infinite series. See Series. Arithmetic, instrumental, that perform- j ed by means of instruments, as the abacus or j counting-board, Napier’s bones, &c. Arithmetic, literal, the same with spe- i cious. See Algebra. Arithmetic, logarithmetical, that per- I formed by means of logarithms. See Lo- 1 garithm. Arithmetic, logistical, the same with. ] sexagesimal. Arithmetic, sexagesimal, the doctrine of ; sexagesimal fractions. AKiTHMETic,specious, the same with alge- ' bra. See Algebra. ARITHMETICAL complement a loga- j rithm, the sum or number which a logarithm j wants of 10,000000: thus the arithmetical complement of the logarithm 8.154032 is 1.845968. Arithmetical progression. See Alge- i bra, p, 54. Arithmetical proportion. See Alge- bra, p. 54. ARITHMOMANCY, a species of divina- . tion performed by means of numbers. ARLEQUIN, an English trivial name ap- ; plied to some birds, insects, shells, &c. re- markable for their striking colours. ARM, in respect of the magnet. A load- ■ stone is said to be armed when it is inclosed, j capped, or set in iron or steel, in order to in- crease its magnetic virtue. Arm, in sea language. A ship is said to be armed when fitted out and provided in all respects for war. ARMADILLO. See Dysapus, ARMED, in the sea language. A cross- | bar shot is said to he armed when some rope- yarn or the like is rolled about the end of the iron bar which runs through the shot. Armed, in heraldry, is used when the horns, feet, beak, or talons, of any beast or bird of prey, are of a different colour from the rest of their body. He bears a cock or a ] falcon armed or, &c. ARMENIANS, in church history, a sect or division amongst the eastern Christians; thus called from Armenia, the country an- ciently inhabited by them. There are two kinds of Armenians ; the one catholic, and subject to the pope, having a patriarch in Persia and another in Poland; the other' makes a peculiar sect, having two patriarchs in Natolia. They are generally accused of being monophysites, only allowing of oive na- A R M A R O A R II 1.53 turn in Jesus Christ. As to the cueharist, they, for the most part, agree with the Greeks ; they abstain rigorously from eating of blood, and meats strangled, and are much addicted to fasting. ARMENTA. See Bos. AH MIG EH, an esquire, or armour-bearer. A RMILI ,A?nembmnosu, in anatomy, is that circular ligament which comprehends all the tendons belonging to the whole hand within a circle, in the region of the* carpus. ARMILLARY, Armillaris, in a gene- ral sense, something consisting of rings, or I circles, from armilla, a bracelet. Ab.mii.lary sphere, an artificial sphere, composed of a number of circles, represent- ; ing the several circles of the mundane sphere, put together in their natural order, to ease and assist the imagination in conceiving the i constitution of the heavens, and the motions of the celestial bodies. The armillary sphere turns upon its axis P p, Plate IX. Miscel. fig. 4. within a silvered horizon II O, which is divided into degrees, and moveable every way, upon a brass sup- porter. E Q represents the equinoctial, and A B flue zodiac, which is a broad circle di- vided into degrees, and into twelve equal parts, marked writh the twelve signs B , n, &c. P Q p E, is the meridian, likewise di- i vided into degrees. The other parts are the' two tropics, and two polar circles, both delineated in the figure. ARMINIANS, in church history, a sect of Christians, which arose in Holland, by a separation from the Calvinists. They are great asserters of free-will. They speak very ambiguously of the prescience of God. They look on the doctrine of the Trinity as a point not necessary to salvation ; and many of them hold there is no precept in scripture by which we are enjoined to adore the Holy Ghost ; and that Jesus is not equal to God the Fa- ; ther. ARM0ISIN, a silk stuff, or kind of taff'e- ty, manufactured in the East Indies, at Ly- ons in France, and Lucca in Italy. That of the Indies is slighter than those made in Eu- r ope. * ARMONTAC. See Ammonia. AH MONICA. See Harmonica. ARMORIAL. See Heraldry. ARMOU R denotes all such habiliments as serve to defend the body from wounds, espe- i daily of darts, a sword, a lance, &c. A com- plete suit of armour formerly consisted of a helmet, a shield, a cuirasse, a coat of mail, a gauntlet, & c. all now laid aside. ARMS, charged, in heraldry, are such as retain their ancient integrity, with the addi- tion of son>e new honourable bearing. Arms, canting or vocal, those in which there are some figures A alluding to the name of the family. Arms, full or entire, such as retain their primitive purity, without any alterations or abatements. Arms, false, such as are not conformable to the rules of heraldry. Arms, in falconry, the legs of a hawk from the thigh to the foot. x terns, king at, > seeHEHAtD . Arms, herald at, $ Arms, poursuivunt at, see Poursuivant. Arms, college of, see College of arms. ARMY. Aa army is composed of squa- X-OL, I. (Irons and battalions, and is usually divided into three corps, and formed into three lines; the first line is called the van-guard, the se- cond the centre or main body, and the third the rear-guard, or body of reserve. The middle of each line is possessed by the foot ; the cavalry forms the right and left wing of each line ; and sometimes they place squa- drons of horse in the intervals between the battalions. When the army is drawn up in order of battle, the horse are placed at five feet distance from each other, and the foot at three. In each line the battalions are dis- tant from each other 180 feet, which is near- ly equal to the extent of their front ; and the same holds of the squadrons, which are about 300 feet distant, the extent of their own front. 1 hese intervals are left for the squadrons and battalions of the second line to range them- selves against the intervals of the first, that both may more readily march through those spaces to the enemy : the lirst line is usually 300 feet distant from the second, and the se- cond from the third, that there may be suf- ficient room to rally, when the squadrons and battalions are broken. An army sometimes acquires different ap- pellations from the particular services m which it is employed. A covering army is that which covers a place, by lying encamp- ed for the protection of the different passes which lead to the principal object of defence. An army is said to blockade a place when, being well provided with heavy artillery, &c. j it is employed to invest a town for the pur- 1 pose ot reducing it by assault or famine. An army of observation is so called because, by its advanced positions and desultory move- ments, it is constantly employed in watching the enemy. Such is a body of troops en- gaged bv besiegers to prevent relief being brought into a place, or the siege being raised lay the enemy. An army of reserve is a sort ot general depot for effective service. In cases ot emergency, the whole, or part of an j army of reserve, is employed, to recover a lost j day, or to secure a victory. A flying annv j is a strong body of horse and foot, usually ; commanded by a lieutenant-general, which is ■ always in motion, to cover its own garrisons, ; or to keep the enemy in perpetual alarm. | ARNICA, leopard’s banc, in botany, a ge- t nus of the polygamia superllua order, belong- j ing to the syngenesia class of plants ; and in i the natural method ranking under the forty - j ninth order, compositae-discoides'. The re- ; ceptacle is naked; the pappus is simple; and ; the iilaments are five, without anlhenr. ! There are twelve species, live of which are European, and have been used in medicine as discutients in chronic rheumatism, lum- bago, Ac. ; also internally in intermit tents. ARNOLDISTS, in church history, sect- aries so called from their leader Arnold of Bresia, who was a great declaimer against the wealth and vices of the clergy ; unci’ who is also charged with preaching against bap- tism and the eucharist. AROLEC, an American weight, equal to twenty-five of our pounds. AROMA, or the odorant principle of plants, is distinctly characteristic in each in- dividual. Water impregnated with this prin- ciple, is termed the distilled water ot the plant ; of these a great variety is used in pharmacy. AROMATICS, in pharmacy, substances that possess a fragrant penetrating smell, a strong pungent taste, and a considerable sti- mulating power on the system in general. Sec Materia Medtca. AROU R A, a Grecian measure of fifty feet. It was more frequently used for a square mea- I sure of half the plethrou. The Egyptian aroura was the square of one hundred cubits. ARPENT, a term sometimes used to de- note an acre. ARRACHE'E, in heraldry, a term applied ; to the representations of plants tom up by the 1 roots. ARRACK, or Rack, a spirituous liquor imported from the East Indies, used by way of dram and in punch. The word arrack, according to Mr. Lockyer, is an Indian name dor strong waters of all kinds ; for they call our spirits and brandy English arrack. But what we understand by the name arrack, he affirms is properly no other than a spirit pro- cured by distillation from a vegetable juice called toddy, which fiows by incisions out of the cocoa-nut tree, like the birch juice pro- cured among us. The toddy is a pleasant drink by itself, when new, but purges those who are not used to it ; when stale, it is heady, and makes good vinegar. The Eng- lish at Madras use it as leaven to raise their bread with. There are, however, several kinds of ar- rack, distinguished by different names ; such as Batavia arrack, a vinous spirit obtained by distillation from rice and sugar fermented with the juice of cocoa-nuts-, it is a strong spirit; but being made in copper stills, is not so agreeable as Goa arrack. Bitter, black, and Colombo arrack, are hot spirits little valued, and seldom imported by Europeans, The manner ot making the Goa arrack is this: Ihe juice of the trees is not procured in the way of tapping, as we do; but the ope- rator provides himself with a pared of earth- vn pots, with bellies and necks like our bird- bottles; he makes fast a number of these to his girdle, and any way else that he com* modiouslv can about him. Thus equip- ped, he climbs up the trunk of a cocoa-tree j and when he comes to the boughs, he takes out liis knife, and cutting off one" of the small knots or buttons, he applies the mouth of the- bottle to the wound, fastening it to the bough wiih a bandage ; in the same manner he cuUi olf other buttons, and fastens on his pots, till the whole number is employed: this done in the evening, descending fromj the tree, he leaves them till the next morning; when he takes off the bottles, which are mostly filled, and empties the juice into the proper recep- tacle^ This is repeated every night, till a sufficient quantity is produced ; " and the whole being then put together, is left to fer- ment, which it soon does. V, hen the fermen- tation is over, and the liquor or wash is be- come a little tart, it is put into the still, and a tire being made, the still is suffered to work as long as that which comes over has any con- siderable taste of spirit. The. liquor thus pro- cured is the low w ine of arrack ; and this is so poor a liquor, that it will soon corrupt and spoil, it not distilled again, to separate some of its watery parts; they therefore immediately after pour back this low wine into the still, and rectify it to that very weak kind of proof- spirit, in which state we find it. The arrack we meet with, notwithstanding its being a proof test, according to the way ol judging 154 A R R ARS by the crown of bubbles, holds but a sixth, and sometimes -but an eighth, part of pure spirit; whereas our other spirits, when they snow that proof, are generally esteemed to be one half pure spirit. There is a paper of ob- servations on arrack, in the Melanges d’His- toire Natur. tom. v. p. 302. By fermenting, distilling, and rectifying the juice oi the Ame- rican maple, which has much the same taste as that of the cocoa, the author says he made arrack not in the least inferior to any that comes from the East Indies; and he thinks the juice of the sycamore and of the birch trees would equally answer the end. Arrack is not to be sold in Great Britain but in warehouses entered as directed by 6th of Geo. I. cap. 2 1. upon forfeiture, and casks, tkc. Arrack, tungusian, is a spirituous liquor made by the Tartars of Tungusia, of mare’s milk, left to sour, and afterwards distilled twice or thrice between two earthen pots closely stopped, whence the liquor runs through a small wooden pipe. It is more intoxicating than brandy. ARRAGONITE. See Mineralogy. ARRAIGNMENT, in law, the arraigning or setting a thing in order ; as a person is said to arraign a writ of novel disseisin, who pre- pares and fits it for trial. It is most properly used to call a person to answer in form of law upon an indictment, &c. at the suit of the king. ARRAY, in law, the ranking or setting forth bf a jury or inquest of men impannelled on a cause. ARRENTATION, in the forest-law, is the licensing an owner of lands in a forest, to inclose them with a low hedge, and a small ditch, in consideration of a yearly rent. ARREST, the apprehending and restrain- ing a person, in order to oblige him to be obedient to the law ; which in all cases, ex- cept treason, felony, or breach of the peace, must be done by virtue of a precept out of some court. Outer doors may' be broken open to arrest a felon ; but in civil cases it is otherwise, unless it is in pursuit of one before taken. Attorneys, &c. maliciously causing any person to be arrested, shall forfeit ten pounds and treble damages. The same penalty is incurred for arresting a person (except in criminal cases, and an escape-warrant) on Sundays; but arrests made in the night are equally lawful with those by day. Peers of the realm, and members of par- liament, may not be arrested for debt; nor can any other subject be arrested for less than 10/. on a process issued out of a supe- rior court, or 40s. in an inferior one. Arrest of judgment, the assigning just reasons why judgment should not pass; ns want of notice of the trial, a material defect in the pleading, when the record differs from the deed pleaded, when persons are mis- named, when more is given by the verdict than is laid in the declaration, &c. This may be done either ip criminal or civil cases. ARRESTANDIS bonis, tkc. a writ that lies for one whose cattle or goods are taken by another, who is likely to carry them away before the contest is decided. ARREST O facto super bonis, &c. a writ brought by a denizen against the goods of aliens found within, tins kingdom, as a recom- A R S ponce for goods taken from him in a foreign country. ARRHABONARIJ, a sect of Christians who held that the eucharist is neither the real flesh nor blood of Christ, nor yet the sign of them, but only the pledge or earnest of them. ARRHEPH ORI A, a feast among the Athenians, instituted in honour of Minerva, and Hearse daughter of Cecrops. ARROBA, a weight used in Spain, in Por- tugal, at Goa, and throughout all Spanish America. The arroba of Portugal is 32 Lis- bon lbs. of Spain 25 Spanish lbs. ARRQNDE'E, in heraldry, a cross, the arms of which are composed of sections of a circle : not opposite to each other, so as to make the arms bulge out thicker in one part than another ; but the sections of each arm lying the same way, so that the arm is every where of an equal thickness, and all of them terminating at the edge of the escutcheon like the plain cross. ARROW, in surveying, small sticks shod with iron, to stick into the ground at the end of the chain. Arrow, in astronomy. See Sagitta. ARSCH1N, in commerce, a long measure used in China to measure stuffs. Four ar- scliins make three yards of London. ARSENIC, one of the semi-metals, in a combined state, or in the state of an ore, ex- tremely fatal as a poison, whence its name : (composed ofavm, a man, and to kill.) It is commonly seen in the state of a calx, oxide, or ore, the natural colour of which is white. The white oxide of arsenic, or what is known in commerce by the name of arsenic, is mentioned by Avicenna in the eleventh century; but at what period the metal called arsenic was first extracted from that oxide is unknown. It was only in the year 1733 that this metal was examined with chemical pre- cision. This examination, which was per- formed by Mr. Brandt, demonstrated its pe- culiar nature ; and since that time it has always been considered as a distinct metal, to which the term arsenic has been appro- priated. Arsenic has a bluish-white colour not un- like that of steel, and a good deal of brilliancy. It has no sensible smell while cold, but when heated it emits a strong odour of garlic, which is very characteristic. Its specific gravity is S.3 1 . It is perhaps the most brittle of all the metals, falling to pieces under a very mode- rate blow of a hammer, and admitting of being easily reduced to a very fine powder in a mortar. Its fusing point is not known, because it is the most volatile of the metals, subliming without melting when exposed in close vessels to a heat of 540°. When sub- limed slowly, it crystallizes in tetrahedrons, which Hauy has demonstrated to be the form of its integrant particles. It may be kept under water without alteration ; but when exposed to the open air, it soon loses its lustre, becomes black, and tails into powder. Arsenic is capable of combining with two doses of oxygen, and of forming compounds. When exposed to a moderate heat, in con- tact with air, it sublimes in the form of a white powder, and at the same time emits a smell resembling garlic. If the heat is in- creased, it burns with an obscure bluish flame. Arsenic, indeed, is one of the most combus- tible of the metals. The substance which sublimes was formerly called arsenic or white arsenic, and is still known by these names in the commercial world. It is a combination of arsenic and oxygen ; and is now denomi- nated white oxijdc of arsenic, and by Four- croy arsenious acid, because it possesses se- veral of the properties of an acid. It is sel- dom prepared by chemists, because it exists native; and is often procured abundantly during the extraction of the other metals from their ores. When obtained by these processes, it is a white, brittle, compact sub- stance, of a glassy appearance. It has a sharp acrid taste, which at last leaves an impression of sweetness, and is one of the most virulent poisons known. It has an alliaceous smell. It is soluble in 80 parts of water at the tem- perature of 60°, and in 15 parts of boiling water. This solution has an acrid taste, and reddens vegetable blues. When it is slowly evaporated, the oxide crystallizes in regular tetrahedrons. This oxide sublimes when heated to 283° : if heat is applied in close vessels, it becomes pellucid like glass; but when exposed to the air, it soon recovers its former appearance. The specific gravity of this glass is 5.000; that of the oxide, in its* usual state, 3.706. This oxide is capable of combining with most of the metals, and in general renders them brittle. From the ex- periments of Proust it appears, that this ox- ide is composed of . . .75.2 arsenic, 24.8 oxygen. 100.0 _ Arsenic is capable of combining with an additional dose of oxygen, and of forming another compound, first discovered by Scheele, known by the name of arsenic acid. The process prescribed by Scheele is, to dissolve three parts of white oxide of arsenic in seven parts of muriatic acid, to add five parts of nitric acid, to put the mix- ture into a retort, and distil to dryness. The dry mass is to be merely brought to a red heat, and then cooled again. It is solid arsenic acid. Arsenic does not combine with carbon nor hydrogen. This last substance, however, when in the gaseous state, dissolves it; for when mu- riatic acid is boiled over arsenic, that metal is gradually oxidized and dissolved, and at the same time hydrogen gas is emitted, which has the smell and the poisonous qualit ies of arsenic. Sulphur combines readily with arsenic. If we put a mixture of these two bodies into a co- vered crucible and melt them, a red vitreous mass is obtained, which is obviously a sulphu- ret of arsenic. It may be formed also by heating together the white oxide of arsenic, or. arsenic acid and sulphur. But in that case a portion of the sulphur absorbs the oxygen, from the arsenic, and makes its escape in the form of sulphureous acid gas. If the white oxide of arsenic is dissolved in muriatic acid,- and a solution of sulphureted hydrogen in water is poured into the liquid, a fine yellow- coloured powder falls to the bottom. This powder is usually called orpiment. It may be formed by subliming arsenic and sulphur by a heat not sufficient to melt them. This substance is also found native. It is composed of thin plates, which have a considerable de- gree of flexibility. Its specific gravity is 5 . 315 . Arsenic combines readily w ith phosphorus. The phosphuret of arsenic may be formed by distilling equal parts of its ingredients ovex A R S A It T 155 a moderate fire. It is black and brilliant, and ought to be preserved in water. It may be formed likewise by putting equal parts of phosphorus and arsenic into a sufficient quan- tity of water, and keeping the mixture mode- rately hot for some time. Arsenic does not combine with azotic gas nor muriatic acid ; neither is it readily oxid- ized by the action of that acid ; but it unites with most metals, and in general renders them more'brittle and fusible. Melted gold takes up l-60th of arsenic. The alloy is brittle and pale, and much harder than gold. The alloy of platina and arsenic is brittle and very fusible. The arsenic may be separated by heat. It is by fusing platina and the white oxide of arsenic together that this untractable metal is formed into the utensils required. The mixture, after fusing, is hammered at a red heat into bars. The arsenic is gradually driven off, and carries along with it most of the baser metals which happen to be pre- sent. The platina is then sufficiently ductile to be wrought. Melted silver takes up 1-1 4th of arsenic. The alloy is brittle, yellow- coloured, and useless. Mercury may be amalgamated with arsenic by keeping them for some hours over the fire, constantly agi- tating the mixture. The amalgam is grey- coloured, and composed of five parts of mer- cury and one of arsenic. Copper may be combined with arsenic by fusing them toge- ther in a close crucible; while their surface is covered with common salt to prevent the action of the air, which would oxidize the arsenic. This alloy is white and brittle, and is used for a variety of purposes ; but it is usual to add to it a little tin cr bismuth. It is known by the nafties of white copper and white tombac. When the quantity of arsenic is small, the alloy is both ductile and malle- able. Iron and arsenic may be alloyed by fusion. The alloy is white and brittle, and may be crystallized. It is found native; and is known among mineralogists by the name of mispickel. Iron is capable of combining with more than its own weight of arsenic. Tin and arsenic may be alloyed by fusion. 1 he alloy is white, harder, and more sonorous than tin; and brittle, unless the proportion of arsenic is very small. An alloy, composed of 1 5 parts of tin, and one of arsenic, crystal- lizes in large plates like bismuth : it is more brittle than zinc, and more infusible than tin. The arsenic may be separated by long ex- posure of the alloy to heat in the open air. Lead and arsenic may be combined by fu- sion. The alloy is brittle, dark-coloured, and composed of plates. Lead takes up l-6th of its weight of arsenic. Nickel combines readily with arsenic, and indeed js seldom found with- out being more or less contaminated by that metal. The compound has a shade of red, considerable hardness, and a specific gravity considerably under the mean. It is not mag- netic. Arsenic possesses the curious pro- perty of destroying the magnetic virtue of iron, and all other metajs susceptible of that virtue. Zinc may be combined with arsenic by distilling a mixture of it and of white oxide of arsenic. This alloy, according to Berg- man, is composed of four parts of zinc and one of arsenic. Antimony forms with arsenic an alloy which is very brittle, very hard, and very fusible ; and composed, according to Bergman, of seven parts of antimony and one part of arsenic. Bismuth may be combined with about 1-1, 5th of its weight of arsenic ; but the properties of this alloy have not been examined. The affinities of arsenic, and of its oxides, are placed by Bergman in the following order : Arsenic. Oxide of arsenic. Nickel, Muriatic acid, Cobalt, Oxalic, Copper, Sulphuric, Iron, Nitric, Silver, Tartaric, Tin, G old. Phosphoric, Fluoric, Platina, Saclactic, Zinc, Succinic, Antimony, Citric, Sulphur, Lactic, Phosphorus. Arsenic, Acetic, Prussic. ARSIS and Thesis, in music. A point is said to move per arsin et thesin, which rises in one part and falls in another, and vice versa. ARSON, in law, the same with house- burning, which is felony at common law and likewise by statute. ART and Part, in the law of Scotland, is applied to an accomplice. ARTEDIA, a genus of the digynia order, belonging to the pentandria class of plants, and in the natural method ranking under the 45th order, umbellate. The involucra are pinnatifid ; the fioscuies of the disc are mas- culine; and the fruit is hispid with scales. There is but one species. ARTEL, a name given to a commercial association, consisting of a certain number of labourers, who voluntarily become respon- sible as a body for the honesty of each indi- vidual. The separate earnings of each man are put into a common stock ; a monthly al- lowance is made for his support; and at the end of the year the surplus is equally divided. Hence arises the denomination of artelschisks, persons employed by the Russian merchants of St. Petersburgh to collect debts, &c. These are mostly natives of Archangel of the lowest class, yet their fidelity is rarely to be complained of. ARTEMISIA, mugwort, southernwood, and wormwood, a genus of the polygam ia superflua order, belonging to the syngenesia class of plants, and in the natural method ranking under the 49th order, composite nu- camentacecc. The receptacle is either naked or a little downy ; it has no pappus; the ca- lyx is imbricated with roundish scales ; and the corolla has no radii. There are 44 species, of which the following are the most remark- able, viz. 1 . Artemisia abrotanum, or southernwood, which is kept in gardens for the sake of its agreeable scent, is a low shrub, seldom rising more than three or four feet high, sending out lateral shrubby branches, growing erect, gar- nished with five bristly leaves, having a stiong scent when bruised. 2. Artemisia absinthium, or common worm- wood, grows naturally in lanes and unculti- vated places, and is too well known to re- quire any particular description. 3. Artemisia arborescens, or tree-worm- wood, grows naturally in Italy and the Le- vant, near the sea. It rises, with a woody stalk, six or seven feet high, sending out many \i " V ART ligneous branches, with leaves somewhat like those of the common wormwood, but more finely divided, and much whiter. 4. Artemisia dracunculus, or tarragon, is frequently used in sallads, especially by the French, and is a very hardy plant, spreading greatly by its creeping roots. 5. Artemisia maritima, or sea wormwood, grows naturally on the sea-coasts in most parts of Britain, where there are several va- rieties, if not distinct species, to be found. 6. Artemisia Pontica, or Pontic worm- wood, commonly called Roman wormwood, is a low herbaceous plant, whose stalks die in autumn, and new ones appear in the spring. They are garnished with finely-divided leaves, whose under sides are woolly ; and the upper part of the stalks are furnished with globular flowers which nod on one side, having naked receptacles. 7. Artemisia santonicum produces the se- men santonicum, which is much used for worms in children. It grows naturally in Persia, whence the seeds are brought to Eu- rope. It has the appearance ot our wild mugwort. 8. Artemisia vulgaris, or common mug- wort, grows naturally on banks and by the sides of foot-paths in many parts of Britain. Most of these are easily propagated by slips or cuttings. ARTERIOSE canal, a tube in the heart of a foetus, that, with the foramen ovale, is of use to preserve the circulation of the blood, &c. ART E III OTO MY, the opening an ar- tepy with design to procure an evacuation of blood. This operation is used only in extraordinary- cases, as it is very dangerous ; and must be practised in the temples, the forehead, or behind the ears, where the arteries are easily- closed again. ARTERY, in anatomy, a conical tube or canal which conveys the blood from the heart to all parts of the body. See Anatomy. ARTHRITIS, gout. See Medicine. ARTHRODIA, in natural history, a genus of imperfect crystals, found always in com- plex masses ; and forming long single pyra- mids, with very short and slender columns. Arthrodia, a species of articulation, wherein a flat head of one bone is received into a shallow socket of another. ARTICPIOAK. SeeCiNARA. Artichoak, Jerusalem, a species of sun- flower. See Heeeanthus. ARTICLE, in grammar, a particle in most languages that serves to express the several cases and genders of nouns, when the lan- guages have not different terminations to de- note the different states and circumstances of nouns. The Latin has no article; but the Greeks have their a : the eastern languages have their he ernphaticmn; and most of the modern lan- guages have had recourse to articles. r i he only articles made use of in the English tongue, are a and the ; which, prefixed to substantives, determine their general signifi- cation to some particular thing. The use of a is in a general sense, and may be applied to any particular person or thing, and upon that account is called an indefinite article; but the, being- a determinate article, is called definite or demonstrative, as applying the. word to one individual. The French have tlixee articles, le, la, and les the Italians 156 A it t ART A II T have their il, lo, and la; and the Germans their tier, das, and dat. Artici.es of tour, are known regulations for the government of the army in the United kingdom, dominions beyond the seas, and foreign parts dependant upon this country. They may be altered at the pleasure of the sovereign ; and in certain cases they extend to civilians: as when by proclamation any place shall be put under martial law, or when the people follow a camp or army for the sale of merchandize, or serve in any menial capacity. It is ordained that the articles of war shall be read in the circle of each regi- ment belonging to the British army every month, or oftener if thought proper. A sol- dier is not liable to be tried by a military tri- bunal unless the articles of war have 'been read to him. ARTICULATE sounds are such sounds as express the letters, syllables, or words, of any alphabet or language : such are formed by the- human voice, and by some few birds, as parrots, &c. Other brutes cannot articu- late the sounds of their voice. ARTICULATION, in anatomy, denotes the juncture of two bones intended for mo- tion. Articulation is of two kinds: the first is called diarthrosis, being that which has a ma- nifest motion: that which only admits of an obscure motion is called synarthrosis. '1'he former is subdivided into enarthrosis, arthro- dia, and giiigtymus. The latter is subdivided into symphysis, syntenosis, sutura, harmonia, syssarcosis, * synchondrosia, and synneurosis. See Anatomy. Articulation, in botany, jointed as the culm or stalk of reeds, corn, &c. It is also said of pods, like those- of the hedyrarum or Trench honeysuckle, which when ripe divide into so many parts or joints. ARTIFICER, a person whose employment it is to manufacture any kind of commodity, as in iron, brass, wool, See. ; such are smiths, weavers, carpenters, &c. If any such con- spire not to work under certain prices, they are liable to divers penalties. Persons that contract with artificers in wool or metals to go out of the kingdom, shall be fined in any sum not exceeding 100/. and imprisoned for three months. If artificers that are abroad do not return in six months after warning, they shall be deemed aliens, and be incapable of inheriting lands by descent. By several acts passed during the present reign, iieavv penalties are inflicted on masters of ships assisting to seduce artificers to leave these realms. Artificer, in a military sense, he who prepares bombs, grenades, &c. A RTI FIC I A J . lines, on a sector or other scale, are certain lines, contrived to repre- sent the logarithmic sines and tangents; which, by the help of a line of numbers, will solve questions in trigonometry, naviga- tion, &c. ARTILLERY signifies all sorts of great guns or cannon, mortars, howitzers, petards, Mid the like; together with all the apparatus and stores thereto belonging, which are not only taken into the field, but likewise to sieges, and made use of both to attack and defend fortified places. It signifies also the science artillery or gunnery. Artillery, train of, consists in an unli- mited number of pieces of ordnance ; such as 24 pounders, 18 pounders, 12, 9, G, and 3 pounders; mortars from 13 to 8 inches dia- meter ; besides rovals and cohorns ; howitzers of every denomination, mounted on their pro- per carriages and beds, &c. There is more- over attached to the train a sufficient quan- tity of horses, spare carriages, spare mortar- beds, &c. The train of artillery is, or should be, di- vided into brigades, to which belong not only the officers of the regiments of artillery, but even the civil-list, such as comptrollers, com- missaries of stores, clerks ot stores, See. '1 he increase of artillery clearly demonstrates its great utility ; for in the year 1500, an army of 50,000 men had only *40 pieces of cannon in the field ; and in the year 1757, the same number of troops brought 200 pieces into the field, including mortars and howitzers. At the battle of Jemappe, which was fought between the French and Austrians on the Gth of November 1792, the latter had 120 pieces of cannon disposed along the heights of Fra- me ry, whilst their effective force in men did not exceed 17,000. The French on this oc- casion brought nearly the same quantity of ordnance, some indeed of extraordinary ca- libre, but their strength in men was consider- ably more formidable. Artillery, brigade of, generally consists of 8 or 10 pieces of cannon, with all the ma- chinery and officers to conduct them, and all the necessary apparatus thereto belonging. Artillery, park of, is that place ap- pointed by the general of an army to encamp the train of artillery,' apparatus, ammunition, as well as the battalions of the artillery,, ap- pointed for its service and defence. The figure of the park ofiartillery is that of a pa- rallelogram, unless the situation of the ground renders another necessary. The park of artillery is generally placed in the centre of the second line of encampment, and sometimes in the rear line, or corps of re- serve. In both places the muzzles of the guns are in a line with the fronts of the Ser- jeants’ tents of the regiments of artillery and infantry. Some generals choose to place the park about 300 paces before the centre of the front line of the army. But let the situation be where it will, the manner of forming the park is almost every where the same. The most approved method is to divide the whole into brigades, placing the guns of the first to the right of the front line, and their ammuni- tion behind them, in one or more lines. The different brigades should be all numbered, as well as every waggon belonging to them. This method will prevent contusion in the forming and breaking up of the park, as also on a march: besides, according to the numbers, the stores therein contained are known. Artillery, field, includes every requisite to forward the operations of an army, or of any part of an army acting offensively or de- fensively in the field. Field artillery may be divided into two distinct classes: field artil- lery properly so called, and horse artillery. Regiments of artillery are always encamped half on the right and half on the left ot the park. The company of bombardiers (when they are formed into companies) always takes the right of the whole, and the lieutenant-co- lonel’s company the left ; next to the bom- bardiers, the colonels, the majors, See. so that the two youngest are next but one to the centre or park: the two companies next to the park are the miners on the right, and the artificers on the left. The colours are placed in the centre of the front line of guns, in the interval of the two alarm-guns, in a line with the bells of arms of the companies. The lieutenant-colonel’s and major’s tents front the centres of the second streets from the right and left of the regiment. Artillery, march of 'The marches of tire artillery are, of all the operations of war, the most delicate, because they must ; not only be directed on the object in view, : but according to the movements the enemy ; make. Annies generally march in three co- lumns, the centre column of which is the ar- ] lillery : should the army march in more co- lumns, the artillery and heavy baggage march j nevertheless in one or more of the centre oo- j lumns: the situation of the enemy determines this. If they are far from the enemy, the baggage and ammunition go before or behind, • or are sent by a particular road; an army iu ? such a case cannot march in too many co- 1 lumns. But should the march be towards-] the enemy, the baggage must be all in -the] rear, and the whole artillery form the centre column, except some brigades, one of which] marches at the head of each column, with guns loaded, and burning matches, preceded by a detachment for their safety. 'The French almost invariably place their baggage in the centre. A detachment of pioneers, with tools, must always march at the head of the artillery, and ot each column of equipage or baggage. If the enemy is encamped on the right flanks of the march, the artillery, &c. should march to the left of the troops, and vice versa. Should the enemy appear in motion, the troops front that way, by wheeling to the right or left by divisions ; and the artillery, which marches in a line with the columns, passes through their intervals, and forms at the head of the front line, which is formed of the column that flanked nearest the dnemy, taking care at the same time that the baggage, be well covered during the action. Artillery company, a regular battalion of inlantry under the command of officers who jire annually elected. It consists of gentle- men of character and property, bound by solemn declaration and obligation of attach- ment and fidelity to the king and constitution, and of readiness to join in supporting the- civil authority, and of defending the metro-] polis. See the History of this Company, by! A. Highmore, Esq. ARM OC Alt PUS, (from af-ror, bread, and xafree, fruit,) the Bread-fruit Tree, a ge- nus of the monandria order, belonging to the- moncecia class of plants. It has a cylindnc amentum or catkin, which thickens gradually, and is covered with flowers : the male and female in a different amentum. In the male) the calyx is two-valved, and the corolla is wanting. In the female, there is no calyx or corolla : the stylus is one, and the drupat is many-celled. There are two species, viz. 1 . Artocarpus incisa. Though this tree has been mentioned by many voyagers, particu- larly by Dumpier, by Rumphius, and by lord Anson, yet very little notice seems to have been taken of it, till the return of cap- tain W allis from the South Seas. Captain Cook, in his Voyage, observes. A R T A P U A R U that tills fruit not only serves as a substitute for bread among the inhabitants of Otaheite, and the neighbouring islands, but also, va- riously dressed, composes the principal part of their food. It grows on a tree that is about the size of a middling oak; its leaves are frequently a foot and a half long, of an oblong shape, deeply sinuated like those of the fig-tree, which they resemble in colour and consistence, and in the exsuding of a milky juice upon being broken. The fruit is about the size and shape of a new-born child’s head, and the surface is reticulated, not much unlike a truffle ; it is covered with a thin skin, and has a core about it as big as the handle of a small knife. The eatable part lies between the skin and the core ; it is as white as snow, and some- what of the consistence of new bread: it must be roasted before it is eaten, being lirst divided into three or four parts ; its taste is insipid, with a slight sweetness, somewhat re- sembling that of the crumb of wheaten bread mixed with a Jerusalem artichoke. This fruit is also cooked in a kind of oven, which renders it soft, and something like a boiled potatoe; not quite so farinaceous as a good one, but more so than those of the middling sort. Of the bread-fruit they also make three dishes, by putting either water or the milk of the cocoa-nut to it, then beating it to a paste with a stone pestle, and afterwards mixing it with ripe plantains, bananas, or the sour paste which they call mahie. The unripe artocarpus mahie, is likewise made to serve as a succedaneum for ripe bread-fruit before' the season is'come on. 'Hie fruit of the bread-tree is gathered just before it is perfectly ripe; and being laid in heaps, is closely covered with leaves: in this state it undergoes a fermentation, and becomes dis- . agreeably sweet ; the core is then taken out entire, which is done by gently pulling out the stalk, and the rest of the fruit is thrown into a hole which is dug for that purpose ge- nerally in the houses, and neatly lined on the bottom and sides with grass: the whole is then covered with leaves, and heavy stones laid upon them; in this state it undergoes a second fermentation, and becomes sour, after which it will suffer no change for many months. It is taken out of the hole as it. is wanted for use; and being made into balls, it is wrapped up in leaves and baked: after it is dressed, it will keep for five or six weeks. It is eaten both cold and hot ; and the na- tives seldom make a meal without it, though to Europeans the taste is as disagreeable as that of a pickled olive generally is the first time it is eaten. To procure this principal, article of their food, costs these happy people no trouble or labour, except climbing up a tree: the tree which produces it does not indeed grow Spontaneously; but if a man plants ten of them in his life-time, which he may do in an hour, he will as completely fulfil his duty to his own and future generations, as the native of our less temperate climate can do, by ploughing in the cold of winter, and reaping in the summer’s heat, as often as these sea- sons return: even if. after he has - procured bread for his present household, he should convert a surplus into money, and lay it up for his children. 2. Artocarpus integrifolia, with entire leaves. This is called m the East Indies the joccahee. It bears fruit like the other, but it seems to he of an inferior kind. It is said there are above 30 varieties of this tree. ARTOTY RITES, in church history, a sect of Christians who used bread and cheese in the eucharist, or bread, perhaps, baked with cheese; urging, in defence of this prac- tice, that in the first ages of the world, men offered to God the fruits of their llocks, as well as those of the earth. ARTS are commonly divided into liberal and mechanical: the former comprehending poetry, painting, sculpture, architecture, &c. and the latter, the whole body of mechanical trades, as carpentry, masonry, turnery, &c. Arts, fine, a term synonimous with the French expression beaux arts, and perhaps imitated from it. The fine arts are painting, sculpture, architecture, engraving, drawing, and music ; formerly classed under the more general and appropriate description of the liberal arts. See Painting, Sculpture, &c. &c. ARVALES fratres, in Roman anti- quity, a college of tw elve priests, instituted by Romulus. ARUM, wakerobin, or cuckow-pint, in botany, a genus of the polyandria order, belonging to the gynantlria class of plants, and in the natural method ranking under the 2d order, piperita:. The spatha is raono- phyllous. and cowl-shaped : the spadix is naked above, female below, and stamineous in the middle. There are 32 species, of which the most remarkable are the follow- ing: 1. Arum arborescens, or dumb-cane, is a native of the sugar islands and warm parts of America, where it grows chiefly on low grounds. All the parts of it abound wfith an acrid juice, so that if a leaf or part of the stalk is broken and applied to the tip of the tongue, it occasions a very painful sensation and a great defluxion of saliva. The stalks of this plant are sometimes applied to the mouths of the negroes by way of punishment. 2. Arum arisarium, as w ell as the arum proboscidium and arum tenuifoliuin, are all distinguished by the general name of friar’s cowl, on account of the resemblance of their flow ers to the shape of the cowls worn by friars. The flowers appear in April. 3. Arum colocasia, as well as the arum divaricatum, esculentum, peregrinum, and sagittifolium, have all mild roots, which are eaten by the inhabitants of the hot countries, w here they grow naturally. Even the leaves of some of them, particularly those of the esculentum, which they call Indian kale, in those countries where many of the esculent vegetables of England are w ilh difficulty pro- duced, prove a good succedaneum. 4. Arum divaricatum has spear-shaped leaves. 5. Arum dracunculus, or the common dragons, grows naturally in most of the southern parts of Europe. It has a straight stalk, three or four feel high, which is spotted like the belly of a snake: at' the top it is spread out into leaves, whichare cut into se- veral narrow segments almost to the bottom, and are spread open like a hand; at the top of the stalk the flow r er is produced, which is in shape like the common arum, having a long spathe of a dark purple colour, standing erect, with a large pistil of the same colour. 6. Arum Italicum is a native of Italy, Spain, and Portugal. The leaves rise a foot 15 ? and a half high, terminating in a point; they are very large, and finely veined w ith w hite, interspersed w ith black spots, which, toge- ther with the fine shining green, make a pretty variety. 7. Arum maculatum, or common wake- robin, grows naturally in woods and on shady banks in most parts of Britain. The leaves are halberd-shaped, very entire and spotted; the berries numerous, growing in a naked cluster. The flowers appear in April; and their wonderful structure has given rise to many disputes among the botanists. The receptacle is long, in the shape of a club, with the seed-buds surrounding its base. The chives are fixed to the receptacle amongst the seed-buds, so that there is no occasion for the tips to be supported upon threads, and therefore they have none ; but they are fixed to the lruit-stalk, and placed between two rows of tendrils: the point in dispute is, what is the use of those tendrils ? 8. Arum trilobatum, or arum of Ceylon, is a native of that island and some other parts of India, and cannot bear cold. It is a low plant ; the flower rises immediately from the root, standing on a very short footstalk : the spatha is long, erect, and of a fine scarlet co- lour, as is also the pistil. The roots of the maculatum and dracun- culus are used in medicine, and differ in no- thing but that the latter is somewhat stronger than the former. 'Phis root is a powerful stimulant and attenuant. It is reckoned a medicine of efficacy in some cachectic and chlorotic cases, and in weakness of the sto- mach. Great benefit has been obtained from it in rheumatic pains, particularly those of the fixed kind, and which w ere seated deep. In these cases it may be given from 10 grains to a scruple of the fresh root tw ice or thrice a day, made into a bolus or emulsion w ith unctuous and mucilaginous substances. ARUNDELIAN marbles, called also the Parian Chronicle, are antient stones, on w hich is inscribed a chronicle of the city of Athens, supposed to have been engraven in capital letters, in the island of Paros, 264 years before Christ. They take their name from the earl of Arundel, who procured them from the East, or from his grandson,, who presented them to the university cf Oxford. The authenticity of these marbles has led to a controversy between Mr. Rc- bertson, who in his ‘ Parian Chronicle ’ ques- tioned it, and Mr. Hewlett, w ho defended it in a ‘ Vindication of the Authenticity of the Parian Chronicle,’ which see. ARTjNDO, in botany,. the reed, a genus of the digynia order, belonging to the trian- dria class of plants, and in the natural method ranking under the fourth order, gramina. The caiyx consists of tw T o valves, and the floscules are thick and downy. There are 14 species ; the most remarkable are : 1. Arundo bambos, or the bamboo, a na- tive of the East Indies and some parts of America ; where it frequently attains the height of 60 feet. The main root is long, thick, jointed, spreads horizontally, and sends out many cylindrical woody' fibres, of a whitish colour, and many feet long. From the joints of the main root spring several round-jointed stalks to a prodigious height, and at about 10 or 12 feet from the ground send out at their joints several stalks joined together at tluir.base : these run up. in the 15S ARY ASH A S C same manner as those they shoot out from. If any of these is planted with a piece of the first stalk adhering to them, they will perpe- tuate their species. They are armed at their joints with one or two sharp rigid spines, and furnished with oblong oval leaves, eight or nine inches long, seated on short footstalks. r i he flowers resemble those of the common reed. The young shoots are covered with a dark green bark: these when very tender are put in vinegar, salt, garlic, and the pods of capsicum, and thus afford a pickle which is esteemed a valuable condiment in the Indies, and is said greatly to promote the appetite and assist digestion. The stalks in their young state are almost solid, and con- tain a milky juice : this is of a sweet nature ; and as the stalks advance in age they become hollow except at the joints, where they are stopped by a woody membrane, upon which this liquor lodges, and concretes into a sub- stance called tabaxir, or sugar of Mombu ; which was held in such esteem by the antients in some particular disorders, that it was equal in value to its weight in silver. The old staiks grow to live or six inches diameter, and are then of a shining yellow colour: and, are so hard and durable that they are used in build- ings, and for making all sorts of household lurniture ; and when bored through the mem- branes at their joints, are converted into water-pipes. The smaller stalks are used for walking-sticks, and the inhabitants of Ota- heite make flutes of them about afoot long, with two holes only ; which they stop with the first finger, of the left hand and the middle one of the right, and then blow through their nostrils. 2. Arundo donax, or cultivated reed, is a native of warm countries, but will bear the cold of our moderate winters in the open air. The stalks of this are brought from Spain and Portugal, and are used by the weavers, as also for making fishing-rods. 3. Arundo orientalis is what the Turks use as writing pens ; it grows in a valley near mount Athos, as also on the banks ‘of the river Jordan, 4. Arundo phragmitis, or the common marsh-reed, grows by the sides of our rivers, and in standing waters. The arundo versicolor, or Indian varie- gated reed, is supposed to be a variety of the donax, differing from it only in having varie- gated leaves; and the arundo picta, or striped grass, is a variety of the Canary grass. ARUSPICES, or Harusimces, an order •of priesthood among the Romans, that pre- tended to foretel future events by inspecting the entrails of victims killed in sacrifice. A R YT/EN O J D ES, in anatomy, the name of two cartilages, which, together with others, constitute the head of the larynx. It is also applied to some muscles of the larynx. AS, in antiquity, a particular weight, con- sisting of twelve ounces, being the same with libra, or the Roman pound. As was also the name of a Roman coin, which was of different matter and weight, according to the different ages of the com- monwealth. It is also used to signify an integer, divisi- ble into twelve parts, from which last accep- tation it signified a whole inheritance. 'Flie as had several divisions : the principal of which were the uncia, or ounce, being the twelfth part of the as; sextans, the sixth part of the as; quadrans, the fourth part ; triens, the third part; and semis, half the as, or six ounces. Bis was two-thirds of the as, or eight ounces ; and dodrans, three-fourths of the as. ASA, in the materia medica, a name given to two very different vegetable productions, distinguished by epithets expressive of their smell. . Asa foetida is a very stinking gum, drawn, according to Ivempfer, from the root of an umbelliferous plant, which grows in the pro- vince of Chorasan in Persia. ASAPPES, or Azapes, in the Turkish armies, a name given to the auxiliary troops which they raise among the Christians under their dominion, and expose to the first shock of the enemy. ASA RUM, Asarabacca, a genus of the monogynia order, belonging to the dode- candria class of plants. The calyx is trifid or quadrifid, and rests on thegermen; there is no corolla; the capsule is leathery and crowned. There are three species, viz. 1 . Asarum Canadense, a native of Canada. 2. Asarum Europaeum, grows naturally in some parts of England. 3. Asarum Virginicum, a native of America, has no remarkable properties. The principal use of this plant among us is as a sternutatory. The root of asarum is perhaps the strongest of ail the vegetable errhines, white hellebore itself not excepted. Snuffed up the nose, in the quantity of a grain or two, it occasions a large evacuation of mucus, and raises a plentiful spitting. The leaves are considerably milder, and may be used to the quantity of 3, 4, or 5 grains. G eoffery relates, that after snuffing up a dose of this errhine at night, he has frequently ob- served the discharge from the nose to con- tinue for 3 days together, and that he has known a paralysis of the mouth and tongue cured by one dose. ASBESTUS, in mineralogy. This mine- ral was well known to the antients. They even made a kind of cloth from one of the varieties, which was famous among them for its incombustibility. It is found abundantly in most mountainous countries, and no where more abundantly than in Scotland. It is found in amorphous masses. Its tex- ture is fibrous. Its fragments often long, splintery. Specific gravity from 2.995 to 0.6806. Absorbs water. Colour usually white or green. Fusible per se by the blow- pipe. 1st. Common asbestus. Specific gravity 2.547 to 2-995. Feels somewhat greasy. Co- tain leek-green; sometimes olive or moun- lour green; sometimes greenish or yellowish grey. Streak grey. Powder grey. Flexible asbestus. — Amianthus. Composed of a bundle of threads slightly cohering. Fibres flexible. Specific gravity, before It absorbs water, from 0.9088 to 2.3134; after absorbing water, from 1.5662 to 2.3803. Feels greasy. Colour greyish or greenish white; sometimes yellowish or silvery white, olive or mountain green. Elastic asbestus. — Mountain cork. This variety has a strong resemblance to common cork. Its fibres are interwoven. Specific gravity, before absorbing water, from 0.6806 to 0.9933 ; after absorbing water, from 1.2492 to 1.3492. Feels meagre. Yields to the fingers like cork, and- is somewhat elastic. Colour white; sometimes with a shadfe of red or yellow; sometimes of a yellow or brown colour. Ligniform asbestus. Colour wood brown, which passes into yellow. Opaque. Very soft. Somewhat flexible, but not elastic. Adheres to the tongue. Feels harsh. A specimen of the common asbestus, ana- lysed by Bergman, contained 63.9 silica 16.0 carbonat of magnesia 12.8 carbonat of lime 6.0 oxide of iron 1 . 1 alumina 99.8 A specimen of the flexible asbestus yielded to the same chemist 64.0 silica 1 7.2 carbonat of magnesia 13.9 carbonat of lime 2.7 alumina 2.2 oxyde of iron 100.0 A specimen of the elastic asbestus com tained, according to the same analysis, 56.2 silica 26. 1 carbonat of magnesia 12.7 carbonat of lime 3.0 iron 2.0 alumina 100.0 Twelve different specimens of asbestus, analysed by Bergman, yielded the same in- gredients, differing a little in their propor- tions. Sp. 2. Actinote. Strahlstein of Werner, except the glassy; Rayonante of Saussure and Brochante. Actinolite, asbestinite, asbestoid of Kirvvan. Actinote of Hauy. 'Phis mineral occurs in the primitive rocks, and is usually mixed with those stones which contain a notable portion of magnesia. It is found both massive and crystallised. The primitive form of its crystals, according to Ilauy, is a four-sided prism whose bases are rhombs, and which he presumes to be the same with the primitive form of hornblende. It occurs in six-sided prisms, in needles, and in small plates. Colour most commonly greenish. Texture radiated, rays diverging from a centre. Fragments undeterminate. Transparency 1 ; often opaque. Difficult to break. Specific gravity 2.916 to 3.31. Fu- sible before the blow-pipe. It is divided into two subspecies. ASCARINE, a genus of the dioecia mo- nandri a class and order. The essential cha- racter is, calyx ament, filiform : corolla none : male, anther worm-shaped: female, style none: stigma three-lobed drupe. There is one species, a native of the Society Isles. ASCARIS, or Ascarides, a genus be- longing to the class of vermes, and the order of vermes intestinal. These insects are found in the bodies of animals ; have a round and elastic body, tapering towards each extremity; three protuberances at the head ; the tail ob- tuse or subulate ; and the intestines spiral, milky white, and pellucid: they are of the two sexes, and very prolific ; but their origin is still a matter of profound obscurity. There are two species, viz, ASC 1. Ascaris lumbricoides is about the same length with the lumbricus terrestris, or com- mon earthworm ; but it wants the protuberant ring towards the middle of the body, the only mark by which they can properly be dis- tinguished. The body of the lumbricoides is cylindrical, and subulated at each ex- tremity; but the tail is somewhat triangular. The lumbricoides is the worm which is most commonly found in the human intestines. It is viviparous, and produces vast numbers. 2. Ascaris vermicularis, (See Plate Nat. Hist. tig. 42, 43,) with faint annular rugae, and the mouth transverse, is about a quarter of an inch long, and thicker at one end than the other. It is found in boggy places, in the roots of putrid plants, and very frequently in the rectum of children and horses. It ema- ciates children greatly, and is sometimes vomited up. ASCENDANT, Ascendent, or As- cending Line, among lawyers, is meant of ancestors, or such relations as are nearer the root of the family. Such are the father, grandfather, great uncle, ike. Marriage is al- ways forbidden between the ascendants and descendants in a right line. ASCENDING, in astronomy, is said of such stars as are rising above the horizon, in any parallel of the equator. Thus likewise, 1. Ascending latitude, is the latitude of a planet when going towards the north pole. 2. Ascending node, is that point of a planet’s orbit, wherein it passes the ecliptic, to proceed northward. This is otherwise called the northern node, and represented by this cha- rater Ascending vessels, in anatomy, those which carry the blood upwards, as tire aorta ascendens, and vena cava ascendens. See Anatomy. ASCENSION, in astronomy, (the rising of the sun or a star, or any part of the equinoc- tial with it, above the horizon,) is either right or oblique. Right ascension is that degree of the equa- tor, reckoned from the beginning of Aries, which rises with the sun or a star, in a right sphere. It is found by the following pro- portion : as the radius, to the cosine of the sun or starisgreatest declination, so is the tan- gent of the distance from Aries to Libra, to the tangent of right ascension. Oblique ascension is that degree and minute of the equinoctial, counting from the begin- ning of Aries, which rises with the centre of the sun or a star, or which comes to the hori- zon at the same time as the sun or star, in an Oblique sphere. In order to find the oblique ascension, we must first find the ascensional difference. The arch of right ascension coincides with the right ascension itself, and is filie same in all parts of the globe. The arch of oblique ascension coincides with the oblique ascension, and changes according to the latitude of places. The sun’s right ascension in time, is useful to the practical astronomer in observatories, who adj usts his clock by sidereal time. It serves to convert apparent to sidereal time ; as that of an eclipse of Jupiter’s statellites, in order to know at what time it may be ex- pected to happen by his clock. For this purpose, the sun’s right ascension at the pre- ceding noon, together with the increase of right ascension from noon, must be added to the apparent time of the phenomenon set A S C down in the ephemeris. The sun’s right ascen- sion in time serves also for computing the ap- parent time of a known star’s passing the me- ridian: for, subtract the sun’s right ascension in time at noon, from the star’s right ascension in time, the remainder is the apparent time of the star’s passing the meridian nearly ; from which the proportion at part of the daily in- crease of the sun’s right ascension from this apparent time from noon, being subtracted, leaves the correct time of the star’s passing the meridian. The sun’s right ascension in time is also useful for computing the time of the moon and planets passing the meridian. ASCENSIONAL difference, the dif- ference between the right and oblique ascen- sion of any point in the heavens ; or it is the space of time that the sun rises or sets before or after six o’clock. The ascensional difference may be found by this proportion, viz. As the radius, is to the latitude of the place, so is the tangent of the sun’s declination, to the sine of the ascen- sional difference; by subtracting of which from the right ascension, when the sun is in the northern signs, and adding it, when the sun is in the southern ones, you will find the oblique ascension. ASCENT, in logic, a kind of argumenta- tion, in which we rise from particulars to universal. ASCETICS, in church history, such Christians in the primitive church as inured themselves to great degrees of abstinence and fasting, in order to subdue their passions. In short, every kind of uncommon piety laid claim to the name ascetic. ASCII, an appellation given to those in- habitants of the earth, who, at certain seasons ol the year, have no shadow : such are all the inhabitants of the torrid zone, when the sun is vertical to them. ASCIDTA, the name of a genus of vermes, the body of which is fixed, roundish, and ap- parently issuing from a sheath ; the apertures two, generally placed near the summit, one below the other. These creatures are more or less gelatinous, and have the power of con- tracting and dilating themselves at pleasure; some of them are furnished with along stem, but most of them are sessile. There are siy species, as the papiliosa, &c. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 40. ASCITiE a sect of Christians in the second century, who introduced a kind of bacchanals into their assemblies, and danced round an inflated bag or skin, saying “ these are the new bottles, filled with new wine,” as referred to by Jesus Christ. ASCITES, in medicine, the common dropsy. See Medicine. ASClUM, a genus of the polyandria mo- nogynia class and order. The essential cha- racter is, calyx five-leaved, coriaceous ; corolla five-petalled ; berry one-celled, many seeds. There is one species, a tree of Guiana. ASCLEPIAD, in antient poetry, a verse composed of four feet, the first of which is a spondee, the second a choriambus, and the two last dactyls ; or of four feet and a caesura, the first a spondee, the second a dactyle, after which comes the caesura, then the two dac- tyls, as Maecenas atavis edite regibus. ASCLEPIAS, swallow-wort: a genus of the digynia order, and pentandria class of plants ; and in the natural method ranking .under the 30th order, contortce , The ge- A S P i5g nerie character is taken from five oval, con- cave, horn-like nectaria, which are found in the flower. There are 34 species, of which the following are the most remarkable, viz. 1. Asclepias alba, or common swallow-wort, a native of the S. of France, Spain, and Italy. . 2. Asclepias Curassavica, or bastard ipe- cacuanha, is a native of the warm parts of America. It rises to the height of five or six feet, with upright stems; the flowers are of a scarlet colour, and the horny nectarimus in the middle are of a bright saffron, and there is a succession of flowers on the same plant from June to October. This species is tender, and must be preserved in a stove. 3. Asclepias Syriaca, or greater Syrian dogsbane, is a perennial plant ; the flowers are a bright purple colour. Idle root of the first species is used in me- dicine, and is esteemed sudorific and diuretic. Its sensible qualities resemble those of va- lerian, which is preferred to it. The milky juice of the plant is considered as poisonous.’ ASCOD IvUT/E, in church history, a sect of gnostics, who placed all [religion in know- ledge; and under pretence of spiritual wor- ship, would admit of no external or corporeal symbols whatever. ASCOLIA, in Grecian antiquity, a festival celebrated by the Athenian husbandmen in honour of Bacchus, to whom they sacrificed a he-goat, because that animal destroys the vines. Out of the victim’s skin it was cus- tomary to make a bottle, which, being filled with oil and wine, fell as a reward to him who first fixed himself upon it with one foot. ASC11IPTITI, or adscriptitii, were a de- scription of villains, who, coming from abroad, settled in the lands of some new' lord, whose servants or subjects they became,, being an- nexed to the lands, and like other villains transferred and sold with him. ASCYRUM, Peter’s wort, a genus of the polyandria order, and polyadelphia class oil- plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the 20th order, rotacea. The calyx consists of four leaves ; the corolla has four petals ; the filaments are numerous, and di- vided into four boundaries. There are three species, viz. 1. Ascyrum crux Andrea?. 2. Ascyrum hypericoides. 3. Ascyrum villosimi : all na- tives of the West Indies or America. ASH. See Fraxinus. Ash, mountain. See Sorbus. Ash, poison. See Rhus. ASHES, the earthy part of wood and other combustibles, remaining after they are consumed by fire. These, if produced from a vegetable, are of a. white colour, and saltish taste, a few instances excepted ; and when- boiled with fair water, yield a lixivium of an acrimonious,_alkaline, fiery, urinous taste. The ashes of all vegetables are verifiable, and are found to contain some iron. Ashes of all kinds contain an alkaline salt, and are an excellent manure for cold and wet ground. . They are also of considerable use in making lixiviums or lyes, for the purposes of medicine, bleaching, and for, sugar works : and are distinguished by various names ; as pot-ashes, pearl-ashes, wood-ashes, and weed- ashes. See Pot- ass, &c. . ASLANI, in commerce, a silver coin, worth from 115 to 120 aspers.- SeeAsPER. ASP, in zoology. See Coluf er. ASPALATHUS, African broom : a genus of the decandria order, belonging to the dia* ASP ASP ASP 100 del phi a class -of plants : and in the natural method ranking under the 32d order, papi- lionace;c. The calyx consists of 5 divisions : the pod is oval, and” contains 2 seeds. Of this genus there are 37 species ; all of which are natives of warm climates, and must be pre- served in stoves by those who would cultivate them here. The rose wood, whence the oleum Rhodii is obtained, is one of the species, but of which we have yet had no particular description. This wood was antiently in much repute, as an astringent ; but it is now used chiefly as a perfume. ASPARAGUS, a genus of the monogynia order and hexandria class of plants; and in the natural method, ranking under the 11th order, sarmentacete. The calyx is quinquepar- tite, and erect ; the three inferior petals are bent outwards ; the berry has three ceils, and contains two seeds. There are 13 species ; but the only one cultivated in the gardens is the common asparagus, with an upright herba- ceous stalk, bristly leaves, and equal stipula. The other species are kept only for the sake of variety. The garden asparagus is cultivated from seed. The manner of saving it. is this : mark with a stick some of the fairest buds ; and when they are run to berry, and the stalks begin to dry and wither, cut them up ; rub off the berries into a tub, and pouring water upon them, rub them about with your hands; the husks will break and let out the seed, and will swim away with the water, in pouring it olT ; so that in repeating this two or three times, the seeds will be clean washed, and found at the bottom of the tub. These must be dried, and in the beginning of February, sown on a bed of rich earth. They must not be sown too thick, and must be trod into the ground, and the earth raked over them smooth ; in October, when the stalks are withered and dry, a little rotten dung must be spread half an inch thick over the whole surface of the bed. Next spring, the plants will be fit to plant out ; the ground must therefore be prepared for them by trenching it well, and burying a large quantity of rotten dung in the trenches, so that it may lie at least 6 inches below the surface of the ground : when this is done level the whole plot. The asparagus is to be planted out in the beginning of March, if the soil is dry, and the season forward ; but inawetsoil,itis better to wait till the beginning of April, which is about the season that the plants are beginning to shoot. The season being now come, the roots may be placed two inches under the surface of the ground ; and between every four rows, a space of two feet and a half should be left for walking in, to cut the asparagus. The second spring after planting, some ©f the young as- aragusmay be cut for the table. But the irger shoots should only be taken, and these should be cut at two inches under the ground. As some people however are very fond of early asparagus, the following directions are given, by which it may be obtained any time in winter : plant some good roots of one year old in a moist rich soil, about eight inches apart ; the second and third year after planting, they will be ready to take up for hot- beds ; these should be made pretty strong, about three feet thick, with new stable dung that has fermented a week or more ; the beds must be covered with earth six inches thick ; then against a r'dge made at one end, begin to lay in vour plants, without trimming or ent- ing the fibres, and between every row lay a little ridge of fine earth, and proceed thus till the bed is planted ; then cover the bed two inches thick with earth, and encompass it with a straw band ; and in a week, or as the bed is in the temper, put on the frames and glasses, and lay on three inches thick of fresh earth over the beds, and give them air and add fresh heat to them as it requires. 'These beds may be made from November till March. ASPECT, in astronomy, denotes the situa- tion of planets and stars, with respect to each other ; whereof we find mention of five kinds : 1 . Sextile aspect is when the planets or stars are 60 degrees distant, and marked thus *. 2. The quartile or quadrate when they are 90 degrees distant, marked □ . 3. Trine when 120 degrees distant, marked A. 4. Opposition when 1 80 degrees distant, marked § . And, 5. Conjunction, when both in the same degree, marked d . Kepler, who added eight new ones, defines aspect to be the angle formed by the rays of two stars meeting on the earth, whereby their good or bad influence is measured ; for it ought to be observed, that these .aspects being first introduced by astrologers, were distinguished into benign, malignant, and indifferent ; the quartile and opposition being accounted malign, the trine and sextile benign or friendly, and the conjunction indifferent. Aspect, double, in painting, is used where a single figure is so contrived, as to represent two or more different objects, either by changing the position of the eye, or by means of angular glasses. Aspect, in a military sense, is the view or profile of land or coast, and contains the figure or representation of the borders of any particular part of the sea. These figures and representations may be found in all the rut- tiers or directories for the sea-coast. The Italians call them demomt rat lone. By means of this knowledge you may ascertain whether the land round the shore is high ; if the coast itself is sleep or sloping ; bent in the form of an arc, or extended in staight lines ; round at the ton, or rising to a point. Every thing, in a word, is brought in a correct state before the eye, as far as regards harbours, bogs, gulphs, adjacent churches, trees, windmills, &c. &c. Aspect, menacing. An army is said to hold a menacing aspect, when by advanced movements or positions it gives the opposing enemy cause to apprehend offensive opera- tions. Aspect, military. A country is said to have a military aspect, when its general situa- tion presents appropriate obstacles or facili- ties for an army acting on the offensive or defensive. Aspect, imposing. An army is said to have an imposing aspect, when it appears stronger than it really is. This appearance is often assumed for the purpose of deceiving an enemy, and may not improperly be con- sidered as a principal feint in war. ASPEN-fmr. See Populus. ASPER, in grammar, an accent peculiar to the Greek language, marked thus (') and im- porting that the letters over which it is placed ought to be strongly aspirated, or pronounced as if an h was joined with them. Asper, or aspre, in commerce, a Turkish coin, three of which make a medine, and worth something more than our halfpenny. ASPER IFOLIATE, or asper ijolius , among botanists, such plants as are rough- leaved. Of this kiud are bugloss, borage. See. ASPERUGO, small wild bugloss, a genus of the pentandria monogynia class ; and in the natural method ranking under the aspe- rifoliae. The calyx of the fruit is com- pressed, with folds daily parallel, and sinuous. There are two species, viz. 1. Asperugo JEgypticica,' a native of Egypt. 2. Asperugo procumbens, or wild bugloss, a native of Britain ; which is eaten by horses, goats, sheep, and swine ; but cows are not fond of it. ASPERULA, zvoodroof, a genus of the monogynia order and hexandria class of plants, and in the natural method ranking under the 47th order, stellate. The corolla is infundibuliform ; and the capsule con- tains two globular seeds. There are eleven species, two of which grow wild in England, viz. 1. Asperula cynancMca, found on chalky hills. The roots are used for dyeing red i« Sweden. 2. Asperula odorata, a low umbellife- rous plant, growing wild in woods and copses, and flowering in May. It has an exceeding pleasant smell, which is improved by mode- rate exsiccation. It imparts its flavour to vinous liquors. Asperula is supposed to attenuate viscid humours, and is recommend- ed in obstructions of the liver and biliary ducts, and by some in epilepsies and palsies ; modern practice has nevertheless rejected it. The smell of it is said to drive away ticks and other insects. ASPHALTUM. See Bitumen. ASPHODELUS, asphodel, or king’s spear, a genus of the monogynia order, be- longing to the hexandria c lass of plants. The calyx is divided into six parts; and the nectarium consists of six valves covering the nectarium. r l here are five species, viz. 1 . Asphodelus ramosvs , or white aspho* del. The leaves are Tong ; the stalks rise to above three feet high, and divide into several spreading branches ; these are terminated by loose spikes of white flowers. 2. Asphodelus liiteus, or common yellow asphodel, has strong round single stalks near three feet high, with yellow star-shaped (lowers, which ap pear in J une. 3. Asphodelus Jistulosus, or onion-leaved asphodel, is an annual plant, the llowers of which are white. ASPIRATE, in grammar, denotes words marked with the asper. ASPIRATION, among grammarians, is used to denote the pronouncing a syllable with some vehemence ; as these words be- ginning with the letter H, hear, heat, which are pronounced more softly without the FI, as ear, cat. ASPIS. See Coluber. ASPLENIUM, milt-waste, or spleen - wort, in botany, a genus of cryptogamious plants of the order filices, the fructification of which is arranged in clusters, ami disposed in form of straight lines, under the disk of the leaf. ( This genus comprehends 47 species, na* ASS ASS ASS lives of different countries, some of which were formerly used in medicine, but are now rejected. ASS , feast of, a festival, celebrated during the dark ages, in’commemoration of the Vir- gin Mary’s flight. On this occasion, a young girl, richly dressed, with a child in her arms, was set upon an ass. The beast was led to the altar, where mass was said with great } )omp. The ass was taught to kneel, and a lymn was sung in his praise. As soon as the ceremony was ended, the priest and the people brayed in imitation of the ass. This was esteemed an act of devotion, and per- formed by authority of the church. Ass, asinus, in zoology. See Euuus. ASSARON, or o/ner, a measure of capa- city, in use among the Hebrews, containing five pints. It was the measure of manna which God appointed for every Israelite. ASSAULT, in law, a violent injury of- fered to a man’s person : it may be com- mitted by offering a blowy or a threatening speech. In case a person threatens to beat another, or lies in wait to do it, if the other is hindered in his business, and receives loss, it will be an assault, for which an action may be brought, and damages recovered; or the party threatening may be bound over to the peace. Not only striking, but thrusting, push- ling, casting stones, or throwing drink in the Iface of any person, are deemed assaults. In all which cases, a man may plead in Ibis justification, the defence of his person (but not of his goods), or of his father, mo- ther, wife, child, master, &c. ASSAYING, is the art of finding how much pure metal is contained in every ore, or the proportion of the several ingredients of any mixed metal, which is done in the follow- ing manner : 1 . Gold. To obtain pure gold, we have only to dissolve the gold of commerce in nitro- muriatic acid, and precipitate the metal by dropping in a very diluted solution of sulphat of iron ; the powder which precipitates, af- ter being well w ashed and dried, is pure gold. 2. Platinum. Platinum can scarcely be obtained perfectly pure in the metallic state, at least in any considerable quantity ; be- cause a sufficient heat for melting it cannot be obtained. But its oxide may be procured quite pure from the muriatof platinum and ammonia, prepared by the rules to be here- after laid down. This salt is to be decom- posed by a violent heat, and the residuum, if necessary, may be redissolved in nitro- muriatic acid, r and precipitated with soda. 3. Silver. Dissolve the silver of commerce in nitric acid, and precipitate with a diluted solution of sulphat of iron. The precipitate is pure silver. Or precipitate with common salt ; form the precipitate into a paste with soda ; put it into a crucible lined with soda, and fuse it with a brisk heat. This process gives a button of'pure silver. 4. Mercury may be obtained pure by dis- til ling a mixture of two parts cinnabar and one part of iron-filings in an iron retort. The mercury comesover, andthe sulphuret of iron remains behind ; or the oxy-muriat of mer- cury may be decomposed by ammonia, and the precipitate heated either by itself or mixed' with oil. 5. Copper may be dissolved in muriatic acid, and the copper precipitated by a polished VOL. 1, plate of iron ; or the black oxide of copper, obtained by decomposing cuprated ammonia, may be melted with itsown weight of pounded glass and pitch. 6. Iron can scarcely be obtained perfectly free from carbon. The processes for obtain- ing it as pure as possible will be given here- after. 7. Tin may be obtained pure by solution in strong nitric acid ; the white oxide of tin is formed, which is insoluble. Let it be di- gested first with muriatic acid, and afterwards with aqua regia. Mix the oxide thus puri- fied with its weight of pitch and a little borax, and melt it in a crucible. 8. Lead may be obtained pure from the carbonat by solution in diluted nitric acid and precipitation by a cylinder of zinc ; from the sulphuret by solution in nitric acid, mix- ing the solution with muriatic acid, and cry- stallizing. The crystals of muriat of lead are to be dissolved in boiling water, and then eva- porated to dryness. The mass is to be melted in a crucible with 2\ times its weight of black flux. 9. Chemists have hitherto failed in their at- tempts to obtain nickel in a state of absolute purity. The great difficulty is to separate it from cobalt ; upon which all re-agents have nearly the same action. The following in- genious method has been lately proposed by Mr. Phillips : dissolve the nickel of commerce in nitric acid to saturation. Throw down the arsenic acid by nitrat of lead. Then, after filtration, add an excess of nitric acid, and in- troduce an iron rod into the solution to throw down the copper. After this, precipitate the whole by carbonat of potass, and digest the precipitate in liquid ammonia. The cobalt and nickel are taken up ; the iron and lead remain. Dilute the solution with water ; add an excess of ammonia ; then pour potass into the solution. The cobalt remains in so- lution, but the nickel precipitates in the state of a pure oxide, and may be reduced by ex- posure to a strong heat with charcoal. 10. Zinc may be dissolved in sulphuric acid, and a plate of zinc allowed to remain for a considerable time in the solution. It is then to be filtred, and the zinc to be precipitated with soda. The precipitate, edulcorated and dried, is to be mixed with half its weight of pure charcoal, and distilled in an earthenware retort. The zinc is found pure in the neck of the retort. 11. Antimony may be dissolved in nitro- muriatic acid, and precipitated by the allusion of water. The precipitate is to be mixed with twice its weight of tartar, and fused in a crucible. A button of pure antimony is ob- tained. 12. Bismuth, if impure, may be dissolved in nitric acid, and precipitated by water. The edulcorated precipitate, formed into a paste with oil, and rapidly fused with black flux, gives a button of pure bismuth. 13. Tellurium was obtained pure by Kla- proth, by forming its oxide into a paste with oil, and heating i't to redness in a retort. The metal was rapidly revived. 14. Arsenic, in the state of white oxide, may be dissolved in muriatic acid, precipi- tated by the affusion of water, redissolved, and a plate of zinc inserted into the solution, mixing with it at the same time a little alcohol. The arsenic is precipitated in the metallic state. '■ X ldi 13. Cohalt may be obtained pure in all like- lihood by following the process proposed by Mr. Phillips for the purification of nickel. The following is a much cheaper process recom- mended by Trommsdorf : Mix a pound of the best smalt with four ounces of nitre and two ounces of charcoal powder, and throw the mixture at intervals into a red-hot crucible. This process is to be repeated three times. The mixture is then to be kept in a strong heat for an hour, stirred well, then mixed with four ounces of black flux, and kept in the strong heat of a forge for an hour longer. The cobalt, reduced by this treatment, is still impure. It is to be mixed again with thrice its weight of nitre, and deflagrated in a red- hot crucible by small portions at a time. By this process the iron is peroxidized, and the arsenic acidified. The mass is to be well washed, and the oxide of cobalt separated by filtration. This oxide is to be dissolved in nitric acid, and evaporated to dryness. A fresh portion of acid is to be added, and the mass exposed to a moderate heat. Dilute with water, and filtre to separate the remains of the iron. Precipitate by pure potass, and reduce the oxide. 16. Manganese. Digest the black oxide of manganese repeatedly in nitric acid ; then mix it with sugar, and dissolve it in nitric acid. Filter the solution, precipitate by an alkali, form the white oxide thus obtained into a paste with oil, and put it into a crucible well lined with charcoal. Expose the crucible for an hour to the strongest heat of a forge. 17. Tungsten was obtained by Elhuyart by heating the yellow oxide violently in a cru- cible lined with charcoal: but this process has not succeeded wtih other chemists. 18. Molybdenum may be obtained by forming molybdic acid into a paste with oil, and heating it violently in a crucible lined with charcoal. 19- Uranium is procured by forming the yellow oxide of that metal into a paste with oil, drying it in a moderate heat, putting it into a crucible lined with charcoal, with a little lamp-black strewed over it. After luting on the cover, it is to be heated at first gently, and then violently, for three quarters of an hour. 20. Titanium, in a very small proportion indeed, was obtained in the metallic state, by mixing together 100 parts of the red oxide ot the metal, 30 parts of borax, and five parts of charcoal, and forming the mixture into a paste with oil. This paste was put into a crucible lined with charcoal, and exposed for an hour and a half to the violent heat of a forge. 21. Chromium w r as obtained by Vauqu el in in the metallic state, by putting a portion of chromic acid into a charcoal crucible, in- closed in a common crucible lined with char- coal, and exposing it for an hour to the vio- lent heat of a forge. Assaying of weights and measures, the examining the common weights and measures by the clerk of the market. ASSEMBLY, in the military art, the se- cond beating of a drum before a march ; at which the soldiers strike their tents, roll them up, and stand to arms. ASSEMBLIES of the clergy are called convocations, synods, councils ; the annual meeting of the church of Scotland is called a general assembly. 162 ASS ASSES, order of, a denomination of Ma- thurins, or Trinitarians; so called because they were obliged, in travelling, to ride on asses, not horses. ASSESSOR, an inferior officer of justice, appointed chiefly to assist the ordinary judge w ith his opinion and advice. Assessor is also one who assesses or set- tles taxes, and other public dues. ASSETS, in law, goods or property in the hands of a person, with which he is enabled to discharge an obligation imposed upon him as executor, See. Assets may be real or per- sonal. ASSIENTO, a Spanish word, signifying a farm, in commerce, is used for a bargain be- tween tire king of Spain and other powers, for importing negroes into the Spanish domi- nions in America, and particularly to Buenos Ayres. The iirst assiento was made by the French Guinea company ; and by the treaty of U trecht, transferred to the English, who were to furnish 4800 negroes annually. ASSIGN, in common law, a person to whom a thing is assigned or made over. ASSIGNEE, in law, a person appointed by another to do an act, transact some busi- ness, or enjoy a particular commodity. Assignees may be by deed or by law : by deed, where the lessee of a farm assigns the same to another; by law, where tire law makes an assignee, without any appointment of the person intitled, as an executor is as- signee in law to tire testator, and an adminis- trator to an intestate. But when there is as- signee by deed, the assignee in law is not al- lowed. It is most commonly applied to those cre- ditors of a bankrupt who are appointed by the rest to manage for them, and conse- quently have the bankrupt’s estate assigned over to them. ASSIGNING, in a special sense, is used to set forth and point at, as to assign an er- ror, to assign false judgment, to assign waste ; in which cases it must be shewn wherein the error is committed, where and how the judg- ment is unjust, and where the waste is com- mitted. ASSIGNMENT, in law, differs from a lease in this, that by a lease a man grants an interest less than his own ; in assignment he grants the whole property. 2 Black. 326. ASSIMILATION, in physics, is that mo- tion by which bodies convert other bodies related to them, or at least such as are pre- pared to be converted, into their own sub- stance and nature. ASSISE, in old law books, is defined to be an assembly of knights and other substantial men, with the justice, in a certain place, and at a certain time : but the word in its present acceptation is used for the court, place, or time when and where the writs and processes, whe- ther civil or criminal, are decided by judges and jury. In this signification, assise is either gene- ral,’ when judges make their respective circuits, with commission to take all assise; or special, where a commission is granted to particular persons for taking an assise upon one or two disseisins only. By Magna Charta, justices shall be sent* through every county, once a year, who, with the knights of the several shires, shall take assise of novel disseisin: and as to the general assise, all the counties of Eng- land are divided into six circuits, and two judges are assigned by the king’s commission A S S to every circuit, who now hold the assises twice a year, in every county, except Middlesex, where the courts of record sit, and the counties palatine. These judges have live several com- missions: 1. Of oyer and terminer, by which they are empowered to try treasons, felonies, eke. 2. Of gaol-delivery, which empowers them to try every prisoner in gaol, for what- ever offence he be committed. 3. Of assise, which gives them power to do right upon writs brought by persons wrongfully thrust out of their lands and possessions. 4. Of nisi prius, by which civil causes come to issue in the courts above, arc tried in the vacation by a jury of twelve men, in the county where the cause of action arises. 5. A commission of the peace in every county of the circuit : and all justices of peace of the county and sheriffs are to attend upon the judges, otherwise they shall be fined. Assise is used iu several other significa- tions ; as, 1. for a jury, where assises of novel disseisin are tried, anti the pannels of assise shall be arraigned. See the next article. 2. For a writ for recovery of the posses- sion of things immoveable, of which a per- son and his ancestors have been disseised. 3. For an ordinance or statute, as the assise of the forest, a statute concerning orders to be observed in the king’s forest. 4. For a quantity of wheat, bread. Sec. prescribed by a statute ; as we say, when wheat is of such a price, bread shall be of such an assise. Assise of novel disseisin is a writ that lies where a tenant in fee simple, fee tail, or for term of life, is put out and disseised of his lands, tenements, rents, common of pasture, common way, &c. A writ of assise may some- times be had by a person, when he cannot have trespass vi loss which would ruin an individual. The instrument by which this contract of indemnity is effected between the assurer and the assured is called a policy ; and is not, like most contracts, signed by both parties, but only by the assurer, who on that ac-j count, it is supposed, is denominated an un- derwriter. Assurances may be distinguished into ma- rine assurances, assurances upon lives, and ,; assurances against fire. Marine assurance is an indemnity against: those perils (o which ships and goods are ex- posed in the course of their voyage from one place to another, whether arising from the dangers of the seas, fire, capture by enemies or pirates, detention by the government of any country, or from any fraudulent act of - the master or mariners, such as running away with the ship, carrying her a course; different from their orders, sinking her, de- serting her, or embezzling the cargo. As- surances of this kind being of peculiar im- portanceto the commercial interests of this country, and many frauds having been com- mitted in this business by persons receiving premiums who were totally unable to fulfil their engagements, an act of parliament was passed in the reign of George I., establishing - two corporations with adequate capitals for carrying on this business, and prohibiting any other society or partnership whatsoever from making marine assurances or lending money on bottomry. The two companies are, the Royal Exchange Assurance and the LondonAssurance, who both engage very ex- tensively in this species of assurance ; but as: from their superior. responsibility they gene- rally require a somewhat higher premium than , private underwriters, many persons prefer effecting their assurances with the latter; this business, in London,, is carried on chiefly - in a $<* t of rooms called Lloyd's coffee-house, over the Royal Exchange, where four or live hundred underwriters assemble daily. Persons having an assurance to make, ge- nerally" employ a broker, who having pre- pared a policy, carries it to an underwriter, whom he considers a responsible person, who it he considers the risk ottered an eligible one to undertake, signs bis name at the bottom oi the policy, mentioning the sum he agrees to be answerable for; it is then taken to ano- ther, and so on till the whole sum mentioned in the policy is completed. The premium paid depends on the length of the voyage, the condition of the vessel, the season of the year, peace or war, and many other circum- stances ; of course it is very different at dif- ferent periods. Life assurance is a contract by which the underwriter for a certain sum, proportioned to the age, profession, and other circum- stances ot the person whose life is the object of assurance, engages that if such person shall die within the time limited in the policy, he will pay a sum of money to him in whose favour the policy was granted. The advan- tages resulting from such assurances are very numerous, viz. Persons deriving life incomes from church preferment, public offices, or any other civil or military employment, may thus, by ap- propriating part of their income to provide an annual payment, prevent the distress which their death would otherwise occasion to their family or dependents, A person whose income depends on the life of another, may, by making an annual payment, secure an adequate sum to himself or representative, at the death of another per- son ; or lie may secure such sum to be paid only in case he survives such other person. For instance, A person aged 20 pays annually L. s. d. 1 17 0 ) to secure 100/. to be paid C 20 2 19 10 Shim in ease he survives ano-< 40 b 18 1 ) ther person aged (do A person aged 60 pays annually L. s. d. 1 12 1 i to secure 100/. to be paid f 20 2 9 4 V him in case lie survives ano- -J 40 b 2 4 ) ther person aged ( 60 In cases, also, where a debtor cannot give adequate security to his creditor, an annual payment to the company will enable the cre- ditor to receive his debt in the event of the death of the debtor. Tenants for life may thus obviate the difficulty of raising money on securities which must become void upon their decease. Persons holding offices or employments depending on the lives of others, may in the same manner secure themselves from loss on the event of the death of the person on whose life their office or employments may depend. Persons sinking a sum of money in the purchase of an employment or office, in es- tablishing a trade or manufacture, or in car- rying on agricultural improvements, may se- cure the repayment of such sum to their fa- mily or other representatives. Persons entering into marriage, who, in consideration of the fortune received, may ASSURANCE. be required to settle a sum of money to be paid at their decease, may, by making an annual or single payment to the company, provide a fund for a marriage settlement, and thus secure a provision for a widow or chil- dren. Persons holding leases on lives may pro- vide the line payable on the renewal of such leases. Persons who are entitled, by purchase or otherwise, to an annuity on their own life, or the lives of others, or the joint lives of them- selves and others, may secure the full va- lue 6f such annuity, to be received at the death of the parties on whose lives the annuity depends. Those who, on their surviving another, will become possessed of an estate, annuity, legacy, office, place, or preferment, eccle- siastical, military, or civil, may either provide a more adequate security than they could otherwise do for money advanced, or may secure an equivalent sum to their family, or other representative, to be paid in the event of such survivorship not taking place. The premium paid for assuring a life, is computed from the probability of the failure of such a life, as deduced from bills of mor- tality, and the rate of interest at which mo- ney can be improved during the probable continuance of the life ; those who wish to investigate this subject, may consult Simpson on Annuities and Reversions, Dr. Price’s Treatise on Reversionary Payments, and the Doctrine of Annuities and Assurances on Lives, &c. by W. Morgan, actuary to the Society for Equitable Assurance on Lives and Survivorship. The premium for an as- surance for a certain term of years, or for the whole continuance of life, is generally paid annually, but sometimes in a gross sum. The following is a specimen of the annual premium required for assuring 100/. by most of the societies that undertake this species of assurance : Age. One Year. Seven Years. I Whole Life. L, s. d. L. s. d. L. s. d. 10 0 17 9 1 1 5 1 17 7 15 0 17 11 1 O 11 1 IS 7 20 1 7 3 1 9 5 2 3 7 25 1 10 7 1 12 1 2 8 i 30 1 13 3 1 14 11 2 13 5 35 1 16 4 1 18 10 2 19 10 40 2 0 8 2 4 1 3 7 11 45 2 C 8 o 10 10 3 17 11 50 2 15 1 3 0 8 4 10 8 55 3 5 0 3 12 0 5 6 4 60 3 18 1 4 7 1 (i 7 4 65 4 15 2 5 10 10 7 16 9 70 6 6 1 7 14 4 10 0 4 Assurances on the lives of persons subject to any peculiar hazard ; such as persons in the army and navy, or going to foreign parts, are charged with an additional premium pro- portionate to the extra risk, The foundation of the contract for a life assurance, is generally,' a warrantee that the life to be assured does hot exceed a given age, and is in good health at the time of effecting the assurance. There is also usually a sti - pulation that the assurance shall become void if the person whose life is assured shall depart beyond the limits of Europe, shall die upon the seas, or shall engage in any military or naval I <53 1 service without the consent of the assurers ; and when it is an assurance made by a per- son on his own life, it becomes void if he Cues by suicide, duelling, or the hands of justice., Any person making an assurance on the life ot another must be interested therein, spe- culative assurances being prohibited by 14 George III. c. 48. Assurances against fire, are made upon houses, warehouses, and all other buildings, household furniture, wearing apparel, mer- chandize,, utensils and stock in trade, ships in harbour, in dock, or while building, and on all other property liable to be consumed by lire ; except writings, notes, bonds, money, and a few other similar articles, which the as- surers could not undertake to be answerable for, without rendering themselves liable to be grossly defrauded. Assurances against lire are made for a limited period, usualty for one or more years, and are distinguished by the as- surers into three classes, viz. 1. Common assurances are assurances on all manner of buildings, having the walls of brick or stone, and covered with slate, tile, or metal, wherein no hazardous trades are carried on, nor any hazardous goods depo- sited, and on goods and merchandizes not: hazardous in such buildings. 2. Hazardous assurances are assurances on timber or plaister buildings, covered, with slate, tile, or metal, wherein no hazardous trades are carried on, nor any hazardous goods are deposited ; and on goods or mer- chandizes, not hazardous, in such timber or' plaister buildings ; and also on hazardous trades, such as cabinet and coach makers,, carpenters, coopers, bread and biscuit bakers, ship and tallow chandlers, soap-makers, inn- holders, sail-makers, maltsters, and stable- keepers, carried on in brick or stone buildings covered with slate, tile, or metal ; and on hazardous goods, such as hemp, flax, rosin, pitch, tar, and turpentine, deposited in such buildings ; the stocK in trade of apothecaries ; also on ships, and all manner of w-atef-craf!, in harbour, in dock, or while building, and on thatched buildings which have not a chim- ney, and do not adjoin to any building having a chimney, 3. Doubly-hazardous assurances are assu- rances on any of the aforesaid hazardous trades carried on, or hazardous goods deposited in, timber or plaister buildings, covered with slate, tile, or metal ; on glass, china, and earthen* ware ; also in thatched buildings or goods therein (except as in the preceding class) ; and on saltpetre, with the buildings contain- ing the same. Assurances on buildings and goods are deemed distinct adventures, su that the pre- mium on goods (so flu- as it is regulated by the sum assured) is not advanced by reason of any assurance on the budding wherein the goods are kept, nor the premium on the building by reason of any assurance on the goods. The annual premiums usually charged for fire assurances are; common assurances not exceeding 3QQ0/, two shillings per cent ; hazardous assurances not exceeding 2QQu/. three shillings per cent; doubly-hazardous assurances not exceeding 2000 /, nve shillings per cent. In addition to this charge of the assurers, government have imposed a duty of 2s, off, 164 AST per cent, per annum on all sums assured against fire. ASSUROR, a merchant or other person who" signs a policy of assurance, and there- by insures a ship, house, or the like. I he assuror is not liable for what damages may arise from the negligence or other faults ot the masters or mariners, or even from any defect in the things assured. ASSURITAN1, a branch of the Donatists, who held, that the Son was inferior to the Fa- ther, and the Holy Ghost to the Son: they rebaptized those who embraced their sect ; and asserted that good men only were within the pale of the church. AS TATI, a sect ot Christians, who being the followers of one Sergius, revived the er- roneous doctrines of the Manichees. They were remarkable tor the inconstancy of their principles. AS I ER, in botany, star-wort, a genus of the polygamia superflua order and syngenesia class ot plants, and in the natural method ranking under the 49th order, eompositi ra- cliati. 'I he receptacle is naked, the pappus is simple, the rays of the corolla are more than ten, and the calyx is imbricated. There are 60 species. All of them may be raised from seed; but the greatest part of them being perennial plants, and increasing at the roots, are generally propagated by parting their roots early in the spring, and they will grow in almost any soil or situation ; and the larger sorts increase so fast, that, if not prevented, they will in a little time run over a large space of ground. They grow best in the shade. The lower kinds do not run so much at the root, but should be taken up and trans- planted every other year, which will make them produce much fairer flowers. Some few sorts, which are natives of warm climates, will require artificial heat to raise them, if not to preserve them. ASTERIA, in natural history, a beautiful pellucid gem, of variable colours as viewed in different lights : called also oculus cati, or cat’s eye. The variable colours, which are a pale brown and white, seem to be lodged deep in the stone, and shift about as that is moved. It is nearly allied to the opals; from which, however, it is distinguished by its colour and superior hardness. Asteria is also the name of an extra- neous fossil, called in English the star-stone. ASTERIAS, star fish, or sea star, in zoology, a genus of the order of vermes mollusca. It has a depressed body, covered with a coriaceous coat ; is composed of five or more segments, running out from a cen- tral part, and furnished with numerous ten- tacula ; and has the mouth in the centre. The conformation of the mouth is this : the under part of each lobe runs towards a point with the rest at the centre of the body ; and these several productions of the rays make a sort of lips, the ends of each of which are armed with a number of sharp teeth, which serve to take and convey the food into the body. From this mouth there goes a sepa- rate canal to all or many of the rays, which runs through their whole length, and be- comes gradually narrower as it approaches the extremity. The tentacula resemble the horns of snails, but serve the animal to walk with. They are capable of being contracted or shortened ; and it is only at the creature’s AST moving that they are seen of their full length : at other, times no part of them is seen but the extremity of each, which is iormed like a sort ot button, being some- what larger than the rest of the horn. Aristo- tle and Pliny called this genus as-*;, and Stella marina, from their resemblance to the pictured form of the stars of heaven ; and they asserted that they were so exceedingly hot, as instantly to consume whatsoever they touched ! r I he fossil world has been greatly enriched by the fragments and remains of the several pieces of star-fish which have been converted into stones. There are many species of this genus: some of 12, 13, and even 14 rays. Most of them are found in our seas. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 41. 1. Asterias caput Medusa, or arbores- cent sea-star, has five rays issuing from an angular body : the rays dividing into innu- merable branches, growing slender as they recede from the base. These the animal, in swimming, spreads like a net to their full length; and when he perceives any prey within them, draws them in again, thus catch- in g_ it with all the dexterity of a fisherman. It is an inhabitant of every sea ; and is called by some the Magellanic star-fish and basket-fish. When it extends its rays fully, it forms a circle of near three feet in diame- ter. The fragments of these rays furnish the fossil entrochi. If we drown this, animal in brandy or spirit of wine, and keep the rays flat and expanded in the execution, it is easy to extract by means of a pair of forceps the stomach of the animal whole and entire through the mouth. 2. Asterias clathatra, or cancellated sea-star, with five short thick rays, hirsute beneath, cancellated above, is found on our coasts, but is rare. 3. Asterias deeacnemos has ten very slender rays, with numbers of long beards on the sides; the body is small, and sur- rounded beneath with ten filiform rays. 4. Asterias glacialis , with five rays, de- pressed, broad at the base, yellow, and hav- ing a round striated operculum on the back, is the most common: it feeds on oysters, and is very destructive to the beds. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 42. 5. Asterias hispida, with five rays, broad, angulated at top, and rough with short bristles, is of a brown colour, and is found about Anglesea. 6. Asterias oculata, with five smooth rays, dotted or punctured, is of a fine purple colour, and is also found about Anglesea. 7. Asterias placenta, with five very broad and membraneous rays, extremely thin and Hat, is found about Weymouth. 8. Asterias spherulata, with a pentagonal indented body; a small globular bead be- tween the base of each ray ; the rays slen- der, jointed, taper, and hirsute on their sides : is found off Anglesea. ASTERGIDES, in astronomy, a name given by Dr. Iierschel to the new planets, or three small planetary bodies, discovered by the foreign astronomers Piazzi, Gibers, and Harding, which are defined as “celestial bo- dies either of little or considerable excentri- city round the sun, the plane of which may be inclined to the ecliptic in any angle what- ever. The motion may be direct or retro- grade; and they may or may not have con- siderable atmospheres, very small comas, A S T disks, or nuclei.” From the observations already made on these bodies, they appear to partake of the several properties by which the planets in general are known and de- scribed ; and therefore, with justice, some astronomers have objected to this new defi- nition of Dr. Herschei. ASTEROPODIUM, a kind of extraneous fossil, of the same substance with the asteria-, or star-stones, to which they serve as a base. ASTHENIA, in medicine, a term em- ployed to denote bodily debility. See Me- dicine. ASTHMA, in medicine, a painful, diffi- cult, and laborious respiration, occasioned by intolerable straitness of the lungs, which, as it disturbs the free circulation of the blood through the lungs, endangers a suffocation. This disorder is attended with violent mo- tions of the diaphragm, abdominal and inter- costal muscles, to the very scapula and pin- na of the nostrils. It is usually divided mto pneumonic and convulsive ; and is also either continual, or intermitting and periodical, and returns commonly when a sober regi- men is not observed. This disorder proves most violent while the patient is in bed, and in a prone posture^ as in that case the contents of the lower belly bearing against the diaphragm, lessen, the capacity of the breast, and leave the- lungs less room to play. See Medicine. ASTRAGAL, in architecture, a little round moulding, in form of a ring, serving as an ornament at the tops and bottoms of columns. See Architecture. Astragal, in gunnery, a round mould- ing encompassing a cannon, about half % foot from its mouth. ASTRAGALUS, in bjotany, milk vetch, or liquorice vetch, a genus of the decandria. order and diadelphia class of plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the 32d order, papilionacea: ; the pod is gibbous and bilocular. Of this genus there are 63 species^. Astragalus communis. The common species grows wild upon dry uncultivated places, and is recommended by Mr. Ander- son to be cultivated as proper food for cattle.. The astragalus tragacantha is a thorny bush, growing in Crete, Asia, and Greece, which yields the gum. tragacanth.. This is of so strong a body, that a drachm of it will give a pint of water the consistence of a syrup* which a whole ounce of gum arabic is scarcely sufficient to do. Hence its use for forming troches, and for similar purposes, ia preference to the other gums. Astragalus, in anatomy,, called also the talus, is the superior and first bone of the. foot. See Anatomy. AST RANTIA,, masterwort, a genus of. the digynia order and pentandria class of plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the 45 tb order, umbellatae. The in- volucrum is lanceolated, open, equal, and coloured. The species are five, but possess no remarkable properties. AST RARIU S hares, in law, is where an ancestor, by conveyance, has settled his heir-apparent and family in a house in his life-time. AST ILEA, in astronomy, the same asVirgo. AS1 RINGENTS, astringentia, in phar- macy, medicines of the corroborative class. See Pharmacy. Astringents are thought by some to act AST nearly in a similar manner on the simple or dead animal fibre as on the living solid ; in both cases thickening and hardening : when applied to the living solid, they produce in- crease of tone and strength, restrain inordi- nate actions, and check excessive discharges from any vessels or cavities ; and to the dead fibre occasion that density, toughness, im- perviousness to water in a greater or lesser degree, and insusceptibility to the common causes of putrefaction, in which consists the process of tanning, or preparation of leather, bee Tanning. ASTRODICTiCUM, an astronomical in- strument, by means of which many persons are able to view the same star at the same time. ASTROITES, or star stone, in natural history, is so called on account of its resem- blance to a star. It is controverted among naturalists, whether they are parts of a pe- trified marine animal, or; as is more probable, a species of coral buried in the earth. The corals forming these stars are sometimes round, sometimes angular, and their columns are sometimes separated, and sometimes the striae run into one another. ASTROLABE, the name for a stereogra- phic projection of the sphere, either upon the plane of the equator, the eye being supposed to be in the pole of the world ; or upon the plane of the meridian, when the eye is sup- posed in the point of intersection of the equi- noctial and horizon. Astrolabe is also an instrument for taking the altitude of the sun or stars at sea, being a large brass ring, A C B D (Plate IX. Miscel. fig. 5.), the limb of which, or a con- venient part thereof A C, is divided into degrees and minutes, with a moveable index F G, which turns upon the centre, and turns two sights : at the zenith is a ring A, to hang it by in time of observation, when you need only to turn the index to the sun, that the rays may pass freely through both sights, and the edge of the index cuts the altitude upon the divided limb. This instrument, though not much in use now, if well made, and of great weight that it may hang the steadier, is as good as most instruments that are used at sea for taking altitudes, espe- cially between the tropics, when the sun comes near the zenith, and in calm weather. ASTROLOGY, a conjectural science, which absurdly pretended to foretel future events by the situation and different aspects of the heavenly bodies. ASTROLUS, in natural history, a name given by authors to a white splendid stone, small in size, roundish, and resembling the p\?pe rvf nshPS ' ASTROMETEOROLOGIA, the art of foretelling the tveather and its changes from the aspect of the moon and stars. This is sometimes called meteorological astrology. There is however but little reason to believe that the heavenly bodies have any great in- fluence on our atmosphere. See Meteo- rology. ASTRONIUM, in botany, a genus of the class and order dioecia pentandria. The essential character is, male, calyx five-leav- ed ; corolla five-petalled ; female, calyx five- leaved ; corolla five-petalled ; styles three : seed one. There is but one species, a tree, a native ©f New Spain, abounding in a slight gluti- A S T nous terebinfhine juice, which has a disa- greeable smell. ASTRONOMICAL place of a star or planet, is its longitude or place in the eclip- tic, reckoned from the beginning of Aries, according to the natural order of the signs. ASTRONOMY, is a mixed mathematical science, which treats of the heavenly bodies, their motions, periods, eclipses, magnitudes, &c. and of the causes on which they de- pend. History of Astronomy . — The origin of astronomy is very obscure, and appears to be also very antient. “ There is no doubt,” says Cassini, (< that astronomy w r as known even from the commencement of the world. It was not only curiosity which led man to the study of astronomy, but it may be said that necessity itself obliged him to it. For if he did not observe the seasons which result from the apparent changes of the sun’s place, it would be impossible to succeed in the practice of agriculture and other useful arts.” But astronomy, even if it could be considered as useless to man, de- rives from its very nature a certain degree of dignity. It is, moreover, upon this that navigation, geography, and chronology, de- pend. By its aid man passes the seas, and penetrates into foreign climes, becomes ac- quainted with those which he inhabits, and regulates the dates of ages past. Hipparchus laid the principal foundation of a methodical astronomy, 147 years before Christ. When an opportunity was given him to observe a new fixed star, he directly made a list of such stars, so that in the next age they were able to know if one had ap- peared more than usual. Ptolemy, about 280 years afterwards, added his observations to those of Plipparchus, and by the na- tural advantage which he possessed over his predecessor, he was enabled to rectify greatly the observations that he had made. Astronomy was very much neglected from this period till after the middle of the 13th century, at which time Alphonsus, king of Castile, formed tables more exact than the preceding. Indeed, a celebrated astronomer having at an early period been sufficiently attentive to observe all the planets in one night, found not one in the place of another, but all according to the tables w hich had been made by order of the king of Castile. It was not, however, till the 16th century that astronomy derived fresh lustre from the system of Copernicus, published at Nurem- berg in 1543, and brought to perfection by Kepler and Galileo ; a system so bold and daring, that it produced general astonish- ment, and yet its truth has been confirmed by the observations of every succeeding age. The surface of the heavens seems to us to be studded with stars ; between the fixed stars and us there seem to be other stars which change their situations respectively one to- wards another, and these all astronomers have agreed in calling planets, or wandering stars. The antient philosophers, who knew so very little even of the movements of the planets, had no evident means to know the true disposition of their orbits ; and this is the reason that they vary so greatly in their opinions. They supposed, at first, the earth to be immoveable, as the centre of the uni- verse, and that all the celestial bodies turned about her; which, indeed, was natural for AST 165 them to believe, without having discussed the proofs to the contrary. The Babylonians, however, and afterwards Pythagoras and his disciples, are said to have considered the earth as a planet, and the sun as immoveable, and the centre of our plane- tary system. Plato was the reviver of the system of the immobility of the earth, and many philosophers followed his sentiment ; among others was Claudius Ptolemy, the celebrated astronomer and mathematician of Pelusium in Egypt, already mentioned, who lived in the beginning of the second cen- tury of the Christian aera. It is, however, incredible that the true system of the w r orld having been once discovered, the hypothesis by which the earth is supposed to be the centre of the celestial movements should have again prevailed ; for though this hypo- thesis accords w ith appearances, and seems to agree at first with the simplicity of na- ture, yet it is impossible on that system to account for the celestial movements. Pto- lemy, w'ho has given the name to this system, endeavours to prove that the Earth is truly immoveable as the centre of the universe; and he places the other planets round about her in the following order, beginning by those which he believes the next to the Earth ; the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, till he comes at length to the fixed stars. His principal reason for placing Mercury and Venus be- neath the Sun, though they are often seen farther from the Earth than from the Sun, w T as, wdthout doubt, because the duration of their revolution was shorter than the apparent revolution of the Sun. When, however, astronomers had begun to observe the planets, they remarked that Mercury and Venus are sometimes nearer, and some- times farther, than we are from the Sun ; and that Venus never departs from the Sun more than about 47 degrees and a half ; and Mercury about 28 degrees and a half, and sometimes much less. But it is evident that if these two planets turn- ed about the Earth, as they suppose the Sun himself turned, they w'ould some- times appear opposite to the Sun, or far- ther from him than 180 degrees, which never happens. This is the reason why the Egyptians regarded these two planets as satellites of the Sun, and thought that they turned about liim> their orbits being carried with this star in his revolutions about the Earth. They therefore supposed the Earth immoveable, as the centre of the system; and they supposed the other celestial bo- dies to turn round her : first, the Moon ; secondly, the Sun, about which they made Mercury and Venus turn, without ever touching the Earth in their revolution, till they come to Mars, Jupiter, and to Saturn, the wdiole of their movements being deter- mined by the fixed stars. At the present day, when we know the immense distances which separate these stars, both of these systems become insupportable,, because of the prodigious rapidity which they require in the movements of the ce- lestial bodies ; for if we take a view of these distances,, it will be found necessary for these stars to go through the whole course of their orbits in about 24 hours, and that the Sun should run through, in a second of time* more than the space of 2500 leagues. To- \Q6 wards the year 1530, Copernicus, with a view 0i obviating the inconveniences of the imagi- nary systems that preceded him, commenced at first by admitting the diurnal motion of t.ie Earth, or her motion round her own axis ; w hich rendered useless that prodigious cele- ! ity in the motions of the heavenly bodies, of V- hich we have just spoken, and by these means simplified the system. This motion being once admitted, it was no violent step to admit a second motion of the Earth in the cciiptic. Ihese. two motions explain, with the utmost facility, the phenomena of the stations and motion of the planets. Accord- ing to Copernicus, then, the Sun is the cen- tre of our planetary system, and the pla- nets turnabout him in the order following: Mercury, Venus, the Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn (to which we may add the Herschel), at a distance from the .Sun nearly as the numbers 4, 7, 10, 15, 52, 95, 191. The Moon also he supposed to be carried round the Earth, in an orbit which goes along w ith the Earth in her annual motion round the Sun. In like manner about Jupiter, Saturn, and the Herschel, are the four satellites of the lirst, the seven satellites of the second, and the six satellites ot the third. Although the celestial phenomena explain themselves with the greatest facility according to the sys- tem of Copernicus, and though observation and reason are equally favourable to it, yet he found in his time an able astronomer who rejected the evidence of his discoveries. 1 vcho-Brahe, from the experiment that a stone thrown from a high tower fell at its feet, argued that the Earth must be without motion; never reflecting that the Earth, in that case, is like a vessel in full sail ; where if a stone is thrown from the mast, it will fall at the foot ot that mast, provided the motion of the ves- sel was neither accelerated nor retarded. Ty- cho-Brahe, therefore, invented a system be- tween that of Ptolemy and that of Copernicus. He supposed that the Earth was at rest, and that the other planets turn round the Sun, turning also with him round the Earth in twenty four-hours. It was towards the end ot the sixteenth century that he proposed his system. He placed the Earth immoveable as the centre, and made the Moon turn round her, the Sun also, and the fixed stars : the planets, viz. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, turning round the Sun, in orbits which are carried with him in his revolution round the Earth. Celestial Phenomena . — Upon examining the heavens, the first and most obvious phe- nomenon that presents itself tp observation, is the apparent diurnal motion of the sun, moon, and stars, or that by which they are seen to rise and set once in twenty -four hours. If, to consider more attentively the cir- cumstances of this diurnal motion, w r e place ourselves in an elevated situation, we shall perceive a circle terminating our view on all sides, by the apparent meeting of the earth and heavens. 'Phis circle is called the hori- zon : it divides the heavens into two parts ; that which is above the horizon only is vi- sible ; and this appears to us like a 'concave hemisphere, which we call the sky, in w hich we see the heavenly bodies move. The sky is not a real substance ; its blue colour is only owing to the refraction of the rays of light which pass through it ASTRONOMY. On considering with attention for one or more nights the motions of the stars, we find each star describing a circle in about twenty- four hours. 1 hose stars that appear north- ward describe smaller circles than those that are more to the south. If we look towards the south, we observe some stars just appear- ing abgve the horizon, grazing this circle, but not rising above it, and then vanishing ; others a little farther from the south, rise above the horizon, making a small arc, and then go down ; w hile some again describe a larger arc, and take a longer time in setting. It we now turn lo the north, we shall find that some just skim the horizon, mount to the top of the heavens, and then descend, and again touch the horizon, and mount without ever disappearing. Others, that are higher, describe complete circles in the sky, without coming to the horizon; and these circles diminish, till at last we arrive at a star that scarcely seems to move from the point where it is stationed, the rest wheeling round it. It may be easily conceived, that as there is a hemisphere above, there is also another beneath, though invisible ; and that, of course, | the horizon is a great circle of the sphere, dividing the concave heavens into two parts, the visible above, and the invisible below. The general appearance, therefore, of the starry heavens, is that of a vast concave sphere turning round two fixed points diametri- cally opposite to each other ; the one in the northern hemisphere visible to us ; and the other in the southern hemisphere. i r i he fixed points round which this sphere 1 is supposed to turn, are the poles, and a line j drawn from one to the other is called the ' axis of the sphere ; and round this line the j heavens seem to turn every day. To understand this more clearly, we must 1 have recourse to a figure, or diagram. Let H O (see Plate, Astronomy, fig. 1) represent j the circle of the horizon, seen edgeways, when it will appear as a straight line ; let HP I* O R Q be the complete sphere of the heavens, of which we shall suppose H P E O j to be the visible hemisphere, and II Q R O the invisible hemisphere : then P will be the pole, or fixed point, among the stars visible to us, round which they alt appear to turn, and R will be the opposite pole, or fixed point, in the sphere ; a line from P to R will be the axis of the sphere. If through the centre of the sphere C, there is drawn a line Q E, it will represent the edge of a great circle, at equal distances from both poles, and at right angles to the axis, called the equator, be- cause it divides the heavens into two equal parts. It PI O be the horizon, the highest point, or that immediately over our heads, as M, is called the zenith ; and the opposite point in the sphere, or lowest point N, is called the nadir. 1 he rising and setting of the sun are the two most remarkable circumstances to be observed in the heavens. Pie rises in the east, mounts to the highest point in the arch which he describes, and descends in the west. 1 he highest point to which he reaches, is naturally called the mid-day point. If a great circle is traced through this point and the zenith, it is called the meridian of the place ; and all the stars must cross this circle, or meridian, twice in the twenty-four hours ; but those that go below the horizon are seen only to cross it once, because when they cross it a second time they are invisible. Three great circles are now established in the heavens ; the horizon, the equator, and the meridian. The first determines the ris- ing and setting of the heavenly bodies ; and also the altitude of any of them, at anv time ot their course. For this purpose we must suppose another great circle lo pass through the star and the zenith ; it will consequently be perpendicular to the horizon. This is called a vertical circle, and upon this circle we reckon the number of degrees which the star is distant from the horizon. The quad- rant is an instrument for measuring the num- ber of degrees of altitude which any body has. The three great circles already mentioned form the basis of all observations upon the heavenly bodies, and to them all their situa- tions must be referred. It is necessary, therefore, to determine the relative situations ot these circles. If the polar star had been accurately at the pole of the heavens, no- thing more would be necessary, in order to obtain the altitude of the pole, than to take the altitude of this star; but this star is situ- ated two degrees distant from the pole ; tw6 degrees must therefore be added to this alti- tude, to find that of the pole. The elevation of the pole being discover- ed, it is easy to find that of the equator. Thus, in the diagram (fig. 1.), II M O, or the visible part ot the heavens, contains 180 degrees ; but it is 90 degrees from the pole P, to E the equator. If we take away P E from the semi-circle II M O, there remains 90 degrees for the other two arcs ; or, in other words, the elevation of the pole and the equator, are together equal to 90 de- grees ; so that the one being known, and sub- tracted from 90 degrees, "it will give the other; therefore, the elevation of the pole at any place, is the complement of the elevation ot the equator, or what that elevation wants of 90 degrees. Ilence it follows, that the elevation of the equator is equal to the dis- tance from the pole to the zenith ; for the elevation of the equator is the difference be- tween that of the pole and 90 degrees : the same elevation subtracted from 90 degrees gives its distance from the zenith. A little attention will soon convince us that the sun does not always rise at the same point of th6 heavens. Thus, if we commence our obser- vations on the sun, for instance in the be*- ginning of March, we shall find him appear to rise more to the northward every day, to continue longer above the horizon, and to be more vertical or higher at mid-day. This continues till towards the end of June, when he moves backward in the same manner, and continues this retrograde motion till near the end of December, when he begins to move forward, and so on. It is from" this change in the sun’s place, and from his height being so much • greater in summer than in winter, that the different length of the days and nights, and the vicissitudes of sea- sons, are owing. We cannot observe the sun’s motion among the fixed stars, because he darkens the heavens by his splendour, and effaces the feeble light oft hose stars that are in his neighbourhood ; hut we can observe the instant of his coming to the meridian, and his meridional altitude ; we can also compute what point of the starry heavens comes to'the same meridian at the same time, ?. id with the same altitude. The sun must be' at that point of the starry heavens, thus discovered. Or we can observe that point in the heavens which comes to the meridian at midnight, with a declination as far from the equator on one side as the sun’s is on the other side ; and il is evident the sun must be in tiiat part of the heavens which is diametrically opposite to this point. By either of these methods w r e may obtain a series of points in the hea- vens, through which the sun passes, forming a circle called the ecliptic. This circle has ts name from the circumstance, that all the eclipses of the /sun and moon are performed either actually in, or very near, the circum- ference of that circle. The ecliptic, or annual path of the sun, differs in situation from the equator ; for the sun rises above the equator in summer, and does not rise so high in winter. The points of the ecliptic where the sun is situated when he is most distant from the equator, are call- ed solstitial points ; and the distance between the equator and the ecliptic at the solstitial points, is called the obliquity of the ecliptic ; this is found to be about twenty-three and a half degrees. A B (tig. 1.) represents the ecliptic, inclined twenty-three and a half de- grees to the equator E Q. The equinoctial colure is the great circle which passes at right angles to tiie equator, through those two points of it that are inter- cepted by the ecliptic, called the equinoctial points. The solstitial colure is the other great circle at right angles to the equator, cutting it in the solstitial points. It passes through the poles of the ecliptic. If smaller circlesof the sphere are described touching the solstitial points, and at right angles to the axis, as A C, B D, they are tro- pics ; of which that on the south side of the equator is called the tropic of Capricorn, and that on the north side of the equator the tropic of Cancer. The two polar circles F G, I K, are at the same distance from the two poles. as the tropics are from the equa- tor ; that is, twenty-three and a half degrees. It is necessary here to mention the differ- ence between what is called the sensible and rational horizon. If we suppose that part of the surface of the earth on which we stand to be a plane, and to be extended every way till it reaches the heavens, this plane forms the sensible horizon. 'The rational horizon is a circle, the plane of which is parallel to the former, but passing through the centre of the earth. Though the globe of the earth ap- pears so large to those who inhabit it, yet it is so small when compared with the immense sphere of the heavens, that the distance be- tween the sensible and rational horizons is no- thing in comparison with it. .The zodiac is a broad portion of the hea- vens, which stretches about eight degrees on each side of the ecliptic ; it is divided into twelve parts, called signs ; and each sign into thirty parts, called degrees. If we imagine a number of great circles of the sphere standing at right angles to the plane of the ecliptic, and consequently intersecting each other in its poles, these are called circles of celestial longitude, and they will divide the ecliptic into equal parts. Upon the ecliptic is reckon- ed the longitude of any fixed star, beginning to reckon at that point where the ecliptic ASTRONOMY. 167 and the equator intersect each other in the vernal equinox, called the first point of Aries ; and the arch of any of the circles of celestial longitude intercepted between a star and the ecliptic, is the latitude of that star. The equator is divided into degrees, but they are called degrees' of right ascension, and from it to the poles the degrees of declination are reckoned upon the meridian of the place. Having now described the principal lines and points on the celestial sphere, as gene- rated by the apparent motions of the hea- venly bodies, in which we have supposed what appears at first sight to be the case, viz. that the earth stands still while all the hea- venly bodies revolve round it. This will make no difference with regard to these circles in the heavens ; for it will be the same thing with respect to them, whether the earth is at lest, and the heavenly bodies move round it, or whether the latter remain still, and the earth, as we shall -afterwards see, moves round on its axis once every twenty-four hours. Of the Solar System If we examine the heavens in a clear night, we shall discover some stars which have brighter and steadier light than the rest ; and if we continue to observe these for several nights, we shall find that they do not appear in the same place among the rest of the stars every night, but that they have motions peculiar to them- selves. All the rest of the stars, rising and setting always exactly in the same places, are called fixed stars. Those wandering or moving stars, are called pla- nets. It is now fully proved, that these planets, with the earth which we inhabit, and also the moon, revolve round the sun, which Is fixed in the centre of the system. There are two kinds of planets, primary and secondary. The first move round the sun, and respect him only as the centre of their motions. The secondary planets, called also satellites or moons, are smaller planets, revolving round the primary ; while they, with the primary planets about which they move, are carried round the sun. The planets move round the sun at various distances, some being much nearer to him than our earth, and others being much farther off. Of these, our earth is accompanied by one moon, Jupiter has four moons, Saturn has seven, and the Herschel planet has six moons. IS! one of these moons, except our own, can be seen without a good telescope. The other five planets do not appear to have any satellites or moons. There are ten primary planets, which are situated with respect to their distances from the sun as follows : Mercury $ , Venus 5 , the Earth ©, Mars $ , Ceres, Pallas, Juno, Jupiterlf, Saturn 1? , and the Herschel or Geovgium Sid us $ . See Astronomy Plate, Solar System. All the planets move round the sun from east to west, and in the same direction do the moons revolve round their primaries ; excepting those of the Herschel planet, which seem to move in a contrary direction. The paths in which they move round the sun are called their orbits. These orbits are el- liptical ; but the eccentricity of the ellipses is so small, that they approach very nearly to circles. They perform their revolutions also in very different periods of time. The time of performing their revolutions is called their year. The Sun, Mercury, Venus, The Earth, The Moon, Mars, Ceres Ferdinandea, Pallas, Juno, Jupiter, Saturn, Herschel, | ® — ^3 rt I gooC " Ol Apparent mean diameters, as seen from the Earth. 813,246 3,224 7,867 2,180 4,189 160 80 89,170 79,042 35,112 Mean dia- meters, in English miles. 37.000. 000 68.000. 000 95,000,000 95,000,000 144.000. 000 260.000. 000 266,000,000 300.000. 000 490.000. 000 900.000. 000 1,800,000,000 Mean distances from the Sun, in round num- bers of miles. 25d. 14h. 8m. unknown. Od. 23h. 21m. Id. 29d. 17b. 44m. 3s. 0 24 39 22 unknown, unknown. Od. 9h. 55m. 37s. 0 10 16 2 unknown. Diurnal rotations, 1 or round their own axes. C O M -I -1 00 0 H Cl) CO to COCnOO-^O^OO Cl 10 00 *-'l to tO CO ZC ^0 Cri CO I P- 1 — — H B to 1 — 10 OOW^OttOBI C5 c; 00 tr ?! I pr 1 cj, to *. ? Ob a. ~ O O O tO CT! 3 OlH 2 Time of revolving round the Sun. to. CO >-■ CO-4 ►fc. to Ci CO Oi to I Cl O CO 0 C --1 ^ O I CO 0 to C -1 Cn ^ Oi CO cccioooicw 01 q Inclination of the orbits of the Ecliptic. 82° 44 / 0" unknown, unknown. 66° 32' 0 88 17 0 59 22 0 unknown, unknown, unknown. 90° O' 0" 60 9 0 unknown. Inclination of the axes to the orbits. > td r 1 rtf O O > CO CO The planets are evidently opaque bodies, and they shine only by reflecting the light which they receive 'from the sun ; for Mer- cury and Venus, when viewed by a tele- scope, often appear to be only partly illumi- nated, and have the appearance of our moon when she is horned, having the illumin- ed part always turned towards us. From the appearance of the boundary of light and shadow upon their surfaces, we conclude that they are spherical ; which is confirmed by most of them having been found to turn periodically on their axes. Venus and Mercury being nearer to the sun than our earth, are called inferior planets ; and all the rest, which are without the earth’s orbit, are called superior planets. That the first go round the sun is certain], because they are seen sometimes passing between us and the sun, and sometimes they 1(38 go behind it. That their orbits are within that of the Earth is evident, because they are never seen in opposition to the sun, that is, appearing to rise from the horizon when the sun is setting. On the contrary, the orbits of all the other planets surround that of the earth ; for they some- times are seen in opposition to the sun, and they never appear to be horned, but always nearly or quite full, though sometimes they appear a little gibbous, or somewhat defici- ent from full. We mentioned above, that all the planets move round the sun in elliptical orbits. The sun is situated in one of the foci of each of them. That focus is called the lower focus. If we suppose the plane of the earth’s orbit, which passes through the centre of the sun, to be extended in every direction, as far as the fixed stars, it will mark out among them *• great circle, which is the ecliptic ; and with this the situations of the orbits of all the other planets are compared. The planes of the orbits of all the other planets must necessarily pass through the centre of the sun ; but if extended as far as the fixed stars, they form circles different from one another, as also from the ecliptic ; one part of each orbit being on the north, .and the other on the south side of the eclip- tic. The orbit therefore of each planet cuts the ecliptic in two opposite points, which are called the nodes of that particular planet, and different from the nodes of another planet. A line passing from one node of a planet to the opposite node, or the line in which the plane of the oi'bit cuts the ecliptic, is called the line of nodes. That node, where the planet passes from the south to the north side of the ecliptic, is called the ascending node, and the other is the descending node. The angle which the plane of a planet’s orbit .makes with the plane of the ecliptic, is call- ed the inclination of that planet’s orbit. Thus (Astronomy, Plate U. fig. 2.) where F represents the sun, -the points A and B re- present the nodes, and the line A B. the line of nodes formed by the intersection of the planes of the orbits C and D. The angle E F G is the angle of inclination of the planes of the two orbits to eaeh other. The dis- tance of either focus from the centre of the orbit, is called its eccentricity. The two points in a planet’s orbit which are farthest and nearest to the body round which it moves, are called the apsides ; the for- mer of which is called the higher apsis, or aphelion ; the latter is called the lower apsis, or perihelion. The diameter which joins these two points, is called the line of the ap- sides. "When the sun and moon are nearest to the earth, they are said to be in perigee. When at their greatest distance from the earth, they are said to be in apogee. When a planet is situated so as to be be\ tween the sun and the earth, or so that the . sun is between the earth and the planet, then that planet is said to be in conjunction frith the sun. When the earth is between the sun and any planet, then that planet is said to be in opposition. It is evident that the two inferior planets must have two con- junctions with the sun ; and the superior pla- nets can have only one, because they can never come between the earth and the sun. \yi)en a planet comes 'directly between us ASTRONOMY. and the sun, it appears to pass over the sun’s disc, or surface, and this is called the transit of the planet. When a planet moves from west to east, viz. according to the order of the signs, it is said to have di- rect motion, or to be in consequents. Its retrograde motion, or motion in anteceden- ts, is when it appears to move from east to west, viz. contrary to the order of the signs. The place that any planet appears to oc- cupy in the celestial hemisphere, when seen by an observer supposed to be placed in the sun, is called its heliocentric place. The place it occupies when seen from the earth, is called its geocentric place. The planets do not move with equal velo- city in every part of their orbits, but they move faster when they are nearest to the sun, and slower in the remotest part of their orbits ; and they all observe this remark- able law, that if a straight line is drawn from (he planet to the sun, and this line is sup- posed to .be carried along by the periodical motion of the planet, then the areas which are described by this right line and the path of the planet, are proportional to the times of the planet’s motion. That is, the area de- scribed in two days, is double that which is described in one day, and a third part of that which is described in six days ; though the arcs, or portions of the orbit described, are not in that ratio. The planets being at different distances from the sun, perform their periodical revo- lutions in different times; but it has been found that the cubes of their mean distances are constantly as the squares of their peri- odical times, viz. of the times of their per- forming their periodical revolutions. These two last propositions were discovered by Kepler, by observations on the planets ; but sir Isaac Newton demonstrated, that it must have been so on the principle of gravi- tation, which formed the basis of his theory. This law of universal attraction, or gravita- tion, discovered by Newton, completely confirms the system ,of Copernicus, and accounts for all the phenomena which were inexplicable on any other theory. The sun, as the largest body in our sys- tem, forms the centre of attraction, round which all the planets move; but it must not be considered as the only body endued with attractive power, for all the planets also have the property of attraction, and act upon each other, as well as upon the sun. The actual point, therefore, about which they move, will be the common centre of gravity of all the bodies which are included in our system ; that is, the sun, with the primary and secon- dary planets. But because the bulk of the sun greatly excels that of all the planets put together, this point is in the body of the sun. The attraction of the planets on each other, also disturbs their motions, and causes some irregularities. It is this mutual attraction between them and the sun, that prevents them from living off from their orbits by the centrifugal force which is generated by their revolving in a curves while die centrifugal force keeps them from falling into the sun by tjie force of gravity, as they would do if it were not for this motion impressed upon them. Thus these two powers balance each other, and preserve order and regularity in the system. It is an established maxim in philosophy, that if, when a body is projected in a straight line, it !b acted upon by another force, draw- ing it towards a centre, it will be made to describe a curve, which will be either a circle or an ellipsis, according to the proportion between the projectile and centripetal force. If a planet at B (fig. 3.) gravitates or is at- tracted towards the sun S, so as to fall from B to y in the time that the projectile force would have carried it from B to X, it will describe the curve B Y, by the combined action of these two forces, in the same time that the projectile force singly would have carried it from B to X, or the gravitating power singly have caused it to descend from B to y ; and these two forces being duly proportioned, the planet, obeying them both, will move in the circle B Y 1’ V. But if, whilst the projectile force would carry the planet from B to b, the sun’s at- traction should bring it down from B to 1, the gravitating power would then be too strong for the projectile force, and would cause the planet to describe the curve B C. When the planet comes to C, the gravitating power (which always increases as the square of the distance from the sun S diminishes) will be yet stronger for the projectile force, and by conspiring in some degree with it, will accelerate the planet’s motion all the way from C to K, causing it to describe the arcs B C, C I), D E, E F, &c, all in equal times. Having its motion thus accelerated, it thereby acquires so much centrifugal force, or tendency to lly off at K, in the line K k, as overcomes the sun’s attraction ; and the centrifugal fore£ being too great to allow the planet to be brought nearer to the sun, or even to move round him in the circle k m n, &c. it goes off, and ascends in the curve K L M N, &r. its motion decreasing as gradu- ally from K to B, as it increased from B to K ; because the sun’s attraction now acts against the planet’s projectile motion, just as much as it acted with it before. When the planet has got round to B, its projectile force is as much diminished from its mean slate as it was augmented at K ; and so the sun’s attraction being more than suf- ficient to keep the planet from going off at B, it describes the same orbit over again, by- virtue of the same forces or powers. A double projectile force will always ba- lance a quadruple pow er of gravity. Let the planet at B, have twice as great an impulse thence towards X, as it had before ; that is, in the same length of time that it was pro- jected from B to b, as in the last example, let it now be projected from B to c; and it will require four times as much gravity to retain it in its orbit ; that is, it must fall as far from B to 4, in the time that the projec- tile force would carry it from B to c, other- wise it would not describe the curve B D, as is evident from the figure. But inas- much time as the planet moves from B to C, in the higher part of its orbit, it moves from I to K, or from K to L, in the low er part erf it ; because from the joint action of these tw o forces, it must always describe equal areas in equal times throughout its annual course. These areas are represented by the triangles B S C, C S 13, L) S E, E S F, &c. whose contents are equal to one another from the properties of the ellipsis. We have now given a general idea of the gohvr system ; and shall next describe the bodies that compose it. Of tbs Sun. The Sun was long considered, from its constant emanation of heat and light, as an immense globe of fire. When viewed through a telescope, several dark spots are visible on its surface, which are of various sizes and duration. From the mo- tion of these spots, the Sun has been found to move round its axis in twenty-live days, which is two days less than its apparent revo- lution, in consequence of the Earth’s motion in its orbit in the same direction ; and its axis is found to be inclined to the ecliptic, in an angle of about eighty-two degrees and a half. Various opinions have been formed re- specting these spots ; they have been con- [ sidered as opaque islands in the liquid igneous matter, and by some as pits or cavities in the body of the Sun. But from whatever : cause they may arise, they evidently adhere to its surface : for if one of them appears upon the eastern limb or edge of the Sun’s disc, it is seen to move thence towards the western edge in about thirteen days and a half, then the spot disappears, and in about the same time, it is seen again upon the eastern edge, and so continues to go round, completing its apparent revolution in twenty- seven days, during one half of which time we see it on the disc of the Sun, aud during the other halt it disappears, which could not happen if the spots did not adhere to the Sun. The following particulars respecting the Sun are given by sir Isaac Newton. 1. That the density of the Sun’s heat, which, is proportional to his light, is seven times as great in Mercury as with us, and that water there would be all carried off in the shape of steam ; for he found, by experi- ments with the thermometer, that a heat seven times greater than that of the Sun’s beams in summer will serve to make water boil. 2. That the quantity of matter in the Sun is to that in Jupiter nearly as 1100 to 1, and that the distance of that planet from the Sun is in the same ratio to the Sun’s semi-diameter; consequently, that the centre of gravity of the Sun and Jupiter is nearly in the super- ficies of the Sun. 3. That the quantity of matter in the Sun is to that in Saturn as 2360 to 1, and that the distance of Saturn from the Sun is in a ratio but little less than that of the Sun’s semi-di- ameter. And hence the common centre of gravity of Saturn and the Sun is a little within the Sun. 4. By the same method of calculation it will be found, that the common centre of gravity of all the planets cannot be more than the length of the solar diameter distant from the centre of the Sun. 3. The Sun’s diameter is equal to 100 di- ameters of the Earth, and therefore its mag- nitude must exceed that of the earth one million of times. 6. If 360 degrees (the whole ecliptic) is divided by the quantity of the solar year, it will give 59' 8" which therefore is the medium quantity of the Sun’s apparent daily motion ; hence iris horary motion is equal to 2' 27". By this method the tables of the Sun’s mean motion are constructed as found in astronomical books. Of the inferior planets. Mercury being Vol. 1. ASTRONOMY. the planet nearest to the Sun, and the least in magnitude, is very seldom visible. It never appears more than a few degrees from the Sun’s disc, and is generally lost in the splendour ol the solar beams. On this ac- count, astionomers have had few opportuni- ties of making accurate observations upon it ; no spots have been observed upon it consequently the time of its rotation on its axis is not known. Being an inferior planet, it must shew phases like the Moon, lig. 7 ; and it never appears quite full to us. It is seen sometimes passing over the Sun’s disc which is called its transit. Venus is the brightest and largest to ap- peal ancc of all the planets, and is distin- guished from the rest by her superiority of lustre. It is generally called the Morning or Evening Star, according as it precedes or follows the apparent course of the Sun. Some have thought that they could discover spots upon its disc ; but Dr. Herschel has not been able to see them; consequently, the time of rotation round its axis is not known. \ onus also appears with phases ; and transits sometimes take place, which are of very great importance in astronomy. The elongation of any planet is its apparent distance from the sun. An inferior planet is at its greatest elon- gation, when a line drawn from the Earth through the plahet is a tangent to the orbit of the planet ; when the planet is at M (lig. 4.) being in conjunction with the Sun, it has no elongation; as it moves from M to V, its elongation increases till at V, when EV drawn from the earth to the orbit of the planet is a tangent to that orbit, its apparent place in the ecliptic is C, and its elongation is S C, which is the greatest it can have, for in passing from V to N it decreases, and at N it is nothing. From N to U it in- creases, and at U the elongation is again at the greatest. 1 his will hold equally in ellip- tical .:s in circular orbits. If the orbits of the planets were circular, the distance of each from the Sun would be to the Earth’s distance, as the Sun at its greatest elongation to the radius, that is, as V S to E S. By ex- amining the figure it will be seen, that the interior planets are never in opposition to the Sun, and are never in quadrature. For in opposition, the Earth is between the Sun and the planets, which can never happen when the orbit of the planet M G B is in- cluded within that of the Earth. They are never in quadrature, because the greatest angle of elongation is contained by S E and E \ , and it the angle S E V was a right angle, E V would be a tangent at E the Earth’s orbit : but it is a tangent, as has been seen, to an orbit less than that of the Earth; it therefore makes an angle with S E; less than a right angle. Plence the reason that the inferior planets never appear far from the Sun ; and as the orbit of Mercury is in- cluded vvithin that of Venus, the former must, when visible, always appear nearer to the Sun, than the latter. We may also observe that the apparent velocity of Venus is great- est at the times of conjunction. Since the plane of her orjiit is oblique to the Earth, those parts of it which are viewed by a spec- tator directly, will appear longer than other equal parts viewed obliquely. Of course, the motions ot the planet, if uniform, will appear unequal. 1C(J The time when an inferior planet will come again into a given situation with respect to the Sun and the Earth, mav be thus found. Whilst Venus performs one revolution, the Earth, whose periodical time is longer than that of Venus, will not have completed its revolution. Before Venus and the Earth can be again in the inferior conjunction, Venus must, therefore, besides its entire revolution, describe an arc equal to that which the Earth lias passed over : conse- quently, the number ot degrees passed over by each, or their angular motions, in the same time, will be reciprocally as their peri- odical times ; that is, as the periodical time of the Earth is to the periodical time of Venus, so is the angular motion of Venus (which is equal to four right angles added to the angular motion of the Earth between two inferior conjunctions) to the angular motion ol the Earth in the same time ; whence (El. V. 17.) as the difference between the peri- odical times of the Earth and Venus, is to the periodical time of Venus, so are four right angles, or 360°, to the number of de- grees over which the Earth passes in her orbit from one inferior conjunction to an- other. This is only true upon the suppo- sition that the planets moved in circular orbits, in which case the following general rule w ould apply to the finding the time from conjunction to conjunction, or from oppo- sition to opposition, of any two planets. “ Multiply their periodic times together, and divide the product by their difference, and you have the time sought.” For let P = the periodic time of the earth, p = that of the planet (suppose an inferior), t — time “160° required: then PI 1 day” 360°; th« angle described by the eartli in 1 day : for the 360'’ . same reason — is the angle described by the planet in 1 day: hence • — is • P P the daily angular velocity of the planet from the Earth. Now' if they set out from con- junction, they will return into conjunction again, after the planet has gained 360°: hence 3CO° 360. „ „ P p -f- T- 360 •••• lda >-:'=p^. For • i> P a superior planets = - v When the inferior planets are passing from their greatest elongation V. (fig. 4.) through N their superior conjunction, to their great- est elongation U, they appear to a spectator on the earth to move from west to east ; for when the planet is at G it will appear to have moved from C to H, and w'hen at A and B it will appear to have passed from H through L to a and b ; of course the motion of the planet is direct, or from west to east; but while it moves from U to V, its motion will appear to us retrograde or from east to west ; for when it has passed from U to J and K, it will appear to have moved in the heaven* from D through d to b and a, that is, from east to w r est When the inferior planets are at their greatest elongation, they appear sta- tionary ; because when the planets' are at U and V, the line drawn from E the Earth to the planet, is a tangent to the orbit, W'hich st S nearly coincides with a small arc of the curve, that a spectator at the Earth cannot distin- guish the tangent from the curve, when the 170 planet is at V and U, of course it will in those positions seem to be stationary. When Venus or Mercury is in its superior conjunction, or at N, the whole enlightened hemisphere is towards the earth, and its entire disc is ' visible : as it passes towards its inferior conjunction, its enlightened he- misphere turns by degrees, from the Earth, till at the inferior conjunction M, its enlight- ened part is wholly r turned from the Earth, and the planet becomes invisible, unless it appears on the Sun’s disc ; it is then called a transit. Of the Earth. The Earth which we in- habit is a globular body, as may be proved from a variety of circumstances, the chief of which we shall here enumerate. It is always ©bserved by mariners, that as they sail from any high objects, such as mountains, steeples, &c. they first begin to lose sight of the lower part of those objects, and then gradually of the higher parts ; also, persons on shore iirst discover the upper parts of the masts of ap- proaching vessels. This could not be the case, if the Earth was a plane ; but is very easily accounted for, on the supposition of its being a sphere, as will be easily under- stood by examining tig. 5. Various navi- gators have also sailed completely round the earth, by continuing in the same direction, at last coming to the same place from which they set out. The Earth, however, is not a perfect sphere, but a spheroid, having its equatorial diameter longer than the polar diameter, or axis. It is consequently flattest at the poles, and more protuberant at the equator. The diameter at the equator is 7977 English miles ; that at the poles is 7940 miles. The surface of the Earth is much diversified with mountains and valleys, land and water. The highest mountains in it, are the Andes in South America, some of which are about four miles in perpendicular altitude. About two-thirds of the globe are covered with water. In consequence of the Earth’s being a globe, people standing upon opposite sides of it, must have their feet towards each other. When in this situation they are called antipodes to each other. Hence it appears that there is no real up or dozen’, for what is up to one country', is down to another. It must seem strange to those who are ignorant of the shape of the earth, to suppose that, if we could bore a hole downwards, deep enough, we should come to the other side of the world, where we should find a surface and sky like our own ; yet if we reflect a moment, we shall perceive that this is perfectly true. As we are preserved in our situations by the power of attraction, which draws us towards the centre of the earth, we call that direction down, which tends to the centre, and the contrary. We mentioned before, that the Earth has two motions ; the one a diurnal motion, round its own axis, in twenty-four hours ; the other an annual motion, round the Sun, in 365 days, 6 hours, 56 minutes, 4 seconds. It is the former which causes light and dark- ness, day and night; for when one side of tire Earth is turned towards the Sun, it re- ceives his rays, and is illuminated, causing day ; on the contrary, when one side of the Earth is turned from the Sun, we are in dark- ASTRONOMY. ness, and then we have night. By the di- urnal revolution of the Earth round its own axis from west to east, the heavenly bodies’ appear to us to revolve in the same time from east to west. And since the Sun and fixed stars are bodies immensely larger than the Earth, and at almost inconceivably great distances from it, we see upon how much more simple principles the alternate succes- sion of day and night is effected by the revo- lution of the earth about its axis, than by supposing the Earth fixed, and the Sun and stars whirled round it, with an indefinite velocity. The natural days are not equal to one another ; for a natural day is the time in which the Earth performs one revolution round its axis, and such a portion of the second revolution, as is equal to the space which the Sun has apparently travelled that day r ; but these spaces are unequal, therefore, the additional portion of the second revolution, will be sometimes greater and sometimes less, and consequently the times in which the natural days are com- pleted will be unequal. Hence arises the difference between a sun-dial and a well regu- lated clock, as measures of time ; the former measuring the length of the natural day, the latter dividing time into equal portions of twelve hours each : the clock will be before the dial, when the natural day is more than twenty-four hours ; and after it, when the natural day' is less than twenty-four hours ; and they will be together, only when the natural day is exactly twenty-four hours. The equation of time is the difference between the mean length of the natural day, or twenty-four hours, and the length of any single day measured by' the sun’s apparent motion, or between mean and apparent time. And the hour of the day by apparent time being known, in order to determine what is then true time, the equation is to be added to apparent time, if the day by the clock is shorter than the day by the dial : and the equation is to be subtracted from the ap- parent time when the day by the clock is longer than the day by the sun-dial. If the natural day is twenty-four hours three mi- nutes long, the day by the clock being twenty-four hours in length, it will be 12 by a good clock 3 minutes before it is 12 by the dial ; in this case mean time precedes apparent. The difference between mean and ap- parent time, depends upon two causes: (1) the obliquity of the ecliptic with respect to the equator : and (2) the unequal motion of the earth in an elliptical orbit. The ob- liquity of the ecliptic to the equator would make the sun and clocks agree on four days of the year, viz. when the sun enters Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn. But the other cause which arises from his unequal motion in his orbit would make the sun and clocks agree only twice a year, that is, when he is in perigee, and apogee ; consequently', when these two points fall in the beginnings of Cancer and Capricorn, or of Aries and Libra, they will concur in making the sun and clocks agree in those points. But the apogee, at present, is in the ninth degree of Cancer, and the perigee in the ninth degree of Capricorn ; and, therefore, the sun and clocks cannot be equal at the beginnings of these signs, nor, indeed, at any time of the year, except wh?n the swiftness and slow- ness of the equation resulting from one of the causes, just balances the slowness or swift- ness arising from the other ; which happens about the 15th of April, the 15th of June, the 31st of August, and the 24th of De- cember; at all other times the sun is too fast or too slow for equal time by' a certain number of minutes and seconds, which at the greatest is 16 minutes, 14 seconds, and happens about the first of November : every other day' throughout the year having a cer- tain quantity of this difference belonging to it, which, however, is not exactly the same every year, but only' every fourth year, for j which reason, it is necessary, where great accuracy is required, to have four tables of ; this equation, viz. one for each of the four years in the period of leap year. . The fol- 1 lowing concise table, adapted to the second I year after leap year, will always be found within about a minute of the truth, and there- j fore sufficiently accurate for common clocks and watches. . TABLE, FOR THE EQUATION OF TIME. Days. Months. Equation J in | Minutes. Days. Months. Equation in Minutes. Days. Months. Equation 1 in Minutes. Jan. 1 4 + Apr. 24 2— Sept.27 9— 3 5 30 3 SO 10 5 6 May 13 4 Oct. 3 11 7 7 29 3 6 12 9 8 June 5 2 10 13 12 9 10 1 14 14 15 10 15 0 19 15 18 11 * — 27 16 21 12 20 1+ Nov.15 15 25 13 25 2 20 14 SI 14 39 3 24 13 Feb. 10 15 July 5 4 27 12 21 14 11 5 30 11 27 13 28 6 Dec. 2 10 Mar. 4 12 Aug. 9 5 5 9 8 11 15 4 7 8 12 10 20 3 9 7 15 9 24 2 11 6 19 8 28 1 13 5 ; 22 7 31 0 16 4 25 6 * — 18 3 28 5 Sept. 3 1 — 20 2 Apr. 1 4 6 2 22 1 4 3 9 3 24 0 7 2 12 4 * — 11 1 15 5 26 1+- 15 0 18 6 28 2 * — 21 7 30 3 ; 19 1 — 24 8 • 4 Those columns that are marked -j-> shew that the clock or watch is, or ought to be, before the sun ; and those marked — , that it is slower* To regulate, a clock or watch on the 1st of January, the moment the sun-dial is 12, the. clock or watch must be put 4 minutes after. On the 13th of May, when the dial is 12, the clock to be right must want 4. minutes of that- hour. See Ferguson’s- Astronomy, ch. 13. Phil Trans, vol. 54. Twilight is owing to the refraction of the rays of light by our atmosphere, through which they pass ; and which, by bending them, occasions some to arrive at a part of the earth that could not receive any direct rays from the sun, or so as to bring him into sight, every clear day, before he rises in. the I horizon, and to keep him in view for some minutes after he is really set below it. _ The effect of this refraction is about six minutes every day at a mean rate. From the same cause, the heavenly bodies appear higher than they really are, so that to bring the apparent altitudes to the true ones, the quantity of refraction must be subtracted. The higher they rise the less are the rays refracted, and when the heavenly bodies are in the. zenith, they suffer no refraction, ac- cording to the principles of optics hereafter to be demonstrated. Tables of refractions have been calculated by various astronomers, as sir I. Newton, Mr. Thomas Simpson, Dr. Bradley, Mr. Mayer, &c. The following specimen is taken from Dr. Bradley’s table, which is esteemed the most correct, and chiefly used by astronomers. For the method of calculating these tables, see Mr. Simpson’s Dissert, p. 46, 4to. Gregory’s Astron. Vol. I. Pa. 66, and Vince’s Astron. Vol. I. 4to. ch. 7. MEAN ASTRONOMICAL REFRACTIONS IN ALTITUDE. App Alt. Refrac- tion. A PP Alt. Refrac- tion. App Alt. Refrac- tion. 0° 33' O'' 22° 2' 20" 44° 0' 59" 1 24 29 23 2 14 45 0 57 2 18 35 24 2 7 48 0 51 3 14 36 25 2 2 50 0 48 4 11 51 26 1 56 52 0 44 5 9 54 27 1 51 55 0 40 6 8 28 28 1 47 58 0 35 7 7 20 29 1 42 60 0 S3 8 6 29 30 1 38 62 0 30 9 5 48 31 1 35 65 0 26 10 5 15 32 1 31 68 0 23 11 4 47 33 1 28 70 0 21 12 4 23 34 1 24 72 0 18 13 4 3 35 1 21 75 0 15 14 3 45 36 1 18 78 0 12 15 3 30 37 1 16 80 0 10 16 3 17 38 I 13 82 0 8 17 3 4 39 1 10 85 0 5 18 2 54 40 1 8 88 0 2 19 2 45 41 1 5 89 0 1 20 2 35 42 1 3 90 0 3 21 2 27 43 1 1 Dr. Keill, in his Lectures on Astronomy, observes, that it is entirely owing to the at- mosphere that the heavens appear bright in the day time. For without it, only that part of the heavens would be luminous in which the sun is placed ; and if we could live with- out air, and should turn our backs to the sun, the whole heavens would appear as dark as in the night. In this case also we should have no twilight, but a sudden transition from the brightest sun-shine to dark night immedi- ately upon the setting of the sun ; which would be extremely inconvenient, if not fatal to the eyes of mortals. See Keill’s Astron. Lect. xx. The twilight is longest in a parallel sphere, and shortest in a right sphere : and in an oblique sphere, the nearer the sphere ap- proaches to parallel, the longer is the twilight. In a parallel sphere, the twilight will con- tinue till the sun’s declination toward the de- pressed pole is 1 8° : but in this sphere his declination is never more than 23% degrees ; whence the twilight will only cease, whilst the sun’s decimation is increasing from 18° to 23% degrees, and decreasing again till in ASTRONOMY. its decrease it becomes 18 degrees. The twilight is here caused by the annual motion of the earth. In a right sphere, the sun ap- pears to be carried, by the daily motion of the earth, in circles perpendicular to the horizon ; whence it is carried directly down- wards by the whole daily motion, and will arrive at 18 degrees below the horizon the soonest possible: whereas, in an oblique sphere, its path is oblique to the plane ot the horizon, and therefore will be longer before it has descended 18 degrees below the horizon : and the difference of the time of twilight will increase with the degree of ob- liquity. As the sun sets more obliquely at some parts of the year than others, the twi- light varies in its duration. Of the Seasons. It is the annual motion of the earth round the sun, which occasions the diversity of seasons. To understand this, it must be remembered, that the axis of the earth is inclined to the plane of its orbit about 23 % degrees, and it keeps always parallel to itself ; that is, it is always directed to the same point of the heavens. The obliquity of the ecliptic is not perma- nent, but is perpetually diminishing, by the ecliptic approaching nearer to a parallelism with the equator, at the rate of about half a second in a year, or from 50 seconds to 55 seconds in a hundred years. The incli- nation at this time is rather less than 23 de- grees, 28 minutes. The diminution of the obliquity of the ecliptic to the equator is owing to the action of the planets upon the earth, especially the planets Venus and Ju- piter. The obliquity of the ecliptic is found by observing with great accuracy the me- ridian altitude of the sun’s centre, on the days of the summer and winter solstice : then the difference of the two, will be the distance between the tropics ; the half of which is the obliquity sought. Let Fig. 6, Plate Astronomy, represent the earth in different parts of its elliptic orbit. In the spring, the circle which separates the light from the dark side of the globe, called the terminator, passes through the poles as appears in the position A. r l he earth then, in its diurnal rotation about its axis, has every part of its surface as long in light as in shade; therefore the days are equal to the nights all over the world, the sun being at that time vertical to the equa- torial parts of the earth. As the earth proceeds in its orbit, and comes into the position B, the sun becomes vertical to those parts of the earth under the tropic, and the inhabitants of the northern hemisphere will enjoy summer, on account of the solar rays falling more perpendicu- larly upon them; they will also have their days longer than their nights, in proportion as they are more distant from the equator ; and those within the polar circle, as will be perceived by the figure, will have constant day-light. At the same time, the .inhabit- ants of the southern hemisphere have win- ter, their days being shorter than their nights, in proportion as they are farther from the equator ; and the inhabitants of the polar regions will have constant night. The earth then continues its course to the position C, when the terminator again passes through the poles, and the days and nights are equal. After this, the earth advances to the Y 2 171 position D, at which time the inhabitants of the northern hemisphere have winter, and their days are shorter than their nights. The positions B and D, are the solstitial points ; and A and C, the equinoctial points; they are not equidistant from each other, because the sun is not in the centre, but in the focus of the ellipsis. In summer, when the earth is at B, the sun is farther from it than in the winter, when the earth is at D ; and in fact, tire diameter of the sun^ appears longer in winter than in summer. The dif- ference of heat is not owing to the sun’s being nearer to us, or more remote, but to the de- gree of obliquity with which its rays strike any part of the earth. Of the Moon. The moon is, next to the sun, the most remarkable of the celestial objects. Its form is spherical, like that of the earth, round which it revolves, and by which it is carried round the sun. Its orbit is also elliptical, having the earth in one of the foci of the ellipsis. ’The moon always keeps the same side towards the earth, shew- ing only at one time a little more of one side, and at another time a little more of the other. Hence as the moon revolves about its axis, its periodical time must be equal to that of its revolution in its orbit round the earth. This is found to be the case with the fifth satellite of Saturn as it regards its primary. And though the year is ot the same absolute length, both to the earth and moon, yet the number of days in each is very different : the former having 365| na- tural days in its year, but the latter has only about 12%, every day and night in the moon being as long as 29 a on the earth. The face of the moon, as seen through a telescope, appears diversified with hills and valleys. This is proved by viewing her at any other time than when she is full ; for then there is no regular line bounding light and darkness; but the edge or border of the moon appears jagged ; and even in the dark part near the borders of the lucid surface, there are seen some small spaces enlightened by the sun’s beams. Besides, it is moreover evident, that the spots in the moon taken for mountains and valleys, are really such from their shadows. For in all situations of the moon, the ele- vated parts are constantly found to cast a triangular shadow in a direction from the sun; and the cavities are always dark on the side next to the sun, and illuminated on the opposite side. Hence astronomers are en- abled to find the height of the lunar moun- tains. Dr. Iveill, in his Astronomical Lec- tures, has calculated the height of St. Cathe- rine’s hill to be nine miles. Since, how- ever, the loftiest mountains upon the earth are but about three miles in height, it ha* been long considered as very improbable that those of a planet so much inferior in size to the earth should exceed in such vast proportion the highest of our mountains. By the observations of Dr. Herschel, made in November, 1779, and the four fol- lowing months, we learn, that the altitude of the lunar mountains has been very much exaggerated. His observations were made with great caution, by means of a New- tonian reflector, six feet eight inches long, and with a magnifying power of 222 times, determined by experiment ; and the method which he made use of to ascertain the alti- 1/2 tude of those mountains which, during that time, he had an opportunity of examining, seems liable to no objection. The rock situated near LaCus Niger, was found to be about one mile in height, but none of the other mountains which he measured proved to be more than half that altitude ; and Dr. Herschel concludes, that with a very few ex- ceptions, the generality of the lunar moun- tains do not exceed half a mile in their per- pendicular elevation. See Keill’s Astron. Lect. x. Phil. Trans. Vo!, nxx. do Dr. Herschel also we are indebted tor an account of several burning volcanoes, which he saw at different times in the moon. In the 77th vol. of the Phil. Trans, he says, April 19, 10 hours, 36 minutes, sidereal time. I perceive three volcanoes in different places of the dark part of the new moon. Two of them are nearly extinct ; or, other- wise, in a state of going to break out, which perhaps may be decided next lunation. The third shows an actual eruption of fire, or luminous matter.” On the next night. Dr. Herschel saw the volcano burn with greater violence than on the preceding evening. He considered the eruption to resemble a small piece of burning charcoal when it is covered by a thin coat of white ashes, which frequently adhere to it, when it has been some time ignited; and it had a degree of brightness about as strong as that with which such a coal would be seen to glow in faint daylight. It is not yet determined whether there is an atmosphere belonging to the moon. See Phil. Trans, for the year 1792. d he moon is seen by means of the light which comes to it from the sun being re- flected from it. Its changes or phases de- pend upon its situation relatively to the earth and the sun. When the moon is in oppo- sition to the sun at A (fig. 7.) the enlighten- ed side is turned towards the earth, as a, and it appears full. When tire moon is in con- junction at E with the sun, its dark side is turned towards us, and it is invisible, as at e. As it proceeds in its orbit, as at F, a small part of the enlightened side is seen, and then ?ve have what is called a new moon ; and we continue to see more and more of the en- lightened side, as the moon approaches at Cj and H, to the state of opposition or full moon. The waning or decreasing of the moon takes place in the same manner, but in a contrary order. The earth must perform the same office to the moon that the moon does to us'; and it will appear to the inhabit- ants of the moon (if there be any), like a very magnificent moon, being to them about fifteen times as large as the moon to us, and it will also have the same changes or phases. Hence it is evident, that one half of the moon is never in darkness, the earth constantly affording it a strong light, during the absence bf the sun; but the other half has a fort- night’s light and darkness by turns. When the moon is near the first of Aries, and moving towards the tropic of Cancer, the time of its rising will vary but little for several days together. If the moon were to move in the equator, its motion in its orbit, by which it describes a revolution, in respect of the sun, in 29 days, 12 hours, would carry it every day eastward from the sun about 12 degrees 11 minutes, whence its time of rising would vary daily about 50 minutes. But, because the moon’s orbit is oblique to ASTRONOMY. the equator, nearly coinciding with the ecliptic, different parts of it make different angles with the horizon, as they rise or set ; those parts which rise with ’ the smallest angles setting with the greatest, and the re- verse. Now the less this angle is, the greater portion of the orbit rises in the same time. Consequently, when the moon is in those parts which rise or set with the smallest angles, it rises or sets with the least difference of time, and the reverse. But in northern lati- tudes, the smallest angle of the ecliptic and horizon is made when Aries rises and Libra sets, and the greatest when Libra rises and Aries sets ; and therefore, when the moon rises in Aries, it rises with the least difference of time. Now the moon is in conjunction in or near Aries, when the sun is in or near Libra, that is, in the autumnal months; when, the moon' rising in Aries, whilst the sun is setting in Libra, the time of its rising is ob- served to vary only two hours in six days in the latitude of London. This is called the harvest-moon. This circumstance takes place every month ; but as it does not happen at the time of full moon, there is no notice taken of it. When the moon’s right ascension is equal to six signs, that is, when she is in or about the beginning of Libra, there is the greatest dif- ference of the times of rising, yiz. about an hour and 15 minutes. Those signs which rise with the least angle set with the greatest, and the contrary; therefore, when there is the least difference in the times of rising, there is the greatest in setting, and vice versa. The following table shews the daily mean difference of the moon’s rising and setting, on the parallel of London, for 28 days ; in which time the moon finishes her period round the ecliptic, and gets nine degrees into the same sign from the beginning of which she set out. Days. Signs. a co Grq Rising Diff Setting Diff. CO o H. M. H. M. 1 25 13 1 5 0 50 2 26 1 10 0 43 3 a 10 1 14 0 37 4 23 1 17 0 32 5 6 1 16 0 28 6 19 1 15 0 24 7 2 1 15 0 20 8 15 1 15 0 18 9 28 1 15 0 17 10 in 12 1 15 0 22 31 26 1 14 0 30 12 1 8 1 13 0 39 13 v? 21 1 10 0 47 14 4 1 4 0 56 15 17 0 46 1 5 16 1 0 40 1 8 17 14 0 35 1 12 18 27 0 30 1 15 19 X 10 0 25 1 16 20 23 0 20 1 17 21 T 7 0 17 1 16 22 S 20 0 17 1 15 23 3 0 20 1 15 24 16 0 24 1 15 25 29 0 30 1 14 26 n 13 0 40 1 13 27 26 0 56 1 7 28 25 9 1 00 1 58 The Moon’s motion is subject to many irre- gularities, on account of the inclination of its orbit to the plane of the ecliptic, and the at- traction of the Sun and the other planets. Of the superior planets. Mars is not so bright as Venus, nor even as Jupiter, though nearer to the sun. Its colour is a little reddish. Some spots have been ob- served upon its surface, from which its rotation round its axis, and the inclination of its axis to the plane of its orbit, have been deter- mined. The following particulars respecting Mars are given by Dr. Herschel, after long and ac- curate observations. The axis of Mars is inclined to the ecliptic 59° 42. The node of the axis is in 17° 47' of Pisces. The obliquity of the ecliptic on the globe of Mars in 28° 42'. The point Aries on the Martial ecliptic an- swers to our 19° 28 / of Sagittarius. The figure of Mars is that of an oblate sphe- roid, whose equatorial diameter is to the polar one as 1355 to 1272, or as 16 to 15 nearly. The equatorial diameter of Mars, reduced to the mean distance of the earth from the Sun, is 9" S'". And that planet has a considerable but moderate atmosphere ; so that its inhabitants, probably, enjoy a situation, in many respects, similar to ours. Phil. Trans. Vol. Ixxiv. Part 2. Ceres Ferdinandea is a very small planet, situated next without Mars : it was discovered on the first day of the present century by Mr. Piazzi, an Italian astronomer. Pallas is another very small planet, disco- vered by Dr. Olbers of Bremen, on the 28th of March, 1802. Juno is likewise a very small planet, discovered by M. Harding, as he was engaged at Lilienthal, in examining the catalogue of the stars published by M. La- lande. This planet and the two former ones. Dr. Herschel proposes to call asteroids, be- cause they are so much smaller than any of the other planets. Juno is the twelfth planet discovered within these few years. Dr. Herschel discovered the planet that goes by his own name, March 18,1781. In January 1787 he perceived that this planet had two satellites, and some time after he discovered four others belonging to his planet. In the autumn of 1789 he ob- served two new satellites belonging to Saturn. The Ceres was discovered in 1801 ; the Pallas in 1802; and the Juno in 1804. Jupiter is the brightest planet next to Venus. When viewed by a telescope, several belts are observed across its disc, parallel to its equator : these belts are variable, and have been sup- posed to be ranges of clouds in the atmosphere of the planet. They are sometimes of differ- ent breadths, and sometimes nearly of the same breadth. Large spots have been seen in these belts ; and when one of them vanishes, the Contiguous spots disappear with it. Dr. Herschel has paid attention to the rotation of these spots, and has found that the rotation of the same spot diminished; thus in February 1778 one revolved in nine hours fifty-five mi- nutes and twenty seconds, but the same spot in April revolved in nine hours fifty-one mi- nutes and thirty-five seconds. This he observes is agreeable to the t heory of equinoctial winds, as it may be some time before the spot can acquire the velocity of the wind ; and if Ju- piter’s spots should be observed in different ASTRONOMY. parts of its year to be accelerated and retard- ed, it would almost amount to a demonstration of its monsoons, and their periodical changes. The ecliptic and equator of Jupiter are nearly parallel to each other, that is, the axis of the ! planet is nearly perpendicular to its orbit, and on that account its inhabitants experience no ! sensible change of seasons. This is a wise pro- vision, for if tiie axis of J upiter were inclined any ! considerable number of degrees, just so many degrees round each pole would, by turns, be I almost six years in darkness. Jupiter is sur- [ rounded by four moons of different sizes, I which move about it in different times. These I moons are sometimes eclipsed by the shadow of Jupiter falling upon them. The eclipses I have been found of great use in determining t the longitudes of places on the earth. Saturn can hardly be seen by the naked j eye. When examined by a telescope, it ex- | hibits a very remarkable appearance. It is | surrounded by a thin, flat, broad luminous ; ring, which surrounds the body of the planet, ; but does not touch it. This ring casts a j strong shadow upon the planet ; and appears to be divided into two, by a distinct line in the | middle ot its breadth. This ring is circular, i but appears elliptical from its being viewed ob- liquely. Besides this ring, Saturn has seven moons of different sizes ; and its body is sur- rounded also by belts, like those of Jupiter. The Herschel, with its six satellites, have been entirely discovered by Dr. Herschel. It i cannot be seen without a telescope, but it does not require a powerful one. The satellites ; cannot be seen without the most powerful te- : lescopes. Having given a brief account of the Sun ; and planets, we shall shew by what means we | can ascertain their apparent and real diame- ters. On the apparent and real Diameters of the [ Sun and Planets. — It is obvious from the prin- ; ciples of optics, that the determination of the real diameters of the heavenly bodies will de- r pend conjointly on a knowledge of their ap- parent diameters, and their real distances from the earth. For, suppose APB (fig. 8) a section of such body made by a plane pass- ing through the place O of the eye, and the centre C of the body : then A O B will be the ' angle, which will measure tiie apparent diame- ter of the body; this being known, A O C, its [half, will be known. And A O being a tan- gent to the surface, the angle C A O will be a right angle ; whence, co-sine AOC: sine A O C : : A O : AC, the semidiameter of the body. Now AC or O C, may be found by observation ; or, when the body is in op- position or conjunction with the Sun, by taking the difference or sum of its distance from the Sun, and the earth’s distance from that lumi- nary, according to the respective cases; taking care to attend to the different operations re- quired for a superior and inferior planet. And as to the apparent diameters, it may be worth \vhile to point out a few methods of ascertain- ing them. The Sun’s Vertical or perpendicular diameter may be found by two observers taking, the one the height of the upper edge of the disc, the other that of the lower, at the same instant. This is most conveniently done when the Sun is at or near the meridian ; be- cause there is then no sensible change in his altitude during the space of two or three mi- nutes. The height of each edge must be corrected, by allowing for parallax and re- fraction ; and the apparent diameter will be equal to the difference of the corrected alti- tudes of the upper and lower edge. This method is very simple, and gives the apparent diameter with exactness proportional to the accuracy of the instruments made use of. Another method of determining the Sun’s apparent diameter, is to observe by a good clock the time in which the sun’s disc passes over the plane of the meridian, or some other hour circle. At, or very near, one of the equi- noxes, when the sun’s apparent diurnal mo- tion is in the equator, or a parallel very near it, say, as the time between the Sun’s leaving the meridian and returning to it again : 360° : : the time in which he passes over the meridian : his apparent semidiameter. At any other time oi the year, when the Sun is in a parallel at some distance from tiie equator, his diame- ter measures a greater number of minutes and seconds in that parallel, than it would do in a great circle, and takes up proportionally more time in passing over the meridian ; we may then use this analogy, As radius : co-sine of the Sun’s declination : : the time in which the Sun passes the meridian, converted into motion-, at the rate of tour minutes in time to 1° : the arc of the great circle which measures the Sun’s apparent horizontal diameter. This method may be easily put in practice by two observers ; or indeed by one, if he have an half-second pendulum placed near enough for him to hear the beats of it, whilst he observes the transit. But the diameters of the planets are best taken by the micrometer, an instru- ment so contrived that two parallel wires being placed in the focus of a telescope, one fixed and the other moveable, or both moveable, they may be made to approach or recede one from the other till they appear to touch exactly two opposite points in the disc of the planet, and then the index shews the appa- rent diameter in minutes and seconds. The apparent diameters of the planets when at about their respective mean distances from the earth, are as we have seen': Mercury, ]0 // ; Venus, 58"; Mars, 27" ; Jupiter, 39" ; Saturn, 1 8" ; Georgium Sidus, 3" 54'".. And from these apparent diameters, and the respective distances from the earth, the diameters of the Sun and planets have been determined in English miles as here stated : Mercury, 3224 ; Venus, 7867; Mars, 4189; Jupiter, 89170 ; Saturn, 79042 ; the Herschel 35112; the Sun, 883246. Observations upon the planets Hers- chel, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars, prove that there is a sensible difference between their equatorial and polar diameters ; and it is pro- bable that there is a like difference between the diameters of the other planets, but this has not yet been determined by observation. Since the apparent diameters of distant bo- dies vary inversely as their distances, we may, having the distances from the earth at which the respective planets subtended the above angles, and knowing their mean distances from the Sun, find the mean apparent diameters of all the planets,, as seen from the Sun ; they ha ve been thus given: Mercury, 20"; Venus, 30" ; Earth, 17" ; Mars 10"; Jupiter, 3 7" ; Saturn, 16"; Georgium Sidus, 4". 'To measure the quantity of matter in dis- tant bodies appears a problem of insuperable difficulty : but this has been effected to a con- siderable degree, by the principles of the Newtonian philosophy, Since the quantity 173 of matter in a globe is proportional to the mean density multiplied into the cube of the diameter, and the diameters of the planets are known, the mean densities are all that are required for the solution of the problem. Now, in homogeneous, unequal, spherical bodies, the gravities on their surfaces are as their diameters, when the densities are equal ; or the gravities are as the densities, when the bulks are equal: therefore, in spheres of un- equal magnitude and density, the gravity is in the compound ratio of the diameters and densities ; or the densities are as the gravities divided by the diameters. But the diameters are known, and the gravities at the surface are nearly found, either by means of the re- volutions of the satellites, or by calculations deduced from the effects the planets are found to produce upon each oilier; consequently the relation of the densities becomes known. The mean density of the earth was calculated by Dr. Hutton, from observations made by Dr. Maskelyne at the mountain Schehallien ; he made it to that of water as 9 to 2, and to common stone, as 9 to 5, on the supposition that the hill is only of the density of common stone. He also states the mean densities of the Sun and planets to that of water, thus : Sun, ]_ 2 _; Mercury, 9±; Venus, 5ii; Earth, 4-| ; Mars, 3 1.; Jupiter, 1 ; Saturn, 0A-| ; and the Herschel OJtjL.. These densities are such as the bodies would have if they were homogeneal ; and may be admitted as a fair estimate of the whole, although the density of each planet may vary considerably at differ- ent distances from the surface. From the densities, as thus estimated, and the known diameters, we may readily find the propor- tions of the quantities of matter ; they are as under: the Sun, 333928 ; Mercury, 1654; Venus, *8899 ; the Earth, 1 ; Mars, ’0875 ; Jupiter, 312-1; Saturn, 97-76; Georgium Sidus, l6 - 84. Of the Satellites. We have observed that Jupiter, Saturn, and the Herschel planet, are attended by satellites ; of which Jupiter has four, Saturn seven, anti the Herschel six. In order to arrive at cer- tainty concerning the laws of these bodies, it is necessary to consider facts ; we therefore briefly describe the chief phenomena. — 1. These satellites are sometimes to the east- ward, sometimes to the westward, of their re- spective planets, moving successively from one side to the other : each at its greatest excursion, as observed from the earth, is nearly as far distant from the one side as it was from the other, and is found on the same side again in much about the same interval of time ; from which it is inferred that the orbits of the satellites are curves returning into themselves. 2. All the satellites (ex- cept those of the Herschel), in going from the western excursion to the- eastern, are often hid by the planet’s disc, and consequent- ly pass behind it : sometimes one or other of them passes above or below,, but never on, the planet’s disc. On the contrary, in going from the eastern excursion to the western, those which passed behind, now pass over the disc; and those which passed above, now pass below, and reciprocally ; which proves that they move with the primary as their centre. 3. The paths of the satellites being reduced to their respective planet’s centre,, sometimes appear in a right line passing 1/4 through that centre, and inclined in a certain direction to its orbit. Afterwards, they change more and more into ellipses, during one quarter of the planet’s annual revolution ; and all the superior conjunctions are then made above the planet’s centre, and the infe- rior conjunctions below it : during a second quarter of the planet’s revolution, these ellip- ses become narrower, the satellites are nearer the centre in their conjunctions, and at the end of a second quarter of the revolution, all the ellipses are again become right lines with equal inclination, but in a contrary direction. In the third quarter of the revolution, they are formed anew into ellipses, the superior conjunctions are made below the centre, and the inferior ones above ; lastly, in the fourth •quarter of the revolution, when the planet is returning to the same point of its orbit, these •ellipses again decrease in breadth, and all return to the first state. 4. The times of the superior and inferior conjunctions of the satellites being compared, their intervals are nearly equal to their semirevolution. Since, then, the satellites uniformly de- scribe orbits nearly circular or elliptical, with their respective primary at their centre or focus, they are probably moved by a force of the same nature with that which moves their planets round the Sun ; that is, they revolve about their primaries in consequence of a cen- tral force, and of a constant impulsive force : if so (which indeed observations render cer- tain), they must follow Kepler’s two rules namely, 1. The satellites must describe areas of their orbits proportional to the times; 2. Their mean distances from the centres of their respective primaries, must be as the cube-roots of the squares of the times 7 of their revolutions. The time of a synodic revolution of a satel- lite may be found in the following manner : Observe, when the primary planet is in op- position, the passage of a satellite over its body ; and mark the time when it is half-way •between the two opposite edges of the planet’s r— < -d o oi ci Cl IS r-l « co co w cs CM ^vo g 6 ^ 5 ‘O G CD a ^ id a « CO 01 N 02 >obooao CD to CD CO 05 •cf HTjin'c on —i CO CD CM W CM CD 5 _ 00 co « 25 . cm n Ci »C 0-1 CM O V CM -1 bpn 6 I- oc ^ Cd CM SC CO N N ^ CO CO CO Cd C 1 ! to *0 CO co cj ^ G G) I> CO B 00 cc cc ^ ^ I CO CO CO CO cot Of Eclipses. The eclipses of the Sun and Moon are phenomena that command the attention even of the vulgar ; who have always retained a su- perstitious veneration for the science of astro- nomy, chiefly on account of the means it af- fords of foretelling events of this nature. And though in reality the knowledge required in calculating an eclipse does not essentially differ from that employed in determining the time of the rising and setting of the Sun or Moon, yet there is no doubt that a more particular attention to this subject will be acceptable to the reader. As the shadows of the Moon and Earth are the causes of eclipses, it will be necessary first to determine the figure of those shadows. Because the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon are spherical bodies, it follows that the sha- dows of the two latter must be either' conical or cylindrical ; that is to say (lag. 12), if the Sun I K be less than the Earth C D, the shadow of the latter will be part of a cone, whose sec- tion is terminated by the lines C E, D F, and whose base is indefinitely distant : or, if the Suit A B be equal to the Earth C D, the shadow will be a cylinder between the lines C G, D H, whose base is indefinitely distant. In either case the shadows of the Earth must occasion- ally fall upon and eclipse the superior planets, when in opposition to the Sun. But this never happens ; and therefore the Sun is neither less than, nor equal to, the Earth, but greater. We know moreover, from the Sun’s parallax, that it is much greater than the Earth ; because the Sun’s diameter seen from the Earth is about 32 minutes, whereas the Earth’s diame- ter seen from the Sun is only about 17 seconds, a quantity that may be regarded as insensible or inconsiderable in many obser- vations. And since the Sun exceeds the Earth in so high a proportion, it must of ne- cessity be yet greater with regard to the Moon, because this last is less than the Earth. Let A B (fig. 13) represent the Sun greater than the Earth C D. The rays of light A C, B D, passing from the extreme edges of the Sun, and in contact with the Earth on the same side, will afterwards meet or cross in the point K. No part of the Sun’s light will appear within the cone C K D ; which is there- fore the shadow in which an observer, being placed, would be totally deprived of the Sun. But there will be a partial shadow or penum- bra between those rays AD M, B C L, that pass from the extreme edges of the Sun, and touch the opposite extremes of the Earth ; that is to say, an observer between the lines C Land D M,. but without the dark cone, C K D, will see only a part of the Sun, the rest being hidden by the interposition of the Earth: the quantity of the Sun thus obscured will be greater, and the penumbra darker, the nearer the observer is placed to the coneCK D. Lastly, if the observer be situated beyond the vertex of the dark shadow K, between the lines K N, K O, formed by the continuation of the extreme rays, he will behold the ex- terior parts of the Sun forming a lucid ring, environing the Earth on all sides. The angle C K D, at the vertex of the Earth’s shadow, is (by Euclid I. 32) equal to the difference between the diameter of the Sun seen from the Earth, or angle AC B, and the diameter of the Earth seen from the Sun, or angle C B D, Or, if the earth’s apparent 1/3 diameter from the Sun be rejected as inconsi- derable, the angle of the shadow will be equal to the Sun’s apparent diameter. The angle C I D, at the vertex of the pe- numbra, is equal to the sum of the diameter of the Sun seen from the Earth, or angle A C B, and the diameter of the Earth seen from the Sun, or angle CAD: or, it the Earth’s appa- rent diameter from the Sun be rejected as inconsiderable, the angle of the penumbra is equal to the Sun’s apparent diameter. Every thing that has been here shewn respecting the shadows of the Earth, is true in l.ke circum- stances of the Moon. To apply these observations to the facts, let A B (lig. 14) represent the Sun, C D the Earth, and I K or L the Moon in its orbit K M N ; let the Moon be at 1 K, between the Sun and the Earth ; its total shadow may then entirely deprive a part ot the Earth at 0 of the Sun’s light, and its penumbra will cause a partial eclipse of the Sun to the inhabitants, between G and H. Again, suppose the Moon to be at L, and it will itself be eclipsed by the interposition of the Earth, between it and the Sun. In lunar eclipses, the Earth’s penumbra is not attended to, because its effects in ob- scuring the Moon cannot be observed with, precision by a spectator placed on the Earth. Eclipses can only happen when the Moon is near one of the nodes of its orbit. Let ABM (fig. 15) represent the Sun, viewed from the Earth ; C D a portion of the ecliptic, or Sun’s apparent path ; and E F a part of the orbit of the Moon, which planet is represented at different times by the circles G, H, I. It is evident, that the eclipse or obscuration of the Sun entirely depends on the position of the node N, and the angle of inclination F N D. If the angle of inclination remain unaltered while the node N is very remote from the centre K of the Sun, the points K and L may- be farther apart than to permit any occulta- tion or apparent contact; and it is clear, that an enlargement of the angle F N D may pro- duce the same effect: on the contrary, an approach or coincidence of N with K, or a di- minution of the angle F N K, may cause an eclipse, the quantity of obscuration in which will be so much greater, as these circum- stances are more prevalent. The Sun’s place Iv in the ecliptic being known from tables, together with the inclina-- nation of the Moon’s orbit, the place ot the node, and of the Moon itself, and likewise the* apparent diameters of the luminaries respec- tively, it will be easy to find the velocity of the Moon in elongation, and consequently the beginning, middle,.end, quantity of obscu- ration, and other requisites, concerning the eclipse. If the computation be made from the tabular places of the heavenly bodies, ther result will give the eclipse as seen from the centre of the Earth; because, in all tables where the Earth is spoken of, that centre is meant, except otherwise mentioned. But it is required to determine the particulars of the eclipse for a given place on the Earth’s surface,, and this includes the consideration of paral- lax. The Sun’s parallax Vicing very minute may in this, and most other cases, be reject- ed: but the Moon’s parallax is so great, that it is at least of as much consequence as any other element whatever. For, on this ac- count, the Moon’s apparent path, as seem from the surface of the Earth, is so different; from that which it would have when beheld I/O' ' vom the centre, that the same conjunction which pives a total eclipse at one place, shall not occasion the Smallest obscuration of the Sun when beheld at the same instant from another part of the Earth, W e are now to consider an eclipse of the Moon. It is evident, that the difference in the phenomena of a solar eclipse would not take place it the parallax of each luminary were the same ; because, whatever mutation ot place the parallax might occasion in the one, the same would be produced in the other, and they would neither approach nor recede from each other on that account, Mow the section of the Earth’s shadow passed through by the Moon in a lunar eclipse, being at the same distance from the Earth as the Moon itself, must be subject to the same parallax at equal altitudes ; and since the in- dividual points of immersion, emersion, or other periods of the eclipse, must in the sha- dow have- the same altitudes as the parts of the Moon they, as it were, lie on and obscure, the effects of parallax must be the same on both. Rejecting, therefore, the consideration of parallax, the Earth’s shadow A B (fig. 16) may be taken to occupy a place in the hea- vens diametrically opposite to the Sun, and having an equal and similar motion to the ap- parent motion of that luminary : its apparent diameter, seen from the Earth, will be equal to the difference between the apparent dia- meters of the Earth and Sun, as seen from the moon ; or it will be equal to twice the hori- zontal parallax of the Moon, diminished by the subtraction ot the Sun’s apparent diameter. And if the inclination of the orbit of the Moon be found, there will be a certain dis- tance of the node N from the centre of the shadow C, that will require the Moon near the opposition to pass through the Earth’s shadow, and be consequently eclipsed. From the greater or less distance of the node N, or M, it will be determined whether the eclipse will be partial or total ; and from the respective places, the quantity and direction of the rela- tive velocity, together with the apparent magnitudes of the shadow and the Moon, all the particulars of the eclipse may be known without difficulty. It may with great reason be demanded, how it happens that the Moon, which is af- firmed to emit no light of itself, but only by reflection of the Sun, is nevertheless sufficient- ly luminous, even in the very middle of a total eclipse, to be distinctly seen of a dusky red- dish colour. The Earth’s atmosphere, or body of air that surrounds it, is the cause of this phenomenon. In fact, the shadow of the Earth itself never extends so far as the Moon’s orbit ; though the shadow occasioned by the dispersion or reflection of the light that falls on tlie atmosphere may, with a very small allowance, be taken for the shadow which the Earth would have had if the light had passed close by it without interruption. We cannot with regularity explain the refrac- tion of light in this place. It will therefore be sufficient to observe, that in the event now under consideration the Sun’s light falling obliquely on the atmosphere, is bent or turn- ed out of its course, so as to converge sooner to a point than it would otherwise have done ; the spherical atmosphere performing, in some measure, the office of a large convex lens, or burning-glass. The more obliquely the rays fall, the greater is their deviation from their astronomy. original course ; and those rays that pass close to the Earth are found, by observations on the setting Sun and other heavenly bodies, to suf- fer a refraction of about 33 minutes of mea- sure. 1 he laws' 1 of optics, hereafter to be ex- plained, require that they should undergo an equal refraction in passing out through the opposite part of the atmosphere. Each ex- terior ray of the real shadow, will therefore pass 66 minutes within the rays that would have formed the cone CKD, fig. 13. and con- sequently, the angle at the vertex of the cone will be 132 minutes, or 2° 12', greater than it would have been ; that is, it will be equal to the diameter of the Sun 32, added to 2° 12', which gives 2°. 44b Hence the axis of the cone, or length of the shadow, is found to be no more than 42 semidiameters of the Earth ; whereas the radius of the Moon’s orbit, or mean distance of the Moon, is about 60 se- midiameters of the Earth. In the space be- tween the penumbra and the Earth’s real shadow, it is much darker than the penumbra, though that space is illuminated by the rays of the Sun ; which are variously refracted, ac- cording to the density of the air they pass through. Many rays are reflected back, and the rays that go forward are such whose na- ture does riot admit of their being easily re- flected. Hence it is that the Moon in an eclipse appears red ; and a spectator on the Moon would, after losing sight of the Sun, behold the Earth environed with a narrow luminous edge of bright red light, shaded off with yellow on the outside. Of the Tides. The first person who clearly pointed out the cause of the tides, and shewed its agreement with the effects, was sir Isaac Newton. The Moon he presently saw was the principal agent which produces these motions of the waters ; and, by applying his new principles of geometry and attraction, he soon shewed the manner in which they are effected. To follow him through all his cal- culations and enquiries, would carry us beyond our limits. The ocean, it is well known, covers more than one half the globe ; and this large body of water is found to be in continual motion, ebbing and flowing alternately, without the least intermission. For instance, if tin* tide is now at high water mark, in any port or har- bour which lies open to the ocean, it will pre- sently subside, and flow regularly back for about six hours, when it will be found at low water mark. After this, it will again gradu- ally advance for six hours ; and then return back, in the same time, to its former situation, rising and falling alternately twice a day, or in the space of about twenty-four hours. The interval between its flux and reflux is, how- ever, not precisely six hours, but there is a little difference in each tide ; so that the time of high water does not always happen at the same hour, but is about three quarters of an hour later every day, for about thirty days, when it again recurs as before. For example, if it is high water to-day at noon, it will be low water at eleven minutes after six in the evening ; and, consequently, after two changes more, the time of high water the next day will be at about three quarters of an hour after noon ; the day following it will be at about half an hour after one, the day after that at a quarter past two, and so on for thirty days ; when if will again be found to be high water at noon, as on the day the ob- servation was first made. And this exactly answers to the motion of the moon : she rises every day about three quarters of an hour later than upon the preceding one; and, by moving in this manner round the earth, com- pletes her revolution in about thirty days, and theft begins to rise again at the same time as before. To make the matter still plainer ; suppose, at a certain place, it is high water at three o’clock in the afternoon, upon the day of the new moon ; the following day it will be high water at three quarters of an hour after three ; the day after that at half an hour past four ; and so on till the next new moon, when it will again be high water exactly at three o’clock, as before. And by observing the tides continually at the same place, they will always be found to follow the same rule ; the time of high water, upon the day of every new moon, being exactly at the same hour ; and three quarters of an hour later every suc- ceeding day. The nature of the tides is in such exact con- formity with the motion of the Moon, that, independant of all mathematical considera- tions, a considerate person would certainly be induced to look to her as their cause. Neglecting therefore, for the present, all such exceptions as affect not the truth of the theory, we shall now proceed to shew, from the Newtonian principles, that these pheno- mena are occasioned principally by the Moon’s attraction. The waters at Z on the side of the earth, ABCDEFGtl, next the Moon M, (fig. 17) are more attracted than the central parts of the earth O by the Moon, and the central parts are more attracted by her than the waters on the opposite side of the earth at n ; and therefore the distance between the earth’s centre and the waters on its surface under and opposite to the Moon will be increased. For, let there be three bodies at H, O, and D ; if they are all equally attracted by the body M, they will all move equally fast towards it, their mutual distances from each other con- tinuing the same. If the attraction of M is unequal, then that body which is most strong- ly attracted will move fastest, and this will increase its distance from the other body. M will attract H more strongly than it does O, by which the distance between Ii and O will be increased, and a spectator on O will per- ceive H rising higher toward Z. In like manner, O being more strongly attracted than D, it will move farther towards M than D does ; consequently the distance between O and D will be increased ; and a spectator on O, not perceiving his own motion, will see D receding farther from him towards n ; all ef- fects and appearances being the same, whether D recedes from O, or O from D. Suppose now there is a number of bodies, as A, B, C, D, E, F, G, IT, placed round O, so as to form a flexible or fluid ring : then, as the whole is attracted towards M, the parts at H and D will have their distance from O increased ; whilst the parts at B and F being nearly at the same distance from M as O is, these parts will not recede from one another ; but rather by the oblique attraction of M, they Will approach near to O. Hence, the fluid ring will form itself into an ellipse Z n L N, whose longer axis n Q Z produced will passthrough M, and fts shorter a^ist R O F will terminate' in B and F, Let the ring be ASTRONOMY*. filled with fluid particles, so as to form a sphere round O; then, as the whole moves towards M, the fluid sphere being lengthened at Z and n will assume an oblong or oval form. It M is the Moon, () the Earth’s cen- tre, A B C 1) E F G II the sea covering -the earth’s, surface, it is evident, by the above reasoning, that whilst the Earth by its gravity fulls towards the Moon, the water directly be- low at B will swell and rise gradually towards her; also the water at D will recede from the centre, (strictly speaking, the centre recedes from D) and rise on the opposite side of the Earth ; whilst the water at B and F is depress- ed, and tails below the former level. Hence as the Earth turns round its axis from the Moon to the Moon. again in 24^ hours, there will he two tides ot flood and two of ebb in that time, as we line! by experience, 1 hat (his doctrine may be still more dearly understood, let it be considered, that although fhe Earth’s diameter bears a considerable proportion to the distance of the Earth from the Moon, yet this diameter is almost nothing ; when compared to the distance of the Earth from the Sun. lhe difference of the Sun’s I attraction, therefore, on the sides of the Earth under and opposite to him, will be : much less than the difference of the Moon’s attraction on the sides of the Earth under and opposite to her ; and, for this reason, the Moon must raise the tides much higher than they can be raised by the Sun. Newton has calculated the effect of the Sun’s influence, in this case, and found that it is about three tunes less than that of the Moon. The action ot the Sun alone would, therefore, be sufficient to produce a flux and reflux of the sea; but the elevations and depressions occasioned by this means would be about three times less than those produced by the Moon. '1 he tides, then, are not the sole produc- tion of the Moon, but of the joint forces of the S*m and Moon together. Or, properly speaking, there are two tides, a solar one, anti n lunar one, which have a joint or opposite effect, according to the situation of the bodies which produce them. When the actions of the Sun and Moon conspire together, as at the time ot new and full Moon, the flux and reilux become more considerable; and these are then called the Spring Tides. But one tends to elevate the waters, whilst the other depresses them, as at the Moon’s first and third quarters, and then the effect will be ex- actly the contrary ; the flux and reflux, in- stead of being augmented, as before, will now be diminished ; and these are called the Neap fides. 1 o explain this more completely, let S represent the Sun, (tig. 18) Z H R the Earth, and 1* and C the Moon at her dull and change. Then, because the Sun S, and the new Moon C, are nearly in the same right hue with the centre of the Earth O, their ac- tions will conspire together, and raise the water above the zenith Z, or the point immediately under them, to a greater height than if only one of these forces acted alone. But it. has been shewn that when the ocean is elevated to the zenith Z, it is also elevated at the opposite point, or nadir, at r the same time ; and therefore, in this situation of the Sun and Moon, the tides will be augmented. And again, whilst the full Moon F raises the waters VOL. I. nt N and Z, directly under and opposite to her, the Sun S, acting in the same right line, will also raise the waters at the same 'point Z and N, directly under and opposite to him ; and therefore, in this situation also, the tides will he augmented; their joint effect being neady the same at the change as at the full"; and in both cases they occasion what are called the Spring Tides, t lld s theory, the tides ought to be highest directly under and opposite to the Moon; that is, when the Moon is due north and south. But we find that in open seas, where the waters flow freely, the A loon is generally past the north, and south meridian of the place where it is high water. The reason is ob\ ious ; tor though the Aloon’s attraction was to cease altogether when she was past the meridian, yet the motion of ascent com- municated to the water before that time would make it continue to rise for some time after ; pinch more must it do so when the attraction is only diminished ; as a little impulse given to a moving hall will cause it still to move farther than otherwise it could have done; and as experience shews that tire day is hotter about three in the afternoon, than when the Sun is on the meridian, because of the in- crease made to the heat already imparted. Tides answer not always to tire same dis- tance of the Moon from the meridian at the same places, but are variously affected by the action of the Sun, which brings them on sooner when the Moon is in her first and third quarters, and keeps them back later when she is in her third and fourth; because, in the former case, the tide raised by the Sun alone would be earlier than the tides raised by the Aloon; and in the latter case later. .The Sun, being nearer our hemisphere in winter than in summer, is ot course nearer to it in February and October than in March and September, and therefore the greatest tides happen not till some time after the au- tumnal equinox, and return a little before the vernal. 1 17 . r I he sea, being put in motion, would con- tinue to ebb and flow for several times, even though the Sun and Aloon were annihilated, and their influence should cease ; as if a bason of water was agitated, the water would con- tinue to move for some time after the bason was left to stand still; or like a pendulum, which having been put in motion by the hand, continues to make several vibrations without any new impulse. When the Aloon is in the equator, the tides are equally high in both parts of the lunar day, or time of the Moon’s revolving, from the meridian to the meridian again, which is 24 hours 50 minutes. But as the Aloon declines from the equator towards either pole, the tides are alternately higher and lower at places having north or south latitude. For one of the highest elevations, which is that under the Moon, follows her towards the pole to which she is nearest, and the other declines towards the opposite pole; each elevation describing parallels as far dis- tant from the equator, on opposite sides, as the Aloon declines from it to either side ; and consequently the parallels described by those elevations of the water are twice as many de- grees from one another as the Aloon is from the equator ; increasing their distance as the Moon increases her declination, till it is at the greatest, when these parallels are, at a mean state, 47 degrees from one another ; and on that day tire tides are most unequal in their heights. As the Moon returns tow ards the equator, the parallels described by the oppo- site elevations approach towards each other, until the Moon comes to the equator, and then they coincide. As the Aloon declines towards the opposite pole, at equal distances, each elevation describes the same parallel in the other part of the lunar day, which its op- posite elevation described before. Whilst the Moon has north declination, the great tides in the northern hemisphere are when she is above the horizon ; and the reverse whilst her declination is south. In open seas the tides rise but to very small heights, in proportion to what they do in wider mouthed rivers, opening in the "direction of the stream of tide. For in channels growing narrower gradually, the water is accumulated by the opposition' of the contracting bank ; like a gentle wind, little felt on an open plain, but strong and brisk in a street ; especially if Lhe wider end of the street is next the plain, and in the way of the wind. The tides are so retarded in their passage through .different shoals and channels, and otherwise so variously affected bv striking against capes and headlands, that to different places they happen at all distances of the Aloon from the meridian, consequently at all hours of the lunar day. The tide propagated by r the Aloon in the German Ocean, w hen she is three hours past the meridian, takes twelve hours to come thence to London-bridge, where it arrives by the time that a new tide is raised in the ocean. There are no tides iit lakes, because they are generally so small, that when the Moon is vertical she attracts every part of them alike; and therefore, by rendering all the waters equally light, no part of them can be raised higher than another, the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas suffer very small elevations, because the inlets by which they communicate with the ocean are so narrow, that they cannot, in so short a time, receive or discharge enough to raise or sink their surface sensibly. Air being lighter than water, gnd the surface of the atmosphere being nearer to the Aloon than the surface of the sea, it cannot be doubted that the Aloon raises much higher tides in the air than in the sea. And therefore many have wondered why the mercury does not sink in the barometer when the Aloon’s action on the particles of air makes them lighter as she passes over the meridian. But We must consider, that as these particles are rendered lighter, a greater number of them is accumulated, until the deficiency of gravity is made up by the height of the column ; anil then there is an equilibrium, and consequent- ly an equal pressure upon the mercury as be- fore ; so that it cannot be effected by the aerial tides. It is very probable, however, that the stars which are seen through an aerial tide of this kind will have their light more re- fracted than those which are seen through the common depth of the atmosphere ; and this may account for the supposed refractions by the lunar atmosphere that have been some- times observed. Z Of Comets. Tycho Brahe and Cassini were the first among the modern astronomers who as- signed these bodies a place in our system ; hut they appear’ to be unacquainted' both with 178 ASTRONOMY. their motion round the sun, and the true figure ot their orbits. These particulars were left for the determination of Newton, who has discovered the paths they describe, and the laws to which they are subject. Their revo- lutions are now known to be performed in very long ellipses, whose lower focus is very near the sun ; being governed throughout by the same law, of describing equal areas in equal times, which is known to regulate the motions of all the other bodies in the system. By observations of the parallax it is also found, that at their fiivt appearance they are nearer to us than Jupiter; whcnce.it is con- cluded that they, are in general less than that planet ; for if they were as large they would be seen at as great a distance. In their motions round the sun they are also subject to the same irregularities as the planets ; but as their orbits are extremely eccentric, those variations are much more considerable. When they are near the sun their motion is very rapid, and iii the more distant parts ot their orbits extremely slow ; so that their , vicissitudes, in this respect, are as much in the extreme, as what they must undergo ■ from heat and cold. . . When a comet arrives within a certain ; distance of the sun, it emits a fume or vapour : called its tail ; which shows that they contain a portion of matter considerably more rare and 'volatile than any on the earth; for the •tail begins to appear when they are yet in a higher, and consequently a colder region than Mars. In every situation of the comet, the tail is always directed to that part of the heavens which is nearly opposite to the sun ; and it is always greater alter the comet has passed its pevihelium, than duiing its approach towards it, being greatest of all when it has just left that point. The celebrated Dr. Halley, from the theorv of Newton, has calculated tables for determining the orbits of the comets, which in several instances have been found agree- able to observation. That remarkable comet which was observed in the year 1(330, is shewn to be (he same with the one that appeared in the year 1106, its period being 575 years. 1 he distance of this comet from the sun when in its perihelium, was to the distance of the earth from die sun, as 6 to 1000; its heat, therefoie, at that time, was to the heat ot the summer s sun with us, in the ratio of about 28000 to 1 ; so that, according to Newton, the surface of this comet, supposing it be composed ol a matter like our earth, would have acquired a heat about 2000 times greater than that of red-hot iron; which is- so intense, that va- pours, exhalations, and every volatile matter, must have been immediately consumed and dissipated. In order to describe the course of a comet, let ABC (tig. 19) be the very long orbit of a comet, in one of whose foci S is placed the Sun ; the ap helium in A; the perihelium in P. The comet is not visible to us but when it approaches towards B, and during the time which it passes the arc front BtoC of its orbit. But the time is considerably shorter than that which it employs to pass the other portion of its orbit CAB, for these two reasons: first, because the arc B C is much, shorter than the arc CAB; and in the second place, be- cause the comets, like the other planets, are slower in their course while they depart far- ther from the Sun; and on the contrary they are swifter as they approach the sun. It re- quires much less time to pass over the portion BC of their orbit which is visible to us, than the other portion CAB. As the great eccentricity of the orbits of comets renders them very liable to be dis- turbed by the attraction of the planets and other comets, it is probably to prevent too great disturbances from these, that while all the planets revolve nearly in tire same plane, the comets are disposed in very different cones, and disposed all over the heavens ; that when at their greatest distance from the Sun, and moving slowest, they might be re- moved as far as possible out of the reach ot each other’s action. The number of comets belonging to our system is unknown; but from the acountsof the antients, and the more accurate observa- tions of the moderns, it is ascertained that more than 450 had been seen, previous to the year 1771; and when the attention of astronomers was called to this object, by the ! expectation of the return of the comet of 1759, no less their seven were observed in the course of as many years. Hence we may reasonably conclude, ‘that their number is considerably beyond any estimate tnat can be made from tire observations of which we are now in possession. The Antient Const ellationr. Of ilie fixed Stars. The fixed stars are so called, because they are observed not to change their places in the hea- vens as tire planets do. they appear of an infinite variety of sizes, yet for conve- nience it is usual to class them into six or seven magnitudes: thus they are called stars of the first, second, &o. magnitude. 1 o the naked' eye they appear innumerable, but this is only a deception, caused probably by the refraction of our atmosphere. The whole number of stars visible to the naked eye is about 3 1-86 ; but seldom above one-third of that number can be seen by most people. The antients, that they might tire better distinguish the stars with regard to their situ- ation in the heavens, divided them into se- veral constellations, that is, systems of stars, each system consisting of such as are near each : other. And to distinguish these systems from one another; they gave them the names of such men or things as they fancied the space they took up in the heavens represented. To these, several new constellations have been added by modern astronomers. The following table contains the firm is of the constellations, and the number of stars observed in each by different astronomers. Ursa minor Ursa major Draco - Cepheus Bootes, Arctophilax Corona Borealis Hercules, Engonasin Lyra - Cygnits, Gatlin a Cassiopeia Perseus - Auriga - Serpentarius, Ophiuchus Serpens - Sagitta - Aquila, Vullur An tin o us Delphinus Equulus, Equi sectio Pegasus, Equus Andromeda Triangulum Aries - Taurus - Gemini - - Cancer - - - Leo - Coma Berenices Virgo Libra, Chela Scorpio - Sagittarius Capricornus Aquarius - Pisces Cetus Orion Eridanus, Fluvius Lepus Canis major , Canis minor Argo Navis Hydra Crater Corvus Centaurus Lupus Ara Corona Australis Piscis Australis The Little Bear The Great Bear The Dragon Cepheus Bootes - - - The Northern Crown Hercules kneeling - The Harp The Swan The Lady in her Chair Perseus The Waggoner Serpentarius The Serpent - The Arrow The Eagle ? Antinous \ The Dolphin The Horse’s Head - The Flying Horse - Andromeda The Triangle The Ram The Bull The Twins The Crab The Lion ? Berenice’s Hair $ The Virgin The Scales The Scorpion The Archer The Goat The Water-bearer - The Fishes The Whale - Orion - Eridanus, the River The Hare The Great Dog The Little Dog The Ship The Hydra The Cup The Crow The Centaur The Wolf The Altar The Southern Crown The Southern Fish 8 7 12 24 S5 29 73 87 SI 32 40 80 13 4 51 35 23 18 52 *54 8 8 8 21 _ 29 28 45 113 10 11 17 21 19 18 47 81 _ 13 26 37 55 29 29 46 59 14 9 40 66 29 15 40 74 18 13 22 64 5 5 5 18 - 15 n 23? 19$ 71 10 10 14 18 4 4 6 10 20 19 38 89 _ 23 23 47 66 _ 4 4 12 16 18 21 27 66 44 43 51 141 25 25 38 85 23 15 29 83, 35 C 30 49 95 • in 21 43 32 33 50 110 17 10 20 51 24 10 20 44 31 14 22 69 28 28 29 51 45 41 47 108 m 38 36 39 11:5 m 22 21 45 97 38 42 62 73 „ ‘ 34 10 27 84 12 13 16 19 29 13 21 31 2 2 13 14 45 3 4 64 27 19 31 60 7 3 10 31 7 4 0 9 37 O 0 35 19 0 0 24 7 0 0 9 13 0 0 12 18 0 0 24 i ASTRONOMY. A T H 1 79 The Flew Southern Conciliations. Columba Noachi . Noah’s Dove - «• „ JO Robur Carolinum - The Royal Oak • 12 Grus - The Crane 13 Phoenix The Phenix * . 13 Indus - The Indian - 12 Pavo • The Peacock - • 14 ApUS, A ui s Indica • The Bird of Paradise • 11 Apis, Adm;a - The Bee or Fly _ 4 Chamaslcon . The Camelepn . . , 10 Triangulum Australis The South Triangle - 5 Piscis voians, Pauer • The Flying Fish • 8 Dorado, Xipblas - The Sword Fish - 6 Toucan - The American Goose - 9 Hydrus - The Water Snake - - 10 Hcvdius's Constellations made out of the unformed Stars. Hcvelii/s, Flamsteed. Lynx - The lynx 19 44 Leo minor - The Little Lion . 53 Asterion & Ghara - The Greyhound 23 25 Cerberus - - Cerberus 4 Vulpecula & Anser - The Fox and Goose 27 35 Scutum Sobieski - Sobieski’s Shield 7 Lacerta . The Lizard 10 16 Camelopardalus - The Camelopard 32 58 Monoceros - The Unicorn - 19 31 Sextans - The Sextant 11 41 Stars not included in any constellation are called unformed stars. Besides the names of the constellations, the antient Greeks gave particular names to some single stars, or small collections of stars: thus, the cluster of small stars in the neckof the bull was called Pleiades ; five stars in the bull’s face, the - Ilyades ; a bright star in the breast of Leo, the Lion’s Heart ; and a large star between the knees of Bootes, Arcturus. The constellations may be represented on two plane spheres projected on a great circle, or on the convex surface of a solid sphere, as on the celestial globe, or most perfectly on the concave surface of a hollow sphere. If the celestial globe is made use of, after rec- tifying it to the time of the night, the stars may be found, by conceiving a line drawn from the centre of the globe through any star in the heavens, and its representation upon the globe. Greek letters have- been added by Layer to stars in the several con- stellations of ins catalogue (« being affixed to the largest star), by means of which any star may be easily found. Twelve of these constellations lie upon the ecliptic, including a space about 151, broad, called the Zodiac, within which all the pla- nets move. The constellation Aries, about 2.000 years ago, lay in the first sign of the ecliptic ; but, on account of the precession of the equin. xes, it now lies in the second. In the foregoing table, Antinous was made out of the unformed stars near Aouita : and Coma Berenices, out of the unformed stars near the Lion’s tail, They are both men- tioned by Ptolemy, but as unformed stars. The constellations as far as the triangle, with Coma, Berenices, are northern; those after Pisces are southern. The fixed stars are placed at a distance from us so great, that it cannot be ascertained by any means yet known ; hence they must shine bv their own light, and not by the light which they receive from our sun, as the pla- nets do. Though it has been said that the relative situations of the fixed stars do not vary, yet in the course of several ages, some variations have been observed among them. Some of the larger stars have not the same precise situations that antient observations at- tribute to them, and new stars have appeared, while some others which have been described are now no longer to be found. Some stars are likewise found to have a periodical in- crease and decrease. Many of the fixed stars, upon examination with the telescope, are found to consist of two. Besides the phenomena already mention- ed, there are many nebulae, or parts of the heavens, which are brighter than the rest. The most remarkable of these is a broad irregular zone or belt, called the milky way. There arc others much smaller ; and some so small, that they can be seen only by telescopes. If the telescope is directed to these nebulae, they are resolvable into clusters of stars, which appear as white clouds in instruments of less force. Dr. Herschell has rendered it highly pro- bable, both from observation and well- I grounded conjecture, that the starry heaven I is replete with these nebula; or systems of stars, and that the milky way is that particular nebula in which our sun is placed. Reason- ing analogically from the circumstances with which we are acquainted, we may deduce, that the universe consists of nebula; or dis- tinct systems of stars; that each nebula is composed of a prodigious number of suns, or bodies that shine by their own native splen- dour, and that each individual sun is destined to give light to numbers of worlds that re- volve about it. See Vince’s Astronomy, Gregory’s Astronomy, &c. ASTROSCOPE an instrument composed of two cones, having the constellations deli- neated on their surfaces, whereby the stars may be easily known. ASTRO M, a constellation or assemblage of stars. This term is often applied to the •canis major, or rather to the bright star in his mouth. ASTYNOMr, in Grecian antiquity, ma- gistrates in Athens, corresponding to the axliles of the Romans; they were ten in number. ASY LUM, a sanctuary or place of refuge, where criminals sheltered themselves from the hands of justice. It is pretended that the first Z 2 asylum was built at Athens by the Heraclidas, as a refuge for those who tied from the op- pression of their fathers. Romulus when he built Rome, left a certain space as an asylum to ah persons, whether freemen or slaves. I he Jews had their asyla, the most remark- able of which were the six cities of refuge, the temple, and the altar of burnt offerings. I his privilege began likewise to be enjoyed by the Christian churches in the reign of Constantine, at which time the altar only and the inward fabric of the church were a place of refuge; but afterwards the whole precincts, nay, even the graves of the dead, crosses, schools, &c. were comprehended in that privilege. As asyla were not intended originally to patronize wickedness, but as a refuge for the innocent, the injured, and the oppressed, several crimes were excepted by- law, for which the church could grant no protection; as, 1 . Protection was denied to public debtors. 2. To Jews who pretended jo turn Christians, in order to avoid suffer- ing legal punishment for their crimes. 3. To heretics and apostates. 4. To slaves who fled from their masters. And 5. To robbers, murderers, conspirators, ravishers, &c. ASYMPTOTE, in geometry, aline which continually approaches nearer to another, but though continued infinitely will never meet with it ; of these there are many kinds- In strictness, however, the term asymptotes is appropriated to. right lines, which approach nearer and nearer to some curve, of which they are said to be the asymptotes; but if they and tiieir curve are indefinitely conti- nued, they will never meet. See Conic Sections. Concerning asymptotes, and asymptotical curves, it may be remarked, 1. That al- though such curves as have asymptotes are of t he number of those which do not include a space ; yet it is not true, on the other hand, that wherever we have a curve of that nature, we have an asymptote also. 2. Of these curves that have an asymptote, some have only one, as the conchoid, cissoid, and logarithmic curve ; and others two, as the hyperbola. 3. As a right line and a curve may be asymptotical to one another, so also may curves and curves; such are two para- bolas, whose axes are in the same right line. 4. No right line can ever be an asymptote to a curve that is every r where concave to that right line. 5. But a right line may be an asymptote to a mixed curve, that is partly concave, and partly convex, towards the same line. And 6. All curves that have one and the same common asymptote are also asymptotical to one another. ASYNDETON, in grammar, a figure which omits the conjunction in a sentence. ATCHE, in commerce, a small silver coin used in Turkey, and worth only one-third of the English penny. ATCHIEYEMENT, in heraldry, denotes the arms of a person, or family ; together with all the exterior ornaments of the shield, as helmet, mantle, crest, scrolls, and motto, together with such quarterings as may have been acquired by alliances, ail marshalled in order. It is vulgarly called hatchment ; and such are the arms which are commonly hung- up in the fronts of houses, and in churches, ou the death of persons. ATHAMADULET, the prime minister JSO A T H of the Persian empire, as the grand visier is of the Turkish empire. ATHAMANTA, in botany, a genus of the pentandria digynia class and order, and in the natural method ranking under the 45th -order, umhellats'. The fruit is oblong and striated, and the petals are inflected and emarginateck Of this genus there are nine species, but none of them merit particular- notice, except the athamanta cretensis, or tlaucus creticus, which grows wild in the Le- vant and the warmer parts of Europe. The flower-stalk rises about two feet high, sending- out many branches. These have white flowers. The seeds have a warm biting taste, with an agreeable aromatic smell. They are said to be carminative and diuretic, but are little used in practice. ATHANASIA, goldilocks, a genus of the polygamia aequalis order, and syngenesia class of plants; and in the natural method ranking tinder the 49th order, composite discoides. ’['he receptacle is chaffy; the pappus or down chatty, and very sliort ; and the calyx is imbricated. There are 20 species, all tender plants except one ; and none of them possessed of beauty, or any remarkable pro- perty yet discovered. A’Fi lANATf, in Persian antiquity, a body of cavalry consisting of 10,000 men, always complete. They were called athanati because when one of them happened to die, another was immediately appointed to succeed him. ATHANOR. bee Chemistry. ATHELING, adding, edli-ng, (tiding, or ■ethding, among our baxon ancestors, was a title of honour properly belonging to tire heir apparent, or presumptive, to the crown. ATHENiEA, in botany, a genus of the class and order octandria monogynia ; the cal. is coloured, five-parted ; corolla none; bristles eight, feathered between the filaments ; stigma five-parted; caps- globose, one-cell ed, three- y a lved; seeds three to live. There is one species, a branching shrub of Guinea; the bark, leaves, and fruit, are sharp and aromatic, called caffe diable by the Cre- oles. . . , , ATIIEN/EUM, ill antiquity, a public place where the professors of the liberal arts held their assemblies, the rhetoricians declaimed, and the poets rehearsed their performances. The three most celebrated athemva were those at Athens, at Rome, and at Lyons, the second of which was built by the emperor Adrian. ATHERINA, in ichthyology, a genus of abdominal fishes, distinguished by having the upper jaw rather flat, six rays in the gill membrane, and a silvery stripe on each side of the body. There are five species of this genus: the most remarkable are ; • 1. Atherina hepsetus, with about 12 rays iu the fin next the anus. It is found in the Mediterranean. It is also very common in fhe sea near Southampton, where it is called .a smelt* The highest season is from March lo the latter end of May, or beginning of June ; in which month it spawns. It never deserts the place; and is constantly taken, except in hard frost. It is also found on other coasts of our island. 1 lie length is above A-\ inches, and the tail is much forked. The fish is semi-pellucid, covered with scales ; the colour silvery, tinged with yellow; be- neath the side line is a row of small black spots. A T M 2. Atherina menidea, has 24 rays in the fm next the anus. This is a very pellucid fish, with many black points interspersed ; it has many teeth in the lips, but none in the tongue or jaws. It is found in the fresh wa- ters of Carolina, and spaw ns in April. ATHEROMA, in* medicine, a tumour without pain or/liscolouring of the skin ; con- taining, in a membranaceous bag, matter like pap, intermixed with hard and stony cor- puscles, &c. It is cured by incision. ATHLETfE, in aniiquitv, men of remark- able strength and agility, disciplined to per- form in the public, games. ATLANTIDES, in astronomy, the same with Pleiades. They are so called as being supposed by the poets to be the daughters ot Atlas, who were translated into heaven. ATLAS, in anatomy, the name by which some call the first vertebra of the neck ; so called in allusion to Atlas. Atlas denotes a book of universal geo- grapliy, containing maps of all the known parts of the world. Atlas, in commerce, a sort of silk or sat- in manufactured in the East Indies, in which gold and silk are so wrought together, as no workman in Europe can imitate. In China they weave long slips ot gilt paper into their silk’s, 'l'lie same slips of paper are twisted about silk threads so artificially, as to look finer than gold thread, though ol no great value. ATMOSPHERE, a term used to signify the whole of the fluid mass, consisting of air, aqueous and other vapours, electric fluids, &c. which surrounds the earth to a consider- able height ; and partaking ot all its motions, both annual and diurnal. The composition of that part of our at- mosphere properly called air, was till within a few years but very little known. Formerly it w r as supposed to be a simple, homogeneous, and elementary fluid; but the experiments of Dr. Priestley and others have discovered, that the atmospheric air is in reality a com- pound, and may be artificially produced by the union of two other kinds of air, viz. oxy- gen, or pure air, and nitrogen or azotic gas. R y accurate experiments, the air that we usually breathe is composed of only one-fourth part of oxygen air, or perhaps less; the other three parts, or more, consisting of azotic gas or nitrogen. Atmosphere, uses of. The uses of the atmosphere are so many and great, that it seems indeed absolutely necessary, not only to the comfort and convenience of men, but even to the existence of all animal and vegetable life, and to the very constitution of all kinds of matter whatever, and without which they would not be what they are ; for by it we live, breathe, and have our being ; and by insinuating itself into all the vacuities of bodies, it becomes the great spring of most of the mutations here below ; as generation, corruption, dissolution, &c. and without which none of these operations could be car- ried on. By the mechanical force of the atmosphere too, as well as its chemical virtues, many necessary purposes are answered. We em- ploy it as a moving power, in the motion of ships, to turn mills, and for other such uses. And it is one of the great discoveries of the modern philosophers, that the several mo- tions attributed by the antients to a fuga A T M vacui, are really owing to the pressure of the atmosphere. Galileo, having observed that there w as a certain standard altitude, beyond which no water could be elevated by pump- ing, took an occasion then to call in question the doctrine of the schools, which ascribed the ascent of water in pumps, to the abhorrence of a vacuum, and instead of it lie happily sub- stituted the. hypothesis of the weight and pressure of th • air. It was with him indeed little better than an hypothesis ; since it had not then those confirmations from experi- ment, afterwards found out by his pupil Tor- ricelli, and other succeeding philosophers, particularly Mr. Boyle. Atmosphere, salubrity of. On the tops of mountains the air is generally more salubrious thtin in pits or very deep places. Besides the difference arising from the mere difference of altitude, the salubrity of the at- mosphere is greatly affected by many other circumstances. The air, when confined or stagnant, is commonly more impure than when agitated and shifted: thus, all close places are unhealthy ; and even the air in a bi d-chamber is less salubrious in a morning, after it has been slept in, than in the evening. Dr. White, in oj. 68 Philos. Trans, gives an account of experiments on this quality of the air; and remarks one instance when the air was particularly impure, viz. Sept. 13, 1777; when the barometer stood at 30° 30, the ther- mometer at 69°; the air being then dry and sultry, and no rain having fallen for more than two weeks. A slight shock of an earth- quake was perceiwqd that day. In vol. 70 of the same Transactions, [Dr. Ingenho-usz gives an account of some experiments on this head, made in various places and situa- tions : he finds, “ that the air at sea, and close to it, is in general purer, and titter for animal life, than the air on tire land ;” but the doctor did not find much difference be- tween the air. of the towns and of the count ry, nor between one town and another. I he abbe Fontana made nearly the same conclu- sions, from accurate experiments, asserting, “ that the difference between the air of one country and that of another, at different times, is much less than what is commonly believed; and yet that this difference in the purity of the air at different times, is much greater than the difference between the air of the different places observed by him.” Finally, M. Ion- tana concludes, that “ nature is not so partial as we commonly believe. She has not only given us an air almost equally good every- where at every time, but has allowed us a certain latitude, or a power of living and being in health, in qualities of air which differ to a certain degree. By this it is not meant to deny the existence of certain kinds of nox- ious air in some particular places; but to own that in general the air is good every where, and that the small differences are not to be feared so much as some people would make us believe. Nor is it meant to speak here of those vapours and other bodies which are ac- cidentally joined to the common air in parti- cular places, but do not change its nature and intrinsical property. This state of the air cannot be known by the test of nitrous air ; and those vapours are to be considered in the same manner as we should consider so many particles of arsenic swimming in thy atmo- sphere. In this case it is the arsenic, and not the degenerated air, that would kill the aai- ■ mils who v entered to breathe it.” See Che- mistry. Atmosphere, figure of. As the atmo- [ sphere envelopes all parts of the surface j i t our globe, it they both continued at rest, and were not endowed with a diurnal motion ; about their common axis, then the atmo- sphere would be exactly globular, according [ to the laws of gravity ; for all the parts of the | surface of a fluid in a state of rest must be I equally removed from its centre, But as the f earth and the ambient parts of the atmo- sphere revolve uniformly together about their axis, the different parts of both have a centri- I fugal force ; the tendency of which is more J considerable, and that of the centripetal less, I as (lie parts are more remote from tlni axis ; and hence the figure of the atmosphere must I become an oblate spheroid, since the parts i that correspond to the equator are farther re- ; moved from the axis than the parts which ■ correspond to the poles. Besides, the figure I ot the atmosphere must, on another account, represent a flattened spheriod ; namely, be- cause the sun strikes more directly the air f which encompasses the equator, and is com- prehended between the two tropics, than that J which pertains to the polar regions ; for from j this it follows, that the mass of air, or part of I the atmosphere, adjoining to the poles, being ; less heated, cannot expand so much, nor reach so high. And yet, notwithstanding, as the same force which contributes to elevate the air diminishes its gravity and pressure I on the surface of the earth, higher columns I of it about the equatorial parts, ail other cir- cumstances being the same, may not be hea- | vier than those about the poles. fn the transactions of the Royal Irish Aca- demy for 1 7 S8, Mr. Kirwin has an ingenious j dissertation on the figure, height, weight, &c. ot the atmosphere. He observes, that in the natural state of the atmosphere, that is, when the barometer would every where, at the level of the sea, stand ait 30 inches, the weight of the atmosphere, at the surface of the sea, must he equal all over the globe; j and in order to produce this equality, as the weight proceeds from its density and Height, it must be low est w here the density is great- ] est, and highest where the density is. least; that is, highest at the equator and lowest at the poles, with several intermediate grada- tions. s Atmosphere, weight or pressure of . It is evident that the mass of the atmosphere, in common with all other matter, must be endowed with weight and pressure; and this principle was asserted by almost a!! philoso- phers, both antient and modern. But it was only by means of the experiments made witli pumps and the barometrical tube, by Galileo and Torricelli, that we came to the proof, not only that the atmosphere is endued with a pressure, but also what the measure and quantity of that pressure is. 4 Thus it is found that the pressure of the atmosphere sustains a column of quicksilver in the tube of the 'ba- rometer, of about 30 inches in height ; it therefore follows, that the whole pressure of the atmosphere is equal to the weight of n column ot quicksilver of an equal base, and" 30 inches height ; and because a cubical inch of quicksilver is found to weigh nearly half a pound avoirdupoise, therefore the whole 30 uithes, or the weight ot the atmosphere on cveiy square inch of surface, is equal to 15 ATMOSPHERE. pounds. Again, it lias been found that the pressure of the atmosphere balances, in the case of pumps, Ac. a column of water of about 34+ feet high ; and the cubical foot of water weighing just 1000 ounces, or 62+ pounds, 34+ times 62+, or 21581b., will be the weight of the column of water, or of the atmosphere, on a base of a square fool ; and consequently the 1 44th part of this, or 151b., is the weight of the atmosphere on a square inch, the same as before. Hence Mr. Cotes computed, that the pressure of this ambient fluid on die whole surface of the earth, is equivalent to that of a globe of lead of 60 miles in diameter. And hence also it ap- pears, that the pressure upon the human body must be very considerable ; for as every square inch of surface sustains a presureof 15 Pounds, every square foot will sustain j 44 times as much, or 2160 pounds ; then if the whole surface of a maids body is supposed to contain 15 square feet, which is pretty near the truth, he must sustain 15 times 2160, or 32400 pounds, that is, nearly 14+ tons weight, for his ordinary load. By this enormous pres- sure vve should undoubtedly be crushed in a moment, if all parts of our bodies were not filled either with air or some other elastic fluid, the spring of which is just sufficient to counterbalance the weight of the atmosphere. But whatever this fluid may be, it is certain that it is just able to counteract the weight of the atmosphere, and no more ; for if any con- siderable pressure is superadded to that of the air, as by going into deep water, it is al- ways severely felt, let it be ever so equable, at least when the change is made suddenly ; and if, on the other hand, the pressure of the atmosphere is taken oil from any part of the human body, as the hand for instance, when put over an open receiver, whence the air is afterward extracted, the weight of the ex- ternal atmosphere then prevails, and we ima- gine the hand strongly sucked down into the glass. 7 difference in the weight of the air which our bodies sustain at one time more than another, is also very considerable, from the natural changes in the state of the atmo- sphere. This change takes place chiefly in countries at some distance from the equator ; and as the barometer varies at times from 28 to 31 inches, or about one-tenth of the whole quantity, it follows that this difference amounts to about a ton and a half on the whole body of a man, which he therefore sustains at one time more than at another. On the increase of this natural weight, the weather is commonly fine, and we feel our- selves what we call braced and more alert and active; but on the contrary, when the weight of the air diminishes, the weather is bad, and people feel a listlessness and in- activity about them. And hence it is no wonder that persons suffer very much in their health, from such changes in the atmo- sphere, especially when they take place very suddenly, for it is to this circumstance chiefly that a sensation of uneasiness and indisposi- tion is to be attributed : thus, when the varia- tions of the barometer and atmosphere are sudden- and great, we feel the alteration and effect on our bodies and spirits very much ; bfit when the charge takes place by very slow degrees, and bv a long continuance, we are scarcely sensible of it ; owing, undoubt- edly, . to the power with which the body is 181 naturally endowed, of accommodating itself to this change in the state of the air, as well as to the change of many other circumstances of life ; the body requiring a certain interval of time to effect the alteration in its state, proper to that of the air, & c. Thus, in going up to the tops of mountains, where the pres- sure of the atmosphere is diminished two or three times more than on the plain below, little or no inconvenience is felt from the ra- rity of the air, if it is not mixed with other noxious vapours, &c. because in the ascent the body has had sufficient time to accom- modate itself gradually to the slow varia- tion in the state of the atmosphere ; but when a person ascends with a balloon very rapidly to a great height in the atmosphere', he feel's a difficulty in. breathing and an uneasiness of body; and the same is soon felt by an animal when inclosed in a receiver, and ’the air sud- denly drawn or pumped out of it. So also, on the condensation of the air, we feel little or no alteration in ourselves, except when the change happens suddenly ; as in very ra- pid changes in the weather, and in descend- ing to great depths in a diving bell. It is not easy to assign the true reason for the variations that happen in the gravity of the atmosphere in the same place. One cause of it however, either immediate or otherwise, it. seems, is the heat of the sun ; for where this is uniform, the changes are small and regular : thus between the'tropics it seems the change depends on the heat of the sun, as the barometer constantly sinks about half an inch every day, anil rises a^ain to its former station in the night time ; but in the temperate zones the barometer ranges from 28 to near 31 inches, shewing by its various altitudes the changes that are about to take place in the weather. If we could know, therefore,* the causes by which the weather is influenced, we should also know those by which the gravity of the atmosphere is affected. These may perhaps be reduced to immediate ones, viz. an emission of latent heat from the vapour contained in the atmo- sphere, or of electric fluid from the same, or from the earth ; as it is observed that both produce the same effect with the solar heat in the tropical climates, viz. to rarefy the air, by mixing with it, or setting loose a lighter fluid, which did not before act in such lame proportion in any particular place. „ Atmosphere, height and density of. + arious attempts have been made to ascer- tain the height to which the atmosphere is extended all round the earth. These com- menced soon after it was discovered, by means of the Torricellanian tube, that air is endued with weight and pressure. And had not the air an elastic power, but was it every where of the same density, from the surface of the earth to the extreme limit of the at- mosphere, like water, which is equally dense at all depths, it would be a very easy mat-, ter to determine its height from its density, ami the column of mercury which it would counterbalance in the barometer tube ; for it having been observed that the weight of the atmosphere is equivalent to a column of 30 inches, or 2+ feet of quicksilver, and the density of the former to that of the latter as 1 to 11040; therefore the Height of the uni- form atmosphere would bell040 times 2+ feet, that is,‘ 27600 feet, or little more than five miles and a quarter. But the air, by its A T R 162 A T M A UrM elastic quality, expands and contracts, and it being found by repeated experiments in most countries of Europe, that the spaces it occu- pies, when compressed by different weights, are reciprocally proportional to those weights themselves; or that the more the air is press- ed, so much the less space it occupies; it follows that the air in the upper regions of the atmosphere must grow continually more and more rare, as it ascends higher ; and in- deed that, according to that law, it must ne- cessarily be extended to an indefinite height. Now, if we suppose the height ot the whole divided into innumerable equal parts, the quantity of each part will be as its density : and the w eight of the whole incumbent at- mosphere being also as its density ; it follows, that the weight of the incumbent air is every where as the quantity contained in the sub- jacent part ; which causes a difference be- tween the weights of each two contiguous parts of air. But by a theorem in arithmetic, when a magnitude is continually diminished by the like part of itself, and tiie remainders the same, these will be a series of continued quantities decreasing in geometrical progres- sion; therefore if, according to the supposi- tion, the altitude of the air, by the addition of new parts into which it is divided, con- tinually increases in arithmetical progression, its density will be diminished, or, which is the same thing, its gravity decreased, in con- tinued geometrical proportion. And hence, again, it appears that, according to the hy- pothesis of the density being always propor- tional to the compressing force, the height of the atmosphere must necessarily be extended indefinitely. And farther, as an arithmetical series adapted to a geometrical one, is analo- gous to the logarithms of the geometrical one; it follows therefore that the altitudes are proportional to the logarithms ot the densities, or weights, of air; and that any height taken from the earth’s surface, which is the difference of two altitudes to the top of the atmosphere, is proportional to the. dif- ference of the logarithms of the two densities there, or to the logarithm of the ratio of those densities, or their corresponding compressing forces, as measured by the two heights of the barometer there. This law was first ob- served and demonstrated by Dr. Halley, from the nature of the hyberbola; and after- wards by Dr. Gregory, by means ot the lo- garithmic curve. see Philos. Trans. N° 181, or Abridg. vol. 2. p. 13, and Greg. Astron. lib. v. prop. 3. It is now easy, from the foregoing proper- ty, and two or three experiments, or baro- metrical observations, made at known alti- tudes, to deduce a general rule to determine the absolute height answering to any density, or the density answering to any given alti- tude above the earth. And accordingly cal- culations were made upon this plan by many philosophers, particularly by the French ; but ft having been found that ' the barometrical observations did not correspond with the al- titudes as measured in a geometrical manner, it was suspected that the upper parts of the atmospherical regions were not subject to the same laws with the lower ones, in regard to- the density and elasticity. It has, how- ever, been discovered, that the law above given holds very well for all such altitudes as are within our reach, or as far as to the tops q { the highest mountains on the earth, when a correction is made for the difference of tire heat or temperature of the air only ; as was fully evinced by M. DeLuc, in along senes of observations, in which he determined the altitudes of hills both by the barometer and by geometrical measurement, from which he de- duced a practical rule to allow for the differ- ence of temperature. See his r I reatise on the Modifications of the Atmosphere. Similar rules have also been deduced from accurate experiments, by sir George Shuckburgh and general Roy, both concurring to shew that such a rule for the altitudes and densities, holds true for all heights that are accessible to us, when the elasticity ot the air is correct- ed on account of its density; and the result of their experiments shewed, that the differ- ence of the logarithms ot the heights ot the mercury in t lie barometer, at two stations, when multiplied by 10000, is equal to the al- titude in English fathoms, of the one place above the other; that is, when the tempera- ture ot the air is about 31 or 32 degrees of Fahrenheit’s thermometer, and a certain quantity, more or less, according as the ac- tual temperature is different from that de- gree. But it may here be shewn, that the same rule may be deduced independent of such a train of experiments as those above, merely by the den- sity of the air at the surface of the earth alone. Thus, let D denote the density of the air at cue place, and d the density at the other ; both measured by the column of mercury in the ba- rometrical tube : then the difference of altitude between the two places will be proportional to the log. of D — the log. of d, or to the log. But as this formula expresses only the 10592 to 10000, because the difference 5.02 is the 18th part of the whole factor 10552, and because 18 is the 24th part of 435 ; therefore the change of temperature, answering to the change of the factor h, is ?4°; which reduces the M 55° to 31°. So that, a — 10000 X log. of — fathoms, is the easiest expression for the alti- tude, and answers to the temperature of 31®, or very nearly the freezing point : and for every degree above that, the result must be increased by so many times its 435 th part, and diminished when below it. From this theorem it follows, that, at the height of 3-j miles, the density of the atmo- sphere is nearly twice rarer than it is ai the surface of the earth ; at the height of 7 miles, 4 times rarer ; and so on, according to the fol- lowing table : Height in miles. H 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 C3 • 70 Number of times rarer. 4 16 64 256 1024 4096 16384 65536 262144 104S576 of relation between different altitudes, and not the absolute quantity of them, assume some indeter- minate, but constant quantity b, which multi- plying the expression log. — may be equal to the real difference of altitude a ; that is, a — h X log. of ~ j. Then, to determine the value of the general quantity h, let us take a case in which wc know the altitude a, which corresponds to a known density d ; as for instance, taking a = 1 foot, or 1 inch, or some such small altitude: then, because the density D may be measured by the pressure of the whole atmosphere, or the uniform column of 27600 feet, when the tem- perature is 55°; therefore 27600 feet will denote the density D at the lower place, and 27599 the less density d at 1 foot above it ; consequently , „ 27600 , . . . 1 = b X log. of — — , winch, by the nature 27599 .43429448 of logarithms, is nearly = l X — 27600 — ’ 1 63551 nearly ; and hence we find h — 63551 feet ; which gives us this formula for any alti- D tude a in general, viz. a — 63551 X log of — , M or a — 63551 X log. of — feet, or 10592 X 771 log. of — fathoms ; where M denotes the co- lumn of mercury in the tube at the lower place, and m that at the upper. This formula is adapted to the mean temperature of the air 55°: but it has been found, by the experiments of sir Geo. Shuckburgh and general Roy, that for every degree of the thermometer, different from 55°, the altitude a will vary by its 435th part ; hence, if wc- would change the factor h from And, by pursuing the calculations in this table, it might be easily shewn, that a cubic inch of the air we breathe would be so much rarefied at the height of 500 miles, that it would fill a sphere equal in diameter to the orbit of Saturn. AT OM, in philosophy, a particle of mat- ter, so minute as to admit of no division. ATONIA, or Atony, in medicine, a word that signifies want of firmness, or strength, in the muscular hbre. Th.s condi- . tion takes place in most forms of chronic dis- eases, and in the convalescent period of acute diseases. ATONICS, in grammar, words not ac- cented. AIR A bilis, the black bile, one of the humours of the antient. physicians ; which the moderns call melancholy. See Medi- cine. ATRACTYLIS, in botany, a genus of the syngenesia polygamia class of plants. 1 he corolla is radiated; and each of the little corolla; of the radius has 2 teeth. There are 3 species. 1. Atractylis cancellata, or small cnicus, is an annual' plant, rising about eight or nine inches high, with a slender stem ; at the top of the branches are sent out two or three, slender stalks, each terminated by a head of flowers, like those of the thistle, and of a purplish colour. 2. Atractylis gummifera, or prickly gum- bearing cnicus, known among physicians by the name of carline thistle, is a perennial plant. It has many florets inclosed in a prickly empalement. Those on the border are white ; but such as compose the disk, are of a yellowish colour. It flowers in July, but never perfects seeds in Britain. Its roots were formerly used as a warm diaphoretic and alexipharmic ; but the present practice has entirely rejected them. 3. Atractylis humilis, or purple prickly cnicus, rises about a foot high, with purple flowers. All these plants are natives of tin warm parts of Europe ; as Spain, Sicily, aiwj the Archipelago islands. A T R ATRAGENE, in botany: a genus of the polyandria order, and polygamia class of plants. The calyx has four leaves ; the pe- tals are twelve ; and. the seeds are caudated. There are live species, all natives of the East. ATE APII AXES, in botany, a genus of the cligynia order and hexandria class of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 12th order, holoracae. The caly x has tw o leaves}; the petals are two, and sinuated ; and there is but one seed. There are two species, both natives of warm countries. ATRESIA, the state of persons who w r ant some natural aperture. ATRETI, persons in whom the anus, vagina, urethra, &c. are imperforate, whether naturally or occasioned by disease. ATRIP LEX, orach, or arrach : a ge- nus of the moncecia order, and polygamia class ; and, in the natural method, ranking under the twelfth order, holoracax The calyx of the hermaphrodite flower is live- parted ; there is no corolla; the stamina are five, and the stylus is bifid ; the seed is one, and depressed. There are 14 species, of which the following are the most remark- able. 1 . Atriplex halimus, the broad-leaved orach, was formerly cultivated in gardens as a shrub, by some formed into hedges, and constantly sheared to keep them thick ; but this is a purpose to which it is by no means adapted, as the shoots grow so numerous, that it is impossible to keep the hedge in any tolerable order ; and, what is worse, in se- vere winters, the plants are often destroyed. 2. Atriplex hortensis, the garden orach, was formerly cultivated in gardens, and used as a substitute for spinach ; to w hich it is still preferred by some, though in general it is disliked by the English. There are three or four varieties of this plant, whose only difference is their colour ; one is a deep green, another a dark purple, and a third has green leaves and purple borders. They are all annual, and must be propagated by seeds. 3. Atriplex petulacoides, the shrubby sea orach, grows wild by the sea-side, in 'many places of Britain. It may have a place in gardens among other low shrubs, where it will make a pretty diversity. This species requires little culture. It thrives in a poor gravelly soil, and may be propagated from cuttings. ATROPA, DEADLY NIGHT-SHADE: a genus of the monogynia order, and pentan- dria class of plants ; and in the natural me- thod, ranking under the' 25th order, luridse. The corolla. is caifipanulated ; the stamina are distant'; the berry is globular, and con- sists of two ceils. There are bight species; of which the following are the most remark- able. 1. Atropa belladonna grows wild in many parts of Britain. It has a perennial root, which sends out strong herbaceous stalks of a purplish colour. These rise to the height of four or five feet, garnished with entire ob- long leaves, which towards autumn change to a purple. The flowers are large, and come out singly between the leaves, upon long foot stalks ; bell-shaped, and of a dusky colour on the outside, but purplish within. After the flower is past, the germen turns to a round berry, a little flatted at the top. ATR about the size or a cherrv. It is first green ; but when ripe, tu ns to a shining black, sits close upon the empalement, and contains a purple juice of a nauseous sweet taste, and full ot small kidney shaped seeds. This species, being remarkable for its poisonous qualities, is very seldom admitted into gar- dens. Mr. Ray gives an account of the symptoms that follow the taking of it inward- ly, by what happened to a mendicant friar, upon his drinking a glass of mallow wine, in which the herb was infused. In a short time, he became delirious, and soon after was seiz- ed with a .grinning laughter; then with se- veral irregular motions, and at last, with a real madness, and such a stupidity as those have who are sottishly drunk ; but after all, he was cured by a draught of vinegar. Bu- chanan also gives an account of the destruc- tion of the Danes under Sueno, when they in- vaded Scotland, by mixing a quantity of the ! belladonna berries with the drink which the . Scots were, according to a treaty of truce, ■ to supply them with. This so intoxicated | the Danes, that the Scots fell upon them in | their sleep, and killed the greatest part of | them, so that there were scarcely men enough left to carry off their king. There have also been many instances in Britain, of children being killed by eating the berries of the bel- ladonna. "\\ hen an accident of this kind is discovered in time, a glass of warm vinegar will prevent the bad effects. 2. Atropa frutescens, is a native of Spain, and rises with a shrubby stem to the hTdit of six or eight feet, The flowers come out between the leaves, on short foot-stalks, shaped like those of the former, but much less; of a dirty yellowish colour, with a few brown stripes ; but these are never succeed- ed by berries in Britain. 3. Atropa herbacea, is a native of Cam- peachy, and has an herbaceous stalk, rising about two feet. The flowers come out from between the leaves, on short foot-stalks; they are white, and shaped like those of the com- mon sort, but smaller. It flowers in July and August, but seldom ripens its fruit in Britain. 4. Atropa mandragora, the mandrake, has been distinguished into the male and female, i lie male mandrake has a very large, lour, and thick root i it is largest at the top or head, and thence gradually grows smaller. Sometimes it is single and undivided to the bottom; but more frequently, it is dividec into two or more parts. When only parte: into two, it is pretended that it resemble! the body and thighs of a man. From thi: root arise a number of very long leaves broadest in the middle, and obtusely pointer at the end ; they are a foot or more ir length, and about live inches in breadth ; o a dusky and disagreeable green colour, anc of a very fetid smell. The female mandrake perfectly resembles the other in its growth : but the leaves are longer and narrower, and of a darker colour, as are also the seeds and roots. It grows naturally in Spain, Portu- gal, Italy, and the Levant. These three last species are propagated by seeds, and placed in stoves. Phis plant has been absurdly recom- mended as a cure for barrenness. Its fresh root is a violent purge, the dose being from ten to twenty grains in substance, and from half a dram to a dram in infusion. It is also narco- tic. It has been found of service in hysteric ATT 183 I complaints, but must be used with great caution. '• ATROPHY, in medicine, a disease, wherein the body .or some of its parts do not receive the necessary nutriment, but' waste and decay incessantly. This is a disorder proceeding from the whole habit of the body, and n 4 from any distemper of the intes- tines : it is attended with no remarkable fe- ver, and is natural in old age, which is called atrophia senilis. See .Medicine. ATTACHMENT, in law, the taking or by virtue of a writ apprehending of a person, or precept. It is distinguished from an arrest in this respect ; that whereas an arrest lies only on the body of a man, an attachment is often on the goods only, and sometimes on the body and goods; there is this farther difference, that an arrest proceeds out of an inferior court by precept only, and an attachment out ot a higher court, either by precept or writ. An attachment by writ differs from dis- tress, insomuch that attachment does not extend to lands, as a distress does ; and a distress does not touch the body, as .an at- tachment does. In the common acceptation, an attachment is the apprehension of a man’s body, to bring him to answer the action of the plain- tiff. 1 Attachment out of the chancery, is ob- tained upon an affidavit made, that the de- fendant v\as served with a subpoena, and made no appearance ; or it issues upon not per- forming some order or decree. Upon the return of this attachment by the sheriff, quod non est inventus in balliva sua, another at- tachment, with a proclamation, issues ; and if he appears not thereupon, a commission of rebellion. Attachment of the forest, is one of the three courts held in the forest. T he lowest court is called the court of attachment, or wood-mote court ; the mean, swan-mote ; and the highest, the justice in eyre's seat. T his attachment is by three means ; by- goods and chattels, by 'body, pledges,’ and mainprize, or the body only." This court is held every forty days throughout. the year, whence it is called forty-days roieft*. Attachment of privilege, is by virtue of a man’s privilege to call another if that court whereto he himself belongs, and'..iii' rc- spect 'A heieof he is privileged to answer some action. Foreign Attachment, is an attachment of money or goods, found within ft liberty or city, to satisfy some creditor within such liberty or city. By the custom of London, and several other places, a man can attach money or goods in the hands oi a stranger, to satisfy himself. J AT TACK, in the military art, is an effort made to force a post, break a body of troops, &c. Attack of a siege, is a furious assault made by the besiegers with trenches, covers mines, &c. in order to make themselves masters of a fortress, by storming one of its sides. If there are two or three attacks made at the same time, there should be a commu- nication betwixt them. Attacks, false, are never carried on with 184 A T T that .vigour nnd briskness that the other is ; the design of them being to favour the true attack, by amusing the enemy, obliging the garrison to a greater duty in dividing their forces, that the true attack may be more successful. Attack in flank, is to attack both sides of the bastion. ATTAINDER, in law, is when a man has committed felony or treason, and sen- tence is passed upon him for the same. r I he children of a person attainted of treason, are, thereby, rendered incapable of being heirs to him, or to any other ancestor ; and if he was noble before, his posterity are degraded, and made base : nor can this corruption ot blood be salved, but by an act of parliament, unless the sentence is reversed by a writ ot error. Attainder, bill of, a bill brought into parliament for attainting, condemning, and executing, a person for high-treason. A most unconstitutional proceeding, ATTAINT, in law, attincta, a writ which lies against a jury that have given a false verdict in any court- of record, in a real or personal action, where the debt or damages amount to above 40 shillings. If the verdict is found false, the judgment by common law was, that the jurors’ meadows should be ploughed up, their houses broken down, their woods grubbed up, all their lands and tenements forfeited, &c. but by statute the severity of the common law is mitigated, where a petty jury is attainted, and there is a pecuniary penalty appointed. Rut if the verdict be affirmed, such plain- tiff shall be imprisoned and lined. ATTELABUS, a genus of coleopterous insects (or beetle-kind), distinguished by having the head inclined, and pointed be- hind ; antennas moniliform, and thickest near the end. The larva of tire attalabi attack the leaves, dowers, the fruits, and even the stalks and roots of different plants: but most of the species, of which there are 34, penetrate into the plant, and subsist entirely on the spongy parts within. Preparatory to the pupa state, some species spin a silky web, and others form a little ball of a very solid kind, in which they remain during a se- cond state. The perfect insects inhabit- the same plants as the larva, but are deemed less injurious to them. For the character, see Plate. The most remarkable species are : 1. Attelabus apiarius, is bluish, with red elytra, and three black belts. It is a native of Germany. 2. Attelabus avellana, is black; with the breast, feet, and elvtra, red. 3. Attelabus betula has springy legs, and the whole body is of a dark red. It frequents the leaves of the birch. 4. Attelabus buprestoides, is of a dark co- lour, with a globular breast, and nervous ely- tra. It is a native of Europe. _ 5. Attelabus ceramboides is of a blackish red colour, and the elytra is furrowed. It fre- quents the spongy boletus, a species of mush- room. d. Attelabus coryli, is black, with red ely- tra, or crustaceans v ings. 7. Attelabus curculionoides, is black, with red elytra and breast. These two last spe- c i e s and the Avellana frequent the leaves of the hazel and lilbert nut-trees. A TT • - 8. Attelabus formicarius, is black, with a red elytra, and a double white belt towards the base. It is a native of Europe, 9. Attelabus melanurus, is black, with tes- taceous elytra, black at the apex. It is u native of Sweden. 10. Attelabus mollis is hairy and yellowish, with pale elytra* and three belts. It is a na- tive of Europe. 1 1 . Attelabus Pennsylvanicus is black, with red elytra, a black belt round the middle, and another towards the apex of the ely tra. It is a native of Philadelphia. 12. Attelabus sipylus, is green, with a hairy breast, and a double yellow belt upon the elytra. 13. Attelabus Surinamensis, has a double indentation (or two teeth) in the top of the elytra. It is a native of Surinam. ATTENTION, in regard of hearing, is the stretching the membrana tympani, to make it more susceptible of sounds, or ad- j usting the tension of that membrane to the proper key or tone of the sound. According to lord Bacon, “ sounds are meliorated by the intension of the sense, where the common senseis collected most to the particular sense of hearing, and the sight suspended. Therefore sounds are sweeter and more powerful in the night than in the day, and I suppose they are sweeter to blind men than to others ; and it is manifest, that between sleeping and waking, when all the senses are blind and suspended, music is far sweeter than when one is fully waken.” ATTENDANTS, in pharmacy, medi- cines which resolve the viscosity of the hu- mours in the human body ; promoting their circulation, as well as the discharge of all nox- ious and excrementitious matter. When these medicines act upon fluids lodged in the capillary vessels, they get the appellation of aperitives, or aperients ; as they do that of expectorants, when they promote a discharge of the viscid humours in the lungs. ATTIC, in architecture, a sort of building wherein the roof or covering is not to be seen ; thus named, because the buildings at Athens were generally of this form. Attic order, a small order raised upon a large one, by way of crowning, or to finish the building : or it is, according to some, a kind of rich pedestal, sometimes used for the conveniency of having a wardrobe, or the like ; and instead of columns, lias only pi- lasters of a particular form, and sometimes no pilasters at all. The name attic is also given to a whole story into which this order enters ; this little • order being always found over another great- er one. Attic base, a peculiar kind of base used by the antient architects in the Ionic order ; and by Palladio, and some others, in the Doric, This is the most beautiful of all bases. See Architecture. ATTIRE, in hunting, signifies the head and horns of a deer. ATTITUDE, in painting, &c. the pos- ture or disposition of a figure, expressive of a designed action or end. ATTOLENS, inanatomy, an appellation given to several muscles, otherwise called levators and elevators. See Anatomy. ATTORN ATO faciendo, &c. a writ ATT commanding a sheriff or steward to admit an- attorney to appear for a person who owes suit to the county court, court baron, &c, ATTORNEY, at law, one who is retained to prosecute, or defend, a law-suit. Attorney s, being properly those who sue out writs or process, or commence, carry on, and defend actions, in any of the courts of common law, are distinguished from solicit- ors, as the latter do the same business in the courts of equity ; and none are admitted, either as an attorney or solicitor, unless they have served a clerkship of five years, been enrolled, and taken the oath in that case provided ; and the judges of their respective courts are required to examine their several capacities. By 34 Geo. III. c, 14. a stamp duty of 100/. is charged upon all articles of clerkship to an attorney or solicitor. Also, every at- torney, solicitor, notary, proctor, or agent, within the bills ofmortality, shall annually take out a certificate, charged with a stamp duty of 5l. and of 31. in any part of the kingdom. Attorneys may be punished for ill practices; and if an attorney, or his clerks, of which ho must have but two at one time articled, do any thing against the express rules of the court, he or they may be committed. Neither a plaintiff nor, defendant may change his attorney without rule of court, whilst the suit is depending : and attorneys are not generally obliged to deliver up Uio writings in their hands, till their fees are satisfied : likewise, an action docs not lie against an attorney, for what he advises in the way of his profession ; yet if an attorney plead any plea, or appear, without warrant from his client, action of the case lies against him. Attorneys have the privilege to sue and bf which the most remarkable are the fol- owing: 1. Azalea nudiflora, or red American up- ■ight honeysuckle, grows taller than the vis- :osa, and in its native country will sometimes .rrive at the height of 12 feet, but in Britain lever rises to above half that height. It has everal stems with oblong smooth leaves, .'he flower-stalks arise from the division of j A Z 0 A Z O tgi the tranches, which are long and naked, sup- porting a cluster of red flowers: these are divided at the top into 5 equal segments, which spread open. 2. Azalea viscosa, with a white flower, is a low shrub, arising with several stems to the height of two or tliree feet. The leaves come out in clusters without any order at the end of the shoots, and their edges are set with very short teeth, which are rough. The flowers come out in clusters between the leaves, have much the appearance of honey- suckle, and are as well scented. 3. Azalea Pontica, a native of Pontus, lias large and beautiful yellow flowers, very fra- grant. Of the nudiflora there are also some beau- tiful varieties, particularly the scarlet and the orange. In short, there has not been a greater accession to our gardens than these truly elegant shrubs. They will only thrive in bog-earth, and are chiefly propagated by layers, as the finer roots seldom ripen seeds in England. They must be removed with a dump of earth, as disturbing the fibres de- stroys them. AZIMUTH, in astronomy, an arch of the horizon, intercepted between the meridian of the place and the azimuth, or vertical circle passing through the centre of the object, which is equal to the angle of the zenith form- ed by the meridian and vertical circle; or it is found by this proportion ; As the radius, to the tangent of the latitude of the place, so is the tangent of the sun’s or star’s altitude, for instance, to the co-sine of the azimuth from the south, at the time of the equinox. To find the azimuth by the globe, see the article Globe. Azimuth, magnetical, an arch of the ho- rizon intercepted between the azimuth, or vertical circle passing through the centre of any heavenly body, and the magnetical me- ridian. This is found by r observing the object with an azimuth compass. Azimuth compass , an instrument adapted to find, in a more accurate manner than by the common sea-compass, the sun’s or star’s magnetical amplitude, or azimuth.. Azimuth dial, one whose style or gnomon is at right angles to the plane of the horizon. Azimuth circles, called azimuths, or ver- tical circles, are great circles of the sphere, intersecting each other in the zenith and na- dir, and cutting the horizon at right angles in all the points thereof. The horizon being divided into 360°, they usually conceive 360 azimuths. These azimuths are represented by the rhumbs on common sea-charts, and on the globe they are represented by the quadrant of altitude when screwed in the ze- nith. On these azimuths is reckoned the height of the stars, and of the sun, when not in the meridian. AZOGA ships, Spanish ships, commonly called the quicksilver ships, from their carry - ing quicksilver to the Spanish West Indies, in order to extract the silver out of the mines of Mexico and Peru. These ships, strictly speaking, are not to carry any goods unless for the king of Spain’s account; but by pro- curing special licences, they are enabled to take in a full cargo for merchants, as well as the sovereign. AZOOPHAGUS, a term used by authors to express such animals and insects as never eat the flesh of any creature that has had life. AZOTE, or nitrogen, in chemistry, a sub ' stance hitherto considered as elementary, ex- isting abundantly in nature, forming full three-fourths ot the atmosphere. It is a pe- culiar and almost characteristic ingredient of animal matter, the basis of nitric acid, and one ot the constituents of volatile alkali. Pure azote is known only in the form of gas ; it is then synonimous with the phlogisticated air ot Scheele and Priestley, the atmospherical mephitis of Lavoisier, and the nitrogen gas of Ghaptal. Azote may be procured by the following processes. It a quantity of iron filings and sulphur, mixed together, and moistened with water, is put into a glass vessel full of air, it will absorb all the oxygen in the Course of a tew r days ; but a considerable residuum oi air will still remain incapable of any farther di- minution. T his residuum has obtained the appellation of azotic gas. T here are other methods of obtaining it more speedily. If phosphorus, for instance, is substituted for the iron filings and sulphur, the absorption i< completed in less than 24 hours. The fol- lowing method, first pointed out by Ber- thollet, furnishes very pure azotic gasj if the proper precautions are attended to. Very much diluted aqua fortis, or nitrous acid, as ib- is called in chemistry, is poured upon a piece of muscular flesh, and a heat of about 100 *' applied. A considerable quantity of azotic gas is emitted,, which may be received in proper vessels. The air of the atmosphere contains about 0.78 parts (in bulk) of azotic gas; almost all the rest of it is oxygen gas. Mr. Lavoisier was the first philosopher who published this* analysis, and who made azotic gas known as a component part or air. ITis experiments were published in 1774, or perhaps rather 1775. Scheele undoubtedly wasacquainted as early with the composition of air; but ids Treatise on Eire, in which that analysis is contained, was not published till j 777. Mr. Kirvvan examined the specific gravity of azotic gas obtained by Scheele’s process''; it was 0.00120; it is therefore somewhat- lighter than atmospheric air; it is to atmo- spheric air as 985 to 1000. According to the experiments of Lavoisier, its specific gravity is only 0.00115, or it is to common air as 942.6 to 1000. T his gas is invisible and elastic, like com- mon air; and like it too, capable of indefinite condensation and dilation. It is exceedinoly noxious to animals; if obliged to respire^it, they drop down dead almost instantly. No combustible will burn in it. Hence the rea- son why a candle is extinguished in atmo- spherical air as soon as the oxygen near it is consumed. oxygen. I ake a glass tube, the diameter of wflich is about the sixth part of an incli ; shut one of its ends with a cork, through the middie of which passes a small wire with a ball of metal at each. end. Fill the tube with mercury, and then plunge its open end into a bason of that fluid. Throw up into the tube as much ot a mixture, composed of J 3 parts, of azotic and 87 parts of oxygen gas, as will fill three inches. Through this gas make by means of the wire in the cork, a number ot electric explosions pass. The volume of gas gradually diminishes, and in its place there is found a quantity of- nitric acid. T his BAG B A C BAG 192 acid, therefore, is composed of azote and oxygen: and these two substances are ca- pable of combining; or, which is the same thing, azotic gas is capable of combustion in the temperature produced by electricity, which we know to be high. The combina- tion of azotic gas with oxygen, and the na- ture of the product, were discovered by Mr. Cavendish, and communicated to the Royal Society on the 2d of June 1785. When sulphur is melted in azotic gas, part of it is dissolved, and sulphurated azotic gas formed. This gas lias a fetid odour. Its properties are still unknown. Phosphorus plunged into azotic gas is dis- solved in a small proportion. Its bulk is en- creased about l-40lh, and phosphureted azotic gas is the result. When tin's gas is mixed ■with oxygen gas, it becomes luminous, in consequence of the combustion of the dis- solved phosphorus. The combustion is most rapid when bubbles of phosphureted azotic gas are let up into a jar full of oxygen gas. When phosphureted oxygen gas and phos- phureted azotic gas are mixed together, no light is produced, even at the temperature of 82°. Azotic gas dissolves also a little carbon ; for azotic gas obtained from animal sub- stances, by Berthollet’s process, when con- lined long in jars, deposits on the sides of them a black matter, which has the proper- ties of charcoal. \Y hen mixed with hydrogen gas, it under- goes no change. It may, however, be com- bined with hydrogen, and the compound formed is known by the name of ammonia or volatile alkali. The affinities of azote are still unknown. It has never yet been decompounded; and must therefore, in the present state of our knowledge, be considered as a simple sub- stance. See Air, page 3 1 . AZURE, in heraldry, the blue colour in the arms of any person below the rank of a baron. In the escutcheon of a nobleman, it is called saphire ; and in that of a sovereign prince, Jupiter. In engraving, this colour iai expressed by lines or strokes drawn hori| zontally. AZYGOS, in anatomy, a vein rising within the thorax on the right side, having no fellow! on the left; whence it is called azygos, of vena sine pari. AZYMJTES, in church-history, Christians who administer the eueharist with unleavened bread. AZYMOUS, something unfermented ; as bread, &c. made without leaven. This term- lias occasioned frequent disputes, and, at length, a rupture between the Latin and the; Greek churches; the former of which main- tain, that the bread in the mass ought to be' azymous, unleavened, in imitation of tin paschal bread of the Jews, and of our Saviour, who instituted the sacrament on the day of the passover. The latter as strenuously main- tain the contrary from tradition, and the common usage ot the church. B the second letter of the alphabet, is used 2 as an abbreviation: in music, B stands for the tone above A: B also stands for bass, and B. C. for basso continuo, or thorough bass. As a numeral, B was used by the Greeks and Hebrews, to denote 2 : but among the Romans, for 300, and with a dash over it (thus 13) for 3000. The same people likewise used B. for Brutus, B. F. forbonum factum. B, in the old chemical alphabet, signi- fies Mercury : B. A. stands for bachelor of arts; B. L. for bachelor of laws; and B. D. for bachelor of divinity. BABOON, in zoology. See Simia. BABYLON1CA, texta, a rich sort of weav- ings, or hangings, so denominated from the city of Babylon, where the practice of inter- weaving divers colours in their hangings was first invented. BAG A, in botany. See Berry. BACCHd?., in antiquity, priestesses of the god Bacchus. They were likewise called mamades, on account of the frantic ceremo- nies vised in their feasts ; as also thyades, which signifies impetuous, or furious. BACCHANALIA, feasts celebrated in honour of Bacchus by the antient Greeks and Romans ; of which the two most re- markable were called the greater and lesser. The latter were held in the open fields about autumn; but the greater, called dionysia, were celebrated in the city in spring time. BACCIIARIS, in botany, ploughman's spikenard, a genus of the polygamia super- fiua order, belonging to the syngenesia class of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 49th order, con, posits discoides. The characters are ; it has a naked recep- tacle, and hairy pappus ; with a cylindrical imbricated calyx, and feminine ilorets mixed with the hermaphrodite ones. There are 9 species, all natives of warm climates; of which the two following chiefly merit notice. 1. Baccharis halimifolia,’ or Virginia groundsel-tree, a native of Virginia and other parts of North America. It grows about 7 or 8 feet high, with a crooked shrubby stem; and flowers in October. The flowers B. are white, and not very beautiful ; but the leaves continuing green, has occasioned this shrub to be admitted into many curious gar- dens. It may be propagated by cuttings ; and will live very well in the open air, though severe frost will sometimes destroy it. 2. Baccharis ivaefolia, or African tree- groundsel, a native of the Cape of Good Hope, as well as of Peru and other warm parts of America. It grows to the height of 5 or 6 feet ; and though there is little beauty in the flower, has been long admitted into the gardens of the curious. It is pretty hardy, and will live abroad in moderate winters in England; but is usually kept in green-houses, and placed abroad only in summer. It may be propagated either by cuttings or by seeds, which ripen well in this country. BACCHIUS, in antient poetry, a kind of foot composed of a short syllable and two long ones. BACILLARIA, in natural history, a genus of vermes infusoria:, of which only a single species is described. The body consists of straw-like cylinders, placed parallel to each other, and frequently changes its direction and arrangement. BACK, in brewing, a large flat kind of tub or vessel, in which the wort is put for cooling. The ingredients of beer pass through three kinds of vessels; they are mashed in one, worked in another, and cooled in a third. See Brewing. Back the sails, is to put them in a situation that will occasion the ship to retreat or move astern. Back, in the manege. To back a horse, or mount a horse a dos in French, is to mount him bare-backed, or without a saddle. Back-gammon, an ingenious game play- ed with dice and tables, to be learned only bv observation and practice . However, the following rules concerning it cannot fail to be acceptable to our reaclers. In the first place, the men, which are 30 in number, being equally divided between the two game- sters, are placed thus, viz. two on the ace point, five on the side of your left-ha three on the cinque, and live on point of your right-hand table, which are an^ swered on the like points by your adversary* men : or they may be disposed thus, viz. twi* on the ace point, five on the double sice or sice-cinque point, three on the cinque point in your own tables, and five on the sice point at home; which are to be answered by your adversary. The men being thus disposed, be sure to make good your trey and act points; hit boldly, and come away as fast as you can. When you come to bearing, have a care of making when you need not ; and doublets now will stand you most in stead, If both bear together, he that is first ofi^ w ithout doublets, wins one ; if both bear, anc one goes off’ with doublets, he wins two. I: your table be clear before your a iversaryl men are come in, that is a back-gammon, which is three ; but if you thus go on wit! doublets, it is four. The great dexterity of this game is to be forward, if possible, upon safe terms ; and sot to point the men, that it shall not be possible •for the adversary to pass, though you have entered your men, till you give him liberty, after having got two to one of the advantage of the game. Back-staff, in the sea language, an in- strument to take the sun’s altitude. It con- sists of two concentric arches, the greater o which is divided into 30 degrees, and every degree into 5 minutes, by means of diagona lines; and the lesser into 60 degrees. 4 here are likewise 3 vanes belonging to it: tha upon the arch of 30 degrees, being callej the sight vane ; that upon the arch of 60 de grees,tthe shade vane ; and the other, in the centre of the arches, the horizon vane. To find the sun’s altitude by this instruj ment, fix the shade vane on the 60 degreed arch, at about 15 or 20 degrees less than the complement of the altitude; and turning your back towards the sun, move thg sight vane up and down till the sun’s image fall on the horizon vane, and at the same d table, the tcej B A G B A I B A I instant you see the horizon through the slit iu the horizon vane ; then will the degrees cut by tlie shade vane on the arch, being added to those cut by the sight vane on the other arch, be the sun’s zenith distance at that time, which being substracted from 90 degrees, will give his altitude. BAG OP A, iu botany, a genus of the pen- tandria monogynia class and order: the essen- tial character is, calyx with a short tube, spreading at top ; stam. inserted into the tube of the corolla, stigma headed, caps, one-celled. There is but one species,- an aquatic plant of Cayenne, celebrated by the inhabitants for its efficacy in curing burns. BACTRIS, in botany, a genus of the class and order monoecia hexandria. In the male flowers the calyx is 3-parted; corolla 1-pe- talled, 3-cleft; stam. 6 ; fern. cal. 1-leaved, 3- toothed, cor. the same, stigma 3-cleft, drupe coriaceous. This genus is classed among the palms: there are two. species, themajus and minus, both natives of (Jarthagena, where the fruit is eaten. BA€ GLARES, a sect of anapabtists, so called as holding it unlawful to bear a sword, or any other weapon besides a staff. BACULE, in fortification* a kind of port- cullis, or gate, made like a pitfall with a counterpoise, and supported by two great stakes. It is usually made before the corps- de-garde, not far from the gate of a place. BADGER, in zoology. See Ursus. Badger, in old law-books, one that was licensed to buy corn in one place, and carry it to another to sell, without incurring the punishment of an ingrosser. They are to be annually licensed by the justices. BADIAGA, a water-plant resembling a sponge, and said to be good for removing the livid marks from blows. BADIANE, or Badian, the seed of a tree which grows in China, and smells like anise- seed. The Chinese, and the Dutch in imi- tation of them, sometimes use the badiane to give their tea an aromatic taste. BAD1GEON, a mixture of plaister and free-sto.ne, used by statuaries to till up little hole*.’ ^ B.ECKEA, in botany, a genus of the octan- dria order and monogynia class of plants. The calyx is a permanent perianthium, consisting qfa single funnel-shaped leaf, cut into 5 seg- ments at the brim; the corolla consists of 5 roundish petals inserted into the calyx ; the pericarpium is a globose capsule, made up of 4 valves, and containing 4 cells, in which are a few roundish angular seeds. There is one species, a native of China. BiEOBOTRYS, a genus of the pentandria monogynia class and order. The essential character is ; cor. tubular ; border 5-cleft ; cal. double, outer 2-leaved, inner 1-leaved, bell- shaped ; berry globose, 1-celled, growing to calyx, many-seeded. There is but one spe- cies, a natm: of Zanna in the South Seas. BTITYLTA, anointed stones, worshipped by the Phenicians, and by other barbarous nations. BAFFETAS, or Bastas, a cloth made of coarse white cotton thread, which comes from the East Indies. Those of Surat are the best. BAG, among farriers, is when, in order to retrieve a horse’s lost appetite, they put an ou » :e of asafbetida, and as much powder of savin, into a bag, to be tied to the bit, keep- ing him bridled for two hours, several times Vol. I. a-day : as soon as the bag is taken off, he will fall to eating. The same bag will serve a long time. BAGNOLTANS,Bagnolenses, in church history, a sect of heretics, who in reality were manicllees, though they somewhat disguised their errors. r l hey rejected the Old Testa- ment, and part of the Lew; held the world to be eternal, and affirmed that God did not create the soul when he infused it into the body. Bx\GPIPE, a musical instrument of the wind kind, chiefly used in country places, especially in the north; it consists of two principal parts ; the first a leathern bag, which blows up like a foot-ball, by means of a port- vent, or little tube, litted to it, and stopped by a valve; the other part consists of three pipes or lktes, the first called the great pipe, or drone, and the second the little one ; which pass the wind out only at the bottom: the third has a reed, and is played on by com- pressing the bag under the arm, when full, and opening and stopping the holes, which are eight, with the fingers. The little pipe is ordinarily a foot long ; that played on, thir- teen inches ; and the port-vent six. BAGUETTE, in architecture, a small round moulding, less than an astragal, and so called from the resemblance it bears to a ring. BAHAR, or Barre, in commerce, weights used in several places in the East Indies. There are two of these weights, the one the great bahar, with which they weigh pepper, cloves, nutmegs, ginger, &c. and contains about 5cwt. and 24 pounds 9 ounces, avoirdu- pois weight. W ith the little bahar they weigh quicksilver, vermilion, ivory, silk, &c. "it contains about 437 pounds 9 ounces. BAIL, in law, the setting at liberty one ar- rested, or imprisoned, upon an action either civil or criminal, upon sureties taken for his appearance at a day and place assigned. In civil cases the bail is either common or spe- cial. Common bail is a matter of coufse, being nothing but a mere form upon appear- ance, after personal service of tire writ, and notice to appear upon the defendant. If he appear thereto, his attorney puts in imaginary sureties for his future attendance, as John Doe and Richard Roe. But if the plaintiff will make affidavit that the cause of action/ amounts to 10/. or upwards, in order to ar- rest the defendant, and make him put in sub- stantial sureties jfor his appearance, called special bail ; it is then required that the true cause of action be expressed in the body of the writ, or process. 3 Black. 2S7. Special bail, are two or more persons, who, after the arrest, undertake generally, or enter into bond to the sheriff in a certain sum, to insure the defendant’s appearance at the return of the writ; this obligation is called the bail-bond. Bail in criminal cases. Upon offering suf- ficient surety, bail may be taken either in court, or in some particular cases, by the sheriff, coroner, or other magistrate, but most usually by justices of the peace, in the fol- lowing cases: Persons of good fame charged with a bare suspicion of manslaughter, or other inferior homicide. Persons charged with petit larceny, or any felony not before specified. Accessaries to felony, not being of evil fame, nor under strong presumption of guilt. But bail cannot be taken upon aa ac- B b m cusation of treason, nor of murder, nor in the case of manslaughter if the person is clear y the skyer ; nor sucli as being committed for felony have broken prison, nor persons out- lawed, nor such as have abjured the realm, nor approvers, nor persons taken with tire maner, or in the fact of felony, nor per ons charged with house-burning, nor persons taken by writ of excommunicato capiendo. BA1LE, or Bale, in the sea-language. The seamen call throwing the water b) hand out of the ship or boat’s hold, bailing, 'i hey also call those hoops that bear up the till of a boat, its bails. BAILMENT, inlaw, is a delivery of things, whether writings, goods, &c. to another, sometimes to be delivered back to the bailer; that is, to him who so delivered them; some- times to the use of the bailee; that is, of him to whom they are delivered ; and sometimes also to be delivered to a third person; this delivery is called a bailment. 2 Black. 451. The following rules are laid down as actions in the law of bailments: A bailee, who de- rives no benefit from his undertaking, is re- sponsible only for gross negligence. A bailer, who alone receives benefit from the bailment, is responsible for slight neglect. When tlie bailment is beneficial to both parties, the bailee must answer for ordinary neglect. A special agreement of the bailee to answer for more or less, is in general valid. All bailers are answerable for actual fraud, even though the contrary be stipulated. No bailee shall be charged for a loss by inevitable accident, or irresistible force, except by special agree- ment. Robbery by force is considered as irresistible; but a loss by private stealth, is presumptive evidence of ordinary neglect. Gross neglect is a violation of good faith. No action lies to compel performance by a nak- ed contract. The negligence of a servant acting by his master’s orders, expressed or implied, is the negligence of the master. BAILIFF, a keeper, or protector. Hence the sheriff is considered as bailiff to the crown : and the county of which he has the care, and in which he is to execute the king’s writ, is called his bailiwick ; so also his officers who execute writs, warrants, &c. are called bailiffs. Bailiff, tvater, an officer appointed in all port-towns, for the searching of ships, gathering the toll for anchorage, &c. and ar- resting persons for debts, &c. on the water. Bailiff is still applied to the chief magis- trate of several corporate towns. The go- vernment of some ot the king’s castles is also committed to persons called bailiffs, as the bailiff of Dover castle. In France, bailiffs have some considerable prerogatives ; they are reputed heads of their respective districts, or administer justice by their lieutenants, at least within the precincts of the several parliaments or provinces of France. In their name justice is administer- ed, contracts and other deeds passed, and t<> them is committed the command of the mi- litia. In Scotland, bailiff is the name of a judge, as well as the appellation of alderman. Bailiffs of courts baron, summon those courts, and execute the process thereof; they present all pound-breaches, cattle strayed, ocC. &c. BAILIWICK, signifies sometimes that li- berty which is exempted from tlie sheriff «£ B A K B/H )€)4 the county, over which the lord of the liberty appoints a bailiff, such as the bailiff of West- minster. BAI LS, cl rk of the, is an officer belong- ing to the court of king’s-bench : he tiles the bail-pieces taken in that court, and at- tends for that purpose. BAIOCAC), a copper coin, current at Rome, and throughout the whole state of the church, ten of which make a julio, and an hundred a Roman crown. BAIRAM, in the Mahometan customs, a yearly festival of the Turks, which they keep a: ter the fast of ramazan. The Mahometans have two bairams, the great and the little. The little bairam continues tor three days, and is seventy days after the hrst, which follows immediately after the ra- mazan. During the bairam the people leave their work for three days, make presents to one another, and spend the time with great manifestations of jov. If the day after ra- mazan should prove so c loudy as to prevent the sight of the new moon, the bairam is put off to the next day, when it is kept, even if tiie moon should still be obscured. When they celebrate this feast, after numerous ce- remonies or rather strange mimicries, in their mosque, it is concluded with a solemn prayer against the infidels, to extirpate Chris- tian princes, car to arm them against one an- other, that they may have an opportunity to extend the limits of their law. BAITING is applied to the act of smaller or weaker beasts attacking and harassing greater and stronger ones. Bulls and beurs are baited by mastiffs, or bull-dogs. The practice of bull-baiting, and other sports of tiie same kind, which cannot be too strongly reprobated, may be traced to an early period of our history. In tiie twelfth century, it was a common practice on every holiday. In tiie reign of Henry VIII. many herds of bears were maintained for the purpose of baiting. Queen Mary had a great exhibition of bear-baiting immediately after mass, with which to entertain her sister Elizabeth, then a prisoner in Hatfield house ; and the same princess, soon- after her accession to the throne, entertained the foreign ambassadors with the baiting of bulls and bears. The cus- tom of bull-bailing was most ingeniously de- fended by Mr. Windham in the house of commons in the session of 1803, when a bill was brought in to stop that inhuman practice. Whales are baited by a kind of fish called oriie, or killers, ten or twelve of which will attack a young whale at once, and not leave him till he is killed. Phil. Trans. No. 287. BAJULUS, an antient officer in the court of the* Greek emperors. BAKER, a person whose occupation or bu- siness is to prepare bread, or to reduce meals of any kind, whether simple or compound, into bread,, biscuits, &c. It is not known when this very useful bu- siness first became a particular profession. Bakers were a distinct body of people in Borne nearly two hundred years before the Christian sera, and it is supposed that they came from Greece. To these were added a number of freemen, who were incorporated into a college, from which neither they nor their children were allowed to withdraw. They held their effects in common without en- joying any power of parting with them. Each bakehouse had a pair on, who had the super- B A K intendency of it ; and one of the patrons had the management of the others, and the care of the college. So respectable were the ba- kers at Rome, that occasionally one of the body was admitted among the senators. Even by our own statutes the bakers are declared not to be handicrafts; and in Lon- don they are under the particular jurisdiction of the lord-mayor and aldermen, w ho fix the price of bread, and have the power of fining those who do not conform to their rules. Bread is made of Hour mixed and kneaded with yeast, water, and a little salt. It is known in London under two names, the white or zuheaten, and the household : these differ only in degrees of purity : and the loaves must be marked with a \Y or H, or the baker is liable to suffer a penalty. The process of bread-making is thus de- scribed : — To a peck of meal are added a handful of salt, a pint of yeast, and three quarts of water, cold in summer, hot in winter, and temperate between the two. The w hole being kneaded, will rise in about an hour; it is then moulded into loaves, and put into the oven to hake. The oven takes more than an hour to heat properly, and bread about three hours to bake. The price of bread is regulated according to the price of wheat; and bakers are directed in this by the magistrates, whose rules they are bound to follow. By these the peek-loaf of each sort of bread must weigh seventeen pounds six ounces avoirdupois weight, and smaller loaves in the same propor- tion. Every sack of Hour is to weigh two hun- dred and a half; and from this there ought to he made, at an average, twenty such.peck- loaves, or eighty common quartern-loaves. If the bread was short in its weight only one ounce in thirty-six, the baker formerly was liable to be put in the pillory ; and for the same offence he may now be lined, at the will of the magistrate, in any sum not less than one shilling, nor more than five shillings for every ounce wanting ; such bread being complained of and w eighed in the presence of the magistrate within twenty-four hours after it is baked, because bread loses in weight by keeping. It is said that scarcely any nation lives with- out bread, or something as a substitute for it. The Laplanders have no corn, but they make bread of their dried fishes, and of the inner rind of the pine, which seems to he used not so much on, account of the. nourishment to be obtained from it, as for thesake of having a dry food. In Norway they make bread that will keep thirty or forty years, and the inhabitants esteem the old and stale bread in preference to that which is newly made. For their great feasts particular care is taken to have the ' oldest bread ; so that at the christening of a child, for instance, they have usually, bread which has been baked perhaps at the birth of the father, or even grandfather. It is made from barley and oats, and baked between two hollow stones. The process of biscuit-baking, as practised at the victualing-office at Deptford, is cu- rious and interesting. The dough, which consists of flour and water only, is worked by a large machine. It is then handed over to a second workman, who slices it with a large knife for the bakers, of whom there are five. The first, or the moulder, forms the biscuits' two at a time ; the second, or marker ,. stamps and throws them to the splitter, wflio separate!! the two pieces, and puts them under t lie hand of tiie chucker, the man that supplies the oven, whose work of throw ing the bread on the peel must be so exact, that he cannot look off for a moment. The fifth, or the de- positee, receives the biscuits on the peel, and arranges them in the oven. All the men work with the greatest exactness, and are, in truth, like parts of the same machine. The business is to deposit in the oven seventy biscuits in a minute ; and this is accomplished w ith the regularity of a clock, the clacking of the peel operating like the motion of the pen- dulum. There are twelve ovens at Dept- ford, and each will furnish daily bread for 2040 men. The bakers of London make a distinct com- pany, the nineteenth in order. BALTIN A, the whale, in zoology, a genus of the mammalia class, belonging to the order of ceti. The characters of this genus are these : the balama, in place of teeth, lias a horny plate on the upper jaw, and a double fistula or pipe for throwing out water. There are four species : viz. 1. Balena-a bo-ops, the pike-headed whale, lias a double pipe in its snout, three fins, and j hard horny ridge on its back. The belly is full of longitudinal folds or ruga?. It frequents the northern ocean. The length of one taken on the coast of Scotland, as remarked by sis' Robert Sibbald, was forty-six feet, and its greatest circumference twenty. This species takes its name from the shape of its nose, which is narrower and sharper pointed tlian that of other whales. 2. Balama musculus has a double pipe in. its front, and three fins ; the under jaw is much wider than the upper one. It frequents the Scotch coasts, and feeds upon herrings. 3. Baliena mysticetus, the common or great Greenland whale, which has no fin on the back. This is the largest of all animals; it is even at present sometimes found in the north- ern seas ninety feet in length; but formerly they were taken of a much greater size, when the captures w ere less frequent, and the fish had time to grow. Such is their bulk, within the arctic circle: but in the torrid zone, where they are less molested, whales are still Seen one hundred and sixty feet long. The head is very much disproportioned to the size of the body, being one-third of the size of the fish : the under lip is much broader than the upper. The tongue is com- posed of a very soft spongy fat, capable of yielding five or six barrels of oil. The gullet is very small for so vast a fish, not exceeding four inches in width. In the middle of the head are two orifices, through which it spouts water to a vast height, and with a great noise, especially when disturbed or wounded; the eyes are placed towards the back of the head, being the most convenient situation for en- abling them to see both before and behind as also to see over them, where their food is principally found. They are guarded by eye-lids and eye-lashes, as in quadrupeds and the animals seem to be very sharp- sighted. Nor is their sense of hearing in less perfection ; for they are warned at a great distance of any danger preparing against them. It is true, indeed, that the external organ of hearing is not perceptible, for this, might only embarrass them in their natural element ; but as soon &> the thin scarf-skin. after-mentioned is removed, a blaek'spot is dis- covered behind the eye, and under that is the auditory canal, that leads to a regular ap- paratus for hearing. In short, the animal hears the smallest sounds at very great distances, and at all times, except when it is spout- ing water; which is the time that the fishers ap- proach to strike it. What is called whalebone, adheres to the upper jaw, and is formed of thin parallel laminae, some of the longestfour yards in length ; of these there are commonly 350 on each side, but in very old fish more. They are surrounded with long strong hair, not only that they may not hurt the tongue, but as strainers to prevent the return of their food when the}' discharge the water out of their mouth. The real bones of the whale are hard, porous, and full of marrow. Two very strong- bones sustain the upper lip, lying against each other in the shape of a half-moon. The tail is- broad and semilunar; and when the fish lies on one side, its blow is tremendous. The tail alone it makes use of, to advance itself forward in the water ; and it is surprising with what force and celerity its enormous bulk cuts through the ocean. The fins are only made use offer turning in the water, and giving a direction to the velocity impressed by the tail. The female also makes use of them, when pursued, to bear off her young, clapping them on her back, and supporting them by the fins on each side from falling. The whale varies in colour ; the back of some being red, the belly generally while. Others are black, some mottled, and others quite white. Their colours in the water are ex- tremely beautiful, and their skin is very smooth and slippery. The outward or scarf-skin of the whale is no thicker than parchment ; but this removed, the real skin appears, of about an inch thick, and covering the fat or blubber that lies beneath: this is from eight to twelve inches in thickness; and is, when the fisli is In health, of a beautiful yellow. The mus- cles lie beneath ; and these, like the llesh of quadrupeds, are very red and tough. The teats in the female are placed in the lower part of the belly. They breed only once in two years. Their fidelity to each other exceeds whatever we are told even of the constancy of birds. Some fishers, as Anderson informs us, having struck one of two whales, a male and a female, that were in company together, the wounded fish made a long and terrible resistance ; it struck down a boat with three men in it, with a single blow of its tail, by which all went to the bot- tom. The other still attended its companion, and lent it every assistance ; till, at last, the fish that was struck, sunk under the number of its wounds ; while its faithful associate; disdaining to survive the loss, with great bel- lowing, stretched itself upon the dead fish, and shared its fate. The whale goes with young nine or ten months, and is then fat- ter than usual, particularly when near the time of bringing forth. It is said that the embryo, when first perceptible, is about seventeen inches long, and white; but the cub, when excluded, is black, and about ten feet long. She generally produces one young one, and ne- ver above two. "\V hen she suckles her young, she throws herself on one side of the surface of the sea, and the young one attaches itself to the teat. Nothing can exceed the ten- derness of the female for her offspring. Even when wounded, she still clasps her young one; BALiENA, ' and when site plunges to avoid danger, takes ; it to the bottom ; but rises sooner than usual, ! to give it breath again. The young ones con- tinue at the breast for a year ; during which time, thev are called by the sailors, , short- heads- They are then extremely fat, and yield above fifty barrels of blubber. The mother at the same time is equally lean and emaciated. At the age of two years they are called .stunts, as they do not thrive much immediately after quitting the breast : they then yield scarcely above twenty or twenty- four barrels of blubber: from that time for- ward they are called skull-fish, and their age is wholly unknown. The food of the great whale is a small sea insect well known under the name of the Medusa or sea-blubber. 4. Balsrna physalus, or fin fish, (see Plate, Natural History, fig. 44.) is distin- guished from the common whale by a fm on the back, placed very low and near the tail. The length is equal to that of the common kind, but much more slender. It is furnished with whalebone in the upper jaw, mixed with hairs, but short and knotty, and of little value. The blubber also in the body of this kind is very inconsiderable. These circumstances, added to its extreme fierceness and agililv, which render the capture very dangerous, cause the fishers to neglect it.’ The natives of Greenland, however, hold it in great es- teem, af; it affords a quantity of flesh which to Ilnur palate is very agreeable. The lips are brown, and like a twisted rope : the spout hole is seemingly split, in the top of ifs head, through which it blows water with much more violence, and to a greater height, than the common whale. r l he fishers are not very fond of seeing it, for on its appearance the others retire out of those seas. It feeds on herrings and small fish. Inoffensive as the whale is, it is not without enemies. There is a small animal, of the shell-fish kind, called the whale-louse, that slicks to its bodv, as we see shells sticking (o the foul bottom of a ship. This insinuates itself chiefly under the fins ; and whatever efforts the great animal makes, it still keeps its hold, and lives upon the fat, which it is provided with instruments to arrive at. The sword-fish, however, is the whale’s most terrible enemy. “ At the sight of this little animal,” says Anderson, “ the whale seems agitated in an extraordinary manner, leaping from the water as if with affright: wherever it appears, the whale perceives it at a distance, and Hies from it in the opposite direction. L have been myself,” continues he, “ a spectator of their terrible encounter. The whale has no instrument of defence ex- cept the tail ; with that it endeavours to sf rike the enemy; and a single blow taking place would effectually destroy its adversary : but the sword-fish is as active as the other is strong, and easily avoids the stroke ; then bound- ing into tiie air, it falls upon its enepiy, and endeavours not to pierce with its pointed beak, but to cut with its toothed edges. The sea all about is soon dyed with blood, pro- ceeding from the wounds of the whale ; while the enormous animal vainly endeavours to reach its invader, and strikes with its tail against the surface of the water, making a report at each blow louder than the noise of a cannon.” There is still another powerful enemy to this fish, which is called the orien or killer. A JB b 2 igs number of these are said to surround the whale in the same manner as dogs get round a bull. Some attack it with their teeth be- hind; others attempt h before : until, at last, the great animal is torn down, and its tongue is said fo be the only part they devour when they have made it their prey. But of all the enemies of these enormous fishes man is the greatest; lie alone destroys more in a year than the rest in an age, and actually has thinned their numbers' in that part of the world where they are chiefly sought. At the first discovery of Greenland, whales not being- used to be disturbed fre- quently, came into the very bays, and were accordingly killed almost close to the shore ; so that the blubber being cut off, was imme- diately boiled into oil on the spot. The ships, in those times, took in nothing but the pure oil and the whalebone, and all the busi- ness was executed in the country ; by which means a ship could bring home the product of many more whales than she can according to the present method of concluding this trade. I lie fishery also was then so plentiful, that they were Obliged sometimes to send other ships to fhtclr off the oil they had made, the quantity being more than "the fishing ships could bring away. But time and change of circumstances have shifted the situation of this trade. The ships coming in such num- bers from Holland, Denmark, Hamburgh, and other northern countries, all intruders upon the English, who were the first discover- ers of Greenland, the whales were disturbed ; and gradually, as oilier fish often do, forsak- ing the place, were not to be killed so near the shore as before ; but are now found, and have been so ever since, in the openings and space among the ice, where they have deep water, and where they go sometimes a great many leagues from the shore. The whale fishery begins in May, and con- tinues all June and July ; but whether the ships have good or bad success, they must come away, and get clear of the ice, by the end of August ; so that in the month of September at farthest they may be expected home ; but a ship that meets with a fortunate and early fishery in Mav, may return in June or July. The manner of taking whales at present is as follows. Every ship is provided with six boats, to each of which belong six men for rowing the boat, and an harpooner, whose business is to strike the whale with his har- poon. Two of tiiese boats are kepi constant 1y on the watch at some distance from the ship, fastened to pieces of ice, and are relieved bv others every four hours. As soon as a whale is perceived, both the boats set out in pur- suit of it, and if either of them can come up be- forethe whale finally descends, which is known by his throwing up his tail, the harpooner discharges his harpoon at him. 'There is no difficulty in choosing the place where the whale is to be struck, as some have asserted ; for these creatures only come up to the surface in order to spout up the water, or bloiv, as the fishermen term it, and therefore always keep the soft and vulnerable part of their bodies above water. A laie improvement was made in the method of discharging the harpoon, namely, by shooting it out of a kind of swivel or mnsquetoon : but it does not appear that since this improvement was made the whale- fishing ships have had better success than B A L B A L 106 before. As soon as the whale is struck, the men | set up one of their oars in the middle of the boat as a signal to those in the ship. On per- ceiving this, the watchman alarms all the rest with the cry of fall ! fall ! upon which all the other boats are immediately sent out to the assistance of the first. The whale finding himself wounded, runs «!’ with prodigious violence. Sometimes he descends perpendicularly ; at others, goes off horizontally, at a small depth below the sur- face. The rope which is fastened to the har- poon is about two hundred fathoms long, and properly coiled up, that it may freely be iven out as there is a demand for it. At rst the velocity with which this line runs over the side of the boat is so great, that it is wetted to prevent its taking fire : but in a short time the strength of the whale begins to fail, and the fishermen, instead of letting out more rope, strive as much as possible to pull back what is given out already, though they always find themselves necessitated to yield at last to the efforts of the animal, to prevent his sinking their boat. If lie runs out the two hundred fathoms of line contained in one boat, that belonging to another is immediately fastened to the end of the first, and so on ; and there have been instances, tvhere all the rope belonging to the six boats has been ne- cessary, though half that quantity is seldom required. The whale cannot stay long below the water, but again comes up to blow : and be- ing now much fatigued and wounded, stays longer above water than usual. This gives an- other boat time to come up with him, and he is again struck with another harpoon. He again descends, but with less force than before ; and when he comes up again, is generally in- capable of descending, but suffers himself to be wounded and killed with long lances, which the men are provided with for the pur- pose. He is known to be near death when he spouts up the water deeply tinged with blood. The whale being dead, is lashed along-side the ship. They then lay it on one side, and put two ropes, one at the head, and the other in the place of the tail, which, together with the fins, is struck off as soon as he is taken, to keep these extremities above water. On the off-side of the whale are two boats, to receive the pieces of fat, utensils, and men, that might otherwise fall into the water on that side. These precautions having been taken, three or four men with irons at their feet, to prevent slipping, get on the whale, and begin to cut out pieces of about three feet thick and eight long, which are hauled up at the capstan or windlass. When the fat is all got otf, they cut off the whiskers of the upper jaw with an axe. Before they cut, they are all lashed to keep them firm : which also facilitates the cutting, and prevents them from falling into the sea. When on hoard, five or six of them are bundled toge- ther, and properly stowed ; and after all is got off, the carcase is turned adrift, and devoured by the bears, who are very fond of it. In proportion as the large pieces of fat are cut otf, the rest of the crew are em- ployed in slicing them smaller, and also in picking out all the lean. When this is pre- pared, they stow it under the deck, where it lies till the fat of all the whales is on board ; then cutting it still smaller, they put it up in casks in the hold) cramming them very full and close. Nothing now remains but to sail homewards, where the fat is boiled, and melt- ed down into train oil. BALANCE, or bullance, in mechanics, one of the simple powers which serve to find out the equality or difference of weight in heavy bodies. See Mechanics. T he modern balance consists of a lever, suspended exactly by the middle, and scales affixed to each extremity : the principle on which each is founded is the same, and may be easily conceived. Balance, hi/drostatical. See the article Hydrostatics. Balance of trade, in commerce, the equality between the value of the commodi- ties bought of foreigners, and the value of the native productions transported into other nations. It is reckoned that that nation lias the ad- vantage in the balance of trade, which ex- ports more of native commodities, and imports less of the foreign ; so that the nation grows so much richer in bullion as the balance of that trade amounts to, which must be made up of bullion or money. Among various others, the most received methods of arriving at the knowledge whe- ther a nation gains or loses by foreign trade, or any branch thereof, are the following : 1°. A strict survey must be taken of what proportion the value of the commodities exported bears to those imported. If the ex- ports exceed the imports, it is concluded that that nation is so far in a gaining way, by the overplus imported in bullion. But this me- thod is uncertain, from the difficulty of ob- taining a true account, either of the exports or imports ; as custom-house books are no rule in this case, on account of the running of goods, especially many fine commodities of small bulk, but great value ; besides the various accidents which affect the value of the stock, either sent out or brought in, as losses at sea, &c. 2°. The second method, no less defective than the other, is by observing the course «f exchange, which it generally above the in- trinsic value, or par of the coins of foreign countries, we. not only lose by such exchange, but the same is a proof that we lose by the general course of our trade. 3°. The third method is made from the in- crease or the diminution of our trade and shipping in general; for if these diminish, the nation loses, and vice versa : this seems equally imperfect with the following. 4°. A fourth way is, by observing the in- crease and diminution of our coin and bul- lion. Balance of a clock or watch. See the article Clockwork. Balancers/*. See Zygiena. B ALAN I marini, certain multivalve shells, usually growing in clusters on the shells of the larger sort of sea shell-fish. See Le- pas. BALCONY, in architecture, a projection in the front of a house, or other building, supported by pillars or consoles, and encom- passed with a balustrade : or it is a kind of open gallery for people to stand in, to be- hold any public show, or for taking the air in. Balcony, in a ship, is a gallery either co- vered or open, made abaft, either for orna- ment or convenience of the captain’s cabin. BAl BALDACHIN, or Baldaquin, In arch!* teeture, a building in form of a canopy, sup- ported by pillars, and frequently used as a covering to insulated altars. Some also use the term baldachin for the shell over a door. BALE, in commerce, is said of merchan- dises packed up in cloth, and corded round very tight, in order, to keep tiiem from breaking, or preserve them from the wea- ther. A bale of cotton-yarn is from three to four hundred weight ; oV raw silk, it is from one to four hundred ; of loekrum or dowlass either three, three and a half, or four pieces. BALK-gooffs, among the English merchants, are all such as are imported or exported in bales ; but the French give that name to certain hardwares, and other sort of mer- chandise, which come to Baris, and are com- monly made by bad workmen, of indifferent materials. BALISTES, in ichthyology, a genus of fishes belonging to the order of amphibia nantes. The characters are these ; the head is fiat ;■ there are eight teeth in each side, and the two anterior ones are longest ; in the place of gills, the balistes has an aperture im- mediately above the pectoral fins ; the body is fiat, the scales are joined together by the skin, and the belly is keeled. There are 24 species of this genus : the most remarkable are, 1. Balistes aculeatus, which has a triradiat- ed back fin ; and the spines of the tail lean upon each other. It is a native of India. 2. Balistes hispidus lias the head-fin unira- diated; and there is around black spot in the tail fin. The body is rough, and bristly towards Hie tail. The spine or horn is si- tuated between the eyes ; the snout is subu- lated ; and instead of a belly-fin, it has a jagged sharp spine. This species is a native of Carolina. 3. Balistes monoceros, whose head-fin con- sists of but one ray, and the tail-rays ' are cari- nated. It is called the unicorn fish by Ca- tesby, who informs us that the intestines of this fish are full of small shells and coralline sub- stances, which by the strength and hardness of its jaw it is enabled to grind very small. These fish, he adds, are not eaten, being ac • counted poisonous. They, most frequent those seas, amongst the Bahama islands, where tfie corals are in greatest plenty. 4. Balistes papillosus has a biradiated back- fin, and a papillous body. 5. Balistes ringens has a tri radiated back- fin ; there are three folds in each side of the head, and the tail-fin is forked, it is found at Ascension Island. 6. Balistes tomentosus, whose head-fin is biradiated, and the body of it towards the hind part is hairy. It is a native of Ame- rica. 7. Balistes verrucosus has a triradiated back-fin, and the tail is full of little warts. In the place of a belly-fin, this species has a large, thick, warty ray. It has 25 small re- versed sharp spines at the side of the tail, dis- posed in four rows. It is a native of India. 8. Balistes vetula, or old wife, lias a 1 r Ra- diated back-fin ; the belly-fin is longitudinal, and somewhat carinated ; and the tail is fin- forked. It is found at Ascension Island. See Plate, Nat. Hist. fig. 45. Nearly all the fishes of this genus, which by Linnaeus is divided into nineteen species. bal B Al B A t i97 but by later writers into twenty-four, are re- markable for their splendid colours- BALI VO amove ndo, in law, was a writ for removing a bailiff from his office, for want of having sufficient land in his bailiwick to an- swer the king and his people, according to the statute "of Westminster, 2 reg. Orig. 78. BALLS of fire, in meteorology, are me- teors seen passing over countries, and esti- mated tv) be at considerable heights in the at- mosphere. Ball, in the military art, comprehends all sorts of bullets for fire-arms, from the cannon to the pistol. Cannon-balls are of iron ; musquet-balls, pistol-balls, &c, are of lead. The experiment has been tried of ii'on balls for pistols and fu- sees, but they are justly rejected, not only on account of their lightness, which prevents them from flying strait, but because they are apt to furrow the barrel of the pistol. Cannon-balls are distinguished by their ca- libres thus : A 42h 32 24 18 12 9 6 (pound ball, the dia- meter of which is 2 1 J '6,684 inches 6,103 5,547 5,040 4,403 ' s 4,000 3,498 2,775 2,423 1 1,923 Balls, fire, \ of which there are various Balls, light, \ sorts, used for various pur- poses. Their composition is mealed powder two, saltpetre one and a half, sulphur one, ro- sin obt?, turpentine two and a half. Some- times they are made of an iron shell, some- times ofastone, filled and covered with various coat* of the above composition, till it conglo- merates to a proper size ; the last coat being of grained powder. But the best sort is to take thick brown paper, and make a shell the size of the mortar, and fill it with a composi- tion of an equal quantity of sulphur, pitch, rosin, and mealed powder ; which being well mixed, and put in warm, will give .a clear fire, and burn a considerable time. When they are intended to set fire to ma- gazines, buildings, &c. the composition must be mealed powder ten, saltpetre two, sulphur four, and rosin one ; or rather mealed pow- der forty-eight, saltpetre thirty-two, sulphur sixteen, rosin four, steel or iron tilings two, fir-tree saw-dust boiled in saltpetre ley two, birch-wood charcoal one, well rammed into a shell for that purpose, having various holes filled with small barrels, loaded with musket- balls ; and, lastly, the whole immerged in melted pitch, rosin, and turpentine oil. Balls, smoke, are prepared as above, with this difference, that they contain five to one ot pitch, rosin, and saw-dust. This compo- sition is put into shells made for that purpose, having four holes to let out the smoke. Smoke-balls are thrown out of mortars, and continue to smoke from twenty-five to thirty minutes. Balls, stink, are prepared by a composi- tion of mealed powder, rosin, saltpetre, pitch, sulphur, rasped horses’ and asses’ hoofs burnt in the fire, assafcetida, seraphim-gum or fe- rula, and bug or stinking herbs, made up into balls, as mentioned of light-bulls, agreeably to the size of the mortar out of which you in- tend to throw them. Balls, poisoned. We are not sure that they have ever been used in Europe ; but tbe Indians and Africans have always been very ingenious at poisoning several sorts of warlike stores and instruments. Their com- position is mealed powder 4, pitch 6, rosin 3, sulphur 5, assafoelida 8, poisonous substances, chiefly euphorbia, 12, made into balls as above directed. At the commencement ot the French revolution, poisoned balls were exhibited to the people, as pretended to have have been fired by the Austrians, particu- larly at the siege of Lisle. They contained glass, small pieces of iron, &c. and were said to be concocted together by means of a greasy composition which was impregnated with poisonous matter. In 1792 they were deposited in the archives of Paris. Balls, red-hot, are fired out of mortars, howitzers, or cannon. Use which you will, the ball must be made red-hot, which is done upon a large coal fire in a square hole made in the ground, six feet every way, and four or five feet deep. Some make the fire under an iron grate, on which the shell or ball is laid ; but the best way is to put the ball into the middle of a clear burning fire, and when red-hot, all the fiery particles, must be swept off. Whatever machine you use to throw tne red-hot ball out of, it must be elevated ac- cording to the distance you intend it shall range, and (he charge of powder must be put into a flannel cartridge, and a good wadding upon that; then a piece of wood of the exact diameter of the piece, and about three and a half inches thick, to prevent the ball from setting fire to the powder; then place the ball on the edge of the mortar, &c. with an instrument for that purpose, and let it roll of itself against the wood, and instantly fire it off. Should there be a ditch or parallel be- fore such a battery, with soldiers, the wood must not be used, as the blast of powder will break it to pieces, and its own elasticity pre- vent it from dying far ; it would in that case either kill or wound your own people : for this deficiency the wadding must be double. Balls, chain, are two balls linked together by a chain of eight or ten inches long, and some have been made with a chain of three or four feet long ; they are used to destroy the palisadoes, wooden bridges, &c. of a for- tification; they are also very destructive to the rigging of a ship. Ball and socket is an instrument made of brass, with a perpetual screw, so as to move horizontally, vertically, and obliquely ; and is generally used for the managing of sur- veying instruments, and astronomical instru- ments. Ball, puff, the English name of the lyco- perdon. See Lycoperdon. BALLAD generally means a kind of song, adapted to the capacity of the lower class of people. It has not, however, been always confined to low and inferior composi- tions. In an old English version of the Bible, Solomon’s Song is designated as the ballad of ballads. Some have supposed that the knowledge of the ballads in common use is necessary to a minister of state to learn the temper and disposition of the people ; and lord Cecil, prime minister to queen Eli- zabeth, is said to have made an ample col- lection of ballads for this purpose. See Dr, Percy’s Collection of old English and Scot- ish ballads, and a Dissertation prefixed to Dr. Aikin’s Collection of Songs. BALLAST, a quantity of stones, gravel, or sand, laid in a ship’s hold, to make her sink to a certain depth into the water, and sail upright, rendering her ol a prodigious weight. The ballast is sometimes one-quar- ter, one-third, or one-half, of tbe ship’s bur- den, according to the difference of the bulk. Flat vessels require the most ballast. The following table \\ ill exhibit in one view the quantity of ballast allowed to ships of different sizes : Ballast a derived to the follozving ships : Guns. Tonnage. Iron Tons. Shingle Tons. 110 2290 180 370 100 2090 180 370 98 2110 3 60 350 90 1870 160 350 80 1620 140 300 74 1700 80 £70 64 1370 70 260 50 1100 65 1-70 44 900 65 160 38 930 70 170 36 870 65 160 32 700 65 140 28 600 60 100 24 500 50 80 22 450 50 70 20 400 50 60 Sloop 300 50 40 Brig 160 30 15 Cutter — 20 t Seldom Sloop — 15 d any. The iron ballast is first stored fore and aft, from bulk-head to bulk-head ; then the shingle ballast is spread and levelled over the iron. Ships are said to be in ballast when they have no other loading. Masters of vessels are obliged to declare the quantity of ballast they bear, and to unload it at certain places. They are prohibited unloading their ballast in havens, roads, &c. inattention to which has ruined many excellent ports. BALLET, a kind of dramatic poem, re- presenting some fabulous action or subject divided into several acts, in which several per- sons appear, and recite things under the name of some deity, or other illustrious cha- racter. The term is now particularly used for a stage dance. Ballet is likewise the name given, in France, to a whimsical kind of opera, in which dancing is a principal part of the per- formance. In most of these ballets the se- veral acts seem so many different subjects, connected only by some general relation fo- reign to the action, which the spectator could not discover, if it was^ not made known in the prologue. BALLIAGE, a small duty paid to the city of London by aliens and others for certain commodities exported by them, which they claim by their charter. BALL! ST A, in antiquity, a military ma- chine used by the antients in besieging ci- ties, to throw large stones, darts, and jave- lins. It resembled our cross-bows, though tuiigh larger, and superior in force, BAN J£)8 B A L 1‘rom this engine, stones of a size not less tiKiii mill-stones were thrown with so great violence, as to dash whole houses in pieces at a blow. It is described thus: a round iron cylinder was fastened between two plunks, from which reached a hollow square beam, placed crosswise, and fastened with cords, to which were added screws ; at one ■end of- this stood the engineer, who put a wooden shaft with a big. head into the cavity of the beam: this done, two men bent the engine by drawing some wheels: when the top ot the head was drawn to the utmost end ot the cords, the shaft was driven out of tire baliista, &c. BALLOON, or ballon, in a general sense, signifies any spherical hollow body, of what- ev er matter it is composed, or for whatever purposes it is designed, 1 hus, with chemists, balloon denotes a l'ound short-necked vessel, used to receive " hat is distilled by means of fire ; in archi- tecture, a round globe on the top of a pillar; and among engineers, a kind of bomb made ot pasteboard, and played off in fire-works, either in the air or in the water, in imitation of a real bomb. Balloon, in the French paper trade, is a term tor a quantity ot paper, containing twenty -four reams. " It is also the name of a sort of brigantine used in the kingdom of Siam. Balloon, air. See Air-balloon. BALLOT A, white horehound, a genus of the gymaospennia order and didvnamia class ot plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the 4-2 d order, verticillatx-. The calyx has fi ve teeth, w ith ten striae ; and the upper lip ot the corolla is crenated. It is a com- mon weed growing on the sides of banks in most parts ot England, so is seldom admitted into gardens. 'File flowers grow in whorls, upon branching peduncles, and lean on one side of the stalk ; they are commonly of a dull red colour, but sometimes white. It was formerly used in hysteric cases, but is now fallen into disuse. ’The Swedes reckon it almost an universal remedy in the diseases ot their cattle. Horses, cows, sheep, and goats, refuse to eat it. There are five spe- cies. BALLS, or ballets, in heraldry, a frequent bearing in coats of arms, usually denomi- nated according to their colours, bezants, plates, hurts, &c. BALLUSTRADE, a series or row of bal- lusters, joined by a vail ; serving as well for a rest to the elbows, as for a fence or enclo- sure to balconies, altars, staircases, &c. BALNEUM, a term used by chemists to signify a vessel filled with some matter, as sand, water, &c. in which another is placed that requires a more gentle heat than the naked lire. r l hus balneum areiiosum, called also balneum siccum, or sand-heat, is when the cucurbit is placed in sand, in ashes, or filings of iron. Balneum mariae, dr mavis, is when the vessel, containing the ingredients to be distilled, &c. is put into a vessel of water, which is made to boil ; so that no greater heat than that of boiling water can be communicated te the substance to be treated. And balneum vaporis, or vaporarium, is when two vessels are disposed in such a manner, that the vapour raised from the wa- ter contained in the lower, heats the matter contained in the upper. See Chemistry. B A L BALS AM, or native balsam, an oily resi- nous, liquid substance, flowing eitherspon- taneously, or by means of incision, from cer- tain plants of sovereign virtue in the cure of several disorders. There are many kinds of balsams, but the most remarkable are ben- zoin, storax, styrax, balsam of Peru, balsam of 1 olu. r J hey owe their most important properties to the resinous ingredient. 1. Benzoin. 'Ibis substance is obtained from the styrax benzoin, a tree which grows in Sumatra, &c. It flows from incisions made in the trunk. Benzoin comes to Eu- rope in large masses of a light brown colour with yellow specks. It is very brittle, and breaks vitreous. "\\ hen rubbed it emits a fragrant odour, and when heated sufficiently lets the benzoic acid escape. It is soluble in alcohol, but insoluble in water. It is used chiefly to perfume apartments, and extract from it benzoic acid. It has not been exa- mined by any modern chemist. Its specific gravity is 1.092. It is considered as a com- pound of resin and benzoic acid. 2. Storax. '1 his substance is obtained by incision from the styrax officinale, a tree which grows abundantly in the islands of the Levant, and in Italy and France. 'Hie sto- rax is sometimes in large masses, sometimes in small tears ; it is brittle, and has a brown colour. It has an aromatic taste and fra- grant smell. It is soluble in alcohol, and yields benzoic acid by the usual processes. It is composed apparently of benzoic acid and resin. 3. Styrax. 1 his is a semifluid juice, used in medicine on the continent, though scarcely in Britain. Its natural history is but imper- fectly known ; but it is said to exude from a tree called by the natives rosamallos, which is cultivated in Arabia. Bouillon Lagrange has published an account of its properties. Us colour is greenish, and its taste aromatic, and its smell agreeable. It is easily A'olali- lizedby heat When treated with water, its benzoic acid is dissolved, while the other constituent remains. It is totally soluble in alcohol, except the impurities. When ex- posed to air it becomes harder, and absorbs oxygen. Hence we may consider it as a combination ot benzoic acid and an imperfect resin. 4. Balsam of Peru. This substance is ob- tained from the myroxylon peruiferum, which grows in the warm parts of South America. The tree is full of resin, and the balsam is obtained by boiling the twigs in water. It has the consistency of honey, a brown colour, an agreeable smell, and a hot acrid taste. Like the last it consists of ben- zoic acid and volatile oil, not completely con- verted into resin. Water dissolves part of the acid, alcohol the whole balsam. It is ea- sily volatilized by heat. 5. Balsam of Tolu. This substance is ob- tained from the toluifera balsamum, a tree which grows in South America. The balsam flows from incisions made in the bark. It comes to Europe in small gourd shells. It is of a reddish brown colour, and considerable consistence ; and when exposed to the air, it becomes^ solid and brittle. Its smell is fra- grant. The composition of this substance has not been ascertained. It is only from analogy that it lias been put among the bal- sams. Mr. Hatchett’s experiments on it are very curious and important. He has ascertained that the balsams in general are soluble in alkalies. When Tolu is dissolved in the smallest possible quantity of lixivium ot potash, it completely loses its own odour, and assumes a most fragrant smell, some- what resembling that of the clove pink. “ i his smell,” Mr. Hatchett observes, “ is not fugitive, for it is still retained by a’ solu- tion which was prepared in June, and lias re- mained in an open glass during four months.’' Mr. Hatchett found that it. dissolved in nitric acid with nearly the same phenomena as the resins ; but it assumed the odour of bitter al- monds, which leads him to suspect the for- mation of prussic acid. Such are the balsamic substances at present known. lar, which has been sometimes placed among them, is obtained by a rude distillisation of the fir. Hence it contains a variety of ingredients, oil, resin, pyrolignous acid, water. When concentrated by heat it loses these volatile parts, and is converted into pitch; a substance which possesses the properties of resin, BALSAMICS, in pharmacy, softening, re- storing, healing, and cleansing medicines, of gentle attenuating principles, very friendly to nature. See Pharmacy. BAL 1 IMORA, in botany, a genus of the pol\gamia necessaria order and syngenesis class of plants. The receptaculumls chatty ; there is no pappus ; the calvx is cylindrical and polyphyllous ; and the ray of the corolla is qumqueflorous. There is but one species, viz. baltimora recta, a native of Man kind. B AM BO E, or bambou. See Arundo. BAM BUS A, in botany. See Arundo. BAN, in commerce, a sort of smooth, fine muslin, which the English import from the East Indies. The piece is almost a yard broad, and runs about twenty yards and a half. BANANA, in botany. See Musa. BAND, in architecture, a general name for any flat, low member, or moulding, that is broad, but not very deep. Band of pensioners, are a company of 120 gentlemen, who receive a yearly allow- ance of 100/. for attending on his majesty on solemn occasions. Band is also the denomination of a mili- tary order in Spain, instituted by Alphonsus XI. king of Castile, for the younger sons of the nobility, who, before their admission, must serve ten years, at least, either in the army, or at court : and are bound to take up arms for the catholic faith against the infi- dels. BANDAGE, in surgery, a fillet, roller, or swathe, used in dressing and binding up wounds, restraining dangerous hemorrhages and in joining fractured or dislocated bones. See Surgery. BAN DAL, or bundle, the name of a mea- sure in the south of Ireland, which is some- thing more than half a yard; but the coarse narrow linen is sold in the markets, on which account it is called bundle-cloth, BAN DALKER, or bandeleer, in military affairs, a large leathern belt, thrown over the right shoulder, and hanging under the left arm; worn by the ahtient nnrsqueteers/ both for the sustaining of their fire-arms* and for the carriage" of their musquet- eharges. BANDE, or inbencl, in heraldry, ex-’ BAN presses the position of a lion, when he is placed diagonally in the shield, BAN 1) ERET, a general, or one of the cornmanders-in chief of the forces. BANDEROLE, in heraldry, is a stream affixed by small lines or strings immediately under the crook, on the staff of a crosier, aild folding over the staff. BANDEROLE, a little Hag, in form of a guidon, extended more in length than breadth, used to be hung out on the masts of vessels, &c. It is a name also for camp co- lours. BANGUE, a species of opiate, in great use throughout the east for drowning cares, and inspiring joy. BANIANS, a religious sect in the empire of the mogul, who believe a metempsychosis, and will therefore eat no living creature, nor e\" n kill noxious, animals ; but endeavour to release them when in the hands of others : whence the vulgar phrase banian - day for a fast. BANISHMENT, a kind of punishment, by which the guilty person is obliged to leave the realm. There are two kinds of banishment; one voluntary and upon oath, the other upon compulsion, for some crime or offence ; the former, properly called abjuration, is now ceased; the latter is chiefly enjoined by judgment of parliament, or other courts of justice. By Magna Cliarta, none shall be outlawed, or banished his country, but by lawful judg- ment of his peers, according to the law of the land, 9 Hen. 111. 29. BANK, in commerce, a common reposi- tory, wliere many persons agree to keep then- money, to be always ready at their call or direction : or certain societies or communi- ties, who take the charge of other people’s money, either to improve it, or to keep it se- cure. There are banks of various kinds, and dif- ferent in the nature of their constitutions and establishments : some are instituted wholly on the public account, and put under the direction of the magistrates, as the fa- mous bank of Amsterdam, where the money deposited shall be always kept for the use of the proprietors, and shall never be let out for profit or advantage. Payments made by assignments upon this bank are valued from three to six per cent, above the payment of the money in specie, arising from an opinion that the proprietors entertain of the equity of its administration ; for judging themselves secure that their mo- ney lies always ready at hand, they seldom draw out large sums, but make their mutual payments by transferring the sums from one man’s account to another. ^ A second sort of bank is such as consists of a company of moneyed men, who being duly established, and incorporated by the laws of their country, agree to deposit a cer- tain considerable fund, or joint stock, to be employed for the use of the society ; as lend- ing money upon good security, buying and selling bullion, gold, and silver, discounting bills of exchange, & c. Such is the bank of England, which was established in the year 1694, with a capital of 1,200,000/. This they lent to government, for which eight per cent, interest was paid, and 4000/. per an- num for charges of management. The cor- B A N I poration was entitled “ The governor and t company of the bank of England;’’ and their charter directed that there be a gover- nor and twenty-four directors ; it also lays down rules respecting the qualifications of voters and of directors, with other regula- tions. In 1697 the bank was allowed to en- large its capital to 2,201,171/. 10s. for the purpose of supporting public credit, bank notes having been at twenty per cent, dis- count, owing to the want of punctuality in tiie payments of government. This capital was allowed to increase from time to time, till at Michaelmas 1746, when the whole debt due to the bank from the public was 1 1,686,800/. and its divided capital has been raised to 10,780,000/. from an early period after the establish- ment ot the bank, it had been the practice of the company to assist government with mo- ney in anticipation of the laud and malt taxes, and by making temporary advances on exchequer bills and other securities. In the year 1781, the sums thus lent to govern- ment amounted to upwards of eight mil- lions, in addition to the permanent debt of 11,686,800/. The company now sought a renewal of their charter, and offered to ad- vance two millions on exchequer bills : this being agreed to, a call was made of eight pei cent, on their capital, which was now in- creased from 10,780,000/. to 11,642,400/. the sum on which they divide at present. I he bank ot England acts not only as an ordinary bank, but as a great engine of state. It receives and pays the greater part of the annuities which are due to the credi- tors of the public ; it circulates exchequer bills ; and it advances to government, as we have already seen, the annual amount of the land and malt taxes, which are frequently not paid up for some years. It discounts bills of merchants ; and upon different occasions it has supported the credit of the principal houses, not only of England, but of Ham- burgh and Holland. The company is properly a trading com- pany ; and that which is "peculiarly distin- guished by the appellation of bank stock is a trading stock, the dividend of which, on a capi- tal of 11,642,400/. paid half yearly, and now seven per cent., besides occasional bonuses, accrues from the annual income of the com- pany ; and this arises from the interest re- ceived for the money advanced by the pro- prietors to the public, or the permanent debt ; from interest on annual temporary ad- vances ; from the profits of their dealings in bullion, and of their discounts ; from the in- terest of stock held by the company ; and from the sums allowed by government for the management of the annuities paid at the offices of the bank. Such is also the bank of the United States of America. There are indeed public banks established in most of the trading cities of Europe, as in Venice, Paris, Hamburgh, &c. The bank of Venice is the most antient. It is estab- lished by a solemn edict of the common- wealth, which enacts, that all payments for wholesale merchandise, and letters of ex- change, shall be in bank notes; that all debtors shall he obliged to carry their money to the bank, and all creditors receive their money from the bank; so that payments are erformed by a simple transfer from the one BAN jpg person to the other. In matters of retail-* effective payments are sometimes made* which do not diminish, but rather augment the stock, in consequence of the liberty of withdrawing their money at pleasure, &c. A this d sort is the banks or private men, os partnerships, who deal in the same way as the former, upon their own single stock’ or credit ; and such are the Lombard-street, or other bankers, as they are called. Bank, an elevation of the ground, or bot- tom of the sea, so as sometimes to surmount ihe surface ot the water, or at least to leave it so shallow, as not to allow a vessel to re- main atloaf over it. Bank, in this sense, is much the same with flat, shoal, &c. There are banks ot sand, and others ot stone, called shelves- and rocks. Sometimes the vap airs at sea lead mariners to imagine that they see certain objects at a distance, these they call fog-banks.. r l he Ban k denotes that of New- foundland, celebrated for its cod fishery : it is more than tvvo : hundred miles long. Banks at sea are usually distinguished by a buov, the colour ot which is varied. Sand-banks are denoted by light-coloured. buoys, and rocks by black ones. Bank, in vessels'moved with oars, is the bench on which the rowers are seated. Bank denotes an elevation of earth, &c, to stop the waters,, and prevent inundations. BAN KAEA LET, a game at cards, which being cut into as many heaps as there are players, every man lays as much money on his own card as he pleases ; and the dealer wins or looses as many as his card is superior or interior to those ot the other gamesters, I he best card is the ace of diamonds ; the next to it the ace of hearts ; then the ace of clubs ; and, lastly, the ace of spades : and so ot the rest of these suits in order, according to- their degree. 'I he cheat lies in securing an ace, or any other sure winning card ; which are somehow marked, that the sharper may know' them. BANKER, in bricklaying, a piece oftim- ber, six or eight feet long, and eight or nine inches square, on which they cut the bricks. BANK RL P I , a trader whom misfortune or extravagance has induced to commit an act of bankruptcy. The benefit of the bank- rupt law's is allowed to none but actual irad- ers, or such as buy and sell, and gain a live- lihood by so doing. Requisites to constitute a trading: the mer- chandising, or buying and selling, must be of that kind, whereby the party gains a credit upon the profits of an uncertain capital stock. Manufacturer's, or persons purchasing goods or raw materials to sell again under other forms, or ameliorated by labour, as bakers, brewers, butchers, shoemakers* smiths, tanners, taylors, &c. are also within tfie statutes. Ihe following description of persons are not within the statutes of bankruptcy, viz, proprietors or persons having an interest in land, if buying and selling to whatever ex- tent, for the purposes of disposing merely of the produce and profits of such' land; gra- ziers and drovers ; owners of coal-mines work- ing and selling the coals; owners or farmers, of alum-rocks; farmers who make cheeses for sale, or those who sell cyder made from apples of their own orchard. In all such cases, and others ot a similar nature, where' the several materials are purchased, arid even 200 some kind of manufacture exercised ; yet as this is the necessary and customary mode of receiving the benefit arising from the land, such persons are not held to be traders within the statutes ; nor are persons buying and selling bank stock or government securities. Buying or selling only will neither singly constitute trading ; neither will a single act of buying and selling ; or drawing or redraw- ing bills of exchange merely for the purpose of raising money for private occasions, and not with a view to gain a profit upon the ex- change. Being a part-owner in a ship, barge, or waggon, does not constitute a trad- er; nor holding a share or interest in a joint- stock with others who trade, unless he share in the profit and loss upon the disposition of the capital. The merchandise must also be general, and not in a qualified maimer only, as victuallers or innkeepers, schoolmasters, commissioners of the navy who victual the fleet by private contract, the king’s butler, steward, or other officers ; officers of excise or customs, sutlers of the armies, butlers, stewards of inns of court, clergymen, &c. as acting in such capacities merely, are not li- able to be made bankrupts; the buying and selling in such cases not being general, but in the exercise of particular employments. Neither, upon the same principle, are re- ceivers of the king’s taxes, or persons dis- counting exchequer bills. If the parties above enumerated, however, are them- selves within the bankrupt laws in any other respect, they will be liable to their operation, although they should evidently not profit by trading, or such trading should be illegal ; although the trading should not be wholly carried on in England, buying only in Eng- land and selling beyond sea. Any person, native, denizen, or alien, residing in any part of the British dominions, or in foreign coun- tries, though never a resident trader in Eng- land, yfct if he is a trader, and coming to England commits an act of bankruptcy, he will be subject to the bankrupt laws. No one can be a bankrupt on account of any debt which he is not compellable by law to discharge, as infants or married women. And if a single woman is a trader, and com- mitting any act of bankruptcy, afterwards marry, a commission issued against her after such marriage cannot be supported. But according to the custom of London, where a married woman is sole trader, she is held liable to a commission of bankruptcy like a feme sole. , Acts of bankruptcy. Departing the realm. This must be done with intent to defraud or delay creditors : when it appears that there was no such intention, it will not be a depar- ture within the meaning of the statutes. 7 T. K. 509. Departing from the dwelling-house. Such departure must also be with intent to defraud and delay creditors ; for the departure with an intent to delay, has been held insuf- ficient, without an actual delay of some cre- ditors. St. 803. Beginning to keep the house ; the being de- nied to a creditor who calls for money ; but an order to be denied is not enough, without an actual denied, and that also to a creditor who has a debt demandable at the time. 5 T. It. 575. Voluntary arrest, not only for a fictitious debt, but even for a just one, if done with the BANKRUPT. itBent to delay creditors, is an act of bank- 1 rUptcy. Suffering an outlawry, with intent to de- fraud the creditors ; but this will not make a man a bankrupt, if reversed before issuing a commission, or for default, of proclamation after it, unless such outlawry was originally fraudulent. Escaping from prison. Being arrested for a just debt of 100/. or upwards, and escaping against the consent of the sheriff. Fraudulent procurement of goods to be attached or sequestered. A fraudulent exe- cution, though void against creditors, is not within the meaning of the words attachment, or sequestration, used in the statute ; because they relate only to proceedings used in Lon- don, Bristol, and other places. Making any fraudulent conveyance. Any conveyance of property, whether total or partial, made with a view to defeat the claims of creditors, is a fraud, and if it be by deed, is held to be an act of bankruptcy . A conveyance by a trader of all his effects and'stock in trade by deed, to the exclusion of any one or more of his creditors, has been ever held to be an act of bankruptcy. A mortgage (amongst other things) of all the stock in trade of a tradesman, was held to be an act of bankruptcy, as being an as- signment of all the stock in trade, without which he could carry on no business. A conveyance by a trader of part of his effects to a particular creditor carries no evidence whatever uf fraud, unless made in contemplation of bankruptcy. Being arrested for debt-, lying in prison two months or more, upon that or any other arrest, or detention in prison for debt, will make the party a bankrupt, from the time of the first arrest; but where tiie bail is fairly put in, and the party at a future day surren- ders in discharge or his bail, the two months are computed from the time of the surren- der. Of proceedings finder a commission. The lord chancellor is empowered to issue a com- mission of bankrupt, and is bound to grant it as matter of rigid. By 5 Geo. II. c. 30. no commission can issue, unless upon the peti- tion of a single creditor, to whom the bank- rupt owes a debt which shall amount to 100/. the debt of two or more, being partners, shall amount to 150/. and of three or more to 200 /. If the debt against the bankrupt amounts to the sum required, it is not material, though the creditor should have acquired it for less. If a creditor to th(f tail amount, before an act of bankruptcy committed, receive after notice of the bankruptcy a part of his debt, such payment being illegal, cannot be re- tained, and-the original debt remains in force, and will support a commission. The debt must be a legal and not an equit- able one, and if the legal demand be not in its nature assignable, the assignee cannot be the petitioning creditor, as the assignee of a bond. 1 If the creditor, for a debt at law, has the body of his debtor in execution, he cannot at the same time sue out a commission upon it ; that being, in point of law, a satisfaction for the debt. Of opening the commission. When the commissioners have received proof of the petitioning creditor’s debt, the trading, and act of bankruptcy, they declare and adjudge the party a bankrupt. They are authorized to issue a warrant under their hands and seals, for the seizure of all the bankrupt’s effects, books, or writings, and for that purpose to enter the house, or any other place belonging to the bankrupt. Such debts only can be proved under a commission, as were either debts certainly payable, and which existed a‘e the time of the bankruptcy, or which although originally contingent, yet, from the contingency hap- pening before the bankruptcy, were become absolute. In every case the amount of the debt must be precisely ascertained. Time and method of proving. Creditors were formerly precluded from proving after four months ; but the court now, except ya cases of gross negligence, allows them to come in at any time, whilst any thing re- mains to be disposed of. The usual proof re- quired, is the oath of the creditor himself ; either in person, or by affidavit if he live remote from the place of meeting, or reside in foreign parts. 5 Geo. IT. Corporations, or companies, are generally admitted to prove by a treasurer, clerk, or other officer duly authorized. Of the assignees. Immediately after de- claration of the bankruptcy, the commis- sioners are to appoint a time and place for the creditors to meet and choose assignees, and are directed to assign the bankrupt’s es- tate and effects to such persons as shall be chosen by the major part in value. The powers and duties of assignees are- principally those of collecting the bankrupt’s property, reducing the whole into ready mo- ney, and making distribution as early as pos- sible. One assignee is not answerable for the neglect of another. Assignees^ if they act im- properly, are not only liable at law to the cre- ditors for a breach of trust, but may be re- moved on account of misbehaviour, &c. by petitioning the lord chancellor. Upon the removal of an assignee, he is directed to join with the remaining one, in assignment to the latter and new assignee. Provisions for wife, children, Sec. By the statute of Eliz. the commissioners may as- sign any lands, &c. that the bankrupt shall have purchased jointly with his wife, and the assignment shall be effectual, against the bank- rupt, his wife, or children; but this shall not extend to conveyances made before the bankruptcy bona fide, and not to the use of the bankrupt himself only, or his heirs, and where the parties to the conveyance are not privy to the fraudulent purposes to deceive the creditors. Examination of the bankrupt. By the 5th Geo. II. the commissioners are empowered to examine the bankrupt, and ail others, as well by parqje, as by interrogations in writing. The said statute requires the bankrupt to dis- cover all his estate and effects, and how, and to whom, and in what manner, on what con- sideration, and at what time, he has disposed of it ; and all books, papers, and writings, re- lative thereto, of which he was possessed or interested, or whereby he or his family may expect any profit, advantage, &c. and on such examination he shall deliver up to the com- missioners all his effects, (except the neces- sary wearing apparel of himself, his wife, and 201 BAN children), and all books, papers, and writings, relating thereto. With respect to Iris privilege from arrest. By the above act, the bankrupt shall be free from all arrest in coming to surrender, and from his actual surrender to the commissioners for and during the forty-two days, or the f urther time allowed to finish his examination, provided he was notin custody at the time of liis surrender. Books and papers. By 5 Geo. IT. c. 30. the bankrupt is entitled, before the expira- tion of the forty-two days, or enlarged time, to inspect his books and papers, in the pre- sence of the assignees, or some person ap- pointed by them, and make such extracts as lie shall deem necessary. Power of commissioners in case of contu- macy. The statutes empower the commis- sioners to enforce their authority by commit- ment of the party, in the following cases : per- sons refusing to attend on the commissioners’ summons ; refusing to be examined, or to be sworn, or to sign and subscribe their ex- amination, or not fully answering to the satis- faction of the commissioners. Of the certificate. By the 5 Geo. II. a bankrupt surrendering, making a full disco- very, and in all things conforming to the di- . ructions of the act, may with the consent of his creditors obtain a certificate. If the com- missioners certify his conformity, and the same be allowed by the lord chancellor, his person, and whatever property he may after- wards acquire, will be discharged and exone- rated from all debts owing by him at the time he became a bankrupt. But no bank- rupt is entitled to the benefit of the act, un- less four parts in five, both in number and value of his creditors, who shall be creditors for not less than 20/. respectively, and who shall have duly proved their debts un- der the commission, or some other per- son duly authorized by them, shall sign the certificate. Of the dividends. The assignees are al- lowed four months from the date ot the com- mission to make a dividend ; and should ap- ply to the commissioners to appoint a meeting for that purpose, or they may be summoned by them to shew cause why they have not done so. Allowance, to the bankrupt. Every bank- rupt surrendering, and in all things conform- ing to the directions of the act, shall be al- lowed five per cent, out of the nett produce of his estate, provided, after such allowance , it be sufficient to pay his creditors ten shillings in the pound, and that the said five per cent, shall not in the whole exceed 200/. Should his estate in like manner pay 12 s. 6d. in the pound, he shall be allowed seven anil a half per cent, so as not to exceed 250/. and if his estate pay 15s. in the pound, he shall be allowed ten per cent, so as not to exceed 300/. But the bankrupt is not entitled to such allowance, till after a second dividend, nor can he be entitled to it till lie has re- ceived his certificate. Of the surplus. The commissioners are, on request of a bankrupt, to give a true and particular account of the application and disposal of his estate, and to pay the over- plus, if any, to the bankrupt. Of superseding commissions. Commissions may be superseded for the want ot a suffi- cient debt of the petitioning creditor, or be- VoL. I. BAN cause lift was an infant, or for want of suffi- cient evidence of the trading or act of bank- ruptcy, or in cases of fraud, or by agreement or consent of the creditors. Joint commissions. Partners are liable to a joint commission, or individually, against each ; but a joint and separate commission cannot in point of law be concurrent. A joint commission must include all partners ; if there be three partners, and one of them an infant, there can neither be a commis- sion against the three, nor agajnst the other two. Felony of bankrupts. If any person, who shall be duly declared a bankrupt, refuse, within forty-two days after notice left at his place of abode, and in the London Gazette, to surrender himself to the commissioners, and to fully disclose and discover all his es- tate and effects, real and personal, and all transferences thereof, and also all books, papers, and writings, relating thereto ; and deliver up to the said commissioners, all such estate and effects, books, papers, &c. as are in his power (except his necessary wearing apparel, &c.); or in case he shall conceal, or embezzle, any part of his estate, real or per- sonal, to the value of 20/., or any books of ac- counts, papers, or writings, relating thereto, with intent to defraud his creditors, being law- fully convicted thereof, by judgment or in- formation, he shall be adjudged guilty of fe- lony, without benefit of clergy, and his goods divided amongst his creditors. 5 Geo. II. c. 30. BANKSIA, in botany, a genus of the mo- nogynia order, belonging to the tetandria class of plants. The amentum is scaly, the corolla consists of four petals ; the anthers are in the cavity of the folds, and sessile ; the capsule is bivalvular ; and the seed is soli- tary and bipartite. There are eight species, all greenhouse plants, and natives of New Holland. BANN, or Ban, in the feudal law, a so- lemn proclamation or publication of any thing. Hence the custom of asking, or bans, before marriage. Bann, in military affairs, a proclamation made in the army by beat of drum, sound of trumpet, &c. requiring the strict observance of discipline, either for the declaring a new officer, or punishing an offender. At pre- sent such kind of proclamations are given out in the written orders of the day. Bann of the empire, an imperial proscrip- tion, being a judicial punishment, wherewith such as are accessary in disturbing the pub- lie peace are judged unworthy of the im- munities and protection of the empire, and are outlawed or banished, See. BANNER. We find a multiplicity of opinions concerning the etymology of this word; some deriving it from the Latin bandum, a band or tlag ; others, from the word bann, to summon the vassals to appear in arms; others, again, from the German ban, a field or tenement, because landed men alone were allowed a banner; and, finally, there are some who think it is a corruption of panniere, from pannus, doth, because banners were originally made of cloth. Banner, the ordnance-flag fixed on the fore-part of the drum-major’s kettle-drum carriage of the royal artillery. Banner, in the horse equipage, for the kettle-drums and trumpets, must be of the C e ' BAN colour of the facing of the regiment. The badge of the regiment, or its rank, to be in the centre of the banner of the kettle-drums, as on the second standard. The king’s cy- pher and crown to be on the banner of the trumpets, with the rank of the regiment in figures underneath. The depth ot the ket- tle-drum banners to be three feet six inches ; the length four feet eight inches, excluding the fringe. Those of trumpets to be twelve inches in depth, and eighteen inches in length. BANNERET, an ancient order of knights, or feudal lords, who possessing several large fees, led their vassals to battle under their own flag, when summoned thereto by the king. This order' never was conferred but upon some heroic action performed in the field. Anciently there being but two kind of knights, great and little, the first were called bannerets, the second bachelors ; the first composed the upper, the second the middle nobility. Till lately we have had none of this order created in England since the time of king Charles the First; the late sir William Erskine, however, on his return from the continent in 1764, was made a knight banneret, in Hyde-park, by his pre- sent majesty, in consequence of his distin- guished conduct at the battle of Emsdorff. But he was not acknowledged as such in Ibis country, although he was invested with the order between tiie two standards of the fifteenth regiment of light dragoons, because the ceremony did not take place where the engagement happened. Captain Trollope, of the royal navy, is the last-created knight banneret. Knights banneret take precedence •next to knights of the hath. The form of the banneret’s creation was this: on a day of battle, the candidate pre- sented his flag to the king, or general, who cutting off the train or skirt thereof, and making it a square, returned it again ; the proper banner of bannerets, who from hence are sometimes called knights of the square flag. BANNEROLS, in heraldry, are small flags used at funerals. BANNLSTERIA, in botany: a genus of the trigynia order, and deeandria class of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 23d order, trihilatae. The calyx is quinquepartite, with nectareous pores on the outside of the base ; the petals are roundish and ungulated; the seeds are three, w ith membranaceous wings. There are 24 species, all natives of warm countries, but possessjng no remarkable properties, BANN1MUS, the form of expulsion of any member from the university of Oxford, by affixing the sentence lip in some public place, as a denunciation of it. BANQUET, in the manege, that small part of the branch of a bridle that is under the eye. Banquet-line, an imaginary line drawn, in making a 'bitt, along the banquet, and pro- longed up or down, to adjust the designed force or weakness of the branch, in order to make it stiff or easy. Banquet, or Banquette, in fortification, a little foot bank, or elevation of earth, form- ing a path, which runs along the inside of a parapet, upon which the musqueteers get up, in order to discover the counterscarp, or to fire on the enemy in the moat, or in the co- vert-way. 202 B A R BAR BAR BANTAM-WORK, a kind of painted. or carved work, resembling that of Japan, only more gaudy. There are two sorts of Bantam as well as Japan work : as in the latter, some are ilat, and others embossed ; so in Bantam work some are flat, and others cut in, or carved into the wood. The Japan artists work in gold and other metals, and the Bantam generally in colours, with a small sprinkling of gold. BAP FES, a name give by the ancients to a fossil substance used in medicine: it was soft and of an agreeable smell, and probably one of the bitumens. " BAR, in courts of justice, an inclosure made with a strong partition of timber, where the counsel are placed to plead causes. Hence our lawyers, who are called to the bar, or licensed to plead, are termed barristers, an appellation equivalent to licentiate in other countries. Bar, in law, a plea of a defendant, which is said to be sufficient to destroy the plain- tiff’s action. It is. divided into bar special, bar to common intendment, bar temporary, and bar perpetual. Bar special, falls out upon some special circumstances of the case in question, as where an executor being sued for his testator’s debt, pleads that he had no goods in his hands at the day on which the writ was sued out. Bar to common intend- ment is a general bar, which commonly dis- ables the plaintiff’s declaration. Bar tempo- rary is such as is good for the present, but may afterwards fail ; and bar perpetual is that which overthrows the plaintiff’s action for ever. In personal actions, once barred and ever so, is the general rule; but it is in- tended, where a bar is to the right of the cause, not where a wrong action is brought. Bar, in heraldry, an ordinary in form of the fess, but much less. It differs from the fess only in its narrowness, and in this, that the bar may be placed in any part of the field, whereas the fess is confined to a single place. Bar, in the manege, the highest part of that place of a horse’s mouth situated be- tween the grinders and tushes. Bar, a stroke drawn perpendicularly across the lines of a piece of music, including be- tween eacli two a certain quantity or mea- sure of time, which is Various as the time of the music is either triple or common. In common time, between each two bars is in- cluded the measure of four crotchets; in triple, three. The principal use of bars is to regulate the beating of time in a concert. Bar, in hydrography, denotes a bank of sand, or other matter, whereby the mouth of a river is in a manner choked up.' BARALIPTON, among logician's, a term denoting the first indirect mode of the first figure of syllogism. A syllogism in bara- iipton, is when the two first propositions are general, and the third particular, the middle term being-the subject in the first proposition, and the predicate in the second. Thus : Every evil ought to be feared : Every violent passion is an evil ; Therefore something that ought to be feared is a violent passion. BARALLOTS, a sect of Manicheans at Bologna in Italy, who had all things in com- mon, 1 even their wives and children. BARANGI, officers among the Greeks of the lower empire. Cujas calls them in Latin proteetores, and others give them the name | of securigeri. It was their business to keep the keys of the city-gates where the emperor resided. BARATHRUM, in antiquity, a deep dark pit at Athens, into which condemned persons were cast headlong. It had sharp spikes at the top, that no man might escape out, and others at the bottom to pierce and torment such as were cast in. The term is aiso applied to certain baleful caverns, inaccessible on account of their fetid or poisonous fumes. BARBACAN, or Barbican, a watch- tower, for the purpose of descr ying an enemy at a great distance: it also implies an outer defence, or sort of ancient fortification to a city or castle, used especially as a fence to the city or walls ; also an aperture made in the w : alls of a fortress to lire through upon the enemy. It is sometimes used to denote a fort at the entrance of a bridge, or the outlet of a city, having a double wall with towers. BARBADOES-TAR. See Bitumen. BARBICAN, in architecture, a canal, or opening left in the wall, for water to come in and go out, when buildings are erected in places liable to be overflowed, or to drain off the water from a terras, or the like. BARBARA, among logicians, the first mode of the first figure of syllogisms. A syllogism in barbara, is one of which all the propositions are universal, and affirmative; the middle term being the subject of the first proposition, and attribute in the second. For example. Bar. Every wicked man is miserable : Ba. All tyrants are wicked men ; Ra. Therefore all tyrants are miserable. BARBATE!) leaf, one terminated by a bunch of strong hairs. BARBE, in commerce, a Barbary horse, greatly esteemed for its beauty, strength, and swiftness. § Barbr, in the military art : to fire in barbe means to fire the cannon over the parapet instead of firing through the embrasures ; in which case the parapet must not be above three feet and a half high. Barbe, or Bar de, is an old word, denoting the armour of the horses of the antient knights and soldiers. BARBED and Crested, in heraldry, an appellation given to the combs and gills of a cock, when particularised for being of a different tincture from the body. A barbed cross is a cross, the extremities of which are like the barbed irons used for striking of fish. BaRBELICOTJE, in church-history, a sect of gnostics, who affirmed that an immor- tal eon had commerce with a virgin called Barbelath, to whom he granted successively the gift of prophecy, incorruptibility, and eternal life. BARBER, one who makes a trade of shav- ing, or trimming, the beards of other men, for money. Besides curling the hair, and 'shaving, the ancient barbers trimmed the nails. Formerly some musical instrument was part of a barber’s stock in trade ; and it was customary for persons above the common rank to resort to his shop, either for surgical operations, or for shaving, &c. The music was for the amusement of the waiting cus- tomers, and answered the same purpose as a newspaper in modern times. Barbers were uniformly bleeders ; and the pole now used as a sign, was a representation of the staff which was put into the hand of a person un- dergoing the operation of phlebotomy. The white band which surrounds it is designed to represent the fillet that binds up the arm. The surgeon-barbers were incorporated by- Henry the VIHth, and separated from the surgeons by an act of Anne. BARBEL, in ornithology, the name of a genus of birds in Latham’s Synopsis, corre- sponding with the bucco of Linna us. Bar- bets are described as a dull stupid race of birds, inhabiting the tropical climates. They probably take their name from the strong bristles which surround the bill. They are in general larger than a lark, and vary iu plumage, being black, green, reddish, pled, & c. See Bucco. BARBING, is sometimes used for shear- ing : by an ancient statute, cloth was not to be sold, till barbed, rowed, and shorn. BABBLES, or Barbs, in farriery, the knots of superfluous flesh that grow up in the channels of a horse’s mouth, that is, in the intervals that separate the bars, and lie under the tongue. BARCALON, an appellation given to the pi'ime minister of the king of Siam. BARCONE, a short and broad vessel used in the Mediterranean for the carriage of corn, salt, and other provisions, from one place to another. BARDESANISTS, Christians of the se- cond century, who maintained that the devil was a self-existent independent being ; that Jesus Christ was not born of a woman, but brought his body with him from heaven ; and denied the resurrection of the body. BAREG E-ivaters, are celebrated for then- mineral virtues : they are situated at Barege on the French side of the Pyrenees, and differ in the degree of temperature from 120 degrees, to 73 degrees. By analysis they are found to contain sulphurated hydrogen and soda, some common salt, and a bitumen. See Mineral WAters. BAR-FEE, a fee of twenty-pence, which every prisoner acquitted of felony pays to the gaoler. BARGAIN and Sale. See Contract. BARGE-COURSE, with bricklayers, a term used for that part of the tiling which projects over without tire principal rafters, in all sorts of buildings, where there is either a gable or kirkin-head. BARGHMOTE, a court which takes cog- nizance of causes and disputes between mi- ners. By custom of the mines, no person is to sue a miner for ore, debt, &c. but in this court, on penalty of forfeiting the debt, and paying the charge at law. BARILLA, a kind of Spanish alkaline salt used in the glass trade. It is procured by burning to ashes several plants of the kali kind. It is brought over in brown speckled masses, without smell and strongly alkaline. See Soda. BARK, in the anatomy of plants, the ex- terior part of trees, corresponding to the skin of an animal. See Physiology of Plants. Bark, in navigation, a little vessel with two or three triangular sails ; but, according to Guillet, it is a vessel with three masts, viz. a main-mast, fore-mast, and mizen-mast. Bark, or Jesuit’s Bark. See Cinchona. B A R B A R BAR 203 Bark-bed, in gardening, that sort of hot- bed, which is wholly or ' principally consti- tuted of tanner’s bark, commonly employed in a hot-house, because it retains its heat loi oer and emits less steam than a hot-bed of horse-dung. Bark-bound, a disease in trees thought to be capable of being cured by making a slit or opening through the bark. Bark-longue, or Barca Longa, a small low sharp-built but very long vessel, without 2 deck. It goes with sails and oars, and is very common in Spain. BA11LERIA, a genus of the angiospermia order, and didynamia class of plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the 40th order, personate. The calyx is quadripar- tite; two of the stamina are much less than the rest ; the capsule is quadrangular, bilo- cular, bivalved, elastic, and without claws ; and the seeds are two. There are eleven species ; all natives of the warm parts of America, and therefore require to be kept in a stove, and treated like other tender exotics. They possess no great beauty nor any remarkable property ; but are kept for the sake of variety. BARLEY. See Hordeum. Barley-corn, the least of our long-mea- sures, being the third of an inch. Barley, pearl, and French Barley, are barley freed from the husk, and rounded by a' mill ; the distinction between the two being that the pearl barley is reduced to the size of small shot, all but the heart being ground away. i BARM. See Yeast. BARN ABIT ES, a religious order, founded in the sixteenth century, by three Italian gentlemen, who had been advised by a famous preacher of those days to read carefully the epistles of St. Paul. Hence they were call- ed clerks of St. Paul, and Barnabites, because they performed their first exercise in a church of St. Barnabas at Milan. Their habit is black, and their oliice is to instruct, cate- chise, and serve in mission. BARNACLE, or Bernicle, in ornitho- logy. See Anas. Barnacles, in farriery, an instrument composed of two branches joined at one end with a hinge, to put upon horses’ noses when they will not stand quietly to be shod, blooded, or dressed. BARNADESIA, in botany; a genus of the polygamia squabs order, and syngenesia class of plants; the characters of which are : the corolla is radiated ; the calyx is naked, imbricated, and pungent ; the pappus of the rays feathery, of the disk bristly and retro- fracted. There is but one species, viz. Barnadesia Spinosa, a native of South Ame- rica. BAROCO, in logic, a term given to the fourth mode of the second figure of syllo- gisms. A syllogism in baroco has the first proposition universal and affirmative, but the second and third particular and negative, and the middle term is the predicate in the two first propositions. For example : Every virtue is attended with discretion : Some kinds of zeal are not attended with discretion ; Therefore some kinds of zeal are not vir- tues. BAROMETER, a machine for measuring the weight of the atmosphere. The baro- meter is founded on an experiment of Torri- celli, who considering that a column of water of about thirty-three feet was equal in weight to a column of air of the same base, conclud- ed that a column of mercury, no longer than about twenty-nine inches and a halt, would be so too, such a column of mercury being as heavy as thirty-three feet of water. Ac- cordingly he tried the experiment, and the apparatus he made use of is now the com- mon barometer or weather-glass. The tubes of which barometers are made ought to be at least one fourth of an inch bore ; but one third or even one half of an inch is better. The tube should be new, and perfectly clean within. In order to this, it should be hermetically sealed at both ends, at the glass-house, when made; one ot the ends may be cut off with a tile, w hen you use it. The mercury ought to be perfectly pure, and should be purged from air by boil- ing it in a tube. To fill the tube with mercury, warm it, and pour some mercury into it by a small paper funnel, so as to reach within an inch of the top ; you will see that as the tube fills, there are bubbles of air in several parts. When the tube is full, apply your finger hard against the open end, and invert it; by which means the air that was on the top, now ris- ing through all the quicksilver, gathers every bubble in its way. Turn the tube up again, and the bubble of air re-ascends ; and, if there are many small bubbles left, carries them away. If, however, any remain, the operation must be repeated. The tube is now to be tilled to the top, and stopping the open end with the finger, must be inverted into a bason of mercury. When the end of the tube is perfectly plunged under the sur- face of the mercury, the finger must be taken away, and the mercury in the tube will subside, remaining suspended at the height of 29 or 30 inches, according to the pressure of the atmosphere at the time. The space at the top of the lube is a perfect vacuum. The following is a still better way of filling the tube: Pour the purest mercury into the tube (which must be very dry and well clean- ed), to within two inches of the top, and then hold it with the sealed end lowest, in an inclined position, over a chafing-dish of burn- ing charcoal, placed near the edge of a table, in order that all parts of the tube may be exposed successively to the action of the fire, by moving it obliquely over the chafing-dish. The sealed end is to be first gradually pre- sented to the fire. As soon as the mercury becomes hot, the internal surface of the tube will be studded with an infinite number of air-bubbles, giving the mercury a kind of grey colour : these increase in size by run- ning into one another, and ascend towards the higher parts of the tube, where, meeting with a cooler part of the fluid, they are con- densed, and nearly disappear. In conse- quence, however, of successive emigrations towards the upper parts of the tube, which are successively heated, they finally acquire a bulk, which enables them in their united form entirely to escape. When the first part of the tube is sufficiently boiled, move it onward, by little and little, through its whole length. When the mercury boils, its parts strike against each other, and against the sides of the tube, with such violence, C c 2 that a person unacquainted with the ope- ration, naturally apprehends the destruction of his tube. By this process the mercury is entirely deprived of the air which adhered to it. The tube is now fixed with its bason to a wooden frame prepared for it, having a scale of inches at the upper end, which is accu- rately measured from the surface of the mer- cury in the cistern. (Plate IX. Miscel. fig. 6.) Fig^ 7 shews the scale or vernier at the top, drawn larger. This is the common construction of the barometer, and is still found to be the best. However, as the space through which the upper part of the mercury in the tube has to rise and fall does not exceed three inches, from 28 inches to 31 above the mer- cury in the bason, several contrivances have been used to increase the scale, and thereby shew more sensibly small changes; the chief of which are the following : The diagonal barometer. ABC (fig. 8) is a tube sealed at C, immersed in mercury at A ; this tube is perpendicular from A to B, where the scale of variation begins; thence it is bent into B C. This part B C proceeds to the highest limit in the scale of variation, viz. I C ; and consequently, while the mer- cury rises from I to C in the common ba- rometer, it will move in this from B to C ; and so the scale will be by this means en- larged in the proportion of B C to I C. This form however, being subject to a great degree of friction, on account of the ob- liquity in the part B C, which inclination makes the quicksilver frequently divide into several parts, it requires the trouble of filling tubes anew too often. The horizontal, or rectangular barometer, consists of a tube A C I) F (fig. 9), sen led on the upper end A, and bent to a right angle at D. 1 he mercury stands in both legs from Eto C, Here it is evident, that in moving three inches from Ato C, it will move through so many times three inches in the small leg D F, as" the bore of D F is less than the bore of A C, whence the motion of the mercury at E must be extremely sensible, This form is liable to the same exceptions as remarked in that of fig. 8; and, besides a great degree of friction, and the frequent breaking olf of the mercury in the leg E, the part D F being a very small bore, the free motion of the mercury must be impeded by the attraction of cohesion. The zvheel barometer. A (fig. 10), repre- sents the quicksilver in a glass tube, having a large round head or ball, and tumedup at bottom B; upon the surface of the mercury in the recurved leg, there is then placed a short glass tube loaded with mercury, with a string going over a pulley, and is balanced by another weight hanging freely in the air. As the surface at A is very large/ and that at B very small, the motion of the quicksilver and consequently of the ball, will at the bot- tom be very considerable ; but as the weight moves up and down, it turns the pulley, and that a hand or index ; and by tiie divisions of a large graduated circle, the minutest vari- ations of the air are plainly shewn, if the in- strument is accurately made, and the friction of the several parts inconsiderable. There is also a barometer, contrived so as not to be affected by the motion of a ship, called the marine barometer. 204 Also a portable barometer,, for moving from place to place without injury ; and for measuring the heights of mountains, by ob- serving the difference of the altitude of the mercury at the bottom and top of the moun- tain. A thermometer should always be attached to the barometer, as a necessary appendage ; and by the side of it a scale of correction, to shew how much to add or subtract from the height of the mercury in the barometer for the degree of temperature ; for it is evi- dent that the mercury in the tube will be affected by heat and cold in the same man- ner as the thermometer, and on that account it will not shew the true weight of tiie atmo- sphere. This correction is, therefore, very necessary. Ever since it was observed that a change of weather generally accompanied or followed a variation in the height of the barometer, it has been used as a prognostic of the wea- ther. A great variety of observations have been made by different people, relative to the effect which certain changes of weather have upon this instrument; and thence they have derived a system of rules, to enable any one to know what change will happen in the weather, by knowing the alteration that has taken place in the height of the mercury. Before we proceed to mention the rules, which are the result of the long observation and experience of philosophers, it is neces- sary to observe, that they are by no means so certain, and so much to be depended upon, as many people suppose.'. So nume- rous are the causes that affect the state of the atmosphere, with which we are but little ac- quainted, that no single instrument can point out with precision the alterations likely to happen. Besides the barometer, there are several other instruments used for meteoro- logical purposes, such as the thermometer, hydrometer, wind-gage, rain-gage, electro- meter, &c. with which we shall become ac- quainted in their turn. To behest enabled to prognosticate the change of weather, ac- curate observations ought to be made with all these instruments, aided by considerable experience and the knowledge of natural philosophy and chemistry ; and even then, it requires more science than we are pos- sessed of, to predict with certainty the alter- ations ot the weather. See Meteorology. As the barometer, however, is the most useful ot these, and as it undoubtedly affords us considerable assistance, we shall lay down such directions as are most approved of for this purpose. 1. i he rising of the mercury presages, in general, fair weather; and its falling, foul weather ; as rain, snow, high winds, and storms. 2. In very hot weather, the falling of the mercury foretells thunder. 3. In win- ter, the rising presages frost ; and in frosty weather, if the mercury falls three or four di- visions, there will certainly follow a thaw. But in a continued frost, if the mercury rises, it will certainly snow. 4. When foul weather happens soon after the falling of the mercury, expect but little of it ; and, on the contrary, expect but little fair weather, when it proves fair shortly after the mercury has risen. 5. In foul weather, when the mercury rises much and high, and continues so for two or ihree days before the foul weather is quite over, then expect a continuance of fair wea- BAROMETER. flier to follow. 6. In fair weather, when the mercury fads much and low, and thus con- tinues for two or three days before the rain comes, then expect a great deal of wet, and probably high winds. 7. The unsettled mo- tion of the mercury denotes uncertain and changeable weather. 8. You are not so strictly to observe the words engraved on the plates (though in general it will agree with them), as the mercury’s rising and falling; for it it stands at much rain, and then rise up to changeable, it presages fair weather; though not to continue so long as if the mer- cury had risen higher ; and, on the con- trary, if the mercury stood at fair, and falls to changeable, it presages foul weather ; though not so much of it as if it had sunk lower. f rom these observations it appears, that it is not so much the height of the mercury in the tube that indicates the weather, as the motion of it up and down ; wherefore, in order to form a right judgment of what wea- ther is to be expected, we ought to know whether the mercury is actually rising or falling ; to which end, the following rules are of use : 1 • If the surface of the mercury is convex, standing higher in the middle of the tube than at the sides, it is generally a sign that the mercury is then rising. 2. ' If the surface is concave, it is then sinking. And, 3. if it is level, the mercury is stationary, or rather, il it is a little convex ; for mercury, being put into a glass tube, especially a small one, will naturally have its surface a little con- vex, because the particles of mercury attract one another more -forcibly than they are at- tracted by glass. If the glass is small, shake the tube ; and then if air is grown heavier, the mercury will rise about half the tenth of an inch higher than it stood before ; if it is grown lighter, it will sink as much. This proceeds from the mercury’s sticking to the sides of the tube, which prevents the free motion of it until it is disengaged by the shock ; and therefore, when an observation is to he made by such a tube, it ought al- ways to be shaken first ; for sometimes the mercury will not vary of its own accord, until the weather it ought to have indicated is present. Here we must observe, that the above- mentioned phenomena are peculiar to places lying a considerable distance from the equa- tor ; for in the torrid zone, the mercury in the barometer seldom either rises or falls much. In Jamaica, it is observed by sir \\ illiam Beeston, that the mercury in the morning constantly stood at one degree below changeable, and at noon sunk to one degree above rain ; so that the whole scale of variation there was only three-tenths of an inch. At St. Helena, too, where Dr. Ilalley made his observations, lie found the mercury to remain almost stationary, whatever weather happened. Of these phe- nomena, their causes, and why the baro- meter indicates an approaching change of weather, the doctor gives us the following account: ] . In calm weather, when the air is in- clined to rain, the mercury is commonly low. 2. In serene, good, and settled weather, the mercury is generally high. 3. Upon very violent winds, though they are not accompa- nied with rain, the mercury sinks lowest of all, with relation to the point of the compass the wind blows upon. 4. The greatest heights- of the mercury are found upon easterly or north-easterly winds. 5. In calm frosty weather, the mercury generally stands high. 6. After very great storms of wind, when- the mercury has been very low, it generally rises again very fast. 7. The more northerly places have greater alterations of the baro- meter than the more southerly. 8. Within the tropics, and near them, according to the accounts we have had from others, and the observations made at St. Helena, the changes of the weather made very little or no vari- ation in the height of the mercury. Hence it is thought that the principal cause of the rise and fall of the mercury is from the variable winds which are found in the tempe- rate zone, and whose great inconstancy in England is notorious. A second cause is,, the uncertain exha- lation and precipitation of the vapours lodg- ing in the air, whereby it is at one time much more crowded than at another, and conse- quently heavier ; but this latter depends in a great measure upon the former. Now, from these principles we may explain the several phenomena of the barometer, taking them in the same order as they are laict down. Thus, 1. The mercury being low, indicates rain ; because the air being light, the vapours are no longer supported by it, being become spe- cifically heavier than the medium in which they floated ; so that they descend towards the earth, and, in their fall, meeting with other aqueous particles, they incorporate together, and form little drops of rain : but the mercury’s being at one time lower than another, is the effect of two contrary winds blowing from the place where the barometer stands ; whereby the air of that place is car- ried both way s from it, and consequently the incumbent cylinder of air is diminished, and accordingly the mercury sinks : as, for in- stance, if in the German Ocean it should blow a gale of westerly wind, and at the same time an easterly wind in the Irish Sea ; or if in f ranee, itshould blow a northerly wind, and in Scotland a southerly ; it must be granted, that that part of the atmosphere impendent over England would be exhausted and attenuated, and the mercury would subside, and the va- pours which before floated in these parts of tlie air of equal gravity with themselves, would sink to the earth. 2. The greater height of the barometer is occasioned by two contrary winds blowing towards the place of observation, by which the air of other places is brought thither and accumulated ; so that the incumbent cylinder of air being increased both in height and weight, the mercury pressed by it must needs stand high, as long as the winds continue so to blow; and then the air being specifically, heavier, the vapours are kept suspended, so that they have no inclination to precipitate, and fail down in drops; which is the reason of the serene good weather which attends the greater heights of the mercury. 3. The mercury sinks the 'lowest of all by the very rapid motion of the air in storms of wind. For the tract or region of the earth’s surface, in which the winds rage, not extend- ing all round the globe, that stagnant air which is left behind, as likewise that on the sides, cannot come in. so fast as to supply the BAR BAR 205 vacuity made by so swift a current ; so that the air must necessarily be attenuated when and where the winds continue to blow, and that more or less, according to their violence: add to which, that the horizontal motion of the air being so quick, may in all probability take off some part of the perpendicular pres- sure; and the great agitation of its particles is the reason why the vapours are dissipated, and do not condense into drops, so as to form rain, otherwise the natural consequence of the air’s rarefaction. 4. The mercury stands highest upon the easterly and north-easterly wind ; because, in the great Atlantic Ocean, on this side the thirty-fifth degree of north latitude, the v, inds are almost always westerly or south-westerly; so that, whenever here the wind comes up at east and north-east, it is sure to be checked by a contrary gale as soon as it reaches the ocean ; wherefore, according to the second remark, the air must needs be heaped over this island, and consequently the mercury must stand high as often as these winds blow. This holds true in this country; but is not a general rule for others, where the winds are under different circumstances : and we have sometimes Had the mercury here so low as 29 inches, upon an easterly wind, but then it blew exceedingly hard ; and thus is ac- counted for, what was observed in the third remark. 5. In calm frosty weather, the mercury generally stands high, because it seldom freezes but when the winds come out of the northern and north-eastern quarters, or at least, unless those winds blow at no great distance off ; for the northern parts of Ger- many, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and all that tract whence north-eastern winds come, are subject to almost continual frost through the winter, and thereby the lower air is very much condensed, and in that state is brought hitherward by those winds ; and, being ac- cumulated by the opposition of the westerly wind blowing in the ocean, the mercury must needs be forced to a more than ordinary height; and, as a concurring cause, the shrinking of the lower parts of the air into lesser room, by cold, must cause a descent of the upper parts of the atmosphere, to re- duce the cavity made by this contraction to an equilibrium. 6. After great storms, when the mercury has been very low, it generally rises again very fast. It has been observed to rise one inch and a half in less than six hours, after a long-continued storm of south-west wind. The reason is, that the air being very much rarefied by the great evacuation which such continued storms make of that fluid, the neighbouring air runs in the more swiftly to bring it into an equilibrium. Lastly. The variations are greater in the more northerly places. BARON, a degree of nobility next below a viscount, and above a baronet. It is proba- ble that formerly all those were barons who had lordships with courts-baron, and soon after the Conquest all such sat in the house of peers ; but being very numerous, it grew an order and custom, that none should sit but such as the king thought lit to call up by writ, which ran pro hac vice tantum. I his state of nobility being very precarious, they at length obtained of the king letters patent, and these were called barons by patent, or B A R creation ; the only way now in use of making barons, unless when the son of a lord, in his ancestor’s life-time, is summoned by writ. Barons of the cinque-ports are members of the house of commons, elected by the five ports, two for each port. Those who have been mayors of Corfe- castle in Dorsetshire are also denominated barons ; as were formerly the principal citi- zens of London. Baron and Feme, in our law, a term used for the husband and wife ; and they are deemed but one person, so that a wife cannot be witness for or against her husband, nor he for or against his wife, except in cases of high treason. Baron and Fe-STE, in • heraldry, is when the coats of arms of a man and his wife are borne per pale in the same escutcheon, tire man’s being always on the dexter- side, and the woman’s on the sinister. BARONET, a modern degree of honour, which is hereditary , and has the precedence of all knights, except those of the garter, bannerets, and privy-counsellors. Baronets of Ireland, an hereditary dig- nity instituted in 1619. There are also ba- ronets of Nova Scotia, an order instituted by Charles I. in 1625. BARONY, the honour and territory which gives title to a baron, whether he is a layman or a bishop. Barony, in Ireland, the name of the di- visions of the counties, answering to English hundreds. BARRA, in commerce, a long measure used in Portugal and some parts of Spain, to measure woollen cloths,linen cloths andserges. BARRATOR, in law, a common mover or maintainer of suits and quarrels, either in courts or elsewhere in the country. A man cannot be adjudged a barrator for bringing any number of suits in his own right, though they are vexatious. Barrators are punished by fine and imprisonment. 4 Blacks. 134. BARRATRY, in a ship-master, is his cheat- ing the owners. If goods delivered on ship- board are embezzled, all the mariners ought j to contribute to the satisfaction of the party | that lost Iris goods, by the maritime law ; and the cause is to be tried in the admiralty. BARREL, a measure of liquids. The English barrel, wine-measure, contains the eighth part of a tun, the fourth part of a pipe, and one-half of an hogshead ; that is to say, it contains thirty-one gallons and a half : a barrel, beer-measure, contains thirty-six gal- lons. The barrel ol beer, vinegar, or liquor preparing for vinegar, ought to contain thirty- four gallons, according to the standard of the ale quart. Barrel also denotes a certain weight of several merchandizes, which differs accord- ing to the several commodities : a barrel of Essex butter weighs one hundred and six pounds, and of Suffolk butter, two hundred and fifty-six pounds. The barrel of herrings ought to contain thirty-two gallons wine- measure, which amount to about twenty-eight gallons old standard, containing about a thou- sand herrings. The barrel of salmon must contain forty-two gallons. The barrel of eels the same. The barrel of soap must weigh two hundred and fifty-six pounds. . Barrel, in anatomy, a pretty large cavity behind the tympanum of the ear, about four or five lines deep, and five or six wide. Barrels, thundering, in the military art, are filled with bombs, grenades, and other fire-works, to be -rolled down a breach. BARRERIA, in botanv, a genus of the syngenexia monogamia class and order. ’1 he essential character is, calyx live-toothed, very small ; corolla five-parted; style short; stigma trifid. There is but one species, a tree of Guiana, which rises to the height of 40 or 50 feet. BARRICADE, a warlike defence, con- sifting of barrels and similar vessels filled with earth, stones, &e. or trees cut down, against an enemy’s shot, or assault; but ge- nerally pales which are crossed with battoons as long as a half-pike, bound about with iron at the feet. Barricade, in the marine, a strong wooden rail supported by pillars, and extend- ing as a fence across the foremost part of the quarter-deck. In ships of war, the inter- vals between the pillars are filled with cork, old cable, & c. About a foot above the rail, there extends a double rope netting ; and be- tween the tw r o parts of the netting are stuffed hammocks, seamen’s bedding; &c. to inter- . cept small shot fired by swivel guns and muskets in time of battle. BARRIER, in fortification, a kind of fence made at a passage, retrenchment, &c. com- posed of great stakes, about four or five feet high, placed at the distance of eight or ten feet from one another, with transums, or over- thwart rafters, to stop either horse or foot that would enter or rush in with violence. BARRINGTONIA, in botany, a genus of the polyandria order, and monadelphia class ol plants, the characters of which are : female, the calyx diphyllous above, with a drupa which it crowns ; and the seed is a quadrilocular nut. There is but one species- known, viz. Barringtonia speciosa, a native of China' and Otaheite. BARRISTER, in common law, a person- qualified and empowered to plead and defend (he cause of clients in the courts of justice. They are of two sorts : the. outward or outer barristers, who,, by their long study in, and knowledge of, the law, which must be for a term, of five years at least, are called to pub- lic practice, and always plead without the bar. The inner-barristers are those who, because they are either attorney, solicitor, serjeant, or counsel to the king, are allowed’ out of respect, the privilege of pleading within the bar. But at the rolls, and some other inferior courts, all barristers are ad- mitted within the bar. BARROW, in the salt-works, wicker cases almost in the shape of a sugar-loaf, in which- the salt is put to drain. Barrows, a name usually given to those hillocks or mounds of earth which wer - e an- tiently raised over the bodies of deceased heroes, and persons- of distinguished cha- racter. These are considered by some an- tiquarians as the most antient sepulchral monuments in the world. BARRULET, in heraldry, the fourth part of the bar, or the one-half of the closset : an usual bearing in coat-armour. BARRUL\ , in heraldry, is when the field is divided bar-ways, that is, across from side to side, into several parts. BARRY, in herald] ~y, is when an escut- cheon is divided bar-ways,. that is, across from. B A II E A R 206 B A 11 side to side, into an even number of partitions, consisting of two or more tinctures, inter- changeably disposed. Barry -bendy is when an escutcheon is divided evenly, bar and bend-ways, by lines drawn transverse and diagonal, interchange- ably varying the tinctures of which it consists. Barry -pily is when a coat is divided by several lues drawn obliquely from side to side, where they form acute angles. BARTERING, in commerce, the ex- changing of one commodity for another, or the trucking wares for wares, among mer- chants. Such w as tire original and natural mode of commerce, there being no buying till money was invented, though, in ex- changing, both parties are buyers and sellers. The only difficulty in this way of dealing lies in the due proportioning the commo- dities to be exchanged, so as that neither party sustain any loss. The value of the goods bartered are al- ways equal to the product of the quantities bartered into their respective rates. There- fore multiply the given quantity and rate of one commodity, and this product divided by the rate of the other commodity, will give the quantity, or divided by the quantity will give tire rate. BARTON is used in the west of England for the. demesne lands of a manor: also for the manor-house ; and in some parts for out- houses, &c. BARTSfA, painted cup, a genus of the angiospermia order, and didynamia class of plants, and in the natural method ranking under the 40th order, personatae. The calyx is- bilbous, emargined, and coloured; the corolla less coloured than the calyx, with its upper lip longer than the under one. There are live species, of which the principal are, 1. Bartsia alpina, the mountain eye-bright cow-wheat. It is a native of Britain, and is found near rivulets in hilly countries. Sheep and goats eat it. 2. Bartsia viscosa, marshy, or yellow marsh eye-bright, is about 10 or 12 inches high, with an erect stalk, downy and unbranched : the leaves are sessile, spear-shaped, and a little viscous ; the llov'ers are yellow, and the plant dries black. It is found in marshy places in Cornwall. BARULES, in church history, certain Christians who held that the Son of God had only a phantom of a body ; that souls were created before the world, and that they lived all at one time. BARYTES, in mineralogy and chemistry, an earth that was discovered by Scheele in 1774, and the lirst account of its properties was published by him in his Dissertation on Manganese. The experiments of Scheele were con- firmed by Bergman, who gave the earth the name of terra ponderosa. Morveau gave it the name of barote, and Kirwan of barytes ; which last was approved of by Bergman, and is now universally adopted. Different pro- cesses for obtaining barytes were published by Scheele, Bergman, YViegleb, and Afswe- lius ; but little addition was made to the pro- perties ascertained by the original discoverer, (ill Dr. Hope published his experiments in 1793. In 1797, our knowledge of its nature was still farther extended by the experi- ments of Pelletier, Fourcroy, and Vauquelin. 1 . Barytes maybe obtained from ponderous spar, or sulphat of barytes as it is now called, by the following process, for which we are indebted to Vauquelin. Reduce the mineral to a line powder ; mix it with the eighth part of its weight of charcoal powder, and keep it for some hours red-hot in a crucible, and it will be converted into suiphuret of barytes. Dissolve the suiphuret in water, and* pour nitric acid into the solution, and the sulphur will be ’precipitated. The solu- tion, which consists of nitric acid combined with barytes, is to be liltred and evaporated slowly till it crystallizes. Put the crystals into a crucible, and expose it to a strong heat ; the nitric acid is driven off, and the barytes remains in a state of purity. Another method attended with less ex- pence was pointed out long ago by Dr. Hope, and has been since proposed by several fo- reign chemists without taking any notice of the original discoverer. The method is this : Decompose the sulphat of barytes, by heating it strongly along with charcoal powder. The product is to be treated with water to dissolve every thing that is soluble : and the liquid, being liltred, is to be mixed with a solution of carbonat of soda. A white powder falls. Wash this powder; make it up into balls with charcoal, and heat it strongly in a crucible. When these balls are treated with boiling- water, a portion of barytes is dissolved, which crystallizes as the water cools. Barytes obtained by the lirst method is a greyish- white porous body, which may be very easily reduced to powder. It has a harsh and more caustic taste than lime ; and when taken into the stomach proves a most violent poison. It has no perceptible smell. It tinges vegetable blues green, and decom- poses animal bodies like the fixed alkalies, though not with such energy. Its specific gravity, according to Fourcroy, is 4; but according to Hassenfratz, only 2.374. But there is reason to conclude, from the method employed by this philosopher, that the specific gravities which he assigns are all too low. When heated it becomes harder, and ac- quires internally a bluish-green shade. When exposed to the blow-pipe on a piece of char- coal, it fuses, bubbles up, and runs into globules, which quickly penetrate the char- coal. This is probably in consequence of containing water, for Lavoisier found barytes not affected by the strongest heat which lie could produce. When exposed to the air, it immediately attracts moisture ; in consequence of which it swells, heat is evolved, and the barytes falls to a white powder, just as happens to quick- lime when water is sprinkled on it. After the barytes is thus slacked, it gradually at- tracts carbonic acid, and loses its acrid pro- perties, its weight being increased. It can- not therefore be kept pure except in close vessels. When a little water is poured upon barytes it is slacked like quick lime, but more rapid- ly, and with the evolution of more heat. The mass becomes white, and swells considerably. If the quantity of water is sufficient to dilute it completely, the barytes crystallizes in cooling, and assumes the appearance of a stone composed of needle-form crystals ; but when exposed to the air it gradually attracts carbonic acid and falls to powder. Water is capable of dissolving 0,05 parts of its weight of barytes. This solution, which is known by the name of barytes water, is limpid and colourless, has an acrid taste, and converts vegetable blues first to a green and then destroys them. When exposed to the air, its surface is soon covered with a stony crust, consisting of the barytes com- bined with carbonic acid. Boiling water dissolves more than half its weight of barytes. As the solution cools, the barytes is deposited in crystals ; the shape of which varies according to the ra- pidity with which they have been formed. When most regular, they are fiat hexagonal prisms. These crystals are transparent and colourless, and appear to be composed of about 53 parts of water and 47 of barytes. When exposed to the heat of boiling water, they undergo the watery fusion ; that is to say, the water which they contain becomes sufficient to keep the barytes in solution. A stronger heat makes the water tiy off When exposed to the air, they attract carbonic acid, and crumble into dust. They are soluble in 17J parts of water at the temperature of 60° ; but boiling water dissolves any quantity what- ever : the reason of which is evident ; at that temperature their own water of crystalliza- tion is sufficient to keep them in solution. Barytes undergoes no change from light; neither is it capable, as far as is known, of combining with oxygen. None of the simple combustibles combine with it except sulphur and phosphorus. Suiphuret of barytes may be formed by mixing its two ingredients together, and heat- ing them in a crucible. The mixture melts at a red heat, and when cold forms amass of a reddish-yellow colour, without any smell, which is suiphuret of barytes. This suiphuret decomposes water with great rapidity : sul- phureted hydrogen is formed, which, com- bining with the suiphuret, converts it into a hydrogenated suiphuret. This change takes place whenever the suiphuret is moistened with water, or even exposed to the atmo- sphere. When boiling water is poured upon suiphuret of barytes, a great quantity of sul- phureted hydrogen is formed almost instant- aneously, which combines with the water and occasions the solution of the suiphuret. When the solution cools, a great number of brilliant white crystals are deposited. Phosphuret of barytes may be formed by putting a mixture of phosphorus and barytes into a glass tube close at one end, and heat- ing the mixture by putting the tube upon burning coals. The combination takes place very rapidly. This phosphuret is of a dark- brown colour, very brilliant and very fusible. When moistened, it exhales the odour of phosphureted hydrogen gas. When thrown into water, it is gradually decomposed, phos- phureted hydrogen gas is emitted, which takes fire when it comes to the surface of the water, and the phosphorus is gradually converted into phosphoric acid. Barytes is not acted on by azote ; but it combines readily with muriatic acid, and forms a compound called muriat of barytes. Barytes has no action on metals ; but it is capable of combining with several of the metallic oxydes, and forming with them com- pounds which have not hitherto been much examined. For instance, if poured into a solution of silver or lead in nitric acid, it precipitates the first brown, and the second BAS BAS EAS white ; but if an excess of barytes water is added, the precipitates are redissolved. Barytes does not combine with the alka- lies. Its component parts are unknown ; but it resembles the alkalies in so many of its properties, that it is thought the composition of both is analogous. BASALT ES, in natural history, a kind of stone of a very tine texture, of a deep glossy black, resembling that of polished steel, and mixed with no other colour, nor any extra- neous matter of any kind. The most re- markable quality of this stone is its figure, being never found in strata, but standing up in the form of regular angular columns, com- posed of a number of joints, one placed on and nicely iitted to another, as if formed by the hands of a skilful workman. It is re- markably hard and heavy, will not strike fire with steel, and is a fine touchstone. The basaltes was originally found in co- lumns in Ethiopia, in fragments in the river Tmolus, and some other places; w r e now have it frequently", both in columns and small pieces, in Spain, Russia, Poland, near Dresden, and in Silesia ; but the noblest store in the world seems to be that called the giant’s causeway in Ireland, where it rises far up in the country, runs into the sea, crosses its bottom, and rises again on the opposite land. The constituent parts of this mineral are : Silex - 44 Alumina - 16 Oxyd of iron 16 Lime - 9 Water - 5 Soda - 4 Muriatic acid 1 95. Besides the use of basalt in building and paving, it is now employed as an ingredient 5n the manufacture of glass bottles: and when calcined and pulverized it makes ex- cellent mortar, which has the property of hardening under water. A dispute is still carried on in the philo- sophical world concerning the origin of basaltes ; some considering it as a crystal- lization in w r ater, others regarding it as a species of lava. BASARUCO, in commerce, a small base coin in the East Indies, being made only of very bad tin. BASE, in geometry, the lowest side of the perimeter of a figure : thus, the base of a triangle may be said of any of its sides, but more properly of the lowest, or that which is parallel to the horizon. In rectangled tri- angles, the base is properly that side opposite to the right angle. Base of a solid figure, the lowest side, or that on which it stands ; and if the solid has two opposite parallel plane sides, and one of them is the base, then the other is called the base also. Base of a conic section, a right line in the hyperbola and parabola, arising from the com- mon intersection of the secant plane, and the base of the cone. Base, in architecture, is used for any body which bears another, but particularly for the lower part of a column and pedestal. The base of a column is that part between the shaft and the pedestal, if there be any pedestal, or if there be none, between the shaft and the plinth, or zocle. The base is different in the different orders. See Plates Architecture. Base, in fortification, the exterior side of the polygon, or that imaginary line which is drawn from the flanked angle of a bastion to the angle opposite to it. Base, in gunnery, the least sort of ord- nance, the diameter of whose bore is If inch, weight 200 pounds, length 4 feet, load 5 pound, shot Impound weight, and diameter If inch. Base line, in perspective, the common section of a picture, and the geometrical plane. Base, or Basis. By this term modern che- mists express either species or families of sa- line matters, which differ with regard to the aeidfcbut agree as to the alkali, earth, or me- tallic oxyd, which they r contain. Thus, salts with the base of potash include all those which are formed by the combination of the several acids with potash. Salts with an al- kaline base comprehend those, the bases of which are potash, soda, or ammonia, as dis- tinguished from those with earthy or metallic bases. Tim term base is used to denote species ; as when we say sulphuric acid is composed of oxygen united with a base of sulphur: the vegetable acids consist of oxygen and com- pound base of hydrogen and carbon. The term is also used more indefinitely ; as phos- phate of lime is the base of animal bone, azote is the base of muscular fibre; that is, the cha- racteristic or principal part. Base, in law. Base estate, such as base tenants have in their hands. Base tenure, the holding by villenage or other customary ser- vices, as distinguished from the higher tenures in capite, or by military service. Base fee, is to hold in fee at the will of the lord, as dis- tinguished from soccage tenure. Base court, any court not of record. BASELLA, climbing nightshade, from Malabar, a genus of the pentandria class of plants and trigynia order, and in the natural method ranking under the 12th order, holo- raceae. The calyx is wanting ; the corolla is seven-cleft, with the two opposite divisions broader, and at last berried ; there is one seed. There are four species, but the two following suffice to give an idea of the plant : 1. Basella alba, with oval, waved, flaccid leaves, and small flowers and fruit. These plants will climb to a considerable height, and send forth a great number of branches ; so they should lie trained up to a trellis, or fas- tened to the back of the stove, otherwise they will twist themselves about whatever plants stand near them. 2. Basella rubra, with red leaves and sim- ple footstalks, has thick, strong, succulent stalks and leaves, which are of a deep purple colour. This plant will climb to the height of 10 or 12 feet, provided it is kept in a stove. The flowers have no great beauty, but it is cultivated on account of the odd appearance of its stalks and leaves, and the flowers of a whitish green colour tipped with purple. The berries are said to he used for staining calicoes in India. Mr. Miller assures us, that he has seen a very beautiful colour drawn from them, but which did not continue long when used in painting, lie is of opinion, however, that a method of fixing the colour 20 ; might be invented, in which case the plant would be very useful. T his, the Scotch En- cyclopedists apprehend, might be accom- plished by means of solution of tin in aqua regia, which has a surprising effect both in brightening and giving durability to other ve- getable colours. Both species are propagated from seeds, which should be sown in a mo- derate hotbed in spring, and treated after- wards as stove plants. BASEMENT, the lower part or story of a building, when it is in the form of a pedes- tal, with a base or plinth, die, and cortice or plat-band. BASHAW, a Turkish governor of a pro- vince, city, or other district. Bashaws include beglerbegs; and sometimes sangiacbegs; though a distinction is some- times made, and the name bashaw" is appro- priated to the middle sort, or such as have two ensigns or horse-tails carried before them. r lhose who have the honour of three tails, are called beglerbegs ; and those who have only 7 one, sangiacbegs. BASIL, in botany. See Ocymum. Basil, among joiners, the sloping edge of a chisel, or of the iron of a plane, to work on soft wood : they usually make the basil twelve degrees, and for hard wood eighteen; it being remarked, that the more acute the basil is, the better the instrument cuts ; and the more obtuse, the stronger and fitter it is for ser- vice. Basil, order of St., the most antient of all the religious orders, was very famous in the East. It passed into the West about the year 1057, anti was held in great esteem, especially in Italy 7 . By" their rules, the Italian monks of that order fast every Friday in the year: they eat meat but three times a week, and then but once a day : they work all together at certain hours of the day : their habit is nearly like that of the Benedictines, and they wear a small beard like the fathers of the mission. BASILIC, in antient architecture, a term used for a large hall, or public place, with isles, porticos, galleries, tribunals, &c. where princes sat and administered justice in person. BASILICA, in anatomy, the interior branch of the axillary vein, running the whole length of the arm. BASILICON, in pharmacy, an epithet for a great many compositions to be found in the antient medicinal writers : but it more par- ticularly denotes an officinal ointment, com- posed of wax, resin, pitch, and oil of olives, from hence called tetrapharmacum. BAS1LICS, a body of the Roman laws, translated into Greek. The basilics compre- hend the institutes, digests, code, novels, and some edicts, of Justinian and other em- perors. BASILICUS, in astronomy, cor leonis, a fixed star of the first magnitude in the con- stellation Leo. BASILIDJANS, in church history, a branch of gnostics who maintained that Christ’s body was only a phantom, and that Simon the Cyrenean suffered in his stead. BASILISK, in military affairs, a large piece of ordnance, being a forty-eight p under, arid weighing about seven thousand two hun- dred pounds. BASKETS of earth, in the military art, called by the French corbeilles, are small baskets used in sieges, on the parapet of a 208 BAS BAS BAS trench, being filled with earth. They are about a foot and a half high, about a foot and a half diameter at the top, and eight or ten inches at bottom ; so that being set together, there is a sort of embrasure left at their bot- toms, through which the soldiers lire without exposing themselves. Baskets are made of rushes, splinters, or willows, which last, according to their manner of growth, are called osiers and sallows. 1 hey thrive best in moist places; and the pro- prietors of such marsh lands generally let what they call the willow-beds to persons who cut them at certain seasons, and prepare them for basket-makers. To form an osier- bed, the land should be divided into plots, six, eight, or ten feet broad, by narrow ditches ; and if there is a power of keeping > water in these cuts at pleasure, by means of a sluice, it is highly advantageous in many sea- sons. Osiers planted in small spots, and along hedges, will supply a farmer with hur- dle-stuff, as well as with a profusion of all sorts of baskets. The common osier is cut at three yearn, but that with yellow bark is permitted to remain a year longer. When the osiers are cut down, those that are intended for white work, such as baskets used in washing, are to be stripped of their bark or rinds while green. This is done by means of a sharp instrument fixed into a firm block; the osiers are passed over this, and stripped of their covering with great velo- city. They are then dried, and put in bun- dles for sale. Before they are worked up, they must be soaked in water, which gives them flexibility. The basket-maker usually sits on the ground to his business, unless when ■the baskets are too large for him to reach their upper parts in that position. Hampers and other coarse work are made of osiers without any previous preparation except soaking. It requires no great capital either of money or ingenuity to exercise the business of a basket-maker. Some expert workmen make a variety of articles of wicker manufacture, as work-baskets of different descriptions, table-mats, small baskets used for fruit at desserts, &c. The ant ient Britons were noted for their in- genuity in making baskets, which they export- ed in large quantities. They were of very- elegant workmanship, and bore a high price. Martial takes notice of them : “ A basket I, by painted Britons wrought, And now to Home’s imperial city brought.” Basket, as a measure, denotes an uncer- tain quantity ; as, a basket of medlars is two bushels, of asafcetida from 20 to 30 lb. weight. BASON, in mechanics, a term used by r glass-grinders for a dish of copper, iron, Ac. in which they grind convex glasses, as con- cave ones are formed on spheres ; and by batters for a round iron mould, in which they form the matter of their hats; and also for a leaden one for the brims of hats, having an aperture in the middle, of a diameter sufficient for the largest block to go through. Bason, sale by the, at Amsterdam, is a public sale made by authority, over which presides an officer appointed by the magis- trates. It is so called because, before the lots are delivered to the highest bidder, they commonly strike on a copper bason, to give notice that the lot is going to be adjudged. BASS, in music, that part of a concert which is most heard, which consists of the gravest and deepest sounds, and which is played on the largest pipes or strings of a common instrument, as of an organ, lute, &c. or on instruments larger than ordinary for that purpose, as bass-viols, bassoons, bass- hautboys, Ac. The bass is the principal part of a musical composition, and the foun- dation of harmony ; for which reason it is a maxim among musicians that when the bass is good the harmony is seldom bad. Bass thorough, is the harmony made by- the bass-viols, or theorbos, continuing to play both while the voices sing, and the other instruments perform their parts, and also filling up the intervals when any of the other parts stop. It is played by cyphers marked over the notes on the organ, spinet, harp- sichord, Ac. and frequently simply and without cyphers, on the bass-viol, and bas- soon. ^ , Bass, counter, is a second or doubln&ass, where there are several in the same concert. BASSET, a game at cards, said to have been invented by a noble Venetian, for which he was banished. The persons con- cerned in it are a dealer, or banker ; his as- sistant, who supervises the losing cards ; and the punter, or any one who plays against the banker. # BASSIA, in botany-, a genus of the dode- candria class of plants, and monogynia order, the characters of w-hich are; the calyx is quadriphyllous ; the corolla octofid, with the tube inflated; the gtamina are 16; and the drupe is quinquespermous. There. are three species, natives of Malabar and the South Seas. BASSOON, a musical instrument of the wind sort, blown with a reed, furnished with eleven holes, and used as a bass in a concert of hautboys, flutes, Ac. BASSORIA, a genus of the pentandria monogynia class and order. The ess’ential character is: calyx five-cleft, spreading, with a short tube ; berry ovate, knobbed, and many seeds. There is but one species, an herbaceous plant of Guiana, of little note. BASSO-RELIEVO, or Bass-relief, a piece of sculpture, where the figures or images do not project or stand out far above the plane on which they are formed. What- ever figures or representations are thus cut, stamped, or otherwise wrought, so that not the entire body, but only part of it is raised above the plane, are said to be done in relief, or relievo ; and when the work is low, flat, and but a little raised, it is called low relief: when a piece of sculpture, a coin, or a me- dal, has its figure raised so as to be well dis- tinguished, it is called bold, and we say its relief is strong. The origin of basso-relievo is thought to have been described in the story of the Maid of Corinth, related by Pliny; who says that Dibutades, theSicyonian potter, her father, invented a method of taking likenesses in the following manner : His daughter being in love with a young man who was going on foreign service, she circumscribed the sha- dow of his face with lines upon the wall by lamp-light; her father took the impression in clay, and baked it among his vases. BASS-VIOL, a musical instrument of the same form with that of a violin, but much larger. It is struck with a bow as that is, has the same number of strings, and has eight stops, which are subdivided into semi-stops : its sound is grave, and has a much nobler effect in a concert than that of the violin. BASTARD, one who is born of any wo- man not married, so that his father is not known by order of the law. A bastard, by our English laws, is one that is not only be- gotten, but born, out of lawful matrimony . As all children born before matrimony are bastards, so are all children born so long after the death of the husband, that by the usual course of gestation they could not be begotten by him. If a man marry a woman grossly big with child by another, and even within three days afterwards she is delivered, the issue is no bastard. 1 Danv. Abr. 729. If a child is born within a day after mar- riage between parties of full age, if there be no apparent impossibility that the husband should be the father of it, the child is no bas- tard, but supposed to be the child of the husband. 1 Rol. Abr. If a bastard die without issue, though the land cannot descend to any heir on the part of the father, yet to the heir on the part of the mother (being no bastard) it may; be- cause he is of the blood of the mother, but he has no father. 2 Roll. Abr. • If a bastard die intestate, leaving neither widow nor issue, the king is intitled to the personality. 2 Black. 505. The incapacity of a bastard consists prin- cipally in this, that he cannot be heir to any one, neither can he have heirs but of his own body; for being nullius filius, he is therefore of kin to no one, nor has he any ancestor from whom any inheritable blood can be de- rived. 3 Salk. 66. A bastard may be made legitimate, and capable of inheriting, by the transcendent power of an act of parliament. 1 Black. 459. If any single woman be delivered of a bas- tard-child which shall be chargeable or likely to become chargeable ; or shall declare her- self to be w ith child, and that such child is likely- to be born a bastard, and to be charge- able ; and shall in either of such cases, in an examination to be taken in writing, on oath, before one justice of the peace of the county, Ac. where such parish or place shall lie, charge any- person with having gotten her with child, it shall be lawful dor such justice, upon application made to him by the oyer- seers of the poor of such parish, or one of them, or by any substantial householder of any r extra-parochial place, to issue out his warrant for the immediate apprehending such person so charged as aforesaid, and for bringing him before such justice, or before any r other justices of the peace of such county, city, or town corporate; and the justice, be- fore whom such person shall he brought, shall commit him' to the common gaol or house of correction, unless he shall give security to indemnify such parish or place; or shall enter into a recognizance, with sufficient security, upon condition to appear at the next general quarter session, or general session of the peace. 6 Geo. II. c, 31. Though a bastard child is prima facie settled where born, yet this rule admits of several exceptions: as where a bastard is born under an order of removal, and before the mother can be sent to her place of settle- ment ; or if a woman be delivered on the road in transitu, while the officers are con- ducting her, by virtue of an order of re- BAT B A T BAT inoval ; or if the child be born in the house of correction, or in the house of industry, of any hundred or district, or in a lying-in hos- pital, it shall follow the mother’s settlement. 1 Sess. Cr. 33. 94. 2 Salk. 474. 13 Geo. Ill, c. 29. 20 Geo. III. c. 36. Bastard eigne, is a son born before mar- riage, whose parents afterwards intermarry, and by the civil law he is mulier, or lawful issue, but not by the common law. 2 Inst. 99. BASTARDY, arms of, in Heraldry, should be crossed with a bar, fillet, or traverse from left to right. Bastards were formerly not 1 allowed to carry the arms of their father, and • therefore they invented arms for themselves, and this is still done by the natural sons of a king. BASTION, in the modern fortification, a huge mass of earth, faced usually with sods, I sometimes with brick, and rarely with stone, | standing out from a rampart, whereof it is a principal part, and is what, in the antient for- ! tification, is called a bulwark, propugnaculum. A bastion consists of two faces and two flanks ; the faces include the angle of the bastion, and their union makes the outmost j or the salient angle, called also the angle of I the bastion ; and the union of the two faces I to the two Hanks makes the side-angles, call- ed also the shoulders or epaules ; and the union of the two other ends of the flanks to the two curtains makes the angles of the Banks. In regard to the bastion, the great rule is, ‘that every part of it be seen and defended from some other part : whence mere angles are not sufficient, but flanks and faces are ne- | cessary. For the proportion of the faces, j they are not to be less than 24 Rhineland perches, nor more than 30. The flanks of a ; bastion, in case they stand at the same angle tinder the line of defence, are so much the better the longer they are ; whence they must stand at right angles to the line of de- I fence: and the disposition of the flanks makes the principal part of fortification, as it is that on which the defence chiefly depends, and which has introduced the various forms of j fortifying. The angle of the bastion must be more than 60 degrees, otherwise it will be too small to give room for guns, and will either render the line of defence too long, or the flanks too short ; so that it must be ci- ther a right angle or some intermediate one i between that and 60 degrees ; for it is dis- puted whether or not it should exceed aright angle. See Fortification. BASTON, or Batoon, in heraldry, a kind of bend, having only one third of the usual breadth. BAT, see Vespertilio. Bat, Bate, or Batz, a small copper coin, mixed with a little silver, current in several cities in Germany: it is worth four crutzers. It. is also a coin of Switzerland, current at live livres or one hundred sols French money. BATCHELOR, in the livery companies : of London, are those not yet admitted to the livery. Batchelors, in the university, are per- sons who have taken the first degree in the liberal arts and sciences. Before a person can be admitted to this degree at Oxford, it | I is necessary that he study there four years ; three years more may entitle him to the de- gree of master of arts; and in seven years ; more he may commence batchelor of divi- Vol. I, nity. At Cambridge the degrees are usually taken as at Oxford, excepting in law and phy- sic, in either of which the batchelor’s degree may be taken in six years. In France the degree of batchelor of divinity is attained in five years’ study, that is, in two years of phi- losophy and three of divinity. BAT-fowling, a method of catching birds in the night, by lighting some straw or torches near the place where they are at roost ; for upon beating them up they fly to the flame, where being amazed, they are easily caught in nets, or beaten down with bushes fixed to the end of poles, &c. BATH, warm, cold, vapour, &c. see Me- dicine and Mineral Waters. Bath, in Hebrew antiquity, a measure of capacity, containing the tenth part of an omer, or seven gallons and four pints, as a measure for thingsliquid : or three pecks and three pints, as a measure for things dry. Bath. See Balneum, and Chemistry. Bath, knights of, a military order in England, supposed to have been instituted by Richard the Second, who limited their number to four: his successor, however, Henry’ IV. increased them to forty-six. r I heir motto was tres in uno, signifying the three theological virtues. This order derived this denomination from a custom of bathing before they received the golden spur. It is seldom or never conferred but at the coronation of kings or the inaugu- ration of a prince of Wales or duke of York. They wear a red ribband beltwise. T he order of the bath, after remaining many years extinct, was revived under George the First, by a solemn creation of a great number of knights. BATIS, in botany, a genus of the tetan- dria order and dicecia class of plants, the characters of which are : of the male the amentum is four-ways imbricated, and both the calyx and corolla are wanting: of the female the amentum is ovate, the involucrum diphyllous ; calyx and corolla wanting ; the stigma is bilobate and sessile ; the berries condunate and four-seeded. There is but one species, viz. batis mantiua, a native of Jamaica. BATMAN, in commerce, a kind of weight used at Smyrna, containing six okes of four hundred drams each, which amount to six- teen pounds, six ounces, and fifteen drams, of English weight. BATTALION, or Batallion, an unde- termined body of infantry in regard to num- ber, generally from 600 to 1000 men. The companies of grenadiers and light infantry- men having been detached from their several corps and formed into separate battalions, the guards at present consist of nine batta- lions. The different companies are likewise considerably augmented ; so that it is impos- sible to affix any specific standard to their complement of men. The royal regiment of artillery consists of four battalions. Some- times regiments consist each of one battalion; but if more numerous, are divided into seve- ral battalions, according to their strength ; so that every one may come within the num- bers mentioned. A battalion in one of our | marching regiments consists of 1000 and sometimes of 1200 men, officers and non- commissioned included. When there arc companies of several regiments in a garrison to form a battalion, those of the eldest regi- 1 D d 209 ment post themselves on the light, those of the second on the left, and so on until the youngest fall into the centre. The officers take their posts before their companies, from the right and left, according to seniority. Each battalion is divided into four divisions, and each division into two subdivisions, which are again divided into sections. The com- panies of grenadiers being unequal in all bat- talions, their post must be regulated by the commanding officer* BATTEN, a name that workmen give to a scantling of wooden stuff, from two to four inches broad, and about one inch thick, tiie length undetermined. BATTER, a cannonade of heavy ordnance, from the first or second parallel of entrench- ment, against any fortress or works. Batter in breach, implies a heavy can- nonade of many pieces directed to one part of the revetement from the third parallel. BATTERING, in military affairs, implies the firing with heavy artillery on some forti- fication or strong post possessed by an enemy,, in order to demolish the works. Batterix G-pieces are large pieces of can- non used in battering a fortified town or post. It is judged by all nations that no less than 24 or 18 pounders are proper for that use. Formerly much larger calibres were used; but, as they were so long and heavy, and very troublesome to transport and manage, they were for a longtime rejected, till adopt- ed among the French, who, during the late war, have brought 36 and 42 pounders into the field. Batterin G-train, a train of artillery used solely for besieging strong places, inclusive of howitzers: all heavy 24, 18, and 12 pound- ers, come under this denomination ; as like- wise the 13, 10, and 8-inch mortars and how* itzers. BATTERY, in military affairs, implies any place where cannon or mortars are mounted, either to attack the forces of the enemy, or to batter a fortification: hence batteries have various names, agreeable to the purposes they are designed for. Battery, gun, is a defence made of earth faced with green sods or fascines, and some- times made of gabions filled with earth: it. consists of a breast-work, parapet, or epaule-* ment, of IS or 20 feet thick at top, and of 22 or 24 at the foundation; of a ditch 12 feet broad at the bottom, and 18 at the top, and 7 feet deep. They must be 7\ feet high. The embrasures are 2 feet wide within, and 9 without, sloping a little downward, to de- press the metal on occasion. T he distance from the centre ot one embrasure to that of the other is 18 feet; that is, the guns are placed at 18 feet distance from each other; consequently the merlins (or that part-of solid earth between the embrasures) are 16 feet within and 7 without. T he genouilliers (or parts of the parapet which cover the carriage of the gun) are generally made 2i feet high from the platform to the opening of the em- brasures; though this height ought lobe re- gulated according to the |emi-diameter of the wheels of the carriage or the nature of the gun. T he platforms are a kind of wooden floors, made to prevent the cannon from sinking into the ground, and to render the working of the guns more easy; and are, strictly speaking, a part of the battery. They 210 B AT BAT are coitiposed of five sleepers or joists of wood, laid lengthways, the whole length of the intended platform ; and to keep them firm in their places, stakes must be driven into the ground on each side : these sleepers are then covered with sound thick planks, laid parallel to the parapet; and at the lower end of the platform, next to the parapet, a piece of timber six inches square, called a hurter, is placed, to prevent the wheels from damaging the parapet. Platforms are gene- rally made 18 feet long, 15 feet broad be- hind, and 9 before, with a slope of about 9 or 10 inches, to prevent the guns from recoiling too much, and for bringing them more easily forward when loaded. The dimensions of the platforms, sleepers, planks, hurters, and nails, pught to be regulated according to the na- ture of the pieces that are to be mounted. d’he powder-magazines to serve the bat- teries ought to be at a convenient distance from them, as also from each other; the large one at least 55 feet in the rear of the bat- tery, and the small ones about 25. Some- times the large magazines are made either to the right or left of the battery, in order to deceive the enemy ; they are generally built five feet under ground; the sides and roof must be well secured with hoards, and cover- ed with earth, clay, or something of a similar substance, to prevent the powder from being fired: they are guarded by centinels. The balls are piled in readiness beside the merlins, between the embrasures. The oflicers of the artillery ought always to construct their own batteries and plat- forms, and not the engineers, as is practised in England; for certainly none can be so good judges of those things as the artillery officers, whose daily practice it is; conse- quently they are the most proper to direct the situation and to superintend the making of batteries on all occasions. Battery, mortar. These kind of bat- teries differ from gun-batteries, only in having no embrasures. They consist in a parapet of 18 or 20 feet thick, high in front, and 6 in the rear ; of a berm 2\ or 3 feet broad, according to the quality of the earth; of a ditch 24 feet broad at the top, and 20 at the bottom. The beds must be 9 feet long, 6 broad, 8 from each other, and 5 feet from the part: they are not to be sloping like the gun- / platforms, but exactly horizontal. The in- sides of these batteries are sometimes sunk two or three feet into the ground, by which they are much sooner made than those of cannon. The powder-magazines and piles of shells are placed as is mentioned in Gun- battery. Battery, ricochet, so called by its inven- tor M. Vauban, and first used a’t the siege ofAeth, in 1697. It is a method of firing with a very small quantity of powder, and a little elevation, so as just to fire over the pa- rapet ; and then the shot will roll along the opposite rampart, dismounting the cannon, and driving or destroying the troops. In a siege they are generally placed at about 300 feet before the first parallel, perpendicular to the faces produced, which they are to enfi- lade. Ricochet practice is not confined to cannon alone ; small mortars and howitzers may effectually be used for the same pur- pose. They are of singular usfe in action to enfilade the enemy’s ranks ; for when the men perceive the shells rolling about with B A T' , their fuses burning, expecting them to burst 1 every moment, the bravest among them will not have courage to wait their approach and face the havock of their explosion. Batteries, horizontal , are such as have only a parapet and ditch ; the platform being only the surface of the horizon made level. Batteries, breach or sunk, are such as are sunk upon the glacis with a design to make an accessible breach in the faces or salient angles of the bastion and ravelin. Batteries, cross, are such as play athwart each other against the same object, forming an angle at the point of contact; whence greater destruction follows, because what one shot shakes, the other beats down. Batteries, oblique, or batteries enechurpe, are those which play on any work obliquely, making an obtuse angle with the line of range, after striking the object. Batteries, enfilading, are those that sweep or scour the whole length of a straight line, or the face or flank of any work. Batteries, redan, are such as flank each other at the salient and rentrant angles of a fortification. Batteries, direct, are those situated op- posite to the place intended to be battered, so that the bails strike the works nearly at right angles. Batteries, reverse, are those which play on the rear of the troops appointed to defend the place. Batteries, glancing, are such whose shot strike the object at an angle of about 20°, after which the ball glances from the object, and recoils to some adjacent parts. Batteries, joint, \ when several Batteries, camarade, ) guns fire on the same object at the same time. When ten guns are fired at once, their effect will be much greater than when fired separately. Batteries, sunk, are those whose plat- forms are sunk beneath the level of the field, the ground serving for the parapet, and in it the embrasures are made. This often hap- pens in mortar, but seldom in gun, batteries. Battery sometimes signifies the guns them- selves placed in a battery. Batteries, fascine, \ are batteries made Batteries, gabion, ] of those machines where sods are scarce and the earth very loose or sandy. BATTERY-pfattAw are those planks or boards used in making platforms. Battery-^oxcs are square chests or boxes filled with earth or dung, used in making bat- teries, where gabions and earth are not to be had: they must not be too large, but of a size that is governable. Battery-/?/!!:/.? are wooden pins made of the toughest wood, with which the planks that cover the platforms, are fastened. Iron nails might strike fire against the iron-work of the wheels, in recoiling, &c. and be dangerous. Battery, in law, the striking, beating, or offering any violence to another person,- for which damages may be recovered. But if the plaintiff made the first assault the defend- ant shall be quit, and the plaintiff amerced to the king for his false suit. Battery is fre- quently confounded with assault, though, in law, they are different offences; for in the trespass tor assault and battery, one may be found guilty of assault, yet acquitted of the battery ; there may therefore be assault with- out battery, but battery always implies an assault, bee Assault. BA 1 I IT., m the military art, has ever been the last resource ot good generals. 'V situation where chance and accident often bailie and overcome the most prudential and most able arrangements, and' where superi- ority of numbers by no means ensures suc- cess, is such as is never entered into without a clear necessity for so doing. I he inditing a battle only because the enemy is near, or from having no other formed plan of offence, is a direful way of making war. Darius lost his crown and life by it ; king Harold of Eng- land did the same; and Francis I. at Pavfa lost the battle and his Iibertv. King John of France fought the battle of Poictiers, though i u in attended his enemy it he had not fought. r I he true situation for giving battle is when an army’s situation cannot be worse, if defeat- ed, than if it does not fight at all ; and when the advantage may be great, and the loss little. Such was the duke of Cumberland’s at Hastenbeck, in 1/5/, and prince Ferdi- nand’s at V elfin ghausen, in 1761. The rea- sons and situations for giving battle are so numerous, that to treat of them all would fill a large volume ; we shall therefore content ourselves with the following ; — There may be exigencies of state that require its army to attack the enemy at all events. Such were the causes of the battle of Blenheim in 1704, of Zorndorffin 1758, of Cunnersdorff’in 1759J and of Rosbach in 1757. To raise a siege,! to defend or cover a country. A11 army is also obliged to engage when shut up in a post. An army may give battle to effect its junc- tion with another army, &c. The preparations for battle admit of infinite variety. By a knowledge of the detail of battles, the precept will accompany the ex- ample. 1 he main general preparations are, " to profit by any advantage of ground ; that the tactical form of the army be in some mea- sure adapted to it; and that such form be, if possible, a form tactically belter than the enemy’s; and, in forming the arm v, to have a most careful attention to multiply resources,! so that the fate of the army may not hang on one or two efforts; to give any particular part of the army, whose quality is superior to such part ot the enemy’s army, a position that en- sures action ; and, finally, to have a rear by nature or if possible by art, capable of check- ing the enemy in case of defeat. The dispositions of battles admit likewise of an infinite variety of cases ; for even the difference of ground which happens at almost every step, gives occasion to change the dis- I position or plan; and a general’s experience! will teach him to profit by tins, and take the advantage the ground offers him. It is an instant, a coup-d'oeil, which decides this ; for it is to be feared the enemy may deprive you of those advantages, or turn them to his own profit ; and for that reason this admits of no ' precise rule, the whole depending on the time and the occasion. With regard to battles, there are three-l things to be considered : what precedes, what accompanies, and what follows the action. i As to what precedes the action, you should unite all your force, examine the advantage : of the ground, the wind, and the sun (things not to be neglected), and choose if possibles field of battle proportioned to the number of) your troops. B A T You must post the different kinds of troops ’ [ advuutageoudy for each : they must be so , disposed as to be aisle to return often to tue I clurgc ; for he who can charge often with ; j fresh troops, is commonly victorious. Your wing? must be covered so as not to be sur- rounded ; and you must observe that your j troops can assist each other without any con- fusion, the intervals being proportioned to the battalions and squadrons. Great care must he taken about the regu- | 1 at ion of the artillery, which should be dis- • posed so as to be able to act in every place to the greatest advantage; for nothing is more i certain than that, if the artillery is well com- | manded, properly distributed, and manfully served, it will greatly contribute to gaining } the battle, being looked upon as the general '■ instrument of the army, and the most essen- ; tial part of military force. The artillery must j be well supplied with ammunition, and each | soldier have a sufficient number of cartridges. The baggage, provisions, and treasure of lire army, should, on the day of battle, be sent to a place of safety. In battle, where the attacks are, there is also the principal defence. If an army at- 1 tacks, it forms at pleasure; it makes its points at will: if it defends, it will he sometimes dif- ficult to penetrate into the designs of the ene- my, but when once found, succour succeeds to the discovery. Ground and numbers must ever lead in the arrangement of battles; im- pression and resource will ever bid fairest for winning them. IiATTLE-array, ) the method and order Battle, line of, \ of arranging the troops in order or line of battle ; the form of drawing up the army for an engagement. This me- thod generally consists of three lines, viz. the front line, the rear line, and the reserve. The second line should be about 300 paces behind the first, and the reserve at about 5 or , ti00 paces behind the second. Thu. artillery is likewise divided along the front of the first line. The front line should be stronger than the rear line, that its shock may be more vio- lent ; and that, by having a greater front, it may more easily close on the enemy’s ilanks. If the lirst line lias the advantage, it should continue to act, and attack the enemy’s se- cond line, terrified by the defeat ot their lirst. The artillery must always accompany the line of battle in the order it was at lirst distributed, if the ground permit it ; and the rest of the army should follow the motions of the first line, when it continues to march on after its lirst success. Battle-ax, an offensive weapon, formerly much used by the Danes, and other northern infantry. It was a kind of halbert, and did great execution when wielded by a strong arm. Battle, naval, the same with a sea-fight or engagement between two fleets of men of war. Before a naval battle, every squadron usually subdivides itself into three equal di- visions, with a reserve of certain ships out ot every squadron to bring up their rear. Every one of these, observing a due birth and dis- tance*, are in the battle to second one another ; and the better to avoid confusion and falling foul of call other, to charge, discharge, and fall otf by threes or fives, more or less, as the fleet is greater or smaller. The ships ot reserve are instructed either to succour and relieve those that are any way in danger, or B A If to supply and put themselves in the place of those that shall be made unserviceable. As for a fleet consisting but of few ships, when obliged to fight in an "open sea, it should be brought up to battle in only one front, with tire chief admiral in the middle of them, and on each side of him the strongest and best-provided ships of the fleet. The English mode of lighting at sea lias latterly been, to bear down on the enemy in a single column or line, to break the line of the enemy ship by ship, raking them bv a broadside as they pass. By thus breaking the enemy’s line at a particular part, an op- portunity is afforded, vs ind and other circum- stances favouring, of cutting off any given number of their torce, and reducing them to an equality. Such was the famous manoeuvre of* sir John Jervis off Cape St. Vincent, by which he gained a victory over a very supe- rior force. In the ever-memorable battle of Trafalgar, lord Nelson bore down upon the combined fleets in two columns, which brought them (o action sooner and to greater advantage than could otherwise have been effected. The disposition of the enemy on the same occasion was most masterly ; for by ranging a part of their fleet behind the others in the intervals between ship and ship, they rendered it so much the more difficult and hazardous to break their line. BATTLEMENTS, in architecture, are indentures or notches in the top of a wall or other building, in the form ot embrasures, for the sake of looking or liring through them. BATZ, a copper coin mixed with some sil- ver, and current at different rates, according to the alloy, in Nuremberg, Basil, Fribourg, Lucerne, and other cities of Germany and Switzerland. BAUH1NIA, mountain ebony, a genus of the monogynia order and decandria class of plants, and in the natural method ranking under the 33d order, lomentaceai. The ca- lyx is quinquefid and deciduous; the petals are oblong, expanded, and clawed, the supe- rior one more distant, all inserted on the ca- lyx; the capsule is a legumen. There are 13 species, all trees and shrubs, which are propagated by seeds; and must be sown in hot-beds, and afterwards kept in a bark stove. The most remarkable are, 1. Bauhinia aculeata, with a prickly stalk, very common in Jamaica and other American sugar islands, where it rises to 16 or 18 feet, with a crooked stem, and divides into many irregular branches armed with strong short spines, compound winged leaves, each having two or three pair of lobes ending with an odd one, which are oblique, blunt, and indented at the top. The stalks are terminated by several long spikes of yellow flowers, suc- ceeded by bordered pods about three inches long, containing two or three swelling seeds. It is called in America the savin tree, trom its strong odour somewhat resembling the com- mon savin. 2. Bauhinia acuminata, with oval leaves, is a native of both the Indies, and rises, with several pretty strong, upright, smooth steins, sending out many slender branches. The flowers come out at the extremities of the branches, three or four in a loose bunch ; so ms; of the petals are red or striped with white, but others are plain upon the same branch; the stamina and style are white, and D-d 2 B A Z 211 stand out beyond lire petals. The wood of this tree is very hard, and veined with blaek ; whence its name cf mountain ebony. 3. Bauhinia divaricata, with oval leaves, whose lobes spread different- wavs. 'll. is grows naturally in great plenty on the north side of the island ot Jamaica, it seldom rises more than live or six feet, but divides into several branches. 'I lie flowers grow in loose panicles at the end ci the brandies, have a white colour, and a very agreeable seen!. They appear the greatest part of summer, which makes it one of the greatest beauties of the hot-house. 4. Bauhinia tomentosa, with heart-shaped leaves, is a native of Cam peachy, and rises to 12 or 1 4 feet, with a smooth stem dividing into many branches, having two smooth- pointed lobes. E ery branch is terminated by a long spike of yellow flowers, so that when these trees are in flower they make a line appearance. 5. Bauhinia variegata, with heart-shaped leaves, and lobes joining together, is a na- tive of botli the Indies. It rises with a strong stem upwards of 20 feet, dividing into many strong branches. The flowers are large, and grow in loose panicles at the extremity of the branches. They are of a purplish red colour marked Nvilh white, and have a yellow bottom. The flowers have a very agreeable scent, and are succeeded by compressed pods about six inches long, and three quar- ters of an inch broad, containing three or four compressed seeds in each. HAWN, or Ban, to construct and secure with branches of trees an area enclosed with thick ditches of earth, square or circular, im- paled with wooden stakes or branches of trees, and surrounded with a deep trench. Numerous remains of such fortresses are found in Britain, Germany, and oilier coun- tries in the north of Europe. BAY, among farmers, a term used to sig- nify the magnitude of a barn ; as if a bam consists of a floor and two heads, where they lay corn, they call it a barn of two bays. These bays are from 1 4 to 20 feet long. BAYONET, in the military art, a short broad dagger, litted for the bore of a firelock, to be fixed there after the soldier has fired. BAYS, in commerce, a sort of open wool- len stuff, having a long nap, sometimes frized, and sometimes not. This stuff is without wale, and is wrought in a loom with two treddles, like flannel. It is chiefly manufac- tured at Colchester, and Booking in Essex, where there is a hall called the Dutch bay- hall, or raw-hall. The exportation of bays u T as formerly much more considerable than at present. However, the English bays are still sent in great quantities to Spain and Por- tugal, and even to Italy. BAZAR, Bazari, ur Bazaakd, a place designed for trade among the eastern nations, particularly the Persians, some of which are open at top, like the market-places of Eu- rope ; others are covered with high vaulted ceilings, and adorned with domes to give light. At Constantinople the old and new' bazar are large square buildings, covered with domes, and sustained by arches and pilasters; the former chiefly for arms, harnesses, and the like ; the latter for goldsmiths, jewellers, furriers, and all sorts of manufactures. BAZAT, or Baza, in commerce, a long. 212 'SEA BED B E A fine, spun cotton, which comes from Jerusa- lem, whence it is also called Jerusalem cot- ton. BAZENDGES, the name of a vegetable substance used by the T inks, and other eastern nations in the scarlet dying. Thev mix it for this purpose with cochineal and tartar, in the proportion of two parts of bazendges to one of cochineal. BDELLIUM, a gum resin somewhat re- sembling myrrh in appearance, brought from the Levant. It is met with in single drops, ot a very irregular size, some of which are as large as a hazel nut. Its colour is dusky, and its taste bitter. There is much uncertainty concerning both the plant from which it proceeds, and the place- of its production. The smell of this gum is fragrant, and its taste bitter and pungent. It readily burns, giving out smoke and a crackling noise. It is partly soluble in alcohol, and partly in water, or completely in diluted spirit. It was formerly used as a stimulating remedy, chietiy for external ap- plication, and is still retained in the Paris dispensatories. BEACON, a public signal, to give warn- ing against rocks, shelves, invasions. Sec. It is made sometimes by putting pitch-barrels upon a long pole, and fixing them up on an eminence, so that they may be seen at a dis- tance ; for the barrels being fired, the llame in the night time, and the smoke in the day, give notice, and in a few hours may alarm the whole kingdom, upon an approaching inva- sion, &c. BEACONAGE, a tax or farm paid for the use and maintenance of a beacon. The Trinity-house is empowered to levy this tax, by act of parliament. BEAD. The common black glass of which beads are made for necklaces, &c. is colour- ed with manganese only. Bead, in architecture, a round moulding, commonly made upon the edge of a piece of stuff, in the Corinthian and Roman orders, cut or carved in short embossments, like beads in necklaces. Sometimes a plain bead is set on the edge of each fascia of an archi- trave, and sometimes likewise an astragal is thus cut. Ahead. is often placed on the lin- ing-board of a door-case, and on the upper edges of skirting boards. Bead -proof, among distillers and venders of liquors, a fallacious mode of determining the strength of spirits, from the continuance of the bubbles, or beads, raised by shaking a .small quantity of them in a phial. Bead -roll, among papists, a list of such persons for the rest of whose souls thev are obliged to repeat a certain number of prayers, which they count by means of their beads. BEAGLE. See Canis. BEAK, the bill or nib of a bird. See Bill. Beak, in architecture, the small fillet left on the head of a larmier, which forms a ca- nal, and fnakes a kind of pendant. Beak, or Beak-head, of a ship, that part without a ship, before the forecastle, which is fastened to the stern, and is supported by tiie main knee. BEAKED, in heraldry, a term used to ex- press the beak or bill of a bird. When the beak and legs of a fowl are of a different tinc- ture from the body, we say beaked and membered’of such a tincture. BEAM, in architecture, the largest piece of wood in a building, which lies across the walls, and serves to support the principal rafters of the roof, and into which the feet of these rafters are framed. N o building lias less than two of these beams, viz. one at each end. Into these the girders of the garret roof are also framed ; and if the building is of timber, the teazle tenons of the posts are framed into them. The proportions of beams in or near London are fixed, by statute, as follows: a beam 15 foot long must be seven inches on one side its square, and five on the other ; if it is 16 feet long,- one side must be eight inches, the other six ; and so propor- tionably to their lengths. In the country, where wood is more plenty, tiiey usually make their beams stronger. Beams of a ship are the great main cross- timbers which hold the sides of the ship from falling together, and which also support the decks anu orlops. The main beam is next the main mast, and from it they are reckon- ed by first, second, third beam, &c. The greatest beam of all is called the mid-ship beam. See Ship. BEAM-cojnpass, an instrument consisting of a square wooden or brass beam, having slid- ing sockets, that carry steel or pencil points ; they are used for describing large circles,- where the common compasses are useless. Beam, in heraldry, the term used to ex- press the main horn of a hart or buck. Beam -filling, in building, the filling up of the vacant space between the raison and roof, with stones or bricks laid between the rafters on the raison, and plaistered on with loam, where the garrets are not pargeted, or plais- tered, as in country places. Beam of an anchor, the longest part of it, called also the shank. Beam also denotes the lath, or iron, of a pair of scales ; sometimes the whole apparatus for weighing of goods is so called : thus we say, it weighs so much at the king’s beam. Beam of a plough, that in which all the parts of the plough-tail are fixed. It is com- monly made of ash, and is eight feet long; but in the four-coultered plough it is ten feet long. Beam, or roller, among weavers, along and thick w T ooden cylinder, placed length- wise on the back part of the loom of those who work with a shuttle. That cylinder on which the stuff is rolled as it is weaved, is also called the beam, or roller, and is placed on the fore part of the loom. BEAN. See Vicia, and Phaseolis. BEAR. See Ursus. Bear, in astronomy, a name given to two constellations, called the greater and lesser bear, or ursa major and minor. Bear, a species of barley cultivated in Scotland and Ireland, and the northern parts of England. It is not esteemed so good for malting as the common barley. Bear, in heraldry. He that has a coat of arms is said to bear in it the several charges or ordinaries that are in his escutcheon. BEAR’S breech. See Acanthus. BEARER, in architecture, a post, or brick wall, trimmed up between the two ends of a piece of timber, to shorten its bearing, or to prevent its bearing with the whole weight at the ends only. BEARING, in navigation and geography, the situation of one place from another, with regard to the points of the compass ; or the angle which a line drawn through the two places makes with the meridians of each. The bearings of places on the ground are usually determined from the magnetic needle, in the managing- of which consists the principal part of surveying ; since the hearing or distanc e of a second point from a first being found, the place of that second is determined; or the bearings of a third point from two others,- whose distance is known, being found, the place of the third is determined instrumen- tally ; but to calculate trigonometrically, there must be mere data. Bearing, in the sea language. When a ship sails towards the shore, before t lie w ind, site is said to bear in w ith the land or har- bour. To let the ship sail more before the wind, is to- bear up. To put her right before the wind, is to bear round. A ship that keeps off from the land is said to bear off. When a ship that was to windward comes under an- other ship’s stern, and so gives her the wind, she is said to bear under her lee, &c. There is another sense of this word, in reference to the burden of a ship; for they say a ship bears, when having too slender or lean a quarter, she will sink too deep into the water with an over-light freight, and thereby earn carry but a small quantity of goods. Bearin g oj a piece nj timber, among car- penters, the space either between the tw-o fixed extremes thereof, when it has no other support, which they call bearing at length, or between one extreme and a post, brick wall, See. trimmed up between the ends to- shorten its bearings. BEAST, /a bite, among gamesters, a game at cards, played in this maimer : '1 he best cards are the king, queen, &c. whereof they make three heaps, the king, the play, and triolet. Three, four,- or five, may play ; and to every one are dealt live cards. However, before the play begins, every one stakes to the three heaps. He that wins most tricks, takes up the heap called the play ; he that has the king, takes up the heap so called; and he that has three of any sort, that is, three fours, three fives, three sixes, See. takes up the triolet heap. BEAT of drum, in the military art, is to give notice by beat of drum, of a sudden danger; or, that scattered soldiers may re- pair to their arms and quarters, is to beat an alarm, or to arms ; also to signify, by differ- ent manners of sounding a drum, that the soldiers are to fall on the enemy; to retreat before, in, or after, an attack ; to move, or march, from one place to another ; to treat upon terms, or confer with the enemy ; to permit the. soldiers to come out of their quarters at break of day ; to order to repair to their colours, &c. is to beat a charge, a re- treat, a march. Sec. BEAVER, in zoology. See Castor. BECAH, or Bekah, in Hebrew antiquity, a Jewish coin, equal to thirteen and eleven sixteenths pence of our money. BED. All beds that are for sale must be filled with one sort of stuffing only, on the pain of forfeiture ; as the mixing of feathers, down, scalded feathers, dry pulled feathers, any w r ays together, is conceived to be injurious to a man’s body to lie on. Also bed-quilts, mat- tresses, and cushions, stuffed with horse-hair, fen-down, goat’s-hair, and ueat’s-hair, which are dressed in lime, and in which the heat of a man’s body will exhale, and cause them to yield a noxious smell, are prohibited by statute. BEG Bed of justice, in the French customs, a throne upon which the king used to be seated when lie went to the parliament. The king never held a bed of justice unless for affairs that concerned the state, and then all the offi- cers of parliament were clothed in scarlet robes. Bed of the carriage of a great gun, a thick plank that lies under the piece, being in fact the body of the carriage. Bed, in masonry, a course or range of stones; and the joint of the bed is the mortar between two stones placed over each other. BEDCHAMBER, lords of, in the Bri- tish customs, 14 lords who attend in their turns, each a week, during which time they lie in the king’s bed-chamber, and wait on him when he dines in private. Their salary is 1000/. per annum. The first of these is called groom of the stole. There are also twelve grooms of the bed-chamber. BEDA, a sacred book of the religion and laws of the brahmins of Hindustan, called also veda. BEDOUINS, in the Arabian customs, tribes of Arabs, who live in tents, and are dis- persed all over Arabia, Egypt, and the north, of Africa. BEE, in zoology. See Apis. BEECH-galls, hard protuberances found on the leaves of the beech, wherein are lodg- ed the maggots of a certain fly. These galls are of an oblong figure and somewhat flatted. They resemble the stone of a plum in shape, and are very hard. In each gall there is single cavity inhabited by a white worm, which in time passes through the nymph state into that of the fly, to which it owes its origin. Be E c H-nyast, the fruit of the beech-tree, said to be good for fattening hogs, deer, Sec. and to have supplied men instead of bread. The island of Chios sustained a siege by means of mast. Beech-ozV, an oil drawn by expression from the mast of the beech-tree, after it has been shelled and pounded. This oil is very common in some parts of France, and used instead of butter ; but most of those who take a great deal of it, complain of pains and a heaviness of the stomach. BEELE, a kind of pick-ax, used by the miners for separating the ores from the rocks in which they lie : this instrument is called a tubber by the miners of Cornwall. BEER, a common and well-known liquor, made with malt and hops, and used in those parts of Europe where vines will not grow, and where cyder is scarce. See Brewing, See. BEET, in botany. See Beta. BEETLE, in entomology, a common Eng- lish name for all insects that are furnished with shelly wing-cases; those which have them divided by a straight suture are pro- perly beeties, and belong to the coleoptera Order. The scarabaei are beetles in the strictest sense of the word. BEGGAR. See Vagrant. BEGIIARDI, a certain sect of Christians which arose in Germany, and in the Low- countries, about the end of the thirteenth .century. They made profession of a monas- tical life, without observing celibacy ; and maintained, if they are not scandalized by the monks) that man could become as per- fect in this life as he shall be in heaven ; that j every intellectual nature is of itself happy, J BEL without the succour of grace; and that he who is in this state of perfection ought to per- form no good works, nor worship the host. BEGLEHBEG, a governor of one of the principal governments in the Turkish em- pire. There are two sorts of begleibegs; the one have a certain revenue assigned upon the cities, boroughs, and villages of their go- vernment, which they raise by power of the commission granted to them by the sultan ; the others have a certain rent paid by the treasurer of the grand signior. r i hey are be- come almost independent, and have under their jurisdiction several sangiacs, or parti- cular governments, and begs, agas, and other officers who obey them. BEGONIA, in botany, a genus of plants of the monoeeia polyandria class and order; the character* of which are: the flowers are ot two kinds ; the one is the male flower, with no cal. but many petals, some broader, and others narrower ; the other, which produces the em- bryo fruit, is of the rosaceous sort, and is composed of several petals, arranged in a circular form, and placed on a foliated cup, which finally becomes a trigonal alated caps, and containing small seeds. There are 13 species, chiefly stove plants. BEGUINS, congregations of devout young women, who maintain themselves by the work of their hands, leading a middle kind of life between the secular and religious. These societies consist of several houses placed to- gether in one inclosure, with one or more churches, according to the number of be- gums. There is in every house a prioress, without whose leave they cannot stir out. Their vow is conceived in these terms : ‘ I promise to be obedient anti chaste, as long as 1 continue in tiiis beguinage.’ They observe a three years noviciate, before they take the habit; and the rector of the parish is their su- perior, but. can do nothing without the advice of eight beguins. They were formerly es- tablished in several parts of Flanders. BEHEADING, a capital punishment among the Romans: it was performed at first with an ax, but afterwards with a sword, as was formerly the case in Holland and France. In France, however, during the last 15 years the guillotine has been used for the purpose of dispatching criminals ; and in the course of that space of time a multitude of the most loyal, virtuous, and most honourable men in Europe, for actions the most praiseworthy, have been cruelly murdered by that instru- ment. BEHEN, in the materia medica, the name of two roots, the one white the other red, both accounted cordials and restorative. BEJAR1A, a genus of the dodecandria monogynia class and order: the essential cha- racter is; calyx seven-cleft; petals seven; stam. fourteen ; berry seven-celled, many-seeded. There are two species, one a tree and the other a shrub, of New Granada. r I he tree has purple flowers, and the shrub flesh-co- loured, something allied to the rhododen- drons. BEIZA, orBEiZATH, in Hebrew antiquity, a word signifying an egg, was a certain mea- sure in use among the Jews. The beiza was likewise a gold coin, weighing forty drachms, among the Persians. BELAY, in the sea-language, is to make fast the ropes in their proper places. BE LEM N FEES, in natural history, are BEL 213 fossils, composed of several thin boats or crusts, encircling one another, and all of a striated texture ; they have usually a hollow in the middle, of a conical shape; sometimes empty, and' sometimes filled up with spar, pyrites, or a marine shell of the straight con- camerated kind. They have usually a chink running down the whole length of the body, and sometimes two or three ; but the addi- tional ones usually begin at- the apex of the stone, and run up but a little way. Their figure is sometimes conic, sometimes cyiirt- dric: some are of all the intermediate, figures between conic and cylindric, and some al- most orbicular. They are of various sizes, frofti a quarter of an inch to eight inches iit length, and though always of the same struc- ture, are of various colours, and they have a peculiar smell when scraped. They are found in all sorts of strata, sometimes in clay, sometimes among gravel, often immersed in beds of stone, often in loose flints, and are sometimes found covered with a sparry crust of a different texture with the body of the mass. The finest specimens have been pro- i cured from chalk-pits of Oxfordshire. BELL, a well-known machine, ranked by- musicians among the musical instruments of percussion. The music of belts is altogether melody ; but the pleasure arising from it con- sists in the variety of interchanges, and the various successions and general predomi- nance of the consonances in the sounds pro- duced. The metal of which a bell is made, is a composition of tin and copper, or pewter and copper; the proportion one to the other is almost 20 pounds of pewter, or 23 pounds of tin, to 100 weight of copper. Bell-metal is prohibited to be imported, as are hawk- bells, See. The constituent parts of a bell are the bodv or barrel, the clapper on the inside, and the ear or cannon on which it hangs to a large beam of wood. The sound of a bell consists in a vibratory motion of its parts, much like that of a musical chord. The stroke of the dapper must necessarily change the figure of the bell, and of a round make it oval ; but the metal having a great degree of elasticity, that part will return back again which the stroke drove farthest off from the centre, and that even some small matter nearer the centre than before; so that the two parts which be- fore were extremes of the longest diameter, do then become those of the shortest ; and thus the external surface of the bell under- goes alternate changes of figure, and by that means gives that tremulous motion to the air, in which the sound consists. To understand this more completely, let us conceive that a bell is composed of a series of circular zones, decreasing in diameter all the way to its top, each of which may be considered as a flat ring, composed of as many concentric. circles as its thickness will admit of. If tiiis ring is struck at the point a, (Plate Miscel. fig. 1 1.) the part so struck tends towards g, and at the same time the parts b and d tend towards i and m, and this action in these parts necessarily causes the point c to approach towards e ; by their elastic power, however, these parts presently regain the position in which they were before the bell was struck ; but as they return with an accelerated force, they generally go beyond the point where they ought to rest. The part a, therefore, after havin returned from g to a, tends towards/, the part c towards h, *114 E E I, BEN BEN and the parts fraud d towards k and/; whence it happens that the bell, at iirst of a circular form, really becomes alternately oval in two different directions; it follows then, that in those parts where the curvature is the greatest, their exterior points depart from each other. « BELLA-! JONNA. See Amaryllis and Atropa. BELLES- LETTKEI, a word absurdly introduced from the French, and noted here o-nly to reprobate the contemptible practice of debasing the simple majesty of our native language, by wretched gallicisms. The French writers themselves have no determi- nate idea affixed to this phrase; some ap- plying it to polite literature only, and some extending it to the whole scope of human learning, even to mathematics. BELL1S, in botany, the daisy, a genus of the syngenesia class, and polygamiasuperllua order of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 49th order, compositai dis- coidx. The receptacle is naked and conic ; there is no pappus; the calyx is hemispheri- cal, with equal scales ; and the seeds are ovated. There are two species, and many varieties. 1. Bel its annua; with leaves on the lower part of the stalk, is a low annual plant grow- ing naturally on the Alps and tire hilly parts of Italy, it seldom rises more than three inches high, and has an upright stalk, with leaves on the lower part ; but the upper part is naked, supporting a single flower, like that of tjae common daisy, but smaller. 2. Beilis perennis, the common daisy, with a naked stalk, and one flower, grows natu- rally in pasture lands in most parts of Eu- rope. It is often a troublesome weed in the grass of gardens, so is never cultivated. Its leaves have a subtile subacid taste ; and are recommended as vulneraries, and in asthmas and hectic fevers, as well as in such disorders as are occasioned by drinking cold liquors when the body has been much heated. The Beilis hortensis, or garden daisy, is only a variety of this species. It has a large double flower. The varieties cultivated in gardens are ; 1. the red and white garden daisy: 2. the double variegated garden daisy : 3. the child- ing, or hen and chicken garden daisy : and 4. the cock’s-comb daisy, with red and white dowers. BELLIUM, a genus of the syngenesia, poly- gamia supertlua class and order. The essen- tial character is ; cal. with equal leaflets ; seeds conic, with chaffy eight-leafed crown, and aimed down ; recept. naked. There are two species, natives of Italy and the Levant, in many respects resembling the daisy in ha- bit and appearance. , BELLON, a distemper common in coun- tries where they smelt lead ore. It is at- tended with languor, intolerable pains, and sensation of gripings in the belly, and gene- rally costiveness. Beasts, poultry, &c. as well as men, are subject to this disorder. Hence a certain space round the smelting- houses is called bellon-ground, because it is dangerous for an animal to feed upon it. BELLO NT A, in botany, a genus of the monogynia order, and pentandria class of plants. The characters are ; the liower is wheel-shaped; the germen is situated under the receptacle of the flower, which afterward becomes a turbinated seed-vessel, ending in a point, having one cell filled with small ' round seeds. Of this genus there are two species known, viz. i. Bellonia aspera, or shrubby bollonia, has a rough balm leaf. It is very common in the warm islands of America. 2- Bellonia spinosa, a native of Hispaniola. BELLOWS, a machine so contrived, as to agitate the air with great briskness, expiring and inspiring the air by turns, and that only from enlarging and contracting its capacity. This machine is of various constructions, but in general is composed of two fiat boards, sometimes of an oval, sometimes of a trian- gular figure : two or more hoops, bent ac- cording to the figure of the boards, are placed between them; a piece of leather, broad in the middle, and narrow at both ends, is nailed on the 'edges of the boards, which it thus unites together, as also on the hoops which separate the boards, that the leather may the easier open and fold again; a tube of iron, brass, or copper, is fastened to the undermost board ; and there is a valve within that covers the holes in the under board, to keep in the air. In foundries, and other great works, where a constant and vast heat is required, the bel- lows are made double, so that there is a con- stant blast proceeding by the upward and downward motion of the handle. The action of bellows, however wrought, whether by water, steam, or men, depends on this; that the air which enters them, and i which they contain when raised, is again compressed into a narrower space when they arc cio ed, and it flows out of the pipe with a velocity proportional to the force by which , it is compressed. The blast also will last in the proportion which the quantity of air drawn in through the valve bears to the pipe. The bellows of smiths and founders are worked by means of a rocker, with a string or chain fastened to it, and pulled by the workman. One of the boards is fixed, and by drawing down the handle of the rocker, the 'moveable board rises, and by means of a weight on the top of the upper board, sinks again. The bellows of an organ are wrought by a man called the blower; but in small organs, by the foot of the player. BELLY, the abdomen. See Anatomy. BELTS, in astronomy, two zones, or gir- dles, surrounding the body of the planet Ju- piter, more lucid than the rest, and of un- equal breadth. See Astronomy. Belts, in geography, certain streights be- tween the German ocean and the Baltic. The belts belong to the king of Denmark, who exacts a toll from all ships which pass through them, excepting those of Sweden, which are exempted. BEN GAPED, among sailors. A ship is said to be bencaped when the water does not flow high enough to bring her off the ground, out of the dock, or over the bar. BENCH, Jrtc, signifies that estate in copyhold lands, which the wife, being es- poused a virgin, lias after the decease of her husband, for her dower, according to the custom of the manor. As to this free-bench, se- veral manors have their own customs ; and in the manors of East and West Enbourne, in the county of Berks, and other parts of Eng- land, there is a custom, that w hen a. copy- hold tenant dies, the widow shall have tier free-bench in all the deceased husband’s lands, whilst she lives single and chaste; but if she commits incontinence, she shall forfeit her estate: neve: theless, upon her coming into the* court of the manor, riding on a black ram, and having his tail in her hand, and at the same time repeating a form of words pre- scribed, the steward is obliged, by the custom of t!ie manor, to re-admit her to her free bench. BEND, in heraldry, one of the nine ho- nourable ordinaries, containing a third part of the field when charged, and a lift h when plain. St is sometimes, like other ordinaries, indented, ingrailed, &c. and is either dexter or sinister. BENDING, in the sea language, the tying two ropes or cables together: thus they say, bend the cable ; that is, make it fast {o the ring of the anchor: bend the sail, make it fast to the yard. BEN DS, in a ship, the same with what is called wails, or wales; the Outmost timbers of a ship’s side, on which men set their feet in climbing up. They are reckoned from the water, and are called the iirst, second, or third bend-. They are the chief strength of a ship’s sides, and have the beams, knees, and foot-hooks, bolted to them. BENEDICTINES, in church-history, an order of monks, who profess to follow the rules of St. Benedict. The benedict ines being those only that are properly called monks, wear a loose black gown, with large wide sleeves, and a capuche, or cowl, on their heads, ending in a point behind. In the ca- nou kuv th,ey are styled black friars, from the colour of their habit. The rules of St. Benedict, as observed by the English monks before the dissolution of the monasteries, were as follows: they were obliged to perform their devotions, seven times in 24 hours, the whole circle of which devotions had respect to the passion and death of Christ : they were obliged always to go two and two together : every day in Lent they were obliged lo fast till six in the even- ing, and abated of their usual time of sleeping and eating; but they were not allowed to practise any voluntary austerity without leave of their superior ; they never convers- ed in their refectory at meals, but were obliged to attend to the reading of the scrip- tures : they all slept in the same dormitory, but not two in a bed ; they lay in their clothes. For small faults they were shut out from meals; for greater, they were debarred reli- gious commerce, and excluded from the chapel; and as to incorrigible offenders, they were excluded from tire monasteries. Every monk had two coats, two cowls, a table-book", a knife, a needle, and a handkerchief: and the furniture of their bed was a mat, a blanket, a rug, and a pillow. BENEFICE, a church endowed with a revenue, for the performance of divine ser- vice; or the revenue itself assigned to an ec- clesiastical person, by way of stipi nd, tor the service he is to do that church. All church preferments, except bishoprics, are called benelices; and all benelices are, by the canonists, sometimes styled dignities ; but we now ordinarily distinguish between benefice and dignity ; applying dignity to bishoprics, deaneries, archdeaconries, and prebends; and benefice to parsonages, vicar- ages, and donatives. The canonists distinguish three manners of vacating a benefice, viz. dejure, de facto, and BER !b E U 1)y ike sentence of a judge. A benefice is vacated de jure, when the person enjoying it is guilty of certain crimes expressed in those laws, as heresy, simony, &c. A benefice is vacated dc- facto as well as de jure, by the. natural death or tire resignation of the in- cumbent; which resignation may be either express, or tacit, as when lie engages in a state, See. inconsistent with it, a-, among the Romanists, by mar ying, entering into a reli- gious order, or the like. A benefice becomes vacant by the sentence of a judge, by way of punishment for certain crimes, as concu- binage, perjury, &c. iu the church of England there are 1071 benefices under 10/. per annum; 1467 from 10 to 20 ; 1126 from 20 to 30; 1049 from 30 to 40; 884 from 40 to 50; and there are 5597 livings under 50/. per annum. It must be 500 years before every living can be raised to 60/. a-} ear by queen Anne’s bounty, and 339 years before any of them can exceed 50/. a-year. On the whole, these are above 11,000 church preferments in England, exclusive of bishoprics, deaneries, canonries, prebends, priest-vicars, lay-vicars, secondaries, &c. belonging to cathedrals, or choristers, or even curates to well beneliced clergymen. Bene- fices began about A. D. 500. BENlSH days, among the Egyptians, a term of three days of the week, which are days of less ceremony in religion than the other four. BENZOIN, a dry and solid resin, brought to us in masses of various sizes from 'the East Indies, particularly from the kingdom of Siam, and the islands of Java and Sumatra. It is very brittle, and breaks vitreous. When rubbed, it emits a fragrant odour, and when heated sufficiently, lets tire benzoic acid es- cape, it is soluble in alkohol, but insoluble in water. It is used chiefly to perfume apart- ments, and benzoic acid is extracted from it. It has not been examined by any modern che- mist. Its specific gravity is 1.092. It is con- sidered as a compound of resin and benzoic acid. See Styrax, and for benzoic acid see Chemistry. BER AMS, a coarse cloth, all made with cotton-thread, which comes from the East Indies, and particularly from Surat. BERBER IS, the barbery, or pipperidge bush. A genus of the monogynia order, and hexandria class of plants: the characters of which are ; the calyx consists of six leaves ; the petals are six, with two glands at the ungues; it has no stylus; and the berry con- tains two seeds. The species are four : 1. Berberis erotica, with a single flower in each footstalk, is at present very rare in Bri- tain ; the plants being tender whilst young, and most ol them killed by severe frost. This never rises more than three or four feet high in England ; but sends out many stalks from the root, which are strongly armed with spines at every joint : the leaves are produ- ced without order, and are shaped like those of the narrow-leaved box-tree; the flowers come out from between the leaves, each having a slender footstalk; but they are not succeeded by fruit in Britain. 2. Berberis illicifolia, with leaves like the ho 'm oak. 3. Berberis Sibirica, a very small shrub, scarcely a span in height. 4. Berberis vulgaris, the common barber- ry, which grows naturally in hedges in many parts of England; but is also cultivated in gardens, on account of its fruit, which is pickled. It rises to the height of eight or ten feet, with many stalks, which have a white bark, yellow on the inside. The llow- eis come out from the w ings of the leaves in small ramose bunches like those of the cur- rant-bush, and are of a yellow colour: these are succeeded by oval fruit, which are at first green, but when ripe turn to a fine red colour. The flow evs appear in May, and the fruit ripens in September. There are two. or three varieties of this shrub, which by some have been taken for distinct species; one is the barberry without stone ; another, the bar- berry with white fruit; and a third is called by 4 ournefort taller eastern barberry, with a black sweet fruit. Of these Mr. Miller ob- serves, that the first certainly depends on the age of the plant, because the suckers taken from those bushes commonly produce fruit with stones. The second, he suys, seldom bears any fruit ; the leaves are of a lighter green colour, and the bark of the stalks are whiter, than those of the common kind. The third appears to be the same with the common sort, excepting the colour and flavour of its fruit, which can never indicate a specific difference. The berries, which are so acid that birds will not feed upon them, are moderately astrin- gent ; and have been given with success in bilious fluxes, and diseases proceeding from heat, acrimony, and thinness of the juices. The leaves also are gratefully acid. The flowers are offensive to the smell when near, but at a distance their odour is extremely fine. An infusion of the bark in white wine is purgative. The roots boiled in ley, dye wool yellow. In Poland they dye leather of a most beautiful yellow with the bark of the root. The inner bark of the stems dyes linen of a fine yellow with the assistance of alum. This shrub should never be permitted to grow in corn-lands; for the ears of wheat that grow near it never fill, and its influence in this respect has been known to extend across a field of 300 or 400 yards. Cows, sheep, and goats, eat it : horses and swine refuse it. RERCliEROIT, or BERKCoiTs,a weight used at Archangel, and in all the Russian do- minions: it weighs about 364 pounds English avoirdupois weight. B ER DASH, a name formerly used in Eng- land foixjj certain kind of neck-dress; and hence a 'person who made or soid such neck- cloths, was called berdasher, from which is derived our word haberdasher. BERENGA1UANS, a religious sect of the 1 1th century, which adhered to the opinion of Berengarius, who, even in those days, strenuously asserted, that the bread and wine in the Lord’s supper is 'not really and essen- tially, but only figuratively, changed into the body and blood of Christ. BERCrAMOT, the name of a fragrant es- sence extracted from a species of citron. As this oil exists pure in the peel, being simply deposited in small cells, the extraction is easy, euher by expression or distillation. The former is the best, as the oil is not liable to be altered by heat; but more is produced by distillation than by expression: by this mode • w o ounces of the oil have been obtained from two pounds of the peel. It is also the denomination of a coarse ta- pestry, manufactured with flocks of silk, wool, cotton, hemp, ox, cow, or goat’s hair, and B E It 215 supposed to be invented by the people of' Bergamo. BERGESA, a genus of the class and or- der decandria monogynia. ’I lie essential character is, calyx five-parted ; petals five; berry subglobular, one-ceiied, w ith five seeds. 'I here is one species, a leafy tree, with the bark of the alder ; a native of the East la- dies. BERGIA, a genus of the class and order decandria pentagynia. lhe essential cha- racter is, calyx five-parted ; petals five ; cap- sule one, globfllar, with swellings, five-celled, live-valved, valves resembling petals ; seeds many. '1 here are two species, the B. capensis and glomerata, both natives of the Cape. BERG BJ MOT, an assembly, or court, held upon a hill, in Derbyshire, for deciding controversies among the minefs. BERIBERI, a kind of palsy, common in the East Indies. The word, in the language of the country, signifies a sheep ; and was given by the natives to this distemper, tie- cause the patients, on throwing out their knees, and lifting up their legs, seem to imi- tate sheep in their walk. BERME, in fortification, a space of ground left at the foot of the rampart, cn the side next the country, designed to receive the rums of the rampart, and prevent the tilling up of the fosse. It is sometimes pal i- sadoed, for the more security ; and in Hol- land it is generally planted w ith a quickset hedge. It is also called liziere, relais, fore- land, vetraite, pas de souris, &c. BERNARDINES, an order of monks, founded by Robert abbot cf Moleme, and reformed by St. Bernard. They wear a white robe with a black scapulary ; and when they officiate, they are clothed with a large gown, which is all white, and with great sleeves, and a hoed of the same colour, d hey differ but very little from the Cister- cians. BERRY, a round fruit, for the most part soft, and covered with a thin skin, containing seeds in a pulpy substance ; but if it is harder, or covered with a thicker skin, it is called pomum, apple. BERTIESA, a genus of tire pentandria monogynia class and order. The essential character is, calyx turbinate, five-toothed ; corolla, tube short, with a villose mouth ; berry globose, inferior, two-celled, many- seeded. There is but one species, the B. Guiancn- sis, which the specific name announces to be a native of Guiana. The flower is white. BERYL, in natural history, called by our lapidaries aqua marina, is a pellucid gem of a bluish green colour, found in the East In- dies and about the gold mines of Peru, and especially in Siberia and Tartary, where its crystals are sometimes a foot long. 1 he beryl, like most other gems, is met with both in the pebble and columnar form, but in the latter most frequently. In the pebble form it usually appears of a roundish but flatted figure, and commonly full of small flat faces, irregularly disposed. In the co- lumnar or crystalline form it always consists of hexangular columns, terminated by hex- angular pyramids. It never receives any admixture of colour into it, nor loses the blue .and green, but has its genuine tinge m the degrees from a very deep and dusky to E E T BET 216 B E S the palest imaginable of the hues of sea- water. The beryl has many points of resemblance 'with the emerald, and in particular the crys- tals of both are di visible parallel to the sides and extremitiesof a regular hexahedral prism. The beryl is externally shining, with a vi- treous lustre. It is generally transparent, but sometimes only semi-transparent. The specific gravity varies from 2.65 to 2.75. A specimen, analysed by Yauquelin, con- tained 69 silica 13 alumina 1 6 giucina 1 oxide of iron 0.5 lime 99.5 It was by the analysis of this stone that Vauquelin discovered the earth which he called giucina. The beryl, when cut and polished, has a considerable lustre : it is ranked among gems ; but its value is trilling, compared with the ruby, sapphire, topaz, &c. Bf.ryl- crystal, in natural history, a species of what Dr. Hill calls ellipomacros- t\ la, or imperfect crystals, is of an extremely pure, clear, and equal texture, and scarcely ever, subject to the slightest films or ble- mishes. It is ever constant to the peculiarity of its figure, which is that of a long and slen- der column, remarkably tapering towards the top, and very irregularly hexangular. It is ol a very fine transparency, and naturally of a pale brown ; and carries such evident marks of distinction from all other brown crystals, that our lapidaries call it, by way of emi- nence, the beryl-crystal, or simply the beryl. BESANT, or bezant, a coin of pure gold, of an uncertain value, st ruck at Byzantium, in the time of the Christian emperors: hence the gold offered by the king at the altar, is called besant, or bisant. Few coins ever had a more general cur- rency than these besants ; having been cur- rent from the beginning to the end of the eastern empire, in all its provinces, and also in those countries that had been provinces of the western empire: and among others in Britain. With us they were received in pay- ments. They are frequently referred to by the historians of the crusades, but are rarely- mentioned by ours ; and are not to be found in Domesdav-book, nor in the acts of 1 lenry I. or Stephen, nor in the last will of king ■Henry II. Besants, in heraldry, round pieces of gold, without any stamp, frequently borne in coats of arms. BESISTAN, a name given to those places at Constantinople, &c. where the merchants have their shops, and expose their goods to saie. A particular besistan belongs to each class of merchants. BESLERIA, a genus of the angiospennia order and dtdvnamia class of plants. Of this genus there are six species: the most remarkable are, 1. Besleria cristata, with stalks growing single, and a five-leaved involucrum. The calyx is scarlet, the corolla yellow. 2. Besleria lutea, with simple footstalks growing in clusters, and spear-shaped leaves ; yellow flowers. .3. Besleria melittifolia, with, branching footstalks and oval leaves. All these species are natives of the warm parts of America, and cannot be preserved in this country w ith- out artificial heat. But as they are not remark- able tor beauty, or any other property yet discovered, w'e forbear any particular de- scription. BESORCII, a coin of tin, or some alloyed metal, current at Ormus, at the rate of 7-49th parts of a farthing sterling. BESTIARII, in Roman antiquity, such as fought against beasts, or who were exposed to them by sentence of the law. There were four kinds of bestiarii : the first were those who made a trade of it, and fought for mo- ney ; the second were such young men as, to show r their strength and dexterity in ma- naging their arms, fought against beasts ; the third was where several bestiarii were let loose at once, well armed, against a number of beasts ; and the fourth kind were those condemned to the beasts, consisting either of enemies taken prisoners- in war, or as being slaves, and guilty of some enormous crime : these were all exposed naked, and without defence. BETA, a genus of the pentandria digynia class and order of plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the 12th order, holora- ceae. The calyx has five leaves ; there is no corolla ; the seeds are kidney-shaped, and si- tuated within the base of the calyx. There are four species, viz. 1. Beta cicla, the root of scarcity, has been greatly extolled in different publications of late years : but its virtues have perhaps been exaggerated. The beta hortensis, or common white beet, is a variety of this ; and is culti- vated in gardens for the sake ot its leaves, which are frequently used in soups. 2. Beta maritima, the sea beet, grows natu- rally by the sea-side, in salt marshes, and in many parts of England. It has been supposed by many to be only a variety of the common white beet; but Mr. Miller assures us he has been unable to make any variation in them by culture. 3. B. apatula, a native of Madeira. 4. Beta vulgaris, the red beet, with a pyra- midal root, has large, thick, succulent leaves, which are for the most part of a dark green or purple colour. The roots are large, and of a deep red. The larger these roots grow, the tenderer they are ; and the deeper their colour, the more they are esteemed. The varieties of this species are the common red beet, the turnip-rooted beet, and the green-leaved red beet. On many parts of the continent the beet-root has been used for the purpose of extracting sugar from it. The roots are pressed, and the saccharine liquor boiled down to the consistence of a syrup : it of course undergoes many other operations. According to the account of M. Achard, however, the cost of a quantity of beet, in Prussia, that will yield one hundred pounds of raw sugar, is not more than sixpence : twenty pounds of root w ill yield one of sugar; one hundred pounds of raw sugar give fifty- five of refined, and twenty-five pounds of molasses. It is computed by the same gen- tleman, who has employed much time in the pursuit, that a German square mile of land (that is, sixteen square miles English), pro- | perly cultivated, would produce white beet sufficient to furnish the whole Prussian do- minions with sugar. BETEL, or belle, in botany, a kind of long pepper, found in Malabar, and other parts of the East. Indies. See Piper. BETELGEULE, a fixed star of the first magnitude, in Orion’s hind shoulder. BETHLEHEM1TES, in church-history, a religious order, called also star-bearers, stell/J'tri, because they were distinguished by a red star with five rays, which they wore on their breast, in memory of the star that appeared to the wise men, and conducted them to Bethlehem. There is an order of Bethlehemites still subsisting in the Spanish W est Indies, who are habited like capuchins, w ith this differ- ence ; that they wear a leal hern girdle instead of a cord, and on the right side of their cloak an escutcheon, representing the nati- vity of our Saviour. BETONICA, betony, a genus of the gym- nospermia order and didynainia class of plants, and in the natural method ranking under the 42d order, verticillatae. The ca- lyx is awned; the upper lip of the corolla is ascending and Hattish : and the tube is cylin- dric. There are seven species. The most remarkable are, 1 . Betonica orientalis, the oriental betony. 2. Betonica stricta, the greater Danish 6e- tony. 3. Betonica incana, the hoary Italian be- tony, has a flesh-coloured flower. 4. Betonica officinalis, is the species chiefly worth notice. It is a low plant, grow- ing in woods and shady places in several parts of England ; the flowers come forth in June and July, of a purplish colour, and stand in spikes on the top of the stalks. The leaves and flow r ers have a roughish, somewhat bitterish taste, accompanied with a very weak aromatic flavour. The powder of the leaves of betony snuffed up the nose provokes sneezing; and hence it is sometimes made an ingredient in sternuta- tory powders. This effect does not seem to be owing, as is generally supposed, to any peculiar stimulating virtues in the herb, but to the rough hairs with which the leaves are covered. The roots of this plant differ great- ly in the quality from the other parts: their taste is very bitter and nauseous ; taken in a small dose, they vomit and purge violently, and are supposed to have somewhat in com- mon wfith the root of hellebore. According to Simon Pauli and Bartholinus, this plant affects those who gather any considerable quantity of it with a disorder resembling drunkenness. Its leaves are sometimes, smoked like tobacco. B ETR OTH M ENT, among civilians, the same with espousals. BETULA, the birch or alder-tree, a genus of the tetandria order and monoecia class of plants, and in the natural method ranking under the 50th order, amentaceix. The calyx of the male is monophyllous, trifid, and biliorous ; and the corolla is parted into four segments : the female calyx is monophyllous, trifid, and bitlorous : the seeds have a membranaceous wing on both sides. There are fifteen species : the more remarkable are, 1. Be.tula alba, the common birch-tree, so w r ell known to young -students as to need no description : in a proper soil and situation it will rise high, and swell to a considerable size. E E T 35 i G There is a spruceness in its general appearance in summer; and in winter its bark often ex- hibits, in its variegations of red and white, no inelegant object. Were it not so commonly seen upon poor soils, and applied to so many mean and degrading purposes, the birch might well claim a place among the ornamen- tal trees. * - 2. Betula alnus, the alder-tree, will grow to a large timber tree, d he aider is of strag- gling inelegant growth ; and hacked and dis- figured in the manner in which they gene- rally are, they have but little effect in effa- cing the unsightliness of a swamp, which is their natural soil. M herever tire soil is or can be made pasturable, the alder should by no means be permitted to gain a footing. Its suckers and seedlings poison the herbage ; and it is a fact well known to the observant husbandman, that the roots of the alder have a peculiar property, of rendering the soil tiiey grow in more moist and rotten, than it would be if not occupied by this aqueous plant. Plantations of alders should therefore be confined to swampy, low, j'.npasturable places. In this case the native species ought to give place to its more ornamental varieties, of which Hanbury enumerates five ; vff. 1. the long-leaved, 2. the white, 3. the black, 4. the hoary-leaved, and 5. the dwarf alder. 3. Betula lenta, the Canada birch, grows to sixty or more feet in height. 'I he leaves are heart-shaped, oblong, smooth, of a thin con- sistence, pointed, and very sharply serrated. They differ in colour; arid the varieties ot this species are, 1. dusky Canada birch ; 2. white paper birch ; 3. poplar-leaved Canada birch, ; 4. low-growing Canada birch, See. 4. Betula nana, the dwarf birch, w ith roundish leaves, grows naturally in the northern parts of Europe and on the Alps. It seldom rises above two or three feet high. It has slender branches with round leaves, but seldom produces flowers here. It is pre- served in some curious gardens for the sake of variety, but is a plant of no use. 5. Betula nigra, the black \ irginia birch- tree, will grow to upwards cf 60 feet in height. The branches are spotted, and more sparingly set in the trees than the common sorts. The leaves are broader, grow on long footstalks, and add a dignity to the appearance of the tree. As it is naturally of an upright and swift growth, and arrives at so great a magni- tude, Hanbury thinks it ought to have a share among our forest trees, and to be planted for the standards in open places, as well as to be joined with other trees of its own growth, in plantations more immediately designed for relaxation and pleasure. There are several varieties of this species, differing in the co- lour, size of the leaves, and shoots ; such as, 1. the broad-leaved Virginian birch, 2. the poplar-leaved birch, 3. die paper birch, 4. the brown birch, &c. One method of propagating the foreign sorts of birch is from seeds : but they may also be propagated by layers ; and this is the way to continue the peculiarities in the va- rieties of the different sorts. In autumn the young shoots should be plashed near the stools, and they will strike root, and become good plants by the autumn following. In some of the northern parts of Europe the wood of the w hite birch is much used for mak- ing carriages and wheels, being hard and of long duration . In France it is generally used Y ql. L BEZ for making wooden shoes, and in Britain for making women’s shoe-heels, packing boxes, brooms, hoops, &c. It also makes very good fuel, and is planted along with hazel to make charcoal for forges. 1 he bark ot the birch seems in a manner incorruptible. In Sweden the houses are covered with it, and it lasts manv rears. It frequently happens that the wood is entirely rotten, when the bark is per- fectly sound and good. In Kamtschatka it is used for making drinking cups. It abounds with a resinous matter, to which its durability is certainly ow ing. In consequence ol this, it is highly inflammable: and in the northern countries torches are made ot this bark sliced and twisted together. The bark itseit consists of two dirierent substances ; a thick brittle brownish red one ; and several very thin, smooth, white, transparent mem- branes ; in which the inflammable property resides. The thi k part is less resinous, and has a roughish taste. It has been thought to possess some medical virtues, But concern- ing these experience lias as Vet 7 determined nothing certain. Upon deeply wounding or boring the trunk of the tree in the beginning of spring, a sweetish juice issues, sometimes in so large a quantity as to equal the weight of the whole tree and root; one branch will bleed a gallon or more in a day. This juice is recommended in scorbutic disorders, and other foulnesses of the. blood. Its most sensible effect is to promote the urinary discharge. By proper fermentation, with the addition of sugar, this juice makes a pleasant wine, i he bark of the Canada birch is very light, tough, and durable; and the inhabitants of America use it for canoes. BEVEL, among masons, carpenters, join- ers, and bricklayers, a kind of square, one leg w hereof is frequently crooked, according to the sweep of an arch or vault. It is move- able on a centre, and so may be set to any angle. The make and use of this in- strument is pretty much the same as those of the common square and mitre, except that those are fixed, the first at an angle of ninety degrees, and the second at forty-live ; whereas the bevel being moveable, it may in some measure supply the place of both, which it is chiefly intended for, serving to set off or transfer angles, either greater or less than ninety or forty -five degrees. Bevel-angle, any angle except those of ninety or forty-five degrees. BEVELLING, in ship-building, the art of hewing timber with a proper and regular curve, according to a mould which is laid on one side of its surface. BEVILE', in heraldry, a thing broken or opening like a carpenter’s rule: thus we say, lie beareth argent, a chief bevile, vert, by the name of beverlis. BEY, among the Turks, signifies a gover- nor of a country or town. r i he M urks write it begh, or bek, but pronounce it bey. BEZANS, cotton cloths, which come from Bengal : some are white, and others striped with several colours. BEZOAR, originally meant an antidote, or mqdicine intended to prevent the fatal ef- fects of poison. Bezoar, oriental, a moderately hard arid heavy stone, very variable and uncertain in size, shape, and colour. It is generally of a round form ; and its size is between that of a horse-bean and that of a small walnut, though Ec. 21 / there arc some larger, and others smaller than peas. The ordinary colour is a duAisli olive, or greenish brown. It is always smooth and glossy on the surface; and, when broken, is found to consist of a great number of coats or crusts of stony matter, laid one over an- other ; and often formed upon a piece of stick, or seed of a fruit, or some such article, for a nucleus or basis. r i his is' a drug ot very great price, and of very great fame ; but it is not of the number of those things that have been proved to deserve the repute they stand in. It is brought to us from Persia, and many parts of the East Indies : it is to be chosen entire, not in scraps or fragments; ot a greenish or olive colour, with some mixture of grey in it ; and such as, when rubbed on paper, ’before whitened with ceruss, gives a vellowish colour. There is also an occidental bezoar, which comes from Mexico. Bazaars are generally supposed to be con- cretions formed in the stomach or intestines of different graminivorous animals ; but it is not completely ascertained in what animal they are found, or how many species may yield them. Dr. Pearson analysed one spe- cimen, and found it entirely composed of vegetable matter. Several w riters attribute very great virtues to the oriental bezoar .; but it is probable that if it lias any action at all, it is merely that of an absorbent earth, as chalk or magnesia. BIA, in commerce, a name given by the Siamese to those small shells witch are called cowries throughout almost all the other parts of the East Indies. See Cowrie. BICE, or bise, among painters, a blue colour prepared from the lapis armenus. Bice bears the best body -of all bright blues used in" common work, as house-painting, &c. but it is the palest in colour. It works’ indifferently well, but inclines a little to san- dy, and therefore requires good grinding. Next to ultramarine, which is too dear to- be used in common w oik, it lies best near the eve of all other blues. BICEPS, in anatomy, the name of se- veral muscles. See Anatomy. BIDENS, a genus of the syngenesia poly- garnia aequalis class and order, and in the na- tural method ranking under the 49th order, composite oppositifolise.. The receptacle is paleaceous ; the pappus has erect scabrous awns ; and the calyx is imbricated. Of this genus there are fourteen species ; but none of them appear to merit notice, except the Bidens tripartita, frequently found by the sides of rivulets, ditches, and lakes, in Eng- land. It grows to the height of two feet; and has its leaves divided into three, or often five, lobes, with yellow flow'ers. A decoc- tion of this plant with alum, dyes yarn of a yellow colour. The yam must be first steeped in alum-water, then dried and steep- ed in a decoction of the plant, and afterw ards, boiled in the decoction. BIDON, a liquid measure, containing about five pints of Paris, that is, about five- quarts English wine-measure. It is seldom used but among ship’s crews. BIENNIAL plants, are those that have' two years duration, or that are in their prime 1 the first and second summers. They consist both of esculent and floweiing: plants. BIGAMY, in the canon law, is when a. person either marries two women succes- sively, or only marries one. woman who had; 218 B I I B I L BIG been married before ; both -which cases are accounted impediments to be a clerk, or to hold a bishopric. It is also bigamy when a person marries a woman who had been de- bauched before ; or when he has known his own wife after she has been debauched by another. . f he Romanists make a kind of bigamy by interpretation : as when a person in holy 01 ders, or that has made profession of some monastic order, marries. This the "bishop can dispense with on some occasions. digamy, by the law of England, is where a person marries a second wife, the first being f ' ve : By the stat. 1 Jac. I. c. 11, it is en- acted, that if any person or persons' within his majesty’s dominions, being married, do marry any person or persons, the former husband or wife being alive, the person or persons so offending shall suffer death, as in cases of felony. But it is provided, that no- tmng m th s statute shall extend to any per- son or persons whose husband or wife shall be continually remaining beyond seas by the space of seven years together, or whose hus- band or wife shall absent himself or herself from each other for seven years together, the one of them not knowing the other to be living within that time. Nor shall the said statute extenc. to any person or persons divorced by a sentence in the ecclesiastical court; nor to any person or persons, for or by reason of any former marriage had or made within age of consent. The offence is now within the benefit ot clergy. BIGHT, among seamen, denotes one roll oi round, of a cable or rope, when coiled up. . BIGNONIA, trumpet-flower, or scarlet jessamine, a genus ot the angiospermia or- «fer and didynamia class of plants, and in the natural method ranking in the 40th order person ata:. The calyx is quinquefid and cupform ; the corolla is bell-shaped at the throat, quinquefid, and bellied underneath; the siliqua is bilocular ; and the seeds have membranous wings. Of this genus there are 27 species, of which the following are the most remarkable. t. Bignonia catalpa, a native of Carolina, V irgima, and the Bahama islands. It has a strong woody stem and branches, rising 20 feet high, ornamented with large heart-shaped leaves. This deserves a place in all curious shrubberies, as during the summer season no tree makes a more beautiful appearance. It does not flower, however, till old. . 2 - Bignonia capreolata, or tendril bigno- nia, a native of North America, is a climber, which rises by the assistance of tendrils or claspers. I he flowers are produced in Au- gust from the wings of the leaves ; they are ot the same nature, and of the shape nearly of the former ; are large, of a yellow co- I lour, and succeeded by short pods. 3. Bignonia radicans, the climbing ash- ! leaved bignonia, is a native of Virginia and Canada, rises 30 or 40 feet high, having pin- 1 nated opposite leaves of four pair of serrated lobes, and an odd one : all the shoots and branches being terminated by beautiful clus- ters of large trumpet-shaped scarlet flowers. I he humming-birds delight to feed on these flowers ; and by thrusting themselves too fay into them are sometimes caught. Of this species taere is a variety with smaller flowers. 4. Bignonia sempervirens, or evergreen climbing Virginia bignonia, is a native of Virginia, Carolina, and the Bahama islands. The stalks are more slender than those of the radicans, yet they rise, upon proper sup- ports, to the height of twenty or thirty feet ; the flowers are trumpet-shaped, erect, and of a yellow colour, proceeding from the sides and ends of the stalks and branches. 5. Bignonia unguis, the claw-bignonia, a deciduous climber, is a native of Barbadoes and the other West India islands. It rises by the help of claw-like tendrils, the branches being very slender and weak ; and by these it will overtop bushes, trees, txc. twenty or thirty feet high. 6. Bignonia grandifiora. This is also a shrubby climbing plant, a native of Japan. The flowers are purple, and as large as a rose. 1 he cultivation of the bignonia is not diffi- cult. If the shoots are laid upon the ground, and covered with a little mould, they will immediately strike root, and become good plants tor setting out where they are wanted, or they will all grow by cuttings. As to the catalpa, whoever has the convenieney of a bark-bed may propagate it in plenty by cut- tings: which being planted in pots, and plunged into the beds in the spring, will soon strike root ; and may afterwards be so har- dened to the open air, that they may be set abroad in the shade before the end of sum- in the beginning of October they no rnmmrorl , 1. mer : .. .. ..... ui v^viouer iney should be removed into a green-house, or un- der some shelter, to be protected from the winter’s frost. In the spring, after the bad weather is past, they may be turned out of the pots, and planted in the nursery-way, in a well sheltered place; and if the soil’ be rich, and rather moist, it will be the better. BILAN Cl IS defer endis, in law, a writ di- rected to a corporation for carrying weights to a haven, there to weigh wool, that per- sons were formerly licensed to transport. BILAN 1>ER, a small flat-bottomed ves- sel, with only one large mast and sail, and its deck raised half a foot above the plat- board. 1 BILBO WS, a punishment at sea, answer- ing lo the stocks at land. The offender is laid in irons, or stocks, which are more or less ponderous according to the quality of the offence of which he is guilty. BILGE of a ship, the bottom of her floor, or the breadth of the place the ship rests on when she is aground. Therefore bilge-water is that which lies on her floor and cannot go to the well of the pump : and bnge-pumps, or burr-pumps, are those that carry off the bilge-water. They likewise say the ship is bilged, when she lias some of her timber struck off on a rock or anchor and springs a leak. BILE, a yellow, bitter juice, separated from the blood in the liver, collected in the porus bi liar ius and gall-bladder, and thence discharged by the common duct into the duodenum. See Physiology, and Che- mistry. BILIOUS /ewers are those occasioned by the over-copiousness, or bad qualities, of the I bile. See Medicine. | BILL, an instrument made of iron, edged ! i n th f for m of a crescent, and adapted to a handle. It is used by plumbers to perform | several P a r£s of their work ; by basket-mak- ers to cut the largest pieces of chesnut-trees hel vv7 0 ° d i a " db y. gardeners to prune tiees W hen short, it is called a hand-bill • and when long, a hedge-bill. ’ h in law Proceedings, is a declaration in aritiug, expressing either the wronn- f}> ( > complainant had suffered by the party com- plained of, or some fault committed agaifist some law or statute of the realm ; and this bill is sometimes addressed to the lord chan- cellor, especially tor unconscionable wrones done to the complainant ; and sometimes fo others having jurisdiction, according ti e law directs. It contains the fact com pained of, the damages thereby sustained, and peti- bon of process against the defendant for re- dress ; and it is made use of m criminal a" when a S ? iatters ‘ ln criminal cases' Mien a grand jury upon presentment or S’ dope ' on *** in - oIleiMk-r is said to stajid’indicted! U C Up ™ fh ° Many of the proceedings in the kina’s bench are by bill, which was the antient form ot proceeding. Iolm Bill of credit, is that which a merchant a person whom he “i tiust, empowering him to receive ! from hi, correspondents in foreign cot trS 'Lr f' f 5 ;, ? m en W toe same privi- tges. tor the money paid in consequence of them is recoverable by law. 1 hiLL in equity, is in the form of a peti- monf o/H t0 , tlre lord ehanedior or batons of the exchequer, with which a suit in chancery or the exchequer commences cafe!,t'ta4* Ul the u'toumstances of the’ an 'Iff; ‘" se : A bill of exchange is ; ,° V or request m writing, addressed by °! e P ei son to another, to pay a certain sum oi money on demand, or at a time specified, to a third person, or to his order ; or it mav he made payable to bearer. 7 assiLmtbl 1 ' 1 ! 15 t K r ie BLvable to bearer, it is ■'file Pi n - r d f lvcr y on| y ; bul if it IS pay- T fo to order, it must be transferred by ifi- dorsement and delivery. The pe son mak ng or drawing the bill is called W draper- dZl eVS01 l l ° , wh r ifc addressed tU tl e m ’ w . h V vhen he has undertaken to pay Pr 3 • Unt ’, 13 termed the acceptor. The m . j 1 ' 11 whose favour the bill is drawn is nilfP? 1 pa//Ce ’ butif he appoints some other person to receive the money, he is ■iPDointeirp th - 6 , ! ldorser > and the person so j ppointed the indorsee. No particular form 3 nece ssary , n a bill of exchange; any or- , “iul r n Pr °" llse whicl, from ,he time of making it, cannot be complied with, or per- bilimnote ° f is a j', ed at tt! e time therein limited, to a person therein named, or sometimes to his order or often to the bearer at large : t his is also made assignable, and indorsable like a bill of ex- thems-iv ;; ny pcrs0n3 ca P able of binding b II Of P 7 a COntract ma y be parties to a I ot exchange, or other negotiable instru- " e f . / be , m an y ma nner concerned in ne- gotiating either ot them. An infant there- ° r ,q n ! arne( J ' vo ' nan ( ex cept in certain sh In t| Where 5 7 the custom of London she has the privilege of trading as a feme E I L B I L B N sole), as they are incapable of binding them- selves by contract, cannot be parties to a ne- gotiable instrument ; yet such instrument, negotiated by persons incapacitated, will ne- vertheless be valid as to all other competent parties. 2 Atk. 181. Bills of exchange are either foreign or in- land ; foreign when drawn by a merchant re- siding abroad upon his correspondent in Eng- land, or vice versa ; and inland, when both the drawer and the drawee reside in the kingdom. By 9 and 10 W. III. c. 17. and 3 and 4 Anne, c. 9, all distinctions be- tween. foreign and inland bills, as far as re- spect the custom of merchants, are remov- ed ; and the same principles of law are ge- nerally applicable to both. See Stamps. Bilis or notes must be certain, and not de- pend on any particular event or contingency. 3 Wils. 213“ If a bill or note is made in a foreign country, it must be conformable to the laws of that country, or it will not be valid. If a bill or note is altered while in the hands of the payee, or any other holder, in any material instance, as date, sum, &c. without consent of the d razee e, he will be discharged from his liability, although such bill or note may afterwards come into the hands of an indorsee not aware of the altera- tion ; but in this case, if altered before ac- ceptance or indorsement, the acceptor can take no advantage of the alteration ; and the consent of any one of the parties to the al- teration, will in general preclude him from taking an advantage of it. 4 '1'. R. 320. If a bill is made with a proper stamp, and afterwards altered by the consent of the par- ties, though before negotiation a new stamp is necessary, as it is a different contract. 5 T. R. 357. If, however, there be a stamp of equal or superior value, the proper one may be affixed, on payment of 405. before the' instrument is due, and 10/. after it is due. But if there is not originally a stamp amount- ing to the requisite value, the omission can never be legally supplied. Evans, p. 6. The acceptor of a bill is, by the custom of the merchants, as effectually bound by his acceptance, as if he had been the original drawer ; and having once accepted it, he cannot afterwards revoke it. Cro. Jaci 303. See Acceptance. The indorser of a bill is as liable as the first drawer ; because the in- dorsement is in the nature of a new bill. 1 Salk. 125. To indorse a bill wdth a ficti- tious name, is forgery, though such indorse- ment be useless. A presentment, either for payment or ac- ceptance, must be made at seasonable hours. In case a bill is not regularly paid, the holder has a right to recover not only the princi- pal, but also, in certain cases, costs and da- mages. Notice is that information which the holder of a negotiable instrument is bound to give to all the antecedent parties. If the drawee refuses to accept, or having accepted, if he refuses payment, or if he offers an acceptance varying from the bill ; in either of the above cases the bill is dishonoured ; and the holder, in case of neglect to communicate notice within a reasonable time, will not be at liberty to resort to the other parties, who by such negligence will be discharged from their re- spective obligations. Bur. 2670. Notice of conditional or partial acceptance should be given to the other parties to the bill by the holder, in default of payment ; for if under these circumstances a general notice of non- acceptance is given to any of the parties, omitting to mention in such notice the na- ture of the acceptance offered, the acceptor is discharged, by this act of the holder, from his acceptance. IT. R. 182. A protest is an act of a notary-public, stating that a bill has been presented lor ac- ceptance, or for payment, and refused , and declaring that the acceptor, indorsers, See. shall be liable for damages, Sec. and to this instrument all foreign courts give entire cre- dit. In the first instance the notary marks or notes the minute of refusal on the bid it- self, and afterwards the instrument is drawn out and attested under his hand and seal. The want of a protest can in no case be sup- plied by noting, which is a mere preparatory minute, of which the law r takes no cognizance as distinguished from a protest. If there is no notary resident at or near the place, the bill must, when payable, be protested by some substantial resident, in the presence of two or more witnesses, and should in ge- neral be made at the place where payment is refused ; but when a bill is drawn abroad, directed to the drawee at Southampton or London, or any other place, requesting him to pay the payee in London, the protest for non-acceptance of such bill may be made either at Southampton or London. Notice should be given on the day of refusal to ac- cept, if any post or ordinary conveyance set out on the clay ; and if not, by the next ear- liest conveyance. 4 T. R. 174. An usance is generally understood to mean only a month. Molloy 207. 1 Shaw 217. Instead of an express limitation by months or days, we continually find the bills drawn or payable at Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Ham- burgh, Altana, Paris or any other place in France, Cadiz, Madrid, Bilboa, Leghorn, Genoa, or Venice, limited* by the usance, that is, the usage between those places and this country. An usance between tliis king- dom and Amsterdam, .Rotterdam, Ham- burgh, Altona, Paris, or any place in France, is one calendar month from the date of the bill; an usance between us and Cadiz, Ma- drid, or Bilboa, two ; an usance between us and Leghorn, Genoa, or Venice, three. A double usance is double the accustomed time ; a half-usance, half. Upon a half- usance, if it be necessary to divide a month, the division, notwithstanding .the difference of the length of months, shall contain fifteen days. Blag. 13. Bill of entry, an account of the goods en- tered at the custom-houses both imvards and outwards. In this bill must be expressed the merchant exporting or importing the quan- tity of merchandises, and the divers species thereof, and whither or whence transported. Bill of lading, an acknowledgment signed by the master of a ship, and given to a mer- chant, &c. containing an account of the goods which the master has received on board from that merchant, See. with a promise to deliver them at an intended place for a cer- tain sum. Eacli bill of lading must be treble ; one for the merchant who loads the goods, another to be sent to the person to whom they are consigned, and the third to remain in the hands of the master of the ship. It must be observed, however, that a 219 bill of lading is used only when the goods sent on board a ship are but part of (he car- go : for when a merchant loads a whole ves- sel for his own personal account, the deed passed between him and the master oi the ship is called charter-party. Bill in parliament, a paper containing propositions offered to the houses, to be pass- ed by them, and then to be presented to the king to pass into an act or law. Bill of sale, is when a person wanting a sum of money, delivers goods as a security to the lender, to whom he gives this bill, im- powering him to sell the goods in case the sum borrowed is not repaid, with interest, at the appointed time. Bill of store, a licence granted at the cus- tom-house to merchants, by which they have liberty to carry, custom-free, all such stores and provisions as they may have occasion for during their voyage. Bill of sufferance, a licence granted to a merchant, at the custom-house, suffering him to trade from one English port to ano- ther, without paying custom. Bill, or beak, the elongated horny pro- cesses or mandibles of birds. The form of the bill varies so greatly in different kinds of birds, that they afford the most permanent character by which these creatures may be arranged. In the distribution of families, Linnams first notices the structure of the bill, the tongue, and nostrils, and these parts constitute almost exclusively, with the legs, the distinction of the genera likewise. The phoenicopter’s bill is a true hyperbole : the upper part moves and the lower is fixed, which is the Contrary to what is found in other kinds. The woodpecker’s bill will pierce the hardest timber. In the island of Ferro, a fixed reward is given for the bills of ravenous birds. All watermen are obliged to bring a certain number yearly to the country courts, at the feast of St. Olaus, when they are thrown into a heap and burnt in triumph. BILLET, in heraldry, a bearing in form of a long square. They are supposed to re- present pieces of cloth of gold or. silver,, but Guillim thinks they represent a lefter sealed up ; and other authors take them for bricks. Billete signifies that the escutcheon is all over strewed with billets, the number not ascer- tained. BILLIARDS, an ingenious kind of game played on an oblong table, covered with green cloth, and placed exactly level, with little ivory balls, which are driven by crook- ed sticks, made on purpose, into hazards or holes on the edge and corners of the table, according to certain rules of the game. BIMEDIAL, in mathematics. If two medial lines, as A B and B C, commensurable only in power, containing a rational rectangle, are compounded, the whole line AC will be irrational, and is called a first bimedial line. B A 1 C See Euclid, lib. X. prop. 38. BINARY arithmetic, that wherein unity or 1 and 0 are only used. This was the invention of Mr. Leibnitz, who shews it to be very expeditious in dis- covering the properties of numbers, and in constructing tables : and JN1. Dangecourt, in (hehistory of tlic Itoyal Academy dfSclcnre*, fij'fs a specimen <4 it concerning arithme- tical progre-.sionals ; where he skews that, because in binary arithmetic, only two cha- racters are user], therefore the laws' of pro- gression may be more easily discovered by it than by common arithmetic. All the characters used in binary arith- metic, are 0 and 1 ; and the cypher multi- plies every tiling by 2, as in the common arithmetic by 10. Thus 1 is one ; 10, two, il, three; 100, four; 101, five; 110, six; 111, seven ; _ ! 000, eight ; 1001, nine ; 1 () 1 0, ten ; which is built on the same principles with common arithmetic. 1 lie author, however, does not recom- mend this method for common use, because ot the great number of figures required to express a number ; and adds, that' if the com- mon progression were from 12 to 12, or from 16 lo lb, it would be still more expe- ditious. Binary arithmetic appears to have been the same with that used among the Chinese 4000 years ago, and left in enigma by Fohi, the founder ot their empire and sciences. Binary measure, in music, is a measure which is beaten equally, or where the time of rising is equal to that of falling. This is usually called common time, beside which there is a binary triple. BIND of eels, a quantity consisting of two hundred and fifty ; or ten' strikes, each con- taining twenty five eels. Bind-weed. See Convolvulus. BING, in the alum-works, denotes a heap of alum throw n together in order to drain. BINOMIAL, in algebra, a root consisting of two members connected by the sign -j- or — . ft bus a -f- b and 8 — 3 are binomials, consisting ( ot the sum and difference of these quantities, j The powers of any binomial are found by a ’ continual multiplication of it by itself. For j example, the cube or third power of a -}~k will I be found by multiplication to be a 3 -{- ?>a 2 [> -}- ! Sab 1 -j- P ; and if the powers of a — 6 are re- ! quired, they will be found the same as the pre- j ceding, only the terms in which the exponent of b is an odd numb dr will be found negative, t hus, the cube of a — b will he found to be i « -f- Sa 2 b -j- Sab 1 — b ' ; where the second and \ fourth terms are negative, the exponent of b j being an odd number of these terms. In general, j the terms of any power of a — b are positive and negative by turns. See Algebra. BINOCULAR telescope, a kind of di- j (jptric telescope fitted with two tubes joined in such a manner, that one may see a distant object with both eyes at the same time. BIPED, an animal furnished with onlv two legs. Men and birds are bipeds. Apes j occasionally walk on their hind legs, and seem j to be of this tribe ; but their more natural po- | sition is on all four. I he term is used for a genus of reptiles ! that belong to the lizard family. These have S a very long body covered with scales, and the | 'tocsot the two little feet are armed with nails, j BIPENNIS, in Roman antiquity, an ax' with a double edge, one of which was used in Stabbing, and the other in cutting. BIQUADRATIC power, in algebra, the \ fourth power, or squared square, of a num- ber: as 16 is the biquadratic power of 2; for 2 X 2 is 4, and 4 x 4 is equal to 1 6. Biquadratic root of a number, is the square root . of its square root: thus the bi- quadratic root ot 81 is 3; for the square root B 1 li of 81 is <}, ami the square root of 0 is 3. See Algebra. Biquadratic equation, an equation where toe unknown quantity of one of the terms has four dimensions. Any biquadratic equation may be conceived as generated by the multiplication of four simple equations. Thus, if ,r — a, x — b, x — c , x ~J, or x — a — O, a- — b — O, .v _ , 0 ’ v _ d — 0 ; then v/ili x — a x x — b x x — - c X x — d : o beget a biquadratic equation. Or it ma y be forme d of two quad ratic equations, as a -j- bx -j- c x -V* -j- dx -j- e — 0 ; or, lastly, it may be produced from the multiplication of one c ubic and one simple equation, as x — a X -V s -j- e x 2 -j- d x — j- £ — O. Bi RCII-tree. See Betula. BIRD, avis, in zoology, one of the six general classes of animals, the characters of whicn a i e, that their body is covered with feathers, and that tney nave two wings, two legs, and a Dili of a firm bony, or rather horny substance : add to this, that the fe- males are all oviparous. 1 he knowledge oi birds, of the orders and genera into which they are subdivided, and ot their nature, uses, figures, &c. constitutes a particular science, under the name of or- nithology ; in which there are six orders, viz. accipkres, pica:, anseres, grallai, galling, and passeres. Birds, in heraldry, according to their se- veral kinds, represent either the contempla- tive or active life. They are the emblems of liberty, expedition, readiness, swiftness, and fear. Birds that are either whole-footed, or have their feet divided and yet have no talons, are said to be membered ; but the cock, and all birds of prey with sharp and hooked beaks and talons, for encounter or defence, are termed armed. In the blazon- ing of birds, if their wings are not displayed, they are said to he borne close ; as, he bear- eth kn eagle, &c. close. BIRD-CATCHING, is the art of taking birds or wild-fowl, either for food, or for the pleasure ot their songs in cages, or for pre- venting the destruction which some species ot them occasion to the husbandmen. Sonic recur to it as an amusing pastime, and others practice it as a profitable employment. There are various methods of catching birds: one of the most systematic and ingenious is prac- tised in the neighbourhood "of London, by persons who find a ready market for birds ot any kind, which at certain seasons of the year change their situation, and hence are called birds of flight. The birds usually taken on such occasions, are wood-larks, tit- larks, linnets, goldfinches, greenfinches, &c. which are taken during what is called their flight, or while they congregate for the purpose of propagating their species. The nets used by bird-catchers are about twelve yards long, and two and a half wide ; which are spread on the ground parallel to one an- other, and at such a distance,- that when turned over, they shall coincide. The re- maining apparatus consists of lines so fasten- ed to the nets, that the bird-catcher is able by a sudden pull to draw the net over the birds that may have alighted in the space between the parallel sides. These birds are enticed to alight by others usually denomi- nated call-birds, of which there are generally five or six linnets, two goldfinches, two green- finches, one wood-lark, one red-poll, a yel- BIR low-hammer, a fit-lark, an aberdevine,' end perhaps a bullfinch. Resides these, they have others which are cAk-d liur- birds: but the call-birds are particularly trained for the seniee ; and when the nets are laid, these are properly arranged, and they appear to possess a most malicious desire of ‘bringing the wild ones into the same state of captivity with themselves. When they perceive the approach of the wild birds, the intelligence is announced from cage to cage with tire utmost extacy. The note by which they in- vite them down, has so powerful an ascend- g'-v } ovei tile wild birds, that the moment tney hear it, they alight on a spot within twenty yards of the bird-catchers. If only half the flock is caught by the first pull of the string, the others that escape will soon return to the net, and share the fate of their companions ; such is tiie fasci- nating power that the call-birds possess over those that are wild. Birds^re caught in traps of various kinds ; and frequently by nooses of hair. In this way, great numbers of wheatears are annually taken on the various downs of England. Small holes are dug by the shepherds m the ground, in each of which is placed a noose. W henever a cloud obscures the sun, these timid birds seek for shelter under a slone, or creep into any holes that present themselves ; ami they are thus ensnared by the nooses which fasten around their necks. Wood- cch ks and snipes are taken likewise by nooses of horse-hair placed along their paths, in marshes and moist grounds. Wild ducks in all their varieties are taken in vast num- Ixtr every winter on our coasts by means of decoys. (See Decoy.) Grouse and partridges are taken by means of nets: either at night when resting on the ground, by observing where they alight, and when setted, drawing a net over that part of the fit ;d , or, in the day, a very- steady dog is used to point at them. The attention of the birds being thus fixed, tw’o persons, drawing tin tw o extremities oi a large nef, pass il ov<-r them, and thus secure a whole pack of grouse, or covey of partridges, at once. Phea- sants are sometimes taken by night, by holding flaming sulphur under the trees on w inch they are observed to perch, the suf- focating effluvia of which make them fall senseless. In various parts of the world, peculiar inodes are adopted for ensnaring anti taking biuls , some of which, whilst they are hazardous to those who practise them, excite no inconsiderable degree of surprise, and even of anxiety, in the spectators. Thus, in the Orkney islands, where the birds that inhabit the rocks, and the eggs which they deposit among the cliffs, supply the principal food of many among the poorer inhabitants, the intrepid and adventurous fowlers climb rocky precipices more than {fifty fathoms above the sea, and pass from one shelf or ledge, to another, whose breadth is barely sufficient for resting-places to the birds which deposit their eggs upon them. In this hazardous employment, the adventurers are commonly lowered from above by means oi a rope,. formed often of brittle materials, and held by a single assistant. Fastened to this lope, the intrepid peasant descends, and seat dies all the cavities for eggs; springum lrom one projecting ledge to another, by B 1 tl the help of a pole ; whilst the ivw’tftant, upon receiving the necessary signals, shifts the' rope from one part of the rocky precipice fo another. If the weight of the -fowler and of bis booty should, in these perilous circum- stances, overpower his associate above, or the craggy rock cut the rope, inevitable de- struction must await the adventurer ; for he will either be dashed against the projecting rock, or drowned in the subjacent sea. But the most singular mode of bird-catching is in the holm ot Noss ; which is a huge reck severed from the isle of Noss by some un- known convulsion, and distant from it about sixteen fathoms. The opposite cliffs are se- parated by the raging sea. The adventurer, having reached the rock in a boat, and as- cended to the top of it, fastens several stakes in the shallow soil that, is found on the sur- face of the rock ; and similar stakes are also attached to the edge of the corresponding I and opposite cliff. A rope is then fixed to the stakes on both sides, upon which a ma- I chine, called a cradle, is contrived to slide ; and bv Die help of a small parallel cord fastened in like manner, the daring adven- turer wafts himself over, ami returns with his booty. In the Feroe islands the method of bird- catching is more extraordinary and hazard- ous than any which lias already been re- cited. Tire cliffs to which the fowlers re- cur, are in many cases 200 fathoms high ; I and they are traversed both from above and below. In the first case, the fowlers provide themselves with a rope 80 or 100 fathoms j long; and the adventurer fastens one end about his waist and between his legs, and having recommended himself to the protec- tion of the Almighty, he is lowered down by six associates, who place a piece of wood , in the margin of the rock, that the rope may be preserved from being fretted and broken by its sharp edge. 'Fo Ids body is fastened a small line, which serves for enabling him to give the necessary signals, when he wishes to be raised or lowered, or shifted from one place to another. In changing his situation, he is exposed to the hazard of injury from loosened and falling stones ; which falling on the head, must inevitably destroy him, if he was not in some degree protected by a strong thick cap. The fowlers, by their as- tonishing dexterity, contrive to place their feet against the front of the precipice, and to dart themselves some fathoms from it, for the purpose of surveying the roosting-places of the birds, and projecting themselves into the deep recesses where they lodge. 'There the fowler aiights; and disengaging himself from the rope, which he tixes to a stone, collects tire booty at his leisure, attaches it " to his girdle, and when this is done, resumes his suspended posture. He will also, when occasions require it, spring from the rock ; and in this attitude, by means of a fowling- net fixed to the end of a staff, catch the old birds which are flying to and from their re- treats. When this hazardous operation is finished, he gives a signal to Iris companions above ; who pull him up, and divide the booty. The feathers are preserved for ex- portation ; the flesh is partly eaten fresh, and the greater part is dried for winter’s pro- vision. In fowling from below, the party have recourse to a boat ; .and when they have arrived at the base of the precipice. BIS one of thf most intrepid of them fastens a ] rope about his waist, and being iunu hed 1 With a long pole, with an iron hook at one I end, either climbs, or is thrust up by Ins companions, who place a pole under h m,to the next footing-spot within bis reach. By means of the rope he hoists up one o' the boat's crew ; and the rest are drawn up in the same manner, each of them being fur- nished with his rope and fowling-staff. They licm pursue their journey upwards, till they arrive at the region of the birds ; and they wander about the cli'.t in search of them. 'They next act in pairs ; one fastens himself to the end of his associate’s rope, and, in places where birds have nestled be- neath his footing, he suffers himself to be lowered down, depending for safety on the strength of his companion, by whom he is again hauled up ; but it sometimes happens, that the person above is overpowered by the weight, and in this case both inevitably perish. The fowl is flung into the boat, which attends their operations for the pur- pose of receiving the booty. The fowlers often pass seven or eight days in this perilous occupation, and lodge in the crannies wiiich they find in various parts of the precipice. Bird-lime, a viscid substance, prepared in different ways. The most common bird- lime among us, is made from holly-bark, boiled ten or twelve hours ; when the green coat being separated from the other, it is covered up a fortnight in a moist place, then pounded into a tough paste so that no fibres of the wood are discernible, and washed in a running stream till no motes appear ; put up to ferment four or five days, skimmed as often as any thing arises, and laid up for use. To use it, a third part of nut-oil, or thin grease, must be incorporated with it over • the lire. It is also made from the gluten of wheat. The Italians make bird-lime of the berries of the misleto-tree. That which comes from Damascus is supposed to be made of sebas- tens : and it is said that the bark of any of our wayfaring shrubs will make very good bird-lime. BIRRUS, in Roman antiquity, a cloak made of woollen cloth, worn by the soldiers : also a robe worn by the priests or bishops. BIRTH. See Midwifery. Birth, or Birthing, in the sea-language, a convenient place to moor a ship in ; also a due distance observed by ships lying at anchor, or under sail ; and a proper place aboard for a mess to put their chests, Ac. is called the birth of that mess. BIRTH WORT. See Aristolochia. BISA, or biza, a coin of Pegu, which is current there for half a ducat. It is also a weight used in that kingdom. B1SCUTELLA, buckler-mustard, or bastard Mithridate mustard : a genus of the tetradynamia siliculosa class and order of plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the 39th order, siliquosae. The silicula is flat-compressed, rounded above, and below two-lobed, and the leaves of the calyx are gibbous at the base. There are six species, all natives of France, Italy, Spain, and Ger- many ; of which the most remarkable are : 1 ,'Biscutella apula, with flowers growing in spikes, and a shorter style. 2. Biscutella auriculata, with small pods joined to the style. BIS 221 3. Riirutrild didyniu, with a double <-'i;i- cular ped diverging bom the style. BISECT, U> divide into two parts. The. rational horizon bisects the globe into two equal parts. BISELLIA1U, or Biselliarji, in anti- quity, those who enj- \ed the honour or pri- vilege of the hiseiliinn. BldELLIl M, in antiquity, a kind of seat or chair, larger and richer than oiv.ma.ry, big enough to hold two persons, wherein to sit in courts, theatres, and other public assem- blies. BISERRULA, a genus of the decandria order, and diadeiphia class oi pi ; and in the natural method ranking under tire 3 rd order, papilionacea*: thelegmncn is bilocular and flat ; and the partition contrary. Oi this ’genus there is only one species known, viz. Biserrula pelecina, an annual plant, with purple flowers; a native of tfie south of Europe. BISHOP, signifies an over rer or super- intendant. An archbishop, is the chief of the clergy in his own province, who next and immediately under the king has supreme power, &c. in all causes and things ecclesiastical; and has the inspection of ail the bishops of that province, lie 1ms also his own diocese, where he exercises episcopal jurisdiction, as in his province he exercises arehiepiscopal. As archbishop, upon receipt of tiie king’s writ, he calls the bishops and clergy of his province to meet in convocation : to him all appeals are made from inferior jurisdictions within his province. During the vacancy of any see in his pro- vince, he is guardian of the spiritualities thereof. If the arehiepiscopal see .is vacant, the clean and chapter are the spiritual guar- dians. The archbishop is entitled to present by lapse, to all the ecclesiastical livings in the disposal of the diocesan bishops, if not filled within six months. And he has a cus- tomary prerogative, when a bishop is conse- crated by him, to have the next presentation to such dignity or benefice in the bishop’s disposal, as the archbishop shall clutse; which is therefore called his option. 1 Black. 380. The archbishops may retain and quali- fy eight chaplains, whereas a bishop can only qualify six. Bishops are elected by the dean and chap- ter ; in order whercunto, when a bishop dies or is translated, the dean and chapter certify the king thereof in chancery ; upon- which the king issues a licence to them to proceed to an election, called aconge-d’elire ; and wfith it sends a letter missive, containing the name of the person whom they shall elect ; which if they shall refuse to do, they incur the penalty of a praemunire. A bishop must be full thirty years of age when consecrated. A bishop has his consistory court, to hear ecclesiastical causes ; and is to visit the clergy, &c. Fie consecrates churches; ordains, ad- mits, and institutes priests ; confirms, sus- pends, excommunicates, grants licences for marriage, makes probates of wills, &c. Co. Lit. 96. Rol. Abr. 230. In England there are twenty-four bishop- rics, and two archbishoprics,; in Scotland, none ; in Ireland eighteen bishoprics, and, four archbishoprics: and in the pjpish coun- tries abroad they are still more numerous. AU bishops of England are lord; of parlia- 222 B 1 S B I S ment, except the bishop of Man, and as sucn sit and vote in the house of lords ; they are barons in a threefold manner, viz. feudal, in regard to the temporalities annexed to their bishoprics ; by writ, as being summon- ed by writ to parliament ; and lastly, by pa- tent and creation : accordingly, they have the precedence of all other barons, and vote as barons and bishops, and claim all the pri- vileges enjoyed by the temporal lords, ex- cepting that they cannot be tried by their peeis ; because, in cases of blood, they them- selves cannot pass upon the trial, for they are prohibited, by the canons of the church, to be judges of life and death. BlbKET. See Baker. BISMILLAH, a solemn form used by the Mahometans, at the beginning of all their books and other writings, signifying “ in the name of the most merciful God.”” It is also used among the Arabs as a word oi invitation to eat. An Arab prince fre- quently sits down to eat in the street before his own door, or under the shade of a wide- spreading tree, and calls all that pass, even beggars, by this word, who come and sit down to eat with him ; “ for,” says Pocock, “ the Arabs are great levellers, and set every body on a footing with themselves.” BISMUTH, in natural history, a genus of the semi-metals, the most usual appearance of which is in form of an ore, intimately mixed with silver, a large quantity of arse*- nic, and an earthy matter which yields co- balt The ancients were acquainted with bis- muth, but they confounded it with tin. It is mentioned occasionally by the alchymists and earlier mineralogists ; and referred 'some- times to tin, sometimes to lead, and some- times to antimony. The German miners gave it the name of lectum argenti ; and ap- pear to have considered it as silver begin- ning to form, and not yet completed. ° Bismuth is of a reddish-white colour, and almost destitute of taste and smell. It is composed of broad brilliant plates adhering to each other. The figure of its particles, according to Hauy, is an octahedron, or two four-sided pyramids applied base to base. r Its hardness is 7. Its specific gravity is 9.8227. When hammered cautiously, its density, as Muschenbroek ascertained, 'is considerably increased. It is not therefore very brittle ; it breaks, however, when struck smartly by a hammer, and consequently is not mal- leable. Neither can it be drawn out into wire. Its tenacity has not been ascertained. When heated to the temperature of 4600, it melts ; and if the heat is much encreased, it evaporates, and may be distilled over in close vessels. When' allowed to cool slowly, and when the liquid metal is withdrawn, as soon as the surface congeals it crystallizes in parallelepipeds, which cross each other at right angles. When exposed to the air, it soon loses its •lustre, but scarcely undergoes any other change. It is not altered when kept under water- Only two oxides of bismuth are at present known. But the combination of this metal with oxygen has been more neglected by chemists than almost any other. When kept melted in an open vessel, BIS its surface is soon covered with a dark-blue pellicle ; when this is removed, another suc- ceeds, till the whole metal is oxidized. When these pellicles are kept hot and agitated in an open vessel, they are soon converted into a brownish powder, known by the name of brown oxide. This is the protoxide of bismuth. According to Fourcroy, it is com- posed ot ninety parts of bismuth, and ten of oxygen. When bismuth is raised to a strong red heat, it takes fire, and burns with a faint blue flame, and emits a yellow smoke. When this is collected, it is a yellow powder, not volatile, which lias been called yellow oxide of bismuth. When bismuth is dissolved in nitric acid, if water is poured into the solution, a white powder precipitates, which was formerly call- ed magistery of bismuth, and at present white oxide of bismuth. According to the experi- ments of Klaproth, it is composed of 81.3 parts bismuth and 17.7 of oxygen. This oxide is used as a paint under the name of pearl white. The oxides of bismuth are very easily con- verted into glass ; for that reason bismuth is sometimes used in the process of cupellation instead of lead. It was first proposed for that purpose by Dufay in 1727, and his ex- periments were afterwards confirmed by Pott. ' These oxides are easily reduced when heated with charcoal or other combustible bodies ; for the affinity between bismuth and oxygen is but weak. Bismuth has not been combined with carbon or hydrogen, neither does it seem capable of combining in any notable propor- tion with phosphorus. Sulphur combines readily with bismuth by fusion. The sulphuret of bismuth is of a bluish-grey “colour, and crystallizes into beau- tiful tetrahedral needles. It is composed of 85 parts of bismuth and 15 of sulphur. Bismuth combines with almost all the me- tals, but few of its alloys are much used. 1. Equal parts of bismuth and gold form a brittle alloy, nearly of the same colour with bismuth; the specific gravity of which is greater than tiie mean. 2. The alloy of bismuth and platinum if also very brittle. When exposed to the air, it assumes a purple, violet, or blue colour. The bismuth can scarcely be separated by heat. 3. Bismuth combines readily with silver by fusion. The alloy is brittle, lamellar, and nearly of the colour of bismuth. This alloy is sometimes formed, in order to purify silver by the pro- cess of cupellation. 4. Mercury combines readily with bismuth, either by triturating the metals together, or by pouring two parts of hot mercury into one part of melted bis- muth. This amalgam is at first soft, but it becomes gradually hard. When melted and cooled slowly, it crystallizes. When the quantity of mercury exceeds the bismuth considerably, the amalgam remains fluid, and has the property of dissolving lead and rendering it also' fluid. This triple com- pound may be Altered through shamoy leather without decomposition. Mercury is sometimes adulterated with these metals ; but the imposition may be easily detected, not only by the specific gravity of the mer- cury, which is too small, but because it drags a tail, as the workmen say ; that is, when a drop of it is agitated on a plane surface, the drop does not remain spherical, but part of it adheres to the surface, as if it was not com- pletely fluid, or as if it was inclosed in a thin pellicle. 5. Copper forms with bismuth a brittle alloy of a pale-red colour, and a spe- cific gravity exactly the mean of that of the two metals* alloyed. 6. Bismuth combines but imperfectly with iron. The alloy is brittle, and attracted by the magnet even” when the bismuth amounts to three-fourths of the whole. The specific gravity of this alloy is less than the mean. 7. Bismuth and tin unite readily. A small portion of bismuth increases the brightness, hardness, and sonorousness of tin : it often enters into the composition of pewter. Equal parts of tin and bismuth form an alloy that melts at 280 degrees ; eight parts of tin and one of bismuth melt at 390 degrees; two parts of tin and one of bismuth at 330 degrees. 8. The alloy of lead and bismuth is of a dark-grey colour, and close grain. It is ductile," unless the bismuth exceeds the lead considerably. Bis- muth encreases the tenacity of lead prodi- giously. Muschenbroek found, that the te- nacity of an alloy composed of three parts ot lead and two of bismuth, was ten times greater than that of pure lead. The speci- fic gravity of this alloy is greater than the mean. y. When eight parts of bismuth, five of lead, and three of tin, are melted toge- ther, a white-coloured alloy is obtained, which melts at the temperature of 212 de- grees, and therefore remains fusible under boiling water. 10. The alloy of bismuth is brittle, and formed of thin plates. 11. Bis- muth does not combine with zinc. BISON, see Bps. BISSECTION, in geometry, the division of a line, angle, &c. into two equal parts. BISSEXTILE, in chronology, a year con- sisting of three hundred and sixty-six days, being the same with our leap-year. The true solar year, or that space of time which flows while the sun is moving from any one point of the ecliptic till he returns to the same point again, consists of 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 57' seconds. The year made use of by the antient Egyptians con- sisted ot 365 days ; which being less than the r true solar year by nearly six hours, they lost a day every four years. * Julius Caesar being high-priest among the Romans, and consider- ing the inconveniences arising from this me- thod of computation, ordered that every fourth year should have an intercalary day, and that this additional day should be added to the month ot February ; wherefore this method of computation is called the Julian account, or old style. Yet, as the true length of the year consists of 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes nearly, it follows that, according to this way of reckon- ing, at the end of every four years the civil year will begin 44 minutes sooner than it did before, consequently in 33 1 years it will an- ticipate by one whole day : for this reason pope Gregory XIII. set himself upon reform- ing the calendar; and finding, in the year 1582, that the equinox had anticipated” ten whole days, he ordered that these ten days should be taken out of the calendar that year, and the lltli of March should be reckoned the j?2 1 st ; and ordered that every hundredth year, which, according to the Julian form, was to be bissextile, should be a common E I T B I T B 1 X 223 year, and consist of 3G5 days : but because that was too much, every four-hundredth year was to remain b.ssextile. This method of computation is called the Gregorian, or new style ; it was received in most foreign coun- tries ever since the reforming of the calen- dar ; and by act of parliament passed in the twenty-fifth year of his late majesty’s i reign, viz. 1 75 1; it commenced in all the clo- I minions under the crown of Great Britain, in the year following ; ordering that the na- tural day following the second of September, [, should be accounted the fourteenth, omitting j the intermediate eleven days of the common I calendar. BISTT, in commerce, a small coin of t "Persia: some say that it is among the cur- | rent silver coins of Persia, and worth only a little above three farthings of our money; others speak of it again as a money of ac- i count. BISTORT. See Polyganum. BISTOURY, in surgery, an instrument for making incisions, of which there are dif- ferent kinds ; some being of the form of a lancet, others straight and fixed in the handle like a knife, and others crooked with the sharp edge on the inside. BISTRE, or Bister, among painters, de- I notes a glossy soot pulverised and made into a kind of cakes, with gum-water. It is used to wash their designs. Bistre is made by putting spot of dry wood, | as beech, into water, in the proportion of two ' pounds to a gallon, and boiling them half an I hour. After the fluid has settled, pour off j the clearer part while it remains hot. Eva- ' porate the fluid to dryness, and what remains I is good bistre. BIT, or Bitt, an essential part of a bridle, j There are many kinds of bits ; the most j simple is a short rod of iron, made rather wider than the mouth of the horse, and pro- vided with a hook or ring at each end for fastening the reins to. The next is a rod ] similar to the former, broken in two pieces, and connected by a joint in the middle; i the former is intended for heavy draft t horses, the latter for those of light draft. The next is the snaffle, which is provided with two cross pieces that rest against the ; lips or sides of the mouth; for as the snaffle j is intended for the saddle-horse, and the reins go to the hands, so the cross pieces are useful in preventing the bit from being drawn through the mouth. The number of | parts of which the mouth-piece of the snaffle j is composed, may be increased to any ex- ; tent, as it may be made with 1 , 2, or several | joints; and hence it acquires new properties ! and effects which require attention ; its gentleness or rigour will depend almost | wholly on these conditions. Another is the i curb bit, the mouth-piece of which is usually provided with an upset or arch in the middle, as, if perfectly straight, it would rest upon the tongue, and occasion an unpleasant re- I straint. It has been Sometimes called the liberty bit, on account of the freedom which it allows to the tongue ; by others it has been called the porte-mouth bit, vulgarly the Portsmouth-bit ; and by a supposed op- posite expression we gettheWeymouth-bit. Bit also denotes the iron part of a piercer, augre, and the like instruments. Bit of a key, the part which contains the wards. | Bits, or Bitts, in ship-building, the name | of two great timbers, usually placed abaft j the manger, in the ship’s loof, through which the cross-piece goes : the use of it is to belay the cable thereto, while the ship is at an- chor. BITTACLE, on ship-board, a square box standing before him that steers the ship, with the compass placed in it, to keep and direct the ship in her course. BITTER, a sea-term, signifying any turn of the cable about the bits, so as that the cable may be let out by little and little ; and when a ship is stopped by a cable, she is said to be brought up by a bitter. Also that end of the cable which is wound about the bits is called the bitter end of the cable. BITTERN, in the salt-works, the brine remaining after the salt is concreted: this they ladle oft’, that the salt may be taken out of the pan, and afterwards put in again ; when, being farther boiled, it yields more salt. See Salt. BITUMEN, in natural history, is under- stood by mineralogists in general, to be an oil which is found in different parts of the earth, in various states of consistence. These different states form distinct species ; in the arrangement of which we shall be guided by the observations which Mr. Hatchet has made in his valuable paper on bituminous substances. Sp. 1. Naphtha. This substance is found sometimes on the surface of the water of springs, and sometimes issuing from certain strata. It is found in great abundance in Persia. It is as fluid and transparent as water. Colour white, or yellowish white. Smell strong, but not disagreeable. Specific gra- vity when wiiite .708 or .729 ; when yellowish .8475. Feels greasy. Catches fire on the approach of flame, burns with a white flame, and leaves scarcely any residuum. Sp. 2. Petroleum. This substance is also found in Persia, and likewise in many coun- tries in Europe, particularly Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, England, and Scotland. It is not so fluid or transpa- rent as water. Colour yellow, either pale or with a shade of red or green ; reddish brown, and reddish black. Smell that of naphtha, but less pleasant. Specific gravity .8783. When burnt it yields a soot, and leaves a small quantity of coaly residuum. By expo- sure to the air it becomes like tar, and is then called mineral tar. Sp. 3. Mineral tar. This substance is found in many parts of Asia, America, and Europe. It is viscid, and of a black, brown- ish black, or reddish colour Smell some- times strong, but often faint. Specific gravity 1.1. When burned, emits a disagreeable, bituminous smell. By exposure to the air it passes into mineral pitch and maltha. Sp. 4. Mineral pitch and maltha. This substance has a strong resemblance to com- mon pitch. When the weather is warm it is soft, and has some tenacity ; it is then called adhesive mineral pitch : when the weather is cold it is brittle : its hardness is 5 ; and its fracture has a glassy lusture. In this state it is called maltha. Colour black, dark brown, or reddish. Opaque. Specific gravity from 1.45 to 2.07. Does not stain the lingers. On a white hot iron it flames with a strong smell, and leaves a quantity of grey ashes. It is to the presence of the earths which com- pose these ashes that the great specific gra- vity of this bitumen is to be ascribed. By farther induration it passes into asphalt, Sp. 5. Asphalt. This substance is found abundantly in many parts of Europe, Asia*, and America, especially in the island of Tri- nidad. Colour black, or brownish black. Lustre greasy, 2. Opaque. Fracture conchoidal, of a glassy lustre. Hardness from 7 to 8. Very brittle. Specific gravity 1.07 to 1.165. Feels smooth, but not greasy. Does not stain the fingers. Has little or no smell un- less when rubbed or heated. When heated, melts, swells, and inflames ; and when pure burns without leaving any ashes. Sp. 6. Mineral caoutchouc. This sub- stance was found about the year 1786 in the lead-mine of Odin, near Castletown, Derby- shire. It was first mentioned by Mr. De Born. Colour yellowish or reddish brown, some- times blackish brown. In its appearance it lias a strong resemblance to caoutchouc or Indian rubber ; hence its name. Consistency various: sometimes so soft as to adhere to the fingers ; sometimes nearly as hard as as- phalt. When soft it is elastic ; when hard, brittle. Specific gravity 0.9053 to 1.0233. Insoluble in alcohol, ether, and oil of tur- pentine, but soluble in oil of olives. Not affected by nitric acid. When distilled it yields a bituminous oil insoluble in alcohol* the residuum is carbonaceous. There is a variety of this substance found in a rivulet near the mine of Odin, which, when fresh cut, exactly resembles fine cork in colour and texture ; but in a few days after being exposed to the air, becomes ot a pale reddish brown. This substance contains within it a nucleus of elastic bitumen. It seems to be the elastic bitumen altered in its texture by the water. BIVALVES, one of the three general classes ofsbelL-fish, comprehending all those, the shells of which are composed of two pieces, joined together by a hinge. The Linnaian genera of bivalve shells are my a soien, teliina, cardium, mactra, donax, venus, spondylus, chama, area, astrea, anomia, ray- tillus, and pinna. BIVENTER, in anatomy, a muscle of the lower jaw, that has its origin in the incisure under the mastoid process. See Ana. BIXA, the roucou or anotto tree, a genus of the monogynia order, and polyandria class of plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the 37th order, columnifersc. 'The corolla is ten-petaled ; the calyx quinquedent- ed ; the capsule hispid and bivalved. Of this genus there is but one species known, viz. Bixa orellana, a native of the warm parts of America. It rises with an upright stem to the height of eight or ten feet, sending out many branches at the top forming a regular bed, with heart-shaped leaves ending in a point, and having long footstalks. Tfie flowers are produced in loose panicles at the end of the branches : these are of a pale peach- colour, having large petals, and a great num- ber of bristly stamina of the same colour in the centre. After the flower is past, the ger- men becomes a heart-shaped, or rather a mitre-shaped vessel, covered on tile outside with bristles opening with two valves, and 224 B L A HA B L A filled with angular seeds. These seeds are covered with a red waxen pulp or pellicle, from which the colour called anotta is pre- pared. These plants, in the countries where they grow, thrive best in a cool rich soil, and shoot most luxuriantly near springs and rivu- 'lets. W ith us, they may be propagated by seeds procured from America. These are to be sown in pots in the spring, and plunged in a bed of tanner’s bark: the plants must after- wards be removed into separate pots, and al- ways kept in the stove- BLACK, something opake, and occasioned by the porosity of bodies, that imbibing the greater part of the light that falls on them, and reflecting little or none, exhibit no co- lour. Black bodies are more inflammable than others, because the rays of light falling on them are not reflected outwards, but enter the bodies, and are lost in them. Being more porous, they are found cxteris paribus to be specifically lighter than any other-co- loured bodies. The disposition of black bodies to acquire heat beyond those of other colours, has long been known. If a blackand a white glove are worn by the same person in the sun, it will be found that the hand with the black glove will acquire the greatest degree of heat. Dr. Watson, the present bishop of Landaft’, covered the bulb of a thermometer with a black coating of Indian ink, and the mercury presently rose ten degrees. Black clothes heat more, and dry sooner in the sun, than white clothes : black is therefore a bad colour for clothes in hot climates. Count Rmnford lias attempted to controvert this position, but his experiments do not appear decisive. See Philosophical Transactions for the year 1804. Black, among dyers, one of the five simple and mother colours used in dying. See Dy- ing. Black, German, called by some Frank- fort black, is made with the lees of wine, burnt, washed afterwards in water, then ground in mills made for .that purpose, with ivory, bones, or peach-stones, also burnt. It comes from Frankfort, Mentz, and Stras- bourg, either in lumps or powder ; and must be chosen moist, without having been wetted, of a line black, soft, friable, light, and with as few shining grains as possible. 'Phis black is the principal ingredient used by copper-plate printers for wojking their engravings. ■ Black, i-vory, otherwise called velvet- black, is burnt Ivory or bones, which, becom- ing quite black, and being reduced to thin plates, are ground in water, and made into troches, to be used by painters, and by jewel- lers, who set precious stones, to blacken the ground, of the collets, and give the diamonds a teint or foil. In order to be good, it ought to be tender, friable, and thoroughly ground. Black, hart’s, that which femains in the retort after the spirits, volatile salt, and oil, have been extracted from harts-horn. It answers the purposes of, painters almost as well as ivory-black. Black, Spanish, is nothing but burnt cork: it is used in several works, it should be" light, and have as few grains of sand -mixed with .t as possible. Black-, lamp, (originally, perhaps, the soot collected from lamps,) is generally pre- pared bv melting and purifying rosin or pitch i si L»on vessels ; then setting lire to it under a chimney, or other place made for the pur- pose, lined with sheepskins, &c. to receive the vapour or smoke; in this way vast quantities of it are prepared at Paris. In England it is prepared at the turpentine-houses, from the dregs of the resinous matters which are manu- factured there ; but the greater part of lamp- black is brought from Germany, Sweden, and Norway ; where the process, in the prepara- tion, is dependant on the manufacture of com- mon resin, The goodness of lamp-black depends much on its lightness, and on the fullness of its co- lour. It is used on various occasions, par- ticularly in printers’ ink, for which it is mixed with oils of turpentine and linseed. A patent was taken out some years ago by Mr. Row, of Newcastle, for manufacturing lamp- black from pit-coal, or any kind of mineral and fossil coal, which we conceive must an- swer perfectly well. Black, currier’s. See Currier. BLACKBIRD. SeeTuRDus. BLACKCAP. See Motacilla. BLACKAMOOR’S head, in chemistry, consists of a conical vessel, surrounded with another of a cylindrical form, filled with cold water, with a cock to draw it ofi'when it be- comes too warm. BLACK ACT, is so called, having been occasioned by some devastations committed nearWatham in Hants, by persons in disguise, or with their faces blacked; to prevent which it is enacted by 31 Geo. II. c. 42. that persons hunting armed and disguised, and killing or stealing deer, or robbing warrens, or stealing fish out of any river, &c. or any person un- lawfully hunting in his majesty’s forests, or breaking down the head of any fish-pond, or killing, &c. of cattle, or cutting down trees, or setting fire to house, barn, or wood, or shooting at any person, or sending anonymous letters, or letters signed with a fictitious name, demanding money, Szc. or rescuing such of- fenders ; are guilty of felony without benefit of clergy. BLACK LEAD. Every person who shall unlawfully break into any wad-hole of wad, or black cawke, commonly called black lead, or shall unlawfully take and carry away from thence any wad , black cawke, or black lead, or shall aid or employ others so to do, shall be guilty of felony. 25 Geo. II. c. 10. BLACK MAIL, signifies, in the counties of Cumberland, Northumberland, Westmore- land, and the bishopric of Durham, a certain rate of money, corn, cattle, or other conside- ration, paid to some inhabitants near the borders, to be protec ted from a band of rob- bers called moss-troopers. Black mail, also signifies the rents for- merly paid in provisions of corn and flesh. BLACK BURN IA, a genus of thetetan- dria monogynia class and order. 'The essen- tial character is, calyx four-toothed ; pet. 4 ; •anther heart-shaped ; germ, conic ; stigma simple ; berry one-seeded. There is one spe- cies, a native of Norfolk-island. BLADDER, a thin membranoussubstance, found in several parts of an animal, serving as a receptacle of some juice, or of some li- quid excrement, as the urinary bladder, gall bladder, & c. See Anatomy: BLAD1I IA, a genus of the class and order pentandria monogynia. The essential cha- racter is, corolla wheel-shaped, deciduous. berry containing one arilled seed. There are three species, natives of Japan. BLrLRlA, in botany, a genus of the le- trandria monogynia class and order of plants. Its characters are ; that the calyx is quadri- partite, the corolla quadrifid, the stamina inserted in the receptacle ; arid the fruit a capsule, with four cells, containing many seeds. There are six species. BLAFART in commerce, a small coin, current at Cologn, worth something more than a farthing of our money. BLAIN among farriers, a distemper inci- dent to beasts ; being a certain bladder grow - ing on the root of the tongue, against the wind-pipe, which swells to such a degree as to stop the breath. It comes by great chafing and heating of the stomach ; and is perceived by the beast’s gaping, and holding out his tongue, and foaming at the mouth: to cure it, cast tne beast, take forth his tongue, and then slitting the bladder, wash it gently with vine- gar and a little salt. BLAKEA, in botany, a genus of the class and order dodecandria moticcynia: with a calyx composed- of six leaves below, and en- tire above; six. petals, and a six-celled poly- spermous capsule. There are two species, very beautiful shrubs, natives of America and the West Indies. BLANCHING of copper is done in various ways, so as to make it resemble silver. If it is done for sale, it is felony by 8 and 9 Wil- liam III. ch. xxvi. Blanching, in coinage, the operation per- formed on the planchets or pieces of silver, to give them the requisite lustre and bright- ness. They also blanch pieces of plate, when they would have them continue white, or have only some parts of them burnished. Blanching, as it is now practised, is per- formed by heating the pieces on a kind of peel with a wood-lire, in the manner of a re- verberatory ; so that the flame passes over the peel. The pieces, being sufficiently heat- ed and cooled again, are put successively to boil in two pans, which are of copper : in these they put water, common salt, and tartar of Montpelier. When they have been well drained of this water in a copper sieve, they throw sand and fresh water over them; and when dry, they are well rubbed with towels. Blanching also denotes the operation of covering iron plates with a thin coat or crust i of tin. BLANKET, a coverlet for a bed: a stuff commonly made of white wool, and wrought in a loom like cloth ; with this difference, that ; they are crossed like sergCs. When they j come from the loom, they are sent to the fuller; and after they have- been fulled and well cleaned, they are napped with a fuller’s teazle. Blankets made of sheep’s wool, are divided into several sorts : of the head and bay wool I the widest are made ; and narrow oiieo of the 1 middling and common sort. 'i here are also blankets made with the hair of several animals ; as that of goats, dogs, and others. I’LANQUILLE, in commerce, a small silver colncurrent in the kingdom of. Morocco,, and all that part of the coast of Barbary : it is worth about three half-pence of our money. BLASIA, leather-cup, a gent; of the order of alga*, and cryptogamia class of plants ; and n the natural method ranking under the 5 Ah B L A B L E 22 * order, alg^. The male calyx is cylindric, replete with grains ; tiie female calyx is naked; the fruit roundish, immersed in the leaves, and many-seeded. Of this genus there is but one Species known, viz. Blasia pusilla, which grows naturally on the banks of ditches and rivulets, in a gravelly or sandy soil, in England. It grows Hat upon the ground in a patch, composed of numerous thin, green, pellucid leaves, marked with a few whitish veins near the base, divided and subdivided into obtuse segments obscurely crenated on the edges. The margins of the leaves are a little elevated, but the interior parts adhere close to the ground by a fine down which answers the purpose of roots. The seeds are so small as to be almost imper- ceptible. BLASPHEMY: all blasphemies against God; all contumelious reproaches of Jesus Christ; all profane scoffing at the holy scrip- tures, or exposing any part of them to ridi- cule ; are punishable by fine, imprisonment, and such corporal punishment as to the court shall seem meet, according to the hein- ousness of the crime. 1 Hew. (j. BLAST, a disease in grain, trees, &c. The sugar-cane in the West Indies is subject to a disease of this kind, which is thought to be occasioned by the aphis of Linmeus, which is distinguished into the black and yel- low ; of these, the latter is most destructive. It consists of myriads of insects, invisible to the naked eye, whose proper food is the juice of the cane, in search of which they wound the tender blades, and in the end destroy the vessels. It is said the blast never attacks those plantations where colonies have been introduced of the carnivorous ant, or formica onmivora. These minute and busy crea- tures soon clear a sugar-plantation of rats ; their natural food consists of all kinds of in- sects and animalcula. Blast, a term used at iron-foundries to de- note the column of air introduced into the furnace for the purpose of combustion. BLASTING, a term used by miners for the tearing up rocks which lie in their way, by the force of gunpowder. In order to do this a long hole is made in the rock, which being charged with gunpow- der, they fill it up; leaving only a touch-hole, with a train or match to tire the charge. BLA 1 1 A, a genus of hymenopterous insects, called in England cock roaches, or vulgarly and erroneously, black beetles. The head is inflected ; antennae setaceous ; feelers unequal and filiform ; wings and wing- cases smooth, the latter somewhat coriaceous; thorax flattish, orbicular, and margined; legs formed for running ; abdomen terminating in two articulated appendages above the tail. In hotter climates the blatta are a very trouble- some race : -they enter houses and commit va- rious depredations on the furniture, devour provisions of every kind, destroy dot lies, and torment the inhabitants with their bite. The blatta most abundant in England was origi- nally irom the east, or as some imagine from America: it is now completely naturalized to our climate ; and the best method of clearing houses of (hem, is to employ the agency of a tame hedgehog, who very soon devours them all. AH the known species of this insect, whether in the larva, pupa, or perfect winged state, secrete themselves in the day-time, and V'OL. I. BLE j wander about in the night in search of food ; hence they were called by the ancients luci- fugie, insects that shun the light. The fol- lowing species are enumerated by Linnseus and others, viz. gigantea, madera, aegyptica, occidental is, surinamensis, americana" (See Plate, Nat. Hist. fig. 46,) australasiae, ery- thocephala, capensis, indica, nivea, irrorata, viridis, brasiliensis, peliveriana, oriental is, cincta, picta, variegata, lapponica, germanica, ruficollis, maculate, marginata, oblongata, nitidula, fusca, deusta, chlorotica, latissima, aterrima, perspecillaris, asiatica, schceferi, sylvestris, pennsylvanica, livida, rufa, grisea, minutissima, aptera, punctulata, ocellata. BLAZONING, or Blazonry, in herald- ry, the art of decyphering the arms of noble families. The word originally signified the blowing or winding of a horn, and was intro- duced into heraldry as a term denoting the description of things borne in arms, with their propier significations and intendments, from an antient custom the heralds, who were judges, had of winding an horn at justs and tournaments, when they explained and recorded the achievements of knights. In blazoning a coat of arms, you must always begin with the field, and next proceed to the charge; and if there are many things borne in the field, you must first name that which is immediately lying upon the field. A our expressions must be very short and expressive, without any expletives, needless repetitions, or particle's. Such terms for the colours must be used, as are agreeable to the station and quality of the bearer. All persons beneath the degree of a noble, must have their colours blazoned by colours and metals ; noblemen by precious stones, and kings and princes by planets. BLEA, in the anatomy of plants, the inner rind or bark. See Physiology of Plants. BLEACHING. The art of bleaching is of great antiquity. The ancients were ac- quainted with the detersive quality of some kinds of clay, and the effect produced by the action of the atmosphere, moisture, afid light, on the stuffs exposed to them. Health and cleanliness rendered it necessary to devise quicker methods than these ; and the pro- perty of soaps and leys of ashes was there- fore soon discovered. In the present age, the arts, following sci- ence with dose steps, have taken advantage of processes and detersive menstrua, the ex- istence of which was before unknown ; these discoveries have succeeded each other with such rapidity, that the last eight or ten years have effected a complete revolution in the art of bleaching. This art is naturally divided jnto two dis- tinct branches ; the bleaching of vegetable, and of animal substances. These being of very different natures, require different pro- cesses for whitening them. Vegetables con- sist of oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon, of which the latter is in the greatest proportion ; while animal substances, besides these, con- tain also a large quantity of azote, and also phosphorus and sulphur. Bleaching afflux and hemp. If ripe flax is examined, it will be found to be composed of fibres or filaments united together by the sap, enveloping a semiligneous substance, and covered with a thin bark. It is the fibrous part only that is used for making cloth. and it must therefore he previously separated from t he other matters. The sap or succulent part is composed of extractive principle and water, and the first process is to separate this substance, which holds the filaments together. As soon as the llax is pulled, it is steeped in soft water until the putrefactive fermentation takes place. This degree of fermentation begins with the succulent part, as being more suscep- tible of decomposition than the rest. Was the llax to be continued long in this state, the whole substance of it would be decom- posed or destroyed, upon the same principle that malt is injured by too long steeping, or that wort loses its substance by too long a fermentation. It must therefore be taken out of the water while yet green, and before the whole of its sap is separated. Well water and brackish water must be carefully avoided, as well as that which flows over gyp- seous soil. Such water accelerates putre- faction, and hurts the quality of the hemp and flax. This is perfectly agreeable to the prin- ciples of chemistry ; it is thus that a little salt accelerates animal putrefaction, while a great quantity tends to prevent it. The portion of saline substances taken up by the water, hastens corruption, by extending the putrid fermentation even to the filaments, which it blackens and spoils, while' it ought to operate only on thejuices. The flax, when taken from the water, is spread out upon the grass to dry. During the fermentation and decomposition which thence result, there is a speedy combination °f oxygen and carbon. Exposure on the grass facilitates the escape of the carbonic acid into the atmosphere, and the plants become of a whitish grey colour. It is known that a ley very slightly alkaline may be substituted with advantage, for this long and noxious operation ; it is therefore certain, that a chamber from 20 lo 30 feet in length, into which the steam of alkaline caustic water, of the strength of one-fourth of a degree only, is introduced, will be suf- ficient to produce the same effect as watering on an immense quantity of hemp and flax", suspended on basket-work, in less time, and w ith less expence, than are required for the different manipulations of watering. The losses occasioned by the negligence of work- men, who, by suffering the hemp and flax to macerate too long, give time to the de- composition to reach the filaments, which renders them brittle, and occasions a con- siderable waste, will also be avoided. In on r process, the artist can follow' every moment the progress of his operation, and stop it at the favourable period. Nothing now r remains but the wood, and (he flax or fibrous part. The wood is a hol- low tube covered over very compactly with the flax. To separate the wood, it must bo kiln-dried, in order to render it frangible or brittle ; but care must be taken not to apply too much heat, for fear of injuring the flay. It is next to be beaten or broken, by which means the flax is not only divided into small fibres, but most of the wood is separated, and the part which adheres is reduced to small fragments. To separate these again, the flax is to be scutched, or thrashed, ig small parcels at a time, either by manual labour, or mills contrived for the purpose. Hackling is the last process; which is nothing 226 more than drawing or combing the flax in small parcels at a time, through a pile or group of polished and sharp iron spikes, placed (irmly in woo l through an iron plate. The spikes are placed pretty close together: the first hackle (for deferent hackles must be used) is coarse, the second finer, and the third finer still. Tiie process of hackling answers a double or triple purpose ; first, it divides the fibres of the llax, as much as this can be effected by mechanical means ; secondly, it separates the minute fragments of wood which escaped the process of scutching ; and lastly, it se- parates the short coarse flax, commonly called town Spinning and weaving are too well known to need description. The linen, as it comes from the loom, is charged with what they call the weaver’s dressing, which is a paste of ilour boiled in water; and as this is brushed into the yarn of the warp before it is woven, it is somewhat difficult to separate it w hen dry. To discharge this paste, the linen must lie steeped in water for about forty-eight hours; when this extraneous substance under- goes a kind of fermentation, which does not extend to the substance of the linen itself, upon the same principle that the green sap is disengaged from the flax without injury to its texture. When the linen is well washed after this last process, it contains nothing that water ; j can separate ; it is of a greyish white colour, although the fibres of which it is composed, when divested of every adventitious sub- stance, are naturally very white. The matter which thus colours the linen, is of a resinous nature, insoluble in water, and from its intimate union or dissemination through the very fibres of the flax, is difficult of separation, even by those substances which have a solvent power oyer it. To disengage it, however, in as cheap and expeditious a manner as possible, without in- juring the texture of tine fabric, is the sole object of the process of bleaching. Potash is the first menstruum which should be used in bleaching. It is most economical to render it caustic, for the purpose of bleach- ing. This is done by adding quicklime to. the mild potash, the former having a stronger affinity for the carbonic acid than the latter. But care must be. taken not to use the alkali too strong, otherwise it will attack and de- stroy the ribro.us part. The potash, from its ^solvent power over the colouring matter, dissolves and separates the part immediately exposed to its action; that is, the pad of it which rests superficially upon the fibres ot the flax or thread ; for it requires ten or twelve repeated boilings, at least, with the alternate agency of the atmosphere, to sepa- rate the whole of the resin. It might be asked, why such an active solvent as potash should not carry away the whole of the resin at once, or at least as much as it alone could in any waysepaiate. inis requires an explanation. A tiat appears to us to be a single ultimate fibre of flax in grey linen, is composed ot a bundle ot mi- nute filaments, closely cemented or aggluti- nated . together by the resinous matter; the potash first used therefore acts only upon the resin of the external costing of filaments; by which means they are loosened or sepa- rated, and exposed to the further action, of BLEACHING. the air. The second boiling in potash opens a second layer, and thus, successively, layer after layer ; until the whole is divided, oi opened to the centre. Were the solution ot potash sufficiently strong to force its way at once to the centre, it would act upon the filaments themselves, and destroy the texture of the doth. Each filament, after the process of potash, retains an impregnation of colouring matter, so intimately united, as to resist the further action of it. This can only be removed oy the slow and gradual influence of the oxygen gas of the atmosphere. From the properties of oxygen gas and potash, their manner of operating is very ob- vious. The oxygen gas dissolves in each boiling a certain quantity oi the. colouring matter, with which it forms carbonic acid gas, and partly divides the filaments that eluded the action of potash. T he carbonic acid gas, from its volatility, flies oft and mixes with tne atmosphere. Thus, alternately, the one dissolving, and the other burning out (toi bleaching is slow combustion), the linen is whitened. Mankind have at all times employed tree air as the most convenient menstruum toi bleaching. When tired with the slowness of its action, they assisted it by detersive leys, which abridged the process a little : and this union of boiling and exposure on the gra^s, formed the whole of the antient art ot bleach- ing. Formerly, when it was necessaiy to bleach cloth, it was customary to immerse it in pure water, to free it from the dressing. Thus preliminary operation was sometimes hastened by a cold ley ; the cloth was then rinsed in running water, and spread out on a meadow, round which ran a stream ot lim- pid water that served for watering the different pieces. After being exposed in this mannei some time, the cloth was washed and bolted in a fresh ley ; it was then again spread out on the grass: and this operation was several times repeated until the- required whiteness was obtained. It was still necessaiy to wind it through soapy water, not only to give it softness and pliability, but to bleach com- pletely the borders, which oppose the longest resistance. It was brought to its ultimate state ot white- ness by drawing it through whey, or diluted sulphuric acid. By this short description it may be seen, that a considerable time was necessary before the absorption of oxygen could take place ; to hasten this operation of nature appeared impossible, until modern chemistry had demonstrated that oxygen might be extracted, and combined with water, to be afterwards applied to substances whcie its influence might be necessary. To promote the speedy action ot atmo- spheric air, or rather the oxygenous part of it, in its ordinary elastic state, is well known to be impossible. . • The ox: genated muriatic acid gas lias been already described under the word Air. This gas, combined with water, forms the oxygenated muriatic acid, which is therefore only 'a combination ot muriatic acid and oxy- gen; but this principle adheres but weakly to the muriatic acid. All vegetable colours are attacked by this acid antf whitened with more or less celerity, which depends on their greater or less facility of combinin g with oxygen. The colon ring.™ a t- ter undergoes a real slow combustion, v- .rich terminates by the formation of carbonic a< id, which escaping under the form of elastic fluid, produces what we call bleaching. In whatever manner the oxygenated muri- atic acid is procured, it is evident that the oxygen adheres to it only weakly ; and it is oil this property that the possibility depends of producing speedily, in manufactories, that action which the atmosphere produces but slowly, and of bleaching in a space of time proportionally short. The oxygenated muriatic acid is employed in four different ways for the purposes of bleaching ; first, in the state of gas alone ; secondly, in the state of gas combined with water, or what is called tire acid; thirdly, potash is mixed with the acid to condense tne gaseous vapour and destroy its suffocating odour ; fourthly, oxygenated muriates, dis- solved in water, are employed. The first method, viz. employing the gas, was never used but for the purpose of experi- ment ; as the vapour is of so noxious a quality, that to breathe it is fatal, and several people fell a sacrifice to their attempts in employing it. _ . When condensed in water, or in the state of oxygenated muriatic acid, it was found in- convenient in the large way, on account of the expence and difficulty in constructing the necessary apparatus, and the suffocating vapour which escaped. For the discovery of the oxygenated muri- atic acid, its effects on colouring matter, and its inestimable advantages, the arts are in- debted to the justly celebrated Scheele. M. Bertliollet lost no time in applying this curious and highly interesting substance to the most important practical uses. His experiments of bleaching by oxygenated muriatic acid, proved completely successful, and he did not delay to communicate his valuable labours to the public. The new method of bleach- ing was quickly and successfully introduced into the manufactories of Manchester, Glas- gow, Rouen, Valenciennes, and Courtray ; and it has since been gradually adopted in almost all parts of Great Britain, Ireland, France, and Germany. The advantages that result from this method, which accele- rates the process of whitening cottons, linens, paper, &c. to a surprising . degree, in every season of the year, can be justly appreciated by commercial people only, who experience its beneficial effects in many ways, but par- ticularly in the quick circulation of their capi- tals. To save the expence of first preparing the muriatic acid, the usual practice is to mix with the oxide of manganese, muriate of soda or common salt, arid sulphuric acid diluted with water. I he sulphuric acid acts upon the salt, and disengages from it the muriatic acid, which is oxygenated by the oxyde of manganese. 1 he proportions observed when, cotton is to be bleached, are. Manganese - 30 parts. Common salt, 80 Sulphuric acid, 60 Water, - WO. For linen-cloth the proportions are a9 follow : Manganese, - 60 parts,: BLEACHING. Salt, _ - 60 Sulphuric acid, 5Q Water, 50. The better these substances are combined together, the more easily will the acid gas be disengaged by the action of the sulphuric acid. To ascertain the strength of the acid for bleaching, a solution of indigo in the sulphuric acid is employed. The colour of this is de- stroyed by the oxygenated muriatic acid ; and according to the quantity of it tiiat can be discoloured by a given quantity of the liquor, its strength is known. Cloth is prepared for immersion in oxyge- nated water, by soaking in a ley of weak pot- ash, and rinsing it afterwards in a large quan- tity of water, in order to free it completely from the weaver’s dressing, and the saliva of the spinners. In this country, machinery is employed for rinsing and beating ; the apparatus must be arranged according to the objects to be bleached; the skeins of thread must be sus- pended in the tub destined for them, and the cloth must be rolled upon reels in the appa- ratus. When every thing is thus disposed, the tubs are filled with oxygenated muriatic acid, by introducing a funnel, which descends to the bottom of the tub, in order to prevent the dispersion of the gas. The cloth is wound, or the frame-work on which the skeins are suspended is turned several times, until it is judged,- by taking out,a small quantity of the liquor from time to time, and trying it by the test of the solution of indigo, that it is sufficiently exhausted. The weakened liquor is then drawn off, and may be again employed for a new saturation. Great difficulties for a time impeded the progress of this method of bleaching, arising chiefly from prejudice, and the ignorance of bleachers in chemical processes. These ob- stacles were, however, soon removed by Mr. Watt, of Glasgow, and Mr. Henry and Mr. Cooper at Manchester. Another difficulty presented itself, which had nearly proved fatal to the success of the operation. This was the want of a proper apparatus, not for making the acid and combining it with water, for this had been supplied in a very ingenious manner by Mr. Watt and M. Berthollet ; but for the purpose of immersing and bleaching goods in the liquor. The volatility of this acid, and its suffocating vapours, prevented its application in the way commonly used in dye-houses. Large cisterns were therefore constructed, in which pieces of stuff were stratified; and the liquor being poured on them, the cisterns were closed wiffilids. But this method was soon found to be defective, as the liquor could not be equally diffused ; the pieces weretberefore only partially bleach- ed, being white in some parts, and more or less coloured in others. Mr. Rupp, of Manchester, invented an apparatus for bleaching doth, exceedingly simple in its construction, of small expence, and which contains the liquor in such a man- ner as to prevent the escape of the oxyge- nated muriatic acid gas. A consideration of no less importance in the arrangement of this apparatus, is the impossibility of the va- pour injuring the health of the workmen. It was found, however, that the use of the oxygenated muriatic acid alone weakened' the cloth, and various methods of preventing its noxious effects upon the health of the work- men were -tried Without success; till it was discovered that an addition of alkali to the liquor deprived it of its suffocating effects, without destroying its bleaching powers. The process began then to be carried on in open vessels, and has been continued in this manner to the present period. The bleacher is now able to work his pieces in the liquor, and to expose every part of them to its action, without inconvenience. Potash was at first used for this purpose; and although this advantage was unquestion- ably great, it was diminished by the heavy expence of the potash, which was entirely lost. Also, the potash which was added to the liquor, though it did not destroy its power ot bleaching, diminished it; because a so- lution of the oxygenated muriate of potash, which differs from this bleaching liquor in nothing hut in the proportion of alkali, will not bleach at all. This is a well-known fact, from which we might infer, that the oxyge- nated muriatic acid will lose its power of destroying the colouring matter -of vegetable substances, in proportion as it becomes neu- tralized by potash. It was afterwards discovered that the oxy- muriatic acid might be combined with the alkaline earths, as lime and barytes, and also with magnesia ; by llus means forming oxy- muriates, which were soluble in water and had the property of bleaching. The oxy- muriate of lime is at present used in almost all the bleach ing-grounds. For the manner of prepar.ng it, Mr. Tennant took out a pa- tent ; but this has been lately contested, and it is now prepared and used by. all the bleach- ers through tlxe country. If the oxygenated muriatic acid is passed through iime-water, it will combine with the lime, and form oxymuriate of lime ; but as the water can only retain a small portion of lime, this was not found of much use. To cause a larger quantity of lime to combine witl: theoxymuriatic acid gas, the lime is mechani- cally suspended in the water, into which tlxe gas is made to pass, and agitated, so as to present fresh matter to the gas. By this means, the oxymuriate of lime is formed in a very convenient manner ; it is dissolved in water, and used as a bleaching liquor. T his liquor is found to be preferable to the oxygenated muriatic acid, and potash. At the great bleach-field in Ireland, four leys of potash are applied alternately with four w eeks exposure on the grass, two immersions in the oxygenated muriate of lime, a ley of potash between the two, and the exposure of a week on the grass between each ley and the im- mersions. Daring summer two leys and fifteen days exposure are sufficient to prepare cloth for the action of the oxygenated muri- ate ; then three alternate leys,' with, immer- sions in the liquor, will be sufficient to com- plete the bleaching: nothing then will be necessary, but to wind the cloth through the sulphuric acid. The oxygenated muriatic acid gas may also be combined with lime in a dry state, or the water may be evaporated, when it is employed for the formation of oxymuriates, which may then be very conveniently trans- ported to any distance without, injury to its detersive power ; an advantage not possessed by the acid alone, which cannot be transport- Ff2 227 ed without the loss of almost half of it strength. In all the processes for bleaching which have been hitherto described, we have seen that potash acts a distinguished part, either as an auxiliary, or as a principal agent. To find a detersive substance v Inch might be a substi- tute for it, was an object of the utmost im- portance. Mr. Kir wan suspected that it would be found in the sulphured of lime, and his opinion was confirmed by Dr. Higgins. Sulphur and lime are both cheap articles ; they are very easily combined, and this com- bination completely answers the purposes of potash, without any danger of injuring t lie linen. Tire suiphuret of lime is prepared in the following manner for the purpose of bleaching: Sulphur or brimstone, in fine pow- der, four pounds ; lime, well slaked and sift- ed, twenty pounds; wafer, sixteen gallons; these are to be well mixed, and boiled for about half an hour in. an iron vessel, stirring them briskly from time' to time. Soon after the agitation of boiling is over, tiie solution bl the suiphuret of lime clears, and may be drawn off free from the insoluble matter, which is considerable, and which rests upon the bottom of the boiler. T he liquor, in this state, is pretty nearly of the colour of small beer, but not quite so transparent. Sixteen gallons of fresh water are after- wards to be poured upon the insoluble dregs in the boiler, in order to separate the whole of the suiphuret from them. When this clears (’being previously well agitated), it is also to be drawn off, and mixed with the first liquor ; to these again thirty-three gallons more of water may be added, which will reduce the liquor to a proper standard for steeping the cloth. Here we have (an allowance being made for evaporation, and for the quantity retained in the dregs) sixty gallons ot iiquor from four pounds of brimstone. Although sulphur, by itself, is riot in any sensible degree soluble 'in water, and lime but sparingly so, water dissolving only about one seven-hundredth part of its weight of lime; yet the suiphuret of lime is highly soluble. When linen is freed from the weaver’s dress- ing, in the manner already described, it is to be steeped in the solution of suiphuret of lime (prepared as above) for about twelve or eighteen hours, then taken out and very well washed. When dry, it is to be steeped in the oxymuriate of lime for twelve or fourteen hours, and then washed and dried. This pro- cess is to be repeated six times, that is, six al- ternate immersions in each liquor, which has been found to whiten the linen. Steam has been lately employed with great success in France. The process was brought from the Levant. Chaptal first made it known to the public. We have already mentioned, that the bleaching of vegetable substances depends on the destruction of their colouring principle by tlie combined action of the air!j moisture, and light ; or rather, by the united influence of these principles to alter their natural co- lour. Alkalis have, on the colouring matter of vegetables, an action which produces (he effect of a real combustion. Were we inti- mately acquainted with the nature of potash and soda, we might be able to explain the cause of this burning; but it is sufficient for us at present to know the effect. The expo- 228 sure of vegetable matters on the grass, sub - jects them to the action of the solar rays; and moistening them during their exposure, ia dilates, with the evaporation of the water, the emanation of the carbonic acid formed by the oxygen of tire atmosphere, which com- bines with the carbon resulting from the al- kaline combustion. It even agrees pretty well with theory, in terminating the process ■of bleaching, to immerse the cloth and thread iii sour milk, acidulous liquors, or, what is more convenient, very weak sulphuric acid. In proportion as the alkali, during the first immersion, destroys the colouring mat- ter, the oxygen of the atmosphere, or that furnished by the oxygenated -muriatic acid, j joins that carbonized matter, and forms car- j bonic acid, which afterwards resolves itself j into gas. This is contained the more in the principles, as the bases of all the acids are ; insoluble in water; but when the combi na- j tion takes place between the carbon and the Oxygen, it immediately becomes soluble. Thus, on tiie one hand to burn the colouring matter, and to dissolve it on the other, form the whole secret of the art of bleaching ; and | the greater or less tendency of vegetable sub- j stances to experience that combustion, con- j stitutes the gradations of their whiteness, and | the facility or difficulty of bleaching. The slowness of the whole process arose, I in a great measure, from bleachers being un- , acquainted witii these principles. A long succession of levs, and exposure on the grass, was necessary to penetrate- the fibres of the linen from stratum to stratum. The texture was sufficiently close to resist the action of the heat of a common ley, and a considerable time was required to -absorb the oxygen pre- sented by the delicate stratum of atmospheric air. , j In the process of bleaching by steam, these difficulties are removed. The high tempe- , rature of the steam, in the interior part of the apparatus, swells up the fibres of the thread or cloth ; the pure alkali, which rises with the elastic fluid, seizes with avidity on the i colouring matter, and burns it ; seldom does j the tissue of the flax or hemp resist the pene- trating effect of this vapour-bath. The whole matter, therefore, by which they are colour- ed, is attacked and decomposed by this single operation ; and even if we suppose that a part has been able to resist, nothing is necessary but to repeat tlie operation, alter a previous immersion and exposure on the grass, to en- sure its complete effect. The alkali even ap- pears to have a much livelier and more caustic action, when it is combined with caloric, than in ordinary leys, where the temperature never rises above 162° of Fahrenheit. By making the cloth or thread pass through one ley of oxygenated muriatic acid, or oxygenated muriate of lime, an union is effected between the solution and the carbon, arising from the burning of the extracto-mucous matter of tire (lax; carbonic acid is formed; the water even in which this new compound is diluted, concurs to promote this combination ; if the doth is then exposed on the grass, the car- bonic acid is dissipated, and the cloth is bleached. It was believed thattlie steam of a pure al- kaline ley would not be caustic, and would wot produce the same effects as the saline so- il' ti;m; and the reason assigned for this opi- nion was the concentration of all the salts by BLEACHING. the evaporation of the aqueous fluid : but what takes place in the open air, where the atmosphere every moment absorbs the mois- ture which is evaporated, cannot be applied to a close apparatus, where the temperature is elevated in an extreme degree ; besides, the calorie always carries with it a little al- kali, even in low temperatures, as is observed when water is poured over potash ; the steam which issues from it changes blue vegetable colours to green. Jt follows, from these chemical principles, that the* action of steam alone does not bleach, and that the concurrence of oxygen is necessary to aid the composition of the car- bonic acid ; this acid requires for its for- mation, 28 parts of carbon, saturated with 72 of oxygen : but all the oxygen contained in the apparatus would not be sufficient to saturate the considerable quantity of colour- ing matter burnt by the alkaline combustion, and converted into carbon ; this deficit must be supplied by immersion in any oxyge- nated liquor whatever, and the dispersion of the elastic fluid thus formed must be then facilitated by exposure on the grass. To bleach doth in tins manner, it must be immersed in a slight alkaline caustic liquor, and placed in a chamber constructed over a boiler, into which is put the alkaline ley which is to be raised into steam. After the fire has been lighted, and the cloth has re- mained exposed to the action of the steam for a sufficient length of time, it is taken out, and immersed in the oxygenated muriate of lime, and afterwards exposed for two or three days on the grass. This operation, which is very expeditious, will be sufficient for cotton ; but if linen cloth should still re- tain a yellow tint, a second alkaline caustic vapour-bath, and two or three days on the grass, will be sufficient to give it the neces- tary degree of whiteness. | Bleaching of cotton. Cotton is a fila- mentous substance, or a kind of down which envelopes the seeds of the cotton-plant. r J his plant or shrub comes originally from the | East, and grows only in warm climates. This substance, after being separated from ! the seeds, is always charged with a coarse colouring matter, which soils it, and renders it opaque. The presence of this unctuous matter is proved by the slowness with which cotton absorbs water before it is scoured, and by the force with which it absorbs it after the operation ; by which means, from being opaque, it is rendered clear and transparent. Cotton varies a great deal in its qualities, according to the different kinds, the climate where produced, and the culture employed. Its colour is sometimes yellow, and sometimes white ; but in general it is of a dirty yel- low. To bleach it, does not require the same prepa.ations as hemp and flax. The first operation consists in scouring it in a slight alkaline solution, or, what is better, by ex- posure to steam. It is afterwards put into ! a basket, and rinsed in running water. The ! immersing of cotton in an alkaline ley, how- j ever it may be rinsed, always leaves with it | an earthy deposit. It is well known that j cotton bears the action of acids better than hemp or flax; that time is even necessary before the action of them can be prejudicial to it : and by taking advantage of this valu- able property in regard to bleaching, means have been found to free it from the earthy deposit, by pressing down the cotton in a very weak solution of sulphuric acid, and afterwards removing the acid by washing, lest too long remaining in it should destroy the cotton. Bleaching of xvool. 1 he substances pro- duced by the animal kingdom, differ essen- tially in their constituent principles from ve- getables. Vegetables serve as the nourisiv- lnent to the animals and insects, the spoils of which we employ. Animalized by their organs, they acquire oilier properties. We shall here confine ourselves to the examina- tion of wool and silk, as the animal substance* most generally employed for clothing. Wool js a liner kind of hair with which the bodies of several animals are covered. It is composed of filaments or tubes, filled with an oily or medullary substance. The sides of these tubes are perforated with a multi- tude of small pores, which communicate with a longitudinal tube. By chemical analysis wool gives a great deal of oil, and carbonate of ammonia; caustic alkaline leys dissolve it entirely. It experiences no change in boil- ing water ; it alters ven little when preserv- ed in a place well aired ; acids have very little action on it ; when exposed to a strong heat, it enters into fusion. An examination of these chemical facts, is necessary for understanding the principles which ought to direct the artist in the bleach- ing of this substance. The little action which acids have upon wool, and its unalterableness in water even when aided by heat, render it necessary to have recourse to alkaline or saponaceous leys; but its solubility in these salts shews, that great prudence and caution must be employed. In regard to acids, none have been hitherto used but the sulphureous acid, obtained in the gaseous state by com- bustion. In the preliminary operations to which wool is subjected, it is customary to leave a little of its grease, to secure it from insects. Wool is often freed from the grease by the farmers, when they wish to sell it' at a high, price; but in the subsequent manipulations, it is greased or oiled before it is combed, spun, &c.; and as this fat matter attracts dust, it dirties and thickens the stuffs. The first kind of bleaching to which wool is subjected, is to free it from these impurities. This operation is called scouring. In manufactories, it is generally performed by means of an ammo- niacal ley, formed of five measures of river y, after and one of stale urine ; the wool is immersed for about twenty minutes in a bath of this mixture, heated to fifty-six degrees; it is then taken out, suffered to drain, and then rinsed in running water: this manipulation softens the wool, and gives it the first degree of whiteness : it is repeated a second, and even a third time, after which the wool is fit. to be employed. In some places, scouring is performed with water slightly impregnated: with soap ; and indeed, for valuable articles, this process is preferable, but it is too expen- sive for articles of less value. k ulling the cloth adds still to the whiteness, and if an increased degree is necessary, it may be procured by the action of the sul- phureous acid ; that is to say, of the fumes of sulphur in a state of combustion, or the vapour of that acid condensed and combined with water. Sulphuring is generally performed in an arched or very close chamber, constructed in such a manner, that the articles to be ex- posed to the action of the sulphur can be sus- pended on poles. The chamber being tilled, a certain quantity of sulphur is put in a state of combustion in iiat dish.es, having a large surface with very little depth ; the entrance is speedily shut, and all the inte: slices around the door are carefully stopped to prevent the access of the atmospheric air. The acid generated by the combustion of the sulphur, penetrates the stuffs, attacks the colouring matter, destroys it, and effects the bleaching. The stuffs are left in the stoves some time after the deflagration has ceased. This time varies from six to twenty-four hours. They are then taken out, and made to pass through a slight washing with soap, to remove the roughness they have acquired by the action of the acid, and to give them the necessary softness. This process is imperfect. At first, the acid of the sulphur acts only on the surfaces, and does not penetrate. This aerial immer- sion is not sufficient ; the gas cannot intro- duce itself to a sufficient depth into the stuffs, and the superficies only are whitened. A superior method has been lately invent- ed, which is by making use of the sulphure- ous acid. The sulphureous acid, or that acid gene- rated by the imperfect combustion of sulphur, differs from the sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol), by its containing less of the acidifying prin- ciple, and by being the mean term between the sulphuric acid. Sulphureous .acid gas unites very easily with water, and in this combination it may be employed for bleaching wool and silk. The sulphureous acid in this state of liquidi- ty, may be prepared by making it traverse water in an apparatus nearly similar to that used fi r preparing oxygenated muriatic acid. '1 he most economical method of obtaining it, is to decompose sulphuric acid (oil of vi- triol), by the mixture of any combustible matter capable of taking from it a part of its oxygen. In exact experiments of the la- boratory, when the chemist is desirous of having great purity, it is obtained by means of metallic substances, and particularly by mercury ; but for the purpose of which we are treating, where great economy is required, we should recommend the most common sub- stances. We shall therefore give the follow- ing process. Take chopped straw, or saw- dust, and introduce it into a mattress; pour over it sulphuric acid, applying at the same time heat, and there will be disengaged sul- phureous acid gas (vapour of sulphur), which may be combined with water in the apparatus. I lie pieces are rolled upon the reels, and are drawn through the sulphureous acid by turning them, until it is observed that the v Idleness is sufficiently bright. They.are then taken out, and are left to drain on a bench co- vered with cloth, lest they should be stained inconsequence of the decomposition of the wood bv the sulphureous acid; they are next washed in river Water, and Spanish white is employed, if it should be judged necessary. J his operation is performed by passing the pieces through a tub of clear water, in which about eight pounds of Spanish white have been dissolved. To obtain a fine whiteness, the stuffs, in general, are twice sulphured. BLEACHING. According to this process, one immersion and reeling two or three hours are sufficient. Azuring or bluing is performed by throwing into the Spanish-white liquor, a solution of one part ot Prussian blue to 400 parts of water ; shaking the cloth in the liquid, and reeling it rapidly. The operation is termi- nated by a slight washing with soap, to give softness and pliability to the stuffs. The final operations of drying, stretching, pressing, &c. are foreign to our present subject. Bleaching of silk. Silk is a semitrans- parent matter, spun by a caterpillar, and formed ot a substance contained in its body, wlfich becomes hard in the air. .This insect inhabits warm climates, being indigenous in Asia : it was naturalized in Europe about the time ot the downfal ollhe Roman empire. I he filaments prepared bv the silkworm are rolled up in a cod or ball." In this state, in which we find it, it is covered with a yel- low varnish, which destroys its brilliancy "and renders it rough. Silk by chemical analysis gives carbonate o f ammonia and oil ; water at a boiling heat produces no effect upon it; alcohol makes it experience no change ; but concentrated alkaline leys attack and dissolve it. To give splendour to silk, it must be freed from its varnish. This covering is soluble in alkaline leys. . Silk is generally scoured by means of soap, by which it loses one-fourth its weight. The matter disengaged from it is very fetid, and if the silk is not rinsed in plenty of water, putrid fermentation will take place. Even when the best soap is used, it is generally suspected that it injures the white- ness of the silk. The splendour of the Chi- nese silk is brighter than that of the Euro- pean, and the Chinese employ no soap in their operations. A slightly alkaline lev' will dissolve the varnish of the silk without using soap, and this has also been effected by the action ot boiling water at a very high tempe- rature. J 1 I he method which has been used success- fully in France is as follows : lake a solution of caustic soda, so weak as to mark only a fourth of a degree, at most, of the areometer for salts, and fill with it the boiler of the apparatus for bleaching with steam. Charge the frames with skeins of raw silk, and place them in the apparatus until it is full ; then close the door, and make the solution boil. Having continued the ebullition for twelve hours, slacken the fire, and open the door of the apparatus. The heat of the steam, which is always above 250°, vyili have been sufficient to free the silk from the gum, and to scour it. Wash the skeins in warm water ; and, having wrung them, place them again on the frames in the appa- ratus, to undergo a second boiling. Then wash them several times in water, and im- merse them in water somewhat soapy, to give them a little softness. Notwithstanding the whiteness which silk acquires by these different operations, it must be carried to a higher degree of splendour by exposing it to the action of sulphureous acid gas, in a close chamber, or by immersing it in sulphureous acid, as before recommended for w ool. Bleaching prints, and printed hooks. An application has been made ot the new mode of bleaching, to the whitening of books and prints that have beensoiledby smoke and time. 229 Simple immersion in oxygenated muriatic acid, letting the article remain in it a longer or shorter space of time according to the strength of the liquid, will be sufficient to whiten an engraving : if it is required to whiten the paper of a bound book, as it is necessary that all the leaves should be moist- ened by the acid, care must be taken to open the book well, and to make the boards rest on the edge of the vessel, in such a manner that the paper alone shall be dipped in the li- quid: the leaves must be separated from each other, in order that they may be equallv moistened on both sides. The liquor assumes a yellow tint, and the paper becomes white in the same proportion; at the end ot two or three hours, the book may be taken from the acid liquor, and plunged into pure water, with the same care and precaution as recommended in regard to the acid liquor, that the water may exactly touch the two surfaces of each leaf. The water must be renewed every hour, to ex- tract the acid remaining in the paper, and to dissipate the disagreeable smell. By following this process, there is some danger that the pages will hot be all equally whitened; either because the leaves have not been sufficiently separated, or because the liquid has had more action on the front mar- gins than on those near the binding. On this account, the best way is to destroy tiie bind- ing entirely, that each leaf may receive an equal and perfect immersion ; and this is the second process recommended by M. C'liap- tal. “ They begin,” says lie, “ by unsewing the book, and separating it into leaves, which, they place in cases formed in a leaden tub, with very thin slips of wood or glass, so that the leaves, when laid flat, are separated from each other by intervals scarcely sensible. I he acid is then poured in, making it fall on the sides of the tub, in order that the leaves may not be deranged by its motion. When the .workman judges, by the whiteness of the paper, that it has been sufficiently acted upon by the acid, it is drawn off by a cock at the bottom of the tub, and its place is supplied by clear fresh water, which weakens and car- ries off the remains of the acid, as well as the strong smell. The leaves are then to be dried, and alter being pressed, may be again bound up. “ I be leaves may be placed also vertically in the tub ; and this position seems to posse'ss some advantage, as they will be less liable to be torn. With this view 1 constructed a wooden frame, which I adjusted to the proper height, according to the size of the leaves which I wished to whiten. This frame sup- ported very thin slips of wood, leaving only the space of half a line between them. "I placed two leaves in each of these intervals, and kept them fixed in their place by two small wooden, wedges, which I pushed in between the slips. " When the paper was whitened I lifted up the frame with leaves, and plunged them in cold water, to remove the remains of the acid, as well as the smell ; this process I prefer to the other. “By this operation books are not only cleaned, but the paper acquires a degree of whiteness superior to what it possessed when first made. The use of this acid is attended also with the valuable advantage cf destin- ing ink-spots. r J his liquor has no action upon 230 B L E B L I B L l spots of oil or animal grease ; but it lias been long 'known that a weak solution of potash will effectually remove stains of tiiat kind. “ When I had to repair prints so torn that they exhibited only sciaps pasted upon other paper, 1 was afraid of losing these f ragments in the liquid, because tiie paste became dis- solved. In such cases I inclosed the prints in a cylindric glass vessel, which 1 inverted on the waiter in which I had put the mixture proper for extricating the oxygenated mu- riatic. acid gas. This vapour, by filling the whole inside of the jar, acted upon the print, extracted the grease as well as ink-spots, and the fragments remained pasted to the paper.” Easy method of preparing the oxygenated muriatic acid . — To oxygenate the muriatic acid, nothing is necessary but to dilute it, and mix it in a very strong glass vessel with manangese, in such a manner that the mix- ture may not occupy the w'hole contents ot the _ glass. Air-bubbles are formed on the surface of the liquor; the empty space be- comes filled with a greenish vapour ; and at the end of some hours the acid may be farther diluted with water, and then used. It has an acid taste, because the whole is not saturated with oxygen ; but it possesses all the virtues of the oxygenated muriatic acid. This process may be followed when there is not time to set up an. apparatus for distilling, in order to procure the oxygenated acid. BLECHNUM, in botany, a genus of plants of the class of the cryptogamia liliees ; the fructifications of which are disposed in two parallel lines, approaching to the rib of the frond. There are six species, all foreign plants. BLEEDING. See Surgery. BLENDE, or Black Jack. This ore very usually accompanies sulplmret ot lead. It is common, but seldom in such quantities as to make it worth working. It occurs both in amorphous masses and crystallized. r lhe primitive f orm of its crystals is the rhomboidal dodecahedron. 'I lie figure ot its integrant particles is the tetrahedron. Colour yellow, brown, or black. Streak reddish, brownish, or grey. Lustre vitreous, or that of the diamond. Generally some- what transparent. Refraction single. Tex- ture foliated. Clivage six-fold. Hardness (3 to 8. Scratches sulphat of barytes. Specific gravity 4.000 to 4.1665. Before the blow- pipe decrepitates, and gives out white flowers of zinc, but does not melt. Borax does not affect it. When breathed upon, loses its lustre, and recovers it very slowly. It is usually divided into three subspecies. 1. Yellow blende. Colour commonly sul- phur yellow, often passing into olive green or brownish red. Powder pale yellow. Streak yellowish or reddish grey, not metallic. Lus- tre that of the diamond. Transparency usually 2, sometimes 4. Often phosphoresces when scraped or rubbed. According to Bergman, it is composed of 64 zinc 20 sulphur 5 iron 4 fluoric acid 1 silica 6 water 100 . 2. Brown blende. Colour different shades of brown. Surface often tarnished. Powder brownish grey. Streak yellowish grey. Lus- tre internal, Vitreous. Transparency 0 to 2, sometimes 4. A specimen of this variety, analysed by Bergman, contained 44 zinc 17 sulphur 24 silica 5 iron 5 alumina 5 water 100 . 3. Black blende. Colour black or brownish black ; surface often tarnished blue ; tips of the crystals often blood-red. Powder brownish, black. Streak reddish grey. Lustre inter- nal, that of the diamond. Transparency 0 to 1 ; the red parts 2. Hardness 8. A spe- cimen of this variety, analysed by Bergman, contained 52 zinc 26 sulphur 4 copper 8 iron 6 silica 4 water 100 . BLENNIUS, the Blenny, a genus of fishes belonging to the order of jugulares ; the characters of which are : the head slants or declines to one side; there are six rays in the membrane of the gills ; the body tapers towards the tail ; the belly fins have only two blunt bones; and the tail fin is distinct. The species are 13, among which are : 1. Blennius cornutus, with a simple ray above the eyes, and a single back tin. 2. Blennius* galena, with a transverse mem- braneous crest upon the head, is found in the European seas. 3. Blennius gattorugine (See Plate, Nat. Hist. fig. 47), with small palmated fins about the eye-brows and neck. It is about seven or eight inches long, and is found in the European seas. 4. Blennius ocellaris, with a furrow betwixt the eyes, and a large spot on the back fin. It is found in the Euro- pean seas. (See Plate, Nat. Hist. fig. 48). 5. Blennius raninus, with six divisions in the belly fins, is found in the lakes ot Sweden. It is remarkable that when this fish appears in the lake, all the other fishes retire ; and what is worse, it is not fit for eating. 6. Blen- nius viviparus, has two tentacula at the mouth. They bring forth 200 or 300 young at a time. Their season of parturition is a little after the depth of winter. Before mid- summer they quit the bays and shores, and retire into t lie deep, where they are com- monly taken. They are a very coarse fish, and eaten only by the poor. T hey are com- mon in the mouth of the Esk, at Y\ hitby, Yorkshire, where they are taken frequently from off the bridge. 'They sometimes grow to the length of a foot. Their form is slender, and the backbone is as green as that of a sea- needle. See Plate, Nat. Hist. fig. 49). BLIGHT, in husbandry, a disease incident to plants, which affects them variously, the whole plant sometimes perishing by it, and sometimes only the leaves and blossoms, which will be scorched and shrivelled up, the nut remaining green and flourishing. Various causes have been assigned for this disease, and various cures proposed. It sometimes is in the plant itself from imperfect secretion, but is more commonly the eff ect of cold winds in the spring. See Plants. BLINDS, or Blindes, in the art of war, a sort of defence commonly made of oziers, or branches interwoven and laid across be- tween two rows of stakes, about the height of a man, and four or five feet asunder, used particularly at the heads of trenches when they are extended in front towards the glacis; serving to shelter the workmen, and prevent their being overlooked by the enemy. BLINDNESS, a total privation of sight, arising from an obstruction of the functions < of the organs of sight, or from an entire de- privation of them. The causes of blindness' are various ; pro- ; ceeding from cataracts, gutta serena’s, &c. There are also periodical blindness, as a de- fect of sight in some towards night, in others ] only in the day ; the former of which is j termed nyctalopia, the latter hemeralopia. It is said, that in several parts of Persia, j there are found vast numbers of blind people j of all ages, sexes, and conditions, occasioned by a species of little flies, which prick the j eyes and lips, and enter the nostrils, carrying j certain blindness with them when they fight j . on the eyes. If we consider blindness in a moral or philosophical view; as there is not any sense j or faculty of the corporeal frame which affords j so many* sources of utility and entertainment ■ as the power of vision ; so is there not any j privation which can be productive ot disad- 1 vantages so various and so bitter as the want j of sight. By no avenue of corporeal per- j ception is knowledge, in her full extent, so ' accessible to the rational soul, as by the glo- rious and delightful medium of light. 'J o i the blind, on the contrary, the visible uni- verse is totally annihilated; he has not even any r distinct idea ot space, except that in j which he stands, or to which his extremities j can reach. Sound, indeed, gives him some! ideas of distant objects; but these ideas are! extremely obscure and indistinct. r l hey are j obscure because they consist alone of the ■ objects whose oscillations vibrate on his ear, and do not necessarily suppose any other! bodies with which the intermediate space may be occupied; they are indistinct, because! sounds themselves are frequently ambiguous, and do not uniformly indicate their real causes. And though by them the idea of distance in general, or even of some part icu- lar distances, may be obtained; yet they never fill the mind with those vast and exalt- ing ideas of extension which are inspired by ocular perception. For though a clap ofl thunder, or an explosion of ordnance, may be distinctly heard after the sound lias tra- versed an immense region of space, yet, when the distance is uncommonly great, it ceases to be indicated by sound ; and there- fore the ideas acquired by auricular experi- ments, of extension and' interval, are ex- tremely confused and inadequate. r i lie comprehensive eye darts its instantaneous glance oxer extensive valleys, lofty moun- tains, protracted rivers, illimitable oceans. It views in an instant the mighty space from earth to heaven, cn from one star to another. By the assistance of telescopes, its power is almost infinitely extended, its objects mul- tiplied, and the sphere of its observation im- mensely enlarged. Ihus the imagination, 231 inured to vast impressions of distance, can not only recal them m their greatest ex- tent, with as much rapidity as they were at first imbii ed, but can multiply them, and add one to another, till all particular bound- aries and distances are lost in immensity. The blind are apprehensive of danger in every motion towards any place, whence their contracted powers of perception can give them no intelligence. Ail the various modes of delicate proportion, all the beautiful va- rieties of light and colours, exhibited in the works of nature and art, are to them irretriev- ably lost. Dependant for every thing, but mere existence, on the good offices of others ; obnoxious to injury from every point, which they are neither capacitated to perceive nor qualilied to resist ; they are, during the pre- sent state of being, rather prisoners at large, than citizens o : nature. The sedentary life to which by privation of sight they are des- tined, relaxes their frame, and subjects them to all the miserable sensations which arise from dejection of spirits. Hence the most feeble exertions create lassitude and uneasi- ness. Hence the native tone of the nervous system, compatible with health and pleasure, being destroyed by inactivity, exasperates and embitters every disagreeable impression. Natural evils, however, are supportable, be- ing either mild in their attacks, or short in their duration : the miseries inflicted by con- scious and reflecting agents almost alone de- serve the name of evils. These excruciate the soul with ineffable poignancy, as expres- sive of indifference or malignity in those by whom such bitter potions are cruelly ad- ministered. The negligence or wantonness, therefore, with which the blind are too fre- quently treated, is an enormity which God alone has justice or power to punish. Those amongst them who have had sensibility to feel, and capacity to express, the effects of their misfortunes, have described them in a manner capable of penetrating the most callous heart. Homer, in the person of Demodocus the Phaeatian bard, has patheti- cally described his own situation; and Milton, with equal force and beauty, has deplored the misfortune of blindness. Thus dependant on every creature, and passive to every accident, can we be surprised to observe moments when the blind are at variance with themselves and every thing else around them? With the same instinct of self-preservation, the same irascible" passions which are common to the species, and exas- perated by a sense of debility either for re- taliation or defence, can the blind be really objects of resentment or contempt, even when they seem peevish or vindictive ? This, however, is not always their character. Their behaviour is often highly expressive not only of resignation, but even of cheerfulness ; ancl though they are often coldly, and even in- humanly, treated by men, yet they are rarely, if ever, forsaken of heaven. The common Parent of nature, whose benignity is perma- nent as his existence, and boundless as his empire, has neither left his afflicted creatures without consolation nor resource. The blind often derive advantages even from their loss, however oppressive and irre- trievable: not indeed adequate to compen- sate, but sufficient to alleviate their misery. The attention of the soul, coniined to those avenues of perception which she can com-* BLINDNESS. maud, is neither dissipated nor confounded by the immense multiplicity, nor the rapid succession, of surrounding objects. Hence her contemplations are more uniformly lixed upon tiie revolutions of her own internal irame. Hence her perceptions of such ex- ternal tilings as are contiguous and obvious to her observation, become more exquisite. Hence even her instruments of corporeal sensation are more assiduously improved: so that from them she derives such notices of app. caching pleasure, or impending danger, as entirely escape the attention of those who depend for security on the reports ot their eyes. He distinguishes the approach of his friend by the sound of his steps, by his man- ner ot breathing, and almost by every audible token which he can exhibit. Prepared for the dangers which lie may encounter from the surface of the ground upon which lie walks, his step is habitually turn and cau- tious. Hence he not only avoids tho e falls which might be occasioned by its less for- midable inequalities, but from its general bias he collects some ideas how far his safety is immediately concerned ; and though these conjectures may be sometimes fallacious, yet they are generally so true as to preserve him from such accidents as are not incurred by his own temerity. The rapid torrent and the deep cascade not only warn him to keep a proper distance, but inform him in what direction he moves, and are a kind of audible cynosures to regulate his course. In places to which he has been accustomed, he in a manner recognises his latitude and longitude from every breath of varied fragrance that tinges the gale, from every ascent or declivity in the road, from every natural or artificial sound that strikes his ear; if these indications be stationary, anil confined to particular places. Regulated by these signs, the blind have not only been known to perform long journeys themselves, but even, if we may- credit report, to conduct others through dan- gerous paths at midnight, with the utmost security and exactness. It would be endless to recapitulate the va- rious mechanical operations of which they are capable by their nicety and accuracy of touch. In some, the tactile powers are said to have been so highly improved, as to per- ceive tiiat texture and disposition of coloured surfaces by which some rays of light are re- flected and others absorbed, and in this man- ner to distinguish colours ; but the testimonies for this fact still appear too vague and general to deserve public credit. A person who. lost the use of iiis sight at an early period of in- fancy, who in the vivacity or delicacy of his sensations was not perhaps inferior to any one, and who had often heard of others in Id's situation capable of distinguishing colours by touch, stimulated, partly by curiosity to ac- quire a new train of ideas if possible, but still more by incredulity with respect to the facts related, tried repeated experiments by touch- ing the surfaces ot different bodies and ex- amining whether any such diversities could be found in them as might enable him to distinguish colours ; but no such diversity coni i he ever ascertain. Sometimes, in- deed, he imagined that objects which had no colour, or, in other words, such as were blank, were somewhat different and peculiar i i their suriaces, hut this. experiment did not always hold. That their acoustic perceptions are distinct and accurate, we may fairly con- clude iromthe rapidity with which they ascer- tain the acuteness or gravity of different tones, and from their exact discernment of the various modifications oi sound, and oi so- norous objects, it the sounds themselves are in any degree, significant of their causes. When we ruminate on the numberless advantages derived from the use of sigh*, and its immense importance in extend- ing the human capacity, and improving every faculty of the mind, we might be tempted to doubt the reports concerning such persons as, without the assistance of light, have arrived at high degrees of emi- nence even in those sciences which appear absolutely unattainable but by the interpo- sition of external mediums. It lias, however, been demonstrated by the late ingenious Dr. Reid, that blind men, by proper instruction, are susceptible of almost every idea, and every truth which can lie impressed on the mind by the mediation of light and colours, except the sensations of light and colours themselves. Yet there is one phenomenon of this kind which seems to have escaped the attention of that philosopher, and for which no author has offered any tolerable reason, though it certainly merits the atten- tion of a philosopher. For though we should admit that the blind can understand with great perspicuity all the phenomena of light and colours ; though it was allowed that on these subjects they might extend their specu- lations beyond their instructions, and investi- gate the mechanical principles of optics by the mere force of genius and application, from the data which they have already ob- tained; yet it will be difficult, if not impos- sible, to assign any reason why these objects should be more interesting to a blind man than any other abstract truths whatever. It is possible for the blind, by a retentive me- mory, to tell that the sky is an azure ; that the sun, moon, and stars, are bright ; that the rose is red, the lily white or yellow, and the tulip variegated. By continually hearing these substantives' and adjectives joined, he may bc^mechanioally taught to join them in the same manner; b .t if he has never had any sensation of colour, however accurately lie may speak of coloured objects, his language must be like that of a parrot; Without mean- ing, and without ideas. It is scarcely possible to lay down a plan, or enter into a detail of particulars, with r< spect to the mode of education proper to lie pursued for the blind. These must be de- termined by the genius, the capacity, and the circumstances,, of those to whom the ge- neral rules should lie applied. Much there- fore must depend on their fortunes, much on their temper and genius ; tor unless these particulars were known, every answer which could be given to questions of this kind must be extremely general, and of consequence extremely superficial. Besides,, the task is so much more arduous, because whoever at- tempts it can expect to derive no assistance from those who have written on education be- fore him : and though the blind have excelled in more than one science, yet, except in the case of Dr. Saunderson, it does not appear that any of them have been conducted to that degree of eminence at which they ar- rived upon a premeditated plan. We sh .uld rather imagine, that they have been led 232 BLINDNESS. through the general course and ordinary forms of discipline ; and that, if any circum- stances were favourable to their ge nius, they rather proceeded from accident than design. This melancholy truth reflects no honour on human nature. When contemplated by a man of benevolence, it is not easy to guess whether, his mortification or astonishment will be greatest. A heart that glows with real philanthropy feels for the whole vital creation, and becomes in some measure the sensorium of every suffering insect or rep- tile. How must our sympathy increase then in tenderness and force, when the distressed individuals of our own species become its ob- je *ts ! Nor do the blind bear so small a proportion to the whole community as, even in a political view, to be neglected. But in this, as in every other political crime, the pu- nishment returns upon the society in which it is committed. Those abandoned and un- improved beings, who, under proper culture and discipline, might have successfully con- curred in producing and augmenting the ge- neral welfare, become the nuisances and bur- dens of those very societies who have neg- lected them. The most important view which we can entertain in the education of a person deprived of sight, is to redress, as ef- fectually as we possibly can, the natural dis- advantages with which he is encumbered ; or, in other words, to enlarge as far as possi- ble the sphere of his knowledge and activity. This can only be done by the improvement of hi, intellectual, imaginative, or mechanical, powers ; and which of these ought to be most assiduously cultivated, the genius of every in- dividual a’one c, n determ in *. Were men to judge of things by their intrinsic natures, le§s would be expected from the blind than others. But, by some pernicious and unac- countable prejudice, people generally hope to find them either possessed of preterna- tural talents, or more attentive to those which they have than others. Hence it unluckily happens, that blind men, who in common life arc too often regarded as raree-shows, when they do not gratify the extravagant expecta- tions of their spectators, frequently Sink in the general opinion, and appear much less considerable and meritorious than they really are. This general diffidence of their powers deprives them both of opportunity and spirit to exert themselves ; and they descend, at last, to that degree of insignificance in which the public estimate has fixed them. From the original dawning, therefore, of reason and spirit, the parents and tutors of the blind ought to inculcate this maxim upon them ; that it is their indispensable duty to excel, and that it is absolutely in their power to at- tain a high degree of eminence. Not that improvement should be rendered quite easy to them : for all difficulties which are not insuperable heighten the charms, and en- hance the value, of those acquisitions which they seem to retard. But care should be taken that these difficulties be not magnified or exaggerated ; for the blind have a painful sense of their own incapacity, and conse- quently a strong propensity to despair. For this reason, parents and relations ought never to be too ready in offering their assistance to the blind in any office which they can per- form, or in any acquisition which they can procure for themselves, whether they are prompted by amusement or necessity. Let a blind boy be permitted to walk through the neighbourhood without a guide, not only though he should run some hazard, but even though he should suffer some pain. If he has a mechanical turn, let him not be denied the use of edge tools: for it is better that he should lose a little blood, or even break a bone, than be perpetually confined to the same place, debilitated in his frame, and de- pressed in his mind. Such a being can have no employment but to feel his own weakness, and become his own tormentor ; or to trans- fer to others the peevishness arising from the natural, adventitious, or imaginary, evils which he feeis. Scars, fractures, and disloca- tions, in his body, arc trivial misfortunes com- pared with imbecility, timidity, or fretful- ness, of mind. Besides the dreadful effects which inactivity has in relaxing the nerves and depressing the spirits, nothing can be more productive of jealousy, envy, peevish- ness, and every passion that corrodes the soul to agony, than a painful impression of dependance on others, and of our insuffi- ciency for our own happiness. The natural curiosity of children renders them extremely inquisitive. This disposition is often pecu- liarly prevalent in tiie blind. Parents and tutors, therefore, should gratify it whenever their answers can be intelligible to the pupil : when it is otherwise, let them candidly con- fess the impossibility or impropriety of an- swering his questions. Nor will the violence of exercise, and the tumult of play, be pro- ductive of such perils as may be apprehend- ed. For the encouragement of parents, we can assurd them, that though, till the age of twenty, some blind persons were, on most oc- casions, permitted to walk, to run, to play at large, they have yet escaped without any corporeal injury from these excursions. Pa- rents in the middle, or higher ranks, who have blind children, ought, by all means, to keep them out of vulgar company. Such persons often have a wanton malignity, which impels them to impose upon the blind, and to enjoy their painful sensations. But the credu- lity and ignorance of the lower class arc no less dangerous than their false wit. The illi- terate have often a strong propensity to re- late whatever is marvellous and dreadful. These impressions, when early imbibed, can scarcely be eradicated by all the conspiring efforts of mature reason and confirmed ex- perience. Those philosophers who have at- tempted to break the alliance between dark- ness and spectres, were certainly inspired by laudable motives. Were we endued with senses to advertise us of every noxious ob- ject before its contiguity could render it for- midable, our panics would probably be less frequent and sensible than we really feel them. Darkness and silence, therefore, have something dreadful in them, because they su- persede the vigilance of those senses which give us the earliest notices of things. In talking, therefore, to a blind boy of invisible beings, let him hear as seldom as possible, even in stories which he knows to be fabu- lous, of vindictive ghosts, vindictive fiends, or avenging furies. They seize and pre-oc- cupy every avenue of terror which is open in the soul ; nor are they easily dispossessed. Sooner may we hope to exorcise a ghost, than to obliterate their images in a warm and susceptible imagination, where they have been habitually impressed, and where these feelings cannot be dissipated by extcrr.a! phe- nomena. If horrors of this kind should agi- tate the heart of a blind boy (which may hap- pen, notwithstanding -the most strenuous en- deavours to prevent it), the stories' which he has heard will be most effectually discredited by ridicule. This, however, must be cau- tiously applied, by gentle gradations. If he is inspired with terror by effects upon his senses, the causes of which he cannot investi- gate, pains must be taken to explain these phenomena ; and to confirm that explica- tion, whenever it can be done, by the testi- mony of his own senses and his own expe- rience. The exercise of his locomotive and mechanical powers will sensibly contri- bute to dispel these terrors. His inventive faculties ought likewise to be indulged with the same freedom. The data which they ex- plore may be presented in such a manner as to render discoveries easy : but still let in- vention be allowed to co-operate. The in- ternal triumph which the mind feels from the attainment of new truths, heightens their charms, impresses them deep on the memo- ry, and gives them a lasting influence in practice. Care should therefore be taken to afford the mind a theatre for its exertions, as extensive as possible, without diverting it from one great end, which, in order to excel, it ought for ever to have in view. With respect to employments for the blind, if the pupil be not in easy circumstances, mu- sic is his readiest and most probable resource. Civil and ecclesiastical employments have ei- ther something in their own nature, or in the invincible prejudices of mankind, which ren- ders them entirely inaccessible to such as have not the use of sight. No liberal and cultivated mind can entertain the least Hesi- tation in concluding, that there is nothing, either in the nature of things, or even in the positive institutions of genuine religion, re- pugnant to the idea of a blind clergyman. As to the law, though there could be no doubt that a blind man might discharge the office of a chamber-counsel with success, yet, as a barrister, his difficulties must appear formid- able, if not absolutely insuperable: for lie must remember all the sources, whether in natural equity or positive institutions, whether in common or statute law, whence his argu- ments ought to be drawn. Fie must be able to specify, and to arrange in their proper or- der, all the material objections of his antago- nists: these he must likewise answer as they are proposee, extempore. When, therefore, it is considered how difficult it is to temper the natural associations of memory with the artificial arrangements of judgment, the de- sultory flights of imagination with the calm and regular deductions of reason, the energy and perturbation of passion with the coolness and tranquillity of deliberation, some idea may be formed of the arduous task which every blind man must achieve, who under- takes the law as a profession. As to physic, the obstacles which a blind man must encoun- ter, both in the theory and practice of that art, will be easily conceived. If the Wind must depend upon the exercise of their own powers for bread, we have already pointed out music as their easiest and most obvious province ; but let it be remembered, that me- diocrity in this art may prove the bitterest and most effectual curse which a parent can inflict upon his offspring : as it subjects them to every vicious impression or habit, -which may be imbibed or contracted from the low- est and most abandoned of mankind. If yortr pupil, therefore, is not endowed with natural talents exquisitely proper both for the theory and practice of "this art, suffer him by no means to be initiated in it. If his natural ge- nius favours your attempts, the piano, harp, or organ, are’ the most proper instruments for him to begin ; because by these instruments he may be made more easily acquainted wits the extent of musical scales, with the powers of harmony, with the relations of which it ih constituted, and of course with the theory of his art. When he becomes a practical adept, tangible signs may be used, by which he may not only be enabled to read, but even to set music for himself. Such exercises will ren- der him infinitely more accurate, both in his principles and practice, than he would other- wise be. For the present article we acknowledge ourselves chiefly indebted to the Encyclope- dia Britannica, a work of established merit ; and we have even extended our limits, con- trary to our professed design, beyond the practical' part of science, because this article cannot fail to be interesting if it is known, as we are informed it is, to be the production of Dr. Black lock.. As an encouragement to the blind, or those who have blind children, we subjoin a few instances of extraordinary attainments in blind persons. The most illustrious instance is the gentle- man whom we have just had occasion to name, Dr. Thomas Blacklock ; he was born in 1720, at Annan, in Dumfriesshire. His fa- ther was a bricklayer, and his mother the daughter of a dealer in cattle ; both respect- able in their characters and station. Before he was six years old he lost his sight by the small-pox, which prevented his father from -executing his intention of bringing him up to some trade. He therefore encouraged the inclination lvc had early shewn for books, by reading to amuse him; first, the Small publi- cations usually put into the hands of children, and afterwards the works of our best authors, such as Milton, Prior, Pope, Addison, &c. His companions, attached to him by affec- tion as well as compassion, were assiduous in reading to amuse and instruct him. By their aid he acquired some knowlege of Latin. Poetry was early his delight ; and at twelve years of age he began to write poems him- self, of considerable merit. He had attained the age of nineteen, when his indulgent fa- ther, whose kindness made a grateful and in- delible impression on his mind, was killed by the fall of a malt-kiln. This loss, severe to any one, but doubly so to one in his circum- stances, and endued with his sensibility, led the way, however, to his receiving advan- tages which, perhaps, had his father lived, he might never have obtained. He had lived with his mother about a year after his father’s death, when he began to be spoken of as a young man of uncommon genius ; and se- veral of his poetical productions were handed* about, which enlarged the circle of his friends and acquaintance. Some of these being shewn to Dr. Stevenson, of Edinburgh, that gentleman formed the benevolent design of carrying him to the metropolis, and giving him a classical education. He accordingly came to Edinburgh in 1741, and was enrolled as a student of divinity in the university, VOL. I. BLINDNESS. where he continued his studies till I'M*!;! when, on account of the national, distur- j bances,' he returned to Dumfries, and resided with Air. M ‘Mur do, his sister’-s husband. In 1746 he published a volume of his poems in 8vo. Upon his return to Edinburgh he ob- tained, among other literary acquaintance, that of the celebrated David Hume; who warmly interested himself in his favour, and assisted him in the publication, by subscrip- tion, of the quarto edition of his poems, which in 17.14 had undergone a second edi- tion in octavo. To the quarto edition Mr. Spence, professor of poetry at Oxford, from regard to the author, prefixed an ingenious account of his life and writings. About this time, while prosecuting his studies in the lan- guages, and every other branch of science from which his want of sight did not preclude him, he became a complete master of the French tongue, by his intercourse with the family of provost Alexander, who had mar- ried a French lady. After passing the usual trials, he was licensed as a preacher by the presbytery of Dumfries, in 1759; and ob- tained no small reputation by the different sermons he preached, of which he left some volumes in manuscript. In 1762 he married Miss S. Johnston, daughter of Mr. Jos. John- ston, a respectable surgeon in Dumfries : a connection which proved the great blessing and comfort of his after-life. A few days after, by lord Selkirk’s interest, he obtained the royal presentation to the parish of Kirk- cudbright : but the inhabitant ', from various motives, opposing the presentation, the mat- ter was compromised by settling a moderate annuity on Mr. Blacklock, upon his resigning his right to the living. With this slender provision he removed, in 1764, to Edin- burgh ; and adopted the plali of keeping young gentlemen as boarders, whose studies he could assist and superintend: which he continued until within four years of his death, when his weak state of health obliged him to give it up. In 1767 the university of Aberdeen conferred on him the degree of D. D. In summer 1791 he was seized by a feverish disorder, which, though at first it ap- peared slight, and never rose to a violent degree, overpowered his weak frame, and carried him off on the 3d of July, 1791, in his seventy-sixth year. A foreign author cha- racterises this extraordinary man in few words. “ Blacklock,” says he, “ will appear to posterity a fabulous character ; even now he is a prodigy.” Another no less striking instance is Dr. Nicolas Bacon, a blind gentleman, de- scended from the same family with the ce- lebrated lord Verulam, was, in the city of Brussels, with high approbation created LL. D. He was deprived of sight at nine years of age, by an arrow from a cross-brow whilst he was attempting to shoot it. When he had recovered his health, which had suffered by the shock, he pursued the same plan of edu- cation in which he had been engaged; and having heard that one Nicasius de Vourde, born blind, who lived towards the end of the 15th century, after having distinguished him- self by Iris studies in the university of Lou- vain, took his degree as D. D. in that of Cologne, he resolved to make the same at- tempt; but the public, cursed with prejudices for which the meanest sensitive nature might blush, prejudices eoually beneath the bru- £33 tality and ignorance of* the lowest animal in- stinct, treated his intention with ridicule: even the professors themselves were not far from being of the same sentiment ; and they admitted him into their schools rather from an impression that it might amuse him, than become of any use to them. He had the good fortune, however, contrary to their ex- pectations, to obtain the first places among his condi -:cip!es. It was then said, that such rapid advances might be made in the pre- liminary branches of his education, but would soon be effectually checked by studies of a more profound and abstracted nature. This, it seems, was repeated from school to school, through the whole climax of his pursuits-; and when, in the course of academical learning, it became necessary to study poetry, it was the general' voice that all was over, and at length he had reached his ne plus ultra. But here he likewise disappointed their pre- judices, and taught them the immense differ- ence between blindness of body and blindness of soul. _ After continuing his studies in learn- ing and philosophy for two years more, he applied himself to law, took his degree in that science, commenced pleading counsellor or advocate in the council of Brabant, and had the pleasure of terminating almost every suit in which he was engaged to the satisfaction of his clients. The attainments of professor Saunderson are not less extra- ordinary, and yet as well established not only on the testimony of his pupils, but by bis works. The following anecdotes of Dr. Moyes were not long ago presented to the Manchester society by Dr. G. Bew, and afterwards published. “ Dr. Henry Moyes, who occasionally read lectures on philoso- phical chemistry at Manchester, like Dr, Saunderson, the celebrated professor of Cam - bridge, lost his sight hy the small-pox in his early infancy. He never recollected to have seen: ‘ but the first traces of memory I have (says he), are in some confused ideas of the solar system.’ lie had the good fortune to be born in a country where learning of every kind is highly cultivated, and to be brought up in a family devoted to learning. Possessed of native genius, and ardent in his application,, ■he made rapid advances in various depart- ments of erudition, and not only acquired the fundamental principles of mechanics, music, and the languages, but likewise entered deeply into the investigation of the pro founder sciences, and displayed an acute and general knowledge of geometry, optics, algebra, as- tronomy, chemistry, and in short, of most of the branches of the Newtonian philosophy. Mechanical exercises were the favourite em- ployments of his infant years. At a very early age he made himself acquainted with the use of edged tools so perfectly, that not- withstanding liis entire blindness, lie was able to make little windmills ; and he even con- structed a loom with his own hands, which still show the cicatrices of wounds he re- ceived in the execution of these juvenile ex- ploits. By a most agreeable intimacy and frequent intercourse which I enjoyed with this accomplished blind gentleman, whilst he resided at Manchester, 1 had an opportunity of repeatedly observing the peculiar manner in which lie arranged his ideas and acquired his information. Whenever he was intro- duced into company, I remarked that he continued for some time silent. The sound 234 B L I B L I E L I directed him to judge of the dimensions of tl^e room, and the different voices of the number of persons that were present. His distinction in these respects was very accu- rate, and his memory so retentive that lie seldom was mistaken. I have known him in- stantly recognize a person on first hearing him speak, though more than two years hau elapsed since the time of their last meeting. He determined pretty nearly the stature of tnose he was speaking with, by the direction of thetr voices; and he made tolerabie con- jectures respecting their tempers and dis- positions, by the manner in which they, con- ducted their conversation. It must be ob- served that this gentleman’s eyes were not totally insensible to intense light. The raws refracted through a prism, when sufficiently vivid, produced certain distinguishable effects on them. r l he red gave him a disagreeable sensation, which he compared to the touch of a saw. As the colours declined in vio- lence, the harshness lessened, until the green afforded a sensation that was highly pleasing to him, and which he described as conveying an idea similar to what he felt in running his hand over smooth polished surfaces. Polished surfaces, meandering streams, and gentle de- clivities, were the figures by which lie ex- pressed his ideas of beauty. ' Bugged rocks, irregular points, and boisterous elements, furnished him with expressions for terror and disgust. He excelled in the charms of con- versation ; was happy in his allusions to. visual objects; and discoursed on the nature, com- position, and beauty of colours, with perti- nence and precision. Dr. Moves was a striking instance of the power the human soul possesses of finding resources of satis- faction, even under the most rigorous cala- mities. Though involved ‘ in ever-during darkness,’ and excluded from the charming views of silent or animated nature ; though d pendant on an undertaking for the means ot his subsistence, the success of which was very precarious; in short, though destitute of other support than his genius, and under the mercenary protection of a person whose integrity he suspected; still Dr. Moyes was generally cheerful, and apparently happy. Indeed it must afford much pleasure to the feeling "heart, to observe this hilarity of tem- elr fife vail almost unive sally with the blind.” 'llefe are, in short, few sciences in which the blind have not distinguished themselves : even those whose acquisition seemed essentially to depend upon vision, have at last yielded to genius and industry, though deprived of that advantage. Sculpture is not the most prac- ticable art for a blind man ; yet there are in- stances of persons who have taken the figure cf a face by the touch, and moulded it in wax with the utmost exactness; as was the £-.ase of the blind sculptor mentioned by De Piles, wh© thus took the likeness of the duke de Bracciano in a dark cellar, and made a marble statue of king Charles I. with great cl ‘gance and justness. In music, there are, at present, living instances how far the blind may proceed. In former periods we shall find illustrious examples how amply nature has capacitated the blind to excel, both in the scientific and practical departments of that enchanting ark Dr. Bew, in the Transactions of the Man- chester Society, above quoted, menti >ns an instance, which would be beyond belief if we had it not on such respectable authority. “ John Metcalf, a native of the neighbour- hood of Manchester, where he is well known, became blind at a very early age, so as to be entirely unconscious of light and its various effects. This man passed the younger pars of his life as a waggoner, and occasionally at a guide in intricate roads during the night, or when the tracks were cover, d with snow. Strange as this may appear to those w ho can see, the employment he has since under- taken is still more extraordinary : it is one of the last to which we could suppose a blind man would, ever turn his attention. His pre- sent occupation is that of a projector and surveyor , of highways in difficult and moun- tainous parts. With the assistance only of a long stall, I have several times met this man traversing the roads, ascending precipices, exploring valleys, ane investigating their se- veral extents, forms, and situations, so as to answer his designs in the best manner. The plans which he designs, and the estimates he makes, are done in a manner peculiar to him- self, and which he cannot well convey the meaning of to others. His abilities in this respect are nevertheless so great, that he finds constant employment. Most of the roads over the Peak in Derbyshire have been altered by his directions, particularly those in the vicinity of Buxton ; and he is at this time constructing a new one betwixt Wil- meslow and Gongleton, with a view to open a communication to the great London road, without being obliged to pass over the moun- tains.” Bishop Burnett, in his Letters, mentions a blind lady, whom he saw at Geneva, who lost her sight at one year old, yet was eminently skilled in most sciences, antient and modern. She spoke French, German, Italian, and La- tin ; and played exquisitely on several mu- sical instruments. She wrote very legibly with a crayon. The means by which her fa- ther taught her to write was, by having let- ters carved in wood ; and by feeling them she acquired a correct idea of their form. The bishop saw r her write, which she did very fast, aided only -by a machine which held the paper, and kept her always in line. In the Annual Register for 1762, we have a similar account. “ A young gentlewoman of a good family in P'rance, now in her 18th year, lost her sight when only tw f o years old, her mother having been advised to lay some pigeons’ blood on her eyes, to preserve them in the small-pox ; w hereas, so far from answering the end, it ate into them. Nature, however, may be said to have compensated for the unhappy mistake, by beauty of per- son, sweetness of temper, vivacity of genius, quickness of conception, and many talents, which certainly much alleviate her misfor- tune. She plays at cards with the same rea- diness as others of the party. She first pre- pares the packs allotted to her, by pricking them in several parts ; yet so imperceptibly, that the closest inspection can scarcely dis- cern her indexes. She sorts the suits, and arranges the cards in their proper sequence, with the same precision, and nearly the same facility,, as those who have their sight. All she requires of those who play with her, is to name every card as it is played ; and these -he retains so exactly, that 'she frequently * performs some notable strokes, such as show a great combination and strong memory. The most wonderful circumstance is, that she should have learned to read and write ; but even this is readily believed on knowing her method. In writing to her, no ink is used, but the letters are pricked down on the pa- per ; and by the delicacy of her touch, feel- ing each letter, she follows them successive- ly, and reads every word with her linger ends. She herself in writing makes use of a pencil, as she could not know when her pen was dry ; her guide on the paper is a small thin ru- ler, anil of the breadth of her writing. On finishing a letter, she wets it, so as to fix the traces of her pencil, that they are not ob- scured or effaced ; then proceeds to fold and seal it, and write the direction: all by her own address, and without the assistance of any other person. Her writing is very straight, well cut, and the spelling no less correct. To teach this singular mechanism, the indefatigable cares of her affectionate mo- ther were long employed : who accustomed her daughter to feel letters cut in cards or paste-board ; brought her to distinguish an A from a B, and thus the whole alphabet, anp afterwards to spell words ; then, bv the re- membrance of the shape of the letters, to de- lineate them on paper; .and lastly, to ar- range them so as to form words" and sem tences. She has learned to play on the gui- tar ; and has even contrived a way of prick- ing down the tunes, as an assistance to her memory. So delicate are her organs, that in singing a tune, though new to her, she is able to name the notes. In figured dances she acquits herself extremely well, and in a mi- nuet with inimitable ease and gracefulness - As for the works of her sex, she has a master- ly hand : she sews and hems perfectly well ; and in all her works she threads the needles for herself, however small. By the watch, her touch never fails telling her exactly the hour and minute.” These instances afford the happiest encou- ragement both to those who labour under this misfortune, not to despair of attaining by perseverance the intellectual accomplish- ments ; and a striking admonition to parents not to increase, by their negligence, a cala- mity to which a darling child may be sub- jected by the dispensation of Providence. Some benevolent institutions have been late- ly established for the employment and in- struction of the blind poor ; and we have little doubt that the views of their projectors will, in many cases, be fully answered. BLINK of the ice, in sea language, de.- notes that bright appearance produced by the ice near the horizon ; and perceptible, in ap- proaching the ice, long before it is itself seen. BLISTER, in medicine, a thin bladder containing a watery humour, whether occa- sioned by burns, and the like accidents, or by vesicatories laid on different parts of the body for that purpose. Cantharides, or Spanish flies, applied in the form of a plaister, are chiefly used with this intention. See Materia IvIedica. BLITUM, the blite, or strawberry spi- nach, a genus of the digynia order and nio- nandria class of plants, and in the natural method ranking in the 12th order, holoracean The calyx is trilid ; no petals ; the seed is I5LO B L U BOA 235 »ne, included in 4 berry-sh4ped calyx. '1 here are four species, viz. 1. Blitum capitatum, with flowers in clus- tered heads at the joints and crown of tlie stalks, is a native of Spain and Portugal, but has been long preserved in the British gar- dens for the beauty of its fruit, ft is an an- nual plant, with leaves somewhat like those of the spinach ; the stalk rises two feet and a half high ; the upper part of the stalk has flowers coming out in small heads at even joint, and is terminated by a little cluster of the same ; after the flowers are past, the heads swell to the size of wood-strawberries, and when ripe have the same appearance, but are not eatable ; they are full of purple juice, which stains the hands of those who bruise them of a deep purple colour. 2. Blitum tartaricum, with triangular acutely indented leaves, is a native of Tar- tary. It rises to near three feet high ; the flowers come out from the sides of the stalks, but are smaller than those of the capitatum, as is also the fruit. 3. Blitum virgatum, with small heads growing from the sides of the stalks, is a native of the south of France and Italy. It seldom grows more than a foot high ; the leaves are of the same shape with those of the capitatum, but smaller. The flowers are produced at the wings of the leaves, almost the length of the stalk ; they are smaller, and not so deeply coloured as the first. 4. Blitum chenopodioides, is a low plant, a native of Tartary. All these species being annual, must be propagated by seeds, and are very hardy. - BLOCKS, on ship-board, is the usual name for what we call pulleys at land. They are thick pieces of wood, some with three, four, or live shivers in them, through which all the running-ropes run. Blocks^ whether single or double, are distinguished and called by the names of the ropes they carry, and the uses they serve for. Double-blocks are used when there is occasion for much strength, because they will purchase with more ease than single blocks, though much slower. Block-and-block is a phrase signifying that two blocks meet, in haling any tackle or hal- liard, having such blocks belonging to them. Fish-block is hung in a notch at the end of the davit. It serves to hale up the flocks of the anchor at the ship’s prow. Snatch-block is a great block with -a shiver in it, and a notch cut through one of its checks, for the more readily receiving of any rope; as by tliis notch the middle part of a rope may be reeved into a block, without passing it end- wise. It is commonly fastened w ith a strap about the mainmast, close to the upper deck, and is chiefly used for the fall of the winding- tackle, which is reeved into this block, and then brought to the capstan. Blocks now used in the navy are made in the Portsmouth yard, by means of machine- ry, which has lately been erected for the purpose, and which performs the several ope- rations from the rough timber to the perfect block iu the completest manner possible. Block, engraving. See Engraving. BLOOD, sanguis, a red Honor circulating through the arteries, veins, and other vessels oi animal bodies ; and serving for the sup- port of life, and nourishment of all their parts. See Anatomy, and Physiology. BLOOM, a mass of iron after having un- dergone the first hammering, called biomary. BLOSSOM, denotes ti ie flowers of plants, but more especially of fruit-trees. BLOW-PIPE, or bloiving-pipe , a hollow tube, used by several artificers; as enamel- lers, glass-makers, jewellers, &c. it is a w ind instrument for the purpose of increasing the heat of a candle or lamp, as common bellows are employed for raising the tempe- rature of a fire or furnace. The blow-pipe is of great use in practical chemistry. See Chemistry. BLOW ING of glass, one of the methods of forming the divers kinds of works in the glass manufacture. It is performed by dipping the point of an iron blowing-pipe in the melted glass, and blowing through it with the mouth, accord- ing to the circumstances of the glass to be blow n. See G lass . Blowing of tin denotes the melting its ore, after being first burnt to destroy the mundic. BLUBBER, denotes the fat of whales and other large sea animals, of which is made train oil. The blubber is the adeps of the animal : it lies under the skin, and over the muscular flesh : it is about six inches in thickness, but about the under lip it is two or three feet thick. The quantity yielded by a good sized whale amounts to from forty to eighty hun- dredweight, or even more. ‘ The use of the blubber to the fish seems to be partly to poise the body, and partly to keep off the water at some distance from the blood; and thus it acts as clothing to keep the fish warm. BLUE, painter's, is made differently, ac- cording to the different kinds of painting. In limning, fresco, and miniature, they use indifferently ultramarine, blue ashes, and smalt: these are their natural blues, except- ing the last, which is partly natural, and partly artificial. In oil and miniature they also use indigo prepared, as also a factitious ultramarine. Enamellers and painters upon glass have also blues proper to themselves, each pre- paring them after their own manner. Blue, turnsole, is used in painting on wood, and is made of the seed of that plant : the way of preparing it is, to boil four ounces of turnsole in a pint and a half of water, in which lime has been slaked. Blue, Handers, is a colour bordering on green, and seldom used but in landscapes. Blueing nj meta's is performed bv heat- ing them in the lire till they assume a blue colour; particularly practised by gilders, who blue their metals before they apply the gold and silver leaf. Blue, to dye skins. Boil elder-berries of dwarf elder, then smear and wash the skins therewith, and wring them out; then boil the berries as before, in a solution of alum- water, and v et the skins in the same manner once or twice; dry them, and they will be very blue. _ A Blue for painting or staining of glass. 1 ake fine white sand twelve ounces, zaffer and minium of each three ounces ; reduce them to a fine powder in a bell-metal mortar, then putting the powder into a very strong crucible, cover it and lute it well, and, be- ing dry, calcine it over a quick fire for an hour; take out the matter and pound it: Gg2 then fo sixteen ounces of this nowder add fourteen of nitre powder; mix them well to- gether, and put them into the crucible again ; cover and lute it, and calcine for two hours on a very strong fire. Blue, Prussian. This blue is next to ul~ tramarine for beauty, if it is used in oil 1 this colour does not grind well in water. Blue-bice is a colour of good brightness, next to Prussian blue, and also a colour of a body, and will flow pretty well in the pencil. Blue, Saunders, is also of very good use, and may serve as a shade to ultramarine, or the blue-bice, where the shades are not re- quired to be verj deep ; and is of itself a pleasant blue, to be laid between the light and shades of such a flower as is of a maza- rine blue. Blue, a fine one from Mr. Boyle. Take the blue leaves of rue, and beat them a little in a stone mortar with a wooden pestle ; then put them in water, juice and all, for fourteen days or more, washing them every day till they are rotten ; and at last beat them and the water together till they become a pulp, and let them dry in the sun. This is a fine blue for shading. Blue, Indigo. This makes the strongest shade for blues, and is of a soft warm colour, when it has been well ground, and washed with gum-water, by means of astone and a muller. Blue, Lacmus, or Litmus. This is a beau- tiful blue, and will run in a pen as free as ink. It is made of lacmus, and prepared thus : r I ake an ounce of lacmus, and boil :t in a pint of small beer wort, till the colour is as strong as you would have it; then pour off the liquor into a gallipot, and let it cool for use. T his affords a beautiful colour, has extraordinary effects, and is a holding co- lour ; if it is touched with aquafortis, it im- mediately changes to a fine crimson, little inferior to carmine. Blue, Japan. Take gum-water, what quantity you please, and white lead a suffi- cient quantify, grind them well on a poipby-* ry ; then take isinglass size, what quantity you please, of the finest and best smait a suf- ficient quantity, mix them well; to which add, of your white lead before ground, so much as may give it a sufficient body ; mix all these together to the consistence of a paint. Blueness of the skies. Sir Isaac Newton observes, that all the vapours, when they be- gin to condense and coalesce into natural particles, become first of such a bigness as to reflect the azure rays, before they can con- stitute clouds, or any other colour. But Mr. Melville supposes, that the clouds only reflect and transmit the sun’s light ; and that, according to their different altitudes they may assi me all the variety of colours at sun rising and setting, b) barely reflecting the sun’s incident light, as they receive it through a shorter or longer tract “of aii ; and the change is produced In the sun’s ravsby the quantity of air through which they 'pas-- from white to yellow, from yellow to orano-e’ and lastly to red. * & ’ BLUFF-HEAD, among sailors. A ship is said to be bluff-headed that has an upright stern. . b BOA, a genus of serpents belonging to the order of amphibia ; the generic character w scuta, or undivided plates, both on the abd^ men and beneath the tail. B O A. 236 This genus of serpents is remarkable for the vast and almost unlimited size of some of the principal species, which in India, Africa, and South America, are occasionally found of not less than twenty, thirty, and even thirty- live feet in length, and of a strength so pro- digious as to be able to destroy cattle, deer, &c. by twisting round them in such a man- ner as to crush them to deatii by continued pressure, after which they swallow them in a very gradual manner ; and when thus gorged with their prey, become almost torpid w ith repletion, and if discovered in this state, may without much difficulty be destroyed by shooting or other methods. There is reason 4o suppose that these gigantic serpents are become less common now than some cen- turies backwards. There are nineteen species, viz. 1. Boa constrictor. Of all the larger boa? this is most conspicuous, and is at once pre- eminent from superior ity of size and beauty of dolour : in this respect indeed it appears to be subject to considerable variation from age, «ex, and climate, but may be distinguished in every state from the rest of its tribe by the peculiar disposition of its variegations. The ground-colour of the whole animal, in the younger specimens, is a yellowish grey, and .sometimes even a bright yellow ; on which is disposed along the whole length of the hack a series of large, chain-like, reddish-brown, and sometimes perfectly red variegations, leaving large open oval spaces of the ground- colour at regular intervals: between these larger marks are disposed many smaller ones of uncertain forms, and more or less nume- rous in different parts. The boa constrictor is a native of Africa, India, the larger Indian islands, and South America, where it chiefly resides in the most retired situations in woody and marshy regions. It was, in all probability, an enormous spe- cimen of this very serpent that once diffused so violent a terror amongst the most valiant of mankind, and threw a whole Homan army into dismay. Historians relate this surprising event in terms of considerable luxuriance. Valerius Maximus thus mentions it from Livy, in one of the lost books of whose history it was related more at large. “ And since we are on the subject of un- common phenomena, we may here mention the serpent so eloquently and accurately re- corded by Livy ; who says, that near the ri- ver Bagrada in Africa, a snake was seen of so enormous a magnitude as to prevent the army of Attilius Hegulus from the use of the river ; and after snatching up several soldiers with its enormous mouth, and devouring them, and killing several more by striking and squeezing them with the spires of its tail, was at length destroyed by assailing it with all the force of military engines and showers of stones, after it had withstood the attack of their spears and darts : that it was regarded by the whole army as a more formidable enemy than even Carthage itself; and that the w'hole adjacent region being tainted with the pesti- lential effluvia proceeding from its remains, and the waters with its blood, the Homan army was obliged lo remove its station: lie also adds, that the skin of the monster, mea- suring 120 feet in length, w as sent to Home as a trophy.” The flesh of this serpent is eaten by the Indians and negroes of Africa, and they make its skin into garments. Plate Nat. Hist, fig. 50. 2. Boa scytale, or spotted. The spot- ted boa is sometimes scarcely inferior in size 'o the constrictor, and is of simi- milar manners, destroying, like that animal goats, sheep, deer, &c. It is described as being generally of a grey or glaucous colour, marked with large orbicular black spots on the back ; and with smaller ones of similar form, but with white centres, on the sides : while on the abdomen are scattered several oblong spots and marks,- interspersed with smaller specks and variegations. It is a na- tive of several parts of South America, and, like other large snakes, is occasionally eaten by the Indians. 3. Boa cenchris, or ringed. This also grows to a large size, though not equal to either of the former species, from which, as well as from most others, it may be easily distinguished by the Tegular distribution of its colours ; the general cast being ferru- ginous, darkest on the back, where it is marked by a continued series of very large blackish circles from head To tail ; while along the sjldes are interspersed several kidney- shaped blackish spots with white centres : the head is a lengthened form, and is marked by a black longitudinal and two lateral bands. This animal is a native of South Ame- rica. 4. Boa enydris, or water. This spe- cies, according to Linnaeus, is variegated with different shades of grey ; the teeth in the lower jaw are longer than usu al in this genus ; the number of abdominal scuta is 270, and of the subcaudal ones 105. 5. Boa orphryas or brown, mention- ed by Linnaeus from a specimen in the museum of Degeer : has the general habit of the B. constrictor, but is of a dark Or dusky colour, and has 281 abdominal and 84 subcaudal scuta. 6. Boa canina, a highly beautiful snake : measuring about four feet in length, and being of moderate size or thick- ness in proportion : the head is large, and shaped like that of a dog; the co- lour of the whole animal on the upper parts is a most beautiful Saxon-green, with several short, undulating, transverse white bars down the back, the edges of which are of a deeper or stronger green than the ground colour of the body : the under or abdominal part is white. This species is a native of South America. In the British Museum is an ele- gant specimen. 7. Boa regia is, in the form of its head and the general shape of the body, most allied to the canina and phrygia. In its colour it ap- pears to vary, the ground-colour being white, but the variegations sometimes dusky or chesnut, and sometimes of a most elegant orange-red, accompanied by a tinge of blos- som-colour on the lighter parts. The head is covered in front with large scales : the tail is extremely short, and tapers suddenly. 8. Boa phrygia. Among the whole serpent tribe it may be doubted whether there exists a species more truly elegant than the present. Its general size seems to be nearly that of the boa canina, but its length is rather greater in proportion : the ground-colour of the whole animal is white, with a very slight cast of yellowish-brown on the back, while along the w'hole upper part is disposed a continued series of black variegations, so conducted as to bear a striking resemblance to an embroi- dery in needle-work : the head is of the same form with that of the boa canina, and marked by three narrow black streaks, which, running along the top of the head and the cheeks, join with the embroidered pattern of the back. 9. Boa hortulana is of moderate size, mea- suring only a few feet in length, and being of a slender form ; has obtained its Linnsean title from the singular variegations on the head, which are of a blackish brown on a pale fer- ruginous or yellowish ground, and in some de- gree represent the form of a parterre in an oid- lashioned garden : the variegations on the body are of similar colour, and are disposed into large circular, and sometimes angular patches on the sides. See Plate Nat. Hist. 10. Boa murinais a middle-sized species, measuring about two feet and a half or three feet in length, and being of a moderately thick form: the colour of the whole upper part is grey or blueish-brown, w ith several moderately large round black spots dispersed in a somewhat irregular manner along the back and sides : the head is marked on each side by two longitudinal black stripes : this species is said to feed principally on rats, and to be found in South America. 11. Boa crotaline is a native of Surinam, and is a large species, marked on the hack by a chain of black ihomboid spots, and is fur- nished with very large and strong fangs. 12. Boafasciata. It is to Dr. Patrick Russel that we owe the knowledge of this remarkable species, which is a native of India, and is said to be most frequent in the country of Bengal. It is of a yellow colour, marked with pretty numerous dusky-blue transverse bands, con- tinued at equal distances : the head is rather small, and covered in front with large scales : the body is of a trigonal form, the sides sloping very considerably : the whole length of the animal is something more than live feet ; the diameter, in the thickest part, being nearly live inches : the length of the tail live inches only, and its termination rather obtuse. This snake is among the number of poi- sonous species, and its bite is considered by the Indians as inevitably fatal. A specimen was brought to Dr. Russel in the month of November, 1788, in an apparently weak and languid state, leaving been bruised in taking. Being set at liberty in a room, it crept slowly towards an obscure corner ; where a t hicken being presented to him he took no particular notice of it, and even suffered the bird to stand on his back. As he shewed no dispo- sition to bite, his jaws were forcibly opened, and the thigh of the chicken being placed be- tween them, the mouth was so closed over it as to oblige the fangs to act. The bird, when disengaged, shewed immediate symptoms of poi on, and after several ineffectual efforts to rise, rested with the beak on the ground, the head beingseized with trembling. In the space of twenty minutes it lay down on one side, and convulsions soon supervening, it expired within twenty-six minutes from the bile. 13. Boa viperina is also an Indian species, first described in the work of Dr. Russel. It is about a foot and a half in length and of a moderately deep brown colour ; the baeje BOA being marked throughout the whole length by a broad undulating black band, with a narrow yellowish white margin, while along the sides runs a row of somewhat irre- gular roundish black spots: the under part of the animal is of a pearl-colour. The head is hardly broader than the neck, oblong, roundish', depressed, subtnmcate, and covered with small scales*, the teeth are small and nu- merous, and as there is a marginal row in the tipper jaw, there are of course no fangs : the trunk or body is round, of nearly equal thickness, and coated with small, orbicular, close-set, carinated scales. This snake. Dr. Russel informs us, is said to produce by its bite a slow wasting of the lingers and toes, similar to what h .ppens in some leprous cases. A living specimen, however, which he obtained in Dec. 178S, from Ganjam, enabled him to make some ex- periments with it on chickens ; but though it arrived in excellent order, and bit fero- ciously, the bite was followed by no symptoms of poison. 14. Boa lineata, geedi paragoodoo, or co- bra monil, is of au extremely dark blue co- lour, so as to appear almost black in certain lights, and is marked throughout the whole length of the upper part by several transverse curved and dotted white lines at somewhat unequal distances. The natives of India, who generally exaggerate the noxious cha- racter of their serpents, assert that the bite of this animal produces immediate death. The experiments of Dr. Russel, however, prove that it is seldom fatal to chickens in less than half an hour, and to dogs in less than an hour and ten minutes. Its poison was also ob- served to cause less violent convulsions in the animals infected by it than that of the cobra de capello, and another highly poisonous In- dian snake called katuka rekula poda ; but produced a greater degree of stupor. 15. Boahoratta is a small species, measur- ing only about fifteen inches in length. Its co- lour is a dark brown, with a row of spots on the ridge of the back, from the neck to the end of the tail, varying a little in size and figure, but all of a dull yellowish colour edged with black. The fangs or poisoning organs of this snake show it to be noxious; but in what degree could not be ascertained by Dr. Russel, who could not meet with a living sub- ject to make the necessary experiments with. ■ It is reported, however, to be one of the most fetal of serpents. 16. Boa Siamese, a small species, but very long in proportion to its breadth ; the cir- cumference of the body being scarcely more than an inch and a half, and the length from two to three feet: the head shaped like that of the boa canina : the colour of the whole animal pale yellow above, with pretty nu- merous transverse broken bars of white, with black or deep brown edges ; the abdomen yellow. This species is said to be a native of the East Indies, and particularly of the king- dom of Siam. 17. Boacontorix, a small species, seldom exceeding the length of about fifteen inches': head large, with the cheeks swelling out like those of vipers; the nose turning up, lik that of a hog : the body very thick towards the head : colour pale brown, with several large black spots or patches disposed -along the back and sides. This species is a native of North America, and is of a poisonous nature : j BOA it is slow in its motions, and lias a malevolent aspect: the tail is nearly a third of the length of the whole animal. 18. Boa palpebrosa. Length about fifteen inches: head rather large, and covered in front with large scales : eyebrows remark- ably prominent ; body thick in proportion to ‘its length: colour pearly grey above, with ob cure transverse dusky or blueish un- dulations ; beneath pale yellow-brow n : native country unknown. 19. Boa annulata. TTiisjs rather a small species, measuring about tvVo feet in length : in its general appearance it is allied to the boa hortulana ; but the back is marked with large round black spots, almost encircled by a narrow zone of the same colour. It is a native of South America. BOAR. See Sus. BOARD, among seamen. To go a- board, signifies to go into the ship, do slip by the board, is to slip down by the ship’s side. Board and board, is when two ships come so near as to touch one another, or when they lie side by side. To make a board, is to turn to windward ; and the longer your boards are, the more yon work into the wind. To board it up, is to beat it up sometimes upon one tack, and. sometimes upon another. She makes a good board, that is, the ship advances lfiuch at one tack. The weather board, is that side of the ship which is to windward. BOAT, a small open vessel, commonly wrought by rowing. The structure, and even the names of boats, are different, according to the different uses they are designed for, and the places w'here they are to be used. The several boats and their names are as follow : a long-boat, a jolly-boat, a skilt, a pinnace, a water-boat, a yaul ; the preceding six are boats for ships. Other boats are, a gondola, a Greenland boat, a Bermudas boat, a ballon of Siam, a horse-boat, a peria- ga, a pleasure-boat, a ponton, a canoe, a crude, a curry-curry, a deal hooker, a fe- lucca, a ferry-boat, a praw, a flying-pravv, a punt, a tilt-boat, a tod-boat, a well-boat, a wherry, &c. The boats or wherries plying about Lon- don, are either scullers, wrought by a single person with two oars ; or oars, wrought by two persons, with each an oar. All boats rowed with more than four oars above or be- low London-bridge, are forfeited. Boat, life, a boat invented by Mr. Hen- ry Greathead, of South Shields, for the pur- pose of preserving the lives of shipwrecked persons. The following circumstance gave rise to this invention: In September 1789, the ship Adventure, of Newcastle, was stranded on the Herd sand, on the south side of Tynemouth haven, in the midst of tremendous breakers ; and all ihe crew dropped from the rigging one by one, in the presence of thousands of spec- tators ; not one of whom could be prevailed upon, by any reward, to venture out to her assistance, in any boat or coble of the com- mon construction. On this occasion the gentlemen of South Shields called a meeting of the inhabitants, at which a committee was appointed, and premiums were offered for plans of a bout which should be the best calculated to brave BOA . 237 the dangers of the sea, particularly of broken water. ; Many proposals were offered ; but the preference was unanimously given to that of Mr. Greathead, who was immediately di- rected to build a boat at the expence of the committee. This boat went off on the 30th of January, 1790; and so well has it answered, and in- deed exceeded, every expectation, in the most tremendous broken sea, that since that time, not fewer than two hundred lives have been saved at the entrance of the Tyne alone, i which otherwise must have been lost ; and in no instance has it ever tailed. The principle of this boat appears to have been suggested to Mr. Greathead by the fol- lowing simple fact : 1 ake a spheroid, and divide it into quarters ; each quarter is ellip- tical, and nearly resembles the half of a ; wooden bowl, having a curvature with pro- jecting ends; this, thrown into the sea or broken water, cannot be upset, or lie with the bottom upwards. The length of the boat is thirty feyt ; the breadth ten feet ; the depth, from the top of the gunwale to the lower part of the keel in midships, three feet three inches ; from the gunwale to the platform (within), two feet four inches; from the top of the stems (both ends being similar) to the horizontal line of the bottom of the keel, five feet nine inches. The keel is a plank of three inches thick, of a proportionate breadth in midships, narrow- ing gradually towards the ends, to the breadth of the stems at the bottom, and forming a great convexity downwards. The stems are segments of a circle, with considerable rakes. The bottom section, to the floor-heads, is a curve fore and aft, with the sweep of the keel. The floor timber lias a small rise curving from the keel to the floor-heads. A bilge plank is wrought in on each side, next the ttoor-heads, with a double rabbit or groove, of a similar thickness with the keel ; and, on the outside of this, .are fixed two bilge-trees, corresponding nearly with the le- vel of the keel. The ends of the bottom sec- tion form that fine kind of entrance observ- able in the lower part of the bow of the fish- ing-boat called a coble, much used in the north. From this part to the top of the stein it is more elliptical, forming a considerable projection. The sides, from the noor-heads to the top of the gunwale, flaunch off on each side, in proportion to above half the breadth of the floor. The breadth is con- tinued far forwards towards the ends, leaving a sufficient length of straight side at the top. The sheer is regular along the straight side, and more elevated towards the end.-. The gunwale fixed to the outside is three inches thick. The sides, from the un- der part of the gunwale, along the whole length of the regular sheer, extending twen- ty-one feet six inches, are cased with layers of cork to the depth of sixteen inches down- wards ; and the thickness of this casing of cork being four inches, it projects at the top a little without the gunwale. The cork, on the outside, is secured with thin plates or slips of copper, and the boat is fastened with copper nails. The thwarts, or seats, are five in number, double-bunked : consequently the boat may be rowed with ten oars. The thwarts are firmly stanchioned. The side oars are short, with iron tholes and rope groin- BOA B O C BOG inets, so that the rower can pi ill either way. I he boat is steered with an oar at each encl ; and the steering oar is one-third longer than the rowing oar. The platform placed at the bottom, within the boat, is horizontal, the length of the midships, and elevated at the ends for the convenience of the steersman, to giye him a greater power with the oar. The internal part of the boat next the sides, from the under part of the thwarts down to the platform, is cased with cork ; the whole quantity of which, affixed to the life-boat, is nearly seven hundredweight, j The cork in- disputably contributes much to the buoyancy of the boat, is a good defence in going along- side, a vessel, and is of principal use in keep- ing the boat in an erect position in the sea, or rather for giving her a very lively and quick disposition to recover from any sudden cunt or Lurch which she may receive from the stroke ot a heavy wave. But, exclusively ot the cork, the admirable construction of this boat gives it a decided pre-eminence. The ends being similar, the boat can be row- ed either way; and this peculiarity of form assists her in rising over the waves. The curvature of the keel and bottom facilitates her movement in turning, and contributes to the ease of the steerage, as a single stroke of the steering oar has an immediate effect, the boat moving as upon a centre. The tine entrance below is of use in dividing the waves, when rowing against them ; and, combined with the convexity of the bottom, and the elliptical form of the stem, admits her to rise with wonderful buoyancy in a high sea, and to launch forward" with rapidity, without shipping any water, when a common boat would be in danger of being tilled. The flannelling or spreading form of the boat, from her Hoor-heads to the gunwale, gives her a considerable bearing; and the continu- ation of the breadth, well forward, is a great support to her in the sea ; and it lias been found by experience that boats of this con- struction are the best sea boats for rowing against turbulent waves. The internal shal- lowness ot the boat from the gunwale down to the platform, the convexity of the form, and the bulk ot cork within, leave a very di- minished space for the water to occupy': so th.it the lite-boat, when Idled with water, con- tains a considerable less quantity than the common boat, and is in no danger either of sinking or overturning. It may lie presumed by some, that in cases ot high wind, agitated sea, and broken waves, a boat of such' a bulk could not prevail against them by the force of oars ; but the life-boat, from her peculiar form, may be rowed a-head, when the at- tempt in other boats would fail. Boats of the common form, adapted for speed, are of course put in motion with a small power; but, for want of buoyancy and bearing, are over-run by the waves, and sunk when im- pelled against them ; and boats constructed for burthen meet with too much resistance from the wind and sea when opposed to them, and cannot in such cases be rowed from the shore to a ship in distress. Mr. Greathead gives the following instruc- tions for the management of the life-boat : l'he boats, in general, of this description, are painted white on the outside ; this colour more immediately engaging the eye o 1 ' the j spectator when rising from the hollow of the sea than any other. The bottom of the boat is at iirst varnished (which will take paint af- terwards), for the more minute inspection of purchasers. The oars she is equipped with are made of fir of the best quality ; having found by experience that a rove ash oar, that will dress clean and light, is too pliant among the breakers ; and when made strong and heavy, from row ing double-banked, the purchase being short, sooner exhausts the row er ; which renders the lir o.ar, when made stiffi preferable. In the management of the boat she requires twelve men to work her: that is, five men on each side rowing double-banked, with an oar slung over an iron thole, with a grommet (as provided), so as to enable llte rower to pull either w ay, and one man at each end to steer her, and to be ready at the opposite end to take the steer-oar when wanted. As, from the construction of the boat, she is al- ways in a position to be rowed either way, without turning the boat: when manned, the person who steers her should be well ac- quainted with the course of the tides, in or- der to take every possible advantage: the best method, if the direction will admit of it, is to head the sea. The steersman should keep his eye fixed upon the wave or breaker, and encourage the rowers to give way as the boat rises to it ; being then aided by the force of the oars, she launches over it with vast rapidity, without shipping any water. It is necessary to observe, that there is often a strong reflux of sea occasioned by the strand- ed wrecks, which requires both dispatch and care in the people employed that the boat be not damaged. When the wreck is reached, it the wind blows to the land, the boat will come in shore without any other effort than steering. BOATSWAIN, a ship-officer, to whom is committed the charge of all the tacklings, sails and rigging; ropes, cables, anchors, Bags, pendants, &c. He is also to take care of the long-boat and its furniture, and to steer her ei- ther by himself or his mate. He calls out the several gangs and companies aboard, to the due execution of their watches, works, spells, &c. He is likewise provost-marshal, who sees and punishes all offenders sentenced by the cap- tain, or a court-martial of the fleet. BOB, or hall, is a metallic weight, attached to the lower extremity of a pendulum-rod, by means of a tapped adjusting nut, at such a distance from the point of suspension as the time of a given vibration requires. BOBBIN, a small piece of wood turned in the form of a cylinder, with a little border jutting out at each end, bored through to re- ceive a small iron pivot. It serves to spin with the spinning-wheel ; or to wind thread, worsted, hair, cotton, silk, gold, and silver. BOCAUDO, among logicians, the fifth mode of the third figure of syllogisms, in which the middle proposition is an universal affirmative, and the iirst and last particular negatives, thus : Bo Some sickly persons are not students ; car Every sickly person is pale: do Therefore some persons are pale that are not students. BOC’C ON I A, greater tree celandine : a ge- nus of the monogynia order, and dodecandria c lass of plants, and in the natural method rank- ing under the 27th order, rhoeadeae. The calyx is diphyllous ; there is no corolla ; the stylus is bifid : the berry is dry, and mono- spermous. Of this genus there is but one known species, viz. Bocconia Jruesctns, which is esteenred for the beauty of its large foliage. It is very common in Jamaica and the warm parts of America, where it grows to the height of 1 0 or 12 feet, having a straight trunk as large as a man’s arm, and covered with a white smooth bark. At the top it divides into several branches, on which the leaves are placed al- ternately. These leaves are 8 or 9 indies long, and 5 or 6 broad ; and are of a fine glaucous colour, l’he whole plant abounds with a yellow juice of an acrid nature ; so that it is used by the inhabitants of America to take off warts and spots from the eyes, die singular beauty of this plant renders it wort! y of a place in every curious collection : and it seems the Indians are very fond of it ; for Hernandez tells us, their kings used to plant it in their gardens. It is propagated by seeds horn America, and must always be kept in a stove. BOCK-I.AN D, in the Saxons’ time, is what we now call freehold lands, held by the bet- ter sort of persons by charter or deed in writ- ing ; by which name it was distinguished from folkland, or copy-hold land, holden by the common people without writing. BODY, in physics, an extended solid sub- stance, of itself utterly passive and inactive, indifferent either to motion or rest ; but ca- pable of any sort of motion, and of all figures and forms. Descent o/’Bodies. Heavy bodies, in au unresisting medium, fall with an uniformly ac- celerated motion; whence the spaces de- scended are in the duplicate ratio of the times and velocity, and increase according to the uneven numbers 1, 3, 5, &c. The times and velocities are in a subduplicate ratio of the spaces. The velocity of descending bo- dies is in proportion to the times from the be- ginning of their tall ; and the spaces described by a falling body, are as the- squares of the times from the beginning of their fall. See Mechanics. Body, in geometry, the regular bodies, or those which have all their angles and sides si- milar and equal, are five, viz. tetrahedron, oc- tahedron, dodecahedron, icosahedron, and the cube. Body, among painters, as to bear a body, a term signifying that the colours are of such a nature as to be capable of being ground so line, and mixing with the oil so entirely, as to seem only a very thick oil of the same co- lour. BOEHMERIA, a genus of the moncec.ia tetrandria class and order. The essential cha- racter is, male, calyx four-parted ; corolla none. Female, calyx none ; germ obovate ; style single ; seed single, compressed. T here are 5 species, natives of America and the W est Indies. BOEEHAAYlA, a genus of the mono- gynia order, and monandria class of plants. There is no calyx; the corolla is monope- talous, campamilated, and plaited ; and the seed is one, naked, and below. There are 7 species, all natives of the Indies. Some of these plants rise 5 or 6 feet high, but most of them only 18 inches or 2 feet. T hey bear flowers of a yellow or red colour. BOG prop erly signifies a quagmire, co- vered indeed with grass, but not solid enough B O I B O I to support the weight of the body ; in which seuse it differs only from marshes or fens, as a f part from the whole : some even restrain the term bog to quagmires pent up between two ; hills ; whereas fens lie in champaign and low countries, where the descent is very small. To dram boggy lands, a good method is, to make | trenches of a sufficient depth to carry off the I moisture; and if these are partly filled up with | rough stones and then covered with thorn [ bushes and straw to keep the earth from fillino- up their interstices, a stratum of good earth | aiul tail may be laid overall; the cavities ! ;mi0a o the stone.s will give passage to the water and the turf will grow at top as if no- thing had been done. BOILING, or ebullition, in physics, the ] agitation of a fluid body, arising from the an- ; plication of fire, &c. ft has been proved that all fluid! ty is the effect I o. a certain quantity of caloric, or the matter | of heat, absorbed by a body in passing from | ? sohd to a fluid state, as is shewn in the melt- lng of ice, tallow, wax, &c. Boiling is the act | of a body passing from a fluid state to that of vapour, occasioned by a further absorption of 1 caloric. If the heat is applied to the bottom of t he vessel containing the liquids, as is usually i t ie case, after the whole liquid has acquired a certain temperature, those particles of it , which are next the bottom, become elastic, 1 2 nd rise up, as they are formed, through the liquid, like air-bubbles, and throw the whole j into a violent agitation. Tne liquid is then 1 said to boil. ' A pleasing experiment is related by that | elegant and ingenious philosopher, the pre- ] bishop of Landaff, which is illustrative of the nature of boiling in general, and par- w-u • - of w,iat luls 'keen just advanced. I With an intent on of exhibiting a striking in- stance of the increase of dimensions produced J J fluids, he took a glass vessel not un- I like the thermometer in form ; the bulb contained above a gallon, the stem had a small diameter, and was about ' two feet in length. _ This vessel he filled with boiling | water to the very top of the stein, and corked it close with a common cork. The water and the cork were at first contiguous, but as the water I cooled it contracted, and sunk visibly in the I stem; and thus the first intention of the ex- pel iinent was answered. But here an unex- jpected phenomenon presented itself. The j water, though it was removed from the fire though it was growing cold, and had for some time entirely ceased from boiling, began to ] boil very violently. When a hot iron was applied to that part of the stem, through | which the water in contracting itself had de- scended, the ebullition presently ceased ; it j was renewed when the iron was removed; and it became more than ordinarily violent,’ J when, by the application of a cloth dipped in ! cold water, that part was cooled. To account ifor these appearances, it is only necessary to ■recollect, that by the sinking of the water in tne stem, a kind of vacuum is left between its surface and the cork ; the water therefore necessarily boils with a lower degree of neat than it would under the pressure ol the atmosphere. The space between the jcork and the water is not however a perfect Jracuum : it is occupied either by the vapour j? ^ e water, or by a small portion of air, or ©y both. Heat increases the elasticity both of air and vapour, and thus augments the pressure upon the surface of the water, hence the ebullition ceases upon the application of the hot iron. Cold, on the contrary, di- minishes the elasticity of the air, and con- denses vapour ; and thus the pressure upon the surface being lessened by the application of a cold cloth, the ebullition of the water be- came more violent. The heat of the water when it ceased boiling was 130 degrees, i An experiment of another distinguished philosopher affords perhaps a better Illustra- tion of tile whole theory which has been just advanced. This gentleman placed a quan- tity ol vitriolic ether under the receiver of an air-pump, which was so contrived that he was able to let down a thermometer ac plea- sure without admitting the external air. He no sooner began to extract the air, than the ether was thrown into a violent ebullition, at the same time its temperature, sunk surpriz- ingly. W hen the ether was first put in, its temperature was about 58 degrees, but it be- came so cold when boiling, that a quantity' of water in a vessel contiguous to it was suddenly frozen. The manner in which these pheno- mena may be explained is this : — —The weight of the atmosphere being removed, the heat wliicli the ether contained was sufficient to make it boil. J he elementary fi e which the ether lost in boiling was disposed of in forming a vapour more subtile than the ether itself; which could not, consistently with the prin- ciples established, be formed without the ab- sorption of a considerable quantity of the mat- ter of fire. Now as it appears that water and spirit of wine boil in vacuo at 122 degrees below their ordinary boiling point, it is na- tuial that ether, which boils in the open air at about the heat of the human blood, should boil in vacuo at 24 degrees below 0, a degree of cold sufficient to freeze any water that might happen to be in contact' with the ves- sel which contains the ether. Every particular liquid has a fixed point at which boiling commences, and this is called the boiling point of the liquid. Thus water begins to boil when heated to 212 decrees. After a liquid has begun to boil, it never be- comes hotter, however strong the fire mgy be to which it is exposed. A strong heat, indeed, makes it boil more rapidly, but does not in- crease its temperature. This fact was first observed by Dr. Hooke. The follow ang ta- ble shows the boiling point of a number of liquids : Bodies. iEther Ammonia Alcohol Water Mu riat of lime Nitric acid Sulphuric acid Phosphorus Oil of turpentine Sulphur Linseed oil Mercury Boilingpoint. 98 140 176 212 230 248 590 554 560 570 €00 660 . The boiling point however is found to depend on the degree of pressure to which the liquid is exposed. It the pressure is diminished, the liquid boils at a lower temperature; if it is increased, a higher temperature is necessary to produce ebullition. Fjom the experi- B O L 239 mcnt of professor Robison, it appears that, in a vacuum, all liquids boil about 145 de- grees lower than in open air, under a pres- sure of .30 inches oBmercury : therefore water would boil in vacuo at 67 degrees, and al- cohol at 34 degrees, in Papin’s digester, the temperature of water may be raised to 300 degrees, or even 400 degrees without ebullition ; but the instant that this great pres- sure is removed, the boiling commences with prodigous violence. BOLL, in mineralogy. This mineral oc- curs chiefly in the isle ol Lemnos, at Sienna in Italy, and in Silesia. Its colour is gene- rally ari obsciyg Isabella yellow, or reddish or whitish brown : it is sometimes, though rarely, met with of a greyish yellow, or fiedi led; its surface is often marked w.th black spots, and dendritic figures. It generally oc- cur-; massive ; its texture is earthy ; fracture concnoidal. Internally it exhibits a slight glimmering lustre, and acquires a polish by friction. \\ hen broken with a hammer it dies into irregular sharp-edged fragments. The dark coloured varieties are opaque, the lighter coloured are more or less translucid. i t has a greasy feel, adheres strongly to the tongue, gives a shining streak, is very soft, and is. ea- sily frangible. Specific gravity 1 .4 to 2.0. When put into water it absorbs a little with great eagerness, anti breaks down into small fragments with a crackling noise. W hen finely pulverized, and diffused through boiling water, it remains suspended a less time than any of the plastic clays, and is en- tirely separable by the iiltre. ‘ Before the blow-pipe it turns black and melts, without any addition, into a porous, greenish, grey nag. The Leinnian bole, according to Berg- man, contains ° 47.0 Silica 19-0 Alumina 6.0 Carbonate of magnesia 5.4 Carbonate of lime 5.4 Oxide of iron 17.0 Water and air 99.8 The only use of the bine at present is as a coarse red ingredient ; for which, purpose it is calcined and levigated, and is sold in Germany under the name of Berlin or English red. BOLETUS, in botany, spunk ; a genus of the order of fungi, belonging to the cryp- togamia class of plants. Botanists enumerate 170 species, of which the following are the most remarkable. 1. Boletus bovinus, or cow Spunk, is fre- quent in woods and pastures. It is generally of a brown colour, though sometimes it is taw- ny, yellowish brown, reddish brown, deep red purple, or greenish brown. The flesh is yellow, white, or reddish. The young plants aie eaten in Italy, and esteemed a great de- licacy. The Germans also account them a dainty, calling them gombas, and brat-bulz. Cows, deer, sheep, and swine, will feed upon this and other boleti, but are sometimes greatly disordered by them. In cows and other cattle they have been known to create bloody urine, nauseous milk, swellings of the abdomen, inflammations of the bowels, stop- pages, diarrhoeas, and death. In sheep they are said to bring on a sehirrhous liver, a cough, a general wasting, and dropsy. Scci~ r> f j, dermestes, and many other insects feed upon and breed in them abundantly. * B O 1/ B O M BOM 24 entirely destitute of wings, or at least have only the rudiments of them close to the tho- rax ; in which case the female waits upon the trees or herbage for the arrival of the male: the female of bombyx antiqua, the vapourer moth, is a striking proof of this ; for it has so little the appearance of a moth that any one, except an entomologist, would mistake it for an apterous or wingless insect. Those fe- males which have wings are commonly larger even than the males. The bombyces are produced from a larva, or as it is more usually termed by common ob- servers, a caterpillar. This is of a long cylin- drical form, having in some species a smooth skin, or in others more or less tuberculated ; sometimes the skin is covered with a fine silky down, or with hairs; and some of the larger kinds are armed with spines and bristles. All the larvae of the bombyces sub- sist on vegetables. Their jaws are strong, and of a horny texture ; and below them is a small opening, through which the creature draw's the silky thread of so much utility in its general economy. Most of these larva*, have 16 feet, some have only 14 feet, and others no more than 12 ; six of which are hooked, and situated on the three first annu- lations near the head, the others towards the lower extremity of the body are short, broad, and very different in structure. I lie greater number of species in the bom byx tribe, when in the larva state, lead a soli- tary life ; in which case they separate as soon as they are hatched from the eggs, and crawl about to provide for themselves, the smallest of these even being able to obtain its own sub* sistence; they can eat as readilv, and spin, or throw out the silky thread with as much, facility, as when grown bigger. The latter is of considerable utility to the larva; for when it wishes to descend from one branch of the. tree or bush to another, instead of being' obliged to pursue a circuitous course, by crawling or walking, it need only fasten oho end of the silken thread to any particular > spot, and lower itself by its assistance to the branch desired; or when suspended mid-way between the branches, it can pass aside with a swing to any other point within a conve- nient distance. In like manner, when ob- served by birds or other enemies, it can drop .in an instant, and elude the enemy ; waiting concealed below among the leaves or on the ground till the danger is over, and then re- mounting to the former spot by the aid of this thread. This is a provision o"f nature for the security of the larva* of the bombyces, in com* mon with that of other lepidopterous insects. home species of the bombyces live in so- cieties, as may be observed, for instance, iti bombyx neustria of entomologists, (the lack- eye-moth of English collectors.) The larva* of this species, by their united labours, spin a capacious habitation, in which the infant brood is hatched from the egg, and after un- dergoing their several transformations, finally become moths. Like other larva; of the moth tribe, those of the bombyces cast their skin several times.. M hen full grown, and approaching the pupa state, those ol the bombyx kind spin a sort of web, in which we find the most valuable silk produced by these creatures at any time of their lives. T lie silk spun bv the hairy larva* is obswryed to be Of little -vjtlue* because $e 2*12 BON BON BON creature interweaves it with the hairs it plucks off its skin for this purpose. The com- mon silkworm (bombyx mori), whose cocoon consists of the most valuable kind of siik, as is well known, has the skin perfectly smooth, or free from hair. There are certain species of the larger bombyces, the larva; of which have smooth skins, but still beset with an- nular series of spines or bristles, that produce very strong silk, and are reared with the view of obtaining the cocoons for the manu- facture of silk in the East Indies. The breed of these useful insects has long been cultivat- ed in India, although the silk produced from them is very little, if at all, known in Europe. The bombyces remain in the pupa state for a certain time, varying according to the species, some only a few days or w eeks, others six or twelve months, two years, or even three. The same day that the creatures emerge from the pupa state they are in a condition to perpetuate then race. Almost immedi- ately after coupling, the males die; the fe- males live long enough to deposit the eggs in a proper place for their security, and where the infant brood may find subsistence, after wnichthey perish likewise. The species of the bombyx tribe are nu- merous. Those already described by natu- ralists amount to a large number; and there are, in the cabinets of the curious, many more, especially of the extra- European spe- cies, that have never been described ; even in the collections of this country, those of the latter description are numerous. BONA notab ilia, are such goods as a person dying has in another diocese than that wherein he dies, amounting to the value of 5l. at least; in which case the will of the deceas- ed must be proved, or administration granted, in the court of the archbishop of the pro- vince, unless by composition or custom any dioceses are authorised to do it, when rated at a greater sum. BOND. A bond, or obligation, is a deed whereby the obligor, or person b®und, binds himself, his heirs, executors, and administra- tors, to pay a certain sum of money, or do some other act; and there is generally a condition added, that if he do perform such act, the obligation shall be void, or else re- main in full force; as performance of cove- nants, standing to an award, payment of rent, or repayment of a principal sum of money with interest, which principal sum is usually half the sum specified in the bond. 2 Black. 340.- All persons who are enabled to contract, and whom the law supposes to have sufficient freedom and understanding for that purpose, may bind themselves in bonds and obliga- tions. 1 Bob Abr. 340. If the condition of a bond is impossible at the time of making if, if it is to do a thing contrary to some rule of law, or to do a thing that is "malum in se, the obligation itself is Void. The bond of a feme covert is void, as is that of an infant. If a person is ille- gally restrained of his liberty, and during such restraint enters into a bond to a person who causes the restraint, the same may be avoided for duress of imprisonment. 2 Inst. 482. To avoid controversies, three things are necessary to making a good obligation, sign- ing, sealing, and delivery. A bond, on which neither principal nor interest has been de- manded for 20 years, will be presumed in equity to be satisfied. If several obligors are bound jointly and severally, and the obligee makes one of them his executor, it is a re- lease of the debt, and the executor cannot sue the other obligor. 8 Cor. 13b. If one obligor makes the executor of an obligee his executor, and leaves assets, the debt is deemed satisfied ; for he has power by way 7 of retainer to satisfy the debt. A release to one obligor is a release to all, both in law and equity . 1 Atk. 294. Bond, post obit , one and the main con- dition of which is, that it only becomes pay- able after the death of some person, whose name is therein specified. The death of any person being uncertain as to time, the risk attached to such bonds frees them from the shackles of the common law of usury. It has been determined, that bonds bought for half their value did not amount to usury r on ac- count of the risk with which they were at- tended. Bond, in carpentry, a term among work- men ; as, to make good bond, means that they should fasten the two or more pieces to- gether either by tenanting, mortising, or dovetailing, &c. Bond, in masonry and bricklaying, is when bricks or stones are so interwoven that the joints are not made over or upon other joints, but reacli at least six inches both within the wall and on the surface, as the art of building requires. BONDAGE by forelock, was when a free- man renounced his liberty, and became slave to some great man : which was done by the ceremony of cutting off a lock of hair on the forehead, and delivering it to his lord ; de- noting that he was to be maintained for the future. Such bondman, if he reclaimed his liberty, or was fugitive from his master, might be drawn again to his servitude by the nose : hence is said to be the origin of the popular menace to pull a man by the nose. BONE, in chemistry and the arts. The bones are the most solid part of animals. Their texture is sometimes dense, at other times cellular and porous, according to the situation of the bone. They 7 are white, of a lamellar structure, and not flexible nor soft- ened by heat. Their specific gravity differs in different parts. That of adults’ teeth is 2.2727 : the specific gravity of children’s teeth is 2.0833. It must have been always known that bones are combustible, and that when sufficiently burnt they leave behind them a white porous substance, which is taste- less, absorbs water, and has the form of the original bone. The nature of this substance embarrassed the earlier chemists. In 1771, Scheele mentioned in his dissertation on fluor spar, that the earthy part of bones is phosphat of lime. This discovery was the first and the great step towards a chemical knowledge of the composition of bones. Afterwards, some new facts were made known by Ber- niard, Bouillon, andRouelle; but for by far the most complete analysis that lias hitherto appeared we are indebted to Mr. Hatchett. The component parts of bones are chiefly four : namely, the earthy salts, fat, gelatine, and cartilage. 1 . The earthy salts may be obtained either by calcining the bone to whiteness, or by steeping it for a sufficient length of time in the acids. In the first case, the salts remain in the state of a brittle white substance. In the second, they are dissolved, and may be thrown down by the proper precipitants. These earthy salts are three in number : 1. Phosphat of lime, which constitutes by far the greatest part of the whole. 2. Carbonate of lime. 3. Sulphat of lime, which forms the smallest part. To estimate these sub- stances, calcined bones, or the raspings of bones, may be dissolved hi nitric or muriatic acid. During the solution carbonic acid" gas makes its escape. Pure ammonia dropt into the solution throws down the phosphat of lime in the state of a fine powder, readily so- luble without effervescence by nitric, muri- atic, and acetic acids. Nitrat of bary tes af- terwards causes a small precipitate insoluble in muriatic acid, and therefore consisting of sulphat of barytes. Its weight indicates the quantity of sulphuric acid in bones, from which the sulphat of lime which they contain may be estimated. Carbonate of ammonia now throws down pure carbonate of lime, '1 hose three constituents were found by Hat- chett in all the bones of quadrupeds and fish which he examined. The carbonate scarcely exceeds the fifth part of the phosphat, and the proportion of sulphat is still smaller, 2. The proportion of fat contained in bones is no less various. By breaking bones in small pieces, and boiling them for some time in water, Mr. Proust obtained their fat swim- ming on the surface of the liquid. It weigh- ed, he says, one fourth of the weight of the bones employed; This proportion appears excessive, and can scarcely be accounted lor without supposing that tire fat still retained water. 3. The gelatine is separated by the same means as the fat, by breaking the bones in pieces, and boiling them long enough in wa* ter. The water dissolves the gelaiine, and gelatinizes when sufficiently concentrated. Hence the importance of bones in making portable soups, the basis of which is concrete gelatine, and likewise in making glue. By this process Proust obtained from powdered bones about 1-I6th of their weight in gela- tine. 4. When bones are deprived of their gela- tine by boiling them in water, and of their earthy salts by steeping them in diluted acids, there remains a soft white elastic substance, possessing the figure of the bones, and known by the name of cartilage. From the experi- ments of Mr. Hatchett, it appears that this substance has the properties of coagulated albumen. Like that substance, it becomes brittle and semitransparent when dried, is readily soluble in hot nitric acid, is converted into gelatine by the action of diluted nitric acid ; for it is soluble in hot water and gela- tinizes on cooling, and ammonia dissolves it and assumes a deep orange colour. Like coagulated albumen, it forms an animal soap with fixed alkalies. This cartilaginous substance is the portion of the bone first formed. Hence the softness of these parts at firsL The phosphat of lime is afterwards gradually deposited, and gives the bone the requisite firmness. The gela- tine and fat, especially the first, gave the bone the requisite degree of toughness and strength ; for when they are removed, the bone becomes brittle. The relative proportion of phosphat of lime and cartilage differs exceedingly in different bones and - in different animals. 15 ON BOO BOO 243 Phos. Car. One hundred parts con- 1 Gela- of of Loss. tain tine. lime. time; Human bones from a ) 16 ;|7 1 5 burying ground $ Do. dry, but not from \ 23 63 o O under the earth } Bone of ox - - - - 3 93 2 2 calf - - 25 54 trace 21 horse - - - 9 67.5 1 .25 22.25 sheep - - - 16 70 0.5 13.5 elk - 1.5 90 1 7.5 hog - - - 17 52 1 30 hare 9 85 1 5 pullet 6 72 1.5 20.5 pike carp 12 6 (i4 45 1 0.5 23 48.5 Horse-teeth 12 85.5 0.25 2.25 Ivory - 24 64 0.1 11.15 Hartshorn - 127 57.5 1 1 4.5 Bones, diseases of, see Surgery. Bones, fossile or petrified, are those found in the earth, frequently at great depths in all strata, even in the bodies of stones and rocks. Some of these bones are of a huge size, usually supposed to be the bones oi giants, but more truly of elephants or hippo- potami, others smaller, as the vertebrae, teeth, and the like. It has indeed been disputed whether these are really animal substances or mineral ; but a chemical investigation proves them to be animal; and they were probably deposited in those strata at a time when all things were in a state of solution, and they incorporated and petrified with the bo- dies where they happened to be lodged. Mr. Hatchett examined some fossil bones from the rock of Gibraltar. He found them to consist of phosphat of lime without any cartilage or soft animal part. Their inter- stices were filled with carbonate of lime. Hence they resemble exactly bones that have been burnt. They must then have been acted on by some foreign agent ; lor putre- faction, or lying in the earth, does not soon destroy the cartilaginous part of bones. On putting a human os humeri, brought from Hythe in Kent, and said to have been taken from a Saxon tomb, into muriatic acid, he found the cartilaginous residuum nearly as complete as in a recent bone. Bon E-ace, properly bon (or good) ace, an easy game at cards, played thus : The dealer deals out two cards * to the first hand, and turns up the third, and so on through all the players, who may be seven, eight, or as many as the cards will permit ; lie that has the highest card turned up to him carries the bone, that is, one half of the stake, the other remaining to be played for. Again, if there are three kings, three queens, three ten-, &c. turned up, tiie eldest hand wins the bone; but it is to be observed, that the ace of dia- monds is bon-ace, and wins all other cards whatever. . Thus much for the bone; and as for the other half of the stake, the nearest to 31 wins it, and he that turns up or draws 31 wins it immediately. BONING, in surveying and levelling, is the placing of three or more rods or poles, all of the same length, in or upon the ground in such a manner that their tops may be all in one continued straight line, whether it is hori- zontal or inclined, so that the eye may look along the tops of them all, from one end of the line to the other. BONNET, in fortification, a small work, consisting of two faces, having only a parapet with two rows of palisadoes, ot about ten or twelve feet distance. It is generally raised before the salient angle of the counterscarp, and lias a communication with the covered way by a trench cut through the glacis, and palisadoes on each side. Bonnet a pretre, or priest’s bonnet, m fortification, is an outwork, having at the head three salient angles, and two inwards. It differs from the double tenaille only in this ; that its sides, instead of being parallel, arc like the queue d’aronde , or swallow’s tail, that is, narrowing or drawing close at the gorge, and opening at the head. Bonnet, in the sea language, denotes an addition to a sail: thus they say, lace on the bonnet, or shake off the bonnet. BONTIA, wild olive of Barbadoes, a ge- nus of the angiospermia order and didynamia class of plants, and in the natural method ranking under the 40th order, personatx. The calyx is quinquepartite ; the corolla is bilabiated, the inferior lip tripartite and revo- lute; the drupe is ovate and monospermous, with the apex turned to one side. There is one species, viz. Bontia daphnoides has a woody stem and branches, rising to the height of ten feet, with narrow, smooth, thickish leaves, and flowers from the sides of the branches, succeeded by- large oval fruit that sometimes ripens in Eng- land. This species is generally cultivated in the gardens at Barbadoes for hedges ; for which it is exceedingly proper, being an evergreen of very quick growth. It is said that from cuttings planted there in the rainy season, when they have immediately taken root, there has been a complete hedge four or live feet high in 18 months. BONZES, Indian priests, who, in order to distinguish (themselves from the laity, wear a chaplet round their heads, consisting of an hundred beads, and carry a stall) at the end of which is a wooden bird. They live upon the alms of the people, and yet are very cha- ritably disposed, maintaining several orphans and widows out of their own collections. • BOOK -binding, the art of gathering and sewing together the sheets of a book, and co- vering it with, a back, &c. It is performed thus: the leaves are first folded with a fold- ing-stick, and laid over each other in the or- der of the signatures, which are the letters with the numbers annexed to them at the bottom of the pages of tire first one, two, or more leaves in each sheet. The leaves thus folded are then beaten ou a stone with a hammer, to make them smooth and open well, and afterwards pressed. While in the press they are sewed upon bands, which are pieces of cord or packthread; six loan is to a folio book, five to a quarto, octavo, &c. which is done by drawing a thread through the middle of each sheet, and giving it a turn round each band, beginning with the first and proceeding to the last. After this the books are glued, and the bands opened and scraped, for the better fixing the pasteboards; the back is turned with a hammer, and the book fixed in a press between two boards, in order to make a groove for fixing the pasteboards ; these being applied, holes are made for fixing them to the book, which is pressed a third li h 2 time. Then the book is at last put to the cutting-press, betwixt two boards, the one lying even with the press for the knife to run upon, the other above it for the knile to run against: after which the pasteboards are squared. \ lie next operation is the sprinkling the leaves of the book, which is done by dipping a brush into vermilion and sap-green, holding the brush in one hand, and spreading the hair with the other ;. by which motion the edges of the leaves are sprinkled in a regular man- ner, without any spots being larger than the other. The covers (which are either of calf or of sheep-skin), being moistened in water, are next cut out to the size of the book, then smeared over with paste made ot wheat flour, and afterwards stretched over the pasteboard on the outside, and doubled over the edges withinside, after having lirst taken off the four angles, and indented and platted the cover at the head-band ; which done, the bonk is covered and bound firmly between two bands, and then set to dry. (Afterwards it is washed over with a little paste and wa- ter, and then sprinkled fine with a brush; un- less it should be marbled, when the spots are to be made larger by mixing the ink with vi- triol. After this the book is glazed twice with the white of an egg beaten, and at last polish- ed with a polishing-iron passed hot over die glazed cover. The letters or other ornaments on books are made with gilding-tools engraved in re- lievo, either on the points of puncheons, or around little cylinders of brass. The pun- cheons make their impressions by being press- ed Hat down, and the cylinders by being rolled along by a handle, to which they are fitted on an iron axis. To apply the gold, the binders glaze the parts of the leather with a liquor made of whites of eggs diluted with water, by means of a piece of sponge ; and when nearly dry, the pieces of gold leaf are laid on, an*d the tools being made hot in a charcoal fire, are applied. Book -keeping, an art teaching how to re- cord and dispose the accounts ot business, so that the true state of every part and of the whole may be easily and distinctly known. Merchants’ books are kept either single, or according to the method of double entry. Those who keep them in the former method have occasion tor few books, as a journal or day-book, and a ledger or post-book ; the former to write all the articles, following each other as they occur in the course of their bu- siness, and the other to dr. w out the accounts of all the debtors and creditors on the jour- nal. This method is only proper for retail dealers, or at least for traders who have but very little business; but as for wholesale deal- ers and great merchants, who keep their books according to the double entry, or Ita- lian method, as is now most commonly done, their business requires several other books, tiie usefulness of which will be seen from what follows. The most considerable books, according to die method of double entry, are the waste- book, the journal, and the ledger ; but be- sides these three, which -are absolutely neces- sary, there are several others, to the number of thirteen, or even more, called subservient or auxiliary books, which are used in pro- portion to the business a man lias, or to the 244 nature of the business that tie carries on. 't hese books are the cash-book, the debt- book, the book of llumeros, the book of invoices, the book of accounts current, the book of commissions, orders, or advices, &c. The zvast e-book may be defined a register, containing an inventory of a merchant’s ef- fects and debts, with a distinct record of all his transactions and dealings, in a way of trade, related in a plain simple style, and in order of time as they succeed one another. 1 he waste-book opens with the inventory, which consists of two parts; first, the effects, that is, the money a merchant has by him, the goods he has in hand, his part of’ ships, houses, farms, Ac. witli tiie debts due to him ; the second part of the inventory is the debts due by him to others ; the difference between which and the effects is what the merchants call neat stock. V. hen a man begins the world, and first sets up to trade, the inven- tory is to be gathered from a survey of the particulars that make up his real estate, but ever after it is to be collected from the ba- lance of his old hooks, and carried to the new. After the inventory is fairly related in the waste-book, the transactions of trade come yte\t to be entered down, which is a daily task, to be performed as they occur. 'The narrative ought to exhibit transactions with all the circumstances necessary to be known, and no more. It should contain the names ci persons with whom the merchant deals upon trust, the conditions of bargains, the t* nns of payment, the quantity, quality, and prices of goods, with every tiling that serves to make the record distinct, and nothing else, i he waste-book, if no subsidiary hooks are kept, should contain a record of all the merchant s transactions and dealings in the wav o( trade ; and that not: only of such as are properly aiul purely mercantile, but of every occurrence that a fleets his stock, so as to im- pair or increase it, such, as private expenses. BOOK-KEEPING. servants’ fees, house-rents, money gained, & c. The journal is the book in which the transactions recorded in the waste- book are prepared to be carried to the ledger, by having their proper debtors and creditors ascertained and pointed out: whence it may be observed that the great design of the jour- nal is to prevent errors in the ledger: again, after the ledger is tilled up, the journal faci- litates the work required in revising and cor- recting it; for first the waste-book and jour- nal are compared, and then the journal and ledger; whereas to revise the ledger imme- diately from the waste-book: would be a mat- ter of no less difficulty than to form it with- out the help of a journal: lastly, the journal is designed as a fair record of a merchant’s . business, for neither of the other two books can serve this purpose; not the ledger, bv reason of the order that obtains in it, and also on account of its brevity, being little more than a large index: nor can the waste- book answer this design, as it can neither be fair nor uniform, nor very accurate, being commonly written by different hands, and in time of business. Hence it is that in case of differences between a merchant and his deal- ers, the journal is the book commonly called for and inspected by a civil judge. In the journal, persons and things are charged debtors to other persons and things as creditors ; and in this it agrees with the ledger, where the same style is used, but dif- fers from it as to forms and order; so that it agrees with the waste-book in those very things where it differs from the ledger; and, on the other hand, it agrees with the latter, in the very point wherein it differs from the former ; but in order to state the comparison betw ixt the waste-book anil journal, we shall turn t wo or three examples of the waste-book into a journal form.. It may be here observed, that every case or example of the waste-book, when entered into the journal, is called a journal post j or entrance; thus the examples above make ! three direct posts. Again, a post is either simple or complex : a simple post is that -which has but one debtor and one creditor, as the first of these above ; a complex post is either when one debtor is balanced by one or more creditors, as in tlie second post ; or when two or more debtors are balanced bv one creditor, as in the third post ; or when several debtors are balanced by several cre- ditors, and then the post is said to be com- plex in both terms. This being premised, the following rules are to be observed for writing in the journal. 1. In a simple post, the debtor is to be ex- pressly mentioned, then the creditor, and lastly the sum, all in one line ; after which the narrative or reason of the entry, in one or more lines, as in tiie first of these three posts above.. 2. In a complex post, the several debtors or creditors are expressed in the first line by themselves, with their respective sums sub- joined to them ; which are to be added up, and their total carried to flic money columns* as in the second and third posts. 3. The debtors and creditors should be written in a large letter or text hand, both for ornament ahd distinction. Before we proceed to explain the ledger,, we shall previously inquire into the nature and use of the terms debtor and creditor, as the whole art of book-keeping entirely de- pends on a true idea of those terms, tiie na- ture and use of which will be obvious from, the following considerations Accounts in the ledger consist of two parts,, which in their own nature are directly op- posed to and the reverse of one another, which are therefore set fronting one another, and on opposite sides of the same folio. Thus all the articles of the money received go to. the left side ot the cash account ; and all the articles or, sums laid out are carried to the right. In like manner the purchase of goods, is posted to the left side of the accounts of the said goods, and the sale or disposal of them to the right. Transactions of trade, or cases of the waste- book, are also made up of two parts, which, belong to different accounts, and to opposite sides of the ledger, c.g. If goods are bought lor ready money, the two parts are the goods, received aud the money delivered ; the for- mer of which goes to the left side of the ac- count of file said goods, and the latter to the right side of the cash, account. f I he (wo parts in any case in the waste- book, when posted to the journal, are deno- minated the one the debtor, the other the ci editor ot that post; and when carried, thence to the ledger, the debtor or debtor part is entered upon the left side (hence called the debtor side) of its own account, where it is charged debtqr to the creditor part. Again, the creditor "or creditor part is posted to the right side or creditor side of its account, and made creditor by tiie debtor part. Hence Italian book-keeping is said to be a method of keeping accounts by double entry, because every single case of the waste- book requires at least two entries in the ledger, viz. one for the debtor and another for the creditor. WASTE BOOK. July 1st. three months Bought of James Sloane 100 yards of shalloon, at 10 d. per yard. Whereof paid - ., _ Rest due, at two months - /. •V. payable in ) 28 00 02 00 00 02 03 04 A 03 4th. Sold William Pope foiy pipes of port wine, at 27/. 105. per pipe. I s. d. Whereof received - - - - - 55 00 00 Rest due ou demand - - - - - 55 00 00 04 110 00 00 JOURNAL. Jill v 1st. / d Black Cloth Dr. to William Pope) 28/. For 40 yards, at 14s. per yard, payable in three months 28 00 00 Shalloon Dr. to. Sundries, 4/. 3.?. 4x1 s . To cash paid in part for 100 yards, at 10i/. per yard 02 00 00 M 0 J. Sloan, for the rest, due at two months - 02 03 04 — — — 4 03 04 4th.. Sundries Drs. to Port Wine, 110/. 1 s d Cash, received in part for four pipes, at 27/. 1 0s. per pipe 55 00 00 William Pope, for the rest on demand - - . 55 00 00 1 10 00 00 BOOK-KEEPING. 245 From what has been said it is evident that j the terms debtor and creditor are nothing ! else hut marks or characteristics stamped upon the different ports of transactions in the : journal, expressing the relation of these parts to one another, and shewing to which side of their respective accounts in the ledger they i are to be carried. I ' Having thus far explained the meaning of the terms debtor and creditor, we shall now I proceed to the ledger, or principal book of I accounts. Of the ledger. The ledger is the principal j book wherein all the several articles of each particular account that lie scattered in other ' books, according to their dates, are collected | and placed together in spaces allotted for , them, in such a manner that the opposite | parts of every account arc directly set frout- 1 ing one another, on opposite sides of the same folio. The ledger’s folios are divided into spaces ] for containing the accounts, on the head of | which are written the titles of the accounts, : marked Dr. on the left hand page, and Cr. j on the right; below r which stand the articles, with the word To prefixed on the Dr. side, and the word By on the Cr. side ; and upon the margin are recorded the dates of the ar- ticles, in two small columns allotted for that purpose. The money columns are the same j as in other books: before them stand the fo- lio column, which contains figures directing j to the folio- where the corresponding ledger- I entrance of each article is made ; for every thing is twice entered in the ledger, viz. on I the Dr. side of one account, and again on the Cr. side of some other account; so that the I figures mutually refer from the one to the pother, and are of use in examining die led- J ger. Besides these columns, there must be J kept in all accounts, where number, measure, ! weight, or distinction of coins is considered, inner columns to insert the quantity; and for j the ready finding any account in the ledger, if has an alphabet or index, wherein are writ- 1, ten tlie titles of all accounts, with the number [of the folio where they stand. llow the ledger is. titled up- from the jour- nal. 1. Turn to the index, and see whether tlie Dr. of the journal post, to be transported, is written there : if not, insert it under its proper letter, with the number of the folio to which it is to be carried. 2 .. Having distinguished the Dr. and the Cr. sides, as already directed, recording the dates, complete tlie entry in one line, by giv- ing a short hint of the nature and terms of tlie transaction, carrying the sum to the mo- ney columns ; and inserting the quantity, if it is an account of goods, &c. in the inner columns, and the referring figure in the folio column. 3. Turn next to the creditor of tlie journal- post, and proceed in the same manner with it, both in tlie index and ledger; with this difference only, that the entry is to be made on the Cr. side, and the word By prefixed to it. 4. The post being thus entered in the ledg- er, return to the journal, and on the margin mark tlie folios of the accounts, with the folio of the Dr. above, and the folio of the Cr. below, and a small line between them thus These marginal numbers of the journal, are a kind of index to the ledger, and are of use in examining the- books, and on other occasions.. 5. In opening the accounts in the ledger, follow the order of the journal ; that is, be- ginning with the first journal-post, allow the first space in the ledger for the Dr. of it, tlie next for the Cr. the third for the Dr. of the following post, if it is not the same with some of those already opened, and so on till the whole journal be transported : and supposing that, through inadvertency, some former space has been allowed too large, you are not to go back to subdivide it, in order to erect another account in its stead. Though these rules are formed for simple posts, where there is but one Dr. and one Cr. yet they may be easily applied to complex ones. As an example how articles are to be enter- ed in tlie ledger, take the two accounts of Cash and William Pope, so far as mentioned in the above waste-book and journal.. JOURNAL. 1 806. Casli Dr. Eo. l. s\ d. 1806. Contra Cr. Eo. /. s. d: July 4 To port-vine re- ceived in part for four pipes, at 27 1. 10 s. per pipe. 6 ' 55 00 00 July July 1 1 By shalloon, paid in part for 100 yards at 1 0 d. per yard. 12 O 00 00 July 4 Wil. Pope, Dr. Contra Cr. To port-wine, as per journal. 6 55 i 00 00 By black cloth, for 40 yards, at 14a. per yard.. 3 28 00 00 Cash Book. This is the most important of the auxiliary books. It is so called, because it contains, in debtor and creditor, all the 'cash that comes in, and goes out of, a mer- chant’s stock ; the receipts on the debtor side ; the persons of whom it was received, on. what, and on whose account, and in what [ sj ecie : and the payments on the creditor side ; mentioning also the specie, the reasons of the payments, lo whom, and for what ac- count they are made. Book of debts or payments , is a book in which is written down the day on which all sums become due, either to be received or paid, by bills of exchange, notes of hand, merchandizes bought or sold, or otherwise. By comparing receipts and payments, one may, in time, provide the necessary funds for payments, by getting the bills, notes, &c. due to be paid, or by taking other precautions. Book of numeros or zvares. This book is kept in order, to know easily all tlie mer- chandizes that are lodged in the warehouse, those that are taken out of it, and those that remain therein *. Book of invoices. This book is kept to preserve the journal from erasures, which are* unavoidable in drawing up the accounts of in- voices of the several merchandizes received, sent out, or sold ; wherein one is obliged to enter very minute particulars. It is also de- signed to render those invoices easier to find than they can be in the waste-book or journal. Book of accounts current. This book serves to draw up the accounts which are to be sent to correspondents, in order to settle- them in concert, before they are balanced in. the ledger ; it is properly a duplicate of the accounts in the ledger which is kept to have recourse to occasionally. The other mercantile books generally in use are, the book of commissions, orders, or advices \ tlie book of acceptances of bills of exchange ; the book of remittances ; the book of. expences the copy-book of letters ; the book of postage ; the ship-books ; and the book of workmen. To these may be added others, which depend on the greater ©r lesser accuracy of the merchants and bankers, and on the several kinds of trade carried on by particular dealers. Books. By 8 Anne, c. If), tile author of any book, and his assigns, shall have the sole liberty of printing and reprinting tlie same for twenty-one years, to commence from tlie day of ihe first publication thereof, and no longer -; except that if the author be living at" the expiration of the said term, the sole copy- right shall return to him for other, fourteen years; and if any other person shall print, or import, or shall sell or expose it to sale, he shall forfeit the same, and also one penny for every sheet thereof found in his posses- sion. But this shall not expose any person to the said forfeitures,. unless the title thereof shall be entered in tlie register-book of tlie company of stationers. By 4l Geo. 111. eleven copies of each book, on the best paper, shall, before piibli-- cation, be delivered to the warehouse-keeper of the company of stationers, for tlie use of the royal library, the libraries of the two- universities in England,, the four universities in Scotland, the library of Sion-college, the library belonging to the college of advocates in Edinburgh, the library of Trinity-college - Dublin, and the king’s inns Dublin, on pain of forfeiting the value thereof, and also 5/. By slat. 34 Geo. IIL c. 20. and 41 Geo. III. c. 107,- persons importing for sale books first printed within the united kingdom, and reprinted in any other, such books shall be seized and forfeited ; and.every person so ex- posing such books to sale, for every such of- fence shall forfeit tlie sum of 10/. * The pe- nalties not to extend to books not having been printed for twenty years. By the act of union, 40 Geo. TIT. c. 67. all prohibitions and bounties on the export of articles (the produce and manufacture of either country) to tlie other shall cease ; and a countervailing duty of two-pence for every E O Tt BOR r, o it 210 ' pound weight avoirdupois of books, hound or unbound, and of maps and prints, im- ported into Great Britain, directly from Ire- land, or which shall be imported into Ireland from Great Britain, is substituted. BOOM, in the sea-language, a long piece of timber with which the clew of the stud- ding-sail is spread out ; and sometimes tire boom is used to spread or boom out the clew of the mainmast. The different kinds of booms have differ- ent names according to the purposes for which they are intended. Boom denotes also a cable stretched athwart the mouth of a river or harbour ; with yards, top-masts, battling, or spars of wood, lashed to it, to prevent an enemy’s coming in. BOOMKIN, in sea language, a short bar of timber projecting from each bow of a ship, to extend one edge of the fore-sail to the windward ; for which purpose there is a large block fixed to its outer end, through which the rope is passed that is fastened to the lower corner of the sail to windward, called the tack ; and this being drawn tight clown brings the corner of the sail close to the block, which being performed, the tack is said to be aboard. The boomkin is secured by a strong rope, which confines it downward to the ship’s bow, to counteract the strain it bears from the foresail above, dragging it up- wards. BOOTES, a constellation of the northern 'hemisphere, consisting of 23 stars according to Ptolemy’s catalogue, of 28 in Tycho’s, of 34 in Bayer’s, of 32 in Hevelius’s, and of 45 in Mr. Flamsteed’s catalogue. BOQUINIANS, in church-history, a sect of heretics, so called from Boquinus their founder, who taught that Christ did not die for all mankind, but only for the faithful, and consequently was only a particular sa- viour. BORACIC acid. The word borax first occurs in the works of Geber, an Arabian chemist of the 10th century. If is a name given to a species of white salt much used by various artists. Its use in soldering metals appears to have been known to Agricola. Borax is found mixed with other substances in Thibet. It seems to exist in some lands adjacent to lakes, from which it is extracted by water, and deposited in those lakes ; whence in summer, when the water is shal- low, it is extracted and carried off in large lumps. Sometimes the water in these lakes is admitted into reservoirs; at the bottom of which, when the water is exhaled by the summer’s heat, this salt is found. Hence it is carried to the East Indies, where it is in some measure purified and crystallized: in this state it comes to Europe, and is called tincal. In other parts of Thibet, it seems, by accounts received from China, they dig it out of the ground at the depth of about two yards, where they find it in small cry- stalline masses. Though borax has been in common use for nearly three centuries, it was only in 1 702 that Homberg, by distilling a mixture of bo- rax and green vitriol, discovered the boracic acid. He called it narcotic or sedative salt, from a notion of his that it possessed the pro- perties indicated by these names. Lemery the younger soon after discovered, that it could likewise be obtained from borax by means of the nitric and muriatic acids. Geoffrov afterwards discovered, that borax contained soda; and at last Baron proved, by a number of experiments, that borax is composed of barocic acid and soda ; and that it may be reproduced by combining these two substances. The easiest method of procuring boracic acid is the following : Dissolve borax in hot water, and filtre the solution ; then add sul- phuric acid, by little and little, till the liquid has a sensibly acid taste. Lay it aside to cool, and a great number of small shining la- minated crystals will form. 'These are the boracic acid, '[’hey are to be washed with cold water, and drained upon brown paper. Boracic acid, thus procured, is in the form of thin hexagonal scales, of a silvery white- ness, having some resemblance to sperma- ceti, and the same kind of greasy feel. It has a sourish taste at first, then makes a bitterish cooling impression, and at last leaves an agreeable sweetness. It has no smell ; but when sulphuric acid is poured on it, a transient odour of musk is produced. It reddens vegetable blues. Its specific gravity is 1.479, while in the form of scales ; after it has been fused it is 1.803, It is not altered by light. It is perfectly fixed in the fire. At a red heat it melts, and is converted into a hard transparent glass; which becomes somewhat opaque when ex- posed to the air, but does not attract mois- ture. It is much less soluble in water than any of the acids hitherto described. Boiling water scarcely dissolves 0.02 of boracic acid, and cold water a still smaller quantity. When this solution is distilled in close ves- sels, part of the acid evaporates along with the water, and crystallizes in the receiver. Water, therefore, renders it in some mea- sure volatile, though it is perfectly fixed when in a state of dryness. Neither oxygen gas, the simple combus- tibles, the simple incombustibles, nor the metals, produce any change upon boracic acid, as far as is at present known. It is soluble in alcohol; and alcohol containing, it burns with a green flame. Paper clipped into a solution of boracic acid burns with a green flame. Though mixed with fine powder of char- coal, it is nevertheless capable of vitr'fica- tion ; and with soot it melts into a black bitu- men-like mass, which is, however, soluble in water, and cannot be easily calcined to ashes, but sublimes in part. W ith the assistance of a distilling heat it dissolves in oils, especially in mineral oils ; and with these it yields fluid and solid pro- ducts, which give a green colour to spi.it of wine. When boracic acid is rubbed with phos- phorus, it does not prevent its inflammation ; but an earthy yellow matter is left behind. It is hardly capable of oxidizing or dissolv- ing any of the metals except iron and zinc, and perhaps copper. Boracic acid combines with alkalies, alka- line earths, and alumina, and most of the metallic oxides, and forms compounds which are called borats. Sub-borat of soda, or common borax. See Borax. BORAGO, in botany, a genus of the pentandria monogynia class and order of plants, the flower of which consists of a single petal of the length of the cup, and divided into five segments : there is no pericarpitim, but the cup grows larger and inflated ; and contains four seeds of a roundish figure, rugose, carinaied outwardly from the point, globose at the base, and inserted into a hol- low receptacle, 'There are five species. The leaves of borage are accounted good in re- moving faintness ; for which reason the -tops . are frequently put into wine and cool tank- ards. Boerhaave recommends the express- ed juice in all inflammatory diseases. The flowers are one of the four cordial flowers. 'The only officinal preparation is the conserve of the flowers. BORASSUS, in botany, a genus of plants, of the dioecia hexandria class and order. The male and female flowers grow on separate plants, and give the plant such a different figure, that they are called by different names in the Ilortus Malabaricus ; the male being called ampana, and the female carim- pana. 'The male lias for the cup of its flower the whole compound spatha, which is amen- taceous and imbricated : the flower is divided into three segments, the petals being hol- lowed, and of an oval figure : the stamina are six thick filaments, and the anthere are thick and striated. In the female, the cup is the same as in the male ; but the petals of the flower, which is divided into three parts, in the manner of the male, are very small, of a roundish figure, and remain when the pis- til, &c. fall off. The germen of the pistil is roundish ; the styles are three, and small, and the stigmata are small ; the fruit is a roundish obtuse berry, of a rigid structure, and containing only one cell ; the seeds are three, and of an oval compressed figure. There is one species, a native of Ceylon. BORAX, or sub-borat of soda. This salt, according to Bergman, is composed of 39 acid 17 soda 44 water 100 . Tt is decomposed by the following salfiq according to Fourcroy: 1. Suiphats of Jime* ammonia, magnesia, glucina, alumina, zir- conia. 2. Suiphats of ammonia, magnesia. 3. Nitrats of barytes, strontian, lime, aifv monia, magnesia, glueitia, alumina, zircon ia 4. Muriats of barytes, strontian, lime, am monia, magnesia, glucina, alumina, zircon ia 5. Super-phosphat o? lime. 6. Phosphate o ammonia, magnesia, glucina, alumina, zir conia. 7. Fluats of barytes, strontian, mag- nesia, ammonia, glucina, alumina, zireonia. Borax is sometimes used in medicine as d astringent. It is used as a flux for metals, and enters into the composition of some o the coloured glass pastes made in imitatioi of gems ; but its great use is to facilitate tl i soldering of the more precious metals. If is employed also as a flux by mineralogist: in essaying the properties of minerals by the blow-pipe. Borat of ammonia may be formed by sa tu rating boracic acid with ammonia. It has scarcely been examined. Fourcroy affirms, that when its solution is evaporated, the am- monia is volatilized, and the acid crystal- lizes. Borat of alumina may be formed by mix ing together the solutions of borat of sod; and sulphat of alumina. It is said to b< J8 O ti B O II [scarcely soluble in water, and not to crystal-, bze. When boracic acid and silica are exposed to a strong heat, they melt together into a transparent glass. This compound has re- ceived the name ofborat of silica. BORBON1A, a genus of the decandria order, and diadelphia class of plants. The stigma is emarginated ; the calyx has pointed spines; and the legumen is pointed. There - are six species, all natives of warm countries. [ They are a kind of broom; and rise to the height of ten or twelve feet, but in Europe I seldom above four or live. They are green- house plants, and may be propagated by j layers ; but as these are generally two years ] before they put forth roots, the best method j is by seeds, which must be procured from [ their native places. BORBO RITES, borboritae, in church-his- I tory, a sect of gnostics in the second century, ) who, besides embracing the errors of these I Christians, denied the last judgment. Their name comes from Popfyos, tilth, on account of a custom they had of daubing their faces and bodies with dirt and tilth. BORDARII, a term mentioned in the Ijomesday-inquisition"; they were distinct i from the servi and villani, and were of a I somewhat higher rank ; having a bord, or i cottage, with a small parcel of land allowed to them, on condition that they should su,p- I ply the lord with poultry and eggs, and other i small provisions for his board and entertain- ment. The same, term is used to denote J servants employed in fetching wood, draw- ing water, grinding corn, cleaning yards, j See. by which they are distinguished from j villani, employed in the tillage of lands. BORDURE, in heraldry, a cutting off j from within the escutcheon all round it about one-fifth of the field, serving as a difference in a coat of arms, to distinguish families of | the same name, or persons bearing the same coat. If the line constituting the bordure is j straight, and the bordure plain, then in blazon- 1, mg you must only name the colour of the j bordure. BOREAL signs, in astronomy, are the ; first six signs of the zodiac, or those north- wards of the equinoctial. BORECOLE, see Bras sic a. BORER, an implement invented for the purpose of searching or exploring the nature ‘ of soils. It is composed of two rods of iron, each about six feet long, and an inch in dia- meter, which screw into one another. By this instrument two men will easily sound the depth of twelve feet in less than a quarter of an hour, if they do not meet with many stones. Thus, without much charge, or any hazard, there is a certainty of discovering what earths are under the upper soil, and _ whether other substances lie concealed there, such as marl, chalk, fullers’ earth, fossile shells, coals, quarriesjof slate or stone, ores, &c. BORING, in mineralogy, a method of piercing the earth by a set of scooping-irons, made with joints so as to be lengthened at pleasure. The mineralogist can guess where a vein of ore may He, though there are none of the common outward signs of it upon the ; surface of the earth, and in this case he has recourse to boring: the scooping-irons arc drawn back at proper times, and the samples of earth and mineral matters they bring up are examined, to know whether it will be worth while to open a mine in the place. BoffiNG of water-pipes. The method of boring water-pipes is as follows. The poles of aider, which is a very useful wood in mak- ing pumps, water-pipes, &c. being laid on horses or tressels of a foot in height, to rest the auger upon while they are boring, they set up a lathe to turn the least end of the poles, to tit them to the cavities, of the great end of the others. They turn the small ends of the poles about five or six inches in length, to the size they intend to bore the larger ends about the same depth, viz. 5 or 6 inches. This is designed to make a joint to shut each pair of holes together; the concave part being the female part, and the other part the male, of the joint. In turning the male part they turn a channel in it, or a small groove at a certain distance from the end ; and in the female part, they bore a small hole to lit over this channel. This being done, they bore the poles through ; and to prevent them from boring out at the side, they stick great nails at each end to be a guide in boring, it is usual, however, to bore them at both ends ; so that if a pole is crooked one way, they can bore it through and not spoil it. The operation is now performed with a horse-mill, as at Dorset-stairs, for the New River company. BOROUGH, Burrougii, Borqw, or Burgh, a corporation Or town which is not a city. 'The word in its original signification meant' a company consisting often families, which were bound together as each other’s pledge. ’Afterwards borough came to signify a town, having a wall or some kind of iuclo- sure round it ; and all places which former- ly had the name of borough, it is said, were fortified, or fenced in some shape or other. The name is now particularly appropriated to such towns or villages as send burgesses or representatives to parliament, whether they are incorporated or not. They are distinguished into those by charter or sta- tute, and those by prescription or custom : The number in England and v\ ales, includ- ing cities and cinque ports, which elect mem- bers, is 215; some of which send one, and some two representatives. Royal Boroughs, in Scotland, are corpo- rations made for the advantage of trade, by charters granted by several of their kings, having the privilege of sending commissioners to represent them in parliament, besides other peculiar immunities. They form a body of themselves, and send commissioners each to an annual convention at Edinburgh, to consult the benefit of trade and their ge- neral interest. Borough-engeish, a customary descent of lands or tenements, in certain places, by which thej descend to the youngest instead of the eldest son ; or, if the owner has- no issue, to the younger instead of the elder brother. This custom goes with the land, although there be a devise or feoffment at the common law to the contrary. The rea- son of this custom, says Littleton, is because the youngest is presumed, in law, to be least able to provide for himself. Borough-head, see Headborough. BORRELLISTS, in church-history, a Christian sect in Holland. They are a kind of anabaptists, but they have some very particular opinions. They reject the use of BOS 2i? churches, of sacraments, public prayer, and all other external acts of worship. BOS, in zoology, the ox, a genus of qua- drupeds of the order of pecora. The generic character is, horns concave, turned out- wards, lunated, smooth ; front teeth eight in the lower jaw ; canine teeth none. 1st, The Bison, from which the several races of common cattle have been gradually derived, is found wild in many parts both, of the old and new continent ; inhabiting woody regions, and arriving at a size far larger than that of the domestic or cultivat- ed animal. In this its native state of wild- ness, tne Bison is distinguished, not only by his size, but by the superior depth and shag- giness of his hair ; which about the head, neck, and shoulders, is sometimes of such a length as almost to touch the ground: his horns are rather short, sharp-pointed, ex- tremely strong, and stand distant from each other at their bases, like those of the com- mon bull. His colour "is sometimes of a dark blackish brown, and sometimes rufous brown ; iiis eyes large and fierce ; his limbs extremely strong, and his whole aspect in degree savage and gloomy. See Plate Nat- Hist. ug. 59. I he principal European regions where this animal is at present found, are the marshy forests of Poland, the Carpathian mountains,, and Lithuania. Its chief Asiatic residence is the neighbourhood of mount Caucasus ; but it is also found in other parts of the Asia- tic world. The American bison seems to differ in i«> respect from the European, except in being more shaggy, and having a more protuberant bunch or tleshy substance over the shoulders- It grows to a vast size, and has been found to weigh sixteen hundred, and even two thousand four hundred pounds ; and the strongest man cannot lift one of the skins from the ground. These were the only animals which bore any affinity to the European cattle, on the first discovery of the American continent ; and might have been made to answer every purpose of the European cow ; but the na- tives, being in a savage state, and living chiefly by chace, had never attempted the domestication of the animal. 2nd, Common ox. This is, in rea- lity, the bison reduced to a domestic state ; in which, in different parts of the world, it runs into as many varieties as the sheep ; differing widely in size, form, and colour, according to climate and other cir- cumstances. Its importance in this its do- mestic state needs not be mentioned. For- merly the ox constituted the whole riches of mankind ; and he is still the basis of the wealth of nations, which subsist and flourish in proportion to the cultivation of their lands and the number of their cattle. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 54. 55. The British breed of horned cattle has been so much improved by a foreign mix- ture, that it is difficult to point out the ori- ginal kind of these islands. Those which may be supposed to have been purely British, are far inferior in size to those of the northern parts of the continent. r Ihe cattle of the highlands of Scotland are exceeding- ly small; and many of them, males as well as females, are hornless. The Welsh runts are much larger : the black cattle of Com- flowers stand pointing two ways, as in lolium, &c. ; and it is distinguished by shape and other circumstances. 4. Gorymbus, a cluster of ivy-berries, when the lesser peduncles of the flowers proceed from different parts of the common peduncle or stalk ; and though of unequal lengths, and sometimes single, sometimes branched, yet form a regular surface at the top, as in the siliquose plants. The corymbus may be supposed to be formed from a spike, by adding partial peduncles to the flowers, and seems to be the mean between the racemus and um- bel la, the peduncles rising gradually from different parts of the common stalk, like those of the raceme, and proceeding to a proportionable height like those of the um- bel. 5. Thyrsus, a young stalk, a mode of flowering resembling the cone of a pine. Linnseus defines it a panicle contracted into an ovate or egg-shaped form ; the lower pe- duncles, which are longer, horizontally ; and the upper, which are shorter, mount verti- cally, as svringa, Sec. . Racemus, a bunch of grapes, is when the flowers are placed on short partial pe- duncles, proceeding as little lateral branches from and along the common peduncle. At 231? resembles a spike in having the flowers placed along a common peduncle, but differs from it in having partial peduncles : it also differs from a corymbus in the shortness and equal length of its peduncles, not forming a re- gular surface at the top, as in ribes rubrum, vitis, &c. 6. Panicula, the tuft upon reeds, is when the flowers are dispersed upon peduncles va- riously subdivided ; or it is a sort of branch- ing spike, composed of several smaller spikes, attached along a common peduncle, as in avena, panicum, and several other grasses, and many other plants. When the partial peduncles diverge and hang loose, it is called a diffuse, and when they converge, it is called a close, panicle. 7. Axillares, such flowers as proceed from the angle formed by the leaf and the stem, as is most common. 8. Terminales, such flowers as terminate the stalk or branch. Every other mode of flowering is called the inflorescence, whether opposite to the leaves, lateral, single, double, erect, bending, Ac. Luxuriant, or double flowers, are con- sidered only as varieties. A luxuriant flower is supposed generally to be owing to super- abundant nourishment ; the luxuriant part is generally the corolla, but sometimes the calyx also. There are three degrees of luxuriant flowers, viz. 1. multiplicatus; 2. plenus; and 3. prolifer. 1. Flos multiplicatus is when tire petals of the corolla are only so far multiplied as to exclude part of the stamina; and is called duplicate, triplicate, quadruplicate, Ac. ac- cording to the number of rows of petals. 2. Flos plenus is when the corolla is so much multiplied as to exclude all the stamina, which is occasioned by the stamina turning petals, and the flower is often so crowded as to exclude or choke the pistillum also. There- fore, as the essential parts of generation are thus wholly or in part destroyed, the plants become barren and imperfect, and no seed, or very little, can be expected from them. Flowers with one petal are not very subject to fullness ; when they are, it generally arises from an increase of the divisions of the petal. It is most usual in flowers of many petals, where it arises various ways ; some- times bv multiplication of the petals only, sometimes of the calyx or nectariunj, and sometimes of all. Compound flowers are also subject to luxuriance, arising several ways. 3. Flos prolifer is when one flower grows out of another ; this generally happens in full flowers, from their greater luxuriancy. In simple flowers it rises from the centre, and proceeds from the pistillum, shooting up into another flower, standing on a single foot- stalk. In aggregate flowers (properly so called) many footstalked flowers are produced jout of one common ■ calyx. In umbellate flowers, a second umbel proceeds from the centre of the first umbel, producing little umbels, which by a greater exertion of lux- uriancy, may produce others with little um- bels, and thus may produce several heads of flowers, each growing out of that immediately below it, furnished with 1 ittle umbels variously compounded. A prolilic flower is also called leafy (frondosus,) when it produces branches ■with flowers and leaves ; which, though rare, sometimes happens in rosa, anemone, mo- jiarda, and others. As in luxuriant flowers BOTANY, many parts of the natural character are de- ficient in the whole, or in any part, they can only be distinguished by the general habit, and by such parts as remain in the natural state ; as very often by the calyx, and in the polypetalous flowers, the lowest series or rows of petals remain the same, as in rosa, papaver, nigella, Ac. 4. Flos mutilatus is the opposite imper- fection, being such a flower as occasionally is deprived of all, or the greatest part of the petals, yet bears seeds, as in some species of tussilago, campanula, Ac. This term is op- posed to luxuriance, and is supposed by Lin- naeus to be caused by a defect of heat, though it may also happen from other causes. VII. The habit of plants, by which an- tient botanists meant the whole external ap- pearance of every part, whereby they were arranged in their several systems, is by Lin- nxus applied to the agreement of plants of the same genus, or natural order, chiefly in the following circumstances : 1. Gemmation. The structure and dispo- sition of the bulb, as solid, coated, scaly, stem. Also of the bud ; its origin petioled, stipuled, cortical ; its contents leafy, floral, common. 2. V ernation. The complication of the leaves within the bud, as conduplicate or doubled together ; convolute or rolled to- gether ; involute or rolled in ; revolute or rolled back; imbricated or tiled ; equitantor riding ; obvolute or rolled against each other ; plaited or folded over ; spiral or coiled like a watch-spring, one end in the centre. 3. /Estivation. The slate of the bud in summer, as convolute, imbricated, condupli- cate, valved, unequally valved. 4. Tortion. The twisting or bending of the parts, as uniform, dissimilar, from the right, from the left, reciprocal, resupine, spiral. 5. Nuptials. Male, female, androgynous, hermaphrodite. 6. Semination. The shape and other cir- cumstances of the seed, as tail, wing, tuft, awn, hooks, gluten, curvature. Also of the pericarpium ; as berrying, inflation, viscosity, elasticity, structure. 7. Placentation. The number and dispo- sition of the cotyledons; or if wanting. 8. Variation. Of colour, size, pubesence, age. 1. External: plaited, bundled, broad- leaved, curled, awnless. 2. Internal : mu- tilated, great-flowered, luxuriant, crested, viviparous, bulb-bearing. By variation or variety, are meant such differences as are only incidental to vegetables, and are notfound constant and unchangeable; that is, where plants raised from the same seed, by some accidental cause differ in their form and ap- pearance from the true character of the spe- cies to which they belong ; which cause being removed, the plant is restored to its true spe- cific character; and these incidental varieties chiefly arise by difference of soil or culture in some of the above circumstances. And though it is as necessary to collect varieties under their proper species, as the species under their proper genera, yet it is often more difficult: 1st, from the difficulty of ascertaining the genus, and, 2dly, from the danger of confounding the species; and sometimes some parts of the specitic cha- racter itself are also subject to variety, par- ti«ularly the leaves ; though in general the true specific character is constant and un- changeable, arising only from circumstances in which plants of the same genus are found to disagree, which distinctions are commonly taken with most certainty from. the. parts ex- plained in this section. VIII. The hybernaculum, winter lodg- ment, is that part of a plant which defends the embryo or future shoot from external in- juries during the winter, and is either a bulb or a bud. i. A bulb* bulbils, is a large sort of bud produced under ground,, placed upon the caudex of certain herbaceous plants, lienee called bulbous plants,, all of which are peren- nial, that is, perpetuated by their bulbs or ground buds, as well as by seeds ; they are therefore improperly called roots, being onlv the hybernacJe of the future shoot. Bulbs are of the following sorts : 1. Squamous, consisting of scales laid over each other like tiles, as in the lily. 2. Solid, consisting of a close substance, as. in tulips. 3. Coated, consisting of many coats infold- ing each other, as in onions. 4. Cauline, produced not only from, the sides of the principal bulb, called a sucker or offset, but from other parts of the stem ; as in crow or wild garlic, and in some species of onion, hence called bulbiferous, where they are produced at the origin of the umbel of flowers. ii. A bud, gemma, is the embryo of the plant, seated upon the stem of the brandies, covered with scales. In general there are three sorts of buds: that coiftaining the, flower only, as in poplar, ash, Ac. where the leaf-buds and flower-buds are distinct; that containing the leaves only, as in birch, Ac. ; and that containing both flower and leaves, as in the generality of plants; and these last sometimes contain leaves and male flowers, sometimes leaves and female flowers, sometimes leaves and hermaphrodite flowers. Annual plants are only renewed from seeds; and several other plants, both trees and shrubs, have no winter buds. It is also ob- served in hot countries, that few plants have- buds; or at least that they are without that scaly covering which seems essential to & bud, and constitutes the hybernacie ; instead whereof are protruded small featherlike branches from the wings of the leaves, (de- fence and protection from cold not being necessary ;) whereas, in cold countries most plants have buds, which are wrapped up ad the winter, in readiness to greet the approach- ing spring. Analogous to the protection afforded by the bulls, is the sleep of plants, which, ac- cording to Linnaeus, happens various ways ; as by converging, including, surrounding, fortifying, canduplicating, involving, diverg* ing, depending, inverting, imbricating. This, disposition in plants is very remarkable in chickweed, pimpernell, dandelion, goal’s- beard, Ac. which expand their flowers only at certain times of the day, and shut them up at the approach of night or a storm ; from which may be prognosticated a change of weather. In many plants, not only the flowers, but the young shoots, are defended from external injuries by the nearest leaves converging and inclosing the tender rudi- ments. — Thus we have delineated the prin- cipal outlines of plants ; hut a wore parte- 252 cular description of those parts which serve chiefly to characterise the different classes, orders, genera, and species, will be given in the following sections, particularly Sect. II. — Of the classes of plants. The flowers of plants Linnaeus very pro- perly made the sole foundation of his beauti- ful system of botany. Being the same in all parts of the globe capable of producing plants, the classification founded upon them affords a kind of universal language (so to speak) to botanists, whereby they can no longer mistake each others’ meaning, as has unfortunately been the case, less or more, with almost all former botanical systems. Flowers, in respect of sex, are distinguished into male, female, hermaphrodite, and neuter. Male flowers are such as have only the sta- mina, as in the classes moncecia, dioecia, and polygamia. Female flowers are such as have only the pistilla, as in the same classes. Her- maphrodite flowers are such as have both the stamina and pistilla in the same flower, as in almost all the other classes: hermaphro- dites are also distinguished into male her- maphrodites, when the female is ineffectual ; and female hermaphrodites, when the male is ineffectual. Neuter flowers are such as have neither stamina nor pistilla perfect. The plants themselves also take a deno- mination from the sex of their flowers. Male plants are such as bear male flowers only ; female plants bear female flowers only ; her- maphrodite plants bear hermaphrodite flow- ers only. Androgynous plants are such as bear male and female flowers, distinct upon the same root, as in the class moncecia. Polygamous plants are such as bear herma- phrodite flowers, and male or female flowers, or both distinct, on the same or on different roots. When on the same root, the flowers are either male hermaphrodites and female her- maphrodites ; or hermaphrodites and male ; or hermaphrodites and female, distinct : if on different roots, the flowers are either herma- phrodites and male ; hermaphrodites and fe- male ; hermaphrodites and both male and female ; or are androgynous and male ; and sometimes androgynous and male and female «n three distinct plants. TABLE OF THE CLASSES. 1 . Monandria, i. e. one male or stamen in an hermaphrodite flower. 2. Diandtia, i. e. two stamina, 3. Triandria, — three ditto. 4 . Tetrandria, — four ditto. 5. Pentandria, — five ditto. 6. Hexandria, — six ditto. 7. Irleptandria, — seven ditto. 8. Octandria, — eight ditto. 9. Enneandria, — nine ditto. 10. Decandria, — ten ditto. 11. Dodecandria, - twelve ditto. 12. Icosandria, — twenty or more ditto, in- serted into the calyx. 13. Polyandria, i. e. all above twenty sta- mina inserted into the receptacle. 14. Didynamia, i. e. four stamina, two long and two short. 15. Tetradynamia, i. e. six stamina, four long and two short. lb. Monadelphia, the stamina united into one body by the filaments. BOTANY. 17. Diadelpia, the stamina united into two bodies by the filaments. 18. Polyadelphia, the stamina united into three or more bodies by the filaments. 19. Syngene&ia, the stamina united in a cylindrical form by the anther*. 20. Gynandria, the stamina inserted into the pistillum. 21. Monoecia, male and female flowers distinct, in the same plant. 22. Dioecia, males and females in different plants, of the same species. 23. Polygamia, male, female, and herma- phrodite flowers in the same or different plants. 24. Cryptogamia, the flowers invisible, so that they cannot be ranked according to the parts of fructification, or distinctly described. These 24 classes comprehend every known genus and species. It is easy to class a plant belonging to any of the first 1 1 classes, as they all depend on tire number of stamina, without regard to any other circumstance : only it is to be observed that the 1 1th class, dodecan- dria, although its tide is expressive of 1 2 sta- mina only, consists of such plants as are fur- nished with any number of stamina from 1 1 to 19 inclusive. The reason of the chasm in the classes from 10 to 12 stamina, is, that no flowers have yet been found with only 1 j , so as to form a class. T he reseda indeeci has sometimes 1 1, but often more ; and those of the brownea are united below, which brings it under monadelphia. The 12th class requires more attention. When the stamina amount to above 20, a young botanist will be apt to imagine that the plant belongs to the polyandria class. In reducing plants of this kind to their classes, particular* regard must be had to the inser- tion of the stamina. If they are inserted into the calyx, the plant belongs to the icosandria class; if into the receptacle, it belongs to the polyandria. This distinction it is very ne- cessary to observe, as the fruits of the latter class are frequently poisonous. The 1 4th class is likewise in danger of being confounded with the 4th, the number of stamina being the same; but in the 14th, two of them are uniformly much shorter than the other two; at the same time each particular stamen belonging to the dif- ferent pairs stands direc tly opposite to one another. 1’he plants of this class are all labiate, or gaping blossoms, as in the snap- dragon, foxglove, ground ivy, & c. The ] 5th class may be mistaken for the 6th, as they consist of the same number of stamina ; but in the 15th, four of them are uniformly longer than the other two, and these two are always opposite to each other. T he plants of this class are all cruciform ; that is, four- petalled, like across, as in the cabbage, wall- flower, &c. In the 1 (5th class, the stamina are united below, but distinct above. The pistilla are also united below in one substance with the receptacle, which is prominent in the centre, bat divided above into as many threads as there are gennina. In the 17th class, the corolla is papilona- ceous, butterfly-shaped, and the petals are expressed by distinct names ; viz. vexillum, the uppermost, which covers the rest,; ala:, the two at each side of the flower; and carina, the lowest, which is often bipartite, and placed between the ala?. The anther* are most frequently 10, one on the upper fila- ment, and 9 on the lower. The pistillum grows out of the receptacle within the calyx. See the common pea. The 19th class consists of plants whose flowers are composed of a great number of small flowers, inclosed in one common calyx, and therefore styled compound flowers. The whole compound flower in its aggregate state is styled flosculose, because composed of these flosculi or florets. The essence of a floscu- lose flower consists in having the anther* united in a cylinder, and a single seed below the receptacfe of the floret. In the 20th class, the stamina grow either upon the pistillum, or upon a receptacle that stretches out in the form of a stylus, and supports both the stamina and the pistillum. 1 he other classes are sufficiently distinguish- ed in the table. Sect. III. — Of the orders of plants. The orders are inferior divisions, which lead us a step nearer the genus. In the first 1 3 classes they are taken from the female parts, in the same manner as the classes from the male ; and named monogynia, dig) nia, trigynia, tetragynia, &c. i. e. one, two, ree, four, &c*. pistilla, or female parts. When the pistils have no stalk or filament like the stamina, they are numbered by the stigmata or tops of the pistils, which in' that case adhere to the capsule in the form of small protuberances,, as may be observed in the llowets of the peppy, & c. In the 14th class the orders are derived from a different source. The plants belong- ing to it have their seeds either inclosed in a capsule, or altogether uncovered. Hence they are divided into gymnospermia, com- prehending such as have naked seeds; and angiospermia, comprehending such as have their seeds covered, or inclosed in a capsule. The 15th class is divided into two orders, viz. the siliculosa, or those which have a shojtpod: and the siliquosa,.or those which have a longer one. The orders of the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 20th classes, are taken from the number of stamina; e. g. monadelphia pentandria, de- candria, polyandria, &c. The orders of the 19th class are, 1. poly- gamia aequalis, those whose floscules are all furnished with stamina and pistils. Polygamia spuria, comprehends plants that have herma- phrodite floscules in the disk,, and female floscules in the margin; which is made the foundation of the three next orders, viz. 2. Polygamia superflua, those whose hermaph- rodite flowers in the disk are furnished with stigmata, and bear seed, and whose female flow ers in the radius likewise produce seeds. 3. Polygamia frustranea, such as have her- maphrodite seed-bearing floscules in the disk but whose floscules in (he radius, having no stigmata, are barren. 4. Polygamia neces- saria, is the reverse of the former : the her- maphrodite flowers in the disk want stigmata, and are barren ; but the female floscules in the radius are furnished with stigmata, and produce seeds. 5. Polygamia segregafa, many floscules inclosed in one common calyx, and each of the floscules likewise furnished with a perianthium proper to itself. 6. Mo- nogamia. This order consists only of seven genera, nope of which have properly com- pound flowers, but are ranked under this class merely from having their stamina united by the anthers. "The orders of the 21st class are partly taken from the number of stamina, and partly from the names and characters peculiar to some of the other classes; e.g. moncecia triandria, moncecia syngenesia, moncecia gy- nandria. BOTANY. The orders of the 22d class are founded upon the number, union, and situation of the stamina in the male flowers. The orders of the 23d are all taken from classical charac- ters; e. g. polygamia monoecia, polygamia dioecia, and polygamia trioecia.. The 24th class is divided into 4 orders : 1 . Filices, comprehending all plants that bear their seeds in the back or edges of the leaf, TABLE OF THE ORDERS. 253 and those that are called capillary plants. 2. Musci, which comprehends all the moss kind. 3. Alga*, including the lichens, fuel, and many others whose parts of fructification are either altogether invisible or exceedingly obscure. 4. Fungi, comprehending all the mushroom tribe. For a delineation of the classes, &c. see Plates, Botany, IV. and V, Classes. 1. Monandria 2. Diandria 3. TRIANDRrA 4. Tetrandria 5. Pentandria 6. IIexandria 7. Heptandria 8. Oct ANDRIA 9. Enneandria 10. Decandria 11. Dodecandria 12. ICOSANDRIA 13. -POLYANDRIA 14. Didynamia 15. Tetrad \ r NAMiA 16. Monadelphia 17. Diadelphia’ 18. Polyadelphia 19. Syngenesia 20. Gynandria ' 21. Monoecia 22. Dioecia 23. Polygamia 24. Cryptogamia Appendix Number and Names of the Orders. 2 Monogynia, Digynia. 3 Monogynia, Digynia, Trigynia. 3 Monogynia, Digynia, Trigynia. 3 Monogynia, Digynia, Tetragynia. 6 Monogynia, Digynia, Trigvma, Tetragynia, Pentagynia, Polygyma. 5 Monogynia, Digynia, Trigynia, 1 etragynia, Polygynia. 4 Monogynia, Digynia, Tetragynia, Heptagynia. 4 Monogynia, Digynia, Trigynia, Tetragynia. 3 Monogynia, Trigynia, Hexagynia. 5 Monogynia, Digynia, Trigynia, Pentagynia, Decagynia. 5 Monogynia, Duynia, Trigynia, Pentagynia, Dodecagynia. 5 Monogynia, Digynia, T rigynia, Pentagynia, Polygynia. 7 Monogynia, Digynia, Trigynia, Tetragynia, Pentagynia, Hexagynia, I olygyma. 2 Gymnospermia, Angiospermia. 2 Siliculosa, Siliquosa. , . ^ , , . _ , , . „ , . . 8 Triandria, Pentandria, Octandria, Enneandria, Decandria, Endecandria, Dodecandna, loljandiia. 4 Pentandria, IIexandria, Octandria, Decandria. 4 Pentandria, Dodecandria, leosandria, Polyandria. . . 6 < Polygamia aequalis, Polygamia superflua, Polygamia frustranea, Polygamia necessana, Polygamia ( segregata, Monogamia. , . _ , . _ . , . , ] Diandria, Triandria, Tetrandria, Pentandria, IIexandria, Octandria, Decandria, Dodecandria, Poly- | Monandria, Diandria, Triandria, Tetrandria, Pentandria, Hexandria, Heptandria, Polyandria, 1 | Monadelphia, Syngenesia, Gynandria. . , . ^ J . . _ , . r ( Monandria, Diandria, Triandria, Tetrandria, Pentandria, Hexandria, Octandria, Enneandria, Do* lj l candria, Dodecandria, leosandria, Polyandria, Monadelphia, Syngenesia, Gynandria. 3 Monoecia, Dioecia, Trioecia. 4 Filices, Musci, Algae, Fungi. 1 Palmae. Some botanists rank these last as a 25th class ; but this is improper, as they are all capable of being arranged in the preceding classes of the system, although on account of their singular structure, Linnaeus placed them in an appendix. They contain such genera as have a spadix and spatha, i. e. whose flow- ers and fruit are produced on that particular receptacle called a spadix, protruded from a common calyx in form of a sheath, called spatha. Tliis order consists.of trees and shrubs only. These have always a simple stem, not branched, bearing leaves at the top, resem- bling those of fe.n, being a composition of a leaf and a branch, called frondes ; and the corolla has always 3 petals. See Plates IV. and V. Botany. . ' Sect. IV. — The genera of plants. In investigating the genus of a plant, we must first consider its essence. The essence of every vegetable, says Linnaeus, con's ists in the fructification ; the essence of the fructifi- cation in the flower and fruit ; the essence of the flower consists in the antherae and stigma, and the essence of the fruit in the seed. Hence he makes the flower and fruit the foundation of his generic distinctions. These are generally composed of seven parts; the calyx, the corolla, the stamina, the pistillum, the pericarpium, the semina, and the receptaculum ; and the presence or ab- sence, the number, figure, proportion, and situation, of the several parts, constitute the genus. But as there are few genera wherein all the parts of the natural character are con- stant in every one of the species, it is neces- sary to fix upon such circumstances as are constant in both genus and species, and call those the essential or ruling character ; both to distinguish one genus from another, and to fix the several species and their varieties to their respective genera ; for which purpose, in some cases, Linnaeus was obliged to have recourse to the nectarium. The first four parts of the fructification are properly parts of the flower, and the last three of the fruit. I. The calyx, or cup, is the termination of the outer bark of a plant. Its chief use is to inclose, support, and protect, the other parts of the fructification. When present, it is seated on the receptacle: and is distin- guished by its figure ; by the number, division, and shape of its leaves, or segments ; and by tlie following names, according to the circum- stances with which it is attended. 1. Perianthium, when its station is close to, and surrounds, the other parts of the fruc- tification, is called the perianthium of the fructification: if it includes many tioscules, as in scabiosa, and other aggregate and com- pound flowers, it is called a common peri- anthium : if it includes only one floscule, it is called a proper perianthium ; if it includes the stamina, and not the germen, it is the peri- anthium of the flower, and is said to be above, as in lonicera, ribes, campanula, &c. ; if it includes the germen, but not the stamina, it is the perianthium of the fruit, and is said to be below, as in linnea and morina, each of which have two calyxes and two receptacles above each other, one of the flower and the other of the fruit. 2. Involucrum, when stationed at the foot of an umbel, below the common receptacle, and at a distance from the flower, is called universal, if placed under the universal umbel ; and partial, if placed under a partial umbel. 3. Amentum, consists of a great number of chatty scales, disposed along a slender axis or common receptacle, which, from its re- semblance to a cat’s tail, has obtained the name of catkin ; and these flowers have gene- rally no petals : sometimes the same amen- tum supports both male and female flowers, distinct, on the same plant, as in carpinus, &c. sometimes the male and female flowers are removed from each other on the same plant, and the amentum supports only the male flowers, and the female flowers are in- closed by a perianthium, as in corylus, fagus, &c. and sometimes an amentum only sup- ports male flowers on one plant, and female flowers on another plant, as in salix, pop ulus, •254 BOTANY. 4. Spatha, a soil of calyx growing from the stalk, bursting lengthways, and protrud- ing a spadix, supporting one or more flowers, which have often no perianthium. It con- sists either of one leaf, with a valve on one side only, as in the greater number of spa- thaceous plants ; or of two leaves, with two valves, as in stratiotes, &c. or is imbricated, as in rnusa, &c. with one or two valves. 5. Gluma, a husk, chiefly belongs to com and grasses, consisting of one, two, three, or more valves, folding over each other like scales, and frequently terminated by a long, stiff, pointed prickle, called the arista. 6. Calyptra, the proper calyx of mosses, is placed over the anthera: of' the stamina, resembling an extinguisher, a hood, or monk’s eowl. 7. Yolva, so named from its infolding, is the proper calyx of funguses, being membra- naceous, and surrounding the stalk, before their expansion. It is often difficult to distinguish the calyx from the bractes, which are found on many plants, situated on the flower-stalks : and are often so near to the lower parts of the fruc- tification as to be mistaken for the calyx, as in tilia, passiflora, & c. but they may be best distinguished by this rule ; the bracteat differ in shape and colour from the other leaves of the plant, but are commonly of the same duration ; whereas the calyx always withers when the fruit is ripe, if not before. II. The corolla is the termination of the inner bark of the plant ; which accompanies the fructification, in the form of leaves vari- ously coloured. It is generally seated on the receptacle, sometimes on the calyx ; serving as an inner work of defence to the part it in- closes; as the calyx, which is usuallv of stronger texture, does for an outer. 'The leaves of the corolla are called petals ; by the number, division, and shape of which, it is distinguished. It is said' to be inferior or be- low, when it includes the germen, and is at- tached to the part immediately below it, as in borage, &c. and it is said to be superior or above, when it is placed above the germen, as in cratargus, Sc c. In respect to duration, the corolla either continues till the fruit is ripe, as in nymphxa ; or falls off at the first opening of the flower, as in actaca ; or with the stamina and other parts of the flower, as in most plants ; or does not tall, but withers, jas in campanula, Sec. The nectarium, Linnaeus says, principally belongs to the corolla, as an appendage to the petals : and contains the honey, which is the principal food of bees and other insects. But though, in plants where it is found, it may be attached to the corolla, and be then most evident ; yet it is almost as often attached to other parts of the fructification t Linnaeus therefore chiefly makes use of it as an essen- tial character in many of the genera, as being less variable than others ; and observes, that when it is not united with the substance of the petals, those plants are generally poison- ous: the tube or lower part of monopetalous flowers, he considers as a true nectarium, because it contains a sweet liquor. But as it affords very singular varieties in other in- stances, it lias the following distinctions. 1. Cal) cine nectaria, such as are situated upon, and make a part of, the calyx ; as in tropaiolun), monotropa, Sec. 2 , Cqrollaccous nectaria are attached to the corolla, and are called calcariate when they resemble a spur. They are either on flowers of one petal, as in valeriana, tkc. or on flowers of many petals, as in viola, Sec. or within the substance of the petals, as in lilium, iris, &c. 3. Stamineous nectaria attend the stamina, and are either seated upon the antherae, as in adenanthera; or upon the filaments, as in laurus, &c. 4. Pistil laceous nectaria accompany the pistillum, and are placed upon the germen, as in hyacinthus, butomus, &c. 5. Keceptaculaceous nectaria join the re- ceptacle, as in polygonum, sedum. See, 6. Nectaria that crown the corolla, are placed in a row within the petals, though en- tirely unconnected with their substance, as in silene, See. and in this situation often re- semble a cup, as in narcissus, &c. 7. Nectaria of singular construction, are such as cannot properly be placed under any of the foregoing distinctions, as in amomum, curcuva, saliva, urtica. Sec. The proper use of the nectarium, is not yet discovered. 111. The stamina, or chives, are the males of the flower, proceeding from the wood of the plant. Each stamen consists of two parts, viz. the filament and the antherae. In most flowers they are placed upon (lie receptacle, within the corolla, and round the germen ; and are chiefly distinguished by number. 1 . The filament is the thread-shaped part of the stamen, serving as a footstalk to elevate the antherae, and sometimes has jags or di- visions; which are either two, as in salvia; three, as in fumaria; or nine, as in t he class diadelphia. They are also distinguished by their form or figure, as awl-shaped, thread- shaped, hair-like, spiral, revolute. Sec. by their proportion, as equal, unequal, irregular, long, or short: and by their situation, being generally opposite to the leaves or divisions of the calyx, and alternate with the petals ; that is, when the divisions of the calyx are equal in number to the petals, and to the stamina. In monopetalous flowers they are generally inserted into the corolla; but scarcely ever in flowers of more than one petal, but into the receptacle: yet in the class icosandria they are inserted into the calyx or corolla (though the flowers have many petals), as also in a few other plants. But in the class polyandria, and most other polvpetalous plants, they are inserted into the receptacle, like the calyx and corolla. The class gvnandria, however, is an excep- tion to the above rules, where the stamina are sometimes without filaments. 2 . The anthera, from «v0oj, a flower, em- phatically so called from its great utility in the fructification, is the top of the filament, containing the impregnating pollen ; and is either one to each filament, as in most plants ; or one common to three filaments, as in cu- curbita, & c. or one common to five filaments, as in the class syngenesia : or sometimes there are two antherae to each filament, as in ranunculus and mercurialis; three to each filament, as in fumaria ; five to three fila- ments, as in bryonia ; or five to each, as in theobroma. The anthera is also distinguish- ed by its form or figure, as oblong, round, angular, Sec. It consists of one or more cells, which burst different lv in different parts ; either in the side, as in most plants ; on the top ; or from the top to the base. It is also fastened to the top of the filament % either by its base, as in most plants ; or hori- zontally by its middle to the top of the filament, so poised as to turn like a vane: or it is fixed by its side, leaning to the top of the filament, then called incumbent. Sometimes it grows to the nectarium, as in costus; to the receptacle, as in arum ; or to the pistil- lum, in the class gynandria. IV. The pistillum, or the female of the flower, proceeding from the pith of the plant, is that erect column which is generally placed in the centre of the flower, amidst the sta- mina ; and consists of three parts, the ger- men, the style, and the stigma. 1. The germen is the base of the pistillum, supporting the style. After some time, ic becomes a seed-vessel, and may therefore be considered as the rudiment of "the pericarpi- um. It is distinguished by its shape, number, and situation ; and is said to be above or be- low, according to its situation above or below the attachment of the corolla. 2. 1 he style elevates the stigma from the germen, to receive the influence of the stamina, and to convey it down to the ger- men as through a tube. It is distinguished either by its number, which, when present (pr when absent, the number of stigmata) gives rise to most of the orders, and are call- ed so many females ; or by its divisions, being double, treble, or quadruple, &c. though joined at the base; or by its length, being longer, shorter, or equal with the sta- mina; or by its proportion, being thicker or thinner than the stamina; or by its figure, being regular, cylindric, awl-shaped, bent. Sec.’, or by its situation, being generally ou the top of the germen, though in some in- stances supposed to be both above and be- low, as in capparis and euphorbia; unless the lower part in these genera are considered as the extension of the receptacle. It is often placed on the side of the germen, as in hirlella, suriana ; also in rosa, i ubus, and the rest oi the plants in the class icosandria and order polygynia W ith respect to du- ration, it generally falls with the other parts of the flower ; but in some plants it is per- manent, and attends the fruit to its maturity, as in the class letradynamia. In flowers which have no style, the stigma adheres to the germen. 3. 'Lhe stigma, when single, is generally placed like a head on the summit of the style: when several, they are placed on the top, or regularly disposed along the side ; and covered with moisture, to retain the pollen of the anthera'. It is distinguished either by its number, being single in most plants; or by its divisions, figure, length, thickness, or duration ; as in most plants it withers when the germen is become a seed- vessel ; in some it is permanent, as in pa- paver. V. The pericarpium is the germen grown to maturity, and become a matrix. All plants, however, arc not. furnished with a seed-vessel, as corylus, &c. In many, it is supplied chiefly by the calyx, which conver- ging incloses the seeds till they arrive at ma- turity ; as is the case with the rough-leaved plants, and the labial and compound flowers of the classes pentandria, didynamia, and syngenesia. Sometimes the receptacle sup- plies the office of seed-vessel, as in gundelia ; and sometimes the nectarium, as in cures. BOTANY. 25 J The pericarpium is situated at the receptacle of the llewer, either above or below, or both, as iu saxifraga and lobelia: and is distin- guished by the following appellations, accord- ing to its different structure. 1 . Capsula is frequently succulent whilst green ; but when ripe, it is a dry husky seed- vessel, that parts to discharge its contents; and by some elastic motion, the seeds are often darted forth with considerable velocity, as in dictamnus, &c. It opens either at the top, as in most plants ; at the bottom ; at the side, horizontally across the middle ; or lon- gitudinally ; and if it is articulated or jointed, it opens at each of the joints, which contains a single seed. It is distinguished externally, by its number of valves ; and internally, by tire number of its cells, wherein the seed is inclosed ; as well as by its shape and sub- stance. 2. Siliqua, a pod, is a pericarpium of two valves; but as some are long, others round or broad, Linmeus distinguishes them by their form into siliqua and silicula, which give name to the two orders in the class tetrady- namia. The siliqua is a long pod, being much longer than broad, as in brassica, sin- apis, &x\; the silicula, a little pod, is a round- ish pod, either flat or spherical, and the length and breadth nearly equal, as in lu- naria, draba, & c. In both, the apex, which had been the style, is often so long beyond the valves, as to be of equal length with the pod ; and the seeds in both are fastened al- ternately by a slender thread, to both the sutures or joinings of the valves. 3. Legumen, pulse, is also a pod, and is likewise a pericarpium of two valves, where- in the seeds are fastened to short receptacles along the upper suture only, on each side, alternate : this chiefly belongs to the papilio- naceous ilowers, or the class diadelphia. 4. Folliculus, or cohceptaculum, is a peri- carpium of one valve only, opening- length- ways on one side, and the seeds not fastened to the suture, but to a receptacle within the fruit, as in asclepias, Sec. 5. Drupa is a pericarpium that is pulpy, having no valve. It' contains within its sub- stance a nut, or seed inclosed with a hard ligneous crust, as olea, cornus, &c. and when the drupa is seated below the calyx, it is fur- nished with an umbilicus like the poinum. 6. Pomum, an apple, is also a pulpy peri- carpium without a valve; but containing in the middle a membranous capsule, with several cells containing the seeds; and at the end opposite to the footstalk there is generally a small cavity, called umbilicus from its re- semblance to the navel in animals ; and which was formerly the calyx, seated above the fruit, and persistent, as in pyrus, cucumis, &c. 7. Bacca, a berry, is also a pulpy peri- carpium without valve, inclosing one or more seeds, which have no membranous capsule or covering, but are disposed promiscuously through the pulp, as in solatium, &c. and are generally placed on footstalks attached to re- ceptacles within the pulp, as in ribes, See. The berry also admits of the following dis- tinction : it is said to be proper, when it is a true pericarpium formed of a genneiv; and improper, when it is formed from other parts of the fructification, as in rosa, juniperus. Sec. A large succulent calyx becomes a berry; and in juniperus, the tlnee petals become the umbilicus ; in poterium the berry is formed of the tube of the corolla; in fragraria, Sec. it is formed of the top of the receptacle ; in rubus, Sec. it is formed from a seed, which is the receptacle of the berry ; in ruse us, &c. it is inclosed within and is a part of the nectary. The berry is commonly either round or oval, and is frequently furnished with an umbilicus, as in ribes, Sec. it does not naturally open to disperse the seeds like the capsule, that office being performed by birds and other animals. 8. Strobiles is a pericarpium formed of an amentum, being a seed-vessel composed of woody scales placed against each other in the form of a cone, opening only at the top of the scales, being firmly fixed below to a sort of axis or receptacle, occupying the middle of the cone; as in pinus, Sec. For parts of flowers and fruits, see Plates III and V. Bo- tany. VI. Semina, the seeds, are the essence of the fruit of every vegetable, and defined by Linmeus to be “ a deciduous part of the plant, containing the rudiments of a new ve- getable, fertilized by the sprinkling of the pollen.” They are distinguished according to number, shape, texture, appendage, Sec. A seed, properly so called, consists of the live following parts; to which are added the nux and propago. 1. The corculum, (from cor, a heart) is the essence of the seed, and principle of the future plant ; and consists of two parts, viz. plumula and rostellum. The plumula is the part which shoots up into the stem, and the rostellum is what forms the root. See Phy- siology of Plants. 2. The cotyledons, (from cotyledon, the hollow of the luickle-bone), are the thick porous side-lobes of the seed, such as the two sides into which a bean divides when soaked in water, and which afterwards come up as the seed-leaves of the plant. If a plant is cut below the cotyledons, it will scarcely ever put out fresh leaves, but withers and decays ; if it is cut above the cotyledons, it generally shoots out afresh, and continues to grow: therefore, if plants whose cotyledons rise above ground, as turnips. Sec. are cut or eaten into the ground by cattle, they decay ; but where the cotyledons remain below ground, as in grasses, and are cut or eaten to the ground, they will shoot out afresh. Some- plants have only one, as in grasses and in cus- cuta, &c. ; others two, as in vicia, &c. ; li- num lias four; cupressus, five ; and pinus,- ten. 3. The hilum, the black spot on a bean, called the eye, is the external mark on the seed, where it was fastened within the peri- carpium. 4. 'Phe arillus, the proper exterior coat of the seed, that falls off spontaneously, is either cartilaginous or succulent : yet seeds are said to be naked, when not inclosed in any sort of pericarpium, as in the class and order didynamia gymnospermia. 5. The coronula is either a small sort of calyx adhering to the top of the seed, like a little crown, and assisting to disperse it by flying, as in scabiosa, knautia, &c. where the little calyx of the floret becomes the crown of the seed or a down, which is either fea- thery, as in valeriana, &c. or hairy, as in- tussilago, &c. This down has generally been thought intended to disperse- the seed. The coronula is either also sitting, that is, attached close to the seed, ns in hi erne ium. Sec. ; or footstalked by a thread elevating and connecting the tuft with the seed, as in crepis, Sec. borne seeds are furnLhed with a wing, a tail, a hook, an awn, &c. all comb- ing under the term coronula,, and tending, either to disperse or fix the seeds, borne have an elastic force, to disperse them ;. which is either in the calyx, as in oats and some others ; in the pappus, as in centurea crupina; or in the capsule, as in geranium. Sec. Other seeds, especially those whose pericarpium is a berry, as also the nutmeg and other nuts, are dispersed by birds and other animals. Nux, a nut, a seed inclosed in a hard woody substance, called the shell, which is one-celled, two-celled, &c. and the inclosed seed is called the kernel. Propago, a slip or shoot, the seed of a moss,, which has neither coat nor cotyledon, but consists only of a naked plumula, where the rostellum is inserted into the calyx of the plant. Nil. The reccptaculum is the base- which receives, supports, and connects, the other parts of the fructification. It is only mentioned by Linnaeus, when it can be intro- duced as a character varying in shape and surface, as principally in the class syngenesia.. It is called proper when it supports the parts of a single fructification only ; when it is a base to which only the parts of the flower are joined, and not the germen, it is called a receptacle of the flower; in which case the germen, being placed below' the receptacle of the flower, has a proper base of its own, which is called the receptacle of the fruit : and it is called a receptacle of the seeds, when it is a base to which the seeds are fastened within the pericarpium. In some simple flowers, where the germen is placed above the receptacle of the flower, the fruit has a separate receptacle, as in magnolia, uvaria. Sec. in which genera the numerous germina are seated upon a receptacle rising like a pil- lar above the receptacle of the fructification. It is styled common, when it supports and connects a head of flowers in common ; as in the amentum, and other aggregate flowers. The umbella and cyma are also called recep- tacles. Rachis, a filiform receptacle,, collec t- ing the florets longitudinally into a spike, in-, many of the glumose flowers, as wheat, bar- ley, rye, &c. Spadix anciently only signi- fied the receptacle of a palm issuing out of a spatha, and branched ; but now every flower- stalk. that is protruded from a calyx called spatha, is denominated a spadix, as in nar- cissus, Sec. Sect. V. — The species of plants. The genera include a great number of species, distinguished by the specific differ- ence of the root, the trunk, the branches, the- leaves, Sec., yet all agreeing in the essential generic character. They are called by tri- vial names, expressive of the difference of some other circumstance, added to the ge- neric name. To investigate the species, therefore, it .is. necessary to understand those differences, and to be acquainted with the- names by which they are expressed. Several of these have been already incidentally ex- plained; but tor a complete enumeration, the reader must have recourse to the glossary. In general it may be observed, that sue- 2 56 cific differences take their rise from any cir- cumstance, wherein plants of the same genus disagree; provided such circumstance is con- stant, and not liable to alteration by culture or other accidents. Hence L nnaeus asserts the species to be as numerous as there were different forms of vegetables produced at the creation ; and considers all casual differences as varieties of the same species. Hybrid, or mule plants, must be rank- ed among varieties, whether occasioned by accident, by the pollen of one plant falling upon the pistilla of another, or reared by art ; of which Linnaeus gives many curious in- stances. Varieties may generally be reduced under their species, by comparing the variable marks of the variety with the natural plant ; but there are some which are attended with difficulty, and require judgment and expe- rience; particularly in some species of helle- borus, gentiana, fumaria,valeriana, scorpiurus, and medicago. In these two last there is a remarkable diversity in the fruit of the indi- viduals. In the medicago, or snail trefoil, in particular, the forms of the real snails, which nature has imitated in these plants, are scarcely more diversified than the fruit of this mimic species : so that the botanist who is studious of varieties, would find no end to his labour, were he to attempt to pursue nature through the various shapes she has wantonly adopted. The whole order of the fungi too, as Mr. Lee observes, is still a chaos ; bota- nists not being yet able in these to decide what is a species, and what a variety. Sect. V. — Of the natural classes or orders. Notwithstanding the evident superiority of the sexual system, Linnaeus and most oilier modern botanists are of opinion, that there is a natural method, or nature’s system, which we should diligently endeavour to find *>ut. On these principles, Linnaeus divides vegetables into 58 natural classes or orders, viz. 1. Palmae. These arc perennial, and mostly trees of shrubs : such as the phoenix, or date palm, the cocos or cocoa-nut tree, &c. They are astringent. 2. Piperit*, peppers, are mostly herbace- ous and perennial: such as the pothos, the stalks of which creep along rocks and trees, into which they strike root at certain dis- tances; the arums, &c. 3. Calamariw, reeds. 4. Gramina, grasses. 5. Tripetaioide* have no very striking cha- racters, but are nearly allied to the grasses. Such are the butomus, or water gladiole, &c. 6. Ensat*, sword-like plants ; as the saf- fron, iris, &c. 7. Orchide*. The orchis kind. 8. Scitamine* are beautiful exotics, all na- tives of very warm countries. Some of them furnish exquisite fruits: the amomum or gin- ger, and the musa or plantain, are included in this order. The roots are hot and resinous. 9- Spathace* are nearly allied in habit and structure to the liliaceous plants, from which they are chiefly distinguished by the spatha, out of which their flowers are protruded: such are the allium, the amaryllis, &c. 10. Coronari* are herbaceous, perennial, and from one inch to 15 feet high. The roots are either bulbous, fibrous, or composed of BOTANY,. j small fleshy knots, jointed at top. The hya- cinths and lilies belong to this tribe. 1 1 . Sarmentos*, from sarmentum, a long shoot, have climbing stems and branches, that, like the vine, attach themselves to other bodies for support: such are srnilax, j trillium, & c. 12. Holerace*, from holus a pot-herb, con- tains trees, shrubs, perennial and annual ; herbs, chiefly for domestic use : such as the : beet, rhubarb, kc. 13. Succulent*. This order consists of flat, I fleshy, and juicy plants, most of them ever- greens. They are astringent, refreshing, and very wholesome. 14. Gruinales, cranelike, consist of gera- \ nium, and a few other genera which Linnseus ' considers as allied to it in their habit and ex- ternal structure. 15. Inundat* are aquatic plants, low, her- baceous, and mostly perennial. The elatine, hippuris, the pond-weed, &c. are of this class. These plants are astringent. 16. Calyciflor* have the stamina inserted into the calyx, and are all of the shrub or tree | kind: such is the elaeagnus or wild olive, &c. 17. Calycanthem* have the corolla and ' stamina inserted in the calyx. Such are the ; epilobium, lythrum, willow' herbs, kc. These , plants are astringent. 18. Bicornes, plants whose anther* have 1 the appearance of two horns. Of these are the heaths, vacciniums, &c. These are also astringent. 19. Hesperide* are of the shrub and tree kind, and mostly evergreen. Such as the myrtle, clove tree, &c. 20. Rot ace* consist of plants with one wheel-shaped petal without a tube; as the phlox, the cistus, hypericum, &c. 2 1 . Preci*, from precius early, consist of primrose, an early flowering plant, and some others which agree with it in habit and struc- ture. 22. Caryophylle*, those which resemble the pink and carnation, including those plahts, kc. 23. Trihilatse consist of plants with three seeds, which are marked with an external cicatrix, where they are fastened within to the fruit. The aepr, asculus, &c. belong to this class. 24. Corydales have irregular flowers, somewhat resembling a helmet. Such are the impatiens or balsam, fumaria, &c. 25. Putamine*, shelled, consist of a few ge- nera of plants allied in habit, whose fruit is covered with a hard woody shell, l ire caper shrub and some other exotics are included in this class. 26. Multisilicniae consist of plants which have more seed-vessels than one. Such are the columbines, delphinums, &c. They are caustic and purgative. 27. Rhaeadece, consist of poppy, and a few genera which resemble it in habit and struc- ture. Upon being cut, they emit plentifully a juice which is white in poppy, and yellow in the others. These plants are narcotic. 28. Lurid* are an order of plants whose pale appearance indicates their baleful and noxious qualities. The atropa, datura; &c. 29. Campanace* have bell-shaped flowers, including the convolvulus, &c. The plants are medicinal, and abound with a white milky juice. 30. Contort*, plants which have a single petal twisted towards one side. The apoey- num, asclepias, and even the periwinkle, arc included in this class. The plants being cut, emit a juice, either of a milky or greenish white, which is deenled poisonous. 31. Veprecul*, from vepres a briar, con- sist of plants resembling tire daphne, &c. but which do not constitute a true natural class. 32. Papilionace*, plants that have papilio- naceous flowers, such as the common and sweet pea, &c. These plants are emollient. 33. Lomentace*, from lomentum, a colour used by painters, furnish beautiful tinctures, and some of them are much used in dyeing. The sophora, abrus, and supina, are found in this class. These plants are mucilaginous. 34. Cucu ibitace*, from cucurbita, a gourd, plants which resemble the gourd in external iigure, habit, virtues, and sensible qualities. Among these are the cucumber and melon. These plants are purgative. 35. Senticos*, from sentis, a briar, consist of the rose, bramble, and other plants which resemble them in external structure. The fruits are cooling. 36. Pomace*, consist of plants which have a pulpy esculent fruit, of the apple, berry, or cherry kind. 37. Columnifer*, from columna a pillar, and fero to bear, plants whose stamina and pistil have the appearance of a pillar in the centre of the flower. Among these are the althea, camellia, tea tree, kc. The plants are mucilaginous and lubricating. 38. Tricocc* (from rgsu, three, and xqkxos, a grain), plants with a single three-cornered capsule, having three cells, each containing a single seed. Among which are box, phyl- lanthus, &c. 39. Siliquos*, plants which have a pod for their seed-vessel. Among these are the cab- bage, mustard, &c. '1 he piants are diuretic and antiscorbutic. 40. Personate (from persona, a mask), plants whose flowers are furnished with an irregular, gaping, or grinning petal, in figure somewhat resembling the snout of an animal: Such are the snapdragon, justicia, &c. The internal use of many of them is extremely pernicious; applied externally, they are ano- dyne, and powerful resolvents. 41. Asperiloli*, rough-leafed' plants; as bo- rage, bugloss, &c. They are diuretic and cor- dial. 42. Verticillat* consist of herbaceous ve- getables, having four naked seeds, and the •flowers placed in whorls round the stalk-; hyssop, lavender, dead nettle, &c. The leaves are c ordial and cephalic. 43. Dumos*, from dumus a bush, are all of the shrub and tree kind, thick and bushy, rising from 6 to 25, 30, and e ven 40 feet high; elder, buckthorn, &c. The berries are pur- gative. 44. Sepiari* (from sepes a hedge), from- their size, elegance, and other circumstances, are very proper for hedges. Ash, privet, lilac, ike. 45. Umbellate, plants whose flowers grow in umbels, with live petals that are often un- equal, and two naked seeds joined at top and separated below. Parsley, wthusa, caraway, fennel, &c. furnish specimens of this tribe. 1 he plants of this order, which grow in dry places, are sudorific, stomachic, and wanning. 46. Hederace*, from hecitra, ivy ; con- sist of both herbaceous and shrubby plants. BOTANY. most of which, particularly ivy and sine, have creeping branches, which attach them- s elves by roots or tendrils to other bodies. 47. Stellate, from stella, a star, consist of plants with two naked seeds, and leaves dis- posed round the stem in form of a radiant star. Spigelia, dogwood, &c. belong to this order. They are opening and cordial. 48. Aggregate, plants which have aggre- gate flowers, consist of a number of florets, each of which have a proper and common calyx: as dipsacus, scabius, See. 49. Composite, plants with compound flowers. Carduns, xeranthemum, &c. are of this tribe. 50. Amentace®, plants bearing catkins : salix, o t EOT B O T Stipitatus pappus, a kind of trunk that el c- ! vates the down and connects it with the i seed. Stipulares glandulae, glands produced from stipulse. Stolo, a shoot which, running on the sur- face of the ground, strikes root at every joint. Striati caules, culmi, &c. channelled streaks running lengthways in parallel lines. Strictus caulis, a straight stiff shoot. Strigae, ridges or rows. Stylus, the style, from stylus a pillar. Submersmn folium, the leaf of an aquatic plant, sunk under the surface of the water. Subramosus caulis, a stalk having few branches. Subrotundum folium, a leaf almost round. Snbulatum folium, an awl-shaped leaf. Suffrutex, an under shrub. Sulcatus caulis, or culmus, a stalk deeply fur- rowed lengthways. Superus flos, a flower whose receptacle stands above the gerinen. Supra-axillaris pedunculus, the footstalk of a flower whose insertion is above the angle formed by the branch. Supra-decomposita folia, composite leaves which have little leaves growing on a sub- divided footstalk. Supra-foliaceus pedunculus, the footstalk of a flower inserted into the stem immediately above the leaf. Surculus, a twig, the stalk of a moss. Swob, a legumen, or pod. Syngenesia, generating together. T. Tegumentum, a cover. Teres caulis, a cylindrical stalk. Tergeminum folium, a leaf 3 times double, when a clichotomus petiolus is subdivided, having two foliola on the extremity of each division. Ternata of folia, leaves in whorls by threes. Tessalatum folium, a checjuered leaf, whose squares are of different colours. Tetradynamia, the superiority of 4. Tetragonus caulis, a square stalk. Tetrapetalous, consisting of 4 petals. Tetraphy lions, consisting of 4 leaves. Tetraspermous, producing 4 seeds. Thalamus, a bed, the receptacle. Theca, a sheath. Tomentosus, covered with a whitish down like wool. Tomentum, a species of woolly or downy pubescence, covering the surface of some plants. Torosum pericarpium, a brawny protuber- ance, like the swelling of the veins, when a pericarpium is bunched out by the inclosed seeds. Torta corolla, a flower with the petals twisted. Tortillis arista, a twisted awn. Transversumdissepimentum, the dissepiment at right angles with the sides of the peri- carpium. Trapeziforme folium, a leaf having 4 promi- nent angles, whose sides are neither equal nor opposite. Triangulare folium, a triangular leaf. Tricocca capsula, with 3 cells, and a single seed in each. T ricuspidated, three-pointed. Trifidum folium, a leaf divided into 3 linear segments, having straight margins. Triflorus, bearing 3 flowers. Trigonus caulis, a three-sided stalk. Trihilatum semen, a seed having three eyes. Trijugum folium, a winged leaf with three pairs of foliola. Tnlobiun folium, a leaf with three lobes. Trilocular folium, a leaf having the peri- carpium divided into three loculaments. Trinervum folium, a leaf having three strong nerves running from the base to the apex. Trioecia, three houses. Tripartitum folium, a leaf divided into three parts down tp the base. Tripetalous, consisting of three petals. Tripetaloidea', three-petalled. Triphyllous, consisting of three leaves. Tripinnatum folium compositum, a leaf hav- ing a triple series of pinna:, or wings. Triplinerve folium, a leaf having three nerves running from the base to the apex. Triquetrum folium, or triquetra caulis, a leaf, or stalk, having three plain sides. Trispermous, three-seeded. Triternatum folium compositum, a compound leaf when the divisions of a triple petiolus are subdivided into threes. Trivalve pericarpium, a pod consisting of 3 valves. Truncatum folium, a leaf having its apex as it were cut off. Truncus, the body or stem of a tree. Tuberculatus, having pimples or tubercles. Tuberculum, a little pimple. Tuberosa radix, a knobbed root. Tubulatum perianthium, a tubular flower. Tubulosi flosculi, tubular tiorets nearly equal. Tubus, a tube. Tunicatus radix, a species of bulbous root, having coats lying one over another from the centre to the surface ; as in the onion, &c. Turbinatum pericarpium, a kind of pod shaped like a top, narrrow at the base, and broad at the apex. Turgidum legumen, a swollen pod. Turiones, the young buds of pines. * V. U. Viginalis, sheathed. Vaginans folium, a leaf like a sheath. Valvula, a valve. Venosum folium, a leaf whose-whole surface is run over by veins. Yentricosa spica, a spike narrowing at each extremity, and bellying out in the mid- dle. Ventriculosus calyx, a flower-cup bellying out in the middle, but not in so great a degree as ventricosus. Verrucosa capsula, a capsule having little knobs or warts on its surface. Versatilis anthera, an anthera fixed by the middle on the point of the filament, and so poised as to turn like the needle of a com- pass. Verticalia folia, leaves so situated that their base is perpendicular above the apex. Verticillated branches, flowers, or leaves ; such as surround the stem, like the rays of a wheel. Vesicula, a little bladder. Vesicularis scabrities, a kind of glandular roughness, resembling vesicules. Vexillum, a standard, the upright petal of a papilionaceous flower. Villosus, covered with soft hairs. Virgatus caulis, a stalk shooting out. Viscidum folium, a clammy leaf. Yiscositas, clamminess. Uliginosa loca, boggy places. Umbella, an umbel or umbrella. Unibellatus lios, an umbellated llower. Umbellula, a little umbel. Umbilicatum folium, a leaf shaped like a navel . Uncinatum stigma, a hooked stigma. Undatum folium, a waved leaf, whose surface rises and falls in waves towards the mar- gin. Undulata corolla, a flower whose petals are waved. Unguis, a nail or claw ; that part of a petal that is joined to the receptacle. Unicus ftos, a single Mower. Unicus radix, a single root. Uniflorus pedunculus, a footstalk with one flower. Unitelateralis, growing on one side. Universalis umbella, an universal umbel. Volubilis caulis, a twining stalk. Urecolata corolla, a pitcher-shaped flower. Urens caulis, or folium, a stalk or leaf burn- ing, or stinging, as nettles. Utricula, a species of glandular secretory vessels, on the surface of various plants. 1 W. Waved, having the disk alternately bending up and down in obtuse plaits. Wedge-shaped, growing narrower towards the base. Whirl or ( leaves » lowers, &c. surrounding a Whorl 4 stalk or tmnk at ^ ie j°‘ uts > n great ’ [ numbers. BOTE, bota, in our old law books, signi- fies recompence or amends: thus man-bote, is a compensation for a man slain. There: are likewise house-bote and plough-bote, pri- vileges to tenants, of cutting wood for making ploughs, repairing tenements, and likewise for fuel. BOTTOM, in navigation, is used to denote as well the channel of rivers and harbours, as the body or hull of a ship: thus, in the former sense, we say a gravelly bottom, clayey] bottom, sandy bottoip, &e. and in the latter sense, a British bottom, a Dutch bottom, &c. By statute, certain commodities imported in foreign bottoms, pay a duty called petty customs, over and above what they are liable to if imported in British bottoms. BOTTOMRY, in commerce, a marine contract for the borrowing of money upon the keel or bottom of a ship ; that is, when the master of a ship binds the ship itself, that if the money be not paid by the time appoints ed, the creditor shall have the ship. Bottomry is also where a person lends money to a merchant, who wants it in U-aflic, and the lender is to be paid a greater sum at the return of the ship, standing to the hazard of the voyage ; on which account, though the interest be greater than what the lavv com- monly allows, yet it is not usury, because! the money being furnished at the lender’s! hazard, if the ship perishes he shares in the! loss. It is enacted by 19 Geo. II. cap. xxxvii.l that after August 1, 1746, every sum of mo-| ney lent on bottomry, upon the ships of anvj subjects to or from {lie East Indies, shall bel lent only on the ship, or the merchandizes! laden on board her, and so expressed in the! condition of the bond; and the beneiit cq EOU BRA 2G3 ; Salvage shall be granted to the lender, his agents, &c. who only shall have a right to make assuranee-on the money lent ; and no borrower of money on bottomry shall re- cover more on any assurance than the value of his interest on the ship or effects, exclusive of the money borrowed. And if the value of his interest does not amount to tin; money borrowed, he shall be responsible to thei lender for the surplus, with lawful interest for the same, together with the assurance, and all charges whatsoever, &c. notwithstand- ing the ship and merchandize shall be totally lost. BOTTON Y. A cross bottony, in heraldry, terminates at each end in three buds, knots, or buttons, resembling, in some measure, the trefoil ; on which account Segoing, hi his Tresor Heraldique, terms it croix trefilee. It is the badge of the order of St. Maurice. BOTTS. See Oestris. BOUGIE, in surgery, originally a wax taper, but the term is now generally applied to several instruments which are 'used by surgeons in diseases of the urinary passage. See Surgery. BOULTINE, a term which workmen use j for a moulding, the convexity of which is j just one-fourth of a circle ; being the member I next below the plinth in the Tuscan and Doric capitals. BOUNTY, in commerce, a premium paid by the government to the exporters of cer- tain British commodities, on their taking oath, or, in some cases, giving bond, not to reland the same in England. Bounties, as they respect the fisheries, are either perpetual or temporary. The former [are payable on the export of pilchards, cod- fish, ling whether wet or dried, salmon, white herrings, red herrings, and dried red sprats, being of British fishery and curing. The latter are payable on the tonnage of ships [carrying on the British and Greenland fish- eries, on the quantity of fish taken in the British and Newfoundland fisheries, on the quantities of oil, blubber, and whale-fins, taken in the southern whale-fishery. The bounty on cordage manufactured in Great Britain, is 2s. Aid, per cwt. Bounties have been granted by several statutes on the exportation of corn, w hen it does not exceed stipulated prices at the port of exportation. Those trades only require bounties, in which the merchant is obliged to sell his goods for less than they cost him ; and the bounty is given to com- pensate this loss, and to encourage him to continue, or perhaps to commence, a trade that may be important to the interests of the country. Bounty, Queen Anne’s, for augmenting poor livings under 50/. per annum, consists of the produce of the first-fruits and tenths, after the charges and pensions payable out of tiie same are defrayed. To remedy the in- conveniences that result from an absurd sta- tute enforcing the residence of the clergy, bystat. 44 Geo. like. 2, the sum of 8000/. was ; granted out of the consolidated fund to the go- vernors of Queen Anne’s bounty, for the re- lief of curates deprived of their cures on account of the residence of incumbents. BOURIGNQNISTS, the name of a sect among the Low-country protestants, bein« such as follow the doctrine of Antoinette Boui ignon, a native of Lisle, and apostate from BOW j the Roman-catholic religion. The prin- ciples of this sect bear a very near resem- blance with those of the quietists and quakers. BOUTANT, or Arch-boutant, in ar- chitecture, a flat arch or part of an arch abutting against the reins of a vault, to pre- vent its giving way A pillar boutant is a large chain or pile of stone, made to support i a wall, terrace, or vault. BOW, arcus, a weapon of offence made of steel, w’ood, horn, or other elastic matter. The use of the bow is, without all doubt, of the earliest antiquity. . It has likew ise been the most universal of all weapons, having ob- tained amongst the most barbarous and re- mote people, who had the least communica- tion with the rest of mankind. The figure of the bow is pretty much the same in all countries where it has been used; for it lias generally two inflections or bendings, be- tween w hich, in the place where the arrow is drawai, is a right line. The Grecian bow was in the shape of a £, of which form we meet with many, and generally adorned with gold or silver. The Scythian bow was dis- tinguished from the bows of Greece and other nations by its incurvation, which was so great as to form a half-moon or semicircle. The Persians had very great bows made of reeds, probably the bamboo ; and the Indians had also, not only arrows, but bow r s made of the reeds or canes of that country ; the Lycian bows were made of the com el- tree ; and those of the JEthopians, which surpassed all others in magnitude, were made of the palm- tree. Though it do*es not appear that the Ro- mans made use of bows in the infancy of their republic, yet they afterwards admitted them as hostile weapons, and employed auxiliary, archers in all their wars. In drawing the bow, the primitive Grecians did not pull back their hand towards the right ear, according to the fashion of modern ages, and of the antient Persians, but placing their bow directly before them, returned their hand upon the right breast. This was also the cus- tom of the Amazons. The bow is a weapon of offence amongst the inhabitants of Asia, Africa, and America, at this day and in Europe, before the in- vention of fire-arms, a part of the infantry were armed with bows. Lewis XI. first abo- lished the use of them in France, introducing in their place the halberd, pike, and broad sword. The long bow was formerly in great use in England, and many laws were made to encourage it. The parliament under Henry VII. complained of the disuse of long bows, heretofore the safeguard and defence of this kingdom, and tiie dread and terror of its enemies. Bow, among builders, a beam of wood or brass, with three long screws that direct a lath of wood or steel to any arch; chiefly used in drawing draughts of ships, and pro- jections of the sphere ; or wherever it is re- quisite to draw large arches. Bow of a ship, that part which begins at the loof, and compassing the ends of the stem, finishes at the sternmost part of the forecastle. That part upon the’ right-hand side of the stem, to a person on deck and looking for- ward, is called the starboard bow, and on the left-hand side is called the larboard bow. Bow, weather, is that part of the bow to- wards the wind when a ship is close-hauled ; and the other part is called the lee-bow. Bow, on the, an expression to denote the position of any object, as a ship, the land, Ac. appearing in the direction of some particular part of the bow. If a ship is sailing directly towards the object, it is said to be right a- head ; if not, the object is said to be on the starboard or larboard, or on the weather or lee-bow. BOWER, in the sea-language, the name of an anchor carried at the bow of a ship. There are generally two bowers, called lirst and second, great and little, or best and small bower. BOW-LINE, in sea-language, a rope fast- ened near the middle of the leech, or per- pendicular edge of the principal square sails, by three or four subordinate parts called bri- dles, and leading forward towards the bow, whence it derives its name. It is always used when the wind is so unfavourable, that the sails must be all braced sideways, or close- hauled to the wind : in this situation, the bow-lines are employed to keep the weather or windward edges of the principal sails right forward and steady, without which they would be perpetually shivering, and rendered inca- pable of service. Tiie bow-line is fastened by two, three, or four ropes, like a crow’s foot, to as many parts of the sail ; only the mizen- bowline is fastened to the lower end of the yard. This rope belongs to all sails, except the sprit-sail and sprit-topsail. The use of the bow-line is to make the sails stand sharp or close, or by a wind. Sharp the bowline, is hale it tawt, or pull it hard. Hale up the bowline, that is, pull it harder forward on. Check or ease, or run up the bowline, that is, let it be more slack. BOV SE, in the sea-language, signifies as much as to hale or pull. Thus bowsing upon a tack, is haling upon a tack. Bowse away, that is, pull away all together. BOWSPRIT, or bolt-sprit, a kind of mast, resting slopewise on the head of the main stem, and having its lower end fastened to the part- ners of the fore-mast, and farther supported by the fore-stay. It carries the sprit-sail, sprit-topsail, and jack-staff; and its length is usually the same with that of the fore-mast. BOYVYERS, artificers whose employment or occupation it is to make bows. There is a company of bow vers in the city of Lon- don, first incorporated in 1623. BOX, or box-tree. See Buxus, BO YAU, in fortification, a ditch covered with a parapet, which serves as a communica- tion between two trenches. I t runs parallel to the works of the body of the place, and serves as a line of contravallation, not only to hinder the sallies of the besieged, but also to secure the miners. But when it is a particular cut that runs from the trenches to cover some spot of ground, it is drawn so as not to be enfiladed, or scoured by the shot from the town. BO YES, idolatrous priests among the sa- vages of Florida. BRABEJUM, the African almond • a ge- nus of the monoecia order, and polygamia class of plants. In the male the “corolla is four or five-parted ; there are four stamina inserted in the throat ; the style is bifid and abortive; the hermaphrodite has a four-parted corolla, revolute upwards, with four stamina. 264 BRA B R A BRA one pistil with two stigmas ; the fruit is a roundish drupa with a globular seed. Of this genus there is but one species, viz. Brabejum stellati folium, the star-leafed African almond, a native of the Cape of Good Hope. In Europe it seldom grows above eight or nine feet high, but in its native soil is a tree of a middling growth. It rises with an upright stem, which is soft, and full of pitch within, and Covered with brown bark. The leaves come out all round the branches at each joint : they are indented at their edges, standing on very short footstalks. The flowers are produced towards the end of their shoots, of a pale colour inclining to white. They may he propagated, though with dif- ficulty, by layers made in April. In winter they should have a good greenhouse ; but in summer they should be placed abroad in a sheltered situation. BRACE, in architecture, a piece of timber framed in with bevil joints, the use ot which is to keep the building from, swerving either way. When the brace is framed into the kinglesses, or principal rafters, it is by some called a strut. Braces, in the sea-language, are ropes belonging to all the yards of a ship, except the mizen, two to each yard, reeved through blocks that are fastened to penants, seized to the yard-arms. Their use is either to square or transverse the yards. Brace, in writing, a term used to signify a crooked line, as j , made at the end of two or more articles in an account, the amount of -which is usually placed in the centre of the brace. It is used also in printing to enclose an entire passage, as a triplet in poetry. BRACED, in heraldry, a term for the in- termingling three cheoronels. BRACIILEUS. See Anatomy. BRACHIALIS. See Anatomy. BRACHIUM, arm. See Anatomy. BRACI!MAN.S,or bramim , asect of Indian philosophers, known to the antient Creeks by the name of gymnosophists. The antient Bradnnans lived upon herbs and pulse, and abstained from every thing that had life in it. They lived in solitude, without ma- trimony, and without property. The mo- dern Brachmans constitute one of the casts or tribes of the Banians. They are the priests of that people, and perform their office of pray- ing and reading the law, with several mimic- gestures, and a kind of quavering voice. They believe in rewards and punishments after this life ; and have .so great a veneration for cows, that they look on themselves as blessed if they can but die with the tail of one of them in then- hand. They have preserved some noble frag- ments of the' knowledge of the antient Brach- mans. 'They are skilful arithmeticians, and calculate, with great exactness, eclipses of the sun and moon. They are remarkable for their religious austerities. One of them lias been known to make a vow to wear about his neck a heavy collar of iron for a considerable time : another to chain himself by the foot to a tree, with a firm resolution to die in that place t and another to walk in wooden shoes stuck full of nails on the inside. Their di- vine worship consists chiefly of processions, made in honour of their deities. They have a college at Bauara, a city seated on the river Canges. . BB AC H YG R APR Y, the art of short- hand-writing. See Tachygraphy. BRACKETS, in a ship, the small knees, serving to support the galleries, and com- monly carved. Also, the timbers that sup- port the gratings in the head are called brackets. Brackets, in gunnery, are the cheeks of the carriage of a mortar : they are made of strong planks of wood, of almost a semicircu- lar figure, and bound round with thick iron plates ; they are fixed to the beds by four bolts, which are called bed-bolts ; they rise up on each side of the mortar, and serve to keep her at any elevation, by means of some strong iron bolts, called bracket-bolts, which go through these cheeks or brackets. BRACTEAR1A, in natural history, a ge- nus of tales, composed of small plates in form of spangles, each plate being either very thin, or fissile into very thin ones. See Minera- logy. BRADS, among artificers, a kind of nails used in building, which have no spreading heads, as other nails have. They are distin- guished, by ironmongers, by six names ; as joiner’s-brads, flooring-brads, batten-brads, bill-brads or quarter- heads, &c. Joiner’s- brads are for hard wainscot, batten-brads for soft wainscot ; bill-brads are used when a floor is laid in haste, or for shallow joists subject to warp. See Nail. BRADYPUS, or sloth, a genus of animals of the order of bruta. The generic character is: 1st, Brady pus tridactylus, or three-toed sloth. The general appearance of the sloth is extremely uncouth; the body is of a thick shape : the fore-legs short, the hinder ones far longer ; the feet on all the legs are very small, but are armed each with three most excessively strong and large claws, of a slightly curved form, and sharp-pointed. The head is small : the face short, with a rounded or blunt snout, which is naked, and of a blackish colour; the eyes are small, black, and round ; the ears rather small, fiat, rounded, lying close to the head, and not un- like those of monkeys. The hair on the top of the head is so disposed as to project some- what over the forehead and sides of the face, giving a very peculiar and grotesque physiognomy to the animal. The general colour of the hair on all parts is a greyish brown ; and the hair is extremely coarse, moderately long, and very thickly covers the body, more especially about the back and thighs. A remarkable character as to colour in this species, is a wide patch or space on the upper part of the back, of a bright ferruginous or rather pale orange co- lour, spotted on each side with black, and marked down the middle with a very conspi- cuous black stripe; wide at its origin, and gradually tapering to its extremity : it reaches more than half-way down the back, and terminates in a sort of trifid mark. The tail is nearly imperceptible, being so ex- tremely short as to be concealed from view by the fur. Die count dc Buffon is not willing to al- low this creature any share in contributing to the general beauty in the scale of animated nature, but considers it as an ill-constructed mass of deformity, created only for misery. Notwithstanding this appearance of wretch- edness and deformity, tiie sloth is, perhaps, as well-fashioned for its proper modes and habits of life, and feels as much happiness in its solitary and obscure retreats, as the rest of the animal world of greater locomotive pow- ers and superior external elegance. The sloth feeds entirely on vegetables, and particularly on leaves and fruit. Its voice is said to be so inconceivably singular, and of such a mournful melancholy, at- tended, at the same time, with such a’pecu- liarityof aspect, as at once to excite a mix- ture of pity and disgust : and it is added, that the animal makes use of this natural yell as its best mode of defence ; since other crea- tures are frightened away by the uncommon sound. This, however, is tar from being its only refuge; for so great is the degree of niuscular strength which it possesses, that it is capable of seizing a dog with its claws, and holding it, in spite of all its efforts to escape, till it perishes with hunger; the sloth itself being so well calculated for supporting abs- tinence, that the celebrated Kircher assures us of its power in this respect having been exemplified by the very singular experiment of suffering one, which had fastened itself to a pole, to remain in that situation, without any sustenance, upwards of forty days. This extraordinary animal is an inhabitant of the hotter parts of .South America. It is nearly as large as a middle-sized dog. See Plate, Nat. Hist. fig. 62. 2d. Bradypus didactylus, or two-toed sloth, is also a native of South America ; and it is asserted, on good authority, that it is like- wise found in some parts of India, as well as in the island of Ceylon. In its general ap- pearance, as well as in size, it bears a const derable resemblance to the former species : it is, 'however, somewhat more slender in its* shape, covered with smoother or less coarse and harsh hair, and is of a more uniform or less varied tinge, and, in particular, is strik- ingly distinguished, as a species, by bavin onl)' two claws on the fore-feet ; it is also a much more active animal, and, even when imported into Europe, has been known, ac- cording to the testimony of the count de Buffon, to ascend and descend from a tall tree several times in a day ; whereas the three-toed sloth with difficulty performs that operation in a whole day, and can scarcely crawl a few hundred yards in the space ol many hours. 3d. Bradypus ursinus, or ursine sloth, is by far the largest species : it is a native ot' India,; and has been but lately introduced to the knowledge of European naturalists. It was brought from the neighbourhood of Patna in Bengal. 'This animal has, at first sight, much of the general aspect of a bear, that it lias actually been considered as such by some observers: but it is no otherwise related to the bear than by its size and habit, or mere exterior outline. It is about the size of a bear, and is covered all over, except on the face, or rather the snout, which is bare and whitish, with long, shaggy, black hair ; which on the neck and back is much longer than elsewhere. On the fore part of the body the hair points forwards ; on the hinder part backwards. The eyes are very small : the ears rather small, and partly hid in the long hair of the head, It is totally destitute of incisores or front-teeth : in each jaw there are two canine teeth of a moderate size. The nose or snout is of a somewhat elongated form; it also appears as if fur- B II A / Dished willi a sort of transverse joint, or in- ternal cartilage, which admits of a peculiar kind of motion in this part. It is a gentle and good-natured animal ; it feeds chiefly on vegetables and milk, is fond of apples, and does not willingly eat animal food, except of a very tender nature, as mar- row, which it readily sucked from a bone pre- sented to it. Its motions are not, as in the two former species, slow and languid, but moderately lively ; and it appears to have a habit of turning itself round and round every now and then, as if for amusement, in the manner of a dog when lying down to sleep. It is said to have a propensity to burrowing under the ground. BRAG, a game at cards, wherein as many may partake as the cards will supply; the eldest hand dealing three to each person at one time, and turning up the last card all round. This done, each- gamester puts down three stakes, one for each card. 1’he first stake is won by the best card turned up in the dealing round, beginning from the ace, king, queen, knave, and so downwards. When cards of the same value are turned up to two or more of the gamesters, the eldest hand gains ; but it is to be observed that the ace of diamonds wins, to whatever hand it is turned up. The second stake is won by what is called the brag, which consists in one of the game- sters challenging the rest to produce cards equal to his: now it is to be observed, that a pair of aces is the best brag, a pair of kings the next, and so on ; and a pair of any sort wins the stake from the most valuably single card. In this part consists the great diver- sion of the game; for, by the artful manage- ment of the looks, gestures, and voice, it fre- quently happens that a pair of lives, treys, or even duces, out-brags or induces the hold- er to throw up a higher pair, and even some pairs royal, to the no small merriment of the company. The knave of clubs is here a prin- cipal favourite, making a pair with any other card in hand, and with any other two cards a pair royal. The third stake is won by the person who first makes up the cards in bis hand one-and- thirty; each dignified card going for ten, and drawing from the pack, as usual in this game. ~ BRAIL, or Brails, in a ship, are small ropes made use of to furl the sails across: they belong only to the two courses and the mizen-sail. BRAIN. See Anatomy. BRAN, the skins or husks of corn, espe- cially wheat ground, separated from the corn bv a sieve or boulter. It is of wheat bran that starch-makers make their starch, The dyers reckon bran among, the not-colouring drugs, and use it for making what they call the sour waters, with which they prepare their dyes. BRAN CHILE, gills, in the anatomy of fishes, the parts corresponding to the lungs of land-animals, by which fishes take in and throw out again a certain quantity of water impregnated with air. All fishes, except the cetaceous ones and the lamprey, are furnish- ed with these organs of respiration, which are always eight in number, four on each side the throat. That next the heart is always the least, the rest increasing in order as they stand near the head of the fish. Each of these gills is composed of a bony Vol. I. B H A lamina, in form of a semicircle, for the most part; and on its convex side stand the leaves or lamella’, like so many sickles. The whole convex part of the lamella; is beset with hairs, which are longest near the base, and decrease gradually as they approach towards the point. There are also hairs on the concave side of the lamella?, but shorter than the others, and continued only to its middle. The convex side of one lamina is lilted into the concave side of the next superior one ; and all of them are connected together by means of a mem- brane, which reaches from their base half-way their height, where it grows thicker, and in some measure resembles a rope. The rest of the lamina is free, and terminates in a very fine and llexible point. The use of these gills seems to be to receive the blood pro- truded from the heart into the aorta, and con- vey it intj the extremities of the lamellae; whence being returned by veins, it is distri- buted over the body of the fish. BRANCH [ARlJ M foramina, apertures of the gills. In most fishes there is only one aperture ; in the cartilaginous ones, these apertures are ten in number, five on each side; and in the lamprey there are no less than fourteen of these apertures, seven on each side. Cetaceous fishes have no aperture of this kind; and the reason seems to be because they are furnished with lungs. BRANCH IDAS, in Grecian antiquity, priests of the temple of Apollo, which was at Didymus in Ionia. BRANCH 10 STEGI, in ichthyology, one of the five general orders of fishes into which they were formerly divided: the rays of the fins are bony : they have no bones or ossicula: in the branchia: or gills. BRANDY, a spirituous and inflammable liquor, extracted from wine and other liquors by distillation. Brandy is prepared in many of the wine countries of Europe, and with peculiar ex- cellence in Languedoc, in Anjou, and other parts of the south of France, whence is the Comae brandy. In distilling brandv, the strong heavy wines are preferred. It is ex- pected that all wines used for this purpose should yield at least one-sixth of their quan- tity of spirit. The apparatus is composed of three parts: the alembic, or boiler, the capi- tal fitted on the top of the boiler to receive the spirituous vapour, and a worm immersed in cold water, in which the vapour is con- densed, and flows out in the form of distilled spirit. In general, the slower the process, and the smaller the stream of spirit from the worm-pipe, Uhe finer and better is the brandy. That part of the spirit which comes over first lias the strongest, richest, and highest fla- vour. See Alcohol. Brandy is naturally clear and colourless as water. The different shades of colour which it lias in commerce arise partly from the casks in which it is kept, hut chiefly from the addition of burnt sugar, saunders wood, and other colouring matters that are intentionally added by the manufacturer, and which are neither of advantage nor disadvantage to the quality of the spirit. Besides the brandy made of wine, there is some also made of beer, cyder, syrups, sugar, molasses, fruit, grain, &c. : however, these are not properly called brandy, but go under the general denomination of spirits, H B R A 20A BRAS) 1.-yvooy, or Brazil-wood, an American wood of a red colour, and very heavy. It is denominated variously, accord- ing to the places whence it is brought: thus we have brasil from Femambuco, Japan, La- mon, &c. See C?esalpina. This wood must be chosen in thick pieces, close, sound, without any bark on it, and such as, upon splitting, of pale becomes reddish, and, when chewed, has a saccharine taste. It is much used in turned work, and takes a good polish ; but its chief use is in dying. When the sulphuric acid is added slowly to a fresh watery decoction of Brasil wood, a small quantity of red precipitate falls down, and the liquor becomes yellow. Nitric acid produces a similar change ; but the liquor is orange. Most of the other acids product red precipitates. The alkalies restore in part the colour of the liquor. The action ot the solutions of tin and of alum is the most im- portant. Alum gives a fine red precipitate in great abundance; and in this manner a fine crimson lake and carmine are sometimes prepared, which consist of alumina, united with the natural colour of the wood. Nitro- muriat of tin, added to the decoction, sepa- rates the whole of the colouring matter, which falls down in great abundance, united with the oxide of tin, and the liquor remains co- lourless. The solutions of iron blacken Bra- zil wood, manifesting the presence of gallic acid. The colour of Brazil wood, though very beautiful, is fugitive, and is readily darkened and rendered purple by alkalies, or by soap that contains an alkali. When it is used by dyers, they employ acids and tin to fix the colour. BRASS is a factitious metal made of cop- per and zinc, in proper proportions. It is of a beautiful yellow colour, more fusible than copper, and not so apt to tarnish. It is mal- leable, and . so .ductile that it may be drawn out into wire. Its density is greater than the mean density of the two metals. By calcu- lation it ought to be 7.(>3 neariv, whereas it is actually 8.39; so that its density is in- creased by about 1 - J Oth. The antients do not seem to have known accurately the diffe- rence between copper, brass, and bronze. They considered brass as only a more valu- able kind of copper, and therefore used the word to denote either. They called cop- per (ts cyprium, afterwards cyprium ; and this in process of time was concerted into cuprum , The method of preparing brass is as fol- lows : The zinc having been calcined and ground fine as flour, is mixed with fine char- coal, and incorporated, by means of water, into a mass : this being done, about seven pounds of zinc is put into a melting-pot that will contain about a gallon, and over that about five pounds of copper; this pot is let down into a wind-furnace, where it remains for eleven hours, in which time it is convert- ed into brass. The metal then is cast, either into plates or lumps; forty -five pounds of crude zinc will produce thirty pounds when calcined or burnt. Sometimes brass-shruff is used instead of copper; but that is not al- ways to be procured in quantities sufficient, it being no other than a collection of old brass. Pure brass is not malleable, unless when it is hot ; for when it is cold it will break ; and 2 66 BRA after it has been melted twice, it will be no longer in a condition to bear the hammer at all: but in order to render it capable of being wrought, they put seven pounds of lead to an hundred weight of brass, which renders it more soft and pliable. 1 he most important properties of brass are that its colour is much brighter and nearer approaching to gold than copper. It is also more fusible, and less subject to rust, and to be acted upon by a vast variety of substances which corrode copper : it is also more ca- pable of extension, anti peculiarly adapted for wire. Mr. Sineaton found that 12 inches in length of cast brass at 32°, expanded by 180° of heat, d parts : brass wire under, the same circumstances, expanded 2 3 2 ... * 10000 1 he expansion of hammered copper is only rl&hp but that of zinc is so that brass holds a middle place in this respect be- tween its two component metals. There is a vast variety in the proportions of the different species of brass used in com- merce ; nor is it easy to determine whether the perfection of this alloy depends on any certain proportion of the two metals. In ge- neral the extremes of the highest and lowest proportions of zinc are from 12 to 25 parts in the 100. The ductility of brass is not in- jured with the highest proportion. This me- tal is much used in the escapement wheels, and other nicer parts of watch-making ; and Bars of brass very carefully made will fetch for this work almost any price. The use of brass is of" very considerable an- tiquity. Most of the antieut genuine relics are composed of various mixtures of brass with tin and other metals, and are rather to be denominated bronzes. The best proportion for brass guns is said to be 1000 pounds of copper,- 900 pounds of tin, and 600 pounds of brass, in It or 12 hundred weight of metal. The best brass guns are made of malleable metal, not of pure copper and zinc alone; but worse metals are used to make it run closer and sounder, as lead and pot-metal. See Cannon. Brass, Corinthian, has been famous in an- tiquity, and is a mixture of gold, silver, and copper. Brass-co/oz/t, one prepared by the bra- ziers and colourmen to imitate brass. There are two sorts of it, the red brass or bronze, and the yellow or gilt-brass: the latter is made only of copper-tilings, the smallest and brightest that can be found; with the for- mer they mix some red ochre, finely pulver- ized : they are both used with varnish. BRASSICA, the cabbage, a genus of the class and order tetradynamia siliquosa. The essential character is : calyx erect, converg- ing ; seeds globular ; a gland between the shorter stamens and the pistil, and between the longer and the calyx. There are sixteen species, viz. 1 . Brassica orientalis ; perfoliate cabbage. 2. Brassica austriaca ; Austrian cabbage. 3. Brassica campestris ; yellow field cab- bage. 4. Brassica arvensis ; purple field cabbage. 5. Brassica alpina ; Alpine cab- bage. 6. Brassica napus ; wild cabbage, rape, or navew. 7. Brassica rapa; turnep. 8. Brassica oleracea; common cabbage. 9. Brassica chinensis; Chinese cabbage. 10. JBi-assica violacea. 11. Brassica polymorpha. BRA 12. Brassica erucastrum; wild rocket. 13. Brassica eruca; garden rocket. 14. Bras- sica vesicaria. 15. Brassica muralis; wall rocket. 16. Brassica Richerii. I lie first has the petals white; all the leaves smooth; stem-leaves ovate, blunt at the end, heart-shaped at the base, smooth, glaucous, perfectly entire; petals white with a tinge of straw-colour; sijiques slender, pointing up- wards, and approaching the stem ; root fusi- form. Mr. Hudson affirms, that this is very nearly allied to the campestris; and Dr. Stokes thinks it probable that the plant of liort. ups. supposed to be the B. orientalis of 1 ournefort and our European species, are distinct. There is certainly great confusion in the three first species of brassica ; and in a genus so subject to vary, perhaps mere lo- cal differences may have been exalted into species. It is a native of corn-fields and cliffs, in the Levant, about Montpellier; in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Carniola, Piedmont, &c. In England, near Harwich; Bardsev near Orford, Suffolk ; Godstone and Mares- lield, Sussex: annual, flowering in June. The second is a native of Austria, a bien- nial: root white, rather woody, sometimes' branched, about half a Foot long, very thin, with an acrid smell ; stem in the wild plant commonly single, in the cultivated or garden ones generally more, about two feet high ; leaves entire, rounded at the ends, thick, glaucous, embracing the stalk, very smooth; 1'he flowers are yellow, and open in small numbers at once. The siliques are about three inches long, smooth, sharp, and paral- lel, or nearly so, with the stalk, standing in an upright manner. It is a plant which na- turally grows in rough. uncultivated places, and in fields. 3. Root annual ; root-leaves lyrate, slight- ly hispid ; stem-leaves smooth and even ; corolla yellow, never white. It grows among 1 summer corn, in the north of Europe ; and in some parts of Sweden it is a common weed. 4. Stem a foot high, smooth and even, flexuose, branched, perennial at bottom ; leaves smooth, quite blunt, rather fleshy ; calyx closed, smooth, with a double protu- berance at the base. Native of the south of Europe, in moist fields. 5. This differs from the foregoing sort in having a narrower stem; the leaves more tender and longer ; those next the ground on long petioles : but it differs principally in having almost upright, white petals, and the small flower of a Turritis. Native of Ger- many and Sweden. 6. Root biennial ; stem somewhat branch- ed, cylindrical, smooth, from a foot to two feet in height ; root-leaves lyrate ; stem- leaves smooth, glaucous, sessile, stem-clasp- ing, of an oblong heart-shaped figure, very slightly toothed on the edges ; calyx yel- lowish green, spreading as in Sinapis. The silique has frequently three or four warty ex- crescences. The roots, when cultivated, may be eaten, but have a stronger taste than the turnep. Under the title of rape or cole- seed, it is much cultivated in the isle of Ely, and some parts of England, for its seed, from which the rape-oil is drawn ; and for feeding cattle. What remains after the oil is ex- pressed, is called oil-cake or rape-cake. It is a very efficacious manure, and is sold from B K A four to six pounds a ton. It is not this but tiie lint-cake, or residuum of flax-seed, used in making lintseed-oil, that is used in fatting beasts. Linnaeus says that the navew grows wild on the sandy shores of Gotland, Holland, and England. With us it is found among corn, and on ditch-banks. 7. The turnep, now so common in cultiva- tion, is sufficiently known bv its round fleshy roots. These, however, vary exceedingly in their form, size, and colour, in a cultivated state, in which only we are apt to view them. The variations of turnep are chiefly in the root, and arise from the different soils, situa- tions, and modes of cultivation. The varie- ties enumerated by Mr. Miller are, 1. the round, red, or purple-topped; 2. the green- topped ; 3. the yellow; 4. the black-rooted; 5. the early Dutch. He allows that these may be varieties accidentally obtained from seeds, although he has sown them several years, and has always found them to retain their differences. The yellow turnep seems most unlikely to have been an accidental va- riety, because the roots are yellow within, whereas the others have white flesh, notwith- standing they are of different colours on the outside. He thinks that the long-rooted tur- nep is a distinct species ; the form of the root, and its manner of growth, being totally dif- ferent from those before enumerated. The roots are sometimes as long as those of the parsnep, and nearly of the same shape. The general use of this root tor the table and feeding of cattle is well known : and it has been a considerable improvement of lio-ht lands, particularly in the county of Norfolk, whence other counties have derived the cul- ture. The red-rooted turnep was formerly more cultivated in England than at present; but since the large green-topped turnep has been introduced, all skilful farmers prefer k to the others, because the roots grow to a large size, and continue much longer good. It also grows above ground more than any of the others, which renders it preferable for feeding cattle; and being the softest and sweetest, even when very large, it is most esteemed for the table. In very severe win- ters, however, this is in greater danger of suffering by frost than those whose roots lie deeper, especially if the ground is not cover- ed with snow' ; for when the roots are alter- nately frozen and thawed, they rot sooner than those w'hich are more covered, and less tender. We have known roots of this sort which were more than a foot in diameter, boiled, and were as sweet and tender as any r of the smallest roots. At Stowe, in Glou- cestershire, a farmer produced four turneps weighing an hundred weight ; and offered to produce, from a small given space, eighty turneps which should weigh a ton. The next in goodness to the green-topped is the red or purple-topped turnep, which will also grow' large, and be extremely good for some time; but the roots will become stringy much sooner than the others. The long-rooted, the yellow, and the black-rooted turneps are now rarely cultivated, except for the sake of variety, none of them being so good for the table or for feed as the red and green-topped sorts. The early Dutch turnep is chiefly sown in the spring, to supply the table before the others can be procured ; and when drawn off young, this sort is tolerably good ; but if the roots are left to grow large, they become stringy, rank, and unfit for use. Turnep-roots are reputed to relax the bowels, and to sweeten the blood ; to be hurtful to pregnant and hysterical women, and to all who are subject to flatulencies. The juice well fermented, affords by distilla- tion an ardent spirit. The rind is acrimo- nious. The tender tops boiled are frequently eaten in the spring as greens with meat. 8. The cabbage, as it is found in its wild state on the sea-shores of Britain, has the stem-leaves very much waved, and variously indented ; the colour sea-green, frequently with a mixture of purple ; the lower ones somewhat ovate and sessile; the upper al- most linear. The flowers are large; the leaflets of the calyx ovate, broad, and yel- low; the siliques short and swelling. Early in the spring the sea-cabbage is pre- ferable" to the cultivated sorts; but when it is gathered on the coast, it must be boiled in two waters, to take away the saltness. When old it is said to occasion giddiness. The roots may also be eaten, but they are not so ten- der as those of the turnep and navew. All the different varieties of garden cabbage ori- ginate from this. These varieties may, it should seem, be reduced to three general divisions : the first comprehending those which grow in the na- tural way, without forming the leaves or stalks into a head. This section or division, besides the sea cabbage or wild colewort, would comprehend the green colewort, the borecoles, and turnep cabbage. Secondly, those which form the leaves into a head, as the white cabbage, the red, the savoy, &c. Thirdly, those which form their stalks into a head, as the cauliflower, and the different varieties of broccoli. The first section might be subdivided into the wild, with broad leaves, and an even stem; the turnep cabbage, with broad leaves, and a protuberant stem ; and the borecoles, with fine-cut leaves, and an even stem. The second section contains the cabbages commonly so called: as the red; the numerous varieties of the white, such as the sugar-loaf, the early, the foreign musk, the small Russia, the large-sided, the fiat- topped, the Yorkshire, Scotch, American, &c. &c. ; and those with wrinkled leaves, as the common savoy, the green savoy, &c. Of the borecoles in tiie first, and the broccoli in the third section, there are also variations in colour, the purple and the w hite. The common colewort, or Dorsetshire kale, is now almost lost near London, where the markets are usually supplied with cab- bage-plants instead of them; these being more tender and delicate. The common colewort, indeed, is better able to resist the cold in severe winters ; but it is not good till it lias been pinched by frost; and our winters being generally temperate, cabbage-plants are now constantly brought to market ; which, if they are of the sugar-loaf kind, are the sw eetest greens from December to April yet known, the variegated kale excepted. The curled coleworts or borecoles are more generally esteemed than the common one, being like that so hardy as never to be injured by cold, and at the same time much more tender and delicate: these, however, are always sweeter in severe winters than in mild seasons. BRASSICA. Of the heading cabbages, the red is chiefly cultivated for pickling; the common white, Hat, long-sided, and savoy, for winter use. The musk cabbage is almost lost, though for eating it is one of the best we have. The early York and sugar-loaf cabbages are generally sown for summer use, and are commonly called Michaelmas cabbages. The Russian cabbage was formerly in much great- er esteem than at present, it being now only to be found in particular gentlemen’s gar- dens, and rarely brought to market. The other heading cabbages, together with many others, for it would be endless to enumerate all the varieties which are perpetually rising into fame, and falling into oblivion, are culti- vated chiefly for feeding cattle; for which they are certainly well adapted on strong lands ; but they are undoubtedly a very ex- hausting crop. The cauliflower w ; as first brought to Eng- land from the island of Cyprus, where it is in great perfection at present; but it is supposed it was originally brought thither from some other country: most of the old writers men- tion it to have been brought from that island to the different parts of Europe. Although this plant was cultivated in a few English gar- dens long since, yet it was not brought to any degree of perfection till about the year 1080, at least not to be sold in the markets. Since the year 1700, the cauliflower has been so much improved in England, tliat such plants as before would have been greatly ad- mired, are at present little regarded. It has indeed been much more improved in Eng- land than in any other parts of Europe. In France they rarely have cauliflowers till near Michaelmas ; and Holland is generally sup- plied with them from England. In many parts of Germany they were not cultivated till within a few years past; and most parts of Europe are supplied with seeds from hence. Purple and white broccoli are only varie- ties of the cauliflower; for although with care they may be kept distinct, yet if they were to stand near each other for seed, they would probably intermix. When, however, these are cultivated with care, they may be kept distinct. The variations are not occa- sioned by soil, but by the mixture of the fa- rina of the anthers in the flowers ; those per- sons, therefore, who are curious to preserve them distinct, never suffer the different sorts to stand near each other for seed. 9. Leaves oblong or oval, very like those of hound’s-tongue, blunt but smooth ; stem- leaves embracing, oblong, quite entire ; flow- ers, as in the common cabbage, yellow ; ca- lyx longer than the claws of the petals, w hence it gapes and is prominent betw een them; stamens longer; siliques a little com- pressed. Native of China. 10. This is an annual plant, which, if sown in April, will flower in July, and perfect the seeds in October. It never closes the leaves to form a head, but growls open and loose, more like the w ild navew. This aort came from China, where it is cultivated as an escu- lent plant. There are two or three varieties of it, and it is as changeable as our common cabbage. 1 1 . This species is a native of Siberia, and is an annual plant. The root is thin and fibrose. The stems numerous, growing oblique, tw’o feet or more in lengtlt, smooth, m and branching upwards; the leaves are ♦>'* dissimilar forms, but in general aie linear- lanceolate, thick, and alternate ; those outlie stalk generally dentated ; the denticles near- ly subulate. The shoots are leafy, proceed- ing from the axillas of the branches, so as to cause a kind of clustering appearance ; the flowers are pale-yellow. It is a plant which varies extremely in the appearance of its leaves. 12. Root annual, fusiform; stems many, from a foot to eighteen inches high and more, round, smooth, sometimes having a, few hairs and small red dots, bright or glau- cous green; branches alternate ; flowers in a long, loose, terminating raceme ; peduncles alternate, round, smooth, one-flowered ; co- rollas yellow/with dark -yellow and green veins; siliques spreading, obtusely quadrangular. Native of the southern countries of Europe, in sandy fields, by way-sides, and on walls ; flowering from June to August. 13. Root annual: stem angular, upright, branching, two feet high and more; leaves smooth, pulpy, with a leafy nerve, and three or four pair of pinnas, larger as they approach the nerve, confluent, oblong, acute, toothed ; the outer largest, ovate, or rhomboidal, often semibilid and semitrifid; calyx erect, livid, with the leaflets, especially two of them, gib- bous ; claw of the petals erect, long ; border broad, roundish, lemon-colour, with black veins, sometimes white ; siliques on short pe- duncles ; seeds round on one side and flat on the other. Native of Switzerland, Austria, and Piedmont. It was formerly much culti- vated in the gardens as a salad herb, but at present is little known, having been long re- jected on account of its strong ungrateful smell. It also stood in the list of medicinal plants, but is now seldom used, though it is reckoned a strong diuretic. 14. Root annual, spindle-shaped; leaves lanceolate, pinnatilid-toothed, smooth above; stem hairy, branching ; racemes erect, ter- minating; corollas yellow, with darker veins; calyx cylindrical; but in the fruit it becomes inflated and permanent. It diflers from (he foregoing, in having a calyx under the fruit, inflated like a bladder ; leaves not lyrate but lanceolate; siliques hispid backward, not smooth ; calyxes permanent till the fruit is ripe, not deciduous. Native of Spain and Aleppo. 15. Root perennial, somewhat woody, pe- netrating deep into walls ; stem a foot and a half high, branched, round, at bottom some- what woody and perennial ; leaves pinnatifid and jagged, smooth, spreading, having a dis- agreeable smell; petals rather large, twice the length of the calyx, yellow; the two glands on the outside of the lilaments are un- usually long, externally bent in at the top ; the other two shorter and roundish ; silique an inch and a half long, round, marked ou each side with a prominent line. It grows on old buildings and walls in many parts of England, as Yarmouth, Chester, &c. 16. Root woody, perennial; root-leaves elliptic, obtuse, obscurely sinuate-angular ; petiole channelled, the length of the leaves ; stem round, striated, holLow, a cubit and y the working brazier are beaten out with the hammer,, and united in their several parts by solder: others are cast, but those which are cast belong more properly to the business of the founder, excepting the polishing and fi- nishing, which require the art of the brazier. BRAZING, the soldering or joining two pieces of iron together by means of thin plates of brass, melted between the pieces that are to be joined. If the work is very fine, as when two leaves of a broken saw are to be brazed together, they cover it with pulve- rized borax, melted with water, that it may incorporate with the brass powder, which is added to it : the piece i- then exposed to the lire without touching the coals, and heated till the brass is seen to run. BREACH, in fortification, a gap. made in any part of the works of a town by the can- non or mines, of the besiegers, in order to make an attack upon the "place. To make the attack more difficult, the besieged sow the breach vvith crow-feet, or stop it with chevaux-de-frize. A practicable breach is that where the men may mount and make a lodgment, and ought to be 15 or 20 fathoms wide. The besiegers make their way 'to it by covering themselves with gabions, earth-bags, &c. Breach, in a legal sense, is where a per- son breaks through the condition of a bond or covenant, on an action upon which the breach must be assigned; and this assign- ment must not be general but particular, as in an action of covenant for not repairing houses, it ought to be assigned particularly what is the v/ant of reparation ; and in such BRE certain manner -that the defendant may take an issue. ✓ BREAD, panis, a mass of dough, kneaded and baked in an oven. See Baking. Bread-room, in a ship, that destined to hold the bread or biscuit. The boards of the bread-room should be well joined and caulked, and even lined with tin plates or mats. It is also proper to warm it well with charcoal for several clays before the biscuit is put into it ; since nothing is more injurious to the bread than moisture. BREAK, in the art of war, or to break ground, is to open the trenches before a place. BREAKERS, a name given to those bil- lows that break violently over rocks lying under the surface of the sea. They are dis- tinguished both by their appearance and sound, as they cover that part of the sea with a perpetual foam, and produce a hoarse and terrible roaring, very diliferent from what the waves usually have in a deeper bottom. When a ship is unhappily driven among breakers, it is hardly possible to save her ; as every billow that heaves her upward serves to dash her down with additional force, when it breaks over the rocks or sands beneath it. BREECHINGS, in the sea-language, the ropes with which the great guns are lashed or fastened to the ship’s side. They are thus called, because made to pass round the breach of the gun. BREEZE, a shifting wind, that blows from sea or land for some certain hours in the day or night. The sea-breeze which takes place in tro- .pical climates, is only sensible near the coasts; it commonly rises in the morning, about nine, proceeding slowly in a fine small black curl on the water, towards the shore ; it increases gradually till twelve, and dies about five. Upon its ceasing, the land- breeze commences, which increases till 12 at night, and is succeeded in the morning by the sea-breeze again. In some countries, the sea-breezes appear only to be the efforts of the trade-wind, as at Barbadoes, and in many places between the tropics, where the general Wind, if not im- peded by mountains or islands, blows fresh in the day-time, but after sun-set, the terres- trial exhalations being precipitated, produce a new wind, which is not only able to make head against the trade-wind, but to repel it from their coasts. The sea-breezes do not all come from the same point of the com- pass, but from different points as the land lies. Breezes are more constant in summer than in winter, and more between the tropics than in the temperate zone. Breezes differ from the trade-winds, as the former occur daily, and are perceived only near the shore, whereas the latter are periodical at certain seasons, and blow at a distance from the land. BREHONS, hereditary judges belonging to the inferior provincial kings, and also to the nobles or chieftains, among the ancient Irish, by whom justice wa&administered, and controversies decided. BRENTA, a liquid measure used at Rome. BRENTUS, a genus of coleopterous in- sects, having the head protracted into a very long projecting snout, beyond the middle of which, the anteonx, which are moiniiform, B R E are inserted. There are several species, as the anchorago, Plate, Nat. Hist. fig. 03. bar- bicorn is, &c. BREST-SUMMERS, in timber-buildings, are pieces in the outward, into which the girders are framed : this, in the ground-floor, is called a cell ; and, in the garret-floor, a beam. BREST, or Breast, in architecture, a term sometimes used for the member of a column, more usually called torus. BRETHREN, and sisters of the free Spirit, an appellatiou assumed by a new sect which sprung up in the thirteenth century, and gained many adherents in Italy, France, and Germany. They derived their name from the words of St. Paul, Rom. viii. yer. 1 — 14. They maintained that all things flowed by emanation from God ; and that by the power of contemplation, they were unit- ed to the Deity, and thereby acquired a glo- rious and sublime liberty, both from the lusts and the instincts of nature; hence they in- ferred that the person who was thus absorb- ed in the Deity, became a part of the God- head, and was the son of God in the same sense that Christ was. They treated with contempt all Christian ordinances, and all external acts of religion, as unsuitable to Use state of perfection at which they had ar- rived. BREVE, in law, is any writ directed to the chan cel lor, judges, sheriffs, or other of- ficers, whereby a person is summoned, or attached, to answer in the king’s courts, Ac. Breve perq.uirere, the purchasing of a writ or licence for trial in the king’s courts : whence comes the present usage of paying 6s. 8d. fine to the king in suit, for monev due on bond, where the debt is 401. and of 10s. where it is 1001, &c. Breve, in music, a note or character of time, in the form of a diamond, or square, without any tail, and equivalent to two mea- sures, or minims. BREVE!'', in the French customs, denotes the grant of some favour or donation frohi the king, in w hich sense it partly answers to our warrant, and partly to letters patent. BREVIARY, a daily office, or book of divine service, in the Romish church. It is composed of matins, lauds, first, third, sixth, and ninth vespers, and the compline, or post communio. The institution of the breviary is not very antient: there have been inserted in it the lives of the saints, full of ridiculous and ill attested stories, w hich gave occasion to va- rious reformations of it, by several councils, particularly those of Trent and Cologn ; by several popes, particularly Pius V. Clement Y1I1. and Urban VIII. also by several cardi- nals and bishops, each lopping off some ex- travagances, and bringing it nearer to the simplicity of the primitive offices. Originally every person was obliged to re- cite the breviary every day; but by degrees the obligation was reduced to the clergy only, who are enjoined under penalty of mortal sin and ecclesiastical censures, to re- cite it at home, when they cannot attend in public. In the 14th century there was -a particular reserve granted in favour of bishops, who were allowed on extraordinary occasions, to pass three days without re- hearsing the breviary. This office was originally called cursqs Land afterwards the brev'mrium ; which latter name imports, that the old office was abridg- ed, or rather that this collection is a kind ot' abridgment of all the prayers. BREA! ATOR, an officer under the east- ern empire, whose business it was to write and translate briefs. At Rome those are still called breviators, or abbreviators, who dic- tate and draw up the pope’s briefs. BRKV1BUS A ROTO LIS I.IBERANDIS, a. writ or command to a sheriff, •'to deliver to 1 his successor, the county, with the appurte- nances, and the rolls, w rits, and other things •to his office belonging. BREVIER, among printers, a small kind of type, or letter, between nonpareil and bourgeois. BREWING, the art of making beer or | ah'. The art of brewing is undoubtedly a i part of chemistry, and depends on fixed and I invariable principles. These principles have j never yet been thoroughly investigated, and , on that account a just and certain theory has i not been obtained. We shall, however, give the best rules, as far as practical observation [ and experience have hitherto gone, for the j information of those who have not had the opportunity of attending to the subject. Malt liquor is essentially composed of \va- j ter, the soluble parts of malt and hops, and of yeast. There are several kinds of malt, ; which are distinguished by their colour, and the colour depends upon the mode of malting and drying. Whether the pale or the brown malt is used, it must be coarsely ground, or bruised between rollers, which is rather to be preferred. The next consideration in brewing is the quality of the water to be employed ; and here soft water is universally allowed to be preferable to hard, both for the purposes of mashing and fermentation. Transparency i is however more easily obtained by the use of hard than soft water. But it is not well adapted to the brewing of porter, or such beers as require a fulness of palate, as in the London brewery, and some country situa- tions. The purity of water is determined by its lightness ; and in this respect, distilled water only can claim any material degree of perfection. Rain-water is the purest of all naturally produced ; but having once de- - Scended to the surface of the earth, it is liable to a variety of intermixtures unfavourable to the purposes of brewing. With regard to others, though a matter of considerable im- portance, no precise rule can be laid down. Where there is liberty of choice, a preference should doubtless be given to that water, which from natural purity is equally free from saline substances and vegetable putre- faction, has a soft fulness upon the palate, is totally flavourless, inodorous, and colourless ; whence it is the better prepared for the re- ception and retention of such qualities as brewing is to communicate. The first step in the process of brewing is mashing, which is performed in a large cir- cular wooden vessel, shallow in proportion to its extent, and furnished with a false bot- tom, pierced with small holes, and moveable or fixed a few inches above the real bottom. There are two-side openings in the interval between the real and false bottom ; to one is fixed a pipe for the purpose of conveying water into the tun, and the other for drawing the liquor out of it. The malt is to be st*ew- B 11! WING. ed evenly over the false bottom of the same tun, and then by means of the side pipe, a proper quantity of hot wateris introduced from the upper copper. The water rises up through the malt, or as it is called, the grist, and when the whole quantity is introduced, the mashing begins, the object of which is to ef- fect a perfect mixture ot the malt with the water, so that the soluble parts may be ex- tracted by it: for this propose, the grist is incorporated with the water by means of iron rakes, and then the mass is beaten and agi- tated bv long fiat wooden poles resembling oars, which are either worked by the hand or by machinery connected with the steam- engine or some other moving power, \vhen the mashing is completed, the tun is covered in to prevent the escape ot the heat, and the i whole is suffered to remain still, in order that ! the insoluble parts may, separate from the | liquor: the side hole is then opened, and the clear wort allowed to run otf, slowly at first, but more rapidly as it becomes fine, into the lower or boiling copper. The chief thing in mashing is the temper- ature of the mash, which depends on the heat of water, and on the state of the malt. It the water was let in upon, the grist boiling hot, the starch which it contains would be dissolved and converted into a gelatinous substance, in which all the other parts of the malt, and most of the water, would he en- tangled, beyond the possibility of recovery by any after process. The most eligible temperature appears to be from 185° to 190° of Fahrenheit : for the first mashing the heat of the water must be somewhat below this temperature, and lower in proportion to the dark colour of the malt made use of ; for pale malt, the water may be 180°, but for brown, it ought not to be more than 170 '. The wort of the first mashing is always by much the richest in saccharine matter ; but to exhaust the malt, a second and a third mashing is required, in which the water may be safely raised to 190° or upwards. The proportion of wort to be obtained from each bushel of malt, depends entirely on the pro- posed strength of the liquor. It is said that 25 or 30 gallons of good table beer may be taken from .each bushel of malt. For ale and porter of the superior kinds, only the produce of the first mashing, or six or eight gallons is to be employed. Brewers make use of an instrument called a saechrometer, to ascertain the strength and goodness oi the wort. This instrument is a kind ot hydro- meter, and shews the specific gravity of the wort, rather than the exact quantity of sac- charine matter which it contains. YVe now come to the boiling and hopping ; and if only one kind of liquor is made, the produce of the three mashings, is to he mix- ed together ; but if both ale and table-beer are required, the wort of the first, or of the first and second mashings is appropriated to the ale, and the remainder is set aside for the beer. All the wort destined for the same liquor, after it has run from the tun, is trans- ferred to the large lower copper, and mixed with a certain proportion of hops. The bet- ter the wort, the more 'hops are required. In private families, a pound of hops is ge- nerally used to every bushel of malt : but in public breweries, a much smaller propor- tion is deemed sufficient. When both ale and table-beer are brewed from the same '26g malt, the usual practice is to put the whole quantity of hops in the ale wort, which hav- ing been boiled some time, are to he trans- ferred to the beer wort, and with it to be again boiled. ’When the hops are mixed with the wort in the copper, the liquor is made to boil, and the best practice is to keep it boiling as last as possible till upon taking a little of the liquor out, it is found to be full of small flakes like those of curdled soap. The boiling copper is in common breweries uncovered ; but in many on a very large scale, it is titl- ed with a steam-tight cover, from the centre of which passes a pipe, that terminates by several branches in the upper or mashing copper : the steam, therefore, produced by the boiling, instead of being wasted, is let into the cold water, and thus raises it very near! v to the temperature required tor mash- ing, besides impregnating it very sensibly with the essential oil of the hops, in which the flavour resides. When the liquor is boiled, it is discharged into a number of coolers, or shallow tubs, in which it remains until it becomes sufficiently cool to be submitted to fermentation. It is necessary that the process of cooling should be .carried on as expeditiously as possible, particularly in hot weather, and for this rea- son, the coolers in the great brewhouses are very shallow. Liquor made from pale malt, and which is intended for immediate drink- ing need not be cooled lower than 7S or 80 degrees, of course this kind of beer may be brewed almost in the hottest wear ther ; but beer brewed from brown malt, and intended to be kept, must be cooled to 65 or 70 degrees, before it is put into a state of fermentation. Hence the spring and au- tumn have ever been deemed the most fa- vourable for the manufacture of the best malt: liquor. \Y r e now come to the tunning and barrel- ling: from the coolers the. liquor is to be transferred into the working tun, and with it is to be mixed a gallon of yeast to four bar- rels of beer. In four or five hours the fer- mentation begins, and it requires from 18 or 20 hours to 48, before the wort is lit to be put into barrels. In the barrels the fermen- tation again goes on, and during a few days, a copious discharge of yeast takes place from the bung-hole, care must he taken that the barrels are carefully filled up every day with fresh liquor: this discharge gradually be- comes less, and in about a week it ceases ; at which time the bung-hole is closed, and the liquor is fit for use after it has stood a certain time according to its strength, and the temperature at which it has been fer- mented. Brewing, among distillers, denotes the method of extracting the more soluble parts of vegetables with hot water, and thus pro- curing a solution or decoction fitted for vi- nous fermentation. In this sense brewing is a necessary step towards distillation. A fer- mentable solution, fit for yielding a spirit, is obtainable from any vegetable, under pro- per management. Thus sugar, treacle, and other inspissated vegetable juices, which to>- taliy unite with water, are better adapted to fermentation, than roots, fruits, or herbs, in substance, the grains, or even the malt it- self; all which dissolve, but very imperfect- ly, iu hot water. Malt is, however, general- V& b r i ly used in Englnnd, and brewed for this pur- pose : the worst malt will serve for distilla- tion ; and the infusion or wort without the addition of hops, and the trouble of boiling, is here directly cooled and fermented. See Distilling. BREYNIA, in botany, a genus of the polyandria dioecia class and order of plants. The essential character is, male cal. one-leav- ed, five-parted ; cor. none ; nect. five-glands ; filaments five, very short ; anthers roundish. Fern. cal. and cor. as in the male ; pist. germ globose ; style none ; stigmas five ; per. caps, five-celled ; seeds solitary. There is one species, a native of New Caledonia. BRIBERY, the receiving, or offering, any undue reward, by or to any person whatso- ever, whose ordinary profession or business relates to the administration of public justice, in order to incline him to do a thing against the known rules of honesty and integrity ; it also signifies the taking or giving a reward for offices of a public nature. As to the punishment of bribery, by the common law, bribery in a judge, was looked upon as an offence of so heinous a nature, that it was sometimes punished as high trea- son. 3 Inst. 148. And all other kinds of brib- ery are punishable by fine and imprison- ment ; which may also be inflicted on those who offer a bribe though not taken. Blade. 143. 2 Inst. 147. BRICIANI, a military order, instituted by St. Bridget, queen of Sweden. BRICK, a reddish earth, of the aluminous Cr argillaceous kind, formed into long squares, by means of a wooden mould, and llien baked or burnt. lit the east they baked their bricks in the sun ; the Romans used them unburnt, only leaving them to dry for four or five years in the air. Bricks, among us, are various, according to their various forms, dimensions, uses, method of making, &c. the principal of which are, compass bricks, of a circular form, used in steyning of walls : concave, or hollow bricks, on one side flat like a common brick, on the other hollowed, and used for conveyance of w’ater ; feather-edged bricks, which are like common statute bricks, only thinner on one edge than the other, and used for penning up the brick-pannels in timber buildings : cogging bricks are used for mak- ing the indented works under the coping of walls built with great bricks : coping bricks, formed on purpose for coping of walls : Dutch or Flemish bricks, used to pave yards, or stables, and for soap boilers’ vaults, and cis- terns : clinkers, such bricks as are glazed by the heat of the fire in making: sandal or samel-bricks, are such as lie outmost in a kiln, or clamp, and consequently are soft and useless, as not being thoroughly burnt: great bricks are those twelve inches long, six broad, and three thick, used to build fence walls: plaister or buttress bricks, have a notch at one end, half the breadth of the brick ; their use is to bind the work which is built of great bricks: statute bricks, or small common bricks, ought, when burnt, to be nine inches long, four broad, and two and a half thick. The art of brickmaking is, in almost all its branches, regulated by different acts of par- liament. Bricks may be made of pure clay, or of clay mixed with sand or ashes, or with both. The clay is first moistened and tem- 15 R I pered with water, to render it fit for mould- ing into bricks. Then several persons are usually employed in making a single brick: these are called a gang, and they consist of one or two men, a v oinan, and two children, to each of which is assigned a dif- ferent department in the occupation. A gang in full work will make many thousand bricks in the course of a week. When the bricks are made and sufficiently dried, they are burnt in a kiln. The great art in this part of the process, is required in piling the bricks, so that the lire may circulate through every course, and in all directions. Bricks when finished are of different colours, ac- cording to the clay of which they are made ; the most beautiful are the white bricks ma- nufactured at Woolpit in Suffolk. BRICKLAYER, one who lays bricks in the building of edifices of any kind. Tilers and bricklayers were incorporated 10 Eliz. under the name of master and wardens of the society of freemen of the mystery and art of tilers and bricklayers. BRIDEWELL, in Bridge-street, Black- friars, is a foundation of a singular nature, partaking partly of the hospital, the prison, and the workhouse. It was founded by Ed- ward VI. who presented the place, which had formerly been the palace of king John, to the city of London, with 700 marks of land, bedding and other furniture. Several youths are sent to this hospital as apprentices to manufacturers who reside there, and when they have faithfully served their time of se- ven years, they are presented with their freedom, and ten pounds each for carrying oh their respective trades. BRIDGE, a work of masonry or timber, consisting of one or more arches, built over a river, canal, or piece of water, for the con- veniency of crossing the same. Bridges are a sort of edifices very difficult to execute, on account of the inconvenience ot laying foundations and walling under wa- ter. The parts of a bridge are the piers, the arches, the pavement, or way over for cattle and carriages, the foot way on each side, for foot passengers, the rail or parapet, which incloses the whole, and the buttments or ends of the bridge on the bank. The conditions required in a bridge are, that it shall be well designed, and suitably de- corated. The piers of stone bridges should be equal in number, that there may be one arch in the middle, where commonly the current is strongest; their thickness is not to be less than a sixth part of the span of the arch, nor more than a fourth ; they are com- monly guarded in the front with angular starlings, to break the force of the current. As the piers of bridges always diminish the bed of a river in case of inundations, the bed must be sunk or hollowed in proportion to the space taken up by the piers (as the wa- ters gain in depth what they lose in breadth) which otherwise conduce to wash away the foundation and endanger the piers : to pre- vent this, they sometimes diminish the cur- rent, either by lengthening its course, or making it more winding ; or by stopping the bottom with rows of planks, stakes, or piles, which break the current. It is also required that the foundation of bridges be laid at that season of the year, when the waters are low- est ; and if the ground is rocky, hard gravel, BKI or stony, the first stones of the foundation may be laid on the surface ; but if the' soil is soft sand, it will he necessary to dig till a firm bottom is found. Bridges should rather be of few and large arches, than of many smaller ones, if the height and situation will possibly allow of it ; for this will leave more free passage for the water and navigation, and be a great saving in materials and labour ; as there will be fewer piers and centres, and the arches. &c. will require less materials ; a remarkable in- stance of which appears in the difference be- tween the bridges of Westminster and Black- friars, the expence of the former being more than double the latter. For the proper execution of a bridge, and making an estimate of the expence, &c. it is necessary to have three plans, three sec- tions, and an elevation. The three plans are so many horizontal sections, viz. first a plan of the foundation under the piers, with the particular circumstances attending it, whether of gratings, planks, piles, &c. ; the 2d is the plan of the piers- and arches; and the 3d is ihe plan of the superstructure, with the paved road and banquet. The three sections are vertical ones ; the first of them a longitudinal section from end to end of the bridge, and through the middle of the breadth;, the 2d, a transverse one, or across it, and through the summit of an arch ; and the 3d also across, but taken upon a pier. The ele- vation is an orthographic projection of one side or face of the bridge, or its appearance as viewed at a distance, shewing the exterior ; aspect of the materials, with the manner in which they are disposed, &c. For the figure of the arches, some prefer the semicircle, though perhaps without knowing any good reason why ; others the 5 elliptical form, as having many advantages over the semi-circular ; and some talk of the catenarian arch, though its pretended ad- vantages are only chimerical ; but the arch of equilibration is the only perfect one, so as to be equally strong in every part. See Arch of Equilibration. The piers are of different thickness, according to the figure, span, and height of the arches. With the Romans, the repairing and build- ing of bridges were committed to the priesls, thence named pontifices ; next to the cen- sors, or curators of the roads ; but at last the emperors took the care of the bridges into their own hands. Thus, the Pons Janiculen- sis was built of marble by Antoninus Pius ; : the Pons Cestius was restored by Gordian ; and Arian built a new one which was called after his own name. In the middle age, bridge-building was counted among the acts of religion ; and, toward the end of the 12th century, St. Benezet founded a regular order of hospitallers, under the name of pontifices, or bridge-builders, whose office was to assist travellers, by making bridges, settling ferries, and receiving strangers into hospitals, or ] houses, built on the banks of rivers. Among the bridges of antiquity, that built by Trajan over the Danube, it is allowed, is the most magnificent. It was demolished by his next successor Adrian, and the ruins are still to be seen in the middle of the Danube, ; near the city Warhel, in Hungary. It had 20 piers, of square stone, each of which was 150 feet high above the foundation, 60 feet in breadth, and 170 feet distant from one. BRIDGE. another, which is the span or width of the arches ; so that the whole length of the bridge was more than 1530 yards, or nearly one mile. In France, the Pont de Garde is a very bold structure ; the piers being only 13 feet thick, yet serving to support an immense weight of a triplicate arcade, and joining two mountains. It consists of three bridges, one I over another ; the uppermost of which is an aqueduct. The bridge of Avignon, which was finished | in the year 1188, consists of 18 arches, and t measures 1340 paces, or about one thousand 3 yards in length. The famous bridge at Venice, called the i Rialto, passes for a masterpiece of art, con- sisting of only one very flat and bold arch, I near a hundred feet span, and only 23 ! feet high above the water : it was built in 1591. Poulet also mentions a bridge of a ! single arch, in the city of Munster in Both- I nia, much bolder than that of the Rialto at Venice. Yet these are nothing to a bridge ! in China, built from one mountain to ano- ther, consisting of a single arch, 400 cubits long, and 500 cubits high, whence it is ! called the flying bridge; and a figure of it ! is given in the Philosophical Transactions. Kircher also speaks of abridge in the same ! country three hundred and sixty perches i long without any arch, but supported by j three hundred pillars. There are many bridges of considerable note in our own country. Idle triangular bridge at Crowland in Lincolnshire, it is said, is the most ancient Gothic structure remain- ing intire in the kingdom ; and was erected about the year 860. Lonclon-bridge is on the old Gothic struc- ture, with twenty small locks or arches, each of only twenty feet wide ; but there are now | only eighteen open, two having been thrown J into one in the centre, and another next one I side is' concealed or covered up. It is nine hundred feet long, sixty high, and seventy- four wide ; the piers are from twenty-five to thirty-four feet broad, with starlings project- ing at the ends; so that the great water-way, when the tide is above the starlings, was ! 450 feet, scarcely half the breadth of the river ; and below the starlings, the wa- ter-way was reduced to one hundred and ninety-four feet, before the opening of the centre. London-bridge was first built with timber, between the years 993 and 1016 ; and it was repaired, or rather new-built with timber, 1163. The stone bridge was begun in 1 176, and finished in 1209- It is probable there were no houses on this bridge for upwards of 200 years ; since we read of a tilt and tour- nament held on it in 4 395. Houses it seems were erected on it afterwards ; but being found of great inconvenience and nuisance, they were removed in 1758, and the avenues to it enlarged, and the whole made more commodious ; the two middle arches were then thrown into one, by removing the pier from between them; the whole repairs amounting to above 80,000/. The longest bridge in England is that over the Trent at Burton, built in the 12th cen- tury, of squared free-stone, and is strong and lofty ; it contains thirty-four arches, and the whole length is 1545 feet. But this falls far short of the wooden bridge over the Drave, which according to Dr. Brown, is at least five miles long. But one of the most singular bridges^ in Europe, is that built over the Taaf in Gla- morganshire, by William Edward, a poor country mason, in the year 1756. This re- markable bridge consists of only one stu- pendous arch, which, though only eight feet broad, and thirty-five feet high, is no less than one hundred and forty feet span, being part of a circle of one hundred and seventy-five feet diameter. Of modem bridges, perhaps the two finest in Europe, are the Westminster and Black- friars bridges over the river Thames at Lon- don. The former is 1220 feet long, and 44 feet wide, having a commodious broad foot- path on each side for passengers. It con- sists of thirteen large and two [small arches, all semicircular, with fourteen intermediate piers. The arches all spring from about tw'o feet above low-water mark ; the middle arch is seventy-six feet wide, and the others on each side decrease always by four feet at a time. The two middle piers’are each seven- teen feet thick at tire springing of the arches; and the others decrease equally on each side by one foot at a time ; every* pie r terminat- ' ing with a saliant right angle against either stream. This bridge is built of the best ma- terials, and in a neat and elegant taste, but the arches are too small for the quantity of masonry contained in it. This bridge was begun in 1738, and opened in 1750; and the whole sum of money granted and paid for the erection of this bridge, w ith the pur- chase of houses to take down, and widening the avenues, See. amounted to 389,500/. Blackfriars bridge, nearly opposite the centre of the city of London, was begun in 1/60, and was completed in ten years and tl^ee quarters ; and is an exceeding light and elegant structure ; but the materials unfortunately do not seem to be the best, as many of the arch stones are decaying. It consists of nine large, elegant, elliptical arches ; the centre arch being one hundred feet wide, and those on each side decreasing in a regular gradation, to the smallest, at each extremity, which is seventy feet wide. The breadth of the bridge is forty-two feet, and the length from wharf to wharf nine hun- dred and ninety-five. The upper surface is a portion of a very large circle, which forms an elegant figure, and is of convenient passage over it. The whole expence was 1 50,840/. Bridges, iron, are the exclusive invention of British artists. The first that has been erected on a large scale is that over the river Severn, at Coalbrook Dale, in Shropshire. This bridge is composed of five ribs, and each rib of three concentric arcs connected together by radiating pieces. The interior arc forms a complete semicircle; but the others extend only to the cilia under the road-way. These arcs pass through an up- right frame of iron at each end, which serves as a guide ; and the small space in the haunches between the frames and the outer arc is -filled with a ring of about seven feet diameter. Upon the top of the ribs are laid cast-iron plates, which sustain the road-way. The arch of this bridge is one hundred feet six inches in span ; the interior ring is cast in two pieces, each piece being about seventy feet in length. It was constructed in the year 1779, by Mr. Abraham Darby, iron- master at Coalbrook Dale, and must be con- sidered as a very bold effort in the ^first in- stance of adopting a new' material. r I he to- tal weight of the metal is 378-^tons. The second iron bridge, of which the par- ticulars have come to our knowledge, w as that designed by Mr. Thomas Paine, author of many political works. It was constructed by Messrs. Walkers at Rotherham, and was brought to London, ar.d set up in a bowling- green at Paddington, where it was exhibited for some time. After which it was intended to have been sent to America ; but Mr. Paine not being able to defray the expence, the manufacturers took it back, and the mal- leable iron was afterwards worked up in the construction of the bridge atWearmouth. The third iron bridge of importance erect- ed in Great Britain, was that over the river Wear, at Bishop Wearmouth, near Sunder- land, the chief projector of which was Row- land Burden, esq. M. P. This bridge con- sists of a single arch, whose span is 236 ieet : and as the springing stones at each side pro- ject two feet, the whole opening is 240 feet. The arch is a -segment of a circle of about 444 feet diameter; its versed sine is thirty- four feet, and the whole height from low- water about one hundred feet, admitting ves- sels of from two to three hundred tons bur- then to pass under, without striking their masts. A series of one hundred and live blocks form a rib, and six of these ribs com- pose the breadth of the bridge. The spand- rels, or the spaces betw een the arch and the road-way, are filled up by cast-iron circles, which touch the outer circumference of the arch, and at the same time support tlje road- way, thus gradually diminishing from the abutments towards the centre of the bridge. There are also diagonal iron liars, which are laid on the tops of the ribs, and extended to the abutments to keep the ribs from twisting. The superstructure is a strong frame of tim- ber planked over to support the carriage- road, which is composed of marl, lime-stone, and gravel, with a cement of tar and chalk immediately upon the planks to preserve them. The whole width of the bridge is thirty- two feet. The abutments are masses of al- most solid masonry, twenty-four feet in thickness, forty-two in breadth at bottom, and thirty-seven at top. The south pier is founded on the solid rock, and rises from about twenty-two feet above the bed of the river. On the north side the ground was not so favourable, so that it was necessary to carry the foundation ten feet below the bed. The weight of the iron in this extraordinary fabric amounts to 260 tons ; 46 of these are malleable, and 214 cast. The entire expence was 27,000 /. The splendid example of the bridge at Wearmouth gave an impulse to public taste, and caused an emulation among artists, which has produced many examples and more pro- jects of iron bridges. The Coalbrook Dale Company have constructed several, among which is a very neat one over the river Parrot at Bridgewater. Mr. Wilson, the engineer employed by Mr. Burdon, has also built several : and has lately finished a very elegant one over the river Thames, at Staines,, which is by far the most complete in design, as well as the best executed, of any that lm hitherto been erected. This bridge consists of a single arch, 181 feet in span, and 1& B R '1 BRO B R O 272 feet six inches in rise, being a segment of a circle ot 480 feet. The blocks of which the ribs are composed, are similar to those in the "VVearmouth-bridge, except that these have only two concentric arcs instead of three, as at the latter. The arcs are cast hollow, and the blocks connected by means of dowels and keys ; thus obviating the great defect observ- ed at \\ earmouth, of having so much ham- mered iron exposed to the action of the air. Four ribs form the width of the arch, which are connected together by cross frames. The spandrels are filled, with circles which support a covering of iron plates an inch thick : on this is laid the road-way twenty- seven feet wide. Two hundred and seventy tons are the weight of the iron employed in the bridge, and three hundred and thirty of the road-way. See Plate. BRIEF, any writ in writing issued out of any of the kings courts of record at West- minster, whereby any thing is commanded to be done in order to justice. Briefs for collecting charity are to be read in all churches and chapels within two months after receipt thereof, and the sums thereby collected shall be paid over to the undertaker ot briefs, within six months after the delivery of the briefs under penalty of 20/. Brief also signifies an abridgment of the client’s case made out for the instruction of counsel, on a trial at law, which is to be fully but briefly stated. Briefs apostolical, letters which .the pope dispatches to princes, or other magistrates, relating to any public, affair. These briefs are distinguished from bulls, the latter being more ample and always written on parch- ment a“nd sealed with lead or green wax, whereas briefs are very concise, written on paper, sealed with red wax, and with the seal of the fisherman, or St. Peter in a boat. BRIGADE, in the military art, a party or division of a body of soldiers, whether horse or foot, under the command of a brigadier. An army is divided into brigades of horse and brigades of foot : a brigade of horse is a body ot eight or ten squadrons; a brigade of toot, consists of four, five, or six battalions. Brigade-major is an officer appointed by the brigadier, to assist him in t lie manage- ment and ordering of his brigade. BRIGADIER is the general officer who j has the command of a brigade. The eldest colonels are generally advanced to this post. He that is upon duty is brigadier of the day. They march at the head of their own bri- gades, and are allowed a serjeant and ten men of their own brigade for their guard. BRIGANTINE, a coat of mail, a kind of | antient defensive armour, consisting of thin jointed scale's of plate, pliant and easy to the body. BRIMSTONE. See Sulphur. Brim- stone medals, figures, &c. may be cast from a composition consisting of equal weights of sulphur and vermilion melted together, and when cleared it. may be cast in a mould smeared with oil. If it should change to a yellowish hue, wet it with aquafortis and it will have the appearance of tine coral. BRINE-BANS, the pits in which salt- water is retained, and suffered to stand, to bear the action ot the sun, by which it is con- verted into salt. Brine-pit, the salt spring from which the water to be boiled into salt is taken. 'There are many of these springs in this country; that at I'santwich, in Cheshire, is said to he sufficient to yield salt for the whole king- dom. BRING-to, in naval affairs, to check or ret ard the velocity, or rate of sailing of a ship, by arranging the sails in such a manner, that they shall counteract each other, and thus prevent her either from advancing a- head, or getting stern-way. BRINING of grain; the practice of im- mersing it in some sort of liquor or pickle to prevent the smut, or other diseases, and also to guard it from the ravages of insects. Mr. Arthur Young, in his Farmer’s Calen- dar, says, that from various experiments it appears that steeping wheat from twelve to twenty-four hours in a lye of wood-ashes, in lime-water, and in a solution of arsenic, gave clean crops from extremely smutty seed. Brining of hay, the blending of salt with hay in the operation of stacking, to pre- serve and render it palatable. This practice is useful in rainy seasons, and it prevails chiefly in America. BRISTLE, a thick glossy kind of hair, with which the swine kind are more especi- ally covered. They are hard, transparent, horny substances, of a pvismatical figure, with- out any appearance of cavities or pores in them. • Cat’s bristles, or whiskers, have a solid pith in the middle. Hog’s bristles con- stitute an important article ot’ exportation in Russia ; those imported into this country pay a heavy duly. Bristle-dice, a sort of false dice, fur- nished with a piece of hog’s -bristle stuck in the corners, to prevent them from fallimr on certain sides, and to make them run high or J low at pleasure. BRISTOL-water. See Mineral Wa- j TERS. j BRIZA, in botany, quaking grass: a genus | of the dig) nia order, and triandria class of ! plants; and in the natural method ranking! under the 4th order, gramina. The calyx I is two-valvec), and inultitiorous ; the spicula i bifarious, with the small valves heart-shaped ; and blunt, and the inner one small in pro- j portion to the rest. There are six species of briza: two of which are natives of Britain, viz. 1 . Briza media, the middle quaking-grass, and 2. Briza minor, the small quaking-grass. Both grow in pasture grounds. The briza maxima is a native of the south of Europe, ami is a very ornamental plant in gardens. BROCADE, a stuff of gold, silver, or silk, raised and enriched with (lowers, foliages, and other ornaments, according to the fancy of the merchants or manufacturers. Formerly th.e word signified only a stuff, woven allot’ gold, both in the warp and in the woof, or all of silver, or of both mixed together; thence it passed to those of stuffs in which there was silk mixed, to raise and terminate the gold or silver flowers : but now all stuffs, even those of silk alone, whether they are grograms of 'Fours or of Naples, satins, and even tabetics or lutestrings, if they are but adorned and worked with some flowers, or other figures, are called brocades. BROKER, a name given to persons of several and very different professions, the chief of which are exchange-brokers, stock- brokers, pawn-brokers, and brokers simply so called, who sell, household furniture, and second-hand apparel. Brokers, exchange, are a kind of agents, or negotiators, who contrive, propose, and conclude bargains between merchants, and between merchants and tradesmen, in matters of bills of exchange, or merchandise, for which they have so much commission. These, by th.e statute of 8 and 9 William III. are to be licensed in London by the lord-mayor, who administers to them an oath, and takes bond for the faithful execution of their offices. If any person shall act as broker, without being thus licensed and admitted, he shall forfeit the sum of 500/. and persons employing him Si. and brokers are to register contracts, &c. j under the like penalty; also brokers shall not deal for themselves, on pain of forfeiting j 200/. 'They are to carry about with them a j silver medal, having the king’s arms, and the ] arms of the city, and pay 4t).y. a year to the ; chamber of the city. The exchange-brokers make it their bush ness to know the alteration of the course of ' exchange, to inform merchants how it goes, and to give notice to those who have money I . to receive, or pay, beyond sea ; they are the i proper persons for negotiating the exchange, and when the matter is accomplished, that is, when the money for the bill is paid, and the bill delivered, tnevhave for brokerage 2s. for 100/. sterling. Brokers, stock, are those employed to ] buy and sell shares in the joint stock of a j company, or in the public funds. r j he ne- gotiations of these brokers are regulated by certain acts of parliament, which among other things enact, that contracts in tfie nature of, wagers, incur a penalty of 500/. and by the | sale of stock, ot which the seller is not pos- sessed, and which he does not transfer, a for- feit of 100/,; and contracts for the sale of any stock, of which the contractors are not actually possessed, or to which they are not entitled, are void, and the parties agreeing to sell, &c. incur a penalty of 500/. ; and that brokers keep a book in which all con- j tracts, &c. shall be regularly entered. Brokers, paten, are persons who keep j shops, and let out money, to necessitous ; people, upon pledges, on interest. This j trade is regulated by statutes, which prevent j the demand of exorbitant interest; which prohibit pawnbrokers from purchasing goods j in their custody, and from lending money to any person appearing to be under twelve years of age, or intoxicated. Pawnbrokers are to place in their shops, a table of rates j allowed by act of parliament ; they are sub- 1 ject also to divers other restrictions, evi- ] dently intended as a security to the poor, | whose ’ exigencies or misfortunes oblige them i to part with their property, to satisfy their most pressing wants. BROMELIA, the pine-apple; See Plate I Nat. Hist. fig. t>4. a genus of the monogynia j order, and hexandria class of plants ; and in 1 the natural method ranking under the tenth order, coronariai. The essential character | is calyx, trifid, superior: corolla with nec- j tareous scales at the base of each berry, three- j celled. There are nine species of which the j following are the most remarkable : 1. Bromelia ananas, with leaves very like ] some sorts of aloes, but not so thick and suc- culent, which are strongly armed with black spines. From the centre of the plant arises BRO the flower-stalk, which is near three feet high ; the lower part is garnished with entire •leaves, placed alternately at every joint. The upper part is garnished with flowers set in a loose spike or thyrse quite round : these are succeeded by oval seed-vessels, having a longitudinal partition, in the centre of which are fastened smooth cylindrical seeds. Of this there are six varieties. 2. Bromelia lingulata, with obtuse, sawed, and prickly leaves. 3. Bromelia nudicaulis, with the lower leaves indented and prickly. The leaves of this species are shorter than those of the ananas. They are sharply sawed on their edges, and of a deep green colour. The flower stem arises from the centre of the plant, which divides upward into several branches ; the upper part of these are gar- nished with spikes of flowers, which come out alternately from the sides of the branch- es, each having a narrow entire leaf just be- low it, which are longer than the spike. The flowers are placed very close on the spikes : and when they decay, the empalement turns to an oval-pointed seed-vessel, inclosing seeds of the same shape with the other. The plants of the pine-apple are propa- gated by planting the crowns which grow on the fruit, or the suckers which are produced ■either from the sides of the plants or under the fruit The suckers and crowns must be laid to dry in a warm place for four or five days, or more ; for if they are immediately planted, they will rot. dhe certain rule of judging when they are fit to plant, is by ob- serving if the bottom is healed over and be- come hard. In summer, they must be fre- quently watered ; but not w ith large quanti- ties at a time ; and the moisture should not be detained in the pots by the holes being stopped, for that will soon destroy the plants. If the season is warm, they should be watered twice a week ; but in a cool season, once a week will be sufficient ; and in summer they should once a week be watered gently all over the leaves ; which will greatly promote their growth. During the winter, they will not require to be watered oftener than once a week, according as the earth in the pots seems to dry. Plants beginning to show their fruit should never be shifted; for if they are removed after the fruit appears, it stops the growth, and thereby causes the fruit to be smaller, and retards its ripening, so that it will be October or November before the fruit is ripe ; therefore the plants should be kept in a vigorous growing state from the first appearance of the fruit, as upon this depend the goodness and the size of it. After cutting oil’ the fruit from the plant in- tended to be propagated, the leaves should be trimmed, and the pots plunged again into a moderate hot-bed, observing to refresh them frequently with water, which will make them put out suckers in plenty ; so that one may be soon supplied with plants enough of any of the kinds, who will but observe to keep the plants in health. The most dange- rous thing that can happen to these plants is their being attacked by small white in- sects, which appear at first like a white mil- dew, but soon after have the appearance of lice : these attack both root and leaves at the same time ; and if they are not soon de- stroyed, will spread over a whole stove in a short time, and in a few weeks entirely stop VoL. I. BRO the growth of the plants by sucking out the nutritious juice, so that the leaves will appear yellow and sickly, and have a number ot yellow' transparent spots all over them. These insects, after they are fully grown, ap- pear like bugs, adhering so closely to the leaves as not to be easily washed off, and seem to have no local motion. They were originally brought from America upon the plants imported from thence. Tire only method yet discovered of destroying them, is by frequently washing the leaves, branches, and stems, of such plants as they attack, with water in which there has been a strong in- fusion of tobacco-stalks. But this method cannot be practised on the ananas plants, because the insects fasten themselves so low between the leaves, that it is impossible to come at them with a sponge to wash them off; so that although they seem to be all cleared off, they are soon succeeded by a fresh supply from below, and the roots are also equally infected at the same time. Therefore, whenever they appear on the plants, the safest method is to take the plants out of the pots, and clear the earth from tire roots; then put them into a tub, filled with w'ater in which there has been a strong in- fusion of tobacco-stalks ; and lay some sticks across to keep them immersed in the water, wherein they should remain twenty-four hours ; then take them out, and with a sponge wash off all the insects from the leaves and roots, and wash the plants in a tub of fresh water. This is the most effectual way to clear them from the insects. After this, you should put them in fresh earth ; and, having stirred up the bark-bed, and added some new tan to give a fresh heat to the bed, the pots should be plunged again, observing to water them all over the leaves, and this should be repeated once a week during summer ; for these' insects always multiply much faster where the plants are kept dry, than when they are sometimes sprinkled over with w r ater, and kept in a growing state. Of late, some very considerable improve- ments have been made in this article, l ire leaves of the oak have been substituted for the more expensive bark ; and the pines treated with them are found to thrive as well, and to produce as good fruit as the others. But the most considerable improvement is that mentioned in the 67th volume of the Philosophical Transactions, where the follow- ing method is shown by William Bastard, Esq. of Devonshire, of raising these fruits in water. “ The way in which I treat them,” says he “ is as follows : I place a shelf near the highest part of the back wall, that the pine plants may stand without absolutely touching the glass, but as near as it can be : on this shelf I place pans full of water, about seven or eight inches deep;; and in these pans I put the pine-apple plants, growing in the same pots of earth as they are generally planted in, to be plunged into the bark-bed in the common w'ay ; that is, I put the pot of earth, with the pine plant in it, in the pan full of water, and as the water decreases I constantly fill up the pan. I place either plants in fruit, or young plants as soon as they are well rooted, in these pans of water, and find they thrive equally w'ell : the fruit reared this way is always much larger as well as better flavour- ed, than when ripened in the bark-bed. I liave more than once put only the plants M m BRO 2/3 themselves without any earth, I mean after they had roots, into these pans of water, with only water sufficient to keep the roots ahvays covered, and found them flourish be- yond expectation. In my house, the shelf 1 mention is supported by irons from the top, and there is an intervening space ot about ten inches between the back wall and the shelf. A neighbour of mine lias placed a leaden cistern upon the top of the back flue, (in which, as it is in contact witli the flue, the water is always warm when there is fire in the house,) and finds his fruit excellent and large. My shelf does not touch the back flue, but is about a foot above it ; and consequently only wanned by the air in the house. Both these methods do well. The w'ay I account for this success is, that the warm air always ascending to the part w here this shelf is placed, as being the highest part of the house, keeps it much hotter than in any other part. The temperature at that place is, I believe, seldom less than what is indicated by 73° of Fahrenheit’s thermome- ter, and when the sun shines it is often above 100°: the w'ater the plants grow in, seems to enable them to bear the greatest heat, if suf- ficient air is allowed ; and I often see the roots of the plants growing out of the holes in the bottom of tire pot of earth, and shoot- ing vigorously in the water.” BROMUS, broom-grass, in botany: a genus of the digynia order, and triandria class of plants ; and, in the natural method, ranking under the 4th order, gramina. The calyx is bivalved, having a partial spike, oblong and round, opposite grains, with an awn below r the point of each outer valve. There are 25 species, of which seven are natives of Britain, viz. ] . Bronrus arvensis, common broom-grass : 2. Bromus ciliatus, wall broom-grass: 3. Bromus giganteus, tall broom-grass : 4. Bromus pinnatus, spiked broom-grass : 5. Bromus ramosus, wood broom-grass : 6. Bromus secalinus, field broom-grass : 7. Bromus sterilis, barren broom-grass. BRONCHIA. See Anatomy. BRONCHOCELE, in surgery, a tumour rising in the forepart of the neck. This dis- order with us is frequently called a Derby- shire neck, on account of the inhabitants of that county being much subject to it: pro- bably for the same reasons that the inhabitants about the valleys of the Alps, and other mountainous countries, arc so much affected with it. The most common situation of this swelling is the sides of the thyroid gland, and in many cases it seems to consist of a ge- neral enlargement of that organ. This dis- ease is known to predominate most in coun- tries affected by the humidity of the atmo- sphere, joined with excessive heat: it in- creases in the spring time, and diminishes in the autumn ; it is less prevalent in cold and dry seasons, than in those that are damp, and moderately warm ; it has . been asserted that its progress, wherever it is endemial, is in exact proportion to the degree of mois- ture indicated by the hydrometer. BRONCIIOTOMY, in surgery, an in- cision made in the aspera arteria, or wind- pipe, which is necessary in many cases, and especially in a violent quinsey, to prevent suffocation from the great inflammation or tumour of the parts. It is also called laryn- gotoniy and tracheotomy. See Surgery. ERO BRO BRU 274 BRONCHUS, in anatomy, the lower part of the aspera arteria, dividing in bronchia?, or branches. In this sense it stands contra- distinguished from the larynx. The name is frequently extended to the whole aspera arteria or trachea. BRQNTI/E, thunder-stones, a kind of hemispherical stones divided by zones. The word is Greek, signifying thunder, in refe- rence to the popular tradition, that this species of stones fall in thunder-showers. BRONZE, a compound metal, composed of from 6 to 12 parts of tin combined with 100 parts of copper. This alloy is heavier than copper, and possesses more tenacity ; it is more fusible, and less liable to be altered by exposure to the air. This composition is used for cannon as well as for medals. BRONZES, a name given by antiquari- ans to figures either of men or beasts, to urns, and, in general, to every piece of sculpture which the antients made of that metal. We likewise give the name of bronzes to statues and busts cast of bronze, whether these pieces are copies of antiques, or original subjects. T he method of casting bronzes is as fol- lows : The figure to be cast, must have a mould made on itwithm mixture' of one part of plaister of Paris, and two parts of brick- dust. In the joints little channels should be cut from different parts of the internal hol- low, tending upwards, to give vent to the air which the metal will force out, as it runs into the mould. When the mould is made, a thin layer of clay should be spread over the inside, the same thickness the bronze is in- tended to be : then the mould must be clos- ed, and the hollow within the layer of clay filled with two thirds of brick-dust, and one third of plaister mixed with water. This wall make the core; and if the figure to be cast should be large, strong bars of iron forming a skeleton of support for the metal figure must be laid in the mould, and round this the core must be cast; when this is done, the mould must be opened again, and round this the core of clay taken out ; the mould and core must be thoroughly dried, to prevent any accident with the cast. The core is then to be laid in the mould, and supported by short bars of bronze which run through the mould into tlie core. The mould is now to be laid in a situation for casting ; a channel must be con- tinued sufficiently sloping from the reservoir of metal to the mouth of the mould for the li- quid bronze to run easily. The form of the furnace, and the manner of running the metal are the same as those employed in the bell foundry. BRONZING, the art of varnishing wood, plaister, ivory, &c. so as to give them the co- lour of bronze. There are two sorts of com- position used for this purpose, the red and the yellow ; the latter is made of the finest copper dust, and to the former is added a small quantity of red ochre, well pulverized. Both are applied with varnish, and the work is dried over a chafing-dish as soon as bronz- ed. BROOM, in botany. See Spartium, and Genista. Broom-flower, ordre de lageniste, an order instituted by St. Louis, king of France, to shew the esteem which he had for the queen his wife ; and who, the evening before his queen’s coronation, received this order himselL The collar of this order was a gold chain of broom-flowers, interlaced with fleur-de-lis : the inscription, “ exaltat humiles,” the found- er accounting the broom the symbol of humility. BRO ST A, in botany, a genus of plants, of the order monogynia, and pentandria class. The characters are these : the cup is a one- leaved perianthium, five segments; the flower is monopetalous, of the shape of a truncated cone. The fruit is a roundish capsule, di- vided into live cells, and opening at the sides, discharges a great number of seeds. There is one species, a native of South America. BROTHERHOOD of God, a Christian denomination associated together for restrain - ing and abolishing the right and exercise of private war. This sect was founded in the 12th century by a carpenter at Guienne, who pretended to have had divine communi- cation with Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary. He was received as an inspired mes- senger of God. Many prelates and barons assembled at Pay, and took an oath, not only to make peace with all their own ene- mies, but to attack such as refused to lay down their arms, and to be reconciled to their enemies. BROWALLIA, in botany, a genus of the angiospermia order, in the didynamia class of plants. The essential character is, . calyx five-toothed: corolla five cleft, equal spreading with the navel closed: anthers, two larger: capsule, one-celled. There are two species, both annuals, viz. 1. Browallia demissa, with a single flower upon each footstalk. The seeds were sent to Mr. Miller, from Panama. The flowers are of a light blue colour, sometimes inclin- ing to a purple or red ; and there are often three colours of flowers on the same plant. They flower in July, August, and Septem- ber. 2. Browallia elata, with one or many flow- ers on each footstalk, is a native ot Peru. The stalk appears somewhat shrubby; the footstalks have sometimes one flower, others with three, and others with five, of a deep violet colour. As both species of browallia are annual plants, they must be raised from seeds, which are to be sown on a hot-bed ; but they may be transplanted in June, into the borders of the flower garden; where, if the weather proves warm, they will flower and perfect seeds ; but lest these should fail, there should be a plant or two kept in the greenhouse to secure seeds. BROWN, among dyers, painters, &c. a dusky colour, inclining towards redness. Of this colour there are various shades or de- grees, distinguished by different appellations ; for instance, Spanish-brown, a sad-brown, a tawny-brown, the London-brown, a clove- brown, &c. Spanish-brown is a dark dull red, of a horse-flesh colour. It is an earth, and is of great use among painters, being generally used as the first and priming colour that they lay upon any kind of timber-work in house-painting. That which is of the deep- est colour, and freest from stones, is the best. Though this is of a dirty brown colour, yet it is not much used to 'colour any garment, unless it be an old man’s gown ; but to sha- dow vermilion, or to lay upon any dark ground behind a picture, or to shadow yel- low berries in the darkest places, when lake is wanted, &c. It is best and brightest when burnt in the fire till it is red-hot, although, to colour a hare, horse, dog, or the like, it should not be burnt ; but, for other uses, it is best when it is burnt, as for instance, for colouring wood, posts, bodies of trees, or any thing else of wood, or any dark ground of a picture. The method of dying browns is by plun- ging the cloth in a boiling bath of reel wood ground and nut-galls bruised ; and when it has boiled for two hours and a half, and lias been cooled and aired, it is plunged again in the same bath, to which a proportionable quantity of copperas must first be added. The more dull you would have the brown, the more copperas must be put in. BROWN1STS, in church history, a re- ligious sect, which sprung up in England to- wards the end of the 16th century. Their leader was one Robert Brown, born at North- ampton. They separated from the estab- lished church, on account of its discipline and form of government. They equally disliked episcopacy and presbyterianism. They con- demned the solemn celebration of marriages in churches, maintaining, that matrimony being a political contract, the confirmation of it ought to proceed from the civil magis- trate. They rejected all forms of prayer, and held that the Lord’s prayer was not to be recited as a prayer; being given only as a model, upon which to form our prayers. BRUCEA, in botany, a genus of the te- trandria order, and dicecia class of plants. The essential character is, calyx four-leaved : corolla, four-petalled : fem. perri. four one- seeded. There is one species, a shrub of Abyssinia. It is a simple bitter, leaving in the throat something of roughness resembling ipecacuanha. BRUCHUS, a genus of coleopterous insects, with filiform antenna?, equal filiform feelers, and acuminated lip. The specie? of this genus are in all twenty-five. BRUISER, the name of a concave tool used for grinding and polishing the specula of telescopes. It is made of brass about a quarter of an inch thick, and haimfiered as near the gauge as possible. It is tinned on the convex side, and made equally broad at bottom and top. By this instrument the speculum is prepared for the hands of the polisher. BRUNSFELIA, in botany : a genus of the monogynia order, and pentandria class of plants. The corolla is funnel-shaped, and very long ; and the fruit an unilocular poly- spermous berry. There are two species. Brunsfelia Americana, rises six or eight feet high, has a woody branching rough stem, with oblong entire leaves on footstalks, and large whitish flowers by threes or fours at the ends of the branches, succeeded by round saffron-coloured soft fruit. It may be raised from seeds sown in pots in the spring, and plunged in a bark-bed. It may also be pro- pagated by cuttings planted in pots in the same season, plunging them also in a bark- bed or other hot-bed under glasses. Tlie plants must always remain in the stove. 2d, 13. undulate. Both natives of Jamaica. BRUNIA, in botany ; a genus of the mo- 'nogynia order, and pentandria class of plants. Tlie flowers are aggregate or clustered ; the filaments inserted into the heels of the petals ; the stigma is bifid _ the seeds are solitary,. and the capsule is bilocular. There are eight i species natives, of the Cape. B TUN ON LAN system, the system of me- dicine discovered by the late Dr. Brown, and explained at large in his Elements of Medicine, it might appear proper to give an account of this doctrine under the ge- neral article Medicine ; but the new sys- tem diners so widely from all former systems oi that science, that we think it more con- sistent with propriety to delineate it under its own proper title. The following will give a sufficient view of the outlines of this doc- trine to such as are unacquainted with it ; and for its minuthc we must refer to the doc- tor’s own works, and those of Dr. Becldoes, Dr. Jones, &<:. Bruno max system, account of . — The hu- man body, particularly the system of solids it consists of, is a form of living .matter, whose characteristics are sensation and mo- tion. The capability of being affected by external powers is termed excitability ; the Agents stimuli, or exciting powers ; the re- sult excitement. Without this property (ex- citability), the body would be dead' inert matter : by this property it becomes living matter ; by this property, called into action by the exciting powers, it becomes a living system. While the stimuli acton the exci- tability with a sufficient degree of power, then is the pleasant sensation of health : when they raise the excitement above this point, or depress it below it, disease, takes place : when the stimuli cease to act, or the system to feel their power, death ensues. Excitability is a property of living matter, peculiar and inherent, but it is a 'property which Dr. Brown did not pretend to explain. He left it as sir Isaac Newton did his at- traction, , as a property hot to be investigat- ed. Of this energy or power there is as- signed to every living system, at the com- mencement of life, a certain quantity or pro- portion ; but its quantity differs in each, and in the same body it is found to change ; for the excitability, according to circumstances, may be “ abundant, increased, accumulated, superfluous, exhausted, consumed,” &c. The stimuli, or exciting powers, are of two classes, external and internal. The external stimuli are heat, light, sound, air, and mo- tion ; food, drink, medicines, and what- ever els-; is taken into the body, not except- ing poisons and contagions. The internal are the functions of the body, the blood, the secretions, muscular exertion, and finally the powers of the mind ; as sensation, pas- sion, and thought. Excitement is life; the natural movements of the machine, and the functions resulting from these, as sensation, reflection, and voluntary motion, as they immediately flow from the exciting powers, are vigorous when they are strong, languid when they are weak, and cease when thev are taken away entirely. Thus our body is con- tinually moved by external agents, 'and life is a forced state. Our weak frame has an unceasing tendency to dissolution, which is opposed only by the incessant application of exciting powers, which are the sources of life, and which, being partially or completely withdrawn, are immediately followed by dis- ease or death. It is also a principle of this doctrine, that “ all stimuli by acting on the excitability exhaust it.” Thus the stimuli of food, air, motion, passion, and thought, have BRUNONIAN SYSTEM. supported the body through the labours of the day : they have supported the functions by acting on the excitability ; in the evening it is exhausted by their continued operation; they have no longer the same power ; the functions fail ; we sink info rest, and conti- nue in sleep, unaffected by the stimuli, re- newing by sleep that excitability which had been exhausted by the labours or by the plea- sures of the day; we rise with restored exci- tability: we fed a new power of excitement in every object around us ; we are refreshed in the morning, and languid at night, and our whole life is an alternation of motion and rest, of action and sleep, of apathy and plea- sure, of wasting our excitability by day in labour or enjoyment, and of recruiting it by night by the abstraction of all stimulant pow- ers. The same philosophy extends to the duration of life: in childhood excitability is abundant in quantity, as being little ex- hausted ; but it is low in power, because the tender stamina and accumulated excitability ot children can neither suffer nor support high excitement. Their excitability is so abundant, that they are easily supported by weak diet and low exciting powers, and therefore most of their diseases are diseases of weakness. In youth and manhood the excitability is yet entire, the stamina are strong, the powerful stimuli are applied, and high passions prevail: these are the periods of vigour, and the aira of inflammatory disease. In old age the stamina are worn, the excita- bility is exhausted, the common stimuli have lost their power, and the system begins to decline; we have weakness of body, imbe- cility of mind, and asthenic diseases. We may last ot all have recourse to more gene- rous diet, and raise the stimulant powers by substituting wine to water or brandy to v ine ; thus perhaps excitement may be*a\v hile sup- ported, and life prolonged ; but in a few years these also fail. This doctrine farther teaches, that our body is never moved but by exciting powers. None but stimuli affi ct our system. That there are direct sedatives in nature, is esteemed an unphilosophical and vulgar error. In stimuli there is a gradation w hich, being relative to the system, deceives our sense; for, as some stimuli are powerful and others weak, a low 7 stimulus applied after a more powerful one, will stimulate less than the former, will allay the motions which the former had excited, and will, therefore, be named a sedative. 'Fake heat as an example of this: cold is but an abstraction of beat, yet it is thought a positive existence-; and cold is named a sedative and heat a stimulant power. To detect this deception of sense, plunge the right hand into water at the heat of 150°, the left into melting snow ; w ithdraw both, and plunge them at once into water at 100°, it will prove at once stimulant and se- dative; cold or sedative to the right hand, and hot or stimulant to the left. So is fasting an abstraction ol the w onted stimulus of food, bleeding of the usual stimulus of blood, and so on. Health, then, is the due operation of stimuli on a well regulated excitability, pro- ducing a moderate excitement, and a plea- sant sensation, moving the whole system with a just degree of power, and giving all the functions their due energy and tone. Asthe- nic disease, disease of debiliry or of weakness, is the result of stimuli applied in a low 7 de- gree, or of tlie system less easily excited. M m 2 ' Sthenic' disease, or disease of strength, is the result of stimuli applied in too great a degree,- or of a system too susceptible of excitement. "1 he first is depression of excitement below the healthy state: it produces languid mo- tions and functions, and requires exciter mn for its cure. ' i he second is a strong state o- the system, wound up io too high a degret- of excitement. It is an exuberance of health and strength. It is marked by violent move- ments, and is cured by extraction of stimuli. Thus are all our maladies either diseases of weakness or of excessive strength ; and this is the foundation of the Brunoniau scale, which has for its middle point health ; below that, are arranged the diseases of weakness ; above it the diseases of excessive strength ; and in both divisions of the scale, diseases are so arranged, that the worst forms are set off at tiie greatest distance from the middle point, to mark them as the widest deviations from the healthy state. To illustrate still further 1 the nature of these two forms of disease, w e must observe their respective causes. Sthe- nia, or excessive strength, is simply the ef- fect of many or powerful stimuli acting on the system. Asthenia is the immediate effect of withdrawing these ; but asthenia is not so simple as its opposite state, for debility varies in its nature according to its various causes. 1 . By abstraction of exciting powers is pro- duced a species of debility named direct. 2. By long or violent application of strong exciting powers, the excitability is exhausted j both the excitement and the strength fail: this species of debility is named indirect . 3. When the exciting powers are withdrawn, and the direct debility produced, it is at the same time combined with a new 7 species. By merely withdrawing the stimuli, such weak- ness would be produced as should be tem- porary only, and might be done away bv re- storing the usual exciting powers ; but w’here the stimuli are withdrawn, excitability is ac- cumulated, and when it is accumulated in an undue degree, it cannot bear the- usual sti- muli, and will not give out the healthy de- gree of excitement. Thus, direct debility caused by the absence of exciting powers, is attended with accumulation of excitability. Indirect debility, caused by superabundant stimuli, is attended with exhausted excitabi- lity. The former is most easily cured, as w r e have but to apply stimuli, and raise the ex- citement: the latter is difficultly cured; for the excitability being in some degree ex- hausted, the system is less susceptible, and has less excitability to operate upon for the restoration of health. The abstraction of stimuli is an immediate cause of weakness ; high excitement is a state of the system which the excitability cannot long endure without being exhausted, so that stimuli themselves produce ultimate weakness. Since, there- fore, high excitement is temporary only, and has but one cause, while weakness is a per- manent state, and has many causes, the dis- eases of debility must in a very great pro- portion exceed in number the diseases of ex- cessive strength ; and diseases of excessive strength must ultimately find there. If Q~ 0 f 100 diseases arise from weakness, the con- clusion must be of the first importance in practice. Hence it is a (general principle in this system, that though there are many indi- vidual diseases, there are but twrn states of the system, and tw 7 o general methods of cure ; E R U BRU 276 and though it admits the difference between local and general diseases, yet it does not allow that a local sthenic disease can exist for any time along with a general asthenic diathesis, or vice versa. For the cure of all those diseases which stand above the point of health, nothing more is required than with- drawing the stimuli of food, drink, heat, &c. cr by evacuation, as bleeding, vomiting, and purging. For all those diseases which stand helow tiie point of health, we use the natu- ral stimuli of diet, beef-tea, wine, heat, &e., or the less natural stimuli of the pharmacopoeia, the chief ©f which are opium, aether, volatile alkali, musk, camphor, brandy, and other spi- rits. The cause of the one form of disease is the cure of the other; in the one we raise the excitement till it arrives at the point *of health ; in the other we depress it to the same point: having effected this by the pow- ers of medicine, we keep it there by attention to regimen ; and the great object in the Bru- nonian practice is to hit the point of health, neither to stop short of this object, nor to pass beyond it; for by either imprudence we may domucli liar m. By profusion of stimuli we may convert a disease of weakness into a dis- ease of inflammation : by too severe an abs- traction of stimuli we may run into the op- posite excess, converting into a disease of weakness what was originally a disease of "violent inflammation. The use of stimuli in asthenic diseases is to be regulated by the cause and state of the disease. In all diseases of in- direct weakness, where excitability Inis been exhausted, the strength must be raised by the immediate application ofthe most powerful sti- muli, which are to be slowly reduced in quantity or strength, till moderate or ordinary stimuli suffice for supporting the excitement of health. In all cases of direct weakness, where excitability is accumulated, the imme- diate application of powerful stimuli would destroy. Weak stimuli must be first used, the superabundant excitability must be gradually wasted, and the doses very slow- ly increased, till we rise to the point of health. Dr. Brown’s frequent prescriptions of wine, .spirits, and opium, to his patients in asthenic diseases, with his repeated recommendations of these stimuli in iiis lectures and writings, raised a very general prejudice against his system and practice, among those who knew nothing of either but from vague report. They alleged that, though lie might cure the diseases of his patients, he would infal- libly corrupt their morals, by habituating them to such dangerous medicines. From these charges Dr. Beddoes vindicates the doctrine, in the following words: (p. clix.) The Brunonian system has been frequently charged w ith intemperance ; the objection is serious, but the view already given of its prin- ciples s hews it to be groundless. No writer has insisted so much upon the dependance of life upon external causes, or so strongly stated the inevitable consequences of excess: and there are 110 means of promoting morality upon which we can rely, except the know- ledge of the true relations between man and other beings or bodies. For by this know- ledge we are directly led to shun what is hurtful, and pursue what is salutary.” And what stronger motive of temperance can phi- losophy itself inculcate than the Brunonian coctrine does, whop it teaches, feat every BRU act of intemperance and excess tends to ex- haust the very principle of life ? Dr. Beddoes, though he seems to be a de- cided Brunonian, has nevertheless, with great candour as well as judgment, pointed out a few ofthe imperfections of the new doctrine. 1 . He observes, that, as Dr. Brown “ assumes that a certain portion of excitability is origi- nally assigned to every living system, by his very assumption he denies its continual pro- duction, subsequent diffusion, and expendi- ture.” 2. He next objects against the doc- tor’s “ uniformity of operation in stimulants.” “ Heat and wine (he justly observes) can never act in the same manner; for no person is intoxicated by heat.” He adds, “ Had it been once allowed by Brown that the differ- ent constituent parts of the body bear a dif- ferent relation to the same agents, he must have admitted the operation of specific sti- mulants to an unlimited extent.” O 11 the subject of predisposition to disease, he ob- serves, “ that though facts have been noted, the principle lies involved in total obscurity. Brown does not purposely elude the difficul- ty, but his principles lead him beside it ; and we may doubt whether the term predisposi- tion ought in strict propriety to have appear- ed in his Elements ; for predisposition is with him a slight disease, differing only in degree from that into which the person predisposed falls.” 4. “ There are several other opi- nions (he adds) which, in a complete revisal of the Brunonian system, would require par- ticular examination ; such as his doctrine concerning hereditary diseases,” (of. which Brown denies the existence) “ the peculiar state of sthenic inflammation, and the nature of the passions.” 5. And in a note upon Brown’s preface, he styles the doctor’s opi- nion, that ‘ nearly all the diseases of children depend on debility,’ “ a gross and dangerous error,” though he admits that “ thousands of them are cut off at an early period of life, and tens of thousands kept languishing in misery, by asthenic diseases, for want of the necessaries of life.” The following are among the principal ob- jections that have been urged by the oppo- nents of this doctrine. 1. Medicines and the other exciting powers do not act as mere stimuli only. If they did, they must have all one common nature, and differ only in degree; whereas they differ widely in their effects: one produces hilarity, as wine, &c. another coma, as opium ; one poison pro- duces phrenzy, another palsy, a third con- vulsions, Ac. If ipecacuanha operates on the stomach, jalap on the bowels, cream of tartar on the kidneys, and mercury 011 the salivary glands, they must have some pecu- liar or specific qualities superadded to their stimulant power, and the latter must be but a subordinate effect. If bark cures an inter- mittent fever, or mercury the venereal dis- ease, which brandy, opium, and even aether cannot,, then it is the duty of the physician to discover these secret, peculiar, and inex- plicable powers, and to operate by them, without regard to their stimulant effects. 2. In opposition to the Brunonian doctrine, that there is not a direct sedative in nature, it is argued, that fixed air, and the contagion of fever, dysentery, the plague, See. are direct sedatives, which do not stimulate in the smallest degree. 3. It has been urged, that if the new doctrine is true, there ought to be no such thing as an incurable disease. All diseases, whether above or below the point of health, ought to yield to the abstraction or application ofthe stimuli, as long as the ex- citability is not totally exhausted. 4. In short, it has been argued, that if the Bruno- nian system is true, there is no use for noso- logy or physiology ; very little for chemistry or botany, as a few stimuli, with an emetic and cathartic or two, are sufficient to supply a Brunonian laboratory; and not much even for anatomy itself, that grand foundation of medical knowledge. But whatever deficien- cies, imperfections, or inexplicable mysteries, may still adhere to this system, it is allowed, even by its opponents, to have contributed greatly to the improvement of medical prac- tice ; to have considerably diminished the former too frequent prescriptions of copious bleeding on almost every occasion ; and to have lessened the number of evacuant doses, and increased that of corroborant medicines, in many diseases of weakness, where the op- posite practice was manifestly injurious. And it is allowed to be the duty of every medical practitioner to examine it without prejudice or partiality. BRUNSWICK-green, a colour used in paper-hangings, and other coarse kinds of painting in water-colours. It is prepared in any close vessel of wood or earthenware, filled half-full of copper filings or clippings, on which is poured a saturated solution of sal-ammoniac, which together will form the muriate of copper, the ammonia being at the same time disengaged. In a few weeks al- most the whole of the copper inay be con- verted into oxyde ; this being well washed, and slowly dried in the shade, is pure Bruns- wick-green. Three parts of muriate of am- monia, or sal-ammoniac, and two of copper, yield six parts of green. BRUSH, a well-known domestic utensil. The wooden part of brushes is generally of oak, which is cut to its proper size by an instrument like a large knife, fastened down to the block with a staple at one end, in such a manner that it is movable up and down ; to the otliec end is a handle. '1 he wood to be cut is held in the left hand, while the knife is worked wfith the right. The knife is always kept very sharp ; and, by its make and mode of using, hard wood is very readily reduced to any shape and size. This wood, when cut into the proper sizes, is drilled with as many holes as is necessary, and into these the hair or bristle is put. There are brushes of various sorts, shapes, and sizes ; but the structure of them all is the same, or nearly so. When the bristles are spiffed, combed, and picked, a certain portion of them is taken and tied together in the middle with string, or with fine copper or iron wire : in this double state they are taste ened into the wooden stock with glue or with pitch. The ends of the hair are now to be cut off, and the surface to be made even or uniform. Common hearth-brushes and hair-brooms are made in a slighter way. As soon as the stock is brought to its proper shape it is drill- ed, the hairs doubled, and each bundle is put into the hole with some hot cement made with pitch and rosin. In some brushes, the wires are visible on ihe back ; in others the backs are smooth. JR 2 // B IT B there being thin slices of wood glued over tire wires. A patent was obtained in 1804, by Mr. Thomason, for making hearth-brushes, the object of which was to conceal the hair in a neat metal case, into which the hair is drawn by means of rack-work. ’BRYGMUS, among physicians, a grating noise made by the gnashing of teeth, a symp- tom common in epilepsy, and some convul- sive disorders. See Medicine. BRYONIA, bryony, a genus of the syn- genesia order, and' monoecia class of plants ; in the natural method ranking under the 34th order, cucurbitaceae. l he calyx of the male is live-toothed, with a quinquelid corolla, and hree filaments. In the female the calyx is lentated, the corolla quadriiid, the style rilid, with a roundish many-seeded berry. There are 19 species, of which the most re- markable are : 1. Brvonia Africana, African tuberous- rooted bryony. 2. Bryonia alba, rough or white bryony with red flowers, a native of dry banks under hedges in many parts of Britain. 'I he roots of this plant have by impostors been wrought into a human shape, and shown lor man- drakes. Their method was to find a young thriving plant of bryony ; then they opened the earth all round, being careful not to dis- turb the lower fibres ; and being provided with such a mould as is used tor making plan- ter figures, they fixed the mould close to the root, fastening it with wive to keep it in its proper situation ; then they filled the earth about the root, leaving it to grow to the shape of the mould, which in one summer it will do ; so that if don - in March, by September it will have the shape. 1 he leaves ot the plant are also imposed on people for man- have had any notion of butter; their poets make no mention of it, and yet frequent- ly speak of milk and cheese. The Romans used butter no otherwise than as a medicine, never as a food. The antient Christians of Egypt burnt butter in their lamps instead of oil ; and in the Roman churches, it was antiently allowed, during Christmas time, to burn butter instead of oil, on account of the great consumption of it otherwise. BUTTOCK of a ship, is that part of her which is her breadth right astern, from the tack upwards ; and a ship is said to have a broad or a narrow buttock, according as she is' built broad or narrow at the transum. BUTTON, an article of dress, serving to fasten clothes tight about the body, made of metal, silk, mohair, &c, in various forms. Metal buttons are formed two different ways; the blanks, or bases of the button, are either pierced out of a large sheet of metal, or cast. In the latter case, the shanks are previously fixed in the sand, exactly in the centre of the impression formed by each pattern, so as to have their extremities immersed in the melted metal, by which means they ava firmly fixed in the’ button when cooled. The former process is generally used for yellow buttons, and the latter for those ot’ white metal. The metal used for gilt buttons is an alloy of copper and zinc, containing more copper than goes to the composition of brass. This metal is rolled into sheets, and the blanks pierced out ; these are then planished, if for plain buttons; but when ornamented buttons are wanted the die is now struck, unless great nicety is required, when they are wrought, by the hand. The shanks, made with great expedition by a curious engine, are then at- tached to the bottom of each button by a wire clamp, like a pair of sugar-tongs, and a small quantity of solder and resin applied to each. They are then exposed to heat on an iron plate, containing about a gross, till the solder runs, and the shank becomes fixed io the button, after which they are singly put into a lathe, and their- edges turned off' smoothly. 'The surface of (he metal, which has become in a sural! degree oxidated Us 2S2 c. C A A the action of the heat, is to be cleaned by means of diluted nitric acid. The next step in the business is the rough burnishing, which is done in a lathe with a hard black stone, from Derbyshire. After this comes the gilding; which is done by first covering the surface uni- formly with a thin stratum ot mercury, and upon this is to be laid an amalgam, made of mercury and gold ; five grains of gold will cover 1 44 buttons, each one inch in diame- ter. The mercury is now to be volatilized by means of heat. ’ Glass buttons are composed of glass of various colours, in imitation of opal, lapis lazuli, and other stones. The glass is kept in fusion, and the button nipped out of it whilst in its plastic state, by a pair of iron moulds, like those for casting pistol-shot, adapted to the intended form of the button ; the shank having been inserted in the mould so that it may become imbedded in the glass when cool. Shell buttons are those which consist of a back, generally made of bone, without any shank, but corded with catgut, and covered in front with a thin plate of metal struck with a die. The backs are cut out with a brace, the bit of which is a circular saw, and the four holes through which the catgut passes are drilled by four drills moving parallel to each other, and acting at once. They are then corded by children, who tie the catgut on the inside; the cavity is filled with melted resin, and the metal shell applied warm. The button is then pressed between two centres in a lathe, which are forced together by a weight acting on a lever, and the edge of the shell turned down during its revolu- tion with a small burnisher. Button stone, in natural history, a figur- ed stone, so named from its resembling the button of a garment. There are three sorts, which Dr. Hook supposes to have been no- thing but the filling up of three several sorts of shells. They are very hard flints, and consist' of two bodies. 1 his name is also given to a peculiar species of slate, found in some parts of Germany, that runs with ease into glass, in the course of a few hours, with- out the addition of any salt, or other foreign substance, to promote its vitrification. It, in fact, contains in itself all the principles of glass, and from it the Swedes and Germans make glass buttons, the handles of knives, and other articles. BUTTS, or Backs, a name given to that sort of tanned leather which is prepared from the stoutest and heaviest ox hides, and is chiefly used for the soles of shoes. BUXBAUMIA, in botany, a genus of the order musci, belonging to the cryptogamia C A A class of plants ; ranking under the same or- , der, musci, or mosses, in the natural method. ; BUXUS, the box-tree ; a genus of the te- ; trandria order, and moncecia class of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 38th order, tricocca*. The male I calyx is triphyllous ; the germen an em- ! bryo, or imperfect rudiment. The female calyx is tetraphyllous : there are three pe- tals, and as many styles: the capsule is three- beaked and trilocular, with tw o seeds, lliere is one species, with three varieties. 1. Buxus angustifolia, the narrow-leaved box. 2. Buxus arborescens, with oval leaves. These two varieties grow in great plenty upon Boxhill, near Dorking, in Surry. Here were formerly large trees of that kind, but now they are few in number. There are two or three varieties of the 2d sort, which are pro- pagated in gardens ; one with yellow, and the other with white-striped leaves. Another has the tips of the leaves only marked with yellow, and is called tipped box. Both these may be raised from seeds, or propagated by cuttings, planted in autumn in a shady border. The best season for removing these trees is in October; though if care is used to take them up with a ball of earth, they may be transplanted almost at any time, ex- cept the middle of summer. Box wood is extremely hard and smooth, and therefore well adapted to the use of the turner. Combs, mathematical instruments, knife-handles, and button-moulds, are made ot it. It may pro- perly' enough be substituted in default ot ebony, tire yellow alburnum of which it per- fectly resembles. Neither the wood nor tire leaves of the box-tree at present are used for any oth$r medicinal purpose than the distil- lation of an empyreumatie oil; and an oil of nearly the same quality is obtained from al- most every other wood. 3. Buxus suffruticosa, dwarf or Dutch box, commonly used for bordering flower- beds. It is increased by r parting the roots, or planting the slips; but as it makes a great increase of itself, and easily parts, it is hardly worth while to plant the slips that have no roots. For borders to flower-plots, it far excels any other plant. It is of long dura- tion ; is easily kept handsome; and by the firmness of its rooting, keeps the mould in the borders from washing into the gravel walks more effectually than any plant what- eV BUZZAHD. SeeFALCo. BUYING and selling, a transferring of property from one person to another, in •consideration of some price or recompence. On an agreement for goods, the vendee can- not carry them away without payment, un- C. /"'t the third letter of the alphabet. C, in Vv music, is the highest part in the tho- " rou"h-base : again, a simple C, or rather a semicircle, placed after the cliff, intimates that the music is in common time, which is either quick or slow, as it is joined with alle- gro or adagio; if alone, it is usually adagio. K the C is crossed or turned, the first re- quires the air to be played quick, and the last very quick. CAABA, or Caabah, properly signifies a square building, but is particularly applied by the Mohammedans to the temple of Mecca, built, as they pretend, by Abraham, and Ismael his son. It is towards this temple they always turn their faces when they pray. less the vendor agrees to trust him. But if any part of the price is laid down, or any portion of the goods delivered by way of earnest, the vendee may recover the goods by action, as well as the vendor may the price of them. By 29 C. II. c. 3. no contract for the sale of goods, to the value cf 10/. or upwards, shall be valid, unless the payment or delivery be performed, or unless some note in writing be made and signed by the party, or his agent. But if a vendee, after a bargain is struck, tenders the money, and the vendor refuses it, the property ,is absolutely' vested in the vendee. BY-LAW, is a private law made by those who are duly authorised so to do by charter, prescription, or custom, for the preservation of order and good government, within some particular place or jurisdiction. Moor, 583. Every corporation, lawfully erected, has power to make by-laws, or private statutes, for the better government of the corpora- tion ; which are binding upon themselves, unless contrary to the laws of the land, and then they are void. 1 1 Black. 475. BYSSUS, in botany, a genus of mosses, belonging to the order algai, in the crypto- gamia class of plants: the characters are; that the mosses of it are composed of simple and uniform parts, and always appear in form of excrescences, either of a w oolly or of a dusty matter. It seems properly a genus of a middle kin\ eden, either white, or of different shades of green. At a copper-mine in Westmannland, it forms the greatest part of the vein out of which the ore is dug; and by the heat of the furnace which melts the metal, is changed into a pure semitransparent glass. Byssus, in antiquity, that fine Egyptian linen of which the tunics of the Jewish priests were made. BYSTRO POGON,a genus of the didy narnia gymnospermia class and order. The essential character is; cal. five-subulated, bearded at the opening; cor. upper lip bifid, lower trifid ; stam. distant. There are seven species, but none deserving particular notice. in whatever part of the world they happen to be. This, temple enjoys the privilege of an asylum for all sorts of criminals; but it is most remarkable for the pilgrimages made to it by the devout Musselmen, who pay so great a veneration to it, that they believe a single sight of its sacred walls, without any particular act of devotion, is as meritorious CAE C A B C A C 283 in the sight of God, as the most careful dis- charge of their duty, for the space of a w hole year, in any other temple. CAB, an Hebrew dry measure, containing two five-sixths pints of our corn-measure, CABALLEROS, or Cavali.eros, are Spanish wools, of which there is a consider- able trade at Bayonne, in France. cabbage, sec Brassica. Any person who shall steal, or take away, or maliciously pull up and destroy, any tur- nips, potatoes, cabbages, parsnips, peas, or carrots, growing in any lands, & tin- - 3. The third species ot calculi eve me numerous of all. Their colour is cm a ri>-. , j brown or green ; and when broken a ran' her of spermaceti crystals are observable, mix- .'. with the inspissated bile. The calculi belonging to these three spe- cies are soluble in alkalies, in soap ley n in alcohol, and in oils. 4. Concerning the fourth species of gall- stone, very little is known with accunmy. Dr. Saunders tells us that he has met varii some gall-stones insoluble both, in alcohol and oil of turpentine; some of which do not flame, but become red, and consume to an ash like a charcoal. Haller quotes several examples of similar calculi. Gall-stones often occur in the inferior ani- mals, particularly in cows and hogs; but the biliary concretions of these animals have not hitherto been examined with much attention. Calculi, urinary. It is well known that concretions not unfrequently form in die bladder, or the other urinary organs, and oc- casion one of the most dismal diseases to w hich the human species is liable. These concretions were distinguished by the name of calculi, from a supposition that they are of a stony nature.' They have long- attracted the attention of chemists and phy- sicians. Boyle extracted from calculi, by distillation, oil, and a quantity of volatile salts. Boerhaave supposed them compounds of oil and volatile salts. Slare attempted a chemical analysis of them. Hales extracted from them a prodigious quantity of air. He gave them the name of animal tartar, pointed out se- veral circumstances in which they resemble common tartar, and made many experiments to find a solvent of them. Drs. Whytt and Alston pointed out alkalies as solvents of cal- culi. It was an attempt to discover a more perfect solvent that induced Dr. Black to make those experiments, which terminated in the discovery of the nature of the alkaline carbonates. Such was the state of the chemical analysis of calculus, when, in 1776, Scheele published a dissertation on the subject in the Stock- holm Transactions, which was succeeded by some remarks ot Mr. Bergman. These illus- trious chemists completely removed the un- certainty which had hitherto hung over the subject, and ascertained the nature of the calculi which they examined. Since that time considerable additional light has been thrown upon the nature of these concretions by the labours of Austin, Walther, Bn: ■ n;i- telli, Pearson, Ac. But the most important additions to our knowledge of calculi were made by Dr. Wollaston. That ingenious chemist distinguished them into species, and ascertained the composition of each, pointing out several new constituents which had not been suspected before. 2S Q C A L C A L CAL Urinary calculi are usually spheroidal or egg-shaped; sometimes they are polygonous, or resemble a cluster of mulberries ; ami in that case they are distinguished by the epi- thet mulberry. Their size is various; some- times they are very small, and sometimes as large as a goose-egg, or even larger. The colour of some of them is a deep brown, re- sembling that of wood. In some cases they are white, and not unlike chalk ; in others, of a dark grey, and hard. These different co- lours are often intermixed, and occur of va- rious degrees ol intensity. Their surface in some cases is polished like marble; in others, rough and unequal; sometimes they are co- vered with semitransparent crystals. Their specific gravity varies from 1.213 to 1.976. I he substances hitherto discovered in uri- nary calculi are the following : 1. Uric acid, 2. Urat of ammonia, 3. Phosphate of lime, 4. Phosphate of magnesia and ammonia, 5. Oxalate of lime, 6. Carbonate of lime, 7. Silica, 8. Animal matter. It appears from a strict analysis of the different urinary calculi, that all their com- ponent parts exist in urine, except oxalat of lime and silica. But little satisfactory is known concerning the manner in which they are formed, or of the cause of their formation. W henever any solid body makes its way into the bladder, it has been observed that it is soon encrusted with a coat of phosphate of lime; and this first nucleus soon occasions a calculus. Concretions of uric acid seldom or never form in the bladder, unless a primi- tive nucleus has originated in the kidneys. The gravel, which is so frequently emitted by persons threatened with the stone, consists always of this acid. As oxalic acid does not exist in urine, some morbid change must take place in the urine when calculi composed of oxalate of lime are deposited. As our ignorance of the cause of urinary concretions puts it out of our power to pre- vent their formation, the ingenuity of physi- cians has been employed in attempting to discover substances capable of dissolving them after they have formed, and thus to re- lieve the human race from one of the most dreadful diseases to which it is subject. These attempts must have been vain, or their suc- cess must have entirely depended upon chance, till the properties of the concretions themselves had been discovered, and the substances capable of dissolving them ascer- tained by experiment. We shall therefore pass over the numerous lithanthriptics which have been recommended in all ages, and satisfy ourselves with giving an account of the experiments made by Fourcroy and Vau- quelin to dissolve stones by injections through the urethra, made after their analysis of the urinary calculi. The component parts of urinary calculi, as far as solvents are concerned, may be reduced under three heads : 1 . Uric acid and urat of ammonia: 2. the phosphates : 3. oxalate of lime. 1. A solution of pure potass and soda, so weak that it may be kept in the mouth, and even swallowed without pain, soon dissolves calculi composed of uric acid, or urat of am- monia, provided they are kept plunged in it. 2. The phosphates are very quickly dissolv- ed by nitric or muriatic acid, so weak that it may be swallowed without inconvenience, and possessed of no greater acridness than urine itself. 3. Oxalate of lime is much more difficult of solution than the preceding substances. Cal- culi composed of it are slowly dissolved by nitric acid, or by carbonate of potass or soda, weak enough not to irritate the bladder ; hut the action of these substances is slow, and scarcely complete. These solvents, injected into the bladder repeatedly, and retained in it as long as the patient can bear their action without incon- venience, ought to act upon the stone, and gradually dissolve it. The difficulty, how- ever, is to determine the composition of the calculus to be acted. upon, in order to know which of the solvents to employ. But as no method of deciding this point with certainty is at present known, we must try some one of the solvents for once or twice, and examine it after it has been thrown out of the bladder. Let us begin, for instance, with injecting a weak solution of potass ; after it has remained in the bladder half an hour, or longer if the patient can bear it, let the liquid, as soon as passed, be filtred and mixed with a little ! muriatic acid; if any uric acid lias been dis- j solved, a white solution will make its appear- ance. This precipitate is a proof that tire cal- culus is composed of uric acid. If it does not appear, after persevering in the alkaline solu- tion for some days, then there is reason to expect the presence of the phosphates; of course a weak muriatic acid solution should be injected. After this solution is emitted, let it he mixed with ammonia, and the phos- phate of lime will precipitate, it the calculus is composed of it. If neither of these solu- tions takes up any thing, and if the symptoms are not alleviated, we must Have recourse to the action of nitric acid, on the supposition that the calculus is composed of oxalate of lime. These different solutions must be per- sisted in, and varied occasionally as they lose their efficacy, in order to dissolve the differ- ent coats of the calculus. Such are the me- thods pointed out by Fourcroy and Vauque- lin. It is scarcely necessary to observe, that the bladder should be evacuated of urine previous to the injections, and that the injec- tions should be previously heated to the tern- ' perature of the body. CALCULUS, or calculus liumanus, in medicine, the stone in the bladder or kid- neys. See the preceding article. Calculus aiffcreMiaiis , is a method of differencing quantities, that is, of finding an infinitely small quantity, which being taken an infinite number of times, shall he equal to a given quantity. An infinitely small quantity, or infinitesimal, is a portion of a quantity less than any assignable one ; it is therefore accounted as nothing: and hence two quantities differing by an infinitesimal, are reputed equal. The word infinitesimal is merely respective, and implies a relation to another quantity : for example, in astronomy, the diameter of the earth is an infinitesimal in respect of the distance of the fixed stars. It must not, then, be confounded with any real being. Infinitesimals are likewise called differen- tials, or differential quantities, when they are considered as the differences of two quan- 4 titles. Sir Isaac Newton calls them momenta* considering them as momentary increments of quantities: for instance, of a line generated by the flux of a point, of a surface by the flux of a line, or of a solid by the flux of a sur- face. J he calculus ditierentialis, therefore, and the doctrine of fluxions, are the same tiling, under different names ; the latter given by sir Isaac Newton, and the former by Mr. Leibnitz, who disputes with sir Isaac the ho- nour of the discovery. There is, however, one difference between them, which consists in the manner' of expressing the differentials of quantities : Mr. Leibnitz, and most fo- reigners, express them by the same letters as variable ones, prefixing only the letter d ; thus the differential of a- is “called d x, and the differential oft/, dy. And d x is a posi- tive quantity if a continually increase, and a : negative quantity if x decrease. We, on the other hand, following sir Isaac Newton, in- stead of d x, write i (w ith a dot over it), and instead of dy, y. But foreigners reckon this method not so commodious as the former, because if differentials were to be differenced again, the dots would occasion great confu- sion ; not to mention that printers are more apt to overlook a point than a letter. Now as permanent quantities are always expressed by the first letters of the alphabet, da = 0, db = 0, dc — 0; wherefore d O' + y — a) — dx -{- dy, and d (x — y 4- a) — dx — dy. The difference of quanti- ties then, is easily performed by the addi- tion or subtraction of their compounds. To difference two quantities that multiply each other, as xy, multiply the differential of one factor into the other factor, and the sum of the two factors is the differential required, dims the differentials of xy will be xdy-\~ y dx, that is d (xy) — xdy -J -ydx. Again, if there be three quantities mutually multi- plying eacli other, the factum of the two must be multiplied into the differential of the third; thus suppose vxy: letua; = <', and v x y will b G — ty; consequently d (v x y) — t dy -j - ydt: but d i — vdx -f- xdv. If these values therefore are substituted in the antecedent differential tdy -} -ydt, it fol- lows that d (vxy) = vxay -f- vydx + xydv. In the same manner must we pro- ceed when the quantities to be differenced are more than three. But if, while one va- riable quantity increases, the other, y, de- creases, it is evident that ydx — xdy Mill be the differential ofxy. The rule for differencing quantities that mutually divide each other, is first to multi- ply the differential of the divisor into the di- vidend ; and, on the contrary, the differen- tial of the dividend into the divisor. 2. To subtract the first product from the last. 3. To divide the remainder by the square of the divisor, and the quotient is the differen- tial of the quantities mutually dividing each other. For instance, let xy .- v z be to be differenced: suppose xy — t, and vz = zv; then xy: vz wifi be equal to t : zv. But d (t : zv) = (zvdt — t d zc) : iv 2 ; and dt = r xdy ydx, div = vdz -j- zdv. Wherefore d (t : zv) — d (xy : vz) — (vz xdy + vzydx — xyvdz — xyzdr) : v 2 z 2 . For a farther ac- count of the doctrine of the differentials, see Fluxions. Calculus cxponentialis, among mathe- maticians, a method of differencing exponen- CAL CAL CAL trial quantities. By an exponential quantity is meant a power, the exponent of which is varia- X .V hie, as x , a . In order to difference an ex- ponential quantity, nothing else is required than to reduce the exponential quantities to loga- rithmic ones, upon which the differencing is managed as in logarithmic ones. For instance, suppose the differential of the exponential quantity x y were required. Let x y — 2 then will ylx — l z Ixily -(- ydx : x — dz : z zlxdy -j- zydx : .v— dz. That is, / Ixdy -4- yx dx — dz. If the exponential quantity to be differenced be of the J second degree, as v , suppose as before y then will x lv — Iz (a" Ixdy — J- yx^ dv) lv -f- .v dv : v zzz dz : z y y — — 1 y z (x Ixdy -J— yx J dx) lv -j- z.x dv : v x= dz that is, X y y v (x Ixdy -j- yx d v dz 1 , , . , * “ 1 dx) lv -j- v v or, v y i y v y * y — l , a* «u x Ixlvdy v jtv Ivdx -j- v v 1 x y dv = dz. By the same method may be found the differential of exponential quantity of any power. This calculus was invented by Mr. John Bernouilli, and is used in investigating the properties of exponential curves. See Exponential Curve. Calcui.us inlegrulis, or summatorius, is a method of summing up differential quanti- ties ; that Is, from a differential quantity from whose differencing the given differential re- sults. It is the inverse of the calculus differen- tialis ; whence the English, who usually call tiie differential method fluxions, give this calculus, which ascends from the fluxions to the flowing quantities, or, as Wolfius and other foreigners express it, from the differ- ences to the sums, the name of the inverse method of fluxions. Let j be the sign of the sum, or integral quan- tity, so that sydx may denote the integral of the differential ydx. To integrate or sum up a diffe- rential quantity, 1. It is demonstrated that sdx — x. 2°. s (dx ZjZ dy) — x y- 3 . s (xdy -j- ydx) 4°. smx n) : : — 1 dx xx. x 5°. i (n : m) — xy. J dx — x . 6°. j (ydx — xdy ) : y 2 — x : y. Of these the fourth and fifth cases occur most frequently, in which the differential quantity is integrated, if a variable unity is added to the exponent, and the sum divided by the new exponent, multiplied into the differen- tial of the root, as in the fourth case by (m — 1 -j- 1) dx, that is, by mdx. If the differential quantity to be integrated, do not come under any of these formulas, it must either be reduced to an integrable finite, or an infinite series each of whose terms may be summed. This calculus is applied to geometry, in the quadrature and rectification of curves, in cubing solids and measuring their surfaces, in the inverse method of tangents, and in the doctrine of logarithms. It may be remarked, that as in the analysis of iinites, any quantity may be raised to any given power ; blit, vice versa, the root can- not be extracted out of any number required : so in the analysis of infinites, any variable or flowing quantity may be differenced ; but, vice versa, any differential cannot be inte- grated. And as in the analysis of iinites, we are not yet arrived at a method of extract- ing roots of all equations, so neither has the integral calculus arrived at perfection : and as in the former we are obliged to have re- course to approximation, so in the latter we have recourse to a perfect integration. See Series. Calculus, antecedental. A geometrical method of reasoning without any considera- tion of motion or velocity, applicable to every purpose to which fluxions have been or can be applied. It was invented by Mr. Glenie, who derived it from an examination of the antecedents of ratios, having given consequents, and a given standard of com- parison in the several degrees of augmenta- tion and diminution, which they undergo by composition and decomposition. CALEA, in botany, a genus of the polyga- mia scqualis order and syngenesia class of plants, and in the natural method ranking un- der the 49th order, composite. The recep- tacle is paleaceous, the pappus hairy, and the calyx imbricated. There are seven spe- cies. CALENDAR. See Almanac. The first calendar was made by Romulus, who divided the year into ten months only, beginning on the first day of March, and con- taining 304 days, in which time he imagined the sun performed his course through all the seasons. This calendar was reformed by Numa Pompilius, who added two months more, viz. January and February, placing them before March : his year began on the first of January, and consisted of 355 days. This was afterwards improved by Julius C;e- sar, and was by him called the Julian ac- count, which reduced the year to 365 days, 6 hours ; and was retained in most protestant countries, and in our nation till the year 1752. This year is disposed into quadriennial pe- riods, whereof the first three years, which were called common, consisted of 365 days, and the fourth, bissextile, of 366. The Julian account was afterwards corrected by pope Gregory XIII. which on that account obtain- ed tiie name of the Gregorian calendar, or new style, the Julian being called the old style ; and though the Gregorian calendar is preferable to the J ulian, yet it is not without its defects. When pope Gregory had reformed the ca- lendar, hq, ordered all the ecclesiastics under his jurisdiction to conform to this new mode of reckoning ; and he exhorted the Christian princes, within the pale of his authority, to adopt it in their dominions. It was accord- ingly introduced without delay into all ca- tholic countries. In Spain, Portugal, and part of Italy, it was received on the same day as at Rome ; but in France not till some months after. The catholic states in Ger- many adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1583 ; but the protestant states refused it. Hence arose a difference of 10, and after- wards 11, days, between the methods of 287 reckoning used in catholic and protestant countries. The protestant states in Germa- ny reformed their calendar in 1700. Butin this country the new style was net introduced till September, 1752; on the 2d of that month the old style ceased, and the next day was called the 1 4th, instead of the 3d. The act of parliament which altered the style, changed also the beginning of the year from the 25th of March to the 1st of January. Dr. Playfair, in his Chronology, has taken some pains to shew that the method of inter- calation used in the Gregorian calendar is not quite accurate. It supposes the tropical year to consist of 365 d. 5 h. 4y ; 12 " , whereas recent observations have shewn it to be 365 d. 5 h. 48' 45| // . The following interca- lations ought to be made instead of those de- termined on by pope Gregory. 4- — + _ _j_ + ! ~r 4* 4 17 33 128 545 673 801 929 T’ T’ + IT’ si’ T~32’ Tes’ T99 3 225 ’ - — , &c. &c. 256 so that one day is to be inter- caiated in the space of four years ; or, more accurately, four days in 17 years; or still more accurately, eight days in 33 years ; or 31 days in 128 years, and so on. The signs -j- and — indicate, 1 hat the number of inter- calary days above which they are placed is too great or too small. Julian Christian Calendar, that in which the days of the week are determined by the letters A, B, C, D, E, F, G; by means of the solar cycle, and the new and full moons, especially the paschal full moon, with the feast of Easter, and the other moveable feasts depending thereon, by means of golden numbers rightly disposed through the Julian year. Gregorian Calendar, that which, by means of epacts rightly disposed, through the several months, determines the new and full moons, and the time of Easter, with the moveable feasts depending thereon, in the Gregorian year. Therefore the Gregorian calendar differs from the Julian, both in the form of the year, and in that epacts are sub- stituted instead of golden numbers. Reformed, or corrected Calendar, that which, setting aside golden numbers, epacts, and dominical letters, determines the equi- nox, with the paschal full moon, and the moveable feasts depending thereon, by astro- nomical computations, according to the Ru- dolphine tables. CALENDER, a machine used in manu- factories, to press certain woollen and silken stuffs, and linens, to make them smooth, even, and glossy, or to give them waves, or water them, as may be seen in mohairs and tabbies. This instrument is composed of two thick cylinders, or rollers, of very hard and polished wood, round which the stuffs to be calendered are wound : these rollers are placed crossways between two very thick boards, the lower serving as a fixed base, and the upper moveable, by means of a thick screw, with a rope fastened to a spindle,, which makes its axis : the uppermost board is loaded with large stones cemented toge- ther, weighing 20,000 lb. or more. It is this weight that gives the polish, and makes the waves on the stuffs about the rollers, by CAL C A L 288 CAL weans of a shallow indenture or engraving cut in it. CALENDS, in Roman antiquity, the first day in each month, so called from the Greek x#Xsiy, to proclaim: it being customary on those days to proclaim the number of holi- days in each month. The Roman method ot reckoning the days of their months has something extremely singular in it: instead of computing forwards, in the natural order of the numbers 1, 2,3, &c. they reckoned backwards, in the manner expressed in the following verses: Prima clies mensis cujusque est dicta ca- lender. : Sex Mains, norms, Julius, October, etMars; Quatuor at reliqui: habet id us quilibet octo ; Inde dies reliq'uos omnes die esse caltndas ; Quas retro numerans, dices a mense se- quente. Hence, to find the day of our month an- swering to that of the calends, to the number of days in the preceding mouth add two, and from this sum subtracting the number of ca- lends given, the remainder will be the day of our month : thus the fourth of the calends of June is found to answer to the 29th of May ; and so on in other cases. CALEN DULA, in botany, the marigold, a genus of the polygamia necessaria order, in the syngenesia class of plants, and in the natural method ranking under the 49th or- der, compositae. The receptacle is naked, there is no pappus, the calyx is polyphyllous and equal, the seeds of the disk membrana- ceous. There are 14 species, none of them natives of Europe. The common kind is so well known as to need no description ; and none of the others merit any, except Calendula fruticosa, which in 1759 was introduced from the Cape of Good Hope. It has a slender shrubby perennial stalk, which rises to the height of seven or eight feet, but requires support. It may be propa- gated by cuttings. CALIBER compasses, the name of a par- ticular instrument used by gunners for mea- ruring the diameters of shot, shells, &c. as also the cylinder of cannon, mortars, and howitzers. They resemble other compasses, except in their legs, which are arched, in or- der that the points may touch the extremi- ties of the arch. To find the true diameter of a circle, they have a quadrant fastened to one leg, and passing through the other, mark- ed with inches and parts,' to express the dia- meter required : the length of each ruler or plate is usually between the limits of six inches and a foot. On these rulers are a va- riety of scales, tables, proportions, &c. such as are esteemed useful to be known by gun- ners. The following articles are on the com- pletest gunner’s-callipers, viz. 1. The mea- sure of convex diameters in inches. 2. Of concave ditto 3. The weight of iron shot from given diameters. 4.Theweightrofiron shot from given gun-bores. 5. The degrees of a semi- circle, 6. The proportion of troy and avoir- dupois weight. 7. The proportion of Eng- lish and French feet and pounds. 8. Factors used in circular and spherical figures. 9. Tables of the specific gravity and weights of bodies. 10. Tables of the quantity of pow- der necessary for proof and service of brass and iron guns. 1 1. Rules for computing the number of shot or shells in a finished pile. 12. Rule concerning the fall of heavy bodies. 13. Rules for raising of water. 14. Rules for firing artillery and mortars. 15. A line of inches, I6i Logarithmetic scales of num- bers, sines, versed sines, and tangents. 17. A sectoral line ot equal parts, or the line of lines. IS. A sectoral line of plans and su- perficies, 19. A sectoral fine or solids. See Plate. CALIDUCT, in antiquity, a kind of pipes, or canals, disposed along the walls of houses and apartments, used by the antients for conveying heat to several remote parts of the house from one common furnace. CALIPH, the supreme ecclesiastical dig- nity among the Saracens ; or, as it is other- wise defined, a sovereign dignity among the Mahometans, vested with absolute authority in all matters relating both to religion and policy. It signifies in the Arabic, successor or vicar : the Saracen princes assumed this title as descendants from Mahomet ; the ca- liphs bearing the same relation to Mahomet that the popes pretend they do to Jesus Christ, or St. Peter. It is at this day one of the grand signior’s titles, as successor of Ma- homet ; and of the sophi of Persia, as suc- cessor of Ali . CALIXTINS, in church history, a sect of Christians, in Bohemia and Moravia : the principal point in which they differed from the church, was the use of the chalice, or communicating in both kinds. It is also a name given to those, among the Lutherans, who follow the sentiments of George Ca- lixtus, a celebrated divine, who opposed the opinion of St. Augustine on predestination, grace, and free-will. CALLA, African, or Ethiopian arum, a genus of the polyandria order, in the gynan- dria class of plants, and in the natural me- thod ranking under the second order, pipe- rita:. The spatha is plain ; the spadix co- vered with florets ; there is no calyx ; no petals ; and the berries are monospermous. There are four species, the most beautiful of which is the calla TEthiopica. It is a na- tive of the Cape, and requires the shelter of a greenhouse. It propagates very easily by offsets. It resembles the arum, but the flower, or rather the spathe, is white. CALLICARPA, a genus of the class and order tetrandria monogynia. The essential character is, calyx four-cleft ; corolla four- cleft ; berry four-seeded. There are seven species, trees and shrubs, of North America and the West Indies. CALLICO, a kind of manufacture made of cotton. It takes its name from Callicut, a city on the coast of Malabar, where it was first manufactured. In the East Indies the callicoes are all painted by the hand, which is performed with great expedition. From these we derive our Callico -printing, which is the art of communicating different colours to particu- lar spots or figures on the surface of the cloth, while the other' parts retain its origi- nal whiteness. This art, or rather that to which we have just referred, has been prac- tised in India for more than 2000 years. But in London callico-printing w r as not intro- duced till about the year 1676, since which it has been encouraged by several acts of parliament. This art consists in impregnating those parts of the cloth which are to receive a colour, with a mordant, and then dyeing it as usual 11 ' 1 with some dye-stuff or other. The dye* stuff attaches itself firmly only to that part of the cloth which has received the mordant. The whole surface of the cotton is indeed more or less tinged, but by washing, and bleaching it for some days on the grass with the wrong side uppermost, all the un- mordanted parts resume their original colour, while those which have received the mordant retain it. Suppose that a piece of white cot- ton cloth is to receive red stripes ; all the parts on which the stripes are to appear are pen- cilled over with a solution of acelite of alu- mina ; after this, the doth is dyed in the usual manner with madder. When taken out of the dyeing vessel, it is all of a red co- lour, but by washing and bleaching, the mad- der leaves every part of the cloth white, ex- cept the stripes impregnated with the acetite of alumina, which remain red. In the same manner may yellow stripes, or any other wished-for figure, be given to cloth, by substituting quercitron bark, weld, &c. tor madder. When different colours are to be given to different parts of the cloth at the same time, it is done by impregnating it with various mordants. Thus, if stripes are drawn upon a cotton cloth with acetite of alumina, and other stripes with acetite of iron, and the cloth af- terwards dyed in the usual way with madder, and then washed and bleached, it will be striped red and brown. The same mordants with quercitron bark, give yellow and olive, or drab. The mordants chiefly employed in callico- printing, are acetite ot alumina, and acetite of iron. These mordants are applied to the cloth, either with a pencil, or by means of blocks, on which the pattern, according to which the cotton is to be printed, is cut. As they are ap- plied only to particular parts of the cloth, care must be taken that none of them spread to the part of the cloth which is to be left white, and that they do not interfere with one another when several are applied. If these precautions are not attended to, all tile elegance and beauty of the print must be destroyed. It is necessary, therefore, that the mordants should be of siich a degree of consistence, that they will not spread beyond those parts of the cloth on which they are applied. This is done by thickening them with flour or starch, when they are to be applied by the block: and with gum-arabic, when they are to be put on by a pencil. The thickening should never be greater than is sufficient to prevent the spreading of the mordants ; when carried too far, the cotton is apt not to he sufficiently sa- turated with the mordants; of course the dye takes but imperfectly. In order that tire parts of the cloth impreg- nated with mordants may be distinguished by their colour, it is usual to tinge the mordants with some colouring matter or other. The printers commonly use the decoction of Brazil- wood for this purpose ; but Dr. Bancroft has objected to this method, because lie thinks that tire Brazil-wood colouring matter impedes the subsequent process of dyeing. It \s certain that the colouring matter of the Brazil-wood is displaced, during that opera- tion, by the superior affinity of the dye-stuff of the mordants. Was it not for this superior affinity, the colour would not take at all. Dr. Bancroft advises to colour the mordant C A L CAL CAL 2-89 with some of the dye stuff afterwards to be applied ; and he cautions the using of more for that purpose, than is sufficient to make the mordant distinguishable when ap- plied to the cloth. The reason of this pre- caution is obvious. If too much dye is mixed with the mordant, a great propor- tion of the mordant will be combined with colouring matter, which must weaken its affinity for the cloth, and of course prevent it from combining with it in sullicient quan- tity to ensure a permanent dye. Sometimes these two mordants are mixed together in different proportions ; and some- times one or both is mixed with an infusion of sumach, or of nut-galls. By these contriv- ances, a great variety of colours are produced by the same dye-stuff. After the mordants have been applied, the cloth must be completely dried. It is proper for this purpose to employ artificial heat, which will contribute something towards the separation of the acetous acid from its base, and towards its evaporation, by which the mordant will combine in a greater proportion, j and more intimately with the cloth. When the cloth is sufficiently dried, it is to be washed with warm water and cow-dung, till all the flour, or gum, employed to thicken the mordants, and all those parts of the mor- dants which are uncombined with the Cloth, are removed. The cow-dung serves to entangle these loose parts of the mordants, and to pre- vent them from combining with those parts of the cloth which are to remain white. After this, the cloth is thoroughly rinsed in clean water. Almost the only dye stuffs employed by cal lico-pr inters* are indigo, madder, and quer- citron bark, or weld. This last substance, however, is but little used by the printers of this country, except for delicate greenish yellows. The quercitron bark has almost superseded it, because it gives colours equally good, and is much cheaper and more convenient, not requiring so great a heat to fix it. Indigo, not requiring any mordant, is commonly applied at once, either with a block or a pencil. It is prepared by boiling together indigo and potash made caustic by quick-lime, and orpiment ; the solution is afterwards thick- ened with gum. It must be carefully secluded from the air, otherwise the indigo would soon be regenerated, which would render the solu- tion useless. Dr. Bancroft has proposed to substitute coarse brown sugar for orpiments : it is equally efficacious in decomposing the indigo, and rendering it soluble ; while it like- wise serves all the purposes of gum. Let us now give an example or two of the manner in which the printers give particular colours to catlicoes. Some callicoes are only printed of one colour, others have two, others three or more, even to the number of eight, ten, or twelve. The smaller the number of colours, the fewer in general are the processes. 1. One of the most common colours on cotton prints, is a kind of nankeen yellow of various shades down to a deep yellowish brown, or drab. Tt is usually in stripes or spots. To produce it, the printers besmear a block, cut out into the figure of the print, with acetite of iron, thickened with gum or flour ; and apply it to the cotton, which, after being dried and cleaned in the usual manner, is jplunged into a potash ley. The quantity o acetite of iron is always proportioned to the depth of the shade. 2. For yellow the block is besmeared with acetite of alumina. The cloth, after receiving this mordant, is dyed with quercitron bark, and then bleached. 3. Red is communicated by the same process ; only madder is substituted for the bark. 4. The line light blues which appear so often on printed cottons, are produced by apply- ing to the cloth, a block besmeared with a composition, consisting partly of wax, which covers all those parts of the cloth which are to remain white. The cloth is then dyed in a cold indigo vat ; and after it is dry, the wax composition is removed by hot water. 5. Li- lac, liea brown, and blackish brown, are given by means of acetite of iron ; the quantity of which is always proportioned to the depth of the shade. For very deep colours, a little sumach is added. The cotton is afterwards dyed in the usual manner w ith madder, and I hen bleached. 6. Dove-colour and drab, by acetite of iron, and quercitron bark. When different colours are to appear in the i same print, a greater number of operations are necessary. 1 wo or more blocks are em- ployed, upon each of which, that part of the print only is cut, which is to be of some par- ticular colour. These are besmeared with different mordants and applied to the cloth, which is afterwards dyed as usual. Let us suppose, for instance, that these blocks are applied to cotton, one with acetite of alu- mina, another with acetite of iron, a third with a mixture of those two mordants, and that the cotton is then dyed with quercitron bark, and bleached. 1 he parts impregnated with the mordants would have the following- colours. Acetite of alumine, Yellow. y; — iron, Olive, drab, dove. I he mixture, Olive green, olive. If part of the yellow is covered over with the indigo liquor, applied with a pencil, it will be converted into green. By the same liquid, blue may be given to such parts of the print as require it. It the cotton is dyed with madder, instead of quercitron bark, 'the print will exhibit the following colours. Acetite of alumine. Red. y~ "iron, Brown, black. I lie mixture, Purple. \\ hen a great number of colours are to ap- pear ; for instance, when those communicated by bark, and those by madder, are wanted at the same time, mordants for part of the pattern are to be applied ; the cotton is then to be dyed in the madder bath, and bleached : then the rest of tire mordants, to fill up the pattern, are added, and the cloth is again dyed with quercitron bark, and bleached. 1 he second dyeing does not much affect the madder colours ; because the mordants, which render them permanent, are already saturated. The yellow tinge is easily re- moved by the subsequent bleaching. Some- times a new mordant is also applied to some ot the madder colours, in consequence of which, they receive a new permanent co- lour from the bark. After the last bleaching, new colours may be added by means of the indigo liquor. The following table will give an idea ot the colours, which may be given to cotton by these complicated processes. I. Madder dye. Acetite of alumine, -iron, • -diluted, Both, mixed. Colours. Red. Brown, black. Lilac. Purple. II. Bark dye. Acetite of alumine, iron. Lilac and acetite of alumine. Red and acetite of alumine, Yellow. Dove, drab. Olive. Orange. III. Indigo dye. Indigo, Blue. Indigo and yellow. Green. Thus no less than \2 colours may be made to appear together in the same print, by these different processes. These instances will serve to give the reader an idea of the nature of callico-printing, and at the same time afford an excellent illustra- tion of the importance of mordants in dyeing. If it was possible to procure colours suf- ficiently permanent, by applying them at once to the cloth by the block or the pencil, as is the case with the mordants, the art of callico printing would be brought to the -greatest possible simplicity ; but at present, this can only be done in one case, that of in- digo ; every other colour requires dyeing. Compositions, indeed, may be made, by pre- viously combining the dye stuff’ and the mor- dants. Thus yelloiv may be applied at once, by employing a mixture of the infusion of quercitron bark and acetite of alumine; red, by mixing the same mordant with the de- coction of alumine, and so on. The colours applied in this way are, unfortunately, far inferior in permanency to those produced when the mordant is previously combined with the cloth, and the dye stuff’afterwards ap- plied separately. In this way are applied almost all the fugitive colours of calli- coes, which washing, or even exposure to the air, destroys. As the application of colours in this way cannot always be avoided by cal- lico-printers, every method of rendering them more permanent is an object of im- portance. CALLIGONUM, in botany, a genus of the polyandria digynia class of plants, hav- ing no flower; the fruit is an oval, com- pressed, striated, hairy pericarpium, with bifid tops, turning backwards ; the seed is single. There are three species. callisia, in botany, a genus of the monogynia order, in the triandria class of plants, and iri the natural method ranking under the 6th order, ensatax The calyx is triphyllcms ; the petals are three ; the' an- thers are double ; ami the capsule is bilocu- lar. There is but one species, a native of America. CALLITRICHE, or star-grass, in bo- tany, a genus of the digynia "order, in the monandria class-of plants, and in the natural method ranking under the 1 2th order, holo- raceax It has no calyx, but two petals, and the capsule is bilocular and tetraspermous. There are two species. CALLUS, or callosity, anycutaneous, cor- neous, or osseous hardness, whether natural or preternatural : but most frequently it means the callus generated about the edges of a fracture, provided by nature to preserve the fractured bones, or 'divided parts, in the C A L CAL CAL 2#Q situation in which they are replaced by the surgeon. See Surgery. CALODEND RUM, a genus of the. class and order pentandria monogynia. The es- sential character is, calyx spreading, five-pe- ia'sied ; nuct. five-leaved ; capsule five-celled. 'There is one species, a native of the Cape. CALOGERI,in church history, monks of the Greek church, divided into three de- grees : the novices, called archari ; the ordi- nary professed, called inicrocheini ; and the more perfect, called megalochemi: they are likewise divided into coenobites, anchorets, and recluses. The coenobites are employed in reciting their office from midnight to sun- set. The anchorets retire from the conver- sation of the world, and live in hermitages, in the neighbourhood of the monasteries; they cultivate a little spot of ground, and never go out but on Sundays and holidays to perform their devotions at the next monas- tery. As for the recluse, they shut them- selves up in grottoes and caverns, on the tops of mountains, from which they never go out, abandoning themselves entirely to Provi- dence. They live on the alms sent them by the neighbouring monasteries. CALOMEL. See Materia Medica. CALOPHYLLUM, in botany, a genus of the polyandria monogynia class»of plants, whose. Corolla consists of four roundish, hol- low, patent petals, and is larger than the cup ; the fruit is a large globose drupe. T here are two species. GALOP 1C, a word used to denote that substance by which the phenomena of heat arc produced. Philosophers formerly differed in opinion respecting the causes of those phenomena ; ancl there were many who considered them merely as the effect of the mechanical changes of bodies, and some even admitted an active principle of cold. At present, however, it is al- most unanimously agreed, that these effects are produced by a peculiar matter which has re- ceived the name of caloric ; and which, in general, enables us to explain those appear- ances fully, and in a satisfactory manner. Caloric is an uneonfinable fluid, highly elas- tic, and so very subtle that its gravity has not yet been ascertained. It is diffused through all natural bodies, with which it is more or less combined, according as their affinities for it are greater or less. We are pot acquainted with any body that does not enter into combination with it ; nor any from which the utmost endeavours could en- tirely separate it:* and caloric, therefore, is not to be had in a pure state in nature: hence chemists, when mentioning the con- stituent parts of bodies, pay no regard to the presence of caloric, but consider it as under- stood of course. All bodies are combined in someway with a certain portion of caloric ; or, to express it in other words, the particles of every substance are intermixed in a variable proportion with the particles of caloric, and kept probably apart by them. Hence the elementary particles of bodies do not, in fact, touch each other; and this is manifest from the property which ail bodies possess, of being contracted info a leaser volume when deprived of heat. See Pyrom eter. Caloric, being a substance perfectly elas- tic, whose component particles would expand ad infinitum if no* impeded, all bodies com- bined. with them, ought likewise to expand ad infinitum, if there existed no power which acted in direct opposition to its elasticity. This power is the mutual attraction of the particles, or cohesion. All material bodies, therefore, are continually acted upon by two powers, which tend more or less to equipoise each other ; one causes the particles of bo- dies to recede from each other, and by the other they tend to approximate. The proportion of each of these powers determines the exterior form of bodies. If cohesion predominates, then the bodies are solid ; but if this power be overcome, then the particles are further removed, and their volume is proportionally increased. Finally, if caloric predominates to such a degree that the particles of bodies are placed out of the sphere of their reciprocal attraction, they lose their aggregation, and appear no longer in the form of solids, but become liquid or gaseous. But if there existed no other power but the two already mentioned, bodies would not remain liquid ; for, on increasing the heat, they would immediately pass from the solid to tiie aeriform, or gaseous state. But there is a third power, which, by acting at the same time, preserves them in an interme- diate or liquid state. This power is the pres- sure of the atmosphere, without which there would be no liquid in nature, for all bodies would be either solid or aeriform. Hence all bodies, from their combination with calo- ric, may exist in three different states, which result from, 1. 'The power of attraction by which bodies cohere. 2. T he quantity of caloric with w hich the substance is combined. 3. The greater or less pressure of the at- mosphere. T he means by which a solid body may be changed into a liquid are, therefore : 1 . A combination with a new and sufficient quan- tity of caloric, and 2. An union with another body already liquid. The operation by which a body is rendered liquid, according to the first method, is termed fusion, the theory of which is clear from what has been advanced. In the second case, a body be- comes liquid, if the quantity of caloric, in the liquid body added, be sufficient to remove the elementary particles of the new com- pound, to such a distance as will enable them to move freely in all directions. A liquid body is rendered solid, 1. By the loss of a portion of its caloric. 2. By com- bining it with -another solid body. In the former case, a body parts with that por- tion of caloric whereby it overcame (lie repelling force of the molecules, which now approach nearer to each other ; so that they are again acted upon by cohesion. This change of bodies is termed congelation. In the latter ease, the compound body be- comes solid, if the caloric, present in the li- quid, be not sufficient to prevent the" attrac- tion of the constituent particles of the new body, so as to cause it to be acted upon by cohesion. A liquid is changed into the state of gas, 1 . By being combined with a quantity of ca- loric sufficient to equipoise the pressure of the atmosphere. 2. If the pressure of the atmosphere is either sufficiently diminished, or totally removed. A gas becomes liquid, 1. By the loss of that superabundant portion of caloric which resisted tlie pressure of the atmosphere. 2. By sufficiently increasing that pressure. Hence, in every elastic fluid, two principal objects are to be considered : first, the ca- loric which gives its exterior form, viz. that of gas. Secondly, the body dissolved by the caloric, and by which the peculiar chemical properties of the gas are determined. This latter is generally termed the base, which we must be cautious not to confound with the gas itself. Caloric continually tends to form an equi- librium. Hence it is, that, if two bodies of the same nature (for instance, two pieces of the same metal) be unequally heated, or im- bued with different portions of caloric, and brought into contact with each other, the ca- loric equally diffuses itself throughout the two bodies ; and the quantities of caloric, in each body, will bear the same proportion to each other as the masses themselves. But, supposing the two bodies to be of a different kind, in that case, though the caloric would also form an equilibrium, and each body would indicate the same temperature to the thermometer, v et the proportions of caloric in eacli body, will not be as the masses, but will vary according as the bodies differ. T his property ofbodies, to require different quan- tities of caloric to indicate the same tempe- rature to the thermometer, was termed by Dr. Black, the capacity of a body for heat ; but the quantity of caloric itself he Called spe- cific heat. The cause of this -phenomenon arises from the different degrees of affinity which different bodies possess for caloric, and from which the capacities, and various points of saturation, of different bodies may be estimated. When any body is in equilibrio with the bodies which surround it, with respect to its caloric, that quantity which it contains is not perceptible by any external sign or organ of sense, and is termed combined caloric, or, according to Black, latent heat. But, if the latent heat, from any cause, is forced, in some degree, to quit a body, and to com- bine with those that surround it, then such caloric is said to be free or sensible until the equilibrium is restored. It is this caloric in a free state which acts upon our organs, and excites that sensation which we term warmth ; and it is this alone which we can ascertain by the thermometer. T he temperature of a body is, therefore, the termination of the rarefaction of the mercury, at the instant when its caloric has established an equilibrium with that of the body. The equilibrium of calorie is destroyed by the following causes : 1. A change of the ca- pacities in bodies by chemical analysis or synthesis. 2. External mechanical pressure. As to the former, the reason of the se- paration or addition of caloric is to be sought for from the general laws of chemical compo- sition, viz. that a compound body pos- sesses properties different from its constituent parts. Hence the capacity of the compound body is not always a mean between the sum of the capacities o"t its constituent parts, but is oftentimes greater or less ; and, on account of this greater or less capacity of a compound body, caloric, at the moment the constituent parts unite, is either expelled or attracted from surrounding bodies. In the former case, the temperature of the surrounding bo- dies is increased-, in the latter it is diminished. When a body, whose temperature has been CAL raised, comes into contact with several other bodies of lower temperatures, then the caloric endeavours to form an equilibrium ; and that of the first body, because it is this especially, which causes a change in the equilibrium, diffuses itself throughout the se- cond, and thence throughout the third, and so in succession till all their temperatures are equal. The intermediate bodies, through which caloric permeates, are called con- ductors of heat ; and, as they convey it more or less quickly, they are said to be good or bad conductors. ' All bodies possess the property of communicating caloric, but according to different degrees, being hence termed good or bad conductors. Hitherto we know of but one exception, which is in congealed water or ice. This body imbibes all the caloric wlrich it receives from other bodies ; nor does it communicate the least quantity to such as lie contiguous to it, until the quan- tity of caloric it has absorbed has rendered it li- quid. The water produced follows again the general law, and becomes a conductor ot heat. Therefore, if a body of a certain temperature is brought into contact with ice, it will im- part to the ice its own caloric, till it has de- scended to the temperature of the ice itself; and we shall see that only as much of the ice returns to the state of water as the caloric, which it had imbibed, could liquefy, 1 his, however, is that portion of caloric, which had raised the body from the temperature of the ice to that which it possessed previously to the experiment, and which we have deno- minated specific heat. Moreover, since equal quantities of caloric ought to liquefy equal quantities of ice, it follows, that the specific heat of bodies, under like circum- stances, is in a direct ratio of the quantities of ice which they can liquefy when brought into contact. From the foregoing observations we may draw the following conclusions : 1. If equal quantities of the same body, at the same temperature, come severally into contact with ice, then equal quantities of ice will be changed into the liquid state of water, and such bodies will descend to the tem- perature of the ice. 2. If unequal quantities of the same body is treated in a similar manner, then the quan- tities of the ice liquefied will he in a direct ra- tio of the quantities of the body. 3. But, if equal quantities of different bo- dies are treated in this way, then the quantities of the ice liquefied will he in a direct ratio of the quantities of caloric which those bodies have lost; or, mother words, they will be in a direct ratio of the quantities of caloric which caused those bodies to ascend from the temperature of the ice to that which they possessed at the beginning of the experiment: and therefore, as the masses of the bodies were equal, they will be in a direct ratio of their specific heat, and in a direct ratio ot their own capacities for caloric. These experiments not only demonstrate, that different bodies, in reality, possess dif- ferent capacities for caloric ; but they like- wise shew us the means by which we are ena- bled to measure the relative quantities which thev contain. Heat and cold, with respect to our senses, are distinguished by those perceptions which are the effect either of an augmentation, or diminution of caloric, in the animal C A L body, ■whenever we approach au object whose temperature is either higher or lower* than that which we ourselves possess. But the perception is always modified by the state ot the organs, and the temperature they have been before exposed to. Hence not only one person shall feel cold, another warm, in the same atmosphere ; but it we plunge our hands for some time, the one into hot, the other into cold water, and suddenly transfer them both into water of the heat ot the blood, the same water will distinctly impress on our perceptions both heat and cold. It follows, that our perceptions are not a just criterion of the state of bodies as 4o their tempera- ture. Incandescence and flame are observed in the rapid disengagement ot caloric and light. The first effect of this disengagement is in- flammation ; and these phenomena, taken collectively, excite in us that idea which is expressed by the word fire. Among the various states of heat, it is ne- cessary that we should consider caloric in two points’ of view. First, as it elevates bodies above the temperature of the surrounding medium, where it is known by the term sensible heat, and which we can measure either by a common thermometer or by Wedgewood’s pyrometer. Secondly, the whole quantity of caloric existing in a body in che- mical union, where it is known by the term absolute heat, the quantity of which is as- certained by the calorimeter of La Place. From the principal laws which caloric follows in its combination with other bodies, and from the properties already recited, many phe- nomena may he explained which occur in the chemical solution of bodies, and in which ca- loric is the principal agent. Thus: 1. Why two solid bodies cannot mutually dissolve each other ; and why it is necessary, for that purpose, that one of them, at least, should be in a fluid state. 2. Why, in most combina- tions of solids with fluids, caloric promotes solution. 3. Why the contrary happens in solutions of aeriform bodies in liquids. 4. Why the combination of two solid or two fluid bodies, or the combination of one fluid with one solid, produces a body which is ei- ther solid or fluid. 5. What phenomena ought to be produced as to volume, specific gravity, and temperatures. CALOTTE, in architecture, a round ca- vity or depressure, in form of a cap or cup, lathed and plaistered, used to diminish the rise or elevation of a moderate chapel, cabi- net, alcove, &c. which, without such an ex- pedient, would be too high for other pieces of the apartment. CALTHA, marsh-marirgold, in botany, a genus of the polyandria polygynia class of plants, and in the natural method ranking under the 26th order, multisiliquac. There is no calyx ; there are five petals ; no necta- ria; the capsules are many, and polysperm- ous. There is only one species known, which grows naturally in moist boggy lands in many parts of England. \ here is a va- riety with double flowers, which for its beauty is presen ed in gardens. It is propa- gated by parting the roots in autumn. Upon May-day the country people strew the flow- ers upon the pavement before their doors. Goats and sheep eat this plant ; horses, cows, and swine, refuse it. CALVARY, in heraldry, a cross so call- O o 2 C A M 29 1 ed because it resembles the cross on whiclr our Saviour suffered. CALVINISTS, in church history, those who follow the : opinions of John Calvin, one of the principal reformers of the church in the 16th century, a person of great parts and industry, and of considerable learning ; whose doctrine still subsists in its greatest purity at Geneva, where it was first intro- duced, and whence it was propagated. r l he Calvinists are great advocates for the abso- luteness of God’s decrees ; and hold that election and reprobation depend on the mere will of God, without any regard to the merit or demerit of mankind ; that he affords to the elect an irresistible grace, a faith that they cannot lose, which takes away the freedom of will, and necessitates all their actions to virtue. The Calvinists believe that God foreknew a determinate number, in whom he would manifest his glory ; and that having thus foreknown them, he predestinated them to be holy, in order to which he gives them an irresistible grace, which makes it impos- sible for them to be otherwise. CALYCANTHUS, in botany, a genus ofrthe polygynia order, in the icosandria class of plants, and in the natural method ranked among the plants? dubii ordinis. The calyx is monopliyllous, pitcher-form, squar- rose, with small coloured leaves, the corolla consisting of the leaves on the calyx ; the styles are numerous, each with a glandular stigma ; the seeds are many, each with a train, within a succulent calyx. There ar* two species, viz. 1, Catycanthus floridus, ■or Carolina all- spice tree, a native of Carolina. It seldom grows, at least with us, to more than five feet high. It divides into many branches irregu- larly near the ground. It* is of a brown co- lour ; and when bruised emits a most agree- able odour. The leaves that garnish this de- lightful aromatic are of an oval figure. At the end of these stand the flowers, of a kind of chocolate purple colour. T he propaga- tion of this shrub is not very difficult ; though more than common care must be taken, after small plants are obtained, to pre- serve them till they are of a size to be ven- tured abroad. The last year’s shoots, if laid in the ground, the bark being a little bruised, will strike root within a year, particularly if the layers are shaded, and watered in sum- mer. 2. C. praecox is not yet inured to our cli- mate. CAT.YPTRA, Most of the mosses ha ’e calvptnn. See Botany. CAIA'FTRANTHES, a genus of the icosandria moflogynia class and order. r i he essential character is, calyx superior, trun- cate, covered with a veil-shaped rib; crrolla none ; berry one-celled, one to four seeded. There are six species, trees anti shrubs of the W est Indies. C ALYX, among botanists, a general term expressing the cup of a flower, or that part of a plant which syrrounds and supports the other parts of the flower. See Botany. CAM/FA, in natural history, a genus of the semipellucid gems, approaching to the onyx structure, being composed of zones, and formed on a crystalline basis ; but hav- ing the zones very broad and thick, and laid alternately on one ‘another, with no com mon matter between; usually less transparent. 292 CAM and more debased with earth, than the onyxes. 1. One species of the camsa is the dull- looking onyx, with broad black and white zones ; and is the camaea of the moderns, and the Arabian onyx: this species is found m Egypt Arabia, Persia, and the East in- dies. 2. Another species of the cama'a is the ull, broad -zoned, green and white camaa, or the jaspi-cameo of the Italians : it is found in the East Indies, and in some parts of Ame- iica. 3. I lie third is the hard camaa, with broad white and chesnut -coloured veins. 4. Ehe ha id camaa, with bluish, white, and flesh-coloured broad veins, being the sardo- mx ot Pliny’s time, only brought from the East Indies. CAMALDLLIANS, a religious order founded by St. Romuald, in a little plain, on the mount Apennine, called Cainaldali si- tuated in the state of Florence. 1 he manner of life first enjoined this or- • r was ’ ^ 1; it they dwelt in separate cells, and met together only at the time of prayer : some of them, during the two Lents of the yeai, observed an inviolable silence; and others for the space of a hundred days. Gn Sundays and Thursdays they fed on herbs, and the rest of the week only' on bread and water. These constitutions were, however, a little moderated some time afterwards. This hermitage is now accounted very opulent. CAMAX, in botany, a genus of the class siiCt oi ciGr pcntcindrici monogy 11121 . Thccsson- tial character is, corolla wheel-shaped ; fila- ments inserted between the segments of the corolla ; berry four-celled, many-seeded. r l here is one species, a native of Guiana. CAMBER-BEAM, among builders, a piece of timber in an edifice, cut archwise, or with an obtuse angle in the middle, com- monly used in platforms, as church-leads, and on other occasions where long and strong beams are required. CAMBLET, or camlet, a plain stuff, com- posed of a warp and woof, which is manufac- tured on a loom, with two treadles, as linens are. There are camblets of several sorts : some of goat’s hair, both in the warp and woof; others, in which the warp is of hair, and the woof half hair and half silk ; others again, in which both the warp and the woof are of wool ; and lastly, some of which the warp, is of wool and ' the woof of thread ; some are striped, some waved or watered* and’ some figured. CAMBOG1A, in botany, a genus of the monogynia order in the polyandria class of plants, and in the natural method ranking under the 39th order, tricoccae. The corolla is tetrapetalous ; the calyx tetraphyllous ; and the fruit is a pome with eight cells, and solitary seeds, d here is but one species, viz. Cambogia gutta, a native of India. It yields the gum resin known by the name of gamboge. CAMBRICS, a species of very fine white linen, made of flax at Cambray. Ot so much repute are French cambrics, that for many years more than 200,000/. per annum was expended in them by the inha- bitants of this country* Parliament inter fered, and the wearing and selling of foreigr cambrics are prohibited under heavy penal ties. The cambrics now allowed in thi: country are chiefly manufactured in Scot land and Ireland. CAM CAMELLIA, in botany, a genus of the mo- nadeiphia polyandria class, and in the natural method ranking under the 37th order, co- lumniterae. The calyx is imbricated and polyphyllous, with the interior leaves larger than the exterior. There are three species, natives of China and Japan. Thunberg, in his Flora Japonica, describes it as growing every where in the groves and gardens of Japan ; where it becomes a prodigiously large and tall tree, highly esteemed by the natives for tlie elegance ot its large and very varia- ble blossoms, and its evergreen leaves. It is there found with single and double flowers, white, red, and purple, produced from April to October. Representations of this flower are frequently met with in Chinese paintings. With us the camellia is generally treated as a greenhouse plant, and propagated by layers. At some future time it may, perhaps, not be uncommon to treat it as a laurustinus or magnolia: the high price at which it lias hitherto been sold," has probably prevented its being hazarded in this way. The blos- soms are of a firm texture, but apt to fall off long before they have lost their brilliancy. CAMELOPARDALIS, a genus of the order of pecora. The generic character is; horns permanent, bony, covered with a bristly skin; front teeth in the lower jaw eight ; the exterior one on each side deeply bilobate. If height alone constituted precedency among quadrupeds, the giraffe, or Camelopardalis, (see Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 77) would undoubtedly claim the first rank; measuring, when full-grown, near seventeen feet from the top of the head, to the fore feet. The female, however, is lower than the male, and the measure abovementioned must be understood to relate to the animal when ar- rived at the utmost limits of its tallest growth, the generality of those described bv travellers not exceeding fifteen or sixteen feet. Not- withstanding the unusual proportions of tins animal, its general form is in the highest de- gree elegant and picturesque : the 'head be- ing small, the aspectmild, the neck extreme- ly long and tapering; the fore parts much higher than the hinder ; and the disposition of the colours singular and pleasing. At first view, the fore legs seem nearly twice the length of the hind ; but this difference, on accurate examination, appears to result chiefly from the extraordinary height of the shoulders, compared with that of the thighs. r Ihe horns of the Camelopardalis differ in texture from those of all other horned qua- drupeds, forming a part of the skull, and consisting of a porous bony substance, co- vered externally with short coarse bristly hair: they terminate abruptly, in a flatfish or slightly convex head, but little wider than the other part of the horn, and edged with stiff bristles all round the outline. On the middle of the forehead rises a considerable protuberance, owing to an elevation or bony rising on that part of the skull. From the head to the middle of the back runs a short stiffish mane. The tail is of moderate length, and of a cylindrical form, gradually tapering towards the end, and terminating in a tifft of long hair. 1 he hoofs are mo- derately large and black. The fore part of the body is very thick and muscular, and the hind part thin and meagre. The ground co- lour of the animal is whitish, variegated on all parts with numerous, moderately large, CAM and somewhat squarish spots ; which in the male are brown, and in the female ferrugin- ous. In the younger animals they are some- times of a bright reddish yellow. These marks or spots are of a somewhat less regular shape on the sides than on the neck and shoulders. The Camelopardalis is a native of Ethiopia, and some other parts of Africa ; where it is chiefly found in forests, living on herbage of various kinds, but principally on the foliage of trees, and particularly on some species of mimosa. When grazing on the surface of the ground, it is observed to spread its fore legs very considerably, in order to enable it to reach the ground with greater facility. It is an animal ot a mild and harmless disposi- tion, and when attacked, endeavours merely to save itself by flight ; running with great swiftness, though in a somewhat peculiar and awkward style, on account of the length, ot its neck, and breadth of its fore parts com- pared with the hind. '1 he male and female Camelopardalis re- semble each other when young -/but as the animal advances in age, the spots on the male become dark brown, while those of the female continue of a ferruginous cast. In both, however, some occasional differences ot shade take place ; and the female, when very old, is said to acquire the dusky shades of the male. The female has also a less con- spicuous tubercle on the forehead, and has four teats, as in a cow. 1 hese animals are sometimes seen in small groupes, to the number of six or seven to- gether, and when disturbed run off' with great celerity. When seen in front, at some tittle distance, the animal might be mistaken for a decayed tree, and thus be easily passed by without particular notice. Camelopardalis, in astronomy, anew constellation ot the northern hemisphere, formed by Hevelius, consisting of 32 stars, first observed by him, situated between Ce- plieus, Cassiopeia, Perseus, the two Bears, and Draco. It contains about 58 stars in the British catalogue. CAM ELLA, camel, a genus of quadru- peds of the order of pecora. The generic character is, horns none ; front teeth in the lower jaw six, somewhat thin and broad ; canine teeth distant, in the upper jaw three, in the lower two ; upper lip divided. There are seven species. 1. C. arqmedarius, Arabian camel, or dromedary, is found in the warmer parts of Asia, and in the upper regions of Africa. In Asia it is said not to be found farther north than l ersia, and in Africa not farther south than Ethiopia. It is common in most parts of India. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 74. '1 he general height of the Arabian camel, measured from the top of the dorsal bunch to the ground, is about six feet and a half; but from the top of the head, when the animal elevates it, not much less than nine feet : the head, however, is generally so carried as to be nearly on a level with the bunch, or rather below it, the animal bending the neck ex- tremely in its general posture : the head is small, the neck very long, the body of a lono- and meagre shape, the legs rather slender 5 and the tail, which is slightly tufted at the end, reaches to the joints of the hind legs ■ the feet are very large, and are hoofed in a peculiar style, being divided above into two CAM C A M lobes not reaching through the whole length i of the foot, and the extremity of each lobe is guarded by a small hoof ; the under part of the foot is covered with an extremely strong, tough, and pliable skin, which, by yielding in all directions, enables the animal to travel with peculiar ease and security over dry, stony, and sandy regions. On each leg are six callosities. On the lower part of the breast is also a large callus or tough tubercle, [which is gradually increased by the constant [habit which the animal has of resting upon it [in lying down. It is distinguished from the [succeeding species by having a single large bunch on the back. The general colour of the camel is an uni- form dusky brown, more or less tinged with ferruginous. Its hair is line and soft, and [serves for the basis of several kinds of stuffs. There are several varieties of this animal, differing in size, strength, &c. analogous to the different breeds of horses, r 2. C. Bactrianus, Bactrian camel, in its ge- neral appearance so much resembles the Arabian, that it might rather seem a perma- nent variety of that animal than a distinct spe- cies ; differing only in being somewhat larger, and in having two bunches on the back in- stead of one. It is said to be found wild in the northern parts of India, and in the de- serts bordering on China, and is more esteem- ed for swiftness than tire Arabian camel. See j Plate Nat. llist. fig.. 73. In Arabia 4t is kept chiefly for the use of | the great, being not a native of that country, ;but imported from India, &c. Of this ani- jmal, as well as of the Arabian camel, there j are several races or varieties, differing, like tliose of horses, in strength, size, swiftness, land elegance of form. A breed of peculiar swiftness is said to be reared in China, and to be distinguished by the expressive title of Jong kyofo, or camels with feet of wind. A [white variety occurs in some parts of Siberia ; and lastly, a hybrid or mixed breed is said to be occasionally obtained between the Bac- trian and the Arabian camel. 3. Camelus glama. This animal, describ- ed by some of the old naturalists under the name of ovis Peruviana, or Peruvian sheep, ! is a native of South America, and is particu- | llarly plentiful in Peru, where it inhabits, in a j wild state, the highest and coldest parts of ; [mountains, feeding in numerous herds, and i flying with great rapidity on tiie sight of man- kind. It was, however, completely subdued and domesticated by the antient Peruvians, i being the only beast of burthen known to [that people, to whom it answered the same l purposes as the camel and dromedary in the ] eastern regions of the old continent. The : general size of the glama is nearly that of a j stag ; measuring about four feet and a half | in height to the top of the shoulders, and j about six feet in length from nose to tail. {The neck is a great length ; the head small ; | the back slightly elevated, and the whole ani- | mal bears some resemblance to a camel on a ! smaller scale. Its general colour is a light ferruginous brown, paler or whitish on the under parts; and sometimes it is said to be varied or patched with darker and lighter shades on different parts, and to have a black i stripe running down the back to the beginning of the tail. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 75. The voice of the glama resembles the shrill neighing of a horse. When, angry or attack- C A M ed, it strikes with its feet, and endeavours to bite. The glama is said to be able to carry a burthen of about a hundred and fifty pounds weight, and to travel at the rate of three Ger- man miles a day for three or four days toge- ther. When resting, it leans on its breast in the manner of the camel, which it also re- sembles in the faculty of abstaining long from drink, sometimes four or five days ; and, like that animal, may be supported by' very coarse and trifling food. Its flesh is said to resemble mutton in flavour. 4. Camelus vicuna. The vicuna bears d general resemblance to the glama ; but is of a lighter and more delicate aspect, and of' smaller size ; the head is smaller and shorter in proportion ; the eyes remarkably large and full; the ears somewhat sharper, and tire limbs more slender. The hair of this animal is of a very soft, wavy, and woolly nature ; that on tlie breast is nearly three inches long, on the other parts not more than one inch ; the end of the tail is furnished, like the breast, with long woolly hair. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 76. The vicuna affords the finest wool of any, and it is wrought into cloths of most exqui- site silky softness and beauty, which are said to be too warm for common wear, unless made peculiarly thin. The, vicuna, as well as the paco or next species, is sometimes taken by the Peruvians by the simple artifice of tying cojxls, with bits of wool or cloth fixed to them at certain distances, at three or four feet from the ground, across the narrow passes of the mountains ; and when the animals have been hunted or driven that way, they are so terri- fied by the fluttering of the rags, that, instead of attempting to pass, they huddle together in heaps, and thus afford their pursuers an opportunity of killing with their slings as many as they please. 5. Camelus paco. This species is said to be entirely confined to Peru, where the na- tives keep vast flocks of them for the sake of i the wool, of which they prepare cloth of silky lustre and softness. Like the vicuna, it is found in mountainous districts in large herds, but is never observed to associate with those animals. It is of a more robust make than the vicuna, and is covered with very long wool ; which is, in the wild animal, of a dull purple colour, resembling that of dried rose-leaves, but in the domesticated kind is often varied with black, white, and rufous; the bellv is white. Like the two preceding species, it has sometimes been named the Peruvian sheep. Those concretions, known by the name of bezoars, are often found in the stomach of this as well as of other species. 6. Camelus huanacus, or the guanaco, is a native of Peru, and is found in similar situa- tions with tlie glama and the paco. It is the largest of all the Peruvian animals of this kind, and is said sometimes to grow to the size of a horse. Its back is pretty much arch- ed ; and it is covered not with wool like the other smaller species, but with long smooth hair; the head is round, the nose somewhat pointed, the ears straight like those of a horse, and the tail short and turning upwards. It appears to be more nearly allied to the glama than to any other species, but is said never to associate with that animal. Its general co- lour is tawny above and white below. 2f)3 7. Camelus" ar near us. Tins species, which inhabits Peru and Chili, is described as measuring about six feet in length, and about four in height. It is covered with woolly hair, and in its general appearance is nut unlike a ram. The ears are flaccid or pen- dulous, the neck and legs long ; the tail like that of a sheep, but shorter in proportion : the wool is very soft, and the colour of the animal is said to vary in different individuals, being either brown, black, ash-coloured, or white. This animal was employed by the antient inhabitants of Chili as a beast of bur- then, as well as in ploughing. Its wool was also used in the manufacture of a fine silky cloth or stuff ; but this is now said to have given place to the introduction of European wool, as being stronger and more serviceable. CAMEO. See Camea. CAMERA OBSCURA. See Optics. CAMERARIA, in botany, a genus of the monogynia order, in the pentandria class of plants, and in the natural method ranking- under the 30th order, contorta*. There are two horizontal follicles at the base of the seed-case. The seeds are inserted into a proper membrane. There are two species, viz. 1. Cameraria angustifolia, has an irregular shrubby stalk, which rises about eight feet. The flowers are produced scatteringly at the end of the branches, which are shaped like those of the latifolia, but smaller. It is a na- tive of Jamaica. 2. Cameraria latifolia, a native of the island of Cuba. It rises with a shrubby stalk to 10< or 12 feet, dividing into several branches,, with roundish-pointed leaves placed opposite. | The flowers are produced at the end of the branches in loose clusters, which have long tubes enlarging gradually upward ; and at the top are cut into live segments, broad at their base, but ending in sharp points : the flower is of a yellowish white colour. CAMERLINGO, according to Ducange,. signified formerly the pope’s or emperor’s treasurer : at present, cameriingo is no where used but at Rome, where it denotes the car- dinal who governs the ecclesiastical state, and administers justice. CAMERONIANS, a party of presbyte- rians, which sprung up in Scotland in the reign of king Charles II. They affirmed that the king had forfeited his right to the i crown, by breaking the solemn league and J covenant, which were the terms on which he received it. They pretended both to de- throne and excommunicate him, and broke out into open rebellion. Upon the Revo- lution they were reconciled to the kirk, and their preachers submitted to the general as- sembly of the church of Scotland in 1690. CAMP, in military affairs, is the whole ex- tent of ground, in general, occupied by an army pitching its tents when in the field, and upon which all its baggage and apparatus are lodged. It is marked out by the quarter- master-general, who allots every regiment its ground. The extent of the front of a regiment of infantry is 200 yards, including the two battalion guns, and depth 320, when the re- giment contains 9 companies, each of 1 00 private men, and the companies’ tents in two> rows; but when the companies’ tents stand in one row, and but 70 private men to each row,, the front is then but 155 yards. A squadron c a m C AM CAM gf)4 of horse has 120 yards in front, and 100 for an interval between each regiment. The nature of the ground must also be consulted, both for defence against the enemy, and for supplies to the army. It should have a communication with the army’s garrisons ; and have plenty of water, forage, fuel ; and either rivers, marshes, hills, or woods, to cover it. An army always en- camps fronting the enemy, and generally in two parallel lines, besides a corps de reserve, about 500 yards distant from each other ; tire horse and dragoons on the wings, and the foot in the centre. Each regiment posts a subaltern’s guard at 80 yards from the colours to the officer's tent, called the quarter-guard, besides a corporal’s guard in the rear ; and each regiment of horse or dragoons, a small guard on foot, called the standard-guard, at the same distance. The grand guard of the army consists of horse, and is posted about a mile distant towards the enemy. In a siege, the camp is placed all along the line of circumvallation, or rather in the rear of ■the approaches, out of cannon-shot: the army faces the circumvallation, if there is any; that ■is, the soldiers have the town in their rear. One thing very essential in the establishing a camp, and which should be particularly at- tended to if the enemy is near, is, that there should not only be a commodious spot of ground at the head of the camp, where the ’army, in case of surprize, may in a moment be under arms, and in condition to repulse the enemy ; hut also a convenient field of battle at a small distance, and of a sufficient extent for them to form advantageously, and to move with facility. The arrangement of the tents in camp, is nearly the same all over Europe ; which is, to dispose them in such a manner, that the troops may form with safety and expedition. To answer this end, the troops are en- camped in the same order as that in which they are to engage, which is by batta- lions and squadrons; hence, the post of each battalion and squadron in the line of battle, must necessarily be at the head of its own encampment. Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, was the first who formed encampments according to the order of bat- tle. By this disposition, the extent of the camp from right to left, of each battalion and squadron, will be equal to the front of each in line of battle ; and consequently, the ex- tent from right to left of the whole camp, should he equal to the front of the whole army when drawn up in line of battle, with the same intervals between the several en- campments of the battalions and squadrons, as are in the line. There is no fixed rule for the intervals. The most general method is, an interval of 60 feet between each battalion, and of 36 feet between each squadron. Hence it follows, 1st, That the front line of the camp must be in a direction to face the enemy ; 2dly, That at the head of the en- campment of each battalion and squadron, there must be a clear space of ground, on which they may form in line of battle ; and, 3dly, That when the space taken up by the army is embarrased with woods, ditches, and other obstructions, a communication must be opened for the troops to move with ease to the assistance of each other. The tents for the cavalry, as well as for the infantry, are placed in rows perpendicular to the principal front of the camp ; and their number is conformable to the number of troops. The horses of each troop are placed in a line parallel to the tents, with their heads towards them. The number of tents in each row, is regulated by the strength of the troops, and the number of troopers allotted to each tent is 5 ; it follow's, that a troop of 30 men will require six tents, a troop of 60 men 12 tents, and a troop of 100 men 20 tents. The tents of the cavalry are of the same form as those of the infantry ; but more spacious, the better to contain the fire-arms, accoutre- ments, saddles, bridles, boots; &c. CAMPAIGN, in the art of war, denotes the space of time that an army keeps the field, or is encamped, in opposition to quar- ters. CAMPANIFORM, or campanulated, an appellation given to flowers resembling a bell ; a characteristic whereon Tournetort establishes one of his classes of plants. See Botany. CAMPANINI, a name given to a mar- ble of Italy, dug out of the mountains of Car- rara; because, when it is worked, it resounds like a hell. CAMPANULA, the bell-flower, a genus of tiie monogynia order, in the pentandria class of plants, and in the natural method ranking under the 29th order, campanaceie. The corolla is campanulated, with its fundus closed up by the valves that support the stamina ; the stigma is trifid ; the capsule in- ferior, or below the receptacle of the flower, opening and emitting the seeds by lateral pores. Of this genus there are no fewer than 78 species, but the following are the most worthy of attention : 1. Campanula canariensis, with an orach leaf and tuberous root, is a native of the Ca- nary islands. It has a thick fleshy root of an irregular form ; the leaves are of a sea-green, and when they first come out are covered slightly with an ash-coloured pounce; the flowers are the perfect bell-shape, and hang downwards ; they are of a flame-colour, marked with stripes of a brownish red. 2. Campanula decurrens, the peach- leaved bell-flower, is a native of the northern parts of Europe : of this there are some with white, and some with blue flowers, and some with double flowers of both colours. 3. Campanula hybrida, or Venus’s looking- glass, seldom rises more than six inches ; the branches are produced, which are terminated by flowers very like the speculum. This was formerly cultivated in the gardens ; but since the speculum lias been introduced, it has almost supplanted this. 4. Campanula latifolia, or greatest bell- flower, has a perennial root, and several strong, round, single stalks. The flowers come out singly upon short footstalks ; their colours are blue, purple, and white. 5. Campanula medium, the Canterbury bell-flower, is a biennial plant, which perishes soon after it has ripened its seeds. It is well known. 6. Campanula pyramidalis, has thick tu- berous roots ; it sends out strong, smooth, up- right stalks, which rise to the height of 4 feet. The flowers are produced from the sides of the stalks, and are regularly set on for more than half their length, forming a sort of py- ramid. The most common colour of the flowers is blue, -though some are white. 7. Campanula rapunfulus, the ram pi on, has roundish fleshy roots, which are eatable, and much cultivated in France for sailads ; some years past, it was cultivated in the Eng- lish gardens for the same purpose, but is now generally n egl eefed . 8. Campanula speculum, with yellow eye- bright leaves, is an annual plant with slender stalks rising a foot ; from the wings of the leaves come out the flowers sitting close to the stalks, which are of a beautiful purple in- clining to a violet colour. 9. Campanula trachelium, with nettlei leaves, has a perennial root, and stiff hairy < stalks : the flowers are blue and white ; some, have double flowers. CAMPHOR. Thelaurus camphoratus is a tree which grows in China, Japan, and se-i veral parts of India. The wood and roots being boiled with water, the camphor rises with the steam, < and is condensed (in straw placed in the ca-j pital, &c. of the still) in small granular crystals, together with another sort, appa-ij rently scraped from the cavities of the^ wood, and mixed with sand, ashes, &c. and t purified by a second sublimation by the i English and Dutch chemists. This opera- tion is performed in shallow matrasses, tech-1 nicallv termed bumbelois, on a sand heat, i The camphor melts at 360 degrees, boils and] sublimes solid and transparent. Its vapour* is so heavy, that very little escapes, thoughl the mouth is open. It is volatile at ail tem-j peratures, and exhales in toto when exposed . \ It is crvstallisable either by cooling when; melted, by sublimation at* a low heat, or from its solvents, at an angle of 60 degrees hence it forms figures like those of ice. Its solvents are alcohol, acids (especially the mineral), essential and fat oils. From all solvents but the two latter it is separable i unchanged by water. Its specific gravity is) 0.9887. lienee it just floats on water, buti sinks readily in spirits. Small thin cuttings! thrown on* clean warm water are affected! with a strong rotatory motion till an oily film] has oversptead the surface, when it ceases, j It is transparent as glass when pure and) newly sublimed, and is highly refractive! It catches flame very readily, and emits a great deal of flame as it burns, but it leaves no residuum. It is so inflam m a! ble that it continues to burn even on the surface of water. When camphor is set onl fire in a large glass globe filled with oxygen] gas, and containing a little water, it burns 1 with a very bright flame, and produces a great deal of heat. The inner surface of the] glass is soon covered with a black powder! which has all the properties of charcoal, a quantity of carbonic acid gas is evolved, the water in the globe acquires a strong smell, i and is impregnated with carbonic acid and camphoric acid. From an useful analysis, M. Bouillon La- grange concludes that camphor is composed! of volatile oil and charcoal or carbon com-! binecl. From his experiments we learn that : the ultimate ingredients of camphor are! carbon and hydrogen, and that the proportion of .carbon is much greater than in oils. Camphoric acid is the result of the change* produced on camphor by distilling nitric acid! several times from it. It crystallises in pa- * rallelopipeds, is efflorescent, 'soluble in water, and volatile in a strong heat. CAN CAN C A N CAMPHOROSMA, in botany, stinking ground pine ; a genus of the tetrandria order, in the monogyma class of plants, ranking in the natural method under the 12th order, hoieraces. The calyx is pitcher-shaped aud indented ; there is no corolla; and the capsule contains a single seed. It is reputed cephalic and nervine ; though little used in modern practice. It takes the name from its smell, which bears some resemblance to that of camphor. There are five species. Of these the principal is, Camphorosma monspeliensis, which grows by the road-side in Languedoc, and especial- ly about Montpelier, it has been produced as a specific for the dropsy, and asthma. CANAL, a kind of artificial river, made for the convenience of water-carriage. The Dutch, > or if we can believe the re- lations of travellers, the Chinese, who inhabit a country vastly more extensive than that of the Dutch, have shewn the great advantages resulting from canals to a trading people. There are several large canals in France ; that of Briere begun under Henry IV. and finished under Lewis XIII. establishes a com- munication between the Loire and the Seine by the Loing. There are forty-two sluices upon it. But the greatest and most wonder- ful work of that kind, and at the same time one of the most useful, is the junction of the two seas, by the canal of Languedoc, pro- posed under Francis I. but not finished till the time of Lewis XIV. The operations necessary for making arti- ficial navigations or canals, depend on the situation of the ground, the connection with rivers, and the ease with which water can be obtained. When the ground is naturally level, and unconnected with rivers, the exe- cution is easy, and the navigation is not liable to be disturbed with tloods: but when the ground rises and falls, and cannot be reduced to a level, artificial methods of raising and lowering vessels must be employed. Tem- porary "sluices are sometimes used for raising boats over falls or shoals in rivers by a very simple operation. Two pillars of masonry-work with grooves, are fixed, one on each bank of the river, at some distance be- low the shoal. The boat having passed these posts, planks are let down across the river by pulleys into the grooves, by which the water is dammed up to a proper height for allowing the boat to pass up the river over the shoal. The Dutch frequently make use of inclin- ed planes or rolling-bridges upon dry land, along which their vessels are drawn from the river below into the river above ; this was the method employed by the ancients, and is still used by the Chinese, who are said to be ignorant of the nature and utility of locks. These rolling-bridges consist of a number of cylindrical rollers which turn easily on pivots ; and a mill is commonly built near at hand, so that the same machinery may serve a double purpose of working the mill and draw- ing up vessels. Before a canal is undertaken, the following circumstances : edpire consideration. 1st. Places to be benefited in point of trade. Trade being the grand source from which adventurers in canal schemes expect to derive their great profits, such towns, places &c. must be included in the line of a canal, to which the safe, expeditious, and easy con- veyance of merchandise, and consequent en- largement of commerce, will be of moment. These can be fixed upon only by an accurate survey and knowledge of the v country through which the canal is intended to pass. 2dly. The supply of water, fic. It is almost needless to mention the absolute necessity of a supply of water for a canal, which must be in requisite quantities in the summit, or reser- voirs, which may be supplied by the neigh- bouring springs ; or if these fail, water must be thrown up by engines from a lower level. Reservoirs are large bodies of water col- lected together for the use of such parts of the canal as are likely to be deficient; into which it is let by sluices, when and where wanted. The quantity of water requisite for the use of a canal depends in a great measure upon the quantity of trade carried on. A lock- ful of water must be lost every time a boat passes through, which, in a lock whose length in the chamber is seventy-five feet, breadth seven feet, and lift six feet, will be 125 cubic yards of water; which quantity, multiplied by the number of boats likely to pass through j the summit lock, will give an idea of the i waste of water. Allowance also must be made for exhalation and accidents. The most eligible level is certainly that which has the least fall and the fewest ob- structions, and is best adapted to the face of the country. The soil most favourable for a canal is clay ; the most unfavourable, sand. As soils approach more or less to the quality of clay or sand, in such proportion are they to be preferred for holding water. Of the expence of execution little can be said, as it entirely depends on the extent, the several works, &c. which can be accurately known only by an actual survey and estimate, the total of which will of course be consider- ed previous to undertaking works of such magnitude. It may be proper to observe generally, that many locks, bridges, or aque- ducts, much tunneling, unfavourable soil, &c. will of necessity incur great expences. Lastly. The mode of execution. The fore- going particulars having been attended to, it becomes necessary to enumerate the seve- ral works, useful and necessary, in the execu- tion of a canal. For the passing and repassing of boats, there are various expedients, some of which have been noticed ; but experience confirms the use of locks, when it becomes necessary, by artificial means, to raise or let down boats from one level to another. ' A lock is a large basin, or, more properly, a long square cistern, placed lengthways in a river or canal, inclosed by upper and lower gates. The lock should be lined with walls of strong masonry on each side, and at. the bottom ; or if wood, stout oak piles should be used, shod with iron, and lined with two inch and a half or three inch oak plank, with a floor of the same materials, laid on oak- sleepers, dove-tailed and spiked into the up- right piles. The use, or locking down, is thus mana- ged : the lock being full to the level of the upper water, the gates are then shut, includ- ing tire boat to be lowered. The water in the lock is drawn off ; in part first, by means of the paddles in the gates, and completely by the gates being opened ; when the boat, 2t)5 being upon a level with the lower water, is able to proceed upon its passage. For as- cending, or locking up, the boat being in the lock, the lower gates are shut : the lock is then filled with the upper water, first by the sluices, and finally by the gates being open- ed: thus the vessel is on a level with the upper water, and may immediately proceed. In the first figure (see Plate) we have a perspective view of part of a canal, with a vessel within a lock, on the upper level of the water. The second figure shews a sec- tion of an open lock, with a vessel about to- enter. A, B, in the former figure, are llocd- gates ; each of which consists of two leaves resting upon one another, so as to form an obtuse angle, in order to resist the pressure of the water. A, when shut, prevents the water of the superior canal from falling into the lock, and B sustains the water in the lock- I), in the second ligure, is the subterraneous passage by which the water passes from the upper level into the lock when the sluice d is opened ; and C is the passage by* which the water in the lock is let out when the sluice c is raised ; and thus the vessel in the lock is brought on a level with the lower part of the canal. CANARINA, in botany, a genus of the. order monogyma, belonging to the hexandria. class of plants. The calyx is six-leaved ; co- rolla six-cleit, bill-form. There are 2 species. CANARIUM, in botany, a genus of the dioecia order, in the pentandria class of plants. Its characters are, that it has male and female flowers ; that, in both, the calyx has two leaves, and the corolla consists of three petals: the fruit is a drupa with a three- cornered nut. There is but one species. CANCER, in astronomy, one of the 12 signs, represented on the globe in the form ot a crab, and thus marked (eg) in books., It is the fourth constellation in the starry zo- diac. The reason generally assigned for its name as well as figure, is a supposed resem- blance which the sun’s motion in this sign- bears to the crab’s. As the latter is said to walk backwards, so the former, in this, part of his course, begins to go backwards,, or recede from us. By others, the disposi- tion of stars in this sign is supposed to have given the first hint to the representation of a crab. It gives name to a quadrant of the ecliptic, viz. Cancer, tropic of, in astronomy, a lesser circle of the sphere parallel to tire equator, and passing through the beginning of the sign Cancer. Cancer, in medicine, a roundish, unequal, hard, and livid tumour, generally seated in the glandulous part of the body, supposed to be so called because it appears at length with turgid veins shooting out from it, so as to resemble, as it is thought, the ligure of a crab-fish ; or, others say, because, like that fish, where it has once got, it is scarcely pos- sible to drive it away, b’ee Medicine. Cancer, in zoology, a gemiA of insects belonging to the order of insecta aptera. The generic characters are these: they have eight legs, (seldom ten or six) besides two large claws which answer the purpose of hands. 'J Ley have two eyes at a consider- able distance from each other, and for the most part they are supported by peduncull or footstalks : the eyes are elongated and moveable. They have two clawed palpi, 4 CAN € A N 2 96 and the tail is jointed. There are eighty- seven species of the cancer, distinguished principally by the length of their tails, and the margin of their breasts. The following are the most remarkable : 1. Cancer astacus, or the craw-fish, with a projecting snout slightly serrated on the sides; a smooth thorax; back smooth, with two small spines on each side ; claws large, beset with small tubercles; two first pair of legs clawed, the two next subulated ; tail con- sisting of five joints ; the caudal fins rounded. It inhabits many of the rivers in England, lodging in holes which they form in the clayey banks. 2. Cancer atomos, atom lobster, with a slender body ; filiform antennae ; three pair of legs near the head ; beyond are three pair of legs, and a slender tail between the last pair. It is very minute, and the help of the microscope is often necessary for its inspec- tion. 3. Cancer crangon, the shrimp, with long slender feelers, and between them two pro- jecting laminae ; claws with a single, hooked, moveable fang. It inhabits the shores of Bri- tain in vast quantities. 4. Cancer stagnalis, is found generally in small shallow pools of rain water, and is very transparent. The head of the male is armed with fangs ; the tail of the female is fur- nished with a bag of eggs at the base. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 78. 5. Cancer diogenes, soldier crab, or her- mit crab, with rough claws ; the left claw is the longest. This species is parasitic, and inhabits the empty cavities of turbinated shells, changing its habitation according to its increase of growth from the small nerite to the large whelk. They crawl very fast with the shell on their back, and at the ap- proach of danger draw themselves within the shell, and, thrusting out the larger claw, will pinch very hard whatever molests them. When it wants to change its shell, it travels along that line of pebbles and shells which is formed by the extremest wave ; still, how- ever, dragging its old incommodious habi- tation at its tail, unwilling to part with one shell, even though a troublesome appendage, till it can find another more convenient. It is seen stopping at one shell, turning it, and passing it by ; going on to another, contem- plating that for a while, and then slipping its tail from its old habitation to try on the new : if this also is found to be inconvenient, it quickly returns to its old shell again. It is not till after many trials, and many combats also, that the soldier is completely equipped; for there is often a contest between two of them for some well-looking favourite shell for which they are rivals. When this animal is taken, it sends forth a feeble cry, endeavour- ing to seize the enemy with its nippers ; which if it fastens upon, it will sooner die than quit the grasp. See Plate Nat. Hist, fig. 110. 6. The slrigosus, or plated lobster, with a pyramidal spiny snout ; thorax elegantly plated, each plate marked near its junction with short stria? ; only three legs spiny on their sides ; tail broad. The largest of tins species is about six inches long. It inhabits the coasts of Anglesea. See Plate Nat. Hist, fig. 109* ' 7. Cancer gammarus, the common lob- ster, inhabits the rocky shores of our island, CAN but chiefly where there is a depth of water. In Llyn in Caernarvonshire a certain small lobster, nothing different except in size, burrows in the sand. Lobsters fear thunder, and are apt to cast their claws on a great clap: it is said that they will do the same on the firing of a great gun ; and that, when men of war meet a lobster-boat, a jocular threat is used, that if the master does not sell them good lobsters, they will salute him. I'his species inhabits the clearest water, at the foot of rocks that impend over the sea ; which has given opportunity of examining more closely into the natural history of the animal, than of many others who live in an element, that in a great measure limits the inquiries of the most inquisitive. Some lob- sters are taken by hand ; but the greater quan- tity in pots, a sort of trap formed of twigs, and baited with garbage. They are formed like a wire mouse-trap, so that when the lobster gets in, it cannot return. Lobsters begin to breed in spring, and continue breed- ing most part of the summer. Dr. Baster says he counted 12,444 oggs under the tail, besides those that remained in the body un- protruded. They deposit those eggs in the sand, where they are soon hatched. Lob- sters change their shells annually. They ac- quire an entire new coat in a few days ; but during the time that they remain defenceless, they seek some very lonely place, for fear of being devoured by such of their brethren as are not in the same situation. It is remark- able, that lobsters and crabs renew their claws, when accidentally torn off; and they grow again in a few weeks, though they never attain to the size of the first. They are very voracious animals, and feed on sea- weeds, garbage, and all sorts of dead bodies. Though the ova are cast at all seasons, they seem only to come to life in July and Au- gust. Great numbers of them may then be found, in the form of tadpoles, swimming about the little pools left by the tides among the rocks, and many also under their proper form from half an inch to , four inches in length. In casting their shells, it is hard to conceive how the lobster is able to draw the flesh of their large claws out, leaving the shells entire and attached to the shell of their body, in which state they are constantly found. The fishermen say, the lobster pines before casting, till the flesh of its large claw is no thicker than the quill of a goose, which en- ables it to draw its parts through the joints and narrow passage near the trunk. The new shell is quite membranaceous at first, but hardens by .degrees. Lobsters only grow in size while their shells are in their soft state. They are chosen for the table, by their being heavy in proportion to their size ; and by the hardness of their shells on their sides, which, when in perfection, will not yield to moderate pressure. 8. Cancer granulates,, or rough-shelled crab : these crabs are pretty large, and are commonly taken from the bottom of the sea in shallow water ; the legs are small in pro- portion to the body ; the two claws are re- markably large and" flat. The whole shell is covered over with innumerable little tuber- cles like shagreen; the colour is brown va. riously stained with purple. 9. Cancer grapsus, or the red mottled crab, lias a round body, the legs longer and larger than in other kinds ; the claws are red, and the rest of the animal is mottled in a beautiful manner with red and white. These crabs inhabit the rocks hanging over tire sea; they are the nimblest of all crabs, and run with surprising agility along the upright side of a rock, and even under the rocks that hang horizontally below the water. This they are often obliged to do for escaping the assaults of rapacious birds that pursue them. 10. Cancer horridus, the horrid crab, with a projecting bifurcated snout, the end di- verging ; with the claws and legs covered with long and very sharp spines, it is a large species, and inhabits the rocks on the eastern coasts. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 111. 1 1. Cancer locusta, the locust lobster, with four antenna; ; two pair of imperfect claws; the first joint ovated ; the body consists of fourteen joints. It abounds, in summer, on the shores, beneath stones and alga:, and leaps about with vast agility. 12. Cancer mamas, the common crab, with three notches on the front; five serrated teeth on each side; claws ovated ; next joint toothed ; hind feet subulated. It inhabits all our shores ; lurks under the alga;, or bur- rows under the sand. 13. Cancer pagurus, or the black-clawed crab, with a cremated thorax ; smooth bod \ ; smooth claws and black tips ; hind feet su- bulated. It inhabits the rocky coasts ; is very delicious meat, and casts "its shell be- i tween Christmas and Easter. 14. Cancer pisum, the pea crab, -with rounded and smooth thorax, entire and blunt; with a tail of the size of the body, which, commonly is the bulk of a pea. It inhabits the muscle, and on that account has been deemed poisonous ; but the swelling after eating is wholly constitutional. 13. Cancer pulex, the Ilea lobster, with five pair of legs, and two daws, imperfect ; and twelve joints in the body. It is very i common in fountains and rivulets; swims very swiftly-in an incurvated posture on its ] back; embraces and protects its young be-] tween the legs ; does not leap. 16. Cancer ruricola, the land crab, or vio- j let crab, with a smooth entire thorax, and the two last joints of the feet armed with ] spines. It inhabits the Bahama islands, as 'veil as most lands between the tropics. (See ] PI. Nat. Hist. fig. 112.) These animals live not only in a kind of orderly society in the re- I treats in the mountains, but regularly once a year march down to the sea-side in’ a body ' of some millions at a time. As they multiply ] in great numbers, they choose the month of April or May to begin their expedition ; and ] t lien sally out by thousands from the stumps I ot hollow trees, from the clefts of rocks, and | from the holes which they dig for themselves under the surface of the earth. At that time the whole ground is covered with this band i of . adventurers ; there is no setting down ■ one’s foot without treading upon them. The i sea is their place of destination, and to that they direct their march with right-lined pre- ] cision. No geometrician could send them to their destined station by a shorter course ; ’ they neither turn to the right nor left, what- ‘ ever obstacles intervene ; and even if they meet w'itli a house, they will attempt to scale the walls to keep the unbroken tenor of their way. But though this is the general order ot their route, they, upon other occasions. C A N* C A N sr^ obliged to conform to the face of the country ; and if it is intersected with rivers, they are then seen to wind along the course of the stream. They are often obliged to halt for want of rain, and logo into the most convenient encampment till the weather changes. The main body of the army is composed of females, which never leave the mountains till the rain is set in for some time. The night is their chief time of proceeding ; but if it rains by day, they do not fail "to profit by the occasion ; and they continue to move forward in their slow uniform man- ner. When the sun shines and is hot upon the surface of the ground, they make an uni- versal halt, and wait till the cool of the even- ing. When they are terrified, they march back in a confused disorderly manner, hold- ing up their nippers, with which they some- times tear off a piece of the skin, and then leave the weapon where they inflicted the wound. They even try to intimidate their enemies; for they often clatter their nippers together, as if to threaten those that disturb them. But though they thus strive to be formidable to man, they are much more so to each other; for they are possessed of one most unsocial property, which is, that if any of them by accident is maimed in such a manner as to be incapable of proceeding, the rest fall upon and devour it on the spot, and then pursue their journey. When, after a fatiguing march, and escaping a thousand dangers, (for they are .sometimes three months in getting to the shore,) they have arrived at their destined port, they prepare to cast their spawn, which shaking off into the water, they leave accident to bring it to maturity. At this time shoals of hun- gry fish are at the shore in expectation of this annual supply ; the sea to a great dis- tance seems black with them ; and about two thirds of the crabs’ eggs are immediately devoured by these rapacious invaders. The eggs that escape are hatched under the sand ; and, soon after, millions at a time of these little crabs are seen quitting the shore, and slowly travelling up to the mountains. This animal, when possessed of its retreats in the mountains, is impregnable : for, only subsisting upon vegetables, it seldom ven- tures out : and its habitation being in the most inaccessible places, it remains for a great part of the season in perfect security. It is only when impelled by the desire of bringing forth its young, and when compelled to descend into the flat country, that it is ta- ken. At that time, the natives wait for its de- scent in eager expectation, and destroy thousands ; but, disregarding their bodies, they only seek for that small spawn which lies on each side of the stomach within the shell, of about the thickness of a man’s thumb. They are much more valuable upon their re- turn after they have cast their shell ; for, be- ing covered with a skin resembling soft parchment, almost every part except the sto- mach may he eaten. They are taken in the holes by feeling for them with an instrument; they are sought after by night, when on their journey, by flambeaux. The instant the ani- mal perceives itself attacked, it throws itself on its back, and with its claws pinches most terribly whatever it happens to fasten on. But the dextrous crab-catcher takes them by the hinder legs in such a manner that the jiippers cannot touch him, and thus he V-OLs I. * CAN throws them into his bag. Sometimes also they are caught when they take refuge in the bottoms of holes in rocks by the sea-side, by covering the mouth of the hole, to prevent their getting out; and then soon after, the tide coining, enters the hole, and the animal is found, upon its ebbing, drowned in its re- treat. These crabs are of various sizes, the largest about six inches wide ; they walk side- ways like the sea-crab, and are shaped like them : some are black, some yellow, some red, and others variegated with red, white, and yellow, mixed. The light-coloured arc reckoned best ; and when full in flesh, are very well tasted. lb. Cancer serratus, or the prawn, with a long serrated snout bending upwards; three pair of very long filiform feelers ; claws small, furnished with two fangs ; five joints to the tail ; middle caudal flu subulated, two out- most flat and rounded. It is frequent in se- veral shores among loose stones ; sometimes found at sea, and taken on the surface over 30 fathoms depth of water ; cinereous when fresh; of a tine red when boiled. 17. Cancer squilla, with a snout like a prawn, but deeper and thinner ; the feelers longer in proportion to the bulk ; the sub- caudal fins rather larger ; is, at full growth, not above half the bulk of the former. — Itinha- bits the coasts of Kent ; and is sold in London under the name of the white shrimp, as it as- sumes that colour when boiled. 19. Cancer velutinus, or velvet crab, with the thorax quinquedentated ; body covered with short, brown, velvet-like pile ; claws co- vered with minute tubercles; small spines round the top of the 2d joint ; hind legs broad- ly ovated. It inhabits the western coast of Anglesea. 20. Cancer volans, or sand crab, is but of a small size; its colour light' brown, or dusky white. It has eight legs, and two claws, one of which is double the size of the other ; these claws serve both to defend and feed them. 1 he head has two square holes, which are re- ceptacles for its eyes ; out of which it thrusts them, and draws them in again at pleasure. 1 heir abode is only on the sandy shores of I lath era, and others of the Bahama islands. 1 hey run very fast, and retreat from danger into little holes thev make in the sand. CANCROMA, or boat-bill, in ornitho- logy, a genus of birds belonging to the order of gralke ; the characters of which are : The bill is broad, with a keel along the middle ; the nostrils are small, and lodged in a fur- row ; the tongue is small ; and the toes are divided. There are two species: 1. Cancroma cancrophaga, or the brown boat-bill, resembles the cochlearia so milch in size, head, crest, and every thing almost, except the colour, that Mr. Latham considers them both as only varieties of the same spe- cies. Linnaeus however ranks them as dis- tinct. In this species the under parts, instead ot ash colour, are of a pale rufous brown ; the tail rufous ash ; and the upper parts wholly of a cream colour ; the bill and legs of a yel- low brown. Jt inhabits Cayenne, Guiana, and Brasil, and chiefly frequents such parts as are near the water : in these places it perches 011 the trees which hang over the streams, and, like the king’s-fisher, drops down on the fish which swim beneath. It has been thought to live on crabs likewise, whence the Linnaeau name. • I Pp 1 2 97 2. Cancroma cochlearia, the crested boat- bill, as well as the cancrophaga, is of the size of a domestic fowl ; the length 22 inches, The bill is four inches long, and of singular form, not unlike a boat with the keel upper- most, or, as some think, like the bowls of two spoons, placed with the hollow parts together; from the hind head springs a long black crest; the leathers which compose it are narrow, and end in a point ; the middle ones are six inches in length, the others lessen by degrees ; the plumage on the forehead white ; the rest of the bird of a pale bluish ash colour ; across the lower part of the neck behind is a transverse band of brownish black, which passes foi'- wards on each side towards the breast. Its place and manners are the same with those of the cancrophaga. CANDlDATI Milites, an order of sol- diers among the Romans who served as the emperor’s body guards to defend him in battle. CANDLE, a taper of tallow, wax, or spermaceti, the wick of which is commonly of several threads of cotton, spun and twisted together. 'I he machine for cutting the cotton is a smooth board made to be fixed on the knees; on the upper surface are the blade of a razor, and a round piece of cane, placed at a cer- tain distance from one another, according to the length of the cotton wanted : the cotton is carried round the cane, and being brought to the razor, is instantly separated from the several balls. A tallow-candle, to be good, must be half sheep’s and half bullock’s tallow, for hog’s tallow makes the candle gutter, and always gives an offensive smell, with a thick black smoke. r l he wick ought to be pure, suffi- ciently dry, and properly twisted, otherwise the candle will emit an unconstant vibratory flame, which is both prejudicial to the eyes and insufficient for the distinct illumination of objects. There are two sorts of tallow-candles ; the one dipped, the other moulded: the former are the common candles. The tallow is pre- pared by chopping the fat, and then boiling it for some time in a large copper ; and when, the tallow is extracted by the process of fire, the remainder is subjected to the operation of a strong iron press, and the cake that is left after the tallow is expressed from it is called greaves : with this dogs are fed, and the greater part of the ducks that supply the London markets. It is also sometimes given to pigs, but certainly without benefiting the flavour of the meat. When the tallow is in proper order, the workman holds three of the broaches, with the cottons properly spread, between his fingers, and immerses the cotton into the vat containing the tallow : they are then hung on a frame and suffered to cool ; and when cold they are dipped again, and so the process is continued till the candles are of the proper size. During the operation the vat is sup- plied from time to time with fresh tallow, which is kept to the proper heat by means of a gentle fire under it. The mould in which the moulded candles are cast, consists of a frame of wood, and se- veral hollow metal cylinders, generally made of pewter, of the diameter and length of the candle wanted: at the extremity of these is the neck, which is a little cavity in form of a dome, having a moulding wfthinside, a $4 C A N CAN CAN 298 pierced in the middle, with a hole big enough for the cotton to pass through. The cotton is introduced into the shaft of the mould by a piece of wire being thrust through the aper- ture of the hook till it comes out of the neck: the other end of the cotton is so fastened as to keep it in a perpendicular situation, and in the middle of the candle ; the moulds are then filled with warm tallow, and left to be very cold before they can be drawn out of tire pipes. Besides these,. there are other candles made by tallow-chandlers, intended to burn during the night without the necessity of snulling: tire wick has keen usually made of split rushes ; but lately very small cotton wicks have been substituted for the rush: these are lighted much easier, are less liable to go out, and, owing to the smallness of the cotton, they do not require the aid of snuffers. To make wax-candles with (lie ladle . — The wicks being prepared, a dozen of them are tied by the neck, at equal distances, round an iron circle, suspended directly over a large bason of copper tinned, and full of melted wax : a large ladleful of this wax is poured gently on the tops of the wicks one after ano- ther, and the operation continued till the candle arrives at its destined bigness, with this precaution, that the first three ladles be poured on at the top of the wick ; the fourth at the height of the fifth at and the sixth at i, in order to give the candle its pyramidal form. Then the candles are taken down, kept warm, and rolled and smoothed upon a walnut-tree table, with a long square instrument of box, smooth at the bottom. As to the manner of making wax-candles by the hand, they begin to soften the wax by working it several times in hot water, con- tained in a narrow but deep cauldron. A piece of the wax is then taken out, and disposed by little and little around the wick, which is hung on a hook in the wall, by the extremity op- posite to the neck ; so that they begin with the large end, diminishing still as they descend towards the neck. In other respects the me- thod is nearly the same as in the former case. However, it must be observed, that in the former case water is always used to moisten the several instruments, to prevent the wax from sticking ; and in the latter, oil of olives, or lard, for the hands, &c. The cylindrical wax-candles are either made as the former; with, a ladle, or drawn. Wax-candles, or tapers drawn, are so called because they are actually drawn in the manner of wife, by means of two large rollersof wood turned by a handle, which turning backwards and forwards several times, pass the wick through melted wax contained in a brass bason, and at the same time through the holes of an instru- ment like that used for drawing wire, fasten- ed on one side ot the bason. A patent has very lately been obtained for making candles with hollow cylindrical wicks upon the principle of the Argand lamp. See Lamp. Tallow-chandlers and wax-chandlers are by 24 Geo. III. s. 2. c. 41. to take out annual licences. They shall not use melting-houses without making a. true entry, on paiuot 100/. !md are to give notice of making candles to the excise-officer for the duties, and of the number, &c. or forfeit 50/. Candle. Sale -or auction by inch of can- die, is when a small piece of caudle being lighted, the bystanders are allowed to bid for the merchandize that is selling : but the mo- ment the candle is out, the commodity is adjudged to the last bidder. CAN ELLA, in botany, a genus of the mcnogynia order, in the dodecandria class ot plants, and in the natural method ranking under the 1 2th order, holoracese. The calyx is three-lobed ; the petals are five ; the an- thers sixteen, growing to an urceolated or bladder-shaped nectarium ; and the fruit is a trilocular berry, with two seeds. 1 here is but one species, viz. Canella alba. It grows usually about 20 feet high, and 8 or 10 incites in thickness, in most of the Bahama islands. The bark is a warm stomachic. CANDY, or Sugar-candy, a prepara- tion of sugar, made by melting and crystal- lizing it six or seven times over, to render it hard and transparent. See Sugar. CANE, e-anna. See Arundo. It is also the name of a long measure, which differs according to the several countries where it is used. At Naples, the cane is equal to 7 feet inches English measure ; the cane of Thou- louse, an'd the upper Languedoc, is equal to the varre of Avragon, and contains 5 feet 85- inches ; at Montpelier, Provence, Dauphine, and the lower Languedoc, to 6 English feet 5-§ inches. CANES renatici, in astronomy, the grey- hounds, two new constellations first esta- blished by Hevelius, between the tail of the Great Bear and Bootes’s arms, above the Coma Berenices. The first, viz. that near- est the Bear’s tail, is called asterion ; the other chara. They comprehend 23 stars, two only of which were observed by Tycho. In the British catalogue they are 25. CANINE teeth, in anatomy, are two sharp-edged teeth in each jaw, one on each side, placed between the incisores and mo- lares. CANIS, dog, in zoology, the name of a comprehensive genus ot quadrupeds, of the order of the fene. The generic character is, cutting teeth in the upper jaw six; the la- teral ones longer, distant; the intermediate ones lobated. " In the lower jaw six ; the la- teral ones lobated. Canine teeth solitary, in- curvated. Grinders six or seven (or more than in other genera of this order). There are 24 species. 1st. Canis familiaris, or common dog. The real origin of this species is in a state of un- certainty: wild dogs appear to be found in great troops in Congo, lower ^Ethiopia, and towards the Cape of Good Hope. They are said to be red-haired, with slender bodies and turned- up tails, like greyhounds. It is also added that they vary in colour, have upright ears, and are of the general size of a large fox- hound. They destroy cattle, and hunt down antelopes and many other animals, and com- mit great ravages among the sheep of the Hottentots. They are very seldom to be taken, being extremely swift as well as fierce. The young are said to be sometimes ob- tained, but grow so fierce as to be rendered domestic with great difficulty. It is not, however, allowed by modern na- turalists that theSe wild dogs constitute the true or real species in a state of nature, but that they are rather the descendants of dogs once domesticated, and which have relapsed 5 into a state resembling that of primitive wild- ness ; and a theory has for some time pre- vailed, that the wolf is in reality the stock or original from which the dog has proceeded. If, however, the origin of the dog must be traced to some other animal, the jackall seems a more probable origin than the wolf. It is generally believed that the dog was unknown in America on the arrival of the Europeans. That which is supposed by Bufifon to ap- proach most nearly to tiie original animal, is known by the name of the shepherd’s dog. This is distinguished by its upright ears, and tail remarkably villose beneath. In the Al- pine regions, as well as in some other parts of Europe, this dog is much larger and stronger than in England. Its principal use is as a guard to the flock, which it prevents from straggling, and defends from all. attacks. l ire dingo, or New Holland dog, ap- proaches in appearance to the largest kind of shepherd’s dog. l ire ears are short and erect ; the tail rather bushy; the hair, which is of a reddish dun-colour, is long, thick, and straight. This dog is capable of barking, though not so readily as the European dogs: it is ex- tremely fierce, and has the same sort of snarling and howling voice as the larger dogs in general. By some it has been erroneously said neither to bark nor growl. Those which have been brought over to Europe were of a savage and untractable disposition. The Pomeranian dog is distinguished by upright ears, long hair on the head, and an extremely curved tail, so as to form almost a circle. This clog is generally of a white colour. The Siberian dog is nearly allied to the preceding, and may be subdivided into se- veral races, differing as to strength and size. The Siberian dogs are principally used in that country and in Kamtschatka for draw- ing sledges over the frozen snow in winter. When yoking to the sledge, they set up a dismal yell, which ceases on beginning the journey, and then gives place to silent sub- tlety, and a perpetual endeavour to weary out' the patience of the driver by wayward tricks ana contrivances. The Iceland dog seems to differ but slightly from the preceding kind. It has a shortish muzzle, upright ears, with flaccid tips, and is covered w ith long roughish hair. Its general colour is blackish : the breast, legs, and tip of the tail often white. The water dog is distinguished by its curly hair, like wool. It is remarkable for its great attachment to the water, swims with great ease, and is used in hunting ducks, and other aquatic birds. Its feet are commonly said to approach more to a webbed form than those of most other dogs. The great water spaniel is also distinguished in a similar manner by its curled hair, and its propensity to the water. There is a smaller variety of the water dog, called the little barbel, which, in general appearance, ex- tremely resembles the larger. The" Newfoundland dog is of a very large size, and from its strength and docility, is one of those which are best calculated for the se- curity of a house. This animal is remarkably fond of plunging into the .water. See Plate Nat. Hist. tig. 85. King Charles’s dog is one of the most ele- gant varieties of the dog, and it is recorded •that king Charles the Second hardly ever walked out without being attended by some of this breed. It is in some degree allied to the small water spaniel, and is generally black, with the roof of the mouth of the same colour. I lie Maltese dog is also a very small kind £>f spaniel, generally of a white colour. 1 he hound admits of some varieties. The old English hound is distinguished by its great size and strength. Its power of smelling is exquisite, and it is said to be able to distin- guish the scent an hour after the lighter beagles have given it up. These dogs are said to have been once very common in every part of England, and to have been much larger than at present, the breed having, as it should seem, been gradually suffered to decline. The blood hound is a very large dog, taller and more beautifully formed than the old English hound, and superior to most others in speed, strength, and sagacity. The blood hound was in much esteem with our ancestors for the pursuit of robbers, &c. It was mostly of a reddish or brown colour. “ A person of quality (says Mr. Boyle), to make a trial whether a young blood hound was well in- structed, caused one of his servants to walk to a town four miles off, and then to a market- town three miles from thence. The dog, without seeing whom he was to pursue, fol- lowed him by the scent to the abovemen- tioned places, notwithstanding the multitude of market-people that went along the same •way, and of travellers that had occasion to cross it; and when the bloodhound came to the chief market-town, he passed through the streets without taking notice of any of tlie people there, nor did he stop till he had gone to the house where the man he sought rested himself, and found him in an upper room, to the wonder of those that followed him.” The pointer is employed principally in finding partridges and other game. r I lie large pointer, commonly termed the Spanish point- er, is supposed to distinguish itself by a greater degree of docility than the English pointer, but is not able to undergo the fatigues of the field so well. The Dalmatian, or coach dog, is an animal of great beauty. Its native country seems uncertain. Mr. Pennant, however, informs us that Dalmatia is the country of this ele- gant dog. It is white, and beautifully marked •with numerous black spots. See Plate Nat. Hist. ffg. 88. The Irish greyliound is supposed to be the largest of all the dog kind, as well as the most beautiful and majestic in its appearance. It is only to be found in Ireland, and even there is become extremely rare. The common greyhound is remarkable for the slenderness oi its shape, the length of its snout, and the extreme swiftness of its course. The greyhound wants the faculty of quick scent, and follows his prey merely by the eye. ■ The Italian greyhound is a small and beauti- ful variety of the former. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 89. The naked dog is naturally divested of bail', and is supposed to have originated in some very warm climate. The mastiff is of a very strong and thick form, with a large head, a bold countenance, and large lips hanging down on each side. Dr. Cains, who lived in the reign of Eliza- beth, and who described the several varieties CANIS. of English dogs, tells us that three mastiffs were reckoned a match for a bear, and four for a lion; but from an experiment made in the Tower in the reign of James the First, a lion was found an unequal match to only three. Two of the dogs were disabled by the combat, but the third forced the lion to seek for safety by flight. See Plate Nat. Hist, lig. 86. The bull dog is a kind of mastiff on a smaller scale, with a somewhat flatter snout, and a greater ferocity of aspect. The bull dog is remarkable for the undaunted and sa- vage pertinacity with which it provokes and continues the light, and when it has fixed its bite, is with extreme difficulty disengaged from its antagonist. The pug dog is a small and innocent resemblance of the former, and is in some countries considered as a kind of lap-dog. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 87. The terrier is generally an attendant cn every pack of hounds, and is very expei t in forcing foxes or other game out of their co- verts. It is the determined enemy of all the vermin kind ; such as weasels, foumarts, badgers, rats, mice, &c. The turnspit is a breed very much on the decline in England, though still used in some other countries. It is a long-bodied, short- legged dog, with crooked or bowed knees, and is commonly of a dusky grey, spotted with black. To these we may add the alco, or Peruvian dog, and several mixed breeds from the above. 2d. Canis lupus, or wolf, is distinguished from the dog by his superior size, stronger limbs, more muscular body, and greater breadth of the upper part of the face, while the whole form of it is longer : the tail also, which in the dog is pretty uniformly turned a little towards one side (generally Ihe left), in the wolf has an inward direction ; it is ra- ther long and bushy. The wolf is a native of almost all the temperate and cold regions of the globe. It is found in most countries of Europe, but has been totally extirpated from our own island, as well as from Ireland. The general colour of the wolf is a pale grey, with a cast of yellowish, but it varies much as to the shades or gradations of co- lour indifferent parts of the world. The wolf is sometimes affected with mad- ness, attended with similar appearances to those exhibited in that state by the dog, and productive of the same symptoms in conse- quence of its bite : this disease is said to hap- pen to them in the depth of winter, and therefore, as Mr. Pennant observes, can never be attributed to the rage of the dog-days. Wolves in the northern parts of the world sometimes, during the spring, get on the ice of tire sea, in order to prey on young seals, which they catch asleep ; but this repast sometimes proves fatal to them, for the ice, detached from the slrore, carries them to a great distance from the land before they are sensible of it. It is said that in some years a large district is by this means delivered from these pernicious beasts, which are heard howl- ing in a most dreadful manner far in the sea. The time of gestation in the wolf is (accord- ing to Buffon) about three months and a half; and the young whelps are found from April to July; and this difference in the time of gestation, which in the wolf is 100 days, and in the dog only 60, he considers P p .2 ' $90 justly as .1 proof of the real difference between the two species. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 84. 3d. Canis Mexicanus, or Mexican wolf, ap- pears to have been first described by Her- nandez, in his account of Mexico. In its ge- neral appearance it resembles the common wolf, but has a head twice as large, a, thicker neck, and a less bushy tail : the colour ol the body is cinereous, marked with some yellow spots. Above the mouth are situated several bristles as large, but not so stiff, as tho.se of the hedgehog ; the ears are grey, like the head and body ; there is a long yellow spot on the neck, another on the breast, and a . third on the belly ; on the flayiks are trans- verse bands from the back to the belly; the tail is grey, with a yellow spot in ti e mid- dle ; the legs are barred with grey and brown , 4th. Canis lycaon, or black wolf. Like the common wolf, it is found both in Europe and America, as well as in some parts of Asia. It bears a great general resemblance to the common species, but is smaller, entirely black, with a .somewhat thinner or less bushy tail hanging nearly straight ; the ears are larger -in proportion than those of the common wolf, and the eyes smaller, and situated at a great- er distance from eacli other. In America the black wolf is chiefly found in Canada, and in Europe occurs only in the more northern regions. 5th. Canis hyaena, is a native of many parts of Asia and Africa, being found in Syria, Persia, Barbary, Senegal, &c. &c. Its general size i» that of a large dog, but it is distinguished by great strength of limbs, and by a remarkable tullness or thickness of the snout. Its colour is a pale greyish-brown accompanied by rf tawny cast, -and the whole body is maiked by several distant blackish transverse bands running from the back downwards. On all the feet are four toes. Hyaenas generally in- habit caverns and rocky places: they prowl about chiefly by night, and feed on the re-> mains of dead animals as well as on living prey. They are even said to devour the bodies which they occasionally find in ceme- teries. They attack cattle, and frequently commit great devastation among -the flocks* Though not gregarious from any social prin- ciple, they sometimes assemble in troops, and follow with dreadful assiduity the movements of an army, through the hope of feasting on the slaughtered bodies. See Plate Nat. Hist. tig. 79- There is something in the aspect of the hyaena which seems to indicate a peculiar gloominess and malignity of disposition ; and its manners in a state of captivity seem in general to correspond with its appearance, being savage and uiitractable. It has even been supposed that the hyaena cannot be tamed; but this opinion is proved to be er- roneous from two instances at least; one of which is recorded by Mr. Pennant, who de- clares that he saw a hyaena which had been rendered as tame as a dog ;■ the oilier by the Count de Buffon, v ho- assures yus that in an exhibition of animals at Paris,' in the y ear 1773, there was a hyaena which had been tamed very early, and was apparently' divest- ed of all its natural malevolence of disposition . 6th. Canis crocuta, or spotted hy ana, re- sembles the former, but is superior in size, and is readily distinguished by being marked all over the body and legs with numerous 306 'CAMS. roundish black spots. It is an African animal, and is found in Guinea, .Ethiopia, and about the Cape of Good Hope. 7th. Canis aureus, or jackal, is a native of the Warmer regions of Asia and Africa, and appears to be no where more common than in Barbary. It is about the size of a middling dog, and is of a pale or light orange-yellow, Vith darker or blackish shades about the back and legs ; the tail hangs straight, is rather bushy, and is commonly black at the tip. The jackal resides in rocky places, and in Woods, and makes its principal excursions during the night, preying indiscriminately on all the weaker animals. It also occasionally devours various vegetables. The voice of the jackal is described as peculiarly hideous, consisting of a kind of mixture of howling and indistinct barking. These animals fre- quently go in great troops to hunt their prey, and by their dreadful yellings alarm and put to (light deer, antelopes, and other timid quadrupeds ; while the lion, instinctively at- tending to the clamour, is said to follow till the jackals have hunted down the prey, and, having satiated himself, leaves only the man- gled remains to be devoured by the jackals. When taken young the jackal is easily famed, attaches itself to mankind, distinguishes its master, comes on being called by its name, shews an attachment to dogs, instead of flying from them, and has all the other particula- rities of character by which the dog is dis- tinguished. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 82. 8th. Canis mesomelas, or cape jackal, is .said to be not uncommon about the Cape of Good Hope, and is by some confounded with the jackal, to which, indeed, it seems to be very nearly allied. The head is yellowish- brown, with a mixture of black and white hairs : the nape of the neck and the whole length of the back black, with a mixture of white. The general colour of the animal is bright foxy or ferruginous : the tail is not un- like that of a fox, but rather less bushy. The length of this animal is two feet and three quarters, exclusive of the tail, which mea- sures one foot. 9th. Canis Barbaras, Barbary jackal, has a long slender nose, sharp upright ears, and a long bushy tail. Its colour is a very pale brown : from behind each ear runs a black lines which soon divides into two, running downwards along the neck. It is of the size of the common fox, but the limbs seemingly shorter, and the nose more slender. 1.0th. Canis Ceilonicus, Ceylonese dog, is a native of Ceylon, but no particulars relative to its manners or history are known, It is a little larger than a common domestic cat, measuring about twenty-two inches from nose to tail; the tail itself sixteen inches, gradually tapering to the point. The claws ot this ani- mal resemble those of a cat more than of a dog, though not so long and slight in propor- tion. Both fore and hind feet have live toes. 11th. Canis vulpes, pr fox, like the wolf, appears to be pretty generally diffused throughout all the northern and temperate parts of the globe ; occurring with numerous varieties, as to shades of colour and grada- tions of size, in most parts of Europe, the north of Asia, and America, See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 83. In the northern climates are foxes of all colours, black, blue, grey, iron colour, silver- f rey, white with yellow feet, white with lack heads, white with the extremity oi the tail black, reddish, with the throat and belly entirely white, and, lastly, some have a black line along the back, and crossed with another over the shoulders: the latter are larger than the other kinds, and have black throats. The fox prepares for himself a convenient den or receptacle in which he lies concealed during the greater part of the day. H his den is sometimes said to be obtained by dispossess- ing the badger of its hole, and appropriating it to his own purposes. It is so contrived as to afford the best security to the inhabitant, by being situated under hard ground, the roots of trees, &c. and is besides furnished with proper outlets through which he may escape in case of necessity. The fox attempts his prey by cunning ra- ther than by force.: his scent is exquisite, so that be can perceive his prey or his enemies at the distance of 2 or 300 paces: he has the habit of killing more than he eats, and hiding the remainder under grass, the roots ot trees, &c. Ilis voice is a sharp, quick yell, often ending in a higher, stronger, and screaming kind of note, not unlike that of the peacock. The fox produces five or six young at a time ; and if they are discovered or disturbed, the female will carry them in her mouth, one at a time, to some more secret retreat; in this respect imitating the conduct of the cat and dog, which are known to do the same. 12th. Canis alopex, brant fox, is less than the common fox, and has a thicker and darker fur, though sometimes, on the contrary, it is much brighter and redder than that species, as mentioned by Linnaeus in his fauna Sueeica t the tail is tipped with black. 13th. Canis corsac, or corsac fox. The colour of this species is, in summer, a clear yellow-ferruginous ; in winter mixed or shad- ed with grey, deeper on the back, white on the belly, and reddish on the feet : tire eyes are surrounded with a border of white ; and a brownish stripe runs from them down the nose, The size of this animal is less than that of the common fox. 1 4th. Canis Karagan, orKaragan fox. This is a small species, which, according to Dr. Pallas, is very common in almost all parts of the Kirghisian deserts and Great Tartary. Its general colour is a wolf-grey ; the head yel- lowish, and above the eyes reddish : the throat and breast are of a deep or blackish grey, the belly white. 15th. Canis cinereo-argenteus, or fulvous- necked fox, inhabits North America, and the skins are often sent over to Europe. T he crown of the head, neck, and back, are grey, mixed with black and white :■ the finer hairs being white-grey, the coarser varied with black and white like a porcupine’s quill. In size this species is inferior to the common fox. 1 6th. Canis Virginianus, or Virginian fox, resembles tire common fox in shape: has a sharp nose, long, sharp, upright ears, long legs, and a bushy tail: its colour is a whitish grey, with a cast of red about the ears. It inhabits the warmer parts of North America, particularly Carolina and Virginia. It is said never to burrow under ground like the com- mon fox, but to inhabit hollow trees: it is destitute of the strong smell of the common fox, is easily tamed, and is said to prey chief- ly on poultry, birds, &c. 17. Canis argentatus, silvery fox, resem- bles the common fox. It is of a deep brown- colour, with the longer or exterior hairs of a silvery white, giving a highly elegant appe§fc» dr.ee to the animal. It is an inhabitant of the forests of Louisiana, and preys on game. 18th. Canis lagopus, arctic fox, is inferior in size to the common fox. Its colour is a bluish-grey, which sometimes changes to per- fect white : when young it is said to be of a dusky colour. They inhabit Spitzbergen, Greenland, and Iceland; and are only mi- gratory in Hudson’s Bay, once in four or five years. They are the hardiest of animals, and even in Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla prowl for prey during the severity of winter. They live on the young wild geese, and all kinds of water-fowl, or on their eggs; on hares or any lesser animals ; and in Greenland (through necessity) on berries, shell-fish, or whatsoever the sea throws up. They swim well, and often cross from island to island in search of prey. 1 he Greenlanders take them either in pitfalls dug in the snow, and baited with the capelin fish, or in springs made with whalebone laid over a hole made in the snow, strewed over at bottom with the same kind of fish ; or in traps made like little huts, with fiat stones, with a broad one by way of door, which falls down (by means of a string baited on the inside with a piece of fiesh) whenever the fox enters and pulls at it. The Greenlanders preserve the skin for traffic ; and, in cases of necessity, eat the ilesh. They also make buttons of the skins ; and split the tendons, which they use instead of thread. The blue furs are much more esteemed than the white. See PlateNat. Hist, fig. 80. 19th. Canis culpseus. Chili fox, is sup- posed to be a variety of the antarctic fox.. . Its length from nose to tail is two feet and a half ; its colour a deep brown. It inhabits the open countries of Chili, in which it forms its burrows. 20th. Canis thous, or Surinam dog, seems to have been unknown to other naturalists. Linnaeus states only that the body is grey, entirely white beneath ; that it is of the size of a large cat, and has upright ears of the same colour with the body ; a verruca or wart above the eyes, on each cheek, and beneath the throat; and that the tongue is ciliated at the edges. 21st. Canis Bengalensis, Bengal fox, is scarcely half the size of the European fox. The face is cinereous, the body pale-brown* the legs fulvous, the tail tipped with black, and down the middle of the face runs a black stripe. The spaces round the eyes and the middle of 'the jaws are white. It is said to feed chiefly on roots and berries. 22d. Canis fuliginosus, sooty fox, in size and habit resembles the arctic fox, but is a distinct species. It is said to be numerous in Iceland. 23d. Canis antarcticus, antarctic fox, is aboHt a third part superior in size to the arc- tic fox, and has pretty much the habit of a wolf in its ears, tail, and strength of limbs. It is a native of the Falkland isles, and is said to be almost the only land quadruped of those distant spots. It resides near the shores ; kennels like a fox, and forms regu- lar paths from bay to bay, probably for the convenience of surprising water-fowl, on which it principally lives. It is a tame, fe- tid animal, and barks in the manner of a dog. 24th. Canis zerda, the Fennec, or zerda, is a beautiful African and Asiatic animal, arjd is principally found in Arabia, Its genera), € A N 301 CAN length is about ten inches, and its colour yellowish- white. The ears, which are un- commonly large, are internally of a bright rose-colour, edged with a broad margin of white hair, and the tip of the tail is black. It inhabits, the vast deserts of Zaara, which extend beyond mount Atlas; it burrows in sandy ground, which shews the use of valves to the ears. It is so exceedingly swift that it is very rarely taken alive ; feeds on insects, especially locusts ; sits on its rump ; is very vigilant, and barks like a dog, but much shriller. Canis major, in astronomy, a constellation of the southern hemisplvere, consisting of 28 stars, according to Ptolemy; of 13, accord- ing to Tycho; and 32 in the Britannic cata- logue. Canis minor, C aniculus, or Canicula, in astronomy’, a constellation of tiie northern hemisphere. In Ptolemy’s catalogue, the -canis minor comprehends two stars; in that | of Tycho, live; and in the Britannic cata- . logue, 15. GANNA, Indian flowering reed; a genus of the monogynia order, in the monandria class of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 8th order, scitamina?. The corolla is erect, and divided into six parts, with a distinct lip, bipartite, and rolled back ; the style lanceolate, and growing to the co- rolla;' the caly x is triphylious. There are ! five species, viz. 1. Canna coccinea, has larger leaves than I any of the other four species, and the stalks j rise much higher. The flowers are produced in large spikes, and are of a bright crimson or rather scarlet colour. | 2. Canna glauca, with a very large yellow ! flower, is a native of South America. 3. Canna Indies, or common broad-leaved flowering cane. 4. Canna latlfolia, with a pale red flower, is a native of Carolina, and some other north- ern provinces of America. 5. Canna lutea, with obtuse oval leaves, is less common in America than the other sorts. All these plants must always be kept in pots of rich earth, to be moved to shelter in win- ter. CANNABIS, hemp, in botany, a genus of the dioecia pentaudria class of plants, and in the natural method ranking under the 53d order, scabridx-. The calyx of the male is quinquepartite, ■with no corolla. In the fe- ll male the calyx is monophyllous, entire, and I gaping at the side; there is no corolla, hut two styles ; the fruit is a nut, bivalved, with- in the closed calyx. Of this there is but one ] species, viz. | Cannabis sativa. It is propagated in the i rich fenny parts of Lincolnshire in great ! quantities for its bark, which is useful for ! cordage, cloth, &c. and the seeds abound with oil. Hemp is always sown on a deep, moist, rich soil, such as is found in Holland, Lincolnshire, and the fens of the island of Ely, where it is cultivated to great advantage, as it might be in many other parts of Eng- land where there is a soil of the same kind ; but it will not thrive on clayey or stiff cold land. The ground on which hemp is to be sown should be well ploughed, and made very fm£ bv harrowing. About the middle •of April the seed may be sown; three bush- els are the usual allowance for an acre, but two »re sufficient, In the choice of the seed, the heaviest and-brightest, coloured should be preferred ; and particular care should be had to the kernel of the seed. For the greater certainty’ in this matter, some of the seeds should be cracked to see whether they have the germ or future plant perfect ; lor, in some plac es, the male plants are draw n out too soon from the female, i. e. before they have impregnated the female plants with the farina ; in which case, though the seeds pro- duced by these females may seem good to the eye, yet they will not grow. W hen the plants are come up, they’ should be hoed out in the same manner as turneps, leaving them two feet apart; observe also to cut down all the weeds, which, if well performed, and in dry weather, will destroy them. This crop, however, will require a second hoeing, in about six weeks after the first; and, it this is well performe’, the crop will require no further care. The first season for pulling hemp is usually about the middle of August, w hen they begin to pull what they call the simple hemp, being that which is composed of the male plants ; but it would he much better to defer this for a fortnight or three w eeks longer, until those male plants have fully shed their farina or dust, without which the seeds will prove only empty husks. These male plants decay soon after they have shed their farina. The second pulling is a little after Michaelmas, when the seeds are ripe. This is usually called karle hemp, and consists of the female plants which were ! left. This karle hemp is bound in bundles ' of a yard compass, according to the statute measure, which are laid in the sun for a few’ : days to dry ; and then it is slacked up or : housed t® keep it dry till the seed can be threshed out. An acre of hemp, on a rich soil, will produce nearly three, quarters of seed, which, together with the unwrought hemp, are worth from 61. to 8/. Hemp is esteemed very effectual for destroying weeds; but this it accomplishes by impoverishing the ground, and thus robbing them of their nou- rishment ; so that a crop of it must not be repeated on the same spot. CANNEL-COAL. See Ampelites. CANNON, in the military art, an engine or kind of fire-arms for throwing iron, lead, or stone bullets, by the force of gunpow der. Cannons at first were called bombardae, from the noise they made. They had like- wise the name of culverin, basilisk, &c. from the beasts that w’ere represented upon them ; and the Spaniards, from devotion, gave them the name of saints ; witness the twelve apos- tles which Charles V. ordered to be cast at Malaga, for his expedition to Tunis. The most remarkable parts about a can- non are the cascabel, mouldings, base-ring, touch-hole, vent-ring, reinforced ring, trun- nions, dolphins, trunnion-ring, cornish-ring, neck, muzzle, face, and chace or cylinder. The metal of which brass cannon is made is in a manner kept a secret by the found- ers ; yet, with all their art and secrecy, they have not hitherto found out a composition that will stand a hot engagement without melting, or being rendered useless. Those cast at Woolwich- bid fairest towards this amendment. The respective quantities which should enter into this composition, is a point not decided; every founder has his own pro- portions, which are peculiar to hiiyself. The most common proportions of the ingredients CAN are the following, viz. To 240 lb. of metal lit for casting, they put 68 lb. of copper, 52lb. of brass, and 121b. of tin. r lo 4200 lb. of metal fit for casting, the Germans put 3687|ilb. of copper, 204^ilb. of brass, and 3073-jlb. of tin. Others again use 100 lb. of copper, 61b. of brass, and 9lh. of tin ; and lastly, others 1001b. of copper, 101b. of brass, and 1 51b. of tip. With respect to iron guns, their structure is the same as that ot the others, and they generally stand the most severe engagements, being frequently used on ship-board. Several experiments have taught us that the Swedish iron guns are pre- ferable to all others. Cannons are distinguished by the diame- ters of the balls they carry. The rule lor their length is, that it l>e such as that the whole charge of powder be on lire before the ball quits the piece. If it be too long, the quantity of air to be driven out before the ball, will give too much resistance to the im- pulse; and that impulse ceasing, the friction of the ball against the surface ot the piece will take off from the motion. In former days, cannon were made much longer than they are now’ ; but experience has taught us, that a ball moves with a great- er impetus through a less space than a greater : and accordingly it is found that an iron ball of 48 pound weight goes farther from a short cannon than another ball of 96 pound out of a longer piece ; whereas, in other respects, it is certain, the larger the bore and ball, the greater the range. But for the range of a cannon, see Projectile. It is found, too, by experience, that of two cannons of equal bore, but different lengths, the longer requires a greater charge of pow- der than the shorter. The ordinary charge of a cannon is, for the weight of its gunpow- der to be half that of its ball. See Founding. CANON, in an ecclesiastical sense, a law, rule, or regulation, of the policy and disci- pline of a church, made by councils, either general, national, or provincial. Canons of (he apostles, a collection of ecclesiastical laws, which, though very an- tient, were not left us by the apostles. It is- true, they were sometimes called apostolic canons ; but this means no more than that they w r ere made by bishops who lived soon, after the apostles, and were called apostolical men. They consist of regulations, which agree with the discipline of the second and third centuries. The Greeks generally count eighty-five, but the Latins receive only fifty, nor do they observe all these.. Canon of mass, in the Romish church, the name of a prayer which the priest reads low’ to himself, the people kneeling. Canon, in arithmetic, algebra, &c. is a rule to solve all things of the same nature wdth the present inquiry ; thus, every last step of an equation in algebra, is such a ca- non ; and, it turned into words, is a rule to solve all questions of the same nature with that proposed.. The tables of logarithms, artificial sines and tangents, are called likewise by the name of canon. Canon -law, a collection of ecclesiastical law’s, serving as the rule and measure of church government. The pow’er of making laws was exercised by the church before the.- Roman empire became Christian. The. car § 302 CAN 11011 -law that obtained throughout the west, til! the twelfth century, was the collection of canons made by Dionysius Exiguus in 520, the capitularies of Charlemagne, and the de- crees of the popes, from Sircius to Anasta- sius. The canon-law, even when papal authority was at its height in England, was of no force when it was found to contradict the preroga- tive of the king, the laws, statutes, and cus- toms of the realm, or the doctrine of the established church. The ecclesiastical juris- diction of the see of Home in England, was founded on the canon-law ; and this created quarrels between kings and several archbi- shops and prelates, who adhered to the papal usurpation. N Besides the foreign canons, there were several laws and constitutions made here for the government of the church; but all these received their force from the royal assent: and if, at any time, the eccle- siastical courts did, by their -sentence, endea- vour to enforce obedienqe to such canons, the courts at common law, upon complaints made, would grant prohibitions. The autho- rity vested in the church of England of making canons was ascertained by a statute of Henry VIII., commonly called the act of the clergy’s submission; by which they ac- knowledged that the convocation had been always assembled, by the king’s writ; so that though the power of making canons resided in tfie clergy met iu convocation, their force was derived from the authority of the king’s assenting to, and confirming them. The old canons continued in force till the reign of- James I., when the clergy being assembled in convocation, the king gave them leave to treat and consult upon canons, which they did, and presented them to the king, who gave them the royal assent. These were a collection out of the several preceding ca- nons and injunctions. Some of these canons are now obsolete. In the reign of Charles T. several canons were passed by the clergy in convocation. QA1N OPUS, in astronomy, a star of the first magnitude in the rudder of Argo, a con- stellation of the southern hemisphere. CANTAB, or Cantaro, in commerce, a weight used in Italy, particularly at Leg- horn. There are three sorts: one weighs 150 pounds, the other 151, and the third 160. The first serves to weigh alum and cheese; the second is for sugar; and the third for wool and cod-fish. The word is Used also as a measure of capacity used at Cochin, and 'containing four rubis. CANTATA, in music, a song or compo- sition, intermixed with recitatives, airs, and different movements, chiefly intended for a single voice. CANTEENS, tin or wooden -vessels used by soldiers on a march, &c. to carry water or oilier liquor in ; each holds about two quarts. Wooden canteens are in general use with the British army: they are made cylindrical, like barrels, 1\ Inches in diameter, and about four inches in length. They are chiefly manufactur- ed by Mr. George Smart, of Camden Town. CANTHARIS, in zoology, a genus of coleopterous insects, with setaceous antenna*, the exterior wings of which are flexile, the tho- rax somewhat flatted, and the sides of the ab- domen plicated. Linnaeus enumerates 27 spe- cies of the cantharis, most of them to be found In different par's of Europe. C A O For the cantharis, usually called Spanish ! flies with us, see Meloe. CAN rill, see Anatomy. CANTO, in music, the treble or at least the higher part of a piece. CANTONED, in architecture, is when the corner of a building is adorned with a pilaster, an angular column, rustic quoins, or any thing that projects beyond the naked of a wall. Cantoned, or Cantonized, cantonee, in heraldry, the position of such things as are borne with a cross, &c. between. He bears gules, a cross argent cantoned with four scallop-shells. CAN1EED, or Cantref, signifies an hundred villages ; being a British word, com- pounded of the adjective cant, i. e. hundred, and tref, a town or village. In Wales, some of the counties are divided into cantreds, as in England into hundreds. CANVASS, in commerce, a very clear unbleached cloth of hemp or llax, woven very regularly in little squares. It is used for working tapestry with the needle, by- passing the threads of gold, silver, silk, or wool, through the intervals or squares. It is also a coarse cloth of hemp, unbleached, somewhat clear, which serves to cover wo- men’s stays, also to stiffen men’s clothes, and to make some other of their wearing apparel, &c. It is also used to make sails for ship- ping, &c. CANZONE, in music, signifies in general a song where some little figures are intro- duced ; and CANZONETTA is a diminutive of the same. CAOUTCHOUC. About the beginning of the 1 8th centmy, a substance called caout- chouc was brought as a curiosity from Ame- rica. It was soft, very 7 elastic, and com- bustible. The pieces of it that came to Eu- rope were usually in the shape of bottles, birds, &c. This substance is very much used in rubbing out the marks made upon paper by a black-lead pencil ; and therefore in this country it is often called Indian rubber. No- thing was known of its production, except that it was obtained from a tree, until the French academicians went to South America in 1735, to measure a degree of the meri- dian. Mr. de la Condamine sent an account of it to the French academy, in the year 173b. He told them, that there grew in the province of Esmeraldas, in Brazil, a tree, called by the natives hheve ; that from this tree there flowed a milky juice, which, when inspissated, was caoutchouc. It is now known that there are at least two trees in South America, from which caout- chouc may be obtained ; the haevea caout- chouc and the jatropha elastica: and it is ex- ceedingly probable that it is extracted also from other species of hawea and jatropha. Several trees, likewise, which grow in the East Indies, yield caoutchouc. When any of these plants is punctured, there exudes from it a milky 7 juice, which, when exposed to the air, gradually lets fall a concrete sub- stance, which is caoutchouc. If oxy muriatic acid is poured into the milky juice, the caoutchouc precipitates im- mediately, and, at the same time, the acid loses its peculiar odour. This renders it pro- bable that the formation of the caoutchouc is owing to its basis absorbing oxygen. ■ If the CAP milky juice is confined in a glass vessel con- taining common air, it gradually absorbs oxygen, and a pellicle of caoutchouc appears on its surface. Caoutchouc, when pure, is of a white co- lour, and without either taste or smell. The blackish colour of the caoutchouc of com- merce, is owing to the method employed in drying it after it has been spread upon moulds. The usual way is to spread a thin coat of the milky juice upon the mould, and then to dry it by exposing it to smoke ; after- wards another coat is spread on, which is j dried in the same way. Thus the caoutchouc ' of commerce consists of numerous layers of pure caoutchouc alternating with as many la* - ers of soot. It is soft and pliable: it is exceed* j ingly elastic and adhesive ; so that it may be forcibly stretched out much beyond its usual length, and instantly recover its former bulk i when the force is withdrawn. It cannot be ] broken without very considerable force. Its] specitic gravity is 0.9335. It is not altered by 7 exposure to the air; it is perfectly inso- luble in water; but if boiled for some time, j its edges become somewhat transparent, ow- ing undoubtedly to the water carrying off the soot; and so soft, that when two of them are pressed and kept together for some time, they adhere as closely as if they formed one piece. By this contrivance pieces of caout- chouc may be soldered together, and thus made to assume whatever shape we please. Caoutchouc dissolved in ether may be em- ployed to make instruments of different kinds, just as the milky juice of the haivea; but this method would be a great deal too expensive for common use. Caoutchouc is soluble in volatile oils ; but, in general, when these oils are evaporated, it remains somewhaPglutinous ; and therefore is scarcely proper for these uses to which, be- fore its solution, it was so admirably adapted.] It is also soluble in alkalies. When exposed to heat, it readily melts; but it never after- wards recovers its properties, but continues always of the consistence of tar. It burns very readily with a bright white flame, and diffuses a fetid odour, jn the countries where- it is found, it is frequently used by way of candle. When distilled, it gives out ammo- nia: from this, and from the effect of sulphu- ric and nitric acid upon it, there is no doubt that it is composed of carbon, hydrogen] azote, and oxygen ; but the modes of their combination are unknown. CAP of maintenance, one of the regalia or ornaments of state belonging to the kings of England, before whom it was carried at the coronation, and other great solemnities] Caps of maintenance are also carried before the mayors of the several cities in England. Cap, in a ship, a square piece of°tunber put over the head or upper end of any mast, having a round hole to receive the mast. By means of these caps, the top-masts and top- gallant-masts are kept steady and firm in the tressel-trees where their feet stand. Cap of a gun, a piece of lead which is put: over the touch-hole of a gun, to keep the priming from being wasted of" spoiled. CAPE, in law, a judicial writ concerning plea of lands or tenements, and divide! into cape magnum and cape parvum, both of which affect things immoveable ;. and be- sides these there is a cape ad valenciam. Cape magnum, is designed to lie where a C A. P CAP 303 person has brought a praripe qttod reddut of a thing that touches a plea of land, and the tenant makes default at the day given to him in the original writ ; then this writ shall go for the king, to take the land into his hands : and if he comes not at the day given him, he loses his land, &c. Cape parvum, called petit-cape, is defined thus: When the tenant is summoned in plea of land, and cometh at the summons, and his appearance is recorded; an.l after he maketh default, at the day that is given to him, then this writ shall go for the king. Cape ad valenciam, is a species of cape magnum, where one being impleaded, and on a summons to warrant lands, a vouchee docs not come at the day; whereupon if the demandant recovers of the tenant, lie shall have this writ against the vouchee, and re- cover so much in value of his lands, in ease he has so much; and if not, there shall be an execution of such lands and tenements as shall after descend to him in fee; or if he purchases afterwards, there may be a re- gular summons, &c. against him. CAP ELLA, in astronomy, a bright fixed star in the left shoulder of the constellation Auriga. It is, in the Britannic catalogue, the fourteenth in order of that constellation. Its longitude is 17° 31' 4l // ; its latitude 22° 51' 47". CAPER, see, C apparis. CAPLIAR, a duty which the Turks raise onMhe Christians who carry or send mer- chandizes from Aleppo to Jerusalem and other places in Syria; CAPI-AGA, or Capou-agassi, a Turkish officer, who is grand-master of the seraglio. CAPIAS, in law, is a writ of two sorts, one whereof is called capias ad responden- dum, before judgment ; where an original is sued out, &c. to take the defendant and make him answer the plaintiff: and the other a writ of execution, after judgment, being of divers kinds. Capias ad respondendum, is a writ com- manding the sheriff to take the body of the defendant, if he may be found in his baili- wic, or county, and him safely to keep, so that he may have him in court on the day of the return, to answer to the plaintiff of a plea of debt or trespass, or the like, as the case may be. And if the sheriff return that lie cannot be found, then there issues another writ, called an alias capias; and alter that ano- ther, called a pluries capias; and if upon none of these he can be found, then he may be proceeded against to outlawry. But all this being only to compel an appearance, after the defendant has appeared the effect of these writs is taken off, and the defendant shall be put to answer, unless in cases where special bail is required, and there the defend- ant is actually to be taken into custody. 3 Blacks. 212. Capias ad satisfaciendum, is a writ direct- ed to the sheriff, commanding him to take the body of the defendant, and him safely to -keep, so that he may have his body in court at the return of the writ, to make the plain- tiff satisfaction for his demand: otherwise he is to remain in custody till he does. When a man is once taken in execution upon this writ, no other process can be sued out against his lands or goods. But if a. defendant dies whilst charged in execution upon this writ, the plaintiff may, after his death, sue out new CAP executions against his lands, goods, or chat- tels, 3 Blacks. 415. Capias utlegatum, is a writ that lies against a person that is outlawed in any action, whereby the sheriff is commanded to appre- hend the body of the party outlawed, and keep him in safe custody till the day of the return of the writ, and then present him to the court, there to be dealt with for his con- tempt. But this being only for want of ap- pearance, if he shall afterwards appear, the outlawry is most commonly reversed. 3 Blacks. 28 4. Capias in withernam , is a writ directed to the sheriff, in case where a distress is car- ried out of the county, or concealed by the distrainer, so that the sheriff cannot make deliverance of the goods upon a replevin ; commanding him to take so many of the dis- trainer’s own goods, by way of reprisal, in- stead of the other that are so concealed. CAPILLARY tubes, in physics, little pipes, whose canals are extremely narrow, their diameter being only a half, third, or fourth of a line. See Attraction. Capillary vessels. See Anatomy. CAPISTRUM. See Surgery. CAPITAL, in architecture, the upper- most part of a column or pilaster, serving as the head or crowning, and placed immediate- ly over the shaft, and under the entablature. See Architecture. CAPITATION, a tax or imposition raised on each person in consideration of his labour, industry, office, rank, &c. commonly called a poll-tax. CAPITULATION, in the German polity, a contract which the. emperor makes with the electors in the name of all the princes and states of the empire, before he is declared emperor, and which he ratifies before he is raised to that sovereign dignity. The prin- cipal points which the emperor undertakes to observe, are, 1. To defend the church arid the .empire. 2. To observe the fundamen- tal laws of the empire. 3. To maintain and preserve the rights, privileges, and immuni- ties, of the electors, princes, and other states of the empire, specified in the capitulation. These articles and capitulations are present- ed to the emperor by the electors only, with- out the concurrence of the other states, who have complained from time to time of such proceedings: and in the time of the West- phalian treaty, in 1648, it was proposed to deliberate in the following diet upon a way of making a perpetual capitulation ; hut the electors have always found means of eluding the execution of this article. In order, however, to give some satisfaction to their adversaries, they have inserted in the capi- tulations of the emperors, and in that of Fran- cis I. in particular, a promise to use ail their influence to bring the affair of a per- petual capitulation to a conclusion. Some German authors own that this capitulation limits the emperor’s power; but maintain, that it does not weaken his sovereignty : though the most part maintain, that he is not absolute, because he receives the empire un- der conditions which sets bounds to an abso- lute authority. CAROC, a sort of cotton as soft as silk, so line and so short that it cannot be spun. It is used in the East Indies, as well as in Eu- rope, to line palanquins, to make bt_cs, mat- tresses, cushions, pillows, & c. CAPONIERE, or Caponniere, a work sunk on the glacis of a place, about four or five feet deep. The earth that conies out ot it serves to form a parapet of two or three feet high, made with loop-holes or small em- brasures: it is covered overhead with strong planks, on which are laid clays or hurdles, which support the earth that covers all. It holds 15 or 20 men, who fire through these embrasures. They are also sometimes made in the bottom of a dry moat. CAPPAD1NE, a sort of silk flock, taken from the upper part of the silkworm-cod, after the true silk lias been wound oil. CAPPARIS, a genus of the monogynia order, in the polyandria class of plants, and in the natural method ranking under the 25th order, putamineax The calyx is tetraphyl- lous and coriaceous; the petals are four, the' stamina are long; the fruit is a berry, car- nous, unilocular, .and pedunculated, or fur- nished with a footstalk. There are 25 spe- cies, of which the principal is, Capparis spinosa, or common caper, a low shrub, generally growing out of the joints of old walls or fissures of rocks in the warm parts of Europe. This plant is with great difficulty preserved in England. The pickle made from its berry is well known. CAPRA, the goat-kind, in zoology,, constitutes a genus of quadrupeds, of the order of pecora. The generic character is, horns hollow, turning upwards and back- wards, compressed, rough, almost close at their base. Front-teeth in the lower jaw eight. Canine-teeth, or tusks, none. Chin bearded in the male. There are nine spe- cies and varieties : 1. Capra Ibex. This, which is the com- mon Ibex or Steinbock of authors, appears to have been sometimes confounded with the Caucasan Ibex, or next species, to which it is much allied. It is found in several parts, of Europe and Asia. It inhabits the Car- pathian and Pyrensean mountains, and various parts of the Alps, more particularly the Rhretian Alps, in the midst of snow and glaciers. Tn Asia it occurs on the summits of the chain of mountains extended from Taurus, and continued between eastern Tar- tarv and Siberia. It also inhabits the tract beyond the Lena, and in all probability may he a native of Kamtschatka. In Arabia, it inhabits the province of Hedsjaes, and is there known by the name of Baeden. Lastly, it is found in the high mountains of the island of Crete, where the Caucasan ibex has also been discovered. It is an animal of great strength and agility, and is considerably larger than a common domestic goat. Its colour is a deep hoary or greyish brown ; much paler or whitish, beneath, and on the insides of the limbs ; the body is of a thick, strong form ; the head rather small, the eyes large, and the horns ex- tremely large and long, so as sometimes to measure three feet in length, and to extend the whole length of the body. In its general habits or manners the ibex resembles the common goat ; but possesses every attribute of strength and activity in a degree proportioned to its natural state of wildriess. It is even said, that, when hard- pressed, this animal will fling itself down a steep precipice, and falling on its- horns escape unhurt from its pursuers ; nor will, this appear in the least incredible, if we may rely on the faith of Monardes, who assures us that he saw a Caucasan ibex leap from 301 C A P CAP the top of a high tower, and falling on is horns, immediately spring up on its limbs and leap about without having received the least apparent injury. See Plate Nat. Hist, fig. 90. The flesh of the young ibex is said to be in good esteem as" an article of food. Its period of gestation is said to be the same as in the common goat, viz. five months. 2, Capra /Rgagrus, or caucasan ibex, supposed to be tiie stock or origin of the domestic goat, is considerably superior to that animal in size, and its form in some degree resembles that of a stag. Its general colour is a brownish or subferruginous grey above, and white beneath ; the forehead is nearly black, which colour is continued down the back in the form of a list or stripe : the chin is furnished with a large brownish beard, and the horns, which are very large, and bend considerably backwards, are smooth, black, and sharply ridged on their upper part. The female is "destitute both of horns and beard. In point of strength and agility this species is at least equal, if not superior, to the com- mon ibex ; it inhabits the loftiest rocky points of mount Caucasus, and particularly the parts about the rivers Kuban and Terek ; almost all Asia Minor, and may probably extend even to India. It is said" to abound on the hills of Laar and Chorazan, in Persia. 3. Capra Hircus, or common goat, in its domestic state, is found in almost every part of the globe, bearing the extremes of neat and cold, and differing in size and form according to various circumstances. It may be observed, that the horns have generally a curvature outwards towards the tips ; and it may be added, that the animal was entire- ly unknown to the Americans on the disco- very of that continent, having been intro- duced by the Europeans. The colour of the domestic goat is various, being either black, brown, while, or spotted. The flesh is of great use to the inha- bitants of Wales, and affords them a cheap and plentiful provision in the winter months, when the kids are brought to market : the haunches are often dried and salted, and used as a substitute for bacon. The skin of the goat is peculiarly well adapted for the glove-manufactory, especially that of the kid ; and as it takes a dye better than any other skin, it was formerly much used for hangings in the houses of people of fortune ; being susceptible of the richest colours. The goat goes with young four months and a half. The skin of the Chamois goat is also in high esteem for fine leather. See Plate Nat. Hist, fig. 91. The following are the most remarkable varieties of the domestic goat. 1. Capra mambrica, or Syrian goat, is distinguished by the great length of the ears, which are pendulous, like those of abound, and sometimes reach so low as to be trouble- some to the animal while feeding. 2. Capra Angor'ensis, Angora goat, is generally of a beautiful milk-white colour, short-legged, with black, spreading, spirally twisted horns, and with the hair on the whole body dispos- ed in long pendant spiral ringlets, it is from the hair of this animal tlvat the finest camlets, & c. are prepared, 3. Capra de- pressa, or African goat, is a very small or dwarf variety, fount! in some parts of Africa. 4. Copra rovers a, or WJiidaw goat. This is CAP also a dwarf variety, found in Africa, where its flesh is considered as an excellent food. 5. Long-horned Whidaw goat. 6. Capricorn goat. CAPTLARIA, Sweet- we ed, a genus of the afigiospermia order, in the didynamia class of plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the 40th order, personatse. The calyx is quinquepartite ; the corolla is campanulated, quinquelid, with acute seg- ments ; the capsule bivalved, bilocular, and polyspermous. There are five species. CAPRICORN, in astronomy, one of the twelve signs of the zodiac, represented in globes in the form of a goat, and character- ised in books by this mark Vjh It is the tenth sign in order, and contains twenty-eight stars according to Ptolemy and Tycho Brahe ; twenty-nine, according to He- velius ; and fifty-one according to Flamsteed. Tropic o/'C’apricorn, a lesser circle of the sphere, which is parallel to the equinoc- tial, and at 23 G 3f/ distance from it south- wards. CAPRIMULGUS, goat-sucker, a genus of birds belonging to the order of passeres. The beak is incurvated, small tapering, and depressed at the base: the mouth opens wide. There are two species: 1. The Europams, with tiie tubes of the nostrils hardly visible, which feeds on moths, gnats, &c. It appears in May, and leaves us in August. 2. The Americanos, a night bird, found in America. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 81. CAPSICUM, in botany, Guinea pepper, a genus of the monogynia order, in the pen- j tandria class of plants; and in the natural method ranking under tiie 28th order, lu- ■fidae. The corolla is verticillated, and the fruit is a sapless berry. There are live spe- cies, the principal are : 1. Capsicum annuum, the common long- podded capsicum, commonly cultivated in the gardens. Of this there is one variety with red and another with yellow fruit ; and of these there are several sub-varieties, differ- ing only in the size and figure of their fruit. 2. Capsicum baccatum, bird pepper, rises with a shrubby stalk four or five feet high ; tiie leaves are of a lucid green ; the fruit grows at the division of the branches, stand- ing erect; these are small, oval, and of a bright red ; they are much more sharp and biting than those of the other sorts. Tins is the Cayenne pepper. 3. Capsicum grossum, tiie bell pepper. The fruit of this is red, and is tiie only kind proper for pickling, the skin being tender, whereas those of the other sorts are thin and tough. CAP-SQUARES, in gunnery, strong plates of iron which come over tiie trunnions of a gun, and keep it in the carriage. CAPSTAN, or Main-capstan, in a ship, a large piece of timber in tiie nature of a windlass, placed next behind the main-mast, its foot standing in a step on the lower deck, and its head between tiie upper decks, formed into several squares with holes in them. Its use is to weigh the anchors, to hoist up or strike down top-masts, to heave any weighty matter, or to strain any rope that requires a main force. Capstan Tear is placed, between the main-mast and the mizen, and serves to strain any rope, heave upon the jegr-rope or upon the viol, or hold off by at (he weighing of an anchor, CAPSULE, among botanists, a species of pericarpium or seed-vessel. Capsulaj atra biliar fjE, called also glandular renales, and rones succentmiati, are two yellowish glands ot a compressed figure, lying on each side ot the- upper part of the kidneys. See Anatomy. CAPTION, in law, is where a commission is executed, and the commissioners subscribe their names to a certificate, declaring when. ; and where tiie commission was executed. It relates chiefly to commissions to take an- swers in chancery and depositions of wit- nesses, and take fines of lands, See. Caption and Horning, in the law of Scotland. When a decrete or sentence is obtained against any person, the obtainer takes out a writ, whereby the party decerned is charged to pay or fulfil the will of tiie de- crete, under the pain of rebellion : this writ is called letters ot horning. If lie refuses to comply, then the writ or letters of caption may be raised, whereby all the inferior judges and magistrates are commanded to assist in apprehending the rebel, and putting him in prison. CAP UR A, a genus of the class and order hexandria monogynia. The essential cha- racter is, cal. none ; cor. six-cleft ; stain, within the tube.; germ, superior; stigma globular ; per. berry. There is one species, a native of the East Indies. CAPUT draco N is,the Dragon’s head, in astronomy, the ascending node of the moon. Jt is also a star of the first magnitude, in the head of the constellation Draco. Caput mortuum, in chemistry, that thick dry matter, which remains after distil- lation of any thing, but of minerals espe- cially. See Chemistry. CARABINE, a fire-arm, shorter than a musket, carrying a ball of twenty-four in the pound, borne by the light horse, hanging at a belt over the left shoulder. CAR ABUS, in zoology, a genus of insects belonging to the order of coleoptera, or the beetle kind. The feelers are bristly ; the ' breast is shaped like a heart, and murginat- ed, and the elytra are likewise marginated. There are 34 species of this genus, mostly distinguished by their colour. The most re- markable is the crepitans, or bombardier, with the breast, head, and legs ferruginous, or iron-coloured, and the elytra black. It keeps Itself concealed among stones, and makes but little use of its wings ; when it moves it is by a sort of jump; and when- ever it is touched, it makeji a noise resem- bling the discharge of a musket in miniature, during which a blue smoke may be perceiv- ed proceeding from it. The insect may be made to play off its artillery, by scratching its back with a needle. A bladder placed near the amis, is the arsenal whence it de- rives its store, and this is its chief defence against an enemy ; but tiie smoke emitted seems altogether' inoffensive, except by caus- ing a fright, though it is useful to the insect ' by concealing its course. Its chief enemy is another species of tiie same genus, but tour times larger. When pursued and fatigued, tiie bombardier lias recourse to stratagem, by lying down in the path of the large cara- bus," which advances with open mouth and claws to seize it ; but* on tiie discharge of tiie artillery, suddenly draws back, and remains ' a wlule confused, during which the bombaj: C A It CAR CAR 30.5 v'lot conceals himself, in some crevice if there is one ; but if not, the larger carabus renews lire attack, takes his prisoner by the head and tears it off, CARACOL, in architecture, denotes a stair-case in a helix or spiral form. CAR ACT, Carat, or Carrat, the name of that weight which expresses the degree of fineness that gold is of. The mint-master, or custom, lias fixed the purity of gold at 24 caracts; though it is not possible so to purify and refine that metal, but it will want still about one fourth part of a caract in ab- solute purity and perfection. The caract is divided into tt> To > yV These degrees serve to distinguish the greater or lesser 'quantity ' of alloy therein contained : for in- stance, gold of 22 caracts, is that which has two parts of silver, or of -any other metal, and 22 of fine gold. It is also a certain weight which goldsmiths and jewellers use with which to weigh pre- cious stones and pearls. This caract weighs four grains, but something lighter than the grains of other weights. Each of these grains is subdivided into -i, i. i, T 1 7 -, &c. CARAGllOUTH, in commerce, a silver c-oin of the empire, weighing nine drachms. It goes at Constantinople for 120 aspers. CARBON, or the radical of carbonic acid, has not, unless the diamond is admitted as such, been yet obtained in a separate state: charcoal, which was once so esteemed, ap- pearing to be a compound substance. Nor is it ever found united with caloric, in a gaseous state, unaccompanied by some third principle. Its taste, smell, and colour are unknown. It is infusible and indissoluble by caloric, and is hence esteemed the most refractory substance in nature. It has no evident attraction for nitrogen alone, but combines with it by the intervention of oilier principles. With hydrogen it has a strong affinity, uniting and forming a gas termed carbonated hydrogen ; hydrogen gas having the power of holding it in solution. The diamond, which exceeds all other gems in hardness, density, and refraction of the rays of light, crystallizes in two tetra- hedral and trihedral pyramids, united base to base, or in hexahedral prisms terminating in trihedral summits, or in irregular poly- hedral grains. At a very high temperature it burns, becomes black and opaque, and is - converted into gas. Sp. gr. about 3,5. Newton conjectured the diamond to be a combustible body. Guyton, in 1785, infer- red its similarity to charcoal, from its leaving . an effervescent alkali, after combustion in fused nitre. Lavoisier found that on burn- ing it in closed vessels, it yielded carbonic acid. This has also been proved by Mr. Tennant, who performed the combustion in a crucible of gold. Bertbollet considered it as crystallized charcoal. Since this, Guyton, having burnt the dia- mond in oxygen gas, by the solar rays, and thereby having obtained carbonic acid with- out residue, presumed that he had ascer- tained the diamond to be pure carbon, or the pure combustible matter of the carbonic genus, yielding the pure aciditiable basis of the carbonic acid. He found its combustion required a much higher temperature than charcoal ; but this, he observes, takes place Yon. I. with other aciditiable bases, their first degrees ot oxydation being difficultly produced, al- though their subsequent acidification is easy. It also required more oxygen for its com- plete combustion than charcoal ; one part of diamond absorbing four of oxygen, and pro- ducing live of carbonic acid; this he remarks is not to be wondered at, since being pure carbon, it contains none of the oxygen prin- ciple, and therefore demands more. In proportion therefore as substances contain pure combustible matter, will, in fact, be the difficulty of their combustion, their first de- grees of oxygenation proceeding so slowly. Thus he accounts for plumbago, or black lead, which is a carbonic combustible, richer in combustible matter than charcoal itself, not burning, but at a very high degree of temperature : and thus he accounts for the incombustibility of anthracolite, Kilkenny coal, the brilliant charcoal of certain vege- tables, &c. The diamond is therefore to be considered as pure carbon ; plumbago, car- bon oxygenized in the first degree ; charcoal, an oxyd of the second, obtained from various substances in the animal, vegetable, and mi- neral kingdoms, generally by volatilizing their other constituent parts. When obtain- ed in a state of purity, it resists the strongest heat in closed vessels. It decomposes sul- phuric acid, from its affinity with oxygen exceeding that of sulphur. It decomposes nitric acid with great rapidity ; and if the charcoal is first powdered, and the acid strong, and allowed to run down the side of the vessel, to mix with the charcoal, it burns with rapidity, with a beautiful flame, throw- ing up the powder so as to resemble a beau- tiful tire-work. With nitrate of pot-ash, it detonates in a hot crucible, leaving a fixed alkali behind. It is dissolved by the alkalies, and by the sulphurets of alkali, both in the dry and moist way. It does not unite with metals, but restores their oxyds to a metallic state. Charcoal possesses the power of absorbing several gases, which thus condensed retain their properties, and even exert them in some instances more powerfully. It decom- poses water at tire common temperature, car- bonic acid and carbonated hydrogen being se- parated. If burnt in contact with common air, its acidifiable base attracts oxygen, and this peculiar acid is formed, which, with a certain proportion of caloric, assumes a gaseous form. If burnt in oxygen gas, its peculiar acid is plentifully formed, the charcoal burn- ing with considerably increased rapidity, and if the lighter charcoal made from bark is used, a very brilliant effect is produced from the numerous vivid corruscating sparks. CARBONATES, are neutral salts, com- posed of the carbonic acid, and certain bases: thus carbonate of ammonia, or mild volatile alkali, consists of carbonic acid and pure or caustic ammonia. Owing to the weakness of this acid, the characters of their bases arc generally most predominant. The carbonates are not acted on by light, oxygen, or nitrogen ; nor do they deliquesce with the moisture of the atmosphere. Al- though charcoal decomposes the phosphoric acid alone, the carbonates are decomposed by phosphorus ; this difference arises from the attraction which the phosphoric acid ex- ercises on the base of the carbonate ; from similar causes the effects of different com- bustible bodies on them vary much. Ail the other acids have a greater attraction for the earthy and alkaline bases than the car- bonic ; that acid being disengaged from the carbonates by their addition. So feeble is this acid, that it is separated from most of it%. bases by heat only. CARBUNCLE, in natural history, a very elegant gem, the colour of which is deep red, with an admixture of scarlet. See Garnet. Carbuncle, ' or Anthrax, in surgery, an inflammation which arises, with a vesicle or blister, almost like those produced by burning. This inflammation, tor the most part, terminates in a sphaceLus, and petrifies the subjacent parts down to the bone, they becoming as black as a coal. A carbuncle always breaks out very speedily, even in the space of an hour or two, attended with heat and pain: as soon' as it is opened, it dischar- ges a livid sanies, or sometimes a limpid wa- ter: it is black within, which is a sign that the sphacelus has seized the subjacent parts, and is making its progress : but the pu- trid flesh in those who recover, suppurates, and parts from the sound. The size of these pestilential blisters is various, more or less ; as is also their number in the patient ; for there is no part of the body which they do not infest, and they generally appear in com- pany with buboes. Those carbuncles which arise in the face, neck, breast, or armpits, are observed to be of the worst kind, for they generally kill the patient. In the external treatment, some of the modern physicians use only scarification in this case, with very good success ; others open the eruptions with a pair of scissars, and having discharged the matter, frequently wash the carbuncle with sp. vin. camph., or sp. vin. in which has been digested a little theriaca : they afterwards apply a maturating cataplasm, which is to be conti- nued till the carbuncle separates from the sound parts ; then they cut it out all at once. Carbuncle, in heraldry, a charge or bearing consisting of eight radii, four where- of make a common cross, and the other four a saltier. CARCASS, a composition of combusti- bles. Carcasses are of two sorts, oblong and round : the uncertain weight of the first sort has almost rendered them useless. They are prepared in the following 'manner : Boil 12 or 1 Alb. of pitch in a glazed earthen pot ; mix with that 31b. of tallow, 30lb. of powder, 61b. of saltpetre, and as many stopins as can be put in. Before the composition is cold, the carcass must be filled ; to do which, smear your hands with oil or tallow, and fill the carcass one-third fill l with the above com- position; then put in loaded pieces of gnu or pistol barrels, loaded grenades, and fill the intervals with composition; cover the whole over with coarse cloth, well sewed to- gether, keeping it in a round form. T hen put it into the carcass, having a hollow top and bottom, with bars running between them to hold them together, and composed of four slips of iron jointed at top, and fixed at the bottom, at equal distances, to a piece 306 C A R CAR of iron, which, together with the hoops, when tilled, form a complete globular body. When quite finished and cold, the carcass most be steeped in melted pitch, and then instantly immerged in cold water. Lastly, bore three or four holes at top, and fill the same with trrse composition, covering the holes with pitch until used. Carcasses are thrown out of mortars, and weigh from 50 to 2301b. according to the size of the mor- tars they are to be thrown out of. There arc other carcasses for the sea-service, which differ from a shell only in the composition, and in the four holes from which they burn when fired. Carcasses were first used by the bishop of Munster, at the siege of Groll in 1672, where the duke of Luxemburg commanded. CARCERES, in the antient circensian games, were inclosures in the circus, in which the horses were restrained till the signal was given for starting, when, by an admi- rable contrivance, they all at once flew open. CARD, among artificers, an instrument consisting of a block of wood, beset with sharp teeth, serving to arrange the hairs of wool, flax, hemp, and the like: there are different kinds of them, as hand-cards, stock- cards, &c. Cards, among gamesters, little pieces of line thin pasteboard of an oblong figure, of several sizes, but most commonly in Eng- land 3-§ inches long, and 2% broad, on which are painted several points and figures. ‘I he moulds and blocks for making cards, are exactly like those that were used for the first books : they lay a sheet of wet or moist paper on the block, which is first slightly done over with a sort of ink made with lamp- black diluted in water, and mixed with some starch to give it a body. They afterwards rub it off with around list. The court-cards are coloured by means of several patterns, stiled stane-files. These consist of papers cut through with a pen-knife, and in these apertures, they apply severally the various colours, as red, black, &c. These patterns are painted with oil-colours, that the brushes may not wear them out ; and when the pat- tern is laid on the pasteboard, they slightly pass over it a brushful of colour, which, leaving it within the openings, forms the face or ligtire of the card. CARDAMINE, lady’s smock; a genus of the siliquosa order, in the tetradynamia class of plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the 39th order, siliquosa. The siliqua parts asunder with a spring, and the valves roll spirally backward ; the stigma is entire, and the calyx a little gaping. Of this there are 18 species ; but the most remark- able is the Cardamine pratensis, with a large purplish flower. It grows naturally in many parts of Britain, and is also called cuckow-flower. There are four varieties, viz. the single, with purple and white flowers, which are frequent- ly intermixed in the meadows; and the double of both colours. The single sorts are not admitted into gardens, but the double deserve a place, as making a pretty appear- ance during the time they are in flower. CARDAMOM, see Amomum and Ma- teria Medica. CARDL.A, or Cardium, in natural his- tory, a genus of the vermes testaceas, or shell- lish, the shell of which is formed of two ovals, and resembles the figure of a heart at cards : the valves are equal and gibbose. Of this genus there are 21 species, some nearly globose, others of a triangular figure, and others irregularly oblong. Under this genus are comprehended the cockles, ark- shells, &c. together with tire pectini inau- riti, or scallops without ears, as. they are cal- led. CARDIAC, an appellation given to such medicines as preserve or increase the strength of the heart, and by that means the vital forces, though they do not immediately operate upon the heart, nor are particularly appro- priated to the corroboration of that part. See Materia Medica. CARDIALGIA, the heartburn, in me- dicine, a disorder of the stomach attended with anxiety, a nausea, and often a reaching or actual vomiting. See Medicine. CARDINAL, an ecclesiastical prince in the Romish church, being one who has a voice in the conclave at the election of a pope. The cardinals were originally nothing more than deacons, to whom was entrusted the care of distributing the alms to the poor of the several quarters of Rome; and as they held assemblies of the poor in certain churches of their several districts, they took the title of these churches. They began to be called cardinals in the year 300, during the pontificate of St. Sylvester, by which appellation were meant the chief priests of a parish, and next in dignity to a bishop. This office grew more considerable afterwards, and by small degrees arrived at its present state. 'The cardinals compose the pope’s council, and till the time of Urban VIII. were styled most illustrious ; but by a decree of that pope in 1630, they had the title of eminence conferred upon them. At the creation of a new cardinal, the pope performs the cere- mony of shutting and opening his mouth, which is done in a private consistory. The shutting his mouth, implies the depriving him of the liberty of giving his opinion in congregations ; and the opening his mouth, which is performed fifteen days after, signi- fies the taking off this restraint. However, if the pope happens to die during the time a cardinal’s mouth is shut, he can neither give his voice in the election of a new pope, nor be himself advanced to that dignity. The cardinals are divided into six classes or orders, consisting of six bishops, fifty priests, and fourteen deacons,, making in all seventy ; which constitute the sacred college. The number of cardinal bishops lias very seldom been changed, but that of priests and deacons has varied at different times. The privileges of the cardinals are very great : they have an absolute power in the church during the vacancy of the holy see: they have a right to elect the new pope, and are the only persons on whom the choice can fall : most of the grand offices in the court of Rome, are filled by cardinals. The dress of a cardinal is a red soutanne, a rochet, a short purple mantle, and the red hat. When they are sent to the courts of princes, it is in quality of legates a latere ; and when they are appointed governors of towns, their go- vernment is called by the name of legation. CARDIOID, in the higher geometry, an C A It algebraical curve so called from its resem- blance to a heart. The Cardioid is thus generated. APB, Plate Miscell. fig. 11. is a circle and A B its diameter. Through one .extremity- A of the diameter draw a number of lines A P Q, cutting the circle in P ; upon these set off always P Q equal to the diameter A B ; so shall the points Q be always in the curve of the cardioid. From this generation of the curve its chief properties are evident, viz. that, every where PQ = AB, CQ, or QQ is A a or 2 AB„ AQ = AB^AP. P always bisects QQ.. 'Llie cardioid is an algebraical curve, and . the equation expressing its nature is thus; . Put a — AB the diameter, z = a!) perp. AB, y — DQ perp. AD ; then is t ~ + 2zV — Qazhj -f z 4 > -f 12« 2 // 2 — 8 a)/ -f- 3« 2 z 2 j ~ u *' which is the equation of the curve. Many properties of the cardioid may be seen in the Philosphical Transactions, 1741 CARDIOSPERMUM, heart pea, a ge- nus of the trigynia order, in the octandria, class of plants, and in the natural method , ranking under the 39th order, trihilatse. The calyx is tetraphyllous ; the petals four ; the nectarium tetraphyllous and unequal; the 1 capsules three, grown together, and inflated.. There are three species, natives of the East and West Indies. CARDUUS, the thistle, a genus of the polygamia axpialis order, in the syngenesia class of plants, and in the natural method, ranking under the 4Qth order, . composite. The calyx is ovate, imbricated with prickly, scales, and the receptacle hairy. Of this genus there are 51 species, ten of which are- natives of Britain ; and being troublesome weeds, they require no description. Some of the exotics are propagated in gardens for the sake of variety. Carduus benedictus . See Centauria and Materia Medica; CAREENING, in the sea language, the bringing a ship to lie down on one side, in order to trim and caulk the other, side. A ship is said to be brought to the, -careen when the most of her lading being? taken out, she is hauled down on one side by a small vessel as low as necessary; and there kept by the weight of the ballast, ordnance, &o. as well as by ropes, lest her masts should be strain- ed too much ; in order that her sides and bottom may be trimmed, seams caulked, or any thing that is faulty under water mended. Hence when a ship lies on one side when she sails, she is said to sail on the careen. CAR EX, the sedge, .a genus of the mo- noecia triandria class and order of plants, and in the natural method ranking under the 3d order, calamarke. The characters are : the male flowers are digested into a long spike ; the calyx is an oblong and imbricated amen- tum, consisting of acute, hollow, and lan- < ceolated scales, each containing one flower; there is no corolla ; tiie stamina are three * erect setaceous filaments of the length of the calyx ; the anther® are oblong and erect. In the female flowers the calyx is the same as in the male ; there are no petals, but there is an inflated oblong nectarium ; the germen is triangular, and is placed within the nee- C A I'l CAR tarium ; the style is very short ; the stigmata are two or three; long, crooked, pointed, and hoary. The nectarium grows larger when the dower is fallen, and contains the seed ; which is single, of an acute ovated form, triangular, and has one ot its angles usually much smaller than the others. There are 97 species. The common sedge may serve as an example for all. CARICA, the papaw, a genus of the de- candria order, belonging to the dioecia class of plants, and in the natural method ranking under the 38th order, tricoccax The calyx of the male, almost none; the corolla is quin- quefid and funnel-shaped; the filaments in the tube of the corolla, a longer and a shorter one alternately. The calyx of the female quinquedentated ; the corolla is pentapeta- lous; with five stigmata ; the fruit an unilo- cular and polyspermous berry. 1. Carica papaya rises with a thick, soft, herbaceous stem, to the height of 18 or 20 feet, naked till within two or three feet of the top. The leaves come out on every side, upon very long footstalks ; in full-grown plants they are Very large, and divided into many lobes deeply sinuated. 1 he flowers of the male plant are of a pure white, and have an agreeable odour. The flowers of the female papaya are large, bell-shaped, composed of six petals, and commonly yellow: when these fall away, the germen swells to a fleshy fruit, of the size of a small melon. These fruits are of different forms : some an- gular, and compressed at both ends; other’s oval or globular, and some pyramidal. The fruit, and all the other parts of the tree, abound with a milky acrid juice, which is ap- plied for killing of ringworms. When the roundish fruit are nearly ripe, the inhabitants of India boil and eat them with their meat as we do turnips. They have somewhat the flavour of a pompion. But they mostly pickle the long fruit, and thus they make no bad succedaneum for mango. r l he buds ot the female flowers are gathered, and made into a sweetmeat; and the inhabitants are such good managers of the produce of (he tree, that they boil the shells of the ripe fruit into a repast, and the insides are eaten with sugar and pepper, like melons. M he stem being hollow , lias given birth to a proverb in the West India islands, where, in speaking of a dissembling person, they say he is as hollow as a papaw. 2. Carica prosoposa, differs from the other in having a branching stalk, the lobes of the leaves entire, the flower of a rose colour, and the fruit shaped like a pear, and of a sweeter flavour than the papaya. Both species being- natives of hot countries, they cannot be pre- served in Britain unless constantly kept in a warm stove. They are easily propagated by seeds, which are annually brought in plenty from the West Indies, though the seeds of the European plants ripen well. CARINA, in architecture, a name given by the Romans to all buildings in the form of a ship (from carina, the keel ot a ship) ; as we still apply the word nave from navis, a ship, to the middle or principal vault of our churches, because it has that figure. CarinA, in anatomy, a term used Tor the fibrous rudiments, or embryo of a chick, ap- pearing in an incubated egg. The carina consists of the intire vertebra*, CAR as they appear after ten or twelve days in- cubation. CARISSA, in botany; a genus of the mo- nogynia order, in the pentandria class of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 30th order, contorts. It has two berries, many-seeded. There are two spe- cies, trees ot Africa. CARLIN A, the carline thistle : a genus of the polygamia squalis order, in the synge- nesia class of plants ; and in the natural me- thod ranking under the 49th order, com po- sits. The calyx is radiated with long co- loured marginal scales. There are nine spe- cies; but the carlina vulgaris is the only one that is a native of Britain. All the others are natives of the south of France or Italy, and are very easily propagated in this country by seeds. The roots are used in medicine, and for that purpose are imported. As we receive them they are about an inch thick, externally of a rusty brown colour, corroded as it were on the surface, and perforated with numerous small holes, appearing as if worm- eaten. They have a strong smell, and a sub- acrid, bitterish, weakly aromatic taste. They are reckoned warm alexipharmics and dia- phoretics. CARLINE, or Caroline, a silver coin current in the Neapolitan dominions, and worth about fourpence of our money. CARLINGS, or Carlines, in a ship, two pieces of timber lying fore and aft, along from beam to beam, whereon the ledges rest on which the planks of the ship are fastened. CARLOCK, in commerce, a sort of isin- glass made with the sturgeon’s bladder, im- ported from Archangel. The chief use of it is for clarifying wine; but it is also used by dvers. "CARMELITES, or White-friars, are an order of Our Lady of mount Carmel, mak- ing one of the four orders of mendicants. They pretend to derive their origin from the prophets Elijah and Elisha. Their ori- ginal rules contained sixteen articles, one of which confined them to their cells, and en- joined them to employ themselves day and night in prayer; another prohibited the bre- thren having any property ; another enjoined fasting, from the feast of the exaltation of the holy cross till Easter, excepting on Sundays ; abstinence at all times from flesh was enjoin- ed by another article : one obliged them to manual labour; another imposed a strict si- lence on them from vespers till the tierce the next day. However, these constitutions have been in some respects altered. CARMINATIVES, in pharmacy, medi- cines used in colics, or other flatulent disor- ders, to dispel the wind. See Materia Me- DICA. CARMINE, a powder of a very beautiful red colour, bordering upon purple, and used by painters in miniature, though but rarely because of its great price. The mode of preparing this colour is kept from the public. The receipts which have been from time to time published concerning the preparation of this and other colours, have been rarely found to succeed in practice. It is said to be extracted from cochineal by means of water, wherein chouan and antour have been in- fused ; some add roeou, but this gives it too much of the opal cast. Others make carmine with brasil-wood, fernambouc, and leaf-gold, Qq2 307 beaten in a mortar, and steeped in white-w ine vinegar; the scum arising from this mix- ture, upon boiling, when dried, makes car- mine; but this kind is vastly inferior to the former. There is another carmine, made of Brasil-wood and fernambouc, by a different preparation. CARNEDDE, in British antiquity, de- notes heaps of stones supposed to be drui- dical remains, and thrown together on some important occasions. They are very common in the isle of Anglesey, and were also used as sepulchral monuments, in tire manner of tu- muli. Hence it is inferred, that the antient Britons had the custom of throwing stones on the deceased. From this custom is derived the Welsh proverb, karn ardjbcii ; “ 111 be- tide thee.” CARNEL, among ship -carpenters. The building of ships, first with their timbers and beams, and after bringing on their planks, is called camel-work, to distinguish it from clinch-work. CARN ELIAN, sarda, in natural history, a precious stone, of which there are three> kinds, distinguished by three colours, a red, a yellow, and a white. Authors have attri- buted medicinal virtues to this stone, mean- ing the red carnelian ; this, therefore, is to be. understood as the sarda, or carnelian of the shops. It is very well known among us ; and is found in roundish or oval masses, much like our common pebbles ; and is generally met with between an inch and two or three inches in diameter. It is of a fine, compact, and close texture, of a glossy surface ; and in the several specimens is of all the degrees of red, from the palest flesh-colour to the deepest blood-red. It is generally free from spots, clouds, or variegations: but sometimes it is veined very beautifully with an extremely pale red, or with white; the veins forming concentric circles, or other less regular figures, about a nucleus, in the manner of those of agates. The pieces of carnelian which arc all of one colour, and perfectly free from veins, are those which our jewellers ge- nerally make use offer seals, though the va- riegated ones are much more beautiful. The carnelian is tolerably hard, and capable of a very good polish : it is not at all affected by acid menstruums',; the fire divests it of a part of its colour, and leaves it of a pale red ; and a strong and long-continued heat will reduce it to a pale dirty grey. T he finest Canadians are those of the East Indies; but there are very beautiful ones found in the rivers of Sile- sia and Bohemia; and we have some not despicable in England. Though the antients have recommended the carnelian as an astringent, and attributed a number of fanciful virtues to it, we know no other use of the stone than the cutting seal's on it, to which purpose it is excellently adapt- ed, as being not too hard for cutting, and yet hard enough not to be liable to accidents, to take a good polish, and to separate easily from the wax. According to the new arrangement in na- tural history, the carnelian is a variety of the chalcedony of faro, and is composed of 84 parts of silica, and 16 of alumine, mixed with iron. The name has been given to different hard stones, capable of a fine polish, but chalcedony forms the basis of the greater number. The varieties in their colours, trails- 308 CAR parency, &c. have given occasion to their r An\TnM U r lt i era great variety of names. CARMIY AL, or Carnaval, a time of rejoicing, a season of mirth, observed with great solemnity by the Italians, particularly at v emce, lasting from Twelfth-day till Lent, leasts, balls, operas, concerts of music, in- trigues, marriages, &c. are chiefly held in carnival time. The carnival begins at Ve- nice the second holiday in Christmas ; then it is they begin to wear masks,- and open their playhouses and gaming-houses; the i lace of St. Mark is filled with mountebanks, pedlars, and such-like mob, who Hock thither ii om all parts. 1 here have been no less than •even sovereign princes, and thirty thousand foreigners here, to partake of these diver- sions. CARNI\ OROUS, an appellation given to animals which 'naturally feed on flesh, and thence called beasts or birds of prey. Some will have it, that no quadrupeds are natu- ially carnivorous but those furnished with canine or dog-teeth: on which principle man- kind are excluded out of the number of na- turally carnivorous animals; and, in fact, animal food must undergo various prepara- tions before it is fit for the use of man. CAROLINE-BOOKS, the name of four books, composed by order of Charlemagne, to refute the second council of Mice. These nooks are couched in very harsh and severe terms, containing one hundred and twenty heads or accusation against the council of Mice, and condemning the worship of images. CAROLINEA, a genus of the monadel- pliici pol^ cindi'ici clsss cincl order. The os- sential character is ; monogyneous, calyx simple, tubular, truncate; petal ensiform; pome five-grooved, two-celled. There are two species, natives of Guiana and Tobago. C A R OLOSTAD IANS, in church-history, an antient branch of Lutherans, who denied tlie real presence in the eucharist. . CAROLUS, an antient English broad piece of gold, struck under Charles I. Its value has of late been at twenty-three shil- lings sterling, though at the time it was coined, it is said to have been rated at twen- ty shillings. Carolus, a small copper coin, with a little silver mixed with it, struck under Charles VIII. of France. The carolus was worth twelve deniers when it ceased to be current. CAROTEEL, in commerce, an uncertain weight or quantity of goods. Thus a caroteel of cloves is from four to live hundredweight, of currants from live to nine, of mace about three hundred, of nutmegs from six to seven hundred and a half. CAROTIDS, ill anatomy, two arteries of the neck, which convey the blood from the aorta to the brain. See Anatomy. CAROXYLON, a genus of the pentan-’ riria monogynia class and order : the essen- tial character is; corolla five-petalled ; nect. five-leaved, converging, inserted into the corolla ; seed clothed. There is one species. CARPESIUM, a genus of the syngenesia polygamia superfiua class and order: the es- sential character is ; calyx imbricate ; down none ; recept. naked. There are two species. CARP. See Cyprinus. CAR4LEA, a kind of dance antiently prac- tised in Athens and other Grecian states, by two persons, the one acting as a labourer, the CAR other as a robber. The labourer, laying by bis arms, goes to ploughing and sowing: the robber appears, and the other betakes him- self to his arms, and lights in defence of his oxein r l he whole was performed to the sound of flutes. Sometimes the one was victor and sometimes the other, and the re- ward was the oxen and plough. The great object of this national exercise was to teach and accustom the peasants to defend them- selves against the attacks of ruffians. CARPET, a sort of stuff wrought with the needle or on a loom, which is part of the furnitbre of a house, and commonly spread over tables, or laid upon tiie floor. Persian and i urkey carpets are most esteemed ; though at Paris there is a manufactory after the manner of Persia, where they make them little inferioiy not to say finer, than the true Persian carpets. r l hey are velvety, and per- fectly imitate the carpets which come from the Levant. There are also carpets of Ger- many, some of w hich are made of woollen stuffs, as serges, &c. and called square car- pets; others are made of wool also, but wrought with the needle, and pretty often embellished with silk ; and lastly there are carpets made of dog’s hair. We have like- wise carpets made in England, which are used either as floor-carpets, or to make chairs and other household-furniture. In weaving carpets the design or pattern is traced in its proper colours on cartons, tied before the workman, who looks at them every moment, because every stitch is mark- ed upon them, as it is to be in his work. By this means he always knows what colours and shades he is to use, and how many stitches of the same colour. In this he is assisted by squares, into which the whole design is divided; each square is subdivided into ten vertical lines, corresponding with the par- cels of ten threads of the warp ; and besides, each square is ruled with ten horizontal lines, crossing the vertical lines at right angles. r l he workman, having placed his spindles of thread near him, begins to work on the first horizontal line of one of the squares. The lines marked on the carton are not traced on the warp, because an iron wire, which is longer than the width of a parcel of ten threads, supplies the place of a cross line. '1 his wire is managed by a crook at one end, at the workman’s right hand ; to- wards the other end it is flatted into a sort of knife, with a back and edge, and grows wider to the point. The weaver fixes his iron wire horizontally on the warp, by twisting some turns of a suitable thread of the woof round it, which he passes forward and backward, behind a fore thread of the warp, and then behind the opposite thread, drawing them in their turn by their leishes. Afterwards he brings the woof-thread round the wire, in order to begin again to thrust it into the warp. He continues in this manner to cover the iron rod or wire, and to fill up a line to the-tenth thread of the warp. lie is at liberty either to stop here or to go on with the same cross line in the next division, according as lie passes the thread of the woof round the iron wire, and into the warp, the threads of which he causes to cross one another at every instant: when he comes to the end of the line, he takes care to strike in, or close again all the stitches with an iron reed, the teeth of which freely enter between the empty CAR threads of the warp, and which is heavy enough to strike in the woot he has used. Ibis row of stitches is again closed and level- led, and in the same manner the weaver pro- ceeds ; then with his left hand he lays a srong pair of shears along the finished line, cuts oil the loose hairs, and thus forms a row oi tufts perfectly even, which, together with tliose before and after it, form the shag. I bus ‘the workman follows stitch for stitch, and colour for colour, the plan of his pattern* whieli he is attempting to imitate; and he paints magnificently, without having the least notion of painting or drawing. CARP1NUS, the hornbeam, a genus of the polvandria order, in the monoecia class of plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the 50th order, amentacea?. The calyx ot the male is monophyllous and ciliated ; there is no corolla, but 20 stamina. The calyx ol the female is monophyllous and ci- liated; no corolla; two germens, with two styles on each. The fruit is an egg-shaped nut. r l here are four species, viz. I. Carpimis betulus, or common horn- beam ; a deciduous tree, native of Europe and America. Its leaves are of a darkish green, and about the size of those of the beech, but more pointed and deeply serrated. Its branches are long, flexible, and crooked ; yet in their general appearance resemble those of the beech. Indeed there is so great a likeness between these two trees, especially in their shrubby and underwood state, that It would be difficult to distinguish them, were it not for the glossy varnish with which the leaves of the beech are strongly marked. As an underwood, it affords stakes and edders, fuel and charcoal. Its timber ranks with that of the beech and the sycamore; and the inner bark is said to be much used in Scandinavia to dye yellow. 2. Carpimis ostrya, the hop hornbeam, a native of Italy' and Virginia. • 3. Carpimis Virginiana, or 'flowering horn- beam. 4. Carpimis duinensis. CARPOCRATIANS, heretics, who sprung up towards the middle of the second century, being a branch of the antient Gnos- tics. They are said to have held a commu- nity of wives, and maintained that a man can- not arrive at perfection without having pass- ed through all criminal actions ; laying down as a maxim, that there is no action bad in itself, but only from the opinion of men. CAR POOL l US, a genus of the pentan- dria monogynia class and order: the essential character is, calyx five-notched, corolla five- petal led ; stigma flat-headed ; berry globular, five-celled. There is one species, a native of New Zealand. CA RPU S, the wrist. See Anatomy. CARRARA marble, among artificers, the name of a species of white marble, distin- guished from the Parian called the statuary marble, by being harder and less bright. CARRIER. Every person carrying goods for hire is deemed a carrier, and as such is liable in law for any loss or damage that may happen to them whilst in his custody. Wag- goners, captains of ships, lightermen, &c. are therefore carriers; but a stage-coachman is not within the custom as a carrier: neither are hackney-coachmen carriers within the custom ot the realm, so as to be chargeable for the loss of goods, unless they are expressly CAR CAR CAR paid for that purpose, for their undertaking is only to carry the person. If a person takes hire for carrying goods, although he be not a common carrier, he may nevertheless be charged upon a special as- sumpsit ; lor where hire is taken a promise is implied ; and w here goods are delivered to a carrier, and he is robbed of them, he shall be charged and answer for them on account of the hire, and the carrier can be no loser, as he may recover against the hundred. Goods sent by a carrier cannot be distrained for lent ; and any person carrying goods for all persons indifferently, is to be defined a {-common carrier as far as relates to this pri- rvilege. A delivery to a servant is a delivery , to the master; and' if goods are delivered to a carrier’s porter and lost, an action will lie [against the carrier. 1 Salk. 282. Where a carrier gives notice by printed [proposals that he will not be responsible for [certain valuable goods if lost, it more than -the value of a sum specified, unless entered and paid for as such; and valuable goods of that description are delivered to him, by a person who knows the conditions, but con- cealing the value, pays no more than the or- dinary price of carriage and booking ; tire carrier is, under such circumstances, neither responsible to the sum specified, nor liable do repay the sum paid for carriage and book- ing. M\ 30. Geo. 111. 1. H. B. 298. A carrier who undertakes for hire to carry goods, is bound to deliver them at all events, unless damaged and destroyed by the act of God, or the king’s enemies ; and if any acci- dent, however inevitable, happen through the intervention of human means, a carrier [becomes responsible. 1 T. R. 27. CARBONADE, a short kind of ordnance, capable of carrying a large ball, and useful in close engagements at sea. It has its name pom Carron, the place where this kind of ordnance was first made. CARROT, daucus, in botany. See Dau- [cus. 1 CARRUCA, in antiquity, a splendid kind of car, or chariot, highly decorated with jgold, silver, ivory, &c. in which the emper- ors, senators, and people of high rank, were carried. The word was used also in the middle ages to signify a plough. Hence CARRUCAGE denoted the ploughing of ground: either ordinary, as tor grain, hemp, flax ; or extraordinary, as for wood, dyers’ weed, rape, and the like : and CARRUCATE, in oiir antient history de- motes as much arable land as can be tilled in one year with one plough. In the Dooms- Iday inquisition, the arable land is estimated [in carrucates, the pasture in hides, and the .meadow land in acres. In the reign of Richard I. the carracate was estimated at 60 acres; in the time of Edward I. at 180, and jin the 23d of Edward III. it contained f 12 [acres. CARTHAMUS, a genus of the order of polygamia aequalis, in the syngenesia class of plants, and in the natural method rauking under the 49th order, composite. The calyx is ovate, imbricated with scales, close below, and augmented with subovate l'oliaceous ap- pendices at top. Of this genus there are 10 species ; but the only remarkable one is Carthamus tinctorius, with a saffron-co- , cured flower, a native of JEgypt and some of the warm parts of Asia. It is cultivated in many parts of Europe, and in the Levant, whence great quantities of it are annually imported into Britain for dyeing and paint- ing. It is an annual plant, and rises with a stiff ligneous stalk, about 2\ or 3 feet in height, dividing upwards into many branches, with oval pointed leaves sitting close to the branches. The [lowers grow single at the extremity of each branch; the heads of the flowers are large, of a tine saffron colour, and are the part used for the purposes abovemen- tioned. CARTHUSIANS,a religious order, found- ed in the year 1080, by one Bruno. Their rules are very severe.' They are not to go out of their cells, except to church, without leave of their superior, nor speak to any per- son without leave. They must not keep any portion of their meat or drink till next day; their beds are of straw, covered with a felt ; their clothing two hair-cloths, two cowls, two pair of hose, and a cloke, all coarse. In the refectory they are to keep their eyes on the dish, their hands on the table, their atten- tion on the reader, and their hearts fixed on God. Women are not allowed to come into their churches. CARTILAGE, in anatomy, a body ap- proaching much to the nature of bones, but lubricous, flexible, and elastic. See Ana- tomy. CARTILAGINOUS fislws, or those with cartilaginous fins, constitute a class or order of fishes, called by Linnaeus amphibia nantes. The terra is applied to all those fish, the muscles of which are supported by cartilages, or gristles, instead of bones. They unite in their formation several leading properties of the other tribes. Like the cetaceous, they have lungs ; and like the spinous, they have gills, and a heart without a partition. Thus they possess a twofold manner of breathing ; some) hues by their lungs, and sometimes by their gills. This double capacity of breath- ing in cartilaginous fish is one of the most re- markable features in the history of nature, as they are thus enabled to unite all the advan- tages of which their situation is capable, and draw from both elements every aid to their necessities or their enjoyment. The apertures by which they breathe are variously placed. The gills are affixed to these aper- tures, but without any bone to open and shut them. From the gills are cylindrical ducts running to the lungs, and which are supposed to convey the air that gives play to the organs. This tribe can live longer out of tlie water than those whose gills are more simple ; they can venture their heads above the deep, and continue for hours out of their native element. This order includes the shark, lamprey, sturgeon, ray, &c. CARTON, or Cartoon, in painting, a design drawn on strong paper to be after- wards calked through, and transferred on the fresh plaister of a wall lobe painted in fresco. Carton is also used for a design coloured for working in mosaic, tapestry, &c. The car- tons at Hampton-court are designs of Raphael Urbino. They are seven in number, and form only a small part of the sacred historical designs executed by this artist, while enga- ged in the chambers of the Vatican, under the auspices of popes Julius II. and Leo X. When finished they were sent to Flanders to be copied in tapestry, for adorning the ponti- 309 fical apartments; the work was not, however, sent to Rome till after the death of Raphael. The cartons themselves lay long neglected after the sacking of Rome in the time of Cle- ment VII. ; they were at length discovered and purchased by Rubens for Charles I. of England. They are held in the highest esti- mation by all those who have any preten- sions to true taste, for their various and match- less merit, particularly with regard to the invention, and to the great and noble expres- sion of such a variety of characters, counte- nances, and attitudes, as they are differently affected and properly engaged. CAR! OL CHE, in architecture and sculp- ture, an ornament representing a scroll of paper. It is usually a flat member, with wavings, to represent some inscription, de- vice, cypher, or ornament of armoury. They are in architecture much the same as mo- dillions; only these are set under the cornice in wainscoting, and those under the cornice at the eaves of a house. Cartouche, in the military art, a case of wood, about three inches thick at the bot- tom, girt with marlin, holding about 400 musket-balls, besides six or eight balls of iron, of a pound weight, to be fired out of a hobit, for the defence of a pass, See. A cartouche is sometimes made of a globular form, and filled with a ball of a pound weight; and sometimes it is made for the guns, being of ball of half or quarter pound weight, accord- ing to the nature of the gun, tied in form of a bunch of grapes, on a tompion of wood, and coated over. These were made in the room of partridge-shot. CARTRIDGE, in the military art, a case of pasteboard or parchment, holding the ex- act charge of a fi re-arm . Those for m uskets, carabines, and pistols, hold both the powder and ball for the charge ; and those of cannon and mortars are usually in cases of pasteboard or tin, sometimes of wood, half a foot long, adapted to the caliber of the piece. CARTS. Every cart, &c. for the carriage of any thing to and from any place where the streets are paved, within the bills of mor- tality, shall contain six inches in the felly ; and no person shall drive any cart, &c. with- in the limits aforesaid, unless the name of the owner and number of such cart lie placed in some conspicuous part thereof, and his name entered with the commissioners of the hackney-coaches, under the penalty of 40y. and any person may seize and detain such cart till the penalty be paid. 18. Geo. II. c. 33. And if the driver shall ride upon such cart without having a person on foot to guide it, lie shall, forfeit 10s. and the owner so guilty forfeits 20s. On changing property the name of the new owners shall be alfixed, and entry shall be made with the commissioners of tlie hackney-coaches. The entry of all carts driven within five miles of Temple-bar is strictly enjoined by tlie 24 Geo. III. s 2 c. 27. CARUM, a genus of the digynia order, in the pentandria class of plants, and in tlie na- tural method ranking under the 45'h order, umbellate. The fruit is ovate, oblong, and striated ; the involucrum monophyllous ; the petals are carinated or keel-shaped below, and emarginated by their inflection. There is one spec ies, Carum carui, the caraway of the shops, grows naturally in many places cf Britain. ‘ It 310 f C A S C A R is a biennial plant, which visas from seeds one | year, flowers the next, and perishes soon alter the seeds are ripe. It has a strong aro- matic taste, and a taper root like a parsnip, but much smaller, which runs deep into the ground; sending out many small fibres. From the root arises one or two smooth, solid, channelled stalks, about two feet high, with winged leaves, having long naked footstalks. r L lie seed of this plant is one of the greater hot seeds, storpachic, carminative, and good in the cholic. The officinal preparations of it are the seeds candied with sugar, and an -oil distilled irom the seed. CARUNCULA. See Anatomy. CARUNCLES in the urethra. See Sur- gery. C ALUS, in medicine, a sudden depriva- tion or sense and motion, affecting the whole body. See Medicine. CART ATIDES, or Cariates, in archi- tecture, a kind or order of columns or pi- lasters under the figure of women dressed in long robes, after the manner of the Carian people, and serving instead of columns to support the entablement. CARYOCAR, in botany, a genus of the Tetragynia order, in the polyandria class of plants. The calyx is quinquepartite, the petals live, the styles most frequently four. The fruit is a drupe, with nucleuses, and four furrows netted. There is one species. CARY OPHYLLUS, the clove-tree, a genus of the mongynia order, in the polyan- dria class of plants ; and in the natural me- thod ranking under the 19th order, hespe- ridese. The corolla is tetrapetalous ; the calyx tetraphv lions; the berry monosper- anous, below the receptacle of the flower. Of this there is but one species, viz. Caryophyllus arorhaticus, which is a native of the Molucca islands, particularly of Am- j boyna, where it is principally cultivated. 'Idle clove-tree resembles in its bark the olive; and is about the height of the laurel. No verdure is ever seen under it. It has a great number of branches, at the extremities of which are produced vast quantities of flowers, that are first white, then green, and at last pretty red and hard. When they ar- rive at this degree of maturity, they are, properly speaking, cloves. As they dry, they assume a dark yellowish cast, and when ga- thered become of a deep brown. The sea- son for gathering the cloves- is from October to February. The boughs of the trees are then strongly shaken; or the cloves beaten down with long reeds. Large cloths are spread to receive them, and they are after- wards either dried in the sun or in the smoke of the bamboo cane. The cloves which es- cape the notice of those who gather them, or are purposely left upon the tree, continue to grow till they are about an inch in thickness; and these falling oft', produce new plants, which do not bear in less than eight or nine years. Those which are called mother doves are inferior to the common sort, but are pre- served in sugar by the Dutch, and in long voyages eaten after their meals, to promote digestion. The clove, to be in perfection, must be full-sized, heavy, oily, and easily ■broken, of a fine smell, and of a" hot aromatic taste, so as almost to burn the throat. It should make the fingers smart when handled, and leave an oily moisture upon them when pressed In the East Indies, and in some parts of Europe, it is so much admired as to be thought an indispensable ingredient in almost every dish. C loves are very hot, sti- mulating, aromatics; and possess in an emi- nent degree the general virtues of substances of this class. Their pungency resides in their resin, or rather in a combination of resin with essential oil; for the spirituous extract is very pungent: but if the oil and the resin contained i* this extract are separated from each other by distillation, the oil will be very mild ; and any pungency which it does re- tain, proceeds from some small portion of adhering resin, and the remaining oil will be insipid. No plant, or part of any plant, contains such a quantity of oil as cloves do. From l6ounc.es Newman obtained by dis- tillation two ounces and two drams, and Hoff- man obtained an ounce and a half of oil from two ounces of the spice. The oil is specifi- cally heavier than water. Cloves acquire weight by imbibing water; and this they will do at some considerable distance. The Dutch, who trade in cloves, make a considerable ad- vantage by knowing this secret. They sell them always by weight ; and when a bag of cloves is ordered, they hang it for several hours before it is sent in, aver a vessel of water, at about two feet distance from the surface. This will add many pounds to tiie weight, which the unwary purchaser pays for on the spot. This is sometimes practised in Europe, as well as in the spic islands : but the degree of moisture must be more carefully watched in the latter; for there a bag of cloves will, in one night’s time, attract so much water, that it may be pressed out by squeezing them with the hand. At Am- boy na the company have allotted the inhabi- tants 4000 parcels of land, on each of which they were at first allowed, and about the year 1720 compelled, to plant about 125 trees, amounting in all to 500,000. Each of these trees produces annually on an average more than two pounds of cloves, and consequently the collective produce must weigh more than a million. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 92. CARY OTA, in botany, a genus of the monoecia polyandria plants, classed by Lin- nams under palm*: the male and female flowers of which are produced in separate parts of the same spadix ; the corolla is di- vided into three hollow, lanceolated seg- ments; the stamina are numerous filaments, longer than the corolla; the anther* are linear ; the corolla in the female flower is di- vided into two very small acuminated seg- ments; the fruit is a round berry, containing a single cell ; the seeds are two, large, oblong, rounded on one side, and flatted on the other. There are two species. CASE, among grammarians, implies the different inflexions or terminations of nouns, serving to express the different re- lations they bear to each other, and to the things they represent. Case, among printers, denotes a sloping frame, divided into several compartments, each containing a number of types or letters of the same kind. From these compartments the compositor takes out each letter as he wants it, to compose a page or form. Case of crown-glass contains 12, 15, or 18 tables, according to the quality of the glass: in cases of the best glass there are the smallest number of tables, as the price is the same for each case. € A 5 Case of Newcastle green glass contains 35 tables. Case-hardening, a method of prepar-j ing iron, so as to render its outer surface hard, and capable of resisting any edged tool. Case-shot, in the military art, musket- ball, stones, old iron, &c. put into cases, and shat out of great guns. CASEMENT, or Casemate, in archi- tecture, a hollow moulding, which some ar- j chitects make one-sixtli of a circle, and ; others one-fourth. CASERN, in fortification, lodgings built in garrison towns, generally near the ram- part, or in the waste places of the town, for lodging the soldiers of the garrison. T here are usually two beds in each casern for six soldiers to lie, .who mount the guard alter- nately, the third part being always on duty. 1 CASES, reserved, in the polity of the Ro- mish church, atrocious crimes, the absolution; of which is reserved by the superiors to themselves or their vicar,. There are cases reserved by the pope, who formerly gave the absolution in person, but now delegates that power to certain bishops and priests: cases reserved by the bishops in convents, some by the chapters; but at the point of death all reserved cases are absolvahte by the or- dinary. The cases reserved by the pope, according to the ritual of Paris, are : 1 . The wilful burning of churches, and also of other places, if the incendiary is publicly proclaim- ed. 2. Actual simony. 3. The murder or mutilation ot a person in holy orders. 4. The striking a bishop or other prelate. 5. Fur- nishing arms to the infidels. 6. Falsifying the bulls or letters of the pope. 7. Invading or pillaging the lands of the church. 8. Violat- ing an interdiction of the pope. CASHEW -NUT. See Anacardium. 5 CASING of timber work , among builders, isnthe plastering a house all over on the out- side with mortar, and then striking it while wet by a ruler with the corner of a trowel, to make it resemble the joints of free-stone. Some direct it to be done upon heart laths, because the mortar would in a little time decay the sap laths, and to lay on the mortar in two thicknesses, viz. a second before the first is dry. CASKETS, on board a ship, small ropes made of sinnet, and fastened to gromets or little rings upon the yards. T heir use is to make fast the sail to the yard when it is lobe furled. CASSATION, among civilians, the act of annulling any act or procedure. The rea- sons of cassation are; 1. When a decree is directly contrary to another decree, and both against the same party. 2. W hen the de- crees are contrary to the express decision of statutes and custom?. 3. When the forma- lities prescribed by the laws have not been observed. Cassation is properly a term in the courts of France, the lav 7 s of which country require the party that sues for a cassation, to deposit 450 livres, which sum is forfeited if he fails in his suit. CASSIA, a genus of the monogynia order, in the decandria class of plants, and in the natural method ranking under the 33d order, lomentacesc. The calyx is pentaphyllous-; petals five; anther*, upper, three barren; lower, three beaked: a leguminous plant. 10 CAS: CAS CAS 311 I There are 51 species, all natives of warm cli- mates. The most remarkable are: 1 . Cassia fistula, the purging cassia of Alex- andria, is a native of Egypt and both Indies: it rises to the height of 40 or 50 feet, with a large trunk, dividing into many branches with wing- ed leaves, i he flowers are produced in long spikes at the end of the branches, each stand- ing upon a long footstalk : these are compos- I ed of fine yellow concave petals, which are I succeeded by cylindrical pods from one to I two feet long, with a dark brown woody shell, I having a longitudinal seam on one side, | divided into many cells by transverse parti- | tious, each containing one or two oval, ! smooth, compressed seeds, lodged in a black- ) ish pulp, which is the eassia used in medicine. There are two sorts of this drug in the shops, one brought from the East Indies, the other from the West. The canes or pods of the Litter are generally large, rough, thick-rind- ed, and tiie pulp nauseous ; those of the former are less, smoother, the pulp blacker, j and of a sweeter taste ; this sort is preferred | to the other. The pods should be chosen weighty, new, and not rattling (from the seeds being loose within them) when shaken. The pulp should be of a bright shining black colour, and a sweet taste ; not harsh, which happens from the fruit being gathered before | it has grown fully ripe, or sourish, which it 1 is apt to turn upon keeping : it should nei- j ther be very dry nor very moist, nor at all mouldy; which, from its being kept in damp I cellars or moistened, in order to increase its I weight, it is very subject to be. The great- I est part of the pulp dissolves both in water ' and rectified spirit; and may be extracted from the pod by either. This pulp is a i gentle laxative medicine ; and frequently 1 given, in a dose of some drams, in costive I habits. See Plate Nat. Hist. tig. 93. 2. Cassia senna, is a shrubby plant culti- vated in Persia, Syria, and Arabia, for the leaves, which form a considerable article of J commerce. They are of an objcng figure, | sharp-pointed at the ends, about a quarter of I an inch broad, and not a full inch in length ; j of a lively yellowish green colour, a faint, | not very agreeable smell, and a subacrid, J bitterish, nauseous taste. They are brought from the above places, dried and picked from the stalks, to Alexandria in Egypt, and I thence imported into Europe. Some infe- I rior sorts are brought from Tripoli and j other places ; these may easily be distinguish- ed by their being either narrower, longer, J and sharper-pointed; or larger, broader, and I round-pointed, with small prominent veins ; I or large and obtuse, of a fresh green colour, | without any yellow cast. Senna is a very useful cathartic, operating mildly, and yet I effectually; and if judiciously dosed and rna- I naged, rarely occasioning the ill consequences I which too frequently follow the exhibition of | the stronger purges. CASS) DA, in zoology, a genus of insects, of the order of the coleoptera, with filiform ‘or thread-like antennas, thickest towards the extremities. Add to this, that the thorax is plain and marginated. Of this genus there are many species, some green (as the viridis), some grey, but most black ; but all have been confounded bv authors with the beetles, and called in English tortoise-beetles. Foreign countries, afford many beautiful species. Even in this climate there is something sin- . ; gular in them. Their larva, by the help of the two prongs which are found at its hinder . extremity, makes itself, with its own excre- ments, a kind of umbrella, that shelters it . from the sun and rain. When this umbrella . becomes too dry, it parts with it for a new one. r l his larva casts its slough several times. Thistles and verticillated plants are inhabited by these insects. There is one spe- cies, of which the chrysalis resembles an ar- morial escutcheon. It is this which produces our variegated cassida. Numbers are found on the sides of ponds, upon the wild elecam- pane. See Plate Nat. Hist. iig. 94. CASS1NE, a genus of the trigynia order, in the pentandria class of plants, and in the natural method ranking under the 23d order, dumosae. The calyx is quinquepartite ; the petals are five ; and the fruit is a trisper- mous berry. There are four species, all of them natives of warm climates. CASSIOPEIA, in astronomy, a constella- tion in the northern hemisphere, situated op- posite to the Great Bear, on the other side of the pole. The stars of this constellation, in Ptolemy’s catalogue, are thirteen ; in Ty- cho’s twenty-eight ; and in Mr. Flamsteed’s fifty-six. In the year 1572 a remarkable new star appeared in this constellation, ’surpassing Sirius or Lyra in brightness and magnitude. It appeared even bigger than Jupiter, which, at that time, was near his perigee, and by some was thought equal to Venus when she is in her greatest lustre ; but in a month it began to diminish in lustre, and in about eighteen months entirely disappeared. CASSEl ERIA, in the history of fossils, a genus of crystals, the figures of which are in- fluenced by an admixture of some particles of tin. The cassiteria are of two kinds ; the whitish pellucid cassiterion, and the brown cassiterion : the first is a tolerably bright and pellucid crystal, and seldom subject to the common blemishes of crystal: it is of a per- fect and regular form, in the figure of a qua- drilateral pyramid, and is found in Devon- shire and Cornwall principally. The brown cassiterion is like the former in figure : it is of a very smooth and glossy surface, and is also found in great plenty in Devonshire and Cornwall. CASSOWARY. See Strtjthio. CAST, or caste, in the east, denotes a tribe or number of families of the same rank and profession. The division of a nation into casts obtains in the dominions of the great mogul, kingdom of Bengal, and the island of Ceylon. There are four principal casts, viz. that of the bramins, which is the most noble ; that of the rajahs, or princes, who claim to be descended from the royal families ; that of the choutres, which in- cludes artificers ; and that of the parias, the lowest of all. Every art and trade is con- fined to its proper cast, nor can it be exer- cised by any but those whose fathers have professed the same. The cast of parias is held infamous ; and there are trades in the cast of choutres which debase the professors of them almost to the same rank ; some of which are fishermen, shoemakers, and even shepherds. CASSYTA, a genus of the monogvnia order, in the enncandria class of plants. The corolla is in the form of a calyx, divided into six segments ; the nectarium is composed ot three truncated glands encompassing the ger- men ; the inferior filaments are glandular; and the drupe contains a single seed. There are two species. CASTILLAN, or Castillane, a gold coin, current in Spain, and worth fourteen rials and sixteen deniers. Castilian is also a weight used in Spain for weighing gold. It is the hun- dredth part of a pound Spanish weight. What they commonly call a weight of gold in Spain, is always understood of the castilian. CASTILLEJA, a genus of the didynamia angiospennia class and order. The essential character is, calyx tubular, compressed ; up- per lip bifid, lower none ; corolla, lower lip trifid ; capsule two-celled. There are two species, natives of South America. CASTING, among sculptors, implies the taking of casts and impressions ot figures, busts, medals, &c. The art of taking casts or impressions from pieces of sculpture, medals, &c. is of very great importance in the line arts. In order to procure a copy or cast from any. figure, bust, medal, &c. it is necessary to ob- tain a mould, by pressing upon the - thing to- be moulded or copied some substance which, when soft, is capable of being forced into all the cavities or hollows of the sculpture. When this mould is dry and hard, some sub- stance is poured into it, which will fill all the cavities ot the mould, and represent the form of the original from which the mould was- taken. The particular manner of moulding de- pends upon the form of the subject to be worked upon. When there are no projecting parts, but such as form a right or a greater angle with the principal surface of the body, nothing more is required than to cover it over with the substance of which the mould is to be formed, taking care to press it well into all the cavities of the original, and to take it off clean, and without bending. The sub- stances used for moulding are various,, according to the nature and situation of the - sculpture. If it may be laid, horizontally, . and will bear to be oiled without injury,, plaister of Baris may be advantageously em- ployed, which may be poured over it to a convenient thickness, after oiling it to pre- vent the plaister from sticking. A com po- sition of bees-wax, .resin, and pitch, may also be used, which will 'be a very desirable mould, . if many casts are to be taken from it. But if the situation of the sculpture is perpendi- cular, so that nothing can be poured upon it, then clay, or some similar substance, must be used. The’ best kind of clay for this purpose is that used by the sculptors for making their models ; it must be worked to a due consist- ence, and having spread it out to a size suf- ficient to cover all the surface, it must b© sprinkled over with whiting, to prevent it from adhering to the original. Bees-wax and dough, or the crumb of new bread, may also be used for moulding some small subjects. When there are undercuttings in the has re- lief, they must be first filled up before it can be moulded, otherwise the mould could not be got off. When the casts are taken after- wards, these places must be worked out with a proper tool. When the model, or original subject, is of. a round form, or projects so much that it cannot be moulded in this manner, the mould . must be divided into several parts ; and it is frequently necessary to cast several paits se- 312 C A S C AS CAS p irately, and afterwards to join them toge- ther. In this case, the p 'mister must be tem- pered witii water to such a consistence, that it may be worked like suit paste, and must be laid on witii some convenient instrument, compressing it so as to make it adapt itself to all parts of the surface. When the model is covered to a convenient thickness, the whole must be "left at rest till the plaister is set and l:rm, so as to bear dividing without fading to pieces, or being liable to be put out ot its form bv any slight violence ; and it must then be div ided into pieces, in order 1;o its being taken off from the model, by cutting it with a knife with a very thin blade ; and being divided, must be cautiously taken oh, and kept till dry : but it must be observed, before the separation of the parts is made, to notch them across the joints, or lines of division, at proper distances, that they may with ease and certainty be properly put together again. The art of properly dividing the moulds, in order to make them separate from the model, requires more dex- terity and skill tlun any other thing in the art of casting, and does not admit of rules for the most advantageous conduct of it in every case. Where the subject is of a round or spheroidal form, it is best to divide the mould into three parts, which will then easily come off from -the model ; and the same will hold good of a cylinder, or any regular curve figure. The mould being thus, formed, and dry, and the parts put together, it must be first oiied, and placed in such a position that the hollow may lie upwards, and then filled with plaister mixed with water ; and when the cast is perfectly set and dry, it must be taken out of the mould and repaired when necessary, which finishes the opera- tion. In larger masses, where there would other- wise be a great thickness of the plaister, a core may be put within the mould, in order to produce a hollow in the cast, which both saves the expence of the plaister, and ren- ders the cast lighter. In the same manner, figures, busts, &c. may be cast of lead, or any other metal in the moulds of plaister or clay r ; taking care, however, that the moulds be perfectly dry ; for, should there be the least moisture in them, the sudden heat of the metal would convert it into vapour, which would produce an ex- plosion, and blow the melted metal about. To take a cast in metal from any small animal, insect, or vegetable. — Prepare a box sufficiently large to hold the animal (which must be dead), in which it must be suspended by a string, and the legs, wings, Sec. of the ani- mal, or the tendrils, leaves. Sec. of the vegeta- ble, must be separated, and ■adjusted in their right position by a pair of small piucers. A due quantity of plaister of Paris mixed with talc, must be tempered to the proper consistence with water, and the sides of the box oiled. Also a straight piece of stick must be put to the principal part of the body, and pieces of wire to the extremities of the other parts, in order that they may form, when drawn out after the matter of the mould is set .and firm, pro- per channels for pouring in the metal, and vents for the air, which otherwise, by the rarefaction it would undergo from the heat of the metals, would blow it out, or burst the mould. In a short time the plaister will set, jand become hard ; when the stick and wires may be drawn out, and the frame or coffin in which the mould was cast taken away ; and the mould must then be put, first, into a moderate' heat, and afterwards, when it is as dry as it can be rendered by that degree, removed into a greater, w hich may be gradu- ally increased tiii the whole is red-hot. The animal or vegetable inclosed in the mould, will then be burnt to a coal: and may be totally calcined to ashes, by blowing for some time into the charcoal and passages made for pour- ing in the metal, and giving vent to the air ; which will, at the same time that it destroys the remainder of the animal or vegetable matter, blow out the ashes. The mould must then be suffered to cool gently, and will be perfect; the destruction of the substance in- cluded in it, having produced a correspond- ing hollow ; but it may nevertheless be proper to shake the mould, and turn it upside down, as also to blow with the bellows into each of the air vents, in order to free it wholly from any remainder of the ashes ; or where there maybe an opportunity of tilling the hollow with quicksilver, it will be found a very effectual method of clearing the ca- vity ; as all dust, ashes, or small detached bo- dies, will necessarily rise to the surface of the quicksilver, and be poured out with it. The mould being thus prepared, it must be heated very hot, when used, if the cast is to be made with copper or brass, but a less degree will serve for lead or tin. The metal being- poured into the mould, must be gently struck, and then suffered to rest till it is cold ; at which time it must be carefully taken from the cast, but without force ; for such parts of the matter as appear to adhere more strongly, must be softened, by soaking in water till they are entirely loosened, that none of the more delicate parts of the cast may be broken off or bent. When talc cannot be obtained, plaister alone may be used ; but it is apt to be calcined, by the heat used in burning the animal or vegetable whence the cast is taken, and to become of too incoherent and friable a tex- ture. Stourbridge, or any other good clav, washed perfectly fine, and mixed with an equal part Of fine sand, may be employed. Pounded pumice-stone, and plaister of Paris, in equal quantities, mixed with washed clay in the same proportion, is said to make ex- cellent moulds. Method of taking a cast in plaister from a person’s face. — The person whose likeness is required in plaister, must lie on his back, and the hair must be tied back, so that none of it covers the face. Into each nostril con- vey a conical piece of stiff paper, open at both ends, to allow of breathing. The face is then lightly oiled over in every part witii salad-oil, to prevent the plaister from sticking to the skin. Procure some fresh-burnt plais- ter, and mix it with water to a' proper con- sistence for pouring. Than pour it by spoon- fuls quickly all over the face (taking cafe the eyes are shut), till it is entirely covered to the thickness of a quarter of an inch. This substance will grow sensibly hot, and in a few minutes it will be hard, and form a mould, in which a head of clay may be moulded ; and therein the eyes may be open- ed, and such other additions and corrections may be made as are necessary. Then, this second face being anointed with oil, another mould of plaister must be made upon it, con- sisting of two parts joined lengthwise along the ridge of the nose; and in this a cast in plaister may be taken, which will be exactly like the original. To take casts from medals. — In order to take copies of medals, a mould must first be made ; this is generally either of plais- ter of Paris, or of melted sulphur. After having oiled the surface of the medal with a little cotton, or a camel’s-hair pencil dipped in oil of olives, put a hoop of paper round it, standing up above the surface of the thickness you wish the mould to be. Then take some plaister of Paris, mix it with water to the consistence of cream, and with a brush rub it over the surface of the me- dal, to prevent air-holes from appearing : • then immediately afterwards make it to a suf- : ficient thickness, by pouring on more plaister. Let it stand about half ait hour, and it will ! in that time grow so hard, that you may safely take it off; then pare it smooth on the back and round the edges neatly. It should be dried, if in cold or damp weather, before a brisk fire. If you cover the face of the mould with line plaister, a coarser sort will do for the back : but no more plaister should be mixed up at one time than can be used, as it will soon get hard, and cannot be softened without burning over again. Sul- phur must not be poured upon silver medals, as this will tarnish them. To prepare this mould for casting sulphur or plaister of Paris in, take half a pint of boiled linseed-oil, and oil of turpentine one ounce, and mix them together in a bottle; when wanted, pour the mixture into a plate or ' saucer, and dip the surface of the mould into] it ; take the mould out again ; and when it lias sucked in the oil, dip it again. Repeat this, till the oil begins to stagnate upon it ; then take a little cotton wool, hard rolled up, to prevent the oil from sticking to it, and wipe it carefully off. Lay it in a dry place for a. day or two (if longer the better), and the mould will acquire a very hard surface from ] the effect of the oil. To cast plaister of Paris in this mould, pro-| ceed with it in the same manner as above di- rected for obtaining the mould itself, first oil- ing the mould with olive-oik If sulphur casts ) are required, it must be melted in an iron ladle.1 Another method with isinglass’. — Dissolve! isinglass in water over the lire ; then, with a hair-pencil, lay the melted isinglass over the medal; and when you have covered it.: properly, let it dry. When it is hard, raise] the isinglass up with the point of a pen-knife j and it will ily off like horn, having a sharp! impression of the medal. The isinglass may be made of any colour,] by mixing the colour with it ; or you may] breathe on the concave side, and lay gold,, leaf on it, which, by shining through, will make it appear like a gold medal. But if youl wish to imitate a copper medal, mix a littlel carmine with the isinglass, and lay gold-leaf on as before. CASTLE, in the sea language, is a part] of the ship, of which there are two ; the fore-1 castle, being the elevation at the prow, or the] uppermost deck, towards the mizen, thel place where the kitchens are ; and the hind- ] castle, where the officers’ cabins are. CASTOR, the bearer, in zoology, age-] mis of the order of glires. The generic cha-| racter is, front teeth in the upper jaw trim A CAS CAS CAT cated and excavated with a transverse angle ; in the lower jaw transverse at the tips ; grinders on each side tour ; tail long, depress- ed and scaly ; collar-bones in the skeleton. 1 . Castor fiber, or common beaver, is a na- tive of the most northern parts of Europe and Asia, but is found most plentifully in North America. It is readily distinguished from every other quadruped (see Plate Natural Hist. fig. 95.) by the remarkable structure of its tail, which is of an oval form, nearly flat, but rising into a slight convexity on its upper surface, perfectly void of hair, except at the base, and marked out into scaly divisions like the skin of a fish. The general length of the beaver is about three feet, and of the tail nearly one foot. The colour of the animal is a deep chesnut, and the hair is very fine, smooth, and glossy. The beaver, like other quadrupeds, sometimes varies in colour, and is occasionally found perfectly black. Of all quadrupeds the beaver is considered as possessing the greatest degree of natural or instinctive sagacity in constructing its ha- bitation; preparing, in concert with others of its own species, a kind of arched caverns or domes, supported by a foundation of strong pillars, and lined or plaistered internally with a degree of neatness and accuracy unequalled by the art of any other quadruped. The favourite resorts of the beaver are re- tired watery, and woody, situations. In such places the animals assemble, to the number of some hundreds ; living in a kind of families, and building their arched mansions or recep- tacles. They begin to assemble in the month of June or July, for the purpose of uniting into society. They arrive in numbers from all J iarts, and soon form a troop of two or three Kindred. The place of rendezvous is generally the situation fixed for their establish- ment, and always on the banks of some water. If the waters are flat, and never rise above their, ordinary level, as in lakes, the beavers make no bank or dam ; but in river's or brooks, where the waters are subject to risings and fallings, they construct a bank, anu 'by this artifice form a pond or piece of water, which remains always at the same height. The bank traverses the river, from one side to the other, like a sluice, and- is often from eighty to a hundred feet long, -by ten or twelve broad at the base. This pile, for animals of so Small a size, appears to be enormous, and supposes an incredible labour ; but the solidity with which the work is constructed is still more astonishing than its magnitude. The part of the river where they erect this bank is ge- nerally shallow. If they find on the margin a large tree, which can be made to fall into the water, they begin with cutting it down, to form the principal part of their work. This tree is often thicker than the body of a man. By gnawing the foot of a tree with their four cutting teeth they accomplish their purpose in a very short time, and always make the tree fall across the river. They next cut the branches from the trunk, to make it lie level. These operations are performed by the whole community. Several beavers are employed in gnawing the foot of the tree, and others in lopping off the branches after it has fallen. Others, at the same time, traverse the banks of the river, and cut down smaller trees from the size of a man’s leg to that of his thigh. These they dress and cut to a certain length, to Vol. I. make stakes of them, and first drag them by land to the margin of the river, and then by water to the place where the building is car- rying on. These piles they sink down, and interweave the branches with the larger stakes. Whilst some are labouring in this manner, others bring earth, which they plash with their fore feet, and transport in such quantities, that they fill with it all the intervals between the piles. These piles consist of several rows of stakes, of equal height, all placed opposite to each other, and extend from one bank of the river to the other. The stakes facing the un- der part of the river are placed perpendicu- larly ; but the rest of the work slopes upwards to sustain the pressure of the fluid, so that the bank, which is ten or twelve feet wide at the base, is reduced to two or three at the top. The first great structure is made with a view to render their smaller habitations more commodious. These cabins or houses are built upon piles near the margin of the pond, and have two openings, the one for going on the land, and the other for throwing them- selves into the water. The form of the edi- fices is either oval or round, some of them larger, and some less, varying from four to five, to eight or ten feet diameter. Some of them consist of three or four stories, and their walls are about two feet thick, raised perpendicularly upon planks, or plain stakes, which serve both for foundations and floors to their houses. They are built with amazing solidity, and neatly plaistered both without and within. They are impenetrable to rain, and resist the most impetuous winds. The partitions are covered with a kind of stucco, as nicely plastered as it it had beenexecutedby the hand ot man. In the application of this mortar their tails serve for trowels, and their feet for plaistering. They employ different materials, as wood, stone, and a kind of sandy earth, which is not subject to dissolution in water. r l hey labour in a sitting posture ; and besides the convenience of this situation, they enjoy the pleasure of gnawing perpe- tually the bark and wood, which are most agreeable to their taste ; for they prefer fresh bark and tender wood to most of their ordi- nary aliment. Of these provisions they lay up ample stores to support them during the winter ; but they are not font! of dry wood, and make occasional excursions during the winter season for fresh provisions in the fo- rests. It is in the water, or near their habi- tations, that they establish their magazines. Bach cabin lias its own magazine, propor- tioned to the number of its inhabitants, who have all a common right to the store, and never pillage their neighbours. Some vil- lages are composed of twenty or twenty-five cabins, but such establishments are rare ; and the common republic seldom exceeds ten or twelve families, each of which has its own quarter of the village, its own magazine, and its separate habitation. The smallest cabins contain two, four, or six; and the largest eighteen, twenty, and, it is alleged, some- times thirty, beavers. They are almost al- ways equally paired, there being the same number of females as of males. When danger approaches, they warn one another by striking their tail on the surface of the water, the noise of which is heard at a great distance, and resounds through all the vaults of their habitations. Each takes his par t ; some plunge into the lake ; others conceal 311 themselves within their walls, which can only be penetrated by the fire of heaven or the steel of man, and which no animal will at- tempt either to open cr overturn. They often swim a long way under the ice ; and it is then that they are most easily taken, by attacking the cabin on one band, and at the same time watching at a hole made at some distance, v. hither they are obliged to repair for the purpose of respiration. The continual habit of keeping their tail and posterior part in the water, appears to have changed the na- ture of their flesh. That of their anterior parts, as far as the reins, has the taste and consistence of the flesh of land animals ; but that of the tail and hinder parts has the odour and all other qualities of fish. Besides the associated beavers there are others that live solitary, and instead of con- structing caverns, or vaulted and plaistered receptacles, content themselves with forming holes in the banks of rivers. The fur of these, which are commonly termed terrier beavers, is considered as far less valuable than that of the associated animals. The beaver when taken young may rea- dily be tamed ; and in that state appears to be an animal of a g ntle disposition, but does not exhibit any symptoms of superior saga- city. 2. Castor huidobrius, or Chili beaver. This is a species peculiar to South America, and is found in the very deep lakes and rivers of that country, and feeds principally on fish and crabs. Its length from nose to tail is about three feet: the head is of a squarish form, the eyes small, the ears rounded and short, and the snout obtuse ; in each jaw are two sharp and strong cutting teeth, and the grinders are like those of the common bea- ver. The bqdy is very broad, and covered, like the common beaver, with two sorts of hair ; the shortest or softest of which is supe- rior to that of most other quadrupeds, and is in high esteem with manufacturers, be- ing wrought into a kind of cloth which has the softness of velvet, and is also used in the manufacture of hats. It is a bold and even fierce animal, and has the power of conti- nuing a great while under water. It does not construct any regular habitation like the common beaver, nor does it afford any castor. The female is said to produce from two to three young at a birth. It is called in Chili by the name of guillino. Castor, in astronomy. See Gemini. CASTOREUM, castor, in the materia medica, is by many mistaken for the sper- matic matter of the animal, though, in fact, it is a peculiar secreted matter, contained in bags destined to receive it, in the manner of the musk and ciyet, yet situated differently in the animal. CASU ARINA, a genus of the monandria order, in the monoecia class of plants. The male has the calyx of the amentum ; the co- rolla a bipartite small scale. The female has a cal yx of the amentum, no corolla ; the style is bipartite. There are five species, natives of New South Wales. CAT. See Felis. Cat-ha rpings, in a ship, small ropes running in little blocks fr.om one side of the shrouds to the other, near the deck. Their use is to force the shrouds, and make them tawt, for the more security and safety of the masts. 314 CAT CAT Cat, or cat-head, on shipboard, a short piece of timber in a ship, lying aloft right over the hawse, having at one end two shivers, wherein is reeved a rope, with a great iron hook fastened to it, called Cat hook. Its use is to trice up the an- chor, from the hawse to the top of the fore- castle. Cat-holes, in a ship, are over the parts as right with the capstan as they can be : their use is to heave the ship astern, upon oc- casion, by a cable, or a hawse, called stern- fash Cat-gut, a small string for fiddles and other musical instruments, made from the in- testines of sheep and lambs, dried and twisted either singly or several together. They are sometimes coloured, and are used by watch- makers, cutlers, turners, and other artificers. Great quantities are imported intoEngland and other northern countries, from France and Italy. Cat-salt, a name given by our salt- workers to a very beautifully granulated kind of common salt. ' It is formed" out of the bit- tern, or leach-brine, which runs from the salt when taken out of the pan. When the common salt is taken from the boiling-pans, it is put into long wooden troughs, with holes bored at the bottom for the brine to drain out : under these troughs vessels are placed to receive this brine, and across them small sticks, to which the cat-salt lives itself in large and beautiful crystals. It contains some portion of the bitter purging salt, is sharp and pungent, and is white when powdered, though pellucid in the mass. Large quanti - ties ol this salt are used in the manufacture of hard soap. CA IACAUSTIC curves, in the higher geometry, that species of caustic curves which are formed by reflection. These curves are generated after the fol- lowing manner. If there be an infinite num- ber of rays, as AB, AC, AD, See. (see Plate, Misccl. fig. 12.) proceeding from the radiating point A, and reflected at any given curve BDH, so that the angles of incidence be still equal to those of reflection; then the curve BEG, to which the reflected ravs IT, CE, DF, & c. are tangents continually, as in the points I, E, F, is thecatacaustic curve. If the reflected IB be produced to K, so that AB = BK, and the curve KE be the evolute of the cataeaustic BEG, beginning at the point K ; then the portion of the cuta- caustic BE = AC — AB -j- CE — BI con- tinually. Or-if any two incident rays, as AB, AC betaken, that portion of the caustic that is evolved while the ray AB approaches to a coincidence with AC, is equal to the differ- ence of those incident rays -j- tire difference of the reflected rays. When the given curve is a geometrical one, the cataeaustic will be so too, and always rectifiable. The cataeaustic of a circle is a cycloid, formed by the revolution of a circle along a circle. T he caustic of the vulgar semi-cy- cloid, when the rays are parallel to the axis, is also a vulgar cycloid, described 1)) the revolution of a circle upon the same base. The caustic of the logarithmic spiral is the same curve, only set in a different position. CAT AC URESIS, in rhetoric, a trope CAT which borrows the name of one thing to ex- press another. CATACOMB, a grotto or subterraneous place for the burial of the dead. The term is particularly used in Italy for a vast assem- blage of subterraneous sepulchres, three leagues from Home, in the via Appia, sup- posed to be the sepulchres of the antienls. Others imagine these catacombs to be the cells wherein the primitive Christians hid themselves. Each catacomb is three feet broad, and eight or ten high, running in form of an alley or gallery, and communicating with one another. Some authors suppose them to have been the puticuli mentioned by Festus Pompeius, into which the Romans threw the bodies of their slaves, to whom they denied the honours of burying; and Mr. Monro, in the Philosophical Transactions, gives it as his opinion, that the catacombs were the bu- rial-places of the first Romans, before the practice of burning the dead was introduced ; and that they were dug in consequence of these opinions, that Shades hate the light, and love to hover about the places where their bodies were laid. T he catacombs of Egypt seem to be of a different nature, though called by the same name. The bodies found in these'catacoinbs are mummies. In searchingfor these labourers are frequently obliged to clear away the sand lor weeks together, before they find the pre- cious deposit. C pon coming to a square opening of about eighteen feet in depth, they descend into it by holes made for the feet, placed at proper distances, and there they are sure of finding a mummy. These caves, or wells, as they are usually called, are hollowed out of free-stone, which is found in Egypt a few feet below the covering of sand. At the bottom of these, which are about forty feet below the surface, there are several square openings on each side of the passages, of ten or fifteen feet wide, and these lead to chambers of fifteen or twenty feet square, hewn out of the rock ; and in each ot the catacombs are to be found several apartments communicating with one an- other. T hey are said to extend so far as to undermine the city of Memphis and its en- virons. In some of these chambers the walls are adorned with figures and hieroglyphics; in others the mummies are found in tombs, round the apartment, hollowed out in the rock. CATALEPSY, in medicine, a kind of apoplexy, or drowsy disease, in which the patient is taken speechless, senseless, and fixed in the same posture in which the disease first seized him. See Medicine. CATALOG UEo/ the stars. See Astro- NOMY. C AT AN AN CUE, Candia lion's foot, a genus of the poly gam ia wqualis order, in the syngenesia class oi plants, and in the natural method ranking under the 49th order, com- posite. The receptacle is paleaceous ; the calyx is imbricated ; the pappus furnished with awns by a ealiculas of live stiff hairs. There are three species, oi which the most remarkable is the Catanaiiche cerulea, which is a hardy, her- baceous, and very ornamental plant tor the flower-garden. There is a variety with dou- ble flowers. , CATAPITONICS, the science which con-' siders the properties of reflected sounds. See Pneumatics. CATAPIIRACTA, in antiquity, a kind of coat of mail, which covered the soldier from head to foot. Hence cataphractati were horsemen armed with the cataphracta, whose horses, as Sallust sayp were covered with linen full of iron plates disposed like feathers. CATAPHRY GIANS, antient heretics, who took their name from the country of Phrygia. They supposed the Holy Spirithad abandoned the church, and therefore that Montanus, as a prophet, and Priscilla and Maximilla, as true prophetesses, were to be consulted in every thing relating to religion. CATAPLASM, an external topical medi- cine, of a soft consistence, known by the common name of poultice, and prepared of ingredients of different virtues, according to the intention of the physician. See Phar- macy. CATAPULTA, in antiquity, a military engine contrived for the throwing of arrows, darts, and stones, upon the enemy. Some of these engines were of such force, that they would throw stones of an hundredweight. Josephus takes notice of the surprising effects of these engines, and says, that the stones thrown out of them beat down the battle- ments, knocked off the angles of the towers, and would level a whole file of men, from one end to the other, were the phalanx ever so deep. CATARACT, in hydrography, a precipice in the channel of a river, caused by rocks, or other obstacles, stopping the course of the stream, whence the wafer falls with a greater noise and impetuosity : such are the cataracts of the Nile, the Danube, the Rhine, and the famous one of Niagara in America. Cataract. See Surgery. CATARRH, in medicine, a defluxion from the head upon the mouth and aspera arteria, and through them upon the lungs. See Medicine. CATECHU, in the materia medica, im- properly called terra japonica in the shops, is a concreted vegetable juice, partly of the gummy, partly of the resinous kind. See Areca, and Materia Medica. CATEGORY, in logic, a scries or order of all the predicates or attributes contained under any genus. The school philosophers distribute all the objects of our thoughts and ideas into certain genera or classes ; and these classes the Creeks called categories, and the Latins pre- dicaments. Aristotle made ten categories, viz. quantity, quality, relation, action, pas- sion, time, place, situation, and habit, which are usually expressed by the following tech- nical distich. Arbor, sex, servos, ardore, refrigerat, ustos, Ruri eras stabo, nec tunicatus ero. C ATEN ARIA, in the higher gepmetry, . the name of a curve line formed by a rope hanging freely from* two points of suspension, whether the points be horizontal or not. The nature of this curve was sought after in Galileo’s time, but not discovered till the year 1690, when James Bernouilli published it as a problem. Dr. Gregory, in 1697, pub- lished a method of investigation of the pro- perties formerly discovered by John Bernouilli and Mr. Leibnitz, together with some new properties of this curve. From him we take the following method of finding the general property of the catenaria. 1 . Suppose a line heavy and flexible, the two extremes of which . CAT 31 5* F and D (Plate Miscel. fig. 13.) are firmly fixed in these points ; by its weight it is bent into a certain curve F A D, which is called the catenaria. 2. Let B D and b c be parallel to the horizon, A B perpendicular to B D, and D c parallel to A B, and the points B b infinitely near to each other. F rom the laws of mechanics, any three powers in equilibrio, are to one another as the lines parallel to the lines of their direction, (or inclined in any given angle) and terminated by their mutual concourses : hence if D d express the ab- solute gravity of the particle L) d (as it will if we allow the chain to be every w'ay uni- form) then D c will express that part of the gravity that acts perpendicularly upon D d ; and by the means of which this particle en- deavours to reduce itself to a vertical po- sition ; so that if this little line d c be con- stant, the perpendicular action of gravity upon the parts of the chain, will be constant too, and may therefore be expressed by any given right line. . Further, the lineola D c will express the force which acts against that conatus of the particle D d, by which it endeavours to re- store itself into a position perpendicular to the horizon, and hinders it from doing so. This force proceeds from the ponderous line I) A d rawing according to the direction D d;\ and is, eacteris paribus, proportional to the line D A which is the cause of it. Supposing the curve F A D, therefore, as before, whose vertex is A, axis A B, ordinate 1> D, fluxion of the axis D c=B b, fluxion of the ordinate d c, the relation of these two lluxionsis thus, viz. d c: D d : : a : D A curve, which is the fundamental property of the curve, and may be thus expressed (putting A B—x and B I) r=y/ and A D— c) y-— • CATERGI, the name of the public carri- ers in the grand signior’s dominions. In Europe, the merchant or traveller gives ear- nest to the carrier, but the catergi in Turkey give earnest to the merchant and others, as a security that they will certainly carry their goods, or not set out with them. CATERPILLAR, in zoology, the name of the butterfly-class of insects, in their reptile or worm state. See Papilio, &c. CATESB/EA, the lily-thorn, a genus of the mouogvnia order, in the tetrandria class of plants ; and in the natural method rank- ing under the 28 Ih order, luridax The co- rolla is monopetalous, tunnel-shaped, very long above the receptacle of tin? fruit ; the stamina are within its throat; the fruit a po- lyspermous berry. There are two species, viz. the 1 . Catesbaea spinosa, a native of the island of Providence, discovered by Mr. Catesby, who gathered the seeds, and brought them to England. It rises to the height of 10 or 12 feet, and is covered with a pale russet bark, with small leaves resembling those of the box- tree ; the flowers hang downward, are tubu- lous, and of a dull yellow colour. This plant is propagated by seeds, which must be procured from the country where it grows. 2. The (fotesbaa parviflora. CATHARINE, or knights of St. Catha- rine, a military order, instituted for the secu- rity of travellers w ho came to visit the tomb this saint on mount Sinai. CAT11 ARIST/F, in church-history, a branch of Manichees, so called from certain purifications which they were obliged to prac- C A U iise : they are also said to haver held it un- lawful to eat flesh. CATHARTICS. See Materia Me- dic a. CATHETER. See Surgery. CATHETUS, in geometry, a line or ra- dius falling perpendicularly on another line or surface : thus the catheti of a right-angled triangle are the Uvo sides that include the right angle. Cathetus, in architecture, a perpendicu- lar line, supposed to pass through the middle of a cylindrical body, as a baluster, column, &c. CATOPTRICS. See Optics. CATTLE. By the 3 and 4 Edward VI. c. 19, no person shall buy any ox, steer, runt, or cow', kc. and sell the same again alive in the same market, or fair, on pain of forfeiting double the value thereof, half to the king, and half to him that shall sue. This is the only act in. force against forestalling, engrossing, and regrating. If any person shall feloniously drive away,, or steal, or shall wilfully kill, any ox, bull, cow, calf, steer, bullock, heiter, sheep, or lamb, with a felonious intent to steal the whole carcase, or any part thereof, or shall assist in committing any such olfence, he shall be guilty of felony without benefit of clergy. 14 and 15 George II. c. 6. and 34. Any person, who shall unlawfully and ma- liciously kill, maim, or wound any cattle, shall be guilty of felony without benefit of clergy ; and the hundred shall be answerable for the damages, not exceeding 200/. 9 George c. 22. And horses, mares, and colts, are in- cluded in the word cattle. Every person who shall apprehend and prosecute to con- viction any offender, shall have ten pounds reward ; to be paid by the sheriff within a month, on his producing a certificate from the judge. The 26 George LU. c. 71. to prevent the stealing of horses, kc. for their skin, provides that all persons keeping a slaughter-house for cattle not killed for butcher’s meat, shall take out licences, be subject to an inspector, and only slaughter at certain times. GATURUS, a genus of the diocciatriandria class and order. There are two species, na- tives of the East Indies. CAVA, or vena cava. See Anatomy. CAVALIER, in fortification, an elevation of earth, of different shapes, situated ordina- rily in tiie gorge of a bastion, bordered with a parapet, and cutfnto more or less embrasures, according to the capacity of the cavalier. Cavaliers are a double defence for the faces of the opposite bastion : they defend the ditch, break thef besiegers’ galleries, command the traverses in dry moats, scour the salient angle of the counterscarp where the besiegers have their counter-bat teries, and enfilade the enemies’ trenches, or oblige them to multiply their parallels : they are likewise' very ser- viceable in defending the breach, and the retrenchments of the besieged, and can very much incommode the entrenchments w'hicli the enemy make, by their being lodged in the bastion. CAVAZION, or cavasion, in architec- ture, denotes the hollow trench made for laying the foundation of a building, which, according to Palladio, ought to be one-sixth part of the height of the w hole building. CAUCALIS, in botany, ' a genus of the pentandria digynia class of plants, the uni- R r 2 C A V versal flower of which is diflhrm and radiated ; the proper flower of the disk is male, small, coinposedof liveinllexo-cordated equal petals; the fruit is of an oblato-oblong figure, striated longitudinally, ■ with rigid scabrous bristles: the seeds are tw r o, oblong, convex on one side and armed with prickles in order o; the stria*, and plane on the other side. There are nine species. CAUDA draconis, the dragon’s-tail, in astronomy, the name of the moon’s descend- ing node. Cauda leonis, in astronomy, a star of the first magnitude in the tail of the constellation Leo. See Leo. CAVEAR, caveer, or caviar, the spawn or hard roes of sturgeon, made into ‘small cakes, an inch thick, and of a hand’s breadth, salted, and dried in the sun. This sort of food is in great repute throughout Muscovy, because of their three Lents, which they keep with a superstitious exactness. CAVEAT, is a caution, entered in the spiritual court, to stop probates, administra- tions, licences, dispensations, faculties, insti- tutions, and such-like, from being granted without the knowledge of the party that enters it. A caveat stands in force for three months. 2 Rol. Rep. 6. The entering a caveat, being at the instance of the party, is only for the benefit of the ordinary, that he may do no wrong ; it is a cautionary act for his better information, to which the temporal courts have no manner of regard ; therefore if after a caveat entered, the ordinary should grant administration, or probate of a will, it is not void by our law ; it is true it is void by the canon law, but our law* takes no notice of a caveat. Rol. Rep. 191. CAVEDO, in commerce, a Portuguese long measure, equal to 27 ~oV lived and published his heresy in the time of. the apostles themselves. They did not allow that God was the author of the creatures, . but said that the world was created by an inferior power: they attributed to this crea- tor an only son, but born in time, and differ- ent from the world: they admitted several angels and inferior powers ; they maintained that the law and the prophets came not from God, but from the angels ; and that the God of the Jews was only an angel. 'They distin- guished between Jesus and Christ : and said, that Jesus was a mere man, born, like other men, of Joseph and Mary ; but that he celled all other men in prudence and wis- dom ; that Jesus being baptized, the Christ of the supreme God, that is, the Holy Ghost, descended upon him ; and that by the assist- ance of this Christ, Jesus performed his mi- • racles. It was partly to refute- this sect tiiat St. John wrote his gospel. CEROPEG1A, in botany, a genus of the* pentandria monogynia class. Tin: flower con— 320 CER CER CER sists of a single petal ; the tube is cylindra- ceous, oblong, and terminating with* a long globose base ; the limb is small, and divided into five segments : the fruit is two cylindra- ceous accumulated tioscules, containing one cell, and divided by two valves ; the seeds are numerous, imbricated, and oblong. There are six species. CERTHIA, in ornithology, the creeper or ox-eye, a genus belonging to the order of pic*. The beak is arched, slender, sharp, and triangular ; the tongue is sharp at the point ; and the feet are of the walking kind, or having the toes open and unconnected. Of this genus near 50 species have been enu- merated. The following are a few of the most remarkable: 1. The familiaris, or common ox-eye, is grey above and white underneath, with brown wings, and ten white spots on the ten prime feathers. This bird is found in most parts of Europe, though it is believed no where so common as in Britain. It may be thought more scarce than it really is by the less at- tentive observer; for, supposing it on the body or branch of any tree, the moment it observes any one, it gets to the opposite side, and so on, let a person walk round the tree ever so often. The facility of its running on the bark of a tree, in all directions, is won- derful ; this it does with as much ease as a lly on a glass window. Its food is principally, if not wholly, insects, which it finds in the •hinks and among the moss of trees. It builds its nest in some hole of a tree, and lays generally five eggs, very rarely more than seven : these are ash-coloured, marked at the end with spots and streaks of a deeper colour. 2. The hook-billed green creeper inhabits the Sandwich islands in general, and is one of the birds whose plumage the natives make use of in constructing their feathered gar- ments ; which having these olive-green fea- thers intermixed witli the beautiful scarlet and yellow ones belonging to the next species, and yellow-tufted bee-eater, make some of the most beautiful coverings of these island- ers. 3. The pusila, or brown and white creeper, is not above half the size of our European creeper. The upper part of the body is brown, with a changeable gloss of copper: the under parts are white. It is a native of the Cape, and is fond of honey. 4. The Loteni, or Loten’s creeper, has the head, neck, back, rump, scapulars, and upper tail-coverts, of green gold ; beneath, from the breast to the vent, of velvet black, which is separated from the green on the neck by a transverse bright violet band. It inhabits Ceylon and Madagascar. 5. The cerulea, or blue creeper, has the head of a most elegant blue; but on each side there is a stripe of black like velvet, in which the eye is placed : the chin and throat are marked with black in the same manner ; the rest of the body violet blue. It inhabits Cayenne. It makes its nest with great art. The outside is composed of dry stalks of grass, or such like ; but within of very downy soft materials, in the shape of a retort, which it suspends from some weak twig, at the en« of a branch of a tree, the opening or mouth downwards, facing the ground : the neck is a foot in length, but the real nest is quite at the top, so that the bird has to climb up this funnel-like opening to get at the nest. Thus it is secure from every harm ; neither mon- key, snake, nor lizard, daring to venture at the end of the branch, as it would not steadily support them. 6. The sannio, or mocking creeper, is of the size of the lesser thrush. On the cheeks is a narrow white spot: the head, especially on the crown, is inclined to violet; the plu- mage in general is olive-green. It inhabits both the islands of New Zealand. It has an agreeable note in general; but at times so varies and modulates the voice, that it seems to imitate the notes of all other birds ; hence it was called by the English the mocking- bird. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 101. CERTIFICATE, in law, a writing made in any court, to give notice to another court of any thing done therein. The clerks of the crown, assize, and the peace, are to make certificates into the king’s bench of the tenor of all indictments, convictions, outlawries, !tec. CERTIFICATION of assize of novel dis- seisin, a writ granted for the re-examination or review of a matter passed by assize before any justices ; as where a man appearing by his bailiff' to an assize brought by another, has lost the day, and having something more to plead for himself, as a deed of re- lease, &c. which the bailiff did not or might not plead for him, desires a farther examina- tion of the cause, either before the same jus- tices or others, and obtains letters patent to that effect. CERTIORARI. The writ of certiorari is an original writ, issuing out of the court of chancery or the king’s bench, directed in the king's name to the judges or officers of inferior courts, commanding them to certify or to return the records of a cause depend- ing before them, to the end the party may have the more sure and speedy justice before the king or such justices as he shall assign to determine the cause. 1 Bac. Abr. A certiorari lies in all judicial proceedings in which a writ of error does not lie ; and it is a consequence of all inferior jurisdictions erected by act of parliament, to have their proceedings returnable in the king’s bench. Ld. Raym. 469. In particular cases the court will use their discretion to grant a certiorari, as if the de- fendant is of good character, or if the prose- cution is malicious, or attended with oppres- sive circumstances. Leach’s Ham. 2. c. 27. s. 28. n. The courts of chancery and king’s-bench may award a certiorari ; to remove the pro- ceeding from any inferior courts, whether they are of ancient or newly created juris- diction, unless the statute or charter which creates them exempts them from such juris- diction. 1 Salk. 144 .pi. 3. CERT-MONEY, a fine paid yearly by the residents of several manors to the lord thereof, and sometimes to the hundred, pro certo lete, that is, for the certain keeping of the leet. CERVICAL nerves. See Anatomy. CERVIX, in anatomy, denotes properly the hinder part of the neck. See Ana- tomy. CERUSE, or Ceruss, white-lead, a sort of calx of lead, made by exposing plates of that metal to the vapour of vinegar. See Chemistry, CERVUS, the stag or deer-kind, in zoo- logy, a genus of quadrupeds of the order of the pecora. The generic character is : horns solid, covered while young with a hairy skin, growing from the top, naked, annual, branch- ed. Front teeth in the lower jaw, eight. Canine teeth, none; sometimes single in the upper jaw. 1. Cervus alces, or elk. The elk, by far the largest animal of this genus, is, when full grown, scarcely inferior to a horse in size. It is common to both continents, inhabiting only the coldest regions, and is observed to arrive at a greater magnitude in Asia and America than in Europe. In its shape it is much less elegant than the rest of the deer tribe ; having a very short and thick neck, a large head, horns dilating almost immediate- ly from the base into a broad palmated form, a thick, broad, heavy upper lip, hanging very much over the lower ; very high should- ers, and long legs. Notwithstanding its awk- ward proportions, it is, however, of a noble and majestic appearance. It is also a mild and harmless animal, and principally sup- ports itself by brousing the boughs of trees in the vast and dreary forests of the frozen zone. The greatest height of the elk is about seventeen hands, and its greatest weight about 1229 pounds. The horns have been known to measure each 32 inches in length. The female is rather smaller than the male, and has no horns. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 103. In Europe the elk is found chiefly in Swe- den, Norway, and some parts of Russia. In Asia it occurs in the woody tracts of the Rus- sian dominions; and in Siberia in particular is found of gigantic magnitude. In America it seems to be most common in Canada, and the country round the great lakes, and is called by the name of moose-deer. Tiie elk, though naturally of an inoffensive and peaceable disposition, displays a high degree of courage, and even ferocity, when suddenly attacked; defending himself with great vigour, not only with his horns, but also by striding violently with his fore feet, in the use of which he is so dextrous as easily to kill a dog, or even a wolf, at a single blow. 2. r Cervus tarandus, or rein-deer (see Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 104.), like the elk, is an inha- bitant of the northern regions. In Europe its chief residence is in Norway and Lap- land. In Asia it frequents the north coast as far as Kamtschatka, and the inland parts as far as Siberia. In America it occurs in Greenland, and does not extend farther south than Canada. The height of a full- grown rein-deer is four feet six inches : the body is of a somewhat thick and square form, and the legs shorter in proportion than those of the stag. Its general colour is brown above and white beneath ; but as it advances in age, it often becomes of a grey- ish white. No animal of this tribe appears to vary so much in the form and length of its horns as the rein-deer. In general the horns are remarkable for their great length and proportional slenderness, and are furnished with a pair of brow antlers, with widely ex- panded and palmated tips directed forwards. In the young and middle-aged rein-deer the horns are remarkable for their slender form ; but as the animal advances in age, they are of a stronger appearance. With the Lap- landers, indeed, this animal is at once the 32! CER substitute of the horse, the cow, the sheep, and goat. 3. Cervus elaphus, or stag, is one of those innocent and peaceable animals that seem destined to embellish the forest, and animate the solitudes of nature. The elegance of his form, the lightness of lus motions, the strength of his limbs, and the branching horns with which his head is decorated, conspire to give him a high rank among quadrupeds, and to render him worthy the admiration of man- kind. It varies both in size and colour in different countries, but is generally about three feet and a half high, and ot a reddish brown colour, whitish beneath, ihe horns vary as to size, &c.. The general number of branches in a well-grown stag seems to be six: or seven, but they are sometimes far more numerous. The stag is a native of almost all the tem- perate parts of Europe, as well as of Asia. It also occurs in North America, where it occa- sionally arrives at a larger size than in the old continent, except in Siberia, where it is found of gigantic magnitude. Stags in general cast or shed their horns sooner or later in the month of March, in proportion to their ages. At the end of June they are full-grown, and the animal rubs them strongly against the boughs of trees, or any convenient object, in order to free them from the skin, which is now become useless, and by the beginning of August they assume the full strength and consistence, which they retain throughout the remainder of the year. 4. Cervus dama, or fallow deer, is consi- derably smaller than the stag, and is of . a brownish bay-colour, more or less deep in different individuals ; whitish beneath, on the insides of, the limbs, and beneath the tail, which is somewliat longer in proportion than that of the stag. In its general form, the animal greatly resembles the stag, having the same elegance of aspect, with a more gentle disposition. It is not so common as the stag, and is even a rare animal in some parts of Europe, as in France and Germany, but in Spain is said to be found nearly equal to the stag in size. The manners of the fallow deer resemble those of the stag, but it is ob- served to be less delicate in the choice of its food; eating a variety of vegetables which are refused by the former. It arrives at full growth and perfection in about three year’s, and is said to live about twenty. The horns are annually shed, as in the stag, but at a somewhat later period. 5. Cervus Yirginianus, Virginian deer, is a native of the northern parts of America, where it is found in vast herds, and is an animal of great importance to the Indian na- tives, who dry its flesh for their winter pro- vision. The size of the animal is that of the fallow deer: its colour a light cinereous brown ; the horns slender, bending very much forwards, with numerous branches on the interior sides, and no brow-antlers. This species appears to occur in almost all parts of North America, and they abound in the greatest abundance in the vast savannas contiguous to the Mississippi and the great rivers which flow into it; grazing in innume- rable herds, along with slags and buffaloes. 6. Cervus axis, or spotted axis (see Plate Nat. Hist. lig. 102.), is a most beautiful ani- mal. Its size is nearly that of the fallow deer, VOL. I. C E Pi and its colour an elegant light rufous-brown, distinctly and beautifully marked with very numerous white spots. It is described by Pliny among the animals' of India, and is said to have been sacred to Bacchus. It has been introduced into Europe, and is occa- sionally seen in parks and menageries. It is readily tamed, and seems to suffer but little from a change of climate. 7. C. Axis, middle. Whether this is a va- riety of the former, or specifically distinct, does not appear perfectly clear, it is of a middle size, between the spotted axis and the great axis. In the colour of its hair, it resembles the first sort, but is never spotted. It inhabits dry hilly forests in Ceylon, Bor- neo, Celebes, and Java, where it is found in very numerous herds. Its flesh is much esteemed by the natives, and is dried aud salted for use. 8. C. Axis, great. The existence cf this species or variety is ascertained from a pair of horns in the British Museum, resembling the former kinds in shape, but of larger size : they measure two feet nine inches in length, are ol a whitish colour, and are very strong, thick, and rugged. Mr. Pennant conjectures that they were brought from Ceylon or Borneo, having been informed by Mr. Loten, who had long resided in the former of these islands, that a very large kind of stag, as tall as a horse, of a reddish colour, and with tri- furcated horns, existed there as well as in Borneo. 9. _ Cervus pygargus, or tailless roe. This species is described in the first volume of Dr. Pallas’s Travels, and is a native of the moun- tainous parts of Ilircania, Russia, and Sibe- ria ; inhabiting the loftiest parts of those re- gions, but in winter descending into the plains, the hair at that season assuming a hoary appearance. In its form it resembles the roebuck, but is larger. Its colour is brown, with the outsides of the limbs and under parts of the body yeliowi-h. It has no tail, but a mere broadish cutaneous excres- cence. 10. Cervus Mexicanus, or Mexican roe, is about the size of the common or European roebuck, and of a reddish colour, but when young is often spotted with white. The horns are thick, strong, and rugged: they bend forwards, and are about ten inches long. The flesh is said to be far inferior to the yenison of Europe. 11. Cervus porcinus, porcine deer, lias slender trifurcated horns, thirteen inches long and six inches at the base : the height from the shoulders to the hoof is two feet two inches, and about two inches higher behind ; the body is thick and clumsy, the legs fine and slender ; the colour on the upper part of the neck, body, and sides, is brown; the belly and rump lighter. 12. The cervus capreolus, or common roe, is of a reddish brown colour, and is the smallest of the European animalsof this genus. The common or general measure of the roe is three feet nine inches from nose to tail; the height before, two feet three inches ; but behind, two feet seven inches ; the horns are about six or eight inches long, and are strong, upright, -rugged, and trifurcated: the general colour of the animal is reddish brown, more or less deep in different individuals, and the rump is white, it is an inhabitant of most ! parts of Europe, as far as Norway; it also C £ S occurs in some parts of Aski, but is not to be found in Africa. \\ hether it is a native of America seems somewhat doubtful, though some species nearly allied to it are found in that continent. 13. Cervus' muntjac, or rib-faced deer, is a native of Java and Ceylon, and is somewhat smaller than the common roebuck, and of a thick form, like the porcine deer. I he horns are trifurcated ; but what seems principally to distinguish this animal, is the appearance of three longitudinal subcutaneous ribs, ex- tending from the horns to the eyes. 1- rom each side of the upper jaw hangs a tusk; so that this species differs in that respect from most of the genus. 14. Cervus guineensis, or grey deer, is the size of a cat ; the colour grey, with a line of black between the ears, a large spot of black above the eyes, and on each side of the throat a line of black, pointing downwards : the middle of the breast black; the fore legs and sides of the belly, as far as the hams, marked with black ; the ears rather long ;• the under side of the tail black. It is said to be a native of Guinea. CESARE, among logicians, one of the modes of the second figure of syllogisms; the minor proposition of which is an uni- versal affirmative, and the other two universal negatives: thus, Cc No immoral books ought to be read: su But every obscene book is immoral ; re Therefore no obscene book ought to be read, CESSATION, cessatio a divinis, in the Romish church, is when, for any notorious injury to the church, a stop is put to all di- vine offices and the administration of the sa- craments, and Christians are deprived of church-burial. A cessation differs from an interdict in this, that, during the latter, di- vine service may be performed in such churches of any place interdicted, as are not expressly under the interdict, and even celebrated solemnly on certain high festivals, the church-doors being shut: but in a ces- sation, no religious service can be performed solemnly ; the only liberty allowed is, in order to renew the consecrated hosts, to re- peat every week a private mass in the parish- churches, the doors being shut, observing also not to ring the bell. Moreover it is lawful, during, the cessation, to administer baptism, confirmation, and penance, to such persons as desire it, provided they are not excommunicated, or under an interdict, CESSAVIT, in law, a writ that lies in many cases, upon this general ground ; that lie against whom it is brought has for two years ceased or neglected to perform such service, or to pay such rent, as he is bound to by his tenure, and has not upon his lands and tene- ments sufficient goods or cattle to be dis- trained. CESSION, is where an ecclesiastical per- son is created a bishop, or where a parson of a parsonage takes another benefice, without dispensation,, or otherwise not qualified, &c, in both cases, their first benefices are said to be void by cession : and to those benefices which the person who was created a bishop enjoyed, the king shall present for that time, whosoever is patron of them ; and in the other cases the patron may present. C ES I RUM, bastard jasmin, a genus of the monogynia order, iu the peutaudria clase ,; 322 C E T C H A C H A of plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the 28th order, luritke. The corolla is funnel-shaped; the stamina each sending out a little tooth about the middle of the inside. There are six species, ail natives of the warmest parts of America ; so cannot be preserved in this country without artificial heat. They are flowering shrubs, rising in height from five to twelve feet, with flowers of a white, or pale yellow colour. The flow- ers of one species, called Badmington jas- mine, emit a strong scent after sunset. They may be propagated either by seed or cut- tings. CESTUI, a French word, signifying he or him, frequently used in our law-writings. Thus, cestui qui trust, a person Who has lands, &c. committed to him for the benefit of another : and if such person does not per- form his trust, he is compellable to it in chan- cery. Cestui qui vit, one for whose life any lands, &c. are granted. Cestui qui use, a person to whose use any one is infeoffed of lands or tenements. Formerly the feoffees to uses were deemed owners of the land, but now the possession is adjudged in cestui qui use. CETUS, in astronomy, a constellation of the southern hemisphere, comprehending twenty-two stars in Ptolemy’s catalogue, twenty-one in Tycho’s, and in the Britannic catalogue ninety-seven. In this constellation is a variable star which appears and disappears periodically, passing through the several degrees of magnitude both increasing and diminishing in about 333 dav s. tlETE, the seventh order in the mam- malia class of animals; the characters of which are, breathing apertures on the head, tail horizontal, no claws. The animals of this order are all of the whale kind. Nature has bestowed on this tribe an in- ternal structure in all respects agreeing- with that of quadrupeds ; and in a few others the external parts are both similar. Cetaceous flsh, like land-animals, breathe by means of lungs, being destitute of gills. This obliges them to rise frequently on the surface of the water to respire, to sleep on the surface, as well as to perform several other functions. They have the power of uttering sounds, such as bellowing and making other noises denied to genuine fish. Like land-animals they have warm blood, bring forth, and suckle their young, showing a strong attach- ment to them. Their bodies beneath the skin are entirely surrounded with a thick layer of fat (blubber), analogous to the lard on hogs. The number of their fins never exceeds three, viz. two pectoral fins, and one back fin; but in some species the last is wanting.' Their tails are placed horizon- tally, or fiat, in respect to their bodies ; con- trary to the direction of those of all other fish, which have them in a perpendicular site. This situation of the tail enables them to force themselves suddenly to the surface of the water to breathe, which they are so frequently constrained to do. Notwithstand- ing the many parts and properties which ce- taceous fish have in common with land-ani- mals, yet there still remain others which ren- der it more natural to place them in the rank offish: the form of their bodies agrees with that of fish; they are entirely naked, or co- vered. only with a smooth skin ; they five constantly in the water, and have all the ac- tions of fish. 'Phis order comprehends the monodon, or narwhale, or sea-unicorn ; ba- lana, or common whale ; the phvseter, ca- chalot, or spermaceti whale; and delphinus, dolphin, grampus, porpus, &c. CHA, in commerce, a thin light silk-stuff made in China, and worn by the inhabitants for a summer-dress. CILEROPHYLLUM, chervil: a genus of the digynia order, in the pentandria class of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 45th order, umbeliatie. The iu- volucrum is reflexed-concave, the petals in- flexed-cordate ;. the fruit oblong and smooth. There are ten species, two of which, called cow-weed arul wild chervil, are weeds com- mon in many places in Britain. The roots of the first have been found poisonous when used as parsnips ; the flowers afford an in- different yellow dye ; the leaves and stalks a beautiful green. Its presence indicates a fertile soil, but it ought to be rooted out from all pastures early in the spring, as no animal but the ass will eat it. The leaves are recom- mended by Geoffroy as aperient and diu- retic, and at the same time grateful to the palate and stomach. lie even asserts that dropsies which do not yield to this medicine can scarcely be cured by any other. He directs the juice to be given in the dose of three or four ounces every fourth hour, and continued for some time, either alone or in conjunction with nitre and syrup of the five opening roots. The other species of chsro- phyllum are not possessed of any remarkable property. CILETODON, in ichthyology, a genus of fishes belonging to the order of thoracici. The teeth are very numerous, thick, setace- ous, and flexile; the rays of the gills are six. The back fin and the fin at the anus are fleshy and squamous. There are 23 species, dis- tinguished from each other principally by the figure of the tail, and the number of spines in the back fin. The most remarkable is the aejiminatus, or shooting fish, having a hollow cylindrical beak. It is a native of the East Indies, where it frequents the sides of the sea and rivers in search of food ; from its singular manner of obtaining which it re- ceives its name. When it spies a fly sitting on the plants that grow in shallow water, it swims to the distance of four, five, or six feet ; and then, with a surprising dexterity, it ejects out of its tubular mouth a single drop of water, which never fails striking the fly into the water, where it soon becomes its prey. See Plate Nat. Hist. figs. 113, 114, 115, 116. CHAFFERS, in our old records, signify wares or merchandize ; and hence the word chaffering is used for buying and selling. CHAIN, a kind of measure in France, in the trade of wood for fuel : there are chains for wood by tale, for wood by the rope, for faggots, for cleft wood, and for round sticks : there are also chains measuring the sheaves of all sorts of corn, &c. Chains in a ship, those irons to which the shrouds by the masts are made fast to the chain- wails, which are the broad timbers made jet- ting out of the sides, to which the shrouds are fastened and spread out, the better to se- cure the masts. Chain-shot, two bullets with a chain between, them. They are used at. sea to shoot down yards or masts, and to cut tit shrouds or rigging cf a ship. Chain-pump. See Pump. Chain, in surveying, a measure of length, made of a certain number of links of iron wire, serving to take the distance between two or more places. Gunter’s chain con- tains 100 such links, each measuring 7 T ?2_ inches, and consequently equal to 66 feel, or four poles. See Surveying. CHALCEDONY, in natural history, a genus of semipellucid gems, of an even and regular not tabulated texture, of a semi- opake crystalline basis, and variegated with different colours, dispersed in form of mists and clouds, and, if nicely examined, found to be owing to an admixture of various kinds of earths or metals, but imperfectly blended in the mass, and often visible in distinct mole- cuke. Of this genus there are a great many •species, as the bluish white chalcedony ; tin* brownish-black chalcedony, or smoky jasper or capnitis of the antients ; antj the yellow and red chalcedony. This stone is. found abundantly in many countries, particularly in Iceland and the Ferro islands.. It is most commonly amor- phous, or in rounded masses. Its specific gravity is from 2.615 to 2.703 ; and it is com- posed of 84 parts of silica, and 16 of alumina, mixed with iron. When striped white and black, or brown alternately, it is called onyx ; when striped white and grey, it is denomi- nated chalcedonix. Black or brown chal- cedony, when between the eye and a strong light, appears of a dark red. CHALDRON, a dry English measure, consisting of thirty-six bushels, heaped up according to the sealed bushel kept at Guild- hall, London : but on shipboard, twenty- one chaldron of coals are allowed to the score.. The chaldron should weigh two thousand pounds. CHALIZA, in Hebrew antiquity, the cere- mony whereby a woman left a widow, pulled off her brother-in-law’s shoes, who should have espoused her; after which she was at liberty to marry whom she pleased. CHALK, in natural history, the English name of the white, dry, calcareous earth, with a dusty surface, found in hard masses, and called by authors creta, and terra creta. See Chemistry. CHALLENGE, taken either against persons or things : persons, as in assize the jurors, or any one or more of them ; or in a case of felony, by a prisoner at the bar. Challenge of jurors is of two kinds ; either to the array, by which is meant the whole jury as it stands arrayed in the pannel or little square pane of parchment on which the jurors’ names are written ; or to the polls, by which are meant the several particular persons or heads in the array. 1 Inst. 156. Challenge to the array is in respect of the partiality or default of the sheriff, coroner, or other officer that made the return ; and it is then twofold: 1st. Principal challenge to the array, which if it is made good, is a sufficient cause of exception, without leaving any thing to the judgment of the. triers; as if the sheriff is of kindred to either party ; or if any of the jurors are returned at the de- nomination of either of the parties. 2nd. Challenge to the array for favour, which being no principal challenge must be left to the discretion and conscience of the triers; as C H A C IT A 323 where either of the parties suspects that the juror is inclined to favour the opposite party. 1 Inst. 1 58. Principal challenge to the polls, is where cause is shewn, which if found true, stands sufficient of itself, without leaving any thing to the triers; as if the juror is under the age of twenty-one, it is a good cause of chal- lenge. Challenge to the polls for favour, is when neither party can take any principal chal- lenge ; but shews causes of favour, as that the iuror is a fellow-servant with either party. In cases of high-treason, and misprision of high-treason, the prisoner shall have his per- emptory challenge to the number of thirty- five. 1 Inst. 156. But with regard to petit- treason, murder, and other felonies, the 22 Hen. VIII. c. 14. continues in force, which takes away the peremptory challenge of more than twenty. CHAM A, in zoology, a genus of shell-fish belonging to the order of testacea. The shell is thick and has two valves: there are 14 species, principally distinguished by the figure of the shells. See Plate Nat. Hist, tigs. 107, 108. There is a great variety among the seve- ral species of chama; some being perfectly smooth, some striated, and some rugose, or even spinose ; whilst others are oblong, others roundish ; and some are equilateral. Among the species of this genus, we may reckon the concha Veneris, or Venus’s shell, with a spinose edge ; the agate chama ; and the cliama grvphoides and cordata. CHAMrEROPS, the dwarf palm, or little palmetto, a genus of the natural order of palms’. The hermaphrodite calyx is tripar- tite; the corolla tripetalous; there are six stamina, three pistils, and three mono- spermous plums. The male is a distinct plant, the same as the hermaphrodite. There are three species, the most remarkable of which is the Chamaerops glabra, a native of the West Indies, and warm parts of America, also of the corresponding latitudes of Asia and Africa. It never rises with a fall stein ; but when the plants are old, their leaves are live or six feet long, and upwards of two broad ; these spread open like a fan, having many foldings, and at the top are deeply divided like the ringers of a hand. This plant the Americans call thatch, from the use to which the leaves are applied. It may be easily raised in this country from seeds brought from America ; but as the plants are tender, they must be constantly kept in a bark- ' stove. CHAMBER, in policy, the place where certain assemblies are held, also the assem- blies themselves. Of these some are es- tablished for the administration of justice, others for commercial affairs. Of the first kind are, 1. Star-chamber, so called, because the roof was painted with stars; the authority, power, and jurisdiction of which, are absolutely abolished by the sta- tute 17 Car. I. 2. Imperial chamber of Spire, the supreme court of judicatory in the empire, erected by Maximilian I. This chamber has a right of judging by appeal, and is the last resort of all civil affairs of the st ates and subjects of the empire, in the same manner as the aulic council of Vienna. Ne- C IT A vertheless it is restrained iii several cases ; it takes no notice of matrimonial causes, these being left to the pope; nor of criminal causes, which either belong to particular princes or towns in their respective territo- ries, or are cognizable by all the states of the empire in a diet. By the treaty of Osna- burgh in 1648, fifty assessors were appointed for this chamber, whereof twenty-four were to be protestants, and twenty-six catholics, besides five presidents, two of them protest- ants, and the rest catholics. 3. Apostolical chamber of Rome, that wherein affairs relat- ing to the revenues of the church and the pope are transacted. This council consists of the cardinal-camerlingo, the governor of the rota, a treasurer, an auditor, a president, one advocate-general, a solicitor-general, a commissary, and twelve clerks. 4. Cham- ber of London, an apartment in Guildhall, where the city-money is deposited. Of the last sort are, 1 . The chambers of commerce. 2. The chambers of assurance. The chamber of commerce is an assembly of merchants and traders, where the affairs relating to trade are treated of. There are several established in most of the chief cities of France ; and in our own country, we have lately seen chambers of this kind erected for various purposes. Chamber of assurance in France, denotes a society of merchants and others for carrying on the business of insur- ing; but in Holland, it signifies a court of justice, where causes relating to insurances are tried. CHAMBERLAIN, an officer charged with the management and direction of a chamber. Chamberlain. The office of lord great chamberlain of England is hereditary ; and where a person dies seized in fee ®f this office, leaving two sisters, the office belongs to both, and they may execute it by deputy, but such deputy must be approved of by the king, and must not be of a degree inferior to a knight. To the lord-chamberlain the keys of Westminster-hall, and the court of requests, are delivered upon all solemn oc- casions. He disposes of the sword of state to be carried before the king, when he comes to tire parliament, and goes on the right hand of the sword next the king’s person. He has the care of providing all things in the house of lords in the time of parliament. To him belong lively and lodgings in the king’s court, &c. and the gentleman usher of the black rod, yeoman usher, &c. are under his authority. the. lord chamberlain of the household has also superintendance of artificers retain- ed in the king’s service, messengers, comedi- ans, revels, music, Sec. Chamberlain of London is commonly the receiver of all rents and revenues belonging to that city, and has great authority in mak- ing and determining the rights of’ freemen, and regulating matters concerning appren- tices, orphans, See. Chamberlain of Chester, when there is no prince of Wales and earl of Chester, receives and returns all writs coming thither out of any of the king’s courts. CHAMBRANLE, among builders, an ornament of stone or wood bordering the three sides of doors, windows, and chimneys. CHAMFER, or Chamfret, in archi- tecture, an ornament consisting of half a Ss2 scotia, being a kind of a small furrow or gutter on a column, called also scapus, stria. Sec. CHAMPAIN, or point chamfain, in heraldry, a mark of dishonour in the coat of arms of him who kills a prisoner of war alter he has cried quarter. CHAM PARTY, or Champerty, is the unlawful maintenance of a suit, in conside- ration of some bargain to have part of the iands or thing in dispute, or part of the gain. By stat. 33 Ed. 1. st. 3. both the cham- partor, and he who consents thereunto, shall be imprisoned three years, and make line at the king’s pleasure. CHAMPION, a person who undertook a combat in the place or quarrel of another ; and sometimes the word is used for him who fought in his own cause. It appears that champions, in the just sense of the word, were persons who fought instead of those that, by custom, were obliged to accept the duel, but had a just excuse for dispensing with it, as being too old, infirm, or being ecclesiastics, and the like. Such causes as could not be decided by the course of common law were often tried by single combat; and he who had the good fortune to conquer, was always reputed to have justice on his side. Cham- pions who fought for interest only were held infamous; these hired themselves to the no- bility, to fight for them in case of need, and did homage for their pension. When two champions were chosen to maintain a cause it was always required that there should be a decree of the judge to authorise the combat: when the judge had pronounced sentence, the accused threw a gage or pledge, origi- nally a glove or gauntlet, which being taken up by the accuser, they were both taken into safe custody till the day of battle appointed by the judge. Before the champions took the field, their heads were shaven to a kind of crown or round, which was left at the top : then they made an oath that they believed the person who retained them, to be in the right, &c. They always engaged on foot, and with no other weapon than a club and a shield, which weapons were blessed in the field by the priest, with great ceremony ; and they always made an offering to the church, that God might assist than in the battle. The action began with railing, and giving eaeffi other ill language; and at the sound of a trumpet, they went to blows. After the number of blows or encounters expressed in the cartel, the judges of the combat threw a rod into the air, to advertise the champions that the combat was ended. If it lasted till night, or ended with equal advantage on both sides, the accused was reputed the victor. If the conquered champion fought in the cause of a woman, and it was a capital of- fence, the woman was burnt, and the cham- pion hanged. If it was the champion of a man, and the crime capital, the vanquished was immediately disarmed, led out of the field, and hanged, together with the party whose cause he maintained. If the crime was not capital, he not only made satisfaction, but had his right hand cut off : the accused was to be close confined in prison, till the battle was over. Chamfion of the king, a person whose office it is, at the coronation of our kings, to ride armed into Westminster-hall, while the king is at dinner there, and, by the procla- 324 C IT A C H A C H A imtion of a herald, make challenge to this effect, viz. “ that if any man shall deny the king’s title to the crown, he is there ready to defend it in single combat, &c.” which being done, the king drinks to him ; and sends him a gilt cup, with a cover, full of wine, which the champion' drinks, and has the cup for his fee. CHANCE, is more particularly used for the probability of an event; and is greater or less, according to the number of chances by which it may happen, compared with the number of chances lay which it may either happen or fail. Thus, if an event has three chances to happen, and two to fail, the probability of its happening may be estimated A, and the probability of its failing A Therefore, if the probabilities of hap- pening and failing are added together, the sum will always be equal to unity. If the probabilities of happening and failing- are unequal, there is what is commonly called odds for, or against, the happening or failing, which odds are proportional to the number of chances for happening or failing. The expectation of obtaining any thing, is estimated by the value of that thing/multiplied by the probability of obtaining it. The risk of losing any thing, is estimated by the value of that thing, multiplied by the probability of losing it. If, from the expectations which the gamesters have upon the whole sum deposited, the particular sums -they deposit (that is, their own stakes) are subtracted, there will remain the gain, if the difference is positive; or the loss, if the difference is negative. Again, if from the respective expectations which either gamester has upon the sum deposited by his adversary, the risk of losing what he himself deposits is subtracted, there will likewise remain his gain or loss. If there is a certain number of chances by which the possession of a sum can be secured, and also a certain number of chances "by which it may be lost, that sum may be insured for that part of it, which shall be to the whole, as the number of chances there are to lose it, is to the number of all the chances. If two events have no dependence on each ether, so that p be the number of chances by which the first may happen, and q the number of chances by which it may fail ; and likewise, that r be the number of chances by which the second may happen, and s the number of chances by which it may fail : multiply p -f- q by r -f- >, and the product pr 4- qr ps -j- qt will contain ail the chances by which the happening or fail- ing of the events may be varied amongst one another. From what has been said, it follows, that if a fraction expresses the probability of an event, and another fraction the probability of another event, and these two events are independant, the probability that these two events will hap- pen, will be the product of the two fractions. Ex. 1. Suppose a person playing with a single die offers to wager, that he will throw an ace each time for two successive throws ; what pro- bability has he of succeeding? Solution. Suppose the wager £-36, and that, on throwing the first time, an ace did come up ; then, because there are six faces on the die, only one of which is right, his expectation on the second throw will be i_th of £.36, or 4- — £.6; but the probability of this event being also _Lth, the expectation, before tee first throw must ne- cessarily be 4-th of £. 6, or £. 1 . Therefore the probability of his losing the wager wiil be r 7~ i s s , I — x — — 1 — — =: from which it appears that no person ought to hazard such a wager, unless the value of 35 to I shall be laid against him. Ex. 2. A person offers to lay a wager of £. 1, that out of a purse containing ot -n counters, of which r? are black, and n white, he will, blind- folded, at the first trial, draw a white counter; and also that, out of another purse containing m and n counters, of which m are black, and n white, he will also, blindfolded, at the first trial, draw a white counter ; and that, if he fail in either trial, his wager shall he lost : — What probability is there that lie shall succeed ? Solution. If, as in the last example, he had already succeeded in the first trial, it would fol- low that his expectation on the second will be N — : but if the success of the first trial be a M N condition of obtaining this expectation, then the probability of so doing will be — — ; which 1 3 b m -{—/i multiplied into that expectation, wiil give X . — , or : M -j- N -J- n , for the proba- -j-7Z x M X N bility required. Hence the probability of the happening of two inciependant events, will be equal to the pro- duct of the probabilities of their happening se- parately. Of course, if the two events are of the same kind, then the probability will be More generally : m -££] 2 m 2 -{• 2mn n 2 ’ I. Let the number of chances for the happen- ing of an event be a, and the number of chances for its failing be b ; then the probability of its happening once in any number of trials will be expressed by the series a -J- b ah 2 aP aP | — - j" » - — - — Cl -j- P] Cl -j- /j] aP 1 &C. a 4- P 3 a 4" a 4" 7) a “f* b continued to as many terni3 as are equal to the number of trials given. Thus, if a — 1 , /> — 5, and the number of trials be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, &c, then the probability will be -i- for one trial ; — + -5 11. . , I , 5 . 25 — tor two trials; 1 — — Qfl J n 1 cia I 07 r. 36 91 216 36 ' 6 ‘36 for three trials, and so on. 216 II. Things remaining as before, the probabi- lity of the event’s happening twice in any given number of trials, will be expressed by the fol- lowing series, continued to as many terms, ’wanting one , as the number of trials given : — 4 , 245 , 3 44 , 4 44 , 5a 2 P 4- -f r— — - + ----- 4 - ~&c. a-\-b ' 2 ci- \r-b J ’ =A+ 10 - + 75 + S0 ° -t : ; t“. The,. oo i oi o ~ 1000“ — — - 1 J- nese 36 216 1296 1 7776 ' 46656 56 being summed up, we have for two trials 16 - „ 171 1 for three trials , for four , 216 1296 36 for five 1526 7776 ’ „ . 12281 for six , Sec. 46636 III. The probability of the event’s happening three times in any number of trials, will be ex- pressed by the series - a - — ~' K ‘ ^ - -i- a -j- b 1 5 a 4- P\ 4 644 10 44 . — - . .. - — [— which is to be continued to a 4 - 5 > <7+7)' as many terms, wanting two, as is the number of terms given : thus a and 5, as before, ~ -f- 15 H- -l- J.T— which being summed tit» 777 6 ' 46656 6 1 1296 for three trials = — — , for four = — , for five m 1 0 * c sQfc 1296 276 7776’ &c. Generally a — chances for happening, b — ditto for failing, / = number of times for producing the event in a given No. of trials, rt — number of trials, a 4" b — •> ; then the following series is ’ universal : lb x 1 4- H /./+ 1.4 1.2.4 l.l _j_ 1./ 4. 2 .P L2.3.4 l.l-\- I./ + 2./+ 3.4 pa which se- 1 . 2 . 3.4.4 For when l ~ 1, the series will be a ab . , - — 7 - — — . &c. as in the nrst case : a + b^ jqrpd 1—2, the series will be a 2 245 . rr - 4 ' - T . 777 — , &c. as in the second ease 2 747 2 7 + 7 3 / = 3, the series will be 4 3 45 .... rwr 7 r~ + occ. as in the third case 5 447 3 4+7 + and so on universally. Remark. The above series must be continued., to so many terms exclusive of the common mul- J tiplicator — , as are denoted by the number n — / -f 1. And, for the same reason, the probability of the contrary, that is, of the event’s not happen- ing so often as / times, making « — / + 1 — l)P will be expressed by the series — X 1 + _L /•/* ~} ~ 1 - aa 1 P'P + I- / + 2.rt 3 1 1.2 .ss ' 1.2. 3. 4 ries is to be continued to so many terms, exclu- sive of the common muitiplicator, as are denoted by the number /. Either series may be used, according as / is , n 4- J less or greater than — ' — . It is to be observed of these series, that they are both derived from the same principle : for, supposing two adver- ■ sarieSjAand B, contending about the happening- of that event, which has every time a chances to happen, and b chances to fail; that the chances a are favourable to A, and the chances b to B, and thatfA should lay a wager with B that his chances should come up / times in n trials; then, by reason B lays a wager to the contrary, he himself undertakes that his own chances shall, in the same number of trials, come up n — / -J- I times ; and therefore, if in the first scries, we change l into n — / -j- ], and vice versa; and also write b for a, and a for b; the second series will be formed. See Nature and Laws of Chance, by Thomas Simpson ; Demoivre on Chances; Dodson’s Mathematical Repository, vol. ii. p. 82, See. Chance-medley, in law, is (he acci- dental killing of a man, not wholly without the killer’s fault ; it is also called manslaugh- ter by misadventure, for which the offender shall have his pardon of course. 6 Ed. •!. c. 9. Jlut here is to be considered, whether the person who commits this manslaughter by chance-medley was doing a lawful thing; tor if the act -was unlawful it is felony. Chance-medley is properly applied to such killing as happens for self-defence in a sudd on rencounter. 4 Black. 183. e h a C H A C HA 325 CHANCEL, a particular part of the fabric of a Christian church ; it is the rector’s Freehold and part of his glebe, and therefore he is obliged to repair it ; but where the rectory is impropriate, the impropriator must do it. CHANCELLOR, an officer supposed ori- ginally to have been a notary or scribe under the emperors; and named cancellarius, be- cause he sat behind a lattice, called in Latin [cancellus, to avoid being crowded by the people. The chancellor originally presided [over a political college of secretaries, for the [ writing of treaties, and other public business ; and the court of equity, under the old consti- tution, v, as held before the king and his coun- jcil, in the palace, where one supreme court for business of every kind was kept. At first the chancellor became a judge, to hear and determine petitions to the king, which were preferred to him; and in the end, as [Easiness increased, the people addressed their suit to the chancellor, and not to the king ; and thus the chancellor’s equitable power, by degrees, commenced by prescription. 1 Lord high chancellor of Great Britain, or lord keeper of the great seal, is the high- est honour of the long robe ; being made so per traditionem magni sigilli per dominum rege n, and by taking the oaths: he is the first person of the realm next alter the king, land princes of the blood, in all civil affairs; and is the chief administrator of justice next it he sovereign, being the judge of the court jof chancery, which is styled a court of equity, finis equity consists in abating the rigour of tire common law, and giving a remedy in bases where no provision, or not sufficient provision, had been made by the ordinary course of law. The jurisdiction of this court is of vast extent. Almost all causes jof weight and moment, first or last, have their (determination here. In this court relief is given in the case of infants, married women, and others not capable of acting for them- selves. All frauds for w hich there is no re- medy at law are cognizable here ; as also all breaches of trust, and unreasonable or un- conscionable engagements, it will compel tnen to perform their agreements ; will re- prove mortgageors and obligors against pe- nalties and forfeiture, on payment of princi- pal, interest, and costs ; will rectify mistakes in conveyances; will grant injunctions to stay waste ; and restrain the proceedings of inferior courts, that they exceed not their au- thority and jurisdiction. 3 Black. 48. This court will not retain a suit for any thing under 10 /. value, except in cases of charity, nor for lands under 405 . per annum, j The lord chancellor not only keeps the (ting’s great seal, but also all patents, com- missions, warrants, &c. from the king, are, Before they are signed, perused by him : he has the disposition of all ecclesiastical bene- fices in the gift of the crown under 20/. a year, in the king’s books ; and lie is speaker pf the house of lords. I Chancellor of a cathedra 1 ,, an officer hat hears lessons and lectures read in the fluirch, either by himself or Ins vicar ; to correct and set right the reader when he reads [miss; to inspect schools; to hear causes; Imply the seal ; write and dispatch the letters iff the chapter; keep the books; take care pat there are frequent preachings, both in the church and out of it ; and assign the office of preaching to whom he pleases. Chancellor of a dioce-se, a lay officer under a bishop, who is judge of his court. Chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, an officer appointed chiefly to determine controversies between the king and his te- nants of the duchy-land, and otherwise to direct all the king’s" affairs belonging to that court. Chancellor of the exchequer, an officer who presides in that court, and takes care of the interest of the crown. lie is always in commission with the lord treasurer, for the letting of crown lands, &c. and lias power with others, to compound for forfeitures of lands, upon penal statutes : he lias also great authority in managing the royal revenues, and Rational finances. Chancellor of the order of the garter, and other military orders, is an officer who seals the commissions and mandates of the chapter and assembly of the knights, keeps the register of their proceedings, and delivers acts thereof under the seal of their order. Chancellor of an university, is he who seals the diplomas, or letters of degrees, pro- vision, &c. given in the university. The chancellor of Oxford is usually one of the prime nobility, chosen by the members of the university in convocation. He is their chief magistrate: his office is durante vita, to govern the university, preserve and defend its rights and privileges, convoke assemblies, and do justice among the members under his jurisdiction. Under the chancellor is the vice-chancellor, who is chosen annually, being nominated by the chancellor, and elected by the university in convocation : he is always the head of some college, and in holy orders. His proper office is to execute the chancel- lor’s power, to govern the university accord- ing to her statutes, to see that officers and students do their duty, that courts be duly called, &c. When he enters upon his office, be chooses four pro-vicechancellors out of the heads of the colleges, to execute his power in his absence. The chancellor of Cambridge is also usu- ally one of the prime nobility, and in most respects the same as that of Oxford, only he does not hold his office durante vita, but may be elected every three years. Under the chancellor there is a commissary, who holds a court of record for all privileged persons and scholars under the degree of master of arts, where all causes are. tried and determin- ed by the civil and statute law, and by the custom of the university. The vice-chan- cellor of Cambridge is chosen annually, by the senate, out of two persons nominated by tire heads of the several colleges and hall. CHANCERY, apostolic, a court in the church of Rome, belonging to the pope. The pope’s datory and chancery courts were fo' uerly one and the same thing: but the multitude of affairs to be transacted therein, obliged him to divide it into two tribunals, which are so nearly related to one another, that the chancery cfoes no more than dispatch ail that has passed through the datory court. The officers belonging to this court are al e regent, preLi.es, and registers. There an also six mast ., in chancery, whose business it is to collect the bulls : each of these em ployments is purchased for six thousand crowns. These are subordinate to the master of the rolls, who keeps the registers of the bulls. CHANDELIER, in fortification, a kind of moveable parapet, consisting of a wooden frame, made of two upright stakes, about six feet high, with cross planks between them ; serving to support the fascines to cover the pioneers. r .l he chandeliers differ from blinds in this, that the former cover the men only before, whereas the latter cover them also above. They are used in approaches, gal- leries, and mines, to hinder the workmen from being driven from their stations. CHANNEL, in architecture, that part of the Ionic capital which is under the abacus. Channel of the larmier, the hollow soffit of a cornice which makes the pendant mods- chette. Channel of the volute, in the Ionic capi- tal, the face of the circumvolution inclosed by a listel. C HANTL ATE, in building, a piece of wood fastened near the end of the rafters, and projecting beyond the wall to support two or three rows of tiles, so placed as to pre- vent the rain-water from trickling down the sides of the walls. CHAOS, in zoology, a genus of insects be- longing to the order of zoophyta. The body has no shell or covering, and is capable of re- viving after appearing to be dead for a con- siderable time. It has no joints, or external organs of sensation. There are five species, mostly obtained by infusions of different ve- getables in water, and only discoverable by the microscope. CHAPEAU, in heraldry, an antient cap of dignity worn by dukes, being scarlet-co- loured velvet on the outside, and lined with a fur. CHAPEL, a place of divine worship, served by an incumbent under the denomi- nation of a chaplain. In England there are several sorts, 1 . Pa- rochial chapels, which, differing from parish churches only in the name, are generally small, as tiie inhabitants within the district are few. If there is a presentation ad eccle- siam instead of ad capellam, and an admission and institution upon it, it is no longer a chapel, but a church. 2. Chapels which adjoin to and are part of the church: such were formerly built by honourable persons as bin ying-places for themselves and their families. 3. Chapels - of ease, built in very large parishes for the con- venience of suc h as cannot repair to the parish church. These are served by inferior curates provided at the charge of the rector, and con- sequently renioveable at his pleasure. 4. Free chapels, such as were founded by the kings of England, free from all episcopal ju- risdiction, and to be visited only by the founder and his successors : the visitation is made by the lord chancellor. ’Hie king like-" wise may license any subject to build and en- dow a chapel, and by letters patent exempt it from the visitation of the ordinary. 5. Chapels in universities belonging to particular colleges, which, though consecrated, and though sacraments are administered there, are not liable to the visitation of the bishop. 6. Domestic chapels, built by gentlemen for the private service of God in their own fa- milies. These may be erected without the leave of the bishop, and need not be conse- crated, though they were antiently: they are not subject to the visitation of the ordinary J .. 10 32(3 C H A C H A Knights of the Chapel, called also poor knights of Windsor, were instituted by Henry YIH. in his testament. Their number was at first thirteen, but lias been since augmented to twenty-six. They assist in the fu- neral services of the kings of England: they are subject to the office of the canons of Windsor, and live on pensions assigned them by the order of the garter. They bear a blue or red cloke, with the arms of St. George on the left shoulder. CHAPLAIN, an ecclesiastic who officiates in a chapel. The king of Great Britain has forty-eight chaplains in ordinary, who wait four each month, preach in the chapel, read the service to the family, and to the king in his private oratory, and say grace in the absence of the clerk of the closet. Besides, there are twenty- four chaplains at Whitehall, fellows of Ox- ford or Cambridge, who preach in their turns, and are allowed 30/. per annum each. Ac- cording to a statute of Plenry VIII. the per- sons vested with a power of retaining chap- lains, together with the number each is al- lowed to qualify, is as follows : an archbishop, eight ; a duke or bishop, six ; marquis or earl, live ; viscount, four ; baron, knight of the garter, or lord-chancellor, three ; a duchess, marchioness, countess, baroness, the treasurer and controller of the king’s house, clerk of the closet, the king’s secretary, dean of the chapel, almoner, and master of the rolls, each of them two ; chief justice of the king’s bench, and warden of the cinque ports, each one. All these chaplains may purchase a licence or dispensation, and take two bene- fices with cure of souls. A chaplain must be retained by letters testimonial under hand and seal ; for it is not sufficient that he serve as chaplain in the family. CHAPLET, a string of beads used by the Roman catholics to count the number of their prayers. The invention of it is ascribed to Peter the Hermit, who probably learned it of the Turks, as they owe it to the East In- dians. Chaplets are sometimes called pater- nosters, and are made of coral, of diamond, of wood, &c. The common chaplet contains fifty ave-marias and five pater-nosters. CHAPPE', in heraldry, the dividing an escutcheon by lines drawn from the centre of the upper edge to the angles below, into three parts, the sections on the sides being of a different metal or colour from the rest. CM AKA, a genus of the monandria order, in the monoecia class of plants. There is neither male calyx nor corolla ; and the an- thera is placed under the germen. r J he fe- male calyx is tetraphyllous ; no corolla; the stigma quinquefid, with one roundish seed. There are 4 species. CHAR ACTER, in a general sense, denotes any mark whatever, serving to represent either things or ideas : thus letters are cha- racters, types, or marks, of certain sounds ; words, of ideas, See. See Letter, &c. Character. If one person apply to ano- ther for the character of a third peron, and a good character as to his solvency be given, yet if, in consequence of this opinion, the party asking the question suffer loss through the person’s insolvency, no action lies against him w ho gave the character if it were fairly given. I lisp. Rep. 442. But if a man wickedly asserts that which he knows to be false, and thereby draws his C H A neighbour into a loss, it is actionable. 3 T. R. 351. But if the party giving credit also knew that the party credited was in bad cir- cumstances an action will not lie. I Esp. Rep. 290. Character, a mark or abbreviation used in certain arts and sciences. Characters in Algebra and. Arithmetic, a, b, c, d, &c. die first letters of the alphabet, are the characters of given quantities ; and z, y, x, See. the last letters, are the characters of quantities sought. See Algebra. m, n, r, s, t, &c. are characters of indetermin- ate exponents both of ratios and of powers : thus, x , y , z , Ac. denote undetermined powers of different kinds ; m x, ny, rz, different multiples or submultiples of the quantities x, y, z, according as m, n, r, are either whole num- bers or fractions. is the sign of the real existence of the quantity it stands before, and is called an affirm- ative or positive sign. It is also the mark of addition, and is read plus, or more; thu*, a -| -b, or 3 -{- 5, implies a is added to b, or 3 added to 5. — before a single quantity, is the sign of ne- gation or negative existence, shewing the quan- tity to which it is prefixed to be less than no- thing. But between quantities it is the sign of subtraction, and is read minus, or less; thus, a — b, or 8 — 4, implies b subtracted from a, or 8 after 4 has been subtracted. — is the sign of equality, though Des Cartes and some others use this mark x > ; thus, a — b signifies that a is equal to b. Wolfius, and some others, use the mark = for the identity of ratios. X is the sign of multiplication, shewing that the quantities on each side the same are to be multiplied by one another, as « X b is to be read a multiplied into b ; 4x8, the product of 4 multiplied into 8. Wolfius and others make the sign of multiplication a dot between the two factors ; thus 5 . 4 signifies the product of .5 and 4. In algebra the sign is frequently omitted, and the two quantities put together ; thus bd ex- presses the product of b and d. When one or both of the factors are compounded of several letters, they are distinguished by a line drawn over them ; thus, the factum pf a -j- b — c into d, is wrote d X a b — c. Leibnitz, Wolfius, and others, distinguish the compound factors by including them in a parenthesis thus (a -j- b — c ) d. is' the sign of division ; thus, a b denotes the quantity a to he divided by b. In algebra the quotient is often expressed like a fraction, thus — — denotes the quotient of a divided by b. b Wolfius makes the sign of division two dots ; thus 12^4 denotes the quotient of 12 divided by 4, =r: 3. If either the divisor or dividend, or both, be composed of several letters, for exam- ple a -j- b c, instead of writing the quotient a b like a fraction, — — , Wolfius includes the com- pound quantities in a parenthesis, thus ( a -j- b ) ©- is the character of involution ; vu is the character of evolution. "7 or [_ — are signs of majority ; thus, a ~7 b expresses that a is greater than b. /_ or ~~Z\ are signs of minority ; and when we would denote that a is less than b, we write a Z. b, or a _] b. co is the character of similitude used by Wol- fius, Leibnitz, and others: it is used in other authors for the difference between two quanti- ties, while it is unknown which is the greater of the two. * ; is the mark of geometrical proportion dis- junct, and is usually placed between two pair of equal ratios, as, 3 [ 6 * ; 4 ; 8, shews that 3 is to 6 as 4 is to 8. the mark of geometrical proportion con- tinued, implies the ratio to be still carried on without interruption, as 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 are in the same uninterrupted proportion. ff is the character of radicality, and shews, according to the index of the power that is set over it, or after it, that the square, cube, or other root, is extracted, or to be extracted; thus, ^/16, or ff 1 16, or >ff (2) 16, is the square roots of 16. iff 25, the cube root of 25, &c. This cha< racter sometimes affects several quantities, dis, tinguished by a line drawn over them ; thus] — 0, the term + py vat ffb -j- d denotes the sum of the square roots of b and d. When any term, or terms, of an equaJ tion are wanting, they are generally supplied by one or more asterisks : thus in the equation / 4 py 4 - If 2 4 1 -py rushing, is marked with an asterism, as y i/ 4 q. See Algebra. Characters used in Astronomy. See Astro- nomy. Characters used in the arithmetic of infinites. • the character of an infinitesimal or fluxion j thus, x, y, Ac. express the fluxions or differed tials of the variable x and y ; and two, three, or; more dots, denote second, third, or higher fluxi- ons. Mr. Leibnitz, instead of a dot, prefixes the letter d to the variable quantity, in order to avoid the confusion of dots in the dffierencing of differentials. SeeCAi.cuLui differential^ Characters in Medicine and Pharmacy. recipe M. manipulus, a haud- d, da. or ana, of each ful to P. a pugil P. iE. equal quant! ties S. A. according art q. s. a sufficient quan- tity q. pi. as much as you please P. P. pulvis patrum, the jesuits’ bark, like j|) a pound, or a pint g an ounce J a drachm 3 a scruple gr. grains 15 or jj, half of any thing cong. congius, a gal- lon eoch. cochleare, a spoonful Characters used in Music, and of musical notes, with their proportions, are as follow. character of a large K a long □ a breve £2 a semibreve p minim / crotchet £ quaver ^ semiquaver ^ demisemiquaver i Ts a $ character of a sharp note : this character the beginning of a line, or space, denotes th, all the notes in that line are to be taken a semi tone higher than in the natural series ; and the same affects all the octaves above or below though not marked : but when prefixed to any particular note, it shews that note alone to be taken a semitone higher than it would be with- out such character. & or b, character of a flat note : this is the contrary to the other above, that is, a semitom lower. h character of a natural note : when in jj line or series of artificial notes, marked at the beginning & or jjJ, the natural note happens to be required, it is denoted by this character, character of the treble cliff. character of the mean cliff. bass cliff. , or .2, or characters of common duplj C H A C II A C H A time ; signifying the measure of two crotchets to be equal to two notes, of which four make a semibreve. C ^ characters that distinguish the move- ments of common time; the first implying slow, the second quick, and the third very quick, -§■> 'f-, ip 4> T6> characters of simple triple time, the measure of which is equal to three semibreves, or to three minims. 4, or JL, or characters of mixed triple . 4 8 16 _ _ r tune, where the measure is equal to six crochets, or six quavers. 4, or 3 l, or or 5 ., or £, characters of 4’ f , ,16 i’ a’ compound triple time. , 12 . 1 A, or t 2 or L?, characters of [that species of triple time called the measure of [twelve times. See Triple. I Characters of the rests or pauses of time. •1 i a±ffi= I > £ W M g QO M O g> u W- ja Q H -3 O ■ — 2S a c-3 S 3 2 s o » » T ! a \S 3 3 2 p 3 3r«) c 33 v S e> a> 3 n 2 S .) is black above, with green spots, white underneath, and the feet are ash-coloured. It is the green plover of Bay, and is a native of Europe. They lay four eggs, sharply point- ed yliich a bastion, or any other bulwark of earth, is lined for its greater support and strength • or it is tiie solidity of the wall from the talus to the stone-row. iure-C'HEMisE, a piece of linen-cloth, steeped in a composition of oil of petrol, camphor, and other combustible matters! used at sea, to set fire to an enemy’s ves- sel. CHEMIST RV is that branch of science, the object of which is to ascertain the simple substances or elements of bodies, the pro- perties of these, and their action on each other. The methods made use of to obtain this knowledge are analysis and srnthesk Tt Chemistfy comprehends almost all the , changes in natural objects, with which we are more immediately connected, and in whicli we have the greatest interest : it Is subservient to the various arts of life, and the several branches ol manufacture which are carried on in every civilized state. Dyeing, bleaching, tanning, glass-making, the work- ing and composition of metals, &c. are all processes in chemistry. In agriculture che- mistry investigates the nature of soils ; it ex* plains the phenomena of the growth and nou- rishment ot vegetables, and the nature and action ot manures. As a science it is con- nected with ail the phenomena of nature, the causes of rain, snow, hail, dew, wind, and earthquakes : it has been called in to the aid of the culinary arts ; and its high importance in medicine has been long and universally acknowledged. Chemistry therefore is highly worthy of our attention, becausebeyond every other branch of study it increases our know- ledge, extends the number of our resources, and is tints calculated to promote our enjoy- meats, and augment our power over the ma- terial world. Besides, no study can givens more exalted ideas of the wisdom and goodness of the great I 1 irst Cause than this, which ex- hibits the most astonishing effects frequently produced by r the most simple means ; anil displays to our view the great care which lias every where been taken to secure the comfort and happiness of every living creature. The history of chemistry . — T he word che- mistry is said to be of Egyptian origin, and equivalent to our phrase natural philosophy, comprehending all the knowledge of natural objects which tiie antients possessed. It afterwards acquired a more limited significa- tion, and was confined to the art of working metals, which was in the highest estimation among the antients. In the third century it was used in a still more limited sense, signi- T) ing (he ait of making gold and silver, lit this sense the science was eagerly cultivated by the Greeks ; from them it passed to the Arabians, and by these it was introduced into Europe. Those who professed it assumed the form of a sect, under the name of alchy- mists, who laid it down as a first principle unit all metals are composed of the same in- giedients, or that the substances which com- pose gold exist in all metals, and are capable of being brought into the pure state : hence the gieat object of their researches was to dis- cover the means of producing this change and of converting the baser metals into gold. 1 lie substance which possessed this wonderful property was called “ the philosopher’s stone, the touch of which was to change every thing into gold. b From the eleventh to the fifteenth cen- tunes alchymy was in its most flourishing state. . 1 he writers who appeared during that period were numerous ; among the most ce- lebrated were Albertus Magnus, Roger Ba- con, Aruoldus de Villa Nova, Raymond Lully and the two Isaacs of Holland. Some of their books are altogether unintelligible - others display great acuteness, and an exten- sive acquaintance with natural objects. They often reason with great accuracy, though ge- nerally from mistaken principles. They all boast that they are in possession of the "phi- losopher’s stone, and profess to communicate the method of making it ; but the iy language is enigmatical, and evidently intended not r>30 to be understood by any but the adepts in their own mysteries. Their writings and vaunted professions gained implicit credit ; and the covetous were lilted with the desire of enriching themselves by means of discoveries which they pretended to communicate. This laid tiie unwary open to the tricks of a set of impostors, who oft’ red to communicate their secret for a suitable but large reward. Tims they contrived to get possession of a Sum of money with which they absconded or tired out the patience of their pupils by in- tolerably tedious, expensive, and ruinous pro- cesses. Chemists had for many ages hinted at the importance of discovering a universal re- medy, which should be capable of curing, and even of preventing all diseases ; and se- veral of them had asserted, that this remedy was to be found in the philosopher’s stone, which not only converted baser metals to gold, but possessed also the most sovereign virtue, was capable of curing all diseases in an instant, and even of prolonging life to an in- definite length, and of conferring on the adepts the gift of immortality on earth. This no- tion gradually gained ground ; and the word chemistry, in consequence, at length acquired a more extensive signification, and implied not only the art of making gold, but the art also of preparing tlie universal medi- cine. About the time that the first of these branches was sinking into discredit, the se- cond, and with it the study of chemistry, ac- quired an unparalleled degree of celebrity, and attracted tiie attention of all Europe. This was owing to the appearance of Iheo- phrastus Paracelsus, who was born in 1493, near Zurich in Switzerland ; and was, in the 34th year of his age, after a number ot whimsi- cal adventures,' which had raised his reputation to a great height, appointed by the. magis- trates of Basil to deliver lectures in their city ; lie was the first public professor of chemistry in Europe. The character of this extraordinary man is universally known. i hat he was an im- postor, ail'd boasted of secrets which lie did not possess, cannot be denied ; but it must be acknowledged that his talents were great, and that his labours were not entirely useless. He contributed not a little to dethrone Galen and Avicenna, who at that time ruled over medicine with absolute power; and to re- store Hippocrates and the patient observers of nature to that i hair, from which they ought never to have been expelled. He certainly gave chemistry an eclat which it did not betore possess ; and this must have induced many of those laborious men who succeeded him to turn their attention to tiie science. Nor ought we to forge t that by carrying his spe- culations concerning the philosopher's stope, and the universal medicine, to the greatest height of absurdity, and by exemplifying their emptiness and inutility in his own per- son, he undoubtedly contributed more than any man to their disgrace and subsequent ba- nishment from the science. Yan Helmont, who was born in 1577, may be considered as the last ot the alchy mists. His death completed the disgrace of the uni- versal medicine. His contemporaries, and those who immediately succeeded him, at- tended solely to the improvement of _ che- mistry. The chief of them were Agricola, CHEMISTRY. Beguin, Glaser, Erkern, Glauber, Kuhckei, Boyle, &c. The foundations of the alchymistical system being thus shaken, the f$cts which had been collected soon became a heap ot rubbish, and chemistry was left without any fixed princi- ples, and destitute of an object. It was then that a man arose, thoroughly acquainted with the whole of these facts, capable ot ar- ranging them, and of perceiving the import- ant purposes to which they might be applied, and able to point out the. proper objects to which the researches of chemists ought to be directed. This man was Beecher. He ac- complished the arduous task in his work en- titled Physica Subterranca, published at Francfort in 1669. The publication ot tins book forms a very important sera in the his- tory of chemistry, it then escaped for ever from the trammels of alchy ray, and became the rudiments of the science which we find it at present. Ernest Stahl, the editor of the Physica Sub- terranea, adopted, soon after Beecher’s death, the theory of his master ; but he sim- plified and improved it so much, that he made it entirely his own; and accordingly it has been always distinguished by the name oi the Stjihlian theory. Ever since the days of Stahl, chemistry has been cultivated with ardour in Germany and. the North ; and the illustrious philosophers of these countries have contributed highly towards its progress and its rapid improve- ment. The most deservedly celebrated ot these are Margraf, Bergman, Scheele, Kla- proth, &c. In France, soon after the establishment ot the Academy of Sciences in 1666, Homberg, Geoffroy, and Lemery, acquired celebrity by their chemical experiments and discoveries ; and after the new-modelling of the Academy, chemis'ry became the peculiar object or a part of that illustrious body. Rouelle, who was made professor ot chemistry in Paris about the year 1745, contrived to infuse his own enthusiasm into the whole body ot the French literary men ; and troin that mo- ment chemistry became the fashionable stu- dy. Men of eminence appeared every where, discoveries multiplied, the spirit per- vaded the whole nation, extended itselt over Italv, and appeared even in Spain. After the death of Boyle, and of some other of the earlier members of the Royal So- ciety, little attention was paid to chemistry in Britain, except by a few individuals. The spirit which Newton had infused for the ma- thematical sciences was so great, that for many years they drew within their vortex almost every man of eminence in Britain. But when l)r. Cullen became professor of chemistry in Edinburgh in 1756, he kindled a flame of en- thusiasm among the students, which was soon spread far and wide by the subsequent discoveries of Black, Cavendish, and Priest- ley ; and meeting with the kindred fires which were already burning in Prance, Gei- many, Sweden, and Italy, the science of che- mist rv burst forth at once with unexampled lustre. (See the article Air pages 29 and 30.) Hence the rapid progress which it has made during the last forty years, the universal attention which it lias excited, and the unex- pected light which it has thrown on the arts land manufactures. As the theory now universally received derived, in a great degree, its origin and support from the discovery of the composi-. tion of water (Sec Air as above), we shall pro- ceed to state this important point of doctrine. Water was long considered as an elemen- tary principle ; no one had been able to de- compose if ; but since the experiments of Cavendish, Lavoisier, and others, its true na- ture has been accurately ascertained ; and water may now be decomposed with as much facility as almost any other substance with : which we are acquainted. M ater is com- posed of oxygen and hydrogen : it may, by undeniable experiments, be converted into these gases, and by the combustion of them hi proper proportions, a quantity of water will be produced equal to tiie weight of the gases employed : ot this we shall proceed to give the requisite proofs by experiments. Experiment!. A tube of common glass E F (lig. IS), well annealed, and difficult to be fused, about an inch in diameter, is placed across a furnace C F E D, in a position some- what inclined, and to its upper extremity is adapted a glass retort A, containing a known quantity of distilled water, and resting on a furnace* V X. To the lower extremity of the glass tube F, is applied a worm S S, con- nected with the double tubulated flask H ; and to the other tubulure is adapted a bent glass tube K K, destined to convey the gas to an apparatus proper lor determining the quality and quantity of it. When the w hole is thus arranged, a lire is to be kindled in the furnace C E, and maintained iir such a man- ner as to bring the glass tube EF to a red- heat, but without fusing it : at the. same time so much fire is to be maintained in the fur- nace VN, as to keep the water in the re- tort A in a continual state of ebullition. In proportion as tire water in the retort A as- sumes the state of vapour by ebullition, it fills the interior part of the tube E F, and expels the atmospheric air, which is evacuated bv the worm Sb, and the tube KK. The steam of the water is afterwards condensed by cooling in the worm S S, and falls drop by drop, in the state of water, into the tubu- lated liask II. When the whole of the water in the retort A is evaporated, and the liquor in the vessels suffered to drain off complete- ly, there is found in the flask H a quantity of water exactly equal to that which w as in the retort A : of course there has been no disen- gagement of any gas : so that this operation was merely a common distillation, which nave absolutely the same result as if the water had never been brought to a state of incan- descence in passing through the glass tube E F. Exp. 2. Every thing being arranged as in the preceding experiment, 28 grains of charcoal reduced to fragments, and which had been previously exposed for a long time to a white heat in dose vessels, were next introduced into the glass tube EF. The operation was then conducted as before, and the water in the retort A kept in a continual state of ebullition till it was totally evaporat- ed. The water in the retort A w'as distilled, as in the preceding experiment ; and being condensed in tiie worm S S, had fallen, drop by drop, into the flask II ; but at the same time there had been disengaged a consi- derable quantity of gas which escaped through the tube K K, and w'as collected in a proper apparatus. When the operation was finished, there was found nothing iu the tube 8 $ f but a few ashes ; ami the 25 grains of 'ciiarcoal had totally disappeared. The gases disengaged were found to v eigii d together 113.7 grains: and there were found two different kinds of gas, viz. 144 cubic inches of carbonic acid gas (211), weighing 100 grains; and 380 cubic inches of a very light gas, weighing 13.7 grains. 1 his last gas took lire on being applied to alighted body in contact with the air. In examining after- wards the weight of the water which had passed into the flask, it was found less than that in the retort A by 85.7 grains. In this experiment, there tore, 85./ grams of water, and 28 grains of charcoal, formed carbonic acid gas equal to 100 grains ; and a peculiar gas susceptible ot inflammation, equal to 13.7 grains. . , Exp. 3. The apparatus being arranged as above, instead of the 28 grains ot chaicoal, 274 grains of thin shavings of iron, i oiled up in a spiral form, were introduced into the tube E E : the tube was then brought to a red heat as before ; and iu the same manner the whole of the water in the retort A was made to evaporate. Iu tins experiment there was disengaged only one kind ot gas which was inflammable : there was obtained of it about 406 cubic inches-, weighing 15 •rains ; and the 274 grains of iron, put into Jie tube E F, were found to weigh 85 grains above what they did when introduced ; and the water first employed was diminished 100. The volume of these iron shavings was found to be greatly enlarged. '1 lie iron was scarcely any longer susceptible ot attraction by the magnet; it dissolved without, effer- vescence in acids : in a word, it was in the state of a black oxide, like that which has been burnt in oxygen gas. In this experi- ment there was a real oxidation of the iron by the water, entirely similar to that effected in the air by the aid of heat : 100 grains of water were decomposed; and ot these 100 grains 85 united to the iron, to reduce it to toe state of black oxide : these 85 grains, there- fore, were oxygen ; flie remaining 15 grains, combined with caloric, formed an inflamma- ble gas. It thence follows that water is com- posed of oxygen and the base of inflamma- ble gas, in the proportion of 85 to 15, or of 17 to 3. Water therefore, besides oxygen, which is one ot its principles, and which is common to it with a great many othei sub- stances, contains another peculiar to itself, and which is its constituent radical. This radical has been called hydrogen, that is to say, the generator of venter ; and the com- bination of this radical with caloric, is dis- tinguished by the name of hydrogen gas. See Air, page 31. This radical then is a new combustible body ; that is, a body which has so much affinity for oxygen as to be able to take it from caloric, and to decompose oxygen gas. 'Iliis combustible body itself lias so great an affinity tor caloric, that unless engaged in some combination, it is always in the aeriform or gaseous state, at the degree of pressure and temperature in which we live. It' it is true, as has been shewn, that water is composed of hyorogeh, combined with ox- ygen, it thence results, that by re-uniting these principles, water ought to be re-formed. This indeed is what takes place, as will be seen by the following experiment : CHEMISTRY. Exp. 4. lake a wide-mouthed glass bal- loon, A (tig. 19), capable of containing about four gallons, and cement touts mouth a small plate of copper BC, having above it a cylin- der of the same metal, D, pierced with three holes to receive three tubes. 1 he hist of these, h H, is destined to be connected at its extremity h, with* an air-pump, m order that the balloon A may be exhausted ot air. The second tube, gg, communicates by it. extremity M M, with a reservoir of oxygen gas, and' is destined to convey it mto the balloon A. The third tube, D d, communi- cates bv the extremity N N, with a reser- voir of hydrogen gas : the extremity ot this tube terminates in an aperture so small as scarcely to admit a very delicate needle. It is through this aperture that the hydrogen gas contained in the reservoir is to pass into the balloon x\. In the next place, the small plate BC is pierced with a fourth hole, into which is inserted with cement a glass tube, through which passes a wire r L, having a its extremity L, a small ball destined to make an electric spark pass between the ball and the 'extremity y, of the tube that conveys the hydrogen gas into the balloon A. i ie wue I'L is moveable in the glass tube, in ordei that the metallic ball L may be brought nearer to, or removed from, the point v ; the three other tubes CH ,gg, hi h, Da, me each furnished with a cock. ' . That the gases may be conveyed m a very dry state through the tubes which con- duct them into the balloon A, and that they may be deprived of w r ater as much as possi- ble, vou must put into the swelled parts M IV and N N of the tubes, some salts capable ot attracting the moisture with great activity, such as acetite of potash, muriate of lime, or nitrate of lime. These salts should be only coarselv pounded, in order - that they may not form a mass, and that the gases may pass freely into the interstices lett between die fragments. You must be provided with a sufficient quantity of very pure oxygen gas, and nearly a triple volume of hydrogen gas, equally pure. To obtain it in this state, and free from ail mixture, you must extract it from water, decomposed by means ol very pure and ductile iron. When every thing has been thus prepared, adapt to the air-pump the tube h II, and ex- haust tlie air in the large balloon A ; then till it with oxygen gas, by means of the tube a- a- ; an d by' a certain degree of pressure, force the hydrogen gas to pass into the bal- loon A, through the extremity y of the tube dDy ; then kindle this gas by means of an electric spark, and it you renew the quantity of each of these two gases, the combustion may be continued for a long time. In proportion as the combustion pioceeds, water is deposited on the internal suituce of the balloon A : the quantity of this water rrraduaUv increases, and it unites itself into farge drops, which run down the sides ot the vessel, and are collected in the bottom of it. It was by aft experiment of this kind that Lavoisier ascertained that 85 parts, by weight, of oxygen, and 15 parts, also by- weight, of hydrogen, are required to com- pose an hundred parts of water. Hence it is evident that water is not a simple substance ; that it is composed of two principles, oxygen and hydrogen ; and t.iai , its two principle* separated from each other. S3 1 have so great an affinity for caloric, that at the common degree of temperature ana pressure they cannot exist but m.Y. gaseous form. , Chemical operations and instruments. The reduction of solids into powoers o, dil- ferent degrees of fineness, by means ot pul- verization, Ac. is a necessary preliminary operation previously to their being cne- mically acted upon. But these processes can never reduce substances into their pvuriaiy or elementary particles: they do not even destroy the aggregation of bodies; fei eveiy particle, after the most accurate trituration, forms a small whole, resembling the oi iginal mass from which it was divided. 1 he real chemical operations, on the contrary, such as solution, destroy the aggregation ol bodies, and separate their constituent and mtegiant particles from each other. Brittle substances are reduced to powder by' means oi hammers, pestles and mortars, stones, and muueis. Pestles and mortars are made either of metal, ;lass, porcelain, marble, agate, Ac. becom- ing to the hardness and properties of the bo- dies to be pounded. Wedgewood’s ware af- fords a most excellent kind of mortar foi most, purposes, as it is very strong, and not liable to be acted upon by acids. Many bodies cannot be reduced to powder by the foregoing methods : such are fibrous substances, as wood, horns of animals, elastic gum, and me- tals which flatten under the hammer ; tor these, files, rasps, knives, and graters, aie ne- cessary. The separation of the finer parts of bodies from the coarser, which may want lai ther pul- verization, is performed by means of sitting ol* washing. A sieve for sifting, generally consists ot a cylindrical band ot thin wood, or n.rttai, having silk, leather, hair, wire, Ac. stretched across it. Sieves are of different degrees of fineness; H ashing is used for procuring powders oi an uniform fineness much more accurately than by means of the sieve ; but it can only be used for such substances as are not ac ted upon by* the fluid which is used. 1 he pow- dered substance is mixed with water, or some other convenient fluid: the liquor is allowed to settle for a few moments, and is then de- canted oli : the coarsest powder remains at the bottom of the vessel, and the finer passes over with the liquor. By repeated decanta- tions in tiiis manner, various sediments are obtained, of different degrees ot fineness ; the last, or that which remains longest suspended in the liquor, being the finest. Filtration is a finer species of sitting. It is sifting through the pores of paper, or flannel, or fine linen or sand, or pounded glass, or porous stones, and the like ; but is used only for separating fluids from solids, or gross par- ticles that may happen to be suspended in them, and not chemically combined with the fluids-. Tliqs salt-water cannot be deprived of its salt by filtration; but muddy water will de- posit its mud. No solid, even in the form of powder, will pass through the above-mentioned liltring substances: hence if water or other fluid, containing sand, insects, mud, Ac. is placed iu a bag or hollow vessel, made of any of those substances, the sand, Ac. will re- main on the illtre, and the liquor will pass through, and may be received clear in a ves- sel under it Unsized paper is a very con- 332 venient substance for making (litres for che- mical purposes. It is wrapped up in a conical form, and put into a glass funnel, which serves to strengthen the paper and support the weight ©f the fluid when poured into it. Decantation is often substituted instead of filtration, for separating solid particles Which are diffused through liquors. These are allowed to settle to the bottom, and the clear fluid is geptlv poured off. If the sedi- ment is extremely light, and apt to mix again with the fluid, by the slightest motion, a syphon is used for drawing off the clear fluid. Lixiviation is the separation by means of water, or other fluid, of such substances as are soluble in it, from other substances that are not soluble in it. Thus, if a certain mineral consists of salt and sand, or salt and day, &c. the given body being broken to powder, is placed in water, which will dis- solve the salt, and keep it suspended, whilst the earthy matter falls to the bottom of (he vessel, and, by means of filtration, may be separated from the fluid. Evaporation separates a fluid from a solid, or a more volatile fluid from another which in less volatile. Simple evaporation is used when the more volatile or fluid substance is not to be pre- served. Various degrees of heat are em- ployed for this purpose, according to the na- ture of the substances. It is performed in vessels of wood, glass, metal, porcelain, &c. Basons made of WedgowOod’s ware are very convenient, as they are not apt to break by sudden changes of heat. Small flasks of thin glass also : these are placed either over the naked fire, or in a vessel filled with sand, whi ch is then called a sand-bath. This af- fords a more regular degree of heal, and renders the vessels less liable to be bro- ken. When the fluid which is evaporated must be preserved, then the operation is called dis- tillation. Distillation is evaporating in close vessels, when we wish to separate two fluids of dif- ferent degrees of volatility, and to preserve the most volatile, or both of them. The sub- stance to be subjected to distillation, is put into some vessel that will resist the action of heat, called a retort, an alembic, or a still ; having a beak or neck projecting from it, to which is attached auotber vessel, to receive the fluid that rises first, which is called the re- ceiver. The vessel that contains the liquor to be distilled is placed upon the fire, or in a sand-bath, or over a lamp ; the heat causes the most volatile fluid to rise in the form of vapour, and to pass into the receiver, where it is again condensed by cold. This conden- sation is sometimes assisted by making the vapour pass through a tube which is immersed in a vessel containing cold water. A (fig. 1, Plate) represents a retort used for distillation. It is a vessel, either of glass or baked earth, for containing the liquid to be dis- tilled. When it has a smajl neck, a, with a stopple fitted to it, for introducing the ma- terials through, it is called a tubulated retort. B is the receiver for condensing the vapour j which is raised, and into which the neck of j the retort is inserted. The joining, b, is made } air-tight by means of some substance applied j to it, "called a lute. Various methods are used j fbr supporting both the retort and receiver, j CHEMISTRY. according to the degree of heat employed in the process, and several other circumstances. See Lute. When great heat is employed, earthen re- torts are used, which are placed on or in the (ire. When a less heat is wanted, glass re- torts are generally employed; which must not be placed immediately on the (ire, unless they are coated over with a composition of clay and sand, which is sometimes done. Glass retorts are generally placed in a sand- bath, or suspended over a lamp, for which Argand’s lamp is the best. The receiver is placed upon some stand convenient for the purpose, with a ring made of hay under L or some such contrivance, to keep it steady. A (fig. 2) is a vessel called a mattrass, for the same purpose, having a vessel, B, called an alembic, fitted to the head. The liquid raised by heat into the state of va- pour, is condensed in the alembic, and falls into a groove all round Its inside, whence itn-uns out by the spout C, into the receiver Fig. 3, are conical tubes that fit into one another, for lengthening the necks of retorts, &c. to connect them with the receivers at any distance : they are called adopters. Fig. 4, are phials with bent glass tubes fitted hi them, for disengaging gases, and si- milar experiments. Fig. 5, represents an improved chemical apparatus, such as is used by Mr. Davy in his experiments at the Royal Institution. A is a japanned tin vessel, filled within two or three inches of the top with water. Just below the surface of the water is fixed a shelf having several holes bored through it, to which small funnels are attached underneath. The glass receiver B, intended to receive the gas, is filled with water; and being inverted with its mouth under water, it is raised up gently, and placed upon the shelf over one of the holes, w here it will remain full of water, which is kept up by the pressure of the atmosphere in the same way as the mercury is retained in the tube of the barometer. The material from which the gas is to be disengaged is put into the retort G, which is put through, and suspended in one of the rings of the lamp furnace Di E is an improved Argand’s lamp, having two concentric wicks, placed on the shelf F. The shelf is moveable up and down to bring the lamp to a convenient distance from the retort. The lamp is to be lighted, and as soon as the substances in the retort act upon each other sufficiently, the gas will begin to be disengaged, and will ascend through the hole in the shelf into the vessel B, and displace the water with which it had been filled. When the water is displaced, the receiver is full of gas which was disen- gaged from the retort, and may be preserved in it by keeping its mouth always under water in the cistern. This gas may he transferred from the vessel B to an)' other, in the follow - ing manner : Fill the vessel into which the gas is tq be transferred with the fluid in the trough, and place it on the shelf over one of the holes. Then take the vessel B, and keeping its mouth still under the fluid, bring it under the hole on which the vessel is placed ; then depress- ing its^ottom, and elevating its mouth, so as to bring it more to a horizontal position, the gas ffi it will escape and rise up through the hole on which the other vessel has been placed, and will fill it by displacing the fluid. If the oxyd of manganese is put into the retort G, and the lamp applied to it, great plenty of oxygen gas will escape from the retort, and will fill the receiver B. When the gas to be procured is absorb- able by water, quicksilver is used instead of w ater, and a much smaller vessel than A is made use of, which is generally made of wood or stone. A small glass vessel, capable of containing an ounce measure, is used for measuring gases; for if this phial is succes- sively filled and inverted under a large jar, we may thereby throw into that jar any required quantity of an elastic fluid, and as much of another as we please. G (fig. *5) is a strong glass graduated tube, for receiving a mixture of gases that are to be exploded by the electric spark. Near the closed end two wires pass through the glass, and almost touch each other : they are ce- mented in, so as to make the holes air-tight. Gases may be introduced into this tube ; and if the interval between the two wires is made a part of the electric circuit, by putting chains connected with a Leyden phial to the rings of the wires, the spark will pass through the interrupted space betw een the two wires, and explode the gases. A (fig. 6) is a glass retort, the beak of which is adjusted to a double tubulated bal- loon B. To the upper opening of the balloon is fitted a glass tube C, the other extremity of which is conveyed into the liquor contained in the glass vessel D : with this are connected two or three, or more similar vessels, by means of glass tubes, and to the last tubulure of the range of vessels i$ adapted a glass tube which is conveyed under a receiver placed upon the shelf of the pneumatic cis- tern. A (fig. 5). Water is poured into the first of these vessels ; caustic potash into the next, or such other substances as are necessary for ab- sorbing the gases ; and the joinings are well fluted. By this method the purest and most concentrated products are obtained ; be- cause the water, which is always the re- ceiver, becomes saturated with them. In this way the common muriatic acid, the oxygenat- ed muriatic acid, volatile alkali, &c. &c. may be made in the best manner. Large vessels for containing air, and expell- mg any given quantity, are called gazometers. They are of various constructions ; one of the best is the following : A B ;fig. 7) is a cylindrical vessel of tin, japanned, nearly filled with water; and having a tube C in the middle, open at top, and branching, to com- municate w ith the cock D. W ithin this ves- sel there is another cylindrical vessel, generally of glass, of smaller" size, F, open at bottom ; which is inverted and suspended by the lines ee, which go over the pulleys f,f,f, f, and have weights gg, attached to them, to balance the vessel F. While the cock D remains shut, if the vessel F is pressed downwards, the air included within it will remain in the same situation, on the principle of the diving-bell ; but if the cock is opened, and the vessel F is pressed down, the air included within it will escape through the cock ; and if a blow-pipe is attached to tlris cock, a stream of the gas may be thrown upon lighted charcoal, or any other body. By means of the graduated rod 1), also, the I quantity thrown out is exactly ascertained : I t his rod is so divided us to express the con- I tents of the inner vessel in cubic feet, kc. ■ This instrument also answers for' breat I ling lany of the gases, by applying a mouth-piece I to the cock. To render it more portable, [the weights gg are sometimes included in the uprights ii, which are hollow and wide lenouga to receive them. Sometimes also I there is another branch from the bottom of [ the pipe, in the middle, directed to the side I of the other cylinder, and coming upwards I by the side to the top, where there is another ", cock attached. Crystallization. — When a salt is dissolved in water, or other fluid, and by evaporation the fluid is driven off, the salt gradually ac- quires the solid form, and n doing this, it ar- ranges its particles in a particular manner; \ some salts arrange themselves in the form of [pyramids, some of prisms of different kinds, l&c. Vessels of earthenware, or glass, are employed for such crystallizations. They j must be placed where they are perfectly still, land well defended from dust or accidents. Solution. — Whenasalt is mixed with water, it loses its state of solidity ; the particles of salt are divided and unite themselves to those of the water, forming a liquid, of which all the parts are homogeneous, or of the same kind. The [same takes place when resin is mixed with jspirits of wine. In this process neither the (salt nor the water is decomposed ; and the 'salt may be recovered agayi in its original state and quantity, by driving off the water by evaporation. | T he dissolution of metals by acids, how- ever, is of a different nature: here, either the metal, the acid, or the water, is altered, find different products are obtained. Ves- sels of glass are generally used for solutions pnd dissolutions. The liquid used for dis- solving a metal, or other solid substance, is usually called a solvent, or menstruum. | Precipitation. — The recovery or separa- tion of a body from its solvent, by the addi- tion of a third substance, so that the former pray re-appear m a solid state, however di- vided, is called precipitation. The substance thus recovered, is called a precipitate, and the super-added body that occasions this precipi- tation is called a precipitant. ! Fusion. — The melting, or causing any body to pass from the solid to the liquid state, |y the action of fire, is called fusion. The fu- sion of metallic substances requires vessels suf- ficiently strong to resist the fire. These ves- jels are mostly, if not always, made of earthen- ware, or porcelain, or a mixture of clay and powder of black-lead. They are called cru- iibles, and are generally of the forms repre- sented fig. 8 ; sometimes these vessels have 'overs made of earthenware ; but sometimes she fused metal must be exposed to a current )f air. In that case the crucibles are [road and shallow, as at fig. 9. These are jailed cupels ; and they are formed of cal- cined bones, mixed with a small quantity of flay, or of a mixture of clay and black-lead jowder. But the cupels must not be placed in [closed furnace, or be surrounded by coals ; br, in that case, the required current of air puld not have access to the fused metal, they are therefore placed under a sort of fven of earthenware, which is called a muf- je, as represented tig. 10; which, with the pcluded cupel, is exposed to the heat of a Brua.ce, CHEMISTRY. [ Furnaces. — In the application of the action i of heat to bodies, furnaces of different forms are employed, according to the operations for which they are destined. A furnace is a kind of hollow cylindric tower, A BCD (Jig. II); sometimes a little wider at the top, with notches in, m, in, to give a passage to the air. This furnace ought to have a least two lateral apertures ; an upper one F, which is the door of the fire-hole II ! ; and a lower one G, which is the door of the ash- hole C 1). In the interval between these two doors the furnace is divided into two parts by a horizontal grate, destined to support the charcoal. r I he place occupied by this grate is indicated by the line IT 1 ; above the grate is the fire-hole where the fire is maintained ; and below it is the ash-hole, where tire ashes are collected as they are formed. Another kind of furnace often necessary, is that called the reverberating furnace (fig. 12) ; it consists of an ash-hole IT 1 K L, a fire-hole K L M N, a laboratory M N 11 R, and a dome R RfSS ; above the dome is a tube TT V V, to which several more can be added if re- quired. In the laboratory is placed a retort, which is supported by two iron bars that run across the furnace ; the neck of it passes through the lateral aperture O, and has adapted to it a receiver. As a strong heat is sometimes required for this furnace, a large volume of air must be made to pass through it ; and in that case a great deal of heat is disengaged. For this reason, instead of one aperture to the ash-hole, there must be two: when only a moderate heat is required, one of them may be shut ; if a strong heat is ne- cessary, they may be both opened. It will be of advantage also to make the upper aper- ture TT of the dome pretty large. The use of the dome is to reverberate the heat and flame on the retort, in order that it may every where be exposed to nearly an equal heat ; by which means the vapours can be condensed only in the beak of the retort and in the receiver, and are also forced to pro- ceed thither. When matters which do not require a strong degree of heat are to be fused, the reverberating furnace may be em- ployed as a fusing furnace. The laboratory MNllR in that case is removed ; and the dome IIRSS is placed on the fire-hole MN, as represented. One of the best fusing furnaces ever made, is that constructed by Lavoisier, and which is represented fig. 13. ” The following is the de- scription which he gives of it in his Elements of Chemistry. This furnace is in the form of an elliptical spheroid ABCD, cut off at the two ends by two planes which pass per- pendicular to the axis through the foci of the ellipse. From this shape it is capable of con- taining a considerable quantity of charcoal, while it leaves sufficient space in the intervals for the passage of the air. That no obstacle may oppose the free access of external air, it is perfectly open below, and stands upon an iron tripod. The grate is made of flat bars, set on edge, with considerable interstices be- tween them. To the upper part A B is added a chimney, or tube of baked earth, eighteen feet long, and equal in width to nearly half the diameter of the furnace. Lavoisier re- commends, as a thing of importance, to make the tube FG AB as bad a conductor of heat as possible ; it must therefore be constructed neither of iron-plate, nor of copper, as is commonly the case. 333' AiyTher kind cf furnace is that necessary for assaying. In this furnace tnfc metal must, at the same time, be exposed to the most vio- lent heat ; and, secured from the contact of the air, become incombustible by its passage through the coals : on this account it lias been called the assaying or cupelling furnace. It is generally of a square form (fig. 14) ; and, like the other furnaces, has an ash-hole A ABB, a fire-hoic BBCC, a laboratory CCi)l), and a dome I)D L E. The labo- ratory is destined for receiving the muffle, which is a kind of small oven (fig. 10) made of baked earth, and close at the bottom. It rests on bars which traverse the furnace ; and being adjusted to the door of the laboratory,, is luted in with clay. It is in this small oven the cupels are placed, and the muffle is sur- rounded with charcoal : that above it being conveyed through the door 1 of the dome ; and that below it, through the door K of the fire-hole. The air which enters through the apertures of the ash-hole, after having served for the purposes of combustion, escapes through .the upper aperture E E of the dome.. In regard to the muffle, the air penetrates to it through the door G, and promotes the oxi- dation of the metal. T his furnace, however,, is attended with the following inconvenience:., if the do :r G of the laboratory is shut, the oxidation, for want of air, takes place slowly ; while, on the other hand, if it is open, the current of cool air causes the metal to be- come fixed, and retards the .operation. To- obviate this inconvenience, hot air should be conveyed to the muffle from without, by causing it to pass through an earthen tube,, kept in a state of ignition by the furnace it- self; and thus the interior part of the muffle would never become cold. A very useful kind of furnace is that in- vented by Dr. Black. It consists (fig. 15) of a cylindrical or elliptical body of. -sheet iron, coated within with a mixture of loam and clay. The aperture X at top is closed occa- sionally with an iron saucer full of sand,. • which forms a sand-bath: B is the door of the fire-place, and C is the ash-pit register, which slides so as to admit more or less air. D is an iron tube which goes into (he chim- ney of the room, to carry off the smoke.. Blow -pipes are used for directing the flame of a candle or lamp against any bit of ore or other substance required to be examined. They ought to have a bulb upon the middle . of their stem, to contain the moisture that is formed from the breath, as fig. 16. T he blow-pipe contrived by Dr. Black, of a conical form, represented in fig. 17, is the most convenient : a is the nozzle. Of simple substances . — The object of che- mistry, in subjecting to experiment the dif- ferent bodies in nature, is that we may there- by be enabled to examine separately the substances which enter into their composi- tion. This science lias, during the last thirty years, made a very rapid progress. Formerly, oil and salt, as well as water, were considered as elementary bodies : now it is ascertained that they are compound substances. Saits, as we shall hereafter see, are composed of an ac id with some base, and their neutral state is the result of this union. Acids again are forpted by the combination of an acidifying principle (oxygen) which rs common to all, and a radical peculiar to each particular acid. See Acid. The radicals of the acids are not always simple substances: they are • 334 CHEMISTRY'. often compounded of hydrogen and Carbon. The bases of the alkaline salts aie often not more simple than those of the acid; , .... has been proved with respect to ammonia, .vhich is composed of hydrogen and azote. bee Ammonia. It results from our knowledge of thegases (see Air, pages 28 to 3.5) that there are a cer- tain number of substances which vve may con- sider as simple bodies, whether they are so or not, because no means have yet been disco- vered by which they may be decomposed. The substances of this kind are, f -Light Simple substances, which j Q^vgen may be considered as the y - ^ -elements of bodies. I Hydrogen f Carbon Simple non-metallic sub- j pi'^n\Tnrii •charged with oxygen Jt Oxygen and sulphur Oxygen and the fluoric radical — Ammonia Hydrogen Hydrogen and sulphur Hydrogen and phosphorus Hydrogen and carbon Water *” have been prepared by various chemists ; I the principal of which are, the phosphorus of I Canton, Baldwin, Homberg, and the Folog-j nian phosphorus. I hese have the propel ty I of shininu in the dark. Various animal and! '•‘•'Stable substances seem to possess this | "Simple metaUlc'Substances i oxidable, and some ot-f-Lranium -them acidiflable. Titanium Tellurium Columbimn Tantalium Chrome Arsenic Molybdena ^Tungsten. These simple substances may be combined with each other, and with other substances, in order to form compounds. Of fight. The physical properties of light .will be considered under Optics. 1 Ins sub- stance seems to have considerable lnlluence upon many chemical processes. The effect ot Wit unon- vegetation is well known. Many flowers follow the course of the sun, and plants tliat grow in houses, seem soucitous, as it were, -to get at the light. Plants that grow in the shade, or in darkness, aie pale, and without colour: and when this is the case, they are said to be etiolated or blanched. Gardeners avail themselves of this tact to render vegetables white and tenc.cn-. I he more plants are exposed to the light, th more colour they acquire. 5 et the dead vegetable is deprived of coiour by exposuic fo it. Of oxygen. Oxygen is a substance diffus- ed in great abundance throughout nature ; it forms nearly a third in weight of our atmo- sphere. Animals absorb a great quantity of it by respiration; and it combines with other bodies to convert them into oxides and acids. A certain number of conditions must be united, in order that a body may be oxyge- nated. The first is, that the constituent par- ticles of this body must not exercise between themselves an attraction stronger th n that which they exercise on oxygen. Il they do not possess this superior force of attraction for oxygen, it may be communicated to them artificially, by exposing them to heat, that is to say, by introducing into them caloric, which, separating them from each other, di- minishes the force of their reciprocal attrac- tion, and allows them to exercise a more powerful one on the oxygen: oxygenation will then take place. The degree ot heat necessary to produce this phenomenon is not the same for all substances: some may be oxygenated at a temperature so low that we never find them but in an oxygenated state. Of this kind is the muriatic radical, which never presents itselt to us simply, but always in an acid, which it has been hitherto im- possible to decompose. To oxygenate the greater part of bodies, and almost all simple substances, in general, it will be sufficient to expose them to the action of the atmo- spheric air, and to raise them to the proper temperature. The temperature necessary to oxygenate lead, mercury, and tin, is not greater than that in which we live; but, on phosphorus, 1 he glow-worm is a lemaikable I instance. Dead fish, rotten sea weeds, ai.cl I great numbers of insects, have this prope»ty| in a great degree. Instruments for measuring the degree orl intensity of light are called photonieteis. Of caloric. All the bodies in nature areiirwl mersedin caloric, which penetrates then pai is| throughout, and which nils up the inteivais left between the particles. In some cases the caloric is fixed in these bodies, and in such a manner as even to contribute to tneir solidity j but it often separates their particles also, try exercising on them a repulsive force ; and it is on its greater or less action oi accumulation that the transition of bodies from the solic state to the liquid, and from the liquid to tut aeriform, depends. of caloric with Oxygen gas, or vital air Azotic gas, or mephitic air Nitrous gas * Carbonic acid gas, and gas oxide of carbonj Muriatic acid gas Oxymuriatic acid gas Sulphurous acid gas Fluoric acid gas Ammoniacal gas Hydrogen gas Sulphurated hydrogen gas Phosphorized hydrogen gas Carbonated hydrogen gas Aqueous gas, and so of all other evapoiab liquids. the other hand, a pretty high degree of he is necessary to oxygenate iron and cpppjl in the dry way, and when the oxygen is n assisted by the action of humidity. Sum times the oxygenation takes place with gr| rapidity, and in that case is aocompalrfl with fleat, light, and even flame : such is t! combustion of phosphorus in the air, an <9 oxygen gas. r I flat of sulphiu is much 9 rapid. Such also is the combustion of ir in pure oxygen gas. Example : If a pi€ of iron wire bent in a spiral shape, as A (J 20.), is hung in a receiver B fillet-' with! yaen gas, and by means ot a small piece phosphorus, it is inflamed, the metal « burn with the greatest briiiiancv . I in, leL and the greater part of the metals, oxidi slowly, and without the disengagement of tj caloric being sensible. There is still another method of oxygen I ing simple substances. Instead of exposjj them to oxygen united with caloric, J oxygen ma\ be presented to them in uni with some metal for which it has little afiil tv. The red oxide of mercury is one! those best fitted for accomplishing this! iect, because the oxygen in that state J heres very little to the metal: it is disengad from it at that degree of heat at which gl begins to become red. 'I he black oxide manganese, the red oxide of lead, the o . vi (9 silver, and almost all the metallic oxides, c in a certain degree, .produce the same effl Every metallic reduction or reviviftcatil is an oxygenation of charcoal or sojj other combustible matter by a meti| CHEMISTRY. 335 oxide. The charcoal, by combining with the oxygen and caloric, escapes under the form of carbonic acid gas, and the metal re- mains pure and revived. All combustible substances may be oxyge- nated also by combining them either with the nitrate of potash, or that of soda, or with the oxygenated muriate of potash. At a certain degree of heat the oxygen abandons the ni- trate or the muriate, and combines with the combustible body, but with great violence. Lead 1 , Mercury The reason is as follows. 1 he oxygen, ui J. lie m ' , combining with the nitrates, and particulai ly with the oxygenated muriates, enters along with a quantity of caloric almost, equal to that necessary for constituting it oxygen gas. At the moment of its combination with the combustible body, ail this caloric becomes suddenly tree, and produces terrible detona- tions. This method of oxygenation, there- fore, must not be attempted but with the ut- most caution, and when very small quantities of matter are employed. There are did. rent degrees of oxygena- tion : the first degree forms oxides, the second forms weak acids, the third strong acids, and the fourth hyperoxygenated acids. The combination of oxygen with r Cal :.ric forms oxygen gas 1 Hydrogen — water Degrees, of oxy- genation r 1 , — base of atmospheric \ air. Azote <2, — nitrous oxide ) 3, — nitrous gas ( 4,. — .nitric acid { 1 , — oxide of carbon \2, — carbonic acid / 1, — oxide of sulphur, ) soft sulphur b 2, — sulphurous acid ( 3, — sulphuric acid n, — oxide of phosphorus Phosphorus \ 2, — phosphorous acid l 3, — phosphoric acid / 1, — muriatic acid The muria- ) 2, — oxymuriatic acid tic radical ) 3, — hyperoxy muriatic ( acid I he fluoric ) , — fluoric acid radical > d he boracic > , — boracic acid, radical 5 L Bismuth Colxilt N ickel Zinc Antimony Arsenic Manganese Tungsten Molybdena Titanium Chrome grey oxide of lead yellow and red oxide of lead black oxide of mer- cury vellow and red oxide ’ of mercury grey r oxide of bis- muth \ 2, — white oxide of bis- (_ muth 1 1 — grey oxide of cobalt 1, — oxide of nickel ^ 1 , — grey oxide of zinc (2, — white oxide of zinc / 1, — grey oxide of anti- ' mony 2, — white oxide of anti- \ mony / 1 , — grey oxide of arsenic j 2, — • white oxide of arse- j nic (3, — arsenic acid r 1 , — black oxide of man- ) ganese 4 2, — white oxide of man- {_ ganese (1, — oxide of tungsten ( 2, tungstic acid < 1, oxide of molybdena ( 2, molybdic acid 1, oxide of titanium ( 1 , oxide of chrome 1 2. chromic acid. certain portion of oxygen, which reduces them to the state of oxide, or to the acid state, according to the degree ot oxygena- tion. The nature of animal matters, theiefore, may vary, like that of vegetable matters, three ways: 1st, By the number of the sub- stances which enter into the combination ot their radicals; 2d. By tire difference in the proportion of these substances ; od. By the different degrees of oxygenation. The combination ot azote with forms azotic gas Degrees of oxy- genation / 1, the base . of atmo- \ spheric air < 2, nitrous oxide ) 3, nitrous gas F 4, nitric acid ammonia f Caloric y Oxygen < -animal matters. Carbon Sulphur Gold Platina Silver 5 l > The combination of oxygen with Degrees of oxy- genation 1, forms yellow oxide of gold 2, — red oxide of gold, precipitate of Cas- sius yellow oxide of pla- tina 1, — oxide of silver 1 } — reddish-brown oxide •of copper 2, — green and blue oxide of copper ] j — black oxide of iron 2, — yellow and red oxide of iron 1, — grey oxide of tin 2, — white oxide of tin In the mineral kingdom almost all the ox- ! idable and acidiliable radicals sebm to be 1 simple substances; but in the vegetable king- dom there are scarcely any which are not j composed of two substances, hydrogen and carbon. Azote and phosphorus are often joined with them, and the result is radicals with four bases. From these observations, it appears that the oxides and the animal and vegetable acids may differ from each other three ways. 1st. By the number of acidiliable principles which' constitute their base; 2d, By the dif- ference in the proportions ot these principles , 3d, By the different degrees of oxygenation. This is more than sufficient to account for the great number ot varieties which nature ex- hibits to us. It thence appears, therefore, that some of the vegetable acids can be con- verted into each other. Nothing is neces- sary for this purpose but to change the pro- portion of carbon and hydrogen, and to oxy- genate them more or less. Carbon and hy- drogen, by the first degree of oxygenation, oive tartareous acid; by. a second degree oxalic acid; and by a third the acetous, or acetic acid. ( Copper Iron Tin Of azote or nitrogen. Azote is a principle diffused in great abundance throughout na- ture : when combined with caloric, it forms azotic or mephitic gas, which in volume is three fourths of the atmosphere, and in weight somewhat less than atmospheric air. It al- ways remains in the state of gas at the tempe- rature and pressure of the atmosphere which we experience; and we are unacquainted with any' degree ot compression or cold capable of reducing it to the solid, or even to the liquid state. Azote is one of the essential constituent parts of animal matter ; it is combined in them with carbon and hydrogen, and sometimes with phosphorus ; the whole being-connected by a Hydrogen Carbon Hydrogen and sometimes Phosphorus „ Oxygen Of hydrogen . Hydrogen is one of the constituent principles of water, and thence it has received its name. It forms in the com- position of water fifteen hundredth parts ot its weight, while oxygen forms the other eighty- rive 3 parts. The affinity of hydrogen for ca- loric is so great, that it constantly remains in the state of gas at the degree ot heat and pressure in which we live; it is impossible, therefore, to procure it free from all combi- nation, and consequently we are unacquaint- ed with the nature of this-- principle, it is 0113 of the most abundant principles in nature ; for besides entering into the composition of water, which is itsed so abundant 011 the earth, it is one of those principles which act the most conspicuous part in the vegetable and animal kingdoms,, by combination with different substances. Having already referred to the production of hydrogen gas, (seeAiR, p.31) we shall now shew the means of obtaining it by experi- ment. Exp. Let the gun-barrel x y (fig. 21) pass through a furnace F, and adjust to one extre- mity of it the bent tube A, and let the other extremity terminate in the tube B, car- ried under the receiver C. \\ hen the appa- ratus is thus disposed, and the several parts luted together, the gun-barrel must be brought to a red heat, and the water poured in drop by drop through A ; and when it comes in contact with the gun-barrel, it. is decomposed; the iron seizes on the oxygen of the water, and the hydrogen escapes through B in a state of gas. This gas may also be obtained by pouring a solution of sulphuric acid over filings of iron or zinc. Exp. Put iron filings into the jar A with two tubulures a and b, adjust to h the small glass tube ending in a capillary bore, and through a pour the diluted sulphuric acid : the cr-1 s will speedily be disengaged ; and if a taper is applied to x, it will continue to burn with a fine blue flame as long as the decom- position goes on. L his is called the philo- sophipal caudle , S3 6 /"Galoi ic Oxygen Azote Sulphur Phosphorus .02 75 1 in Carbon The combination of hydrogen with forms hydrogen gas — water — ammonia, or volatile alkali — the base of sulphurated hydrogen gas • — the base ot phosphoriz- ed hydrogen gas r — the base ot carbonated hydrogen gas — lixed and volatile oils — the radicals of the ve- . getable acids ) and when azote and phosphorus are join- ed with it — the radicals of the ani- L mal kingdom. ty carbon. Carbon appears to be a simple ■substance, for hitherto it has not been pos- SI 3 e to decompose it. Modern experiments seem to prove that it* exists completely form- ed in vegetables, in which it is combined with hy drogen, and sometimes with azote and with phosphorus ; and that it assists to iorm in them compound radicals, which are afterwards carried to the state of oxides or ol acids, according to the proportion ol oxy- gen united with them. To obtain the caibon contained in animal or vegetable matters, nothing is necessary but to expose them, hrst to a moderate and then to a very strong degree of heat, in order to decompose the last portions ot water, which the charcoal strongly retains. In these operations che- mists employ retorts of earthenware or porcelain, into which the combustible mat- ters are introduced; and they are exposed to a strong heat in a reverberating furnace. The heat converts those substances which are susceptible of it into gas ; and tire carbon, which is more fixed, remains combined with a little earth and some fixed salts. In the arts, the carbonization of wood is effected by a simpler and cheaper process. The wood is cut into pieces nearly of the same size and length ; these pieces are dis- posed in heaps, and are covered with earth, m such a manner as to prevent all communi- cation with the air, except what is necessary to make the wood burn, and to drive off the oil and water formed during the combustion ; they are then kindled, and when they have burnt a sufficient time, the lire is extingufih- ed by stopping the holes which served to introduce the air. There are two methods of analysing char- coal, viz. 1st, By its combustion in oxygen gas: 2d, Its oxygenation by the nitric acid. In both cases it is converted into carbonic acid, and it leaves a residuum of lime, potash, and some neutral salts. It is not yet fully ascertained whether the potash exists in char- coal before its combustion. Exp. Under a bell glass A, (fig. 23.) filled with oxygen gas, and inverted over mercu- ry in the trough BC, introduce some char- coal in the saucer D. The charcoal must be wrapped in cotton ; having also a small par- ticle of phosphorus in it, in order that the, whole may take fire upon the Introduction of the heated wire II G I through the mercury. The charcoal will # then burn with great bril- liancy. It will be found that to saturate 28 CHEMISTRY. parts of carbon with oxygen, 72 parts of the latter are required, and lie aeriiorm acid produced is equal in weight to the sum of the weight of the carbon and ot the oxygen. Exp. Very pure carbon may be thus p ra- ce red : Put into a glass tube z (tig. 24.), dosed at one of its extremities, and re- duced to a capillary bore at the other, one part of phosphorus ; and above it, at the dis- tance oi several inches, five parts of carbo- nate of lime, reduced to powder. Place the tube in the middle of the furnace F, so that the coals can heat the carbonate of lime only, the part of the tube containing the phos- phorus being in the ash-hole. When the lime is brought to a red heat, the tube is to be raised, that the phosphorus may burn; the phosphorus lays hold of the oxygen of the carbonic acid, and becomes phosphoric acid ; which unites to the lime, and forms phosphate of lime, while the carbon remains by itself. The combination of carbon not oxyge- nated with Oxygen forms carbonic oxide and carbo- nic acid Hydrogen — the carbono-hydrous radical, fixed and volatile oils Iron - — carburet of iron, or plumbago Zinc — carburet of zinc. The combination of sulphur not oxygen- ated with * ° Degrees of oxygen- ation. 1, forms oxide of sulphur, or soft Of sulphur. Sulphur is one of those com- bustible substances which have the greatest tendency to combination. At the common temperature of the atmosphere it is concrete; and it does not liquefy but at a heat several degrees higher than that of boiling water. It is tounrf completely formed, and almost in its utmost degree of purity, in volcanic pro- ductions. It is found also, and much oftener, in the state of sulphuric acid, in argil, gvp- sum, &x. To extract the sulphur of the sulphuric acid united to these substances, it must be deprived of its oxygen. This may be effect- ed by combining it at a red heat with carbon: the carbon lakes from it its oxygen, and thence is' formed carbonic acid, which com- bining with caloric, disengages itself in the state of gas: the i\ suit then is a sulphuret, which may be decomposed by an acid : the acid unites to the base of the sulphuret, and the sulphur is precipitated. Ex. We may here shew the nature of sub- limation : Put some lumps of sulphur into the vessel A (tig. 25.), to which the receiver B is adapted and luted round. A is put on a sand- bath, made hot by the furnace C ; the sul- phur melts, a smoke rises which is deposited in B in the form of vegetation, and hence it has been called flowers ot sulphur. In this way sulphur may be combined with alcohol. Put pounded sulphur into a glass retort A (tig. 2G.), suspend within it the bottle B contain- ing alcohol, then put on the cover C, and ad- just the beak x to the mattrass z ; lute the joinings, and heat the retort by the furnace F. Pile sulphur will lie sublimed, and the alco- hol will be volatilized. In this state the bo- dies meet, the alcohol dissolves the sulphur, and a liquor will be obtained in 2 slightly co- loured, which is sulphurated alcohol.’ To prove that sulphur is held in combination by the alcohol, add to it some distilled water, and the sulphur will be precipitated. Oxygen ( ^2, — sulphurous acid C 3, — sulphuric acid sulphur Plydrogen — Copper — Iron — Lead — Mercury — . Zinc — Antimony — . Arsenic . — Potash — Soda (the base of sulphurated ( hydrogen gas (sulphuret of copper, or \ pyrites of copper ( sulphuret of fron, or py- l rites of iron ( sulphuret of lead, or ga- I lena 3 C sulphuret of mercury/ or -? ethiops mineral ; dnna- £ bar ( sulphuret of zinc, or ( blende. ( sulphuret of antimony, or \ crude antimony ( sulphuret of arsenic, or ( orpiment ; realgar / sulphuret of potash, or li- 3 ver of sulphur with a j base of fixed vegetable ( alkali ( sulphuret of soda, or liver 2 of sulphur with a base ( of fixed mineral alkali J sulphuret of lime, or liver of sulphur with a cal- careous base f sulphuret of magnesia, or liver of sulphur with a ( base of magnesia ( sulphuret of barytes, or < liver of sulphur with a ( base of ponderous earth ( sulphuret of ammonia, or -j volatile liver of sulphur ; (. fuming liquor of Boyle* i Of Phosphorus. — Phosphorus is a simple j combustible substance, tor no experiment gives us reason to think that it can be decom- posed. It was not known to the old che- i mists ; and it was discovered in 1667 by a German, named Brandt, who made a mys- ! tery of his process. A short time after f Brandt’s secret was discovered by Kunckel, who published the process, and on that ac- count it was called Kunckel’s phosphorus. It was from urine alone that this phospho- rus was first extracted ; and though the me- ] thod was described, particularly by Hom- berg,. in the Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences for 1722, the English, for a long ! time, supplied this article to all Europe, it was not made in France till 1737, when it was prepared for the first time in the Bota- nical Garden, in the presence of commission- ers appointed by the Academy of Sciences. At present it is extracted by a more con- ; venient and economical process, from the ’ bones of animals, which are real phosphate ot lime. The simplest method, according to Galin, Scheele, Kouelle, &c. is to calcine the bones of full-grown animals until they j are almost entirely white ; to pound and silt them, and then to pour over them sulphuric acid diluted with water.; but less than is ne- cessary for dissolving the whole matter. Lime Magnesia Barytes Ammonia CHEMISTRY. The sulphuric acid unites itself to the earth of the bones, anti forms sulphate of lime ; by these means the phosphoric acid is disen- gaged, and remains in a free state in the liquor. The licpior is then to be decanted, and the residuum being washed, the water employed for this purpose must be added to the decanted liquor. The whole must then be evaporated, in order to separate the sul- phate of lime which crystallizes in silky fila- ments, and you will thus obtain phosphoric acid, under the form of white transparent glass; which, when reduced to powder, and mixed with a third of its weight of charcoal, and distilled, will yield good phosphorus. Phosphorus is found in almost every ani- mal substance, and in some plants, which, according to chemical analysis, have an ani- mal character. In this state it is generally combined with carbon, hydrogen, and azote, from which there result radicals with four bases. Phosphorus inflames at the temper- ature of 401 degrees. It has so great an affinity for oxygen, as to decompose oxygen gas. Example. A re- ceiver containing three or four quarts of oxy- gen gas (fig. 23) was placed over the mer- curial trough HC, and about 61^ grains of phosphorus distributed in the saucer I), and introduced under the receiver A, and kindled by means of a red-hot wire. The combus- tion took place with great rapidity, producing a brilliant flame, and the disengagement of a great degree of light and heat; the inside of the receiver became covered with -white light flakes, which were found to he concrete phosphoric acid. The quantity of oxygen gas employed was lb. 2 cubic inches; after the absorption there remained 23 cubic inches, of course 139 inches of gas was ab- sorbed. About 4.1 grains of phosphorus were burnt, and these combined with the oxygen formed the phosphoric acid. This experi- ment proves that, at a certain temperature oxygen has more affinity for phosphorus than it has tor caloric ; that, the phosphorus decom- poses the oxygen gas by seizing on its base ; and that the caloric passes into the surround- ing bodies, and produces in them heat. The following experiment, made on a larger scale, proves the'justness of the pre- ceding results in a manner more rigorous and exact. Take a large glass balloon, A (fig. 27), the aperture of which, E F, is about three inches in diameter, and cover the aper- ture with a plate of ground glass, pierced with two holes to receive the two tubes, y .'/ !/, v x .r, furnished with cocks. Before you cover it with the plate, introduce into it a supporter, C B, with a porcelain cup, 1), containing 1303. grains of phosphorus; and after you have closely shut the balloon, by luting on the glass plate, exhaust the balloon of air by connecting the tube ,r.i' x with an air-pump. Then weigh the whole .apparatus by a nice balance, and fill the balloon with oxygen gas by means of the tube ?/ ?/ //, con- nected with a hydro-pneumatic machine. By the help of this machine you may ascer- tain in a verv accurate manner, the quantity of oxygen gas introduced into the balloon, and tint consumed during the course of the operation. When every thing is thus arranged, kindle the phosphorus by' meads of a burning glass; the combustion will be exceedingly rapid, and accompanied with a large flame and a Vol. I. Hydrogen — strong heat. In proportion as it is effected, there is formed such a quantity’ of white flakes, which attach themselves to the inside of the vessel, that it'is soon rendered entirely opake. When the whole apparatus has cooled, and you* have ascertained the quantity of oxygen gas employed, weigh the balloon again before you open it. Then wash, dry, and weigh, the small quantity of phosphorus remaining in the cup, in-order that it may he deducted from the whole quantity of phosphorus employed in the experiment. By observing these precepts, it will be easy to determine, 1st, the weight of the phos- phorus burnt ; 2d, the weight of the oxygen gas which lias combined with the phosphor- us ; 3d, the weight of the fiakes obtained by the combustion. This experiment will give nearly the same results as the pre- ceding. It thence appears that the phosphorus, in burning, combines itself with oxygen equal to one and a half of its own weight ; and that the weight of the white flakes, or con- crete phosphoric acid, produced, is equal to the sum of the weight of the phosphorus burnt, and that of the oxygen combined with it. Fhe combination of phosphorus not oxy- genated v th Degrees of oxygenation. C l, forms oxide of phosphorus Oxygen 7 2, — phosphorous acid (, 3, — phosphoric acid i phosphuret of hydro- ' gen, or the base of 1 phosphorized hydro- ( gen gas Azote — phosphuret of azote Carbon — phosphuret of carbon Sulphur — phosphuret of sulphur t f phosphuret of iron, call- \ ed formerly siderit. Of Earths. — By analysing earths, and free- ing them from substances with which they are mixed, chemists have obtained nine simple or primitive earths, viz. lime, mag- nesia, barytes, alumina, silex, strontian, zir- conia, yttria, and glucina. Time is rarely found in a pure state ; it is contained in chalk, which may be deemed a neutral salt, being formed by the combination of lime with carbonic acid. The best process for obtaining lime in a state of purity is this: wash chalk in distilled water, brought to a state of ebullition, and then dissolve it in dis- tilled acetous acid : this acid, by combining with the lime, expels the carbonic acid, which escapes under the gaseous form ; then precipitate the lime by carbonate of ammonia, for the acetous acid’ abandons the lime, in order to combine with the ammonia, and the lime is precipitated : wash and calcine this precipitate, and the residuum will be pure lime. Lime is soluble in water, but in very small quantities ; more than BOO parts of w ater are necessary to dissolve one of it. It lias a pungent, hot, and acrid taste ; it turns blue vegetable colours green. It takes up water with avidity. When thrown into this liquid it splits, sw'dls up, acquires a larger volume, and a great heat. It dissolves in acids with- out effervescence. The borate of soda and the phosphates of urine dissolve it also. U u 337 Lime, when alone, is infusible, even though the fire may be urged by oxygen gas,, as has been proved by Lavoisier; but if combined with, acids, it forms a fusible body, for lime is a salifiable base. Of all these bases it is that most abundantly diffused throughout nature. See Li m e . Magnesia has never yet been found free= from every kind of foreign matter. To pro- cure it in the utmost degree of purity, cry- stals of the sulphate of magnesia (Epsom salt), of which it forms the base, must be dis- solved in distilled water, and decomposed by alkaline carbonates : the sulphuric acid combines with the alkalies; the magnesia with the carbonic acid, and is precipitated. I his precipitate must then be calcined, in order to disengage the carbonic acid ; and what remains wall be pme magnesia. Pure magnesia is exceedingly white, ten- der, and in appearance spongy. When per- fectly pure, it is not sensibly soluble in w ater. It excites no sensible savour on the tongue ; and in this respect it is greatly different from lime. It gives a light green colour to the tincture of turnsole. Lavoisier has proved by experiment that magnesia is as infusible as lime. See Magnesia, Barytes, or ponderous earth, has never yet been found pure and free from all com- bination. It is found under the pulverulent form, and exceedingly white. It gives a very slight tint of green to blue vegetable colours. Its specific gravity is from 4.2 to 4.3000. Analysis lias proved that 100 parts of carbonate of barytes contain 62 of barytes, 22 parts of carbonic acid, and 16 parts of water. See Barytes. Alumina or pure argil is found chiefly in the different kinds of clay, of w hich it forms the base,^ and where it is often mixed with silex. r l o obtain it very pure, sulphate of alumina (alum) must be dissolved in water, and afterw ards decomposed by alkaline car- bonates. The alkali combines with the sul- phuric acid, which then abandons the alu- mina ; anil the latter combines with the carbonic acid abandoned by the alkali. The alumina must then be freed from this acid by calcination; and after this process it will remain pure. It absorbs water with avidity, and becomes diluted in that liquid. It ad- heres strongly to the tongue. The.borate of soda and the phosphates of urine dissolve it. When exposed to heat, it becomes drv, shrinks, and cracks. By the action of the. fire it acquires so great hardness as to st rike fire with steel : it is then no longer suscep- tible of being diluted in wafer. Alumina, even when perfectly pure, is completely fu- sible in the fire, if urged by a current of oxygen gas. The result of its fus on is a vitreous, opake, and very hard substance, which scratches glass in the same manner as precious stones do. See Alum and Alu- mina. Silex, or vitrifiable earth, is almost in its state of purity in rock-crystal: but to have it perfectly pure, one part' of beautiful rock- crystal must be fused with four parts of pure alkali ; the mixture must then be dissolved in water, and precipitated by an excess of acid; the precipitate will be pure silex, which is rough and harsh to the touch ; its particles, when diluted in water, are easily precipitated. The fluoric acid dissolves silex exceedingly 338 'veil : st is also the solvent of glass. Alka- lies dissolve silex in the dry way, and with it form glass. Silex cannot be fused by a burning lens; but by exposing it to. a live, urged by oxygen gas, Lavoisier produced a commencement of fusion on its surface. See Silex. Strontian was discovered by Dr. Hope, professor of chemistry at Glasgow. It is found in the state of a carbonate, that is, combined with carbonic acid, in a vein of lead ore, at Strontian in Argyleshire, in the western part of Scotland. It has been found also combined with carbonic acid at Lead-hills, in the same country. Some of it has since been discovered at Montmartre in France, combined with sulphuric acid ; and it is found in quantities in the neighbour- hood of Bristol. ' Strontian was at first confounded with ba- rytes ; which indeed it resembles in several re- spects, though it differs from it in others. Carbonate of strontian is decomposed by the sulphuric acid, and carbonic acid is dis- engaged : the sulphate of strontian, thus ob- tained, is very little soluble in water. It dis- solves with effervescence in the nitric and muriatic acids, and carbonic acid is disen- gaged. These nitrates and muriates of stron- tian are not deliquescent, and are decompos- ed by the sulphates of lime, potash, and others. It may be deprived of its acid by calcination ; its earth is then soluble in water, but in greater quantity in boiling than in cold water, for a part of it is precipitated by cooling. The carbonate of strontian is lighter than carbonate of barytes : the specific gravity of the latter is from 42. to 43.000, that of 'the carbonate of strontian is only from 36. lo 37.000. Analysis lias proved, that 100 parts of the carbonate of strontian contain 62 parts of strontian, 30 parts of carbonic acid, and 8 parts of water. See Strontian. Zirconia is a simple earth, lately discover- ed by Klaproth, in the jargon of Ceylon, of which it is a constituent part, and even the most abundant ; for it has been found by analysis, that 100 parts of the jargon of Cey- lon contain 64 parts and a half of zirconia, 32 parts of silex, and two parts and a half of the oxide of iron. To obtain zirconia pure, it must be united to the muriatic acid, with which it forms a muriate of zirconia ; this muriate must be dissolved in a large quan- tity of water, and the zirconia must be pre- cipitated by potash : if it is carefully wash- ed, and then brought to a red heat in a cru- cible, it will be perfectly pure. Calcined zirconia has a white colour. It is rough to the touch like silex ; it has no taste, and is not soluble in water. Its specific gravity is at least 43.000 ; tlrat of distilled water being 10 . 000 . When separated from its solutions by caustic alkalies, this earth retains a pretty large quantity of water, which gives it the semi-transparency of horn ; it has then the appearance of gum-arabic, both by its slight- ly yellow colour and its fracture and trans- parency. It is susceptible of uniting with carbonic acid. It unites also with the sul- phuric and nitrous acids : alkalies, and the first six primitive earths, separate it from the latter acid. It will not alone fuse by the blowpipe ; but it fuses with the borate of soda, and gives a transparent colourless glass. Yttria is also a newly discovered earth, CHEMISTRY. and will be described under the article Yttria. Glucina is a simple earth, lately disco- vered by Vauquelin, in the aigue-marine, called the occidental. It is a white gra- nulated earth, which effervesces with acids. In 100 parts of this aigue-marine there are 14 of glucina. It is soluble in the carbonate ot ammonia, as well as in the sulphuric acid. In the latter case, the solution has at first a saccharine, and afterwards an astringent taste. Its chrystals are sweet, like the so- lution. It has some resemblance to alumi- na ; as it is soft to the touch, adheres to the tongue, is light, dissolves in potash, and is precipitated from its solution by ammonia. But it differs from alumina by its combina- tions with acids being exceedingly sweet, by giving no alum when mixed with sulphate of potash, by being entirely soluble in carbon- ate of ammonia, and by not being precipi- tated from its solutions by oxalate ot potash and tartrite of potash, as alumina is. It has been found by analysis, that 100 parts of earth contain 68 ot silex, 15 of alumina, 14 of glucina, 2 of lime, and one of the oxide of iron. Of Acids . — According to the theory of La- voisier, all acids consist of a certain base, united to oxygen, which is considered as the cause of acidity. See Acid. We are already acquainted with the bases of the sul- phuric, nitric, phosphoric, and arsenic acids ; we know that hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen, form the bases' of the vegetable acids ; and that the same substances, in combination with nitrogen, constitute the animal acids, such as prussic, &c. But we are totally un- acquainted with the bases of the muriatic, boracie; and fluoric acids. Acids are either solid, liquid, or gaseous. They excite a peculiar sensation on the palate, called sour. They change most of the blue vegetable colours red. Most of them unite to water in all proportions ; and some have so strong an attraction for it, as to be incapable of appear- ing in the solid form. All the acids combine with the alkalies. These combinations have been termed neu- tral salts. See Acid and Alkali. These salts are easily formed by art ; and nature exhibits a great number, especially of those which are formed by acids of simple radicals. Neutral salts are distinguished by two names ; one expressing the acid, and the other the alkaline base^ The first of these names may have two variations of termina- tion, corresponding to two different states of the acid in the salt. The termination ate, is employed when the acid is one of those which are completely saturated with oxygen, and whose names end in ic ; thus the salts compounded with the nitric acid, are called nitrates. Words terminating in ite, serve to distinguish the presence of those weak acids which are not fully saturated with oxy- gen, and which, when alone, have names ending in ous ; thus, nitrites are salts com- pounded with nitrous acid. For the crystalli- zation of salts, see Crystallization. All metallic substances combine with at least some of the acids. But the alkalies and earths enter into the composition of neutral salts without any uniting medium ; whereas the metals do not combine with acids, un- less they have been first more or less oxy- genated: we may therefore say, that the metals themselves are not soluble in acids, but only the metallic oxyds. When a metal- lic substance is put into an add, the first requisite, in order that it may dissolve, is, that it become oxydated in it. 1’or this purpose, it must take up oxygen, either from the acid, or from the water with which the acid is diluted ; the oxygen then must have more affinity for the metal than it has either for the hydrogen or for the base of the acid ; and consequently a decomposition, either of the water or of the acids, must take place. On these observations the explanation of the principal phenomena of metallic solutions depend. In metallic solutions, an efferves- cence, or disengagement of gas, often takes place. The gas disengaged by nitric acid, is nitrous gas ; that disengaged by sulphuric acid, is sulphurous ackl gas, if it be this acid that has furnished the oxygen ; but it is hydrogen gas, if the oxygen lias been fur- nished by the water. Nitric acid and wa- ter being composed of substances which, taken separately, exist only in the state of gases, as soon as they are deprived of their oxygen, the other principle assumes the gaseous form. It is this rapid passage from the liquid to the gaseous state, that consti- • tutes effervescence, ihe case is the same with the sulphuric acid. In general, the metals do not take from these acids all their oxygen ; they do not reduce the one to azote, and the other to sulphur, but to nitrous gas and sulphurous acid. Metallic substances dissolve without effervescence, when they have been previ- ously oxidated ; for in that case, the metal no longer has a tendency to decompose either the acid or the water. There is there- fore no disengagement of gas, and conse- quently no effervescence. No metal dissolves with effervescence in. oxygenated muriatic acid. In this case, the metal takes from the acid its excess of oxy- gen ; and the result is a metallic oxyd, and simple muriatic acid. 'I 'here is no efferves- cence, because there is no disengagement of gas. Metals which have very little affinity for oxygen, and which have not the power to decompose either the acid or the water, are insoluble in acids, unless they have been first oxydated. For this reason, silver, mercury, and lead, are not soluble in muriatic acid, when exposed to it in their metallic state; but if previously oxydated, they are exceed- ingly soluble, and the solution takes place, without effervescence. The following is a table of the acids hitherto known: Mineral acids. Sulphurous, Oxygenated muriatic. Sulphuric, llyper-oxygenated muriatic. Nitrous, Carbonic, Nitric, Fluoric, Muriatic, Boracic, Mellitic. Metallic acids. Arsenious, Molybdic, Arsenic, Chromic, Tungstic, Columbia. Vegetable acids. Acetic, Benzoic, M alic. Camphoric, Oxalic, Gallic, < 'itrie. Succinic, Tartaric, Suberic. Animal acids. Phosphorous, Lactic, Phosphoric, Saceho-lactic, Scbacic, Prussic. Laccic. Of sulphurous acid .— This is sulphur com- bined with oxygen, but not to saturation. It is the sulphurous acid gas when absorbed by water. The salts formed by the combination ot this acid with different bases, are called sulphites; they are not employed for any useful purpose ; they are converted into sul- phates by heat. Of sulphuric acid . — Sulphuric acid, for- merly called spirit or oil of vitriol, is formed by the combination of sulphur, which is its base, and oxygen. It is obtained when the combustion ot sulphur is carried on very slowly with access of atmospheric air; but it is produced with more facility by the addi- tion of saltpetre, now called nitrate of potash, which furnishes oxygen abundantly, and enables the- combustion to go on more ra- pidly. In operations of this kind, on a large scale, the mixture of sulphur and saltpetre is burnt in large chambers, the sides of which are cased with plates of lead, and water is placed on the Hour, to collect the sulphuric vapours. The water is afterwards put into large re- torts, and distilled by a moderate heat ; wa- ter slightly acid passes over, and concentrated sulphuric acid remains in the retort. This acid suffers congelation by intense cold ; it is unctuous to the touch, attracts moisture from the atmosphere with great avidity, and, when mixed with water, produces a heat above that of boiling water. It acts rapidly on all inflammable substances, rendering them black, the acid itself becoming brown, or even black- ish. It combines with nitrous acid, and forms a compound which dissolves silver, but scarcely any other metal. Sulphates are neutral salts, formed by the sulphuric acid with certain bases. Thus, sulphate of potash, formerly called vitriolated tartar, is produced by the combination of the sulphuric acid and potash. Sulphate of soda, formerly called Glauber’s salt, is formed by the combination of soda with the sulphuric acid. It is found fre- quently in mineral waters. See Sulphur. A il rous acid . — Nitrous acid exists in the state of gas, in the form of a red vapour ; it is nitrous gas combined with a limited quantity ot oxygen: it is rapidly absorbed by water, and, when combined with it, is of a yellow or orange colour. It emits copious orange-co- loured or red fumes. Different quantities of water convert its colour to a deep blue, green, yellow, &c. while the vapours still continue of their original yellowish-red co- lour. Liquid nitrous acid, generally called spirit of nitre in the shops, is only nitric acid (to be afterwards described), holding in solution a quantity of nitrous gas. If this nitrous acid is heated, the nitrous gas is disengaged, which coming into the air, attracts oxygen, and becomes nitrous acid gas, appearing in the form of red fumes, and {he liquid is con- verted into colourless nitric acid. The following is the process made use of ■for procuring nitrous acid: Take a quantity CHEMISTRY. of sulphate of iron (martial vitriol), deprived of its water of crystallization by heat, and mix with it an equal weight of dry nitrate of pot- ash; put the mixture into a glass retort, to which a very spacious receiver has been luted, containing a little water, and begin to distil with a very slow tire. As soon as the red va- pours cease to come over, let the fire be slackened; arid when the vessels are cooled, the receivermust be cautiously withdrawn, and its contents quickly transferred through a glass funnel into a bottle furnished with a ground stopper. It may also be obtained by decom- posing nitrate of potash, by means of sulphu- ric acid, with the assistance of heat. The nitrites are very little known. Of nitric acid . — The constituent principles of this acid are oxygen and nitrogen (or azote). It differs from the last-mentioned acid, only in not having any nitrous gas in a loosely com- bined state. 'Oxygen and nitrogen with ca- loric, form nitrous gas, which, with a greater quantity of oxygen, forms nitric acid. Nitric acid is transparent, liquid, and co- lourless; when diluted with water, it Is sold m tiie shops by the name of aqua-fortis. It possesses in an eminent degree all the pro- perties of acids. It is capable of oxydating ! all the metals, except gold and platiua. It j thickens and blackens oils, converting them to a coal, or inflaming them, according to the nature of the oil and the degree of con- centration of the acid. It is procured by re- distilling nitrous acid, or at least heating it till it is deprived of its fumes. The combi- nations of nitric acid with different bases, are called nitrates. 1 liese salts have the proper- ty of detonating with, or inflaming charcoal, and other easily inflammable bodies, at a red heat It is upon this property that the com- position of gunpowder is founded, which con- sists of five parts of nitrate of potash, one of charcoal, and one of sulphur. Nitrate of potash, nitre, or saltpetre, is formed by the combination of the nitric acid with potash. It is produced spontaneously m various situations, sometimes efflorescing on the surface of the earth, and on the walls of old buildings. It may be artificially pro- duced by the putrefaction of animal and ve- getable substances ; light earths, such as lime and marl, ashes, the refuse of soap-manufac- tures, &c. being stratified for this purpose with straw, dung, and putrifying animal and vegetable substances, and wetted with urine, blood, dunghill-water, and the mother-waters of saltpetre, turned, and exposed to a cur- rent of air. It is formed in these processes by the extrication of nitrogen, by the decom- position of the animal and vegetable sub- stances, which combines with the oxygen of the atmosphere, forming nitric acicl ; and this, uniting with the alkali, which is sepa- rated at the same time from these substances, forms the nitrate of potash. See Nitre. Nitrate of lime, formerly termed nitrous selenite, is found adhering to, and embodied in, calcareous stone, and dissolved in various mineral springs. It is formed near inhabited places, and is yielded by the lixiviation of old plaister, and by the mother-waters of salt- petre, as they are termed by the manufac- turers. It may be frequently observed as an efflorescence upon old damp walls. Of muriatic acid . — Muriatic acid, formerly termed marine acid, or acid of sea-salt, is supposed to consist of oxygen, in combing- UuT 339 tion with a peculiar but hitherto unknown basis ; for it has never yet been decomposed. It exists in the gaseous state, and forms mu- riatic acid gas, which has been considered already. This, absorbed by water, consti- tutes liquid muriatic acid. ' The muriatic acid is dill used in great abundance through- out the mineral "kingdom, and is united chiefly with soda, lime, and magnesia; it is found with these three bases in sea-water, and in that ot several lakes. In mines of rock-salt it is for the most part united with soda. Ihe muriatic acid does not adhere very strongly to the earths and alkalies. The sulphuric acid is capable of separating it from them ; and it is by means of this acid that chemists obtain the muriatic. Experiment. Put eight parts of purified muriate of soda, reduced to fine powder, into the retort A (fig. 23.), and five parts of sulphuric acid diluted with a small quantity ot water. Adapt to the retort the matrass C, to receive the portion of impure sulphuric and muriatic acid which passes over towards the end of the operation. I), E, and F, are a series of bottles in which water is put, the quantity of which is equal to the weight of the salt employed. These bottles arc fur- nished with safety-tubes, G G. T he joinings must be well luted, and the heat gradually increased^ till nothing more can be disen- gaged. The muriatic acid will pass over in the state of gas, and unite itself in a large proportion with the water in the receiver. } he water thus saturated is muriatic acid. It: is a colourless fluid. It emits copious white fumes in contact with moist atmospheric air, which is muriatic acid gas, that escapes from it, and condenses again, by combining with the humidity of the air. Its combinations with earths, alkalies, and metals, form muriates. Muriate of potash, the febrifuge salt of Sylvius, is formed by the combination of mu- riatic acid with potash. It is found in sea- water and old plaister.. It lias a strong bitter disagreeable taste. Muriate of soda, marine salt, common salt, is formed by the combination of muri- atic acid with socla. It is found native in " luies > ^ many places, but particularly in Roland and Hungary. It is also obtained by extracting it iron, sea-water by evaporation”, &c. It is always, contaminated by a quantity ot muriate of magnesia, muriate of lime, and sometimes by the sulphate of lime. It occa- sions clay to fuse readily, and is employed in glazing earthenware. It assists the fusion oi glass also. It lias a penetrating pleasant taste, decrepitates 011 hot coals, and by great heat is volatilized. Muriate of ammonia, or sal ammoniac, is formed by the combination of the muriatic acid with ammonia, and is found native in manv parts, particularly in the neighbour- hood ot volcanoes. It is obtained artificially by sublimation, from the soot formed by the combustion of the excrements of animals which feed on saline plants. Muriate of lime is found in mineral waters but particularly in the waters of the Sea , * which u contributes to give their bitter taste It speedily dehouesces. It fuses with a U)0 1 derate heat, and by calcination becomes the phosphorus of Hombeig. tUc Muriate of barytes is not known to exist native. 1 he sulphuric and fluoric acid do CHEMISTRY. 340 compose it very readily ; hence this salt is highly useful to detect the presence of these acids in any mixture. Of oxygenated in uriatic acid. — Oxygenated muriatic acid is muriatic acid with an excess of oxygen. By this, however, the acid pro- perties of the muriatic acid are not increased, as is the case with other acids, but, on the contrary, diminished. In the state of gas, when absorbed by water, it forms liquid oxy- genated muriatic acid, which, in a liquid form, is of a greenish -yellow colour. It has a bitter taste, and a very suffocating odour. Instead of reddening blue vegetable colours, it has the remarkable property of destroying them entirely. It thickens oils and animal fats, and renders them less disposed to com- bine with alkalies. It is readily obtained by the distillation of muriatic acid with sub- stances containing much oxygen, such as the oxyds of metals, particularly the native oxyd of manganese. When it is exposed to the light, oxygen gas is separated, and the acid is reduced to the state of ordinary muriatic acid. It re- moves the stain of common ink, though it does not affect printers’ ink. It is therefore used for cleaning old books and prints. Half an mince of minium being added to three ounces ot muriatic acid, will render it fit for this purpose. The muriatic acid, taking oxygen from the minium, or red oxyd of lead, is converted into oxygenated muriatic acid. Nitro-muriatic acid, called formerly aqua regia, is an acid analogous to oxygenated muriatic acid. it is produced by adding muriatic acid to nitric acid, in the proportion of one part of the former to two of the latter. During this combination an effervescence takes place, heat is set free, and oxygenated muriatic acid gas is evolved ; the action may be assisted by the application of heat. The mixture becomes yellow. This acid has the properly of dissolving gold and platina, which cannot be acted upon by any other acid ; for the muriatic acid attracts part of the oxygen of the nitric acid, being thus converted partly into nitrous acid and partly into nitrous gas, whilst the muriatic acid becomes converted by this addition of oxygen into oxygenated muriatic acid, or nitro-muriatic acid. The same combination may be produced by mix- ing together oxygenated muriatic acid and nitrous gas. Oxygenated muriatic acid may be combined with a great number of the sali- fiable bases; the salts which it forms detonate with carbon and with several metallic sub- stances. These detonations are exceedingly dangerous, because the oxygen entering into the muriatic acid, with a large quantity of caloric, its expansion gives rise to violent explosions. Oxygenated muriate of potash is made by introducing the oxygenated muriatic gas into a solution of potash ; its crystals, as well as those of the common muriate, being form- ed on evaporation in the dark. It gives a faint taste, with a sensation of coldness in the mouth; the crystals have somewhat of a sil- very appearance, and emit light by attri- tion. It is decomposed by the action of light, parting with its oxygen, and becoming simple muriate of potash. Heat also sepa- rates its oxygen from it, in the form of oxy- gen gas, 100 grains yielding 75 cubic inches of oxygen gas. When three parts of oxy- genated muriate of potash, and one of sul- phur, are triturated in a mortar, the mixture detonates violently. The same effect is pro- duced when the mixture is struck with a hammer on an anvil. Phosphorus detonates with oxygenated muriate of potash with a prodigious force. Similar effects are produced with other in- flammable substances, or with metallic bo- dies. The oxygenated muriate of potash increases the blackness of ink; and the co- lours of log-wood, weld, cochineal, and ar- chil, are improved by it, if no heat is em- ployed. When employed in the composition of gunpowder, instead of nitre, the effects produced by its ignition are augmented in a very great degree, and the mixture will ex- plode by mere trituration. In tliis and other salts formed in the same way, the acid gets a still greater dose of oxy- gen, and is denominated hyper-oxymuriatic acid ; but it cannot be separately exhibited. Of carbonic acid . — This acid, already no- ticed under carbonic acid gas, exists in the gaseous state; and in combination with differ- ent bases if constitutes carbonates. Carbonate of potash, formerly called mild vegetable alkali, is made by exposing a solu- tion of alkali to the carbonic acid gas until saturated. It has now less of the urinous taste, but still changes the blue colour of violets to a green. It does not attract mois- ture from the air, but rather parts with its water of crystallization. By exposure to heat it loses its acid, is rendered pure alkali, and is capable of uniting with siiex, and forming glass. It is decomposed by quick- lime, and by all the acids. Carbonate of soda was formerly termed mild mineral alkali. It is decomposed by quick-lime, by the acids, and by lire, in the same manner as the former carbonate. Carbonate of ammonia, or concrete vola- tile alkali, may be obtained from many ani- mal substances, but it is not found naturally ✓ It is formed by the combination of carbonic acid with ammonia. When the muriate of ammonia is heated with carbonate of lime, the products are muriate of lime and carbo- nate of ammonia, which lattef sublimes in a solid form. Carbonate of lime, called also mild calca- reous earth, chalk, &c. is formed by the com- bination of carbonic acid and lime. It has not been crystallized by art, although found variously crystallized in its native state. By intense heat the acid is disengaged, and pure lime remains. It is decomposed by almost all the acids, their superior degree of attrac- tion for lime forming other calcareous salts, the carbonic acid escaping in a gaseous form, and occasioning effervescence. Carbonate of barytes has no taste, is not altered in the air, is almost insoluble in water, but is decomposed by heat and by ail the acids. It is poisonous. Carbonate of magnesia, or the common magnesia of the shops, is obtained by preci- pitation from the sulphate of magnesia. It is soluble in water in the proportion of seve- ral grains to an ounce. It loses its water and acid by calcination, the residue being pure magnesia, sometimes called calcined mag- nesia. See Carbon. Of fluoric acid . — The composition of this acid is unknown. In a gaseous state it forms fluoric acid gas ; united to water, it constitutes liquid fluoric acid. It exists completely form- ed in fluate of lime, known under the name of floor, or Derbyshire spar. It is combined in it with calcareous earth, forming an inso- luble salt. To obtain this acid alone, and separated from its base, put fluorspar into a leaden retort, and pour over it sulphuric acid ; adapt a leaden receiver to the retort, half-filled with water, and expose the retort to a gentle heat. The sulphuric acid seizes ou the basis of the spar, and forms with it sulphate of lime ; and the fluoric acid passes over in the state of gas, and is absorbed by the water in tin* receiver. If it is received in a mercurial apparatus, it will pass over in the state. of gas. The distinguishing property of the fluoric acid is its power of dissolving siiex. Its odour resembles muriatic acid. When exposed to moist atmospheric air, it emits white fumes. Its action upon all inflammable substances is very feeble ; it does not afford oxygen to them. It has no action upon most of the metals, but it dissolves many of their oxyds. ft must be kept in well-closed leaden or tin bottles, or glass phials, coated within with wax or varnish. It is employed for etching on glass. See Fluor. Of boracic acid . — The boracic acid, before known under the name of Homberg’s sedative salt, is a concrete acid extracted from borax, a salt brought from 1 ndia. Its base is unknown . It exists in brilliant, glittering, white scales, soft, and unctuous to the touch. Its taste is bitterish, with a slight acidity. When mixed with burning 'spirit of wine, it causes a green, surrounded with a white flame. To extract boracic acid from borax, the latter must be dissolved in boiling water; the liquor is then to be filtred while very warm, and sulphuric acid poured into it : this acid seizes on the soda of the borax ; and the boracic acid, being separated, becomes free. By cooling it may be obtained under a crystallized form. Borate of soda, or borax, is formed by the combination of the boracic acid with soda. It is found in a crystallized state at the bot- tom of certain salt-lakes, in a barren volcanic ciistrict of the kingdom of '1 hibet. A still purer kind comes from China. It is obtained in a pure state by a second crystallization, being previously calcined to destroy the greasy matter. When purified, it is white and transparent. It has a cooling taste, and renders the blue vegetable infusions green. Exposed to a moderate heat, it melts with its water of crystallization ; and is reduced into a white opaque light mass, when it is commonly called calcined borax. It serves as a flux to vitrifiable earths ; it also vitrifies clay, but less completely. It is employed in forming reducing fluxes ; and it may also be used in producing the fusion of glass. In soldering metals, it is highly useful, cleansing the surface of the metal, and assisting the fusion of the solder. See Borax. . Ofmellitic acid . — A yellow mineral some- what resembling amber, found at Arten m Thuringen, has been found by Klaproth and Vauquelin to consist of alumina combined with a peculiar acid, which (from tnellite the name of the mineral) is called the mellitic acid. It is crystaHizable , soluble in water, decomposable by heat, and forms with the salifiable bases peculiar salts called mellats. Of arsenious acid . — Formerly chemists were embarrassed with the nature of the poi- sonous substance known in commerce by the name of white arsenic. Experiments have shewn that this substance is the metal arsenic,. CHEMISTRY. 341 oxygenated in the first degree. It is there- fore called arsenious acid. It possesses a weak acid taste ; it sensibly reddens tbe tinc- ture of litmus. If placed on burning coals, or on a red-hot iron, it is volatilized in the form of a white vapour, which has a strong smell resembling garlic. It is in a small degree soluble in water. The white arsenic of tire shops is chiefly obtained from arsenical ores of cobalt. These are thrown into a fur- nace resembling a baker’s oven, with a long flue, or chimney, into which the fumes pass, and are condensed into a greyish powder. This is refined by a. second sublimation in close vessels, with a little alkali. As the heat is considerable, it melts- the sublimed arsenic into opaque crystalline masses, which are known in commerce by the name ot white arsenic. Of arsenic acid . — Arsenic acid is produced only bv art. It appears in the form ol a white pulverulent matter. All the prepa- rations of arsenic are deadly poison ; the hydro-sulphurets are the best antidotes. A weak solution of hydro-sulphuret of potash, soda, or lime, is therefore often administered with sue ess, if given in time, to persons who have been poisoned by arsenic. Sulphureous mineral waters may also be given. In such cases oil, milk, butter, &c. which are too often resorted to, should never be employed, if a sulphuret, or hydro-sulphuret, can possi- bly be procured. Of tungstic acid . — This acid does not exist in an uncombined state in nature. It is procured from a mineral called tungsten, which is a combination of this acid with lime (tungstate of Lime), or from wolfram, which is this acid united to iron and manga- nese; It appears in a pulverulent form, harsh to tire touch. It is tasteless, and in- soluble in water. It is not capable of turn- ing blue vegetable colours red, until it has been first rendered soluble by ammonia. It is of a yellow colour, which becomes blue on being exposed to the light. Of rnoh/bdic acid.— We are indebted to Mr. Hatchett for a thorough knowledge of the properties of this acid, and of all its com- binations. It is molybdena oxygenated ; for this metal is susceptible of oxygenation to such a degree as to become a concrete acid. It is soluble in about 570 parts of water. The solution reddens tincture ot litmus. It is not applied to an\ use. Of chromic acid .— This acid is very little known. In nature it is found combined with oxvd of lead, in the mineral called chromate of 'lead, or the red-lead of Siberia; also united to iron, alumina, and silex, in the sub- stance called chromate of iron. Of cohunbic acid . — r l his acid is as little known as the last. It is found in the newly discovered ore called columbium, or colum- bat of iron. Of acetous acid. —This acid exists, mixed with other substances, in common vinegar. Since, this acid is very volatile, it is obtained pure by distilling vinegar in a sand-heat. It is also called distilled vinegar, and is perfectly colourless, and of a pleasant sour taste and odour. Its base is carbon and hydrogen ; the addition of oxygen forms acetous acid. 1 he same principles form the bases of the other vegetable acids, but in different proportions. ’The acetites of potash and soda, are ob- tained by neutralizing the carbonates of these alkalis with acetous acid, and evaporating and crystallizing lire solution. . It was formerly supposed, that when deprived of -part of its carbon, it formed another state or the acid, i which was called acetic acid : but il has been | shewn by (Iren, that there exists but onefistate of the acid, and what was called acetic acid differed only in the degree of concentration. Of malic acid. — ■'This acid is found in the juice of unripe apples, and other fruits, and is procured by saturating the juice ot apples with potash., and adding a solution ot acetite of lead till it no longer occasions a precipi- tate ; wash this precipitate, which is malate of lead ; pour over it sulphuric acid until the liquor acquires an acid taste without any mix- ! tore of sweetness, and fibre the whole in j order to separate the malic acid from the j sulphate of lead which is formed. I Of oxalic acid. — Oxalic acid, formerly called the acid of sugar, is prepared from sugar by treating it with nitric acid. It has a stronger attraction for lime than any other acid. It is therefore employed to discover the presence of lime in any solution. It is always concrete. It forms with alkalis, earths, and metals, salts called oxalates. Of citric acid. — Citric acid is found in the juice of lemons and oranges, unripe grapes, and other sour fruits. It crystallizes, and when concrete is not changed by the air. It dissolves in water, and has a very pleasant acid taste. • It is used for a variety of pur- poses, and of late extensively in the art ot calico-printing. Of tartaric acid. — The tartar found ad- hering to casks in which wine has been fer- mented, is a salt composed of a peculiar acid combined with potash, but in such a manner, that the acid is in considerable excess. The salt is known under the name of acidulous tartrat of potash, and the acid which enters into its composition is the tartaric acid. This may be obtained by dissolving two pounds of crystals of tartar in water, and throwing in chalk by degrees, until the liquid is saturated. A precipitate forms, which is tartrite of lime. By adding nine ounces of sulphuric acid, and five ounces of water, to this tartrite, and digesting them together for twelve hours, the tartaric acid is set at li- berty, and mav be cleared from the sulphate of lime by means of cold water. The acidu- lous tartrat of potash, or cream of tartar, is formed from crude tartar, by solution, and subsequent filtration and evaporation. See Tartar. Of benzoic acid. — -This acid is obtained by sublimation from the resin called benzoin, and exists in the balsam of Peru and that of Tolu, and some other substances ot this kind. It is also found in urine, and many animal substances. See Benzoin. Of camphoric acid. — The camphoric acid is camphor oxygenated to acidity, by boiling it with nitric acid. This acid exists in the form of white crystals, which effloresce in the air. Its taste is acid and bitter. It reddens blue vegetables. See Camphor. Of gallic acid. — 'Phis acid is found in the gall-nuts, bark of trees, and in all those vege- tables called astringents. Its taste is sour and astringent. It reddens vegetable blues. It crystallizes. It has a strong tendency to unite with metallic oxyds. It forms with the several metals precipitates of different co- lours. With gold, it forms a brown precipi- j tate; with silver, grey ; mercury, an orange; copper, a brown ; lead, a white ; and iron, a black precipitate. The base ot ink is iron, thus precipitated; one pound of powdered nutgalls being infused for four hours, without boiling, in common water, with six ounces of gum-arabic, and six ounces of sulphate of iron, or green copperas, good black ink is produced. To obtain gallic acid, dissolve two ounces of common alum in water, and precipitate the solution by letting fall into it a solution of potash ; wash the precipitate well, and transfer it into a decoc ion of goll- nuls (obtained by infusing one ounce of gall-nuts in sixteen of water, and evaporating the liquor to one-half), agitate the mixture frequently during the course of 24 hours, and then nitre it. The fluid which passes through the liltre is gallic acid ; which may be obtained in the form ot needle-shaped crystals, by evaporating it slowly till a pel- licle appears, and then letting it stand undis- turbed. Of succinic acid. — This acid is obtained by distillation from amber, and is therefore called also acid of amber. It is very soluble in hot water, anti crystallizes by cooling. See Amber. Suberic acid. — This acid is obtained by the action of nitric acid on cork. It reddens vegetable blues, and has the peculiar pro- perty of turning the blue solution of indigo m sulphuric acid to green. Phosphorous acid. — When phosphorus is burnt slowly, and does not become com- pletely saturated with oxygen, it forms an acid, called phosphorous acid. It is liquid, transparent, and of considerable density. It has an unpleasant taste, and emits a disagree- able odour when rubbed, and especially when warmed. It is more volatile than phos- phoric acid. Of phosphoric acid. — Phosphorus satu- rated with oxygen, forms phosphoric acid, which is capable of existing in a dry state. It dissolves in water, and affords a transpa- rent fluid void of odour. When exposed to heat, it is rendered viscous, and by degrees becomes consistent, and loses its transpa- rency. When urged by a violent heat, it melts into a transparent glass, which again attracts moisture when expo ;ed to the air, and becomes converted into liquid phos- phoric acid. When melted in an earthen crucible, it acts upon the crucible, and fuses into a glass, which is not soluble in water, and exhibits no signs ot acidity. It has a strong attraction for all the alkalis and earths. T his acid is obtained from bones, , which are chiefly phosphate of lime. It may also be obtained by th • rapid combustion of phosphorus in oxygen. See Phosphorus. Sebucic acid, called the acid of fat, is ob- tained from the fat of animals. It is con- crete, and soluble in water. It is sour, and without odour. Laccic acid has been discovered by Dr. Pearson, in a substance called white lac, formed by certain insects of the coccus tribe. By exposing this substance to such a degree of heat as was just sufficient to liquefy it, a fluid was obtained, to which the doctor lias given the name ot laccic acid. Lactic acid is found in the whey of milk. It is concrete, and liquefies in the air. It is sour, and oxydates the metals. Succho-luctic acid, was discovered by 342 Schcelo, who obtained it by treating sugar of milk with nitric acid. It is also obtained by treating gupi-arabic with nitric acid. Of prussic acid. — 1 he prussic acid is formed by exposing the horns, hoofs, or dried blood of animals, with an equal quan- tity ol fixed alkali, to a red heat. The al- kali is found to be neutralised by the acid thus formed, and, on evaporation, will yield a salt in crystals, which is then called prussi- ate of potash or of soda, according to the alkali which has been employed. The prus- siates of alkali precipitate all metals from their solution; the alkali uniting with the acid which holds the metal in solution, whilst the prussic acid unites with the metallic oxyd, and communicates to it a peculiar colour. r l hus gold is precipitated of a yellow colour, lead ot a white, copper of a brownish-red, and iron of a dark blue, forming a prussiate of iron, or the substance called Prussian blue. From this substance the prussic acid may be again separated, by digestion with pure alkali, the prussiate of alkali being again formed, and the iron left in the state of a brown oxyd. This acid has a sour taste and suffocating smell, but, except its capacity of combining with alkalis and metals, it mani- fests no conspicuous acid properties. It does not redden the most delicate vegetable blues. For 'the remainder of the compounds formed by the acids with the salifiable bases, see tiie Tables. Of metals . — Among the most useful sub- stances in nature, are the metals. Many of the mechanic arts depend upon them"; and without a knowledge of them, perhaps mankind would never have attained their present degree of civilization. Their use is still unknown to many nations inhabiting the numerous islands of the South Sea. They are seldom met with in the earth in a native or pure state, but generally in combination with oxygen, sulphur, arsenic, and the acids. In their different states of combination, they are said to lie mineralized, and they are then .called ores. The ores of metals are generally found ip mountainous countries, chiefly in crevices of rocks, forming veins of ore ; which are distin- guished' into level, inclined, direct, or ob- lique, according to the angle they make with the horizon. The part of the rock resting on the vein, is called the roof, and that on which the vein rests, the bed of tiie vein. Tlie cavities made in the earth, in order to extract these ores, are called mines. The metallic matter of ores is generally incrusted, and intermingled with some earthy sub- stance, different from the rock in which the vein is situated, which is termed its matrix. This, however, ought not to be confounded with the mineralizing substance with which the metal is combined, such as sulphur, ike. The art or distinguishing ores from each other, and the method of describing them with accuracy and precision, are called Mine- ralogy. The art of assaying or analysing them, in order to ascertain the component parts, forms a branch of chemistry, called the Doci- mastic art. See Assa ying. To procure the pure metal from the ore, it is first cleared as much as possible from the foreign or stony substances with which it is Wended, and which are called the gangue, by . CHEMISTRY. first reducing the ore to powder, in which state it is called slich, and then by washing. R is then ton ified, or roasted, to dissipate the sulphur and arsenic; and lastly fused by the addition ot some flux containing the coaly principle, to disengage the oxygen with which the metal lias been Impregnated dur- ing the previous calcination or torrefactiou. Metals are distinguished from all other bodies by a peculiar brilliancy, which is term- ed metallic lustre, and by their weight, or specific gravity; the heaviest fossil, not me- tallic, being lighter than the lightest metal. I hev any also distinguished by their mal- leability, or their property of being extended under the hammer, and’ their ductility, or the property of being drawn into wire : though these two qualities are not possessed by all the metals. They are fusible by a suf- ficient degree ot heat, and when suffered to cool gradually, they crystallize into regular fi- gures. (See Crystallization.) If continued in fusion, they lose their brilliancy, and be- come an opaque powder, or metallic oxyd, acquiring weight, and absorbing a certain por- tion of oxygen during the transition. This process was formerly called calcination ; it is now called oxydation. The pure metal it- self was formerly known by the name of re- gains; as the regains of tin, of gold, &c. 1 bat metals are calcined or oxydated in consequence of their absorbing oxygen, is proved by this process taking place only when oxygen is present, and by their giving it out in exactly the same quantity and pro portion on their reduction to. their metallic state. They undergo this process also from the action of humidity. The water is de- composed, its hydrogen being dissipated, whilst its oxygen unites with the metal. They are soluble in acids, and are precipi- tated from them by alkalis. Some of the acids are decomposed during their combi- nation with metals ; their oxygen combining with the metal, forming a metallic oxyd, which is then dissolved by the remainder of the acid, and forms a metallic salt. When perfectly fused, they are for the most part miscible, or combinable with each other, or with unmetallic substances, as sul- phur, phosphorus, and charcoal If urged by a stronger heat, they are converted into a vi triform substance, or metallic glass. These metallic glasses, as well as the oxyds, pos- sess other properties than their reguli. They are of different colours: and the metallic oxyds tinge the earthy and saline glasses with which they vitrify, with various colours conformably to the difference of their own nature. They do this frequently, even when added in but smaLl quantity. Such metallic oxyds as do not themselves yield a trans- parent glass, may deprive another of its transparency if fused with it. On the com- bination of other glasses with the metallic ones, and on the colouring of the first by means of the latter, depends the preparation of artificial gems and glass pastes, the pig- -ments for enamel and porcelain-painting, the enamel itself, and the glazings for earth- enware. 'Fhe operation by which metallic glasses and oxyds are restored to the reguline form, is called the reduction or reviving of metals. In their reduction from the oxyds and glasses, the addition of a combustible sub- stance is always necessary ; charcoal, for instance, or such matters as contain carbon ; as soap, pitch, resin, fat, and oil. In the smelting-works, the fuel itself is employed as a means of reduction, by fusing the metal interspersed among the coals. Some metals, as iron and platinum, grow soft before they fuse, and on this depends their very useful property of being welded. Metals are the best conductors of elec- tricity and galvanism. Oj platinum . — Platinum is found only in a metallic form in small grains. It was un- known in Europe before tiie year 1748. ' It is brought from South America. It is the heaviest, hardest, and most infusible, of all the metals. It is ductile, and may be ham- mered into plates, or drawn into’ wire. It may r be welded together in a white heat, is unalterable in the air, and is on this account found a very valuable material for making specula, or reflecting mirrors for telescopes. No acid acts upon it, except the nitro-muri- atic. It is ot a white colour, between that of silver and tin. 1 he process which is generally used for obtaining malleable platinum, is as follows : 1 riturate common platinum (which is gene- raiiy in grains) with water, to wash off every contaminating matter that water can carry away. Mix the platinum with about one-filth pait white arsenic, and one fifteenth jiart pot- ash, putting the whole into a proper crucible in the following manner: having well healed the crucible, put in one-third of the mixture; apply to this a strong heat, and add one-third more; after a renewed application of heat, throw in the last portion. After a thorough fu- sion of the whole, cool and break the mass, ruse it a second time, and if necessary, even a third time, till it comes to be magnetic. Break itinto small pieces, and melt those pieces in separate crucibles; and in portions of a pound and a half of the platinum to each crucible, with an equal quantity of arsenious acid, and halt a pound of potash. After cooling the contents of the different crucibles in an hori- zontal position, in order to have them throughout of equal thickness, heat them under a m uflle, to volatilize the arsenious acid ; and keep them in this state without increase of heat, for the space of six hours. Heat them next in common oil, til! the oil shall have evaporated to dryness, d hen immerse them in nitric acid, boil them in water, heat them to redness in a crucible, and hammer them into a dense mass. They are now fit to be heated in a naked fire, and hammered into bars for use. Platinum is generally mixed with iron, and therefore it is magnetic. It forms alloys with most of the metals. That with copper is the most useful ; it takes a fine polish, and does not tarnish. See Platinum. OJ gold. Gold is always found in na ture in a metallic state. It is generally met with in grains, called gold-dust, mixed with the sand of rivers ; being carried away by them, from the rocks and mountains, wlieie itis found in leaves or ramifications, adhering to quartz, and other stones. Itis found chiefly in Africa and Hungary; and some has been discovered lately in the county ot \\ ickiow, in Ireland, where the largest piece of native gold hitherto seen was found. Its weight was 22 ounces, and it was almost pure. Small quantities of gold have been found in a vast variety of sub- stances. Indeed, in very minute quanti- CHEMISTRY. 343 ties it is frequently met with ; and from this circumstance, and from its being found after chemical processes where none was ever ex*- pected, many of the supposed formations of gold by the alchymists have taken their ori- gin. It has been obtained from rotten ma- nure, garden-mould, uncultivated earth, and from vegetables. It is of a rich yellow colour; and is the heaviest ot the metals, except platinum. It is not very hard when pure. It is the most | ductile of all the metals. Gold-leaf transmits light of a lively green colour ; but silver, {copper, and all the rest of the metals which [can be formed into leaves, are perfectly ; opaque, being much thicker. Gold melts at • 32 degrees of Wedgewood’s pyrometer, and is volatilized by an intense heat, such as that I of a mirror or 'lens. It cannot be oxy dated • by any heat of a furnace, but may by elec- I tricity and galvanism. | Gold is not acted upon by any acid, except j the oxygenated muriatic, or mtro-muriatic acids, which latter was called from this aqua | rcgia, because gold was named by the alehy- j mists the king ot the metals. This solution of gold, called nitro-muriate of gold, yields by evaporation crystals of a beautiful yellow ; colour, which, when dissolved in water, tinge j the skin indelibly of a deep purple. When precipitated from this solution by tin, it forms \ the purple precipitate of Cassius, so much used in enamelling. This consisls of an oxyd j of gold, mixed with an oxyd of tin. if, into j a solution ot gold, a piece of charcoal is | put, and exposed to the sun’s rays, the gold I "dll be revived, and appear in" a metallic I state on the charcoal, forming a .kind of gild- ing. Gold maybe taken from its solution by i; aether, which then retains it in solution, form- j ing an tuthereal solution of gold. If any sub- stance is dipped in the nitro-muriate of gold, |;and then exposed to a stream of hydrogen l the gold will be reduced, and the snb- stance covered with it. When ammonia is J added to a solution of gold, a yellow precipi- tate is formed, called fulminating gold, be- ! cause it has the property of exploding when j exposed to heat. Gold is precipitated from its solution in a metallic state by green sulphate of iron. Gold easily alloys with mercury, which is therefore : employed for the purpose of extracting it from the substances with which it is mixed. The mercury, being more volatile, is driven off by heat, and the gold remains free. With silver it forms an alloy' of considerable ducti- lity. Copper heightens its colour, and ren- ders it harder without much impairing its ductility. Tin and lead considerably impair its tenacity. With platinum it forms an alloy i which is vety ductile. With zinc it affords a brittle and hard mixture, susceptible of po- lish. It unites well with iron, and hardens it remarkably. On account of its peculiar property of not tarnishing in the air, it is much used for de- fending other metals ; and on account of its beautiful lustre, it is much employed in or- naments. See Gold. Of silver . — Silver is often found native, and also combined with lead, copper, mer- cury, cobalt, sulphur, arsenic, &c. When found in the metallic state, it appears in grains or leaves, adhering to various sub- stances. It is found in the greatest quantities in Peru and Mexico ; but there are silver- mines in many other countries. When pure it is of a very brilliant white. It is malle- able, ductile, and laminable, in a greatdegree, though inferior to gold in these qualities. It may be beaten out into leaves, which are only T ~f—~ part of an inch in thickness. It melts at 28 degrees of Wedgewood’s py- rometer, and is volatilized in very high tem- peratures. It does not tarnish in the air, ex- cept when sulphureous vapours are present. It forms alloys with most of the metals. With gold it forms a metal of a greenish colour, called green gold. Copper makes it much harder, without lessening its ductility. It to rips an amalgam with mercury. The alloy of British coinage is fifteen parts of fine sil- ver and one of copper. It unites to phos- phorus and sulphur, forming phosphuret and sulphuret of silver. Silver is acted upon by the sulphuric and nitric, but not by the muriatic acid. With the nitric acid it forms a colourless solution, which stains animal and vegetable sub- stances with an indelible black colour: hence it is used as a permanent ink, and is employed for dying human hair black; though, ’for this purpose, it should be used with great caution, and much diluted, as it is extremely caustic or corrosive. It is also employed for marking linen. Nitric acid dissolves more than half its weight of silver, the solution de- positing crystals. When these are fused by a gentle heat, they lose some of the acid, and being poured into moulds, form the substance called lunar caustic (nitrate of silver), used in surgery. Nitrate of silver, prepared with common silver, is greenish, butthis is on account of the copper usually mixed with the silver. Silver i-< precipitated from its solution. in nitric acid, by muriatic acid, in the form of a white curd ; which, when fused, forms a semi-transparent mass of the consistence of horn, called horn silver, but more properly muriate of silver. It soon blackens in the air, and is very little soluble in water. Since the muriatic acid has a strong affinity for the oxyd of silver, and since the muriate of silver is not very so- luble in water, the ni irate of silver is em- ployed as a re-agent, to discover the presence of muriatic acid in any liquid; for if it con- tains that acid, muriate of silver will fall down in a white cloud, on dropping nitrate of sil- ver into it. I he nitric acid sold in the shops is usually adulterated with muriatic or sulphuric acid, or with both : lienee the nitrate of silver is used to free the nitric from the two latter acids. For this purpose nitrate of silver is poured into it by degrees, until no more pre- cipitate is produced ; after which it is ren- dered clear by liltring. Nitric acid thus purified is called by artists precipitated aqua- fortis ; but it still contains some silver, from which it cannot be freed, except by distillation. When precipitated from nitrate of silver by ammonia, it forms fulminating silver ; a very dangerous preparation, for it explodes by the mere contact of any body. More than a grain cannot be exploded at a time with anv safety. When mercury is added to the ni- tric solution of silver, a precipitation of the silver is formed, resembling vegetation in ap- pearance, called arbor Diana?, or the tree of Diana. See Argentum Arborescen s. If a few drops of the nitrate of silver are p ut upon a piece of glass, and a copper wire placed in it, a beautiful precipitation of the silver will take place, in the form ofi a plant. The affinity of silver for other metals, and its solution in acids, are the properties on which Plating, Silvering depend. See Silver. Of mercury . — Mercury, called also quick- silver, always appears in a liquid state, in the common temperature of the atmosphere ; but in intense cold, as at 40 below zero, it becomes solid, and is then malleable, resem- bling silver. It is found in nature, sometimes in a pure state, but chiefly united to sulphur, when it forms cinnabar ; and sometimes to silver. It is also united to the acids, and to oxygen. It is mostly found in Spain and South America. Like other fluids, it boils, and is converted into vapour. This process is employed to separate it from other sub- stances. It is acted upon by most of the acids. It combines with sulphur and phos- phorus; and forms alloys with most of the metals, which are then called amalgams. On this property depend some of the methods of gilding and of silvering mirrors. When acted upon by heat and air for a long time, it ab- sorbs oxygen, and is converted into a real oxyde, called precipitate per se, or red oxyd of mercury. When the heat is increased, this oxyd gives out its oxygen, the mercury reassuming its metallic appearance. When agitated long in air, mercury is converted into a black oxyd. The sulphuric acid acts on mercury, if as- sisted by heat ; sulphureous acid gas is then disengaged, and a white oxyd is formed. 'Hot water being poured on this, it becomes a yellow oxyd, called turbith mineral, the wa- ter holding in solution sulphate of mercury. The nitric acid dissolves mercury, even with- out heat, nitrous gas being disengaged ; one part of the acid oxydates the metal, whilst the other dissolves the oxyd. The nitrate of mercury is corrosive. When dry, it detonates upon coals. By a moderate heat it yields oxygen, or nitrogen gas ; the remaining oxyd becoming yellow', and at length a lively red, being the red precipitate of mercury ; and if fresh nitric acid is dis- tilled from it three or foufi times, it appears in small crystals, of a very superb red colour. The muriatic acid does not sensibly act on mercury, except by long digestion ; when it oxydates a part, which oxyd it dissolves." It completely dissolves the mercurial oxyds ; and when these have a small quantity of oxy- gen, and are nearly in a metallic state, the muriate of mercury is formed. When, on the contrary, it is saturated with oxygen, the oxy-muriate of mercury, or corrosive subli- mate of mercury, is formed. To obtain the mild muriate of mercury, mercurius duleis, or calomel, equal parts of quicksilver and of oxygenated muriate are completely blended by trituration, and ex- posed to sublimation. A beautiful artificial cinnabar may be prepared, by triturating mercury and flowers of sulphur with a solu- tion of caustic vegetable alkali, keeping it at a proper temperature, and afterwards wash- ing it repeatedly with boiling water. See Mercury. Of copper . — Copper is found native, but in very small quantities. It is generally met with in the state of an oxyd, or united to acids and sulphur. There are manv copper-mines in Britain, Germany, Ike. The largest cop- 344 psr-mine perhaps known, is that at the Paris mountain, in the isle of Anglesea. Pare copper is ot a red colour, very tena- cious, ductile, and malleable. It melts at 27 degrees ot Wedge wood's pyrometer, and burns with a green flame. When heated in contact with air, it is changed into a blackish red oxyd, which by a more violent heat is converted into a brown glass. The nitric' acid dissolves copper with effervescence, and the .solution has a blue colour. The acid lirst oxydates the metal ; a large quantity of nitrous gas is then disengaged, and the cop- per afterwards dissolves. This is nitrate of copper. The sulphuric acid does not dis- solve copper, unless when concentrated ; and very (me blue crystals, known under the name of sulphate of copper, are the result, d his is what is commonly called blue vitriol. I he muriatic acid does not dissolve copper, but when concentrated, and in a state of ebullition ; the solution is green, the taste of which is caustic, and exceedingly astringent. The acetous- acid, in a sufficient degree of concentration, dissolves copper; but when not sufficiently concentrated, it only imper- fectly oxydates it, forming verdigris; which, being dissolved in vinegar, forms crystallised aeetite of copper, known under tire name of distilled verdigris. Iron precipitates cop- per from its solution. For tins purpose no- thing is necessary but to immerse t .e iron in the solution ; the acid seizes on the iron, and abandons tiie copper. The copper thus pre- cipitated is called copper of cementation. M his process is employed for obtaining the copper found in water near mines of copper. Copper may be alloyed with most of the metals. As an alloy of silver it renders it more fusible : this mixture is employed as a solder for silver plate. Copper, when al- loyed with tin, forms bronze, a metal used for making bells, cannon, statues, &c. When alloyed by cementation with the oxyd of zinc, called calamine, it forms brass. "With arsenic it forms white tombac. The salts formed with copper have a poisonous quality. It is employed for making kitchen-utensils, but very improperly ; for as these vessels are liable to be corroded by the salts and acids used in culinary preparations, they often be- come dangerous, and may thus make us swallow slow poison. Kitchen-utensils of tinned iron are far preferable, because iron possesses no quality injurious to health. See Copper. Of iron.— 'So metal is so universally dif- fused throughout nature as iron. It is found in animals, in vegetables, and in almost ail bodies. It is the most useful of all me- tals, as well as the most plentiful, otherwise it probably would be also the dearest. It is sel- dom found native, but combined with a great variety of substances, and it is particularly distinguished by its inagnetical properties. It is the hardest and most elastic of the metals. It is very ductile, and possesses the property of being welded. It is very dif- licult to fuse. Exposed to the action of water, iron soon rusts or oxydates. It attracts the oxygen and carbonic acid, and is changed into a brown substance, which is a mixture of oxvd of iron and carbonate of iron. Iron-tilings agitated in water become oxydated, and assn ihe the form of a black powder called martial ethiops. \V hen Iron ore is fused in large furnaces, it is CHEMISTRY. made to flow into a kind of mould formed in sand. This first product, which is exceed- ingly brittle, and not at all malleable, is called cast iron. In this state, by pouring it into different kinds of moulds, it is formed into stoves, pipes, cannon, and other arti- cles. Cast or crude iron contains carbon and oxygen. The presence of the former appears from its coating the utensils employed in its fusion with plumbago or black-lead, which contains nine-tenths of carbon, and one of iron. Crude iron is in three states, white, grey, or black, according as it contains a larger proportion of carbon, an exact pro- portion of carbon and oxygen, or a larger proportion of oxygen. To render the iron malleable, it must be freed from the carbon and oxygen which it contains. For this pur- pose it is fused ; and kept in that state for some time, stirring and kneading it ail the while; by this the carbon and oxygen unite, and are expelled in the form of carbonic acid gas. It is then subjected to the action of large ham- mers, or to the pressure of rollers, by which the remaining oxyd of iron and other impu- rities are forced out. .The iron is now no longer crystallized or granular in its texture ; it is lib rous, and ductile, and is in a purer state, though far from being absolutely pure. It is capable of being welded and worked by hammers into any form. It is now called forged or wrought iron. There are several varieties of iron in this state, arising from the intermixture of other substances. There is one kind of forged iron, which when cold is ductile, but when heated is extremely brittle. It is also fu- sible. This is termed hot-short-iron. Cold short-iron possesses precisely the opposite properties, being highly ductile while hot, but when cold extremely brittle. The causes of these peculiarities have not been perfectly explained. Iron is capable of being reduced to a third state, which is that of steel. It is converted into steel by exposing it to heat in contact with carbonaceous substances, which unite themselves with it. Thus we have three states in which iron may exist, viz. cast iron, forged iron, and steel. Cast iron contains too great a quantity of carbonaceous substance: it may be called steel too much steel ifi ed ; it is therefore ex- ceedingly brittle, and not at all malleable. Forged iron is iron purified from all foreign substances. Steel is formed by bedding in charcoal, in a close furnace,, alternate layers of malleable- iron and charcoal, and exposing them to a strong lire for six or eight days. This ..pro- cess is called cementation. During this operation, the iron combines with a quan- tity of carbon, and is converted into blistered steel. This is either rendered more perfect and malleable by subjecting it to the opera- tion of the hammer; or is fused, and cast into small bars, forming cast steel. Those kinds of cast iron which contain but little oxy- gen, may be converted into a sort of steel by a similar process. In this process, the iron gains an increase of weight by the carbon it has acquired. Steel holds a middle rank between cast and forged, or malleable iron. It is composed of very small grains, and when hot, possesses a considerable degree of malleability. .It is specifically heavier than forged iron. It is 4 denser than forged iron, but it is not harder To communicate to it the necessary hard- ness, it must be tempered; that is, alter being exposed to a greater or less degree ot heat, according to the required degree of hardness, it must be suddenly cooled by im- mersion in cold water. Tempering renders it harder, more elastic, and more brittle. It may be made so hard as to scratch glass. Steel, thus hardened, may have its softness and ductility restored by again heating/ and suffering it to cooi slowly. A polished bit of steel, when heated with access of air, ac- quires very beautiful colours. It lirst be- comes of a pale yellow, then of a deeper yel- low, next reddish', then deep blue, and at last bright- blue. At this period it becomes 3 red-hot, and the colours disappear ; at the same time that the metallic scales, or the ; black imperfect oxyd of iron which is formed, hicrust its surface. All these different shades of colour indicate the different tem- pers the steel has acquired by the increase i of heat. Artists have availed" themselves of this property, to give to surgical and other sharp instruments those degrees of temper, which their various uses require. Tem- pered steel is more elastic, and harder, than iron. W'ootz, a metal brought from the East In- s dies, was examined by Dr. Pearson, who disco- vered that it was iron united to carbon, and also 3 to. oxygen. Iron combines with sulphur and phosphorus, forming sulphuret and phosphu- 3 ret of iron. It combines also with most of the metals; but it was supposed till lalelv, that it could not be amalgamated with nier-j cury. Mr. Arthur Aikm has, however, con- j trived a method of "effecting this. Where iron is united to oxygen in the proportion of 73 parts of iron to 27 of oxygen, it forms the black or green oxyd of iron, which may be j obtained by bringing a bar of iron to a’ red heat, and subjecting it to the hammer ; the scales which fly off, are the black oxyd of iron. This oxyd is attracted by the magnet, and if exposed to a white heat in a crucible, will absorb 21 parts more of oxygen ; anrl is then converted into the red or brown ox- yde of iron, and will not be affected by the magnet. Iron does not combine with oxygen, in] more than these two proportions, iron is acted upon by all the acids. The nitric acid is rapidly decomposed by iron, A portion of the oxygen ofthe'acid oxydates the iron, which then dissolves, and the remainder of the acid passes I off in nitrous gas. Sulphuric acid diluted with water being poured on iron, a considerable! effervescence takes place, in consequence of the disengagement of the hydrogen gas of the 1 water; its oxygen effecting the oxydation of the metal, while the acid dissolves the metal without being decomposed. This solution yields by evaporation the sulphate of iron. Common copperas is this salt in an impure state. See Iron. Of lead . — This metal is scarcely ever found' in the native state. It is chiefly mineralized by sulphur, and is then called galena. The' pure metal is of a greenish colour. When cut it is bright, but soon tarnishes in the air. It may be easily cut with a knife, and it soils; the lingers when rubbed. It has little or no I elasticity. It fuses at 340 degrees Fahren- heit. When exposed to heat with access of air it fuses, and is oxydated at the surface.] If i'us oxyd is removed, more is formed, and thus tlie whole may be converted' into prey oxyd of lead, which when exposed to a strong heat, is converted into a yellow oxyd, •called massicot. If this yellow oxyd is ex- posed to a still more violent heat, it assumes a beautiful red colour, and becomes red lead, or minium. Litharge is a semi-vitrified oxyd of lead, obtained by keeping a stream of air upon fused lead : it is generally procured in the process of separating silver from lead. If litharge is exposed to a strong heat, it be- comes converted into glass of iead, which forms the basis of the common glazing for ■earthenware. Lead combines with sulphur and phosphorus. Nitric acid converts lead into a white oxyd. Sulphuric acid in a state of ebullition oxydates, by means of a portion of its oxygen, a considerable part of the lead exposed to its action ; another part of the lead is dissolved and forms sulphate of lead. Muriatic acid poured over lead, and assisted by heat, oxydates one part of it, and dissolves another. The affinity of muriatic ■acid for the oxyds of lead is so great, that the latter decompose all the combinations of this acid. They decompose the muriate of soda, the muriate of ammonia, &c. and form muriate of lead, or patent yel- low. The acetous acid corrodes lead, and the result is a white oxyd, known under the name of white lead. All oxyds of lead are soluble in vinegar, and form acetal of lead, known under the name of sugar of lead. Lead is applied to a great variety of uses in the arts. It is employed for making water- pipes, for lining boxes, for covering houses, lor musket-bullets and small shot, and various other purposes. It is sometimes mixed with the metal employed for tinning utensils of cop- per : this practice is highly dangerous, and deserves the severest reprehension and pu- nishment. Lead forms alloys with other metals, which are used as solders. Of tin . — Tin is scarcely ever found native. It is generally combined with sulphur, iron, and other substances. It is of a colour ap- proaching to that of silver, but somewhat duller. Next to lead, it is the softest, and the least elastic of all the metals. In tenacity it is superior only to lead ; though not very duc- tile, it may be reduced to very thin leaves. It is less sonorous than copper, silver, or iron. Except cast iron, it is the lightest of all metals. It fuses with less heat than any of the other metals, and is a long time before it becomes red. It may be easily bent, and in that case emits a kind of crackling noise ; it is the only metal which possesses this property. When tin has been kept some time in a state of fusion, and is then exposed to the ac- tion of the air, its surface becomes wrinkled, and covered with a grey pellicle, which is oxyd of tin. If this first stratum is removed, the tin appeal's below in all its brilliancy ; bul it soon loses its splendour, and its surface is again oxydated. By continuing to expose it to heat, you may at length oxydate the whole of it. This oxyd is what is called putty of tin, used for polishing mirrors, lenses, &c. and for rendering glass white and opaque, converting it into enamel. Tin is soluble in sulphuric acid. With mu- riatic acid it forms muriate of tin, of great use in dyeing. Tin when fused detonates with nitrate of potash, and also with oxygenated muriate of potash when struck with a ham- VOL. I. CHEMISTRY. roer. Tin combined with sulphur fonVis au- rum musivum, used by the japanners. It alloys with other metals, forming solder. With lead and antimony it constitutes pewter, used for various domestic vessels. With mercury it is employed for silvering mirrors. See Tin. Of zinc . — This metal is mostly procured from calamine, which isasoit: of oxyd of zinc. When it is mineralized by sulphur it is called blende. It is nearly 7 of tiie colour of tin. It is scarcely at all ductile. Zinc, when exposed to heat, soon enters into fusion, and long before it becomes red ; the degree of heat which is required for this purpose, being only a very little higher than that necessary to fuse leacl : when brought to a red heat it burns with a blue flame, and throws out white flakes, called flowers of zinc. The nitric acid, even when diluted with water, dissolves zinc with violence, and forms a nitrate of zinc. The sulphuric acid diluted with water dissolves zinc rapidly ; in this the water is decomposed, and a great deal of hy- drogen gas escapes. By evaporation may be obtained sulphate of zinc, or white vitriol in crystals. The muriatic acid dissolves zinc with effervescence ; and hydrogen gas is produced in the same manner as with the sul- phuric acid ; afterwards there is a precipita- tion of black flakes, which is muriate of zinc. One part of zinc alloyed with three parts of copper, forms the metal called brass. See Zinc. Antimony . — Antimony is rarely found na- tive. It is generally combined with sulphur, forming sulphuret of antimony. It is of a whitish colour, and so brittle that it readily breaks under the hammer. Its interior tex- ture appears to be laminated. It volatilizes entirely in the fire, and communicates the same property to metals with which it is mixed. It fuses at a degree of heat some- what higher than that necessary to fuse zinc. If kept in fusion it oxydates, and is convert- ed into grey oxyd of antimony. If the heat is increased, this is converted into white oxyd of antimony, known under the name of flowers of antimony. This oxyd is vitrifia- ble, and then becomes glass of antimony. Antimony' combines with phosphorus and sulphur. Wine and the acetous acid dissolve antimony, and then become emetic. The acid of tartar forms with it the well-known salt, the antimoniated tartrat of potash, or emetic tartar. Antimony is employed in commerce in two states ; 1 st, under "the form of crude an- timony', which is nothing else than sulphuret of antimony freed from its matrix ; 2nd, un- der the form of regulus of antimony, or me- tallic antimony 7 . See Antimony. Of bismuth .— Bismuth is often found na- tive. It is also combined with oxygen, sul- phur, iron, and arsenic. See Bismuth. Of cohalt . — Cobalt has never been found but in a state of combination. It is found united to sulphur, arsenic, and other metal- lic substances. It is of a pale or grey colour, inclining to red ; it is hard, but fusible. In the fire it has a considerable degree of fixity, and does not inflame, or emit fumes. It fuses, but requires almost as strong a degree of heat as is necessary to fuse iron. Oxyd of cobalt, wnen freed from arsenic, is known under the name of zaffer. Zaffer, when fused with three parts of quartz, and one part of potash, forms glass of a beautiful N x ' 3 IS blud colour. This glass pulverized forms smalt, from which the blue employed for colouring starch is made. It is used also, by the painters of earthenware, porcelain, &c. and by enamellers. Cobalt is soluble in acids. The nitric and sulphuric acids dis- solve it with effervescence. The muriatic acid does not dissolve cobalt cold ; but by the aid of heat it dissolves a portion of it,. The acid has a more powerful action on the zaffer, and the solution is of a beautiful green colour. The nitro-muriatic acid dis- solves cobalt, and forms a sympathetic ink. See Cobalt. Of nickel — Nickel is generally found in a metallic state. It was discovered not long since by Cronstedt, a Swedish mineralogist. It is of a reddish colour, very little mallea- ble, and very difficult of fusion. When ex- posed to the air it oxydates, and very rapidly when heated. It forms alloys with most of the metals, and is acted upon by most of the acids. See Nickel. Of manganese . — This metal is found only in combination. It is generally united to oxygen, for which it lias a strong affinity, so that it is very difficult to preserve it in a me- tallic state. The black oxyd of manganese is found very generally. It is procured in the greatest purity in the neighbourhood of Exeter, and is very much used for obtaining the oxygenated muriatic acid gas employed in bleaching, It is also used by glass-ma- kers for destroying the green or yellow tint of glass ; and for this reason has been called glass-maker’s soap. It is also employed for giving a violet colour to glass and porcelain; In a metallic state it is of a grey colour, not at all malleable, and more infusible than iron. It alloys with all the metals, except mercury. See Manganese. Uranium was discovered by Klaproth in 1789, in the mineral called pechblende, which is an oxyd of uranium. It is of a grey co- lour, very porous and soft; more difficult of fusion than manganese. It is very little known, on account of its scarcity. Titanium is a newly discovered metal. It was first observed in a mineral called mena- chanite, found in Cornwall, and afterwards in an ore called titanite. It is' of a reddish yel- low colour, and very infusible. It is very little known. See Titanium. Chrome is a metal lately discovered by Vau- quelin ; respecting the nature and properties of which we are as yet little acquainted; Vauquelin gave it the name of chrome, be- cause it communicates the red colour to the ruby, and the green to the emerald. It was found by this chemist in the state of an acid, in a substance before known under the name of the red lead of Siberia. The mineralizing substance of this red lead is a real acid, the radical of which is chrome. It is likewise found in France, combined with iron. Arsenic is often found native. When com billed with sulphur it is called orpiment. It is also often united with metals. See Ar- senic. Molybdena is found united to sulphur. It is in this state very like plumbago. It is ex- tremely difficult to obtain in a metallic state, and is therefore very scarce, and little known It is capable of oxygenation, so as to form an acid. See Molybdena. Tungsten is never found pure, and is very- scarce. It is acidifiable ; and its combination with lime forms tungstate of lime. It is also 34ff CHEMISTRY. united to iron and manganese, in the ore called wolfram. The metal is "brittle, hard, and very infusible. It is very little known ; but is said to have one valuable property, viz. that of rendering all vegetable colours fixed ; but this does not appear to be certain. For the remaining compounds into which metals enter, and the order of their affinities, &c. see Salts and Metals. / egctable subdances . — Besides the sub- stances which we have already described, na- ture exhibits another class which are called living, or organized beings. These are ani- mals and vegetables, which at lirst sight ap- pear to be very different from each other, yet it is not easy to say precisely, in what the difference between them consists. Vegetables in general differ from animals, in the former being fixed to the earth, and not being able to change their situation; while the latter are possessed pf loco-motive power, which they are obliged to exercise, in order to procure food for their sustenance. Almost all vegetablesyire composed of three principal parts: the bark, or exterior cover- ing; the wood or woody fibre, which in trees constitutes the principal part ; and the pith, which seems to correspond to the marrow of animals. The constituent principles of ve- getables, are hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen. Those are common to all vegetables. Such other substances as exist in particular vege- tables, are only essential to the composition ©f those in which they are found, and do not belong to vegetables in general. Of these elements, hydrogen and o\) gen have a strong tendency to unite with caloric, and be con- verted into gas, while carbon is a fixed ele- ment, having little affinity with caloric. On the other hand, oxygen, which in the usual temperature, tends almost equally to unite with hydrogen or with carbon, has a much stronger affinity with carbon, when at the red neat, and unites with it, to form carbonic acici. Vegetables are analyzed by various means, by heat, by acids, by water, and by fermen- tation. Some of these processes form pro- ducts which did not exist in the living vege- tables. Though all vegetables consist of hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen, yet these ele- ments do not exist in them in a simple and uncombined state, but joined together in various proportions, forming a variety of com- pound substances, which mixed together in an organic form, make up the whole vegetable. We shall now describe the principal substan- ces which are to be met with in vegetables. 1. Mucilage. Various parts of vegetables , imparl to water, if boiled with them, a certain viscous consistency : this is called mucilage. Some trees suffer their mucilage to transude, either spontaneously or by incisions made in them. When it has become concrete by drying in the air, it is called gum. This sub- stance is without taste ; soluble in water, but not in oils or alcohol. It is not changed by exposure to the air. It appears to consist of oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, and lime. 2. Oils. Oil was formerly supposed to be a simple substance ; but Lavoisier proved that it is composed of carbon and hydrogen ; it also contains a small portion of oxygen. Oils are divided into fat or fixed oils, and vo- latile or essential oils. Fixed oil is usually ob- tained by expression, chiefly from the seeds and kernels of plants. It is generally mixed with mucilage. It does not combine with water or Hlcohuh It. has a great affinity for oxygen, which thickens it, and makes it pass into the concrete state. Some fixed oils, as linseed and walnut-oil, dry of themselves, or become solid, in the air ; but this property is much increased hv boiling, and adding oxyd of lead, which constitutes drying oil. Fixed oils are volatilized by a strong heat, and when volati- lized, take lire by the contact of an ignited body. When added to acids, they attract oxy gen from the acids, and form a kind of resinous substance. With alkalis, they form soap ; and dissolve sulphur and phosphorus. Volatile oils are generally procured by dis- tilling aromatic plants with water. The. water rises, accompanied by. the oil, part of which is dissolved in tire water ; but the greatest quantity separates to the surface, or the bottom. They are soluble in alcohol, dis- solve resin, sulphur, and phosphorus, and are very inflammable. They attract oxygen ; and by long keeping are converted into resin, charcoal, and water. See Oil. 3. Resins exist in the vessels of certain trees, and frequently exude from them spon- taneously. Sometimes they are procured by making incisions in the trees, and some- times by distilling the wood. They are con- sidered as volatile oils combined with oxygen. They' are soluble in alcohol and oils, but not in water. It is this property that renders them so valuable as varnishes. They are inflam- mable, and melt with a slight heat. The principal resins are the turpentines, mastic, copal, sandarac, &c. See Resins, &c. 4. Gum resins appear to be a natural mix- ture of resin and mucilage. They are partly soluble in water, and partly in alcohol. Gum ammoniac, assafeetida, See. are gum resins. Sec Gum. 5. Caoutchouc, or elastic gum, very much resembles a resin. It is very elastic, in- flammable, and insoluble in water or fat. It is partly soluble in volatile oils, and entirely so in melted spermaceti, and in nitric ether. It gives out heat as often as it returns to its dimensions after strong tension. See Ca- outchouc. 6. Camphor is a volatile oil, rendered con- crete by carbon. It is very inflammable, and sublimes by a gentle heat. It is soluble in ether, alcohol, acids, and oils, ft is highly odorous, and has been supposed to prevent the spreading of contagious disorders ; but this has been denied by some. See Camphor. 7. Wax is a vegetable substance, found in the greatest quantity on the anthers of flow- , ers. The surfaces of many leaves are also coated with it. It is collected by the bees. It is insoluble in water and alcohol, but solu-, ble in volatile and fixed oils. It is very in- flammable. Its principles are the same as those of volatile oil. See Wax. 8. Iioney is chiefly formed in the pistils or female organs of flowers, whence it is collect- , ed by the bees. It appears to be sugar dis- solved in mucilage, See Honey. 9. Sugar is very extensively distributed through the vegetable 'kingdom. It is pro- cured in the greatest quantity horn the sugar- cane ; but it may also be obtained from the sugar-maple, the beet-root, carrots, &c. Its constituent principles are oxygen, carbon, : and hydrogen. See Sugar. 10. Gluten is an elastic substance, very much resembling an animal matter, found in many vegetables, but chiefly in wheat-flour. It is insoluble in water, and very slightly so in alcohol. It hardens by heat iato a brownish transparent horny matter ; and differs from all .other vegetable substances by its contain- ing a larger quantity of nitrogen and some ammonia. 1 1 . Fecula, or starch, forms the principal part of the substance which is washed away in order to obtain the gluten from the grain. W hen the fluid is suffered to stand, a white powder subsides, which is the starch. It is not soluble in cold water nor in alcohol ; but it is soluble in hot water, forming with it a well-known paste. Barley consists almost entirely of it. It appears to be only a slight alteration from mucilage, differing from that only by its being insoluble in cold water. There are also coloured fecula', as indigo. 12. Tannin, or the tanning principle, is found in the bark of trees, and all those parts of vegetables which are called astrin- gent. It has the property of forming a com- pound with gelatine or animal jelly that is solid, elastic, and insoluble in water. On its combination in this manner with the gela- tinous part of skin, depends the art of tanning or making leather. See Cutis. 13. W oody fibre constitutes the basis of wood. It may be procured separate from every other substance, by boiling wood- shavings in water to dissolve the extractive matter, and then in alcohol to separate the resins, &:c. It is insipid, insoluble in water, and combustible. W hen heated without ac- cess of air, it is converted into charcoal, which lias been already described. 14. Colouring matter is found in veget- ables combined with, 1, the extractive prin- ciple; 2. with resin; 3. with fecula ; 4. gum. The greater part of the colouring matters have a great affinity for many of the earths, but chiefly for alumina ; also for the white metallic oxyds, particularly oxyd of tin ; and also for animal fibrous matters, and for oxygen. On these properties, and the methods of transferring the colouring princi- ple of one body to another so that it shall he durably fixed, depends the whole art of dye- ing. See Dyeing. 15. Acids. The acids which exist ready formed in vegetables, are the citric, malic, oxalic, gallic, benzoic, tartaric, acetic, and suberic. They have been already described. lti. Besides the substances already enume- rated, many others are found in vegetables, such as sulphur, iron, manganese, lime, alumina, magnesia, barytes, &c. All the ve- getables of the class. called gramma, or grasses, have an epidermis or outer skin, composed of silex. ibis is particularly observable in canes, which, when struck together in the dark, produce sparks of fire. Vinous fermentation . — If mucilaginous sac- charine vegetable substances, under a proper combination of water and heat (from 60 to 70° Fahrenheit), are not entirely excluded from air, they experience in a very short time a striking change in their mixture. An internal commotion takes place ; the mass grows tur- bid ; a large quantity of air-bubbles are dis- charged from its inner part, which, on ac- count of the toughness of the matter wherein they are inclosed, form a stratum on the sur- face of the fluid, known by the name of yeast. These air-bubbles consist of.carbonic acid gas. After a time these appearances cease; the fermented liquor becomes clear and transpa- rent, and no more gas is disengaged, 'the liquor now has lost its sweetness and visci- dity, and has acquired the vinous taste. awi. CHEMISTRY. intoxicating quality. Wine is made in this matter from the juice of the grape ; if the fermentation is checked when at its height, by excluding the air, the wine begins to fer- ment anew, and effervesce when again ex- posed to it. The sparkling wines, as cham- paign, are prepared in this manner, and hence should be considered as imperfect wines. Not only the juice of the grape, but all mucilaginous substances containing sugar, are capable of the vinous fermentation. To understand these phenomena it must be observed that alcohol, which is the es- sence of a vinous fluid, consists of the same principles as sugar, only combined in different proportions. Alcohol contains more hydro- gen and less carbon and oxygen. In the pro- cess of fermentation, therefore, a considerable part of the oxygen combines with the carbon which the sacciiarine fluid contains. These two form the carbonic acid gas which is ex- pelled in the process; and the quantities of these being lessened, and the hydrogen left behind, this very essential change is effected in the liquor. To prepare vinous liquors from grain or corn, they are converted into malt: by this process, the gluten which forms the germ is separated, and the fecula appears to be con- verted into sugar by the germination of the seed. From malt, beer is made by extrac- tion and fermentation. If wine, beer, or any other fermented liquor, is distilled, a fluid is obtained which is colourless, of a strong heating taste, a penetrating odour, and an intoxicating property. This is alcohol, ar- dent spirit, or spirit of wine. In this state it contains a quantity of water. If this alcohol is re-distilled, and reduced to two-thirds, it is obtained verv pure, and is called rectified alcohol. Alcohol is very inflammable and volatile ; it dissolves resins, essential oil camphor, sulphur, phosphorus, &c. It is composed of hydrogen, carbon, and a small quantity of oxygen. Strong acids and alcohol have a considerable re-action on each other ; and this produces ether, which is a very vo- latile, inflammable, odorous fluid. Nitric acid with alcohol produces nitric aether, and sulphuric acid with alcohol produces sul- phuric afther. See Fermentation. Acetous fermentation . — When wine, or any fermented or vinous liquor, is exposed to a heat, from 75° to 85° Fahrenheit, and access of air is permitted, the fluid becomes turbid and a new change of principles takes place It loses its taste and smell, it becomes sour, and is converted into vinegar. Though vinegar is chiefly prepared from fluids which have undergone the vinous fermentation, yet this is not necessary to the production of vinegar; for simple mucilage is capable of passing into the state of acetous fermenta tion. When the saccharine principle predo m mates in any substance exposed to the ne cessary conditions of fermentation, alcohol is produced. When mucilage is most abundant vinegar or acetous acid is ihe product ; and when gluten is most predominant, ammonia will be discovered, and putrefaction or the putrid fermentation will take place. The process of the acetous fermentation is still more simple than that of the vinous, and consists merely in the fluid imbibing the oxy- gen from the atmosphere, for which it has a strong attraction ; and by the access of which to the point of saturation, it is converted into an acid. Putrid fermentation. — This is the last change, orlinal decomposition, ot vegetables. Without moisture, heat, and a due access of air, this does not take place. In this state of fermentations ammonia is formed, accompa- nied by a very' offensive smell. Vegetables which contain’albunflnous matter and gluten, are most liable to putrefaction. Animal substances. — The constituent prin- ciples of animal substances are nearly the same with ihose of vegetables; but the former contain much more nitrogen and phosphorus, and the latter more carbon and lvdrogen. ‘ The proximate constituent parts of animal substances, or simple combinations of the above-mentioned radicals, are the following: 1. Gelatine, or animal jelly, is very gene- rally dispersed through ail the parts of ani- mals, even in bones, but exists in the greatest quantity in the tendons, membranes, and the skill. It is a mucous substance, very soluble in warm water, but not in alcohol ; insipid, and without smell ; when cold, it congeals to cohesive, tremulous substance. It forms the basis of soups, broths, &c. and imparts to them their nutritious qualities. V hen eva- porated to dryness, it forms portable soup, glue, isinglass, &c. The union of this sub- stance in the skin with tannin constitutes leather. 2. Fibrin, or animal fibre, forms the basis of the muscular, or fleshy parts of animals. It is fibrous in its structure, transparent, in- soluble in water and alcohol except by a long-continued heat in a digester. It coagu- lates by the mere contact of air, and in a temperature of 120°, in which it differs from albumen, and also by its insolubility in cold liquid ammonia. It is soluble in acids and alkalis; by its union with the latter soap is formed. Chaptal employed this property to make soap from wool. With nitric acid it affords more nitrogen gas than any other sub- stance. Pure fibrin may be obtained by washing away all the other parts from mus- cular fibre. It is very analogous to vegetable gluten. 3. Albumen is the principal constituent part of the serum of blood, and is also called coagulable lymph. The white of eggs con- sists almost entirely of albumen. It is inso- luble in hot or cold water, oils, or alcohol ; and coagulates by a heat of 160° Fahrenheit, into a white solid mass, also by acids, oxyds, and alcqhol. The coagulum is only soluble in alkalis. See Albumen. 4. Animal oil differs from the vegetable oils, in being generally solid at the tempera- ture of the atmosphere, but is very similar to them in its other properties. It contains more oxygen, and also sebacic acid. Among animal oils may be ranked fat r tallow, lard, suet, butter, &c. Fish oil is generally more liquid than other animal oils. Spermaceti is an animal oil, found in the head of a species of whale. Animal fibre may be converted into a substance resembling spermaceti, by treatment with the nitric acid, and also by exposing it to a current of water for several months. 5. Bones consist chiefly of phosphate of lime, with carbonate of lime and gelatine. 6. Blood, when suffered to rest, separates into two parts; the one a coagulum -or -clot, N x 2 347 called Ihe cfSssamenttim ; the other a fluid called the serum. The crassamentum con- sists of fibrin, mixed with albumen or lymph, and colouring matter. Jibe fibrin may.be separated from the albumen and colouring part, by washing. The colouring part con- tains much iron, in an oxydated state, owing to the oxygen it receives in its passage through the lungs. 1 lie serum consists of albumen and gelatine, mixed with muriate and carbonate of soda, and phosphate ot lime. It is coagulable by heat, the acids, and alcohol. 7. Milk, if suffered to rest, throws up oil its surface a butyraceotis oil, cream. It the remaining skimmed-milk is suffered to. re- main, it becomes sour, and separates into two parts; a curd, which is chiefly albumen ; and whey, which is nearly analogous to sc- rum, mixed with sugar and lactic acid. It may be made to pass into the vinous fermen- tation. Milk may be separated into its con- stituent parts, by the addition ot acids and neutral salts. By the addition of rennet (which is the stomach of a calf, in which the milk has soured), milk is separated into curd and whey. Of the former cheese is made, hv pressing and drying it. By agitat- ing milk, the oily part of the cream is sepa- rated in a more solid form, constituting but- ter. This is also prepared by agitating the cream alone, \\ Inch separates the butter from the rest of the milk which remains, called butter-milk. 8. Nails, horns, hoofs, and quills, resemble coagulated albumen. The animal acids and phosphorus have been already described. Many other animal substances, such as bile, urine, saliva, &c. are very complicated, and but imperfectly known. Of putrefaction . — Every animal body, when deprived of life, and exposed to the air, undergoes a decomposition, or resolution of its parts. Its colour becomes pale, then changes to blue and green ; the parts become soft, and send out a fetid smell, arising from the disengagement of a very noxious gas. The organization is destroyed, and the con- stituent parts of the animal substance form new arrangements, and are chiefly resolved into the gaseous state. What remains is a dry powder, consisting of a mixture of earths and charcoal. Table I. Of compound oxvdable and aciui* liable bases. Names of the radicals ('Tartaric | Malic Oxvdable or acid:- Citric liable hydro-car- Oxalic bonous or carbo- Acetic no-hydrOus radi-2 Succinic cals from the ve- Benzoic getalfle kingdom. Camphoric Gallic Suberic Oxydable or acidi-q r liable radicals | ^ lactic from the; animal i Sebacic kingdom, which p • mostly contain “ dc azote. J Carbono-hydrous q radical from the t Mcl]Uia mineral king- f dom. J Radicals, 3 48 CHEMISTRY. Table II. OF the binary combinations of oxygen with simple substances. simple non- metallic sub- stances. Combinations tallic substan- ces. Names of the simple substances. First degree of oxygena- tion. Second degree of oxygena- tion. Third degree of oxygenation. Fourth degree of oxygena tion. ("Caloric I Hydrogen I Azote j Carbon Oxygen gas Water* Nitrous oxyd Charcoal, or carbonous Nitric oxyd, or base of ni- trous gas - Nitrous acid - Nitric acid Sulphur oxyd Carbonic oxyd Carbonic acid Oxyd of sulphur Sulphurous acid Sulphuric acid Phosphorus Oxyd ot phosphorus - Phosphorous acid Phosphoric acid Muriatic radical - Muriatic acid Muriatic acid Hyperoxymuriatic acid Fluoric radical ..Boracic radical - Antimony Silver Boracic oxyd Grey oxyd of antimony Oxyd of silver Fluoric acid Boracic acid White oxyd of antimony Arsenic Grey oxyd of arsenic White oxyd of arsenic Arseniac acid Bismuth Cobalt Copper Tin 1 Iron Manganese Mercury Grey oxyd of bismuth Grey oxyd of cobalt Brown oxyd of copper Grey oxyd of tin Black oxyd of iron Black oxyd of manganese Black oxyd of mercury White oxyd of bismuth Blue and green oxyds of copper White oxyd of tin Yellow and red oxyds of iron White oxyd of manganese Yellow and red oxyds of mercury Molybdena Nickel Gold Platina Lead Oxyd of molybdena - Oxyd of nickel Yellow oxyd of gold Yellow oxyd of platina Grey oxycl of lead - ' - Red oxyd of gold "Yellow 7 and red oxyds of lead Molybdic acid T ungstein ,Zinc Dxyd of tungstein Grey oxyd of zinc White oxyd of zinc Tungstic acid. Table III. . Of the combinations of oxygen with the compound radicals. Names of the radi- cals. Tartaric Malic Citric Oxalic Acetic Succinic Benzoic Camphoric Gallic Suberic Lactic Saccholactic Sebacic Prussic Laccic Mellitic Names of the result- ing acids. Tartaric acid Malic acid Citric acid Oxalic acid Acetic acid Succinic acid Benzoic acid Camphoric acid Gallic acid Suberic acid Lactic acid Saccholactic acid Sebacic acid Prussic acid Laccic acid Mellitic acid. Table IV. Of the binary combinations of azote with the simple substances. Simple substances. Caloric Hydrogen Results of the combi- nations. Azotic gas Ammoniac Oxygen r Nitrous oxyd J Nitric oxyd l Nitrous acid t Nitric acid Simple sub- stances. Results of the combinations . t This combination is hitherto unknown; should it ever be discovered, it will be called, Charcoal according to the principles ot our nomenclature, azuret of charcoal. Charcoal dis- solves in azotic gas, and forms carbonated azotic gas Phosphorus { Azur , et of Phosphorus. Still 1 { unknown f Azuret of sulphur. Still un- known. We know that sul- Sulphur ^ phur dissolves in azotic gas, forming sulphurated azotic gas Azote combines with charcoal and hydrogen, in the com- Compound pound oxydable and acidi- radicals j liable bases, and is gene- rally contained in the ra- dicals of the animal acids {"Such combinations are hitherto unknown ; if ever discover- ed, they will form metallic azurets, as azuret of gold, of silver, &c. Lime ~) Magnesia j Entirely unknown. If' ever Barytes ! discovered, they will form Argil f azuret of lime, azuret of Potash I magnesia, &c. Soda I Metallic substances :s i e l 1 Table V. Of the binary combinations of hydrogen with simple substances. Simple sub stances. Caloric Azote Oxygen Sulphur Resulting compounds. Hydrogen gas Ammoniac W ater 5 Hydruret of sulphur, or sul- l phuret of hydrogen Phosphorus 5 hlydruret of" phosphorus, or 1 I phosphuret ol hydrogen Charcoal \ Hydro-carbonous, or carbono- ( hydrous radicals Metallic \ substances f Metallic hydrurets, as hydro- as iron, ( ret of iron, &c. Ac. ' These combinations take place in the state of gas, and form respectively, sulphurated and phosphorated oxygen gas. Table V I. Of the binary combinations of sulphur with simple substances. Simple sub- stances. Caloric Oxygen Hydrogen Azote Phosphorus Charcoal Antimony Silver Arsenic Bismuth Resulting compounds. Sulphuric gas ( Oxyd of sulphur -J Sulphurous acid (. Sulphuric acid Sulphuret of hydrogen azote phosphorus charcoal antimony 1 silver arsenic bismuth * Only one degree of oxygenation of hydrogen is hitherto known. Cobalt Copper Tin Iron Manganese Mercury Molybdena Nickel Gold Piatina Lead Tungstein Zinc Potash Soda Ammoniac Lime Magnesia Barytes Ararill Sulphuret of cobalt copper tin iron manganese mercury molybdena nickel gold piatina lead tungstein zinc potash soda ammoniac lime magnesia barytes argi’ll. Table VII. Of the binary combinations phosphorus with the simple substances. Resulting compounds. Phosphoric gas C Oxyd of phosphorus -< Phosphorous acid ( Phosphoric acid of Simple sub- stances. Caloric Oxygen Hydrogen Azote Sulphur Charcoal Metallic sub- stances Potash Soda Ammoniac Lime Barytes Magnesia Argiil Table VIII. Simple sub- stances. Oxygen Sulphur Phosphorus x\zote Hydrogen Metallic sub stances Alkalies and earths CHEMISTRY. Phosphuret of hydrogen Phosphuret of azote Phosphuret of sulphur Phosphuret of charcoal Phosphurels of metals 34 ( 1 : Phosphuret of potash, ' soda, &c. Of the binary combinations of carbon. Resulting compounds. f Oxyd of charcoal or car- } bonous oxyd . Carbonic oxyd l Carbonic acid Carburet of sulphur Carburet of phosphorus Carburet of azote I Carbono-hydrous radicals t Fixed and volatile oils | Carburets of metals | Carburet of potash, &c. Table IX. Of the combinations of azote or nitrogen in the state of ni- trous acid with the salifiable bases, arranged according to the affinities of these bases with the acid. Names of the bases. Barytes Potash Soda Lime Magnesia Ammoniac Argiil Oxyd of zinc iron manganese cobalt nickel lead tin copper bismuth antimony arsenic mercury Names of the neutral salts. Nitrite of barytes potash soda lime magnesia ammoniac argiil Notes. silver C gold 4 piatina These salts are only known of late, and have received no particular name in the old nomen- clature. As metals dissolve ' both in nitrous and nitric acids, metallic salts must of consequence be form- ed having different de- grees of oxygenation. Those wherein the me- tal is least oxygenated 4 must be called nitrites, when more so, nitrats ; but the limits of this di- stinction are difficultly ascertainable. The old- er chemists were not ac- , quainted with any of ^ these salts. It is extremely probable that gold, silver, and piatina, form only nitrats, and cannot subsist in the state of nitrites. zinc iron manganese cobalt nickel lead tin copper bismuth antimony arsenic mercury Table X. Of the combinations of azote, com- pletely saturated with oxygen, in the state of nitric acid, with the salifiable bases, in the order 6f the affinity with the acid. Bases. Names of the resulting neu- tral salts. Barytes Nitrat of barytes Potash potash Soda soda Lime lime Magnesia - magnesia Ammoniac ammoniac Argiil argiil Oxyd of zinc iron Nitrat of zinc iron manganese cobalt nickel lead tin copper bismuth antimony arsenic mercury silyer manganese cobalt nickel lead tin copper bismuth antimony arsenic mercury silver. Oxyd of gold piatina Nitrat of gold piatina. Table XI. Of the combinations of sulphuric acid with the salifiable bases, in the or- der of affinity. Names of the Resulting compounds, bases. Barytes Sulphat of barytes Potash potash Soda soda Lime lime Magnesia magnesia Ammoniac ammoniac Argiil argiil Oxyd of zinc zinc iron iron manganese manganese cobalt cobalt nickel nickel lead lead tin tin copper copper bismuth bismuth antimony antimony arsenic arsenic mercury mercury silver silver gold gold piatina piatina. Table XII. Of the combinations of the sul- phurous acid with the salifiable bases, in the order of affinity. Names of the bases. Names of the neutral, salts. Barytes Sulphite of barytes Potash potash Soda soda Lime lime Magnesia magnesia Ammoniac ammoniac Argiil argiil Oxyd of zinc zinc iron iron manganese manganese: cobalt cobalt nickel nickel lead lead tin tin copper copper bismuth bismuth antimony antimony arsenic arsenic mercury mercury silver silver gold gold piatina piatina. Table XIII. Of the combinations of phos- phorous and phosphoric acids, with the salitiable bases, in the order of affinity. Names of the neutral salts formed by Names of the bases Lime Barytes Magnesia Potash Soda Ammoniac Argil: Oxyd of zinc Phosphorous acid, Phosphites of lime barytes magnesia potash soda ammoniac argiil Phosphoric acid, Phosphats of lime barytes magnesia potash soda ammoniac argiil zinc $ CHEMISTRY. Oxyd of iron manganese cobalt nickel Had tin copper bismuth antiinonv arsenic mercury silver gold Phosphites of iron manganese cobalt nickel lead tin copper bismuth antimony arsenic mercury silver gold Pospliats of iron manganese cobalt nickel I ead tin copper bismuth antimony arseplc mercury silver gold. 1 able XIV . Of the combinations of car- bonic acid with the saliiiable bases, in the order of affinity. Names of bases. R esulting neutral. salts. Barytes Carboiiat of barytes Lime lime Potash Soda potash soda Magnesia magnesia Ammoniac Ammoniac Argill argill Oxyd of zinc zinc. iron iron manganese •manganese cobalt cobalt nickel nickel lead lead tin tin •copper copper bismuth bismuth antimony antimony arsenic arsenic mercury mercury silver silver gold gold platina platina. Table XV'. Of the combinations of muriatic acid with the saliiiable bases, in the order of affinity. Names of the bases. Resulting neutral salts. Barytes Muriat of barytes Potash potash Soda soda Lime lime Magnesia magnesia Anmioniae ammoniac Argill argill Oxyd of zinc zinc iron iron •manganese manganese cobalt cobalt nickel nickel lead lead tin ( smoking of tin \ solid of tin copper copper bismuth bismuth antimony antimony arsenic arsenic mercury ( sweet of mercury ( corrosive of mercury silver silver gold gold platina platina. Taber XVI. Of the combinations of oxyge- nated -muriatic acid with the saliliabie bases, in the order of affinity. Names of the bases. Names of the neutral salts. Oxygenated muriat of Barytes barytes Potash potash Soda soda Lime lime Magnesia magnesia Argill Oxyd of argill zinc. zinc iron iron manganese manganese cobalt cobalt nickel nickel lead lead tin tin copper copper bismuth bismuth antimony •antimony arsenic arsenic mercury silver mercury silver gold gold platina platina. Table XVII. Of the combinations of fluoric acid with the salifiable bases, in the order of affinity. Names of the bases. Names of the neutral salts. Lime Fluat of lime Barytes barytes Magnesia magnesia Potash potash Soda soda Ammoniac ammoniac Oxyd of zinc zinc manganese manganese iron iron lead lead tin tin cobalt cobalt copper copper nickel nickel arsenic arsenic bismuth •bismuth mercury mercury silver silver gold gold platina platina And by the dry way. Argill Fluat of argill. Table XVIII. Of the combinations of bo- racic acid with the saliiiable bases, in the order of affinity. Bases. Lime Barytes Magnesia Potash Soda Ammoniac Oxyd of zinc iron lead tin cobalt copper nickel mercury Neutral salts. Borat of lime barytes magnesia potash soda ammoniac zinc iron lead tin cobalt copper nickel mercury argill. Table XIX. Of the combinations of arse- iliac acid with the salifiable bases, in the order of affinity. Bases, Neutral salts. Lime Arscniat of lime Barytes barytes Magnesia magnesia Potash potash Soda soda Ammoniac ammoniac Oxyd of zinc zinc manganese manganese iron iron lead lead tin tin cobalt cobalt copper copper nickel nickel bismuth bismuth mercury mercury antimony antimony silver silver gold gold platina platina Argill argill. Table XX. Of the combinations of tungstic acid with the salifiable bases. Bases, Neutral salts. Lime Tungstat of lime Barytes barytes Magnesia magnesia Potash potash Soda soda Ammoniac ammoniac Argill argill Oxyd of antimony, &c antimony, &c. Y a rle XXI. Of the combinations of tarta- ric acid with the salifiable bases, in the order of affinity. Bases. Neutral salts. Lime Tartrite of lime Barytes barytes Magnesia magnesia Potash potash' Soda soda Ammoniac ammoniac Argill argill Oxyd of zinc zinc iron ron . manganese manganese cobalt cobalt nickel nickel lead lead tin tin copper copper bismuth bismuth antimony antimony] arsenic arsenic silver silver mercury mercury gold gold platina p la' ina. Table XXII. The malic acid combines with the salifiable bases, forming with Potass Malat of potass Soda soda Ammonia ammonia Barytes barytes Strantian strontian lame lime Magnesia magnesia Alumina alumina The order of affinity is unknown. Argill 351 T* able XXfll. Of the combinations of citric acid with the salifiable bases, in the order of affinity. Bases. Barytes Lime Magnesia Potash Soda Ammoniac Oxyd of zinc manganese iron lead cobalt copper arsenic mercury antimony silver gold platina Argill Table XXIV. suberic acid the order of affinity. X ames of the bases. Barytes Potass Soda Lime Ammonia Magnesia Alumina Neutral salts. Citrat of barytes lime magnesia potash soda ammoliiac zinc manganese iron lead cobalt copper arsenic mercury antimony silver gold platina argill. Of the combinations of Die with the salifiable bases, in Names of the neutral salts.. Suberat of barytes potass soda lime ammonia magnesia alumina. j Table XXV. Of the combinations of the- oxalic acid with the saliliable bases, in the order of affinity. Bases. Neutral salts. lame Oxalat of lime Barytes barytes Magnesia magnesia Potasii potash Soda soda Ammoniac ammoniac. Argill argill Oxyd of zinc zinc iron iron manganese manganese cobalt cobalt nickel nickel lead lead copper copper bismuth bismuth antimony antimony a senic arsenic mercury mercury silver silver. gold gold platina platina. Table XXVI. Of the combinations of ace-* tic acid with the saliliable bases, in the or- der of affinity. Bases. Neutral salts*. Barytes Acetat of barv tes Potash. potash Soda soda ] dme lime Magnesia magnesia Ammoniac ammoniac Oxyd of zinc zinc manganese- manganese iron iron lead lead tin tin cobalt. cobalt copper co, per CHEMISTRY. Oxyd of nickel Acetat of nickel arsenic arsenic bismuth bismuth mercury mercury antimony antimony silver silver gold gold platina platina Argill argill. Table XXV TI. Of the combinations of sue- cinic acid with the order of affinity* saliliable bases, in the t Bases. Neutral salts; ' Barytes Succinat of barytes Lime lime . Potash potash Soda soda ' Ammoniac- ammoniac Magnesia magnesia Argill argill Oxyd ot zinc zinc iron iron manganese- manganese cobalt cobalt nickel nickel lead lead tin tin copper copper bismuth bismuth antimony antimony arsenic arsenic mercury mercury silver silver gold gold platina platina. Table XXVIII. Benzoic acid combines with forming Barytes Benzoat of barytes Lime lime Potass potass Soda soda Ammonia. ammonia Magnesia magnesia alumina Alumina Order of affinity unknown. Table XXIX. Camphoric acid combines with forming ; o Lime Camphorat of lime Potass potass Soda soda Barytes barytes Ammonia ammonia Magnesia magnesia Alumina alumina. Table XXX, Lactic acid combines. with forming Potass- Lactat of potass Soda soda Ammonia. ammonia^ Barytes barytes lame lime Alumina alumina Magnesia magnesia. Table XXXI. Of the combinations of sac- cholactic acid with the saliliable bases, in. the order of affinity. Bases. Neutral salts. Lime Saccbolat of lime Barytes barytes Magnesia magnesia Potash potash Soda soda Ammoniac ammoniac Argill argill Oxyd of zinc zinc manganes# manganese iron iron Oxyd of lead Saccbolat of lead tin tin cobalt cobalt copper copper nickel nickel arsenic arsenic bismuth bismuth mercury mercury antimony antimony ■silver silver. Table XXXI I. Of the combinations of the prussic acid with the saliliable bases, in the order of affinity. Bases. Neutral salts. Potash Prussiat of potash Soda sod a Ammoniac ammoniac Lime lime Barytes barytes Magnesia magnesia- Oxyd of zinc zinc iron iron manganese manganese* cobalt cobalt nickel nickel lead lead tin tin copper. copper bismuth bismuth- antimony antimony arsenic arsenic silver silver mercury mercury gold gold platina platina. Table XXXIII. Mellitie acid combines with forming Potass Mellat of potass v Soda soda Ammonia. ammonia Lime lime liary tes barytes Alumina alumina. The combinations of the remaining acids with the saliliable bases are for the most part unknown; when ascertained they will be de- nominated from their constituent acids as follows : From the Sebacic acid. Sebats- Laccic acid Laccals Gallic-acid Gallats. Glossary of Chemical Terms. Affinity, the same with elective attraction (see the article Attraction), .means that attraction which exists between the very minute particles of bodies. It is essen- tially different from the attraction ot gra- vitation, since It is not governed by the masses or specilic gravity of the particles. It has been termed elective attraction, be- cause something analogous to preference or choice may be observed in this kind, of action of bodies on each other, d ims, spirit of wine will dissolve resin, but water will not ; outlie contrary. gum will dissolve in water, while it is insoluble in spirit. Nay, some fluids will let fall the particles of certain bodies, in order to take up and combine with those of others. Thus, if a quantity of silver is added to aqua-fortix (nitric acid), the cohesion of the particles of silver will be destroyed, and they will, unite forcibly with those of the aqua-tortis. The fluid will remain perfectly clear, be- cause the particles even in this state of combination, are so extremely minute thy£ * 10 852 C H E CHE CHE the rays of light will suffer no interruption in passing through them, if however, to this solution of silver, a quantity of mer- cury is added, the aqua-fortis will be at- tracted by the mercury, and the silver will be thrown down or precipitated to the bottom ot the vessel in which the fluid is contained. (Hence the chemical term precipitation.) If again copper is added, it will assume the place of the mercury, which of course in its turn will be preci- pitated. If to this solution of copper, a piece of bright iron (for rust would prevent the action of the acid) is introduced, the surface of the iron will be dissolved, and the copper precipitated, and will be de- posited on the bar of iron. The iron may afterwards be precipitated by the intro- duction oi an alkali. On this principle are founded the tables of affinity or elec- tive attraction, which state the substances in order as they have an attraction for each other. It is a general maxim in chemis- try, that for bodies to act in this manner on each other, one of them must be in a fluid state. A double elective attraction or affinity is, when two bodies, each com- pounded of two principles, mutually change a principle of each. Thus, when the salt which is compounded of mercury with nitric acid is presented to a solution ot vitriolated tartar, the vitriolic acid will quit the alkali, and unite with the mercury, mid the nitric acid will combine with the alkali. This is also sometimes called the attraction of combination. ■Calcination, applied to the metals, is their oxygenation by means of heat. Concentration, the separation and evapora- tion by means of heat of the watery par- ticles from any fluid; by which the fluid is said in common language to become stronger, or less diluted. Crucible, a vessel usually made of clay, em- ployed as a melting-pot for metals or other substances. Crystallization, is when a body passing from a fluid to a solid state, assumes a regular form. See the article Crystalliza- tion. Decantation, the separation of a fluid from the solid concrete particles which it con- tains. This is done by leaving the fluid at rest in a conical vessel, when the foreign matter will deposit itself at the bottom, and if the fluid is very gently poured off it will be obtained tolerably clear. A sy- phon is sometimes employed with advan- tage when the matter deposited is light, and there is danger of shaking the vessel. A thick woollen thread steeped in the liquor, and inclining over the edge of the vessel into another, makes a very good sy- phon for this purpose. Decoction is the extracting, by the applica- tion of heat and moisture, of some por- tion of matter from certain substances, as the gums and essential oils from vegetables. When the extract is made in cold water it is called infusion. Decrepitation, the small and successive ex- plosions which take place when salts are exposed to heat to expel their water of crystallization. Desiccation (drying), the expelling or eva- porating humid matter from any substance by means of heat. Detonation, an explosion caused by the sud- den expansion of certain substances, when either a very rapid combination or decom- position takes place. Digestion, the slow action of a solvent upon any substance, often assisted by the heat of a sand-bath. Distillation, the operation which by means ‘ of heat and moisture separates volatile matters from those which are fixed, or matters more or less volatile from one ano- ther. Effervescence, the escape of volatile matters from the mass of a fluid, which in their passage through cause a kind of ebulli- tion. Efflorescence. When solid or consistent bodies spontaneously become converted into powder, the surface appears covered with a white dust. r l his eifect is occasioned by the loss of the water of crystallization. Extract, the solid matter left behind when the watery parts are evaporated from a de- coction or infusion. Fixed, an epithet descriptive of such bodies as resist the action of heat, so as not to rise in vapour. It is opposed to volatile. Fulmination, a still more violent and sudden explosion than detonation. Fusion, the passing of a solid body to a fluid state by means of heat. Infusion, the extraction of resinous, gummy, or other matters, by the action of water in the common temperature of the atmo- sphere. Lixiviation, the process of separating by so- lution in water those matters which are soluble in any body from those which are insoluble; generally applied to the lixed residues of bodies for the purpose of ex- tracting the saline parts, which dissolve in the water, and afterwards crystallize on evaporation. Mixture, the aggregation or mechanical union of bodies which have no affinity or chemical combination. It is opposed to solution, where the particles ot the fluid and solid body are permanently combined. In mere mixtures, when set at rest, one part will commonly subside and form a sediment. Oxidation, the combination of any other body with oxygen. Precipitation, the effect which takes place in solution, in consequence of elective attrac- tion, when one matter is let fall to the bot- tom in consequence of the fluid particles combining with another. (See Affinity, above.) The product is also called a pre- cipitation. Reagent, a body which is brought in contact with another to promote the separation of its principles or constituent parts. The reagents are the immediate means of pre- cipitation. Rectification, the further purification of mat- ters by a second or third distillation or sublimation. Reduction, the bringing back the oxyds or calces of metals to the pure metallic state, by expelling the oxygen, which is gene- rally done by exposing the oxyd to the action of heat along with some matter con- taining carbon ; when the oxygen and car- bon go off in the form of carbonic acid gas, leaving the metal pure. Residuum (formerly called caput-Mortuum), that part of a body which remains after a part has been separated by an operation, such as distillation or sublimation. Saturation. Most bodies that have a che- mical affinity for each other will only unite in certain proportions. When, therefore, a fluid has dissolved as much of any sub- stance as it will dissolve, it is said to have reached the point of saturation. Thus, water will dissolve one quarter of its weight of common salt ; and if more is added, it ’ will sink to the bottom in a solid state. Some fluids will dissolve more of certain ’ substances when hot than when cold. Thus water when hot will dissolve a much larger quantity of nitre than when cold. Solution, the dispersion of the particles of a solid body in any fluid in so equal a man- ner, that the compound liquor shall be perfectly and permanently clear and trans- ' parent. This happens when the particles of the fluid have an affinity or elective at- traction for the particles of the solid. When solid particles are only dispersed in a fluid by mechanical means, it is mixture, and the compound is commonly opaque and muddy. Sublimation is to dry matters what distilla- tion is to humid ones. It is the process by which the volatile are separated from the fixed parts of bodies by the application of heat alone without moisture. ^ itrilieation, the conversion into glass of such substances as are capable of assuming that form. Volatilization, the reducing into vapour such substances as are capable of assuming that state. CHENOLEA, a genus of the order mono- ] gynia, in the pontandria class of plants. The calyx is globular, one-leafed, five-parted ; caps, one-celled, with one smooth seed. There is one species, a native of the Cape. CHENOPODIUM, goose-foot , or zeiid orach, a genus of the digynia order, in the I pentandria class of plants, and in the natural ■ method ranking under the 12th order, holo- raceae. The calyx is pentapliyllous and pen- tagonal ; no corolla ‘ one seed, lenticular, su- perior. There are 23 species, 13 of which j are natives of Britain. Most of them have j an aromatic smell. A species which epows near the Mediterranean is used by the Egyp- tians in sallads, on account of its saltish aro- j matic taste. From this plant kelp is made in other countries. The most remarkable are: ] 1. Chenopodium ambroroides, or the oak of Cappadocia. These are easily propagated ' from seeds, and thrive best in a rich soil. 2. Chenopodium bonus Henricus, or com- I mon English mercury, found growing natu- j rally in shady lanes in many places in Britain. It was formerly used as spinach, but is now disused, being greatly inferior. As an ar- ,] tide of the mate ia medica, it is ranked ; among the emollient herbs, but rarely used in practice. The 1 aves ,ure applied by the j country-people for healing slight wounds, cleansing old ulcers, and the like purposes, i 'Fhe roots are given to sheep that have a cough. Goats and sheep are not fond of the ] herb ; cows, horses, and swine, refuse it. 3. Chenopodium botrys, or the oak of Jerusalem, like that of Cappadocia, thrives best in a rich light earth, and may be easily propagated from seeds, as indeed ail the other species may. C H E C H I C H I 323 4. C'henopodium scoparia, the belvidere, or annual mock cypress, is an ornamental plant. It is eaten in China. CHERLER1A, a genus of the decandria trig) nia class of plants. The flower has pro- perly no petals; the nectaria are five in number, roundish and emarginated, very small, and placed in a circular direction. r I'he fruit is a capsule, formed of three valves, and containing three seeds. There is one species. C HERMES, in zoology, a genus of insects belonging to the order hemiptera. The ros- trum is situated on the breast; the feelers are longer than the thorax; the four wings are deflected; the thorax is gibbous; and the feet are of the jumping kind. There are 17 species. It is an insect to be met with in great numbers upon the fig-tree. 1 he larva has six feet. It is like the insect, when pro- vided with wings. Its form is oblong, and its motion is slow. The chrysalis differs from it by two flat buds that spring from the thorax, and inclose the wings, afterwards seen in the perfect insect. These chrysalids are fre- quently met with on plants; and the twp plates of their thorax give them a broad un- couth appearance, and a heavy look. When the little chrysalids are going to be meta- morphosed, they remain motionless under some leaves upon which they fix themselves. Their skin then divides upon the head and thorax, and the perfect insect comes forth with his wings. The perfect insect is fur- nished with four wings, large in proportion to it-; body. Several species are provided at the exremily of their body with a small sharp- pointed implement, but which lies concealed, and which they draw out in order to deposit their eggs, bv making a puncture in the plant that suits them. By this method the lir-tree chermes produces that enormous scaly protu- berance which is to be found at the summit of the branches of that tree, and which is formed by the extravasation of the juices occasioned by the punctures. The young larvae shelter themselves in cells contained in the tumour. The white down, under which the larva of the pine-chermes is found, seems to be pro- duced much in the same manner. That of the box-tree chermes produces no tubercula like those; but its punctures make the leaves of that tree bend and grow hollow in the shape of a cap, which, by the union of those inflected leaves, produces at the extremity of the branches a kind of knobs, in which the larva’ of that insect find shelter. The box chermes, as well as some others, has yet an- other peculiarity, which is, that the larva and its chrysalis eject at the anus a white sweet- tasted "matter, that softens under the touch, and is not unlike manna. This substance is found in small white grains within the balls formed by the box-leaves, and a string of the same matter is often seen depending from the aims of the insect. CHERT, among miners, denotes a kind of flinty stone, found in thin strata in quarries of lime-stone. This stone is usually amorphous, occurring sometimes in mass, sometimes in round balls. Its specific gravity is from 2.699 to 2.708; colour usually greyish blue, but it sometimes is found grey, blue* green, and brown of different shades. Different colours frequently appear, in the same specimen. It is called by Kirwan, hornstone, and by him it is said to consist of VoL. I. 72 parts of silica 22 ■ — alumine 6 carbonate of lime. 100 . CHESS, an ingenious game, performed with different pieces of wood, on a board di- vided into 64 squares or houses, in which chance lias so small a share, that it may be doubted whether a person ever lost but by his own fault. Each gamester has eight dignified pieces, viz. a king, a queen, two bishops, two knights, and two rooks, also eight pawns ; all which, for distinction sake, are painted of two different colours, as white and. black. As to their disposition on the board, the white king is to be placed on the fourth black house from the corner of the board, in the first and lower rank ; and the black king is to be placed on the fourth white house on the opposite or adversary’s end of the board. The queens are to be placed next to the kings, on houses of their own colour. Next to the king and queen, on each hand, place the two bishops ; next to them the two knights ; and last of all, on the corners of the board, the two rooks. As to the pawns, they are placed, without distinction on the second rank of the house, one before each of the dignified pieces. Having thus disposed the men, the onset is commonly begun by the pawns, which march straight forward in their own file, one house at a time, except the first move, when j it can advance two houses, but never moves > backwards. The manner of their taking the adversary’s men is sideways, in the next house forwards; where having captivated the enemy, they move forward as before. The rook goes forward or crossways through the whole file, and hack again. The knight skips backward and forward to the next house, save one, of a different colour, with a sidling march, or a slope, and thus kills his enemies that fall in his way, or guards his friends that may be exposed on that side. The bishop walks always in the same colour of the field that he is placed in at first, forward and back- ward, aslope, or diagonally, as far as he lists. The queen’s walk is more universal, as she takes all the steps of the before-mentioned pieces, excepting that of the knight : and as to the king’s motion, it is one house at a time, and that either forward, backward, slop- ing, or sideways. As to the value of the different pieces, next to the king is the queen, after her the rooks, then the bishops, and last of all the dignified pieces comes the knight. The difference of the worth of pawns is not so great as that of noblemen ; only, it must be observed, that the king’s bishop’s pawn is the best in the field, and therefore the skilful gamester will be careful of him. It ought also to be ob- served, that whereas any man may be taken, when he falls within the reach of any of the adversary’s pieces, it is otherwise with the king, who, in such a case, is only to he sa- luted with the w'ord check, warning him of his danger, out of which it is absolutely ne- cessary that he move ; and if it so happens that he cannot move without exposing himself to the like inconveniency, it is check-mate and, the game is lost. CHIAROSCURO, effect produced in painting or drawing, by an artful conduct and union of colours and light and shade. See Painting. S Y y Chiaroscuro is also used, improperly, to express the general effect of light and shade produced in painting or drawing by the use of one tint only, as in designs executed in white and black, or white and brow n, &c. CHIEF, in heraldry, is that which takes up all the upper part of the escutcheon, from side to side, and represents a man’s head. CHILDREN, are in law a man’s issue begotten on his wife. In case land is given by will to a man and his children, who lias such alive, the devisee takes only an estate for life ; but if there is no child living, it is held to be an estate tail. 1 Vent. 214. CHILIAD, denotes a thousand of any things, ranged in several divisions, each whereof contains that number. CIIILIAGON, in geometry, a regular plane figure of 1 000 sides and angles. It is ea- sily demonstrable that the sum of all the angles of such a figure Is equal to 196 right ones. . For the internal angles of every plane figure are equal to twice as many right angles as the figure hath sides, except those four which are about the center of the figure. Hence it may be resolved into as many tri- angles as the figure has sides. CHILTERN HUNDREDS, stewards of the. Of the hundreds into which many of the English counties were divided by king Al- fred for their better government, the juris- diction was originally vested in peculiar courts; but came afterwards to be devolved to the county courts, and sc! remains at pre- sent ; except with regard to some, as the Chilterns in Buckinghamshire, which have been by privilege annexed to the crown. These having still their own courts, a ste- ward of those courts is appointed by the chancellor of the exchequer, \yith a salary of 20.s. and all fees, &c. belonging to the office. This is made a matter of convenience to the members of parliament. V hen any of them wishes to resign, he accepts the stew- ardship of theChiltern hundreds, which va- cates his seat. CHLMARRHIS, a genus of the class and .order pentandria monogynia. The essential character is; cor. funnel-form ; caps, inferior, obtuse; two-celled; tvvo-valved; seeds one in each cell. There is one species, a lofty tree, a native of Martinico. CHIMES of a clock, a kind of periodical music, produced at equal intervals of time, by means of a particular apparatus added to a clock. In order to calculate numbers for the. chimes, and adapt the chime-barrel, it must be observed that the barrel must turn round in the same time that the tune it is to play requires in singing. As for the chime-barrel, it may be made of certain bars that run athwart it,, with a convenient number of holes punched in them, to put in the pins that are to draw each hammer ; and these pins, in order to play the time of the tune rightly, must stand upright, or hang down from the bar, some more some less. To place the pins rightly, you may proceed by the wayot changes on bells, viz. 1,2, 3, 4; or rather make use of the musical notes. Observe what is the compass of your tune, and di- vide the barrel accordingly froip end to end. Thus in the following example the tune is eight notes in compass, and there- fore the barrel is divided into eight parts * these divisions are struck round the barrel. 354 C H I C H L C H O opposite to which are the hammer-tails ; but when two notes of the same sound come to- gether in a tune, there must be two hammers to that bell to strike it. Then you are to divide it round about, into as many divisions as there are musical .bars, semibrieis, minims, Ac. in your tune. Thus the hundredth Psalm tune has twenty semibriefs, the first note of it is also a semibrief, and therefore on the chime-barrel must be a whole division from 5 to 5 ; as may be understood by con- ceiving the surface of a chime-barrel to be represented by the following tables, as if the cylindrical superficies of the barrel was stretched out at length, or extended on a plane; and then such a table so dotted or di- vided, if it was to be wrapped round the barrel, would shew the places where all the pins are to stand in the barrel: for the dots running about the table, are the places of the pins that play the tunes. The notes of the hundredth Psalm. m __L \ >- * * . i- - - ; JT LU r - 1 2 L- • If you would have your chimes complete, you ought to have a set of bells to the gamut notes ; so as that each bell having the true sound of sol, la, mi, fa, you may play any tune with its Hats and sharps, nay even the bass and treble, with one ^barrel. And by setting the names of your bells at the head of any tune, you may transfer that tune to your chime-barrel, without any skill in music; but observe, that each line in the music is three notes distant ; that is, there is a note between each line, as well as upon it. CII IMNEY. The rules for building chim- neys are, 1. That no timber be laid within twelve inches of the fore side of the chimney- jambs. 2. That all the joists on the back of any chimney be laid with a trimmer. 3. That no timber be laid within the funnel of any chimney. CPI 1 MNE Y-SWEEPERS. The overseers, Ac. of any parish, may bind any boy of the age of eight years or upwards, who is charge- able to the parish, to any person using the trade of a chimney-sweeper, till he shall at- tain the age of lb years, provided that it be done with the consent of the parent of such boy. And no master shall have more than six apprentices at one time. Every master shall cause his name and place of abode to be put upon a brass plate, and to be fixed upon the front of a leathern cap, which he shall provide for each apprentice, who shall wear the same when out upon his duty; on pain of forfeiting for every such apprentice, above such number, or without having such cap, not exceeding 10/. nor less than 5/. For an apparatus for sweeping chimneys, •see Machines. rm -* 29' IV'. in the same maimer our author determines that the mean place of the solstitial colure is &L 28' 46' / , and, as it is at right angles with the other, he concludes that it is rightly drawn. And hence he infers that the car- dinal points, in the interval hetween that expedition and the year 1689, have receded from those colures Is. 6 n 29'; which, allowing 72 years to a degree, amounts to 2627 years; and these counted backwards, as above, will place the Argonautic expedition 43 years after the death of Solomon. Our author has, by other methods also of a simi- lar nature, established this epoch, and re- duced the age of the world 500 years. The use of chronolog //. — The divisions of time which are considered in chronology, relate either to the different methods of com- puting days, months, and years, or to the remarkable amas or epochal from which any year receives its name, and by means of which the date of any event is fixed. Days have been very differently terminat- ed and divided by different people in differ- ent ages, which it is of some importance to a reader 'of history to be acquainted with. I lie antient Babylonians, Persians, Syrians, and most other eastern nations, with the present inhabitants of the Balearic islands, Greeks, began their day with the sun’s rising. The antient Athenians and Jews, with the Austrians, Bohemians, Marcomanni, Sile- sians, modern Italians, and Chinese, reckon from tiie sun’s setting; the antient Umbri and Arabians, with the modern astronomers, from noon ; and the Egyptians and Romans, with the modern English, French, Dutch, Germans, Spaniards, and Portuguese, from midnight. j The Jews, Romans, and most other an- tient nations, divided the day into twelve hours, and the night into four watches. But the custom which prevails in this western part of the world at present is, to divide the day into 24 equal portions : only with some the 24 are divided into twice 1 2 hours ; whereas others, particularly the Italians, Bo- hemians, and Poles, count" 24 hours without interruption. Different people have made their years to begin at different times, and have used a va- riety of methods to give names to them, and distinguish th'em from one another. The Jews began the year for civil purposes in the month of Tizri, which answers to our September ; but for ecclesiastical purposes with AV.sftrtj Which answers to our April, at which time they kept the passover. The Athenians began the .year with the month Hecatombceon, which began with the first new moon after the summer solstice. The Romans had at first only ten months in their year, 'which ended with December; but Nu- 'tna added January and February. At pre- sent there are in Rome two wavs of reckon- ing the year. One begins at Christmas, on account of the nativity of our Saviour; and the notaries of Rome use this date, prefixing to their deeds, a nativitate: and the other at March, on account of the incarnation of Christ, and therefore the pope’s bulls are dated anno incur nutionis. The antient French historians began the year at the death of St. Martin, who died in the year 4 )1 or 402; and they did not begin in France to reckon the year from January till 1564, by CHRONOLOGY. virtue of an ordinance of Charles IX. Be- lore that time they began the day next after Easter, about the 25th of March. In Eng- land, also, till ot late, we had two beginnings ot the year, one in January, and the other oil March 25; but by act of parliamenfin 1752, the first day in January was appointed to be the beginning of the year for all purposes. Most of the eastern nations distinguish the year by the reigns of their princes. The Greeks also had no better method, giving names to them from the magistrates who presided in them, as in Athens from the Ai- chons. The Romans also named the year by the consuls ; and it was a long time be- fore any people thought of giving names to the years from any particular aira or remark- able event. But at length the Greeks reck- oned from the institution of the Olympic games, and the Romans from the building of Home. lhey did not, however, begin to make these computations till a number of years had elapsed since those events could not be computed, with exactness, and therefore they have greatly antedated them. About A. D. 360, the Christians began to reckon the years from the birth of Christ, but not time enough to enable the cl.rono- logel's of that age to fix the true time of that event. 1 he Greeks distributed their years into systems of four, calling them Olympiads, from the return ot t lie Olympic games every four years. And the Romans sometimes reckoned by lustra, or periods of five years. I he greatest difficulty in chronology has been, to accommodate "the two methods of computing time by the course of the moon and that of the sun, to each other ; then ear- est division of the year by months being twelve, and yet twelve lunar months falling eleven days short of a complete year. This gave birth to many cycles in use among the antients, the principal of which are as follows: It. appears from the relation which Hero- dotus has given of the interview between Solon and Croesus, that, in the time of Solon, and probably that of Herodotus also, it was the custom with the Greeks to add, or, as it is termed, to intercalate, a month every other year; but as this was evidently too much, they probably rectified it, by omitting the intercalation whenever they observed, by comparing the seasons of the year with their annual festivals, that they ought to do it. if, for instance, the first fruits 'of any kind were to be carried in procession on any par- ticular day of a month, they would see the necessity of intercalating a month, if, accord- ing to their usual reckoning, those fruits were not then ripe, or they would omit the intercalation if they were ready. And had no other view interposed, their reckoning could never have erred far from the truth. But it being sometimes the interest of the chief magistrates to lengthen or shorten a year, for the purposes of ambition, every other consideration was often sacrificed to it", and the greatest confusion was introduced into their computations. Finding them- selves, therefore, under a necessity of having some certain rule of computation, they first adopted four years, in which tl^ey intercalat- , ed only one month. But this producing' an error of fourteen days in the whole cycle, they invented the period of eight years, in which they intercalated three months ; in ........ .,co .... 1 -alcw ui one way ana fourteen hours, and therefore this cycle, con- tinued in use much longer than either of the preceding. But the most perfect of these cycles was that which was called the .Metonic, from Me- lon, an Athenian astronomer, who invented it. it consisted of nineteen years, in which seven months were intercalated. T his brdught the two methods to so near an agreement that after the expiration of tiie period, not only do the new and full moons return on the same day ot the year, but very nearly on the same hour of the day. This cvcle was adopt- ed by the Christians at the council of Nice, for the purpose of settling the time for keep- ing Easier, and other moveable feasts. This period, however, falling short of nineteen years almost an hour aiid a half, it has come to pass that the new and full moons in the heavens have anticipated the new and full moons in the calendar of the book of Com- mon Prayer four days and a half. These last are called calendar nccs moons, to distin- guish them from the true new moons in the heavens. It has not been without difficulty and varie- ty’ that the computation by years has been ac- commodated to that by days; since a year does not consist of any even number of days, but of 365 days, 5 minutes, and 49 seconds "nearly. It will appear from what has been observed, that so long as mankind computed chiefly by months, it was not of much consequence to determine with exactness the number of days in the year; and this method sufficiently an- swered every , civil and religious purpose. But the Egyptians, and other nations addict- ed to astronomy, were not satisfied with the method of computing by lunar months, the days ot which varied so very much fro n one another in different years." They therefore made the year the standard; and dividing that into days, made use of months only as a commodious intermediate division; and, without regard to the course of the moon, distributed the days of the year into twelve parts, as nearly equal as they conveniently could. By this means the same day of the month would fall on the same part of the sun’s annual revolution, and therefore would, more exactly correspond to the seasons of the year. The Mexicans divided their year into eighteen parts. The Egyptians, as also the Chaldeans and Assyrians, reckoned at first 360 days to the year, but afterwards 365. The consequence ot this u'as, that the beginning of their year would go back through all the season, though slowly; namely, at the rate of about six hours every year. Of this form too were the years which took their date from the reign of Nabonassar of Babylon, Yesdigerd of Persia, and the Seleucida- of Syria. It must be observed, however, that the people who reckoned their year from these epochas, namely, the Egyptians, Persians, and Jews, as also the Arabians, had a differ- ent and more fixed form of the year for as- tronomical purposes; but as no use was made of it in civil history, the account of it is omit- ted in this place. , The inconvenience attending the form of the year above-mentioned, was in a great measure remedied by the Romans in the time ot Julius Caesar, who added one day every fourth year, which (from . the place CHRONOLOGY. 357 insertion, viz. after the sixth of the calends March) was called bissextile, or leap-year. 61 is form of the year is still called the Julian fear. But the true length of the year being bt quite six hours more than the 365 days, [is allowance was too much ; and pope [regory XIII. introduced another amend- [ent, i'11 the year 1582, by ordering that pee in 133 years a day should be taken out f the calendar, in the following manner, viz. tom the year 1600 every hundredth year which, according to the Julian form, is al- lays bissextile or leap-year) was to be com- lon ; but every four-hundredth year was to bntinue bissextile, as in the Julian account. [The Mahometans make their year to con- ist of lunar months only, without endeavour- |g lo adapt it to the course of the sun ; so hat with them the beginning of the year ;oes through all the seasons at the rate of bout eleven days every year. But since he exact time of twelve moons, besides the S54 whole days, is about eight hours and 48 ninutes, which make 1 1 days in 36 years, (lev are forced to add 1 1 days in 30 years, /Inch they do by means of a cycle, invented >y the Arabians, in which there are 19 years z'ith 354 days only, and 1 1 intercalary of 355 lays, and they are those in which the number if hours and minutes more than the whole (ays in the vear is found to be more than half I day, such' as 2, 5, 7, 10, 13, 16, 18, 21, 24, 6, and 29, by which means they till up all he inequalities that can happen. I It has been of some consequence to Clrris- jans to adjust the days of the week to the lays of the month, and of the year, in order 0 get a rule for finding Sunday. Had there |een no bissextile, it is evident that, since the lear consists of 52 weeks and one day, all he varieties would have been comprized in even years. But the bissextile returning (very fourth year, the series of dominical fitters succeeding each other is interrupted, lincl does not return in order ; but after four [nner, 7 years, or 28 years, which is there- fore commonly called the solar cycle, serve is a rule to lind Sunday, and consequent- ly all the days of the week of every month md year. 1 Besides the above-mentioned periods of (ears, called cycles, there are some other jombinations or systems of years that are of ise in chronology ; as that called the indic- uon, w hich is a period of 15 years, at the [ml of which a certain tribute was paid by lie provinces of the Roman empire, and by vhich the emperors ordered public acts to »e dated. i But the most remarkable of all the periods n chronology, is that called the Julian period, invented by Joseph Scaliger ; and called Ju- lian, from the years of which it consists be- ing Julian years. His object was to reduce jo a certainty the different methods of com- 1 uting time, and fixing the dates of events y different chronologers. For this purpose nothing was necessary but a series of years, some term of which was fixed (that, for in- fctance, by which the present year should be denominated), comprehending the whole ex- tent of time ; since, if each chronologer would apply that common measure to his particular scheme, they would all perfectly understand one another. To accomplish this, he combined the three periods of the Bun, the moon, and the indiction, together ; that is, multiplying the numbers 28, 19, and 15, into one another, which produces 7980; after which period, and not before, all the three cycles will return in the same order every y ear, being distinguished by tjie same number of each. In order to fix the begin- ning of this period, he took the cycles as he then found them settled in the Latin church; and tracing them backwards through their several combinations, he found that the year in which they would all begin together was the year before the creation 71 4, according to Usher; and that the first year of the Chris- tian ara would be 4714 of this period. There is a farther convenience in this period, viz. that if any year is divided by the number composing the cycles, viz. 28, 19, or 15, the quotient will shew the number of the cycles that have elapsed since the commencement, of it, and the remainder will give the year of the cycle, corresponding to the year given. We cannot help observing that this boast- ed period seems to have been unnecessary for the chief purpose for which it was in- vented, viz. to serve as a common language for chronologers ; and that now little use is made of it, notwithstanding all writers still speak, of it in the same magnificent terms, 'lire vulgar Christian rera answers the same purpose as effectually. All that can be necessary for chronologers to speak the same language, and be perfect- ly understood by one another, and by all mankind, is to give every year the same name or designation ; which is most conve- niently" done by expressing them in a series of numbers in arithmetical progression, any one term of which they shall agree to affix to the same year, a year in which any well- known event happened. Let it, for example, be that in which the peace of Amiens was made, and let it be called 1801. If, besides this, it is only agreed in what part of the re- volution of the sun, or in what month and day, the year begins, there can be no diffi- culty" in giving a name to every other year preceding or following it, and thereby ascer- taining the interval between all transactions. For all the events that took place the year before that peace, will be referred to the year 1800, and all in the year after it to 1802. This period having had a commencement since the date of history, is no inconvenience; for whenever we have gone back to number T of this period, the year preceding it may- be called one before its commencement , the year preceding that two before it, &c. and thus proceeding ad infinitum both ways. That Christ might not have been born in the first of that system of years to which it serves to give a name, is no inconvenience whatever ; since, whatever differences of opi- nion there may be among chronologers about the time when Christ was born, they r all agree in calling the present year, and consequently every other year, by the same name ; and therefore they have the same idea of the in- terval between the present year and any other vear in the system. The real time of Christ’s birth can no mop: affect the- proper use of this system than that of any other indifferent event; since, using the same system of dates, they may say Christ was born in the third, fourth, fifth, or sixth year before the Christian ana. Whenever, therefore, chronologers ceased to date events from the Creation, which was very absurd (since they did not agree in fix- ing the intervals between the present year and the date of that event, and therefore gave all the years different names), they had no occasion to have recourse to any such period as the Julian; since another, capable Ol an- swering the same purposes, was already in common use, supplying, them with a language which they all equally understood. /Eras or epochas are memorable events, from which time is reckoned, and from winch any subsequent year receives its denomina- tion. The Greeks for a long time had na- fixed ana; afterwards they reckoned by Olym- piads, which were games celebrated in honour of Jupiter once in four years, and began in midsummer, 776 years before Christ. 4 he- Athenians gave names to their years from their archons. The Romans called tlv-ir years from the names of the consuls who presided in them: and afterwards they dated' events from the building of their city, sup- posing it to have been built 753 years before Christv- Some histories are regulated by the era of Nabonassar, who began his reign in the year 747 before Christ, of the Julian period' 3867. It is supposed to have commehced on the 26th of February" in the afternoon. The Jews before Christ reckoned by the year of the Seleucida, sometimes called the year of the Contracts ;■ which began hr the- year 342 before Christ, of the Julian period 4402, some time in the spring. The Christians, about 360 years after the birth of Christ, began to make use of that ara,. which, is now used in all Christian coun- tries.. The Mahometans reckon their years from- the flight of Mahommed from M ecca. This ara is called the Ilegyra. It began in the- year 622 after Christ, of the Julian period . 5335, on the 16th of July. The old Spanish sera is dated from the years* 38 before Christ, about the time when they were subdued by the Romans. It was used till the year 1333, under John J. of Castile. The Egyptians long reckoned from the battle of Aetium, which happened in the year 31 before Christ, of the Julian period 4683, on the 3d of September. Before the Christian ara. was used, the Christians for some time made use of the Dioclesian ara, which took its rise from the persecution by Dioclesian, in the year 284 after Christ. The ara of Y erdigerd is dated from the last king of Persia; who was conquered by the Saracens under Abubecher, in the battle of Merga, in the year 632 afler Christ, of the Julian period 534.5, on the 16th of June. With regard to all these methods of deno- minating time,- care must be taken that the year be reckoned according to the method of computation followed by- the people who use it. Thus, in reckoning from the Ilegyra, a person would be led into a mistake who should make those years correspond to Julian years. He must deduct eleven days from every year which has elapsed since the com- mencement of it. Thus, though the first year of this ara corresponded to the year 622 after Christ, and began 011 the 16th of July, the year 326 of the Hegyra corre- sponded to the year 937 of Christ, and began Novembers: and the year of the Hegyra 655 commenced on the 19th of. Jail. 1257." 35S CHRONOLOGY. This compendium of chronology is suffi- cient for (he purpose of reading history, but is by no means a complete account of the methods of computing time in every parti- cular country which, lias been mentioned. To have done this, would have carried us beyond our present purpose, and too far into the customs of particular countries. For a fuller account, the reader may be referred to Dr. Blair, and other chronologers. PROBLEMS IN CHRONOLOGY. 1. To find whether any given year be leap- year. Rule . — Divide the given year by 4 : if 0 remains, it is leap-year; but if 1, 2, 3, re- mains, it is so many years after. Every fourth year is leap-year, so called from leaping or advancing a day more that year than any other; that year has- then 366 days in it, and February 29- 2. To find the dominical letter before the year 1800. Rule. To the given year add its fourth part, omitting fractions ; divide that sum by 7; the remainder taken from 7 leaves the index of the letter in the common year’s reckoning. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 A B C D E F G But in leap-years this letter and its preced- ing one (in the retrograde order which these letters take) are the dominical letters. The dominical letter is that letter of the alphabet which points out in the calendar the Sundays throughout the year; thence also called the Sunday letter. Of these letters there are consequently seven before mention- ed, beginning with the first letter of the alpha- bet ; and as in leap-year there is an intercalary day, there are then two; one serving January and February, and its following letter the re- maining part of the year. 3. To know on what day in the week any proposed day of the month will fall. Rule. First find the dominical letter, then the day of the week the first of the proposed month falls on, which is known by the two following lines: At Dover Dwell George Brown, Esquire, Good Christopher Finch, And David Frier: where the first letter of each word answers to the letter belonging to the first day of the months in order, from January to Decem- ber. If I would know on what day of the week the 24th of June will be this year (1806) ; I find the Dominical letter is E, and by the lines just read, E is the first of June, which is, of course, Sunday ; the 22nd also is Sunday, therefore the 24th will be a Tuesday. 4. To find the year of the solar, lunar or golden number, and indiction cycles. Rule. To the given year add 9 for the solar, 1 for the lunar, 3 for the indiction : di- vide the sums in order by 28, 19, and 15, the remainder in each shows the years of its re- spective cycle. The solar cycle, or the cycle of the sun, is a period of 28 years ; in which time all the varieties, of the dominical letters will have happened, and the 29th year the cycle be- gins again, when the same order of the let- ters will return as were 28 years before. At the birth of Christ, nine years had passed in this cycle. The lunar cycle, or cycle of the moon, or golden number, is a period of 19. years; con- taining all the variations of the days on which the new and full moons happen, after which time they fall on the same days they did 19 years before, and she begins again with the sun. But when a centesimal or hundredth year falls in the cycle, the new and full moon, ac- cording to thp new style, will fall a day later than otherwise, l ire birth of Christ happen- ed in the.second year of this cycle. The Roman indiction is a cycle of 15 years, which first began, the third year before Christ. 5. To find the epact till the year 1900. Rule. Multiply the golden number for the given year by 11; divide that product by' 30, and from the remainder take 1 1, leaves the epact. If the remainder is less than 11, add If) to it, and the sum will be the epact. 6. to find the moon’s age. Rule. To the epact add the number and day of the month ; their sum, if under 30, is the moon’s age. But if that sum is above 30, the excess in months of 31 days, or the ex- cess above 29 in a month of 30 days, shows the age or days since the last conjunction. The moon’s age taken from 30, leaves the day of the next new moon. When the solar and lunar cycles begin to- gether, the moon’s age on the first of each month, or the monthly" epaets, are called the numbers of the month, and are as follows, viz. For Jan. Feb. Mar. April. May. June. These 0. 2. 1. 2. 3. 4. For July. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. These 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 7. To find when Easter-day will happen. Rule. Find on what day of March the new moon falls nearest to the 21st in com- mon years, or nearest the 20th in leap-years; then the Sunday next after the full, or 15th day of that new moon, will be Easter-day. If the 15 th day falls on a Sunday, the next Sunday is Easter-day. Among the earliest writers on chronology, after the discovery of printing, was Paulus Constantinus Phrygio, whose “ Chronicon Regum Regnorumque omnium” was printed at Basil in 1534. A second was Bibliander’s work, in 1558; and a third, Eggard’s “ Ta- bula: Chronological,” printed at, Rostock, 1577. Among the most valuable which are now in use upon the continent, are the tables of Du Fresnoy and Berger, both ori- ginally published in 1719. The title only" of the latter, we believe, (“ Synchronistische Universalhistorie,”) is known in England; but those of the former have been long re- ceived in credit; although they are now su- perseded not only by Dr. Blair’s Tables, but by professor Playfair’s System of Chrono- logy* 1784, The following, as the greater epochs in the chronology" of history, have been selected from Dr. Blair. The history of the intervals may be easily' supplied by the memory of a retentive reader. Bef. Chr. 4004 Creation of the world 3875 The murder of Abe$ 3874 The birth of Seth 3017 Enoch translated 2348 The deluge 2247 The tower of Babel built 2000 The birth of Abraham 1921 The covenant made with Abraham Bef. Chr. 1728 Joseph sold into Egypt 1689 The death of Jacob 1635 The death of Joseph, \yhich conclude! the book of Genesis 1574 TJie birth of Aaron 1571 The birth of Moses 1491 God’s appearance to Moses in the burning bush 1451 The Israelites under Joshua pass the river Jordan 1285 Deborah defeats the Canaanites 1263 The Argonautic expedition undertaker 1236 The death of Gideon 1188 Jephlhah’s vow 1 184 Troy taken 1117 Sampson betrayed to the Philistines 1104 The return of the lleraclidse to Pelo- ponnesus 1095 The Israelites ask for a king. Sau anointed 1070 Athens governed by archons 1048 Jerusalem taken by David 1044 The migration of the Ionic coloniel from Greece 1023 Absalom’s rebellion 1004 Solomon’s dedication of the temple 926 The birth of Lycurgus 907 Homer supposed to have flourished \ 897 The death of Ahab 896 Elijah’s translation 8 1 4 The kingdom of Macedon begins 800 Jonah prophesies 790 Amos 785 Ilosea 758 Nahum 757 Isaiah, who prophesied above 60 years 754 Micah prophesies 753 The sra of the building of Rome 750 The rape of the Sabines 731 Ilabakkuk prophesies 721 Samaria taken. The first eclipse o the moon upon record 710 Senacherib’s army destroyed 696 Isaiah the prophet put to death 686 Archilochus the poet flourishes 677 'Pile combat of tJie Horatii andCuriat 658 By zantium built 627 Jeremiah prophesies - 628 Zephaniah 623 Draco establishes his laws at Athens i 6o5 The beginning of the captivity 600 Sappho flourishes 593 Ezekiel prophesies 59 1 Institution of the Pythian games 587 Jerusalem taken by r Nebuchadnezzar 560 Pisistratus usurped the tyranny 1 Athens 558 Daniel prophesies 539 Pythagoras flourishes 536 Cyrus gives an edict for the -return the Jews 528 Ilaggai prophesies 527 Zechariah 525 Cambyses conquers Egypt 520 Confucius flourishes 515 The temple of Jerusalem finished 509 The consular government begins Rome 490 The battle of Marathon 480 'Flie defeat of Salamis 458 Ezra flourishes 456 Nehemiahthe prophet 45 1 Laws of the twelve tables compiled 445 Herodotus reads his history at Athens 43 1 Beginning of the Peloponnesian war CHRONOLOGY, 350 id. Chr. '430 About this time the history of the Old I , Testament finishes 401 The retreat of the 10,000 Greeks un- der Xenophon. The 30 tyrants ex- pelled from Athens by Thrasybulus 1398 The military catapults invented 1390 Plato made 'his first voyage into Sicily 1 357 Dionysius the tyrant expelled Syracuse [ 343 The war between the Romans and Sam- nites I 340 The Carthaginians defeated by Timo- leoji 1 336 Philip of Macedon killed by Pausanias I 327 Alexander’s expedition into India j 323 The death of Alexander 322 Demosthenes put to death by Antipater | 296 Athens taken by Demetrius Polior- cetes 286 Lysimachus takes possession of Mace- don | 284 The septuagint translation of the Old Testament thought to have been made | 278 The Gauls under Brennus cut to pieces ; 264 The beginning of the first Punic war | 260 The Carthaginians defeated at sea by the Romans j 256 Regulus defeated y the Carthaginians 241 Agis, king of Spai ta, put to death 1 235 The temple of Janus shut the first time after Nuina . 224 The colossus of Rhodes thrown down by an ea'rthquak e ; 218 The second Punic war begins. Anni- bal passes the Alps 216 The battle of Canine | 212 Syracuse taken by Marcell us 202 Annibal defeated at Zarna I 200 The first Macedonian war begins tpo The first Roman army enters Asia 187 Antiochus the Great defeated and killed i 167 The first library erected at Rome j 149 The third Punic war begins ! 146 Carthage destroyed by Publius Scipio j 137 Ptolemy Phryocon began a new resto- ration of learning at Alexandria ! 116 Cleopatra assumes the government of Egypt | 107 Cicero born j 101 Marius and Catullus defeat the Cimbri f 100 The birth of Julius Caesar 99 Lusitania conquered by the Romans 89 The Mithridatic war begins 1 8 1 Cicero made his first oration j 66 Mithridates defeated by Pompey 65 The reign of the Seleucidae ends in Syria 1 63 Cataline’s conspiracy detected I 55 Caesar’s first expedition against Britain 50 Caesar besieges Pompey in Brundu- sium 48 The battle of Pharsalia 44 Cssar killed in the senate-house 4t) Jerusalem occupied by Antigonus 31 The battle of Actium : Marc Antony and Cleopatra defeated 25 The Egyptians adopt the Julian year 8 Augustus corrects the calendar 4 Our Saviour’s birth: four years before tiie common :era CHRISTIAN JERA. Aft. Christ. 8 Our Saviour disputes with the Jewish doctors 14 Augustus dies at Nola Aft. Chr. 17 Twelve cities in Asia destroyed by an earthquake 26 St. John the Baptist enters on his mi- nistry 27 John baptizes our Saviour 33 Our Saviour’s crucifixion 36 St. Paul converted 37 Tiberius dies at Misenum 39 St. Matthew writes his gospel 43 Claudius’s expedition into Britain 44 St. Mark wrote his gospel 5 1 Caractacus carried in chains to Rome 52 The council of the apostles at Jerusalem 54 The death of Claudius 59 Nero puts his mother Agrippina to death 61 Boadicea, the British queen, defeats the Romans 62 St. Paul sent in bonds to Rome 64 The first persecution against the Chris- tians 66 The Jewish war begins 67 St. Peter and St. Paul put to death 70 Titus destroys Jerusalem 95 The second persecution against the Christians 102 Pliny the Younger sends Trajan his celebrated account of the Christians 107 The third persecution against the Christians 118 The fourth persecution against the Christians 130 Adrian rebuilds Jerusalem 135 Conclusion of the Jewish war, when the Jews w r ere all banished Judea 146 The worship of Serapis introduced at Rome 202 The fifth persecution against the Chris- tians 235 The sixth persecution against the Chris- tians 250 The seventh persecution 252 A great pestilence in the Roman empire 257 The eighth persecution of the Christians 269 Zenobia takes posession of Egypt 272 The ninth persecution against the Christians 293 C’arausius killed by Alectus 286 The Roman empire attacked by the northern nations. Carausius reigns in Britain 303 The tenth persecution against the Christians 312 Maxentius defeated by Constantine 319 Constantine begins to favour the Chris- tians 325 The first general council of Nice 340 The deatli of Constantine the Great 343 Persecution of the Christians in Persia 364 The Roman empire divided into the eastern and western 388 The ty rant Maximus defeated 406 The Vandals, Alans, and Suevi, spread into France and Spain 410 Rome taken and plundered by Alaric 420 The kingdom of the French begins upon the low r er Rhine 426 The Romans leave Britain 435 The Theodosian codex published 449 The Saxons arrive in Britain 452 The city of Venice takes its rise 455 Rome taken by Genseric 475 Hengist’s massacre of the British nobles 476 The western empire finishes 493 The kingdom of Italy passes from the Hexuii to the Ostro-Goths Aft. Chr. 496 Clovis baptized, and Christianity em- braced in France 510 Paris made the capital of the French dominions 51 1 Arthur defeats the Saxons in the battle of Badon-hill 516 The computing of time by the Christian arra introduced by Dionysius 529 The code of Justinian published 533 The digest of Justinian published 536 Rome taken by Belisarius 551 The manufacture of silk introduced into Europe from India by some monks 55S A terrible plague all over Europe, Asia, and Africa, which continues near fifty years 580 Cosroes the Great defeated, and dies of grief 597 Augustin the monk arrives in England 606 The power of the popes begins 622 The Hegira of Mahomet begins 637 Jerusalem taken by the Saracens 640 Alexandria taken by the Saracens, and the great library there burnt 653 The Saracens take Rhodes, and cut to pieces the famous colossus 709 Ilia, king of Wessex, publishes his laws 748 The computing of years from the birth of Christ began to be used in histo- ries about this time 750 The Merovingian race ends in France 751 The second race of the French kings begins with Pepin, surnamed the Little 762 Bagdad built by Almansor 774 Pavia taken by Charlemagne 778 The battle of Roncevaux 800 The emperors of the West, or of Ger- many, begin 822 The Saracens besiege Constantinople 810 A civil war among the Saracens 828 The heptarchy of England united under Egbert 838 The Piets defeated by the Scots 840 The death of Lewis the Debonnaire 843 The French peers make a new division of the French dominions 853 The Normans get possession of some cities in France 867 The Danes conquer Northumberland 872 Alfred defeated by the Danes 878 Alfred conceals himself in Athelney 879 The kingdom of Arles begins 886 The university of Oxford said to have been founded 888 The dominions of Charles le Gros di- vided into five kingdoms 904 The Hungarians ravage Italy 912 Tfie Normans establish themselves in France under Rollo 936 The Saracen empire divided by usur- pation into seven kingdoms 964 The kingdom of Italy conquered by Otho 987 The third race of the French kings be- gins under Hugh Capet 996 Otho III. makes the empire of Ger- many elective 1013 The Danes, under Sueno, get posses- sion of England 1035 The kingdoms of Castile and Arragon begin 1043 The Turks take possession of Persia 4 1065 Jerusalem taken by the Turks from the Saracens 360 C H II C II 11 CHR Aft. Chr. lOfjb The conquest of England under Wil- liam duke of Normandy 1080 1 he Domesday serve v compiled 10})6. ! he first crusade to the llolv Land '1110 Learning revived at the university of Cambridge 1I1S 1 he order of the knights templars in- stituted 1140 King Stephen defeated and taken pri- soner in the battle of Lincoln 1146 1 he empress Matilda retires out of England 1147 I he second crusade 1151 The canon law composed by Gratian 1 154 I he party names ot Guelfs anti Gibbe- lines begin 3162 I Ire .emperor Frederick destroys Milan 1 172 Henry II. takes possession of Ireland 1 177 Saladin repulsed before Jerusalem 1189 I he kings of England and France go to the Holy Land 1192 Richard Gceur de Lion defeats Saladin at Ascalon 1204 Normandy conquered, and re-united to France 1215 Magna Charta signed by king John 1227 'I he Tartars under Gingis-kan over- run the Saracen empire 1233 The inquisition trusted to flic Domi- nicans L253 'Fhe famous astronomical tables are composed by Allonso Xi. king of Castile 1273 The empire of the present Austrian family begins 1279 The mortmain-act passed in England .1283 Wales conquered bv Edward the First 1293 d he regular succession of the English parliaments begins 1307 The beginning of the Swiss cantons 1310 The knights of St. John take Rhodes 1312 The knights templars condemned 1346 Tire battle of Cressy 1349 'I ’he order of the garter instituted >1352 The Turks enter Europe 1356 The battle of Poictiers 138 1 Wat Tyler’s insurrection 1388 The battle of Otterburn I4l4 The council of Constance 1440 The art of printing discovered 1455 The battle of St. Albans 1471 The battle of Tewksbury .1478 Lorenzo de Medici expelled Florence 1485 The battle of Bosworth .1497 The Portuguese lirst sail 'to the East Indies 1508 The league of Cambray formed >1517 l lie Reformation begun by Luther 1522 Rhodes taken by the Turks J 527 Rome taken by Charles V. 1534 The Reformation takes place in Eng- land 1545 The council of Trent begins >1571 'lire victory of Lepanto obtained 1572 The massacre of Paris 358.2 Pope Gregory introduces the new style 1587 Mary queen of Scots beheaded 1588 The destruction of the Spanish armada 1596 Cadiz taken by the English 1604 Ostend taken by the Spaniards 1608 The .invention of the- telescope 1 6 1 4 Napier invents the logarithms 1618 The synod of Dert begins 1619 Harvey discovers the circulation of the blood Aft. Chr. 1621 The civil war with the Huguenots in France 1629 Nine members imprisoned for their speeches in the house of commons 1640 The Scots army enters England 1642 King Charles demands the live mem- bers 1645 I he battle of Naseby 1649 King Charles beheaded 1652 The first war between the English and Dutch begins 1660 The Restoration of Charles II. 1662 The Royal Society established 1680 The great comet observed 1683 Lord Russel beheaded 1688 The Revolution in England 1692 The sea-fight of La Hogue 1704 Gibraltar taken by admiral Rook 1706 The battle of Ramiliies 1709 The. battle of Pultowa 1720 'Fhe South Sea scheme begins 1727 The siqge of Gibraltar by the Spa- niards 1750 The interest on the public funds re- duced to three per cent. 1752 The new style introduced into Great Britain 1766 ’Fhe American stamp-act repealed 1772 The revolution in Denmark 1773 'Flie order of the Jesuits suppressed 1775 'Fhe American war commenced 1779 'File siege of G ibraltar begun 1780 The riots in London 1782 'Flie sea-light under Rodney 1783 'Flie preliminaries of a general peace signed. America declared indepen- daut 1789 Fhe revolution in France begins 1793 LouisXYI. beheaded 1798 'Fhe battle of the Nile. 1799 Buonaparte made first consul of France 1805 The victory off Trafalgar CHRONOMETER, in general, denotes any instrument, or machine, used in measur- ing time. See Clockwork. Several machines have been invented for measuring time, under the name of chro- nometers, upon principles very different from those on which clocks and watches are constructed. 'Fhe lamp chronome- ter consists of a chamber- lamp, which is a cylindrical vessel about three inches .high, and one inch diameter, placed in a stand. The inside of this vessel must he every where exactly of the same di- ameter. To the stand is fixed a handle which supports a frame, about twelve inches high, and four wide. This frame is to be covered with oiled paper, and divid- ed into twelve equal parts by horizontal lines; at the end .of which are written the numbers .for the hours, from 1 to 12, and be- tween the horizontal lines are diagonals that are divided into halves, quarters, &c. O 11 the handle, and close to the glass, is fixed a style or gnomon. Now as the distance of the style from the flame of the lamp is only half an inch, if the distance of the frame from -the style is only six inches, then, while the float that contains the light descends by the decrease of the oil one inch, the shadow of the style on the frame wall ascend twelve inches, that is, its whole length, and shew by its progression the regular increase of the hours with their several divisions. It is ab- solutely necessary, however, that the oil used in this lamp should be always of the sarri sort, and quite pure, and that the wick all be constantly of the same size and substance! as if is on these circumstances, and the uni form figure of the vessel, that the regull progress ot the shadow depends. OliROSTASIMA, in natural history, I genus of pellucid gems, comprehending aj those which appear of one simple and pel manetit colour in all lights : such are the dii monel, carbuncle, ruby, garnet, ainethys] sapphire, beryl, emerald, and the topaz. ’ ] CHRYSALIS, or Aurelia, in naturi history, a state of rest and seeming insensj bility, which butterflies, moths, and sever! other kinds of insects, must pass through hi fore they arrive at their winged or most pel feet state. In this state, no creatures alfol so beautiful a variety as the butterfly kind' and they all pass through this middle stat without one exception. The figure of th aurelia or chrysalis generally approaches t that ot a cone ; or at least the hinder part c it is in this shape; and the creature, whil in this state, seems to have neither legs n< wings, nor to have any power of walking, seems indeed to have hardly so much as libs It. takes no nourishment in this state, nor hJ it any organs for taking any ; and indeed i| posterior part is all that seems animated, th] having a power of giving itself some motion] The external covering of the chrysalis ■ membranaceous, and considerably large, an is usually smooth and gloss }- : hut scan of them have a few hairs: some are also a hairy as the caterpillars from which they ar produced ; and others are rough or shagreei ed all over. In all ot these there may I) distinguished two sides ; the one of which I the back, the other the belly of the animal On the anterior part of the latter, there nni] always be distinguished certain little eleva tioas running in ridges, and resembling tlij fillets wound about mummies: the pai w hence these have their origin is esteeme the head of the animal. 'Fhe other side, 0 back, is smooth, and of a rounded figure i most of the chrysalises; but some have ridge on (lie anterior part, and sides of this part and these usually terminate in a point, an make an angular appearance on the clirvss lis. From this difference is. drawn the first gc neral distinction of these bodies. They ar by this divided into two classes ; the rouiii and the angular kinds. There are also se veral subordinate distinctions of these kinds hut, in general, they are less different fror one another than the caterpillars whend they are produced. 'Fhe head of those c the lirst class usually terminates itself by tw angular parts, which stand separate one fror another, and resemble a pair of horns. O the back, eminences and marks are discover ed, which imagination may form into eve: nose, chin, and other parts of the huma face. There are a great variety and a great dea of beauty in the figures and arrangement c the eminences and spots on the other part of the body of the chrysalises of ditferei kinds. It is a general observation, that thos chrysalises which, are terminated by a sing! horn, afford dav-butterflies of the kind 1 those which have buttoned antennae, and th wings of which, in a state of rest, cover tli under part of their body, and which use a A C H R their six legs in walking, i hose of many other kinds using only four of them: Those chry- salises which are terminated by two angular bodies, and which are covered with a great number of spines, and have the figure of a human face on their back in the greatest per- fection, afford butterflies of the day-kind; and of that class the characters of which are, their walking on four legs, and using the other two, that is, the anterior part, in the manner of arms or hands. I'he chrysalises which have two angular bodies on their heads, but shorter than those of the preced- ing, and whose back shews but a faint sketch of tiie human face, and which have fewer spines, and those less sharp, always turn to that sort of butterfly the upper wings of which are divided into segments, one of which is so long as to represent a tail, and whose under ngs are folded over the up- per part of : he ick. A careful observation will establi. 1 many more rules of this kind, which are not ; perfect as to be free from ail exceptions ; yet are of great use, as they teach us in general what sort of fly we are to expect from the chrysalis, of which we know not the caterpillar, and therefore can only' judge from appearances. These are the principal differences of the angular chry- salises ; the round ones also have their dif- ferent marks not less regular than those. The greater number of the round chrysa- lises have the hinder part of their body of the figure of a cone; but the upper end, which ought to be its circular plane base, is usually- bent and rounded into a sort of knee; this is usually called the head of the chrysalis ; but there are also some of this kind, the head of which is terminated by a nearly plane sur- face : some of the creeping ten-legged cater- pillars give chrysalises of this kind, which have each of them two eminences that seem to bring them towards the angular kind. Among the angular chrysalises there are some whose colours seem as worthy our ob- servation as the shapes of the others. Many of them appear superbly clothed in gold. These elegant species have obtained the name of chrysalis and aurelia, which are de- rived from Greek and Latin words, signifying gold; and from these all other bodies of the same kind have been called by the same names, though less, or not at a If, entitled to them. Some are all over of an elegant green, as is the chrysalis of the fennel caterpillar ; others of an elegant yellow ; and some of a bright greenish tinge, variegated with 4 spots of a shining black ; we have a* very beautiful instance of this kind in the chrysalis of the -cabbage-caterpillar. The general colour of the chrysalis of the common butterflies, how- ever, is brown. The several species of insects, as a fly, spi- der, and an ant, do not differ more evident- ly from one another in regard to appearance, than do a caterpillar, its chrysalis, and a but- terfly produced from it ; yet it is certain, that these are all the product of the same in- dividual egg; and nothing. is more certain, than that the creature which was for a while a caterpillar, is, after a certain time, a chry- salis, and then a butterfly. These great changes produced in so sudden a manner, • seem like the metamorphoses recorded in the tables of the antients ; and indeed it is not improbable that those fables first took -their origin from such changes. VOL. I. C H R The parts being distinguishable in the chry- salis, we easily find the difference of the species of the fly that is to proceed from it. The naked eye shews whether it is one of those that have, or those that have not, a trunk ; and the assistance of a microscope shews the antennae so distinctly, that we are able to discern whether it belongs to the day or night class; and often to what genus, if not the very species : nay, in the plumose horned kinds, we may see, by the antennae, whether a male or female phalaena is to be produced from the chrysalis ; the horns of the female being in this state evidently nar- rower, and appearing less elevated above the common surface of the body, than those of the male. All these parts of the chrysalis, however, though seen very distinctly, are laid close to one another, and seem to form only one mass ; each of them is covered with its own peculiar membrane in this state, and all are surrounded together by a com- mon one ; and it is only through these that we see them ; or rather we see on these the figures of ail the parts moulded within, and therefore it requires attention to distinguish them. The chrysalis is soft when first pro- duced, and is wetted on the front with a vis- cous liquor ; its skin, though very tender at first, dries and hardens by degrees : but this viscous liquor, which surrounds the wings, legs, &c. hardens almost immediately ; and in consequence fastens all those limbs, &c. into a mass, which were before loose from one another: this liquor, as it hardens, loses its transparency, and becomes brown ; so that it is only while it is yet moist that these parts are to be seen distinct. It is evident from the whole, that the chry- salis is no other than a butterfly, the parts of which are hidden under certain membranes which fasten them together ; and, when the limbs are arrived at their due strength, they become able to break through these mem- branes, and expand and arrange themselves in their proper order. T he first metamor- phosis, therefore, differs in nothing from the second, except that the butterfly comes from the body of the caterpillar in a weak state, with limbs unable to perform their offices, whereas it comes from the chrysalis perfect. Mr. Reaumur, in his History of Insects, vol. 1. has given many curious particulars on the structure and uses of the several cover- ings that attend the varieties of the cater- pillar kind in this state. These creatures in general remain wholly immoveable, and seem to have no business in it but a patient at- tendance on the time when they are to be- come butterflies ; and this is a change that can happen to them, only as their parts, be- fore extremely soft and weak, are capable of hardening and becoming firm by degrees, by the transpiration of that abundant humi- dity which before kept them soft ; and this is proved by an experiment of Mr. Reaumur, who, inclosing some chrysalises in a glass tube, found, after some time, a small quan- tity of water at the bottom of it ; which could have come there no other way, but from the body of the inclosed animal. This transpira- tion depends greatly on the temperature of the air ; it is increased by heat, and dimi- nished by cold ; but it has also its peculiari ties in regard to the several species of but- terfly to which the chrysalis belongs. ( According to these observations, the time Z z CHR m of the duration of the animal in the chrysalis statemust.be, in different species, very dif- ferent; and there is indeed this wide differ- ence in the extremes, that some species re- main only eight days in this state, and others eight months, CHR Y SIS, or gold-fly, a genus of insects belonging to the hymenoptera order. The mouth is armed with jaws, but lias no pro- boscis ; the antennae are filiform, bent, and consist of 12 articulations. The abdomen is arched, with a scale on each side ; the anus is dentated, and armed with a sting ; the wings lie plain, and the body appears as if gilt. There are seven species, of which the lucidula is one : it is beautified with the most splendid colours. I'he fore part of the head is green and gold, and the hinder of a bright azure. The thorax is azure and green : the abdomen is green and gold before, and of a coppery red behind. This species lives in holes of walls. The larvie, which resemble those of the wasp, likewise inhabit the holes of decayed walls, See Plate Nat. Hist, fig. 120. CHRYSITRIX, in botany: a genus of the dioecia order, in the poly gamia class of plants. In the hermaphrodite, the glume is two-valved, the corolla; from chaff numerous and bristly ; many stamina, one within each chaff; one pistilium. The male is the her- maphrodite; it lias no pistilium. There is one species, a native of the Cape, CHRYSOBALANUS, cocoa plum: a genus of the monogynia order, in the ico- sandria class of plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the 36th order, po- macese. The calyx is quinquefid, the petals five ; plum kernel five-furrowed and five- valved. There is only one species, the chry- sobalanus icaco, a native of the Bahama isl- ands and many other parts of America, hut commonly grows near the sea. It rises with a shrubby stalk eight or nine feet high. The flowers are white, and are succeeded by plumsilike damsons ; some blue, some red, and others yellow. The stone is shaped like a pear, and has live longitudinal furrows. The plums have a sweet luscious taste ; and are brought to the tables of the inhabitants by whom they are much esteemed. CM RY’SOCOMA, goldy -locks : a ge- nus of the polygamia asqualis order, in the syngenesia class of plants ; and in the na- tural method ranking under the 49th order, composite. The receptacle is naked; the pappus simple ; the calyx hemispherical and imbricated; the sty le hardly longer than the florets. There are thirteen species, the’ most' remarkable of which are the linosyris and the cernua. These are herbaceous flower- ing perennials, growing from one to two feet high, ornamented with narrow leaves, and compound floscular flowers of a yellow co- lour. CHRYSOGONUM, a genus of the poly- gamia necessaria order, in the syngenesia class of plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the 49th order, composite. The receptacle is paleaceous ; the pappus monophyllous, and tridenteds the calvx pen- taphyllous ; the seeds wrapped up each in a tetraphyllous calyculus, or little cup. There is one species, a native of Virginia. CHRYSOLITE, in natural history, a gem which the antients knew under the name of the topaz ; and the true chrysolite of the an- e h i\ C H U 3Q2 tients, which had its name from its fine gold- fellow colour, is now universally called to- paz by modern jewellers. The chrysolite is found in angular frag- ments, in grains, and crystallized. The pri- mitive form of its crystals is a right-angled parallelopid, whose length, breadth, and thickness, are as 5, ^/8, The edges of the prism are usually truncated. The tex- ture is foliated. Its tfacture is conehoidal : it causes double refractions, and its specilic gravity is from 3.265 to 3.45. Colour green, it is- infusible at 150 degrees, but loses its transparency, and becomes a blackish grey. With borax it melts without effervescence into a transparent glass of a green colour. There are two varieties. 1. Common chrysolite, found in Ceylon, South America, and in Bohemia, amidst sandy gravel. Colour yellowish g een, some- times verging to olive-green, sometimes to yellow. 2. Olive chrysolite, found commonly in basalt; sometimes in small grains, sometimes in pretty large pieces. It has not been ob- served in crystals : colour olive-green. The first variety is, according to the analysis of Klaproth, composed ot 41.5 magnesia 38.5 silica 19 0 oxyde of iron. 99-0 The second is composed of 37.58 magnesia 50.00 silica 11.75 oxyde of iron .21 lime 99.54 CHUYSOMELA, in zoology, a genus of insects with bracelet-like antenna, thickest towards the extremities; the body of an oval form, and the thorax rounded. Of this genus, which belongs to the order of coleoptera, there are 122 different species, denominated from the trees on which they feed, as the chrysomela of tansy, beech,' alder, willow, &c. some being of one colour, some of ano- ther, with a tinge of gold-colour diffused through it. CH RYSOPH YLLUM,the bully tree : a genus of the monogynia order, in the pen- tandria class of plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the 43d order, viz. dumosae. The corolla is campanuiated, de- cernfid, with the segments alternately a little patent. The fruit is a ten-seeded berry. There are six species, natives of the W est Indies. The most remarkable are: 1. The Chrysophyllum cainito, rises thirty or forty feet h'gh. The flowers come out at the extremities of the branches, disposed in oblong bunches, which are succeeded by fruit of the size of a golden pippin, very rough to the palate, and astringent ; but when kept some time mellow, as is practised here with medlars, they have an agreeable fla- vour. 2. Chrysophyllum glabrum, never rises to the height of the cainito, nor do the trunks grow to half the size. The flowers come out , clusters from the side of the branches, and are succeeded by oval smooth fruit, about the size of a bergamot pear. It contains a white clammy juice when fresh ; but after being kept a few days, it becomes sweet, soft, and delicious. Inclosed are four or five black seeds, of the size of those of a pomkin. Both species are often preserved in large stoves. CH RYSOPRASE. This mineral, which is found in several parts of Germany, is al- ways amorphous. Its fracture is either even or inclined to the splintery, with very little lustre ; its colour green ; specific gravity 2.479. In a heat of 130 degrees Wedgewood, it whitens and becomes opaque. It is found by Klaproth to be composed of 96. 16 silica 1.00 oxide of nickel 0.83 lime 0.08 alumine 0.08 oxide of iron. 93. 15 CHRYSOSPLEN IUM, a genus of the digyuia order, in the decandria class of plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the 12th order, succulents. The calyx is quadriiid or qumquefid, and colour- ed ; no corolla ; the capsule birostrated, unilocular, and polyspermous. Its English name is golden saxifrage. There are two species, common in all the northern parts of Europe. CH UPMESSAIIITES, a sect of Maho- metans, who believed that Jesus Christ was God, and the redeemer of the world. CHURCH, the place which Christians consecrate to the worship of God. By the common law and general custom ot the realm, it was lawful for earls, barons, and others of the laity, to build churches ; but they could not erect a spiritual body-politic to continue in succession, and capable of endowment, without the king’s licence ; and before the law shall take knowledge of them as such, they must also have the bishop’s leave and consent to be consecrated or dedicated by him. 3 Inst. 203. CHURCHWARDENS, the guardians or keepers of the church, are persons annually chosen in Easter week, by the joint consent of the minister and parishioners, or according to the custom of the respective places ; to | look after the church and church-yard, and j tilings thereunto belonging. They are en- trusted with the care and management of the goods and personal property ot the church, which they are to order for the best advan- tage of the parishioners; but they have no interest in, or power over, the trcehold of the church itself, or of any land or oilier real property belonging to it: these are the pro- perty of the parson or vicar, who alone is in- terested in their loss or preservation. The churchwardens therefore may purchase goods and other articles for the use ot the parish ; they may likewise, with the assent of the pa- rishioners, sell, or otherwise dispose of, the goods of the church, but without such con- sent they are not authorized to alienate any of the property under their care. 4 Viner Abr. 526. All peers of the realm, clergymen, coun- sellors, attorneys, clerks in court, physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries, are exempt from serving the office of churchwardens; as is every dissenting teacher or preacher, in holy orders, or pretended holy orders. Bv2 Geo. III. c. 20. no serjeant, cor- poral, drummer, or private man, personally serving in the militia, during the time C I C of such service, shall be liable to serve as churchwarden. By the 10 and 11 Wm. c. 23. s. 2. persons who have prosecuted a felon to conviction, and the first assignee of the certificate there- of, are exempted. No person living out of the parish may be chosen churchwarden. Gibs. 215. CHYLE, in tiie animal economy, a milky fluid, secreted from the aliments by means of digestion. See Physiology. CICATRIX, in surgery, a little seam or elevation of callous flesh rising on the skin, and remaining there after the healing of a wound or ulcer. It is commonly called a scar. See Surgery. CICADA, the Frog-hopper, or flea- locust, a genus of insects belonging to the order of hemiptera. See Plate Nat. Hist, figs. 121, 122, 123. The beak is inflected ; the antenna; are setaceous : the four wings are membranaceous and deflected ; and the feet in most of the species, are of the jumping kind. The species are fifty-one. The larvae of several of this genus evacuate great quan- tities of a frothy matter upon the branches and leaves of plants, in the midst of which they constantly reside, probably for shelter against the search of other animals, to which they would become a prey. Nature has afford- ed this kind of defence to insects whose naked and soft bodies might otherwise very easily be injured ; perhaps also the moisture of this foam may serve to screen it from the sultry beams of the sun. On removing the foam, you discover the larva concealed underneath ; but it does not long remain uncovered. It soon emits fresh foam, that hides it from the eye of observation. It is in the midst of this foamy substance that the larva goes through its metamorphosis into a chrysalis and perfect insect. Other larva;, whose bodies are not so soft, run over plants without any manner of defence; and escape from insects that might hurt them, by the nimbleness of their running, but especially of their leaping. The chrysalids, and all the larvae that pro- duce them, differ little from each other, only that the former have the rudiments of wings, a kind of knob at the place where the wings will afterwards be in the perfect insect. In other respects, the chrysalids walk, leap, and run, over plants and trees ; as do the larva and the frog-hopper, which they are to pro- duce. At length they throw off their tegu- ments of chrysalids, slip their last slough, and then the insect appears in, its utmost state of perfection. The male alone is then en- dowed with the faculty of singing, which it exercises not with its throat, but with an or- gan situated under "the abdomen. Behind the legs of the male are observed two val- vulse, which, raised up, discover several ca- vities separated by various membranes. The middle contains a scaly triangle. Two vi- gorous muscles give motion to another mem- brane, which alternately- becomes concave and convex. The air, agitated by this mem- brane, is modified within the other cavities ; and by the help of this sonorous instrument, he amorously solicits his female. By pulling the muscles of a frog-hopper lately dead, it may be made to sing. This insect begins its song early in the morning, and continues it during the heat of the noontide sun. Its lively and animated music is, to the country people, a presage of a fine summer, a plenti- C I c C I M 303 fill harvest, arid the sure return of spring. The cicada; have a head almost triangular, an oblong body, their wings fastigiated or in form of a root, and six legs with which they walk and leap pretty briskly. In the females, at the extremity of the abdomen, are seen two large lamina, between which is enclosed, as in a sheath, a spine, or lamina, somewhat serrated, which serves them for the purpose of depositing their eggs, and probably to sink them into the substance of those plants which the young larvae are to feed upon. CICCA, a genus of the tetrandvia order, in the monoeeia class of plants. The male calyx is tetraphyllous ; there is no corolla ; the female calyx triphylious ; no corolla ; four styles ; the capsule quadricoccous, or four-berried. There is one species, a shrub of the East Indies. CICER, the chick-pea, a genus of the de- candria order, in the diadelphia class of plants, and in the natural method ranking under the 32d order, papilionacea?. The ca- lyx is quinquepartite, as long as the corolla, with its four uppermost segments incumbent on the vexillum ; the legumen is rhomboidal, turgid, and dispermous. There is but . one species, which produces peas shaped like the common ones, but much smaller. They are cultivated in Spain, where they are na- tives, being one of the ingredients in their olios, as also in France; but are rarely known m Britain. CICHORIUM, succory, a genus of the polygamia ajqualis order, in the syngenesia class Of plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the 49th order, composite. The receptacle is a little paleaceous ; the ca- lyx calculated ; the pappus almost quinque- dentated, and indistinctly hairy. There are three species, viz. 1. Cichorium endivia, or common endive, with broad crenated leaves, differs from the wild sort (No. 2.) in its duration, being only annual, whereas the wild sort is perennial. T his species may be considered both as an annual and biennial plant. If sown early in the spring, or even any time before the begin- ning of June, the plants very commonly fly up to seed the same summer, and perish in autumn. If sown in June and July they ac- quire perfection in autumn, continue till the next spring, then shoot up stalks for flower and seed, and soon after perish. The inner leaves are the useful parts. These when blanched white to render them crisp and ten- der, and reduce them from their natural strong taste to an agreeable bitter one, are then lit for use. They are valued chiefly as ingredients in autumn and winter salads, and for some culinary uses- 2. Cichorium intybus, wild succory, grows naturally by the sides of roads, and in shady lanes. It sends out long leaves from the roots, from between which the stalks arise, growing to the height of three or four feet, and branch- ing out into smaller ones. The flowers come out from the sides of the stalks, and are of a fine blue colour. They are succeeded by oblong seeds covered, inclosed in a down. The roots and leaves are articles of the ma- teria medica. The former have a moderately bitter taste, with some degree of roughness ; the leaves are somewhat less bitter ; and the darker-coloured and more deeply jagged they are, the bitterer is their taste. Wild Succory is an useful detergent, aperient, and C 1 C attenuating medicine, acting without much irritation, tending rat her to cool than to heat the body ; and, at the same time, corrobo- rating the tone of the intestines. All the parts of the plant, when wounded, yield a milky saponaceous juice. This, when taken in large quantities, so as to keep up a gentle diarrhoea, and continued for some weeks, has been found to produce excellent effects in scorbutic and other chronical disorders. 3. Cichorium spinosum, with a prickly forked stalk, grows naturally on the sea-coast in Sicily, and the islands ol the Archipelago. The flowers are of a pale blue colour, and are succeeded by seeds shaped like those of the common sorts. CICINDELA, the sparkler, in zoology, a genus of insects belonging to the order of coieoptera. The antenna; are setaceous ; the jaws are prominent, and furnished with teeth ; the eyes are a little prominent ; and the breast is roundish and marginated. There are 14 species. The campestris (see Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 124), or field sparkler, is one of the most beautiful of the genus. The upper part of its body is of a fine green colour, rough, and rather bluish. The under side, as also the legs and antenna;, are of a shot colour, gold and red, of a copperish cast. The eyes are very prominent, and give the head a broad appearance. The thorax is an- gular, and narrower than the head, which constitutes the character of the cicindela. It is rough, and of a green colour tinged with gold, as well as the head. The elytra are delicately, and irregularly dotted. Each of them has six white spots, viz. one on the top of the elytrum, at its outward angle; three more along the outward edge, of which the middlemost forms a kind of lunula ; a fifth on the middle of the elytra, opposite the lu- nula; and that one is broader, and tolerably round ; lastly, a sixth at the extremity of the elytra. There is also sometimes seen a black spot on the middle of each elytrum, oppo- site to the second white spot. The upper lip is also white, as is the upper side of the jaws, which are very prominent and sharp. This insect runs wjth great swiftness, and flies easily. It is found in dry sandy places, especially in the beginning of spring. In the same places its larva is met with, which resembles a long, soft, whitish worm, armed with six legs, and a brown scaly head. It makes a perpendicular round hole in the ground, and keep its head at the entrance of the hole to catch the insects that fall into it; a spot of ground is sometimes entirely perfo- rated in this manner. The insects belonging to this genus are in general very beautiful, and merit the attention of the curious in their microscopic observations ; some are minute, though not inferior in splendour, therefore best suited for the experiment. Living subjects are ever preferable to dead ones. The larva; of all this genus live under ground ; and are, as well as the perfect in- sects, tigers in their nature, attacking and destroying all they can overcome. CICUTA, water hemlock, a genus of the order digynia, in the pentandria class of plants, and ranking in the natural method under the 45th order,, umbellate. There are three species, viz. 1 . Gicuta biflbifera ; 2. Cicuta maculata ; and 3. Cicuta vifbsa. This species is the only Z 'i 2 one remarkable, and that from the poisonous qualities of its roots, which have been oiten known to destroy children who eat them for parsnips. CIDARIS, in antiquity, the mitre used by tile Jewish high-priests. The rabbis say, that the bonnet used by the priests in ge- neral, was made of a piece of linen cloth six- teen yards long, which covered their heads like a helmet or a turban ; and they allow no other difference between the high-priest’s bonnet, and that of other priests, than this; that one is flatter, and more in the form of a turban ; whereas that worn by ordinary priests rose something more in a point. A plate of gold was an ornament peculiar to the high-priest’s mitre. CILIA RE, or ligamentum ciliare, or ci- liaris processus, in anatomy, a range of black libres disposed circularly, having their rise in the inner part of the uvea, and termi- nating in the prominent part of the chryslal- line humour of the eye, w liich they surround. See Anatomy. CIM EX, or bug, in zoology, a genus of insects belonging to the order of hemiptera. (See PlateNat. Hist. figs. 125, 126, 127.) The rostrum is inflected. The antenna- are longer than the horax. The wings are folded together crosswise ; the upper ones are coriaceous from their base towards their middle. The back is flat ; the thorax margined. The feet are formed for running. This genus is divided into different sections, viz. 1. Those with- out wings. 2. Those in which the escutcheon is extended so far as to cover the abdomen and the wings. 3- The coleoptrati, whose elytra are wholly coriaceous. 4. Those whos* elytra are membranaceous : these are very much depressed like a leaf. 5. In which the thorax is armed on each side with a spine. 6. Those which are of an oval form, without spines on the thorax. 7. In which the an- tenna become setaceous towards their point. 8. Those of an oblong form. 9. Those whose antenna; are setaceous, and as long as the body. 10. Those that have their thighs armed with spines. 11. Those whose bodies are long and narrow. Lin incus enumerates no fewer than than 12 1 species, to which several have been added by other naturalists. A very peculiar species was discovered by Dr. Sparman at the Cape, which he has named cimex paradoxus. lie observed it as at noontide he sought for shelter among the branches of a shrub from the intolerable heat of the sun. “ Though the air (says he) was extremely still and calm, so as hardly to have shaken an aspen leaf, yet 1 thought 1 saw a little withered, pale, crumpled leaf, eaten as it were by caterpillars, flittering from the tree. This appeared to me so very extraordinary, that I thought it worth my while suddenly u* quit my verdant bower in order to contem- plate it; and I could scarcely believe mv eyes, when I saw a live insect, in shape and colour resembling the fragment of a withered leaf, with the edges turned up, and eaten away as it were by caterpillars, and at the same time all over beset with prickles. Nature, by this peculiar form, has certainly extremely well defended and concealed, as in a mash, this insect from birds and its other diminutive foes ; in all probability with a view to preserve it, and employ it for some important office in the system of her economy ; a system with which we are too little acquainted, in general SOi C I M too little investigated ; and which, in every part oi it, can never sufficiently admire with that respect and veneration which we owe to the great Author of Nature and ruler of the uni- verse.” The larvae of bugs only differ from the per- fect insect by the want of wings : they run over plants; and grow and change to chrysalids, without appearing to undergo any material difference. They have only rudiments of wings, which the last transformation unfolds, and the insect is then perfect. In the first two stages they are unable to propagate their species. In their perfect state, the female, fecundated, lays a great number of eggs, which are often found upon plants, placed one by the side of another ; many of which, viewed through a glass, present singular varieties of configuration. Some are crowned with a row of small hairs, others have a circular fillet ; and most have a piece which forms a cap ; this piece the larva pushes off when it forces open the egg. Released by nature from their prison, they overspread t he plant on which they feed, extracting, by the help of the ro- strum, the juices appropriated for their nou- rishment: even in this, state, the larvae are not all peaceably inclined ; some are vo- racious in an eminent degree, apd spare nei- ther sex nor species they can conquer. In their perfect state they are mere cannibals, glutting themselves with the blood of animals ; they destroy caterpillars and Hies ; and even the coleopterous tribe, whose hardness of ely- tra one would imagine was proof against their attacks, have fallen an easy prey to the sharp piercing nature of the rostrum of the bug, and the incautious naturalist may even ex- perience a feeling severity of its nature. The cimex lectularius, or house bug, is particu- larly acceptable to the palate of spiders in general, and is even sought after by wood- bugs ; which is not indeed surprising, when the general voracity of this genus is consi- dered. "Trials have been made of various methods of destroying house-bugs, with oil of turpentine, camphor, solutions of subli- mate, &c. CIMICIFUGA, in botany, a genus of the polyandria order, in the clioecia class of plants. The male calyx is almost penta- phyllous; there is no corolla; the stamina are 20 in number: the female calyx is almost pentaphyllous ; no corolla: the stamina 20, and barren ; the capsules from four to seven, polyspermous. There is but one species ; of which Messerschmidius, in the Isis Siberica, gives the following character and name : cimi- cifuga foetlda, with the leaves of the herb Christopher, bearing a thyrsus of yellow male flowers with a red villous seed, the seed-ves- sel in form of a horn. This whole plant so resembles the actea racemosa, that it is dif- ficult to distinguish them when not in flower; but in the fructification it greatly differs from it, tfle cimicifuga having four pistils, the ac- tea but one. Jacquin says, that it is a native of the Carpathian mountains. It has obtained the name of cimicifuga, or bugbane, both in Siberia and Tartary, from its property of driving away those insects: and the botanists of those parts ol Europe which are infested by, them, have long desired to naturalize it in their several countries. Gmelin mentions, that in Siberia the natives also use it as an •vacuant in dropsy ; and that its effects are violently emetic and drastic. C I N CIMOLIA alba, the name of the earth of which tobacco-pipes are made. Its distin- guishing characters are, that it is a dense, compact, heavy earth, of a dull colour, and very close texture ; it will not easily break between the fingers, and slightly stains the lingers in handling. It adheres to* the tongue, melts slowly in the mouth, and is not readily diffusible in water. It is found in the Isle of M iglit, Dorsetshire, and Staffordshire. Cimolia nigra, is of a dark lead-colour, hard, dry, and heavy ; it does not stain the hands, and is not acted upon by tire acids. It burns perfectly white, and acquires a great degree of hardness. It is found in North- amptonshire, where it is used in the manufac- ture of pipes. CIMOLITE, a species of white earth, found in sonreofthe Grecian islands, wliere it is used for whitening stuffs. It is mentioned by Pliny under the name of cimolia, and in more modern authors it is called cimolia terra. Colour pearl-grey ; when exposed- to the air it becomes reddish. Texture earthy, fracture uneven, opaque, does not stain, but adheres strongly to the tongue. It is soft, and broken with difficulty : specific gravity is 2.000; and it becomes white before the blow- pipe. It is composed, according to Klaproth, of 63.00 silica, 23.00 alumina, 1.25 iron, 12.00 water. 99.25 CINCHONA, a genus of the monogynia order, in the pentandria class of plants, and in the natural method ranking with those plants, the order of which is dubious. The corolla is funnel-shaped, with a woolly sum- mit ; the capsule interior, bilocular, with a parallel partition. There are nine species. The principal are, 1. Cinchona corymbifera, corymb-bearing cinchona, or white Peruvian bark, with ob- long lanceolate leaves and axillary corymbs. This species particularly abounds in the hilly parts of Quito, growing promiscuously in the forests, and is spontaneously propagated from its seeds. 2. Cinchona caribaea, a native of the West India islands. In Jamaica it is called the sea-side beech, and grows from 20 to 40 feet high. The white, furrowed, thick, outer bark, is not used ; the dark-brown inner bark has the common flavour, with a mixed taste, at first of horse-radish and ginger, becoming at last bitter and astringent. It seems to give out more extractive matter than the cinchona officinalis. Some of it was imported from St. Lucia, in consequence of its having been used with advantage in the army and navy during the last war. 3. Cinchona officinalis, or coloured Peru- vian bark, with elliptic leaves, downy under- neath, and the leaves of the corolla woolly. Both the corymbifera and officinalis are na- tives of Peru, where they attain the height of from 15 to 20 feet. The bark has an odour, to some people not unpleasant, and very per- ceptible in the distilled water; in which float- ing globules, like essential oil, have been ob- served. Its taste is bitter and astringent, ac- companied with a degree of pungency, and leaving a considerably lasting impression on C I N the tongue. For its properties and prepara- tions, see Pharmacy. CINCTURE, or ceinture, in architecture, a ring, list, or orlo, at the top and bottom of the shaft of a column, separating tiie shaft at one end from the base, and at the other from the capital. That at the bottom is particu- larly called apophyge, as if the pillar took its rise from it ; and that at top colarin, collar, or collier, and sometimes annulus. CiN ERARIA, a genus of the class and or- der syngeriesia polygamia superflua. The calyx is simple, many-leaved, equal ; pappus simple; receptacle naked. There are 41 species, most of them ornamental plants, and natives of the Cape ; of which the C. cruenta, and the C. amelloides and lanata, are old and elegant ornaments of our greenhouses. The last has only one unpleasant property that it is apt to be lousy. CINNABAR. SeeCH EMISTRY. CINNAMON-TREE. See Taurus. No cinnamon can be imported into Britain except from the East Indies. That which comes thence pays a duty of 3v. 8 * d. a pound, and draws back on exportation, 294 ‘ 3j. — d. at the rate of 6s. 82. 100 Cinnamon is an astringent in the primes vie v, but in the more remote seats of action it operates as an aperient and alexipharmic. It stops diarrhoeas, strengthens the viscera, assists concoction, dispels flatulencies, and is a very pleasant cardiac. It affords an oil which will sink in water ; and is in great esteem, and much prescribed in exte pora- neous practice. As it is much adulterated on account of its dearness, the best way to know it is by dropping it upon sugar, and then dis- solving it in small spirit. This oil has been made genuine in England from the common cinnamon of the shops, so as to exceed that brought from Holland. Cinnamon-water is made by distilling the bark first infused in spirit of wine, brandy, or white wine. CINQUE-FOIL. See Potentilla. Cinque-ports were thus called by way of eminence, on account of their superior im- portance, as having been thought to merit a particular regard by the kings of England, for their preservation, against invasion. Hence they have a particular policy ; and are go - verned by a keeper, with the title of lord warden of the cinque ports. The five ports are, Hastings, Romney, Hythe, Dover, and Sandwich. Thorn tells us, that Hastings provided 21 vessels, and in each vessel 21 men. To this port belong Seaford, Pevensey, H'edney, Winchelsea, Rye, Hamine, W akes- bourne, Creneth, and Forthclipe. Romney provided five ships, and in each 24men. T*o this belong Bromhal, Lyde, Oswarstone, " Dangemares, and Romenhal. Hythe fur- nished five ships, and in each 21 seamen. To this belongs Westmeath. Dover the same number as Hastings. To this belong Folkstone, Feversham, and Marge. Sand- wich furnished the same number with Hythe. To this belong Fordiwic, Reculver, Serve, and Deal. The privileges granted to them in consequence of these services were very great. Amongst others, they were each of them to send two barons to represent them in parliament ; their deputies- were to bear the canopy over the king’s head at the time.. 365 c I R gf his coronation, and to dine at the upper- most table ill the great hall on his right hand ; ;o be exempted from subsidies and other lids ; their heirs to be free from personal Wardship, notwithstanding any tenure ; to be impleaded in their own towns only, and not jto be liable to tolls, Sec. F Certioraris, to remove indictments taken in the cinque-ports, must be directed to the fill ay or and jurats before whom they were taken, and not to the lord warden ; because they hold plea of it as justices of the peace, by virtue of their commission, and not by their antient character. CIPHER, denotes certain secret charac- ters disguised and varied, used in writing letters that contain some secret, not to be understood but by those between whom the [cipher is agreed on. There are several kinds of ciphers, according to lord Bacon ; as the simple, those mixed with non-significants, those consisting of two kinds of characters, wheel-ciphers, key-ciphers, word-ciphers, Sec. They ought all to have these three properties, 1. They should be easy to write and read. 2. They should be trusty and un- decipherable. 3. Clear of suspicion. There is a new way of eluding the exami- nation of a cipher, viz. to have two alphabets,, the one of significant, and the other of non- significant letters ; and folding up two writ- ings together, the one containing the secret, while the other is such as the writer might probably send without danger: in case of a ' strict examination, the bearer is to produce the non-significant alphabet for the true, and the true tor the non-significant ; by which I means the examiner woidd fall upon the out- | ward writing,, and finding it probable, suspect ; nothing of the inner. No doubt the art of ciphering is capable of great improvement, li is said that king Charles 1. had a cipher consisting only of a straight line differently inclined: and there are ways of ciphering by the mere punctuation of a letter, whilst the words of a letter shall be non-significants, or sense that leaves no room for suspicion. Those who desire a fuller explanation of ci- phering may consult Bacon, where they will find a cipher of his invention; bishop M il- kin’s Secret and Swift Messenger ; and Mr. Falconer’s Cryptomenysis Patefacta. CIPPUS, in antiquity, a 1ow t column, with an inscription, erected in the high roads, or other places, to shew the way to travellers, to serve as a boundiy, to mark the grave of a deceased person, Sec. Those erected in the highways to mark the miles w r ere called mi- liary columns. CIRCT1A, enchanter's nightshade, a ge- nus of the monogynia order, in the diandria class of plants, and in the natural method ranking under the 48th order, aggregate. The corolla is dipetaious; the calyx dipliyl- lous, superior, with one bilocular seed. There are two species, one of which is a native of Britain, and the other of Germany. They are low herbaceous plants with white flowers, and possessed of no remarkable property. CIRCLE, in geometry, a plane figure comprehended by a single curve line, called its circumference ; in which right lines drawn from a point in the middle, called the centre, are equal to each other. The area of the circle is found by multiply- ing the circumference by the fourth part of the diameter ; or half the circumference by 11 C I R half the diameter: for every circle may be conceived to be a polygon of an infinite num- ber of sides, and the semidiameter must be equal to the perpendicular of such a polygon, and the circumference of the circle equal to the periphery of the polygon : therefore hall the circumference multiplied by ball the diameter, gives the area ot the circle. Circles, and similar iigures inscribed in them, are always as the squares of the dia- meters ; so that they are in a duplicate ratio of their diameters, and consequently of their radii. . . A circle is equal to a triangle, the base ot which is equal to the periphery, and its alti- tude to its radius circles therefore are in a ratio compounded of the peripheries and the radii. To find the proportion of the diameter ot a circle to its circumference. Find, by con- tinual bisection, the sides of the inscribed polygon, till vou, arrive at a side subtending any arch, howsoever small ; this found, find likewise the side of a similar circumscribed polygon; multiply each by the number of C 1 R :4 X (1 — 1.3.5 2A.G7fe 7 .& 1 2.3 " 2.4.5 Sec). The quadrature of the circle, or the man- ner of making a square whose surface is per- fectly and geometrically equal to that of a circle, is a problem that has employed the geometricians of all ages. Many maintain it to be impossible ; Des Cartes, in particular, insists on it, that a right line and a circle being of different natures, there can be no strict proportion between them ; and in effect we are at a loss for the just proportion between the diameter and circumference of a circle. Archimedes is the person who has come nearest the truth : all the rest have made pa- ralogisms. Charles V. off ered a reward of one hundred thousand crowns to the person who should solve this celebrated problem. Dr. Wallis has given in his Arithmetic of Infinites, a series for expressing the ratio of a circle to the square of its diameter, as . 3X3X5X 5X7 X7 &c ie sides of the polygon, by which you will iave the perimeter ot each polygon. I lie atio: of the diameter to the periphery of the circle will be greater than that of the same diameter to the perimeter of the circumscrib- ed polygon, but less than that ot the inscribed polygon. The difference of the two being known, the ratio of the diameter to the peri- phery is easily had in numbers very nearly, though not justly, true. Thus Archimedes lixed the proportion at 7 to 22. Wolfius finds it as 10000000000000000 to 31415926033897932; and the learned Mr. Machin has carried it to one hundred places, as follows; if the diameter of a circle be 1, the circumference will be 3.14159, 26535, 89793, 23846,26433, 83279,50288, 41971, 69399, 37510, 58209, 74944, 59230, 78164, 05286, 20899, 86280, 34825, 34211, 70679, of the same parts. But the ratios generally used in practice are that of Archimedes, and the following ; as 106 to 333, as 113 to 3ao, as 1702 to 5347 as 1815 to 5702, or as 1 to A variety of series have been discovered for obtaining the length of the circumference of a circle, such as the following, viz. If the diameter be 1, the circumference c will be variously ex- pressed thus, 1 r 1 1.1 1 2X4X4X6X6X8 9 25 49 — X — X or as 1 24 56 Sec. 4XLI- T + 7 9 11 i See), ^ 13 15 ' — \/8 x (i *4~ . JL _ 5 7*9 T 11 _ — Sec), 13 15 ‘ _1,J_ 1 , 1 c — \/ 12 X (1 3.3 ”4” 5. 3 2 7.3 3 ' 9. 3* Sec), 1 1 1_ J 1_ C ~ 8 X ^ 1 X 3 "^“ 1A5 3.5.7 '5.7.9, 7.9.11 Sec), 2 1 1 _ 1.3 _ 1.3,5 c = 8 X 5 F7 4^9 4.6.8.11 &c), ( 3- ~ 1.3 5.2 4.7. 2 2 1.3.5 A&8.1L2 5 4.6. 9. 2 3 Sec), Circle of the- higher kind, an expression, used by Wolfius, and some others, to denote, for the most part, a curve expressed by the . m m — 1 m .... equation y zzz ax — x which in ■ deed will be an oval when in is an even num- ber; but when in is an odd number, the curve will have two infinite legs. Circles, druidical, in British topogra- phy, a name given to certain ancient inclo- sures, formed by rude stones, circularly ar- ranged. These, it is now generally agreed, tvere temples, and many writers think also places ot solemn assemblies for councils or elections, and seats of judgment.. These temples, though generally circular, occasionally differ as well in figure as magnitude : with relation to the first, the most simple were composed of one circle. Stonehenge consisted of two circles and two ovals, respectively concen- tric ; whilst that at Bottaich near St. Just in Cornwall is formed by four intersecting circles. The great temple at Abury in Wiltshire, it is said, described the figure of a seraph or fiery flying serpent, represented by circles and right hues. Some, besides circles, have avenues of stone- pillars. Most, it not all ot them, have pillars or altars within their pene- tralia or centre. In the article of magnitude and number of stones, there is the greatest variety ; some circles being only twelve feet diameter, and formed only of twelve stones ; whilst others, such as Stonehenge and Abury, contained, the first one hundred and forty, the second six hundred and fifty-two, and oc- cupied many, acres; of ground. All these different numbers, measures, and arrange- ments, had their pretended reference, either to the astronomical divisions of the year, or some mysteries of the druidical religion. CIKCONCELLIONES, a race of fanatics, so called because they were continually ram- bling round the houses in the country. They took their rise among the donatists in the reign of the emperor Constantine. It is in- credible what ravages and cruelties these va- gabonds committed in Africa through a long series of years. They were illiterate, savage peasants, who understood only the Punic #60 C I 11 language. Intoxicated with a barbarous zeaJ, they renounced agriculture, professed continence, and assumed the title ot “ vindi- cators qf justice, and protectors of the op- pressed. ’ 1 o accomplish their mission, they enlranchised slaves, scoured the roads; forced masters to alight troin their chariots, and run before tneir slaves, whom they obliged to mount in their place; and discharged debt- ors, killing tiie creditors if they refused to cancel tire bonds. The counts Ursacius and Taurinus were employed to quell them: they destroyed a great number of them, of whom the donatists made as many martyrs. Ursa- cius, who was a good catholic, and a religious man. having lost his life in an engagement x\ith tire barbarians, the donatists did not tail to triumph in his death, as an effect of the vengeance oi heaven. Africa was the theatre ot these blood) scenes during a great part of Constantine’s life. C.IRCU IT, or Circuity, in law, signifies a longer course of proceedings than is need- ful to recover the thing sued for: in case a person grants a rent-charge of 10/. a year ot his manor, and afterwards the grantee dis- seises the grantor, who thereupon brings an assise, and recovers the land, and 20/. da- mages ; which being paid, the grantee brings hts action for 10/. ot the rent, due during the time of his disseisin. This is termed cir- cuity of action, because as the grantor w as to receive 20/. damages, and pay 10/. rent, he might only have received 10/. for the da- mages, and the grantee might have retained the other 10/. for his rent, and by that means saved his action. Circuit also signifies the journey or pro- gress which the judges take twice every year through the several counties of England and Males, to hold courts and administer justice, where recourse cannot be had to the king’s courts at Westminster. Hence England is xlivided into six circuits, viz. the home cir- cuit, Norfolk circuit, midland circuit, Oxford circuit, western circuit, and northern circuit. In Wales there are but two circuits, north and south Whiles : two judges are assigned by the king’s commission to every circuit. In Scotland there are three circuits, viz. the southern, w estern, and northern, which are likewise made twice every year, viz. in spring and autumn. C IRCULAR sailing, is the method of sailing by the arch of a great circle. See Navigation. Circular •velocity, in astronomy, signifies the velocity of any planet or revolving bodv, which is measured by the arch of a circle. ’ CIRCULATION of the blood. See Phy- siology. CIRCUMFERENCE, the curve line w hich bounds a circle ; and otherwise called ♦i periphery, the boundary of a right-lined figure being expressed by the term perimeter. Any part of the circumference is called an arch, and a right line drawn from one ex- treme ofthe arch to the other is called a chord. The circumference of everv circle is supposed to ,be divided into 360 degrees. The angle at the circumference of a circle is doubled hat at the centre. (. IRC i Mi: t.ii LN | OR, an instrument ir-ed by surveyors for taking ancles. See Surveying. C1.RCT MSCRTBED, in geometry, is said of a figure which is drawn round another Cl R figure, so that ail its sides or planes touch the inscribed figure. Circumscribed hyperbola, one of sir Isaac Newton’s hyperbolas of the second or- der, that cuts its asymptotes, and contains the parts cut off within its own space. CIRCUMSCRIBING, in geometry, de- notes the describing a polygonous figure about a circle, in such a manner that all its sides shall be tangents to the circumference. Sometimes the term is used for the describ- ing a circle about a polygon, so that each side is a chord ; but in this case it is more usual to say the polygon is inscribed, than the circle is circumscribed. CIRCUMS i ANTIBUS, in law, a term used lor supplying and making up the number of jurors (m case any impannelled appear not ; or appearing, are challenged by either party), by adding to them so many of the persons present as will make up the number, in case they are properly qualified. C1RCUMY ALLATION, or line of cir- cumvallation, in military affaire, implies a fortification of earth, consisting of a parapet and trench, made round the town intended to he besieged, when any molestation is ap- prehended from parties ofthe enemy, which may march to relieve the place. Care is to be taken to have the most exact plan of it possible; and upon this the line of circumval- lation and the attack are projected. This line, being a fortification opposed to an ene- my that may come from the open country to relieve (lie besieged, ought to have its' de- fences directed against them ; that is, so as to fire from the town; and the besiegers are to be encamped behind this line, and between it and the place. The camp should be as much as possible out of the reach of the shot of the place; and the line of cireumvalla- tion, which is to he farther distant from the place than the camp, ought still more to be out of the reach of its artillery. As cannon are never to be fired from the rear of the camp, this line should be upwards of 1200 fathoms from the place; we will sup- pose its distance fixed at 1400 fathoms from the covert-way. The depth of the camp may be computed at about 30 fathom ; and from the head of the camp to the line of cir- cumvallation 120 fathoms, that the army may have room to draw up in order of battle at the head ofthe camp, behind the line. This distance added to the 30 fathoms makes 150 fathoms, which being added to the 1400, makes 1550 fathoms to constitute the distance ot the line of circumvallation from the covert- way. The top of this line is generaliv 12 feet broad, and seven feet deep. The' pa- rapet runs quite round the top of it, and at certain distances is frequently strengthened with redoubts and small fort's: the base IB feet wide, the height within six, and on the outside five feet, with a banquette of three feet wide and one and a half high. CIRCUS, in antiquity, a great building of a round or oval figure,’ erected by the un- dents, to exhibit shows to the people. The Roman circus was a large oblong edifice, arched at one end, encompassed with porti- coes, and furnished with two rows of seats placed ascending over each other. In the middle was a kind of foot-bank, or eminence, with obelisks, statues, and posts, at each end. This served them for the courses of their bigre and quadriga?. Those that have luea- C I s sured the circus say Unit it was 2187 feet long, and 960 broad; so. that it was ti e greatest building in Rome, borne sav it would contain 150,000 people, others 2(30,00® or 300,000. 'the circus was dedicated to the sun, as a little temple of the sun in till middle denoted. Some say that there we raj eight ciicuses in Rome, ot which several eith