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VERITAS
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BUS UNUN
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1
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SI-QUÆRIS PENINSULAM AMŒNAM
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA.
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1
1
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA;
"
OR, A
DICTIONARY
OF
ARTS, SCIENCES,
AND
MISCELLANEOUS LITERATURE;
Conftructed on a PLAN,
---BY WHICH
1
# }
}
THE DIFFERENT SCIENCES AND ARTS
Are digefted into the FORM of Diftinct
TREATISES
OR
COMPREHENDING
1
SYSTEM S
The HISTORY, THEORY, and PRACTICE, of each,
according to the Lateſt Diſcoveries and Improvements;
AND FULL EXPLANATIONS GIVEN OF THE
VARIOUS DETACHED PARTS OF KNOWLEDGE,
WHETHER RELATING TO
NATURAL and ARTIFICIAL Objects, or to Matters ECCLESIASTICAL,
CIVIL, MILITARY, COMMERCIAL, &'C.
Including ELUCIDATIONS of the moſt important Topics relative to RELIGION, MORALS,
MANNERS, and the OECONOMY of LIFE:
TOGETHER WITH
A DESCRIPTION of all the Countries, Cities, principal Mountains, Seas, Rivers, &c.
throughout the WORLD;
A General HISTORY, Ancient and Modern, of the different Empires, Kingdoms, and States;
AND
An Account of the LIVES of the moft Eminent Perfons in every Nation,
from the earlieſt ages down to the preſent times.
Compiled from the writings of the beft Authors, in feveral languages; the moſt approved Dictionaries, as well of general fcience as of its parti-
cular branches; the Tranfactions, Journals, and Memoirs, of Learned Societies, both at home and abroad; the MS. Lectures of
Eminent Profeſſors on different ſciences; and a variety of Original Materials, furniſhed by an Extenſive Correfpondence.
THE THIRD EDITION, IN EIGHTEEN VOLUMES, GREATLY IMPROVED.
ILLUSTRATED WITH FIVE HUNDRED AND FORTY-TWO COPPERPLATES.
VOL. I.
INDOCTI DISCANT, ET AMENT MEMINISSE PERITI.
EDINBURGH.
PRINTED FOR A. BELL AND C. MACFARQUHAR,
MDCCXCVII.
2
**
}
1
*
AY
Entered in Stationers Hall in Terms of the A& of Parliament.
}
?
1
*
}
TO THE
SIR,
KING.
WHEN the Proprietors of the ENCYCLOPEDIA
BRITANNICA reſolved to publiſh a new and improved
Edition of that Work, they naturally requeſted per-
miffion to lay it at the feet of their SOVEREIGN.
YOUR MAJESTY's gracious compliance with that
requeſt, whilſt it incited them to employ their utmoſt
efforts to make this Edition not altogether unworthy
of Your Royal Protection, procured for their under-
taking the favour of that Public by which Your
MAJESTY is revered as the Father of Your People,
and the enlightened Patron of Arts, Sciences, and
Literature.
1
!
}
THAT
iv
DEDICATION.
THAT by the Wiſdom of Your Councils, and the
Vigour of Your Fleets and Armies, Your MAJESTY
may be enabled foon to reſtore Peace to Europe;
that You may again have leifure to extend Your Royal
Care to the Improvement of Arts, and the Advance-
ment of Knowledge; that You may Reign long over
a Free, a Happy, and a Loyal People; and that the
Sceptre of the BRITISH Empire may be ſwayed by
Your MAJESTY'S Defcendants to the lateſt Poſterity,
is the earneſt prayer of
YOUR MAJESTY's
Moſt dutiful Subjects,
And devoted Servants,
EDINBURGH,
1797.
}
1
ANDREW BELL
AND
COLIN MACFARQUHAR.
$
PRE FAC E.
THE utility of ſcience, and the delight which it affords to the human mind, are ac-
knowledged by every man who is not immerſed in the groffeſt ignorance. It is to the
philofopher that the huſbandman, the architect, the carpenter, and the feaman, &c.
are indebted for the principles of thofe arts, by which they furnish us with moſt of
the accommodations, and with all the elegances, of civilized life; whilft the pleaſure
experienced in the very progrefs of philofophical reſearch is fuch, as both reaſon and
revelation intimate, not obfcurely, will conftitute part of our happineſs in a future ftate.
SMALL, however, would be the attainments of any man in fcience, were they confined
within the limits of his own reſearches. Our knowledge of corporeal nature originates.
in thoſe perceptions which we have by the organs of fenfe; and which, treaſured up in
the memory, we can, by the powers of reafon and imagination, variouſly modify, ar-
range, and combine, fo as from a number of particular truths to form to ourſelves ge-
neral principles. But theſe principles would be few indeed, had each individual no
other materials of which to form them than the perceptions furniſhed immediately by
his own ſenſes. It has long been a matter of general regret, that the progreſs of ſcience
has been flow and laborious; but it never could have commenced, or could have only.
commenced, were every man obliged to begin his career from his own fenfations, with-
out availing himſelf of the diſcoveries of others who have travelled over the fame ground:
before him.
To this narrow field, however, philofophical inveftigation is not confined. By
means of the arts of writing and drawing, the difcoveries of one individual may be
made acceffible to another, and the ſcience of every age and of every country treaſu
red up for the ufe of ages and countries the moſt remote. Hence arifes the utility of
what is generally called literature, or the knowledge of the languages, cuftoms, and
manners, which have prevailed among the various nations of the earth. Without this
knowledge the fcience of the ancients would be locked up from the moderns; and?
even the diſcoveries of modern nations would be inacceffible to each other.
WITH all the aid which can be furnished by one age or nation to another, the la--
bours of the philofopher ftill preſent themſelves as immenfe and difficult. His object
comprehends univerfal nature, of which nothing can be known but by fenfation and
reflection; but the objects of fenfe are all individuals, almoſt infinite in number, and.
for ever changing: fo that instead of a ſyſtem of ſcience, the firſt view of the corporeal
world would lead us to imagine, that from our moſt diligent refearches nothing could.
be obtained but a vaft collection of particular truths. Such a collection, whilft it.
would burden the memory, could be of little advantage to the arts of life; for we are
very ſeldom brought, on different occafions, into circumftances fo perfectly fimilar, as
to require, without the ſmalleſt variation, the fame conduct.
BUT
B
vi
110
PREF A CE.
BUT though all the objects of fenfe, of memory, and of conſciouſneſs, are unqueftion-
ably individuals diftinct from each other, the contemplative mind of man obferves
among them various refemblances and analogies. It obferves, that the fenfation com-
municated to the fight by fnow is fimilar to that communicated by milk, paper, chalk,
and a thouſand other objects; that all external objects are folid, extended, divifible,
and of fome figure; that the path defcribed by a planet round the fun reſembles
that defcribed by a cannon ball over the furface of the earth; and that many
of the actions of brutes are fimilar to thoſe which we are impelled to perform by the
internal feelings of defire and averfion.
THIS view of nature, quiefcent and active, fuggefted to the philofopher the expedi-
ency of studying the vaft multitude of objects which compofe the univerfe; not indi-
vidually, but in groups claffed together according to their perceived refemblances or
analogies. He faw that his labour would thus be at once fhortened and rendered in-
finitely more uſeful; but he likewife faw, or ought to have feen, that it would by no
means be taken wholly away. Much cautious attention is requifite to clafs objects in
human ſyſtems as they are in fact claffed in the fyftem of nature. Analogies are apt
to be miſtaken for reſemblances; a reſemblance in a few particulars for a refemblance
in all; and events, which have in reality very little in common, to be attributed to
the fame or to fimilar cauſes. Theſe miſtakes can be avoided only by a painful in-
duction of facts, by means of experiments accurately made on individual objects; and
it was but very lately that induction was employed as the inftrument of ſcientific re-
fearch.
In ancient Greece, where philoſophy firſt affumed a ſyſtematic form, all the objects
of human thought were ranged under ten CATEGORIES OF PREDICAMENTS; and every
thing which could be affirmed or denied of theſe categories was fuppofed to be com-
prehended under five claffes called PREDICAbles. Among the Greek philofophers,
therefore, the uſe of induction was to aſcertain the category to which any particular
object belonged; after which, nothing more was to be done but, by a fhort proceſs of
fyllogiftic reaſoning, to affirm or deny of that object whatever could be affirmed or
denied of its category.
To this ancient arrangement of human knowledge many infuperable objections have
been urged. But it muſt be confeffed, that the arrangements which have been propo-
fed in its ftead, by the fages of modern times, have little claim to greater perfection.
Locke claffed all things under three categories; SUBSTANCES, MODES, and IDEAS.
Hume reduced the number to two; IMPRESSIONS and Ideas. The former of theſe
philofophers admitted of only four predicables, all different from thoſe of the ancients;
the latter at firft extended the number to feven, but afterwards reduced it to three;
among which none of the ancient predicables are to be found, and only one of thoſe
which had been admitted by Locke.
THESE different claffifications of knowledge are the natural confequences of mens at-
tempting what the greateft powers of the human intellect will never be able to accom-
pliſh. It certainly was the aim of Ariftotle, or whoever was the inventor of the categories
and the predicables, to delineate the whole region of human knowledge, actual and
poffible; to point out the limits of every diftrict; and to affign to every thing which
can be the object of human thought its proper place in the vast arrangement.
Such
an attempt evinces the ambition of its author: nor has the ambition been much lefs of
fome of thoſe by whom the rash arrogance of the Stagyrite has been moft ſeverely
cenfured. Locke fays exprefsly, that as the objects of our knowledge are confined to
fubftances, modes, and ideas, fo we can difcover nothing of thefe, but, ft, their identity
or diverfity; 2d, their relation; 3d, their co-existence or neceffary connection; and, 4th,
their real existence: while Hume declares, with fome heſitation indeed, that we can
know nothing but the reſemblance, contiguity in time or place, and cauſation of our im-
preffions and ideas.
- THESE
PREFACE
vii
THESE attempts, as well modern as ancient, to contract the whole, furniture of the
human mind into the compafs of a nut-fhell, and to give at once a complete chart of
knowledge, have been cenfured, not only as prefumptuous, but as the fertile fources of
error, by a philofopher whofe writings do honour to this age and nation. “To
make a perfect divifion (fays Dr Reid), a man muſt have a perfect comprehenfion of
the whole ſubject at one view. When our knowledge of the ſubject is imperfect, any
diviſion we can make muſt be like the firſt ſketch of a painter, to be extended, con-
tracted, or mended, as the ſubject fhall be found to require. Yet nothing is more
common, not only among the ancient but even among modern philofophers, than to-
draw from their incomplete divifions, conclufions which fuppofe them to be perfect.
A divifion is a repofitory which the philofopher frames for holding his ware in con-
venient order. The philofopher maintains, that fuch or fuch a thing is not good
ware, becauſe there is no place in his ware-room that fits it. We are apt to yield tỏ
this argument in philofophy, but it would appear ridiculous in any other traffic."
THE truth of theſe obſervations will be controverted by no man who is not an abſo-
lute ſtranger to the various fyftems, ancient and modern, of what has been called the
first philofophy.
BUT if every ſcientific arrangement of knowledge which has hitherto been propofed
be ſo very imperfect, what judgment are we to form of that which is adopted by the
compilers of Dictionaries or Encyclopædias, in which the arts and ſciences are arranged
according to the order of the alphabet, and A, B, C, &c. confidered as the categories?
The author whom we have juft quoted affirms, that of all methods of arrangement this is
the moſt antiphilofophical; and if he allude only to fuch Encyclopædias as are mere
dictionaries, in which the feveral arts and ſciences are broken into fragments, ſcattered
through the work according as the alphabet has happened to diſpoſe of the various
technical terms which have place in each, his affertion is unquestionably true. Its
truth is indeed admitted by Chambers himſelf, the compiler of one of the firſt and moſt
valuable of theſe dictionaries, who fpeaks of the works of his predeceffors as containing
nothing but a multitude of materials, or a confuſed heap of incoherent parts.
“For-
mer lexicographers (fays he) fcarce attempted any thing like ſtructure in their works;
they ſeem not to have been aware that a dictionary is in fome meaſure capable of the
advantages of a continued difcourfe and hence it is, that we fee nothing like a whole
in what they have done."
gene-
PROPOSING to remedy this defect in his own Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, he in-
forms us, that "his view was to confider the ſeveral matters, not only in themſelves,
but relatively, or as they reſpect each other; both to treat them as fo many wholes, and
as fo many parts of fome greater whole; and to point out their connection with each
other, and with that whole, by reference: fo that by a courfe of references from
rals to particulars, from premiſes to conclufions, from cauſe to effect, and vice verſa,
a communication might be opened between the ſeveral parts of the work, and the de-
tached articles be in fome meaſure replaced in the natural order of ſcience, out of which
the alphabetical order had removed them." To enable the reader with the greater eaſe
to replace in the order of ſcience the various articles fcattered through the dictionary,
he furniſhed him in the preface with what muſt be confidered as an elegant analyſis of
human knowledge; by which may be feen, at one view, the mutual dependence of the
feveral parts upon each other, and the intimate connection of the whole.
་
BUT though the found judgment of Mr Chambers thus directed him to make the ar-
rangement of his Cyclopædia vaftly preferable to that of any work of the fame kind
which had been publiſhed before it; we are afraid that, in its original form, it was
ftill liable to the objections of Dr Reid. Had all the articles in the work been treated
in fufficient detail to conftitute, when reunited in the order of fcience, fo many com-
plete ſyſtems; yet the multitude of references was fo great, that this reunion could not
have been made but by a degree of irkſome labour, to which few readers will ever fub.
mit..
viii
PREFACE.
}
mit (A). The work therefore, with all its improvements, was ftill a book of fhreds
and patches, rather than a ſcientific dictionary of arts and ſciences; and confidering
the letters of the alphabet as the categories, the arrangement was certainly inconve
nient as well as antiphiloſophical.
Of this inconveniency, infeparable from a mere dictionary of arts and fciences, the
original Compilers of the Encyclopædia Britannica were fully aware; and they refolved
to conftruct their own Work upon a plan from which it might be completely removed.
They were equally apprifed with their predeceffors of the utility of explaining by it-
felf every technical term, and of illuftrating every particular topic, in the wide circle
of the arts and fciences; but they were at the fame time fenfible, that it is only by
thinking in method, and reducing their ideas to the order of nature, that mankind can
make
(A) To be convinced of the truth of this affertion, one needs but to caft his eye over the author's table of arrangement
It is as follows.
KNOWLEDGE is either
Senfible; confifting in the perception of phenomena or external ob-
jects called PHYSIOLOGY OF NATURAL HISTORY; and which,
according to the different kinds of luch objects, divides into
Natural and
Scientifical; OR,
which is ei-
ther
OR,
Rational; confifting in the
perception of the intrinfice
characters or habitudes of
fenfible objects
their
either
(METEOROLOGY.
HYDROLOGY.
MINERALOGY.
PHYTOLOGY.
ZOOLOGY.
Powers, and Properties-called PHYSICS, and NATURAL PHILOSOPHY,
Abftra&s-called METAPHYSICS, which fubdivides into
SONTOLOGY.
PNEUMATOLOGY.
ANALYTICS.
ALGEBRA.
Quantities-called PURE MA- ARITHMETIC-whence
THEMATICS—which divides,
TRIGONOMETRY.
according to the fubject of GEOMETRY- whence CONICS.
STATICS
SPHERICS.
the quantity, into
Relations to our happiness-called (ETHICS, or NATURAL POLITICS.
RELIGION, or the doctrine of RELIGION whence Law.
OFFICES, which ſubdivides into (THEOLOGY, OF REVELATION.
or
[Internal; employed in diſcovering their agreement and diſagreement; or their relations in reſpect of truth-
called LOGICS.
Artificialand
Technical,
(confifting
in the appli
cation ofna-
tural notices
to farther
purpoſes),
which is
either
OR,
Latent powers and properties of bodies- ALCHEMY.
called CHEMISTRY-whence
NATURAL MAGIC, &C
[OPTICS, CATOPTRICS, DIOPTRICS, PERSPECTIVE.
whence PAINTING.
whence Music.
HYDROSTATICS, HYDRAULICS.
MECHANICS whence
Quantities of bo-
PHONICS
dies- called
MIXED MA-
THEMATICS;
which, accor-
ding to the
PNEUMATICS.
Real, employed
in diſcover-
jects, refolves
ing and ap-
plying the
into
ASTRONOMY-whence
GEOGRAPHY, HYDRO-
different fub PYROTECHNIA-whence
ARCHITECTURE.
SCULPTURE.
TRADES and MANUFACTURES.
The MILITARY Art.
FORTIFICATION.
CHRONOLOGY.
DIALLING.
NAVIGATION.
T
External;
which is
either
OR,
GRAPHY-whence COMMERCE.
Structure and economy of organical bodies, called ANATOMY.
Animals
Relationsthereof
called
{
MEDICINE.
PHARMACY.
AGRICULTURE.
to the prefer-Vegetables ———— called
vation and im-
provement
GARDENING.
called
{
FARRYING.
MANEGE whence
HUNTING.
FALCONRY.
FISHING, &C.
either of BRUTES
BR
Symbolical, employed in
framing and applying
Words, or articulate figns of ideas-called GRAMMAR,
Armories-called HERALDRY.
7 ropes and Figures-called RHETORIC.
Fables-called POETRY.
3
1
I
Such
"
ix
PREFACE.
!
make any progreſs in ufeful knowledge. To accomplish therefore effectually what Mr
Chambers by means of his prefatory fcientifical analyfis attempted in vain, they endea-
voured to give a compendious, yet clear and fatisfactory, account of the feveral arts
and ſciences under their proper denominations, whilft the fubordinate articles in each
were likewife explained under their technical terms. Thefe fubordinate articles they
divided into three kinds; of which the first confifts of fuch as, independent of particu-
lar ſyſtems, admit of a full and complete illuftration under their proper names;
the ſecond, of fuch as require to be partly difcuffed under the fyftems to which they
belong, and partly under their own denominations; and the third, of fuch as apper-
tain to fyftems of which all the parts muſt be elucidated together. Articles of the firſt
kind admit of no references; thofe of the fecond, being only partially explained under
their proper denominations, demand references to the fyftems where the illuftrations
are completed; and thoſe of the laft are wholly referred to the ſyſtems of which they
are conftituents.
SUCH has been the arrangement of the Arts and Sciences in every edition of the En-
cyclopædia Britannica; and it furely falls not under that cenſure which Dr Reid pro-
nounced with juftice on many other works bearing a fimilar title.
In the fpirit of true philofophy, that great man obferves, that the ſame ſubject may
admit, and even require, various divifions, according to the different points of view
from which it is contemplated; and we doubt not but, if he had been aſked, he would
candidly have acknowledged, that the divifion and arrangement of the Encyclopædia
Britannica are calculated to anſwer every purpoſe which can be expected from a gene-
ral repofitory of arts, fciences, and mifcellaneous literature. They are fuch as muſt
give to readers of every deſcription the moſt eaſy acceſs to the objects of their purſuit :
for whilft the philofopher or fyftematic artiſt may be fully and regularly informed by
turning to the general name of the fcience or art which he wishes to explore, the man
who has occafion to confult only particular topics will find them illuftrated under the
terms by which they are denominated. Contemplated from this point of view, the
arrangement of the Encyclopædia Britannica needs not fhrink from a compariſon even
with that of the Encyclopédie Methodique; for though that voluminous work, confiſting
of a dictionary of dictionaries, may have the appearance of being more fyftematically
arranged; yet we, who have had occafion to confult it frequently, have never found
our object the more readily for having been obliged to travel in queft of it through
different alphabets.
A DICTIONARY, in which the feveral arts and fciences are digefted into diftinct trea-
tifes or ſyſtems, whilft the various detached parts of knowledge a e explained in the order
of the alphabet, feems indeed to have received the beſt form of which fuch a work is
fufceptible; and may certainly be made to anſwer one end, which more philofophical
arrangements never can accompliſh. Under the various letters of the alphabet, it is
obvious that the whole circle of the fciences may be completely exhaufted; and that
every diſcovery, ancient or recent, may be referred to the particular fyftem which it
VOL. I. Part I.
b
tends
Such is that great and general analyfis of knowledge, which has by fome of our correſpondents been recom-
mmended to us in terms of the higheſt praiſe, and to which elegance and accuracy cannot perhaps be retufe¹. Its
utility, however, as prefixed to a dictionary of arts and ſciences, is not very apparent. From each word, which in
this table is printed in capitals, many branches are made to ſpring, which in the dictionary are all treated as ſeparate
articles. Thus from METEOROLOGY we are referred, in a lubordinate analyſis, to AIR and the ATMOSPHERE;
including, 1ſt, The hiſtory of its contents, ÆTHER, FIRE, VAPOUR, EXHALATION, &c. 2d, METEORS formed
therein; as CLOUD, RAIN, SHOWER, DROP, SNOW, HAIL, DEW, DAMP, &C. RAINBOW, PARHELION, HA-
LO, THUNDER, WATERSPOUT, &c. WINDS, MONSOON, HURRICANE, and the like. As every word printed
in capitals, as well in this fubordinate divifion as in the general table, is the title of an article treated feparately in
the Cyclopædia, we muſt turn backwards and forwards through more than 24 references before we come at the
detached topics, which we are directed to unite into a fyftem of METEOROLOGY. The number of articles which
must be united in the fame manner to conftitute the Compiler's fyftem of METAPHYSICS is upwards of 2º ;
and thoſe which are referred to THEOLOGY above 300!
Snow,
w
X
PREFACE.
tends to confute or to confirm, without having recourſe to the awkward expedient of
employing ſeveral alphabets, or the ſtill more inconvenient arrangement by which the
fyftems themſelves are broken into fragments.
Bur on this topic it is needleſs to expatiate. The very favourable reception with
which the two former editions of the Encyclopædia Britannica were honoured by the
Public; the ftill greater encouragement which has been given to the prefent; and the
adoption of the plan by the editors of other repofitories of arts and fciences-bear ample
teftimony to the excellence of the arrangement. On this fubject we exprefs ourſelves
with the greater eaſe and the greater confidence, that we cannot be accuſed of flattering
our own vanity, or publiſhing our own praiſes; for the merit of forming the arrange-
ment, as well as of introducing into the Work various branches of knowledge, from
which, as they are not generally to be found in dictionaries, it derives a juft claim to
the favour of the Public, belongs not to the Compilers of the prefent Edition.
AFTER furveying any particular art or ſcience, our curiofity is excited to acquire fome
knowledge of the private hiſtory of thoſe eminent perfons by whom it was invented,
or has been cultivated and improved. To gratify this curiofity, thofe who formed
the plan of the Encyclopædia Britannica refolved to enrich it with a department not
to be found in any prior collection of the fame kind except the French Encyclopédie.
Of all the various fpecies of narrative-writing, it is acknowledged that none is more
worthy of cultivation than BIOGRAPHY; fince none can be more delightful or more
ufeful, none can more certainly enchain the heart by irrefiftible intereft, or more
widely diffuſe inftruction to every diverfity of condition. Its tendency to illuſtrate
particular paffages in general hiſtory, and to diffuſe new light through ſuch arts and
fciences as were cultivated by the perfons whofe lives are related, are facts too obvious
to require proof. It exhibits likewiſe the human character in every poffible form and
fituation. It not only attends the hero through all the buftle of public life, but pur-
fues him to his moft fequeftered retirements. It shows how diftinguiſhed characters
have been involved in misfortunes and difficulties; by what means they were extrica-
ted; or with what degree of fortitude and dignity they difcharged the various func-
tions, or ſuſtained the viciffitudes, fometimes profperous and fometimes adverſe, of a
checquered and a fluctuating life. In fuch narratives men of all ranks muſt feel them-
felves intereſted; for the high and the low, as they have the fame faculties and the
fame fenfes, have no leſs fimilitude in their pains and pleaſures; and therefore in the
page of honeft biography, thoſe whom fortune or nature has placed at the greateſt diſ-
tance, may mutually afford inftruction to each other. For theſe reaſons it is, that
every man of learning and tafte has efteemed the biographical labours of Plutarch
among the moſt valuable and interefting remains of antiquity.
THE lives and characters, therefore, of fuch perfons as have excelled in the arts
either of war or of peace, of fuch as have diftinguiſhed themſelves either on the theatre
of action or in the recefs of contemplation, will be found in the Encyclopædia Bri-
tannica alphabetically diſpoſed under their proper names. Many indeed are omitted,
for whom the reader will naturally look; fome becauſe, in the order of the alphabet,
we had paffed the initial letters of their names before we had intelligence of their
deaths; others, through the inadvertency, whether excufable or not, of the Editors;
feveral, for a reaſon which ſhall be afterwards affigned for omiffions of a different
kind, and perhaps of greater importance; and a very few from the contemptuous re-
fufal of their friends to answer the Editor's letters refpectfully requefting the neceffary
information (B),
B
But
) of this treatment we have not indeed often had occafion to complain. While men of the firſt eminence
in church and ſtate have readily anfwered the letters that were addreffed to them, and either communicated the
in-
PREFACE.
xi
BUT while one part of our readers will regret that we have given no account of their
favourite philofopher, hero, or ſtateſman, others may be diſpoſed to remark, that we
have dragged from obfcurity the names of many perfons who were no proper objects
of fuch public regard. To theſe we can only reply, that, with the greateſt biographer
of modern times, we have long thought that there has rarely paffed a life of which a
faithful narrative would not be uſeful; and that in the lives of the moft obfcure per-
fons, of whom we have given any account, we faw fomething either connected with
recent diſcoveries and public affairs, or which we thought capable of affording a leffon
to great multitudes in fimilar circumftances.
BETWEEN eminent atchievements and the ſcenes where they were performed, there
is a natural and neceffary connection. The character of the warrior is connected with
the fields of his battles; that of the legiflator, with the countries which he civilized;
and that of the traveller and navigator, with the regions which they explored. Even
when we read of the perfons by whom, and the occafions on which, any particular
branch of knowledge has been improved, we naturally with to know fomething of
the places where fuch improvements were made. This curiofity, fo natural and fo
laudable, has been frequently felt by ourſelves during the compilation of this Work;
and to gratify it in others, we have fubjoined to the name of every confiderable place
an account of its fituation, its climate, its foil, its peculiarities, its inhabitants, with
their manners, cuftoms, and arts; its revolutions, laws, and government, with what-
ever elfe appeared neceffary for the reader's information, and at the fame time admif-
fible into a Work of fuch variety and extent. It is indeed probable, that by many of
our readers we ſhall be thought to have done too much rather than too little in this
department; and to have filled our pages with accounts of towns and villages not of
fufficient importance to demand general attention. Eut were it known how many of
fuch places we have excluded from our Work, though recommended to us by fome of
our moft obliging correfpondents, thofe who reflect upon the different taftes of man-
kind, and confider that we wrote for the Public at large, would forgive us for having
occafionally employed a few fentences in the defcription of others, which, whatever be-
their real importance, could not have been omitted without diſappointing a very nu-
merous clafs of readers.
THE knowledge of hiftory is fo important, not only to the ſtateſman and the legiíla-
tor, to whom indeed it is abfolutely neceffary, but likewife to every man who moves
in a ſphere above that of the loweft vulgar, that a Work profeffing to be a general re-
pofitory of arts, fciences, and literature, would be exceedingly defective, if it did not
contain fome information of the tranſactions of thoſe who have been in poffeffion of the
world before us; of the various revolutions of ftates and empires; and of all the other
means which have contributed to bring every thing into the flate in which we behold
it. Fully aware of this, the Compilers of the Encyclopædia Britannica, befides giving.
a general view of univerſal hiftory and chronology, have enriched this edition with a
fhort, though they hope luminous, detail of the progreſs of each particular nation,
which from the remoteft period to the preſent time has acted a confpicuous part on
the theatre of the world. The reader therefore will here find a very comprehenfive-
view of CIVIL HISTORY, ancient and modern, in all its branches. Nor have the hifto-
ries of NATURE and RELIGION been neglected. Of the former, it is not perhaps too
much to ſay, that in all the fubdivifions of its three great kingdoms, it will be found more
fully, more accurately, and more fcientifically, detailed in this Work than in any other
dictionary which has yet been publiſhed. Of the latter, a brief view is given under
the general article HISTORY; the unavoidable defects of which are in a great meaſure
1 2
fupplied.
information which was requeſted, or politely affigned reaſons for wiſhing the lives of their friends not to be pub-
lished in the Encyclopædia Britannica, the Editor recollects but two men who maintained a fullen filence; and
theſe he cannot confider as moving in a ſphere much higher than his own.
1
xit
PREFACE.
fupplied by the accounts that will be found, under their proper denominations, of all
the confiderable fects and opinions which have prevailed in the religious world from
the earliest periods to the preſent day.
SUCH was the plan of the fecond edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica; to which,
as it feems hardly capable of improvement, the Compilers of the third have, with a
few flight variations, ftrictly adhered. Still, however, there was ample room for the
efforts of all their induſtry and all their learning; for the rapid progreſs of the phyfi-
cal ſciences had rendered the labours of their predeceffors in many departments uſeleſs.
Befides the introduction of fome thouſands of new articles, there are not many of great
importance, thofe in biography and geography alone excepted, which ftand in this
Edition as they flood in the laft. Such recent diſcoveries as could be introduced, have
-been mentioned with reference to their proper authors; and, while the feveral fciences
have been treated more fully and fyftematically, greater care has been employed to
trace the hiſtory of each from its firſt invention, and to apply them all to the arts of life.
To accompliſh a taſk fo arduous and fo important, neither labour nor expence has
been fpared. Literary journals; the memoirs and tranfactions of philofophic focieties;
and all the moſt valuable dictionaries of arts and fciences, both in our own and in
other languages, have been conftantly conſulted. The works of the moſt eminent aù-
thors, as well ancient as modern, who have written on any particular art or fcience,
have been collected and compared. Such of them as treat of topics, about which there
is no room for controverfy, and are at the fame time fufceptible of abridgement, have
been abridged with the greateſt care; whilst others, more concife and tenacious of their
fubjects, have been more cloſely purfued and more faithfully retained. Upon thoſe
branches of ſcience on which the works of other authors furniſhed nothing fit for the
purpoſe of the Editors, original effays and treatifes are inferted, which were compofed
either by themſelves, or by fuch of their friends as they knew to be intimately ac-
quainted with the fubject. On difputed points, whether in the phyfical or moral
ſciences, arguments and objections have been diſplayed in their full force; and of each
of the various fects into which the Chriftian church is divided, the account is generally
given by the moſt eminent clergyman of that fect to whom the Editors could find ac-
cefs.
AFTER the utmoſt exertions, however, of our attention and induftry, we are fenfible,
perhaps more fenfible than any of our readers, that the Work paffes from our hands in
a ftate far from perfection; and that the man who fhall not diſcover in the Encyclo-
pædia Britannica miftakes, needlefs repetitions, and even culpable omiffions, will bring
to the examination of it no great ſtock of general knowledge. But for thefe offences the
Editors perhaps need no other apology than what will be furniſhed by the nature of
the Work and the hiftory of its publication.
In a collection fo extenfive and multifarious, a few mistakes, repetitions, and omif-
fions, might furely be paffed over without ſeverity of cenfure, although the publication
had from the beginning to the end been fuperintended by the fame man; but they
will be allowed to have been almoſt unavoidable, when it is known that, after the
Work was far advanced, it was committed to the care of a new Editor, who, though
he was in a great degree a ſtranger to the contents of the printed volumes, found no
clue of his predeceffor's which could guide him accurately through thofe to be com-
piled.
WE beg it to be underflood, that this obfervation is not made with a view to re-
move any fhare of blame from the fecond to the firft Editor; for Mr Colin Macfar-
quhar, who conducted the publication beyond the middle of the twelfth volume,
was a man whom few who knew him will be difpofed to blame, and on whofe indu-
ſtrious integrity thofe who knew him beft must admit that it would be difficult to
beſtow too much praife. Born in Edinburgh of parents refpectable, though not afflu-
ent, he was, at an early period of life, bound an apprentice to a printer. This pro-
feffion gave him a taſte for ſcience and literature, or rather furniſhed him with oppor-
tunities
霎
​•
PREFACE.
xiii
tunities of cultivating the tafte which he derived from nature; and he foon became
well acquainted with the moſt popular writers in natural hiſtory and in natural and
moral philofophy. When he opened a printing-houſe of his own, rectitude of conduct
quickly recommended him to friends and to employment; and the unremitted profe-
cution of his ftudies eminently qualified him for fuperintending the publication of a new
dictionary of arts, fciences, and literature; of which, under the title of ENCYCLOPEDIA
BRITANNICA, the idea had been conceived by him and his friend Mr Andrew Bell en-
graver. By whom theſe gentlemen were aſſiſted in digeſting the plan which attracted
to that Work ſo much of the public attention, or whether they had any affiftance, are
queftions in which our readers cannot be intereſted. Suffice it to fay, that Mr Mac-
farquhar had the fole care of compiling the prefent Edition; and that, with the aid
of a very few literary friends, he brought it down to the article MYSTERIES, in the
twelfth volume, when he was cut off in the 48th year of his age by a death which,
though not fudden, was perhaps unexpected. His career was indeed fhort; but of him
it may be faid with as much propriety as of moft men, Nemo parum diu vixit, qui
virtutis perfectæ perfecto functus eft munere.
AMONG his literary correſpondents was the Reverend Dr Gleig of Stirling, who had
written for him various articles, of which fome were publifhed during his lifetime
and others in their order after his death. Thefe fhall be afterwards enumerated with
thofe furniſhed by other occafional contributors; but they are mentioned at preſent,
becauſe they account for that partial regard of Mr Macfarquhar for their author, which,
on the death of the former, induced the truſtees for his children, together with Mr Bell
the furviving partner, to requeft the latter to undertake the tafk which their deceaſed
friend had hitherto diſcharged with ſo much credit to himſelf. In this propofal, after
ſome heſitation on account of his diſtance from Edinburgh, Dr Gleig acquiefced; but
when he entered on his new office, he found matters in a ftate of no little confuſion.
Mr Macfarquhar, though his death had not been long expected, had laboured long
under a complication of diſeaſes; the confequence of which was, that the materials
which he had prepared for the prefs were almoſt exhauſted; and of thoſe which were
firſt called for, fome had not paffed through his correcting hand.
THIS circumftance may perhaps account for fome defects and inaccuracies in that
part of the Work, to which the ſecond Editor looks back with the leaft fatisfaction: but
that which must be his apology for ſeveral repetitions and omiffions, was the neglect of
his predeceffor during his laft illneſs to make an intelligible index to his own labours.
From the want of fuch a neceffary guide, Dr Gleig was perpetually liable, notwith-
ſtanding his utmoſt circumfpection, to give under one title an explanation of ſubjects
which had been before explained under another; and to omit articles altogether, from
a perſuaſion that they had been difcuffed in fome preceding volume under the general
fyftem to which they belong.
NEITHER his repetitions nor omiffions, however, are ſo many as fome have fuppo-
fed them; for what has been haftily cenfured as a repetition, is frequently nothing
more than the neceffary reſumption of fome important fubject. Availing himſelf.
of the excellence of the plan upon which the Encyclopædia Britannica is conftruct-
ed, he took the opportunity, when he found any fyftem fuperficially treated, to fupply
its defects under fome of the detached articles belonging to it. Of this he fhall men-
tion as one inftance HYDROSTATICS; which, confidered as a fyftem, muft be con-
feffed to be defective; but he trufts that its defects are in a great meaſure fupplied un-
der the ſeparate articles RESISTANCE of Fluids, RIVER, SPECIFIC Gravity, and Water-
WORKS.
THAT in the Encyclopædia Britannica no account is given of fome things which
ſhould have a place in a general repofitory of arts, fciences, and mifcellaneous litera-
ture, muſt be acknowledged; but it muft likewiſe be acknowledged that fuch omiflions
are neither numerous nor very important; for many fubjects, which have been fup- -
poſed to be omitted, are treated under titles different from thofe under which they
have
1
xív
PREFACE.
have been looked for. Thus the method of calculating compound interefts, which one
of our correfpondents cannot find in our Work, is taught in the article ALGEBRA;
that of coating mirrors, of which another complains that no account is given, will be
found under the term FOLIATING and though it may be true, according to the
peevish remark of a third, that the reader is nowhere directly inftructed how to grind
optical glaffes, yet if he read the article GLASs-Grinding, and underſtand the doctrine
of lenfes as laid down in the article OPTICS, he will eaſily, if an artiſt, diſcover a
method of performing that operation for himſelf.
OMISSIONS, however, there are towards the end of the Work; not the conſequence
of careleffneſs, but the offspring of neceffity.
IN an addrefs to the Purchaſers of the Encyclopædia Britannica, fubjoined to the
ninth volume, the proprietors gave a rash promiſe to comprehend the whole of their
undertaking within the limits of eighteen; and if intervening diſcoveries fhould make
it neceffary, to enlarge the laſt volumes in quantity without any additional charge to
Subſcribers.
THAT the promiſe was rafh, a moment's reflection ſhould have taught them; for in
the prefent rapid progrefs of phyfical fcience, when new difcoveries are daily made, it
was obviously impoffible, at ſo early a period, to aſcertain with preciſion how many vo-
lumes would be neceffary to bring a Work of ſuch comprehenfive variety to the utmoſt
perfection of which it is capable. This was indeed foon difcovered; but the proprie-
tors fhrunk not from their engagement, which they determined to fulfil to the utmoſt
extent of its meaning, till the additional tax, which in 1795 was laid upon paper, in-
volved them in difficulties which they had not forefeen. By the act of parliament they
were indeed authoriſed to reimburſe themſelves by raifing the fubfcription-price of
their volumes; but they choſe rather to fubmit to a diminution of profit, than to take
even a legal advantage of that Public by which they had hitherto been fo generouſly
fupported.
To complete their plan, however, in its original extent, was now impoffible, with-
out a violation of the facred duties which they owe to themſelves and to their families.
In this dilemma the Editor propofed that they ſhould ſtate the cafe to their Subfcri-
bers, of whom he is confident that nine-tenths would have releaſed them from the obliga-
tion of their promife: but after long deliberation, they judged that it would be more
acceptable to the Public at large to comprehend the Work in the propofed number of
volumes, though they fhould exclude from the last fuch articles as might be omitted
without injury to fcience or the arts of life. If by any of their readers they fhall be
thought to have erred in this judgment, let them not, however, be too ſeverely bla-
med; for they have done much to adhere to the ſpirit of their promiſe; and, in the large
addition made to the bulk of the laſt volume, have fhewn that they prefer their honour.
to their intereſt. Several things have indeed been excluded; but except fuch recent dif-
coveries as could not be noticed under the laft letters of the alphabet, it is believed that
very little has been omitted which can be conſidered as of great or general importance..
At any rate, the Editor flatters himſelf, that the laſt fix volumes of the Encyclopædia
Britannica do not difgrace thoſe by which they are preceded, and that the whole will.
bear to be compared with any other Work of the fame kind extant. Imperfect it cer-
tainly is "but if much has been omitted, let it be remembered that much has like-
wife been performed;" that perfection is not to be looked for in the works of man ;,
and that every compilation of fuch variety and extent fhould be examined with the.
fpirit which actuated one of the greateft critics of antiquity when perufing the works.
of his brother poets:
Verum ubi plura nitent in carmine, non ego paucis
Offendar maculis, quas aut incuria fudit,
Aut humana parum cavit natura.
man;,
HOR. DE ART. POET.
WE
PRE FAC E.
XV
We mentioned our obligations to occafional contributors; and many of our corre-
ſpondents have expreffed an earneſt defire to know who theſe contributors have been.
As there can be no impropriety in gratifying ſuch a defire, we ſhall conclude this Pre-
face, by affigning the various articles, not compiled by the Editors themſelves, to their
reſpective authors: but as many of the writers for the first twelve volumes were known
to Mr Macfarquhar alone, they will not attribute the omiffion of their names to cul-
pable defign, but to irremediable ignorance.
FOR whatever inftruction may be conveyed in the articles ANATOMY and SURGERY
the Public is indebted to Andrew Bell, F. S. S. A. one of the proprietors, and the in-
genious Mr Fyfe. From the former of theſe gentlemen the world will foon receive
one of the moſt ſplendid anatomical works which it has yet feen; and as the latter has
long officiated under Dr Monro as diffector in the anatomical ſchool of the univerſity
of Edinburgh, it is needlefs for us to fay how well he muſt be acquainted with the
ſubjects on which we employed him to write. AEROLOGY, AEROSTATION, CHEMI-
STRY, ELECTRICITY, GUNNERY, HYDROSTATICS, MECHANICS, METEOROLOGY, with
moft of the ſeparate articles in the various branches of natural hiftory, we have reaſon
to believe were compiled by Mr James Tytler chemift; a man who, though his con-
duct has been marked by almoft perpetual imprudence, poffeffes no common ſhare of
ſcience and genius. The article BLIND was furniſhed by Dr Blacklock and Dr Moyes,
both blind themſelves, and both men of fuperior attainments; the former in elegant
literature, and the latter in the phyfical ſciences. We believe that the article EDU-
CATION was compofed by Mr Robert Heron, author of a hiſtory of Scotland now pu-
bliſhing, who likewife furniſhed the greater part of what we have published under the
titles RELIGION and SOCIETY. The lives of JOHNSON and MARY Queen of Scots, with
the articles INSTINCT, LOVE, METAPHYSICS, MIRACLE, the hiftory of Ethics under
MORAL PHILOSOPHY, OATH, PASSION, PLASTIC NATURE, POLYTHEISM, PRAYER,
SLAVERY, and SUPPER of the Lord, were contributed by Dr Gleig, Editor of the laſt
fix volumes; GRAMMAR (c) and THEOLOGY by Dr Gleig and the Reverend James
Bruce, A. B. late of Emanuel College, Cambridge; and MOTION by Dr Gleig and
Mr Tytler. The fyftem of MEDICINE, which was publiſhed in the former edition,
was reviſed and improved for the prefent by Andrew Duncan, M. D. Fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh, and Profeffor of the Inftitutes of Phyfic in the Univerfi-
ty. The notes.to the article MUSIC were contributed by Dr Blacklock, and the hi-
ftory of the art by William Maxwell Morifon, Efq; advocate, who likewife favoured
us with what we have publiſhed on the fcience of PHYSIOGNOMY. The articles My-
STERIES, MYTHOLOGY, and PHILOLOGY, we owe to the erudition of David Doig,
L. L. D. F. S. S. A. maſter of the grammar-ſchool of Stirling, and author of two very
ingenious Letters on the Savage State, addreffed to the late Lord Kames. NAVIGA-
TION, PARALLAX, PENDULUM, PROJECTION of the Sphere, SHIP-BUILDING, and Naval
TACTICS, were furniſhed by Andrew Mackay, L. L. D. F. R. S. E. of Aberdeen, and
known to the Public as author of a treatiſe on the Theory and Practice of finding the
Longitude
for many
(c) Mr Bruce, who communicated the moſt valuable parts of the article GRAMMAR, and who was
years a ſtudent in the univerſity of St Andrew's, wifhes, from gratitude to his old mafter, to declare, in this
public manner, that, to the inftructions of Dr Hunter, profeffor of humanity in that university, he is indebted
for much of what philological knowledge he may poffefs. We believe indeed that Dr Hunter may claim as his
own the theory which we have given of the cafes of nouns, the doctrine concerning the inverfe acceptation of
the adjective, and the refolution of the relative pronoun by means of the prepofition of inſtead of the conjunction
There is nothing elſe in our article which the attentive reader may not find in the grammatical writings
of Voffius, Scaliger, Sanctius, Perizonius, Wallis, Ruddiman, Harris, Horne-Tooke, and Dr Gregory of Edinburgh.
Diſcoveries in grammar are not indeed to be looked for. They are nearly allied to thoſe in metaphyfics; of
which, it has been well obferved by one of the acuteft writers of the age, that the very appearance fhould be
rejected as an error, if not as an impofition, upon mankind.
and.
xvi
PREFACE.
*
Longitude at Sea or Land. John Robifon, M. A. fecretary to the Royal Society of
Edinburgh, and profeffor of natural philoſophy in the Univerfity, did the Editor the
honour of contributing to the Encyclopædia Britannica the valuable articles PHYSICS,
PNEUMATICS, PRECESSION of the Equinoxes, PROJECTILES, PUMPS, RESISTANCE of
Fluids, RIVER, ROOF, ROPE-Making, ROTATION, SEAMANSHIP, SIGNALS, SOUND, SPE-
CIFIC GRAVITY, STATICS, STEAM and STEAM-Engine, STRENGTH of Materials, TELE-
SCOPE, TIDE, Articulating TRUMPET, VARIATION of the Compafs, and Water-WORKS.
PHILOSOPHY is the joint production of Profeffor Robifon and Dr Gleig. PHYSIOLOGY
was furniſhed by John Barclay, M. D. of Edinburgh, whofe merits, if the Editor be
not partial to his friend, it will raiſe high in the eſtimation of men of ſcience. The
effays on PREDESTINATION and PROVIDENCE were contributed by Robert Forfyth, Efq;
advocate; the account of the French REVOLUTION by Mr Forfyth and Dr Gleig; and
OXYGEN and PHLOGISTON by John Rotheram, M. D. profeffor of natural philofophy
in the Univerſity of St Andrew's.
The other contributors to the first part of the Work we cannot enumerate; but we
know that much uſeful information was occafionally communicated by Dr Latham of
Dartford in Kent, the celebrated ornithologift; by Dr William Wright phyfician-
general to the forces in the Weſt Indies under the command of Sir Ralph Abercrom-
bie; by the Reverend J. Hawkins, vicar of Halfted in Effex; by the late Mr Adams,
mathematical inftrument-maker to his Majefty; and by Mr William Jones, optician
in Holborn, London. There is, however, no man to whom the Proprietors of the En-
cyclopædia Britannica feel themſelves under greater obligations than to Dr Black,
for the very handſome offer which he made to the perſon who was at firft entruſted
with the chemical department of the Work. And while they exprefs thus publicly
their gratitude to him, may not the Editor declare how much he is indebted to his
two affiftants, the Reverend James Walker, M. A. of St John's College, Cambridge,
and Mr James Thomſon of Crieff, preacher in the church of Scotland? Of theſe gen-
tlemen, who fucceffively had the care of the Work when he was neceffarily abfent, he
could always fay, Quibus in rebus ipfi intereſſe non poſſumus, in his, operæ noftra vicaria.
fides amicorum fupponitur.
ENCYCLOPEDIA
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA.
A,
abbreviat.
A,
A.
THE firſt letter of the alphabet,in all the known
languages of the world, that of Ethiopia ex-
cepted, in which it is the 13th. It has defervedly the
firft place in the alphabet, on account of its fimplicity,
very little more being neceffary to its pronunciation than
opening the mouth.
In the Engliſh language A is the mark of three dif-
ferent founds, termed, by our grammarians, the broad,
the cpen, and the flender A. The first refembles that
of the German A, is found in ſeveral monofyllables, as
wall, falt, &c. and is pronounced as au in caufe. It
is probable that the Saxons expreffed only this broad
found of the letter, as it is ſtill commonly retained in
the northern diftricts of England, and univerfally
throughout Scotland; as, tauk for talk, wauk for walk
or wake. The open A reſembles that of the Italians
in adagio, and is the fame with that of a in father, ra-
ther, &c. The flender found is peculiar to the Engliſh
language, and reſembles the found of the French diph-
thong ai in pais, or their a maſculine, or perhaps it is
a middle found between them: it is exemplified in place,
waſte, &c. alfo in toleration, juftification, and all other
words ending with ation.
A is ſometimes added afterwards in burlefque poetry;
in which caſe it only makes an additional fyllable with-
out any alteration of the fenfe, as the interjection O
very often does in our ballads. It is alſo ſometimes
rcdundant, as in the words arife, awake, &c. which
are not different in fignification from rife, wake,
&c.
It is ſometimes a word, either noun or interjection;
in which laſt caſe it is commonly an expreffion of grief,
and joined with the aſpirate, as ah! When a noun, it is
only with refpect to itſelf; as great A, little a, &c.
A is very frequently uſed as an article; in which cafe
it has no plural fignification, and is uſed to denote the
number one, as a houfe, a field, &e. When placed as
an article before any of the vowels, y and w only ex-
cepted, it is joined with the letter n; as, an ifland, an
orator, &c.—In the three following cafes it is a prepo-
fition. 1. When it goes before a participle, or noun
derived from a participle; as, I am a doing this or
that.
2. When uf 1 before local furnames, as Corne-
lius a Lapide, Thomas a Kempis, &c. 3. When it is
ufed in compofition; as, a foot, a fleep, &c. In fome
inftances it denotes the proportion of one thing to ano-
ther; as, fo much a week, a man, a head, &c.
A, among the ancients, was a numeral letter, and
VOL. I. Part I.
fignified 500; and when a daſh was added on the top,
A, 5000.
A, in the Julian calendar, is the first of the feven
DOMINICAL letters. It had been in uſe among the Ro-
mans long before the eſtabliſhment of Chriſtianity, as
the firſt of the eight nundinales littera; in imitation
whereof it was that the dominical letters were firſt in-
troduced.
A is alſo an abbreviation ufed with different inten-
tions. Hence,
A, among logicians, is uſed to denote an univerfal
affirmative propofition; according to the verſe,
Afferat A, negat E, verúm generaliter amba.
Thus, in the firſt figure, a fyllogifm confifting of three
univerfal affirmative propofitions, is faid to be in Bār-
ba-rā; the A thrice repeated, denoting ſo many of the
propofitions to be univerfal, &c. See BARBARA,
A, among the Romans, was uſed in the giving of
votes or fuffrages. When a new law was propofed,
each voter had two wooden ballots put in his hand;
the one marked with a capital A, fignifying antiquo,
q. d. antiquam velo; and the other with V. R. for uti
rogas. Such as were againſt the law, caft the firſt into
the urn; as who fhould fay, I refuſe it, I antiquate it;
or, I like the ancient law, and defire no innovation.
A, in the trials of criminal caufès, alfo denoted ab-
folution: Whence Cicero, pro Milone, calls A, litter a
falutaris, a faving letter.-Three ballots were diftri-
buted to each judge, marked with the letters, A for
abfolvo, I acquit; C for condemno, I condemn; and
N. L. for non liquet, It is not clear. From the number
of each caft into the urn, the prætor pronounced the
prifoner's fate. If they were equal in number, he was
abfolved.
A, in the ancient infcriptions of marbles, &c. occa-
fionally ftands for Auguftus, ager, aiunt, &c. When
double, it denotes Augufti; when triple, aurum ar-
gentum, as; and fometimes its meaning can only be
known by the reft of the inſcription. Ifidore adds, that
when it occurs after the word miles (foldier), it denotes
him young. On the reverſe of ancient medals, it de-
notes them ftruck by the city of Argos, fometimes by
that of Athens; but on coins of modern date, it is the
mark of Paris.-
A, as an abbreviation, is alfo often found in modern
writers: as, A.D. for anno Domini; A:M. artium
magifter, mafter of arts, &c.
A, the letter a, with a line above it thus, ā, is uſed
A
in
A,
abbreviat.
AAR
2 ]
[
AAR
A
Aaron.
in medical preſcriptions for ana, of each; fometimes it
is written thus, aa: e. g. B Mel. Sacchar. & Mann. a,
vel āā, 3j. i. e. Take of honey, fugar, and manna, of
each one ounce.
A, put to bills of Exchange, is in England an abbre-
viation for accepted, and in France for accepté. It is
likewife ufual among merchants to mark their fets of
books with the letters A, B, C, &c. inſtead of the num-
bers, 1, 2, 3, &c.
A. A. A. The chemical abbreviation for Amalgama,
or Amalgamation.
AA, the name of ſeveral rivers in Germany and Swif-
ferland.
AACH, a little town in Germany, in the circle of
Suabia, near the fource of the river Aach, and almoft
equally diftant from the Danube and the lake Con-
tance. It belongs to the houſe of Auſtria. E. Long.
9 0. Lat. 47. 55.
AAHUS, a little town in Germany, in the circle of
Weftphalia, and bishopric of Munfter. It is the capital
of Aahus, a fmall diftiict; has a good caſtle; and lies
north-east of Coesfeldt. E. Long. 7. 1. Lat. 52. 10.
AAM, or HAAM, a liquid meaſure in common uſe
among the Dutch, and containing 128 meaſures called
mingles, each weighing nearly 36 ounces averdupoiſe;
whence the Aam contains 288 Engliſh, and 1483 pints
Paris meaſure.
AAR, the name of two rivers, one in Swifferland,
and another in Weftphalia in Germany. It is alſo the
name of a ſmall iſland in the Baltic.
AARASSUS (anc. geog.), a town of Pifidia, in
the Hither Aſia, thought to be the Anaffus of Pto-
lemy.
AARON, high-prieft of the Jews, and brother to
Mofes, was by the father's fide great grandfon, and by
the mother's grandfon, of Levi. By God's command
he met Mofes at the foot of mount Horeb, and they
went together into Egypt to deliver the children of If-
rael: he had a great fhare in all that Mofes did for
their deliverance; the fcriptures call him the prophet of
Moſes, and he acted in that capacity after the Ifraelites
had paffed over the Red Sea. He afcended mount Si-
1.ai with two of his fons, Nadab and Abihu, and fe-
venty elders of the people; but neither he nor they
went higher than half way, from whence they ſaw the
glory of God; only Mofes and Joſhua went to the top,
where they ftaid forty days. During their abfence,
Aaron, overcome by the people's eager intreaties, fet
up
the golden calf, which the Ifraelites worshipped by
his confent. This calf has given rife to various con-
jectures. Some rabbies maintain that he did not make
the golden calf; but only threw the gold into the fire,
to get rid of the importunities of the people; and that
certain magicians, who mingled with the Ifraelites
at their departure from Egypt, caft this gold into
the figure of a calf. According to fome authors,
the fear of falling a facrifice to the refentment of
the people by giving a refufal, made Aaron comply
with their defire: and they allege alſo, that he hoped
to elude their requeft, by demanding of the women to
contribute their ear-rings, imagining they would rather
chooſe to remain without a viſible deity, than be de-
prived of their perfonal ornaments. This affair of the
golden calf happened in the third month after the If-
raelites came out of Egypt. In the firſt month of the
following year, Aaron was appointed by God high- Aaron,
prieft; which office he executed during the time that Aarfens.
the children of Ifrael continued in the wilderneſs. He
died in the fortieth year after their departure from
Egypt, upon mount Hor, being then 123 years old;
A. M. 2522, of the Julian period 3262, before the Chri-
ftian æra 1452. With regard to the attempts of the
Egyptian magicians to imitate the miracles performed
by his rod, fee fome remarks under the article MA-
GICIAN.
AARON and JULIUS (Saints), fuffered martyrdom.
together, during the perfecution under the emperor
Dioclefian, in the year 303, about the fame time with
Saint Alban the protomartyr of Britain.
We are no-
where told what their Britiſh names were, it being uſual
with the Chriftian Britons, at the time of baptiſm, to
take new names from the Greek, Latin, or Hebrew.
Nor have we any certainty as to the particulars of their
death; only that they fuffered the moſt cruel torments.
They had each a church erected to his memory; and
their feftival is placed, in the Roman martyrology, on
the firft of July.
AARON, or Harun, Al Rafchid, a celebrated khalif,
or Mahometan fovereign of the Saracen empire; whofe
hiſtory is given under the article BAGDAD.
AARON Harifchon, a learned rabbi and CARAITE in
the 15th century, wrote an Hebrew grammar, print-
ed at Conftantinople in 1581; probably the fame with
Aaron the caraite, who wrote a commentary on the
five books of Mofes, which is in MS. in the French
king's library.
AARSENS (Francis), Lord of Someldyck and
Spyck, was one of the greateſt minifters for negocia-
tion the United Provinces could ever boaft of. His
father, Cornelius Aarfens, was Regiſter to the States;
and being acquainted with Mr Pleffis Mornay, at the
Court of William Prince of Orange, he prevailed
upon him to take his fon under him, with whom he
continued fome years. John Olden Barnevelt, who
prefided over the affairs of Holland and all the United
Provinces, fent him afterwards agent into France,
where he learned to negociate under thofe profound
politicians Henry IV. Villeroy, Silleri, Roffie, Jaon-
nin, &c. and he acquitted himſelf in fuch a manner as
to obtain their approbation. Soon after, he was in-
vefted with the character of ambaſſador, being the firſt
who was recogniſed as fuch by the French court; at
which time Henry IV. declared, that he ſhould take
precedence next to the Venetian minifter. He refided
in France 15 years; during which time he received
great marks of efteem from the king, who created hin
a knight and baron; and for this reafon he was re-
ceived amongst the nobles of the province of Holland.
However, he became at length fo odious to the Frencli
court, that they defired to have him recalled. He
was afterwards deputed to Venice, and to ſeveral Ger-
man and Italian princes, upon occafion of the troubles
in Bohemia. He was the firft of three extraordinary
ambaffadors ſent to England in 1620, and the ſecond
in 1641; in which latter embaffy he was accompanied
by the Lord of Brederode as firft ambaffador, and
Heemfvliet as third, to treat about the marriage of
Prince William, fon to the Prince of Orange. He
was likewiſe ambaffador-extraordinary at the French
court in 1624; and the Cardinal de Richlieu having
juft
A BA
A BA
[
]
3
Aarfens just taken the adminiſtration of affairs into his hands,
#
and knowing he was an able man, made ufe of him to
ſerve his own purpoſes. He died in a very advanced
age; and his fon, who furvived him, was reputed the
wealthiest man in Holland.
Aba.
乖
​AARSENS (Peter), a painter, called in Italy Pietro
Longo, becauſe of his ftature, was born at Amfterdam
1519. He was eminent for all kinds of fubjects; but
was particularly famous for altar-pieces, and for repre-
fenting a kitchen with its furniture: he had the pain
to ſee a fine altar-piece of his deſtroyed by the rabble
in the inſurrection 1566, though a lady of Alcmaer
offered 200 crowns for its redemption.
AARTGEN, or AERTGEN, a painter of merit,
was the ſon of an woolcomber, and born at Leyden in
1498. He worked at his father's trade until he had
attained the age of eighteen; and then, having difco-
vered a genius for defigning, he was placed with Cor-
nelius Engelheihtz, under whom he made a confider-
able progreſs in painting. He became fo diftinguiſh-
ed, that the celebrated Francis Floris went to Ley-
den out of mere curiofity to fee him. He found him
inhabiting a poor half ruined hut, and in a very mean
ftyle of living: He folicited him to go to Antwerp,
promiſing him wealth and rank fuitable to his merit;
but Aartgen refuſed, declaring that he found more
fweets in his poverty than others did in their riches.
It was a cuſtom with this painter never to work on
Mondays, but to devote that day, with his difciples,
to the bottle. He uſed to ftroll about the ftreets in
the night, playing on the german flute, and in one of
thefe frolics was drowned in 1564.
AASAR (anc. geog.), a town of Palestine, in the
tribe of Judah, fituate between Azotus and Aſcalon.
In Jerome's time it was an hamlet.
AB, the eleventh month of the civil year of the He-
brews, and the fifth of their ecclefiaftical year, which
begins with the month Nifan. It anſwers to the moon
of July; that is, to part of our month of the fame
name, and to the beginning of Auguft: it confifts of
thirty days. The Jews faft on the firft of this month,
in memory of Aaron's death; and on the ninth, becauſe
on that day both the temple of Solomon, and that
erected after the captivity, were burnt; the former by
the Chaldeans, and the latter by the Romans. The
fame day is alſo remarkable among that people for the
publication of Adrian's edict, wherein they were for-
bid to continue in Judea, or even to look back when at
a diftance from Jerufalem, in order to lament the defo-
lation of that city. The 18th of the fame month is alſo
a faſt among the Jews; becauſe the lamp in the fanc-
tuary was that night extinguiſhed, in the time of
Ahaz.
Aв, in the Syriac calendar, is the name of the laſt
fummer-month. The first day of this month they call-
ed Suum Mi›iam, the faft of the virgin, becauſe the
eaftern Chriſtians fafted from that day to the fifteenth,
which was therefore called Fathr-Miriam, the ceffa-
tion of the faſt of the virgin.
ABA (or rather ABAU) HANIFAH or HANFA, fir-
named Al-Nooma, was the fon of Thabet, and born
at Coufah in the 80th year of the Hegira. This is the
moft celebrated doctor of the orthodox Muffulmans,
and his fect holds the principal eſteem among the four
which they indifferently follow. Notwithstanding this,
he was not very well efteemed during his life, infomuch
that the khaliff Almanfor cauſed him to be impriſoned
at Bagdad, for having refuſed to fubfcribe to the opi-
nion of abfolute predeſtination, which the Muffulmans
call Cadha. But afterwards Abou Jofeph, who was
the fovereign judge or chancellor of the empire under
the khaliff Hadi, brought his doctrine into ſuch credit,
that it became a prevailing opinion, That to be a good
Muffulman was to be a Hanifite. He died in the
150th year of the Hegira, in the prifon of Bagdad
aforefaid: and it was not till 335 years after his death,
that Melick Schah, a fultan of the Selgiucidan race,
built for him a magnificent monument in the fame city,
whereto he adjoined a college peculiarly appropriated
to fuch as made a profeffion of this fect. This was
in the 485th year of the hegira, and Anno Chrifti
1092. The moft eminent fucceffors of this doctor were
Ahmed Benali, Al Giaffas, and Al Razi who was the
mafter of Naffari; and there is a mofque particularly
appropriated to them in the temple of Mecca.
ABA, Abas, Abos, or Abus, (anc. geog.), the
name of a mountain of Greater Armenia, fituated
between the mountains Niphatos and Nibonis. Accor-
ding to Strabo, the Euphrates and Araxes roſe from
this mountain; the former running eastward, and the
latter weftward.
ABA. See АвÆ.
ABACENA (anc. geog.), a town of Media, and
another of Cana in the Hither Aſia.
ABACÆNUM (anc. geog.), a town of Sicily,
whofe ruins are fuppofed to be thoſe lying near Trippi,
a citadel on an high and ſteep mountain not far from
Meffina. The inhabitants were called Abacanini.
ABACATUAIA, in ichthyology, a barbarous
name of the zeus vomer. See ZEUS.
ABACH, a market-town of Germany, in Lower
Bavaria, feated on the Danube. It is remarkable for
Roman antiquities, and for fprings of mineral waters
which are faid to be good for various diftempers.
E. Long. 11. 56. Lat. 48. 53.
ABAÇINARE, or ABBACINARE, in writers of
the middle age, a fpecies of puniſhment, confiſting in
the blinding of the criminal, by holding a hot bafon or
bowl of metal before his eyes.
ABACK (a fea-term), the fituation of the fails when
their furfaces are flatted againſt the maſts by the force
of the wind. The fails are faid to be taken aback when
they are brought into this fituation, either by a ſudden
change of the wind, or by an alteration in the fhip's
courfe. They are laid aback, to effect an immediate re-
treat, without turning to the right or left; or, in the fea-
phraſe, to give the fhip Stern-way, in order to avoid
fome danger diſcovered before her in a narrow channel,
or when ſhe has advanced beyond her ftation in the line
of battle, or otherwife. The fails are placed in this
poſition by flackening their lee-braces, and hauling in
the weather ones; fo that the whole effort of the wind
is exerted on the forepart of their furface, which readily
puſhes the ſhip aftern, unlefs fhe is reftrained by fome
counteracting force. It is alfo ufual to ſpread fome
fail aback near the ftern, as the mizzen-top-fail, when
a ſhip rides with a ſingle anchor in a road, in order to
prevent her from approaching it fo as to entangle the
flukes of it with her ſlackened cable, and thereby loofen
it from the ground.
A 2
ABACOT,
Aba
Aback.
}
A BA
A BA
[
]
4
Abacot
Abacus.
ABACOT, the name of an ancient cap of ftate
worn by the kings of England, the upper part where
of was in the form of a double crown.
ABACTORS, or ABACTORES, a name given to
thoſe who drive away, or rather fteal, cattle by herds,
or great numbers at once; and are therefore very pro-
perly diftinguished from fures, or thieves.
ABACUS, among the ancients, was a kind of cup-
board or buffet. Livy, defcribing the luxury into
which the Romans degenerated after the conqueft of
Afia, fays, They had their abaci, beds, &c. plated
over with gold.
ABACUS, among the ancient mathematicians, figni-
fied a table covered with duft, on which they drew their
diagrams; the word in this fenfe being derived from
the Phoenician abak, duft.
ABACUS, in architecture, fignifies the fuperior part or
member of the capital of a column, and ferves as a kind
of crowning to both. Vitruvius tells us the abacus was
originally intended to reprefent a fquare tile laid over
an urn, or rather over a basket. See ARCHITEC-
TURE, n° 15.
n° 15.-The
The form of the abacus is not
the fame in all orders: in the Tufcan, Doric, and
Ionic, it is generally fquare; but in the Corinthian
and Compofite, its four fides are arched inwards,
and embelliſhed in the middle with fome ornament, as a
rofe or other flower. Scammozzi ufes abacus for a con-
cave moulding on the capital of the Tuſcan pedeſtal;
and Palladio calls the plinth above the echinus, or boul-
tin, in the Tuſcan and Doric orders, by the ſame
name.
ABACUS is alfo the name of an ancient inftrument for
facilitating operations in arithmetic. It is variouſly
contrived. That chiefly uſed in Europe is made by
drawing any number of parallel lines at the diſtance of
two diameters of one of the counters uſed in the calcu-
lation. A counter placed on the loweſt line, figni-
fies I; on the 2d, 10; on the 3d, 100; on the 4th,
1000, &c.
In the intermediate fpaces, the fame
counters are eſtimated at one half of the value of the
line immediately fuperior, viz. between the ift and 2d,
5; between the 2d and 3d, 50; &c. See the figure on
Plate I. where the ſame number, 1788 for example, is
repreſented under both divifions by different diſpoſitions
of the counters.
ABACUS is alſo uſed by modern writers for a table of
numbers ready caft up, to expedite the operations of
arithmetic. In this ſenſe we have Abaci of addition, of
multiplication, of divifion.
Chinese ABACUS. See SWANPAN.
ABACUS Pythagoricus, the common multiplication-
table, ſo called from its being invented by Pythagoras,
ABACUS Logifticus is a rectangled triangle, whofe
fides, forming the right angle, contain the numbers
from 1 to 60; and its area, the facta of each two of the
numbers perpendicularly oppofite. This is alfo called
a canon of fexagefimals.
ABACUS & Palmula, in the ancient mufic, denote
the machinery, whereby the ſtrings of Polyplectra, or
inftruments of many ftrings, were ftruck with a plec-
trum made of quills.
ABACUS Harmonicus, is uſed by Kircher for the
ftructure and difpofition of the keys of a muſical in-
ftrument, whether to be touched with the hands or the
feet.
Abalus.
ABACUS Major, in metallurgic operations, the name Abacus
of a trough uſed in the mines, wherein the ore waſhed.
ABADDON, is the name which St John in the
Revelations gives to the king of the locult, the angel
of the bottomlefs pit. The infpired writer fays, this
word is Hebrew, and in Greek fignifies ´A Toxauwr, i. e. a
deftroyer. That angel-king is thought to be Satan or
the devil: but Mr le Clerc thinks with Dr Hammond,
that by the locuft which came out of the abyfs, may
be understood the zealots and robbers, who miferably
afflicted the land of Judea, and laid it in a manner waite,
before Jerufalem was taken by the Romans; and that
Abaddon, the king of the locuft, may be John of Gif-
chala, who having treacheroufly left that town a little
before it was ſurrendered to Titus, came to Jerufalem,
where he foon headed part of the zealots, who acknow-
ledged him as their king, whilft the reft would not
fubmit to him. This fubdivifion of the zealot party
brought a thouſand calamities on the Jews.
ABADIR, a title which the Carthaginians gave
to gods of the firſt order.
to gods of the firft order. In the Roman mythology,
it is the name of a stone which Saturn fwallowed, by
the contrivance of his wife Ops, believing it to be his
new-born fon Jupiter: hence it ridiculouſly became the
object of religious worſhip.
ABÆ, or ABA, (anc. geog.) a town of Phocis in
Greece, near Helicon; famous for an oracle of Apollo
older than that at Delphi, and for a rich temple plun-
dered and burnt by the Perfians.
ABAFT, a fea-term, fignifying the hinder part of
a fhip, or all thofe parts both within and without which
lie towards the ftern, in oppofition to AFORE; which
fee.-Abaft, is alfo ufed as a prepofition, and fignifies
further aft, or nearer the ftern; as, the barricade ſtands
abaft the main-maſt, i. e. behind it, or nearer the ſtern.
ABAISSED, Abaiſſe, in heraldry, an epithet ap-
plied to the wings of eagles, &c. when the tip looks
downwards to the point of the fhield, or when the
wings are fhut, the natural way of bearing them being
extended.
ABAKA KHAN, the 18th emperor of the Moguls,
a wife and clement prince. He reigned 17 years, and
is by fome authors faid to have been a Chriftian.
It may be admitted, indeed, that he joined with the
Chriftians in keeping the feaſt of Eaſter, in the city
Hanadau, fome fhort time before his death. But this
is no proof of his Chriſtianity; it being common, in
times of brotherly love, for Chriſtians and Mahometans
to join in keeping the ſame feaſts, when each would
compliment the other with doing honour to his folem-
nity.
ABALAK, a town of Siberia, two miles from To-
bolfk. E. Long. 64. 10. N. Lat. 57. 1.
ABALIENATION, in law, the act of transfer-
ring one man's property to another.
ABALLABA, the ancient name of APPLEBY, a
town in Weftmoreland, remarkable only for its anti-
quity, having been a Roman ſtation. W. Long. 1. 4.
I.
N. Lat. 55. 38.
ABALUS (anc. geog.), fuppofed by the anci-
ents to be an iſland in the German ocean, called by
Timæus Bafilia, and by Xenophon Lampfacenus Bal-
tia; now the peninfula of Scandinavia. Here, accord-
ing to Pliny, fome imagined that amber dropped from
the trees,
2
ABANA,
1
A BA
[
BA
A
5
]
Abana
Abaris.
ABANA, or AMANA (anc. geog.), a river of
Phoenicia, which, rifing from Mount Hermon, waſh-
ed the fouth and weft fides of Damafcus, and falls
into the Phœnician ſea to the north of Tripolis, called
Chryforrheas by the Greeks.
ABANGA. See ADY.
ABANO, a town of the Paduano, in the republic
of Venice, famous among the ancients for its hot baths.
ABANTES, a people who came originally from
Thrace, and fettled in Phoceca, a country of Greece,
where they built a town which they called Aba, after
the name of Abas their leader; and, if we may credit
ſome ancient authors, the Abantes went afterwards into
the iſland Eubœa, now called Negropont: others fay
the Abantes of Euboca came from Athens. The Aban-
tes were a very warlike people, clofing with their ene-
mies, and fighting hand to hand.
ABANTIAS, or ABANTIS (anc. geog.), a name
of the iſland Euboea in the Egean fea, extending_a-
long the coaſt of Greece, from the promontory Su-
nium of Attica to Theffaly, and ſeparated from Bao-
tia by a narrow ſtrait called Euripus. From its length
the iſland was formerly called Macris; afterwards A-
bantias, or Abantis, from the Abantes, a people ori-
ginally of Thrace, called by Homer ob Koμovies, from
wearing their hair long behind, having in a battle ex-
perienced the inconvenience of wearing long hair be-
fore. From cutting their hair before, they were called
Curetes.
ABAPTISTON, in furgery, the perforating part
of the inftrument called a TREPAN.
ABARA, a town in the Greater Armenia, under
the dominion of the Turks: it is often the refidence of
the archbiſhop of Nakfivan, Long. 46. 25. Lat. 39.
45.
ABARANER, a town of Afia, in Grand Armenia,
belonging to the Turks: it is feated on the river Alin-
gena. Long. 46. 30. Lat. 39. 50.
ABARCA, an ancient kind of fhoe uſed in Spain
for paffing the mountains with. It was made of raw
hides, and bound with cords, which fecured the feet
of travellers againſt the fnow.
ABARIM, high mountains of ftecp afcent, fepara-
ting the country of the Ammonites and Moabites from
the land of Canaan, where Mofes died. According to
Jofephus, they ſtood oppofite to the territory of Jeri-
cho, and were the laft ftation but one of the Ifraelites
coming from Egypt. Nebah and Pifgah were parts of
thefe mountains.
ABARIS, the Hyperborean; a celebrated fage of
antiquity, whofe hiftory and travels have been the fub-
ject of much learned difcuffion. Such a number of fa-
* Jamblich. bulous ftories* were told of him, that Herodotus him-
l'ita Pythag. felf feems to fcruple to relate them. He tells us only †,
+ Lib iv. that this Barbarian was faid to have travelled with an
cap. 36.
arrow, and to have taken no fuftenance: but this does
not acquaint us with the marvellous properties which
were attributed to that arrow; nor that it had been
given him by the Hyperborean Apollo. With regard
to the occafion of his leaving his native country, Har-
Under the Pocration ‡ tells us, that the whole earth being infeſted
word 'Aca with a deadly plague, Apollo, upon being confulted,
B'S.
gave no other anfwer, than that the Athenians fhould
offer up prayers in behalf of all other nations: upon
which, feveral countries deputed ambaffadors to Athens,
lib. ii, iii.
among whom was Abaris the Hyperborean. In this Abaris.
journey, he renewed the alliance between his country-
men and the inhabitants of the iſland of Delos. It
appears that he alfo went to Lacedæmon; fince, ac-
cording to fome writers ||, he there built a temple con- Paufanias,
fecrated to Proferpine the Salutary. It is afferted, that lib.iii. p.94.
he was capable of foretelling earthquakes, driving away
plagues, laying ftorms ‡, &c. He wrote feveral books, ‡ Porphyry
as Suidas+ informs us, viz. Apollo's arrival into the in Vita Py-
country of the Hyperboreans; The nuptials of the river or
+ Under the
Hebrus; Occyona, or the Generation of the Gods; A word 'Aba-
collection of oracles; &c. Himerius the fophift ap- g's.
plauds him for ſpeaking pure Greek ; which attain-
ment will be no matter of wonder to fuch as confider
the ancient intercourſe there was between the Greeks
and Hyperboreans.-If the Hebrides, or Weftern
Iſlands of Scotland, (fays Mr Toland *), were the Hy-* Account
perboreans of Diodorust, then the celebrated Abaris of the Dru
ids, in his
was of that country; and likewiſe a druid, having been Poftbumous
the prieſt of Apollo. Suidas, who knew not the di- Works, vol.is
ftinction of the infular Hyperboreans, makes him ap 161.
Scythian; as do fome others, mifled by the fame vul- †Diud. Sic.
gar error; though Diodorus has truly fixed his country
in an island, and not on the continent. Indeed the
fictions and miſtakes concerning our Abaris are infi-
nite: however, it is by all agreed that he travelled quite
over Greece, and from thence into Italy, where he con-
verfed familiarly with Pythagoras, who favoured him
beyond all his difciples, by inftructing him in his doc-
trines (eſpecially his thoughts of nature) in a plainer
and more compendious method than he did any other.
This diftinction could not but be very advantageous to
Abaris. The Hyperborean, in return, prefented the
Samian, as though he equalled Apollo himſelf in wif
dom, with the facred arrow, on which the Greeks
have fabulouſly related‡ that he fat aftride, and flew Jamblicki
upon it, through the air, over rivers and lakes, forefts Vita Pythug,
and mountains; in like manner as our vulgar ftill be- P. 128.
lieve, particularly thofe of the Hebrides, that wizards
and witches fly whitherfoever they pleaſe on their broom-
fticks. The orator Himerius above mentioned, though
one of thoſe who, from the equivocal fenfe of the word
Hyperborean, feem to have miſtaken Abaris for a Scy-
thian, yet defcribes his perfon accurately, and gives
him a very noble character. They relate (fays he}
"that Abaris the fage was by nation an Hyperborean,
appeared a Grecian in fpeech, and refembled a Scy-
"thian in his habit and appearance. He came to
"Athens, holding a bow in his hand, having a quiver
"hanging
hanging on his fhoulders, his body wrapt up in a
" plaid, girt about the loins with a gilded belt, and
"wearing trowfers reaching from his waitt downward."
By this it is evident (continues Mr Toland) that he
was not habitated like the Scythians, who were always
covered with ſkins; but appeared in the native garb
of an Aboriginal Scot. As to what relates to his abi-
lities, Himerius informs us, that "he was affable and
"pleafant in converfation, in difpatching great affairs
"fecret and induftrious, quick-fighted in prefent exi-
"gencies, in preventing future dangers circumfpect.
â
ſearcher after wiſdom, defirous of friendſhip, truſt-
ing little to fortune, and having every thing trufted
"him for his prudence." Neither the Academy
to nor the Lyceum could have furniſhed a man with
fitter qualities to travel fo far abroad, and to ſuch wife
nations2:
A BA
A BÁ
[ 6
]
11
Abafcia.
Abarticu- nations, about affairs no leſs arduous than important.
la ion And if we further attentively confider his moderation
in eating, drinking, and the uſe of all thofe things
which our natural appetites inceffantly crave; joining
the candour and fimplicity of his manners with the fo-
lidity and wiſdom of his anfwers, all which we find
fufficiently attefled; it muſt be owned, that the world
at that time had few to compare with Abaris.
ABARTICULATION, in anatomy, a ſpecies of
articulation admitting of a manifeft motion; called al-
fo Diarthrofis, and Ďearticulatio, to diſtinguiſh it from
that ſort of articulation which admits of a very obfcure
motion, and is called Synarthrofis.
ABÁS, a weight uſed in Perfia for weighing pearls.
It is 1-8th less than the European carat.
ABAS, in the heathen mythology, was the fon of
Hypothoon and Meganira, who entertained Ceres, and
offered a facrifice to that goddeſs; but Abbas ridiculing
the ceremony, and giving her opprobrious language,
ſhe ſprinkled him with a certain mixture fhe held in her
cup, on which he became a newt or water-lizard.
ABAS (Schah) the Great, was third fon of Coda-
bendi, 7th king of Perfia, of the race of the Sophis.
Succeeding to his father at 18, in 1585, he found the
affairs of Perfia at a low ebb, occafioned by the con-
quefts of the Turks and Tartars. He regained feveral
of the provinces they had feized; but death put a ſtop
to his victories in 1629, after a reign of 44 years. He
was the greateſt prince that had reigned in Perfia for
many ages; and it was he who made Ifpahan the me-
tropolis of Perfia: his memory is held in the higheſt
veneration among the Perfians,
ABAS (Schah) his grandfon, 9th king of Perfia, of
the race of the Sophis, fucceeded his father Sefi at 13
of age; he was but 18 when he made himſelf ma-
years
Iter of the city Candahar, which had furrendered in his
father's reign to the Great Mogul, and all the province
about it; and he preferved it afterwards against this
Indian emperor, though he befieged it more than once
with an army of 300,000 men. He was a very merci-
ful prince, and openly protected the Chriftians: he had
formed a defign of extending the limits of his kingdom
toward the north, and had for that effect levied a power-
ful army; but death put a ſtop to all his great defigns,
at 37 years of age, in 1666.
ABASCIA, or ABCAS, a country in Afia, tribu-
tary to the Turks, fituated on the coaft of the Black
Sea. The people are poor, thievifh, and treacherous,
infomuch that there is no trading with them without
the utmoſt caution. Their commodities are furs, buck
and tyger ſkins, linen yarn, boxwood, and bees-wax:
but their greatefl traffic is in felling their own children,
and even one another, to the Turks; infomuch that they
live in perpetual diftruft. They are deftitute of many
neceffaries of life, and have nothing among them that
can be called a town; though we find Anacopia, Dan-
dar, and Czekorni, mentioned in the maps. They have
the name of Chriftians; but have nothing left but the
name, any more than the Mingrelians their northern
neighbours. The men are robuſt and active, and the
women are fair and beautiful; on which account the
Turks have a great value for the female flaves which
they purchaſe from among them. Their cuftoms are
much the fame as thofe of the MINGRELIANS; which
fee. E. Long. from 39. to 43. Lat. from 43. to 45•
ABASCUS, a river of Afiatic Sarmatia, which, Abafcus
rifing from Mount Caucafus, falls into the Euxine, be-
11
tween Pityus to the eaft, and Nofis to the weſt.
ABASITIS (anc. geog.), a tract of Afiatic Myſia,
in which was fituated the city of Ancyra.
ABASSI, or ABASSIS, a filver coin current in Per-
fia, equivalent in value to a French livre, or tenpence
halfpenny Sterling. It took its name from Schah
Abbas II. king of Perfia, under whom it was ftruck.
ABASSUS (anc. geog.), a town of the Greater
Phrygia, on the confines of the Toliftobagii, a people
of Galatia in Aſia.
ABATAMENTUM, in law, is an entry to lands
by interpofition, i. e. when a perfon dies feized, and
another who has no right enters before the heir.
To ABATE, (from the Frenchalbatre, to pull down,
overthrow, demolish, batter down, or deftroy), a term
uſed by the writers of the Engliſh common-law both
in an active and neutral fenfe; as, To abate a caſtle, is
to beat it down. To abate a writ, is, by fome excep-
tion, to defeat or overthrow it. A ftranger abateth;
that is, entereth upon a houſe or land void by the death
of him that laft poffeffed it, before the heir takes pof-
feffion, and fo keepeth him out: wherefore, as he that
putteth out him in poffeffion is faid to diffeize, ſo he
that fteppeth in between the former poffeffor and his
heir is faid to abate. In the neuter fignification thus:
The writ of the demandant ſhall abate; that is, fhall be
diſabled, fruftrated, or overthrown. The appeal abateth
by covin; that is, the accufation is defeated by deceit.
ABATE, in the manege, implies the performing any
downward motion properly. Thus a horſe is ſaid to
abate or take down his curvets, when he puts both his
hind legs to the ground at once, and obferves the fame
exactneſs in all the times.
ABATELEMENT, in commerce, a term uſed for
a prohibition of trade to all French merchants in the
ports of the Levant who will not ftand to their bar-
It is a fentence
gains, or refuſe to pay their debts.
of the French conful, which muſt be taken off before
they can fue any perfon for the payment of their debts.
ÁBATEMENT, in heraldry, an accidental figure
fuppofed to have been added to coats of arms, in order
to denote fome difhonourable demeanour or ftain,
whereby the dignity of coat-armour was rendered of
lefs eſteem. See HERALDRY.
ABATEMENT, in law. See To ABATE.
ABATEMENT, in the cuſtoms, an allowance made upon
the duty of goods, when the quantum damaged is de-
termined by the judgment of two merchants upon oath,
and afcertained by a certificate from the furveyor and
land-waiter.
ABATIS, an ancient term for an officer of the ſtables.
ABATON, an erection at Rhodes, as a fence to
the trophy of Artemifia, queen of Halicarnaffus, Coos,
&c. raiſed in memory of her victory over the Rhodians;
or rather as a ſcreen to conceal the difgrace of the
Rhodians from the eyes of the world, the effacing or
deftroying the trophy being with them a point of re-
ligion.
ABATOR, in law, a term applied to a perfon
who enters to a houfe or lands void by the death of
the laft poffeffor, before the true heir.
ABATOS (anc. geog.), an iſland in the lake Moeris,
formerly
Abatos.
ABB
[ 7 ]
A B B
Abavo formerly famous for its papyrus. It was the burial
place of Ofiris.
Abbas.
ABAVO, in botany, a fynonime of the ADANSONIA.
ABB, a terin, among clothiers, applied to the
of a weaver's warp. They fay alfo bb-wool in the
fame fenfe.
yam
ABBA (anc. geog.), a town of Afric Propria, near
Carthage.
ABBA, in the Syriac and Chaldee languages, lite-
rally fignifies a father; and, figuratively, a fuperior,
reputed as a father in refpect of age, dignity, or af-
fection. It is more particularly uſed in the Syriac,
Coptic, and Ethiopic churches, as a title given to the
bishops. The bishops themſelves beſtow the title Abba
more eminently on the bifhop of Alexandria; which
occafioned the people to give him the title of Baba,
or Papa, that is, Grandfather; a title which he bore
before the biſhop of Rome. It is a Jewish title of
honour given to certain rabbins called Tanaites: and
it is alfo particularly ufed, by fome writers of the middle
age, for the fuperior of a monaftery, ufually called
ABBOT.
ABBADIE (James), an eminent Proteftant divine,
born at Nay in Bern in 1654; firft educated there un-
der the famous John la Placette, and afterward at the
univerſity of Sedan. From thence he went into Holland
and Germany, and was miniſter in the French church of
Berlin. He left that place in 1690; came into England;
was fometine miniſter in the French church inthe Savoy,
London; and was made dean of Killalow in Ireland.
He died at St Mary le Bonne near London, in 1727,
aged 73. He was ftrongly attached to the caufe of king
William, as appears in his elaborate defence of the re-
volution, and his hiftory of the affaffination-plot. He
had great natural abilities, which he improved by true
and uſeful learning. He was a moft zealous defender
of the primitive doctrine of the Proteftants, as appears
by his writings; and that ftrong nervous eloquence, for
which he was fo remarkable, enabled him to enforce the
doctrines of his profeffion from the pulpit with great fpi-
rit and energy. He publiſhed ſeveral works in French
that were much eſteemed; the principal of which are, A
Treatife on the Truth of the Christian Religion: The
art of Knowing one's Self; A Defence of the Britiſh
Nation; The Deity of Jeſus Chriſt effential to the Chri-
ftian Religion; The Hiftory of the laſt Conſpiracy in
England, written by order of king William III.; and
The Triumph of Providence and Religion, or the open-
ing the Seven Seals by the Son of God.
ABBAS, fon of Abdalmcthleb, and Mahomet's
uncle, oppofed his nephew with all his power, eſteem-
ing him an impoftor and infidel; but in the fecond year
of the hegira, being overcome and made a prifoner at
the battle of Bendir in 623, a great ranfom being de-
manded for him, he reprefented to Mahomet, that his
paying it would reduce him to poverty, which would
redound to the difhonour of the family. But Mahomet
having been informed of Abbas's having fecreted large
fums of money, aſked him after the purfes of gold he
had left in his mother's cuftody at Mecca. Abbas, up-
on this, conceiving him to be really a prophet, em-
braced his new religion; became one of his principal
captains; and faved his life when in imminent danger at
the battle of Henain, againſt the Thakefites, foon after
the reduction of Mecca. But befides being a great
commander, Abbas was a famous doctor of the Muf-
fulman law, infomuch that he read lectures upon every
chapter of the Koran, as his nephew pretended to re-
ceive them one by one from heaven. He died in 652,
and his memory is held in the higheſt veneration among
the Muffulmans to this day.
Abul ABBAS, furnamed Saffah, was proclaimed kha-
lif; and in him began the Dynaſty of the
ABBASSIDES, who poffeffed the khalifate for 524
years; and there were 37 khalifs of this race who fuc-
ceeded one another without interruption.
ABBE, in a monaftic ſenſe, the fame with ABBOT.
ABBE, in a Lodern ſenſe, is the name of a curious
popular character in France, very much mentioned, but
very little known, in Britain. The term is not to be
rendered in our language, as the existence of the being
which it denominates is pofterior to the reformation, and
no fuch character was known among the Romanifts till
about a century and a half ago.
Abbés, according to the ſtricteft definition, are per-
fons who have not yet obtained any precife or fixed
fettlement in church or ſtate, but moft heartily wish for,
and would accept of, either, juft as it may happen.
In the mean while, their privileges are many. They
are admiſſible in all companies, and no degradation to
the beft, notwithſtanding they are fometimes found in
the worst. Their drefs is rather that of an academic,
or of a profeffed fcholar, than of an ecclefiaftic; and, ne-
ver varying in colour, is no encumbrance on the pocket.
Theſe abbés are very numerous, and no lefs uſeful.
They are, in colleges, the inftructors of youth; in pri-
vate families, the tutors of young gentlemen; and many
procure a decent livelihood by their literary and witty
compofitions of all kinds, from the profoundeft philo-
fophy to the molt airy romances. They are, in fhort,
a body of men who poffefs a fund of univerfal talents
and learning, and are inceffantly employed in the culti-
vation of every various branch of literature and inge-
nuity. No fubject whatever efcapes them; ferious or
gay, folid or ludicrous, facred or profane, all pay tri-
bute to their reſearches; and as they are converfant in
the loweſt as well as the higheſt topics, their fame is
equally great in the learned and in the fcribbling world.
A diftinguiſhing part of their character, too, though
we ſhall but flightly touch it, is their devotion to the
fair fex: whoſe favourites, in return, they have the ho-
nour of being in the most enviable degree; the wit and
fmartneſs for which they are uſually remarkable, being
juft the very thing that fuit the French ladies.-In fine,
theſe abbes are fought after by most people, on various
accounts; as they are equally men of bufinefs and plea-
fure, not lefs expert in the most ferious tranfactions, than
fond of enjoying their fhare in whatever occupies the gay
world. Hence they diligently frequent all public fpec-
tacles, which are thought incomplete without them; as
they compofe the most intelligent part of the company,
and are the most weighty approvers or condemneis of
what paffes in almott all places.
ABBESS, the fuperior of an abbey or convent of
nuns. The abbefs has the fame rights and authority
over her nuns that the abbots regular have over their
monks. The fex indeed does not allow her to perform
the fpiritual functions annexed to the priesthood, where-
with the abbet is uſually inveſted; but there are inftances
of fome abbeffes who have a right or rather a privilege.
Abhas
11
Abbefs.
2
to
ABB
[
ABB
8 ]
Abbeville, to commiffion a prieft to act for them. They have even
a kind of epiſcopal jurifdiction, as well as fome abbots
who are exempted from the vifitation of their diocefians.
Martene, in his treatiſe on the rights of the Church,
obferves, that fome abbeffes have formerly confeffed
their nuns.
But he adds, that their exceffive curiofity
carried them fuch lengths, that there arofe a neceffity
of checking it. However, St Bafil, in his Rule, allows
the abbefs to be preſent with the prieſt at the confeffion
of her nuns.
monks and nuns, which were found in fome places very
diforderly: upon which, the abbots, perceiving their
diffolution unavoidable, were induced to refign their
houſes to the king, who by that means became inveſted
with the abbey-lands: thefe were afterwards granted to
different perſons, whoſe deſcendents enjoy them at this
day: they were then valued at 2,853,000l. per annum,
an immenfe fum in thoſe days.
Though the fuppreffion of religious houfes, even con-
fidered in a political light only, was of a very great na-
ABBEVILLE, a confiderable city of France in tional benefit, it muſt be owned, that, at the time they
Picardy, and the capital of Ponthieu; the river Somme flouriſhed, they were not entirely uſelefs. Abbeys or mo-
runs through the middle of it, and divides it into two nafteries were then the repofitories, as well as the femina-
parts. It has a collegiate church and twelve pariſh- ries, of learning; many valuable books and national re-
churches; the moſt confiderable of which are St George's cords, as well as private evidences, have been preſerved in
and St Giles's, befides a great number of monafteries their libraries; the only places wherein they could have
and nunneries, a bailiwic, and a prefidial court. It is a been fafely lodged in thoſe turbulent times. Many of
fortified town; the walls are flanked with baſtions, and thofe, which had eſcaped the ravages of the Danes, were
furrounded by large ditches; and was never yet taken; deftroyed with more than Gothic barbarity at the diffo-
from which circumftance it is fometimes called the lution of the abbeys. Theſe ravages are pathetically
Maiden Town. The country about it is low, marſhy, lamented by John Bale, in his Declaration upon Leland's
and dirty. It is pretty well peopled, and is famous for
Journal 1549. “Covetouſneſs," ſays he, "was at that
its woollen manufactory. The cloths and ftuffs made time fo bufy about private commodity, that public
there are faid to be now little inferior to thofe of Eng-wealth, in that moft neceffary and of refpect, was not
land and Holland. The work, however, is affifted by
the clandeftine importation of English and Irish wool,
and workmen from this country. It is about fifteen
miles eaſt of the Britiſh channel, and fhips may come
from thence by the river Somme to the middle of the
town. E. Long. 2. 6. Lat. 50. 7.
ABBEY, a monaftery, or religious houfe, governed
by a fuperior under the title of abbot or abbeſs.
Abbeys differ from priories, in that the former are un-
der the direction of an abbot, and the others of a prior:
but abbot and prior (we mean a prior conventual) are
much the ſame thing, differing in little but the name.
Fauchet obferves, that, in the early days of the French
monarchy, dukes and counts were called abbots, and
duchies and counties abbeys. Even fome of their kings
are mentioned in hiſtory under the title of abbots. Phi-
lip I. Louis VI. and afterwards the dukes of Orleans,
are called abbsts of the monastery of St Aignan. The
dukes of Aquitain were called abbots of the monaftery of
St Hilary at Pciciers; and the carls of Anjou, of St
Aubin, Exc.
Monafteries were at firſt nothing more than religious
houſes, whither perſons retired from the bustle of the
world to ſpend their time in folitude and devotion. But
they foon degenerated from their original inftitution,
and procured large privileges, exemptions, and riches.
They prevailed greatly in Britain before the reforma-
tion; particularly in England: and as they increafed
in riches, fo the ftate became poor; for the lands
which theſe regulars poffeffed were in mortua manu,
i. e. could never revert to the lords who gave them.
This inconvenience gave riſe to the ftatutes againſt gifts
in mortmaine, which prohibited donations to theſe re-
ligious houfes and Lord Coke tells us, that feveral
lords, at their creation, had a claufe in their grant,
that the donor might give or fell his land to whom he
would (exceptis viris religiofis & Judais) excepting
monks and Jews.
:
Theſe places were wholly aboliſhed in England at
the time of the Reformation; Henry VIII. having
firſt appointed vifitors to inſpect into the lives of the
N° 1.
any where regarded.
any where regarded. A number of them which pur-
chafed thefe fuperftitious manfions, referved of the li-
brary-books, fome to ferve their jacks, fome to ſcour
the candleſticks, and fome to rub their boots; fome
they fold to the grocer and foap-feller; and fome they
fent over fea to the book-binders, not in ſmall numbers,
but in whole fhips full; yea, the univerſities of this
realm are not clear of fo deteſtable a fact. I know a
merchant that bought the contents of two noble libra-
ries for 40 s. price; a fhame it is to be ſpoken! This
ftuff hath he occupied inſtead of gray paper, by the
fpace of more than theſe ten years, and yet he hath
ftore enough for as many years to come.
Í fhall judge
this to be true, and utter it with heavinefs, that neither
the Britons under the Romans and Saxons, nor yet the
Engliſh people under the Danes and Normans, had ever
fuch damage of their learned monuments as we have
feen in our time."
In thefe days every abbey had at leaſt one perfon
whofe office it was to inftruct youth; and the hiſtori-
ans of this country are chiefly beholden to the monks
for the knowledge they have of former national events.
In theſe houfes alfo the arts of painting, architecture,
and printing, were cultivated. The religious houſes
alfo were hofpitals for the fick and poor; affording
likewife entertainment to travellers at a time when there
were no inns. In them the nobility and gentry who
were heirs to their founders could provide for a certain
number of ancient and faithful fervants, by procuring
them corodies, or ftated allowances of meal, drink, and
clothes. They were likewife an afylum for aged and
indigent perfons of good family. The neighbouring
places were alfo greatly benefited. by the fairs procured
for them, and by their exemption from foreft-laws;
add to which, that the monaftic eftates were generally
let at very eafy rents, the fines given at renewals in-
cluded.
ABBEYBOYLE, a town of Ireland, in the coun-
ty of Rofcommon, and province of Connaught. W.
Long. 8. 32. Lat. 56. 54. It is remarkable for an old
abbey.
ABBEY-
Abbey,
Abbey
boylc.
7
ABB
ABB
[
9 ]
C
Abbeyholm ABBEYHOLM, a town in Cumberland, fo called
Abbo from an abbey built there by David king of Scots. It
ftands on an arm of the ſea. W. Long. 2. 38.
Lat. 54. 45.
ABBOT, or ABBAT, the fuperior of a monaſtery
of monks erected into an abbey or prelacy.
The name Abbot is originally Hebrew, where it fig-
nifies father. The Jews call father, in their language,
Ab; whence the Chaldeans and Syrians formed Abba;
thence the Greeks. ACCas, which the Latins retained,
Abbas; and hence our Abbot, the French Abbé, &c.
St Mark and St Paul uſe the Syriac Abba in their
Greek, by reafon it was then commonly known in the
fynagogues and the primitive affemblies of the Chri-
ftians; adding to it, by way of interpretation, the word
father, Abba ο πατηρ, Abba, father;" q. d. Abba, that
is to fay, Father.-But the name Ab, or Abba,
which at firſt was a term of tenderneſs and affection in
the Hebrew and Chaldee, became at length a title of
dignity and honour: The Jewiſh doctors affected it;
and one of their moſt ancient books, containing the
fayings or apophthegms of divers of them, is intitled
Pirke Abboth, or Avoth; i. e. Chapters of the Fathers.
It was in allufion to this affectation, that Jefus Chrift
forbad his difciples to call any man their father on
earth; which word St Jerome turns againſt the fupe-
riors of the monafteries of his time, for affuming the
title of Abbots, or Fathers.
The name Abbot, then, appears as old as the infti-
tution of monks itſelf.-The governors of the primi-
tive monafteries affumed indifferently the titles Abbots,
* See Monk and Archimandrites*. They were really diſtinguiſhed
and Archi- from the clergy; though frequently confounded with
them, becauſe a degree above laymen.
mundrite.
In thoſe early days, the abbots were fubject to the
biſhops and the ordinary paſtors. Their monafteries
being remote from cities, built in the fartheſt folitudes,
they had no fhare in ecclefiaftical affairs. They went
on Sundays to the pariſh-church with the reft of the
people; or, if they were too remote, a prieſt was ſent
them to adminiſter the facraments; till at length they
were allowed to have prieſts of their own body. The
abbot or archimandrite himſelf was ufually the prieft:
but his function extended no farther than to the fpiritual
affiftance of his monaftery; and he remained ſtill in
obedience to the bifhop. There being among the ab-
There being among the ab-
bots feveral perfons of learning, they made a vigorous
oppofition to the rifing herefies of thofe times; which
firſt occafioned the bishops to call them out of their de-
farts, and fix them about the fuburbs of cities, and at
length in the cities themſelves: from which æra thcir
degeneracy is to be dated. The abbots, now, foon
wore off their former plainneſs and fimplicity, and be-
gan to be looked on as a fort of little prelates. They
afpired at being independent of the bishops; and became
fo infupportable, that fome fevere laws were made againft
them at the council of Chalcedon; this notwithſtand-
ing, in time many of them carried the point of inde-
pendency, and got the appellation of lord, with other
badges of the epifcopate, particularly the mitre.
Hence arofe new fpecies of diftinctions between the
abbots. Thoſe were termed mitred abbots, who were
privileged to wear the mitre, and exercife epifcopal au-
thority within their reſpective precincts, being exemp-
ted from the juriſdiction of the biſhop. Others were
VOL. I.
called crofiered abbots, from their bearing the crofier Abbot.
or paftoral ſtaff. Others were ftyled ecumenical or uni-
verfal abbots, in imitation of the patriarch of Conſtan-
tinople: while others were termed cardinal abbots, from
their fuperiority over all other abbots.-Among us, the
mitred abbots were lords of parliament; and called
abbots-fovereign, and abbots-general, to diſtinguiſh
them from the other abbots. And as there were lords
abbots, ſo there were alfo lords priors, who had exempt
juriſdiction, and were likewife lords of Parliament.
Some reckon 26 of theſe lords abbots and priors that
fat in parliament. Sir Edward Coke fays, that there
were 27 parliamentary abbots and two priors. In the
parliament 20 Rich. II. there were but 25 abbots and
two priors: but in the fummons to parliament anno
4 Ed. III. more are named.
At prefent, in the Roman-catholic countries, the
principal diſtinctions obſerved between abbots are thoſe
of regular and commendatory. The former take the vow
and wear the habit of their order; whereas the latter
are feculars, though they are obliged by their bulls to
take orders when of proper age.
Anciently the ceremony of creating an abbot confifted
in clothing him with the habit called cuculus, or cowl;
putting the paſtoral ſtaff into his hand, and the ſhoes
called pedales on his feet; but at prefent, it is only
a fimple benediction, improperly called, by fome, con-
fecration.
ABBOT is alſo a title given to others beſide the fu-
periors of monafteries: thus biſhops, whoſe fees were
formerly abbeys, are called abbots; as are the fupe-
riors of fome congregations of regular canons, parti-
cularly that of St Geneviève at Paris: and among the
Genoefe, the chief magiftrate of their republic former-
ly bore the title of Abbot of the people. It was like-
wife ufual, about the time of Charlemagne, for ſeveral
lords to affume the title of count-abbots, abba-comites ;
and that for no other reafon, but becauſe the fuper-
intendancy of certain abbeys was committed to them.
ABBOT (George), archbiſhop of Canterbury, was
born Oct. 29. 1562, at Guildford in Surrey. He
went through his ftudies at Oxford, and in 1597 was
chofen principal of Univerfity College. In 1599, he
was inftalled dean of Wincheſter: the year following,
he was chofen vice-chancellor of the univerſity of Ox-
ford, and a ſecond time in 1603. In 1604, that tranſ
lation of the bible now in ufe was begun by the direc-
tion of king James; and Dr Abbot was the ſecond of
eight divines of Oxford, to whom the care of tranſla-
ting the whole New Teſtament (excepting the epiſtles)
was committed. The year following, he was a third
time vice-chancellor. In 1608, he went to Scotland
with George Hume Earl of Dunbar, to affiſt in eſta-
bliſhing an union betwixt the kirk of Scotland and the
church of England; and in this affair he behaved with
Heylin's
fo much addrefs and moderation, that it laid the founda- hiſt of Pret-
tion of all his future preferment. For king James ever byterians,
after paid great deference to his advice and counſel; and P. 83.
upon the death of Dr Overton biſhop of Litchfield and
Coventry, he named Dr Abbot for his fucceffor, who
was accordingly conſtituted biſhop of thoſe two united
fees in December 1609. About a month afterwards
he was tranflated to the fee of London, and on the fe-
cond of November thereafter was raiſed to the archie-
piſcopal fee.
B
I
A B B
[ το 1
A B B
£
Abbot.
·
?
vantage of this misfortune, to leffen him in the king's Abbot.
favour; but his Majefty faid, "An angel might have
mifcarried in this fort." His enemies alleging that
he had incurred an irregularity, and was thereby inca-
pacitated for performing the offices of a primate; the
king directed a commillion to tén perfons to inquire
into this matter.
It is not however improbable, that his extravagant
adulation of his royal mafter, in which he went as far
as any other court-chaplain could do, contributed not
a little to the acceleration of his preferment. In the
preface to a pamphlet he publiſhed, the following fpe-
cimen of ridiculous flattery occurs: Speaking of the
'king, he ſays, “whoſe life hath been fo immaculate
and unfpotted, &c. that even malice itſelf, which leaves
nothing unfearched, could never find true blemiſh in
it, nor caft probable afperfion on it.-Zealous as Da-
vid; learned and wife, the Solomon of our age; reli-
gious as Jofias; careful of ſpreading Chrift's faith as
Conftantine the Great; juſt as Mofes; undefiled in all
his ways as a Jehofaphat and Hezekias; full of clemen-
cy as another Theodofius."-If Mr Walpole had feen
this paffage, he certainly would not have ſaid, that
honeft abbot could not flatter."
·
His great zeal for the Proteftant religion made him
a ftrenuous promoter of the match between the Elector
¹Palatine and the Princefs Elizabeth; which was accor-
dingly concluded and folemnized the 14th of February
1612, the archbishop performing the ceremony on a
Aage erected in the royal chapel. In the following
year happened the famous cafe of divorce betwixt the
Lady Francis Howard, daughter of the earl of Suffolk,
and Robert earl of Effex: an affair which has been by
many confidered as one of the greateſt blemiſhes of
king James's reign; but the part acted therein by the
archbishop added much to the reputation he had already
acquired for incorruptible integrity. The matter was
by the king referred to a court of delegates. The
archbiſhop faw plainly, that his Majefty was very de-
firous the lady fhould be divorced; but he was, in his
own judgment, directly againſt the divorce. He la-
boured all he could to extricate himſelf from this diffi-
culty, by having an end put to the cauſe by fome o-
ther way than by fentence: but it was to no purpoſe;
for thoſe who drove on this affair, had got too great
power to be reſtrained from bringing it to the conclu-
fion the king defired.. The archbishop prepared a
fpeech, which he intended to have ſpoken against the
nullity of the marriage, in the court at Lambeth; but
he did not make uſe of it, becauſe the king ordered
the opinions to be given in few words. He continued,
however, inflexible in his opinion againſt the divorce;
and drew up his reaſons, which the king thought fit to
anſwer himſelf. It need ſcarce be added, that fentence
was given in the lady's favour. In 1618, the king pub-
liſhed a declaration, which he ordered to be read in all
churches, permitting fports and paftimes on the Lord's
day: this gave great uneafinefs to the archbishop; who,
happening to be at Corydon when it came thither, had
the courage to forbid its being read.
Being now in a declining ftate of health, the
archbiſhop uſed in the fummer to go to Hamp-
fhire for the fake of recreation; and being invi-
ted by lord Zouch to hunt in his park at Bramzill,
he met there with the greateſt misfortune that ever be.
fel him; for he accidentally killed the game-keeper
by an arrow from a crofs-bow which he fhot at one of
the deer. This accident threw him into a deep melan-
choly; and he ever afterwards kept a monthly faft on
church.hift. Tueſday, the day on which this fatal mifchance hap-
cent.xviii. pened, and he fettled an annuity of 20/. on the wi-
dow*. There were feveral perfons who took an ad-
Fuller's
p. §-.
•
·
เ
+
The refult, however, was not fatisfactory to his
Grace's enemies; it being declared, that, as the mur
der was involuntary, he had not forfeited his archie-
pifcopal character. The archbiſhop thenceforward ſel-
dom affifted at the council, being chiefly hindered by
his infirmities; but in the king's laft illneſs he was
fent for, and attended with great conftancy till his
Majefty expired on the 27th of March 1625. He
performed the ceremony of the coronation of king
Charles I. though very infirm and much troubled with
the gout. He was never greatly in this king's favour;
and the duke of Buckingham being his declared enemy,
watched an opportunity of making him feel the weight
of his difpleaſure. This he at laſt accompliſhed, upon
the archbishop's refufing to licenſe a fermon, preached
by Dr Sibthorpe to juſtify a loan which the king had
demanded, and pregnant with principles which tended
to overthrow the conftitution. The archbishop was
immediately after fufpended from all his functions as
primate; and they were exerciſed by certain biſhops com-
miffioned by the king, of whom Laud, the archbishop's
enemy, and afterwards his fucceffor, was one: while
the only caufe affigned for this procedure was, That
the archbishop could not at that time perfonally attend
thofe fervices which were otherwife proper for his
cognifance and direction. He did not, however, re-
main long in this fituation; for a parliament being ab-
folutely neceffary, his Grace was fent for, and reſtored
to his authority and jurifdiction. But not proving
friendly to certain rigorous meafures adopted by the
prevailing church-party, headed by Laud, whofe power
and intereft at court were now very confiderable, his
prefence became unwelcome there; fo that upon the
birth of the Prince of Wales, afterwards Charles II.
Laud had the honour to baptize him, as dean of the
chapel. The archbishop being worn out with cares
and infirmities, died at Croydon, the 5th of Auguſt
1633, aged 71 years; and was buried at Guilford, the
place of his nativity, and where he had endowed an
hofpital with lands to the amount of 300l. per annum.
A ftately monument was erected over the grave, with
the effigy of the archbishop in his robes.
?
A
He fhowed himſelf, in moſt circumſtances of his life,
a man of great moderation to all parties; and was de-
firous that the clergy ſhould attract the eſteem of the laity
by the fanctity of their manners, rather than claim it
as due to their function. His notions and principles,
however, not fuiting the humour of fome writers, have
drawn upon him many ſevere reflections; particularly,
which is to be regretted, from the earl of Clarendon.
But Dr Welwood has done more juftice to his merit
and abilities*. He wrote feveral tracts upon various * Memoirs,
fubjects; and, as already mentioned, tranſlated part of 8vo, 1700,
the New Teftament, with the reft of the Oxford di- P. 38.
vines, 1611.
It is proper to obſerve here, that there was another
writer of both his names, who flouriſhed ſomewhat
later. This George Abbot wrote A paraphrafe on
Fob,
A B B
[ + ]
A B D
Abbot Job, Avindication of the fabbath, and A: paraphraſe a market on Thurfday. W. Long. 1. 17. Lat. 50. 46. Abbreviate
on the Pfalms.
The abbey near this. town was founded by a Norman
Abbotſbury
lady, about the year 1026; and Edward the Confeffor Abdalma-
and William the Conqueror were confiderable benefac-
tors to it.
ABBOT (Robert), elder brother to the former, and
born at Guilford in 1560, went through his ftudies in
Baliol college, Oxford. In 1582, he took his degree
of maſter of arts, and foon became a celebrated preach-
er; and to this talent he chiefly owed his preferment.
Upon his firſt ſermon at Worceſter, he was chofen lec-
turer in that city, and foon after rector of All-faints in
the fame place. John Stanhope, Efq; happening to hear
him preach at Paul's-crofs, was ſo pleaſed with him,
that he immediately prefented him to the rich living of
Bingham in Nottinghamshire. In 1597, he took his
degree of doctor in divinity: and, in the beginning of
king James's reign was appointed chaplain in ordinary
to his Majefty; who had fuch an opinion of him as a
writer, that he ordered the doctor's book, De Antichrifto
to be printed, with his own commentary upon part of
the Apocalypfe. In 1609, he was elected mafter of
Baliol college; which truft he difcharged with the ut-
moſt care and affiduity, by his frequent lectures to the
ſcholars, by his continual prefence at public exercifes,
and by promoting temperance in the fociety. In No-
vember 1610, he was made prebendary of Normanton
in the church of Southwell; and, in 1612, his Majefty
appointed him regius profeffor of divinity at Oxford.
The fame of his lectures became very great; and thoſe
which he gave upon the fupreme power of kings againft
Bellarmine and Suarez, fo much pleafed his Majefty,
that, when the fee of Saliſbury became vacant, he na-
med him to that bishoprick, and he was confecrated
by his own brother at Lambeth, December 3, 1615.
When he came to Saliſbury, he found the cathedral
running to decay, through the negligence and cove
touſneſs of the clergy belonging to it: however, he found
means to draw five hundred pounds from the prebenda-
ries, which he applied to the reparation of this church.
He then gave himſelf up to the duties of his function
with great diligence and affiduity, vifiting his whole
dioceſe in perſon, and preaching every Sunday whilft
health would permit. But this was not long: for his
fedentary life, and cloſe application to ſtudy, brought
upon him the gravel and ſtone; of which he died on the
2d of March 1618, in the fifty-eighth year of his age;
having not filled the fee quite two years and three
months, and being one of the five biſhops which Salif-
bury had in fix years. He was buried oppoſite to the
Worthies bishop's feat in the cathedral. Dr Fuller* fpeaking of
of England the two brothers, fays, "that George was the more
in Surrey.
"plaufible preacher, Robert the greateft fcholar;
"George the abler ſtateſman, Robert the deeper di-
"vine; gravity did frown in George, and fmile in
"Robert." He published feveral pieces; he alſo
left behind him fundry manuſcripts, which Dr Corbet
made a prefent of to the Bodelian library.
>
ABBOTSBROMLEY, a town in Staffordshire,
with a market on Tueſday. After the diffolution of
the monafteries, it was given to the Lord Paget; and
has fince been called Paget's Broriley, and is fo deno-
minated in the county map.
But it retains its old
name in the king's books, and is a diſcharged vicarage
of 301. clear yearly value. It likewife retains the old
name with regard to the fairs. W. Long. 1. 2. Lat.
52.45.
ABBOTSBURY, a fmall town in Dorfetfhire, with
ABBREVIATE of ADJUDICATIONS, in Scots law,
an abſtract or abridgment of a decreet of adjudication,
which is recorded in a regiſter kept for that purpoſe.
ABBREVIATION, or ABBREVIATURE, a con-
traction of a word or paffage; made by dropping ſome
of the letters, or by fubftituting certain marks or cha-
racters in their place.--Lawyers, phyficians, &c. ufe
abundance of abbreviations, partly for the fake of ex-
pedition, and partly for that of myſtery; but of all
people the Rabbins are the moſt remarkable for this
practice, fo that their writings are unintelligible with-
out the Hebrew abbreviatures. The Jewish authors and
copyifts. do not content themſelves with abbreviating.
words like the Greeks and Latins, by retrenching fome
of the letters or fyllables; they frequently take away
all but the initial letters. They even frequently take
the initials of feveral fucceeding words, join them to-
gether, and, adding vowels to them, make a fort of
barbarous word, reprefentative of all thoſe which they
have thus abridged. Thus, Rabbi Moſes ben Maie-
men, in their abbreviature is Rambam, &c.
ABBREVIATOR, in a general ſenſe, a perſon who
abridges any large book into a narrower compafs.
ABBREVIATORS, a college of 72 perſons in the chan-
of Rome, who draw up the pope's brieve's, and re-
duce petitions, when granted by him, into proper form
for being converted in bulls.
cery
ABBUTALS, fignify the buttings or boundings.
of land towards any point. Limits were anciently di-
ftinguiſhed by artificial hillocks, which were called
botemines; and hence butting. In a deſcription of the
fite of land, the fides on the breadth are more properly
adjacentes, and thoſe terminating the length are abbu-
tantes; which, in old furveys, were fometimes expreſs-
ed by capitare, to head, whence abbutals are now call-
ed head-lands.
ABCEDARY, or ABCEDARIAN, an epithet given
to compofitions, the parts of which are diſpoſed in the
order of the letters of the alphabet: thus we ſay, Ab-
cedarian pfalms, lamentations, hymns, &c.
ABCOURT, a town near St Germains, four leagues
from Paris. Here is a briſk chalybeate water, impreg-
nated with fixed air and the foffil alkali; and refem-
bling the waters of Spa and Ilmington.
ABDALLA, the ſon of Abdalmothleb, was the fa-
ther of the prophet Mahomet. Several other Arabians
of eminence bore the fame name.
pre-
ABDALMALEK, the fon of Mirvan, and the 5th
khalif of the race of the Ommiades, furnamed Raſch at
Hegianat, i.e. the ſkinner of a ſtone, becauſe of his
extreme avarice; as alfo Aboulzebab, becauſe his
breath was faid to be fo poiſonous as to kill all the flies
which refted on his face. Yet he furpaffed all his
deceffors in power and dominion; for in his reign the
Indies were conquered in the eaſt, and his armies pene-
trated Spain in the weft: he likewife extended his em-
pire toward the fouth, by making himſelf maſter of
Medina and Mecca. He began his reign in the 65th
of the hegira, A. D. 648; reigned 15 years; and four
of his fons enjoyed the khalifate one after another.
B 2
ABDALMALEK,
lek,
ABD
[
A B D
12
]
Abdalme-
lek.
Abdera.
ABDALMELEK (Ben Zohar), an eminent phyfician,
commonly called by the Europeans Avenzoar. See
AVENZOAR.
ABDALMOTHLEB, or ABDAL MATELEB, the
fon of Hafhem, the father of Abdalla, and grandfather
of Mahomet the prophet of the Muffulmans, was, it is
ſaid, of ſuch wonderful comelinefs and beauty, that
all women who ſaw him became enamoured: which may
have given occafion to that prophetic light, which, ac-
cording to the Arabians, fhone on the foreheads of him,
his anceſtors, and defcendants; it being certain that
they were very handſome and graceful men. He died
when Mahomet, of whom he had taken peculiar care,
was only 8 or 9 years old; aged, according to fome,
110, and according to other writers 120.
ABDALONYMUS, or ABDOLONYMUS, (in claffic
hiſtory), of the royal family of Sidon, and defcended
from king Cinyras, was contented to live in obfcurity,
and get his fubfiftence by cultivating a garden, while
Strato was in poffeffion of the crown of Sidon. Alexan-
der the Great having depofed Strato, inquired whether
any of the race of Cinyras was living, that he might fet
him on the throne. It was generally thought that the
whole race was extinct: but at laſt Abdalonymus was
thought of, and mentioned to Alexander; who imme-
diately ordered ſome of his foldiers to fetch him. They
found the good man at work, happy in his poverty,
and entirely a ſtranger to the noiſe of arms, with which
all Afia was at that time difturbed; and they could
fcarcely perfuade them they were in carneft. Alex-
ander was convinced of his high defcent by the dig-
nity that appeared in his perfon; but was defirous of
learning from him in what manner he bore his poverty.
"I wiſh" faid Abdalonymus, "I may bear my new
condition as well: Thefe hands have fupplied my ne-
ceffities: I have had nothing, and I have wanted no-
thing." This anfwer pleafed Alexander ſo much, that,
befides giving him all that was Strato's, he augmented
his dominions, and gave him a large prefent out of the
Perfian spoils.
ABDALS, in the Eaftern countries a kind of faints
fuppofed to be inſpired to a degree of madneſs. The
word comes, perhaps, from the Arabic, Abdallah, the
fervant of God. The Perfians call them devaneh kho-
da, fimilar to the Latins way of ſpeaking of their pro-
phets and fibyls, q. d. furentes deo, raging with the god.
They are often carried by exceſs of zeal, eſpecially in
the Indies, to run about the ſtreets, and kill all they
meet of a different religion; of which travellers furniſh
many inftances. The English call this, running a muk,
from the name of the inftrument, a fort of poniard,
which they employ on thoſe deſperate occafions. If
they are killed, as it commonly happens, before they
have done much mischief, they reckon it highly meri.
torious; and are eſteemed, by the vulgar, martyrs for
their faith.
ABDARA, or ABDERA, (anc. geog.) a town of
Boeotia in Spain, a Phoenician colony; now Adra, to
the weſt of Almeira in the kingdom of Granada.
1
ABDERA, (ane.geog..) a maritime town of Thrace,
not far from the mouth of the river Neffus, on the
eaft fide. The foundation, according to Herodotus,
was attempted to be laid by Timefius the Clazome
nian; but he was forced by the Thracians to quit the
defign. The Teians undertook it, and fucceeded; fet
·
C. 2.
dus initio.
tling there, in order to avoid the infults of the Perfians. Abdera,
Several fingularities are told of Abdera*. The graſs
11
Abdications
of the country round it was fo ftrong, that fuch horfes
as eat of it ran mad. In the reign of Caffander king of Plinii,
Macedon, this city was fo peftered with frogs and rats, lib. xxv. c.8.
that the inhabitants were forced to quit it for a time. Juft. lib.xv.
-The Abderites, or Abderitani, were very much deri-
ded for their want of wit and judgment: yet their
city has given birth to ſeveral eminent perfons; as,
Protagoras, Democritus, Anaxarchus, Hecatæus the
hiftorian, Nicenætus the poet, and many others, who
were mentioned among the illuftrious men.-In the
reign of Lyfimachus, Abdera was afflicted for fome
months with a moft extraordinary diſeaſe † : this was † Lucianus
a burning fever, whofe crifis was always on the feventh quomodo Hifi
day, and then it left them; but it ſo diſtracted theirtonriben
imaginations, that they fancied themſelves players.
After this, they were ever repcating verſes from fome
tragedy, and particularly out of the Andromeda of Eu-
ripides, as if they had been upon the ftage; fo that
many of theſe pale, meagre actors, were pouring forth
their tragic exclamations in every ſtreet. This delirium
continued till the winter following; which was a very-
cold one, and therefore fitter to remove it. Lucian,
who has deſcribed this diſeaſe, endeavours to account
for it in this manner: Archelaus, an excellent player,
acted the Andromeda of Euripides before the Abde-
rites, in the height of a very hot fummer. Several haď‍
a fever at their coming out of the theatre; and as their
imaginations were full of the tragedy, the delirium›
which the fever raiſed reprefented perpetually Andro-
meda, Perfeus, Medufa, &c. and the feveral dramatic
incidents, and called up the ideas of thoſe objects, anď
the pleaſure of the repreſentation, fo ftrongly, that they
could not forbear imitating Archelaus's action and de-
clamation: And from theſe the fever ſpread to others
by infection.
ABDERAHMA, a Saracen viceroy in Spain, whe
revolted and formed an independent principality at Cor-
dova. He had feveral fucceffors of the fame name.
ABDEST, a Perfian word, properly fignifying the
water placed in a baſon for waſhing the hands; but is
ufed to imply the legal purifications practifed by the
Mahometans before they enter on their religious cere-
monies.
1
ABDIAS OF BABYLON, one of the boldeft legend-
writers, who boaſted he had ſeen our Saviour, that he was-
one of the 72 diſciples, had been eye-witnefs of the ac-
tions and prayers at the deaths of ſeveral of the apoſtles,
and had followed into Perfia St Simon and St Jude,
who, he faid, made him the firſt biſhop of Babylon..
His book intitled Hiftoria certaminis apoftolici, was pub-
lifhed by Wolfgang Lazius, at Bafil, 1551; and it has
fince borne feveral impreffions in different places.
ABDICATION, the action whereby a magiftrate,
or perſon in office, renounces and gives up the fame.
before the term of fervice is expired.
This word is frequently confounded with refignation;
but differs from it, in that abdication is done purely
and fimply, whereas refignation is in favour of fome
third perfon. It is faid to be a renunciation, quitting,
and relinquishing, fo as to have nothing further to do
with a thing; or the doing of fuch actions as are in-
confiftent with the holding of it. On king James's lear
ving the kingdom, and abdicating the government, the
•
lords
A BE
[
A BE
13 ]
Al
Abel.
Abdomen. lords would have had the word defertion made uſe of;
but the commons thought it was not comprehenfive
enough, for that the king might then have liberty of
returning.-Among the Roman writers it is more par-
ticularly uſed for. the act whereby a father difcarded or
diſclaimed his fon, and expelled him the family. It is
diftinguiſhed from exhæredatio or difinheriting, in that
the former was done in the father's lifetime; the latter,
by will at his death: fo that whoever was abdicated,
was alſo diſinherited; but not vice verſa.
ABDOMEN, in anatomy, is that part of the trunk
of the body which lies between the thorax and the bot-
tom of the pelvis. See ANATOMY.
ABDOMINALES, or ABDOMINAL FISHES, con-
ftitute the IVth Order of the Fourth Clafs of Animals,
in the Linnæan ſyſtem. See ZOOLOGY..
ABDUCTION, in logic, a kind of argumentation,
by the Greeks called apagoge, wherein the greater
extreme is evidently contained in the medium, but the
medium not fo evidently in the leffer extreme as not to
require ſome farther medium or proof to make it ap-
pear. It is called abduction, becaufe, from the con-
clufion, it draws us on to prove the propofition affumed.
Thus, in the fyllogifm, "All whom God abfolves are
free from fin; but God abfolves all who are in Chrift;
therefore all who are in Chrift are free from fin,”—the
major is evident; but the minor, or affumption, is not fo
evident without fome other propofition to prove it, as,
"God received full fatisfaction for fin by the fufferings
of Jefus Chriſt.”
ABDUCTION, in furgery, a ſpecies of fracture, where-
in the broken parts of the bone recede from each other.
ABDUCTOR, or ABDUCENT, in anatomy, a name
given to feveral of the mufcles, on account of their
ferving to withdraw, open, or pull back the parts to
which they belong.
ABEL, ſecond ſon of Adam and Eve, was a fhep-
herd. He offered to God fome of the firſtlings of his
flock, at the fame time that his brother Cain offered
the fruits of the earth. God was pleaſed with Abel's
oblation, but difpleaſed with Cain's; which fo exafpe-
rated the latter, that he rofe up againſt his brother
and killed him. Thefe are the only circumſtances
Mofes relates of him; though, were we to take notice
of the feveral particulars to which curiofity has given
birth on this occafion, they would run to a very great
length. But this will not be expected. It is remark-
able, that the Greek churches, who celebrate the feafts
of every other patriarch and prophet, have not done
the fame honour to Abel. His name is not to be
found in any catalogue of faints or martyrs till the
10th century; nor even in the new Roman martyrolo-
gy. However he is prayed to, with fome other faints,
in feveral Roman litanies faid for perfons who lie at
the point of death.
ABEL Keramim, or Vincarum, beyond Jordan, in
the county of the Ammonites, where Jephthah de-
feated them, feven miles diftant from Philadelphia,
abounding in vines, and hence the name. It was alfo
called Abela.
ABEL-Mebola, the country of the prophet Elifha,
fituate on this fide Jordan, between the valley of Jez.
reel and the village Bethmaela in the plains of Jordan,
where the Midianites were defeated by Gideon. Judges,
vii. 22..
11
ABEL-Mizraim, called alfo the Threſhing-floor of Abel.
Atad; fignifying the lamentation of the Egyptians;
in allufion to the mourning for Jacob, Gen. i. 3,, 10,
11. Suppoſed to be near Hebron.
ABEL-Mofch, or Abelmufch, in botany, the trivial.
name of a ſpecies of the HIBISCUS.
ABEL-Sattim, or Sittim, a town in the plains of
Moab, to the N. E. of the Dead Sea, not far from
Jordan, where the Ifraelites committed fornication with
the daughters of Moab: So called, probably, from the
great number of fittim-trees there.
ABELARD (Peter), one of the moft famous doc-
tors of the twelfth century, was born at Palais near
Nantz, in Britany: he was well learned in divinity,
philofophy, and the languages; but was particularly
diftinguiſhed by his fkill in logic, and his fondness for
difputations, which led him to travel into feveral pro-
vinces in order to give public proof of his acuteneſs in
that fcience.
*
After having baffled many antagoniſts, he read
lectures in divinity with great applaufe at Paris;
where he boarded with a canon whofe name was Ful
bert, and who had a very beautiful niece named He-
loife. The canon ardently wished to fee this young
lady make a figure among the learned, and Abelard
was made her preceptor: but inftead of inftructing her
in the fciences, he taught her to love. Abelard now
performed his public functions very coldly, and wrote
nothing but amorous verfes. Heloife proving with child,
Abelard ſent her to a fifter of his in Britany, where ſhe
was delivered of a fon. To foften the canon's anger, he
offered to marry Heloife privately; and the old man was
better pleafed with the propoſal than the niece; who, from
a fingular exceſs of paffion, chofe to be Abelard's miſtreſs
rather than his wife. She married, however; but uſed of-
ten to proteft upon oath that ſhe was fingle, which provo--
ked the canon to uſe her ill. Upon this, Abelard fent
her to the monaftery of Argenteuil; where he put on a
religious habit, but did not take the veil. Heloife's re--
lations confidering this as a fecond treachery, hired ruf-
fians, who, forcing into his chamber in the dead of the
night, emafculated him. This infamous treatment made.
him fly to the gloom of a cloifter. He affumed the mo-
naftic habit in the abbey of St Dennis; but the diſ
orders of that houfe foon drove him from thence. Hc
was afterwards charged with herefy; but after ſeveral
perfecutions for his religious fentiments, he ſettled in a
folitude in the dioceſe of Troies, where he built an ora-
tory, to which he gave the name of the Paraclet. He.
was afterwards chofen fuperior of the abbey of Ruis in
the dioceſe of Vannes when the nuns being expelled
from the nunnery in which Heloife had been placed
he gave her his oratory; where fhe fettled with fome of
her fifter nuns, and became their priorefs.
:
·
Abelard mixed the philofophy of Ariſtotle with his
divinity, and in 1140 was condemned by the council of
Rheims and Sens. Pope Innocent II..ordered him to be
imprifoned, his books to be burnt, and forbid him ever
teaching again. However, he was foon after pardoned,
at the folicitation of Peter the Venerable, who received
him into his abbey of Clugni, where he led an exem-
plary life. He died in the priory of Marcellus at`Cha--
lons, April 21, 1142, aged fixty-three. His corpfe
was fent to Heloife, who buried it in the Paraclet.
He left feveral works: the moſt celebrated of which
are
Abelard
A BE
[ 14
A B E
]
3
Abel-tree are thofe tender letters that paffed between him and
Heloife, with the account of their misfortunes prefixed;
Abenfperg.
which have been tranflated into Engliſh, and immorta-
lifed by the harmony of Mr Pope's numbers.
ABEL-TREE, or ABELE-TREE, an obfolete name
for a ſpecies of the poplar. See POPULUS.
ABELIANS, ABEOLITES, or ABELONIANS, in
church-hiſtory, a fect of heretics mentioned by St Au-
ftin, which arofe in the diocefe of Hippo in Africa,
and is ſuppoſed to have begun in the reign of Arcadius,
and ended in that of Theodofius. Indeed it was not
calculated for being of any long continuance. Thofe
of this fect regulated marriage after the example of
Abel; who, they pretended, was married, but died
without ever having known his wife. They therefore
allowed each man to marry one woman, but enjoined
them to live in continence: and, to keep up the fect,
when a man and woman entered into this fociety, they
adopted a boy and a girl, who were to inherit their
goods, and to marry upon the fame terms of not be
getting children, but of adopting two of different
fexes.
ABELLA, anciently a town of Campania, near
the river Clanius. The inhabitants were called Abel-
lani, and ſaid to have been a colony of Chalcidians.
The nux Avellana, called alſo Præneftina, or the hazel-
nut, takes its name from this town, according to Ma-
crobius. Now Avella.
ABELLINUM, anciently a town of the Hirpini,
a people of Apulia ; diftant about a mile from the rivu-
let Sabbato, between Beneventum and Salernum. Pliny
calls the inhabitants Abellinates, with the epithet Pro-
topi, to diftinguish them from the Abellinates Marfi.
Now Avellino. E. Long. 15. 20. Lat. 21.
ABEN EZRA (Abraham), a celebrated rabbi, born
at Toledo in Spain, called by the Jews, The wife, great,
and admirable Doctor, was a very able interpreter of
the Holy Scriptures; and was well fkilled in grammar,
poetry, philofophy, aftronomy, and medicine. He
was alſo a perfect maſter of the Arabic. His principal
work is, Commentaries on the Old Teſtament, which
is much eſteemed: thefe are printed in Bomberg's and
Buxtorf's Hebrew Bibles. His ftyle is clear, elegant,
concife, and much like that of the Holy Scriptures:
he almoſt always adheres to the literal fenfe, and every
where gives proofs of his genius and good fenfe: he,
however, advances fome erroneous fentiments. The
fcarceft of all his books is intitled, Jefud Mora; which
is a theological work, intended as an exhortation to the
tudy of the Talmud. He died in 1174, aged 75.
ABEN Meller, a learned rabbin, who wrote a com-
mentary on the Old Teftament in Hebrew, intitled The
Perfection of Beauty. This rabbin generally follows
the grammatical fenfe and the opinions of Kimchi.
The best edition is that of Holland.
ABENAS, a town of France, in Languedoc and in
the lower Vivarais, feated on the river Ardefch, at the
foot of the Cevennes. E. Long. 4. 43. Lat. 44. 40.
ABENEL GAUBY, a fixed ftar of the ſecond or
third magnitude, on the fouth ſcale of the conftellation
LIBRA.
ABENSPERG, a ſmall town of Germany, in the
circle and duchy of Bavaria, and in the government of
Munich. It is feated on the river Abentz, near the
Danube. E. Long. 11. 38. Lat. 48. 45.
thick.
ABERAVON, a borough-town-of Glamorganfhire Aberavon
in Wales, governed by a portreeve. It had a market, Aberbro-
which is now diſcontinued: the vicarage is diſcharged,
and is worth 45 1. clear yearly value. It is. feated at
the mouth of the river Avon, 194 miles weft of Lon-
don. W. Long. 3. 21. Lat. 51. 40.
}
ABERBROTHICK, or ARBROATH, one of the
royal boroughs of Scotland, fituated in the county of
Angus, about 40 miles N. N. E. of Edinburgh; its
W. Long. being 2. 29. and N. Lat. 56. 36. It is feat-
ed on the diſcharge of the little river Brothic into the
fea, as the name imports, Aber in the Britiſh implying
ſuch a ſituation. It is a fmall but flouriſhing place,.
well built, and ftill increafing. The town has been in
an improving ftate for the forty laft years, and the
number of inhabitants greatly augmented ; which
is owing to the introduction of manufactures. The
number, at this time, is faid to be about four thou-
fand: theſe principally confiſt of weavers of coarſe
brown linens, and fome fail-cloth; others are employ-
ed in making white and coloured threads: the remain-
der are either engaged in the ſhipping of the place, or
in the neceffary and common mechanic trades. The
brown linens, or Ofnaburghs, were manufactured here
before any encouragement was given by Government,
or the linen company erected at Edinburgh. It ap-
pears from the books of the ftamp-office in this town,
that ſeven or eight hundred thouſand yards are annu-
ally made in the place, and a ſmall diftrict round. Be--
fides this export and that of thread, much barley and,
fome wheat is fent abroad. The foreign imports are
flax, flax-feed, and timber, from the Baltic. The
coafting trade confifts of coals from Borrowftounnefs,
and lime from Lord Elgin's, kilņs in Fife.-At this.
place, in default of a natural harbour, a tolerable arti-
ficial one of piers has been formed, where, at ſpring-
tides, which rife here fifteen feet, fhips of two hun-
dred tons can come, and of eighty at neap-tides; but
they must lie dry at low water. This port is of great
antiquity: there is an agreement yet extant between
the abbot and the burghers of Aberbrothick, in 1194,,
concerning the making of the harbour. Both parties
were bound to contribute their proportions; but the
largeft fell to the fhare of the former, for which he
was to receive an annual tax payable out of every rood.
of land lying within the borough.-The glory of this
place was the abbey, whoſe very ruins give fome idea
of its former magnificence. It was founded by Wil-
liam the Lion in 1178, and dedicated to our celebra-
ted primate Thomas à Becket. The founder was bu-
ried here; but there are no remains of his tomb, or
of any other, excepting that of a monk of the name
of Alexander Nicol. The monks were of the Tyro-
nenfian order; and were first brought from Kello,
whofe abbot declared thofe of this place, on the firſt
inftitution, to be free from his juriſdiction. The laſt
abbot was the famous Cardinal Beaton, at the fame
time archbishop of St Andrew's, and, before his death,
as great and abfolute here as Wolfey was in England,
King John, the Engliſh monarch, granted this mona,
ftery moft uncommon privileges; for, by charter under
his great feal, he exempted it a teloniis et confuetudine
in every part of England, except London. At Aber-
brothick is a chalybeate water, fimilar to thoſe of Pe-
terhead and Glendy.
ABERCONWAY,
J
A BE
A BE
[
15 ]
Abercon-
way,
Aberdeen.
P
ABERCONWAY, or CONWAY, Caernarvonfhire,
North Wales; fo called from its fituation at the mouth
of the river Conway. It is a handſome town, plea-
fantly fituated on the fide of a hill, and has many con-
veniences for trade; notwithstanding which it is the
pooreft town in the county. It was built by Edward I.
and had not only walls, but a ftrong caftle which is now
in ruins. Here is an infcription on the tomb of one
Nicholas Hooks, importing that he was the one-and-
fortieth child of his father, and had twenty-feven chil-
dren himſelf. It is 229 miles from London, W. Long.
3. 47. N. Lat. 53. 20.
1
ABERDEEN, the name of two cities in Scot-
land, called the Old and New Town, fituated on the
German ocean, in W. Long. 1..40. and N. Lat.
·57. 19.
Aberdeen is a place of great antiquity. According
to tradition, it was of note in the reign of Gregory,
who conferred on it fome privileges about the year
893. In 1004, Malcolm II. founded a bishoprick at
a place called Mortlich in Banfffhire, in memory of
-a fignal victory which he there gained over the Danes:
which bishoprick was tranflated to Old Aberdeen by
David I.; and in 1163, the then biſhop of Aberdeen
obtained a new charter from Malcolm IV. There is
extant a charter of Alexander II. by which, in 1217,
the King grants to Aberdeen the fame privileges he
had granted to his town of Perth.
The Old Town lies about a mile to the north of the
New, at the mouth of the river Don, over which is a
fine Gothic bridge, of a fingle arch, greatly admired,
which refts at both fides on two rocks. This arch,
faid to have been built by a biſhop of Aberdeen about
the year 1290, is 67 feet wide at the bottom, and 34 feet
high above the furface of the river, which at ebb-tide is
here 19 feet deep. The old town was formerly the feat of
the biſhop, and had a large cathedral commonly called
St Macher's.. Two very antique fpires, and one aiſle,
which is ufed as a church, are now the only remains of it.
The bishoprick was founded in the time of David I. as a-
bove mentioned. The cathedral had anciently two rows
of ſtone pillars acroſs the church, and three turrets; the
ſteeple, which was the largeſt of theſe turrets, refted up-
on an arch, fupported by four pillars. In this cathedral
there was a fine library; but, about the year 1 560, it was
almoft totally deſtroyed. But the capital building is
the King's-college on the fouth fide of the town,
which is a large and ſtately fabric. It is built round a
fquare, with cloifters on the ſouth fide. The chapel is
very ruinous within; but there ſtill remains fome wood-
work of exquifite workmanship. This was preferved by
the fpirit of the principal at the time of the reformation,
who armed his people and checked the blind zeal of
the barons of the Mearns; who, after ſtripping the ca-
thedral of its roof, and robbing it of the bells, were
- going to violate this feat of learning. They fhipped
their facrilegious booty, with an intention of expoſing
it to fale in Holland: but the veffel had ſcarcely gone
out of port, when it periſhed in a ſtorm with all its ill-
gained lading.. The ſteeple is vaulted with a double
crofs arch; above which is an imperial crown, fupport-
ed by eight ftone-pillars, and cloſed with a globe and
two gilded croffes. In the year 1631 this fteeple was
thrown down by a ftorm, but was foon after rebuilt
in a more ſtately form. This college was founded in
•
'
I.
¿
1494, by William Elphinfton bishop of this place, Aberdeen.
Lord Chancellor of Scotland in the reign of James III.
and Lord Privy Seal in that of James IV. But
James IV. claimed the patronage of it, and it has
fince been called the King's College. This college, and
the Marifchal-college in the New Town, form one
univerfity, called the University of King Charles. The
library is large, but not remarkable for many curiofi-
ties. Hector Boethius was the first principal of the
college; and fent for from Paris for that purpoſe, on
an annual ſalary of forty marks Scots, at thirteen pence
each. The fquare tower on the fide of the college
was built by contributions from General Monk and
the officers under him then quartered at Aberdeen, for
the reception of ſtudents; of which there are about a
hundred belonging to the college who lie in it.
•
་
The New Town is the capital of the ſhire of Aber-
deen. For largenefs, trade, and beauty, it greatly ex-
ceeds any town in the north of Scotland. It is
built on a hill or rifing ground, and lies on a ſmall
bay formed by the Dee, deep enough for a fhip of
200 tons, and above two miles in circumference.-
The buildings (which are of granite from the neigh-
bouring quarries) are generally four ftories high; and
have, for the most part, gardens behind them, which
gives it a beautiful appearance. On the high ſtreet is
a large church which formerly belonged to the Fran-
cifcans. This church was begun by Biſhop William
Elphinſton; and finiſhed by Gavinus Dunbar, biſhop
of Aberdeen, about the 1500. Biſhop Dunbar is faid
likewiſe to have built the bridge over the Dee, which
confifts of feven arches. In the middle of Caſtle-ſtreet
is an octagon building, with neat bas-relievos of the
kings of Scotland from James I. to James VII. The
town-houſe makes a good figure, and has a handfome
fpire in the centre. The grammar-ſchool is a low but
neat building. Gordon's hofpital is handfome; in front
is a good ſtatue of the founder: it maintains forty boys,
who are apprenticed at proper ages. The infirmary is
a large plain building, and fends out between eight
and nine hundred cured patients annually. But the
chief public building in the new town is the Mariſchal-
college, founded by George Keith earl of Marifchal,
in the year 1593; but fince greatly augmented with
additional buildings. There are about 140 ftudents.
belonging to it. In both the Marifchal and King's-
college the languages, mathematics, natural philofophy,
divinity, &c. are taught by very able profeffors. The
convents in Aberdeen were: One of Mathurines, or
of the order of the Trinity, founded by William the
Lion, who died in 1214; another of Dominicans, by
Alexander II.; a third of Obfervantines, a building
of great length in the middle of the city, founded by
the citizens and Mr Richard Vans, &c.; and a fourth
of Carmelites, or White Friars, founded by Philip de
Arburthnot in 1350.
Aberdeen, including the Old Town, is fuppofed to
contain 25,000 people. Its trade is confiderable, but
might be greatly extended by an attention to the white
fifheries.
The harbour was long a great detriment to its trade,
and occafioned the lofs of many lives and much pro-
perty. A ftranger could never depend upon finding it
as he left it; while veffels lay at anchor in the road till
the tide ſhould make, they have often been wrecked by
ftorms
"
A BE
[ 16
I
ABE
]
Aberdeen. ftorms which fuddenly arofe. It was very narrow at
the mouth, having the easterly rocky point of the
Grampian mountains on the ſouth, and a flat blowing
fand on the north, extending along the coaft for many
miles. By the eaſterly and north-eaft ftorms the fand
was driven in a long ridge acroſs the harbour's mouth,
and formed what was called the bar. Upon this bar
the depth of water at low tide was ſometimes not above
three feet. Clearing away the fand, though but a par-
tial and temporary remedy, was a matter of great ex-
pence to the community: If it was cleared one week
fo as to have five or fix feet of water at ebb, a freſh
ftorm the next week undid all that had been done. The
town at laſt came to the refolution of erecting a ſtrong
pier on the north fide of the harbour. This pier is
1200 feet in length, and gradually increaſes in thick-
nefs and height as it approaches to the fea, where the
head or rounding is 60 feet diameter at the baſe, and
the perpendicular elevation is 38 feet. The whole is
built of granite, the moft durable ftone known: many
of the outfide ftones are above three tons weight, with
hewn beds. It was built under the direction of Mr
Smeaton ; and the expence, amounting to above
17,000l. is defrayed by doubling the harbour-dues,
which are chiefly paid by the inhabitants.
A little to the fouth of the bar, they have now a
depth of 17 fathoms at low water; and at the har-
bour mouth, from eight to nine fathoms, where they
--had formerly but a few feet.
Aberdeen once enjoyed a good ſhare of the tobacco
trade. At prefent, its imports are from the Baltic, and
a few merchants trade to the Weſt Indies and North
America. Its exports are ftockings, thread, falmon,
and oatmeal. The firſt is a moft important article, as
appears by the following ſtate of it. For this manu-
facture, 20,800 pounds worth of wool is annually
imported, and 1600 pounds worth of oil. Of this
wool are annually made 69,333 dozen pairs of ftock-
ings; worth, at an average, il. 10s. per dozen. Theſe
are the work of the country-people in almoſt all parts of
this great county, who get 4s. per dozen for fpinning,
and 14 s. per dozen for knitting; fo that there is an-
nually paid them 62,3291. 148. There is, befides, a-
bout 20ccl. value of ftockings manufactured from the
wool of the county.
The thread manufacture is ano-
ther confiderable article, though trifling in compariſon
of the woollen. The falmon fisheries on the Dee and
the Don are a good branch of trade. About 46 boats,
and 130 men, are employed on the first; and, in fome
years, 167,000 lb. of fish have been fent pickled to
London, and about 930 barrels of falted fiſh exported
to France, Italy, &c.-The fishery on the Don is far
lefs confiderable. The fiſh of this river are taken in
cruives above the bridge; a practice contrary to the
ancient laws of the kingdom, unleſs where the nature
of the water rendered the net-fishery impracticable.
The inhabitants likewiſe export confiderable quantities
of pickled pork, which they fell to the Dutch for
victualling their Eaft India fhips and men of war;
the Aberdeen pork having the reputation of being the
beſt cured of any in Europe for keeping on long
voyages.
"It is however remarkable, (Mr Knox obferves),
that there is not a fingle decked veffel fitted out from
Aberdeen fer the herring or white fisheries: here is now
N° I.
3
fhire
venny.
an excellent harbour; an active people, converfant in Aberdeen
trade, and poffeffed of capital; feated within fix hours 11
failing of Long Fortys, and two days failing of the Aberga-
Shetland Ifles. This inattention is the more extraor-
dinary, as the exports of Aberdeen, though very con-
fiderable, do not balance the imports in value. The
herring and white fisheries, therefore, if profecuted
with vigour, cured and dried with judgment, would not
only extend the fcale of exports, but alſo furniſh the
outward bound veffels with freights, and better affort-
ments for the foreign markets. The falmon of the Dee
and Don are taken in great abundance, cured in the
higheſt perfection, and greatly valued at the European
markets. If the merchants, in addition to theſe, ſhould
alfo export the cargoes of 50 or 60 veffels conftantly
employed in the herring and white fisheries, the port of
Aberdeen would in a few years become the moſt cele-
brated mart of fiſh now exiſting."
From a round hill at the weft end of the city, flow
two fprings, one of pure water, and the other of a
quality refembling the German Spa. Aberdeen, with
Aberbrothick, Brechin, Montrofe, and Inverbervie, re-
turns one member to parliament.
ABERDEENSHIRE, comprehends the diftricts
of Mar, Garioch, Strathbogie, and the greater part
of Buchan; and fends one member to parliament.
It is waſhed on the eaſt and north by the ocean; and
abounds in fea-ports, from whence there is a ſafe and
ready paffage to the Orkneys and Shetland Isles, the
Greenland fifheries, Norway, and the regions round
the Baltic, the German coaft, Holland, Flanders,
France. It is watered by numerous ftreams, all of
them the reſort of falmon, and whoſe banks diſplay the
moft extenfive plantations as well as natural woods in
Britain.
ABERDOUR, a fmall town in Fifefhire, Scot-
land, on the frith of Forth, about ten miles N. W. of
Edinburgh. In old times it belonged to the Viponts;
in 1126 it was transferred to the Mortimers by marriage,
and afterwards to the Douglaffes. William, lord of
Liddefdale, furnamed the Flower of chivalry, in the
reign of David II. by charter conveyed it to James
Douglas, ancestor of the prefent noble owner the earl
of Morton. The monks of Inchcolm had a grant for
a burial-place here from Allan de Mortimer, in the reign
of Alexander III. The nuns, ufually ftyled the poor
Clares, had a convent at this place.
ABERFORD, a market-town in the weft riding
of Yorkſhire, ftands in a bottom; and is about a mile
long, and indifferently well built. It is near a Ro-
man road, which is raiſed very high, and not far from
the river Cock; between which and the town there is
the foundation of an old caftle ftill viſible. It is 181
miles north-by-weft from London. W. Long. 2. 45-
Lat. 55. 52.
ABERGAVENNY, a large, populous, and flou-
rifhing town in Monmouthshire, feated at the conflu-
ence of the rivers Ufk and Gavenny. It has a fine
bridge over the Ufk, confifting of fifteen arches; and
being a great thoroughfare from the west part of Wales
to Bath, Bristol, Glouceſter, and other places, is well
furniſhed with accommodations for travellers. It is
furrounded with a wall, and had once a caftle. It car-
ries on a confiderable trade in flannels, which are
brought hither for fale from the other parts of the
county.
A BE
A BE
[ 17 ]
Abernethy, county. It is 142 miles diſtant from London. W.
Aberration. Long. 2. 45. Lat. 51. 50. Abergavenny appears to
have been the Gibbanium of Antoninus, and the town
of Ufk his Burrium.
ABERNETHY (John), an eminent diffenting mi-
nifter, was the ſon of Mr John Abernethy a diffenting
miniſter in Colraine, and was born on the 19th of Oc-
tober 1680. When about nine years of age, he was
feparated from his parents, his father being obliged to
attend fome public affairs in London; and his mother,
to ſhelter herſelf from the mad fury of the Iriſh rebels,
retiring to Derry, a relation who had him under his
care, having no opportunity of conveying him to her,
took him with him to Scotland; by which means he
eſcaped the hardſhips he muſt have fuffered at the fiege
of Derry, where Mrs Abernethy loft all her other
children. He afterwards ftudied at the univerſity of
Glaſgow, till he took the degree of mafter of arts; and,
in 1708, he was chofen minifter of a diffenting con-
gregation at Antrim, where he continued above 20
years. About the time of the Bangorian controverſy
(for which fee HOADLEY), a diffenfion arofe among his
brethren in the miniftry at Belfaſt, on the ſubject of
ſubſcription to the Weſtminſter confeffion; in which
he became a leader on the negative fide, and incurred
the cenfure of a general fynod. Being in confequence
deferted by the greateſt part of his congregation, he
accepted an invitation to fettle in Dublin, where his
preaching was much admired. He was diſtinguiſhed by
his candid, free, and generous fentiments; and died of
the gout in Dec. 1740, in the 60th year of his age.
He publiſhed a volume of fermons on the Divine At-
tributes; after his death a ſecond volume was publiſh-
ed by his friends; and thefe were fucceeded by four
other volumes on different ſubjects: all of which have
been greatly admired.
*
ABERNETHY, a town in Strathern, a diſtrict of
Perthshire in Scotland. It is feated on the river Tay,
a little above the mouth of the Erne. It is faid to have
been the feat of the Pictish kings; and was afterwards
the fee of an archbishop, fince transferred to St An-
drew's. It is now greatly decayed.
•
ABERRATION, in aftronomy, a fmall apparent
motion of the fixed ftars difcovered by the late Dr
Bradley. The difcovery was made by accident in the
year 1725, when Mr Molyneux and Dr Bradley began
to obferve the bright ftar in the head of Draco, mark-
ed by Bayer, as it paffed near the zenith, with an
inftrument made by Mr Graham, in order to diſcover the
parallax of the earth's annual orbit; and, after repeated
obfervations, they found this ftar, about the beginning
of March 1726, to be 20" more foutherly than at the
time of the firft obfervation. It now indeed feemed to
have arrived at its utmoft limit fouthward; becauſe, in
feveral trials made about this time, no fenfible difference
was obſerved in its fituation. By the middle of April,
it appeared to be returning back again toward the
north; and, about the beginning of June, it paſſed at
the fame diſtance from the zenith as it had done in De-
cember, when it was firft obferved: in September fol-
lowing, it appeared 39" more northerly than it was in
March, juft the contrary way to what it ought to
appear by the annual parallax of the ftars. This unex
pected phenomenon perplexed the obfervers very much;
and Mr Molyneux died before the true caufe of it was
VOL. I. Part L.
difcovered. After this, Dr Bradley, with another in- Aberration
ftrument more exact and accurately adapted, to this Abex.
purpoſe, obferved the fame appearances not only in that
but many other ftars: and, by the great regularity
that appeared in a ſeries of obfervations made in all
parts of the year, the Doctor was fully fatisfied with re-
gard to the general laws of the phenomena; and there-
fore endeavoured to find out the cauſe of them. He
was already convinced, that the apparent motion of the
ftars was not owing to a nutation of the earth's axis.
The next thing that offered itſelf, was an alteration in
the direction of the plumb line, with which the in-
ftrument was conftantly rectified; but this, upon trial,
proved infufficient. Then he had recourſe to what re-
fraction might do ; but here alfo nothing fatisfactory
occurred. At laft this acute aftronomer found, that the
phenomena in queftion proceeded from the progreffive
motion of light, and the earth's annual motion in its
orbit: for he perceived, that if light was propagated
in time, the apparent place of a fixed object would not
be the fame when the eye is at reft, as when it is mo-
ving in any other direction, than that of the line paf-
fing through the eye and object; and that, when the
eye is moving in different directions, the apparent place
of the object would be different.
ABERRATION, in optics, is uſed to denote that error
or deviation of the rays of light, when inflected by a
lens or fpeculum, whereby they are hindered from
meeting or uniting in the fame point. There are two
fpecies of the aberrations of rays, diftinguiſhed by
their different cauſes ; one arifing from the figure of the
glafs or fpeculum, the other from the unequal-refrangi-
bility of the rays of light. This laſt ſpecies is fome-
times called the Newtonian, from the name of its dif-
coverer. See OPTICS, nº 17. 136. 173.
ABERYSWITH, a market-town of Cardigan-
fhire, in Wales, feated on the Ridal, near its conflu-
ence with the Iftwith, where it falls into the fea. It
is a populous, rich town, and has a great trade in
lead, and a confiderable fishery of whiting, cod, and
herrings. It was formerly furrounded with walls, and
fortified with a caftle; but both are now in ruins. Its
diftance from London is 199 miles weft-fouth-weſt.
W. Long. 4. 15. Lat. 52. 30.
ABESTA, the name of one of the facred books of
the Perfian magi, which they afcribe to their great
founder Zoroafter. The abefta is a commentary on two
others of their religious books called Zend and Pazend ;
the three together including the whole fyftem of the
Ignicold, or worſhippers of fire.
ABETTOR, a law-term, implying one who en-
courages another to the performance of fome criminal
action, or who is art and part in the performance it-
felf. Treafon is the only crime in which abettors are
excluded by law, every individual concerned being con-
fidered as a principal. It is the fame with Art-and-part
in the Scots law.
ABEX, a country in High Ethiopia, in Africa,
bordering on the Red Sea, by which it is bounded or
the eaft. It has Nubia or Sennar on the north; Sennar
and Abyffinia on the weft; and Abyffinia on the ſouth.
Its principal towns are Suaquem and Arkeko. It is
fubject to the Turks, and has the name of the Begler-
beg of Habeleth. It is about five hundred miles in
length and one hundred in breadth, and is a wretched
C
country;
ABG
[ 18 ]
ABI
Abeyance country; for the heat here is almoft infupportable, and
the air is fo unhealthy, that an European cannot-ftay
Abgillus.
long in it without the utmoft hazard of his life. It is
very mountainous, infomuch that there are many more
wild beaſts than men. There are forefts, in which grow
a great number of ebony trees.
ABEYANCE, in law, the expectancy of an eftate.
Thus if lands be leafed to one perfon for life, with re-
verſion to another for years, the remainder for years is
an abeyance till the death of the leffee.
66
ABGAR, or ABGARUS, a name given to ſeveral
of the kings of Edeffa in Syria. The most celebrated
of them is one who, it is faid, was cotemporary with
Jefus Chrift; and who having a diftemper in his feet,
and hearing of Jefus's miraculous cures, requeſted him,
* Eccl. Hift. by letter, to come and cure him. Eufebius*, who be-
jib. i. c, 13.lieved that this letter was genuine, and alſo an anſwer
our Saviour is faid to have returned to it, has tranf-
lated them both from the Syriac, and afferts that they
were taken out of the archives of the city of Edeffa.
The firſt is as follows: "Abgarus, prince of Edeffa, to
"Jefus the holy Saviour, who hath appeared in the flesh
"in the confines of Jerufalem, greeting. I have heard
❝ of thee, and of the cures thou haft wrought without
"medicines or herbs. For it is reported thou makeft
❝ the blind to fee, the lame to walk, lepers to be clean,
"devils and unclean fpirits to be expelled, fuch as
"have been long diſeaſed to be healed, and the dead
"to be raiſed; all which when I heard concerning
"thee, I concluded with myſelf, That either thou
❝ waft a God come down from heaven, or the Son of
"God fent to do theſe things. I have therefore writ-
"ten to thee, befeeching thee to vouchfafe to come
unto me, and cure my diſeaſe. For I have alſo heard
"that the Jews ufe thee ill, and lay fnares to deſtroy
thee.
I have here a little city, pleaſantly fituated,
is and fufficient for us both. ABGARUS.' To this
letter, Jefus, it is faid, returned an anſwer by Ananias,
Abgarus's courier; which was as follows: "Bleffed
"art thou, O Abgarus! who haft believed in me
"whom thou haft not feen; for the fcriptures fay of
me, They who have ſeen me have not believed in
me, that they who have not ſeen, may, by believing,
"have life. But whereas thou writeft to have me
come to thee, it is of neceffity that I fulfil all things
❝. here for which I am fent; and having finiſhed them,
to return to him that fent me: but when I am re-
“turned to him, I will then fend one of my difciples
"to thee, who ſhall cure thy malady, and give life to
“ thee and thine. JESUS." After Jefus's afcenfion,
Judas, who is alſo named Thomas, fent Thaddeus, one
of the feventy, to Abgarus; who preached the goſpel ta
him and his people, cured him of his diforder, and
wrought many other miracles: which was done, fays
Eufebius, A. D. 43.-Though the above letters are
acknowledged to be fpurious by the candid writers of
the church of Rome; feveral Proteftant authors, as Dr
Parker, Dr Cave, and Dr Grabe, have maintained that
they are genuine, and ought not to be rejected.
$6
ABGÏLLUS (John), furnamed Prefter John, was
fon to a king of the Frifcii; and, from the aufterity of
his life, obtained the name of Prefter, or Prieft. He
attended Charlemagne in his expedition to the Holy
Land; but inftead of returning with that monarch to
Europe,, it is pretended that he gained mighty con-
,
+
•
H
Abii.
quefts, and founded the empire of the Abyffines, call- Abians
ed, from his name, the empire of Prefter John. He is
faid to have written the hiftory of Charlemagne's jour-
ney into the Holy Land, and of his own into the In-
dies; but they are more probably trifling romances,.
written in the ages of ignorance.
ABIANS, anciently a people of Thrace, or (accord-
ing to fome authors) of Scythia. They had no fixed ha-
bitations; they led a wandering life. Their houſes were
waggons, which carried all their poffeffions. They
lived on the flesh of their herds and flocks, on milk,.
and cheeſe, chiefly on that of mare's milk. They were
unacquainted with commerce. They only exchanged
commodities with their neighbours. They poffeffed
lands, but they did not cultivate them. They affign-
ed their agriculture to any who would undertake it, re-
ferving only to themſelves a tribute; which they ex-
acted, not with a view to live in affluence, but merely
to enjoy the neceffaries of life. They never took arms
but to oblige thoſe to make good a promiſe to them by
whom it had been broken. They paid tribute to none
of the neighbouring ftates. They deemed themſelves
exempt from fuch an impofition; for they relied on,
their ftrength and courage, and confequently thought
themſelves able to repel any invafion. The Abians,
we are told, were a people of great integrity. This ho-
nourable eulogium is given them by Homer (Strabo).
ABIATHAR, high-prieft of the Jews, fon to Abi-
melech, who had borne the fame office, and received
David into his houfe. This fo enraged Saul, who ha-
ted David, that he put Abimelech to death, and 8₤
priefts; Abiathar alone eſcaped the maffacre. He af-
terwards was high-prieft; and often gave king David ~
teftimonies of his fidelity, particularly during Abfalom's
confpiracy, at which time Abiathar followed David,
and bore away the ark. But after this, confpiring with
Adonijah, in order to raiſe him to the throne of king
David his father; this fo exaſperated Solomon againſt ·
him, that he diveſted him of the priesthood, and ba- -
niſhed him, A. M. 3021, before Chriſt 1014.
ABIB, fignifying an ear of corn, a name given by
the Jews to the first month of their ecclefiaftical year,
afterwards called Nifan. It commenced at the vernal .
equinox; and according to the courfe of the moon, by
which their months were regulated, anſwered to the.
latter part of our March and beginning of April.
ABIDING by WRITINGS, in Scots law: When a
perfon founds upon a writing alleged to be falſe, he
may be obliged to declare judicially, whether hẹ will
ftand or abide by it as a true deed.
ABIES, the FIR-TREE. See PINUS".
ABIGEAT, an old law-term, denoting the crime.
of ftealing cattle by droves or herds... This crime was
feverely punished; the delinquent being often condem-
ned to the mines, baniſhment, and fometimes capitally.
ABIHU, brother to Nadab, and fon to Aaron.
The two former had the happineſs to afcend mount Si-
nai with their father, and there to behold the glory of¸
God: but afterward putting ſtrange fire into their cen-
fers, inſtead of the facred fire commanded by God, fire
rushing upon them killed them. Though all the peo-
ple bewailed this, terrible cataſtrophe, Mofes forbad
Aaron and his two fons Eleazar and Ithamar to join.
in the lamentation.
ABII SCYTḤÆ, taken by Strabo to denote the Eu
ropean
4
A BI
19 ]
A BJ
[
Abimelech ropean Sarmata, bordering on the Thracians and Ba-
ftanæ They were commended by Curtius for their
Abiponians
love of juſtice, and by Ammiefius for their contempt
of earthly things.
ABIMELECH, king of Gerar, a country of the
Philiftines, was cotemporary with Abraham. This pa-
triarch and his family being there, his wife Sarah,
though 90 years of age, was not fafe in it; for Abi-
melech carried her off, and was fo enamoured of her,
that he refolved to marry her. Abraham did not de-
clare himſelf Sarah's huſband; but gave out fhe was
his fifter. But the king being warned in a dream, that
ſhe was married to a prophet, and that he ſhould die if
he did not reſtore her to Abraham, the king obeyed:
at the fame time reproving Abraham for his difinge-
nuity; who thereupon, among other excufes, faid the
was really his fifter, being born of the fame father, tho'
of a different mother. Abimelech afterwards gave con-
fiderable prefents to Abraham; and a covenant, that of
Beersheba, was entered into between them.-After the
death of Abraham, there being a famine in the neigh-
bouring countries, Ifaac his fon alfo withdrew into Gerar,
which was then likewife governed by a king called-
ABIMELECH, probably the fucceffor of the former.
Here Rebekah's beauty forced her huſband to employ
Abraham's artifice. Abimelech diſcovering that they
were nearly related, chid Ifaac for calling his wife his
fifter; and at the fame time forbid all his fubjects,
upon pain of death, to do the leaft injury to Ifaac
or Rebekah-Ifaac's profperity loft him the king's
friendſhip, and he was defired to go from among them.
He obeyed; but Abimelech afterwards entered into a
covenant with him.
ABIMELECH, the natural fon of Gideon, by Druma
his concubine. His violent acts and death are record-
ed in Judges, chap. ix.
ABINGDON, a market-town in Berkſhire, feated
on a branch of the Thames, received its name from an
abbey anciently built there. The ftreets, which are
well paved, centre in a ſpacious area, in which the
market is held; and in the centre of this area is the
market-houſe, which is fupported on lofty pillars, with
a large hall of free ſtone above, in which the fummer-
affizes for the county are held, and other public bufi-
neſs done, the Lent affizes being held at Reading. It
has two churches; one dedicated to St Nicholas, and
the other to St Helena: the latter is adorned with
a fpire, and both are faid to have been erected by the
abbots of Abingdon. Here are alfo two hofpitals,
one for fix, and the other for thirteen poor men, and
as many poor women; a free fchool; and a charity-
ſchool. The town was incorporated by Queen Mary.
It fends two members to parliament, who are chofen
by the inhabitants at large not receiving alms. Its
great manufacture is malt, large quantities of which are
fent by water to London. It is fix miles and a half
fouth of Oxford, 47 eaſt of Glouceſter, and 55 weft
of London. This town is fuppofed by Bishop Gibſon
to be the place called, in the Saxon annals, Cloveshoo,
where two fynods are faid to have been held, one in
742, and the other in 822. Long. 1.
Long. 1. 20. Lat. 51.
Its
ABINTESTATE, in the civil law, is applied to a
perſon who inherits the right of one who died inteftate
or without making a will. See INTESTATE.
ABIPONIANS, a tribe of American Indians, who
formerly inhabited the diſtrict of Chaks in Paraguay; Abipenians
but the hoftilities of the Spaniards have, now obliged
Abjuration,
them to remove fouthward into the territory lying be-
tween Santa Fe and St Jago. The only account we
have of them is that publiſhed by M. Dobrizhoffer in
1785. This gentleman, who lived ſeven years in their
country, informs us that they are not numerous, the
whole nation not much exceeding 5000; for which he
affigns as a reafon an unnatural cuftom among their
women of fometimes deftroying their own children from
motives of jealouſy, left their huſbands ſhould take other
mates during the long time they give fuck, which is
not lefs than two years. They are naturally white,
but, by expoſure to the air and fmoke, become of a
brown colour. They are a ftrong and hardy race of
people; which our author attributes to their marrying
fo late, an Abiponian ſeldom or never thinking of mar-
riage till 30 years of age. They are greatly celebrated
on account of their chaſtity and other virtues; though,
according to our author, they have no knowledge of a
Deity. They make frequent incurfions into the terri-
tories of the Spaniards, mounted on the horſes which
run wild in thoſe parts. They have a kind of order of
chivalry for their warriors; and are fo formidable, that
100 of their enemies will fly before ten of theſe horſe-
men. The hatred which theſe ſavages, whofe manners,
though rude and uncultivated, are in many reſpects pure
and virtuous, bearto the Spaniards, is invincible. "Theſe
pretended Chriftians," fays our author, "who are the
fcum of the Spaniſh nation, practiſe every kind of fraud
and villany among theſe poor barbarians; and their
corrupt and vicious morals are fo adapted to prejudice
the Abiponians againſt the Chriſtian religion, that the
Jefuit miffionaries have, by a fevere law, prohibited any
Spaniard from coming, without a formal permiffion,
into any of their colonies."-From his account of the
fuccefs of the Jeſuits in converting them to Chriſtianity,
however, it does not appear that they have been able
to do more than bribe them to a compliance with the
ceremonies of the Popish fuperftition; fo that in ge-
neral they are quite ignorant and uncivilized: a moſt
ſtriking inftance of which is, that in counting they can
go no farther than three; and all the art of the Jefuits
to teach them the fimpleft ufe and expreffion of num-
bers has proved unſucceſsful.
ABIRAM, a feditious Levite, who, in concert
with Korah and Dathan, rebelled againſt Moſes and
Aaron, in order to fhare with them in the government
of the people; when Mofes ordering them to come
with their cenfers before the altar of the Lord, the
earth fuddenly opened under their feet, and ſwallowed
up them and their tents; and at the fame inſtant fire
came from heaven, and confumed 250 of their follow-
ers. Numb. xvi.
ABISHAI, fon of Zeruiah, and brother to Joab,
was one of the celebrated warriors who flouriſhed in
the reign of David: he killed with his own hand 300
men, with no other weapon but his lance; and flew a
Philiftine giant, the iron of whoſe ſpear weighed 300
fhekels. 1 Sam. xxvi. 2 Sam. xxiii.
ABJURATION, in our ancient cuftoms, implied
an oath, taken by a perfon guilty of felony, and who
had fled to a place of fanctuary, whereby he folemnly
engaged to leave the kingdom for ever.
ABJURATION, is now nfed to fignify the renouncing
C 2
dif
A BL
[ 20
ABN
]
1
Abjuration diſclaiming, and denying upon oath, the Pretender to
have any kind of right to the crown of theſe kingdoms.
ABJURATION of Herefy, the folemn recantation of any
doctrine as falfe and wicked.
Able.
ABLACTATION, or weaning a child from the
breaft. See WEANING.
ABLACTATION, among the ancient gardeners, the
fame with what is called GRAFTING by approach.
ABLAI, a country of Great Tartary, the inhabi-
tants of which, called Buchars or Buchares, are fubject
to Ruffia, but that only for protection. It lies eaft-
ward of the river Irtis, and extends five hundred leagues
along the fouthern frontiers of Siberia.
ABLACQUEATION, an old term in gardening,
fignifies the operations of removing the earth and baring
the roots of trees in winter, to expoſe them more free-
ly to the air, rain, fnows, &c.
ABLANCOURT. See PERROT.
ABLATIVE, in grammar, the fixth cafe of Latin
nouns. The word is formed from auferre,
formed from auferre, "to take
away." Prifcian alſo calls it the comparative cafe; as
ferving among the Latins, for comparing, as well as
taking away.
The ABLATIVE is oppofite to the DATIVE; the firſt
expreffing the action of taking away, and the latter that
of giving.
In English, French, &c. there is no precife mark
whereby to diftinguifh the ablative from other cafes;
and we only uſe the term in analogy to the Latin.
Thus, in the two phrafes, the magnitude of the city, and
he spoke much of the city; we fay, that of the city in the
firft is genitive, and in the latter ablative; becauſe it
would be fo, if the two phrafes were expreffed in Latin.
The queftion concerning the Greek ablative has been
the ſubject of a famous literary war between two great
grammarians, Frifchlin and Crufius; the former of
whom maintained, and the latter oppofed, the reality
of it. The difpute ſtill fubfifts among their reſpective
followers. The chief reafon alleged by the former
is, that the Roman writers often joined Greek words
with the Latin propofitions, which govern ablative
cafes, as well as with nouns of the fame cafe. To which
their opponents anfwer, that the Latins anciently
had no ablative themſelves; but inſtead thereof, made
ufe, like the Greeks, of the dative cafe; till at length
they formed an ablative, governed by prepofitions, which
were not put before the dative: that, at firft, the two
caſes had always the fame termination, as they ſtill have
in
many inſtances: but that this was afterwards changed
in certain words. It is no wonder then, that the La-
tins fometimes join prepofitions which govern an abla-
tive cafe, or nouns in the ablative cafe, with Greek da-
tives, fince they were originally the fame; and that the
Greek dative has the fame effect as the Latin ablative.
ABLE, or ABEL (Thomas), chaplain to qucen Ca-
tharine confort to Henry VIII. diftinguifhed himſelf
by his zeal in oppofing the proceedings against that
unfortunate princefs for a divorce. For this purpofe
he wrote a piece intitled “Tractatus de non diffolvendo
Henrici et Catherina matrimonio, i. e. A Treatiſe pro-
ving that the marriage of king Henry and queen Ca-
tharine ought not to be diffolved." But the title of
the book, according to Biſhop Tanner, was Invicta Ve-
ritas. He took the degree of Bachelor of Arts at Ox-
ford on the 4th of July 1513, and that of Maſter of
Arts on the 27th of July 1516. In 1534. he fell un-
der a profecution for being concerned in the affair of
Elizabeth Barton, called the Holy Maid of Kent. This
was an infamous impoftor, fuborned by the monks to
ufe fome ftrange geſticulations, and to pretend to infpi-
ration by the ſpirit of prophecy; and fo well did the
act her part, that fome people of confequence gave cre-
dit to her: but being at laſt detected, fhe was condemn-
ed and executed, after difcovering the names of her
principal accomplices and inftigators. On her account
Able was accufed of miſprifion of treafon, by ftat. 25.
Hen. VIII.; and being alfo one of thoſe who denied
the king's fupremacy over the church, he was apprc-
hended and imprifoned; during which time his confine-
ment was fo rigorous, that the keeper of Newgate was
committed to Marfhalfea prifon for fuffering him to go
out upon bail. He was afterwards hanged, drawn, and
quartered, at Smithfield in 1540. Bouchier gives him
the character of a very learned man; and tells us, that
he uſed to teach the queen mufic and the learned lan-
guages.
ABLECTI, in Roman antiquity, a felect body of
foldiers chofen from among thoſe called EXTRAORDI-
NARII.
ABLEGMINA, in Roman antiquity, thofe choice.
parts of the entrails of victims which were offered in
facrifice to the gods. They were fprinkled with flour,
and burnt upon the altar; the priests pouring fome
wine on them.
ABLUENTS, in medicine, the fame with diluters
or DILUENTS.
ABLUTION, in a general fenfe, fignifies the wafh-
ing or purifying fomething with water.
ABLUTION, in a religions fenfe, a ceremony in ufe
among the ancients, and ſtill practifed in feveral parts
of the world: it confifted in waſhing the body, which
was always done before facrificing, or even entering their
houſes.-Ablutions appear to be as old as ar.7 ceremo-
nies, and external worſhip itfelf. Mofes enjoined them;
the heathens adopted them; and Mahomet and his fol-
lowers have continued them: thus they have got foot-
ing among moft nations, and make a confiderable part
of moft eftabliſhed religions. The Egyptian prieſts
had their diurnal and nocturnal ablutions; the Grecians
their fprinklings; the Romans their luftrations and lava-
tions; the Jews their washing of hands and feet, befide
their baptifms. The ancient Chriſtians had their ablu-
tions before communion; which the Romish church ſtill
retain before their maſs, fometimes after: the Syrians,
Cophts, &c. have their folemn waſhings on Good-Fri-
day: the Turks their greater and leffer ablutions; their
Ghaft and Wodou, their Aman, Taharat, &c.
ABNER, the-fon of Ner, father-in-law to Saul,
and general of all his forces, who ſerved him on all oc-
cafions with fidelity and courage. After the death of
that prince, Abner fet Ifhbofheth, Saul's fon, on the
throne. A war breaking out between the tribe of Ju-
dah who had elected David king, and Ifrael, Abner
marched againſt that prince with the flowerof his troops,
but was defeated. Abner afterward, being diſguiſed,
went over to David, and diſpoſed the chiefs of the ar-
my and the elders of Ifrael to declare for him; and
was received by David with fuch teftimonies of affec-
tion, as gave umbrage to Joab, who killed him trai-
terouſly.
AB
Ablecti
Abner.
1
ABO
[ 21 ]
A BO
Abnoba
ABNOBA, now ABENOW, a long range of moun-
H tains in Germany, taking different names according to
the different countries they run through. As about the
river Maine, called the Oden or Ottenwald; between
Heffe and Franconia, the Speſart; and about the duchy
of Wirtemberg, where the Danube takes its rife, called
Abomina-
tion.
the Baar.
ABO, a maritime town in Sweden: it is the capi-
tal of the province of Finland, and lies upon the point
where the gulphs of Bothnia and Finland unite. It
is a good port; and is the fee of a biſhop, fuffragan of
Upfal. It has an univerſity, founded by queen Chri-
ftina in 1640, and endowed with the fame privileges
as that of Upfal. There is alſo a ſchool here, which
was founded by Guftavus Adolphus, for 300 fcholars.
The town is tolerably well built, and contains ſeveral
brick buildings; but the generality are of wood paint-
ed red. The inhabitants export linen, corn, and planks.
It lies 120 miles north-eaft from Stockholm. E.Long.
21, 28. Lat. 60. 50.
ABOARD, the infide of a fhip. Hence any perfon
who enters a fhip is faid to go aboard: but when an
enemy enters in the time of battle, he is faid to board;
a phrafe which always implies hoftility.-To fall a-
board of, is to ftrike or encounter another ſhip when one
or both are in motion, or to be driven upon a fhip by
the force of the wind or current.-Aboard-main-tack,
the order to draw the main-tack, i. e. the lower corner
of the main-fail, down to the CHESS-TREE.
ABOLITION, implies the act of annulling, de-
ftroying, making void, or reducing to nothing. In
law, it fignifies the repealing any law or ſtatute.
ABOLLA, a warm kind of garment, lined or dou-
blcd, worn by the Greeks and Romans, chiefly out of
the city, in following the camp.-Critics and antiqua-
ries are greatly divided as to the form, ufe, kinds, &c.
of this garment. Papias makes it a ſpecies of the toga,
or gown; but Nonius, and the generality, a fpecies of
the pallium, or cloak. The abella feems rather to have
food oppoſed to the toga, which was a garment of
peace, as the abolla was of war; at leaſt Varro and
Martial place them in this oppofite light. There feem
to`have been different kinds of Abollas, fitted to differ-
ent occafions. Even kings appear to have uſed the
abolla Caligula was affronted at king Ptolemy for ap-
pearing at the fhews in a purple abolla, and by the eclat
thereof turning the eyes of the fpectators from the em-
peror upon himſelf.
ABOMASUS, ABOMASUM, OF ABOMASIUS, names
of the fourth ftomach of ruminating animals. It is in
the abomafus of calves and lambs that the runnet or
earning is formed wherewith milk is curdled. See
COMPARATIVE Anatomy.
ABOMINATION, a term ufed in fcripture with
regard to the Hebrews, who, being fhepherds, are faid
to have been an abomination to the Egyptians, becaufe
they facrificed the facred animals of that people, as
oxen, goats, fheep, &c. which the Egyptians efteemed
as abominations, or things unlawful. The term is alſo
applied in the facred writings to idolatry and idols, be-
cauſe the worſhip of idols is in itfelf an abominable
thing, and at the fame time ceremonies obferved by
idolaters were always attended with licentiouſneſs and
other odious and abominable actions. The abomination
of defolation, foretold by the prophet Daniel, is fuppo-
fed to imply the ftatue of Jupiter Olympius, which Aben,
Antiochus Epiphanes caufed to be placed in the temple
Aborigines,
of Jerufalem. And the abomination of defolation, men-
tioned by the Evangeliſts, fignifies the enfigns of the
Romans, during the laft fiege of Jerufalem by Titus,
on whom the figures of their gods and emperors were
embroidered, and placed upon the temple after it was
taken.
ABON, ABONA, or ABONIS (anc. geog.), a town
and river of Albion. The town, according to Camden,
is Abingdon, and the river Abhon or Avon. But by
Antonine's Itinerary, the diſtance is nine miles from
the Venta Silrum, or Caer-Went: others, therefore,
take the town to be Porfhut, at the mouth of the river
Avon, over againſt Briſtol. Abhon or Avon, in the
Celtic language, denotes a river.
ABORIGINES, (Dionyfius of Halicarnaffus, Livy,
Virgil); originally a proper name, given to a certain
people in Italy, who inhabited the ancient Latium,
or country now called Campagna di Roma. In this
fenſe the Aborigines are diftinguifhed from the Jani-
gene, who, according to the falſe Berofus, inhabited
the country before them; from the Siculi, whom
they expelled; from the Grecians, from whom they
defcended; from the Latins, whofe name they aſ-
fumed after their union with Æneas and the Trojans ;
laftly, from the Aufonii, Volfci, Oenotrii, &c. neigh-
bouring nations in other parts of the country. Whence
this people came by the appellation, is much difputed.
St Jerom fays, they were fo called, as being, abfque
origine, the primitive planters of the country after the
flood: Dion of Halicarnaffus accounts for the name,
as denoting them the founders of the race of inhabitants
of that country: others think the fo called, as being
originally Arcadians, who claimed to be earth-born,
and not defcended from any people. Aurelius Victor
ſuggeſts another opinion, viz. that they were called
Aborigines, q. d. Aberrigines, from ab “from,” and er-
rare to wander;" as having been before a wandering
people. Paufanias rather thinks they were thus call-
ed aro Oges, from "mountains ;" which opinion feems
confirmed by Virgil, who, fpeaking of Saturn, the le-
giflator of this people, fays,
(6
Is genus indocile ac difperfun mentibus altis
Compofuit, legefque dedit.
The Aborigines were either the original inhabitants of
the country, fettled there by Janus, as fome imagine;
or by Saturn, or Cham, as others; not long after the
difperfion, or even, as fome think, before it: Or they
were a colony fent from fome other nation; who ex-
pelling the ancient inhabitants the Siculi, fettled in their
place. About this mother-nation there is great diſpute.
Some maintain it to be the Arcadians, parties of whom
were brought into Italy at different times; the first
under the conduct of Oenotrins, fon of Lycaon, 450
years before the Trojan war; a fecond from Theffaly;
a third under Evander, 60 years before the Trojan
war: befides another under Hercules; and another
of Lacedæmonians, who fled from the ſevere diſcipline
of Lycurgus: all theſe uniting, are faid to have form-
ed the nation or kingdom of the Aborigines. Others
will have them of barbarian rather than Grecian origin,
and to have come from Scythia; others from Gaul.
Laftly, others will have them to be Canaanites, expell-
ed by Jofhua.
The
ABO
]
[ 22
ABR
Abortion
Aboukir.
The term Aborigines, though ſo famous in antiquity,
is uſed in modern geography only occafionally as an
appellative. It is given to the primitive inhabitants of
a country, in contradiſtinction to colonies, or new races
of people.
ABORTION, in midwifery, the exclufion of a fœ-
tus before it has acquired a fufficient degree of perfec-
tion to enable it to perform refpiration and the other
vital functions. See MIDWIFERY.
The practice of procuring abortions was prohibited
by the ancient Greek legiſlators Solon and Lycurgus.
Whether or not it was permitted among the Romans,
has been much difputed. It is certain the practice,
which was by them called vifceribus vim inferre, was
frequent enough: but whether there was any penalty
on it, before the emperors Severus and Antonine, is
the queftion. Nodt maintains the negative; and fur-
ther, that thoſe princes only made it criminal in one
particular cafe, viz. of a married woman's practifing
it out of refentment againſt her huſband, in order to
defraud him of the comfort of children: this was or-
dered to be puniſhed by a temporary exile. The foun-
dation on which the practice is faid to have been al-
lowed, was, that the fœtus, while in utero, was repu-
ted as a part of the mother, ranked as one of her own
vifcera, over which ſhe had the fame power as over the
reſt: beſides, that it was not reputed as a man, home;
nor to be alive, otherwife than as a vegetable: confe-
quently, that the crime amounted to little more than
that of plucking unripe fruit from the tree. Seneca re
prefents it as a peculiar glory of Helvia, that ſhe had
never, like other women, whoſe chief ſtudy is their beau-
ty and ſhape, deſtroyed the fœtus in her womb. The
primitive fathers, Athenagoras, Tertullian, Minutius Fe-
lix, Auguſtin, &c. declaimed loudly againſt the prac-
tice as virtual murder. Several councils have con-
demned it. Yet we are told that the modern Romish
ecclefiaftical laws allow of difpenfations for it. Egane
mentions the rates at which a difpenfation for it may
be had.
The practice of artificial abortion is chiefly in the
hands of women and nurfes, rarely in that of phyfi-
⚫cians ; who, in fome countries, are not admitted to the
profeffion without abjuring it. Hippocrates, in the
Hippocrates, in the
oath he would have enjoined on all phyficians, includes
their not giving the peffus abortivus; though elſewhere
he gives the formal procefs whereby he himself procu-
red in a young woman a mifcarriage. It may, how
ever, be obferved, that often all the powers of art prove
ineffectual, and no lefs often do the attempts prove the
means of puniſhment by the fatal conſequences which
they produce.
ABORTION, among gardeners, fignifies fuch fruits as
are produced too early, and never arrive at maturity.
ABORTIVE, is, in general, applied to whatever
comes before its legitimate time, or to any defign which
mifcarries.
ABORTIVE Corn, a diftemper of corn mentioned by
M. Gillet, and fufpected to be occafioned by infects.
It appears long before harveſt, and may be known by
a deformity of the ftalk, the leaves, the ear, and even
the grain.
ABORTIVE Vellumis made of the ſkin of an abortive calf.
ABOUKIR, a fmall town of Egypt, fituate in the
defart between Alexandria and Rofetta. It is the an-
Abraham,
cient Canopus, and is fituated, according to Mr Sava- About
ry, fix leagues from Pharos. Pliny fays, from the te-
11
ftimonies of antiquity, that it was formerly an iſland:
and its local appearance makes this credible; for the
grounds around it are ſo low, that the ſea ſtill covered
a part of them in the days of Strabo. The town is
built upon a rock, which forms a handfome road for
fhipping, and was out of the reach of inundations.
See CANOPUS.
ABOUT, the fituation of a ſhip immediately after
fhe has taked, or changed her courfe by going about
and ſtanding on the other tack.-About Ship! the or
der to the fhip's crew for tacking.
ABOUTIGE, a town in Upper Egypt, in Africa,
near the Nile, where they make the beſt opium in all
the Levant. It was formerly a large, but now is a
mean place. N. Lat. 26. 50.
ABRA, a -filver coin ftruck in Poland, and worth
about one fhilling Sterling. It is current in feveral
parts of Germany, Conftantinople, Aftracan, Smyrna,
and Grand Cairo.
ABRABANEL, ABARBANEL, or AVRAVANEL,
(Ifaac), a celebrated rabbi, defcended from king David,
and born at Liſbon A. D. 1437. He became coun-
fellor to Alphonfo V. king of Portugal, and afterwards
to Ferdinand the Catholic; but in 1492 was obliged
to leave Spain with the other Jews. In fhort, after re-
fiding at Naples, Corfou, and feveral other cities, he
died at Venice in 1508, aged 71. Abrabanel paffed
for one of the moſt learned of the rabbis; and the Jews
gave him the names of the Sage, the Prince, and the
Great Politician. We have a commentary of his on
all the Old Teftament, which is pretty fcarce: he there
principally adheres to the literal fenfe and his ftyle is
clear, but a little diffufe. His other works are, A Trea-
tiſe on the Creation of the World; in which he refutes
Ariftotle, who imagined that the world was eternal:
A Treatife on the explication of the prophecies relating
to the Meffiah, againſt the Chriftians: A book con-
cerning articles of Faith; and fome others lefs fought
after. Though Abrabanel diſcovers his implacable a-
verfion to Chriſtianity in all his writings, yet he treat-
ed Chriftians with politeneſs and good-manners in the
common affairs of life.
abracadabr
ABRACADABRA, a magical word, recommended
by Serenus Samonicus as an antidote againſt agues and
feveral other diſeaſes. It was to be written upon a piece
of paper as many times as the word contains letters,
omitting the laſt letter of the former every time, as in
the margint, and repeated in the fame order; and then abracadabra
fufpended about the neck by a linen thread. Abracada- abracadab
bra was the name of a god worshipped by the Syrians; abracada
fo wearing his name was a fort of invocation of his aid; abracad
a practice which, though not more uſeful, yet was lefs
irrational, than is the equally heathenish practice among
thoſe who call themfelves Chriftians, of wearing various
things, in expectation of their operating by a Sympa-
thy, whofe parents were Ignorance and Superftition.
ABRAHAM, the father and ftock whence the
faithful fprung, was the fon of Terah. He was de-
fcended from Noah by Shem, from whom he was nine
degrees removed. Some fix his birth in the 130th year
of Terah's age, but others place it in his father's 70th
year. It is highly probable he was born in the city of
Ur, in Chaldea, which he and his father left when they
went
abaca
ab ac
abra
abr
ab
A BR
[
A BR
23 ]
Abrahan. went to Canaan, where they remained till the death of
"Terah; after which, Abraham refumed his firft defign
of going to Paletine. The Scriptures mention the fe-
veral places he ſtopped at in Canaan; his journey into
Egypt, where his wife was carried off from him; his
going into Gerar, where Sarah was again taken from
him, but reftored as before; the victory he obtained
over the four kings who had plundered Sodom; his
compliance with his wife, who infifted that he fhould
make uſe of their maid Hagar in order to raiſe up chil-
dren; the covenant God made with him, fealed with
the ceremony of circumcifion; his obedience to the
command of God, who ordered him to offer up his
only fon as a facrifice, and how this bloody act was
prevented; his marriage with Keturah; his death at
the age of 175 years; and his interment at the cave
of Macpelah, near the body of Sarah his firft wife.
It would be of little ufe to dwell long upon theſe par-
ticulars, fince they are fo well known. But tradition
But tradition
has ſupplied numberless others, the mention of one or
two of which may not be unacceptable. .
Suidas, in
+ More Ne-
ger Hift.
Patriarch.
tom. iii.
P.36.
Many extraordinary particulars have been told rela-
ting to his converfion from idolatry. It is a pretty
general opinion, that he fucked in the poifon with his
Bag See milk; that his father made fiatues, and taught that
Jof xxiv 2 they were to be worshipped as gods *. Some Jewiſh
Anud Ge- authors relate †, that Abraham followed the fame trade
nebrand. in with Terah for a confiderable time. Maimonides‡ fays,
Chron. that he was bred up in the religion of the Sabeans, who
voch, c. 29. acknowledged no deity but the ftars; that his reflec-
tions on the nature of the planets, his admiration of
their motions, beauty, and order, made him conclude
there muſt be a being fuperior to the machine of the
univerſe, a being who created and governed it; how-
ever, according to an old tradition, he did not renounce
Heideg-paganifm till the 50th year of his age. It is related |,
that his father, being gone a journey, left him to fell
the ſtatues in his abfence; and that a man, who pre-
tended to be a purchaſer, aſked him how old he was,
Abraham anſwered, "Fifty."-" Wretch that thou
art (faid the other), for adoring at fuch an age, a be-
ing which is but a day old!" Theſe words greatly
confounded Abraham. Some time afterwards, a wo-
man brought him fome flour, that he might give it as
an offering to the idols; but Abraham, inftead of do-
ing fo, took up a hatchet and broke them all to pieces,
excepting the largeft, into the hand of which he put
the weapon.
Terah, at his return, afked whence
came all this havock? Abraham made anfwer, that the
ftatues had had a great conteſt which ſhould eat firft of
the oblation; "C
Upon which (faid he), the god you
fee there, being the ftouteft, hewed the others to pieces
with that hatchet." Terah told him this was banter-
ing; for thoſe idols had not the ſenſe to act in this
manner. Abraham retorted theſe words upon his fa-
ther againſt the worſhipping of ſuch gods. Terah,
ftung with this raillery, delivered up his fon to the
cogniſance of Nimrod, the fovereign of the country:
who exhorted Abraham to worſhip the fire; and, upon :,
his refufal, commanded him to be thrown into the
midst of the flames: "Now let your God (faid he),
come and deliver you:" But (adds the tradition) Abra-
ham came fafe and found out of the flames-This
Hebraic in tradition is not of modern date, fince it is told by St
Genefin. Jerom §; who feems to credit it in general, but difbe-
Tradit.
t
›
·
Abrafax.
* It is
lieves that part of it which makes Terah fo cruel as to Abraham
be the informer againſt his own fon. Perhaps the am-
biguity of the word Ur* might have given rife to the
fiction altogether. Such as lay ftrefs on the following
words which God fays to Abraham (Gen. xv. 7.), the proper
name of a
am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees,
city, and it
imagine that he faved him from a great perfecution, alfo fignifi
fince he employed the very fame words in the begin- ed fire. The
ning of the decalogue to denote the deliverance from
Egypt.
Efdras ix.
has it thus:
Abraham is faid to have been well fkilled in many Qui elegifti
fciences, and to have wrote ſeveral books. Jofephus † eum de igne
tells us that he taught the Egyptians arithmetic and Chaldeorum.
geometry; and, according to Eupolemus and Artapan, lib.i. cap. 7
† Antiq.
he inftructed the Phoenicians, as well as the Egyptians, 8.
in aftronomy: A work which treats of the creation
has been long afcribed to him; it is mentioned in the
#Heidegger
Talmud ‡, and the Rabbis Chanina and Hofchia uſed Hift Patri-
to read it on the eve before the fabbath. In the first arch tom.u
ages of Chriſtianity, according to St Epiphanius, ap. 143.
heretical fect, called Sethinians, difperfed a piece which Aa eff.
Har p.286
had the title of Abraham's Revelation. Origen mentions
alſo a treatiſe ſuppoſed to be wrote by this patriarch.
All the feveral works which Abraham compoſed in the
plains of Mamre, are faid to be contained in the library
of the monaftery of the Holy Croſs on Mount Ama-
SKirchem's's
ria, in Ethiopia §. The book on the creation was treatife of
printed at Paris 1552, and tranflated into Latin by lib aries,
Poftel: Rittangel, a converted Jew, and profeſſor at p. 143.
Konig fberg, gave alfo a Latin tranflation of it, with
remarks, in 1642.
ABRAHAM USQUE, a Portugueſe jew, who tranfla-
ted the Bible out of Hebrew into Spaniſh. It was print.
ed at Ferrara in 1553, and reprinted in Holland in
1630. This Bible, efpecially the firſt edition, which is
moſt valuable, is marked with ftars at certain words,
which are deſigned to ſhow that theſe words are diffi
cult to be understood in the Hebrew, and that they
may be uſed in a different fenſe.
ABRAHAM (Nicholas), a learned Jefuit born in the
diocefe of Toul, in Lorrain, in 1589. He obtained the
rank of divinity profeffor in the univerſity of Pont-a-
Mouſon, which he enjoyed 7 years, and died Septem
ber 7, 1655. He wrote Notes on Virgil and on Non,
nius; A Commentary on fome of Cicero's Orations, in
2 vols folio; An excellent collection of theological
pieces, in folio, intitled Pharus eteris Teftamenti; and.
fome other works..
ABRAHAMITES, an order of monks extermina-
ted for idolatry by Theophilus in the ninth century.
Alfo the name of another fect of heretics who had a-
dopted the errors of Paulus. See PAULICIANS.
ABRANTES, a town of Portugal, in Eftiemadura,,
feated on the river Tajo, belongs to a marquis of the
fame name. It ftands high, is furrounded with gardens
and olive-trees, and contains thirty-five thouſand inha-
bitants. It has four convents, an alms-houſe, and an
hofpital. W. Long. 7.-18. Lat. 39-,13..
t
ABRASAX, or ABRAXAS, the ſupreme god of the
Bafilidian heretics. It is a myftical word, compofed of
the Greek numerals, which together
make up the number CCCLXV. For Bafilides taught,
that there were 365 heavens between the earth and the
empyrean; each of which heavens had its angel or in
telligence, which created it; each of which angels like-
wife
'ABR
[ 24 ]
ABR
Abreaft.
Abrafion wife was created by the angel next above it; thus af- difcovered a fleet abreast of Beachy-head; i. e. off, or Abrettene,
cending by a ſcale to the fupreme Being, or firft Crea- directly oppoſite to it.
Abridge-
tor. The Bafilidians rfed the word Abraxas by way of ABRETTENE, or ABRETTINE (anc. geog.), a di-ment.
charm or amulet.
ftrict of Myfia, in Afia. Hence the epithet Abbrette-
nus given Jupiter, (Strabo); whofe prieſt was Cleon,
formerly at the head of a gang of robbers, and who
received many and great favours at the hand of Antony,
but afterwards, went over to Auguftus. The people
were called Abretteni; inhabiting the country between
Ancyra of Phrygia and the river Rhyndacus.
ABRIDGEMENT, in literature, a term fignify-
ing the reduction of a book into a ſmaller compafs.
ABRASION, is fometimes ufed, among medicinal
writers, for the effect of fharp corrofive medicines or
humours in wearing away the natural mucus which co-
vers the membranes, and particularly thofe of the fto-
mach and inteſtines. The word is compofed of the
Latin ab and rado, to fhave or fcrape off.
ABRAVANNUS (anc. geog.), the name of a pro-
montory and river of Galloway, in Scotland, fo called
from the Celtic terms Aber, fignifying either the mouth
of a river, or the confluence of two rivers, and Avon,
a river.
ABRAUM, in natural hiflory, a name given by
fome writers to a ſpecies of red clay, ufed in England
by the cabinet-makers, &c. to give a red colour to
new mahogany wood. We have it from the ifle of
Wight; but it is alfo found in Germany and Italy.
ABRAXAS, an antique ftone with the word abravas
engraven on it. They are of various fizes, and molt of
them as old as the third century. They are frequent
in the cabinets of the curious; and a collection of them,
as complete as poffible, has been defired by feveral.
There is a fine one in the abbey of St Genevieve, which
has occafioned much fpeculation. Moſt of them feem
to have come from Egypt; whence they are of fome
ufe for explaining the antiquities of that country.
Sometimes they have no other infcription befides the
word: but others have the names of faints, angels, or
Jehovah himfelf annexed; though moft ufually the
name of the Bafilidian god. Sometimes there is a re-
preſentation of Iſis fitting on a lobes, or apis, furround-
ed with ſtars; fometimes monftrous compofitions of
animals, obſcene images, Phalli and Ithyfalli. The
graving is rarely good, but the word on the reverſe is
fometimes faid to be in a more modern tafte than the
other. The characters are ufually Greek, Hebrew,
Coptic, or Hetnerian, and fometimes of a mongrel
kind, invented, as it would feem, to render their mean-
ing the more infcrutable. It is difputed whether the
Veronica of Montreuil, or the granite obelisk mention-
ed by Gori, be Abraxfes.
to
ABREAST (a fea-term), fide by fide, or oppofite
; a ſituation in which two or more fhips lie, with
their fides parallel to each other, and their heads equal-
ly advanced. This term more particularly regards the
line of battle at fea, where, on the different occafions
of attack, retreat, or purfuit, the ſeveral ſquadrons or
divifions of a fleet are obliged to vary their difpofitions,
and yet maintain a proper regularity by failing in right
or curved lines. When the line is formed abreaft, the
whole fquadron advances uniformly, the fhips being
equally diftant from and parallel to each other, fo that
the length of cach fhip forms a right angle with the
extent of the fquadron or line abreaft. The commander
in chief is always ftationed in the centre, and the fe-
cond and third in command in the centres of their re-
fpective fquadrons.-Abreaft, within the fhip, implies
on a line with the beam, or by the fide of any object
aboard; as, the frigate fprung a leak abreaſt of the
main hatch-way, i. e. on the fame line with the main
hatch-way, croffing the fhip's length at right angles, in
oppofition to AFORE or ABATT the hatch-way.-We
N° 1.
5
The art of conveying much fentiment in few words,
is the happieſt talent an author can be poffeffed of.
This talent is peculiarly neceffary in the prefent ftate
of literature; for many writers have acquired the dex-
terity of fpreading a few tritical thoughts over feveral
hundred pages. When an author hits upon a thought
that pleafes him, he is apt to dwell upon it, to view it
in different lights, to force it in improperly, or upon
the flighteft relations. Though this may be pleaſant
to the writers, it tires and vexes the reader. There is
another great ſource of diffufion in compoſition. It is
a capital object with an author, whatever be the fub-
ject, to give vent to all his best thoughts. When he
finds a proper place for any of them, he is peculiarly
happy. But, rather than facrifice a thought he is fond
of, he forces it in by way of digreffion, or fuperfluous
illuftration. If none of thefe expedients anfwer his
purpofe, he has recourfe to the margin, a very conve-
nient apartment for all manner of pedantry and imper-
tinence. There is not an author, however correct,
but is more or lefs faulty in this refpect. An abridger,
however, is not ſubject to theſe temptations.
thoughts are not his own; he views them in a cooler
and lefs affectionate manner; he diſcovers an impro-
priety in fome, a vanity in others, and a want of utili-
ty in many. His bufinefs, therefore, is to retrench fu-
perfluities, digreffions, quotations, pedantry, &c. and
to lay before the public only what is really uſeful.
This is by no means an eafy employment: To abridge
fome books, requires talents equal, if not fuperior, to
thoſe of the author. The facts, manner, fpirit, and
reaſoning, muſt be preſerved; nothing effential, either
in argument or illuftration, ought to be omitted. The
difficulty of the task is the principal reaſon why we
have fo few good abridgements: Wynne's abridgement.
of Locke's Effay on the Human Underſtanding, is, per-
haps, the only unexceptionable one in our language.
The
Thefe obfervations relate folely to fuch abridgements
as are defigned for the public. But,
When a perſon wants to fet down the fubfiance of
any book, a fhorter and leſs laborious method may be
followed. It would be foreign to our plan to give ex-
amples of abridgements for the public: But as it may
be uſeful, eſpecially to young people, to know how to
abridge books for their own ufe, after giving a few di-
rections, we fhall exhibit an example or two, to fhow
with what eaſe it may be done.
Read the book carefully; endeavour to learn the
principal view of the author; attend to the arguments
employed: When you have done fo, you will general-
ly find, that what the author uſes as new or additional
arguments, are in reality only collateral ones, or ex-
tenfions of the principal argument. Take a piece of
paper
}
ABR
[ 25
A BR
]
Abridge paper or a common-place book, put down what the
author wants to prove, fubjoin the argument or argu-
ments, and you have the fubftance of the book in a
few lines. For example,
ment.
In the Effay on Miracles, Mr Hume's defign is to
prove, That miracles which have not been the imme-
diate objects of our ſenſes, cannot reaſonably be believed
upon the teſtimony of others.
Now, his argument (for there happens to be but
one) is,
"That experience, which in fome things is variable,
"in others uniform, is our only guide in reafoning
concerning matters of fact. A variable experience
"gives rife to probability only; an uniform experi-
ence amounts to a proof. Our belief of any fact
"from the teftimony of eye-witneffes is derived from
no other principle than our experience in the vera-
"city of human teftimony. If the fact attefted be
"miraculous, here arifes a conteſt of two oppofite ex-
"periences, or proof againſt proof. Now, a miracle
❝is a violation of the laws of nature; and as a firm and
"unalterable experience has eſtabliſhed theſe laws, the
"proof againſt a miracle, from the very nature of the
"fact, is as complete as any argument from experi-
ence can poffibly be imagined; and if fo, it is an un-
"deniable confequence, that it cannot be furmounted by
"any proof whatever derived from human teftimony."
In Dr Campbell's Differtation on Miracles, the au-
thor's principal aim is to fhow the fallacy of Mr Hume's
argument; which he has done moft fuccefsfully by an-
other fingle argument, as follows:
"
66
66
<6
દ
ઃઃ
"The evidence arifing from human teftimony is not
folely derived from experience: on the contrary, te-
ftimony hath a natural influence on belief antecedent
"to experience. The early and unlimited affent given
to teftimony by children gradually contracts as they
"advance in life: it is, therefore, more confonant to
"truth to fay, that our diffidence in teftimony is the
"refult of experience, than that our faith in it has this
"foundation. Befides, the uniformity of experience,
"in favour of any fact, is not a proof againſt its be-
ing reverſed in a particular inftance. The evidence
arifing from the fingle teftimony of a man of known
veracity will go farther to eſtabliſh a belief in its be-
ing actually reverfed: If his teftimony be confirmed
by a few others of the fame character, we cannot
"with-hold our affent to the truth of it. Now, tho'
"the operations of nature are governed by uniform
"laws, and though we have not the teftimony of our
"fenfes in favour of any violation of them; ftill, if in
particular inſtances we have the teftimony of thou
fands of our fellow-creatures, and thofe too men of
"ftrict integrity, fwayed by no motives of ambition
"or intereft, and governed by the principles of com-
"mon-fenfe, That they were actually eye-witneffes
"of thefe violations, the conſtitution of our nature
"obliges us to believe them."
.46
Theſe two examples contain the fubftance of about
400 pages. -Making private abridgments of this
kind has many advantages; it engages us to read with
accuracy and attention ; it fixes the ſubject in our
minds; and, if we fhould happen to forget, inftead of
reading the books again, by glancing a few lines we
are not only in poffeffion of the chief arguments, but, re-
cal in a good meaſure the author's method and manner.
VOL. I. Part I.
11
Abridging is peculiarly uſeful in taking the fub- Abrincata❤
ftance of what is delivered by Profeffors, &c. It is rum
impoffible, even with the affiftance of fhort-hand, to Abruzzo.
take down, verbatim, what is faid by a public ſpeaker.
Befides, although it were practicable, fuch a talent
would be of little ufe. Every public ſpeaker has cir-
cumlocutions, redundancies, lumber, which deferve not
to be copied. All that is really uſeful may be com
prehended in a fhort compafs. If the plan of the dif
courſe, and arguments employed in ſupport of the dif-
ferent branches, be taken down, you have the whole.
Theſe you may afterwards extend in the form of a dif-
courfe dreffed in your own language. This would not
only be a more rational employment, but would like-
wife be an excellent method of improving young men
in compofition; an object too little attended to in all
our univerſities.
ABRINCATARUM OPPIDUM (anc. geog.), the
town of the Abrincate or Abrincatui, now Avranches,
in France, fituated on an eminence in the fouth-weft
of Normandy near the borders of Britanny on the Eng-
lifh channel. W. Long. 1. 10. N. Lat. 48. 40.
ABROGATION, the act of aboliſhing a law, by
authority of the maker; in which fenfe the word is
fynonymous with abolition, repealing, and revocation.
Abrogation ftands oppoſed to rogation: it is diftin-
guifhed from derogation, which implies the taking away
only fome part of a law; from fubrogation, which de-
notes the adding a clauſe to it; from obregation, which
implies the limiting or reftraining it; from difpenfation,
which only fets it afide in a particular inftance; and
from antiquation, which is the refufing to paſs a law.
ABROKANI, or MALLEMOLLI, a kind of muflin,
or clear white fine cotton cloth, brought from the Eaft
Indies, particularly from Bengal; being in length 16
French ells and 3 quarters, and in breadth 5 eighths.
ABROLKOS, the name of certain fhelves, or banks
of fand, about 20 leagues from the coaſt of Brazil.
ABROTANUM, in botany. See ARTEMISIA and
SANTOLINA.
ABROTONUM (anc. geog.), a town and harbour
on the Mediterranean, in the diſtrict of Syrtis Parva,
in Africa, one of the three cities that went to form
Tripoly.
ABRUS, in botany, the trivial name of the GLYCINE.,
ABRUZZO, a province in Naples. The river Pef-
cara divides it into two parts; one of which is called
Ulterior, whereof Aquila is the capital; and the other
Citerior, whofe capital is Solomona. Beſides the Ap-
penines, there are two confiderable mountains, the one
called Monte Cavallo, and the other Monte Maiello;
the top of which laft is always covered with fnow. A.
bruzzo is a cold country; but the rigour of the climate
is not fo great as to prevent the country from produ
cing in abundance every thing requifite for the ſupport
of life. Vegetables, fruits, animals, and numberlefs
other articles of fuftenance, not only furnish ample
provifion for the uſe of the natives, but alfo allow of
exportation. There is fo large a quantity of wheat
reaped, that many thouſands of quarters are annually
fhipped off. Much Turkey wheat is fent out, and the
province of Teramo fells a great deal of rice little in-
ferior in goodneſs to that of Lombardy. Oil is a plen-
tiful commodity, and wines are made for exportation
on many parts of the coaft; but wool has always been,
D
and
A BR
[ 26 ]
ABS
in as great perfection as on the Alps of Swifferland, Abruzze
and are applied by the natives to wounds with equal 11
fuccefs.
The character of the inhabitants varies a little among
themſelves, according to fituation and climate, but ef-
fentially from the difpofition of the natives of the more
fouthern provinces. This proceeds from a difference
of origin: for the Lombards, who were barbarians,
but not cruel; poor, but hofpitable; endowed with
plain honeft fenfe, though poffeffed of little acutenefs
or fubtlety; remained peaceable proprietors of theſe
mountainous regions, till the Normans, who were ac-
cuftomed to a fimilar climate, came, and difpoffeffed
them. The Greeks, wo retained almoſt every other
part of the kingdom under their dominion, never had
any ſway here. For this reaſon the Abruzzefi ftill
bear a great reſemblance to their northern progenitors
or mafters to this day, one may trace in them the
fame goodneſs of heart, but great indolence, and re-
pugnance to lively exertions; a fault that proceeds ra-
ther from a want of active virtue, than a diſpoſition to
wickednefs. Hence it comes that in theſe provinces,
where the proximity of the frontier almoft infures im-
punity, fewer atrocious and inhuman deeds are heard
of than in other parts of the realm. Remnants of
ancient northern cuftoms exiſted here fo late as the be-
ginning of this century, and, among the mountaineers,
very evident traces of the Frank and Teutonic lan-
guages may be diſcovered.
Abruzzo. and ftill is, their ftaple commodity: the flocks, after
paffing the whole fummer in the fine paftures of the
mountains, are driven for the winter into the warm
plains of Puglia, and a few ſpots near their own coaſt,
where the fnow does not lie; there are no manufactures
of woollens in the province, except two fmall ones
of coarſe cloth, and the greateſt part of the wool is
fent out unwrought. No filk is made here, though
mulberry-trees would grow well in the low grounds.
Formerly the territory of Aquila furnished Italy al-
moft exclufively with faffron; but fince the culture of that
plant has been ſo much followed in Lombardy, it has
fallen to nothing in Abruzzo. In the maritime tracks of
country the cultivation of liquorice has been increaſed
of late years, but foreigners export the roots in their
natural ſtate: in the province of Teramo there is a ma-
nufactory of pottery-ware, for which there is a great
demand in Germany, by the way of Triefte, as it is
remarkably hard and fine; but even this is going to
decay, by being abandoned entirely to the ignorance
of common workmen. It is not to be expected that
any improvements will be made in arts and manufac-
tures, where the encouragement and attention of fu-
periors is wanting, and no pains taken to render the
commodity more marketable, or to open better chan-
nels of fale for it. The only advantages theſe provin-
ces enjoy, are the gift of benevolent nature; but the
has ftill greater prefents in ftore for them, and waits
only for the helping hand of government to produce
them. This whole coaft, one hundred miles in length,
is utterly deftitute of fea-ports; and the only fpots
where the produce can be embarked are dangerous in-
convenient roads, at the mouths of rivers, and along a
lee-fhore: the difficulty of procuring fhipping, and of
loading the goods, frequently caufes great quantities
of them to rot on hand; which damps induftry, and
prevents all improvements in agriculture. The huſband-
man is a poor difpirited wretch, and wretchednefs pro-
duces emigration: the uneven furface of the country
occafions it to be inhabited by retail, if the expreffion
may be uſed, rather than in large maffes; for there is
not a city that contains ten thouſand people, and the
moſt of them would find it difficult to mufter three
thouſand. Villages, caftles, and feudatory eſtates, are
to be met with in abundance; but the numbers of
their inhabitants are to be reckoned by hundreds, not
thouſands: in a word, the political and focial fyftem
of the province ſhows no figns of the vigour which na-
ture fo remarkably diſplays here in all her operations.
The antiquary and the naturalift may travel here
with exquifite pleaſure and profit; the former will find
treaſures of infcriptions, and inedited monuments ap-
pertaining to the warlike nations that once covered the
face of the country: the natural philofopher will have
a noble field for obſervation in the ftupenduous monu-
ments that riſe on all fides. Monte-corno and Majella
are among the moft interefting; the firft is like an aged
monument of nature, bald, and horribly broken on
every afpect from various appearances, it is evident
that its bowels contain many valuable veins of metallic
ore; but the great difficulty of accefs renders the fearch
of them almoſt impracticable. Majella has other me-
rits, and of a gayer kind :-nature has clothed its de-
elivities and elevated fields with an infinite variety of
her moft precious plants; vulnerary herbs grow there
ABSALOM, the ſon of David by Maacah, was bro-
ther to Thamar, David's daughter, who was raviſhed by
Amnon their eldeſt brother by another mother. Abfa-
lom waited two years for an opportunity of revenging
the injury done to his fifter; and at laft procured the
affaffination of Amnon at a feaft which he had prepared
for the king's fons. He took refuge with Talmai king
of Gefhur; and was no fooner reftored to favour, but
he engaged the Ifraelites to revolt from his father.
Abfalom was defeated in the wood of Ephraim: as he
was flying, his hair caught hold of an oak, where he
hung till Joab came and thruſt him through with three
darts: David had expreſsly ordered his life to be ſpared,
and extremely lamented him.
ABSCESS, in furgery; from abfcedo, to depart.
A cavity containing pus; or, a gathering of matter in
a part: So called, becauſe the parts which were joined
are now ſeparated; one part recedes from another, to
make way for the collected matter. See SURGERY.
ABSCISSE, in conics, a part of the diameter or
tranfverfe axis of a conic fection intercepted between the
vertex or fome other fixed point and a femiordinate.
See Conic Sections.
ABSCONSA, a dark lanthern ufed by the monks
at the ceremony of burying their dead.
ABSENCE, in Scots law: When a perfon cited
before a court does not appear, and judgment is pro-
nounced, that judgment is faid to be in abfence. No
perfon can be tried criminally in abſence.
ABSINTHIATED, any thing tinged or impreg-
nated with abfinthium or wormwood. Bartholin men-
tions a woman whofe milk was become abfinthiated,
and rendered as bitter as gall, by the too liberal ufe of
wormwood.
Vidum abfinthites, or poculum abfinthiatum, "worm-.
wood wine," is much ſpoke of among the ancients as a
whole-
2
Abfin
thiated.
A B S
[
ABS
27 ]
Abſinthium wholeſome drink, and even an antidote againſt drunken-
nefs; though fome have charged it with being offen-
Abfol
Abfolution.
five to the head, and liable to cauſe fevers, caphalalgias,
vomitings, uterine fluxes, &c. Ray alſo makes it a
preventative of venery. According to the common
opinion, it is made by infufing the leaves of the plant
in wine; but, according to Fehr, it ought to be pre-
pared by fermentation, in order to correct the crudi-
ties, and call forth a volatile falt; which laſt, how-
ever, does not exift in wormwood. Some prefer the
diftilled water; but whatever virtues wormood pof-
ſeſſes refide entirely in its effential oil.
ABSINTHIUM, in botany, the trivial name of
the common wormwood. See the article ARTEMI-
SIA.
ABSIS, in aftronomy, the fame with apfis.
APSIS.
See
ABSOLUTE, in a general ſenſe, fomething that
ftands free or independent.
ABSOLUTE is more particularly underſtood of a being
or thing which does not proceed from any caufe, or
does not fubfift by virtue of any other being, confi-
dered as its caufe; in which fenfe, God alone is abfo-
lute. Abfolute, in this fenfe, is fynonymous with indepen-
dent, and ſtands oppoſed to dependent.
ABSOLUTE alfo denotes a thing's being free from
conditions or limitations; in which fenfe, the word is
fynonymous with unconditional. We ſay, an abfolute
decree, abfolute promife, abfolute obedience.
ABSOLUTE Government, that wherein the prince is
left folely to his own will, being not limited to the ob-
fervance of any laws except thoſe of his own diſcre-
tion.
ABSOLUTE Equation, in aftronomy, is the aggregate
of the optic and eccentric equations. The apparent
inequality of a planet's motion arifing from its not be-
eing equally diſtant from the earth at all times, is call-
ed its optic equation, and would fubfift even if the pla-
net's real motion were uniform. The eccentric ine-
quality is cauſed by the planet's motion being uniform.
To illuftrate which, conceive the fun to move, or to
appear to move, in the circumference of a circle, in
whoſe centre the earth is placed. It is manifeft, that
if the fun moves uniformly in this circle, it muſt appear
to move uniformly to a fpectator on the earth, and in
this caſe there will be no optic nor eccentric equation:
but fuppofe the earth to be placed out of the centre of
the circle, and then, though the fun's motion fhould
be really uniform, it would not appear to be fo, being
feen from the earth; and in this cafe there would be an
optic equation, without an eccentricone. Imagine
farther, the fun's orbit to be not circular but elliptic,
and the earth in its focus; it will be as evident that
the fun cannot appear to have an uniform motion in
fuch ellipfe fo that his motion will then be fubject to
two equations, the optic and the eccentric.
ABSOLUTE Number, in algebra, is any pure number
ftanding in any equation without the conjunction of li-
teral characters; as 2x+36=48; where 36 and 48
are abfolute numbers, but 2 is not, as being joined
with the letter x.
ABSOLUTION, in civil law, is a ſentence whereby
the party accuſed is declared innocent of the crime laid
to his charge. Among the Romans, the ordinary me-
thod of pronouncing judgment was this: after the caufe
tions.
had been pleaded on both ſides, the præco uſed the Abfolution
11
word dixerunt, q. d. they have faid what they had to
Abforp-
fay; then three ballots were diſtributed to each judge,
marked as mentioned under the article A; and as the
majority fell of either mark, the accuſed was abfolved
or condemned, &c. If he were abfolved, the prætor
difmiffed him with videtur non feciffe, or jure videtur
fecifle.
ABSOLUTION, in the canon law, is a juridical act,
whereby the prieſt declares the fins of fuch as are pe-
nitent remitted.-The Romaniſts hold abfolution a part
of the facrament of penance: the council of Trent,
feff. xiv. cap. iii. and that of Florence, in the decree ad
Armenos, declare the form or effence of the facrament
to lie in the words of abfolution, I abfolve thee of thy
fins. The formula of abfolution, in the Romish church,
is abfolute in the Greek church, it is deprecatory ;
and in the churches of the reformed, declarative.
ABSOLUTION is chiefly uſed among Proteftants for a
fentence whereby a perſon who ſtands excommunicated
is releaſed or freed from that puniſhment.
ABSORBENT, in general, any thing poffeffing
the faculty of abforbing, or fwallowing up another.
:
ABSORBENT Medicines, teſtaceous powders, as chalk,
crab-eyes, &c. which are taken inwardly for drying up
or abſorbing any acid or redundant humours in the fto-
mach or inteftines. They are likewiſe applied out-
wardly to ulcers or fores with the fame intention.
ABSORBENT Veffels, a name given promifcuouſly to
the lacteal veffels, lymphatics, and inhalent arteries.
See ANATOMY.
Naturaliſts ſpeak of the like abſorbents in plants,
the fibrous or hairy roots of which are as a kind of vafa
abſorbentia, which attract and imbibe the nutritious
juices from the earth. See PLANTS.
ABSORBING, the fwallowing up, fucking up, or
imbibing, any thing: thus black bodies are faid to ab-
forb the rays of light; luxuriant branches, to abſorb
or waſte the nutritious juices which fhould feed the
fruit of trees, &c.
ABSORPTION, in the animal œconomy, is the
power whereby the abſorbent veſſels imbibe the juices,
&c.
ABSORPTIONS of the Earth, a term uſed by Kircher
and others for the finking in of large tracts of land by
means of fubterranean commotions, and many other
accidents.
Pliny tells us, that in his time the mountain Cym-
botus, with the town of Eurites, which ſtood on its
fide, were wholly abforbed into the earth, fo that not
the leaft trace of either remained; and he records the
like fate of the city Tantalis in Magnefia, and after it
of the mountain Sypelus, both thus abforbed by a vio
lent opening of the earth. Galanis and Garnatus,
towns once famous in Phoenicia, are recorded to
have met the fame fate; and the vaſt promontory, cal-
led Phlegium, in Ethiopia, after a violent earthquake
in the night-time, was not to be feen in the morning,
the whole having diſappeared, and the earth cloſed over
it. Theſe and many other hiſtories, atteſted by the
authors of greateſt credit among the ancients, abun-
dantly prove the fact in the earlier ages; and there
have not been wanting too many inftances of more mo-
dern date. Kircher's Mund. Subter. p. 77.
EARTH and EARTHQUAKE.
D 2
See
ABSOR-
A B S
[ 28 ]
A B S
Abforus
Abftinence.
religion, as if there were any difference in meats; but Abftinence.
in favour of the conſumption of fiſh, and to multiply the
number of fishermen and mariners, as well as fpare the
ftock of fheep. The great faft, fays St Auguftin, is to
abftain from fin.
ABSORUS, APSORUS, ABSYRTIS, ABSYRTIDES,
APSYRTIDES, ÁPSYRTIS, and ABSYRTIUM, (Strabo,
Mela, Ptolemy); iflands in the Adriatic, in the gulf
of Carnero; fo called from Abfyrtus, Medea's brother,
there flain. They are either one ifland or two, ſepa-
rated by a narrow channel, and joined by a bridge ;
and are now called Cherfo and Ofero.
ABSTEMII, in church-hiſtory, a name given to
fuch perfons as could not partake of the cup of the
euchariſt on account of their natural averfion to wine.
Calviniſts allow theſe to communicate in the fpecies or
bread only, touching the cup with their lip; which,
on the other hand, is by the Lutherans deemed a pro-
fanation.
ABSTEMIOUS, is properly underſtood of a per-
fon who refrains abfolutely from all ufe of wine.
The hiſtory of Mr Wood, in the Medic. Tranf.
vol. ii. p. 261. art. 18. is a very remarkable exempli-
fication of the very beneficial alterations which may
be effected on the human body by a ftrict courſe of
abftemiouſnefs.
The Roman ladies, in the firft ages of the republic,
were all enjoined to be abftemious; and that it might
appear, by their breath, whether or no they kept up to
the injunction, it was one of the laws of the Roman
civility, that they ſhould kifs their friends and relations
whenever they accofted them.
ABSTEMIUS (Laurentius) a native of Macerata,
profeffor of belles lettres in Urbino, and librarian of
duke Guido Ubaldo, under the pontificate of Alexan-
der VI. He wrote, 1. Notes on moft difficult paffages
of ancient authors. 2. Hecatomythium, i. e. A collec-
tion of an 100 fables, &c. which have been often
printed with thoſe of Æfop, Phædrus, Gabrias, Avie-
nus, &c.
ABSTERGENT MEDICINES, thofe employed for
refolving obftructions, concretions, &c. fuch as foap,
&c.
ABSTINENCE, in a general ſenſe, the act or ha-
bit of refraining from fomething which we have a pro-
penfion to or find pleaſure in.-Among the Jews, va-
rious kinds of abftinence were ordained by their law.
Among the primitive Chriftians, fome denied them-
felves the uſe of ſuch meats as were prohibited by that
law, others looked upon this abſtinence with contempt;
as to which, St Paul gives his opinion, Rom. xiv. 1-3.
The council of Jerufalem, which was held by the Apo-
ftles, enjoined the Chriftian converts to abſtain from
meats ftrangled, from blood, from fornication, and
from idolatry. Abftinence, as preſcribed by the gof-
pel, is intended to mortify and reſtrain the paffions, to
humble our vicious natures, and by that means raiſe
our minds to a due fenfe of devotion. But there is
another fort of abftinence, which may be called ritual,
and confifts in abftaining from particular meats at cer-
tain times and ſeafons. It was the ſpiritual monarchy
of the weſtern world which firſt introduced this ritual
abftinence; the rules of which were called rogations;
but grofsly abuſed from the true nature and defign of
fafting. In England, abftinence from fleſh has been
enjoined by ſtatute even fince the reformation, particu-
larly on Fridays and Saturdays, on vigils, and on all
commonly called fifb-days. The like injunctions were
renewed under Q. Elizabeth: but at the fame time it
was declared, that this was done not out. of motives of
It is
ABSTINENCE is more particularly uſed for a ſpare
diet, or a ſlender parfimonious uſe of food, below the
ordinary ftandard of nature. The phyficians relate
wonders of the effects of abftinence in the cure of
many diforders, and protracting the term of life. The
noble Venetian, Cornaro, after all imaginable means
had proved vain, fo that his life was defpaired of at
40, recovered, and lived to near 100, by mere dint
of abftinence; as he himſelf gives the account.
indeed furprifing to what a great age the primitive
Chriftians of the eaft, who retired from the perfecu-
tions into the deferts of Arabia and Egypt, lived,
healthful and cheerful, on a very little food. Caffian
affures us, that the common rate for 24 hours was 12
ounces of bread, and mere water: with this St An-
thony lived 105 years; James the Hermit 104; Ar-
fenius, tutor of the Emperor Arcadius, 120; S. Epi-
phanius, 115; Simeon the Stylite, 112; and Romauld,
120. Indeed, we can match theſe inſtances of longe-
vity at home. Buchanan writes, that one Laurence
preferved himſelf to 140 by force of temperance and
labour; and Spotfwood mentions one Kentigern, af-
terwards called S. Mongah or Mungo, who lived to
185 by the fame means. Other inſtances ſee under
the article LONGEVITY.-Abftinence, however, is to
be recommended only as it means a proper rigimen ;
for in general it muit have bad confequences when
obferved without a due regard to conflitution, age,
ftrength, &c. According to Dr Cheyne, moſt of the
chronical difeafes, the infirmities of old age, and the
fhort lives of Engliſhmen, are owing to repletion; and
may be either cured, prevented, or remedied by abfti-
nence: but then the kinds of abitinence which ought
to obtain, either in fickneſs or health, are to be dedu
ced from the laws of diet and regimen.
Among the brute creation, we fee extraordinary in-
ftances of long abftinence. The ferpent-kind, in parti-
cular, bear abftinence to a wonderful degree.. We have
ſeen rattle-fnakes that had fubfifted many months with-
out any food, yet ſtill retained their vigour and fiercenefs..
Dr Shaw fpeaks of a couple of ceraftes (a fort of Egyp-
tian ferpents), which had been kept five years in a
bottle clofe corked, without any fort of food, unleſs a
fmall quantity of fand wherein they coiled themſelves.
up in the bottom of the veffel may be reckoned as
fuch: yet when he faw them, they had newly caft their
fkins, and were as briſk and lively as if juft taken. But
it is even natural for divers fpecies to paſs four, five, or
fix months every year, without either eating or drink-
ing. Accordingly, the tortoife, bear, dormouſe, fer-
pent, &c. are obferved regularly to retire, at thoſe
feafons, to their refpective cells, and hide themſelves,
fome in the caverns of rocks or ruins; others dig holes-
under ground; others get into woods, and lay them-
felves up in the clefts of trees; others bury themfelves
under water, &c. And theſe animals are found as fat
and fleshy after fome months abftinence as before.-
Sir G. Ent* weighed his tortoiſe ſeveral years fuccef- Pbil.
*
fively, at its going to earth in October, and coming Tranf.
out again in March; and found, that, of four pounds nº 194
four
7
1
ABS
[ 29 ]
ABS
are applied to fenfible objects, and by that means be- Abíract
come intermixed with phyfical conſiderations; ſuch are
11
Abfurd.
Hydroftatics, Optics, Navigation, &c.
ABSTRACT, in literature, a compendious view of
any large work; fhorter and more fuperficial than an
abridgment.
ABSTRACTION, in general, the art of abftract-
ing, or the ftate of being abftracted.
ABSTRACTION, in metaphyfics, the operation of the
mind when occupied by abftract ideas. A large oak
fixes our attention, and abſtracts us from the fhrubs
that furround it. In the fame manner, a beautiful
woman in a crowd, abftracts our thoughts, and engrof-
fes our attention folely to herſelf. Theſe are examples.
of real abſtraction: when thefe, or any others of à fi-
milar kind, are recalled to the mind after the objects
themſelves are removed from our fight, they form what
is called abstract ideas, or the mind is faid to be em-
ployed in abſtract ideas. But the power of abftraction
is not confined to objects that are feparable in reality
as well as mentally: the fize, the figure, the colour of
a tree are infeparably connected, and cannot exiſt in-
dependent of each other; and yet we can mentally con-
fine our obfervations to any one of theſe properties,
neglecting or abftracting from the reft.
Abftinence four ounces, it only uſed to lofe about one ounce.
-Indeed, we have inftances of men paffing feveral
Abstract.
months as ftrictly abftinent as other creatures. In par-
ticular, the records of the Tower mention a Scotchman
impriſoned for felony, and ftrictly watched in that for-
trefs for fix weeks: in all which time he took not the
leaſt ſuſtenance; for which he had his pardon. Num-
berlefs inftances of extraordinary abftinence, particu-
larly from morbid cauſes, are to be found in the different
periodical Memoirs, Tranfactions, Ephemerides, &c.
It is to be added, that, in moſt inftances of extraordinary
human abſtinence related by naturalifts, there were faid
to have been apparent marks of a texture of blood and
humours, much like that of the animals above mentioned.
Though it is no improbable opinion, that the air itſelf
may furniſh fomething for nutrition. It is certain,
there are ſubſtances of all kinds, animal, vegetable, &c.
floating in the atmoſphere, which must be continually
taken in by reſpiration. And that an animal body may
be nouriſhed thereby, is evident in the inftance of vi-
pers; which if taken when firſt brought forth, and
kept from every thing but air, will yet grow very con-
fiderably in a few days. So the eggs of lizards are
obferved to increaſe in bulk, after they are produced,
though there be nothing to furniſh the increment but
air alone; in like manner as the eggs or ſpawn of fiſhes
grow and are nouriſhed with the water. And hence,
fay fome, it is that cooks, turnfpit-dogs, &c. though
they eat but little, yet are uſually fat. See FASTING.
ABSTINENTS, or ABSTINENTES, a fet of here-
tics that appeared in France and Spain about the end
of the third century. They are fuppoſed to have bor-
rowed part of their opinions from the Gnoftics and
Manicheans, becauſe they oppofed marriage, condemn
ed the ufe of fleſh meat, and placed the Holy Ghoſt in
the clafs of created beings. We have, however, no
certain account of their peculiar tenets.
ABSTRACT, in a general fenfe, any thing fepa-
rated from fomething elfe.
a
ABSTRACT Idea, in metaphyfics, is a partial idea of
complex object, limited to one or more of the compo-
nent parts or properties, laying afide or abftracting
from the reft. Thus, in viewing an object with the
eye, or recollecting it in the mind, we can eafily ab-
Atract from fome of its parts or properties, and attach
ourſelves to others: we can attend to the redneſs of a
cherry, without regard to its figure, tafte, or confift-
See ABSTRACTION.
ence.
ABSTRACT Terms, words that are uſed to exprefs
abstract ideas. Thus beauty, uglinefs, whitenefs, round-
nofs, life, death, are abftract terms.
ABSTRACT Numbers, are affemblages of units, con-
ſidered in themſelves without denoting any particular
and determined particulars. Thus 6 is an abſtract
number, when not applied to any thing; but, if we
fay 6 feet, 6 becomes a concrete number. See the ar-
ticle NUMBER.
ABSTRACT Mathematics, otherwife called Pure Ma-
thematics, is that which treats of magnitude or quan-
tity, abfolutely and generally confidered, without re-
ftriction to any ſpecies of particular magnitude; fuch
are Arithmetic and Geometry. In this fenfe, abftract
mathematics is oppoſed to mixed mathematics; wherein
fimple and abstract properties, and the relations of
quantities primitively confidered in pure mathematics,,
•
Abftraction is chiefly employed theſe three ways.
Frft, When the mind confiders any one part of a
thing, in fome refpect diftinct from the whole; as a
man's arm, without the confideration of the reft of the
body. Secondly, When we confider the mode of any
fubftance, omitting the fubftance itself; or when we
feparately confider ſeveral modes which fubfift together
in one fubject.
in one fubject. This abftraction the geometricians
make uſe of when they confider the length of a body
feparately, which they call a line, omitting the confi-
deration of its breadth and thickneſs. Thirdly, It is-
by abſtraction that the mind forms general or univerſal
ideas; omitting the modes and relations of the parti--
cular objects whence they are formed. Thus, when
we would underſtand a thinking being in general. we
gather from our felf-conſciouſneſs what it is to think;
and, omitting thoſe things which have a particular re-
lation to our own minds, or to the human mind, we
conceive a thinking being in general.
'Ideas formed in this manner, which are what we pro- -
perly call abſtract ideas, become general reprefentatives ›
of all objects of the fame kind; and their names ap--
plicable to whatever exiits conformable to fuch ideas. -
Thus the idea of colour that we receive from chalk,
fnow, milk, &c. is a repreſentative of all of that kind;
and has a name given it, whitenefs, which fignifies the
fame quality wherever found or imagined.
ABSTRUSE, fomething deep, hidden, concealed, -
or far removed from common apprehenfions, and there--
fore not eafily underſtood; in oppofition to what is ›
obvious and palpable. Thus metaphyfics is an abſtruſe
fcience; and the doctrine of fluxions, and the method.
de maximis et minimis, are abftrufe points of know-
ledge.
ABSURD, an epithet applied to any thing that?
oppofes the human apprehenfion and contradicts a
manifeft truth. Thus, it would be abfurd to ſay that
6 and 6 make only 10, or to deny that twice 6 make-
12. When the term abfurd is applied to actions, it has….
the fame import as ridiculous..
ABSYN.
A BU
ABY
[ 30 ]
Abfyn-
thium
Abus.
ABSYNTHIUM. See ABSINTHIUM.
ABSYRTUS, in the heathen mythology, the fon
of Æta and Hypfea, and the brother of Medea. The
latter running away with Jaſon, after her having affift-
ed him in carrying off the golden fleece, was purſued
by her father; when, to ftop his progreſs, fhe tore Ab-
fyrtus in pieces, and ſcattered his limbs in his way.
ABTHANES, a title of honour uſed by the an-
cient inhabitants of Scotland, who called their nobles
thanes, which in the old Saxon fignifies king's minifters;
and of theſe the higher rank were ftyled abthanes, and
thofe of the lower under thanes.
ABUCCO, ABOсCO, or AвOCCHI, a weight ufed
in the kingdom of Pegu. One abucco contains 12 tec-
calis; two abuccos make a giro or agire; two giri, half
a hiza; and a hiza weighs an hundred teccalis; that
is, two pounds five ounces the heavy weight, or three
pounds nine ounces the light weight of Venice.
ABUKESO, in commerce, the fame with ASLAN.
ABULFARAGIUS (Gregory), fon to Aaron a
phyfician, born in 226, in the city of Malatia, near
the fource of the Euphrates in Armenia. He followed
the profeffion of his father; and practifed with great
fuccefs, numbers of people coming from the moft re-
mote parts to aſk his advice. However, he would hardly
have been known at this time, had his knowledge been
confined to phyfic: but he applied himself to the ftudy
of the Greek, Syriac, and Arabic languages, as well
as philofophy and divinity; and he wrote a hiftory
which does honour to his memory. It is written in
Arabic, and divided into dynafties. It confifts of ten
parts, being an epitome of univerſal hiſtory from the
creation of the world to his own.time. Dr Pocock pu-
bliſhed it with a Latin tranſlation in 1663; and added,
by way of fupplement, a fhort continuation relating to
the hiftory of the eaſtern princes.
ABUÑA, the title given to the archbishop or me-
tropolitan of Abyffinia. See ABYSSINIA.
ABUNDANT NUMBER, in arithmetic, is a number,
the ſum of whoſe aliquot parts is greater than the num-
ber itſelf. Thus the aliquot parts of 12, being 1, 2,
3, 4, and 6, they make, when added together, 16.
An abundant number is oppoſed to a deficient number,
or that which is greater than all its aliquot parts taken
together; aɛ 14, whofe aliquot parts are, 1, 2, and 7,
which make no more than ten: and to a perfect num-
ber, cr.one to which its aliquot parts are equal, as 6,
whofe aliquot parts are 1, 2, and 3.
ABUNDANTIA, a heathen divinity, reprefented
in ancient monuments under the figure of a woman
with a pleafing afpect, crowned with garlands of flowers,
pouring all forts of fruit out of a horn which fhe holds
in her right hand, and fcattering grain with her left,
taken promiſcuouſly from a fheaf of corn. On a medal
of Trajan, fhe is reprefented with two cornucopia.
ABU SAID, (Ebn Aljaptu, ſultan of the Moguls,
fucceeded his father anno 717 of the hegira. He was
the laſt monarch of the race of Jenghizkhan; and af-
ter his death, which happened the fame year that Ta-
merlane was born, the empire was made a ſcene of
blood and defolation.
ABUS, (anc. geog.), a river of Britain, formed by
the confluence of the Ure, the Derwent, Trent, &c.
falling into the German fea, between Yorkſhire and
Lincolnſhire, and forming the mouth of the Humber.
ABUSE, an irregular uſe of a thing, or the intro-
ducing fomething contrary to the true intention there-
of. In grammar, to apply a word abuſively, or in an
abusive fenfe, is to mifapply or pervert its meaning.-
A permutation of benefices, without the confent of the
biſhop, is termed abufive, and confequently null.
ABUTILON, in botany, the trivial name of feve-
ral ſpecies of the fida. See SIDA.
ABYDOS (anc. geog.), anciently a town built by
the Milefians in Afia, on the Hellefpont, where it is
fcarce a mile over; oppofite to Seftos on the European
fide. Now both called the Dardanelles. Abydos lay
midway between Lampfacus and Ilium, famous for
Xerxes's bridge, (Herodotus, Virgil); and for the loves
of Leander and Hero, (Mufous, Ovid); celebrated al-
fo for its oyfters, (Ennius, Virgil). The inhabitants
were a foft, effeminate people, given much to detrac-
tion; hence the proverb, Ne temere Abydum, when we
would caution against danger, (Stephanus).
ABYDOS (anc. geog.), anciently an inland town of
Egypt, between Ptolemais and Diofpolis Parva, to-
wards Syrene; famous for the palace of Memnon and
the temple of Ofiris. A colony of Milefians; (Ste-
phanus). It was the only one in the country into
which the fingers and dancers were forbid to enter.
This city, reduced to a village under the empire of
Auguftus, now prefents to our view only an heap of
ruins without inhabitants; but to the weft of thefe
ruins is ftill found the celebrated tomb of Ifmandes.
The entrance is under a portico 60 feet high, and fup-
ported by two rows of maffy columns. The immove-
able folidity of the edifice, the huge maffes which com-
pofe it, the hieroglyphics it is loaded with, ftamp it a
work of the ancient Egyptians. Beyond it is a temple
300 feet long and 145 wide. Upon entering the mo-
nument we meet with an immenfe hall, the roof of
which is ſupported by 28 columns 60 feet high and 19
in circumference at the bafe. They are 12 feet diſtant
from each other. The enormous ftones that form the
ceiling, perfectly joined and incrufted, as it were, one
in the other, offer to the eye nothing but one folid plat-
form of marble 126 feet long and 26 wide. The walls
are covered with hieroglyphics. One fees there a mul-
titude of animals, birds, and human figures with point-
ed caps on their heads, and a piece of ftuff hanging
down behind, dreffed in loofe robes that come down
only to the waift. The fculpture, however, is clumfy;
the forms of the body, the attitudes and proportions of
the members, ill obſerved. Amongſt theſe we may di-
ftinguiſh fome women fuckling their children, and men
prefenting offerings to them. Here alſo we meet with
the divinities of India. Monfieur Chevalier, formerly
governor of Chandernagore, who refided 20 years in
that country, carefully vifited this monument on his re-
turn from Bengal. He remarked here the gods Jag-
grenat, Gonez, and Vechnou or Wiftnou, fuch as they are
repreſented in the temples of Indoftan.-A great gate
opens at the bottom of the firſt hall, which leads to an
apartment 46 feet long by 22 wide. Six fquare pillars
fupport the roof of it; and at the angles are the doors
of four other chambers, but fo choaked up with, rub-
biſh that they cannot now be entered. The laft hall,
64 feet long by 24 wide, has flairs by which one de-
fcends into the fubterraneous apartments of this grand
edifice. The Arabs, in fearching after treafure, have
}
piled
Abufel
U
Abydos.
ABY
A BY
[
31 ]
Abyſs.
Abydos piled up heaps of earth and rubbish. In the part we
U are able to penetrate, fculpture and hieroglyphics are
diſcoverable as in the upper ftory. The natives fay that
they correfpond exactly with thofe above ground, and
that the columns are as deep in the earth as they are
lofty above ground. It would be dangerous to go far
into thoſe vaults; for the air of them is fo loaded with a
mephitic vapour, that a candle can ſcarce be kept burn-
ing in them. Six lions heads, placed on the two fidcs
of the temple, ferve as fpouts to carry off the water.
You mount to the top by a ſtaircaſe of a very fingular
ftructure. It is built with ftones incrufted in the wall,
and projecting fix feet out; fo that being fupported on-
ly at one end, they appear to be ſuſpended in the air.
The walls, the roof, and the columns of this edifice,
have fuffered nothing from the injuries of time; and
did not the hieroglyphics, by being corroded in fome
places, mark its antiquity, it would appear to have been
newly built. The folidity is fuch, that unless people
make a point of deſtroying it, the building muſt laſt a
great number of ages. Except the coloffal figures,
whofe heads ferve as an ornament to the capitals of the
columns, and which are ſculptured in relievo, the reſt
of the hieroglyphics which cover the infide are carved
in ftone. To the left of this great building we meet
with another much finaller, at the bottom of which is
a fort of altar. This was probably the fanctuary of
the temple of Ofiris.
>
ABYLA (Ptolemy, Mela); one of Hercules's pil-
lars on the African fide, called by the Spaniards Sier-
ra de las Monas, over againſt Calpe in Spain, the other
pillar; fuppofed to have been formerly joined, but fe-
parated by Hercules, and thus to have given entrance
to the fea now called the Mediterranean: the limits
of the labours of Hercules (Pliny).
ABYSS, in a general fenfe, denotes fomething pro-
found, and, as it were, bottomlefs. The word is ori-
ginally Greek, aburσos; compounded of the primitive a,
and Burcos, q. d. without a bottom.
ABYSS, in a more particular fenfe, denotes a deep
maſs or fund of waters. In this fenfe, the word is
particularly uſed, in the Septuagint, for the water
which God created at the beginning with the earth,
which encompaſſed it round, and which our tranflators
render by deep. Thus it is that darkneſs is faid to
have been on the face of the abyss.
ABYSS is alſo uſed for an immenfe cavern in the
earth, wherein God is fuppofed to have collected all
thoſe waters on the third day; which, in our verfion,
is rendered the ſeas, and elſewhere the great deep. Dr
Woodward, in his Natural Hiſtory of the Earth, af-
ferts, That there is a mighty collection of waters in-
clofed in the bowels of the earth, conftituting a huge
orb in the interior or central parts of it; and over the
ſurface of this water he ſuppoſes the terreſtrial ſtrata to
be expanded. This, according to him, is what Mofes
calls the great deep, and what moft authors render the
great abyss. The water of this vaſt abyſs, he alleges,
does communicate with that of the ocean, by means of
certain hiatufes or chafms paffing betwixt it and the
bottom of the ocean: and this and the abyfs he fup-
pofes to have one common centre, around which the
water of both is placed; but fo, that the ordinary fur-
face of the abyfs is not level with that of the ocean,
nor at fo great a diflance from the centre as the other,
it being for the moſt part reftrained and depreffed by Abyſs.
the ftrata of earth lying upon it: but wherever thoſe
ftrata are broken, or ſo lax and porous that water can
pervade them, there the water of the abyss afcends;
fills up all the clefts and fiffures into which it can get
admittance; and faturates all the interftices and pores
of the earth, ſtone, or other matter, all around the globe,
quite up to the level of the ocean.
The exiſtence of an abyfs or receptacle of fub-
* Differt.
terraneous waters, is controverted by Camerarius *
Taur. Acta
and defended by Dr Woodward chiefly by two ar-
Erud. fupp,
guments: the firft drawn from the vast quantity tom. vi.
of water which covered the earth in the time of p. 24.
the deluge; the fecond, from the confideration of
earthquakes, which he endeavours to fhow are oc-
cafioned by the violence of the waters in this a-
byſs. A great part of the terreftrial globe has
been frequently fhaken at the fame moment; which
argues, according to him, that the waters, which were
the occafion thereof, were coextended with that part
of the globe. There are even inftances of univerfal
earthquakes; which (fays he) fhow, that the whole
abyſs muſt have been agitated: for fo general an effect
muſt have been produced by as general a caufe, and
that caufe can be nothing but the ſubterraneous a-
byfst.
+ Hift. of
the Earth.
Memoirs of
To this abyfs alfo has been attributed the origin
of fprings and rivers; the level maintained in the Scavans.
furfaces of different feas; and their not overflowing tom. lviii.
their banks. To the effluvias emitted from it, fome P 393.
even attribute all the diverfities of weather and change Literature,
in our atmofphere ‡. Ray ||, and other authors, an- tom. viii.
cient as well as modern, fuppofe a communication be- p. 101, &c.
tween the Cafpian fea and the ocean by means of a Holloway,
fubterranean abyſs: and to this they attribute it that. Wood-
the Cafpian does not overflow, notwithstanding the ward's hift,
great number of large rivers it receives, of which Kemp- oftheEarth.
fer reckons above 50 in the compaſs of 60 miles; tho', Ada Erud.
as to this, others fuppofe that the daily evaporation may
fuffice to keep the level.
Introd. to
Theol.
1727.p.313.
|| Phyfico-
The different arguments concerning this fubject Diſc ii. c. 2.
may be feen collected and amplified in Cockburn's P• 76•
Inquiry into the Truth and certainty of the Mo-
faic Deluge, p. 271, &c. After all, however, this.
amazing theory of a central abyfs is far from be-
ing demonftrated: it will perhaps in ſeveral reſpects.
appear inconfiftent with found philofophy, as well as
repugnant to the phenomena of nature. In particular,
if we believe any thing like elective attraction to have.
prevailed in the formation of the earth, we muſt believe
that the feparation of the chaos proceeded from the
union of fimilar particles. It is certain that reft is fa-.
vourable to fuch operations of nature. As, therefore,
the central parts of the earth were more immediately
quiefcent than thoſe remote from the centre,it feems ab-
furd to fuppofe that the heavier and denfer bodies gave
place to the more light and fluid; that the central part
fhould confift of water only, and the more fuperficial:
part of a cruft or ſhell. Vid. Whitehurſt's Inquiry in-
to the original Formation of the Struta, &c. See DE-
LUGE.
ABYSS is alſo uſed to denote hell; in which fenfe
the word is fynonymous with what is otherwiſe called:
Barathrum, Erebus,and Tartarus; in the Engliſh bible,.
the bottomlefs pit. The unclean fpirits expelled by,
Chriſt
A BY
[
A BY
32
]
Abyfs, Chrift, begged, ne imperaret ut in abyffum irent, accor-
ding to the vulgate; is abvodov, according to the Greek.
Luke viii. 31. Rev. ix. 1.
Abyffinia.
ABYSS is more particularly uſed, in antiquity, to de-
note the temple of Proferpine. It was thus called on
account of the immenfe fund of gold and riches depo-
fited there; ſome ſay, hid under ground.
ABYSS is alſo uſed in heraldry to denote the centre
of an eſcutcheon, In which ſenſe a thing is faid to
be bore in abyfs, en abyfme, when placed in the middle
of the ſhield, clear from any other bearing: He bears
azure, a flower de lis, in abyfs.
ABYSSINIA, by fome called Higher Ethiopia, and
by the Arabians Al Habaſh, is bounded on the north
by Nubia; on the eaſt, by the Arabic gulph or Red Sea,
and the kingdom of Adel; on the fouth, by the king-
doms of Ajan, Alabo, and Gingiro; and on the weit,
by the kingdom of Goram, and part of Gingiro; and
is divided into a great number of provinces. The
principal river is the Nile, which has its fource in this
country; and the moſt confiderable lake, that of Dam-
bea, which diſcharges itſelf into the Nile, is about 700
miles in length, and 90 in breadth. The air is pretty
temperate in the mountains, and therefore their towns
and ſtrong holds are generally placed on them; but in
the valleys it is hot and fuffocating. The foil and face
of the country is various. In fome places there are
nothing but rocks and profound caverns: in others,
efpecially where there are rivers, the land is exceedingly
fruitful; and the banks of theſe ſtreams are bordered
with flowers of various kinds, many of which are un-
known in Europe. The torrents in the rainy ſeaſon
waſh a great deal of gold from the mountains. This
feafon begins in May, when the fun is vertical, or di-
rectly over their heads, and ends in September.-The
country produces a great variety of animals, both tame
and wild, fuch as lions, tigers, rhinocerofes, leopards, ele-
phants, monkeys, ftags, deer; horfes, camels, dromeda-
ries, goats, cows, ſheep; likewife oftriches, with a vaſt
variety of other birds.
In the rivers are crocodiles and
the hippopotamus. Travellers mention alfo a peculiar
kind of bees, ſmall, black, and without a fting, which
hive in the earth, and make honey and wax that are
extremely white. The country is greatly infeſted with
locufts, which devour every thing that is green where-
ever they come.
The inhabitants are Moors, Pagans, Jews, and Chri-
ftians. The laſt was the reigning and eſtabliſhed reli-
gion when father Lobo vifited this country in 1624.
This diverfity of people and religion is the reaſon that
the kingdom, in different parts, is under different forms
of government, and that their laws and cuftoms are ex-
tremely various. Some of the people neither fow their
lands nor improve them; but live on milk and fleſh, and
encamp like the Arabs, without any fettled habita-
tion.
In fome places they practiſe no rites of worship,
though they believe that there dwells in the regions a-
bove a Being who governs the world: This deity they
call Oul. In thofe parts where Chriſtianity is profeffed, it
is ſo corrupted with fuperftitious errors, and fo mingled
with ceremonies borrowed from the Jews, that little
befide the name of Chriſtianity is to be found among
them. (See the next article.)-They have two har-
wefts in the year; one in winter, which begins in May,
and laſts, with great rigour, through the months of
N° 1.
I
July, Auguft, and September; and the other in fpring. Abyffinia,
Every man who has a thouſand cows faves once a-year
a day's milk, and makes a bath for his friends; fo that
to give an idea of a man's wealth, their common ex-
preffion is, he bathes ſo many times a-year. Their males
marry about ten years old, and their females younger.
Their marriage tie is ſo looſe, that they part whenever
they find that they cannot live agreeably together.
Befides the large towns, there are a great number
of villages, which in fome places are fo thick fown,
that they look like one continued town: the houſes are
very mean, being but one ftory high, and built of
ftraw, earth, and lime. In moft of the towns the
houfes are feparated by hedges, which are always
green, and mixed with flowers and fruit-trees at a cer-
tain diſtance from each other, which affords an agree
able profpect. -The government is monarchical. The
fovereign has the title of Negus, and is an abfolute
prince. When he is in camp, the tents are fo regularly
difpofed as to have the appearance of a city; and there
is a captain over every divifion, to prevent diſorders,
and to execute juftice.
The Abyffines in general are of an olive complexion,
tall, graceful, and well featured. Thofe who are nei-
ther mechanics nor tradeſmen (which few of them are)
nor tillers of the ground, are inured to bear arms, which
are a head-piece, a buckler, a coat of mail, bows and
arrows, darts, pikes capped with iron at both ends, a
fling, and a fword: they have very few fire-arms, and
thofe were introduced by the Portugueſe. The habit
of perfons of quality is a fine filken veft, or fine cotton,
with a kind of ſcarf. The citizens have the ſame ha-
bit, only coarfer. The common people have nothing
but a pair of cotton drawers, and a ſcarf which covers
the reft of their body. The women are of a healthy
conftitution, active, and moderately handfome, having
neither flat nofes nor thick lips like the negroes; and
nature is fo friendly, that they ſtand in little need of
midwives, which is indeed the cafe of moſt countries in
the torrid zone. They appear in public as in Europe,
without being forbid the converfation of the men as
among the Mahometans. Princeffes of the royal blood
are not permitted to marry foreigners; and when they
take the air, they go in great ftate, with 400 or 500
women attendants.
women attendants. Their language is the Ethiopic,
which bears a great affinity with the Arabic; but par-
ticular provinces have a different dialect.
Manufactures are almoſt wholly wanting in this coun-
try; and the few trades which they have amongst them
are always conveyed from the father to the children.
They feem indeed by their churches, and other ruinated
places, to have had a knowledge of architecture. But
the workmen were fent for from other countries, and
were forced to do all themſelves; fo that when theſe fa-
brics were reared, eſpecially the imperial palace built
by Peter Pais, a Portugueſe architect, the people flock-
ed from all parts of Ethiopia to view it, and admired
it as a new wonder of the world.--Gold, filver, copper,
and iron, are the principal ores with which their mines
abound in this extenfive part of Africa: but not above
one third part is made ufe of by way of merchandize,
or converted into money; of which they have little or
no uſe in Abyffinia. They cut their gold indeed into
fmall pieces for the pay of their troops, and for expen-
ces of the court, which is but a modern cuſtom among
them;
ABY
[ 33 ]
ABY
1
on account of their good fervices and integrity, not Abyffinia...
only often give them their liberty, but liberally reward
them.
Into this part of the globe the admiffion of travel-
lers has been fuppofed extremely difficult, and their re-
turn from thence almoſt impracticable. A Scotch
gentleman, however, of family and fortune, James
Bruce, Efq; of Kinnaird, is known not only to have
entered that country, but to have refided in it fe-
veral years, and returned ſafe home, bringing with him
many great curiofities. Soon after his return, the fol-
lowing notice was given by the Count de Buffon in an
advertiſement prefixed to the 3d volume of his Hiſtory
of Birds: "A new aid which I have received, and
which I am anxious to announce to the public, is the
free and generous communication which I had of the
drawings and obfervations of James Bruce, Efq; of
Kinnaird, who returning from Numidia, and the inte-
rior parts of Abyffinia, ftopt in my houſe for ſeveral
days, and made me a partaker of the knowledge which
he had acquired in a tour no lefs fatiguing than ha-
zardous. It filled me with the utmoſt aſtoniſhment to
view the numerous drawings which he had made and
coloured himſelf. He poffeffes the most perfect repre-
fentations and defcriptions of the birds, fishes, plants,
edifices, monuments, drefs, arms, &c. of different na-
tions, all of them objects worthy of knowledge. No-
thing has eſcaped his curiofity, and his talents have
been proportioned to it. The English government
will without doubt take proper meaſures for the pub-
lication of his work. That refpectable nation, which
has given a lead to all others in difcoveries of every
kind, will not fail to add to its glory, by fpeedily com-
municating to the world at large, thofe of this excel-
lent traveller, who, not contented with accurate de-
fcriptions of nature, has made many important obſer-
vations on the culture of different kinds of grains; on
the navigation of the Red Sea; on the courſe of the
Nile, from its mouth to its fource, which he has been
the firft to diſcover; and on different particulars which
may be of the higheſt utility to commerce and agri-
culture: thofe great arts which are but little known
and ill cultivated; though on theſe alone the fuperio-
rity of one nation over another depends, and for ever
will depend."
Abyffinia. them; the king's gold, before the end of the 17th cen-
tury, being laid up in his treafury in ingots, with in-
tent to be never carried out, or never uſed in any thing
but veffels and trinkets for the fervice of the palace.
In the lieu of fmall money, they make uſe of rock falt
as white as fnow and as hard as ftone. This is taken
out of the mountain of Lafta, and put into the king's
warehouſes; where it is reduced into tablets of a foot
long, and three inches broad, ten of which are worth
about a French crown. When they are circulated in
trade, they are reduced into ſtill ſmaller pieces, as oc-
cafion requires. This falt is alfo applied to the fame
purpoſe as common fea-falt. With this mineral falt
they purchaſe pepper, ſpices, and filk ſtuffs, which are
brought to them by the Indians, in their ports in the
Red Sea. Cardamums, ginger, aloes, myrrh, caffia,
civet, ebony-wood, ivory, wax, honey, cotton, and li-
nens of various forts and colours, are merchandiſes
which may be had from Abyffinia; to which may be
added fugar, hemp, flax, and excellent wines, if theſe
people had the art of preparing them. It is affirmed
there are in this country the fineſt emeralds that are
any where to be found; and, though they are found
but in one place, they are there in great quantities, and
fome fo large and fo perfect as to be of almoft inefti-
mable value. The greatest part of the merchan-
difes above mentioned, are more for foreign than in-
land trade. Their domeftic commerce confifts chiefly
in falt, honey, buck-wheat, grey peafe, citrons, oran-
ges, lemons, and other provifions, with fruits and her
bage neceffary for the ſupport of life. Thoſe places
that the Abyffinian merchants frequent the moft, who
dare venture to carry their commodities by fea them-
felves, are Arabia Felix, and the Indies, particu-
larly Goa, Cambaye, Bengal, and Sumatra. With
regard to their ports on the Red Sea, to which fo-
reign merchants commonly refort, the moſt confider-
able are thofe of Mette, Azum, Zajalla, Maga, Dazo,
Patea, and Brava. The trade of the Abyffinians by
land is inconfiderable. There are, however, bands of
them who arrive yearly at Egypt, particularly at Cairo,
laden with gold duft, which they bring to barter for
the merchandiſes of that country, or of Europe, for
which they have occafion. Thefe cafilas or caravans,
if we may be allowed thus to call a body of 40 or 50
poor wretches who unite together for their mutual af-
fiftance in their journey, are commonly three or four
months on their route, traverfing forefts and moun-
tains almoſt impaffable, in order to exchange their gold
for neceffaries for their families, and return immediately
with the greateſt part of the merchandiſe on their backs.
Frequently the Jews or Egyptians give them large
credit; which may feem furprifing, as they are beyond
recourſe if they ſhould fail of payment. But experience
has ſhown, that they have never abuſed the confidence
repoſed in them; and even in the event of death, their
fellow-travellers take care of the effects of the deceaſed
for the benefit of their families, but in the firſt place
for the diſcharge of thoſe debts contracted at Cairo.-
It remains only to be obſerved, that one of the princi-
pal branches of trade of the Abyffines is that of flaves;
who are greatly eſteemed in the Indies and Arabia for
the beft, and moft faithful, of all that the other king-
doms of Africa furniſh. The Indian and Arabian mer-
chants frequently fubftitute them as their factors; and,
VOL. I. Part I.
* See the
It is much to be regretted, that after fo long an in-
terval this gentleman's diſcoveries have not yet made
their appearance. The delay has given riſe to various
fpeculations. Doubts have even been entertained con-
cerning the credibility of the reports that have tranf-
pired or been gathered from his converfation. His
honour and abilities, however, are too extenfively known.
to be affected by fuch injurious infinuations. That he "
hath great talents for the information of his readers,
appears by his differtation on the Theban harp*, which
Dr Burney hath inferted in the firſt volume of his article
Hiftory of Mufic, and in which are alſo mentioned HARP in
feveral of the Abyffinian inftruments. Mr Bruce,
tionary.
moreover, is faid to have a great facility in learning
languages, and talents for drawing; nor perhaps was
any other traveller furniſhed with ſo large and ſcientific
an apparatus of inftruments. Add to all this, that he
is poffeffed of a ſpirit and enterpriſe not eafily to be
equalled. The ſpeedy production, therefore, of ſo in-
terefting an account as he is capable of giving, of this
E
almoſt
This Dic-
1
1
ABY
[ 34 ]
ABY
country (viz. Abyffinia) from which few travellers had Abyffinia.
returned; and wifhed Mr Ruffel, or his philofophical
friends, would ſend him their defiderata, as he was en-
tirely at their fervice. Mr Bruce added, that if he
could not obtain admiffion into Abyffinia, he ftill would
do his beft in the cauſe of fcience on the eaftern coaft
Abyffinia. almoſt unfrequented part of Africa, cannot but ſtill be
earneſtly wiſhed for. In the mean time, the following
authentic anecdotes will not, it is prefumed, be unac-
ceptable, nor appear foreign to the preſent article.
Mr Bruce was appointed conful to Algiers, where
he continued till 1765 In June 1764, he requested
leave of abſence from the fecretary of ftate for the
fouthern department, in order to make fome drawings
of antiquities near Tunis.
In Mr Bruce's laſt letter from Algiers to the fame
fecretary (dated December 29. 1764), he alludes to
another leave of abfence, which he had likewife re-
queſted, that he might vifit parts of the African con-
tinent. He explains himſelf no further in this letter;
but it is believed that he proceeded confiderably to the
fouthward of Algiers, and made thofe very capital
drawings of remains of Roman architecture which
many have feen fince his return to Britain. Before
he fet out for Algiers, he informed fome of his friends,
that the making fuch excurfions for theſe intereſting
purpoſes was his principal inducement for accepting
the confulfhip.
How long he continued in Africa, the prefent writer
has not had the opportunity of procuring information;
but having intentions afterwards of vifiting Palmyra,
he was fhipwrecked on the coaft of Tunis, and plun-
dered of every thing by the barbarous inhabitants.
The most diftreffing part of the lofs was probably
that of his inftruments, fo neceffary to a fcientific tra-
veller; and though he afterwards procured fome of
thefe, yet others (particularly a quadrant) could not
be recovered. Mr Bruce, however, determining to
repair this lofs as foon as poffible from France, fo much
nearer to him than England, was fo fortunate as to
be provided with a time-piece and quadrant from that
quarter. Upon this occafion Lewis XV. preſented him
with an iron quadrant of four feet radius, as he had
probably reprefented to the academy of ſciences his
want of fuch an inftrument whilft he ſhould be in
Abyffinia: Mr Bruce brought back with him to Eng-
land this cumbrous fellow-traveller, and, having put
upon it an inſcription to the following purport, is faid
to have prefented it to the univerſity of Glafgow:
"With this inftrument, given by the king of France,
Lewis XV Mr Bruce proceeded to the fources of the
Nile, it being carried on foot, upon mens fhoulders,
over the mountains of Abyffinia.' This information
was received from that eminent maker of inftruments
Mr Nairne.
""
Where and when Mr Bruce received the French
inftruments is not known; but as he was ftill bent on
viſiting Abyffinia, he gave a commiffion to Mr W.
Ruffel, F. R. S. for a reflecting teleſcope, made by
Bird or Short; a watch with a hand to point feconds;
and the neweſt and moft complete Engliſh aftronomical
tables: all of which were to be fent to Mr Fremaux,
and forwarded to him at Alexandria before Auguft.
On the 29th of March 1768, Mr Bruce was at Sidon
on the coaſt of Syria, and wrote to Mr Ruffel from
thence for the following additional inftruments, viz. a
twelve-feet reflecting teleſcope, to be divided into pieces
of three feet, and joined with fcrews; two thermome-
ters, and two portable barometers. Mr Bruce more-
over informed Mr Ruffel, that he was going into a
of the Red Sea.
As Mr Bruce had directed the inftruments to be
ready for him at Alexandria by the beginning of Au-
guft 1768, it is probable that he reached Cairo about
that time; from whence he proceeded to Abyffinia,
by way of JEDDA, MAZAVA, and ARQUITO.
It is fuppofed that Mr Bruce did not continue long
at Jedda, as he is faid to have explored the coaſt on
the eaft fide as low as Mocha, during which drawings
were taken of many curious fish in the Red Sea. Mr
Bruce muſt alſo have entered Abyffinia, either at the
latter end of 1768, or the very beginning of 1769,
as he made an obfervation in that part of Africa on
the 15th of January of that year.
In this perilous enterprife he was accompanied by a
Greek fervant (named Michael), and an Italian painter,
who probably affifted in the numerous articles which
might deſerve repreſentation, and who died of a flux
before Mr Bruce's return to Cairo in 1773. Mr Bruce
muſt at times alfo have been affifted by many others,
as his inftruments, apparatus for drawings, and other.
neceffaries, from their weight and bulk could not be-
eafily tranſported from place to place, and perhaps re-
quired beafts of burden. To thefe likewiſe muſt be
added feveral medicines, which enabled him to perform
cures on the inhabitants, and probably occafioned the
good reception he afterwards met with.
Such other particulars as happened to Mr Bruce,
during his long refidence in this unfrequented country,
muſt be left to his own fuperior narrative; and it ſhall
fuffice, therefore, only to ftate, that he made a large
number of obfervations to fix the fituations of places,
out of which 31 have been examined and computed
by the aftronomer royal. The firft of thefe obferva-
tions was made on the 10th of January 1769, and the
laft on the 5th of October 1772, from 30 to 38 de-
grees of eaft longitude from Greenwich, and from
12 to 28 degrees of north latitude. It need fcarcely
be faid, therefore, that theſe obſervations, which in-
clude fo large an extent of almoft unknown country,.
muſt prove a moſt valuable addition to geography; and
the more fo, becauſe the Portuguefe, who firft vifited
Abyffinia, give neither longitude nor latitude of any
place in that empire; and Poncet only two latitudes,.
viz. thofe of Sennar and Giefum.
As Mr Bruce made the laft of his obfervations on
the 5th of October 1772, it is probable that he might
then be on his return to Cairo, through Nubia and
Upper Egypt, where he arrived on the 15th of Ja-
nuary 1773, after an abfence of more than four years;
bringing back with him his Greek fervant, named
Michael.
Mr Bruce continued at Cairo four months, during,
which time he had daily intercourſe with Mr Antes
the fubftance of a letter from whom will contain the
principal confutation of Baron Tott, and others, who
have been incredulous with regard to Mr Bruce's ex-
pected narrative.
Mr
A
ABY
BY
[ 35
]
Abynia,
Mr Antes was born of German parents, who were
poffeffed of lands in the back fettlements of Penfylvania;
and having fhowed early abilities as a mechanic, re-
moved to Europe, where he diſtinguiſhed himſelf in the
art of watch-making, which he learned without ap-
prenticeſhip. Being a member of the church known by
the name of Unitas Fratrum, and commonly called
Moravian, he wished to be employed in their miffions,
and more eſpecially that of the fame perfuafion efta-
bliſhed at Cairo, who always have defired to procure
opportunities of inftructing the Abyffinians.
Mr Bruce had left Cairo fifteen months before Mr
Antes came there; and the intercourſe, therefore, be-
tween them firft took place on Mr Bruce's return in
1773.
Having given this account of Mr Bruce and Mr
Antes's being firſt known to each other, we ſhall ſtate
the fubftance of fome information received from the
latter, who is now eſtabliſhed at Fulneck near Leeds,
after having refided eleven years at Cairo.
“That Mr Bruce left Cairo in 1768, and proceeded
thence by way of Jedda, Mazava, and Arquito, into
Abyffinia.
"That in 1771, a Greek came from Gondar (the
capital) in Abyffinia, who had a draught from Mr
Bruce on a French merchant at Cairo (named Roſe)
for fome hundreds of German crowns, which were paid
immediately. This draught was accompanied by a
letter from Mr Bruce, and was the firſt time that he
had been heard of at Cairo fince his departure in 1768.
"That after Mr Bruce's return to Cairo in 1773,
Mr Antes faw a young Armenian and his father (who
came likewife from Gondar) at Mr Pini's, an Italian
merchant of Cairo, where they and Mr Bruce con-
verſed in the Abyffinian language, and feemed glad to
meet him again.
"That Mr Bruce returned to Cairo from Abyffinia
by way of Nubia and Upper Egypt; which can be
fully attefted by the Francifcan friars who are cftab-
lifhed at Ifne near Afyuwan, which latter is the high-
eft town of Upper Egypt.
"That during Mr Bruce's ftay at Cairo, which was
not leſs than four months, no day paſſed without their
ſeeing each other; which gave Mr Antes frequent op-
portunities of inquiring with regard to Abyffinia, con-
cerning which he was particularly intereſted from a
reafon before ftated.
“That Mr Antes likewife frequently converfed with
Michael, Mr Bruce's Greek fervant; who is ſtated to
have by no means had a lively imagination, and who Abyffinia
always agreed with the circumftances mentioned by his
mafter, and more particularly in relation to their having
visited the fources of the Nile; which the Baron Tott
doubts of, from having had a converfation with this
fame Greek fervant.
Mr Antes adds, "That Baron Tott ftaid but a few
days at Cairo; and, from his fhort refidence in that
country, hath given feveral erroneous accounts relative
to Egypt. Mr Antes, on the other hand, had almoſt
daily converfations with Michael for ſeveral years, and
often in relation to the fources of the Nile.”
Laftly, "That after Mr Bruce left Cairo, Mr Antes
had converfed with others who had known Mr Bruce
in Abyffinia, and that he was there called Maalim Ja-
kube, or Mr James."
After this ftate of facts, it is conceived that no one
can entertain a reaſonable doubt with regard to Mr
Bruce's not only having vifited, but refided long in
Abyffinia; though it is remarkable that the Jeſuits ex-
preffed the fame doubts in relation to Poncet, who had
continued there nearly as long as Mr Bruce. Poncet
happened to be a layman; and the Jefuits, perhaps,
would not approve of any narrative that did not come
from father Benevent, who accompanied Poncet to
Abyffinia, but unfortunately died there (a).
Driven, however, from this hold, the objectors will
poffibly retain their incredulity as to many particulars
to be related.
The firſt of theſe is, the having vifited the fources
of the Nile; "which, from claffical education, we can-
not eafily believe, as they were unknown to the an-
cients, though they had fo great curiofity with regard
to this diſcovery.”
Many things, however, have been accompliſhed by
travellers in modern times, which the ancients ne-
ver could atchieve, and which may be attributed to
their want of enterpriſe (as travellers at leaſt), of lan-
guages, and laftly the not being able to procuré cre-
dit when in a diftant country. Mr Bruce could not
have continued fo long as he did in Abyffinia, unleſs he
had drawn from Gondar upon a merchant eſtabliſhed
at Cairo.
The difficulty, however, with regard to reaching
the fources of the Nile, arifes principally from the un-
civilized ſtate of Abyffinia, unleſs the traveller hath a
proper introduction (b). When once this is procured,
all difficulties feem to ceaſe, as we find by Lobo's (c)
account of this fame diſcovery, and likewiſe by Pon-
E 2
cet's
(a) It muſt be admitted, however, that we owe to the zeal of the Jefuits the beſt accounts we have both of China
and Paraguay. Few laymen have been actuated fo' ftrongly for the promotion of geography and ſcience as Mr
Bruce; and we must therefore (upon the order of Jefuits being abolished) look up chiefly to the ruffionaries from
the church of the Unitas Fratrum, who, though differing fo totally in other reſpects, feem to have an equal ardour
with the Jefuits for inftructing the inhabitants of countries unfrequented by Europeans. Such miffions are already
eſtabliſhed in Weft Greenland, the coaſt of Labrador, N. Lat. 56. the back fettlements of Carolina and Penfylvania,
in India, Bengal, and the Nicobar iflands. Thofe eſtabliſhed on the coaft of Labrador fend over yearly meteorolo-
gical journals, which are communicated to the Royal Society. As for the difpute between Poncet and Maillet the
French conful at Cairo, tee Mod. Univ. Hift. vel. 6.
(b) The profething the knowledge of medicine was Poncet's introduction, and feems to have been that of Mr Bruce.
Even in our own civilized country, how are quacks and mountebanks reforted to? And what an impreſſion
muft Mr Bruce, with his magnificent and ſcientific apparatus, have made upon the inhabitants of fuch a country as
Aby finia?
(c) In Father Telles's compilation. See alfo Ludolf, who defcribes the fources from Gregory, who was a native
of Abyffinia. Father Payz was the firſt who viſited them, A. D. 1622. His account of this is faid to be in the
archives
A BY
]
[ 36
ABY
I
Abyffinia. eet's narrative, who was prevented by illneſs from vi-
fiting the very ſpot, but hath given an ample relation
from an Abyffinian who had often been there. Pon-
cet, moreover, had obtained leave from the emperor to
make this journey, which he ſtates as not being a di-
ftant one, and that the emperor hath a palace near the
very fources.
If it be doubted whether Mr Bruce hath vifited every
fource of the Nile, it may be anſwered, that perhaps no
Engliſhman hath taken this trouble with regard to the
fources of the Thames, which, like most other great
rivers, is probably derived from many ſprings and rills
in different directions.
The other objection which we have often heard, is,
"That Mr Bruce hath mentioned in converſation,
that the Abyffinians cut a flice from the living ox,
efteeming it one of their greateft delicacies.”
This fort of dainty, indeed, is not fo confidered in
other parts of the globe; but every nation almoſt hath
its peculiarities in the choice of their food. Do not
we eat raw oyfters within a fecond of their being fepa-
rated from the fhell? And do not we roaft both them
and lobſters whilſt alive; the barbarity of which prac-
tice feems to equal that of the Abyffinians? Do not
cooks ſkin eels whilft alive? And do not epicures crimp
fish for the gratification of their appetites?
That the Abyffinians eat beef in a raw ſtate, is a-
greed both by Lobo and Poncet; and the former fays,
reeking from the beaſt. Mr Antes, moreover, was
told by a Francifcan monk, who went with the cara-
van from Abyffinia to Cairo (d), that he was witneſs to
an ox being killed, and immediately devoured by the
band of travellers.
One reaſon, perhaps, for this uſage may be, the
great heat of the climate, which will not permit meat
to be kept a fufficient time to make it tender (as with
us); and it is generally allowed, that a fowl, dreffed
immediately after it is killed, is in better order for eat-
ing than if it is kept four and twenty hours.
Is it therefore extraordinary, that an Abyffinian
epicure may really find (or perhaps fancy) that a piece
cut from the beaſt whilſt alive, may be more tender,
or have a better reliſh, than if it is previouſly killed by
the butcher? To this may be added, that according to
the information which has been received on this head,
Mr Bruce's account of this practice is much mifre-
preſented by the objector's, who fuppofe that the ox
lives a confiderable time after theſe pieces are cut from
it. When thefe dainty bits, however, have been fent
to the great man's table (and which are probably taken
from the fleſhy parts), the beaſt ſoon afterwards expires,
when the firſt artery is cut in providing flices for the
numerous attendants.
Upon the whole, the not giving credit to a traveller,
becauſe he mentions an ufage which is very different
from ours (and is undoubtedly very barbarous, feems
rather to argue ignorance than acuteneſs.
This brings to recollection the incredulity which
was ſhown to another diftinguifhed traveller, Dr Shaw; Abyffinia,
who having mentioned, in an Oxford common room, that abyffinian
fome of the Algerines were fond of lion's fleſh, never could
obtain any credit afterwards from his brother-fellows
of the fame college, though many of them were learn-
ed men. It is well known, however, though Dr Shaw
ftates this fame circumftance in the publication of his
travels, that he is cited with the greateſt approbation
in almoſt every part of Europe. Sir William Temple
fomewhere mentions, that a Dutch governor of Bata-
via, who lived much with one of the moft confiderable
inhabitants of Java, could never obtain any credit from
him after having mentioned that in Holland water
became a folid body. The traveller who firſt faw a
flying fish probably told every one of this extraordina
ry circumftance as foon as he fet his foot on fhore, and
was probably difcredited with regard to the other par-
ticulars of his voyage.
The natural caufe and progrefs of the incredulity
which a traveller generally experiences, feems to be the
following: When he returns from a diftant and little
frequented country, every one is impatient to hear his
narrative; from which, of courfe, he felects the more
ftriking parts, and particularly the ufages which differ
moft from our own. Some of the audience difbelieving
what the traveller hath mentioned, put queftions to
him which ſhow their diftruft. The traveller by this
treatment becomes irritated, and anſwers fome of them
peevishly, others ironically, of which the interrogators
afterwards take advantage to his prejudice. Nothing
is more irritating to an ingenuous perfon than to find
his affertions are difbelieved. This is commonly ex-
perienced in the crofs examinations of almoft every
witnefs. To the diftreffes of the traveller on his re-
turn, we may add, the being often teaſed by very ig.
norant queftions.
ABYSSINIAN, in ecclefiaftical hiftory, is ufed
as the name of a fect, or herefy, in the Chriſtian
church, eſtabliſhed in the empire of Abyffinia. The
Abyffinians are a branch of the Copts or Jacobites;
with whom they agree in admitting but one nature in
Jefus Chrift, and rejecting the council of Chalcedon :
whence they are alfo called Eutychians, and ftand
oppofed to the Melchites. They are only diftin-
guifhed from the Copts, and other fects of Jacobites,
by fome peculiar national ufages.-The Abyffinian fect
or church is governed by a bishop or metropolitan
ftyled Abuna, fent them by the Coptic patriarch of
Alexandria refiding at Cairo, who is the only perfon
that ordains priefts. The next dignity is that of Ko-
mos, or Hegumenas, who is a kind of arch-preſbyter.
They have canons alfo, and monks: the former of
whom marry; the latter, at their admiffion,. vow celi-
bacy, but with a reſervation: thefe, it is ſaid, make a
promife aloud, before their fuperior, to keep chaſtity;
but add, in a low voice, as you keep it. The emperor
has a kind of fupremacy in ecclefiaftical matters. He
alone takes cogniſance of all ecclefiaftical cauſes, except
fome
archives of the College de propaganda fide at Rome. It is believed that there are many other curious particulars
for the illuſtration of geography to be found in the fame depofitory. Dr Shaw mentions, moreover, fome papers of
Lippi (who accompanied the French embaffy into Abyffinia, A. D. 1704), which are to be found in the botanical
library at Oxford.
(d) This points out another channel by which a traveller of enterpriſe may vifit Abyffinia.
A CA
[
A CA
37 ]
Acacalotl.
Abyffinian föme ſmaller ones reſerved to the judges; and confers
11 all benefices, except that of Abuna.-The Abyffinians
have at different times expreffed an inclination to be
reconciled to the fee of Rome; but rather out of
intereſt of ſtate than any other motive. The emperor
David, or the queen regent on his behalf, wrote a
letter on this head to pope Clement VII. full of fub-
miffion, and demanding a patriarch from Rome to
be inftructed by: which being complied with, he
publicly abjured the doctrine of Eutychius and Digf-
corus in 1626, and allowed the fupremacy of the pope.
Under the emperor Seltan Seghed all was undone again;
the Romish miffionaries fettled there had their churches
taken from them, and their new converts baniſhed or
put to death. The congregation de propaganda have
made ſeveral attempts to revive the miffion, but to lit-
tle purpoſe.-The doctrines and ritual of this ſectary
form a ſtrange compound of Judaifm, Chriſtianity, and
fuperftition. They practife circumcifion; and are faid
to extend the practice to the females as well as males :
They obferve both Saturday and Sunday fabbaths:
they eat no meats prohibited by the law of Mofes :
women are obliged to the legal purifications: and bro-
thers marry their brothers wives, &c. On the other
hand, they celebrate the epiphany with peculiar fefti-
vity, in memory of Chrift's baptifm; when they plunge
and ſport in ponds and rivers; which has occafioned
fome to affirm that they were baptized anew every
year. Among the faints-days is one confecrated to Pi-
late and his wife; by reafon Pilate waſhed his hands
before he pronounced fentence on Chrift, and his wife
defired him to have nothing to do with the blood of
that juſt perfon. They have four lents: the great one
commences ten days earlier than ours, and is obferved
with much ſeverity, many abftaining therein even from
fish, becauſe St Paul fays there is one kind of flesh of
men, and another of fishes. They allow of divorce,
which is eaſily granted among them, and by the civil
judge; nor do their civil laws prohibit polygamy it-
felf. They have at leaſt as many miracles and legends
of faints as the Romish church; which proved no ſmall
embarraſſment to the Jefuit miffionaries, to whom they
produced fo many miracles, wrought by their faints,
in proof of their religion, and thofe fo well circum-
Lantiated and attefted, that the Jefuits were obliged to
deny miracles to be any proof of a true religion; and
in proof hereof, to allege the fame arguments againſt
the Abyffinians which Proteftants in Europe allege a-
gainſt Papiſts. They pray for the dead, and invoke
faints and angels; have fo great a veneration for the
virgin, that they charged the Jefuits with not render-
ing her honour enough. Images in painting they ve-
nerate; but abhor all thoſe in relievo, except the croſs.
They hold that the foul of man is not created; be-
cauſe, fay they, God finiſhed all his work on the fixth
day. They admit the apocryphal books, and the ca-
nons of the apoftles, as well as the apoftolical conftitu-
tions, for genuine. Their liturgy is given by Alvarez,
and in English by Pagit.
ACA, ACE, or ACON, a town of Phoenicia, on the
Mediterranean; afterwards called Ptolemais; now Acre.
See ACRE.
ACACALOTL, the Brafilian name of a bird called
By fome corvus aquaticus, or the water raven: proper-
ly, the pelicanus carbo, or corvorant. See PELICANUS,
•
ACACIA, EGYPTIAN THORN, or BINDING BEAN- Acacía.
TREE, in botany, a ſpecies of Mimofa, according to
Linnæus; though other botaniſts make it a diſtinct ge-
nus. See MIMOSA.
The flowers of a ſpecies of the acacia are uſed by
the Chineſe in making that yellow which we fee bears
waſhing in their filks and ftuffs, and appears with fo
much elegance in their painting on paper. The me-
thod is this:
They gather the flowers before they are fully open;
theſe they put into a clean earthen veffel, over a gentle
heat, and ſtir them continually about, as they do the
tea leaves, till they become dryish and of a yellow co-
lour; then to half a pound of the flowers they add
three fpoonfuls of fair water, and after that a little
more, till there is just enough to hold the flowers in-
corporated together: they boil this for fome time, and
the juice of the flowers mixing with the water, it be-
comes thick and yellow; they then take it from the
fire, and ſtrain it through a piece of coarſe filk. To
the liquor they add half an ounce of common alum,
and an ounce of calcined oyfter-fhells reduced to a fine
powder. All is then well mixed together; and this is
the fine lafting yellow they have fo long uſed.
The dyers of large pieces ufe the flowers and feeds
of the acacia for dying three different forts of yellow.
They roaft the flowers, as before obferved; and then
mix the feeds with them, which muſt be gathered
for this purpofe when full ripe: by different admixture
of thefe, they give the different fhades of colour, only
for the deepeſt of all they give a ſmall mixture of Bra-
zil wood.
Mr Geoffroy attributes the origin of bezoar to the-
feeds of this plant; which being brouſed by certain
animals, and vellicating the ftomach by their great
fournefs and aftringency, caufe a condenfation of the
juices, till at length they become coated over with a
ftony matter, which we call Bezoar..
Falfe ACACIA. See ROBINIA.
Three thorned ACACIA, or Honey-locuft. See GLE-
DISTIA.
ACACIA, in the Materia Medica, the infpiffated juice
of the unripe fruit of the MIMOSA Nilotica.
This juice is brought to us from Egypt, in roundiſh
mafhes, wrapt up in thin bladders. It is outwardly of
a deep brown colour, inclining to black; inwardly of
a reddiſh or yellowish brown; of a firm confiſtence, but
not very dry. It foon foftens in the mouth, and dif--
covers a rough, not difagreeable tafte, which is follow-
ed by a fweetiſh reliſh. This infpiffated juice entirely
diffolves in watery liquors; but is fcarce fenfibly acted.
on by rectified ſpirit.
Acacia is a mild aftringent medicine. The Egyp-
tians give it in fpitting of blood, in the quantity of a
dram, diffolved in any convenient liquor; and repeat
this dofe occafionally they likewiſe employ it in col-
lyria for ftrengthening the eyes, and in gargariſms for
quinfeys.. Among us, it is little otherwife ufed than
as an ingredient in mithridate and theriaca, and is rare--
ly met with in the fhops. What is ufually fold for the
Egyptian acacia, is the infpiffated juice of unripe floes:
this is harder, heavier, of a darker colour, and fome-
what fharper tafte, than the true fort. See the next:
article.
German Acacia, the juice of unripe floes infpiffated.
nearly
}
A CA
I 38
A CA
]
Academics.
Acacia nearly to drinefs over a gentle fire, care being taken
to prevent its burning. It is moderately aftringent,
fimilar to the Egyptian acacia, for which it has been
commonly fubftituted in the fhops. It is given in
fluxes, and other diſorders where flyptic medicines are
indicated, from a fcruple to a dram.
ACACIA, among antiquaries fomething refembling a
roll or bag, feen on medals, as in the hands of feveral
confuls and emperors.
Some take it to repreſent a
handkerchief rolled up, wherewith they made fignals at
the games; others, a roll of petitions or memorials ;
and fome, a purple bag full of earth, to remind them
of their mortality.
ACACIANS, in ecclefiaftical hiftory, the name of
feveral fects of heretics; fome of which maintained,
that the Son was only a fimilar, not the ſame, ſubſtance
with the Father; and others, that he was not only a
diſtinct, but a diffimilar, ſubſtance. Two of theſe ſects
had their denomination from Acacius biſhop of Cæfa-
rca, who lived in the fourth century, and changed his
opinions, fo as, at different times, to be head of both.
Another was named from Acacius patriarch of Con-
ftantinople, who lived in the cloſe of the fifth cen-
tury.
ACACIUS, firnamed Luscus, becauſe he was blind
of one eye, was biſhop of Cæfarea in Paleſtine, and fac-
ceeded the famous Eufebius: he had a great ſhare in
the banishment of pope Liberius, and bringing Felix to
the fee of Rome. He gave name to a fect, and died
about the year 365. He wrote the life of Eufebius,
and feveral other works.
ACACIUS (St.), biſhop of Amida, in Mefopotamia, in
420, was diftinguiſhed by his piety and charity. He
fold the plate belonging to his church, to redeem fe-
ven thouſand Perfian flaves who were ready to die with
want and mifery; and giving each of them fome mo-
ney, fent them home. Veranius, their king, was ſo af-
fected with this noble inftance of benevolence, that he
defired to ſee the bishop; and this interview procured
a peace between that prince and Theodofius I.
There have been ſeveral other eminent perfons of the
fame name; particularly, A martyr under the emperor
Decius: A patriarch of Antioch, who fucceeded Bafil
in 458, and died in 459: A biſhop of Miletum in the
fifth century: A famous rhetorician in the reign of the
emperor Julian : and, A patriarch of Conftantinople in
the fifth century; who was ambitious to draw the whole
power and authority of Rome by degrees to Conftan-
tinople, for which he was delivered over iretrievably
to the devil by pope Felix III.
ACAD, or ACHAD (anc. geog.), the town in which
Nimrod reigned, called Archad by the feventy; fitua
ted in Babylonia, to the eastward of the Tigris.
ACADEMICIAN, or ACADEMIST, a member of
an academy. See ACADEMY in the modern fenſe.
ACADEMICS, or ACADEMISTs, a denomination
given to the cultivators of a fpecies of philofophy ori-
ginally derived from Socrates, and afterwards illu-
rated and enforced by Plato, who taught in a grove
ncar Athens, confecrated to the memory of Academus,
an Athenian hero; from which circumftance this phi-
loſophy received the name of academical. Before the
days of Plato, philofophy had in a great meafure
fallen into contempt. The contradictory fyftems and
hypothefes which had fuccefsfully been urged upon the
CC
Academy.
world were become fo numerous, that, from a view Academics
of this inconftancy and uncertainty of human opinions,
many were led to conclude, that truth lay beyond the
reach of our comprehenfion. Abfolute and univerfal
fcepticiſm was the natural confequence of this conclu-
fion. In order to remedy this abuſe of philofophy
and of the human faculties, Plato laid hold of the
principles of the academical philofophy; and, in his
Phædo, reaſons in the following manner.
"If we are
"unable to diſcover truth (fays he), it muſt be owing
to two circumſtances: either there is no truth in
"the nature of things; or the mind, from a defect
"in its powers, is not able to apprehend it. Upon
"the latter fuppofition, all the uncertainty and fluc-
"tuation in the opinions and judgments of mankind
"admit of an eafy folution: Let us therefore be mo-
"deft, -and afcribe our errors to the real weakneſs
"of our own minds, and not to the nature of things
"themfelves. Truth is often difficult of acceſs: in
"order to come at it, we muft proceed with caution
"and diffidence, carefully examining every ftep; and,
"after all our labour, we will frequently find our great-
"eft efforts diſappointed, and be obliged to confefs our
ignorance and weaknefs."
Labour and caution in their reſearches, in oppofi-
tion to rafh and hafty decifions, were the diſtinguiſhing
characteriſtics of the difciples of the ancient academy.
A philofopher, poffeffed of theſe principles, will be
flow in his progrefs; but will feldom fall into errors,
or have occafion to alter his opinion after it is once
formed. Vanity and precipitance are the great fourees
of fcepticiſm: hurried on by theſe, inſtead of attending
to the cool and deliberate principles recommended by
the academy, feveral of our modern philofophers have
plunged themſelves into an abfurd and ridiculous kind
of fcepticifm. They pretend to difcredit fubjects that
are plain, fimple, and eafily comprehended; but givé
peremptory and decifive judgments upon things that
evidently exceed the limits of our capacity. Of theſe,
Berkley and Hume are the moſt confiderable. Berkley
denied the existence of every thing, excepting his own
ideas. Mr Hume has gone a step further, and queſtioned
even the exiſtence of ideas; but at the fame time has
not heſitated to give determined opinions with regard
to eternity, providence, and a future ftate, miraculous
interpofitions of the Deity, &c. fubjects far above the
reach of our faculties. In his effay on the academical
or ſceptical philofophy, he has confounded two very
oppofite ſpecies of philofophy. After the days of Plato,
indeed, the principles of the firft academy were grofsly
corrupted by Arcefilas, Carneades, &c. This might
lead Mr Hume into the notion that the academical and
Sceptical philofophy were fynonymous terms. But no
principles can be of a more oppofite nature than thoſe
which were inculcated by the old academy of Socrates
and Plato, and the ſceptical notions which were propa-
gated by Arcefilas, Carneades, and the other difciples
of the fucceeding academies.
ACADEMY, in antiquity, a garden, villa, or grove,
fituated within a mile of Athens, where Plato and his
followers held their philofophical conferences. It took
its name from one Academus, or Ecademus, who was
the original owner of it, and made it a kind of gymna-
fium: he lived in the time of Thefeus; and, after his
death, it retained his name, and was confecrated to
his
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I 39 I
Academics. his memory.
Cimon embelliſhed it with fountains,
trees, and walks; but Sylla, during the fiege of Athens,
employed theſe very trees in making battering engines
against the city. Cicero too had his villa, or place of
retirement, near Puzzuoli, which he alfo named an aca-
demy, where he compofed his Academical queftions, and
his book De natura deorum:
ACADEMY, among the moderns, is moft commonly
uſed to fignify a SOCIETY of learned men, eſtabliſhed
for the improvement of any art or ſcience, and gene-
rally under the protection of a prince.
·
The firft Academy we read of, was eſtabliſhed by
Charlemagne, at the inftigation of ALCUIN. It was
compofed of the chief wits of the court, the emperor
himſelf being a member. In their academical con-
ferences, every perfon was to give an account of what
ancient authors he had read; and each even affumed
the name of ſome ancient author who pleaſed him moft,
or fome celebrated perſon of antiquity. Alcuin, from
whoſe letters we learn thefe particulars, took that of
Flaccus, the furname of Horace: a young lord, named
Augilbert, took that of Homer: Adelard, biſhop of
Corbie, was called Auguftin: Riculfe, biſhop of Mentz,
was Dametas, and the king himſelf, David. This
ſhows the miſtake of fome modern writers, who re-
late, that it was in conformity with the genius of the
learned men of thofe times, who were great admirers
of Roman names, that Alcuin took the name of Flac-
cus Albinus.
Moft nations have now their academies; but Italy
has the greatest number. The French have many
flouriſhing academies, moft of which were eſtabliſhed
by Lewis XIV. We have but few in Britain; and
thofe of chiefeft note go by a different name. See the
article SOCIETY.
In giving an account of the principal Academies, it
feems moft proper to arrange them according to their
fubjects.
I. MEDICAL Academies, as that of the Nature Cu-
riofi in Germany; that founded at Palermo in 1645;
another at Venice in 1701, which meets weekly in a
hall near the grand hoſpital; another at Geneva in
1715, in the houſe of M. Le Clerc. The colleges of
phyficians at London and Edinburgh are alſo, by fome,
ranked in the number of Academies.
The Academy of Nature Curiofi, called alfo the
Leopoldine Academy, was founded in 1652. by Jo..
Laur. Baufchius, a phyſician; who, in imitation of the
Engliſh, published an invitation to all phyficians to
communicate their extraordinary cafes; and, meeting
with fuccefs, was elected prefident. Their works were
at firſt publiſhed ſeparately; but in 1670 a new ſcheme
was laid for publiſhing a volume of obfervations every
year. The firſt volume appeared in 1684, under the
title of Ephemerides, and the work has been continued
with fome interruptions and variations of the title, &c.
In 687, the emperor Leopold took the fociety under
his protection, granting the members feveral privileges,
particularly that their prefidents ſhould be counts pa-
latine of the holy Roman empire. This academy has
no fixed refidence, nor regular affemblies: inftead of
theſe, there is a kind of bureau, or office, firſt eſtabliſh-
ed at Breſlau, and afterwards removed to Nuremberg,
where letters, obſervations, &c. from correfpondents
or members are taken in. The academy confifts of a
'
3:
prefident, two adjuncts or ſecretaries, and colleagues or Academies.
members without reftriction. The colleagues, at their
admiffion, oblige themſelves to two things: firft, to chooſe
fome fubject out of the animal, vegetable, or mineral
kingdom, to handle, provided it had not been treated
of by any colleague before; the ſecond, to apply them-
felves to furnish materials for the Annual Ephemerides.
Each member to bear a fymbol of the academy; viz.
a gold ring; whereon, instead of a ftone, is a book
open, and, on the face thereof, an eye; on the other
fide the motto of the academy, Nunquam otiofus.
II. CHIRURGICAL Academies; as that inftituted fome
years ago, by public authority, at Paris: the mem-
bers of which were not only to publiſh their own and
correfpondents obfervations and improvements; but to
give an account of all that is publiſhed on furgery, and
to compoſe a complete hiftory of the art, by their
extracts from all the authors ancient and modern who
have wrote on it. A queſtion in furgery is annually
propofed by the academy, and a gold medal of 200
livres value given to him who furniſhes the moſt ſatis-
factory anfwer..
Academy of Surgery at Vienna, was inftituted fome
years ago by the prefent emperor, under the direction-
of the celebrated Brambilla. In this there were at
first only two profeffors; and to their charge the in-
ftruction of 130 young men was committed, 30 of
whom had formerly been furgeons in the army. But
of late the number both of the teachers and pupils
has been confiderably increaſed. Gabrieli has been
appointed to teach pathology and practice; Boecking,
anatomy, phyfiology, and phyfics; Streit, medical and
pharmaceutical furgery; Hunezowfky, furgical opera-
tions, midwifery, and the chirurgia forenfis ; and Plenk,
chemiſtry and botany. To theſe alſo has been added,
Beindl, as profector and extraordinary profeffor of
furgery and anatomy. Beſides this, the emperor, with
his ufual liberality, has provided a large and fplendid:
edifice in Vienna, which affords habitation both for the
teachers, the ftudents, pregnant women, patients for
clinical lectures, and fervants. He has alfo purchaſed.
for the ufe of this academy a medical library, which
is open every day; a complete fet of chirurgical inftru--
ments;. an apparatus for experiments in natural philo--
fophy; a collection of natural hiftory; a number of
anatomical and pathological preparations; a collection
of preparations in wax brought from Florence; and a
variety of other ufeful articles. Adjoining to the
building alfo there is a good botanical garden.
Among other parts of this inftitution, three prize--
medals, each of the value of 40 florins, are to be an-
nually beftowed on thoſe ſtudents who return the beft.
anfwer to queſtions propofed the year before. Thefe
prizes are not entirely founded by the emperor, but.
are in part owing to the liberality of. Brendellius, the
protochirurgus at Vienna..
III. ECCLESIASTICAL Academies ; as that at Bologna
in Italy, inftituted in 1687, employed in the examina
tion of the doctrine, difcipline, and hiftory, of each-
age of the church.
IV. (OSMOGRAPHICAL Academies; as that at Ve-
nice, called the Argonauts. This was inftituted at the
folicitation of F. Coronelli, for the improvement of
geographical knowledge. Its defign was to publiſh
exact maps, both celeftial and terreftrial, as well par
ticular
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[
ACA
]
40
!
1
Academy. ticular as general, together with geographical, hiftori-
cal, and aſtronomical defcriptions. Each member, in
order to defray the expence of ſuch a publication, was
to ſubſcribe a proportional fum, for which they were
to receive one or more copies of each piece publiſhed.
For this end three focieties are fettled; one under F.
Moro, provincial of the Minorities in Hungary; ano-
ther under the abbot Laurence au Ruy Payenne au
Marais; the third under F. Baldigiani, Jefuit, profef-
for of mathematics in the Roman college. The device
of this academy is the terraqueous globe, with the
motto Plus ultra; and at its expence all the globes,
maps, and geographical writings, of F. Coronelli have
been publiſhed.
V. Academies of SCIENCES.-Thefe comprehend fuch
as are erected for improving natural and mathematical
knowledge. They are otherwife called Philofophical
End Phyfical academies.
The firſt of theſe was inſtituted at Naples, about the
year 1560, in the houſe of Baptiſta Porta. It was call-
ed the Academy Secretorum Nature; and was fuc-
ceeded by the Academy of Lyncei, founded at Rome by
Prince Frederic Cefi, towards the end of that century.
Several of the members of this academy rendered it fa-
mous by their diſcoveries; among thefe was the cele-
brated Galileo. Several other academies were inftituted
about that time, which contributed greatly to the ad-
vancement of the ſciences; but none of them compa-
rable to that of the Lyncei.
Sne years after the death of Toricelli, the Academy
ento made its appearance, under the protection
nce Leopold, afterwards Cardinal de Medicis.
k was one of its chief members; and the ftudies
purtud by the reft may be collected from thoſe curi-
ous experiments publiſhed in 1667, by their fecretary
Count Laurence Magulotti, under the title of Saggi di
Naturali Esperienze, a copy of which was prefented
to the Royal Society, tranflated into English by Mr
Waller, and publiſhed at London in 4to.
The Academy degl' Inquieti, afterwards incorporated
into that of Della Tracia in the fame city, followed the
example of that of Del Cimento. Some excellent dif-
courfes on phyfical and mathematical fubjects, by Ge-
miniano Montenari, one of the chief members, were
publiſhed in 1667, under the title of Perfieri Fifico
Matematici.
The Academy of Roſſano, in the kingdom of Naples,
was originally an academy of Belles Lettres, founded
in 1540, and transformed into an Academy of Sciences
in 1695 at the folicitation of the learned abbot Don
Giacinto Gimma; who being made prefident, under
the title of Promoter General thereof, gave them a
new ſet of regulations. He divided the academifts
into the following claffes: Grammarians, Rhetoricians,
Poets, Hiftorians, Philofophers, Phyficians, Mathema-
ticians, Lawyers, and Divines, with a claſs apart for
Cardinals and perfons of quality. To be admitted a
member, a man muſt have ſome degrees in the faculty.
The members are not allowed to take the title of Aca-
demifts in the beginning of their books, without a
written permiffion from their prefident, which is not
not
granted till the work has been examined by the cen-
fors of the academy; and the permiffion is the greateft
honour the academy can confer, as they thereby adopt
the work, and are anfwerable for it againſt all criti-
N° 1,
2
ciſms that may be made upon it. To this law the Academy.
prefident or promoter himſelf is ſubject; and no aca-
demift is allowed to publiſh any thing againſt the wri-
tings of another without leave from the fociety.
Several other Academies of Sciences have been
founded in Italy; but, for want of being fupported by
princes, did not continue long. The lofs of them, how-
ever, was abundantly repaired by the inftitution of
others ftill fubfifting; fuch as, the Academy of Filarmo-
nici at Verona; of Ricovatri at Padua, where a learned
difcourfe on the origin of ſprings was delivered by
Sig. Vallifnieri, firft profeffor of phyfic in the univer
fity of that city, and which was afterwards_printed.
To the Academy of the Muti de Reggio, at Modena,
the fame Sig. Vallifnieri prefented an excellent difcourfe
on the ſcale of created beings, fince inſerted in his hi-
ftory of the generation of man and animals printed at
Venice in the year 1721.
F. Merfenne is faid to have given the firft idea of a
philofophical academy in France, towards the begin-
ning of the 17th century, by the conferences of natu-
ralifts and mathematicians occafionally held at his
lodgings; at which Gaffendi, Des Cartes, Hobbes,
Roberval, Pafcal, Blondel, and others affifted. F. Mer-
fenne propoſed to each certain problems to examine, or
certain experiments to be made. Theſe private affem-
blies were fucceeded by more public ones, formed by
Mr Montmort, and Mr.Thevenot the celebrated tra-
veller. The French example animated feveral Engliſh-
men of diftinction and learning to erect a kind of
philofophical academy at Oxford, towards the clofe of
Oliver Cromwell's adminiſtration; which, after the Re-
ftoration, was erected into a Royal Society. See So-
CIETY. The Engliſh example, in its turn, animated the
French. Lewis XIV. in 1666, affifted by the counfels of
Mr Colbert, founded an academy of fciences at Paris,
with a fufficient revenue to defray the charge of ex-
periments, and falaries to the members.
Royal Academy of Sciences. After the peace of the
Pyrenees, Lewis XIV. being defirous of eſtabliſhing
the arts, fciences, and literature, upon a folid founda-
tion, directed M. Colbert to form a fociety of men of
known abilities and experience in the different branches,
who fhould meet together under the king's protection,
and communicate their refpective diſcoveries. Ac-
cordingly Mr Colbert, having conferred with thoſe
who were at that time moft celebrated for their learn-
ing, refolved to form a fociety of ſuch perſons as were
converfant in natural philofophy and mathematics, to
join to them other perfons ſkilled in hiſtory and other
branches of erudition, along with thoſe who were en-
tirely engaged in what are called the Belles Lettres,
grammar, eloquence, and poetry. The geometricians
and natural philofophers were ordered to meet on Tueſ
days and Saturdays, in a great hall of the king's li-
brary, where the books of mathematics and natural
philofophy were contained; the learned in hiftory to
affemble on Mondays and Thurſdays, in the hall where
the books of hiſtory were contained; and the claſs of
Belles Lettres to affemble on Wedneſdays and Fridays.
All the different claffes were likewife ordered to meet
together upon the firft Thurſday of every month; and,
by their refpective fecretaries, make a report of the
proceedings of the foregoing month.
In a fhort time, however, the claffes of Hiftory,
Belles
·
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[ 41 ]
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Academies. Belles Lettres, &c. were united to the French Academy,
which was originally inftituted for the improvement and
refining the French language; fo that the royal Aca-
demy contained only two claffes, viz. that of natural
philofophy and mathematics.
1
}
In the 1696, the king, by a proclamation dated the
26th of January, gave this Academy a new form, and
put it upon a more refpectable footing.—It was now
to be compofed of four kinds of members, viz. hono-
rary, penfionary affociates, and eleves. Theſe laft were
a kind of pupils, or ſcholars, each of whom was attach-
ed to one of the penfionaries. The firſt claſs to contain
ten perfons, and each of the reft twenty. The hono-
rary academifts to be all inhabitants of France; the
penfionaries all to refide at Paris; eight of the affociates
allowed to be foreigners; and the eleves all to live at
Paris. The officers to be, a prefident named by the
king, out of the clafs of honorary academifts and a
fecretary and treaſurer to be perpetual. Of the pen-
fionaries, three to be geometricians, three aftronomers,
three mechanics, three anatomiſts, three chemiſts, three
botanists, and the remaining two to be fecretary and
treaſurer. Of the twelve affociates, two to apply them-
ſelves to geometry, two to botany, and two to chemi-
ftry. The eleves to apply themſelves to the fame kind
of ſcience with the penfionaries they were attached to;
and not to ſpeak, except when called by the prefident.
No regular or religious to be admitted, except into the
clafs of honorary academifts; nor any perſon to be ad-
mitted either for affociate or penfionary, unleſs known
by fome confiderable printed work, fome machine, or
other diſcovery. The affemblies were held on Wed
neſdays and Saturdays, unleſs either of them happened
to be a holiday, and then the aſſembly was held on the
preceding day. To encourage the members to purfue
their labours, the king engaged not only to pay the or-
dinary penſions, but even to give extraordinary grati-
fications, according to the merit of their refpective per-
formances; furniſhing withal the expence of the expe-
riments and other inquiries neceffary to be made. If
any member gave in a bill of charges of experiments
he had made, or defired the printing of any book, and
brought in the charges of graving, the money was im-
mediately paid by the king, upon the prefident's al-
lowing and figning the bill. So, if an anatomift re-
quired live tortoifes, for inftance, for making experi-
ments about the heart, &c. as many as he pleaſed were
brought him at the king's charge. Their motto was,
Invenit et perfecit.
In the year 1716, the duke of Orleans, then regent,
made an alteration in their conftitution; augmenting
the number of honoraries, and of affociates capable of
being foreigners, to 12; admitting regulars among
fuch affociates; and fuppreffing the clafs of eleves, as
it appeared to be attended with fome inconveniences,
particularly that of making too great an inequality
among the academifts, and being productive of fome
miſunderſtandings and animofities among the members.
At the fame time he created other two claffes; one con-
fiſting of 12 adjuncts, who, as well as the affociates,
were allowed a deliberative voice in matters relative to
ſcience; and the other fix free affociates, who were not
attached to any particular ſcience, nor obliged to pur-
fue any particular work.
Since its re-eſtabliſhment in 1699, this academy has
VOL. I.
been very exact in publiſhing, every year, a volume con- Academics,
taining either the works of its own members, or fuch
memoirs as have been compofed and read to the aca-
demy during the courfe of that year. To each volume
is prefixed the hiftory of the academy, or an extract
of the memoirs, and, in general, of whatever has been
read or faid in the academy; at the end of the hiſtory,
are the eulogiums on fuch academifts as have died that
year.-M. Rouille de Meflay, counſellor to the parlia-
ment of Paris, founded two prizes, one of 2500, and
the other of 2000 livres, which are alternately diſtri
buted by the parliament every year; the ſubject for
the firft muſt relate to phyſical aſtronomy, and thoſe for
the latter to navigation and commerce.
Notwithstanding the advantages which the members
of this academy enjoy over others, in having their
expences defrayed, and even being paid for their time
and attendance, they have fallen under fome imputa-
tions, particularly that of plagiarism, or borrowing
their neighbours inventions; but with what juſtice we
do not fay.
The French have alfo confiderable academies in moſt
of their great cities: as, at Montpelier, a royal aca-
demy of fciences on the like footing as that at Paris,
being as it were a counter part thereof; at Thoulouſe,
an academy under the denomination of Lanterniſts;
others at Nifmes, Arles, Lyons, Dijon, Bourdeaux,
&c.
The Royal Academy of Sciences at Berlin was founded
in 1700, by Frederic II. king of Pruffia, on the model
of that of England; excepting that, befides natural know-
ledge, it likewife comprehends the Belles Lettres. In
1710, it was ordained that the preſident ſhall be one of
the counfellors of ſtate, and nominated by the king.
The members were divided into four claffes; the firſt
for profecuting phyfics, medicine, and chemiſtry; the
fecond for mathematics, aftronomy, and mechanics;
the third for the German language and the hiſtory of
the country; the fourth for oriental learning, particu
larly as it may concern the propagation of the goſpel
among infidels. Each clafs to elect a director for
themſelves, who ſhall hold his poft for life. The mem-
bers of any of the claffes have free admiffion into the
affemblies of any of the reſt.
The great promoter of this inftitution was the cele
brated Mr Leibnitz, who accordingly was made the
first director. The firft volume of their tranfactions
was publiſhed in 1710, under the title of Mifcellanea
Berolinenfia; and though they received but few marks
of the royal favour for fome time, they continued to
publifh new volumes in 1723, 1727, 1734, and 1740.
At laft, however, Frederic III. the late king of Pruf-
fia, gave new vigour to this academy, by inviting to
Berlin fuch foreigners as were moft diftinguished for
their merit in literature, and encouraged his fubjects to
profecute the ſtudy and cultivation of the fciences by
giving ample rewards; and thinking that the academy,
which till that time had had fome minifter or opulent
nobleman for its prefident, would find an advantage in
having a man of letters at its head, he conferred that
honour on M. Maupertuis. At the fame time, he gave
a new regulation to the academy, and took upon him-
felf the title of its protector.
The academiſts hold two public affemblies annually;
one in January, on the late king's birth-day; and the
other
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Academies, other in May, on the day of his acceffion to the throne.
At the latter of theſe is given, as a prize, a gold me-
dal of 50 ducats value: the fubject for this prize is
fucceffively, natural philofophy, mathematics, meta-
phyfics, and erudition.
The Imperial Academy of Sciences at Petersburgh
was projected by Czar Peter the Great. That great
monarch having, during his travels, obferved the ad-
vantage of public focieties for the encouragement and
promotion of literature, formed the defign of founding
an academy of ſciences at St Peterſburgh. By the ad-
vice of Wolf and Leibnitz, whom he confulted on this
occafion, the fociety was regulated, and ſeveral learned
foreigners were invited to become members. Peter
himfelf drew the plan, and figned it on the 10th of
February 1724; but was prevented, by the fuddenneſs
of his death, from carrying it into execution. His de-
ceaſe, however, did not prevent its completion: for on
the 21ft of December 1725, Catharine I. eſtabliſhed
it according to Peter's plan; and on the 27th of the
fame month the fociety was firſt aſſembled. On the
1st of Auguſt 1726, Catharine honoured the meeting
with her preſence, when profeffor Bulfinger, a German
naturalift of great eminence, pronounced an oration
apon the advances made by the loadſtone and needle
for the difcovery of the longitude.
The emprefs fettled a fund of 4982 1. per annum for
the fupport of the academy; and fifteen members, all
eminent for their learning and talents, were admitted
and penfioned, under the title of Profeffors, in the va-
rious branches of literature and ſcience. The moſt dif-
tinguifhed of thefe profeffors were Nicholas and Da-
niel Bernoulli, the two De Lifles, Bulfinger, and
Wolf.
During the fhort reign of Peter II. the falaries of
the members were difcontinued, and the academy was
utterly neglected by the court; but it was again pa-
tronized by the emprefs Anne, who even added a fe-
minary for the education of youth, under the fuperin-
tendance of the profeffors. Both inftitutions flouriſhed
for fome time under the direction of Baron Korf; but
upon his death, towards the latter end of Anne's reign,
an ignorant perſon being appointed prefident, many of
the moſt able members quitted Ruffia. At the accef-
fion of Elizabeth, new life and vigour were again re-
ftored to the academy: the original plan was enlarged
and improved; fome of the moft learned foreigners
were again drawn to Peterſburgh; and, what was con-
fidered as a good omen for the literature of Ruffia, two
natives, Lomonofof and Rumovſky, men of genius and
abilities, who had proſecuted their ftudies in foreign
univerſities, were enrolled among its members. The
annual income was increaſed to 10,6591. and foon af-
terwards the new inftitution took place.
The preſent emprefs Catharine III. with her ufual
zeal for promoting the diffuſion of knowledge, has ta-
ken this uſeful fociety under her more immediate pro-
tection. She has altered the court of directors greatly
to the advantage of the whole body; fhe has corrected
many abufes, and has infufed a new fpirit into their
reſearches. By her Majefty's particular recommenda-
tion, the moſt ingenious profeffors have vifited the vas
rious provinces of her vaſt dominions; and as the fund
of the academy was not fufficient to fupply the whole
expence of thefe ſeveral expeditions, the emprefs be-
ftowed a largeſs of 2000 1.' which fhe has renewed
occafion has required.
as
The purpofe and intent of thefe travels will appear
from the inftructions given by the academy to the fe--
veral perfons who were engaged in them. They were
ordered to purfue their inquiries upon the different
forts of earths and waters; upon the beft methods of
cultivating the barren and defert fpots; upon the local
diſorders incident to men and animals, and the moft.
efficacious means of relieving them; upon the breeding
of cattle, and particularly of ſheep; on the rearing
of bees and filk-worms; on the different places and ob-
jects for fiſhing and hunting; on minerals; on the arts
and trades; and on forming a Flora Ruffica, or collec-
tion of indigenous plants: they were particularly in-
ftructed to rectify the longitude and latitude of the prin--
cipal towns; to make aftronomical, geographical, and
meteorological obfervations; to trace the courſe of the
rivers; to take the moſt exact charts; and to be very
diftinct and accurate in remarking and defcribing the
manners and cuftoms of the different people, their
dreffes, languages, antiquities, traditions, hiftory, reli
gion; and, in a word, to gain every information which
might tend to illuſtrate the real ſtate of the whole
Ruffian empire.
In confequence of thefe expeditions, perhaps no
country can boaſt, within the ſpace of fo few years,
fuch a number of excellent publications on its internal
ftate, on its natural productions, on its topography,
geography, and hiftory; on the manners, cuftoms, and.
languages of the different people, as have iffued from
the prefs of this academy.
The firſt tranſactions of this fociety were publiſhed
in 1728, and intitled, Commentarii Academia Scienti-
arum Imperialis Petropolitana ad an. 1726, with a
dedication to Peter II. The publication was conti-
nued under this form until the year 1747, when its
tranfactions were called Novi Commentarii Academia,
&c. In 1777 the academy again changed the title in-
to Acta Academia Scientiarum Imperialis Petropoli-
tana, and likewife made fome alteration in the ar-
rangement and plan of the work. The papers, which
had been hitherto publiſhed in the Latin tongue, are
now written either in that language or French; and a
preface is added, ſtyled Partie Hiftorique, which con-
tains an account of its proceedings, meetings, admif-
fion of new members, and other remarkable occur-
rences. Of the Commentaries, 14 volumes were pub-
lifhed: the firſt of the New Commentaries made its
appearance in 1750, and the twentieth in 1776. Un-
der the new title of Acta Academia, ſeveral volumes
have been given to the public, and two are printed
every year. Theſe tranſactions abound with ingenious
and elaborate diſquifitions upon various parts of ſcience
and natural hiftory, and which reflect the greateſt ho-
nour upon their authors; and it may not be an exag-
geration to affert, that no fociety in Europe has more
diftinguifhed itſelf for the excellence of its publications,
and particularly in the more abftrufe parts of the pure
and mixed mathematics.
The academy is ftill compofed, as at firft, of fifteen
profeffors, befide the prefident and director. Each of
thefe profeffors has a houſe and an annual ſtipend from
200l. to 600l. Befide the profeffors, there are four
adjuncts, who are penfioned, and who are prefent at
the
Academies.
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Academies. the fittings of the fociety, and fucceed to the first va-
cancies. The direction of the academy is at preſent
configned to the Princeſs Dafhkof.
t
The building and apparatus of this academy are ex-
traordinary. There is a fine library, confifting of 36000
curious books and manufcripts.-There is an extenfive
muſeum, in which the various branches of natural hi-
ſtory, &c. are diſtributed in different apartments: it is
extremely rich in native productions, having been con-
fiderably augmented with a variety of fpecimens col-
lected by Pallas, Gmelin, Guldenftaedt, and other
learned profeffors, during their late expeditions through
the Ruffian empire. The ſtuffed animals and birds
occupy one apartment. The chamber of rarities, the
cabinet of coins, &c. contain innumerable articles of
the higheſt curiofity and value. The fociety has this
modeft motto, Paulatim.
The Academy of Sciences at Bologna, called the Infti-
tute of Bologna, was founded by count Marfigli in 1712,
for the cultivating of phyfics, mathematics, medicine,
chemiſtry, and natural hiftory. Its hiftory is written by
M. de Limiers, from memoirs furniſhed by the foun-
der himſelf.
The Academy of Sciences at Stockholm, or Royal
Swedish Academy, owes its inftitution to fix perfons of
diftinguiſhed learning, amongſt whom was the celebra-
ted Linnæus: they originally met on the 2d of June
1739, formed a private fociety, in which fome differ-
tations were read; and in the latter end of the fame
year their firft publication made its appearance. As
the meetings continued and the members increaſed,
the ſociety attracted the notice of the king, and was,
on the 31st of March 1741, incorporated under the
name of the Royal Swediſh Academy. Not receiving
any penfion from the crown, it is only under the pro-
tection of the king, being directed, like our Royal
Society, by its own members. It has now a large
fund, which has chiefly ariſen from legacies and other
donations; but a profeffor of experimental philofophy,
and two ſecretaries, are ftill the only perfons who re-
ceive any
falaries. Each of the members reſident at
Stockholm becomes prefident by rotation, and conti-
nues in office during three months. There are two
fpecies of members, native and foreign: the election of
the former is held in April, and of the latter in July:
no money is paid at the time of admiffion. The dif-
ſertations read at each meeting are collected and pub-
liſhed four times in the year; they are written in the
Swediſh language, and printed in octavo, and the an-
nual publications make a volume. The firft 40 vo-
lumes, which were finiſhed in 1779, are called the Old
Tranſactions; for in the following year the title was
changed into that of New Tranſactions. The king is
ſometimes preſent at the ordinary meetings, and par-
ticularly at the annual affembly in April for the elec-
tion of members. Any perfon who fends a treatiſe
which is thought worthy of being printed, receives the
tranſactions for that quarter gratis, and a filver medal,
which is not eſteemed for its value, being worth only
three fhillings, but for its rarity and the honour con-
veyed by it. All the papers relating to agriculture
are put forth ſeparately under the title of Oeconomica
acta. Annual premiums, in money and gold medals,
principally for the encouragement of agriculture and
inland trade, are alfo diftributed by the academy. The
fund for thefe prizes is fupplied from private dona- Academies.
tions.
The Royal Academy of Sciences at Copenhagen, owes
its inftitution to the zeal of fix literati, whom Chrif-
tian VI. in 1742, ordered to arrange his cabinet of
medals. The count of Holftein was the firft prefi-
dent; and the fix perfons who firft formed the defign,
were John Gram, Joachim Frederic Ramus, Chriftian
Louis Scheid, Mark Woldickey, Eric Pontopidan, and
Bernard Moelman. Thefe perfons occafionally meet-
ing for that purpoſe, extended their deſigns; affociated
with them others who were eminent in feveral branches
of ſcience; and forming a kind of literary fociety, em-
ployed themſelves in fearching into, and explaining
the hiſtory and antiquities of their country.
count of Holftein warmly patronized this fociety, and
recommended it fo ftrongly to Chriſtian VI. that, in
1743, his Danish Majefty took it under his protection,
called it the Royal Academy of Sciences, endowed it
with a fund, and ordered the members to join to their
former purfuits, natural hiſtory, phyfics, and mathe-
matics. In confequence of the royal favour, the mem-
bers engaged with freſh zeal in their purfuits; and the
academy has publiſhed 15 volumes in the Danish
language, fome whereof have been tranflated into
Latin.
The
The American Academy of Sciences, was eſtabliſhed
in 1780 by the council and houfe of reprefentatives
in the province of Maffachufet's Bay, for promoting
the knowledge of the antiquities of America, and of
the natural hiftory of the country; for determining
the ufes to which its various natural productions might
be applied; for encouraging medicinal diſcoveries,
mathematical difquifitions, philofophical inquiries and
experiments, aftronomical, meteorological, and geo-
graphical obfervations, and improvements in agricul-
ture, manufactures, and commerce; and, in ſhort, for
cultivating every art and ſcience which may tend to
advance the intereft, honour, dignity, and happineſs,
of a free, independent, and virtuous people. The
members of this academy are never to be more than
200, nor leſs than 40.
•
VI. Academies or Schools of ARTS; as that at Peterſ-
burgh, which was eſtabliſhed by the empreſs Elizabeth, at
the fuggeftion of count-Shuvalof, and annexed to the aca-
demy of fciences: the fund was. L.4000 per annum, and
the foundation for 40 fcholars. The prefent emprefs
has formed it into a ſeparate inſtitution, enlarged the
annual revenue to L. 12,000, and augmented the num-
ber of ſcholars to 300; fhe has alſo conſtructed, for
the ufe and accommodation of the members, a large
circular building, which fronts the Neva. The ſcho-
lars are admitted at the age of fix, and continue until
they have attained that of 18: they are clothed, fed,
and lodged, at the expence of the crown. They are
al inftructed in reading and writing, arithmetic, the
French and German languages, and drawing. At the
age of 14 they are at liberty to choofe any of the fol-
lowing arts, divided into four claffes. 1. Painting in
all its branches of hiftory, portraits, battles, and land-
fcapes; architecture; Mofaic; enamelling; &c. 2. En-
graving on copperplates, feal-cutting, &c. 3. Carving
in wood, ivory, and amber. 4. Watch-making, turn-
ing, inftrument-making, cafting ftatues in bronze and
other metals, imitating gems and medals in paſte and
F 2
other
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together, which is called fetting the group. The paint- Academics
ings and models made after this model, are called aca-
demics, or academy-figures. They have likewife a wo-
man who ftands for a model in the public fchool.
Every three months, three prizes for defign are diſtri-
buted among the cleves or difciples; two others for
painting, and two for fculpture, every year.
Academies. other compofitions, gilding, and varniſhing. Prízes
are annually diſtributed to thoſe who excel in any par-
ticular art; and from thoſe who have obtained four
prizes, twelve are felected, who are fent abroad at the
charge of the emprefs. A certain fum is paid to de-.
fray their travelling expences; and when they are fet-
tled in any town, they receive an annual falary of L. 60,
which is continued during four years. There is a fmall
affortment of paintings for the uſe of the ſcholars ;
and thoſe who have made great progrefs are permitted
to copy the pictures in the emprefs's collection. For
the purpofe of defign, there are models in plafter of
the beſt antique ftatues in Italy, all done at Rome, of
the fame fize with the originals, which the artifts. of
the academy were employed to caſt in bronze.
+
The Royal Academy of Arts in London, was in-
ftituted for the encouragement of Defigning, Painting,
Sculpture, &c. &c. in the year 1768. This academy
is under the immediate patronage of the king, and un-
der the direction of 40 artiſts of the firſt rank in their
feveral profeffions. It furniſhes, in winter, living mo-
dels of different characters to draw after; and, in fum-
mer, models of the fame kind to paint after. Nine of
the ableſt academicians are annually elected out of the
40, whoſe buſineſs is to attend by rotation, to fet the
figures, to examine the performance of the ſtudents,
and to give them neceffary inftructions. There are
likewife four profeffors, of Painting, of Architecture, of
Anatomy, and of Perspective, who annually read public
lectures on the ſubjects of their feveral departments;
beſide a prefident, a council, and other officers. The
admiffion to this academy is free to all ſtudents pro-
perly qualified to reap advantage from the ftudies cul-
tivated in it; and there is an annual exhibition of paint-
ings, fculptures, and deſigns, open to all artiſts of di-
Hinguiſhed merit.
The Academy of Painting and Sculpture at Paris. This
took its rife from the diſputes that happened between the
mafter painters and fculptors in that capital; in confe-
quence of which, M. Le Brun, Sarazin, Corneille, and o-
thers of the king's painters, formed a defign of inftituting
a particular academy; and, having prefented a petition
to the king, obtained an arret dated Jan. 20. 1648.
In the beginning of 1655, they obtained from cardi-
nal Mazarin a brevet, and letters patent, which were
regiſtered in parliament; in gratitude for which favour,
they chofe the cardinal for their protector, and the
chancellor for their vice-protector. In 1663, by means
of M. Colbert, they obtained a penfion of 4000 livres.
The academy confifts of a protector; a vice-protector;
a director; a chancellor; four rectors; adjuncts to the
rectors; a treaſurer; four profeffors, one of which is
profeffor of anatomy, and another of geometry; fe-
veral adjuncts and counfellors, an hiftoriographer, a fe-
cretary, and two uſhers.
The Academy of Painting holds a public affembly
every day for two hours in the afternoon, to which the
painters refort either to defign or to paint, and where the
fculptors model after a naked perfon. There are 12.
profeffors, each of whom keeps the fchool for a month;
and there are 12 adjuncts to fupply them in cafe of
need. The profeffor upon duty places the naked man
as he thinks proper, and fets him in two different atti-
tudes every week. This is what they call fetting the
model. In one week of the month he fets two models
There is alfo an Academy of Painting, Sculpture, &c..
at Rome, eſtabliſhed by Lewis XIV. wherein thoſe
who have gained the annual prize at Paris are intitled
to be three years entertained at the king's expence,
for their further improvement.
The Academy of Architecture, eftabliſhed by M
Colbert in 1671, confifting of a company of ſkilful
architects, under the direction of the fuperintendant
of the buildings.
The Academy of Dancing, erected by Lewis XIV.
with privileges above all the reft.
VII. Academies of Law; as that famous one at
Beryta, and that of the Sitientes at Bologna.
VIII. Academies of HISTORY; as the Royal Academy
of Portuguese Hiftory at Lisbon. This academy was
inftituted by king John V. in 1720. It conſiſts of a
director, four cenfors, a fecretary, and 50 members;
to each of whom is affigned fome part of the ecclefiafti-
cal or civil hiſtory of the nation, which he is to treat
either in Latin or Portugueſe. In the church-hiſtory
of each diocefe, the prelates, fynods, councils, churches,.
monafteries, academies, perfons illuftrious for fanctity
or learning, places famous for miracles or relics, muft
be diftinctly related in twelve chapters. The civil hiſto-
ry comprifes the tranfactions of the kingdom from the
government of the Romans down to the preſent time.
The members who refide in the country are obliged to
make collections and extracts out of all the regiſters,
&c. where they live. Their meetings to be once in 15
days..
A medal was ftruck by this academy in honour of
their prince: the front of which was his effigy, with
the infcription Johannes V. Lufitanorum Rex; and, on
the reverfe, the fame prince is reprefented ftanding, and
raifing Hiſtory almoſt proftrate before him, with the le-
gend Hifloria Refurges. Underneath are the follow-
ing words in abbreviature: REGia ACADemia HI-
SToriæ LUSITanæ, INSTITuta VI. Idus Decembris.
MDCCXX.
Academy of Suabian Hiſtory at Tubingen, was lately
eftabliſhed by fome learned men, for publiſhing the beſt
hiftorical writings, the lives of the chief hiftorians, and
compiling new memoirs, on the feveral points and pe-
riods. thereof.
IX. Academies of ANTIQUITIES; as that at Corto-
na in Italy, and at Upfal in Sweden. The firſt is
defigned for the ftudy of Hetrurian antiquities; the
other for illuſtrating the northern languages, and the
antiquities of Sweden, in which notable difcoveries.
have been made by it. The head of the Hetrurian.
academy is called Lucomon, by which the ancient go-
vernors of the country were diſtinguiſhed. One of their
laws is to give audience to poets only one day in the
year; another is to fix their feffions, and impoſe a tax
of a differtation on each member in his turn.
The Academy of Medals and Infcriptions at Paris was.
fet on foot by M. Colbert, under the patronage of
Lewis XIV. in 1663, for the ftudy and explanation
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Academies, of ancient monuments, and perpetuating great and
memorable events, eſpecially thofe of the French mo-
narchy, by coins, relievos, infcriptions, &c. The
number of members at firft was confined to four or
five, chofen out of thofe of the French academy;
who met in the library of Mr Colbert, from whom
they received his majefty's orders. The days of their
meetings were not determined; but generally they
met on Wedneſdays, eſpecially in the winter feafon:
but, in 1691, the king having given the inſpection of
this academy to M. de Pontchartrain comptroller ge-
neral, &c. he fixed their meetings on Tueſdays and
Saturdays.
By a new regulation, dated the 16th of July 1701,
the academy was compofed of ten honorary members;
ten aſſociates, each of whom had two declarative voices;
ten penſionaries; and ten eleves, or pupils. They then
met every Tueſday and Wedneſday, in one of the halls
of the Louvre; and had two public meetings yearly,
one the day after Martinmas and the other the 16th
after Eafter. The clafs of eleves has been fuppreffed,
and united to the affociates. The king nominates their
prefident and vice-prefident yearly; but their fecretary
and treaſurer are perpetual. The reſt are choſen by
the members themſelves, agreeably to the conftitutions
on that behalf given them.
One of the firſt undertakings of this academy, was
to compoſe, by means of medals, a connected hiſtory of
the principal events of Lewis XIV's reign: but in this
defign they met with great difficulties, and of confe-
quence it was interrupted for many years; but at length
it was completed down to the advancement of the duke
of Anjou to the crown of Spain.
In this celebrated work, the eſtabliſhment of the
academy itſelf was not forgot. The medal on this
fubject reprefents Mercury fitting, and writing with an
antique ftylus on a table of brafs; he leans with his
left hand upon an urn full of medals, and at his feet are
feveral others placed upon a card: the legend, Rerum
geftarum fides; and on the exergue, Academia regia
infcriptionum et numifmatum, inftituta M.DC.LXIII.
fignifying that the Royal Academy of Medals and In-
fcriptions, founded in 1663, ought to give to future
ages a faithful teſtimony of all great actions. Befides
this work, we have ſeveral volumes of their memoirs;
and their hiſtory, written and continued by their fecre-
taries.
X. Academies of BELLES LETTRES, are thofe where-
in eloquence and poetry are chiefly cultivated. Theſe
are very numerous in Italy, and not uncommon in
France.
The Academy of Umidi at Florence has contributed
greatly to the progrefs of the fciences by the excel-
lent Italian tranſlations given, by ſome of its members,
of the ancient Greek and Latin hiftorians. Their
chief attention is to the Italian poetry, at the fame
time that they have applied themſelves to the poliſhing
of their language, which produced the Academy la
Crufca.
The Academy of Humoriſts, Umorifii, had its origin
at Rome from the marriage of Lorenzo Marcini, a
Roman gentleman; at which feveral perfons of rank
were guefts; and, it being carnival time, to give the
ladies fome diverfion, they took themſelves to the re-
citing of verfes, fonnets, fpeeches, firft ex tempore, and
afterwards premeditately; which gave them the deno- Academies.
mination of Belli Humori.
mination of Belli Humori. After fome experience, co-
ming more and more into the taſte of theſe exerciſes,
they refolved to form an Academy of Belles Lettres ;
and changed the title of Belli Humori for that of Hu-
morifti: choofing for their device a cloud, which, after
being formed of exhalations from the falt waters of the
ocean, returns in a gentle ſweet ſhower; with this motto
from Lucretius, Redit agmine dulci.
In 1690, the Academy of Arcadi was eſtabliſhed at
Rome, for reviving the ftudy of Poetry and of the
Belles Lettres. Befides moft of the politer wits of
both fexes in Italy, this academy comprehends many
princes, cardinals, and other ecclefiaftics; and, to a-
void difputes about pre-eminence, all appear maſked
after the manner of Arcadian fhepherds. Within ten
years from its firſt eſtabliſhment, the number of Aca-
demifts amounted to fix hundred. They hold affem-
blies feven times a-year in a mead or grove, or in the
gardens of fome nobleman of diftinction. Six of thefe
meetings are employed in the recitation of poems and
verfes of the Arcadi refiding at Rome; who read
their own compofitions; except ladies and cardinals,
who are allowed to employ others. The ſeventh meet-
ing is fet apart for the compofitions of foreign or ab-
fent members.
This academy is governed by a Cuftos, who repre-
ſents the whole fociety, and is chofen every four years,
with a power of electing 12 others yearly for his af-
fiftance. Under thefe are two fub-cuftodes, one vicar
or pro-cuftos, and four deputies or fuperintendants, an--
nually chofen. The laws of the fociety are immuta-
ble, and bear a near reſemblance to the ancient model.
There are five manners of electing members. The
firft is by acclamation. This is ufed when fovereign
princes, cardinals, and ambaſſadors of kings, defire to
be admitted; and the votes are then given viva voce.
The ſecond is called annumeration. This was intro-
duced in favour of ladies and academical colonies, where
the votes are taken privately. The third, repreſenta-
tion, was eſtabliſhed in favour of colonies and univer-
fities, where the young gentry are bred; who have
each a privilege of recommending one or two mem-
bers privately to be balloted for. The fourth, furro-
gation; whereby new members are fubftituted in the
room of thoſe dead or expelled. The laſt, deſtination ;
whereby, when there is no vacancy of members, per-
fons of poetical merit have the title of Arcadi confer-
red upon them till fuch time as a vacancy fhall hap-
pen. All the members of this body, at their admif-
fion, affume new paftoral names, in imitation of the
thepherds of Arcadia. The academy has ſeveral co-
lonies of Arcadi in different cities of Italy, who are
all regulated after the fame manner.
XÏ. Academies of LANGUAGES; called, by fome,
Grammatical Academies: as,
The Academy della Crufca at Florence, famous for
its vocabulary of the Italian tongue, was formed in 1582,
but fcarce heard of before the year 1584, when it be-
came noted for a difpute between Taffo and feveral of
its members. Many authors confound this with the
Florentine academy. The difcourfes which Toricelli,
the celebrated difciple of Galileo, delivered in the af
femblies, concerning levity, the wind, the power of per-
cuffion, mathematics, and military architecture, are a
ན་
proof
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АС
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]
Academies. proof that theſe academifts applied themfelves to things
as well as words.
The Academy of Fructiferi had its rife in 1617, at
an affembly of feveral princes and nobility of the coun-
try, who met with a defign to refine and perfect the
German tongue. It flouriſhed long under the direc-
tion of princes of the empire, who were always chofen
prefidents. In 1668, the number of members aroſe to
upwards of 900. It was prior in time to the French
academy, which only appeared in 1629, and was not
eſtabliſhed into an academy before the year 1635. Its
hiſtory is written in the German tongue by George
Neumarck.
:
The French Academy, which had its rife from a meet-
ing of men of letters in the houſe of M. Conrart, in 1629.
In 1635, it was erected into an academy, by Cardinal
Richlieu, for refining and aſcertaining the French lan-
guage and ſtyle.-The number of its members are li-
mited to 40; out of whom a director, chancellor, and
fecretary, are to be chofen the two former hold their
poft for two months, the latter is perpetual. The mem-
Lers of this academy enjoy feveral privileges and im-
munities, among which is that of not being obliged to
anfwer before any court but that of the king's houfe-
bold. They meet three times a-week in the Louvre;
at breaking up, forty filver medals are diftributed among
them, having on one fide the king of France's head,
and on the reverſe, Protecteur de l'Academie, with lau-
rel, and this motto, A l'Immortalité. By this diftri-
bution, the attendance of the Academifts is fecured,
thoſe who are prefent receiving the furplus otherwiſe
intended for the abſent. To elect or expel a member,
at leaſt 18 are required; nor can any be chofen unleſs
he petition for it: by this expedient, the affront of
refuſals from perfons elected is avoided. Religious are
Religious are
not admitted; nor can any nobleman, or perfon of
diſtinction, be admitted on another footing than as a
man of letters. None are to be expelled, except for
bafe and diſhoneft practices; and there are but two
inftances of ſuch expulfions, the firſt of M. Granier
for refuſing to return a depofit, the other of the Abbé
Furetiere for plagiarifm.The defign of this acade-
my was to give not only rules, but examples, of good
writing. They began with making fpeeches on fub-
jects taken at pleaſure, about 20 of which were print-
ed. They met with great oppofition from the parlia-
ment at their firſt inftitution; it being two years be-
fore the patents granted by the king would be regiſter-
ed. They have been ſeverely fatyrized, and their ſtyle
has been ridiculed as enervating inſtead of refining the
French language. They are alfo charged with having
furfeited the world by flattery, and having exhaufted
all the topics of panegyric in praiſe of their founder;
it being a duty incumbent on every member, at his ad-
miffion, to make a ſpeech in praife of the king, the
cardinal, the chancellor Seguier, and the perfon in whofe
place he is elected. The most remarkable work of this
academy is a dictionary of the French tongue; which,
after 50 years ſpent in fettling the words and phrafes
10 be uſed in writing, was at laſt publiſhed in 1694.
The foundation of an Academy fimilar to the above,
has been propofed at Peterſburgh, by the learned prin-
cefs Dafhkof: it is to confift of 60 members. The
plan has been approved by the emprefs, who has al-
ready given a fund for its fupport and eftablishment.
pre-
Acæna.
The Royal Spanish Academy at Madrid held its firft Academies
meeting in July 1713, in the palace of its founder, the. "
duke d'Efcalona. It confifted at firft of eight acade-
mifts, including the duke; to which number 14 others
were afterwards added, the founder being chofen
fident or director. In 1714, the king granted them
his confirmation and protection. Their device is a cru-
cible in the middle of the fire, with this motto, Lim-
pia, Fya, y da Eſplendor ;´" it purifies, fixes, and gives
"it
brightnefs." The number of members is limited to
24; the duke d'Efcalona to be director for life, but
his fucceffors chofen yearly, and the fecretary to be
perpetual. Their object, as marked out by the royal
declaration, was to cultivate and improve the national
language: they were to begin with choofing carefully
fuch words and phrafes as have been uſed by the beſt
Spaniſh writers; noting the low, barbarous, or obfolete
ones; and compofing a dictionary wherein theſe may
be diſtinguiſhed from the former.
XII. Academies of POLITICS; as that at Paris, con-
fifting of fix perfons, who met at the Louvre, in the
chamber where the papers relating to foreign affairs
were lodged. But this academy proved of little fer-
vice, as the kings of France were unwilling to truft any
but their minifters with the inſpection of foreign affairs.
For a further account of ſimilar eſtabliſhments, ſee
the article SoCIETY.
ACADEMY is alſo a term for ſchools and other femi-
naries of learning among the Jews, where their rabbins
and doctors inftructed their youth in the Hebrew lan-
guage, and explained to them the Talmud and the ſe-
crets of the Cabbala: Thoſe of Tiberias and Babylon
have been the moſt noted.
•
The Romans had a kind of military academies, efta-
bliſhed in all the cities of Italy, under the name of
Campi Martis. Here the youth were admitted to be
trained for war at the public expence. The Greeks,
befide academies of this kind, had military profeffors
called Taftici, who taught all the higher offices of
war, &c. &c.
ACADEMY is often uſed with us to denote a kind of
collegiate feminary, where youth are inftructed in arts
and fciences. There is one at Portſmouth for teaching
navigation, drawing, &c.; another at Woolwich, forfor-
tification, gunnery, &c.
tification, gunnery, &c.-Befides thefe, there are nu-
merous academies, eſpecially in London, for teaching
mathematics, languages, writing, accounts, drawing,
and other branches of learning.
The nonconformist minifters, &c. are bred up in
private, academies; as not approving the common uni-
verfity education. The principal of their academies
are thofe in London, Daventry, and Warrington.
ACADEMY is likewife a name given to a riding-
fchool, where young gentlemen are taught to ride the
great horfe, &c. and the ground allotted is ufually called
the Manege.
ACADEMY Figure, a drawing of a naked man or wo,
man, taken from the life; which is ufually done on
paper with red or black chalk, and fometimes with
tils or CRAYONS. See ACADEMY, N° VI. par. 4. fupra..
pa-
ACADIE, or ACADY, în geography, a name for-
merly given to Nova Scotia, or New Scotland, in Ame-
rica. See Nova Scotia.
ACÆNA, in antiquity, a Grecian meaſure of length,
being a ten feet-road, uſed in meaſuring their lands.
3
ACENA,
A CA
[
CA
A
>
Acæna
H
Acanthus.
troops, who are generally fent out in detachments to Acantha
procure intelligence, haraís the enemy, or ravage the
country.
ACANTHA, in botany, the prickle of any plant;
in zoology, a term for the fpine or prickly fins of
fiſhes.
47 ]
ACENA, in botany, a genus of the monogynia or-
der belonging to the tetrandria clafs of plants; the
Acangis. characters of which are thefe: The calyx is a perian-
thium confifting of four leaves, which are ovate, con-
cave, equal, and perfiftent; there is no corolla: The fta
mina confifts of four equal middle-fized filaments op-
pofite to the calyx; the antheræ are quadrangular;
twin, erect: The piftillum has an inverſely-ovate hifped
germ; the ftylus is fmall, and inflected on one fide; and
the ftigma is a ſmall thickiſh coloured membrane, di-
vided into many fegments: The pericarpium is an in-
verfely-ovated dry one-celled berry covered with prickles
bent backwards: The feed is fingle. There is only one
fpecies, a native of Mexico.
i
ACAJOU, or CASHEW-NUT-TREE. See ANACAR
DIUM.
ACALANDRUS, a river fälling into the bay of
Tarentum, not far from the Metapontum, (Pliny, Stra-
bo); now Fiume de Rofeto.
ACALEPTIC, in ancient profody, a complete verfe.
ACALYPHA, the THREE-SEEDED MERCURY,
a genus of plants belonging to the monœcia mona-
delphia claſs. The characters of this genus are the
following-Male flowers crowded above the female
ones: The calyx is a three or four-leaved perianthium,
the leaflets roundiſh, concave, and equal: The corolla is
wanting: The ftamina have from 6 to 18 filaments,
which are ſhort, crowded, and connected at the bafe;
the antheræ are roundiſh.-Female flowers fewer, placed
beneath, and received into a large divided involucrum :
The calyx is a perianthium, confifting of three leaflets,
which are concave, converging, fmall, and perfiftent:
No corolla: The piftillum has a roundish germen; the
ftyli are three, branchy, oftener tripartite, and long;
the ftigmata are fimple: The pericarpium has a roundish
trifulcated trilocular capfule, the valvulets gaping two
ways: The feeds are folitary, roundish, and large.
This genus ranks in the 38th natural order, Tricocca.
There are five fpecies, all natives of Virginia.
ACAMANTIS (the ancient name of the iſland of
Cyprus), taken from one of its promontories fituated
to the weft, and called Acamas, Teos in Ionia was
alſo called thus from Acamus the founder.
་
ACAMAS, ACAMANTIS (anc. geog.), the weft
promontory of the ifland of Cyprus, from whence it
took its ancient name; now Cape Pifanio or Epifanio,
where formerly was a town of the fame name, now a
village called Crufocco.
ACAMAS, fon of Thefeus, followed the rest of the
Grecian princes to the fiege of Troy; and was deputed,
with Diomedes, to the Trojans, in order to get Helen
reftored. Laodice, Priam's daughter, fell in love with
him, ſtole a night with him, and had a fon by him call-
ed Munitus. He was one of the heroes who concealed
themſelves in the wooden horfe. One of the tribes of
Athens was called Acamantides from him, by the ap-
pointment of the oracle; and he founded a city in Phry-
gia Major, called Acamantium. Homer mentions
two other heroes of this name; one a Thracian prince
who came to fuccour Priam, another a fon of Ante-
nor.
ACANACEOUS PLANTS, fuch as are armed with
prickles.
ACANGIS, that is, Ravagers or Adventurers; a
name. which the Turks give their huffars or light
1
ACANTHABOLUS, in furgery, an inftrument
for pulling thorns, or the like, out of the fkin.
ÂCANTHINE, any thing reſembling or belong-
ing to the herb acanthus. Acanthine garments, among
the ancients, are faid to be made of the down of thi
ftles; others think they were garments embroidered in
imitation of the acanthus.
ACANTHOPTERYGIOUS FISHES, a term uſed
by Linnæus and others for thoſe fiſhes whofe back-fins
are hard, offeous, and prickly.
ACANTHOS, a town of Egypt, near Memphis,
(Pliny); now Bifalta. Alfo a maritime town of Ma-
cedonia, to the weit of mount Athos, a colony of An-
drians, (Thucydides, Ptolemy); now Erio; near which
was fhown Xerxes's ditch, of feven ftadia, in order to
ſeparate mount Athos from the continent, and convey
his fhips, without doubling Athos, into the Singitic
Bay. Acanthos, is alſo a town of Epirus.
:
ACANTHUS, BEAR'S-BREECH, or brank-urfine,
in botany a genus of the angiofpermia order, be-
longing to the didynamia claís of plants; and ranking
in the 40th natural order, Perfonata. The generic
characters are: The calyx is a perianthium with leaf-
lets of three alternate pairs unequal and perfiftent: The
corolla is one-petal'd and unequal; the tubus very fhort,
cloſed with a beard; no upper-lip, the under-one very
large, flat, ftraight, very broad, three-lobed, and ob-
tufe: The ftamina have four fabulated filaments fhorter
than the corolla; the two fuperior rather longer, re-
curvate, and incurved at the top; the antheræ are ob-
long, compreſſed, obtuſe, lateral, parallel, and villous be-
fore: The piftillum has a conic germen; a filiform fty-
lus, the length of the ftamina; and two acute lateral
ftigmata: The perianthium is an acutely-ovated bilc--
cular capfule, with a lateral partition: The feeds one or
two, fleſhy and gibbous.
༣
Species. 1. The mollis, or common bear's-breech, a
native of Italy, is the fort that is ufed in medicine, and
is fuppofed to be the mollis acanthus of Virgil; and
the leaves are famous for having given rife to the
capital of the Corinthian pillars. 2. The fpinofus,.
or prickly bear's-breech; the leaves of which are
deeply jagged in very regular order, and each feg-
ment is terminated with a ſharp ſpine, as are alſo the
footſtalks of the leaves and the empalement of the flow-
er, which renders it troubleſome to handle them. 3. Ili-
cifolius, or fhrubby bear's-breech, grows naturally in
both the Indies. It is an evergreen ſhrub, which res
about four feet high; and is divided into many branch--
es, garnished with leaves like thofe of the common
holly, and armed with fpines in the fame manner; the
flowers are white, and ſhaped like thofe of the common
acanthus, but ſmaller. 4. The nigra, or Portugal
bear's-breech, with fmooth finuated leaves of a livid
green colour, was diſcovered in Portugal by Dr Juffieu
of the royal garden at Paris. 5. The middle bear's-
breech, with entire leaves, having fpines on their
border, is fuppofed to be the acanthus of Diofco
rides.
-
Cultures-
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[
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48
]
Acanthus
11
Acarauna.
Culture, &c. They are all perennial plants. The firft
and ſecond ſpecies may be propagated either by feeds, or
by offsets from the roots. The best way is to raife them
from the feeds; which ſhould be fown about the end of
March, in a light foil. They are beft dropped at di-
ſtances into fhallow drills, and covered three quarters of
an inch with mould. When the plants are come up, the
ftrongeſt ſhould be marked, and the reſt ſhould be pulled
up, that they may ftand at a yard diſtance one from
another. They require no other culture but to keep
them clear from weeds. The third, fourth, and fifth
forts, are propagated only by feeds; which, as they do
not ripen in Europe, muſt be obtained from the places
in which they grow naturally: the plants are fo ten-
der, that they cannot be preferved out of the ftove in
this country.-The firit fpecies is the fort uſed in me-
dicine. All the parts of it have a ſoft ſweetiſh taſte,
and abound with a mucilaginous juice: its virtues do
not feem to differ from thoſe of althea and other mu-
cilaginous plants.
ACANTHUS, in architecture, an ornament reprefent-
ing the leaves of the acanthus, uſed in the capitals of
the Corinthian and Compofite orders.
ACAPULCO, a confiderable town and port in
Mexico, on the South Sea. It has a fine harbour, from
whence a ſhip annually fails to Manila in the Philip-
pine iſlands, near the coaft of China in Afia; and an-
other returns annually from thence with all the trea-
fures of the Eaſt Indies, ſuch as diamonds, rubies, fap-
phires, and other precious ftones; the rich carpets of
Perfia; the camphire of Borneo; the benjamin and
ivory of Pegu and Cambodia, the filks, muflins, and
calicoes, of the Mogul's country; the gold-duft, tea,
china-ware, filk, and cabinets, of China and Japan;
befides cinnamon, cloves, mace, nutmegs, and pepper;
infomuch that this fingle ſhip contains more riches than
many whole fleets. The goods brought to Acapulco are
carried to the city of Mexico by mules and pack-horfes;
and from thence to Vera Cruz on the North Sea, in
order to be ſhipped for Europe. Acapulco itſelf is a
ſmall place, conſiſting of about 2 or 300 thatched houſes.
Ships arrive at the port by two inlets, feparated from
each other by a ſmall iſland; the entrance into them
in the day-time is by means of a fea-breeze, as the fail-
ing out in the night-time is effected by a land-breeze.
A wretched fort, 42 pieces of cannon, and a garrifon
of 60 men, defend it. It is equally extenfive, fafe,
and commodious. The bafon which conftitutes this
harbour is furrounded by lofty mountains, which are
fo dry, that they are even deftitute of water. The air
here is hot, heavy, and unwholeſome; to which none
can habituate themſelves, except certain negroes that
are born under a fimilar climate, or fome mulattoes.
This feeble and miferable colony is crowded with a
vaſt acceffion to its numbers upon the arrival of the gal-
leons; traders flocking here from all the provinces of
Mexico, who come to exchange European toys, their
*L.437,500 own cochineal, and about ten millions of filver for
Sterling. fpices, muflins, printed linens, filk, perfumes, and the
gold works of Afia. W. Long. 102. 29. N. Lat.
17.30.
ACARAI, a town of Paraguay in South America,
built by the Jeſuits in 1624. Long. 116. 40. S. lat, 26'.
ACARAUNA, a fmall American fifh, called by
our failors the old-wife. See LABRUS.
·
Acarus.
ACARNANIA, the first country of Free Greece, Acarnania
or Greece Proper, bounded on the weft by the Sinus 11
Ambracius, and ſeparated from Ætolia by the river
Achelous on the eaft, and by the Sinus Ambracius
from Epirus. The people were called Acarnanes, de-
noting perfons unfhorn; other Etolians, to the eaſt of
the Achelous, being called Curetes (Homer) from
being fhorn. According to Lucian, they were noted
for effeminacy and incontinence; hence the proverb,
Porcellus Acarnanus. This country was famous for
an excellent breed of horfes; ſo that Axaguınos ixx&, is
a proverbial faying for a thing excellent in its kind.
It is now called la Garnia and il Defpotato.-
ACARON, or ACCARON, a town of Paleſtine, call-
ed Ekron in fcripture. It was the boundary of the Phi-
liitines to the north; ſtood at fome diſtance from the
fea, near Bethfhemeſh; and was famous for the idol of
Baalzebub.
ACARUS, the TICK or MITE, a genus of infects
belonging to the order of aptera, or fuch as have no
wings. The acarus has eight legs; two eyes, one on
each fide of the head; and two jointed tentacula. The
female is oviparous. Linnæus enumerates 35 fpecies;
of which fome are inhabitants of the earth, fome of
waters; fome live on trees, others among ſtones, and
others on the bodies of other animals, and even under
their ſkin. The deſcription of a few of the moſt re-
markable will here fuffice.
1. The firo, or cheeſe-mite, is a very minute fpecies.
To the naked eye, thefe mites appear like moving par-
ticles of duft; but the microſcope diſcovers them to
be perfect animals, having as regular a figure, and per-
forming all the functions of life as perfectly, as crea-
turcs that exceed them many times in bulk. The prin-
cipal parts of them are the head, the neck, and the
body. The head is fmall in proportion to the body;
and has a ſharp fnout, and a mouth that opens and ſhuts'
like a mole's. They have two fmall eyes, and are ex-
tremely quickfighted; and when they have been once
touched with a pin, you will eafily perceive how cun-
ningly they avoid a fecond touch. Their legs are each
furniſhed at the extremity with two little claws, with
which the animal very nicely takes hold of any thing.
The hinder part of the body is plump and bulky; and
ends in an oval form, from which there iffue out a few
exceeding long hairs. Other parts of the body are
alfo befet with thin and long hairs. The males and
females are eaſily diſtinguiſhed in thefe little animals.
The females are oviparous, as the louſe and ſpider;
and from their eggs the young ones are hatched in their
proper form, without having any change to undergo
afterwards. They are, however, when firft hatched,
extremely minute; and, in their growing to their full
fize, they caft their ſkins ſeveral times. Theſe little
creatures may be kept alive many months between two
concave glaffes, and applied to the microſcope at plea-
fure. They are thus often feen in coitu, conjoined tail
to tail; and this is performed by an incredibly ſwift
motion. Their eggs, in warm weather, hatch in 12
or 14 days; but in winter they are much longer.
Thefe eggs are fo fmall, that a regular computation
fhows, that go millions of them are not fo large as a
common pigeon's egg They are very voracious ani-
mals, and have often been feen to eat one another. p. 187.
Their manner of eating is by thrufting alternately one
jaw
• Baker's
Microscope,
A
CA
A CA
U
fhining, and gloffy; and the whole animal feems di- Acarus
ftended, and ready to burft; the colour is a bright red,
Acatery.
but a little duſkier on the fides than elſewhere: the
head is very fmall, and the legs fhort; there is on each
fide a ſmall duſky ſpot near the thorax, and a few hairs
grow from different parts of the body. It is very
common on trees, particularly on the currant, on the
fruit of which we frequently fee it running.
[ 49 ]
Acarus. jaw forward and the other backward, and in this man-
ner grinding their food; and after they have done
feeding, they feem to chew the cud.-There are feve-
ral varieties of this fpecies found in different fubftances
befides cheeſe; as in malt-duft, flour, oatmeal, &c.
Thoſe in malt-duft and oatmeal are much nimbler than
the cheefe-mites, and have more and longer hairs.
There are alſo a ſort of wandering mites, which range
wherever there is any thing they can feed on: They
are often ſeen in the form of a white duft, and are not
Sufpected to be living creatures.-The mite is called by
authors, fimply, Acarus. It is an animal very tena-
cious of life, and will live months without food. Mr
† Arcan. Lewenhoekt had one which lived 11 weeks on the
Nat.tom.iv. point of a pin, on which he had fixed it for examining
p.368.
by his microſcope.
•
2. The fanguifugus. The hinder part of the abdo-
men is crenated, the fcutellum is oval and yellowish,
and the beak is trifid. It is a native of America, and
fticks fo faft on the legs of travellers, fucking their
blood, that they can hardly be extracted.
3. The telarius is of a greenish yellow colour. It
has a ſmall fting or weapon, with which it wounds the
leaves of plants, and occafions them to fold backward.
They are very frequently to be met with in the autumn,
incloſed in the folded leaves of the lime-tree.
4. The exulcerans, or itch-acarus, is a very ſmall
ſpecies: its body is of a figure approaching to oval,
and lobated; the head is ſmall and pointed; its colour
is whitiſh, but it has two duſky ſemicircular lines on the
back. It has long fetaceous legs, but the two first are
fhort. It is found in the puftules of the itch: authors in
general have ſuppoſed that it caufes that difeafe; but o-
thers obferve, that if this were fo, it would be found more
univerfally in thoſe puftules. It is more probable that
theſe only make a proper nidus for it. See, however,
the article ITCH.
5. The batatas is of a blood-colour, and a little
rough; the fore pair of legs are as long as the body.
It inhabits the potatoes of Surinam.
6. The ovinus, or fheep-tick, has a flat body of a
roundiſh figure, but fomewhat approaching to oval,
and of a yellowish white colour, and has a fingle large
round ſpot on the back: the anus is vifible in the lower
part of the body; the thorax is fcarce confpicuous;
the head is very fmall and black; the mouth is bifid:
the antennæ are of a clavated figure, and of the length
of the fnout; the legs are ſhort and black. It is com-
mon on ſheep, and its excrements ftain the wool green:
it will live in the wool many months after it is fhorn
from the animal.
7. The coleoptratorum, or acarus of infects, is ex-
tremely minute its body is round, reddiſh, and cover-
ed with a firm and hard ſkin; the head is very ſmall,
the neck ſcarce vifible; the legs are moderately long,
the anterior pair longer than the others; it has a white-
nefs about the anus. It is frequent on the bodies of
many infects, which it infefts, as the loufe does others;
it runs very ſwiftly: the humble-bee, and many other
of the larger infects, are continually infefted with it;
but none fo much as the common black beetle, which
has thence been called the loufy beetle.
8. The baccarum, or fcarlet tree-mite, is a fmall
fpecies its body is roundiſh, and the back not at all
flatted, as it is in many others; the ſkin is ſmooth,
VOL. I.
9. The longicornis, or red ftone-acarus, is very ſmall,
and of a bright red colour; the body is round, and dif-
tended; the head is very ſmall and pointed; the legs
are moderately long, and of a paler red than the body:
the antennæ are much longer than in any other ſpecies.
It is frequent about old ftone-walls and on rocks, and
runs very nimbly. See Plate I.
10. The aquaticus is a ſmall ſpecies: the body is of
a figure approaching to an oval, and the back appears
depreffed; it is of a bright and ftrong ſcarlet colour.
The head is fmall; the legs are moderately long and
firm, and are of a paler red than the body.
It is com-
mon in fhallow waters, where it runs very ſwiftly along
the bottom. Its diminutiveneſs hinders the beauty of
its colours from being perceived, as they are not dif
cernible without the microſcope.
11. The holofericeus is a ſmall ſpecies: its body is
roundish, but a little approaching to oval; the back
fomewhat depreffed: it is of a fine ſcarlet colour, and
covered with a velvety, down. The head is very fmall;
the eyes are two, and very ſmall; the legs are ſhort
and of a paler red, and there is a fmall black ſpot near
the infertion of the anterior ones. It is very common
under the ſurface of the earth, and ſometimes on herbs
and among hay. It is fuppofed to be poiſonous if
fwallowed; but we do not feem to have any certain ac-
count of fuch an effect.
12. The longipes is the largeſt of the acarus kind
its body is roundiſh, of a duſky brown on the back,
with a dufkier fpot of a rhomboidal figure near the
middle of it; the belly is whitish; the logs are ex-
tremely long and flender. On the back part of the
head there ftands a little eminence, which has on a
kind of double creft, formed as it were of a number of
minute fpines: the eyes are ſmall and black, and are
two in number. It is very common in our paftures
towards the end of fummer. Ray and Lifter call it
araneus cruftatus longpipes; Mouffet, araneus long-
pipes; and, notwithſtanding its having but two eyes,
it has been almoft univerfally ranked among the fpi-
ders.
ACASTUS, in claffic hiftory, the fon of Pelias king
of Theffaly, and one of the most famous hunters of his
time, married Hippolyta, who falling defperately in
love with Peleus her fon-in-law, and he refufing to gra-
tify her wiſhes, fhe accuſed him to her huſband of a
rape; on which he flew them both.
ACATALECTIC, a term, in the ancient poetry,
for ſuch verſes as have all their feet or fyllables, in con-
tradiſtinction to thoſe that have a fyllable too few.
ACATALEPSY, fignifies the impoffibility of com-
prehending fomething. The diftinguiſhing tenet of
the Pyrrhonifts was their affecting an abfolute acata-`
lepfy in regard to every thing.
ÁCATERY, or ACCATRY, anciently an officer of
the king's houſehold, defigned for a check betwixt the
clerks of the kitchen and the purveyors.
ACA.
L
A C C
[ 50
]
ACC
Acatharfia
Accelera-
tion.
ACATHARSIA, in medicine, an impurity of the
blood or humours.
ACATHISTUS, the name of a folemn hymn an-
ciently fung in the Greek church on the Saturday of
the fifth week of Lent, in honour of the Virgin, for
having thrice delivered Conftantinople from the inva-
fions of the barbarous nations.
ACATIUM, in the ancient navigation, a kind of
boat or pinnace uſed for military purpofes. The aca-
tium was a fpecies of thofe veffels called naves actua
ria, i. e. fuch as were wrought with oars.
It was
fometimes made uſe of in battle. Strabo defcribes it
as a privateer or pirate floop.
ACAULIS, in botany, a term applied to certain
plants, the flowers of which have no pedicle or ftalk
to fupport them, but reft immediately on the ground,
fuch as the carline thiffle, &c..
•
-
ACCA (St), biſhop of Haguftaldt, or Hexham, in
Northumberland, fucceeded Wilfrid in that fee in 709.
He ornamented his cathedral in a moft magnificent
manner: he furniſhed it alfo with plate and holy veft-
ments; and erected a noble library, confifting chiefly
of ecclefiaftical learning, and a large collection of the
lives of the faints, which he was at great pains to pro-
cure.-He was accounted a very able divine, and was
famous for his fkill in church-mufic. He wrote feveral
pieces: particularly, Paffiones Sanctorum, the Suffer-
ings
of the Saints: Pro illuftrandis fcripturis, ad Be
dam; For explaining the fcriptures, addreffed to Bede.
He died in 740, having enjoyed the fee of Hexham 31
years, under Egbert king of the Northumbrians.
ACCALIA, in Roman antiquity, folemn feftivals
held in honour of Acca Laurentia, Romulus's nurfe:
they were otherwife called LAURENTALIA.
ACCAPITARE, in law, the act of becoming vaf-
fal of a lord, or of yielding him homage and obedience..
Hence,
ACCAPITUM, fignifies the money paid by a vaffal
upon his admiffion to a feu.
ACCAPITUM, in our ancient law, was uſed alfo to
exprefs the relief due to the chief lord. See RELIEF.
ACCEDAS AD CURIAM, in the Engliſh law, a
writ lying, where a man has received, or fears, falfe
judgment in an inferior court. It lies alfo for juſtice
delayed, and is a fpecies of the writ RECORDARE.
ACCELERATION, in mechanics, the increafe
of velocity in a moving body.. Accelerated motion is
that which continually receives freſh acceffions of velo-
city. Acceleration ftands directly oppofed to retar-
dation, which denotes a diminution of velocity.
ACCELERATION is chiefly ufed in phyfics, in refpect
of falling bodies, &e of heavy bodies tending to-
wards the centre of the earth by the force of gravity.
That natural bodies are accelerated in their deſcent, is
evident from various confiderations, both à priori and
pofteriori.―Thus, we actually find, that the greater
height a body falls from, the greater impreffion it
makes, and the more vehemently does it ftrike the fub
ject plane, or other obftacle..
Various were the fyftems and opinions which philo-
fophers produced to account for this acceleration.. But
the immediate caufe of acceleration is now fufficiently
obvious; the principle of gravitation, which deter-
mines the body to defcend, determining it to be acce-
lerated by a neceffary confequence..
•
་
tion.
Suppofe a body let fall from on high: the primary Accelera
cauſe of its beginning to defcend is doubtlefs the power
of gravity; but when once the deſcent is commenced,
that ftate becomes in fome meaſure natural to the bo-
dy; fo that if left to itſelf, it would perfevere in it
for ever, even though the firft caufe fhould ceafe: as
we fee in a ſtone caft with the hand, which continues
to move after it is left by the cauſe that gave
it mo-
tion. But, befide the propenfity to defcend impreffed
by the firft caufe, and which of itſelf were fufficient
to continue the fame degree of motion, once. begun,
in infinitum; there is a conftant acceffion of fubfequent
efforts of the fame principle, gravity, which continues
to act on the body already in motion, in the fame man-
ner as if it were at reft. Here, then, being a double
caufe of motion; and both acting in the fame direc-
tion, viz. directly towards the centre of the earth; the
motion they jointly produce muft neceffarily be greater
than that of any one of them.-And the velocity thus
increaſed having the fame cauſe of increafe ſtill perſiſt-
ing, the defcent muft neceffarily be continually accele-
rated.
The motion of a body aſcending, or impelled up-
wards, is diminiſhed or retarded from the fame prin-
ciple of gravity, acting in a contrary direction, in the
fame manner as a falling body is accelerated: See RE-
TARDATION. A body thus projected upwards, rifes till
it has loft all its motion: which it does in the fame
time that a body falling would have acquired a velo-
city equal to that wherewith the body was thrown up.
Hence the fame body thrown up, will rife to the
fame height from which falling it would have acquired
the velocity wherewith it was thrown up: And hence
the heights which bodies thrown up with different
velocities do afcend to, are to one another as the
fquares of thoſe velocities..
ACCELERATION of Bodies on inclined Planes. The fame
general law obtains. here as in bodies falling perpendi-
cularly the effect of the plane is to make the motion
flower; but the inclination being every where equal,
the retardation arifing therefrom will proceed equally
in all parts, at the beginning and the ending of the mo-
tion. See MECHANICS.
;
ACCELERATION of the Motion of Pendulums-The mo
tion of pendulous bodies is accelerated in their deſcent
but in a lefs ratio than that of bodies falling perpendi-
cularly. See MECHANICS and PENDULUM.
ACCELERATION of the Motion of Projectiles. See PRO-
JECTILE.
ACCELERATION is alfo applied in the ancient aftro-
nomy, in refpect of the fixed ſtars.-This acceleration
was the difference between the revolution of the pri-
mum mobile and the folar revolution; which was com
puted at three minutes and 56 feconds.
ACCELERATION of the Moon, a term uſed to exprefs
the increafe of the moon's mean motion from the fun,
compared with the diurnal motion of the earth; ſo that
it is now a little fwifter than it was formerly. Dr Hal-
ley was the firft who made this difcovery; and he was
led to it by comparing the ancient eclipfes obferved at
Babylon with thofe obferved by Albatennius in the
ninth century, and fome of his own time. He was
not able to afcertain the quantity of this acceleration,
becauſe the longitudes of Bagdad, Alexandria, and
Aleppo, where the obfervations were made, had not
been.
ACC
ACC
[
]
5
tion
Accendones
Accelera- been accurately determined. But fince his time, the
longitude of Alexandria. has been aſcertained by Cha-
zelles; and Babylon, according to Ptolemy's account,
lies 50' eaft from Alexandria. From thefe data, Mr
Dunthorne compared ſeveral ancient and modern eclipfes,
with the calculations of them, by his own tables, and
hereby verified Dr Halley's opinion; for he found that
the fame tables reprefent the moon's place more back-
ward than her true place in ancient eclipfes, and more
forward than her true place in later eclipſes; and thence
justly inferred, that her motion in ancient times was
flower; in later times quicker, than the tables give it.
But he did not content himſelf with merely aſcertain-
ing the fact; he proceeded to determine the quantity
of the acceleration; and by means of the most ancient
eclipfe of which any authentic account remains, ob-
ſerved at Babylon in the year before Chrift 721, he
concluded, that the obſerved beginning of this eclipfe
was not above an hour and three-quarters before the
beginning by the tables; and therefore the moon's true
place could precede her place by computation but little
more than 50 of a degree at that time. Admitting
the acceleration to be uniform, and the aggregate of
it as the ſquare of the time, it will be at the rate of
about 10' in 100 years.
Dr Long attributes the acceleration above deſcribed
to one or more of theſe cauſes: either, 1. The annual
and diurnal motion of the earth continuing the fame,
the moon is really carried round the earth with a great-
er velocity than heretofore: or, 2. The diurnal motion
of the earth, and the periodical revolution of the moon
continuing the fame, the annual motion of the earth
round the fun is a little retarded; which makes the
fun's apparent motion in the ecliptic a little flower
than formerly; and, confequently, the moon in paffing
from any conjunction with the fun, fpends lefs time
before ſhe again overtakes the fun, and forms a fubfe-
quent conjunction: in both theſe cafes, the motion of
the moon from the fun is really accelerated, and the
fynodical month actually ſhortened. Or, 3. The annual
motion of the earth, and the periodical revolution of
the moon continuing the fame, the rotation of the
earth round its axis is a little retarded: in this cafe,
days, hours, minutes, feconds, &c. by which all periods
of time muſt be meaſured, are of a longer duration;
and confequently the fynodical month will appear to
be ſhortened, though it really contains the fame quan-
tity of abſolute time as it always did. If the quantity
of matter in the body of the fun be leffened by the
particles of light continually ftreaming from it, the
motion of the earth round the fun may become flower:
if the earth increaſes in bulk, the motion of the moon
round the earth may be quickened thereby. See A-
-STRONOMY.
•
ACCELERATOR, in anatomy, the name of two
muſcles of the penis, which ſerve for ejecting the urine
or femen. See ANATOMY, Table of the Mufcles.
ACCENDENTES, a lower order of minifters in
the Romish church, whofe office is to light and trim the
candles.
ACCENDONES, in Roman antiquity, a kind of
gladiators, whofe office was to excite and animate the
combatants during the engagement. The orthogra-
phy of the word is contefted: the firft edition of Ter-
tullian, by Rhenanus, has it accedones; an ancient
2
Accent,
manufcript, accendones. Aquinas adheres to the for- Accenfi
mer, Pitifcus to the latter. The origin of the word,
11
fuppofing it accendones, is from accendo, I kindle; fup-
pofing it accedones, from accedo, I accede, am added to.
The former places their diftinguiſhing character in en-
livening the combat by their exhortations and fugge-
ftions; the latter ſuppoſes them to be much the fame
with what among us are called feconds, among the Ita-
lians patroni: excepting that theſe latter only ſtand by
to fee the laws of the fword duly obferved, without in-
termeddling to give advice or inſtruction.
ACCENSI, in the Roman armies, certain fupernu-
merary foldiers, defigned to ſupply the places of thoſe
who fhould be killed or anywife diſabled. They were
thus denominated, quia accenfebantur, or ad cenfum
adjiciebantur. Vegetius calls them fupernumerarii le-
gionum. Cato calls them ferentarii, in regard they
furniſhed thoſe engaged in battle with weapons, drink,
&c. Though Nonnius fuggefts another reaſon of that
appellation, viz. becauſe they fought with ſtones, flings,
and weapons quæ ferruntur, fuch as are thrown, not
carried in the hand. They were fometimes alſo called
velites, and velati, becauſe they fought clothed, but not.
in armour; fometimes adfcripticii, and adfcriptivi; fome-
times rorarii. The accenfi, Livy obferves, were placed
at the rear of the army, becauſe no great matter was
expected from them: they were taken out of the fifth
clafs of citizens.
ACCENSI, in antiquity, denotes an inferior order of
officers, appointed to attend the Roman magiſtrates,
fomewhat in the manner of uſhers, ferjeants, or tip-
ftaves among us. They were thus called from accire,
to fend for; one part of their office being to call affem-
blies of the people, fummon parties to appear and an-
ſwer before the judges, &c.
ACCENSI, was alſo an appellation given to a kind of
adjutants, appointed by the tribune to affift each cen-
turion and decurion. In which fenfe, accenfus is fyno-
nymous with optio. In an ancient infcription, given
by á Torre, we meet ACCENSUS EQUITUM ROMANO-
RUM; an office no where elſe heard of. That author
fufpects it for a corruption; and inftead thereof reads,
A CENSIBUS.
ACCENSION, the action of fetting a body on fire:
thus the accenfion of tinder is effected by ftriking fire
with flint and ſteel.
ACCENT, in reading or ſpeaking, an inflection of
the voice, which gives to each fyllable of a word its
due pitch in refpect of height or lownefs. See READ-
ING. The word is originally Latin, accentus: a com-
pound of ad, to; and cano, to fing. Accentus, quafi
adcantus, or juxta cantum. In this fenfe, accent is fy-
nonymous with the Greek
nonymous with the Greek Tovos; the Latin tenor, or
tonor; and the Hebrew yo, guftus, tafte.-For the
doctrine of Accents in Compoſition, ſee POETRY, Part III.
N° 103. 114.
ACCENT, among grammarians, is a certain mark or
character placed over a fyllable, to direct the ftrefs of
its pronunciation. We generally reckon three gram-
matical accents in ordinary uſe, all borrowed from the
Greeks, viz. the acute accent, ('), which fhows when
the tone of the voice is to be raiſed. The grave ac-
cent (), when the note or tone of the voice is to be
depreffed. The circumflex accent (~ or^), is compofed
of both the acute and the grave,
of both the acute and the grave, and points out a kind
G 2
of
A C C
ACC
[
52 ]
[
Accent, of undulation of the voice. The Latins have made the
fame uſe of theſe three accents.
The Hebrews have a grammatical, a rhetorical, and
mufical accent: though the firſt and laſt feem, in effect,
to be the fame; both being comprifed under the ge-
neral name of tonic accents, becauſe they give the pro-
per tone to fyllables; as the rhetorical accents are faid
to be euphonic, becauſe as they tend to make the
pronunciation more ſweet and agreeable. There are
four euphonic accents, and 25 tonic; of which fome
are placed above, and others below the fyllables; the
Hebrew accents ferving not only to regulate the rifings
and fallings of the voice, but alſo to diftinguiſh the
fections, periods, and numbers of periods, in a difcourfe;
and to anſwer the fame purpoſes with the points in
other languages. Their accents are divided into em-
perors, kings, dukes, &c. each bearing a title anfwer-
able to the importance of the diftinction it makes. Their
emperor rules over a whole phraſe, and terminates the
fenfe completely; anfwering to our point. Their king
anfwers to our colon; and their duke to our comma.
The king, however, occafionally becomes a duke, and
the duke a king, as the phraſes are more or leſs ſhort.
It muſt be noted, by the way, that the management
and combination of theſe accents differ in Hebrew
poetry from what they are in profe. The ufe of the tonic
or grammatical accents has been much controverted:
fome holding that they diſtinguiſh the fenfe; while
others maintain that they are only intended to regulate
the mufic, or finging; alleging that the Jews fing,
* Cooper, rather than read, the fcriptures in their fynagogues
Dom. Mo- Be this, however, as it will, it is certain the ancient
faic. Clav. Hebrews were not acquainted with theſe accents. The
opinion which prevails amongst the learned, is, that
they were invented about the fixth century, by the
Jewish doctors of the ſchool of Tiberias, called the
Mafforetes.
P. 31.
*
As to the Greek accents, now feen both in manu-
fcripts and printed books, there has been no lefs dif-
pute about their antiquity and ufe than about thofe of
the Hebrews. Ifaac Voffius endeavours to prove them
of modern invention; afferting, that anciently they had
nothing of this kind, but only a few notes in their
poetry, which were invented by Ariftophanes the gram-
marian, about the time of Ptolemy Philopater; and
that theſe were of mufical, rather than grammatical ufe,
ſerving as aids in the finging of their poems, and very
different from thoſe introduced afterwards. He alfo
fhows from feveral ancient grammarians, that the man-
ner of writing the Greek accents in theſe days was quite
different from that which appears in our books. The au-
dior of La Methode Greque, p.546, obferves, that the right
pronunciation of the Greek language being natural to
the Greeks, it was needlefs for them to mark it by ac-
cents in their writings: fo that, according to all ap-
pearance, they only began to make ufe of them fo low
as the time in which the Romans, being curious to
learn the Greek tongue, fent their children to study at
Athens, thinking thereby to fix the pronunciation, and
to facilitate it to ſtrangers; which happened, as the fame
author obferves, a little before Cicero's time. Wetstein,
Greek profeffor at Bafil, in a learned differtation en-
deavours to prove the Greek accents of an older ftand-
ing. He owns that they were not always formed in the
fame manner by the ancients; but thinks that difference
tion.
owing to the different pronunciation which obtained in Accent
the different parts of Greece. He brings feveral reaſons,
11
Accepta-
à priori, for the uſe of accents, even in the earlieſt days:
as that they then wrote all in capital letters equidiftant
from each other, without any diftinction either of words
or phrafes, which without accents could fcarce be in-
telligible; and that accents were neceffary to diſtinguiſh
ambiguous words, and to point out their
ing; which he confirms from a difpute on a paffage in
Homer, mentioned by Ariſtotle in his Poëtics, chap. v.
Accordingly, he obferves, that the Syrians, who have
tonic, but no diftinctive accents, have yet invented cer-
tain points, placed either below or above the words, to
fhow their mood, tenfe, perfon,' or ſenſe.
proper mean-
The uſe of accents, to prevent ambiguities, is moft
remarkably perceived in fome eaftern languages, par.
ticularly the Siamefe and Chinefe. Among the peo-
ple of China, every word, or (which is the fame thing)
fyllable, admits of five accents, as ſpoken more acutely
or remifsly; and thus ftands for many different things.
The fame found ya, according to the accent affixed to
it, fignifies God, a wall, excellent, Stupidity, and a
goofe. The Chineſe have but 330 fpoken words in their
language; but thefe being multiplied by the different
accents or tones, which affect the vowels, furniſh a
language tolerably copious. By means hereof, their
330 fimple founds come to denote 1650 things; but
this being hardly fufficient, they are increaſed further.
by afpirates added to each word to double the number.
The Chineſe only reckon four accents: for which the
miffionaries uſe the following marks, aá, û, à, a; to
which they have added a fifth, thus, a. They make a
kind of modulation; wherein, prolonging the duration
of the found of the vowel, they vary the tone, raifing
and finking it by a certain pitch of voice: fo that their
talking is a fort of mufic or finging. Attempts have
been made to determine the quantity of the rife or fall in
each accent by means of mufical notes; but this is hard
to effect, as being different in different perfons. Hence
the great difficulty of the language to foreigners; they
are forced to fing moft fcrupuloufly: if they deviate
ever fo little from the accent, they fay quite a diffe-
rent thing from what was intended. Thus, meaning
to compliment the perfon you are talking to with the
title Sir, you call him a beaſt with the fame word,
only a little varied in the tone. Magalhon makes the
language the eafier to learn on this account. The
Siamefe are alſo obſerved to fing rather than talk.
Their alphabet begins with fix characters, all only
equivalent to a K, but differently accented. For tho
in the pronunciation the accents are naturally on the
vowels, yet they have fome to diverfify fuch of their
confonants as are in other refpects the fame.
ACCENT, in mufic, is a certain enforcement of par
ticular founds, whether by the voice or inftruments,
generally ufed at the beginning of bars.
ACCEPTANCE, inlaw, a perfon's agreeing to offers
made in bargaining, by which the bargain is concluded.
ACCEPTANCE, in the church of Rome, is put for re-
ceiving the pope's conftitutions.
ACCEPTANCE, in commerce, is the fubfcribing, fign-
ing, and making one's felf debtor for the fum contained
in a bill of exchange or other obligation.
ACCEPTATION, in grammar, the fenfe or mean-
ing wherein any word is taken...
4
ACCEP-
7
ACC
[ 53
]
AC C
Accepter
Acceffory.
ACCEPTER, or ACCEPTOR, the perfon who ac-
cepts a BILL of exchange, &c.
ACCEPTILATION, among civilians, an acquit-
tance or diſcharge given by the creditor to the debtor
without the payment of any value.
ACCESSIBLE, fomething that may be approach-
ed, or that acceſs may be had to. Thus we ſay, Such
a place is acceffible on one fide, &c.
ACCESSION, in law, is a method of acquiring
property, by which, in things that have a cloſe connec-
tion or dependence upon one another, the property of
the principal thing draws after it the property of the
acceffory: Thus, the owner of a cow becomes like-
wife the owner of the calf. It fometimes likewife figni-
fies confent or acquiefcence.
ACCESSION, among phyficians, is uſed for a paroxyfm
of a diſeaſe; among politicians, it fignifies a prince's
fucceeding to the government upon the death of his
predeceffor.
ACCESSORY, or ACCESSARY, fomething that ac-
cedes, or is added to another more confiderable thing;
in which fenfe the word ftands oppoſed to PRINCIPAL.
ACCESSORY, or Acceffary, in common law, is chiefly
uſed for a perfon guilty of a felonious offence, not prin-
cipally, but by participation: as, by advice, command,
or concealment.
There are two kinds of acceſories: before the fact,
and after it.--The first is he who commands, or pro-
cures another to commit felony, and is not prefent him-
felf; for if he be prefent, he is a principal. The fe
cond is he who receives, affifts, or comforts any man
that has done murder, or felony, whereof he has know-
ledge. A man may alſo be acceffory to an acceffory,
by aiding, receiving, &c. an acceffory in felony.
An acceffory in felony fhall have judgment of life
and member, as well as the principal who did the fe-
Iony; but not till the principal be firſt attainted, and
convict, or outlawed thereon. Where the principal is
pardoned without attainder, the acceffory cannot be
arraigned; it being a maxim in law, Ubi non eft prin-
cipalis, non poteft eſſe acceſſorius: but if the principal
be pardoned, or have his clergy after attainder, the ac-
ceffory fhall be arraigned; 4 and 5 W. et M. cap. 4.
And by ftat. I Anne, cap. 9. it is enacted, that where
the principal is convicted of felony, or ftands mute, or
challenges above 20 of the jury, it fhall be lawful to
proceed againſt the acceffory in the fame manner as if
the principal had been attainted; and notwithſtanding
fuch principal fhall be admitted to his clergy, pardoned,
or delivered before attainder. In fome cafes alfo, if
the principal cannot be taken, then the acceffory may
be profecuted for a mifdemeanour, and punished by
fine, impriſonment, &c. In the loweſt and highest
offences there are no acceffories, but all are principals:
as in riots, routs, forcible entries, and other trefpaffes,
which are the loweft offences. So alfo in the higheft
offence, which is, according to the English law, high
treaſon, there are no acceffories..
Acceffories, in petty treafon, murder, and in felonies
of feveral kinds, are not to have their clergy. There
can be no acceffory before the fact in manslaughter;bes
cauſe that is fudden and unprepenfed:
*
ACCESSORY Nerves, in anatomy, a pair of nerves,
which, arifing from the medulla in the vertebræ of the
neck, afcend, and enter the skull, and pafs out of it a-
gain with the par vagum, wrapped up in the fame com- Acceffory
mon integument, and after quitting them, are diſtri-
buted into the muſcles of the neck and fhoulders. See
ANATOMY.
ACCESSORY, among painters, an epithet given to
fuch parts of an hiftory-piece as ferve chiefly for or
nament, and might have been wholly left out: fuch
as vaſes, armour, &c.
ACCI, (anc. geog.) a town of Tarraconenfis, for-
merly called Acti; fuppofed to be Guadix, to the eaſt
of the city of Granada, at the foot of a mountain, near
the fource of the rivulet Guadalantin; now greatly de-
cayed. It is the Colonia Accitana Gemella, and was
of fome repute among the Roman colonies. The peo-
ple were called Gemellenfes, becauſe the colony con-
fifted of colonifts from the third and fixth legions.
ACCIAIOLI (Donata), a man famous for his learn-
ing and the honourable employments he poffeffed in.
Florence his native country, in the 15th century. He
wrote, A Latin tranflation of fome of Plutarch's Lives;
Commentaries on Ariftotle's Ethics and Politics; and
the Life of Charlemagne. He was fent to France by
the Florentines, to fue for fuccour from Lewis XI.
against Pope Sextus IV. but on his journey died at
Milan; his body was carried to Florence, and buried in
the church of the Carthufians. The fmall fortune he left
his children is a proof of his probity and difintereſted-
nefs. His daughters, like thofe of Ariſtides, were
married at the public expence, as an acknowledgment
of his fervices. His funeral eulogium was fpoken by
Chriftopher Landini; and an elegant epitaph, by Poli-
tion, was infcribed on his tomb.
ACCIDENT, in a general fenfe, denotes any ca-
fual event.
ACCIDENT, among logicians, is uſed in a threefold
fenfe. 1. Whatever does not effentially belong to a
thing; as the clothes a man wears, or the money in his
pocket. 2. Such properties in any fubject as are not.
effential to it; thus whitenefs in paper is an acci-
dental quality. 3. In oppofition to fubftance, all qua-
lities whatever are called accidents; as fweetneſs, foft-
nefs, &c.
·
ACCIDENT, in grammar, implies a property attach-
ed to a word, without entering into its effential defini-
tion; for every word, notwithftanding its fignifica-
tion, will be either primitive, derivative, fimple, or
compound, which are the accidents of words. A
word is faid to be primitive, when it is taken from no
other word in the language in which it is used: thus
heaven, king, good, are primitive words. It is faid to
be derivative, when it is taken from fome other word:
thus heavenly, kingdom, goodness, &c. are derivatives.
A fimple word is eafily diftinguished from a compound:
thus juft, juftice, are fimple words; unjuft, injustice,
are compound: res is a fimple word, as well as publica;
but refpublica is a compound. Befides thefe accidents,
which are common to all forts of words, each particu-
lar fpecies has its accidents: thus the accidents of the
noun fubftantive are the gender, desenfion, and num-
ber; and the adjective has another accident, namely, the
comparifon. See the article GRAMMAR and LANGUAGE.
ACCIDENT, in heraldry, an additional point or mark
in a coat of arms, which may be either omitted or re-
tained without altering the effence of the armour; fuch
as, abatement, difference, and tin&ture.
ACCI-
Accident.
1
A C C
[ 54 ]
AC C
Accidental,
ACCIDENTAL, in a general fenfe, implies fome-
Accipenfer. thing that happens. by accident, or that is not effential
to its ſubject.
ACCIDENTAL, in philofophy, is applied to that ef-
fct which flows from fome caufe intervening by acci-
dent, without being fubject, or at leaſt without any
appearance of being fubject, to general laws or regu-
lar returns. In this fenfe, accident is oppoſed to conftant
and principal. Thus the fun's place is, with refpect to
the earth, the conftant and principal caufe of the heat
in fummer, and the cold in winter; whereas winds,
fnows, and rains, are the accidental caufes which of
ten alter and modify the action of the principal caufe.
ACCIDENTAL Point, in perfpective, is that point in
the horizontal line where the projections of two lines
parallel to each other meet the perfpective plane.
+
ACCIDENTAL Colours, are thofe which depend upon
the affections of the eye, in contradiftinction to thoſe
which belong to the light itſelf. The impreffions made
upon the eye by looking ftedfaftly at a particular co-
lour are various, according to the ſingle colour or com-
bination of colours in the object; and they continue
for fome time after the eye is withdrawn, and give a
falſe colouring to other objects. Mr Buffon has en-
deavoured to trace the connections which theſe acci-
dental colours have with fuch as are natural, in a va-
riety of inftances. The ſubject has alſo been confidered
by De la Hire, and M. Epences; and M. d'Arcy has
contrived a machine for determining the duration of
the effects of light, and after ſeveral trials, finds that
it continues about eight thirds of a minute.
ACCIPENSER, in ichthyology, a genus of fishes
belonging to the Amphibia Nantes of Linnæus. The
accipenſer has a fingle linear noftril: the mouth is in
the under part of the head, and contains no teeth; the
cirri are below the fnout, and before the mouth. There
are three ſpecies of this genus, viz.
1. The ruthenus has 4 cirri, and 15 fquamous pro-
tuberances. It is a native of Ruffia.
2. The hufo has 4 cirri.; the body is naked, i. e. has
no prickles or protuberances. The ſkin of the hufo
is fo tough and ſtrong, that it is employed for ropes
in carts and other wheel-carriages; and the ichthyo-
collo, or 1SINGLASS of the fhops, famous as an agglu-
tinant, and uſed alfo for the fining of wines, is made
from its found or fcales. The ancients were acquaint-
ed with the fiſh that afforded this drug. The hufo is
the largeſt of the genus, and grows to 24 feet in length.
It inhabits the Danube and the rivers of Ruffia.
3. The furio, or fturgeon, with 4 cirri and 11
fquamous protuberances on the back. This fiſh an-
nually afcends our rivers, but in no great numbers, and
is taken by accident in the falmon-nets. It ſeems a ſpi-
ritleſs fiſh, making no manner of refiftance when en-
tangled, but is drawn out of the water like a lifelefs
lump. It is feldom taken far out at ſea, but frequents
fuch parts as are not remote from the æftuaries of great
rivers. It is admired for the delicacy and firmnefs of
its fleſh, which is white as veal, and extremely good
when roaſted. It is generally pickled. The moſt we
receive comes either from the Baltic rivers or North
America. Great numbers are taken during ſummer in
the lakes Friſchéhaff, and Curiſch-haff near Pillau, in
large nets made of fmall cord. The adjacent fhores are
formed into districts, and farmed out to companies of
•
Accius.
fishermen, fome of which are rented for fix thouſand Accipiter
guilders, or near three hundred pounds, per annum.
H
They are found in vaſt abundance in the American ri-
vers in May, June, and July; at which time they leap
fome yards out of the water, and, falling on their fides,
make a noife to be heard in ftill weather at fome miles
diftance. Caviare is made of the roes of this, and alſo
of all the other forts of fturgeons, dried, falted, and
packed up clofe. Ichthyocolla, or ifinglaſs, is likewiſe
made of the found of this fifh, as well as that of the
others; but in very fmall quantity. The ſturgeon
grows to a great fize, to the length of 18 feet, and to
the weight of 500 pounds, but it is feldom taken in
our rivers of that bulk. In the manner of breeding,
this fish is an exception among the cartilaginous kind;
being, like the bony fifh, oviparous, fpawning in wa-
ter.
ACCIPITER, the name of Linnæus's firft order of
Birds. See ZOOLOGY.
*
Among the Romans, the term accipiter fignified a
hawk, and which, from its being very carnivorous,
they confidered as a bird of bad omen;
QVID.
“Odimus accipitrem, quia femper vivit in armis.
Pliny, however, tells us, that in ſome caſes, particu-
larly in marriage, it was efteemed a bird of good
omen, becauſe it never eats the hearts of other birds;
intimating thereby, that no differences in a married
ftate ought to reach the heart. The accipiter was
worshipped as a divinity by the inhabitants of Tentyra,
an iſland in the Nile, being conſidered by them as the
image of the fun; and hence we find that luminary re-
prefented, in hieroglyphics, under the figure of a
hawk.
ACCISMUS, denotes a feigned refuſal of fome-
thing which a perfon earneſtly defires. The word is
Latin; or rather Greek, Axxioμos; ſuppoſed to be form-
ed from Acco, the name of a fooliſh old woman noted
in antiquity for an affectation of this kind.
Accifmus is fometimes confidered as a virtue; fome-
times as a vice, which Auguftus and Tiberius prac-
tifed with great fuccefs. Cromwell's refuſal of the
crown of England may be brought as an inſtance of an
Accifmus.
ACCISMUS is more particularly uſed, in rhetoric, as
a fpecies of irony.
ACCITUM, (anc. geog.), a town of Hiſpania Ba-
tica, now Finiana, as appears from an ancient infcrip-
tion; fituate on an eminence of the mountains Alpu-
xaras in Granada.
ACCIUS (Lucius), a Latin tragic poet, the ſon of
freedman, and, according to St Jerom, born in the
confulfhip of Hoftilius Mancinus and Attilius Serra-
nus, in the year of Rome 583; but there appears
fomewhat of confufion and perplexity in this chronolo-
gy. He made himſelf known before the death of Pa-
cuvius, a dramatic piece of his being exhibited the
fame year that Pacuvius brought one upon the ſtage,
the latter being then eighty years of age, and Accius
only thirty. We do not know the name of this piece
of Accius's, but the titles of feveral of his tragedies
are mentioned by various authors. He wrote on the
moſt celebrated ſtories which had been repreſented on
the Athenian ftage; as Andromache, Andromeda, A-
treus, Clytemneftra, Medea, Meleager, Philocletes,
the
A C C
[ 55
AC C
]
+
Accius, the civil wars of Thebes, Tereus, the Troades, &c.
Acclama- He did not always, however, take his fubjects from
tion. the Grecian ſtory; for he compofed one dramatic piece
wholly Roman: it was intitled Brutus, and related to
the expulfion of the Tarquins. It is affirmed by fome,
that he wrote alfo comedies; which is not unlikely, if
he was the author of two pieces, the Wedding and
the Merchant, which have been aſcribed to him. He
did not confine himſelf to dramatic writing; for he left
other productions, particularly his annals, mentioned
by Macrobius, Prifcian, Feftus, and Nonius Marcel-
lus. He has been cenfured for writing in too harſh a
ftyle, but in all other refpects has been eſteemed a very
great poet. He was ſo much eſteemed by the public,
that a comedian was punished for only mentioning his
name on the ftage. Cicero fpeaks with great derifion
of one Accius who had written a hiſtory; and, as our
author had wrote annals, fome infift that he is the per-
fon cenfured: but as Cicero himſelf, Horace, Quinti-
lian, Ovid, and Paterculus, have ſpoken of our author
with ſo much applaufe, we cannot think it is him whom
the Roman orator cenfures with ſo much ſeverity.
There was alſo in this age a pretty good orator of
the fame name, againſt whom Cicero defended Cluen-
tius. He was born in Pifaurum, and perhaps was a re-
lation of our poet.
ACCIUS, a poet of the 16th century, to whom is
attributed A Paraphrafe of Efop's Fables, on which
Julius Scaliger beftows great encomiums.
ACCLAMATION, a confuſed noiſe or ſhout of
joy, by which the public exprefs their applaufe, efteem,
or approbation.
ACCLAMATION, in a more proper fenfe, denotes a
certain form of words, uttered with extraordinary ve-
hemence, and in a peculiar tone fomewhat refembling
a fong, frequent in the ancient affemblies. Acclama-
tions were uſually accompanied with applaufes, with
which they are fometimes confounded: though they
ought to be diftinguifhed; as acclamation was given
by the voice, applauſe by the hands; add, that accla-
mation was alfo beftowed on perfons abfent, applauſe
only on thoſe prefent. Acclamation was alfo given by
women, whereas applaufe feems to have been confined
to men.
Acclamations are of various kinds; ecclefiaftical,
military, nuptial, fenatorial, fynodical, fcholaftic, thea-
trical, &c. We meet with loud acclamations, mufical,
and rythmical acclamations; acclamations of joy and
reſpect, and even of reproach and contumely. The
former, wherein words of happy omen were uſed, were
alſo called, Laudationes, et bona vota, or good wishes;
the latter, Execrationes et convicia. Suetonius furniſhes
an inſtance of this laft kind in the Roman fenate, on
occafion of the decree for demolishing the ftatues of
Domitian, when the fathers, as the hiftorian repreſents
it, could not refrain from contumelious acclamations of
the deceaſed. The like were ſhown after the death of
Commodus, where the acclamations run in the follow-
ing ſtrain : Hofti patriæ honores detrahantur, parricide
honores detrahantur; hoftis ftatuas undique, parricide
Batuas undique, gladiatoris ftatuas undique, &c.-The
formula, in acclamations, was repeated fometimes a
greater, fometimes a leffer, number of times. Hence
we find in Roman writers, acclamatum eft quinquies, et
vicies; five times, and twenty times: fometimes alſo
fexagies, and even octuagies; fixty and eight times.
tion.
Acclamations were not unknown on the theatres in Acclama-
the earlieſt ages of the Roman commonwealth; but
they were artlefs then, and little other than confuſed
fhouts. Afterwards they became a fort of regular con-
certs. That mentioned by Phædrus, latare incolumis
Roma falvo principe, which was made for Auguftus, and
proved the occafion of a pleaſant miſtake of a flute-
player called Princeps, ſhows that mufical acclamations
were in uſe in that emperor's reign. Revertentem ex
Provincia modulatis carminibus profequebantur, ſays
Suetonius, who gives another inftance in the time of
Tiberius: a falfe report of Germanicus's recovery be-
ing fpread through Rome, the people ran in crowds to
the capitol with torches and victims, finging, Salva
Roma, Salva Patria, Salvus eft Germanicus--Nero,
paffionately fond of mufic, took fpecial care to improve
and perfect the mufic of acclamations. Charmed with
the harmony wherewith the Alexandrians, who came
to the games celebrated at Naples, had fung his praiſes,
he brought feveral over to inftruct a number of youth,
chofen from among the knights and people, in the dif
ferent kinds of acclamations practifed at Alexandria.
Thefe continued in ufe as long as the reign of Theo-
doric. But the people did not always make a fingle
chorus; fometimes there were two, who answered each
other alternately: thus, when Nero played on the
theatre, Burrhus and Seneca, who were on either
hand, giving the fignal by clapping, 5000 foldiers
called Auguſtals, began to chant his praiſe, which the
ſpectators were obliged to repeat. The whole was
conducted by a mufic-mafter called Mefuchorus or Pau-
farius.-The honour of acclamations was chiefly ren-
dered to emperors, their children, and favourites; and
to the magiftrates who prefided at the games. Per
fons of diftinguifhed merit alfo fometimes received
them, of which Quintilian gives us inftances in Cato
and Virgil. The moft ufual forms were, Feliciter, Lon-
giorem vitam, Annos felices. The actors themſelves,
and they who gained the prizes in the games of the
circus, were not excluded the honour of acclama、
tions.
To theatrical acclamations may be added thoſe of
the foldiery and the people in time of triumph. The
victorious army accompanied their general to the capi-
tol; and, among the verſes they fung in his praiſes, fre-
quently repeated, Io TRIUMPHE, which the people
anfwered in the fame ftrain. It was alfo in the way
of acclamation, that the foldiers gave their general the
title of Imperator, after fome notable victory: a title
which he only kept till the time of his triumph..
The acclamations of the fenate were fomewhat more
ferious than the popular ones; but arofe from the fame
principle, viz. a defire of pleafing the prince or his fa-
vourites; and aimed likewiſe at the fame end, either to
exprefs the general approbation and zeal of the com-
pany, or to congratulate him on his victories, or to
make him new proteftations of fidelity. Thefe accla
mations were uſually given after a report made by ſome
fenator, to which the reft all expreffed their confent by
crying OMNES, OMNES; or elfe, EQUUM EST, JUS-
TUM EST. Sometimes they began with acclamations,
and fometimes ended with them without other debates.
It was after this manner that all the elections and pro-
clamations of emperors, made by the fenate, were con-
ducted; fomething of which practice is ftill retained
at modern elections of kings and emperors, where Vivat·
Rex,
ACC
[ 56 ]
A C C
Acclama- Rex, Vive le Roy, and Long live the King, are cufto-
mary forms.
tion.
1
The Greeks borrowed the cuſtom of receiving their
emperors in the public places from the Romans. Luit-
prand relates, that at a proceffion where he was pre-
fent, they fung to the emperor Nicephorus, 70xλα ern;
that is, Many years: which Codin expreffes thus, by
το ψάλλειν το πολυχρονιον, or by
το πολυχρονιζειν ; and the
wifh or falutation by oxuxgoμa. And at dinner, the
Greeks then prefent wiſhed with a loud voice to the
emperor and Bardas, Ut Deus annos multiplicet; as he
tranflates the Greek. Plutarch mentions an acclama
tion fo loud, upon occafion of Flaminius's reftoring lis
berty to Greece, that the very birds fell from heaven
with the fhout. The Turks practiſe ſomething like
this on the fight of their emperors and grand viziers
to this day.
For the acclamations wherewith authors, poets, &c.
were received, who recited their works in public; it is
to be obſerved, the affemblies for this purpoſe were held
with great parade in the moſt folemn places, as the ca-
pitol, temples, the Athenæum, and the houſes of great
men. Invitations were fent every where, in order to
get the greater appearance. The chief care was, that
the acclamations might be given with all the order and
pomp poffible. Men of fortune who pretended to wit,
kept able applauders in their fervice, and lent them to
their friends. Others endeavoured to gain them by
prefents and treats. Philoftratus mentions a young
man named Vavus, who lent money to the men of let
ters, and forgave the intereft to fuch as applauded his
exercifes. Thefe acclamations were conducted much
after the fame manner as thofe on the theatre, both as
to the mufic and the accompaniments they were to
be fuited both to the fubject and to the perfon. There
were particular ones for the philofophers, for orators,
for hiftorians, and for poets. It would be difficult to
rehearſe all the forms of them; one of the moſt ufual
was Sophos, which was to be repeated three times. Mar-
tial comprehends feveral other uſual forms in this verſe:
Graviter, Cito, Nequiter, Euge, Beate.
Neither the Greeks nor Romans were barren on this
head. The names of gods and heroes were given thoſe
whom they would extol. It was not enough to do it
after each head of diſcourſe, chiefly after the exordium;
but the acclamations were renewed at every fine paf-
fage, frequently at every period.
The acclamations wherewith the ſpectators honoured
the victories of the athletæ, were a natural confequence
of the impetuous motions which attended the gymna-
ftic games. The cries and acclamations of the people,
fometimes expreffing their compaffion and joy, fome-
times their horror and difguft, are strongly painted by
different poets and orators.
Acclamations made alfo a part of the ceremony of
marriage. They were uſed for the omen's fake; being
the Lata Omina, fometimes fpoken of before marriage
in Roman writers.
Acclamations, at firft practiſed in the theatre, and
paffing thence to the ſenate, &c. was in procefs of time
received into the acts of councils, and the ordinary af-
femblies of the church. The people expreffed their
approbation of the preacher variouſly; the more ufual
forms were, Orthodox! Third Apoſtle, &c. Theſe accla-
mations being fometimes carried to excefs, and often
mifplaced, were frequently prohibited by the ancient Acclama-
doctors, and at length abrogated; though they ap-
pear to have been in fome ufe as low as the time of
St Bernard.
ACCLAMATION Medals, among antiquaries, fuch as
reprefent the people expreffing their joy in the poſture
of acclamation.
ACCLIVITY, the riſe or aſcent of a hill, in oppo-
fition to the declivity or defcent of it. Some writers
in fortification uſe it for the talus of a rampart.
·ACCOLA, among the Romans, fignified a perfon
who lived near fome place; in which fenfe, it differed
from incola, the inhabitant of fuch a place.
ACCOLADE, a ceremony anciently uſed in the
conferring of knighthood.
Antiquaries are not agreed wherein the accolade
properly confifted. The generality fuppofe it to be the
embrace, or kifs, which princes anciently gave the new
knight, as a token of their affection: whence the word
accolade; q. d. a clafping, or taking round the neck.
Others will rather have it to be a blow on the chine of
the neck, given on the fame occafion. The Accolade
is of fome antiquity, in which foever of the two fenfes
it be taken. Greg. de Tours writes, that the kings of
France, even of the first race, in conferring the gilt
fhoulder-belt, kiffed the knights on the left cheek. For
the accoles, or blow, John of Saliſbury affures us, it was
in ufe among the ancient Normans: by this it was that
William the Conqueror conferred the honour of knight-
hood on his fon Henry. At firſt, it was given with
the naked fift; but was afterwards changed into a blow
with the flat of the fword on the ſhoulder of the knight.
ACCOLEE, fometimes fynonymous with Acco
LADE, which fee.-It is alſo uſed in various fenfes in he
raldry: fometimes it is applied to two things joined ;
at other times, to animals with crowns, or collars about
their necks, as the lion in the Ogilvy's arms; and, laſt-
ly, to kews, battons, maces, fwords, &c. placed ſaltier-
wife behind the fhield.
ACCOLTI (Bernardo), fecretary to the republic
of Florence, was furnamed L'Unico, or the Nonfuch,
probably from the great extent of his underſtanding,
the variety of ſciences he had acquired, and the ex-
cellency of his poetic vein; which not only gained
him a feat among the academicians of the court of
Urbino, but made that great Mecanas, pope Leo X.
in 1520, create him prince of the ftate of Nepi. He
wrote many pieces; among others, a collection of beau
tiful poems, printed at Venice in 1519 and 1553.
ACCOMMODATION, the application of one
thing, by analogy, to another; or the making two or
more things agree with one another.
To know a thing by accommodation, is to know it
by the idea of a fimilar thing referred thereto.
A prophecy of fcripture is faid to be fulfilled vari-
ous ways; properly, as when a thing foretold comes
to pafs; and improperly, or by way of accommoda-
tion, when an event happens to any place or people,
like to what fell out fome time before to another.-
Thus, the words of Ifaiah, ſpoken to thoſe of his own
time, are faid to be fulfilled in thofe who lived in our
Saviour's; and are accommodated to them: "Ye hy-
pocrites, well did Ifaias prophecy of you," &c. which
fame words St Paul afterwards accommodates to the
Jews of his time.
The
1
tion
Accommo⭑
dation.
A C C
[ 57 ]
AC C
Accompa-
Accom-
*
literal accompliſhment, a myſtical or ſpiritual accom- Accom
pliſhment, a fingle accompliſhment, a double accom- plishment
pliſhment, a Jewiſh accompliſhment, a Chriftian, a Accountant
heathen accompliſhment. The fame prophecy is fome-
times accompliſhed in all, or in ſeveral of thofe different
ways. Thus, of fome of the prophecies of the Old Te-
ftament, the Jews find a literal accompliſhment in their
own hiſtory, about the time when the prophecy was
given: the Chriſtians find another in Chriſt, or the
earlieſt days of the church; the heathens another, in
fome of their emperors; the Mahometans another, in
their legiflator, &c. There are two principal ways of
accompliſhing a prophecy; directly, and by accommo-
dation. See ACCOMMODATION, and PROPHECY.
ACCOMPLISHMENT, is alſo uſed for any mental or
perfonal endowment.
The primitive church accommodated multitudes of
niment Jewish, and even heathen ceremonies and practices, to
Chriſtian purpoſes; but the Jews had before done the
pliſhment. fame by the Gentiles: fome will even have circumci-
fion, the tabernacle, brazen ferpent, &c. to have been
originally of Egyptian uſe, and only accommodated by
Saurin. Mofes to the purpofes of Judaifm*. Spencer maintains,
Diff. O. T. that moſt of the rites of the old law were an imitation
tom. i.
of thoſe of the Gentiles, and particularly of the Egyp-
tians; that God, in order to divert the children of If
rael from the worſhip they paid to the falfe deities, con
fecrated the greateſt part of the ceremonies performed
by thoſe idolaters, and had formed out of them a body
of the ceromonial law; that he had indeed made fome
alterations therein, as barriers againſt idolatry; and
that he thus accommodated his worſhip to the genius
and occafions of his ancient people. To this conde-
+ De legib. fcenfion of God, according to Spencert, is owing the
Hebr. diff.i. origin of the tabernacle, and particularly that of the
L. 3. p. 32. ark. Theſe opinions, however, have been controvert-
ed by later writers.
ACCOMPANIMENT, fomething attending or
added as a circumſtance to another, either by way of
ornament, or for the fake of fymmetry.
ACCOMPANIMENT, in mufic, denotes the inftruments
which accompany a voice, in order to fuftain it, as well
as to make the mufic more full. The accompaniment is
ufed in recitative, as well as in fong; on the ftage, as
well as in the choir, &c. The ancients had likewife
their accompaniments on the theatre; they had even
different kinds of inftruments to accompany the chorus,
from thoſe which accompanied the actors in the reci-
tation. The accompaniment, among the moderns, is
frequently a different part or melody from the fong it
accompanies. It is difputed whether it was fo among
the ancients. It is generally alleged, that their ac-
companiments went no farther than the playing in
octave, or in antiphony to the voice. The Abbé Fra-
guier, from a paffage in Plato, pretends to prove, that
they had actual ſymphony, or mufic in parts: but his
arguments feem far from being conelufive.
ACCOMPANIMENT, in painting, denotes ſuch objects
as are added, either by way of ornament, or probability;
as dogs, guns, game, &c. in a hunting-piece.
ACCOMPANIMENT, in heraldry, any thing added to
a fhield by way of ornament; as the belt, mantling, fup-
porters, &c. It is alfo applied to feveral bearings about
a principal one; as a faltier, bend, fefs, chevron, &c.
ACCOMPLICE, one that has a hand in a bufinefs;
or is privy in the fame defign or crime with another.
See ACCESSORY.
By the law of Scotland, the accomplice can only be
profecuted after the conviction of the principal offend-
er, unleſs the acceffion of the accomplice is immediate,
in ipfo actu, ſo as in effect to render them co-principal.
By the general rule, the accomplice fuffers the fame
puniſhment with the principal offender; yet if he be re-
markably lefs guilty, juftice will not permit equal pu-
niſhment.
The council of Sens, and feveral other fynodical fta-
tutes, exprefsly prohibit the revealing of accomplices.
ACCOMPLISHMENT, the entire execution or
fulfilling of any thing.
ACCOMPLISHMENT, is principally uſed in ſpeaking
of events foretold by the Jewish prophets in the Old
Teftament, and fulfilled under the New. We fay a
VOL. I.-Part I.
ACCORD, in painting, is the harmony that reigns
among the lights and ſhades of a picture.
ACCORDS (Stephen Tabourot, ſeigneur des), advo-
cate in the parliament of Dijon in France, and king's
advocate in the bailiwic and chancery of that city, born
in the year 1549.
He was a man of genius and learn-
ing; but too much addicted to trifles, as appears from
his piece, intitled, "Les Bigarrures," printed at Paris
in 1582. This was not his firft production, for he
had before printed fome fonnets. His work, in-
titled, "Les Touches," was publiſhed at Paris in
1585; which
1585; which is indeed a collection of witty poems,
but worked up rather in too loofe a manner, according
to the licentious taſte of that age. His Bigarrures are
written in the ſame ſtrain. He was cenfured for this
way of writing, which obliged him to publiſh an apo-
logy. The lordship of Accords is an imaginary fief or
title from the device of his anceſtors, which was a
drum, with the motto, à tous accords, “ chiming with
all." He had fent a fonnet to a daughter of Mr Be-
gat, the great and learned prefident of Burgundy,
"who (fays he) did me the honour to love me:
And inafmuch (continues he), I had ſubſcribed my
fonnet with only my device, à tous accords, this lady
firft nicknamed me, in her anſwer, Seigneur des Ac-
cords; by which title her father alſo called me ſeveral
times. For this reaſon I choſe this furname, not only
in all my writings compofed at that time, but even in
thefe books." He died July 24th 1561, in the 46th
year of his age.
ACCOUNT, or AccoмPT, in a general fenfe, a
computation or reckoning of any thing by numbers.-
Collectively, it is uſed to exprefs the books which mer
chants, traders, bankers, &c. uſe for recording their
tranfactions in bufinefs. See BOOK-KEEPING.
Chamber of AccOUNTS, in the French polity, is a
fovereign court of great antiquity, which takes cog-
nifance of and regiſters the accounts of the king's re-'
venue. It is nearly the fame with the Engliſh Court of
Exchequer.
ACCOUNT is taken fometimes, in a particular fenfe,
for the computation of time: thus we fay, The Julian
Account, the Gregorian Account, &c. in which ſenſe
it is equivalent to tyle.
In a
ACCOUNTANT, or ACCOMPTANT, in the moſt
general fenfe, is a perſon ſkilled in accounts.
more reſtricted fenfe, it is applied to a perfon, or of-
ficer, appointed to keep the accounts of a public com-
pany or office; as the South-fea, the India-company,
the Bank, the Excife, &c.
H
ACCOUNT.
A C C..
A C G
[
58 ]
Account-
ACCOUNTANTSHIP, the art of keeping and
antihip balancing accounts. See BOOK-KEEPING.
Accumula-
tion.
>
ACCOUNTANT-GENERAL, a new officer in the
court of Chancery appointed by act of parliament to
receive all moneys lodged in court inftead of the ma-
iters, and convey the fame to the bank of England for
fecurity.
ACCOUTREMENT, an old term, applied to the
furniture of a foldier, knight, or gentleman.
ACCRETION, in phyfics, the increaſe, or growth
of an organical body, by the acceffion of new parts.
See NUTRITION, PLANTS, and VEGETABLES.
ACCRETION, among civilians, the property acquired
in a vague or unoccupied thing, by its adhering to or
following another already occupied: thus, if a legacy
be left to two perfons, one of whom dies before the
teftator, the legacy devolves to the furvivor by right
of accretion.
ACCROCHE, in heraldry, denotes a thing's be-.
ing hooked with another.
ACCUBATION, a poſture of the body, between-
fitting and lying.. The word comes from the Latin accu…….
bare, compounded of ad, to, and cubo, I lie down. Ac-
cubation, or Accubitus, was the table-pofture of the
Greeks and Romans; whence we find the words par-
ticularly uſed for the lying, or rather (as we call it) fit-
ting, down to meat.. The Greeks introduced this po-
fure. The Romans, during the frugal ages of the re-
public, were ftrangers to it: but as luxury got footing,
this pofture came to be adopted, at leaft by the men;
for as to women, it was reputed an indecency in them
to lie down among the men: though, afterwards, this
too was got over.. But children did not lie down, nor
fervants, nor foldiers, nor perfons of meaner condition;
but took their meals fitting, as a pofture lefs indulgent.
The Roman manner of difpofing themſelves at table was
this: A low round table was placed in the cœnaculum,
or dining-room; and, about this, ufually three, fome-
times only two, beds or couches; according to the num-
ber of which, it was called biclinium or triclinium.
Theſe were covered with a fort of bed-clothes, richer
or plainer according to the quality of the perfon, and
furniſhed with quilts and pillows, that the guests might
lie the more commodioufly. There were uſually three
perfons on each bed; to crowd more, was efteemed for-
did. In eating, they lay down on their left fides, with
their heads refting on the pillows, or rather on their
elbows. The firft lay at the head of the bed, with
his feet extended behind the back of the fecond; the
fecond lay with the back of his head towards the navel
of the firft, only feparated by a pillow,. his feet behind
the back of the third; and fo of the third, or fourth.
The middle place was eſteemed the moſt honourable.
"Before they came to table, they changed their clothes,
putting on what they called cenatoria veftis, the dining-
garment; and pulled off their ſhoes, to prevent fouling
the couch.
ACCUBITOR, an ancient officer of the emperors
of Conftantinople, whofe bufinefs was to lie near the
emperor. He was the head of the youth of the bed
chamber, and had the cubicularius and procubitor un-
der him.
ACCUMULATION, in a general fenfe, the act of
heaping or amaffing things together. Among lawyers,
it is uſed in ſpeaking of the concurrence of feveral titles
to the fame thing, or of feveral circumſtances to the Accumula-
fame proof.
ACCUMULATION of Degrees, in an univerfity, is the
taking feveral of them together, or at fmaller intervals
than uſual or than is allowed by the rules of the uni-
verfity.
ACCURSED, fomething that lies under a curfe,.
or fentence of excommunication.
In the Jewish idiom, accurfed and crucified were fy-
nonymous.. Among them, every one was accounted
accurfed who died on a tree. This ferves to explain the
difficult paffage in Rom. ix. 3. where the apostle Paul
wishes himself accurfed after the manner of Chrift, i. e.
crucified, if happily he might by fuch a death fave his
countrymen. The prepofition år here made uſe of,
is ufed in the fame fenfe, 2. Tim. . 3. where it ob-
vioufly fignifies after the manner of
ACCURSIUS, a law-profeffor in the 13th century,
born in Florence. His authority was for fome time
fo great, that he was called the Idol of the Lawyers..
Other three lawyers of note had the fame name.
ACCURSIUS (Mariangelus), a famous critic of the
16th century, born at Aquilo in the kingdom of
Naples. His Diatrebes, printed at Rome in folio, in
1524, on Ovid and Solinus, are a proof of his abili-
ties in that kind of erudition, In his edition of Am-
mianus Marcellinus there are five books more than in
any of the preceding ones; and he affirms he had cor-
rected 5000 errors in that hiftorian. His predomi-
nant paffion was the fearching for and collecting of old
manufcripts: yet he made Latin and Italian verfes ;
was complete mafter of the French, German, and Spa-
niſh tongues; and understood optics and mufic. He
purged himſelf by oath, being charged for being a pla-
giary with regard to his Aufonius; it being reported,
that he had appropriated to himſelf the labours of Fa-
bricio Varana, biſhop of Camerino.
ACCUSATION, the charging any perfon with
a criminal action, either in one's own name, or in that
of the public. The word is compounded of ad, to;
and caufari, to plead.
Writers on politics treat of the benefit and the in-
conveniences of public accufations.
Various argu-
ments are alleged, both for the encouragement and
difcouragement of accufations againft great men. No..
thing, according to Machiavel, tends more to the pre-
fervation of a ftate, than frequent accufations of per-
fons trufted with the adminiftration of public affairs..
This, accordingly, was ftrictly obferved by the Ro-
mans, in the inftances of Camillus, accuſed of corrup-
tion by Manlius Capitolinus, &c. Accufations, how-
ever, in the judgment of the fame author, are not more
beneficial than calumnies are pernicious; which is alſo
confirmed by the practice of the Romans. Manlius
not being able to make good his charge againſt Ca-
millus, was caft into prifon.
By the Roman law, there was no public accufer for.
public crimes; every private perfon, whether intereſted
in the crime or not, might accufe, and profecute the
accuſed to puniſhment, or abfolution. Cato, the moſt
innocent perfon of his age, had been accufed 42 times,
and as often abfolved. But the accufation of private
crimes was never received but from the mouths of thoſe
who were immediately intereſted in them: None (e. g.)
but the hufband could accufe his wife of adultery.
The
tion
Accufation.
ACE
I
A CE
59 ]
H
„Acentetum.
Accufative The ancient Roman lawyers diftinguifhed between
poftulatio, delatio, and accufatio. For, firt, leave was
defired to bring a charge againſt one, which was called
poftulare: then he against whom the charge was laid,
was brought before the judge; which was called de-
ferre, or nominis delatio: laſtly, the charge was drawn
up and prefented, which was properly the accufatio.
The accufation properly commenced, according to
Pædianus, when the reus or party charged, being in-
terrogated, denied he was guilty of the crime, and fub-
ſcribed his name to the delatio made by his opponent.
In the French law, none but the Procureur general,
or his deputies, can form an accufation, except. for
high-treafon and coining, where accufation is open to
every body. In other crimes, private perfons can on-
ly act the part of denouncers, and demand reparation
for the offence, with damages.
In Britain, by Magna Charta, no man fhall be im-
priſoned or condemned on any accufation, without trial
by his
peers, or the law; none ſhall be vexed with any
accufation, 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 prefentment of lawful men,
or by proceſs at common law. Promoters of fug-
geftions, are to find furety to purſue them; and if
they do not make them good, fhall pay damages to
the party accuſed, and alſo a fine to the king. No
perfon is obliged to anfwer upon oath to a queftion
whereby he may accuſe himſelf of any crime.
ACCUSATIVE, in the Latin grammar, is the
fourth cafe of nouns, and fignifies the relation of the
noun on which the action implied in the verb termi-
nates; and hence, in fuch languages as have cafes, thefe
nouns have a particular termination, called accufative :
as, Auguftus vicit Antonium, Auguftus vanquished An-
tony. Here Antonium is the noun, on which the ac-
tion implied in the verb vicit terminates; and, there-
fore, muſt have the accufative termination. Ovid, ſpeak-
ing of the palace of the fun, fays, Materiem fuperabat
opus, The work furpaffed the materials. Here mate-
riem has the accufative termination; becauſe it deter-
mines the action of the verb fuperabat.-In the Engliſh
language there are no cafes, except the genitive; the
relation of the noun being fhown by the affiftance of
prepofitions, as of, to, from, &c.
ACCUSIORUM COLONIA (anc. geog.), an in-
land town in the Cavares, in Gallia Narbonenfis: now
Grenoble, in Dauphiné. See GRENOBLE.
ACE, among gameſters, a card or die marked only
with one point.
ACELUM, or ACELIUM fanc. geog.), a town of
the Venetian territory, now called Azolo, fituated to
the weft of Trevigi, at the fource of the rivulet Mu-
fone. E. Long. 13º. N. Lat. 45°.
ACENTETUM, or ACANTETA, in natural hiſto-
ry, a name given by the ancients to the pureft and
fineft kind of rock-cryſtal: They uſed the cryſtal in
many ways; fometimes engraving on it, and fome-
times forming it into vafes and cups, which were held
next in value to the vafa murrhina of thoſe times.
The cryſtal they obtained from the iſland of Cyprus
was much efteemed; but often faulty in particular
parts, having hairs, cracks, and foulneffes, which they
called falts, in the middle of the large pieces. Pliny
tells us, that when it was ufed for engraving on, the
artift could conceal all thefe blemiſhes among the ftrokes Acephali
of his work; but when it was to be formed into cups Acephalous.
or precious vafes, they always chofe the acentetum
which had no flaws or blemiſhes.
ACEPHALI, or ACEPHALITÆ, a term applied to
feveral fects who refuſed to follow fome noted leader.
Thus the perſons who refuſed to follow either John of
Antioch, or St Cyril, in a difpute that happened in the
council of Ephefus, were termed Acephali, without a
head or leader. Such biſhops, alfo, as were exempt
from the juriſdiction and difcipline of their patriarch,
were ftyled Acephali.
ACEPHALI, the levellers in the reign of king Henry I.
who acknowledged no head or fuperior. They were
reckoned fo poor, that they had not a tenement by which
they might acknowledge a fuperior lord.
ACEPHALOUS, or ACEPHALUS, in a general
fenfe; without a head.
The term is more particularly uſed in ſpeaking of
certain nations, or people, reprefented by ancient na-
turalifts and cofmographers, as well as by fome mo-
dern travellers, as formed without heads; their eyes,
mouths, &c, being placed in other parts.
Such are the Blemmyes, a nation of Africa near the
head of the Niger, reprefented to be by Pliny and So-
linus; Blemmyes traduntur capita abeffe, ore et oculis
pectore affixis. Ctefias and Solinus mention others in
India near the Ganges, fine cervice, oculos in humeris
babentes. Mela alfo fpeaks of people, quibus capita et
vultus in pectore funt. And Suidas, Stephanus Byzan-
tinus, Vopifcus, and others after them, relate the like.
Some modern travellers ftill pretend to find acephalous
people in America.
Several opinions have been framed as to the origin
of the fable of the Acephali. The firft is that of Tho-
mas Bartholin, who turns the whole into a metaphor;
being convinced, that the name Acephali was anciently
given to fuch as had lefs brain, or conducted themſelves.
lefs by the rules of prudence, than others. Olearius
rather apprehends, that the ancient voyagers, viewing
certain barbarous people from the coafts, had been im-
pofed on by their uncouth drefs; for that the Samo-
gitians, being ſhort of ftature, and going in the feve-
rity of winter with their heads covered in hoods, feem
at a diſtance as if they were heedlefs. F. Lafitau fays,
that by Acephali are only meant, people whoſe heads
are funk below their ſhoulders. In effect, Hulfius, in
his epitome of Sir Walter Raleigh's voyage to Guaiana,
alſo ſpeaks of a people which that traveller found in the
province of Irvipanama, between the lakes of Panama
and Caffipa, who had no head or neck; and Hondius,
in his map, marks the place with the figures of theſe
monfters. Yet De Laet* rejects the ftory; being in- Defcript.
formed by others, that the inhabitants of the banks
of the Caora, a river that flows out of the lake of
Caffipa, have their head fo far funk between their
fhoulders, that many believed they had their eyes in
their fhoulders and their mouths in their breaſts.
Amer. 1.17.
.C. 22.
But though the exiſtence of a nation of Acephali
be ill warranted, naturalifts furniſh ſeveral inftances In Ej h.
of individuals born without heads, by fome lufus or aber- Ger. dec. 1.
ration of nature. Wepfer gives a catalogue of fuch an. 3. obf.
129. p. 184.
acephalous births, from Schenckius, Licetus, Paræus, Dec.2. an. 9.
Wolfius, Mauriceau, &c.
obfer. 148.
ACEPHALUS, an obfolete term for the tænia orp. 258.
H 2
tape-
*
ACE
[ 60 ]
A CE
Acephalus, tape-worm, which was long fuppofed to be acephalous.
See TENIA. The firft who gave it a head was Tul-
Maple-tree. pius; and after him, Fehr: The former even makes it
biceps, or two-headed.
Acer,
the
ÂCEPHALUS, is alſo uſed to exprefs a verfe defective
in the beginning.
ACER, the MAPLE or SYCAMORE TREE: a genus
of the monccia order, belonging to the polygamia clafs
of plants; and ranking under the 23d Natural Order,
Tribilata.-The generic characters, both natural and
effential, are: The HERMAPHRODITE calyx is an a-
cute, coloured, one-leav'd perianthium, divided into
five fegments, flat and entire at the bafe, and perfiftent:
The corolla is five-petal'd, ovate, and expanding: The
Stamina confiſt of eight fubulated ſhort filaments; the
antheræ fimple, the duft cruciform: The piftillum has
a compreffed germen, immerſed in the receptacle, which
is convex, perforated, and large; the ftylus is filiform;
the ftigmata are two, pointed, ſlender, and reflex:
The pericarpium confifts of two or three capfulæ unit-
ing at the baſe, roundiſh, compreffed, each terminated
with a large membranous wing: The feeds are folitary
and roundifh. The MALE calyx, corolla, and fta-
mina, are the fame as in the hermaphrodite: The pif
tillum has no germen nor ftylus; the ftigma is bifid.
[Nota, On the firſt opening of the flower, the ftigma
alone appears; a few days after, the ftylus.-The her-
maphrodite flowers on the fame umbel are frequently
of two forts: the inferior ones feminine, the antheræ
of which do not burft, but the piftillum quickly grows
into a fruit: the ſuperior ones mafculine, of which the
antheræ ſcatter their pollen, but the piftilla without in-
ereafing fall off.]
Species, with their uses and properties.] 1. The
pfeudo-platanus, or fycamore, is a very large and
beautiful tree, with broad leaves, divided into five
lobes ferrated in their edges; of a dark-green colour
on the upper fide, but paler and fomewhat hoary un-
derneath; the flowers are very fmall, and of a green-
ifh white colour. The corolla of this fpecies is
fcarcely diſtinguiſhable from the calyx, and the fta-
mina are long. The fruit is large, and beautifully
variegated with green and purple. This fpecies is a
native of Germany, but thrives very well in Great
Britain, where it is frequent in plantations. It is very
proper for making plantations near the fea, or fhelter-
ing fuch as are already too near it; becauſe the fyca-
more-tree refifts the fpray of the ocean much better
than moſt other trees. But it has this inconve-
nience, that its leaves are devoured by infects, ſo as
to become full of holes, and very unfightly; which
has cauſed the planting of it to be much neglected of
late. It has, however, long been confidered as a tim-
ber tree in this country, having been much uſed by the
turners for wooden bowls, diſhes, trenchers, &c,; but,
fince the cuſtom of ufing earthern ware has become fo
prevalent, its value for thoſe purpoſes has greatly de-
creaſed. There are two varieties, one with broad
leaves and large keys, the other with variegated leaves.
By tapping it yields a liquor not unlike that of the
birch-tree; from which the Highlanders of Scotland
fometimes make an agreeable and wholeſome wine.
2. The campestris, or common maple, is too well
known to need any particular defcription, as it grows
very frequently in hedge-rows in moft parts of Britain.
The timber of the common maple is far fuperior to
the beech for all the uſes of the turner. When.it
abounds with knots, as it frequently does, it is highly
efteemed by joiners for inlayings. It is alfo frequently
employed for making mufiçal inftruments, on account
of its lightnefs; and for the whiteneſs of its wood was
formerly esteemed for making tables, &c. But the
principal value of the maple is for underwood; it be-
ing of a quick growth, and affording good fuel.
3. The negundo, or Virginian afh-leaved maple, is
a very ſtrong ſhooting tree; and in Virginia, where it
is a native, is one of the largeſt trees of this kind.
Its leaves are of a pale green, and well adapted to give
a variety of tint; but Hanbury fays, that this tree
ought not to be planted in expofed fituations, the
branches being fubject to be ſplit off by the winds. Its
uſes are fimilar to thoſe of the fycamore.
4. The platanoides, or Norway-maple, grows na--
turally in Norway, Sweden, and other northern cour--
tries of Europe. It rifes to a good height, and is well
furniſhed with branches with ſmooth leaves, of a ſhining
green colour, and beautifully indented.. Theſe have an
acrid milky juice, which prevents them from being
preyed upon by infects as the fycamore is; and as this
fpecies refifts the fpray of the fea equally with the firſt,:
it is preferred in plantations fituated near the ſea. In
autumn the leaves dye to a golden yellow colour, which
cauſes a delightful effect at that ſeaſon when the different
tints of decaying vegetables are diſplayed. The flow
ers are alfo beautiful; they come out early in the ſpring,
are of a fine yellow colour, and fhow themſelves to au
vantage before the leaves come out. They are frequently
fucceeded by keys, which ſometimes arrive at maturity
in this country. There is a variety with ftriped leaves.
5. The rubrum, or Virginian fcarlet flowering maple,.
is a native of that country, and never grows to a large
fize in Britain. It is, however, cultivated in gardens.
for the beauty of its flowers, which appear in the be--
ginning of April, in roundiſh bunches, at the bottom
of the footftalks of the leaves. The feeds are ripe in
five or fix weeks after; and ought to be immediately
fown, being otherwiſe very apt to perish. The tree
ought to be ſheltered, eſpecially whilft young, from the
north-eaft winds; it delights in a moift light foil, where
it will thrive much better, as well as produce many
more flowers and much better feeds, than in a dry
ground. A variety of this tree is known in England.
by the name of Sir Charles Wager's Flowering Maple,
from its being firſt ſent from America to Sir Charles.
Wager. The flowers of this kind come out in larger
cluſters than the other, and furround the ſmall branches,
ſo that the tree appears entirely covered with them, and
makes a much me e beautiful appearance than the for-
mer, which is now not.fo much efteemed..
་
6. The faccharinum, or fugar-maple, is a large grow--
ing tree; will arrive at the height of 40 feet; and has
broad thin leaves, divided into five principal parts ;.
which are again indented or cut at the edges into fe:
veral acute fegments. Their furface is ſmooth, of a
light green colour, whitiſh underneath; and they grow
on pretty long footſtalks. The flowers come out in
the fpring, about the time of the Norway maple; and
they are fucceeded by long keys, which fometimes ripen
in England. In America, the inhabitants tap this
tree in the fpring,, boil the liquor,, and the feces af-
ford
Acer,
the
Maple-tree
5
A
CE
A CE
the
[61]
Acer, ford a ufeful fugar. The fycamore, the aſh-leaved, and
the Norway maples, alfo abound with a faccharine juice,
Maple-tree, from which there is no doubt but a ufeful fugar might
be prepared.
7. The Penfylvanicum, or American mountain-maple,
very much reſembles the fugar-maple, only its leaves
are more pointed.
8. The opalus, or Italian maple, is very common
in moft parts of Italy, particularly about Rome; but
in Britain is very rarely to be met with, though hardy
enough to bear the open air. It is one of the largeſt
fpecies of trees in Italy, and affords a great fhade by
its numerous and large leaves. On this account
On this account it is
planted on the road-fides, and near habitations.
9. The monfpefulanum, or Montpelier maple, is
common in the fouth of France, and in Italy; but is
hardly met with in Britain. The leaves reſemble thoſe
of the common maple; but are of a much thicker fub-
ftance, a fhining green colour, and not fo large. They
continue in verdure very late in the autumn, which
renders the trees more valuable.
10. The creticum, or Cretan maple, grows natural-
ly in the Levant; it ſomewhat reſembles the laft fpe-
cies ; but its leaves are of a much thinner texture, and
their footſtalks covered with a ſoft hairy down; where-
as thofe of the other are ſmooth and foft.
Propagation and culture.]-1. By feeds. The firft
four ſpecies are eaſily propagated in this way. The
keys, when ripe in autumn, may be gathered, and in a
few days after fown, about an inch and an half deep, in
beds of common mould. In fpring the plants will ap-
pear, and make a fhoot of about a foot and an half
by the autumn following, if the ground of the femi-
nary be tolerably good, and they are kept free from
weeds. The fpring after they come up they fhould be
planted in the nurſery in rows two feet and an half
afunder, and their diſtance in the rows muſt be one foot
and an half. Here they may remain till they are big
enough to plant out finally, with no further trouble thair
taking off unfightly fide-branches, and fuch as have a
tendency to make the tree forked, except digging be-
tween the rows, which muſt always be done every
winter.. For the other fpecies, their feeds, as they
do not ripen in this country, ought to be procured from
the places where they naturally grow, and managed in
the following manner: A cool fhady part of the femi-
nary ſhould be appropriated for the purpoſe; the mould
ſhould be made fine; beds fhould be marked out four
feet wide, and in length proportionable to the quantity;
and in theſe the feeds fhould be regularly fown, fifting
over them about half an inch of the fineſt mould. When
the plants come up, they must be kept clean from weeds,
and frequently watered; and this work muſt be duly at-
tended to all fummer. The next ſpring, the ftrongeſt
may be drawn out, and planted in the nurſery, in rows
two feet afunder, and at the diſtance of a foot from each
other in the rows; leaving the others in the feminary
to gain ftrength. The fpring following they alfo muſt
receive the fame culture; and in the nurſery they may
remain, with no other trouble than keeping the ground
clean from weeds in the fummer, digging between the
rows in the winter, and taking off all ftrong and irre-
gular fide-fhoots till they are planted out. Trees raiſed
from feeds will grow fafter, and arrive at greater height,
than thoſe raiſed from layers: but they will not pro-,
རྩྭ
•
duce fuch quantities of flowers; which makes the latter Acer,
the
method more eligible for thoſe who want theſe plants
for a low fhrubbery.-Seeds of the variegated kinds al-
Maple-tree.
fo, when fown, will produce variegated plants in return;
which renders the propagation of theſe forts very expe-
ditious where plenty of feeds may be had. Where thefe
are not to be obtained, the plants are propagated by
budding, as afterwards directed.
2. By layers. All the fpecies may be propagated by
this method; though it is never practiſed for the com-
mon maple and the fycamore. The young ſhoots may
be at any time laid down in the autumn, winter, or
early in the fpring. By the autumn following, they
will have ſtruck root, and become good plants; when
the ftrongeft may be fet out in the places where they
are to remain; whilſt the weakest may be planted in
the nurſery, like the feedlings, for a year or two, to
acquire ftrength.
•
3. By cuttings: which method, however, is chiefly
practifed on the afh-leaved and Norway maples, which
more readily take root this way. The cuttings fhould
be the bottom parts of the laft year's ſhoots: They
fhould be taken off early in October, and planted in
rows in a moiſt ſhady place. The ſpring and fummer
following, they must be duly watered as often as dry
weather makes it neceffary, and be kept clean from
weeds. By the autumn they will be fit to remove into
the nurſery; though if the cuttings are not planted
too cloſe, they may remain in their fituation for a year
cr two longer, and then be ſet out finally, without the
trouble of being previouſly planted in the nurſery.
4. By budding, grafting, and inarching. Thefe
methods are only practifed for the variegated forts and
the large broad-leaved kind. The latter is to be conti-
nued no otherwife than by budding it on flocks of the
common fycamore; for from the feeds, though ſo large.
themfelves, only the common fycamore is produced.
In order to propagate thefe varieties by budding,
let fome plants of the common fycamore, one year old,.
be taken out of the feminary, and fet in the nurſery in
rows a yard afunder, and the plants about a foot and
a half diſtance from each other in the rows: Let the
ground be kept clean from weeds all fummer, and
turned in in the winter; and the fummer following the
ftocks will be of a proper fize to receive the buds,
which fhould be taken from the moft beautifully-ſtriped
branches. The best time for this work is the middle or
latter end of Auguft. Having then budded your ſtocks
with the eyes or buds fronting the north, early in Oc-
tober take off the bafs-matting, which before this time
will have confined the bark and pinched the bud, but
not fo as to hurt it much. Then cut off the ftock
juſt above the bud, and dig the ground between the
rows. The fummer following, keep the ground clean
from weeds; cat off all natural fide-buds from the ſtock
as they come out; and by autumn, if the land is good,
the buds will have ſhot forth, and formed themſelves.
into trees five or fix feet high. They may be then re-
moved into the places where they are defigned to re-
main; or a few of them only may be drawn out, lea--
ving the others to be trained up for larger ftandards.
The ftriped Norway maple fhould be budded on ſtocks
of its own kind; for on theſe they take beft, and both.
kinds are not very liable to run away from their co-
lours. Variegated plants in general muſt be planted in:
poor,
A CE
[ 62
CH
]
A
Acerb poor, hungry, gravelly, or fandy foils, to feed the dif-
11 cafe which occafions theſe beautiful ftripes, and caufe
Aceta-
bulum.
it to be more powerful. But theſe trees fhow their
ftripes in greater perfection in a good foil: The plant,
though in ſickneſs, has the appearance of health; the
fhoots are vigorous and ftrong; the leaves are large,
lefs liable to be hurt by infects; and the ftripes appear
more perfect, natural, and beautiful, than thofe on
-ftunted trees growing on a poor foil.
ACERB, a four rough aftringency of tafte, fuch as
that of unripe fruit.
ACERNO, a town of Italy, in the citerior princi-
pality of Naples, with a biſhop's fee. E. long. 15.46.
N. lat. 40. 50.
ACERIÑA, in Ichthyology, a name given by Pliny
and other of the old naturaliſts, to the fiſh we at this
time call the ruffe. See PERCA.
ACERRA, in antiquity, an altar erected, among
the Romans, near the bed of a perfon deceaſed, on
which his friends daily offered incenſe till his burial.-
The real intention probably was to overcome any offen-
five ſmell that might ariſe about the corpfe. The Chi-
neſe have ſtill a cuſtom like this: they erect an altar
to the deceaſed in a room hung with mourning; and
place an image of the dead perſon on the altar, to which
every one that approaches it bows four times, and of-
fers oblations and perfumes.
The Acerra alfo fignified a little pot wherein were
put the incenfe and perfumes to be burnt on the altars
of the gods and before the dead. It appears to have
been the fame with what was otherwife called thuribu-
lum, and pyxis.
We find mention of Acerra in the ancient church.
The Jews had alfo their Acerra, in our verfion render-
ed cenfers; and the Romaniſts ſtill retain them under
the name of incenfe-pots. In Roman writers, we fre-
quently meet with plena acerra, a full acerra: to un-
derſtand which, it is to be obſerved, that people were
obliged to offer incenfe in proportion to their eſtate and
condition; the rich in larger quantities, the poor only
a few grains; the former poured out acerras full on the
altar, the latter took out two or three bits with their
fingers.
ACERRA, a town of Italy, in the kingdom of
Naples, and in the Terra di Lavoro; feated on the ri-
ver Agno. E. Lon. 15. 10. N. lat. 40. 55.
ACERRÆ (anc. geog.), the ancient name of a
town on the Clanius, in Campania, not far from Naples,
now ACERRA.—The name alſo of another town, now
called la Girola, in the territory and to the fouth-eaft
of Lodi, where the rivulet Serio falls into the Adda, to
the weft of Cremona and north of Placentia.
ACESCENT, a word uſed to denote any thing
which is turning four, or which is flightly acid. It is
only applied properly to the former of thefe two mean-
ings. The fecond may be expreſſed by either of the
two words, acidulous or fub-acid.
ACETABULUM, in antiquity, a meaſure uſed by
the ancients, equal to one-eighth of our pint. It ſeems
to have acquired its name from a veffel in which ace-
tum or vinegar was brought to their tables, and which
probably contained about this quantity.
ACETABULUM, in anatomy, a cavity in any bone for
receiving the protuberant head of another, and there-
2
by forming that fpecies of articulation called ENAK- Aceta-
THROSIS.
bulum
ACETABULUM, in botany, the trivial name of a fpe- Achæans.
cies of the peziza, or cup-peziza, a genus belonging to
the cryptogamia fungi of Linnæus. It has got the
name of acetabulum, from the reſemblance its leaves bear
to a cup.
See PEZIZA.
ACETARY. Nehemiah Grew,' in his anatomy of
plants, applies this term to a pulpy ſubſtance in certain
fruits, e. g. the pear, which is inclofed in a congeries of
fmall calculous bodies towards the bafe of the fruit, and
is always of an acid taſte.
ACÉTOSA, Sorrel; by Linnæus joined to the ge-
nus of Dock, under the title of Rumex. See RUMEX.
ACETOSELLA, in botany, a fpecies of OXALIS.
ACETOUS, an epithet applied to ſuch ſubſtances
as are four or partake of the nature of vinegar.
ACETUM, VINEGAR, the vegetable ACID of the
chemifts. See VINEGAR.
ACHABYTUS (anc. geog.), a high mountain in
Rhodes, on the top of which ftood a temple of Jupiter.
ACHEA (anc. geog.), a town of the island of
Rhodes, in the diftrict of Jalyfus, and the firft and
moft ancient of all, faid to be built by the Heliades, or
Grandfons of the Sun.
ACHEA, a hamlet of Afiatic Sarmatia on the Eux-
ine. The inhabitants were called Achæi, a colony of
the Orchomenians.
ACHEANS, the inhabitants of ACHAIA Pro-
pria, a Peloponnefian ſtate. This republic was not con-
fiderable in early times, for the number of its troops,
nor for its wealth, nor for the extent of its territories;
but it was famed for its probity, its juſtice, and its
love of liberty. Its high reputation for theſe virtues
was very ancient. The Crotonians and Sybarites, to
re-eſtabliſh order in their towns, adopted the laws and
cuſtoms of the Achæans. After the famous battle of
Leuctra, a difference aroſe betwixt the Lacedæmonians
and Thebans, who held the virtue of this people in
fuch veneration, that they terminated the difpute by
their decifion. The government of the Achæans was
democratical. They preferved their liberty till the
time of Philip and Alexander: But in the reign of
thoſe princes, and afterwards, they were either fubject
to the Macedonians, who had made themſelves maſters
of Greece, or oppreffed by cruel tyrants. The Achæan
commonwealth confifted of twelve inconfiderable towns
in Peloponnefus. Its firft annals are not marked by any
great action, for they are not graced with one eminent
character. After the death of Alexander, this little
republic was a prey to all the evils which flow from po-
litical difcord. A zeal for the good of the community
was now extinguiſhed. Each town was only attentive
to its private intereft. There was no longer any ftabi-
lity in the ftate; for it changed its mafters with every
revolution in Macedonia. Towards the 124th Olym-
piad, about the time when Ptolemy Soter died, and
when Pyrrhus invaded Italy, the republic of the A-
chæans recovered its old inftitutions and unanimity.
The inhabitants of Pate and of Dyme were the firſt
afferters of ancient liberty. The tyrants were baniſh-
ed, and the towns again made one commonwealth.
A public council was then held, in which affairs. of
importance were difcuffed and determined. A regiſter
was
A
CH
CH
[
63 ]
A
Achæi
Achaia.
was appointed to record the tranfactions of the coun-
cil. This affembly had two prefidents, who were no-
minated alternately by the different towns. But in-
ftead of two preſidents, they foon elected but one. Ma-
ny neighbouring towns which admired the conftitution
of this republic, founded on equality, liberty, the love
of juſtice, and of the public good, were incorporated
with the Achæans, and admitted to the full enjoyment
of their laws and privileges.-The arms which the
Achæans chiefly uſed were flings. They were trained
to the art from their infancy, by flinging from a great
diſtance, at a circular mark of a moderate circumfe-
rence. By long practice they took fo nice an aim,
that they were fure, not only to hit their enemies on
the head, but on any part of the face they choſe.
Their flings were of a different kind from thofe of the
Balearians, whom they far furpaffed in dexterity.
*Lib. viii.
cap. 5. 6:
f
ACHÆI, (Achæans); the inhabitants of Achaia
Propria. In Livy, the people of Greece; for the moſt
part called Achivi, by the Roman poets. In Homer,
the general name for Grecians. See ACHEANS.
ACHÆORUM PORTUS, (Pliny); now Porto
Buon, a harbour of the Cherfonefus Taurica, on the
Euxine. Another, near Sigæum, into which the
Xanthus, after being joined by the Simois, falls.
ACHÆMENES, according to Herodotus, was fa-
ther of Cambyfes, and grandfather of Cyrus the firſt,
king of Perfia. Most of the commentators of Horace
are of opinion, that the Achæmenes whom that poet
mentions; ode xii. of his 2ª book, was one of the Per-
fian monarchs: but, if that were true, he muſt have
reigned before the Medes fubdued the Perfians; for
we do not hear of any king of that name from the time
that the Perfians founded that great monarchy, which
is looked upon as the fecond univerſal one. However
this be, the epithet Achæmenians is frequently given to
the Perfians, in the old Latin poets.
ACHEMENES, fon of Darius I. king of Perfia, and
brother of Xerxes, had the government of Egypt be-
ftowed on him, after Xerxes had forced the Egyptians
to return to their allegiance. He fome time after com-
manded the Egyptian fleet in the celebrated expedition
which proved fo fatal to all Greece, The Egyptians
having again taken up arms after the death of Xerxes,
Achæmenes was fent into Egypt to fupprefs the rebel-
lion; but was vanquished by Inarus, chief of the rebels,
fuccoured by the Athenians.
ACHÆÚS, coufin-german to Seleucus Ceraunus
and Antiochus the Great, kings of Syria, became a
very powerful monarch, and enjoyed the dominions he
had ufurped for many years; but at laft he was pu-
niſhed for his ufurpations in a dreadful manner, in the
140th year of Rome, as related by Polybius*.
ACHAIA, a name taken for that part of Greece
which Ptolemy calls Hellas; the younger Pliny, Gra-
cia; now called Livadia: bounded on the north by
Theffaly, the river Sperchius, the Sinus Maliacus, and
mount Oeta; on the weft by the river Achelous; on
the eaſt, turning a little to the north, it is waſhed by the
Archipelago, down to the promontory of Sunium; on
the fouth, joined to the Peloponnefus, or Morea, by
the ifthmus of Corinth, five miles broad.
ACHALA Propria, anciently a fmall diftrict in the
north of Peloponnefus, running weftward along the bay
of Corinth, and bounded on the weft by the Ionian
11
Acheen.
Sea, on the fouth by Elis and Arcadia, and on the eaſt Achaia
by Sicyonia: inhabitants, the Achæans, properly fo cal-
led; its metropolis, Patra. It is now called Romania
Alta, in the Morea.
Achaia was alfo taken for all thoſe countries that
joined in the Achæan league, reduced by the Romans
to a province. Likewife for Peloponnefus.
ACHAL Prefbyteri, or the Prefbyters of Achaia,
were thoſe who were prefent at the martyrdom of St
Andrew the Apoſtle, A. D. 59; and are faid to have
written an epiftle in relation to it. Bellarmin, and fe-
veral other eminent writers in the church of Rome, al-
low it to be genuine; while Du Pin, and fome others,
exprefsly reject it.
ACHAIUS, fon of Ethwin, was raifed to the
crown of Scotland, A. D. 788. The emperor Char-
lemagne ſent an embaffay to defire an alliance with
him against the Engliſh, whofe pirates fo infefted the
feas, that the merchants could not carry on their
trade. This alliance was concluded in France upon
conditions fo advantageous to the Scots, that Achaius,
to perpetuate the memory of it, added to the arms
of Scotland a double field fowed with lilies. He died
in 819.
ACHALALACTLI, in ornithology, a fpecies of
king's-fifher. See ALCEDO.
This fin
ACHAN, the ſon of Carmi, of the tribe of Judah,
at the taking of Jericho concealed two hundred fhekels
of filver, a Babyloniſh garment, and a wedge of gold,
contrary to the exprefs command of God.
proved fatal to the Ifraelites, who were repulfed at the
fiege of Ai. In this dreadful exigence, Jofhua proftra-
ted himſelf before the Lord, and begged that he would
have mercy upon his people. Achan was difcovered:
by cafting lots, and he and his children were ſtoned to
death. This expiation being made, Ai was taken by
ftratagem. Joſh. vii. 8, 9.
AČHANE, an ancient Perfian corn meaſure, con--
taining 45 Attic medimni.
ACHARACA, anciently a town of Lydia, fituate
between Tralles and Nyfa; in which were the temple-
of Pluto, and the cave Charonium, where patients ſlept
in order to obtain a cure.
ACHAT, in law, implies a purchaſe or bargain. -
And hence probably purveyors were called Achators,,
from their making bargains.
ACHATES, the companion of Eneas, and his moſt
faithful friend, celebrated in Virgil.
:
ACHATES, in natural hiſtory. See AGATE.
ACHATES (anc. geog.), a river of Sicily, now the -
Drill; which runs from north to fouth, almoſt paral--
lel with, and at no great diſtance from, the Gėla; and
riſes in the north of the territory of Noto.
It gave
name to the Achates, or Agate, ſaid to be firſt found
there.
-
✓
ACHAZIB, or ACHZIB, (anc. geog.), a town of '
Galilee, in the tribe of Afher, nine miles from Ptole--
mais.-Alfo a town in the more fouthern parts of the ·
tribe of Judah.
ACHEEN, ACHE', or ACHEN, .a kingdom of Su- ·
matra in the Eaft-Indies, fituated on the north-western .
part of the iſland.
The capital is fituated on a river which empties it--
felf near the north-west point, or Acheen-head, about.
two miles from the mouth. It lies in a wide valley,-
formed
ACH
[ 64 ]
A CH
voyages they undertake, and the purpoſes for which Acheen.
they defign them. The river is covered with a mul-
titude of fiſhing fampans or canoes, which go to fea
with the morning breeze, and return in the afternoon,
with the fea wind, full laden.
Acheen. formed like an amphitheatre by two lofty ranges of hills.
The river is not large, and by emptying itſelf in feveral
channels is rendered very fhallow at the bar. In the
dry monfoon it will not admit boats of any burthen,
much leís large veffels, which lie without, in the road
formed by the iſlands off the point. Though no long-
er the great mart of eaftern commodities, it ftill carries
on a conſiderable trade with the natives of that part of
the coaft of Indoftan called Telinga, who fupply it with
the cotton goods of their country, and receive in re-
turn, gold-duft, fapan-wood, betel-nut, patch-leaf (col-
fus Indicus), a little pepper, fulphur, camphire, and
benzoin. The country is fupplied with Bengal opi-
um, and alſo with iron, and many other articles of
merchandize, by the European traders.
.
Acheen is efteemed, comparatively, healthy, being
more free from woods and fwamps than moſt other por-
tions of the iſland; and the fevers and dyfenteries to
which theſe are ſuppoſed to give occafion, are there
faid to be uncommon. The foil is light and fertile;
and the products, befide thofe already enumerated as
articles of export trade, and a variety of fine fruits, are
chiefly rice and cotton. There is likewiſe fome raw
filk procured in the country, of very inferior quality.
Gold duft is collected in the mountains near Acheen,
but the greateſt part is brought from the fouthern ports
of Nalaboo and Soofoo. The fulphur is gathered from
a volcano mountain in the neighbourhood, which fup-
plies their own confumption for the manufacture of
gun-powder, and admits of a large exportation.
In their perfons, the Acheneſe differ from the reſt of
the Sumatrans, being taller, ftouter, and darker com-
plexioned. They appear not to be a genuine people; but
are thought, with great appearance of reafon, to be a
mixture of Battas, Malays, and Moors from the weft of
India. In their difpofitions they are more active and
induftrious than their neighbours; they poffefs more
penetration and fagacity; have more general know-
Ïedge; and as merchants, they deal upon a more exten-
five and liberal footing. Their religion is Mahometa-
niſm; and having a great number of mofques and
prieſts, its forms and ceremonies are ftrictly obſerved.
The appearance of the town, and the nature of the
buildings, are much the fame as are found in the ge-
nerality of Malay bazars, excepting that the fuperior
wealth of this place has occafioned a great number
of public edifices, but without the ſmalleſt pretenfions
to magnificence. The king's palace, if it deferves the
appellation, is a very rude and uncouth piece of archi-
tecture, defigned to refift the force of an enemy, and
furrounded for that purpoſe by ftrong walls, but with-
out any regular plan, or view to the modern fyftem of
military attack. The houſes in common are built of
bamboos and rough timber, and raiſed ſome feet from
the ground on account of the place being overflowed
in the rainy ſeaſon.
A confiderable fabrick of a thick fpecies of cotton
cloth, and of ſtuff for the ſhort drawers worn both by
Malays and Acheneſe, is eſtabliſhed here, and fupplies
an extenfive demand. They weave alſo very handſome
filk pieces, of a particular form, for that part of the
drefs which is called by the Malays cayen farrong.
The Acheneſe are expert and bold navigators,
and employ a variety of veffels, according to the
No. 2.
I
Having no convenient coins, though moft ſpecies of
money will be taken there at a valuation, they com-
monly make their payments in gold duſt, and for that
purpoſe are all provided with fcales or fmall fteelyards.
They carry their gold about them, wrapped up in
pieces of bladder, and often purchaſe to fo fmall an a-
mount, as to make uſe of grain or feeds for weights.
The monarchy is hereditary; and the king ufually
maintains a guard of 100 Seapoys about his palace.
+
According to Mr Marfden," the grand council
of the nation confifts of, the King or Sultan, four
Oolooballangs, and eight of a lower degree, who
fit on his right hand, and fixteen Cajoorangs, who
fit on his left. At the king's feet fits a woman,
to whom he makes known his pleaſure: by her it
is communicated to an eunuch, who fits next to
her, and by him to an officer named Cajaorang Gon-
dong, who then proclaims it aloud to the affembly.
There are alſo preſent two other officers, one of whom
has the government of the bazar or market, and the
other the fuperintending and carrying into execution
the puniſhment of criminals. All matters relative to
commerce and the cuſtoms of the port come under the
jurifdiction of the Shabandar, who performs the ce-
remony of giving the chap or licence for trade; which
is done by lifting a golden-hafted creefe over the head
of the merchant who arrives, and without which he
dares not to land his goods. Prefents, the value of
which are become pretty regularly aſcertained, are then
fent to the king and his officers. If the ſtranger be in
the ſtyle of an ambaſſador, the royal elephants are fent
down to carry him and his letters to the monarch's
prefence; theſe being firſt delivered into the hands of
an eunuch, who places them in a filver diſh, covered
with rich filk, on the back of the largeft elephant,
which is provided with a machine (houder) for that
purpoſe. Within about an hundred yards of an open
hall where the king fits, the cavalcade ftops, and
the ambaffador difmounts, and makes his obeifance by
bending his body, and lifting his joined hands to his
head. When he enters the palace, if an European, he
is obliged to take off his fhoes; and having made a ſe-
cond obeifance, is feated upon a carpet on the floor,
where betel is brought to him. The throne was fome
years ago of ivory and tortoiſefhell, and when the place
was governed by queens, a curtain of gauze was hung
before it, which did not obſtruct the audience, but
vented any perfect view. The ftranger, after fome ge-
neral diſcourfe, is then conducted to a feparate build-
ing, where he is entertained with the delicacies of the
country, by the officers of ſtate, and in the evening re-
turns in the manner he came, furrounded by a prodi-
gious number of lights. On high days (aree ryah) the
king goes in great ſtate mounted on an elephant richly
caparifoned, to the great mofque, preceded by his ooloo-
ballangs; who are armed nearly in the European man▾
ner.
""
pre-
The country under the immediate jurifdiction of
Acheen, is divided into three diſtricts, named Duo
pooloo
AĆ H
A CH
[
سلام
65.]
Achen, pooloo duo, Duo pooloo leemo, and Duo pooloo anam.
Achelous. Each diftrict is governed by a Pangleemo, and under
him an Imaum and four Pangeeches to each mofque.
"Achen has ever been remarkable for the feverity
with which crimes are punifhed by their laws; the
fame rigour ſtill fubfifts, and there is no commutation
admitted, as is regularly eſtabliſhed in the fouthern
countries. There is great reafon, however, to conclude,
that the poor alone experience the rod of juftice; the
nobles being fecure from retribution in the number of
their dependants. Petty theft is puniſhed by fufpend-
ing the criminal from a tree, with a gun or heavy
weight tied to his feet; or by cutting off a finger, a
hand, or leg, according to the nature of the theft.
Many of thefe mutilated and wretched objects are daily
to be feen in the ftreets. Robbery on the highway and
houſe-breaking are puniſhed by drowning, and after-
wards expofing the body on a ſtake for a few days. If
the robbery is committed upon an imaum or prieſt, the
facrilege is expiated by burning the criminal alive. A
man who is convicted of adultery is feldom attempted
to be fcreened by his friends, but is delivered up to the
friends and relations of the injured huſband. Theſe
take him to fome large plain, and forming themſelves
in a circle, place him in the middle. A large weapon
called a Gadoobong, is then delivered to him by one of
his family; and if he can force his way through thoſe
who furround him, and make his eſcape, he is not
further profecution; but it commonly happens
that he is inftantly cut to pieces. In this cafe his re-
lations bury him as they would a dead buffalo, refufing
to admit the corpfe into their houfe, or to perform any
funeral rites." Thefe difcouragements to vice might
feem to beſpeak a moral and virtuous people: yet all
travellers agree in repreſenting the Acheneſe as one of
the moſt diſhoneft and flagitious nations of the Eaſt.
Achen was vifited by the Portugueſe in 1509, only
12 years after they had difcovered the paffage to the
Eaft-Indies by the Cape of Good Hope. They made
various attempts to eſtabliſh themſelves in the country,
but were expelled with diſgrace. See SUMMATRA,
R
ACHELOUS, in fabulous hiftory, wrestled with
Hercules, for no lefs a prize than Deianira, daughter
to king Oenus: but as Achelous had the power of af-
fuming all ſhapes, the conteſt was long dubious: at laft,
as he took that of a bull, Hercules tore off one of his
horns; ſo that he was forced to ſubmit, and to redeem
it by giving the conqueror the horn of Amalthea, the
fame with the Cornucopia or horn of plenty; which
Hercules having filled with a variety of fruits, confe-
crated to Jupiter. Some explain this fable, by faying,
That Achelous is a winding river of Greece, whofe
ftream was fo rapid, that it roared like a bull, and over-
flowed its banks; but Hercules, by bringing it into
two channels, broke off one of the horns, and fo refto-
red plenty to the country. See the next article.
ACHELOUS, a river of Acarnania; which rifes in
mount Pindus, and, dividing Ætolia from Acarnania,
falls from north to fouth into the Sinus Corinthiacus.
It was formerly called Thoas, from its impetuofity, and
king of rivers, (Homer.) The epithet Acheloius is
uſed for Aqueus, (Virgil); the ancients calling all water
Achelous, eſpecially in oaths, vows, and facrifices, accor-
ding to Ephorus: Now called Afpro Potamo. Rivers
are by the ancient poets.called Tauriformes, either from
VOL. I. Part I.
the bellowing of their waters, or from their ploughing Ackerl
the earth in their courfe: Hercules, reftraining by dykes Achicolum.
and mounds thé inundations of the Achelous, is faid to
have broken off one of his horns, and to have brought
back plenty to the country. See the preceding article.
ACHERI (LUKE D'), a learned Benedictine of the
congregation of St Maur, was born at St Quintin, in
Picardy, in 1609; and made himſelf famous by printing
feveral works, which till then were only in manufcript:
particularly, The epiftle attributed to St Barnabas;
The works of Lanfrank, archbishop of Canterbury;
A collection of ſcarce and curious pieces, under the
title of Spicilegium, i. e. Gleanings, in thirteen vo-
lumes, quarto. The prefaces and notes, which he an-
nexed to many of theſe pieces, fhow him to have been a
man of genius and abilities. He had alſo ſome ſhare in
the pieces inferted in the firſt volumes of The acts of
the faints of the order of St Bennet; the title whereof
acquaints us that they were collected and publiſhed by
him and father Mabillon. After a very retired life,
till the age of 73, he died at Paris the 29th of April
1685, in the abbey of St Germain in the fields, where
he had been librarian.
ACHERNER, or ACHARNER, a ftar of the firſt
magnitude in the fouthern extremity of the conftellation
ERIDANUS, but invifible in our latitude.
ACHERON, a river of Epirus. The poets feign-
ed it to have been the ſon of Ceres, whom the hid in
hell for fear of the Titans, and turned into a river, o-
ver which fouls departed were ferried in their way to
Elyfium.
ACHERON, a river of Thefprotia, in Epirus; which,
after forming the lake Acherufia, at no great diſtance.
from, falls into the fea near, the promontory of Chi-
merium, to the weft of the Sinus Ambracius, in a courfe
from north to fouth.
ACHERON, or ACHEROS, a river of the Bruttii in
Italy, running from east to weft; where Alexander
king of Epirus was flain by the Lucani, being decei-
ved by the oracle of Dodona, which bid him beware of
Acheron.
ACHERSET, an ancient meaſure of corn, conjec-
tured to be the fame to our quarter, or eight bufhels.
ACHERUSIA PALUS, a lake between Cumæ and
the promontory Miſenum, now il Lago Della Collucia,
(Cluverius.) Some confound it with the Lacus Lucri-
nus, and others with the Lacus Averni. But Strabo
and Pliny diftinguish them. The former takes it to be
an effufion, exundation, or washes of the fea, and there-
fore called by Lycophron, Axaprox xvois-Alfo a lake
of Epirus, through which the Acheron runs.-There
is alſo an Acherufia, a peninfula of Bithynia on the
Euxine, near Heraclea; and a cave there of the fame
name, through which Hercules is fabled to have de-
fcended to hell to drag forth Cerberus.
ACHIAR, is a Malayan word, which fignifies all
forts of fruits and roots pickled with vinegar and fpice.
The Dutch import from Batavia all forts of achiar,
but particularly that of BAMBOO (fee ARUNdo),
a kind of cane, extremely thick, which grows in
the Eaft Indies. It is preferved there, whilft it is ftil
green, with very ftrong vinegar and fpice; and is
called bamboo-achiar. The name changes according to
the fruit with which the achiar is made.
ACHICOLUM, is ufed to exprefs the fornix, the-
I.
lus;
1
î
]
ACH
[ 66
A CH
Achillea lus, or fudatorium of the ancient baths; which was a
hot room where they uſed to fweat. It is alfo called
architholus.
ACHILLEA, YARROW, MILFOIL, NOSEBLEED,
or SNEEZEWORT; a genus of the order of the polyga-
mia fuperflua, belonging to the fyngenefia clafs of
plants. The natural order to which it belongs is the
49th, Compofitæ difcoides.
The characters are: The common calyx is ovate
and imbricated, with ovate, acute, converging fcales.
The compound corolla is rayed; the hermaphrodite co-
rollets are tubular in the difc, the feminine lingui-
form and from 5 to 10 in the rays: The proper co-
rolla of the hermaphrodites is funnel-ſhaped, expanded,
and divided into 5 fegments; that of the females,
tongue-ſhaped, inverſely cordated, expanding, and of
3 fegments. The ftamina in the hermaphrodites con-
fift of 5 very ſhort capillary filaments; the anthera is
cylindric and tubular. The piftillum in the hermaphro-
dites has a ſmall germen; the ftylus is filiform the
length of the ftamina; the ftigma is obtufe and end-
notched in the females, the germen is fmall; the fly.
lus is filiform; the ftigmata are 2, obtufe and reflected.
The pericarpium is wanting; the calyx fcarcely chan-
ged; the receptacle filiform, elongated at the difc of
the feeds, ovate, and twice as long as the calyx. The
feeds are folitary, ovate, and furniſhed with a lock of
wool; no pappus. The receptaculum is chaffy and ele-
vated.
:
Species and properties. There are 20 fpecies, of
which the following are the principal: 1. The mil-
lefolium, or common yarrow, is found naturally on
banks, and by the fides of foot-paths, in moſt parts of
England. It most commonly bears white flowers,
though a variety of it is found which bears purple ones.
Thefe, however, do not long continue to bear flowers
of this colour, if tranfplanted into gardens. It was
formerly uſed in medicine; but though it may ftill have
a place in fome difpenfatories, no phyfician of any note
expects any virtue from it, or ever prefcribes it. It
creeps greatly by its roots, and alſo multiplies by the
feeds, fo that it becomes a troubleſome weed where it
is once allowed to get a footing. The cultivation of it
is recommended by Mr Anderfon, in his Effays on A-
griculture, as a proper food for cattle. This fpecies
was the proper achillea of the ancients, fo named from
Achilles; who, having been the diſciple of Chiron, firſt
brought it into ufe for the cure of wounds and ulcers.
2. The fantolina, or eaſtern fneezewort, is fometimes
cultivated in gardens; it has large yellow flowers, which
ftand upon pretty long footftalks placed fingly, not in
bunches as in the common kind. It has leaves like
lavender-cotton, which, when rubbed, emit a ftrong oily
odour. The flowers appear in June and July. 3. The
tomentofa, or woolly yarrow, is a native of the fouth of
France and Spain, but lives in the open air in England.
The flowers are of a bright yellow, and continue long
in beauty, growing in cluſters at the top of the ftalks,
which feldom rife above a foot high. The leaves are
finely cut, and very hoary. 4. The abrotanifolia, or
tall eaftern yarrow, is a native of the iſlands in the Ar-
chipelago: it grows to the height of two feet and a
half, with large umbels of yellow flowers on the top;
the leaves reſemble thoſe of the common wormwood,
and are cut into long narrow fegments. 5. The cla-
venna, or Alpine umbelliferous wormwood, takes its Achillea.
name from the mountains of which it is a native. It
feldom grows above fix or feven inches in height; it
fupports umbels of white flowers, like thofe of the com-
mon faeezewort, which appear in April and May. The
leaves are filvery, and ſhaped like thofe of wormwood,
which often decay in the autumn and winter. 6. The
tanacetifolia, or eaftern fneezewort, with tanfey leaves,.
is a very humble plant, ſeldom rifing above fix inches
in height. The flowers are nearly as large as thofe of
the common fneezewort, white, and growing in flat
umbels. They appear in June and July. The leaves
of the plant have fome likeneſs to thoſe of the common
wormwood, are very hoary, grow clofe to the ground,
and decay in autumn fo as to make little appearance
in winter. Like the laft fpecies, this is a native of
the Alps. 7. The ageratum, or fweet maudlin, was
formerly much uſed in medicine and for culinary pur-
pofes, but has now fallen fo much into neglect as to
be totally unknown in the markets; fo that when it is
demanded, the white maudlin is ſubſtituted in its ftead..
The reafon of this fubftitution was, that the latter is
more hardy and eafily propagated than the ſweet maud-
lin, which is apt to rot in wet winters. The common
maudlin flowers in June and July, and the feeds are
ripe in September. 8. The Egyptiaca, or hoary fneeze-
wort, is a native of the Archipelago. It hath very
hoary leaves, which remain all the year; and the plants
growing cloſe and low, make a pretty appearance at all
feafons. The flowers are yellow, and are produced in
umbels on the top of the ſtalks; they appear in June,
and continue till the end of September. 9. The ptarmi-
ea, or common fneezewort, grows wild in the woods, and
other fhady places, in many parts of England; fo is
not admitted into gardens. There is a variety, however,
with double flowers, which is preferved in gardens, and
is commonly known by the name of double maudlin.
This fpecies creeps greatly by the roots, fo as foon
to overfpread a large fpot of ground. If planted in
pots, fo as to confine its roots from creeping, the ftalks
grow clofe together, and make a tolerable appearance
when in flower; but when at a diſtance, ſo that the
roots have full liberty to run, the flowers appear but
indifferently. 10. The macrophylla, or Alpine fneeze-
wort, with feverfew leaves, is a native of the Alps. It
produces many ftalks rifing near three feet high; ha-
ving looſe branching umbels of white flowers on their
top, reſembling thofe of the common fneezewort, but
larger. 11. The nana, or hoary Alpine milfoil, is like-
wife a native of the Alps; the leaves are hoary, and
the umbels of its flowers are more compact than the
former; the ſtalks do not rife more than a foot high.
12. The nobilis, or ſweet milfoil, approaches to the
nature of the common milfoil; but its leaves are of a
paler green, and are neither fo long nor fo much cut
off as thoſe of the common milfoil are: they have a
ftrong fweet fcent when bruifed.. 13. The alpina, or
white maudlin, bears fome reſemblance to the common
fneezewort; but the leaves are longer, of a deeper
green colour, and deeply indented in their edges; the
flowers are white, and the roots creep far under ground..
The plant will rife, in good land, to the height of four
feet.
Culture. All the forts of yarrow are cafily propa-
gated by feeds, which may be fown either in the ſpring
or
1
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[
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67 ]
Achilles.
Achilleid, or autumn, upon a bed of common earth. When the
plants come up, and are ftrong enough for tranfplant-
ing, they ſhould be planted in beds in the nurſery,
where they may continue till autumn, when they ſhould
be tranſplanted to the places where they are to remain.
The Archipelago kinds, however, are often deftroyed by
fevere froft; fo they ought to be ſheltered during the
winter. Theſe kinds alfo rarely bring their feeds to
perfection in England; they are therefore to be pro-
pagated by flips, which may be taken off and plant-
ed in a fhady border any time in fummer, when they
will take root in about fix weeks, and then may
be
tranſplanted where they are to remain.
ACHILLEID, ACHILLEIS, a celebrated poem of
Statius, in which that author propoſed to deliver the
whole life and exploits of Achilles; but being prevent-
ed by death, he has only treated of the infancy and e-
ducation of his hero. See STATIUS.
ACHILLES, one of the greateſt heroes of ancient
Greece, was the fon of Peleus and Thetis. He was a
native of Phthia, in Theffaly. His mother, it is faid,
in order to confume every mortal part of his body, ufed
to lay him every night under live coals, anointing him
with ambrofia, which preferved every part from burn-
ing but one of his lips, owing to his having licked it.
She dipped him alfo in the waters of the river Styx;
by which his whole body became invulnerable, except
that part of his heel by which the held him. But this
opinion is not univerfal, nor is it a part of his charac-
ter as drawn by Homer; for in the Iliad (B. xxi. 161.)
he is actually wounded in the right arm, by the lance
of Afteropaus, in the battle near the river Scamander.
Thetis afterwards intruſted him to the care of the cen-
taur Chiron, who, to give him the ftrength neceffary
for martial toil, fed him with honey and the marrow
of lions and wild boars. To prevent his going to
the fiege of Troy, the diſguiſed him in female apparel,
and hid him among the maidens at the court of king
Lycomedes: but Ulyffes difcovering him, perfuaded
him to follow the Greeks. Achilles diftinguished him-
ſelf by a number of heroic actions at the frege. Being
difgufted, however, with Agamemnon for the lofs of
Brifeis, he retired from the camp. But returning to
avenge the death of his friend Patroclus, he flew Hec-
tor, faftened his corps to his chariot, and dragged it
round the walls of Troy. At laft Paris, the brother
of Hector, wounded him in the heel with an arrow,
while he was in the temple treating about his marriage
with Philoxena, daughter to king Priam. Of this
wound he died, and was interred on the promontory of
Sigæum ; and after Troy was taken, the Greeks facri-
ficed Philoxena on his tomb, in obedience to his defire,
that he might enjoy her company in the Elyfian fields.
It is faid, that Alexander, feeing this tomb, honoured
it by placing a crown upon it; at the fame time cry-
ing out, that "Achilles was happy in having, during
his life, fuch a friend as Patroclus; and, after his death,
a poet like Homer." Achilles is fuppofed to have died
1183 years before the Chriftian æra.
ACHILLES TATIUS. See TATIUS.
Tendo ACHILLIS, in anatomy, is a ftrong tendinous
cord formed by the tendons of feveral muſcles, and in-
ferted into the os calcis. It has its name from the fa-
tal wound Achilles is faid to have received in that part
from Paris the fon of Priam.
Achmet.
ACHILLINI (Alexander), bora at Bologna, and Achillini
doctor of philofophy in that univerfity. He flouriſhed
in the 15th and 16th centuries, and by way of eminence
was ftyled the Great Philofopher. He was a ftedfaſt
follower and accurate interpreter of Averroes upon Ari-
ftotle, but most admired for his acuteneſs and ftrength
of arguing in private and public difputations. He made
a furprifing quick progrefs in his ftudies, and was very
early promoted to a profeffor hip in the univerfity; in
which he acquitted himfelf with fo much applaufe that
his name became famous throughout all Italy. He con-
tinued at Bologna till the year 1506; when the uni-
verfity of Padua made choice of him to fucceed Anto-
nio Francatiano in the firſt chair of philoſophy, and
his fame brought vaft numbers of ftudents to his lec-
tures at Padua: but the war, wherein the republic of
Venice was engaged againſt the league of Cambray,
putting a ſtop to the lectures of that univerfity, he
withdrew to his native country; where he was received
with the fame marks of honour and diftinction as be-
fore, and again appointed profeffor of philofophy in
Bologna. He ſpent the remainder of his life in this
city, where he died, and was interred with great pomp
in the church of St Martin the Great, which belongs to
the Carmelite friars. Jovius, who knew Achillini, and
heard his lectures, fays, that he was a man of fuch ex-
ceeding fimplicity, and fo unacquainted with addreſs
and flattery, that he was a laughing-ſtock to the pert
and faucy young ſcholars, although efteemed on account
of his learning. He wrote feveral pieces on philofo-
phical fubjects, which he publiſhed, and dedicated to
John Bentivogli.
ACHILLINI (Claudius), grandfon of the former, read
lectures at Bologna, Ferrara, and Parma; where he
was reputed a great philofopher, a learned divine, an
excellent lawyer, an eloquent orafor, a good mathe-
matician, and an elegant poet. He accompanied Car-
dinal Ludovino, who went as legate into Piedmont; but
being afterward neglected by this cardinal, when he
became pope under the name of Gregory XV. he left
Rome in difguft, and retired to Parma; where the duke
appointed him profeffor of law, with a good falary. He
publiſhed a volume of Latin Letters, and another of
Italian poems, which gained him great reputation: he
died in 1640, aged 66.
ACHIOTTE, or АCHIOтL, a foreign drug, uſed
in dying, and in the preparation of chocolate. It is
the fame with the fubftance more ufually known by
the name of ARNOTTO; which fee..
ACHIROPŒTOS, a name given by ancient wri-
ters to certain miraculous pictures of Chrift and the
Virgin, fuppofed to have been made without hands.—
The moft celebrated of thefe is the picture of Chrift,
preferved in the church of St John Lateran at Rome;
faid to have been begun by St Luke, but finiſhed by
the miniftry of angels.
ACHMET, fon of Seerim, has left a book concern-
ing the interpretation of dreams according to the doc-
trine of the Indians, Perfians, and Egyptians, which
was tranflated out of Greek into Latin by Leo Tuf-
cus in 1160. He lived in the 9th century.
ACHMET GEDUC, a famous general under Ma-
homet II. and Bajazet II. in the 15th century. When
Mahomet II. died, Bajazet and Zezan both claimed
the throne: Achmet fided with the former, and by his
I 2
bravery
A
A CH
[
]
68
A CH
Ahmet bravery and conduct fixed the crown on his head. But
Bajazet took away his life; fhining virtue being always
an unpardonable crime in the eyes of a tyrant.
ichet,
Achmim.
ACHMETSCHET, a town of the peninfula of
the Crimea, the refidence of the fultan Galga, who is
eldeſt ſon of the Khan of Tartary. Long. 51. 20. Lat.
45.0.
ACHMIM, a large town of Upper Egypt, fituated
on the caftern bank of the Nile. "One admires there.
(fays Abulfeda, as quoted by Mr Savary) a temple,
which is comparable to the moít celebrated monuments
of antiquity. It is conftructed with ftones of a furpri-
fing fize, on which are ſculptured innumerable figures."
Though this town be fallen from its ancient fplendor,
it is ftill one of the most beautiful of Upper Egypt.
According to Mr Savary, an Arab prince commands
there, and the police is well attended to.. The ſtreets
are wide and clean, and commerce and agriculture flou
rifn. It has a manufactory of cotton, fluffs, and pot-
tery, which are conveyed over. all Egypt. It is the
fame that Herodotus calls Chemmis, and Strabo Pano
polis, or the city of Pan, who was worshipped there.
Herodotus fays, that Perfeus was a native of this city,
and that his defcendants had eſtabliſhed feftivals there
in his honour. It has loft its ancient edifices, and much
of its extent; the ruins of the temple, defcribed by
Abulfeda, being, without its limits, to the north. No-
thing remains of it but fome ftones, of ſuch magnitude
that the Turks have not been able to move them. They
are covered with hieroglyphics. On one of them are
traced four concentric circles, in a fquare. The inner-
moſt of theſe contains a fun. The two fucceeding ones,
divided into 12: parts, contain, one, 12 birds, the other,
12 animals almoft effaced, which appear to be the figns
of the zodiac.. The fourth has no divifions, and pre-
fents 12 human figures; which Mr Savary imagines to
repreſent the 12 gods, the 12 months of the year, and
the 12 figns of the zodiac. The Egyptians, fays He-
rodotus, are the firft who divided the year into 12
months, and employed the names of the 12 gods. The
four ſeaſons occupy the angles of the fquare, on the
fide of which may be diſtinguiſhed a globe with wings.
Mr Savary thinks it probable that this ftone belonged
to a temple dedicated to the fun, that the whole of
thefe hieroglyphics mark his paffage into the figns of
the zodiac, and his courſe, whoſe revolution forms the
year. The columns of this temple have been partly
broken to make lime and millftones. Some of them
have been tranſported into one of the moſques of Ach-
mim, where they are placed without tafte; others are
heaped up in the fquares of the town.
Mr Savary tells us of a ferpent which is wor-
hipped here, and is the wonder of the country.
"Upwards of a century ago (fays he), a religious
Turk called Scheilk Haridi died here. He paffed
for a faint among the Mahometans; who raiſed a
monument to him, covered with a cupola, at the
foot of the mountain. The people flocked from
all parts to offer up their prayers, to him. One of
their priests, profiting by their credulity, perfuaded
them that God had made the foul of Scheilk Haridi
paſs into the body of a ferpent. Many of theſe are
found in the Thebais, which are harmleſs; and he had
taught one to obey his voice. He appeared with his
ferpent, dazzled the vulgar by his furprifing tricks,
Achras..
and pretended to cure all diſorders.. Some lucky in- Achminx
ftances of fuccefs, due to nature alone, and ſometimes
to the imagination of the patients, gave him great ce-
lebrity.. He foon confined his ferpent Haridi to the
tomb, producing him only to oblige princes and per-
fons capable of giving him a handfome recompence.
The fucceffors, of this prieft, brought up in the fame
principles, found no difficulty in giving fanction to
To advantageous an error. They added to the general
perfuafion of his virtue that of his immortality. They
had the boldnefs even to make a public proof of it.
The ferpent was cut in pieces in prefence of the Emir,
and placed for two hours under a vafe. At the inftant
of lifting up the vafe, the prieſts, no doubt, had the
addreſs to fubftitute one exactly refembling it. Amiracle
was proclaimed, and the immortal Haridi acquired a freſh
degree of confideration. This knavery procures them
great advantages. The people flock from all quarters to
pray at this tomb; and if the ferpent crawls out from
under the ftone, and approaches the fuppliant, it is a fign
that his malady will be cured. It may be imagined,
that he does not appear till an offering has been made
proportioned to the quality and riches of the different
perfons. In extraordinary cafes, where the fick per-
fon cannot be cured without the prefence of the fer-
pent, a pure virgin muft come to folicit him. To avoid
inconveniences on this head, they take care to chooſe
a very young girl indeed. She is decked out in her beft
clothes, and crowned with flowers. She puts herſelf
in a praying attitude; and as the priests are inclined,
the ferpent comes out, makes circles round the young
fuppliant, and goes and repofes on her.
The virgin,
accompanied by a vaft multitude, carries him in tri-
No human
umph ainidſt the general acclamation.
reafoning would perfuade theſe ignorant and credulous
Egyptians that they are the dupes of a few impoftors:
they believe in the ferpent Haridi as firmly as in the
prophet.'
""
ACHONRY, a ſmall town of Ireland, in the pro-
vince of Connaught and county of Sligo, feated on the
river Shannon.
-
ACHOR, a valley of Jericho, lying along the river.
Jordon, not far from Gilgal; fo called from Achan,
the troubler of Ifrael, being there ſtoned to death.
ACHOR, in medicine, a fpecies of HERPES.
ACHOR, in mythology, the god of flies; to whom,
according to Pliny, the inhabitants of Cyrene facrifi-
ced, in order to obtain deliverance from the infects and
the diforders occafioned by them.
ACHRADINA (anc. geog.), one of the four ci-
ties or divifions of Syracufe, and the ftrongeft, largeft,
and moſt beautiful part of it; feparated by a very ſtrong
wall from the outer town, Tycha and Neapolis. It was
adorned with a very large forum, with beautiful por-
ticos, a moft elegant prytaneum, a fpacious fenate-
houfe, and a fuperb temple of Jupiter Olympius.
ACHRAS, or SAPOTA PLUM: a genus of the mo-
nogynia order, belonging to the hexandria clafs_of
plants; and ranking in the 43d Natural Order, Dut
mofa.
The characters are: The calyx is a perianthium,
confifting of fix ovate concave erect leaflets, the ex-
terior ones broader and ſhorter, the interior ones co-
loured. The corolla is compofed of one ovate petal,
the height of the calyx; the border divided into fix
fegments.
AC "
69 ]
A CI
H
[
Achras fegments. The ftamina have fix ſhort fubulated fila-
ments at the throat of the corolla; and the antheræ
Achyran-
thes.
are acute. The piftillium has a roundish depreffed ger-
men; the ftylus is fubulated, and longer than the
corolla; the ftigma is obtufe. The pericarpium is a
globular twelve-celled pomum, with very foft flesh.
The feeds are folitary, ovate, and gloffy.
+
There are four ſpecies, all natives of the Weft In-
dies. The principal are, 1. The fapota, with oblong
2. The mam-
oval leaves, and ſmooth turbinated fruit.
mofa, with fpear-ſhaped leaves, and large oval fruit.
The firft is common about Panama, and fome places
in the Spaniſh Weſt Indies; but is not to be found in
any of the Britiſh ſettlements in America. The fe-
cond fort is very common in Jamaica, Barbadoes, and
moſt of the Weſt India iflands, where the trees are
planted in the gardens for their fruit, which is by many
perfons greatly efteemed. They grow to the height of
35 or 40 feet, having a ftraight trunk covered with an
afh-coloured bark. The branches are produced on e-
very fide, forming a regular head; and are beſet with
leaves near a foot long, and almoft three inches broad
in the middle. The flowers are of a cream colour:
and are fucceeded by large oval fruit covered by a
brownifh fkin, inclofing a thick pulp of a ruffet colour,
very luſcious, and called natural marmalade, from its
refemblance to that of quinces. The ftones taken in
emulfion are reckoned good againſt the gravel.-Theſe
trees being natives of very hot climates, cannot be pre-
ferved in this country except in the warmest ftoves.
ACHROMATIČ, an epithet expreffing want of
colour. The word is Greek, being compounded of a,
privative, and
colour.
ACHROMATIC Telescopes, are telescopes contrived to
remedy the aberrations in colours; fee ABERRATION.
A particular account of the invention and conftruc-
tion of thefe inftruments will be found under OPTICS.
ACHTELING, a meaſure for liquids uſed in Ger-
many. Thirty-two achtelings make a heemer; four
fciltims or fciltins, make an achteling.
χρώμα,
Acican-
thera,
botanical gardens, and that more for the fake of va-
riety than beauty. It grows to the height of three
The flowers come Acidity.
feet, with oblong pointed leaves.
out in long ſpikes from the extremities of the branches,
and appear in July, the feeds ripening in September.
Plants of this kind muſt be reared in a hot-bed, and
may be tranfplanted when they have acquired fufficient
ftrength. If kept in pots, and ſheltered during the
winter in a warm green-houſe, they will live two or
three years.
*
ACICANTHERA, in botany, the trivial name of
a fpecies of RHEXIA.
ACICULÆ, the fmall pikes or prickles of the
hedge-hog, echinus-marinus, &c.
ACIDALIUS (Valens) would, in all probability,.
have been one of the greateft critics in thefe latter ages,
had he lived longer to perfect thofe talents which na-
ture had given him. He was born at Witſtock, in
Brandenburg; and having vifited feveral academies in
Germany, Italy, and other countries, where he was
greatly efteemed, he afterwards took up his reſidence
at Breſlaw, the metropolis of Silefia. Here he remain-
ed a confiderable time, in expectation of ſome employ-
ment; but nothing offering, he turned Roman-catho-
lic, and was chofen rector of a ſchool at Nieffla. It
is related, that about four months after, as he was fol-
lowing a proceffion of the hoft, he was feized with a
fudden phrenzy; and being carried home, expired in a
very ſhort time. But Thuanus tells us, that his ex-
ceffive application to ſtudy was the occafion of his un-
timely death; and that his fitting up a-nights in compo-
fing his Conjectures on Plautus, brought upon him a
distemper which carried him off in three days, on the
25th of May 1595, being juft turned of 28. He wrote
a Commentary on Quintus Curtius; alfo, Notes on Ta-
citus, on the Twelve Panegyrics; befides fpeeches, let-
ters, and poems. His poetical pieces are inferted in
the Delicia of the German poets, and confiſt of epic
verfes, odes, and epigrams. A little piece, printed in
1595, under the title of Mulieres non effe homines,
ACHYR, a ſtrong town and caftle of the Ukrain,"
ſubject to the Ruffians fince 1667. It ftands on the
river Uorſklo near the frontiers of Ruffia, 127 miles
W. of Kiow, Long. 36. 0.. Lat. 49. 32.
ACHYRANTHES, in botany, a genus of the pen-
tandria order, belonging to the monogynia clafs of
plants, and affociating with the Mifcellanea, in the
54th Natural Order.
The characters are: The calyx is a double peri-
anthium; the exterior one confifting of three lan-
ced acute-leaves, which are perfiftent; the interior of
five leaves, alfo perfiftent. No corolla: The nectarium
is five-valved, furrounding the germen, bearded at the
top, concave, and falling off. The ftamina confift of
five filaments the length of the corolla, the antheræ
are ovate and incumbent. The piftillum has a top-
ſhaped germen; the ftylus is filiform, and the length
of the ftamina; the ftigma is villous, and divided into
two fegments. The perianthium is a roundifh one-
celled capfule, not gaping. The feed is fingle and ob-
long.
Öf this genus eight ſpecies are enumerated; but
the character of the genus does not agree in them all.
The fpecies are all natives of the Indies. Only one
of them, the amaranthus, is commonly cultivated in
That women were not of the human fpecies," was
falfely afcribed to him. But the fact was, that Acida-.
lius happening to meet with the manuſcript, and think-
ing it very whimfical, tranſcribed it, and gave it to the
bookfeller, who printed it. The performance was high-
ly exclaimed against, infomuch that the bookfeller be-
ing feized, he difcovered the perſon who gave him the
manufcript, and a terrible outcry was made againſt Aci-
dalius. A ftory goes, that being one day to dine at a
friend's houfe, there happened to be ſeveral ladies
at table; who fuppofing him to be the author, were mo-
ved with fo much indignation, that they threatened to
throw their plates at his head. Acidalius, however, in-
geniouſly diverted their wrath. In his opinion, he faid,
the author was a judicious perfon, the ladies being cer-
tainly more of the ſpecies of angels than of men.—Mr
Baillet has given him a place among his Enfans Cele-
bres; and fays, that he wrote a comment upon Plau-
tus when he was but 17 or 18 years old, and that he
compofed feveral Latin poems at the fame age.
ACIDALUS, a fountain in Orchomenus, a city of
Boeotia, in which the Graces, who are facred to Venus,
bathed. Hence the epithet Acidalia, given to Venus,
(Virgil.)
ACIDITY, that quality which renders bodies acid.
ACI.
A CI
[ 70 ]
A CI
Acids.
General
of acids.
cies of ADELIA.
3
4
This theory he confiders as eſtabliſhed by numerous
indifputable experiments. Thefe cannot here be de-
tailed; but his concluſions from the whole are, That
dephlogiſticated air enters as a conſtituent part into Baſis of de-
the compofition of feveral acids, particularly the phof- phlogistica-
ted air fup-
phoric, vitriolic, and nitrous; that this pure and high-
poled to be
Îy reſpirable air is the conftitutive principle of acidity the acid
common to all acids; and that the difference by which principle.
they are diftinguished from each other is produced
by the union of one or more principles befides this
air, fo as to conftitute the particular form under which
each acid appears." To dephlogiſticated air in its
ſtate of fixity, therefore, he gives the title of the aci-
difying or oxygenous principle; and concludes farther
from his experiments, 1. "That, when combined with
the matter of fire, heat, and light, this principle pro-
duces dephlogiſticated air; though he confiders this
pofition as not capable of abfolute demonſtration. It
muſt not, therefore, be confounded with the follow-
ing; which, he fays, are ſupported by experiment and
pofitive proofs. 2. That the fame acidifying principle,
combined with phlogiſtic ſubſtances or charcoal, forms
fixed air. 3. That with fulphur it forms vitriolic acid.
4. That with nitrous air it forms nitrous acid. 5. That
with Kunckel's phoſphorus, it forms the phoſphoric
acid. 6. With fugar it forms the acid of fugar," &c.
Acidoton, ACIDOTON, in botany, the trivial name of a ſpe- with fuch powerful and even deftructive properties Acida.
as many of the acids poffefs.. -The late diſcove-
ACIDS, in chemiſtry, the name by which one of ries concerning air of different kinds have fuggeſted Mr Lavoi-
the general claffes of falts are diftinguifhed. The cha- a new theory, firft publiſhed by M. Lavoifier, and ftre- fier's hypo-
racteriſtic marks of them are, 1. The peculiar tafte nuously maintained by the French chemifts, viz. That thefis that
air is the
properties which we call four; though this does not hold univer- the acid principle is contained in the air; and, accor-
acid princi-
fally: for the acid of arfenic, which in other refpects ding as it combines itſelf with different fubftances, forms ple.
manifefts a ſtrong acid power, has not this four tafte; acids of different denominations.
nor are the volatile fulphureous acid, or thoſe of tung-
ften and molybdana, lately difcovered by Mr Scheele,
very diftinguishable in this way. On the other hand,
the ſtrong acids of vitriol, nitre, and even fea-falt, are
altogether cauſtic, and cannot be tafted until they have
been largely diluted with water. 2. With water they
combine into a fluid, the ſpecific gravity of which is not
a medium betwixt the water and acid ſeparately taken.
This holds good with the ſtrong acids, which grow hot
with water, and ſhrink into leſs bulk by reafon of their
emitting a quantity of the fire they contain: but whe-
ther it alſo takes place in the weaker acids, has not yet
been afcertained; though the probability is, that it will
take place in them alfo. 3. With fpirit of wine, they
unite into a very volatile and inflammable fubftance cal-
led ether. This alfo muſt be underſtood only of the
ſtrong mineral acids, or of the acetous when very much
concentrated; for the acids of tartar, borax, arfenic,
lapis ponderofus (tungſten), and molybdana, do not
produce any. 4. They change the blue colour of ve-
getables to red, and heighten the colour of thoſe which
are already red.-This property is more univerfal than
thoſe we have yet mentioned; but the volatile fulphu-
-rcous acid, thoſe of tungiten and molybdæna, are excep-
tions. 5. They unite with all kinds of earths except-
ing the filiceous (though the fluor acid diffolves this
alfo), with fixed and volatile alkalies, and with metals,
in
ìn fuch a manner as to form compounds confiderably
permanent, and whofe ingredients cannot be feparated
without fome difficulty. This is the moſt univerſal and
diftinguiſhing mark; and there is not any acid but what
fhows its attraction for one or other of theſe ſubſtances,
eſpecially the alkaline falts. Oils and fats, indeed, will
unite with alkalies; but they may be feparated by the
weakcft known acids, fo that there is no danger of
confounding the two together. 6. When mixed with
any-fermentable liquor, they prevent that proceſs from
taking place; or, if it has already begun, they will
put a stop to it.
This alſo muſt be underſtood only of
the ſtronger acids, or at leaſt will require a confiderable
quantity of the weaker to effect it. 7. They cannot
be frozen but in a degree of cold below the freezing
point of water. This property is likewiſe not univerfal,
but is remarkable only in the ftronger acids.
}
2
The nature of acids has long been a matter of fpe-
Of the na- culation, and of late has engaged the attention of phi-
tureofacids. lofophers very confiderably. Some have fuppofed them
to be fimple chemical elements, while others imagined
them to be compoſed of water and earth. Both
thefe opinions, however, are inadmiffible; the former,
becauſe we are certain that moft acids may be entirely
decompofed, and refolved into aerial vapours of differ-
ent kinds, which could not happen if they were fimple
and unchangeable elements; the latter, becauſe there
is not the ſmalleſt probability that two ingredients,
feemingly fo infipid and inactive as water and earth,
could by their union produce a compound endowed
66
The opinion of Mr Lavoifier concerning the com- 5
pofition of acids has in part been adopted by Mr Kir- Mr Kir-
wan's opi
wan; who, in his treatife on Phlogifton, publiſhed in 1787, nions.
informs us, that he is now of opinion that dephlogiſti-
cated air becomes an effential conftituent part of acids.
All acids (he adds) conſiſt of two principles: one pe-
culiar to each, which, in the opinion of the antiphlo-
giftians, has not as yet been decompofed, and confe-
quently muſt be looked upon, relatively to the pre-
fent ftate of our knowledge, as a fimple fubftance:
the other, pure air, in a concrete ftate; that is, de-
prived of the greater part of its ſpecific heat, and con-
denſed into a ſmaller volume. The firſt they call the
acid basis; the laft, the oxygenous principle: thus the
vitriolic acid, according to them, confifts of fulphur
as its bafis, and pure air in a concrete ſtate as its aci-
difying or oxygenous principle, This doctrine of the
compofition of acids has been admitted by fome of the
ableft defenders of phlogifton, and particularly by that
diftinguiſhed philofophic chemift M. de Morveau, with
this fingle modification, that the bafes of acids contain
pllogifton, which they lofe on uniting to pure air:
yet it feems very difficult to conceive how pure air can
unite to phlogiſton, a fubftance to which it has the
greateſt affinity, without forming a new compound
endowed with very different properties from thoſe which
it poffeffed before fuch union. It ſeems therefore more
reaſonable to conclude, either that it forms water, as
Mr Cavendifh thinks; or fixed air, as I fhall afterwards
endeavour to prove."
In his explanation of the formation of acids, Mr
Kirwan
}
纂
​A CI
[ 7 ]
71
ACI
gifticated air, phlogifticated air, and inflammable air,
all in their concrete ftate.
Acids. Kirwan firft ftates the opinion of the antiphlogiftians,
viz. That the vitriolic acid, when confidered abſtractedly
from the water it contains, always confifts of fulphur
(which they confider as a fimple ſubſtance) united to a
large portion of the oxygenous principle. "In my opi-
nion fays he), it confifts of a bafis or radical principle,
which, when faturated with phlogiston, conſtitutes ful-
phur; when faturated with fixed air, becomes common
fixed vitriolic acid; and, when combined partly with the
one and partly with the other, becomes volatile vitri-
olic acid. That fulphur, during its converfion into vi-
triolic acid, unites to air of fome fort or other, is evident
from the quantity of air which it abforbs, in whatever
way that converfion is brought about. Thus, firft, du-
ring combuftion in refpirable air, 100 grains of fulphur
abforb 420 cubic inches of pure air, or about 143 grains:
but the proportion of this pure air united with a given
quantity of fulphur is not eafily determined, becauſe
it is vitriolic air that is conftantly formed; and this air
effentially contains fome portion of fulphur in folution,
which portion is variable. Secondly, Pyrites, during
their decompofition, abſorb a confiderable proportion of
pure air, as Mr Lavoifier has obferved; fo alfo does
liver of fulphur expofed to the atmoſphere, for after
fome time it is converted into tartar vitriolate."
Whether
Mr Kirwan next proceeds to inquire, whether the
air abforbed during the combuftion of fulphur continues
pure air ab-
to be pure air; or whether it be converted into water
forbed in
or fixed air? He inclines to the latter opinions, for va-
the burning
of fulphur rious reafons* which he ſpecifies.
continues to
be fo.
* Effay,
p. 29.
7
of the ni-
trous acid.
With regard to the nitrous acid, the experiments of
Mr Cavendish, as well as of the French chemifts, leave
no room to doubt that it is produced during the defla
gration of dephlogisticated and inflammable air. Mr
Formation Cavendish has fhown that the nitrous acid may be
formed by taking the electric fpark in a mixture of
three meaſures of phlogiſticated air and ſeven of de-
phlogiſticated air, or, in weight, one part of the for-
mer and about 2.6 of the latter. Mr Lavoifier, as
has been already mentioned, fuppofes the nitrous acid
to be compoſed of nitrous air united to the oxygenous
principle, or bafis of pure air; and 100 grains of dry
nitrous acid confift of 64 grains of nitrous air united
to 36 of pure air deprived of its ſpecific fire; or, ac-
cording to Mr Kirwan's calculation, 173 cubic inches
of nitrous air and 105 of pure air. But nitrous air,
as Mr Lavoifier himſelf has obferved, is a compound;
100 grains of it, according to him, containing 32 of
phlogiſticated and 68 of pure air; confequently 64
grains of it contain 20.5 of phlogiſticated air, and
43.5 of
pure air.
Hence, according to him, 100
grains of dry nitrous acid contain 79% of pure air and
20% of phlogifticated air. Mr Kirwan is of opinion
Proportion that 100 grains of pure, dry, and colourlefs nitrous
ofits confti- acid contain 38.17 grains of fixed air as its acidifying
tuent parts. principle, 57.06 of nitrous bafis, and 4.77 of phlogifton
united to the nitrous bafis. With regard to the nitrous
bafis itſelf, he ſays that one third of its weight is
phlogiſticated and two thirds dephlogiſticated air, both
in a concrete ſtate.
8
"Nitrous bafis (fays Mr Kirwan), faturated with
phlogiſton, conſtitutes nitrous air: 100 grains of this
bafis take up nearly 22 of phlogifton. Hence the con-
ffituent principles of nitrous acid are fixed air, dephlo-
3.
"Red, yellow, green, and blue nitrous acids,
when thoſe colours are intenfe, owe their origin to the
abforption of nitrous air; and confequently the pro-
portion of their principles is variable, though all
have the dephlogiſticated acid for their ground. Thus
Dr Priestley, having expofed ftrong pale-yellow nitrous
acid, whofe fpecific gravity could not be less than
1.400 to nitrous air, found that 100 grains of this
acid abſorbed, in two days, 247 cubic inches of nitrous
air: now, 100 grains of this fpirit must have contain-
ed, by my calculation, about 21 grains of dry acid,
and thefe 21 grains took up 91.39 grains of nitrous
air. When about 20 cubic inches of nitrous air were
abforbed (that is, about feven grains), the acid became
of an orange colour; when 50 cubic inches were ab-
forbed (about 18 grains), it became green; and when
nearly the whole was abforbed, it evaporated in the
form of nitrous vapour, carrying off part of the wa-
ter with it. Hence we fee, that nitrous vapour con-
fifts of nitrous acid united to three or four times its
weight of nitrous air and a little water."
Acids.
9
Mr Kirwan next proceeds to conteſt Mr Lavoifier's
opinion, that nitrous air is a conftituent principle of the Mr Lavoie-
nitrous acid. "The following experiments (fays he) ler's theory
fhow that nitrous air is not a conftituent principle of contested.
the nitrous acid, but that fixed air is. 1. There is not a
doubt but that pure nitrous acid enters entire, and with-
out decompofition, into fixed alkalis, and forms nitre.
Now if nitre be distilled in a good earthen retort, it
will be wholly decompofed; and fo alfo will the acid
itſelf, except a few drops which pafs in the beginning
of the diftillation, and nothing but dephlogifticated
air, more or lefs pure, and confequently intermixed
with phlogiſticated air and a flight proportion of fixed
air, will be found: theſe, therefore, are its true confti-
tuent parts when difengaged from fubftances that can-
not communicate phlogifton to it in any remarkable
quantity, fuch as alkalis and earths; but if it be fepara-
ted from fubftances that contain phlogiſton, fuch as me-
tals, it will then indeed be refolved into nitrous air, and
dephlogiſticated air more or lefs pure, the phlogifton
of the fixed air being detained by the metal. Mr Ber--
thollet, who feems to have made the experiment with
the greateft exactnefs, produced 714 cubic inches of de-
phlogifticated air from a Troy ounce of nitre. This,
however, was far from being of the pureft kind; and
Dr Priestley, Mr Berthollet, and Mr Succow, obfer-
ved, that the air which firft paffes contains fixed air,
and renders lime-water turbid. Here then we have
three of the conftituent parts of the nitrous acid, with
fcarce any nitrous air; which the antiphlogiſtians fup-
pofe to be one of the conftituent parts of the acid, -
and to make two thirds of its bulk when exhibited in
an aerial form."
To obviate an objection that the quantity of fixed.
air thus obtained is too fmall to deferve to be ranked
among the conftituent parts of the nitrous acid, Mr
Kirwan firft inquires in what proportion it ought to
exift there; and though this is variable, according to
the different ftates of the nitrous acid with refpect to
phlogiftication, he reckons it at one-third of the acid
as exifting in the nitre; and, from the decompofition of
this
A CI
[72]
A CI
Acids.
ΙΟ
Fixed air
elements of
ced (about one-third of a grain), might well be con- Acids
tained in the phlogiſticated air he employed, or perhaps
formed in the operation."
this fixed air, and the phlogifton emitted by it of confe-
quence, he attributes the phlogiſtication and redneſs of
the nitrous acid when expofed to more heat. As a
proof that fixed air may be decompofed in this man-
ner, he adduces two experiments of Dr Priestley. In
one of thefe, dephlogiſticated air was obtained by means
of acetous acid in that concentrated ftate in which it
is called radical vinegar. Having mixed half an ounce
of the acid with two ounces of calcined whiting, he
obtained from it 350 ounce-meafures of air; of which
about one-third was fixed more in the firſt portions,
and lefs in the laſt. The ſtandard of the refiduum in
the firft portions was, 1.66, in the fecond, 1.42, and
in the third, 1.38; which is very near the goodness of
common air. The whiting then weighed 760 grains.
On adding a quarter of an ounce more of radical vine
gar, and repeating the operation, 120 ounce-meaſures
of air were obtained, and the whiting was reduced to
730 grains. A third operation, in which another quar-
ter of an ounce of vinegar was added, reduced the mat-
ter to 489 grains; but the laſt portion of air extracted
had no fixed air, and was confiderably better than that
of the atmoſphere.The other experiment was made
with lime-ftone alone; from four ounces of the white
cryftals, of which 830 ounce-meaſures of air were ob-
tained, the firft portion of which had only one-fourth
of fixed air, and "the ſtandard of the refiduum was ne-
ver better than 1.56, nor worſe than 1.66; ſo that it
was nearly of the goodneſs of common air.
Our author then proceeds to relate feveral other ex-
periments in which the nitrous acid was decompofed;
but a particular relation of them would ſwell this ar-
ticle beyond its due bounds. At laft, however, he
concludes in the following manner. "If fpirit of
nitre be made to boil, and its vapour received through
a red-hot earthen tube, it will be converted into de-
phlogifticated air, in which a portion both of phlogi-
fticated and fixed air is found, as Dr Prieftley has dif-
covered: the water through which this air paffes will
alfo contain fixed air. Here then are feveral ways of
decompofing the nitrous acid; and in one only it is
refolved into nitrous and dephlogiſticated air; and in
this way it may, at leaſt, be strongly ſuſpected to re-
ceive an addition of another principle. Why then fhould
theſe be regarded as its conftituent principles? And as
in the two fimpleft methods of decompofition, in which
one of the the reaction of no foreign fubftance can be fufpected,
nitrous acid. it appears in the form of dephlogifticated, phlogistica-
ted, and fixed air (the former always containing a por-
tion of the two laſt), why then ſhould not thefe be ac-
counted its true conftituent parts?This theory
This theory
is further confirmed by reflecting on the manner in
trous acid is which nitrous acid is generated by nature. Mr
generated. Thouvencl found that this acid is conftantly produ-
ced when chalk is expofed to a mixture of putrid air
and common air, or putrid and dephlogiſticated air;
but if the putrid air be paffed through lime-water, it is
never generated; and that it is rarely produced by the
expofure of quick-lime or fixed alkalis to theſe airs.
The reafon that alkalis, though aërated, are not fo
proper, is, that they do not combine with phlogiſtica-
ted air as calcareous earths do. Mr Cavendish, indeed,
produced nitrous acid without any apparent mixture
of fixed air; but the atom of it neceffary for the for-
mation of the ſmall quantity of nitrous acid he produ-
II
How ni-
naturally
No. 2.
2
་
12
ments by
Kirwan's
v. lxxiv.
p. 339.
Having thus far ftated the different opinions of
the most celebrated French and Engliſh philofophers
concerning the compofition of acids, it is neceffary
to take notice of fome experiments made by Mr Experi
Watt, in order to determine whether the dephlo Mr Watt,
gifticated air produced from nitre really proceeds from which
a decompofition of the acid, or what quantity of the feem con-
latter is required to conftitute a determinate quan- trary to Mr
tity of the former. To afcertain this *, 240 grains of doctrine.
mercury were put into a glafs retort with 480 grains Philof.
of diluted dephlogiſticated nitrous acid, which was the Tranf
quantity neceffary to diffolve the whole of the mercury;
and as foon as the common air was expelled, a proper
veffel was applied to receive the air produced in the
operation. Sixteen ounce-meaſures of nitrous air came
over during the folution, and on changing the recei-
ver, a quantity of dilute, but highly phlogifticated ni-
trous acid, was obtained. The air receiver being again
applied, four ounce meaſures of ſtrong and pure nitrous
air were obtained, which, by the dephlogiſticated air
that arofe immediately after, were reduced to half an
ounce meafure. The production of dephlogisticated
air continued very rapid, the mercury being all the
while received, until the operation was ended by the
diftillation or fublimation of the whole of the mercury.
Two hundred and eighteen grains of the metal were
obtained in its running form, and 22 remained in the
form of an orange-coloured fublimate in the upper part
of the retort.The 16 ounce-meaſures of nitrous air,
firſt obtained, were then converted into nitrous acid by
the gradual admiffion of common air, and then added
to the water in the bafon in which the receiver had
been inverted; the whole quantity being about two
quarts, and very acid to the taſte, ſparkling at the fame
time with nitrous air. To determine the quantity of
acid thus recovered, as well as that which remained in
the fublimate, a folution of alkali of tartar was made;
and by experiment it was found, that 120 grains of the
acid, originally employed in diffolving the mercury, fa-
turated 352 grains of this folution; the orange colour-
ed fublimate and all the acid liquor recovered being fa-
turated by 1395 grains of the fame. Hence it ap-
pears, by the rule of proportion, that out of 480 grains
of nitrous acid originally employed, only five were loft;
"a fmaller quantity (as Mr Watt juftly obferves) than
what might reaſonably be fuppofed to be loft in the
procefs by the extreme volatility of the nitrous acid.”
His conclufion therefore is, that "the nitrous acid
does not enter into the compofition of dephlogiſticated
air: it ſeems only to ferve to abforb phlogifton from
the watery part of the mercurial nitre."
This experiment was repeated with cubic nitre, and
only 30 ounce-meaſures of air diftilled from an ounce
of the mineral alkali exactly faturated with nitrous acid.
The water through which the air paffed was acid, and
the refiduum in the retort alkaline; but on mixing the
two together, the folution was found to be exactly neu-.
tral by every poffible teft.
Not fatisfied with thefe experiments, Mr Watt di-
ftilled an ounce (480 grains) of common nitre, ftop-
ping the procefs when 50 ounce-meaſures of air had
been produced. This air had a ſtrong ſmell of the
nitrous
1
A CI
[
ACI
73 ]
}
Acids. nitrous acid, from which it could not be freed by wash-
ing with the water in the bafon. The refiduum in the
retort was alkaline as before, and the water flightly
acid ; nor was the faturation completed by mixing the
two together. Ten grains of weak nitrous acid, 105
grains of which contained the acid of 60 of nitre, com-
pleted the faturation. Theſe ten grains contained the
acid of 57 grains of nitre; which, by Mr Kirwan's ex-
periments, is equal to two grains of real nitrous acid.
"We have therefore (fays Mr Watt) 34 grains weight
of dephlogiſticated air produced, and only two grains of
real acid miffing; and it is not certain that even this
quantity was deſtroyed, becauſe fome portion of the glaſs
of the retort was diffolved by the nitre, and fome part
of the materials employed in making the glafs being
alkali, we may conclude, that the alkali of the nitre
would be augmented by the alkali of that part of the
glaſs it had diffolved; but as the glafs cracked into
Imall pieces on cooling, and fome part of the coating
adhered firmly to it, the quantity of the glaſs that was
diffolved could not be aſcertained."
$
13
Anſwered
wan,
To avoid the force of objections drawn from theſe
by Mr Kit- experiments, and which feem ready to overthrow his
hypothefis, as well as that of Mr Lavoifier entirely, Mr
Kirwan makes the following reply." My inge-
nious friend Mr Watt, as well as Mr Cavendiſh, are
of opinion, that the whole quantity of dephlogiſticated
air, produced from the diſtillation of nitre, arifes from
the dephlogiſtication of the water it contains, it being
decompoſed by the nitrous acid, which then becomes
phlogifticated. This opinion is expofed to infurmount-
able difficulties. For, in the first place, nitre affords de-
phlogiſticated air at the rate of 146.125 cubic inches
for every 100 grains of nitre, which, by the proper al-
lowances for phlogifticated air, fhould weigh 46.77
grains but then dephlogiſticated air is only one of the
conftituent parts of water, for it contains 13 per cent.
of inflammable air, that is to fay, 87 grains of de-
phlogifticated air: to form 100 grains of water re-
quires an addition of 13 grains of inflammable air;
confequently 46.77 grains of dephlogifticated air re-
quire nearly 7 of inflammable air, and would then
form 53.77 grains of water, which exceeds half the
weight of the nitre; a quantity of water, as Mr Watt
owns, certainly inadmiffible.-Mr Watt found, that
the water over which the air proceeding from the
decompofition of 960 grains of nitre had been re-
ceived, contained only the acid belonging to 120
grains of nitre; and even this fmall quantity he infer-
red only from my experiments. But my experiments
are totally inapplicable in this cafe; for I ufed only
the dephlogifticated nitrous acid: and alkalis are fa-
turable by a much ſmaller quantity of phlogifticated
than of dephlogiſticated acids, as is evident in the cafe
of the dephlogiſticated marine acid, as Stahl long ago ob-
ferved; for he fays, that the volatile acid of fulphur
faturates 10 times as much alkali as the fixed. Mr
Bergman and Mr Scheele obſerved, that melted nitre
is ftill neutral, though it be phlogiſticated; therefore
it is air, and not water, which it wants. Accordingly
Dr Prieſtley found it to injure common air by attract-
ing its dephlogiſticated part: but if it be kept in fu-
fion for fome time, it lofes its acid, and becomes alka-
line; and the air it receives muft furely be deemed rather
to recompofe the acid than to form water; of whofe for
VOL. I. Part I.
Acide.
14
mation, in the temperature of the atmoſphere, we
have no fort of proof. On the contrary, the impof-
fibility of accounting for the lofs of acid in this cafe is
an evident proof of the fallacy of that hypothefis.
By Mr Lavoifier's analyfis, 100 grains of nitre
Quantity of
contain 57 of cauftic alkali; by Mr Bergman's, 49 i acid con-
by Mr Wenzel's, 52; by Mr Wiegleb's, 46; by tained in
mine, 63: the mean of all which is, 531; which leaves nitre.
46.5 for acid and water, which is very nearly the
weight of the air expelled. The different quantity of
acid affigned by different perfons to nitre, is in part
owing to its degree of phlogiſtication in nitre. I be-
of
34
lieve at prefent, that 100 grains of nitre contain
acid and about 12 of water, including the water in the
acid and that of cryftallization."
15
Mr Kirwan next proceeds to confider, in a manner
fimilar to that above related, the compofition of the
other acids.-The marine acid, according to him, con-
Principles
fifts of a peculiar bafis united to phlogifton, and a cer-
of the ma
tain quantity of fixed air; to both of which the bafis rine acid.
ſeems to have a ftrong affinity. On depriving it of
this phlogifton, the affinity of the acid to fixed air be-
comes much ſtronger, and it faturates itſelf fo largely
with it, that its attractions for other fubftances, con-
taining little or no phlogifton, become nearly as weak
as thoſe of fixed air itſelf when equally condenſed; but
with refpect to bodies that contain a confiderable quan-
tity of phlogifton, its affinities are much ftronger, as
its bafis attracts the phlogifton, while thofe bodies at-
tract its excefs of fixed air. In this ftate it does not
expel fixed air from aërated fixed alkalis or earths
until it is heated; and then dephlogiſticated air fepa-
rates from it, and it becomes, in all refpects, common
marine acid. For as it contains an exceſs of fixed air,
it acts nearly as an acid of the fame nature; but when
heat is applied, its bafis dephlogiſticates its own fixeđ
air, which then becomes dephlogiſticated air, at the
fame time that the acid becomes common marine acid,
and acts as fuch.
*
Mr Lavoifier, and other philofophers, who deny the
exiſtence of phlogifton, are of opinion, that the com-
mon marine acid confifts of a peculiar bafis united to a
fmall proportion of pure air, or oxygenous principle,
and the dephlogiſticated marine acid differs from it only
by containing an excefs of this principle. This opi-
nion they are chiefly induced to maintain, becauſe
the acid in its dephlogiſticated ſtate is procured by
diftilling common marine acid from manganefe; and
the manganeſe, if diftilled by itſelf, before the acid is
diftilled from it, affords dephlogifticated air; but after
the acid is diftilled from it, it yields none." This ex-
periment, however, (fays Mr Kirwan), proves no more
but that the manganefe contains fome air which is de-
phlogiſticated during the calcination. And that this air
is fixed air, appears from the following confiderations :
The black calx of manganefe almoſt always gives out
fixed air at firft, before any dephlogiſticated air ap-
pears; whence it is natural to think, that the dephlo-
gifticated air proceeds from the dephlogiſtication of the
fixed. And hence, if it be diftilled with filings of iron,
or in a gun-barrel, it ſcarce gives out any other than.
fixed air; if at any time it gives out dephlogiſticated
air, with little or no mixture of fixed air, this is owing
to a very perfect dephlogiftication of the calx, and to
its containing very little inoiſture. Thus Dr Priestley,
K
having
16
Mr Lavoi-
fier's opi-
nion.
I
Conteſted
by Mr Kire
Wall.
ACI
[74]
ACI
Acids. having påffed the fteam of boiling water through man-
ganeſe heated in an earthen tube, obtained a very large
quantity of fixed air, and ſcarce any other; though on
repeating this experiment with manganefe well freed
from calcareous earth, I obtained a large portion of de-
phlogiſticated air; but I believe much depends on the
degree of heat to which the tube is fubjected. But
having diſtilled manganeſe, which yielded of itſelf ſome
fixed air with common fpirit of falt, I obtained de-
phlogiſticated marine acid, and not a particle of fixed
air; which fhows that this laft combined with the de-
phlogiſticated bafis, and formed the dephlogiſticated
acid. Mr Hermſtadt having diffolved the black calx
in common marine acid, and precipitated it with an ae-
rated fixed alkali, obtained, as ufual, a white precipi
tate; which, when heated, afforded a great part of the
fixed air it had abforbed from the alkali; but when
heated to fuch a degree as to be of a brown-red colour;
and confequently dephlogiſticated; it convèrted com-
mon fpirit of falt into a dephlogifticated acid,which could
proceed only from fome fixed air yet unexpelled: Yet
if fal-ammoniac be diftilled with the black calx of man-
ganefe, it will be expelled in a cauftic ftate; for the
fixed air unites to the dephlogiſticated marine baſis in
preference to the volatile alkali."
18
19
">
aë-
Several other experiments are related by Mr Kirwan,
Deciſive ex- which the limits of this article will not allow us to in-
periment in fert; but the following, he is of opinion, fully confirms
his favour. his hypothefis, and fubverts that of the antiphlogiftians.
"Six cubic inches of inflammable air were mixed with
as much dephlogiſticated marine air over lime-water.
In about 10 minutes after the greater part of the di
minution had taken place, a white cloud appeared on
the furface (a) of the lime-water, and by agitation it
became ftill more turbid. As it was poffible that the
manganeſe might be mixed with calcareous earth, fome
dephlogiſticated marine air was extracted from another
portion of it, and received on lime-water; but it was
wholly abſorbed, without forming the leaſt cloud, tho'
there was lime enough; for, on adding aërated water,
a cloud appeared.
The other acids particularly treated of by Mr Kir-
Phoſphoric wan are the phofphoric and faccharine. In his treatife
on the former, he adopts the analyſis of Mr Lavoifier,
changing only his acid principle of dephlogiſticated
for fixed air. From this it appears, that the phofpho-
ric acid confifts of a peculiar bafis united to 2.265 of
its weight of the acid principle; or, in other words,
100 grains of dry phoſphoric acid contains about 69 of
fixed air and 31 of its peculiar bafis: 100 grains of
the phofphoric bafis take up 226.5 of fixed air, or
32.9 of phlogifton when it becomes phoſphorus; and
100 grains of phoſphorus contain 75.24 of bafis and
24.76 of phlogiston. The bafis of this acid is the only
one that can be procured free, both from the phlogi-
fton and the acidifying principle; it is called, though
improperly, as it is not foluble in water, the glacial
phosphoric acid. Mr Lavoifier and others are of opi-
nion, that phoſphorus is a fimple fubftance containing
no phlogiſton, and that the acid confifts of the oxyge-
nous principle united to it.
acid.
Acids.
20
With regard to the acid of fugar, Mr Kirwan ob-
ferves, that ſugar itſelf is a compound of fixed air with
a much larger proportion of inflammable air, and fome Saccharine
water, all condenſed to a degree of which we are ig- acid.
norant, but retaining, upon the whole, much more fpè-
cific heat than either oil or charcoal; though he feems
inclined to the hypotheſis of Mr Morveau, that this
fubftance has for its bafis a fine ethereal oil, to which
a large proportion of condenfed inflammable air is fu-
peradded. The acid of fugar, then, according to him,
confifts of this peculiar bafis deprived of its fuperfluous
phlogifton, and united to a great quantity of fixed air in
a concrete ftate. He is alfo of opinion, that it does
not exift ready formed in the fugar, but is produced in
the operations that fubftance undergoes: that it de-
rives moſt of its acid principle from the nitrous acid
employed; the nitrous bafis taking up the phlogiſton,
and the fixed air of the nitrous acid combining with
the faccharine bafis. He contefls ftrongly an opinion
of Mr Lavoifier, that fugar is a fort of charcoal, which',
uniting with the oxygenous principle of the nitrous
acid, decompofes it, fets loofe, the nitrous air, and
forms the faccharine acid; and that, towards the end
of the operation, the faccharine acid itſelf is decom-
pofed; the confequence of which is the produc-
tion of fixed air, which, according to him, is only the
oxygenous principle combined with charcoal. On this
Mr Kirwan remarks, I. "That, according to this the-
ory, the acid of fugar fhould be the fame with fixed
air, fince both are compofed of the oxygenous prin-
ciple united with charcoal: er, if Mr Lavoifier ſhould
reply, that fugar is different from common char-
coal, he reminds him, that, according to his own ta-
ble of affinities, the oxygenous principle has a much
ftronger attraction for charcoal than for fugar, and
confequently that the latter ought to be decompofed
by the former; nay, that it fhould be regenerated by
various metallic fubftances, which, according to him,
have a greater attraction for this principle. 2. Accor-
ding to this hypothefis, the faccharine acid ought to
weigh more than the fugar employed in the operation;
which is fo far from being the cafe, that it is univer-
fally agreed to be much lefs; Bergman making it only
d, Mr Chaptal from id to ths, and Mr Sage oths.
3. If the faccharine acid confifted of fugar, or confiſt-
ed of that fubftance undecompofed, and barely united
to the oxygenous principle, it ought to be formed by
treating fugar with the black calx of manganefe, or
with dephlogisticated marine acid; both of which, ac-
cording to him, have lefs attraction for the oxygenous
principle than fugar. Laftly, (fays Mr Kirwan), If the
acid of fugar be diftilled, it is wholly converted into the acid
water, fixed inflammable air, and not a particle of coal principle,
or dephlogiſticated air is found in it. It is not there-according
fore reaſonable to look on either of them as its confti- to Mr Kir
tuent principles; but as fixed air alone can be extrac-
ted from all vegetable acids, it ſeems to be the true a-
cidifiable principle "
Having given a view of the preſent opinions re-
lative to the original formation of acids, it remains to
treat a little more particularly of each of the different
kinds:
21
Fixed air
wan.
(a) On´mixing thefe, a denſe white cloud appears; one half the bulk of both diſappears, and the refiduum ex-
plodes like a mixture of inflammable and dephlogiſticated air.
1
A CI
ACF
[
75 ]
22
divided.
23
Enumcra-
tion.
Acids. kinds. They are divided into three different claffes,
expreffive of their origin, viz. the Mineral, Vegetable,
Acids, how and Animal. The mineral acids are thoſe of vitriol,
nitre, fea-falt, borax, amber, fluor, arfenic, tungsten,
molybdæna, &c. The vegetable are, thofe of vine-
gar, tartar, fugar, benzoin, apples, citrons, lemons,
tamarinds, forrel, cork, &c. The animal acids are,
the microfmic or acid of urine, and that of bones, both
of which are alſo called the phofphoric, though this
might be accounted a vegetable acid, as it is procured
by diftilling mustard and fome other vegetables by a
violent fire. Beſides thefe, there are the acids of ants,
wafps, bees, filk-worms, milk, &c. It has alſo been
diſcovered, that the human calculus is formed for the
moſt part of a peculiar acid, which has received the
name of lithiafic acid. Laftly, As an acid diftin&t
from all theſe, we may now add fixed air, by ſome cal-
led the aerial, and by others the cretaceous acid; the
latter appellation it derives from creta, chalk, becauſe
it is found in that fubftance in great quantity. See
AEROLOGY.
24
count of
·
The general properties of acids have already been e-
General ac- numerated; the moſt remarkable of which is their attrac-
their attrac- tion for alkaline falts, earths, and metals. Though this
tions for al- is common to all, yet very confiderable differences are ob-
kalis, &c. ferved among them in this reſpect, and on thofe differences
depend almoſt all the phenomena of that part of CHE-
MISTRY which treats of falts. As thefe phenomena
are particularly confidered under that article, we fhall
here only in general take notice, that the three acids
named the vitriolic, nitrous, and marine, are the ftrong-
eft of them all; that is, if any other acid be united to
an alkali, earth, or metal, the union will be broken by
adding to that compound any of the three acids juft
mentioned. Neither are thefe equal in power among
themſelves; for the vitriolic is ftronger than the ni-
trous, and the nitrous ftronger than the marine. The
rule, however, is liable to certain exceptions and vari-
ations, depending chiefly on the circumſtances of heat
or cold, moiſture or drynefs, and particularly on the
ftate of the marine acid with regard to its being in the
form of an aqueous fluid or reduced to a dry vapour.
In this laſt caſe it ſeems ftronger than either the vi-
triolic or nitrous; and even when in an aqueous ftate,
both the nitrous and marine acids, when added in great
quantity, feem to opprefs and overwhelm the ſtronger
vitriolic acid, fo that they will partly expel it from an
alkaline falt. This does not depend on the mere quan-
tity of acidity they poffefs: for the acetous acid may
be concentrated to fuch a degree as to become ſtronger
in this refpect than ſpirit of falt; yet it will always be in-
ferior in point of real ftrength, when tried with an alkali
in competition, with the latter. The aerial acid is the
weakeft of all; and may be expelled not only by vine-
gar, but by the acid juices of fruits, tartar, and the
acids of tungften and molybdæna.
Some acids have the property of refifting the fire,
and melting into a kind of glafs, fuch as that of borax
and phofphorus. This circumftance gives them an ad-
vantage over the ftronger acids which are volatile; and
thus the two juft mentioned, as well as thoſe of arfenic
and tungften, will, in a very ftrong heat, expel the acid
of vitriol itſelf, though the latter will, in the cold, ex-
pel any one of them with great eafe.
Both the vitriolic and nitrous acids have a very ftrong
j...
2
Acis.
}
attraction for phlogiston; and unite with certain oily Acidulous
and inflammable matter fo vehemently as to occafion
11
great heat, and fometimes even violent and unextin-
guiſhable flame. This is particularly the cafe with
the nitrous acid, or with a mixture of the two; and
indeed the nitrous acid, though weaker than the vi-
triolic, fhows itſelf in every inftance to be far more ac
tive, and to perform all its operations with vaftly great-
er rapidity, than the other. All theſe particulars, how-
ever,, as they properly fall under the article CHEMI;
STRY, are there explained at length: together with the
origin and peculiar methods of preparing each of the
acids, and the various uſes to which they may be ap-
plied in arts and manufactures. See alfo their diffe-
rent titles as they occur in the order of the alphabet;
as, NITRE, VINEGAR, VITRIOL, &C.
ACIDULOUS denotes a thing that is flightly acid;
it is fynonymous with the word fub-acid.
AĆIDÚLÆ. Mineral waters that contain a briſk
fpirit, when unaccompanied with heat, are thus named;
but if they are hot alſo they are called THERMAE. See
MINERAL WATERS.
AÇIDULATED, a name given to medicines that
have an acid in their compofition.
ACIDUM AEREUM, the fame with Fixed Air.
ACIDUM pingue, an imaginary acid, which fome
German chemifts fuppofed to be contained in fire, and
by combining with alkalis, lime, &c. to give them
their cauftic properties; an effect which is found cer-
tainly to depend on the lofs of their fixed air.
ACILA, OCILA, or OCELIS (anc. geog.), a ftaple
or mart town in Arabia Felix, on the Arabic gulf,
from which, according to Pliny, they fet fail for In-
dia. Now Ziden.
ACILIUS GLABRIO (Marcus), conful in the
year of Rome 562, and 211 years before the Chriftian
æra, diſtinguiſhed himſelf by his bravery and conduct
in gaining a complete victory over Antiochus the
Great, king of Syria, at the ftreights of Thermopyla
in Theffaly, and on feveral other occafions. He built
the Temple of Piety at Rome, in confequence of a vow
he made before the above mentioned battle: and the
reafon of his giving it that name is very remarkable.
The ftory is mentioned by Pliny, Valerius Maximus,
and others. See the article PIETY.
ACINIPPO (anc. geog.), a town of Bætica; its
ruins, called Ronda la Viega, are to be ſeen near A-
runda, in the kingdom of Granada.
ACINODENDRUM, in botany, the trivial name
of a fpecies of MELASTOMA.
ACINOS, in botany, the trivial name of a fpecies
of THYMUS.
ACINUS, or ACINI, the fmall protuberances of
mulberries, ftrawberries, &c. and by fome applied to
grapes. Generally it is ufed for thofe fmall grains
growing in bunches, after the manner of grapes, as
Liguftrum, &c.
¿
ACIS, in fabulous hiftory, the fon of Faunus and
Simetheis, was a beautiful ſhepherd of Sicily, who be-
ing beloved by Galatea, Polyphemus the giant was fo
enraged, that he dafhed out his brains against a rock;
after which Galatea turned him into a river, which
was called by his name.
Acis, (Ovid, Theocritus); a river of Sicily, run,
ning from a very cold fpring, in the woody and fhady
K 2
foot
AC N
A CO
[ 76
]
Acknow foot of mount Etna, eastward into, and not much a-
ledgment bove a mile from, the fea, along green and pleafant
11
Acoemeta, banks, with the fpeed of an arrow, from which it takes
its name.
It is now called Aci Iaci, or Chinci, accor-
ding to the different Sicilian dialects: Antonine calls
it Acius. Alſo the name of a hamlet at the mouth of
the Acis.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT, in a general fenfe, is a
perfon's owning or confeffing a thing; but, more par-
ticularly, is the expreffion of gratitude for a favour.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT-Money, a certain fum paid by
tenants, in feveral parts of England, on the death of
their landlords, as an acknowledgment of their new
lords.
ACLIDES, in Roman antiquity, a kind of miffive
weapon, with a thong affixed to it, whereby to draw it
back. Moft authors deferibe it as a fort of dart or ja-
velin; but Scaliger makes it roundiſh or globular, and
full of ſpikes, with a ffender wooden ftem to poife
it by.
ACLOWA, in botany, a barbarous name of a fpe-
cies of COLUTEA. It is ufed by the natives of Guinea
to cure the itch: They rub it on the body as we do
unguents.
ACME, the top or height of any thing. It is
ufually applied to the maturity of an animal juft before
it begins to decline; and phyſicians have uſed it to ex-
preſs the utmoſt violence or crifis of a diſeaſe.
ACMELLA, in botany, the trivial name of a fpe-
cies of SPILANTHUS.
ACMONIA, and AGMONIA, in Peutinger's map,
a town of Phrygia Major, now in ruins. The inhabi-
tants are called Aemonenfes by Cicero, and the city Ci-
vitas Acmonenfis. Alfo a city of Dacia (Ptolemy), on
the Danube, near the ruins of Trajan's bridge, built
by Severus, and called Severicum; diftant 12 German
miles from Temefwar, to the fouth-eaſt.
ACNIDA, VIRGINIAN HEMP, in botany, a ge-
nus of the diœcia order, belonging to the pentandria
clafs of plants; and, in the Natural Order, affocia
ing with the Scabrida (53). The characters are:
In the male, the calyx is a perianthium confifting of
five leaves, ovate, concave, acute, and membranous on
the margin. No corolla. The ftamina confiſt of five
very ſhort capillary filaments; the antheræ are verfa-
tile, two-celled, and forked at both ends.—Female on
a feparate plant; of which the calyx confifts of an in-
volucrum many-leav'd, linear, and deciduous; and a
perianthium two-leaved, very fmall, and perfiftent. No
urolla. The piftillum has an ovate germen; the ftyli
are five, long, reflected, and downy; the ftigmata are
imple. The pericarpium is an egg-fhaped fruit, com-
preffed, many-angled, fulcated, and covered with a
fucculent calyx. The feed is folitary, round, and com-
preffed. There is only one fpecies of it, viz. the ac-
nida cannabina. It is a native of Virginia; but rarely
cultivated in Europe, except for the fake of variety.
It has little beauty, and at prefent is applied to no
ufeful purpoſe.
ACNUA, in Roman antiquity, fignified a certain
meaſure of lind, near about the Engliſh rood, or fourth
part of an acre.
ACOEMETÆ, or ACOEMETI, in church-hiſtory;
Men who lived without fleep: A fet of monks who
chanted the divine ſervice night and day in their pla-
ces of worship. They divided themſelves into three Acoluthi-
bodies, who alternately fucceeded one another, fo that
Aconcroba
their churches were never filent. This practice they
founded upon the precept, Pray without ceafing. They
flouriſhed in the eaſt about the middle of the 5th cen-
tury. There are a kind of acoemeti ftill fubfifting in
the Roman church, viz. the religious of the holy facra-
ment, who keep up a perpetual adoration, fome one or
other of them praying before the holy facrament day
and night.
ACOLUTHI, or ACOLUTHISTS, in antiquity, was
an appellation given to thofe perfons who were ſteady
and immoveable in their refolutions: and hence the
ftoics, becauſe they would not forfake their principles,..
nor alter their refolutions, acquired the title of Acolu-
thi. The word is Greek, and compounded of α, priv...
and xoxeut, way; as never turning from the original
courſe.
ACOLUTHI, among the ancient Chriftians, implied a
peculiar order of the inferior clergy in the Latin church;
for they were unknown to the Greeks for above 400-
years.
years. They were next to the fub-deacon; and we
learn from the fourth council of Carthage, that the
archdeacon, at their ordination, put into their hands a
candleſtick with a taper, giving them thereby to under
ftand that they were appointed to light the candles of
the church; as alfo an empty pitcher, to imply that
they were to furniſh wine for the eucharift. Some
think they had another office, that of attending the
biſhop wherever he went. The word is Greek, and
compounded of a,
a, priv. and
xwauw, to hinder or dis
fturb.
ACOLYTHIA, in the Greek church, denotes the-
office or order of divine fervice; or the prayers, cere-
monies, hymns, &c. whereof the Greek fervice is com
pofed.
ACOMA, a town of North America, in New Mexi
co, feated on a hill, with a good caftle. To go into
the town, you muft walk up 50 fteps cut out of the
rock. It is the capital of that province, and was taken-
by the Spaniards in 1599. W. Long. 104. 15. Lat.
35.0.
ACOMAC, the name of a county in Virginia. It
is on the eaſtern fide of the Chefepeak bay, on a flip of´
land, by the Virginians called the eastern shore.
ACÓMINATUS (Nicetas), was fecretary to Alex-
ius Comnenus and to Ìfaacus Ángelus fucceffively: he
wrote an hiſtory from the death of Alexius Comnenus
1118, where Zonaras ended his, to the year 1203,
which has undergone many impreffions, and is much
applauded by the beſt critics.
ACONITE. See ACONITUM.
Winter ACONITE. See Helleborus
ACONCROBA, in botany, the indigenous name of
a plant which grows wild in Guinea, and is in great
cfteem among the natives for its virtues in the ſmall-
pox. They give an infufion of it in wine. The leaves
of this plant are opake, and as ftiff as thoſe of the phi-
lyrea; they grow in pairs, and ftand on fhort foot-
ftalks; they are fmall at each end, and broad in the
middle; and the largeſt of them are about three inches
in length, and an inch and quarter in breadth in the
middle. Like thoſe of our bay, they are of a duſky
colour on the upper fide, and of a pale green under-
neath.
ACONITI,
1
A CO
77 ]
A CO
[
Aconiti, ACONITI, in antiquity, an appellation given to
Aconitum. fome of the ATHLETE, but differently interpreted.
Mercurialis underſtands it of thoſe who only anointed
their bodies with oil, but did not fmear themſelves over
with duft, as was the ufual practice.
ACONITUM, ACONITE, WOLFSBANE, OF MONKS
HOOD; a genus of the trigynia order, belonging to
the polyandria claſs of plants. In the natural order,.
it affociates with the Multifiliqua, 26. The cha-
racters are: There is no calyx. The corolla confifts of
five unequal petals oppofite in pairs; the higheſt hel-
met-tubed, inverted, and obtufe; the two lateral ones,
broad, roundiſh, oppofite, and converging; the two
loweſt, oblong, and looking downwards: The nectaria
are two, piped, nodding, and fitting on long fubulated
peduncles, and concealed under the higheſt petal: The
fcales are fix, very fhort, coloured, and in an orb with
the nectaria. The ftamina confiſt of numerous ſmall
fubulated filaments; the antheræ are erect and ſmall..
The piftillum has three [five] oblong germens, ending in
ftyli the length of the ftamina; the ftigmata are fimple
and reflected. The pericarpium has three or five uni-
valve capfules gaping inward. The feeds are numerous,
angular, and wrinkled.
Species. 1. The lycoctonum, or yellow wolfsbane,
grows upwards of three feet high, flowers about the
middle of June, and if the feaſon is not warm will con-
tinue in flower till Auguft. 2. The altiffimum, or
greateſt yellow wolfsbane, grows upwards of four
feet high, and the fpikes of its flower are much longer
in this fort than the former. 3. The variegatum,
or leffer wolfsbane, feldom grows more than two feet
high; it carries blue flowers, and the fpikes of them
are much ſhorter than either of the two laft. 4. The
anthora, or wholeſome wolfsbane, flowers in the middle
of Auguft, and often continues in beauty till the middle
of September; its flowers are not large, but are of a
beautiful fulphur-yellow colour. 5. The napellus, bears
large blue flowers, which appear in Auguſt, and make
a pretty appearance. There are two or three varieties.
of this kind; one with white, another with rofe-co-
loured, and a third with variegated flowers; but thefe
are only varieties which often change. 6. The pyra-
midale, or common blue monkshood, bears a long ſpike
of blue flowers, which appear fooner than any of the
other forts, being fo early as June, or ſometimes even
May. The fpikes of flowers are upwards of two feet:
long, fo that it makes a pretty appearance; the feeds
are ripe in September. 7. The alpinum, or large-
flowered monkshood, flowers in Auguft, and will grow
to the height of five feet in good ground; the flowers
are very large, of a deep blue colour, but not many
upon each fpike. 8. The pyreniacum, or Pyrenean
monkshood, flowers in July. It grows about four feet.
high, and carries a long fpike of yellow flowers. 9. The
cammarum, grows about four feet high, and flowers in
the beginning of July. 10. The orientale, or eafter
monkshood, grows fometimes more than fix feet high
and bears a white flower.
Culture. All theſe ſpecies, except the laft, are na
tives of the Alps, the mountains of Germany, Au-
ftria, and Tartary; fo require a cool fhady fituation,
except the wholeſome woolfsbane, which muft have an
open expofure. They thrive better in a moiſt than dry
foil: but the ground muſt not be ſo wet as to have the
?
water ſtanding near their roots in the winter-time. Aconitum,
They may all be propagated by fowing their feeds in
autumn, upon a north border, where they are ſcreened
from the fun. The plants will come up in the ſpring,
when they muſt be kept clean from weeds during the
fummer-months; and, in very dry ſeaſons, if they are
frequently refreshed with water, their growth will be
greatly promoted. The following autumn they ſhould
be tranſplanted into ſhady borders, in rows a foot aſun-
der, and the plants fix inches diſtant from one another.
In this fituation they may remain two years, when they
will carry flowers, and fo may be tranfplanted to thoſe
places where they are to remain. The eaſtern monks-
hood is a native of the Levant, from whence the feeds-
of it were firſt ſent by Dr Tournefort to the royal gar-
den at Paris, from whence fome other gardens have been
furniſhed with feeds. It is very rare in Europe at pre-
ſent.
✔
pa-
Qualities. Since the time of Theophraftus, moſt of
the fpecies of monkshood have been reckoned a deadly
poifon both to men and brutes. Diofcorides, however,
recommends the external application of common monks-
hood for pains of the eyes. The flowers of a great
many fpecies communicate their noxious quality by
being fmelled to; and thofe of the fpecies called na-
pellus being placed on the head, occafion a violent me-
grim. Of the bad qualities of theſe plants we fome--
times avail ourſelves to get rid of vermin. A decoc- -
tion of the roots deftroyed bugs; the fame part being
powdered, and adminiſtered in bread or fome other
latable vehicle to rats and mice, corrodes and inflames
their inteftines, and foon proves mortal. The juice of
the plant is uſed to poifon flesh with, for the deftruc-
tion of wolves, foxes, and other ravenous beaſts. The
beft antidote to the poifon of the different monks
hoods is faid to be the root of the anthora, a ſpecies of
the fame genus, hence termed healthful or wholefome
monkshood. The fame plant is regarded as efficacious
againſt bites of ferpents and other venomous creatures.
The roots have a bitter acrid tafte; the leaves are only
bitter; the former are chiefly uſed in medicine; and,
befides the Excellent quality juſt mentioned, are fto-
machic, and promote perfpiration. The peaſants, who
gather the plants on the Alps and Pyrenees, are faid to
uſe it with fuccefs againſt the biting of mad dogs, and
to cure the colic. It is remarkable, that the monks-
hoods with blue flowers are much more virulent than
the yellow or white-flowered kinds. Miller afferts
that the huntſmen of the wolves and other wild beafts,
on the Alps, dip their arrows into the juice of thofe
plants, which renders the wounds made by them ·
deadly.
That the anthora is an antidote to the poiſon of the
reft of the fpecies, is not confidered as a fact fufficient-
ly eftablished. Of the effects of the above, indeed,
and other vegetable poifons, medical writers give but.
a confufed account. In general, thoſe which are not
of the narcotic kind, nor excite violent vomitings and
purgings, produce their pernicious effects by irritating
the nervous coats of the ſtomach and inteſtines, ſo as to-
occafion violent convulfions, not only in them, but -
through the whole body. The proper cure is evacua---
tion by vomit: but this
tion by vomit: but this is not to be obtained without
ſome difficulty; becauſe there is uſually ſuch a contrac-
tion about the upper orifice of the ſtomach, that no-
-
·
•
-
thing:
A C
CO
[
78 ]
A CO
Acorus.
Acontias thing can either be fwallowed or thrown up. In this
cafe, an infufion of tobacco has been recommended,
and may probably be of fervice: for being itfelf of a
very ſtimulating nature, it may for a moment take off
the violent fpafms occafioned by the poifon; in which
caſe, a violent vomiting will immediately enfue. The
ftomach being thoroughly emptied, and deglutition
rendered eafy, the cure may be completed by oily and
mucilaginous medicines. On account of the poiſonous
qualities of monkfhood, no fpecies of it fhould be plant-
ed where children have accefs, left they ſhould fuffer
by putting the leaves or flowers in their mouths, or
rubbing them about their eyes; for the juice of the
leaves will occafion great diſorder by being only rubbed
upon very tender flesh; and the farina of the flowers,
when blown into the eyes, cauſes them to fwell greatly.
ACONTIAS, in zoology, an obfolete name of the
anguis jaculis, or dart-fnake, belonging to the order
of amphibia ferpentes. See ANGUIS.
ACONTIUM, axovliov, in Grecian antiquity, a kind
of dart or javelin, refembling the Roman pilum.
ACONTIUS (James), a philofopher, civilian, and
divine, born at Trent in the 16th century: he embraced
the reformed religion; and, coming into England in the
reign of queen Elifabeth, was much honoured by her,
which he acknowledges in a book dedicated to that
queen. This work is his celebrated Collection of the
Stratagems of Satan, which has been ſo often tranfla-
ted, and borne fo many editions.
ACOSTAN, a mountainous ifland in the north
feas between Aſia and America, obſerved by captain
Cook.
ACORN, the fruit of the oak-tree. See QUERCUS
ACORN, (in fea-language), a little ornamental piece
of wood, faſhioned like a cone, and fixed on the upper-
moft point of the ſpindle, above the vane, on the maft-
head. It is ufed to keep the vane from being blown
off from the ſpindle in a whirlwind, or when the fhip
leans much to one fide under fail.
Acouſtic.
terminating in a point; the root is pretty lang, of a Acorus
whitish, reddish, and partly greenish colour. Among
the leaves there arifes a fingle one, thicker and more
robuft than the reft, furrowed on the ſurface, and of a
paler green. On this grow frequently two fpikes of
flowers, by many writers called juli. Thefe are of a
brown colour, having a chequered furface. The root
of this plant has a very agreeable flavour, which is
greatly unproved by drying. It is reckoned carmina-
tive and ftomachic, having a warm, pungent, bitteriſh
tafte; fo is frequently uſed as an ingredient in bitters.
It has been complained-of, however, as communicating
a naufeous flavour to thofe bitters in which it was in-
fufed; and Neumann obferves, that its agrecable fla-
vour, as well as its diftinguiſhing taſte, refide entirely
in a volatile effential oil; the refiduum after diſtillation
having a naufeous flavour, not at all reſembling that of
the calamus. It is an ingredient in the mithridate and
theriaca of the London pharmacopoeia; and in the aro-
matic and ftomachic tinctures, and compound arum
powder, of the Edinburgh. The freſh root candied is
faid to be employed at Conftantinople as a prefervative
againft epidemic difeafes. The leaves of this plant have
a fweet fragrant fmell, more agreeable, though weaker,
than that of the roots. Neither horfes, cows, goats,
fheep, nor fwine, will eat the herb, or its roots.
ACORUS,CALAMUSAROMATICUS, SWEET FLAG,
or SWEET RUSH: A genus of the monogynia order,
belonging to the hexandria clafs of plants; and ranking
in the fecond natural order, Piperita. The characters
are: The calyx is a cylindric fimple fpadix covered
with florets; there is no fpatha, nor perianthium. The
corolla is compofed of fix obtufe, concave, loofe petals.
The ftamina confift of fix thickiſh filaments, fomewhat
longer than the corolla; the antheræ are thickiſh and di-
dymous. The piftillum has a gibbous oblong germen the
length of the ftamina; no ftylus; the ftigma a promi,
nent point. The pericarpium is a fhort triangular,
obtufe, three-celled capfule, attenuated at both ends.
The feeds are numerous, and of an oblong egg-ſhape.
There is but one ſpecies, the acorus calamus.
grows naturally in fhallow ftanding waters, and is
found wild in fome parts of Britain. It grows plenti-
fully in rivulets and marfhy places about Norwich and
other parts of this ifland, in the canals of Holland, in
Switzerland, and in other countries of Europe. The
fhops have been uſually fupplied from the Levant with
dried roots, which do not appear to be fuperior to thofe
of our own growth. The leaves are fometimes two feet
long, narrow, compreffed, fmooth, and of a bright green,
It
Culture. The acorus being a perennial plant, may
be tranſplanted into a garden, where it will thrive
very
well if the ground is moiſt; but never flowers unleſs it
grows in water. It loves an open fituation, and will
not thrive well under the fhade of trees. The flowers
appear the latter end of June, and continue till Au-
guft.
ACORUS, in the materia medica, a name fometimes
given to the great galangal. See KEMPFERIA.
ACORUS, in natural hiſtory, blue coral. The true fort
is very ſcarce; fome, however, is fifhed on the coaſts
of Africa, particularly from Rio del Re to the river of
the Camarones. This coral is part of the merchandiſe
which the Dutch trade for with the Camarones: that
of the kingdom of Benin is alſo very much eſteemed.
It grows in form of a tree on a rocky bottom.
ACOUSMATICI, fometimes alfo called Acouſtici,
in Grecian antiquity, fuch of the diſciples of Pythagoras
as had not completed their five years probation.
ACOUSTIC, in general, denotes any thing that re-
lates to the ear, the fenfe of hearing, or the doctrine of
founds.
ACOUSTIC Duct, in anatomy, the fame with meatus
auditorius, or the external paffage of the ear. See A-
NATOMY.
Acoustic Inftrument, or auricular tube. See Acou-
STICS, nº 26.
ACOUSTIC Veffels, in the ancient theatres, were a
kind of veffels, made. of braſs, ſhaped in the bell fa-
fhion, which being of all tones within the pitch of the
voice or even of inftruments, rendered the founds more
audible, fo that the actors could be heard through all
parts of theatres, which were even 400 feet in diameter.
ACOUSTIC Difciples, among the ancient Pythago-
reans, thofe more commonly called AcouSMATICI.
The Science of
ACOUSTICS
79.
I
ACOUSTICS
Diacouſtics. INSTRUCTS us in the nature of found. It is di-
vided by ſome writers into Diacoustics, which ex-
24 plains the properties of thoſe founds that come directly
from the fonorous body to the ear; and Catacoustics,
which treats of reflected founds: but fuch diftinction
does not appear to be of any real utility.
Catacou-
ftics.
3
cles of found
4
CHAP. I. Different Theories of Sound.
Moft founds, we all know, are conveyed to us on
Of the vehi- the bofom of the air. In whatever manner they either
float upon it, or are propelled forward in it, certain it
is, that, without the vehicle of this or fome other fluid,
we ſhould have no founds at all. Let the air be ex-
haufted from a receiver, and a bell fhall emit no found
when rung in the void; for, as the air continues to
grow lefs denfe, the found dies away in proportion, fo
that at laſt its ftrongeft vibrations are almoft totally
filent.
Thus air is a vehicle for found. However, we muſt
"Air not the not, with ſome philoſophers, affert, that it is the only
only one. vehicle; that, if there were no air, we ſhould have no
founds whatſoever: for it is found by trial, that ſounds
are conveyed through water almoft with the fame faci-
lity with which they move through air. A bell rung in
water returns a tone as diftinct as if rung in air. This
was obſerved by Derham, who alſo remarked that the
tone came a quarter deeper. Some naturalifts affure
us alſo, that fiſhes have a ſtrong perception of founds,
even at the bottom of deep rivers (A). From hence,
it would ſeem not to be very material in the propaga-
tion of founds, whether the fluid which conveys them
be elaſtic or otherwife. Water, which, of all fubftan-
ċes that we know, has the leaft elaſticity, yet ferves to
carry them forward; and if we make allowance for the
difference of its denfity, perhaps the founds move in it
with a proportional rapidity to what they are found to
do in the elaftic fluid of air.
water.
•
5
What found
is, and how-
One thing however is certain, that whether the fluid
which conveys the note be elaſtic or non-elaftic, what-
ever found we hear is produced by a ſtroke, which the
founding body makes against the fluid, whether air or
The fluid being ftruck upon, carries the im-
preffion forward to the ear, and there produces its fen-
fation. Philofophers are ſo far agreed, that they all
allow that found is nothing more than the impreffion
made by an elaſtic body upon the air or water (B), and propagated.
this impreffion carried along by either fluid to the or-
gan
of hearing. But the manner in which this convey-
ance is made, is ftill difputed: Whether the found is
diffufed into the air, in circle beyond circle, like the
waves of water when we difturb the ſmoothneſs of its.
furface by dropping in a ſtone; or whether it travels
along, like rays diffuſed from a centre, ſomewhat in the
fwift manner that electricity runs along a rod of
thefe are the queftions which have divided the
ron;
learned.
6
1
Newton was of the first opinion. He has explained
the progreffion of found by an undulatory, or rather a Newton'
vermicular, motion in the parts of the air. If we have theory.
an exact idea of the crawling of fome infects, we ſhall
have a tolerable notion of the progreffion of found upon-
this hypotheſis. The infect, for inſtance, in its motion,
firft.carries its contractions from the hinder part, in or-
der to throw its fore-part to the proper diſtance, then
it carries its contractions from the fore-part to the hin-
der to bring that forward. Something fimilar to this
is
{
(A) Dr Hunter has proved this, and demonftrated the auricular organ in theſe animals. See FISH, and COMPA-
RATIVE Anatomy.
(B) Though air and water are both vehicles of found, yet neither of them ſeems to be ſo by itſelf, but only
as it contains an exceedingly fubtile fluid capable of penetrating the moſt ſolid bodies.. Hence, by the medium of
that fluid, founds can be propagated through wood, or metals, even more readily than through the open air. By the
fame means, deaf people may be made fenfible of founds, if they hold a piece of metal in their mouth, one end of
which is applied to the founding body. As it is certain, therefore, that air cannot penetrate metals, we muft ac-
knowledge the medium of found to be of a more fubtile nature; and thus the electrical fluid will naturally occur as
the roper one.. But why then is found no longer heard in an exhauſted receiver, if the air is not the fluid by which
it is conveyed, feeing the electrical matter cannot be excluded? The reply to this is obvious: The electrical fluid is
fo exceedingly fubtile, and pervades folid bodies with fo much eafe, that any motion of a folid body in a quantity of
electric matter by itſelf, can never excite a degree of agitation in it fufficient for producing a found; but if the elec-
tric fluid is entangled among the particles of air, water, wood, metal, &c. whatever affects their particles will alſo af--
fect this fluid, and produce an audible noife. In the experiment of the air-pump, however, there may be an ambi-
guity, as the gradual exhaufting of the air creates an increafing difference of preffure on the outside, and may occa-
fion in the glafs a difficulty of vibrating, fo as to render it lefs fit to communicate to the air without the vibrations.
that ftrike it from within. From this caufe the diminution of found in an exhaufted receiver may be ſuppoſed to
proceed, as well as from the diminution of the air. But if any internal agitation of its parts fhould happen to the
electrical fluid, exceeding loud noifes might be propagated through it, as has been the cafe when large meteors have
kindled at a great diſtance from the earth. It is alfo difficult to account for the exceeding great ſwiftnefs of found,
upon the fuppofition that it is propagated by means of air alone; for nothing is more certain, than that the ſtrongeſt
and moſt violent gale is, in its courſe, inert and ſluggiſh, compared with the motion of found. .
80
ACOUSTIC
Ch. I
S.
Sound.
Plate I.
fig. I.
•
:
·
Sound.
denfity every where as at the furface of the earth, in Different
fuch a cafe, a pendulum, that reached from its higheſt Theories of
furface down to the ſurface of the earth, would by its
vibrations difcover to us the proportion of the velocity
with which founds travel. The velocity with which
each pulfe would move, he ſhows, would be as much
greater than the velocity of fuch a pendulum fwinging
with one complete vibration, as the circumference of a
circle is greater than the diameter. From hence he
calculates, that the motion of found will be 979 feet
in one fecond. But this not being confonant to ex-
perience, he takes in another confideration, which de-
ftroys entirely the rigour of his former demonftration,
namely, vapours in the air; and then finds the motion
of found to be 1142 feet in one fecond, or near 13 miles
in a minute: a proportion which experience had eſta-
blifhed nearly before.
Different is the motion of the air when ftruck upon by a founding
Theories of body. To be a little more precife, fuppofe ABC, the
ftring of an harpsichord fcrewed to a proper pitch, and
drawn out of the right line by the finger at B. We
ſhall have occaſion elſewhere to obferve, that ſuch a
ftring would, if let go, vibrate to E; and from E to D,
and back again; that it would continue thus to vibrate
like a pendulum for ever, if not externally refifted, and,
like a pendulum, all its little vibrations would be per-
formed in equal times, the laft and the first being e-
qually long in performing; alfo, that, like a pendulum,
its greateft fwiftnefs would always be when it arrived
at Ě, the middle part of its motion. Now then, if this
ftring be fuppofed to fly from the finger at B, it is ob-
vious, that whatever be its own motion, fuch alfo will
be the motion of the parts of air that fly before it. Its
motion, as is obvious, is firſt uniformly accelerated for-
ward from B to E, then retarded as it goes from E to
1), accelerated back again as it returns from D to E,
and retarded from E to B. This motion being there
*fore ſent in ſucceſſion through a range of elaſtic air, it
muft happen, that the parts of one range of air muft
be fent forward with accelerated motion, and then with
a retarded motion. This accelerated motion reaching
the remoteft end of the firſt range will be communi-
-cated to a fecond range, while the neareſt parts of the
firſt range being retarded in their motion, and falling
back with the receffion of the ftring, retire firſt with
an accelerated, then with a retarded motion, and the
remoteft parts will foon follow. In the mean time,
while the parts of the firft range are thus falling back,
the parts of the fecond range are going forward with
an accelerated motion. Thus there will be an alter
nate condenſation and relaxation of the air, during the
time of one vibration; and as the air going forward
ftrikes any oppofing body with greater force than upon
retiring, fo each of thefe accelerated progreffions have
been called by Newton a pulſe of ſound.
Thus will the air be driven forward in the direction
of the ftring. But now we muft obferve, that theſe
pulſes will move every way; for all motion impreffed
upon fluids in any direction whatſoever, operates all
around in a ſphere: fo that founds will be driven in all
directions, backwards, forwards, upwards, downwards,
and on every fide. They will go on fucceeding each
other, one on the outſide of the other, like circles in
diſturbed water; or rather, they will lie one without
the other, in concentric fhells, fhell above fhell, as we
fee in the coats of an onion.
-
All who have remarked the 'tone of a bell, while its
founds are decaying away, muft have an idea of the
pulfes of found, which, according to Newton, are form-
ed by the air's alternate progreffion and receffion. And
It must be obferved, that as each of thefe pulfes is
formed by a fingle vibration of the ftring, they muft
be equal to each other; for the vibrations of the ftring
are known to be fo.
Again, as to the velocity with which founds travel,
this Newton determines, by the moft difficult calcula-
tion that can be imagined, to be in proportion to the
thickneſs of the parts of the air, and the diſtance of
thefe parts from each other. From hence he goes on
to prove, that each little part moves backward and for-
ward like a pendulum.; and from thence he proceeds
to demonſtrate, that if the atmoſphere were of the fame
No. 2.
3
Preceding
Thus much will ferve to give an obſcure idea of a 7
theory which has met with numbers of oppoſers. Even
Theory op
John Bernouilli, Newton's greateit difciple, modeftly pofed.
owns that he did not pretend to underſtand this part
of the Principia. He attempted therefore to give a
more perfpicuous demonſtration of his own, that might
confirm and illuftrate the Newtonian theory. The
fubject feemed to reject elucidation: his theory is ob
viouſly wrong, as D'Alembert has proved in his The
ory of Fluids.
tione.
Various have been the objections that have been
made to the Newtonian fyftem of founds. It is urged, o
The objec
that this theory can only agree with the motion of
found in an elaftic fluid, whereas founds are known to
move forward through water that is not elaſtic. To
explain their progrefs therefore through water, a fe-
cond theory must be formed: fo that two theories muft
be made to explain a fimilar effect; which is contrary
to the fimplicity of true philofophy, for it is contrary
to the fimplicity of nature. It is farther urged, that
this flow vermicular motion but ill repreſents the velo-
city with which founds travel, as we know by experi-
ence that it is almoft 13 miles in a minute. In fhort,
it is urged, that ſuch undulations as have been deſcri-
bed, when coming from feveral fonorous bodies at once,
would crofs, obftruct, and confound each other; fo
that, if they were conveyed to the ear by this means,
we ſhould hear nothing but a medley of diſcord and
broken articulations. But this is equally with the reft
contradictory to experience, fince we hear the fulleft
concert, not only without confufion, but with the high-
eft pleaſure. Thefe objections, whether well founded
or not, have given rife to another theory: which we
fhall likewife lay before the reader; though it too ap-
pears liable to objections, which fhall be afterwards
mentioned.
Every found may be confidered as driven off from
the founding body in ftraight lines, and impreffed upon Another
the air in one direction only: but whatever impreffion Theory.
is made upon a fluid in one direction, is diffuſed upon
its furface into all directions; fo that the found firſt
driven directly forward foon fills up a wide ſphere, and
is heard on every fide. Thus, as it is impreſſed, it in-
ftantaneously travels forward with a very fwift motion,
refembling the velocity with which we know electricity
flies from one end of a line to another.
Now, as to the pulfes, or cloſe ſhakes as the muſi-
cians exprefs it, which a founding body is known to
make
Ch. I.
81
ACOUSTIC
S.
Sound.
Different make, each pulfe (fay the fupporters of this theory)
Theories of is itſelf a diftinct and perfect found, and the interval
between every two pulfes is profoundly filent. Con-
tinuity of found from the fame body is only a decep-
tion of the hearing; for as each diftinct found fucceeds
at very fmall intervals, the organ has no time to tranf-
mit its images with equal fwiftnefs to the mind, and
the interval is thus loft to fenfe juft as in feeing a
flaming torch, if flared round in a circle, it appears
as a ring of fire. In this manner a beaten drum, at
fome finall diſtance, prefents us with the idea of con-
tinuing found. When children run with their flicks
along a rail, a continuing found is thus reprefented,
though it need fcarce be obferved that the ſtroke a-
gainſt each rail is perfectly diſtinct and inſulated.
According to this theory, therefore, the pulfes are
nothing more than diftinct founds repeated by the fame
body, the firft ftroke or vibration being ever the loud-
eft, and travelling farther than thoſe that follow; while
each fucceeding vibration gives a new found, but with
diminiſhed force, till at laſt the pulfes decay away to-
tally, as the force decays that gives them exiftence.
All bodies whatſoever that are flruck return more
or leſs a found: but fome, wanting elafticity, give back
no repetition of the found; the noife is at once begot-
ten and dies: while other bodies, however, there are,
which being more elaſtic and capable of vibration, give
back a found, and repeat the fame feveral times fuc-
ceffively. Theſe laſt are faid to have a tone; the others
are not allowed to have any.
*
This tone of the elaſtic ſtring, or bell, is notwith
ftanding nothing more than a fimilar found of what
the former bodies produced, but with the difference of
being many times repeated while their note is but fingle.
So that, if we would give the former bodies a tone, it
will be neceffary to make them repeat their found, by
repeating our blows fwiftly upon them. This will ef-
fectually give them a tone; and even an unmufical in-
ſtrument has often had a fine effect by its tone in our
concerts.
Let us now go on then to fuppofe, that by ſwift
and equably continued ftrokes we give any non-elaftic
body its tone: it is very obvious, that no alterations
will be made in this tone by the quickneſs of the ſtrokes,
though repeated ever fo faft. Thefe will only render
the tone more equal and continuous, but make no al-
teration in the tone it gives. On the contrary, if we
make an alteration in the force of each blow, a diffe-
rent tone will then undoubtedly be excited. The dif-
ference will be ſmall, it muſt be confeffed; for the tones
of theſe inflexible bodies are capable but of fmall va-
riation; however, there will certainly be a difference.
The table on which we write, for inftance, will return
a different found when ſtruck with a club, from what
it did when ftruck only with a ſwitch. Thus non-claftic
bodies return a difference of tone, not in proportion
to the ſwiftneſs with which their found is repeated, but
in proportion to the greatnefs of the blow which pro-
duced it; for in two equal non-elaſtic bodies, that body
produced the deepeſt tone which was ſtruck by the great
cf blow.
We now then come to a critical queftion, What
is it that produces the difference of tone in two elaſtic
founding bells or ſtrings? Or what makes one deep and
the other ſhrill? This queftion has always been hitherto
VOL. I. Part I.
Sounds.
anſwered by ſaying, that the depth or height of the Different
note proceeded from the flowneſs or ſwiftnefs of the Theories of
times of the vibrations. The floweft vibrations, it has
been faid, are qualified for producing the deepeſt tones,
while the fwifteft vibrations produce the higheſt tones.
In this cafe, an effect has been given for a caufe. It is
in fact the force with which the founding ftring ftrikes
the air when ſtruck upon, that makes the true diftinc-
tion in the tones of founds. It is this force, with great-
er or lefs impreffions, refembling the greater or lefs force
of the blows upon a non-elaftic body, which produces
correfpondent affections of found. The greateſt forces
produce the deepeſt founds: the high notes are the ef-
fect of ſmall efforts. In the fame manner a bell, wide
at the mouth, gives a grave found; but if it be very
maffy withal, that will render it ftill graver; but if
maffy, wide, and long or high, that will make the tone
deepeſt of all.
Thus, then, will elaſtic bodies give the deepeſt found,
in proportion to the force with which they ftrike the
air: but if we fhould attempt to increaſe their force by
giving them a ſtronger blow, this will be in vain; they
will ftill return the fame tone; for fuch is their forma-
tion, that they are fonorous only becauſe they are ela-
ftic, and the force of this elaſticity is not increaſed by
our ftrength, as the greatneſs of a pendulum's vibra-
tion will not be increaſed by falling from a greater
height.
Thus far of the length of chords. Now as to the fre-
quency with which they vibrate the deepeſt tones, it
has been found, from the nature of elaftic ftrings, that
the longeſt ftrings have the wideft vibrations, and con-
fequently go backward and forward floweft; while, on
the contrary, the ſhorteſt ftrings vibrate the quickeft,
or come and go in the ſhorteſt intervals. From hence
thoſe who have treated of founds, have afferted, as was
faid before, that the tone of the ſtring depended upon
the length or the ſhortnefs of the vibrations. This,
however, is not the cafe. One and the fame ftring,
when ftruck, muſt always, like the fame pendulum, re-
turn precifely fimilar vibrations; but it is well known,
that one and the fame ftring, when ftruck upon, does
not always return preciſely the fame tone: fo that in
this cafe the vibrations follow one rule, and the tone
another. The vibrations must be invariably the fame
in the fame ftring, which does not return the fame tone
invariably, as is well known to muſicians in general. In
the violin, for inftance, they can eafily alter the tone of
the ftring an octave or eight notes higher, by a ſofter
method of drawing the bow; and fome are known thus
to bring out the moſt charming airs imaginable. Theſe
peculiar tones are by the Engliſh fiddlers called flute-
notes. The only reafon, it has been alleged, that can
be affigned for the fame ftring thus returning different
tones, muft certainly be the different force of its ſtrokes
upon the air. In one cafe, it has double the tone of
the other; becauſe upon the foft touches of the bow,
only half its elafticity is put into vibration.
This being underftood. (continue the authors of
this theory), we fhall be able clearly to account for
many things relating to founds that have hitherto
been inexplicable. Thus, for inftance, if it be afk-
ed, When two ftrings are ftretched together of equal
lengths, tenfions, and thickneſs, how does it happen,
that one of them being ftruck, and made to vibrate
throughout,
82
Ch. I.
ACOUSTIC S.
Sound.
Different throughout, the other fhall vibrate throughout alfo?
Theories of the anſwer is obvious: The force that the ftring ftruck
receives is communicated to the air, and the air com-
municates the fame to the fimilar ftring; which there-
fore receives all the force of the former; and the force
being equal, the vibrations muſt be fo too. Again,
put the queftion, If one ftring be but half the length
of the other, and be ftruck, how will the vibrations
be? The anſwer is, The longeſt ſtring will receive all
the force of the ſtring half as long as itſelf, and there-
fore it will vibrate in proportion, that is, through half
its length. In the fame manner, if the longeft ftring
were three times as long as the other, it would only
vibrate in a third of its length; or if four times, in a
fourth of its length. In fhort, whatever force the
fmaller ftring impreffes upon the air, the air will im
prefs a fimilar force upon the longer ſtring, and par-
tially excite its vibrations.
JO
See Plate I.
ix.
From hence alſo we may account for the caufe of
EolianLyre thofe charming, melancholy gradations of found in the
fig. 2. Eolian lyre; an inftrument (fays Sir John Hawkins)
lately obtruded upon the public as a new invention,
*Vide Kir- though defcribed above a century ago by Kircher*
cheri Mu- This inftrument is eafily made, being nothing more
Furgia, lib,
than a long narrow box of thin dale, about 30 inches
long, 5 inches broad, and 12 inches deep, with a cir-
cle in the middle of the upper fide or belly about 1
inch diameter, pierced with ſmall holes. On this fide are
feven, ten, or (according to Kircher) fifteen or more
ftrings of very fine gut, ftretched over bridges at each
end, like the bridge of a fiddle, and fcrewed up or re-
laxed with ſcrew-pins (B). The ftrings are all tuned
to one and the fame note; and the inftrument is placed
in fome current of air, where the wind can bruſh over
its ftrings with freedom. A window with the fafh
juft raiſed to give the air admiffion, will anfwer this
purpofe exactly. Now when the entering air blows
upon theſe ftrings with different degrees of force, there
will be excited different tones of found; fometimes the
blaft brings out all the tones in full concert; fometimes
it finks them to the fofteft murmurs; it feels for every
tone, and by its gradations of ftrength folicits thofe
gradations of found which art has taken different me-
thods to produce.
It remains, in the laſt place, to confider (by this
theory) the loudnefs and lownefs, or, as the muſicians
fpeak, the ftrength and foftnefs of found. In vibra-
ting elaſtic ſtrings, the loudneſs of the tone is in pro-
portion to the deepnefs of the note; that is, in two
ftrings, all things in other circumſtances alike, the
deepeſt tone will be loudeft. In muſical inftruments
upon a different principle, as in the violin, it is other-
wife; the tones are made in fuch inftruments, by a
number of ſmall vibrations crowded into one ſtroke.
The rofined bow, for inftance, being drawn along a
ftring, its roughneffes catch the ftring at very fmall
intervals, and excite its vibrations. In this inftrument,
therefore, to excite loud tones, the bow muſt be drawn
quick, and this will produce the greateſt number of vi-
brations. But it must be obferved, that the more
quick the bow paffes over the ftring, the leſs apt will
Sound
the roughneſs of its furface be to touch the ftring at Different
every inftant; to remedy this, therefore, the bow muft Theories of
be preffed the harder as it is drawn quicker, and thus
its fulleft found will be brought from the inftrument.
If the fwiftnefs of the vibrations in an inftrument thus
rubbed upon, exceed the force of the deeper found in
another, then the ſwift vibrations will be heard at a
greater diftance, and as much farther off as the ſwiftneſs
in them exceeds the force in the other.
II
luftrated ac-
fame
By the fame theory (it is alleged) may all the phe- The nature
nomena of mufical founds be eafily explained.-The fa- of Mufical
bles of the ancients pretend, that mufic was firft found Sounds il-
out by the beating of different hammers upon the cording to
fmith's anvil. Without purfuing the fable, let us en- the
deavour to explain the nature of mufical founds by a theory.
fimilar method. Let us ſuppoſe an anvil, or feveral fi-
milar anvils, to be ftruck upon by feveral hammers of
different weights or forces. The hammer, which is
double that of another, upon ftriking the anvil will pro-
duce a found double that of the other: this double
found muficians have agreed to call an Octave. The
ear can judge of the difference or refemblance of theſe
founds with great eaſe, the numbers being as one and
two, and therefore very readily compared. Suppoſe
that an hammer, three times leſs than the firft, ftrikes
the anvil, the found produced by this will be three
times leſs than the firſt: fo that the ear, in judging the
fimilitude of theſe founds, will find ſomewhat more
difficulty; becaufe it is not fo eafy to tell how often
one is contained in three, as it is to tell how often it
is contained in two. Again, fuppoſe that an hammer
four times leſs than the firft ftrikes the anvil, the ear
will find greater difficulty ftill in judging precifely the
difference of the founds; for the difference of the num-
bers four and one cannot fo foon be determined with
precifion as three and one. If the hammer be five
times lefs, the difficulty of judging will be ftill greater.
If the hammer be fix times lefs, the difficulty ftill in-
creaſes, and fo alſo of the ſeventh, infomuch that the
ear cannot always readily and at once determine the
precife gradation. Now, of all compariſons, thofe
which the mind makes moft eafily, and with leaft la-
bour, are the moft pleafing. There is a certain re-
gularity in the human foul, by which it finds happi-
nefs in exact and ftricking, and eaſily-made compari-
fons. As the ear is but an inftrument of the mind, it
is therefore moft pleaſed with the combination of any
two founds, the differences of which it can moſt rea-
dily diftinguiſh. It is more pleaſed with the concord
of two founds which are to each other as one and two,,
than of two founds which are as one and three, or one
and four, or one and five, or one and fix or feven. Up-
on this pleaſure, which the mind takes in compariſon,
all harmony depends. The variety of founds is infi-
nite; but becauſe the ear cannot compare two founds.
fo as readily to diftinguifh their difcriminations when
they exceed the proportion of one and feven, muſicians.
have been content to confine all harmony within that
compafs, and allowed but feven notes in mufical com-
pofition.
Let us now then fuppofe a ftringed inftrument fitted
up
(B) The figure repreſents the inſtrument with ten chords; of which fome direct only eight to be tuned uniſons,
and the two outermoft octaves below them. But this feems not to be material.
Ch. I.
ACOUSTIC
83
S.
In
muficians now confefs, that inftead of one tone it ac- Of Mufical
tually returns four tones, and that conſtantly. The Sounds.
notes are, befide the fundamental tone, an octave above,
a twelfth above, and a feventeenth. One of the baſs-
notes of an harpfichord has been diffected in this man-
ner by Rameau, and the actual exiſtence of theſe tones
proved beyond a poffibility of being controverted.
fact, the experiment is eafily tried; for if we fmartly
ftrike one of the lower keys of an harpfichord, and
then take the finger brifkly away, a tolerable ear will be
able to diſtinguiſh, that, after the fundamental tone has
ceafed, three other fhriller tones will be diftinctly heard;
firſt the octave above, then the twelfth, and laftly the
feventeenth: the octave above is in general almoſt mix-
ed with the fundamental tone, ſo as not to be eafily per-
ceived, except by an ear long habituated to the minute
difcriminations of founds. So that we may obferve,
that the ſmalleſt tone is heard laſt, and the deepeſt and
largeft one firft: the two others in order.
Of Muſical up in the order mentioned above. For instance: Let
Sounds. the firſt ſtring be twice as long as the fecond; let the
third ftring be three times fhorter than the firft; let the
fourth be four times, the fifth ftring five times, and
the fixth fix times as ſhort as the firſt. Such an in-
ftrument would probably give us a reprefentation of
the lyre as it came firft from the hand of the inven-
tor. This inftrument will give us all the feven notes
following each other, in the order in which any two
of them will accord together moſt pleaſingly; but yet
it will be a very inconvenient and a very diſagreeable
inftrument: inconvenient, for in a compaſs of ſeven
ſtrings only, the firſt muſt be ſeven times as long as
the laſt; and diſagreeable, becauſe this firſt ſtring will
be ſeven times as loud alfo; fo that when the tones are
to be played in a different order, loud and ſoft founds
would be intermixed with moſt diſguſting alternations.
In order to improve the first inftrument, therefore,
fucceeding muficians very judiciouſly threw in all the
other ftrings between the two firſt, or, in other words,
between the two Octaves, giving to each, however, the
fame proportion to what it would have had in the first
natural inftrument. This made the inftrument more
portable, and the founds more even and pleafing. They
therefore difpofed the founds between the Octave in their
natural order, and gave each its own proportional di-
menfions. Of theſe ſounds, where the proportion be-
tween any two of them is moft obvious, the concord
between them will be moſt pleaſing. Thus Octaves,
which are as two to one, have a moft harmonious effect;
the fourth and fifth alfo found fweetly together, and
they will be found, upon calculation, to bear the fame
proportion to each other that Octaves do. "Let it
"not be fuppofed (fays Mr Saveur), that the mufical
"fcale is merely an arbitrary combination of founds;
"it is made up from the confonance and differences of
"the parts which compoſe it. Thoſe who have often
"heard a fourth and fifth accord together, will be
"naturally led to diſcover their difference at once; and
"the mind unites itſelf to their beauties." Let us then
ceaſe to affign the coincidences of vibrations as the cauſe
of harmony, fince theſe coincidences in two ſtrings vi-
brating at different intervals, muſt at beſt be but for-
tuitous; whereas concord is always pleafing. The true
cauſe why concord is pleafing, muft arife from our power,
in fuch a caſe, of meaſuring more eaſily the differences
of the tones. In proportion as the note can be mea-
fured with its fundamental tone by large and obvious
diſtinctions, then the concord is moſt pleaſing; on the
contrary, when the ear meaſures the diſcriminations of
two tones by very fmall parts, or cannot meaſure them
at all, it lofes the beauty of their refemblance: the
whole is diſcord and pain (c).
But there is another property in the vibration of a
muficalftring not yet taken notice of, and which is alleged
to confirm the foregoing theory. If we ftrike the ſtring
of an harpfichord, or any other elaftic founding chord
whatever, it returns a continuing found. This till of
late was confidered as one fimple uniform tone; but all
•
In the whole theory of founds, nothing has given
greater room for fpeculation, conjecture, and difap-
pointment, than this amazing property in elaſtic ſtrings.
The whole ftring is univerfally acknowledged to be in
vibration in all its parts, yet this fingle vibration re-
turns no leſs than four different founds. They who
account for the tones of ſtrings by the number of their
vibrations, are here at the greateſt lofs. Daniel Ber-
nouilli fuppofes, that a vibrating ftring divides itſelf
into a number of curves, each of which has a peculiar
vibration; and though they all fwing together in the
common vibration, yet each vibrates within itſelf. This
opinion, which was fupported, as moft geometrical
fpeculations are, with the parade of demonftration,
was only born foon after to die. Others have aſcribed
this to an elaftic difference in the parts of the air, each
of which, at different intervals, thus received different
impreffions from the ftring, in proportion to their ela-
fticity. This is abfurd. If we allow the difference of
tone to proceed from the force, and not the frequency,
of the vibrations, this difficulty will admit of an eafy
folution. Theſe founds, though they feem to exiſt to-
gether in the ftring, actually follow each other in fuc-
ceffion: while the vibration has greateſt force, the
fundamental tone is brought forward: the force of the
vibration decaying, the octave is produced, but almoſt
only inftantaneouſly; to this fucceeds, with diminiſhed
force, the twelfth; and, laftly, the ſeventeenth is heard
to vibrate with great diftin&tneſs, while the three other
tones are always filent. Theſe ſounds, thus excited,
are all of them the harmonic tones, whofe differences
from the fundamental tone are, as was faid, ftrong, and
diftinct. On the other hand, the diſcordant tones can-
not be heard. Their differences being but very finall,
they are overpowered, and in a manner drowned in the
tones of fuperior difference: yet not always neither;
for Daniel Bernouilli has been able, from the fame
ftroke, to make the fame ftring bring out its harmo-
nic and its difcordant tones alfo (D.) So that from
hence we may juſtly infer, that every note whatſoever
L 2
is
(c) It is certain, that in proportion to the fimplicity of relations in found, the ear is pleafed with its combinations`;
but this is not to be admitted as the cauſe why muficians have confined all harmony to an octave. Diſcriminated
founds, whofe vibrations either never coincide, or at leaft very rarely, do not only ceafe to pleaſe, but violently grate,
the ear. Harmony and difcord, therefore, are neither difcriminated by the judgment of hearers, nor the inftitution
of muficians, but by their own effential and immutable nature.
(D) Vid. Memoires de l'Academie de Berlin, 1753, p. 153.
84
Ch. I.
ACOUSTIC
S.
1
Of Mufical is only a fucceffion of tones; and that thofe are moft
diſtinctly heard, whofe differences are moſt eaſily per-
ceivable.
Sounds.
12
To this theory, however, though it has a plauſible
to the prece appearance, there are ſtrong and indeed infuperable
Objections
ing theory, objections. The very fundamental principle of it is
falfe. No body whatever, whether elaftic or non-ela-
ftic, yields a graver found by being ftruck with a larger
inftrument, unleſs either the founding body, or that
part of it which emits the found, is enlarged. In this
cafe, the largeſt bodies always return the graveſt
founds.
In fpeaking of elaſtic and non-elaftic bodies in a mu-
fical fenfe, we are not to puſh the diſtinction fo far as
when we fpeak of them philofophically. A body is mu-
fically elaftic, all of whofe parts are thrown into vibra-
tions ſo as to emit a found when only part of their fur-
face is ftruck. Of this kind are bells, mufical ftrings,
and all bodies whatever that are confiderably hollow.
Muſical non-elaftics are fuch bodies as emit a found
only from that particular place which is firuck: thus,
a table, a plate of iron nailed on wood, a bell funk
in the earth, are all of them non-elaſtics in a muſical
ſenſe, though not philoſophically fo. When a folid bo-
dy, fuch as a log of wood, is ftruck with a ſwitch, only
that part of it emits a found which comes in contact
with the ſwitch; the note is acute and loud, but would
be no leſs ſo though the adjacent parts of the log were
removed. If, inſtead of the ſwitch, a heavier or lar-
ger inſtrument is made ufe of, à larger portion of its
furface then returns a found, and the note is confe-
quently more grave; but it would not be fo, if the
large inftrument ftruck with a ſharp edge, or a furface
only equal to that of the fmall one.
In founds of this kind, where there is only a fingle
thwack, without any repetition, the immediate caufe of
the gravity or acutenefs feems to be the quantity of air
difplaced by the founding body; a large quantity of
air` diſplaced, produces a grave found, and a ſmaller
quantity a more acute one, the force wherewith the air
is diſplaced fignifying very little.-What we hear ad-
vance is confirmed by fome experiments made by Dr
Prieftley, concerning the musical tone of electrical dif-
charges. The paffage being curious, and not very long,
we ſhall here tranfcribe it:
a
"As the courſe of my experiments has required
great variety of electrical exploſions, I could not help
obferving a great variety in the muſical tone made by
the reports. This excited my curiofity to attempt to
reduce this variation to fome meaſure. According
ly, by the help of a couple of fpinets, and two per-
fons who had good ears for mufic, I endeavoured to
aſcertain the tone of fome electrical difcharges; and
obferved, that every diſcharge made ſeveral ſtrings, par-
ticularly thofe that were chords to one another, to vi-
brate but one note was always predominant, and
founded after the reft. As every explofion was repeat-
ed feveral times, and three of us feparately took the
ſame note, there remained no doubt but that the tone
we fixed upon was at leaſt very near the true one. The
refult was as follows:
"A jar containing half a ſquare foot of coated glaſs
founded F fharp, concert pitch. Another jar of a dif-
ferent form, but equal furface, founded the fame.
"A jar of three fquare feet founded C below F
Sounds.
fharp. A battery confifting of fixty-four jars, each Of Mufical
containing half a ſquare foot, founded F below the C.
"The fame battery, in conjunction with another of
thirty-one jars, founded C fharp. So that a greater
quantity of coated glafs always gave a deeper note.
"Differences in the degree of a charge in the fame
jar made little or no difference in the tone of the ex-
plofion: if any, a higher charge gave rather a decper
note."
Theſe experiments fhow us how much the gravity or
acuteness of founds depend on the quantity of air put in
agitation by the founding body. We know that the
noife of the electric. explofion arifes from the return
of the air into the vacuum produced by the clectric
flaſh. The larger the vacuum, the deeper was the note:
for the fame reaſon, the diſcharge of a muſket produ-
ces a more acute note than that of a cannon; and
thunder is deeper than either.
Befides this, however, other circumftances concur
to produce different degrees of gravity or acuteneſs in
founds. The found of a table ftruck upon with a piece
of wood, will not be the fame with that produced from
a plate of iron ftruck by the fame piece of wood, even
if the blows fhould be exactly equal, and the iron per-
fectly kept from vibrating.-Here the founds are gene-
rally ſaid to differ in their degrees of acuteness, accord-
ing to the ſpecific gravities or denfities of the fubftan-
ces which emit them. Thus gold, which is the moſt
denfe of all metals, returns a much graver found than
filver; and metalline wires, which are more denſe than
therms, return a proportionably greater found.-But
neither does this appear to be a general rule in which
we can put confidence. Bell-metal is denfer than cop-
per, but it by no means appears to yield a graver found
on the contrary, it ſeems very probable, that copper
will give a graver found than bell-metal, if both are
ftruck upon in their non-elaſtic ſtate; and we can by
no means think that a bell of pure tin, the leaſt denſe
of all the metals, will give a more acute found than
one of bell-metal, which is greatly more denfe.-In
fome bodies hardneſs ſeems to have a confiderable ef-
fect. Glaſs, which is confiderably harder than any
metal, gives a more acute found; bell-metal is harder
than gold, lead, or tin, and therefore founds much
more acutely; though how far this holds with regard
to different fubftances, there are not a fufficient number
of experiments for us to judge.
In bodies mufically elaftic, the whole fubftance vi-
brates with the flighteft ftroke, and therefore they al-
ways give the fame note whether they are ftruck with
a
large or with a fmall inftrument; fo that ftriking a
part of the furface of any body mufically elaſtic is e-
quivalent, in it, to ftriking the whole furface of a non-
elaſtic one. If the whole furface of a table was ftruck
with another table, the note produced would be neither
more nor lefs acute whatever force was employed; be-
caufe the whole furface would then yield a found, and
no force could increaſe the ſurface: the found would
indeed be louder in proportion to the force employed,
but the gravity would remain the fame. In like man
ner, when a bell, or muſical ftring, is ftruck, the whole
fubftance vibrates, and a greater ftroke cannot increaſe
the fubftance.-Hence we fee the fallacy of what is
faid concerning the Pythagorean anvils. An anvil is
a body mufically elaftic, and no difference in the tone
2
can
Ch. I.
85
ACOUSTIC
S.
Of Mufical can be perceived whether it is ftruck with a large, or
Sounds. with a ſmall hammer; becaufe either of them are fuf-
ficient to make the whole fubftance vibrate, provided
nothing but the anvil is ftruck upon: fmiths, however,
do not ftrike their anvils, but red-hot iron laid upon
their anvils; and thus the vibrations of the anvil are
ftopped, fo that it becomes a non-elaftic body, and the
differences of tone in the ftrokcs of different hammers
proceed only from the furface of the large hammers
covering the whole furface of the iron, or at leaſt a
greater part of it than the ſmall ones. If the ſmall
hammer is fufficient to cover the whole furface of the
iron as well as the large one, the note produced will be
the-fame, whether the large or the ſmall hammer is uſed.
Laftly, The argument for the preceding theory,
grounded on the production of what are called flute-
notes on the violin, is built on a falfe foundation; for
the bow being lightly drawn on an open ftring, pro-
duces no flute-notes, but only the harmonies of the note
to which the ftring is tuned. The flute-notes are pro-
duced by a particular motion of the bow, quick and
near the bridge, and by fingering very gently. By
this management, the fame founds are produced, tho'
at certain intervals only, as if the vibrations were tranſ-
ferred to the ſpace between the end of the finger-board
and the finger, inftead of that between the finger and
the bridge. Why this ſmall part of the ftring fhould
vibrate in fuch a cafe, and not that which is under the
immediate action of the bow, we muft own ourſelves
ignorant nor dare we affirm that the vibrations really
are transferred in this manner, only the fame founds
are produced as if they were.
}
Though thefe objections feem fufficiently to over-
turn the foregoing theory, with regard to acute founds
being the effects of weak ftrokes, and grave ones of
ftronger impulfes, we cannot admit that longer or
fhorter vibrations are the occafion of gravity or a-
cutenefs in found. A mufical found, however length-
ened, either by ſtring or bell, is only a repetition of a
fingle one, whofe duration by itſelf is but for a mo-
ment, and is therefore termed inappretiable, like the
fmack of a whip, or the explofion of an electrical bat-
tery. The continuation of the found is nothing more
than a repetition of this inftantaneous inappretiable
noiſe after the manner of an echo, and it is only this
echo that makes the found agreeable. For this reafon,
mufic is much more agreeable when played in a large
hall where the found is reverberated, than in a ſmall
room where there is no fuch reverberation. For the
fame reaſon, the found of a ftring is more agreeable
when put on a hollow violin than when faftened to
a plain board, &c.-In the found of a bell, we cannot
avoid obferving this echo very diftinctly. The found
appears to be made up of diftinct pulfes, or repetitions
of the fame note produced by the ftroke of the hammer.
It can by no means be allowed, that the note would be
more acute though thefe pulfes were to fucceed one
another more rapidly; the found would indeed become
more fimple, but would ftill preſerve the fame tone.
In mufical ftrings the reverberations are vaftly more
quick than in bells; and therefore their found is more
uniform or ſimple, and confequently more agreeable
* See Har- than that of bells. In mufical glaffes*, the vibrations
muſt be inconceivably quicker than in any bell, or
ftringed inftrument: and hence they are of all others
monica.
tion of
Sound.
the moſt fimple and the moſt agreeable, though neither Propaga
the moft acute nor the loudeft.-As far as we can
judge, quickneſs of vibration contributes to the unifor-
mity, or fimplicity, but not to the acuteneſs, nor to
the loudnefs, of a mufical note.
It may here be objected, that each of the different
pulfes, of which we obferve the found of a bell to be
compofed, is of a very perceptible length, and far from
being inftantaneous; ſo that it is not fair to infer that
the found of a bell is only a repetition of a ſingle inftan-
taneous ftroke, ſeeing it is evidently the repetition of a
lengthened note.-To this it may be replied, that the in-
appretiable found which is produced by ſtriking a bell
in a non-elaſtic ſtate, is the very fame which, being firft
propagated round the bell, forms one of theſe fhort
pulfes that is afterwards re-echoed as long as the vibra-
tions of the metal continue, and it is impoffible that
the quickneſs of repetition of any found can either in-
creafe or diminiſh its gravity.
CHAP. II. Of the propagation of Sound.
New-
13
tion of
found.
ton's Doctrine explained and vindicated.
THE writers on found have been betrayed into thefe Propaga
difficulties and obfcurities, by rejecting the 47th pro-
pofition, B. i. of Newton, as inconclufive reafoning.
Of this propofition, however, the ingenious Mr Young
of Trinity college, Dublin, has lately given a clear,
explanatory, and able defence. He candidly owns that
the demonftration is obfcurely ftated, and takes the li-
berty of varying, in fome degree, from the method of
Newton.
"1. The parts of all founding bodies, (he obferves),
vibrate according to the law of a cycloidal pendulum:
for they may be confidered as compofed of an indefi-
nite number of claftic fibres; but theſe fibres vibrate
according to that law. Vide Helfham, p. 270.
66
2. Sounding bodies propagate their motions on all.
fides in directum, by fucceffive condenſations and rare-
factions, and fucceffive goings forward and returnings
backward of the particles. Vide prop. 43. B. 2. Newton.
3. The pulfes are thofe parts of the air which vi
brate backwards and forwards; and which, by going
forward, ftrike (pulfant) againft obftacles. The lati-
tude of a pulfe is the rectilineal ſpace through which-
the motion of the air is propagated during one vibra-
tion of the founding body.
(6
4. All pulfes move equally faft. This is proved.
by experiment; and it is found that they defcribe
1070 Paris feet, or 1142 London feet in a ſecond,
whether the found be loud or low, grave or acute.
“5.
5. Prob. To determine the latitude of a pulfe.
Divide the ſpace which the pulfe defcribes in a given
time (4) by the number of vibrations performed in the
fame time by the founding body, (cor. 1. prop. 24.
Smith's Harmonics), the quotient is the latitude.
"M. Sauveur, by fome experiments on organ-pipes,
found that a body, which gives the graveft harmonic
found, vibrates 12 times and a half in a fecond, and
that the ſhrilleſt founding body vibrates 51.100 times
in a ſecond. At a medium, let us take the body which
gives what Sauveur calls his fixed found: it performs.
ICO vibrations in a fecond, and in the fame time the
pulfes defcribe 1070 Parifian feet; therefore the ſpace-
defcribed by the pulfes whilst the body vibrates once,
that
1
86
Ch. II.
ACOUSTICS.
Propaga- that is, the latitude or interval of the pulfe, will be
10.7 feet.
tion of
Sound.
Plate I.
fig. 7.
"6. Prob. To find the proportion which the
greateſt ſpace, through which the particles of the air
vibrate, bears to the radius of a circle, whoſe perimeter
is equal to the latitude of the pulfe.
During the first half of the progrefs of the elaftic
fibre, or founding body, it is continually getting near-
er to the next particle; and during the latter half of
its progrefs, that particle is getting farther from the
fibre, and thefe portions of time are equal (Helſham):
therefore we may conclude, that at the end of the pro-
grefs of the fibre, the firft particle of air will be nearly
as far diftant from the fibre as when it began to move;
and in the fame manner we may infer, that all the par-
ticles vibrate through ſpaces nearly equal to that run
over by the fibre.
·CC
Now, M. Sauveur ( Acad. Science, an. 1700, p.141)
has found by experiment, that the middle point of a
chord which produces his fixed found, and whofe dia-
meter is 3th of a line, runs over in its ſmalleſt fenfible
vibrations th of a line, and in its greateſt vibrations
72 times that ſpace; that is 72Xth of a line, or
4 lines, that is, d of an inch.
"The latitude of the pulfes of this fixed found is 10.7
feet (5); and fince the circumference of a circle is to
its radius as 710 is to 113, the greateſt ſpace deſcribed
by the particles will be to the radius of a circle, whofe
periphery is equal to the latitude of the pulfe as d of
an inch is to 1.7029 feet, or 20.4348 inches, that is,
as I to 61.3044.
"If the length of the ſtring be increaſed or diminiſh.
ed in any proportion, cateris paribus, the greateft
fpace defcribed by its middle point will vary in the
fame proportion. For the inflecting force is to the
tending force as the diſtance of the ftring from the
middle point of vibration to half the length of the
ftring (fee Helfham and Martin); and therefore the
inflecting and tending forces being given, the ftring
will vibrate through ſpaces proportional to its length;
but the latitude of the pulfe is inverſely as the number
of vibrations performed by the ſtring in a given time,
(5) that is, directly as the time of one vibration, or
directly as the length of the ſtring (prop. 24. cor. 7.
Smith's Harmonics); therefore the greateft fpace
through which the middle point of the ftring vibrates,
will vary in the direct ratio of the latitude of the pulfe,
or of the radius of a circle whofe circumference is e-
qual to the latitude, that is, it will be to that radius
as I to 61.3044.
7. If the particles of the aërial pulfes, during any
part of their vibration, be fucceffively agitated, accord-
ing to the law of a cycloidal pendulum, the compara-
tive elaſtic forces arifing from their mutual action, by
which they will afterwards be agitated, will be fuch as
will caufe the particles to continue that motion, accor-
ding to the fame law, to the end of their vibration.
"Let AB, BC, CD, &c. denote the equal dif-
ances of the fucceffive pulfes; ABC the direction
of the motion of the pulfes propagated from A to-
wards B; E, F, G, three phyfical points of the
quiefcent medium, fituated in the right line AC at e-
qual diſtances from each other; Ee, Ff Gg the very
fmall equal ſpaces through which thefe particles vi-
brate; È, 9, any intermediate places of theſe points.
tion of
Sound.
Draw the right line PS equal to Ee, bifect it in O, Propaga-
and from the centre O with the radius O P deſcribe
the circle SIPh. Let the whole time of the vibration
of a particle and its parts be denoted by the circum-
ference of this circle and its proportional parts. And
fince the particles are fuppofed to be at firft agitated.
according to the law of a cycloidal pendulum, if at any
time PH, or PHSh, the perpendicular HL or bl, be let
fall on PS, and if Ee be taken equal to PL or Pl, the
particle E fhall be found in . Thus will the particle
E perform its vibrations according to the law of a
cycloidal pendulum. Prop. 52. B. 1. Principia.
"Let us fuppofe now, that the particles have been
fucceffively agitated, according to this law, for a cer-
tain time, by any caufe whatſoever, and let us examine
what will be the comparative elaſtic forces arifing from
their mutual action, by which they will afterwards con-
tinue to be agitated.
"In the circumference PHSh take the equal arches
HI, IK in the fame ratio to the whole circumference
which the equal right lines EF, FG have to BC the
whole interval of the pulfes; and let fall the per-
pendiculars HL, IM, KN. Since the points E, F, G
are fucceffively agitated in the ſame manner, and per-
form their entire vibrations of progrefs and regrefs
while the pulfe is propagated from B to C, if PH be
the time from the beginning of the motion of E, PI
will be the time from the beginning of the motion of
F, and PK the time from the beginning of the motion
of G; and therefore E, F, Gy will be reſpectively
equal to PL, PM, PN in the progreſs of the particles.
Whence eg or EF+F-E; is equal to EF-LM. But
εφ
is the expanfion of EF in the place, and therefore
this expanfion is to its mean expanfion as EF-LM to
EF. But LM is to IH as IM is to OP, and IH is
to EF as the circumference PHSh is to BC; that is,
as OP is to V, if V be the radius of a circle whofe
circumference is BC; therefore, ex æquo, LM is to
EF as IM is to V ; and therefore the expanfion of EF
in the place is to its mean expanfion as V-IM is to
V; and the elaftic force exifting between the phy-
fical points E and F is to the mean elaſtic force as
is to (Cotes Pneum. Lect. 9.) By the fame
V—IM V
argument, the elaſtic force exifting between the phy-
fical points F and G is to the mean elaſtic force as
is to
; and the difference between theſe
forces is to the mean elaſtic force as
IM-KN
V_V.IM—V.KN+IM.KN
I
I
V-KN
IM-KN
V2
I
I
I
is to; that is, as
is to or as IM-KN is to V; if on-
V ;
ly (upon account of the very narrow limits of the vi-
bration) we fuppofe IM and KN to be indefinitely lefs
than V. Wherefore, fince V is given, the difference
of the forces is as IM-KN, or as HL-IM (becaufe
KH is bifected in I); that is, (becauſe HL-IM is
to IH as OM is to OI or OP, and IH and OP are
given quantities) as OM; that is, if Fƒ be bifected in
nas no.
be the time from the beginning of the motion of E,
"In the fame manner it may be ſhown, that if PHSh
PHS; will be the time from the beginning of the mo-
tion of F, and PHSk the time from the beginning of
I
the
Ch. II.
ACOUSTIC
8.7
S.
Sound.
Εφ
1
Propaga- the motion of G; and that the expanfion of EF in
tion of the place
is to its mean expanfion as EF+F-E,
or as EF+lm is to EF, or as V+hl is to V in its re-
greſs; and its elaſtic force to the mean elaſtic force as
is to ; and that the difference of the elaſtic
forces exifting between E and F, and between F and
G is to the mean elaſtic force as kn-im is to V; that
is, directly as np.
I
V+bl
V
"But this difference of the elaftic forces, exifting be-
tween E and F, and between F and G, is the com-
parative elaftic force by which the phyfical point, is
agitated: and therefore the comparative accelerating
force, by which every phyfical point in the medium
will continue to be agitated both in progrefs and re-
grefs, will be directly as its diftance from the middle
point of its vibration; and confequently, will be fuch
as will cauſe the particles to continue their motion, un-
diſturbed, according to the law of a cycloidal pen-
dulum. Prop. 38. l. 1. Newton.
“Newton rejects the quantity +V×IM+KN+IMx
KN, on fuppofition that IM and KN are indefinitely
lefs than V. Now, although this may be a reafonable
hypothefis, yet, that this quantity may be ſafely re-
jected, will, I think, appear in a more fatisfactory
manner from the following confiderations derived from
experiment: PS, in its greateſt poffible ftate, is to V
as 1 is to 61.3044 (6); and therefore IM or KN, in
its greateft poffible ſtate, (that is, when the vibrations
of the body are as great as poffible, and the particle in
the middle point of its vibration) is to V as 1 is to
122.6. Hence V²=15030.76,—VXIM+KN=245.2
and IM×KN≈1; therefore V is to V²—VÕIM+
KN+IMXKN as 15.03076 is to 14786.56; that is,
as 61 is to 60 nearly.
"Hence it appears, that the greateſt poffible error
in the accelerating force, in the middle point, is the
ft part of the whole. In other points it is much
lefs; and in the extreme points the error entirely va-
niſhes.
"We fhould alfo obferve, that the ordinary founds
we hear are not produced by the greateft poffible vi-
brations of which the founding body is capable; and
that in general IM and KN are nearly evanefcent with
reſpect to V. And very probably the diſagreeable fen-
fations we feel in very loud founds, ariſe not only from
IM or KN bearing a fenfible proportion to V, by which
means the cycloidal law of the pulfes may be in fome
meaſure diſturbed, but alſo from the very law of the
motion of the founding body itſelf being diſturbed.
For, the proof of this law's being obferved by an e-
laftic fibre is founded on the hypothefis that the ſpace,
through which it vibrates, is indefinitely little with re-
ſpect to the length of the ftring. See Smith's Har-
monics, p. 237, Helſham, p. 270.
"8. If a particle of the medium be agitated, ac-
cording to the law of a cycloidal pendulum, the com-
parative elaftic force, acting on the adjacent particle,
from the inftant in which it begins to move, will be
ſuch as will cauſe it to continue its motion according
to the fame law.
"For let us fuppofe, that three particles of the me-
dium had continued to move for times denoted by the
arches PK, PI, PH, the comparative elaftic force,
tion of
Sound.
acting on the fecond during the time of its motion, Propaga-
would have been denoted by HL-IM, that is, would
have been directly as MO (7). And if this time be
diminiſhed till I becomes coincident with P, that is, if
you take the particles in that ftate when the ſecond is
juft beginning to move, and before the third particle
has yet been fet in motion; then the point M will fall
on P, and MO become PO; that is, the comparative
elaftic force of the fecond particle, at the inſtant in
which it begins to move, will be to the force with
which it is agitated in any other moment of time, be
fore the fubfequent particle has yet been fet in motion,
directly as its diftance from the middle point of vibra-
tion. Now this comparative elaſtic force, with which
the fecond particle is agitated in the very moment in
which it begins to move, arifes from the preceding
particle's approaching it according to the law of a pen-
dulum; and therefore, if the preceding particle ap-
proaches it in this manner, the force by which it will
be agitated, in the very moment it begins to move,
will be exactly fuch as fhould take place in order to
fore fets out according to that law, and confequently
move it according to the law of a pendulum. It there-
the ſubſequent elaftic forces, generated in every fuc-
ceffive moment, will alfo continue to be of the juft
magnitude which ſhould take place, in order to produce
fuch a motion.
pro-
"9. The pulfes of the air are propagated from
founding bodies, according to the law of a cycloidal
pendulum. The point E of any elaftic fibre pro-Plate I.
ducing a found, may be confidered as a particle of fig. 7.
This point E will therefore move according to this
air vibrating according to the law of a pendulum (1).
law for a certain time, denoted by the arch IH, before
the fecond particle begins to move; for found is
pagated in time through the fucceffive particles of air
(4). Now from that inftant, the comparative elaftic
force which agitates F, is (8) directly as its diftance
from the middle point of vibration. F therefore fets
out with a motion according to the law of a pendulum:
and therefore the comparative elaſtic force by which it
will be agitated until G begins to move, will continue
that law (8). Confequently F will approach G in the
fame manner as E approached F, and the comparative
elaftic force of G, from the inftant in which it begins
to move, will be directly as its diſtance from the middle
point of vibration; and fo on in fucceffion. Therefore
all the particles of air in the pulfes fucceffively ſet out
from their proper places according to the law of a pen-
dulum, and therefore (7) will finiſh their entire vibra-
tions according to the fame law.
“Cor. 1. The number of pulfes propagated is the
fame with the number of vibrations of the tremulous
body, nor is it multiplied in their progrefs: becauſe
the little phyfical line y, (fig. 7.) as foon as it returns.
to its proper place, will there quiefce; for its velocity,
which is denoted by the fine IM, then vaniſhes, and its
denfity becomes the fame with that of the ambient me-
dium. This line, therefore, will no longer move, un-
lefs it be again driven forwards by the impulſe of the
founding body, or of the pulfes propagated from it.
"Cor. 2. In the extreme points of the little ſpace
through which the particle vibrates, the expanfion of
the air is in its natural ftate; for the expanſion of the
phyfical line is to its natural expanſion as V+IM is
to
88
Ch. II.
ACOUSTIC S.
tion of
Sound.
Propaga- to V; but IM is then equal to nothing. In the middle
point of the progreſs the condenfation is greateft; for
IM is then greateft, and confequently the expanfion
V-IM leaſt. In the middle of the regrefs, the rare-
faction is greateſt; for im, and confequently V+im, is
then greateſt.
1
"10. To find the velocity of the pulfes, the den-
fity and elaſtic force of the medium being given.
"This is the 49th prop. B. 2. Newton, in which he
fhows, that whilft a pendulum, whofe length is equal
to the height of the homogeneous atmoſphere, vibrates
once forwards and backwards, the pulfes will defcribe
a ſpace equal to the periphery of a circle defcribed with
that altitude as its radius.
"Cor. 1. He thence ſhows, that the velocity of the
pulfes is equal to that which a heavy body would ac-
quire in falling down half the altitude of that homoge-
neous atmoſphere; and therefore, that all pulfes move
equally faft, whatever be the magnitude of PS, or the
time of its being defcribed; that is, whether the tone
be loud or low, grave or acute. See Hales de Sonis,
$49.
"Cor. 2. And alſo, that the velocity of the pulfes
is in a ratio compounded of the direct fubduplicate ra-
tio of the elaſtic force of the medium, and the inverfe
fubduplicate of its denſity. Hence founds move fome-
what fafter in fummer than in winter. See Hales de
Sonis, p. 141.
66
11. The ftrength of a tone is as the moment of
the particles of air. The moment of thefe particles,
(the medium being given) is as their velocity; and the
velocity of theſe particles is as the velocity of the ftring
which fets them in motion (9). The velocities of two
different ſtrings are equal when the ſpaces which they
défcribe in their vibrations are to each other as the
times of theſe vibrations: therefore, two different tones
are of equal ftrength, when the ſpaces, through which
the ftrings producing them vibrate, are directly as the
times of their vibration.
66
**
#
tion of
Sound.
Suppoſe, now, that the ftrings AB, CD, (fig. 2, Propaga
3.) differ in length only. The force inflecting AB
through GE is to the tending force, which is given, as
GE to AG; and this tending force is to the force 2d Plate II.
inflecting CD through the ſpace HP equal to GE, as
HD to HP. Therefore, ex æquo, the forces inflecting
AB and CD through the equal ſpaces GE and HP,
are to each other as HD to AG, or as CD to AB.
But the force inflecting CD through HP is to the force
inflecting it through HF, as HP or GE to HF, that
is, becauſe theſe fpaces are as the times (11), as AB
to CD. Therefore, ex æquò, the forces inflecting AB
and CD, when the tones are equally ſtrong, are to each
other in a ratio of equality. Hence we fhould fuppoſe,
that in this cafe, an equal number of equal impulfes
would generate equally powerful tones in theſe ftrings.
But we are to obferve, that the longer the ftring, the
greater, cæteris paribus, is the ſpace through which a
given force inflects it (Malcolm); and therefore what-
ever diminution is produced in the ſpaces through which
the ftrings move in their fucceffive vibrations, arifing
either from the want of perfect elafticity in the ftrings,
or from the refiftance of the air, this diminution will
bear a greater proportion to the lefs fpace, through
which the ſhorter ftring vibrates. And this is confirm-
ed by experience; for we find that the duration of the
tone and motion of the whole ftring exceeds that of any
of its fubordinate parts. Therefore, after a given in-
terval of time, a greater quantity of motion will remain
in the longer ftring; and confequently, after the fuc
ceffive equal impulfes have been made, a greater degree
of motion will ftill fubfift in it. That is, a given num-
ber of equal impulfes being made on various ſtrings dif-
fering in length only, a ftronger found will be produced
in that which is the longer.'
>>
CHAP. III. Of the Velocity, &c. of Sound. Axioms.
14
15
Its progrefs
calculated.
EXPERIENCE has taught us, that found travels at about Velocity of
the rate of 1142 feet in a fecond, or near 13 miles in a found.
minute; nor do any obſtacles hinder its progrefs, a con-
trary wind only a fmall matter diminiſhing its velocity.
The method of calculating its progrefs is eafily made
known. When a gun is difcharged at a diſtance, we
fee the fire long before we hear the found. If then we
know the diſtance of the place, and know the time of
the interval between our firft feeing the fire and then
hearing the report, this will fhow us exactly the time
the found has been travelling to us. For inftance, if
the gun is difcharged a mile off, the moment the flaſh is
feen, you take a watch and count the feconds till you hear
the found; the number of feconds is the time the found
has been travelling a mile.-Again, by the above axl
Fiom, we are enabled to find the diftance between ob
jects that would be otherwife immeafurable. For ex- Diftances
ample, fuppofe you fee the flash of a gun in the night at calculated
fea, and tell feven feconds before you hear the report, by means of
it follows therefore, that the diftance is feven times 1 142
feet, that is, 24 yards more than a mile and a half. In
like manner, if you obferve the number of ſeconds be-
tween the lightning and the report of the thunder,
you know the diſtance of the cloud from whence it pro-
ceeds.
2d Plate II. 12. Let the ftrength of the tones of the two
ftrings AB, CD, which differ in tenfion only (fig. 1,
2.) be equal. Quere the ratio of the inflecting forces
Fand f. From the hypotheſis of the equality of the
ftrength of the tones, it follows (11), that the ſpace
GE must be to the ſpace HF as fi to F, (Smith's
Harm. Prop. 24. Cor. 4.) Now the forces inflecting
AB, CD through the equal ſpaces GE, HP are to
each other as the tending forces, that is, as F to f,
(Malcolm's Treatise on Mufic, p. 52.) But the force
inflecting CD through HP is to the force inflecting it
through HF as HP or GE to HF, (ib. p. 47.) that is,
by the hyp.as f to F. Therefore, ex æquo, the forces
inflecting AB and CD, when the tones are equally
ftrong, are to each other as FXƒ to ƒXF, or as
to fi. That is, the forces neceffary to produce tones
of equal ſtrength in various ftrings which differ only in
tenfion, are to each other in the fubduplicate ratio of
the tending forces, that is, inverfely as the time of one.
vibration, or directly as the number of vibrations per-
formed in a given time. Thus, if CD be the acute
cctave to AB, its tending force will be quadruple that
of AB, (Malcolm's Treatife on Mufic, p. 53); and
therefore to produce tones of equal ftrength in thefe
ftrings, the force impelling CD must be double that
impelling AB; and fo in other cafes.
N° 3.
16
found.
17.
All founds
Derham has proved by experience, that all founds travel at the
Whatever travel at the fame rate. The found of a gun, fame rate.
and
Ch. III.
89
ACOUSTIC S.
rated
Reverbe- and the ftriking of a hammer, are equally fwift in their
motions; the fofteft whiſper flies as fwiftly, as far as it
goes, as the loudeft thunder.
Sounds.
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
fig. 3.
To theſe axioms we may add the following.
Smooth and clear founds proceed from bodies that
are homogeneous, and of an uniform figure; and harsh
or obtufe founds, from fuch as are of a mixed matter
and irregular figure.
The velocity of found is to that of a brisk wind as
fifty to one.
The ſtrength of founds is greateſt in cold and denfe
air, and leaſt in that which is warm and rarefied.
Every point againſt which the pulſes of ſound ſtrike,
becomes a centre from which a new ſeries of pulfes are
propagated in every direction.
Sound defcribes equal ſpaces in equal times.
CHAP. IV. Of Reverberated Sounds.
SOUND, like light, after it has been reflected from
ſeveral places, may be collected in one point, as into a
focus; and it will be there more audible than in any
other part, even than at the place from whence it pro-
ceeded. On this principle it is that a whiſpering gal-
lery is conftructed.
The form of this gallery muſt be that of a concave
Whiſpering hemifphere (E), as ABC; and if a low found or whifper
Gallery, be uttered at A, the vibrations expanding themſelves
Plate I.
every way will impinge on the points DDD, &c. and
from thence be reflected to EEE, and from thence to
the points F and G, till at laft they all meet in C,
where, as we have faid, the found will be the moft
diſtinctly heard.
25
THE augmentation of found by means of ſpeaking-
Speaking trumpets, is uſually illuſtrated in the following manner:
trumpet, Let ABC be the tube, BD the axis, and B the mouth-
fig. 4. piece for conveying the voice to the tube. Then it is
evident, when a perfon fpeaks at B in the trumpet, the
whole force of his voice is ſpent upon the air contained
in the tube, which will be agitated through the whole
length of the tube; and, by various reflections from the
fide of the tube to the axis, the air along the middle
part of the tube will be greatly condenſed, and its mo-
mentum proportionably increaſed, ſo that when it comes
to agitate the air at the orifice of the tube AC, its
force will be as much greater than what it would have
been without the tube, as the ſurface of a ſphere, whofe
radius is equal to the length of the tube, is greater than
the furface of the fegment of fuch a ſphere whoſe baſe
is the orifice of the tube. For a perſon ſpeaking at B,
without the tube, will have the force of his voice ſpent
in exciting concentric fuperficies of air all around the
point B; and when thoſe ſuperficies or pulfes of air are
diffuſed as far as D every way, it is plain the force of
the voice will there be diffufed through the whole fu-
perficies of a ſphere whofe radius is BD; but in the trum-
pet it will be fo confined, that at its exit it will be dif-
fufed through ſo much of that ſpherical ſurface of air
as correfponds to the orifice of the tube. But fince the
force is given, its intenſity will be always inverſely as
the number of particles it has to move; and therefore
VOL. I. Part I.
in the tube it will be to that without, as the fuperficies Reverbe-
of fuch a ſphere to the era of the large end of the tube Sounds.
nearly.
But it is obvious, Mr Young obferves, that the con-
finement of the voice can have little effect in increaſing
the ftrength of the found, as this ftrength depends on
the velocity with which the particles move. Were this
reafoning conclufive, the voice fhould iffue through the
fmalleft poffible orifice; cylindrical tubes would be pre-
ferable to any that increaſed in diameter; and the lefs
the diameter, the greater would be the effect of the in-
ſtrument; becauſe the plate or maſs of air to be moved,
would, in that cafe, be lefs, and confequently the effect
of the voice the greater; all which is contradicted by
experience.
The caufe of the increaſe of found in theſe tubes
muſt therefore be derived from fome other principles :
and amongſt theſe we ſhall probably find, that what the
ingenious Kircher has fuggefted in his Phonurgia is the
moſt deſerving of our attention. He tells us, that "the
augmentation of the found depends on its reflection from
the tremulous fides of the tube; which reflections, con-
fpiring in propagating the pulfes in the fame direction,
muft increaſe its intenfity." Newton alſo ſeems to have
confidered this as the principal cauſe, in the fcholium
of prop. 50. B. 2. Princip. when he ſays, we hence
fee why founds are ſo much increaſed in ftentorophonic
tubes, for every reciprocal motion is, in each return,
increaſed by the generating cauſe.
Farther, when we ſpeak in the open air, the effect
on the tympanum of a diſtant auditor is produced mere-
ly by a fingle pulfe. But when we ufe a tube, all the
pulfes propagated from the mouth, except thofe in the
direction of the axis, ſtrike againſt the fides of the tube,
and every point of impulfe becoming a new centre, from
whence the pulfes are propagated in all directions, a
pulfe will arrive at the ear from each of thoſe points;
thus, by the ufe of a tube, a greater number of pulfes
are propagated to the ear, and confequently the found
increaſed. The confinement too of the voice may have
fome effect, though not fuch as is afcribed to it by
fome; for the condenfed pulfes produced by the naked
voice, freely expand every way; but in tubes, the late-
ral expanfion being diminiſhed, the direct expanſion will
be increaſed, and confequently the velocity of the par-
ticles, and the intenſity of the found. The ſubſtance
alſo of the tube has its effect; for it is found by expe-
riment, that the more elaſtic the ſubſtance of the tube,
and confequently the more fufceptible it is of theſe tre-
mulous motions, the ftronger is the found.
If the tube be laid on any non-elaſtic fubftance, it
deadens the found, becauſe it prevents the vibratory
motion of the parts. The found is increafed in fpeaking-
trumpets, if the tube be ſuſpended in the air; becauſe
the agitations are then carried on without interruption.
Theſe tubes ſhould increaſe in diameter from the mouth-
piece, becauſe the parts, vibrating in directions perpen-
dicular to the furface, will confpire in impelling for-
ward the particles of air, and confequently, by increa-
fing their velocity, will increafe the intenſity of the
found: and the ſurface alſo increaſing, the number of
points of impulfe and of new propagations will increaſe
M
pro-
rated
(E) A cylindric or elliptic arch will anfwer ftill better than one that is circular.
ACOUSTIC
90
S.
Ch. IV.
rated
Sounds.
the oblong fphæroid, generated by the revolution of Reverbe
this ellipfe round its major axis.
Reverbe- proportionally. The feveral caufes, therefore, of the
increaſe of found in theſe tubes, Mr Young concludes
to be, 1. The diminution of the lateral, and confe-
quently the increaſe of the direct, expanfion and velo-
city of the included air. 2. The increaſe of the num-
ber of pulfes, by increafing the points of new propaga-
tion. 3. The reflections of the pulfes from the tremu-
lous fides of the tube, which impel the particles of air
forward, and thus increaſe their velocity.
36
Echoes.
An echo is a reflection of found ſtriking againft fome
object, as an image is reflected in a glaſs: but it has
been difputed what are the proper qualities in a body
for thus reflecting founds. It is in general known, that
caverns, grottoes, mountains, and ruined buildings, re-
turn this image of found. We have heard of a very ex-
traordinary echo, at a ruined fortrefs near Louvain, in
Flanders. If a perfon fung, he only heard his own
voice, without any repetition: on the contrary, thoſe
who ftood at fome diftance, heard the echo but not the
voice; but then they heard it with furpriſing varia-
tions, fometimes louder, fometimes ſofter, now more
near, then more diftant. There is an account in the
memoirs of the French academy, of a ſimilar echo near
Rouen.
As (by n° 21 and 22) every point against which the
pulfes of found ftrike becomes the centre of a new fe-
ries of pulfes, and found defcribes equal diftances in
equal times; therefore, when any found is propagated
from a centre, and its pulfes ftrike againſt a variety of
obftacles, if the fum of the right lines drawn from that
point to each of the obftacles, and from each obftacle
to a ſecond point, be equal, then will the later be a
point in which an echo will be heard. "Thus let A
be the point from which the found is propagated in all
directions, and let the pulfes ftrike againſt the obfta-
cles C, D, E, F, G, H, I, &c. each of thefe points
becomes a new centre of pulfes by the first principle,
and therefore from each of them one feries of pulfes will
paſs through the point B. Now if the ſeveral fums of the
right lines AC+CB, AD+DB, AE+EB, AG+GB,
AH+HB, AI+IB, &c. be all equal to each other,
it is obvious that the pulfes propagated from A to theſe
points, and again from theſe points to B, will all ar-
rive at B at the fame inftant, according to the ſecond
principle; and therefore, if the hearer be in that point,
his ear will at the fame inftant be ftruck by all theſe
pulfes. Now it appears from experiment (fee Mufchen-
broek, V. ii. p. 210), that the ear of an exercifed mu-
fician can only diftinguiſh fuch founds as follow one
another at the rate of 9 or 10 in a ſecond, or any flow-
er rate and therefore, for a diſtinct perception of the
direct and reflected found, there fhould intervene the
interval of th of a fecond; but in this time found
defcribes 142
or 127 feet nearly. And therefore,
unleſs the fum of the lines drawn from each of the ob-
ſtacles to the points A and B exceeds the interval AB
by 127 feet, no echo will be heard at B. Since the
feveral fums of the lines drawn from the obftacles to
9
the points A and B are of the fame magnitude, it ap-
pears that the curve paffing through all the points C,
D, E, F, G, H, I, &c. will be an ellipfe, (prop. 14.
B. 2. Ham. Con.) Hence all the points of the obfta-
eles which produce an echo, muſt lie in the furface of
2
"As there may be feveral fphæroids of different
magnitudes, fo there may be feveral different echoes of
the fame original found. And as there may happen to
be a greater number of reflecting points in the furface
of an exterior fphæroid than in that of an interior, a
fecond or a third echo may be much more powerful
than the firſt, provided that the fuperior number of re-
flecting points, that is, the fuperior number of reflec-
ted pulfes propagated to the ear, be more than fuffi-
cient to compenfate for the decay of found which a-
rifes from its being propagated through a greater ſpace.
This is finely illuftrated in the celebrated echoes at the
lake of Killarney in Kerry, where the firft return of
the found is much inferior in ftrength to thofe which
immediately ſucceed it.
"From what has been laid down it appears, that for
the moſt powerful echo, the founding body ſhould be in
one focus of the ellipfe which is the fection of the echo-.
ing ſphæroid, and the hearer in the other. However,
an echo may be heard in other ſituations, though not fo
favourably; as fuch a number of reflected pulfes may
arrive at the fame time at the ear as may be fufficient
to excite a diſtinct perception. Thus a perſon often
hears the echo of his own voice; but for this purpoſe
he ſhould ftand at leaſt 63 or 64 feet from the reflect-
ing obftacle, according to what has been ſaid before.
At the common rate of fpeaking, we pronounce not
above three fyllables and an half, that is, ſeven half
fyllables in a fecond; therefore, that the echo may re-
turn juft as foon as three fyllables are expreffed, twice
the diſtance of the ſpeaker from the reflecting objec
must be equal to 1000 feet; for, as found defcribes
1142 feet in a fecond, ths of that ſpace, that is, 1000
feet nearly, will be deferibed while fix half or three
whole fyllables are pronounced: that is, the ſpeaker
muft ftand near 500 feet from the obftacle. Ând in
general, the diftance of the fpeaker from the echoing
furface, for any number of fyllables, muſt be equal to
the feventh part of the product of 1142 feet multiplied
by that number.
"In churches we never hear a diſtinct echo of the
voice, but a confufed found when the ſpeaker utters
his words too rapidly; becauſe the greateſt difference
of diſtance between the direct and reflected courſes of
fuch a number of pulfes as would produce a diftinct
found, is never in any church equal to 127 feet, the li-
mit of echos.
"But though the first reflected pulfes may produce
no echo, both on account of their being too few in
number, and too rapid in their return to the ear; yet
it is evident, that the reflecting furface may be fo
formed, as that the pulfes which come to the ear after
two reflections or more may, after having deſcribed
127 feet or more, arrive at the ear in fufficient num-
bers, and alfo fo nearly at the fame inftant, as to pro-
duce an echo, though the diſtance of the reflecting fur-
face from the ear be lefs than the limit of echoes. This
is confirmed by a fingular echo in a grotto on the banks
of the little brook called the Dinan, about two miles.
from Caſtlecomber, in the county of Kilkenny.. As.
you enter the cave, and continue fpeaking loud, no re-
turn of the voice is perceived; but on your arriving at
rated
Sounds.
}
Ch. IV.
gr
ACOUSTIC
$.
nents, &c.
Entertain- a certain point, which is not above 14 or 15 feet from
ing Experi- the reflecting furface, a very diftinct echo is heard.
Now this echo cannot ariſe from the firſt courſe of pul-
fes that are reflected to the ear, becauſe the breadth of
the cave is fo fmall, that they would return too quick-
ly to produce a diftin&t fenfation from that of the ori-
ginal found: it therefore is produced by thofe pulfes,
which, after having been reflected feveral times from
one fide of the grotto to the other, and having run o-
ver a greater ſpace than 127 feet, arrive at the ear in
confiderable numbers, and not more diftant from each
other, in point of time, than the ninth part of a fecond."
27
I. The Con-
tue,
Plate I.
hg. 5.
This article fhall be difmiffed with a few inventions
founded on fome of the preceding principles, which may
amuſe a number of our readers.
Entertaining Experiments and Contrivances.
I. PLACE a concave mirror of about two feet diameter,
verfive Sta- as AB (G), in a perpendicular direction. The focus of
this mirror may be at 15 or 18 inches diſtance from
its furface. At the diſtance of about five or fix feet
let there be a partition, in which there is an opening
E F, equal to the fize of the mirror; againſt this
opening muſt be placed a picture, painted in water-
colours, on a thin cloth, that the found may eaſily paſs
through it (H).
Behind the partition, at the diſtance of two or three
feet, place another mirror G H, of the fame fize as the
former, and let it be diametrically oppofite to it.
At the point C let there be placed the figure of a
man feated on a pedeftal, and let his ear be placed ex-
actly in the focus of the first mirror: his lower jaw
muſt be made to open by a wire, and ſhut by a ſpring;
and there may be another wire to move the eyes: theſe
wires muft pafs through the figure, go under the floor,
and come up behind the partition.
Let a perfon, properly inftructed, be placed behind
the partition near the mirror. You then propoſe to
any one to ſpeak foftly to the ftatue, by putting his
mouth to the ear of it, affuring him that it will anfwer
inftantly. You then give the fignal to the perfon be-
hind the partition, who, by placing his ear to the fo-
cus I, of the mirror GH, will hear diftinctly what the
other faid; and, moving the jaw and eyes of the ftatue
by the wires, will return an anfwer directly, which
will in like manner be diſtinctly heard by the firft
fpeaker.
This experiment appears to be taken from the
Century of Inventions of the Marquis of Worcef-
ter; whofe defigns, at the time they were publiſhed,
were treated with ridicule and neglect as being im-
practicable, but are now known to be generally, if not
univerfally_practicable. The words of the Marquis are
thefe: "How to make a brazen or ſtone head in the
midst of a great field or garden, ſo artificial and natu-
ments, c.
* Phonur
fect. vi. c. I.
ral, that though a man ſpeak ever ſo ſoftly, and even Entertain
whiſper into the ear thereof, it will preſently open its ing Experi
mouth, and refolve the queftion in French, Latin,
Welſh, Irish, or Engliſh, in good terms, uttering it out
of its mouth, and then ſhut it until the next queſtion
be aſked."-The two following, of a fimilar nature,
appear to have been inventions of Kircher, by means
of which (as he informs us *) he uſed to "utter
feigned and ludicrous confultations, with a view to gia Nova,
fhow the fallacy and impoſture of ancient oracles."
II. LET there be two heads of plafter of Paris, placed 28
on pedeſtals, on the oppofite fides of a room. There muſt municative
be a tin tube of an inch diameter, that muſt paſs from the Bufts.
ear of one head, through the pedeſtal, under the floor,
and go up to the mouth of the other. Obſerve, that
the end of the tube which is next the ear of the one
head, fhould be confiderably larger than that end which
comes to the mouth of the other. Let the whole be
fo difpofed that there may not be the leaft fufpicion of
a communication.
Now, when a perfon ſpeaks, quite low, into the ear
of one buft, the found is reverberated thro' the length
of the tube, and will be diftinctly heard by any one
who fhall place his ear to the mouth of the other. It
is not neceffary that the tube ſhould come to the lips
of the buſt.—If there be two tubes, one going to the
ear, and the other to the mouth, of each head, two per-
fons may converſe together, by applying their mouth
and ear reciprocally to the mouth and ear of the bufts;
and at the fame time other perſons that ſtand in the
middle of the chamber, between the heads, will not
hear any part of their converſation.
III. PLACE a buſt on a pedeſtal in the corner of a
room, and let there be two tubes, as in the foregoing
amufement, one of which muft go from the mouth and
the other from the ear of the buft, through the pedeſtal,
and the floor, to an under apartment. There may be
likewiſe wires that go from the under jaw and the eyes
of the buſt, by which they may be eafily moved.
A perfon being placed in the under room, and at a
fignal given applying his ear to one of the tubes, will
hear any queftion that is afked, and immediately re-
ply; moving at the fame time, by means of the wires,
the mouth and the eyes of the buft, as if the reply
came from it.
The Com-
29
The Oracu
lar Head.
nata.
30
IV. In a large cafe, fuch as is uſed for dials and fpring-A Solar So-
clocks, the front of which, or at leaſt the lower part of
it, muſt be of glaſs, covered on the infide with gauze,
let there he placed a barrel-organ, which, when wound
up, is prevented from playing, by a catch that takes a
toothed wheel at the end of the barrel. To one end of
this catch there must be joined a wire, at the end of
which there is a flat circle of cork, of the fame dimen--
fion with the infide of a glaſs tube, in which it is to riſe
and fall. This tube muft communicate with a refer-
voir that goes acroſs the front part of the bottom of the
cafe, which is to be filled with ſpirits, fuch as is uſed in
M 2
ther-
(G) Both the mirrors here uſed may be of tin or gilt pafteboard, this experiment not requiring fuch as are very ac-
curate.
(H) The more effectually to conceal the cauſe of this allufion, the mirror AB may be fixed in the wainſcot, and a
gauze or any other thin covering thrown over it, as that will not in the leaft prevent the found from being reflected.
An experiment of this kind may be performed in a field or garden, between two hedges, in one of which the mirror
AB may be placed, and in the other an opening artfully contrived.
>
92
Ch. IV.
ACOUSTIC
S.
Entertain thermometers, but not coloured, that it may be the
ing Experi-better concealed by the gauze.
ments, &c.
31
fichord.
This cafe being placed in the fun, the fpirits will be
rarefied by the heat; and riſing in the tube, will lift up
the catch or trigger, and fet the organ in play: which
it will continue to do as long as it is kept in the fun;
for the ſpirits cannot run out of the tube, that part of
the catch to which the circle is fixed being prevented
from rifing beyond a certain point by a check placed
over it.
When the machine is placed againft the fide of a
room on which the fun fhines ftrong, it may conftantly
remain in the fame place, if you incloſe it in a ſecond
cafe, made of thick wood, and placed at a little di-
ſtance from the other. When you want it to perform,
it will be only neceſſary to throw open the door of the
outer cafe, and expofe it to the fun.
But if the machine be moveable, it will perform in
all feafons by being placed before the fire; and in the
winter it will more readily ftop when removed into the
cold.
A machine of this fort is faid to have been invented
by Cornelius Dreble, in the laſt century. What the
conftruction of that was, we know not; it might very
likely be more complex, but could ſcarce anſwer the
intention more readily.
V. UNDER the keys of a common harpfichord let there
Automa- be fixed a barrel, ſomething like that in a chamber or-
tous Harp-gan, with ftops or pins correfponding to the tunes you
would have it play. Theſe ſtops muſt be moveable, fo
that the tunes may be varied at pleaſure. From each
of the keys let there go a wire perpendicular down:
the ends of theſe wires muſt be turned up for about one-
fourth of an inch. Behind theſe wires let there be an
iron bar, to prevent them from going too far back.
Now, as the barrel turns round, its pins take the ends
of the wires, which pull down the keys, and play the
harpfichord. The barrel and wires are to be all in-
clofed in a caſe.
In the chimney of the fame room where the harpfi-
chord ſtands, or at leaſt in one adjacent, there muſt be
a fmoke jack, from whence comes down a wire, or
cord, that, paffing behind the wainſcot adjoining the
chimney, goes under the floor, and up one of the legs
of the harpsichord, into the cafe, and round a fmall Entertain-
wheel fixed on the axis of that firſt mentioned. There ing experi
ments, &%.
fhould be pullies at different diſtances, behind the wain-
fcot and under the floor, to facilitate the motion of the
chord.
This machinery may be applied to any other keyed
inftrument as well as to chimes, and to many other
purpoſes where a regular continued motion is required..
An inftrument of this fort may be confidered as a
perpetual motion, according to the vulgar accepta-
tion of the term; for it will never ceaſe going till the
fire be extinguiſhed, or fome parts of the machinery be
worn out.
7
J
fig. 6.
I.
VI. Ar the top of a fummer-houſe, or other building, 32
let there be fixed a vane AB, on which is the pinion Č, A Ventofal
Symphony,
that takes the toothed wheel D, fixed on the axis EF, plate 1.
which at its other end carries the wheel G, that takes
the pinion H. All theſe wheels and pinions are to be
between the roof and the ceiling of the building. The
pinion H is fixed to the perpendicular axis IK, which
goes down very near the wall of the room, and may be -
covered after the ſame manner as are bell-wires. ´At
the lower end of the axis IK there is a ſmall pinion L,
that takes the wheel M, fixed on the axis of the great
wheel NO. In this wheel there muſt be placed a num-
ber of ſtops, correfponding to the tunes it is to play.
Thefe ftops are to be moveable, that the tunes may be
altered at pleaſure. Againſt this wheel there muſt
hang 12 fmall bells, anſwering to the notes of the ga-
mut. Therefore, as the wheel-turns round, the ſtops-
ftriking againſt the bells, play the feveral tunes. There
fhould be a fly to the great wheel, to regulate its mo-
tion when the wind is ftrong. The wheel NO, and the
bells, are to be incloſed in a caſe.
་
There may be feveral fets of bells, one of which
may anſwer to the tenor, another to the treble, and a
third to the bafs; or they may play different tunes, ac-
cording to the fize of the wheel. As the bells are
fmall, if they are of filver, their tone will be the more
pleafing.
Inſtead of bells, glaffes may be here ufed, fo difpo-
fed as to move freely at the ſtroke of the ftops. This
machinery may likewiſe be applied to a barrel-organ;
and to many other uſes.
1
Acqs
A C Q
ACQS, a town at the foot of the Pyrenean moun-
tains, in the government of Foix in France. It takes its
Acqui. name from the hot waters in theſe parts. E, long. 1. 40.
lat. 43. ☺.
ACQUAPENDENTE, a pretty large town of I-
taly, in the territory of the church, and patrimony of
St Peter, with a bishop's fee. It is feated on a moun-
tain, near the river Paglia, ten miles W. of Orvietto,
and 57 N. by W. of Rome. E. long. 11. 53. Lat.
42.43.
ACQUARIA, a ſmall town of Italy, in Frigana, a
diftrict of Modena, which is remarkable for its medici-
nal waters. It is 12 miles fouth of the city of Modena.
E. long. 11. 17. Lat. 44. 24.
ACQUEST, or ACQUIST, in law, fignifies goods
got by purchaſe or donation. See CONQUEST.
ACQUI, a town of Italy, in the duchy of Mont-
A C Q
tance.
ferrat, with a bishop's fee, and commodious baths. It Acquifition
was taken by the Spaniards in 1745, and retaken by 11
the Piedmontefe in 1746; but after this, it was taken Acquit-
again and diſmantled by the French, who afterwards
forfook it. It is feated on the river Bornio, 25 miles
N. W. of Genoa, and 30 S. of Cafal. E. long. 8. 30.
Lat. 44. 40.
ACQUISITION, in general, denotes the obtaining
or procuring fomething. Among lawyers, it is ufed
for the right or title to an eſtate got by purchaſe or
donation.
ACQUITTAL, a diſcharge, deliverance, or fet-
ting of a perſon free from the guilt or fufpicion of an
offence.
ACQUITTANCE, a releaſe or diſcharge in wri
ting for a fum of money, witneffing that the party has
paid the faid fum.-No man is obliged to pay a fum of
money
A
A
B
Aphis.
ABACUS.
Fig. 1.
E
B
ACOUSTICS.
Fig. 2.
で
​E
B
D
3.
F
F
Trig. 4.
E
I
F
E
F
E
F
P
G
Fig.
Plate I.
Acarus,
Fig. 7.
DI
út
30
Lu
H
Mm
N1
D
K
P
5.
Fig. 11.
A.
E
G
H
F
H
Fig!
K
M
D
P
AEROSTATION.
H
I M
UK
E
G
E
B
Fig. 2.
G
D
F
1
E
M
K
B
Ᏼ
G
I
E
ABM PRINWAL.SCULPTOR fécit .
A CR
[
A CR
93 ]
Acra
Acrafia.
•
money if the demandant refufes to give an acquittance,
which is a full diſcharge, and bars all actions, &c. An
acquittance given by a fervant for a fum of money re-
ceived for the uſe of his maſter, ſhall be a good dif-
charge for that fum, provided the fervant uſed to re-
ceive his maſter's rents, debts, &c.
·
ACRA, a town of Africa, on the coaft of Guinea,
where the English, Dutch, and Danes, have ftrong
forts, and each fort its particular village. W. long. o. 2.
Lat. 5.0.
ACRA (anc. geog.), one of the hills of Jerufalem,
on which ſtood the lower town, which was the Old Je-
rufalem; to which was afterwards added Zion, or the
city of David. Probably called Acra, from the fort-
refs which Antiochus built there in order to annoy the
temple, and which Simon Maccabæus took and razed
to the ground.
ACRA Japygia (anc. geog.), called Salentia by Pto-
lemy; now Capo di San Maria di Leuca: A promon-
tory in the kingdom of Naples, to the fouth-east of O-
tranto, where formerly was a town, now lying in ruins,
on the Ionian ſea, over againſt the Montes Acrocerau-
nii of Epirus.
ACRE (anc. geog.), a town of Sicily, whofe inhabi-
tants were called Acrenfes. It flood to the fouth of
Syracuſe at the diſtance of 24 miles, near the place now
called the monaſtery of Santa Maria d'Arcia, on an
eminence, as appears from Silius Italicus. The Syra-
cufans were the founders of it, according to Thucidy-
des, 70 years after the building of Syracufe, or 665 be-
fore Chrift. Hence the epithet Acræus.
ACRAGAS, or AGRAGAS (anc. geog.), fo called
by the Greeks, and fometimes by the Romans, but
more generally Agrigentum by the latter; a town of
Sicily. In Greek medals the inhabitants are called
AKPITANTINOI, and Agrigentini by Cicero. The town
ſtood upon a mountain, at the confluence of the Acra
gas and Hypfa, near the port called Eurogov by Ptole
my, but Ezivov, or the Dock, by Strabo; and in the
time of the latter, fcarce a trace of all that fide remain-
ed. In the year before Chrift 584, the people of Gela
built Acragas, 108 years after building their own city.
It took its name from the river running by it; and be-
ing but two miles from, enjoyed all the conveniences
that fhould come by, the fea. It was a place of great
ftrength, ſtanding on the top of a very ſteep rock, and
waſhed on the forth fide by the river Acragas, now
called Fiume di Gergenti, and on the fouth-weft by the
Hypfa, with a citadel to the fouth-eaft, externally fur-
rounded by a deep gulf, which made it inacceffible but
on the fide next the town. It was famous for the ty-
rant Phalaris and his brazen bull. They were a people
luxurious in their tables, and magnificent in their dwell-
ings; of whom Empedocles, in Diogenes Laertius, fays,
that they lived to-day as if they were to die to-morrow,
and built as if they were to live for ever. The coun-
try round the city was laid out in vine and olive yards,
in the produce of which they carried on a great and
profitable commerce with Carthage. E. long. 13.30.
Lat. 37. 20.
ACRASIA, among phyficians, implies the predo-
minancy of one quality, above another, either with re-
gard to artificial mixtures, or the humours of the hu-
man body. The word is Greek, and compounded of
1
3.
a, priv. and xpovvuμs, to mix; q. d. not mixed in a juít Acrath,
proportion.
ACRATH (anc. geog.), a place in Mauritania Tin-
gitana, now fuppofed to be Velez de Gomara : A for-
tified town in the kingdom of Fez, with a citadel and
commodious harbour on the Mediterranean, ſcarce a
mile diftant from Penon de Velez, a Spanish fort.
W. long. 5. lat. 34. 45.
ACRE, or ACRA, a fea-port town in Syria. It was
formerly called Ptolemais, and is a bishop's fee. It
was very famous in the time of the crufadoes, and un-
derwent feveral fieges both by the Chriftians and Sa-
racens. It is fituated at the north angle of a bay,
which extends, in a femicircle of three leagues, as far
as the point of Carmel.
During the crufades, the poffeffion of this town
was long difputed by the Chriſtians and Saracens. In
1192 it was taken from the latter by Richard I. of
England and Philip of France, who gave it to the
knights of St John of Jerufalem, who kept poffeffion
of it 100 years, when it was retaken by the Saracens,
and almoſt entirely deftroyed. This event is rendered
memorable by an act of fingular refolution with which
it was accompanied. A number of beautiful young
nuns, terrified at the proſpect of being expoſed to the
brutal luft of the infidels, determined to avoid the vio-
lation of their chaſtity, by rendering themſelves ob--
jects of averfion. With this view they cut off their
pofes and mangled their faces. The Saracens, infla
med with refentment at a fpectacle which prevented
the gratification of their appetites, immediately put
them all to the fword. After the expulfion of the
crufaders, it remained almoſt deſerted; but in our time
has again revived by the induſtry of Daher; and the
works erected by Djezzar, within the last ten years,
have rendered it one of the principal towns upon the
coaft. The mofque of this Pacha is boaſted as a ma-
fterpiece of eaſtern taſte. The bazar, or covered mar-
ket, is not inferior even to thofe of Aleppo; and ite
public fountain furpaffes in elegance thofe of Damafcus,
though the water is of a very indifferent quality. The
Pacha has derived the more honour from thefe works,
as he was himfelf both the engineer and architect :
he formed the plans, drew the defigns, and fuperin-
tended the execution.
The port of Acre is one of the beſt ſituated on the
coaft, as it is ſheltered from the north and north-weit
winds by the town itſelf; but it is greatly choaked up
fince the time of Fakr-el-din. Djezzar has contented
himſelf with making a landing-place for boats.. The
fortifications, though more frequently repaired than
any other in all Syria, are of no importance: there
are only a few wretched low towers, near the port,
on which cannon are mounted; and theſe rufty iron
pieces are ſo bad, that fome of them burit every time.
they are fired. Its defence on the land fide is merely
a garden-wall, without any ditch.
Corn and cotton form the bafis of the commerce of
Acre, which is becoming more flouriſhing every day.
Of late, the Pacha, by an abufe common throughout.
all the Turkish empire, has monopolized all the trade.
in his own hands; no cotton can be fold but to him, .
and from him every purchaſe muſt be made. In vain.
have the European merchants claimed the privileges
granted
Acre.
A CR
[ 94
A CR
]
Acre.
t
granted them by the Sultan; Djezzar replied, that he
was the Sultan in his country, and continued his mo-
nopoly. Theſe merchants in general are French, and
have fix houſes at Acre, with a conful: an Imperial
agent too is lately ſettled there; alſo a refident for
Ruffia.
That part of the bay of Acre in which fhips an-
chor with the greateft fecurity lies to the north of
Mount Carmel, below the village of Haifa (commonly
called Caiffa). The bottom is good holding ground,
and does not chafe the cables; but the harbour is open
to the north-west wind, which blows violently along
all this coaſt. Mount Carmel, which commands it to
the fouth, is a flattened cone, and very rocky; it is
about 2000 feet high. We ftill find among the
brambles wild vines and olive trees, which prove that
induſtry has formerly been employed even in this un-
grateful foil: on the fummit is a chapel dedicated to
the prophet Elias, which affords an extenfive profpect
over the fea and land. It is 20 miles S. of Tyre, and
37 N. of Jerufalem. E. long. 39. 25. lat. 32. 40.
ACRE, in the Mogul's dominions, the fame with
lack, and fignifies the fum of 100,000 rupees; the ru-
pee is of the value of the French crown of three livres,
or 30 fols of Holland; an 100 lacks of rupees make
a couron in Indoftan, or 10,000,000 rupees: the pound
Sterling about eight rupees; according to which
proportion, a lack of rupees amounts to 12,500 pounds
Sterling.
ACRE, the univerfal meaſure of land in Britain.
The word (formed from the Saxon acher, or the Ger-
man aker, a field), did not originally fignify a deter-
mined quantity of land, but any open ground, efpe-
cially a wide champaign; and in this antique fenfe it
feems to be preſerved in the names of places, as Caftle-
acre, Weft-acre, &c. An acre in England contains
four ſquare roods, a rood 40 perches or poles of 16
feet each by ſtatute. Yet this meaſure does not pre-
vail in all parts of England, as the length of the pole
varies in different counties, and is called customary mea-
fure, the difference running from the 16 feet to 28.
The acre is alfo divided into 1o fquare chains, of 22
yards each, that is, 4840 fquare yards. An acre in
Scotland contains four fquare roods; one fquare rood
is 40 fquare falls; one fquare fall, 36 fquare ells; one
fquare ell, nine fquare feet and 73 fquare inches; one
fquare foot, 144 fquare inches. The Scots acre is alfo
divided into o fquare chains; the meaſuring chain
fhould be 24 ells in length, divided into 100 links,
each link 8,928 inches; and fo one fquare chain will
contain 10,000 fquare links. The Engliſh ftatute-acre
is about three roods and fix falls ftandard meaſure of
Scotland.
I
The French acre, arpent, contains 14 English acre,
or 54,450 fquare English feet, whereof the Engliſh
acre contains only 43,560.-The Strafburg acre is a-
bout half an English acre.The Welf acre contains
commonly two Engliſh ones.-The Irish acre is equal
to one acre two roods and 19 perches 777, Engliſh.
27
Dr Grew attempts to aſcertain the number of acres in
England, which, according to him, amounts to 46
millions and 80,oco. The United Provinces are faid
to contain 4,382,000 acres: The province of Holland
but one million of acres. The territory of the United
States of America, according to calculations lately
made by order of Congrefs, contains 589 millions of Acre-Fight
acres, exclufive of water, which is computed at 51
millions more.
ACRE-Fight, an old fort of duel fought by English
and Scottiſh combatants, between the frontiers of their
kingdoms, with fword and lance: it was alfo called
camp-fight, and the combatants champions, from the
open field being the ſtage of trial.
ACRE-Tax, a tax laid on land at fo much per acre.
In fome places this is alfo called acre-fhot. Impofitions
on lands in the great level are to be raiſed by a pro-
portionable acre-tax, 20 Car. II. cap. 8.-An acre-tax
of 2s. 6d. per acre, for draining Hadenham-level, 13
Geo. I. cap. 18.
ACRIBEIA, a term purely Greek, literally deno-
ting an exquifite or delicate accuracy; fometimes uſed
in our language, for want of a word of equal fignifica-
tion
ACRID, a name for any thing that is of a fharp or
pungent taſte. See MATERIA MEDICA.
Acrido-
phagi.
* Lib. iii.
ACRIDOPHAGI, in the ancient geography, an
Ethiopian people, reprefented as inhabiting near the
deferts, and to have fed on locufts. This latter cir-
cumftance their name imports; the word being com-
pounded of the Greek anpis locuft, and payo to eat. We
have the following account of them by Diodorus Si-
culus *. Their ftature was lower than that of other
men; they were meagre, and extremely black. In the & xxxix.
fpring, high weft winds drove from the defart to their AlfoStrabo,
quarter locufts of an extraordinary fize, and remarkable lib. xvi.
for the fqualid colour of their wings.
So great was
the number of thefe infects, that they were the only
fuftenance of the barbarians, who took them in the fol-
lowing manner: At the diſtance of fome ftadia from
their habitations there was a wide and deep valley.
They filled this valley with wood and wild herbs, with
which their country abounded. When the cloud of
locufts appeared, which were driven on by the wind,
they ſet fire to the fuel which they had collected. The
fmoke which arofe from this immenfe fire was fo thick,
that the locufts, in croffing the valley, were ftifled by
it, and fell in heaps on the ground. The paffage of
the locufts being thus intercepted for many days, they
made a large provifion of thoſe infects. As their coun-
try produced great quantities of falt, they falted them,
to render them more palatable, and to make them keep
till the next feafon. This peculiar fupply was their
fole food: they had neither herds nor flocks. They
were unacquainted with fiſhing; for they lived at a dif-
tance from the fea. They were very active, and ran
with great ſwiftneſs. But their life was not of long
duration; it exceeded not forty years. The clofe of
their life was extremely miſerable; for in their old age,
winged lice of different, but all of ugly forms, bred in
their bodies. This malady, which began in the breaſt
and belly, foon ſpread through the whole frame. The
patient at firſt felt an itching; and the agreeable ſen-
fation produced by his fcratching of himſelf, preceded
a moſt deplorable calamity. For when thofe lice,
which had bred in his body, forced their way out,
they caufed effufions of corrupt blood, with excrucia
ting pains in the fkin. The unhappy man, with la-
mentable cries, was induftrious himſelf to make paf-
fages for them with his nails. In fhort, theſe lice if-
fued forth fucceffively from the wounds made by the
hands
ACR
A CR
[ 95
]
1
}
Acrido- hands of the patient, as from a veffel full of holes, and
phagi. in fuch numbers that it was impoffible to exterminate
them.-Whether this extraordinary and dreadful dif-
temper was occafioned by the food of the inhabitants
of this country, or by a peftilential quality of their
climate, it is difficult to determine. Indeed, as to the
credibility of the whole account, we must leave the
reader to judge.
But though the circumftances of theſe people fhould
be deemed fabulous, yet may the acridophagia be true.
It is well known, that to this day the inhabitants of
Ethiopia, Arabia, &c. frequently ufe locufts as food.
The reader will not be diſpleaſed if we lay before him
the reſult of Dr Haffelquift's inquiries as to this parti-
cular, who travelled in Syria and Egypt fo late as the
year 1752. This ingenious gentleman, who travelled
with a view to improve natural history, informs us,
that he aſked Franks, and many other people who had
lived long in thefe countries, whether they had ever
heard that the inhabitants of Arabia, Ethiopia, &e.
ufed locufts as food. They anfwered that they had.
He likewife afked the fame queſtion of Armenians,
Cophtes, and Syrians, who lived in Arabia, and had
travelled in Syria and near the Red Sea ; fome of whom
ſaid they heard of fuch a practice, and others that they
had often feen the people eat theſe infects. He at laft
obtained complete fatisfaction on this head from a
learned fheck at Cairo, who had lived fix years in Mec-
ca.
This gentleman told him, in prefence of M. le
Grand the principal French interpreter at Cairo, and
others, that a famine frequently rages at Mecca when
there is a ſcarcity of corn in Egypt, which obliges the
inhabitants to live upon coarfer food than ordinary:
That when corn is fcarce, the Arabians grind the lo-
cufts in hand-mills, or ſtone-mortars, and bake them
into cakes, and uſe theſe cakes in place of bread :
That he has frequently feen locufts ufed by the Ara-
bians, even when there was no ſcarcity of corn; but
then they boil them, ftey them with butter, and make
them into a kind of fricaffee; which he ſays is not dif-
agreeably taſted, for he had fometimes tafted thefe lo-
cuft-fricaffees out of curiofity.
*
* Voyage to
A later traveller, Dr Sparrman, informs us
the Cope,
"That locufts fometimes afford a high treat to
vol.1. p. 36. the more unpoliſhed and remote hordes of the Hot-
tentots; when, as fometimes happens, after an inter-
val of 8, 10, 15, or 20 years, they make their appear
ance in incredible numbers. At thefe times they come
from the north, migrating to the fouthward, and do
not ſuffer themſelves to be impeded by any obſtacles,
but fly boldly on, and are drowned in the fea whenever
they come to it. The females of this race of infects,
which are moſt apt to migrate, and are chiefly eaten,
are faid not to be able to fly; partly by reaſon of the
fhortness of their wings, and partly on account of
their being heavy and diftended with eggs; and fhort-
ly after they have laid thefe in the fand, they are faid
to die. It is particularly of theſe that the Hottentots
make a brown coffee-coloured foup, which, at the ſame
time, acquires from the eggs a fat and greafy appear-
The Hottentots are highly rejoiced at the ar-
rival of theſe locufts, though they are fure to deftroy
every bit of verdure on the ground: but the Hotten-
tots make themfelves ample amends for this lofs, by
falling foul on the animals themſelves, cating them in
ance.
fuch quantities as in the ſpace of a few days to get
viſibly fatter and in better condition than before."
The abbé Poiret, alfo, in his Memoir on the Infects
of Barbary and Numidia, informs us, "That the
Moors make locufts a part of their food; that they
go to hunt them; fry them in oil and butter; and fell
them publicly at Tunis, at Bonne," &c.
From thefe accounts, we may fee the folly of that
difpute among divines about the nature of St John's
food in the wilderneſs: fome maintaining the original
word to fignify the fruits of certain trees; others, a
kind of birds, &c.: but thoſe who adhered to the li-
teral meaning of the text were at leaſt the moſt ortho-
dox, although their arguments were perhaps not fo
ftrong as they might have been, had they had an op-
portunity of quoting fuch authors as the above.
ACRISIUS, king of Argos (fab. hift.), being told
by the oracle that he ſhould be killed by his grandchild,
fhut up his only daughter Danaë in a brazen tower :
but Jupiter coming down in a golden fhewer, begot
Perfeus upon her: after Perfeus had flain the Gorgons,
he carried Medufa's head to Argos; which Acrifius
feeing, was turned into a ſtatue.
ACRITAS (anc. geog.), a promontory of Meffe-
nia, running into the fea, and forming the beginning
of the bay of Meffene. Now called Capo di Gallo,
between Methone to the weft, and Corone to the eaſt,
where the Sinus Coronæus begins.
ACROAMATIC, or ACROATIC, in general, de-
notes a thing fublime, profound, or abſtrufe.
ACROAMATICI, a denomination given the dif
ciples or followers of Ariſtotle, &c. who were admit-
ted into the fecrets of the inner or acroamatic philo-
fophy.
ACROATIC. Ariftotle's lectures to his diſciples
were of two kinds, exoteric and acroatic. The acroa-
tic were thofe to which only his own difciples and in--
timate friends were admitted; whereas the exoteric
were public, and open to all. But there are other dif-
ferences. The acroatic were fet apart for the higher
and more abftrufe fubjects; the exoteric were employ-
ed in rhetorical and civil fpeculations. Again, the
acroatics were more fubtile and exact, evidence and de-
monftration being here aimed at; the exoterics chiefly
aimed at the probable and plaufible. The former were
the fubject of the mornings exerciſes in the Lyceum,
the latter of the evenings. Add, that the exoterics
were publiſhed: whereas the acroatics were kept ſecret;
being either entirely concealed; or, if they were pub
lifhed, it was in fuch obfcure terms, that few but his
own difciples could be the wifer for them. Hence,
when Alexander complained of his preceptor for pub-
lifhing his acroatics, and thus revealing what fhould
have been referved to his difciples, Ariftotle anſwered,
that they were made public and not public; for that
none who had not heard them explained by the author
viva voce, would underſtand them.
ACROATHOUM, or ACROTHOUм (anc. geog.),
a town fituated on the top of mount Athos, where the
inhabitants, according to Mela, were longer lived by
half than in any other country: called by the modern
Greeks, Ayov ogos; by the Italians, La Cima di Monte
Santo.
ACROBATICA, or ACROBATICUM, from axpos,
high, and Baliw, or fauw, I go; an ancient engine,
whereby
Acrifius
11
Acrobatica.
ACT
[ 96 ]
ACT
raunia
Acropolis.
Acrofto-
lium.
this plain; and hence its name: To the north it had a Acropolita
wall, built by the Pelafgi, and therefore called Pelaf-
gic; and to the fouth a wall, by Cymon the ſon of Mil-
tiades, out of the Perfian ſpoils, many ages after the
building of the north wall. It had nine gates, and
was therefore called Enneapylon; yet but one principal
gate or entrance, the afcent to which was by a flight
of fteps of white marble, built by Pericles with great
magnificence, (Plutarch).
Acroce whereby people were raiſed aloft, that they might fee
more conveniently about them. The acrobatica among
the Greeks amounted to the fame with what they call
Scanforium among the Latins. Authors are divided
as to the office of this engine. Turnebus and Barba-
rus take it to have been of the military kind, raifed
by befiegers, high enough to overlook the walls, and
diſcover the ſtate of things on the other fide. Baldus
rather fuppofes it a kind of moveable fcaffold, or cradle,
contrived for raifing painters, platterers, and other
workmen, to the tops of houfes, trees, &c. Some
fufpect that it might have been uſed for both purpoſes;
which is the opinion of Vitruvius and Aquinas.
།
ACROCERAUNIA, or MONTES CERAUNII (anc.
geog.), mountains running out into the fea (fo called
from their being often thunderstruck), feparating the
Ionian fea from the Adriatic; where Illyria ends and
Epirus begins; now called Monti della Chimera.
ACROCHERISMUS, among the Greeks, a fort
of gymnaſtic exerciſe, in which the two combatants
contended with their hands and fingers only, without
clofing or engaging the other parts of the body.
ACROCORINTHUS (anc. geog.), a high and
fteep hill, hanging over the city of Corinth, which was
taken within the walls, as an acropolis, or citadel. On
its top ſtood a temple of Venus; and lower down iffued
the fountain Pyrene.
ACROMIÓN, in anatomy, the upper part of the
ſcapula or ſhoulder-blade. See ANATOMY.
ACROMONOGRAMMATICUM, in poetry, a
kind of poem, wherein every fubfequent verfe begins
with the letter wherewith the immediately preceding
-one terminated.
ACRON, a celebrated phyfician of Agrigentum,
who first thought of lighting large fires, and purify-
ing the air with perfumes, to put a stop to the pefti-
lence that ravaged Athens, and which was attended
with fuccefs. He lived about 473 years before the
· Chriftian æra.
ACRON, a territory on the gold-coaſt of Guinea, in
Africa, bordering on the Fantynean country. The
Dutch have a fort here called Fort Patience; and un-
der it is a village, inhabited only by fifhermen. The
other inhabitants are addicted to huſbandry, and fell
their corn to other countries. There is plenty of game,
which is very commodious for the Dutch factory. The
people are very ignorant, and go naked like the reft of
the negroes. This is called Little Acron; for Great
Acron is farther inland, and is a kind of a republic.
ACRONICAL, ACHRONYCAL, or ACHRONICAL,
in aftronomy, is a term applied to the rifing of a ſtar,
when the fun is fet in the evening; but has been pro-
miſcuouſly uſed to expreſs a ſtar's rifing at funfet, or
fetting at fun-rife.
AČRONIUS LACUS, (Mela); a fmall lake formed
-by the Rhine, foon after its rife out of the Alps, and
after paffing the greater lake at Conftance, called Ve-
netus, and now the Bodengee, or lake of Conftance.
ACROPOLIS (anc. geog.), the citadel, and one
of the divifions of Athens; called Polis, becauſe con-
flituting the firſt and original city; and the Upper Po-
lis, to diſtinguiſh it from the Lower, which was after-
wards built round it in a large open plain, the Acro-
polis ſtanding on a rock or eminence in the heart of
N° 3.
-ACROPOLITA (George), one of the writers in
the Byzantine hiftory, was born at Conſtantinople, in
the year 1220, and brought up at the court of the em-
peror John Ducas at Nice. He was employed in the
moft important affairs of the empire; being fent am-
baffador to Lariffa, to eſtabliſh a peace with Michael
of Epirus; and was conftituted judge to try Michael
Comnenus, fufpected of engaging in a confpiracy.
Theodorus Laſcaris, the ſon of John, whom he had
taught logic, appointed him governor of all the weftern
provinces in his empire. In 1255, he was taken pri-
foner in a war with Michael Angelus: but gaining his
liberty in 1260, by means of the emperor Palæologus,
he was fent by him ambaffador to Conftantine prince of
Bulgaria; and was employed in feveral other negocia-
tions. He wrote, A Continuation of the Greek Hi-
ftory, from the taking of Conftantinople by the Latins
till it was recovered by Michael Palæologus in 1261,
which makes part of the Byzantine hiſtory; A Trea-
tiſe concerning Faith, Virtue, and the Soul; An Ex-
pofition of the Sermons of St Gregory Nazianzen and
other pieces. Gregory Cyprian, patriarch of Con-
ftantinople, in his encomium upon him, prefixed to
Acrapolita's hiſtory, is perhaps fomewhat extravagant
in his praife, when he fays he was equal to Ariftotle
in philofophy, and to Plato in the knowledge of divine
things and Attic eloquence.
AČROSPIRE, a vulgar term for what botaniſts call
the plume. See the article PLANTS.
ÂCROSPIRED, in malt-making, is the grain's
ſhooting both at the root and blade end.
ACROSTIC, in poetry, a kind of poetical compo-
fition, diſpoſed in ſuch a manner, that the initial letters
of the verfes form the name of fome perfon, kingdom,
place, motto, &c. The word is compounded of the
Greek axp, extremity, and olx, verſe. The acroftic
is confidered by the critics as a ſpecies of falfe wit, and
is therefore very little regarded by the moderns.
ACROSTICUM, RUSTYBACK, WALL-RUE, or
FORK-FERN, in botany, a genus of the cryptogamia
filices. The fructifications are accumulated on the
whole inferior ſurface of the frond, fo that they every-
where cover it. There are upwards of 30 fpecies;
but only three of them (according to others, two)
are natives of Britain, viz. the feptentrionale, or horn-
ed fern, which grows on walls or clifts of rocks; the
ilvenfe, or hairy fern, growing in clifts of rocks; and
the thelypteris, or marſh-fern, in turfy bogs.
ACKOSTOLIUM, in ancient naval architecture,
the extreme part of the ornament uſed on the prows of
their ſhips, which was fometimes in the fhape of a
buckler, helmet, animal, &c. ; but more frequently cir
cular, or fpiral. It was ufual to tear them from the
prows of vanquifhed veffels, and fix them to the con-
querors, as a fignal of victory,
ACRO-
+
A C T
[
ACT
97 ]
Acroteleu ACROTELEUTIC, among ecclefiaftic writers, an
appellation given to any thing added to the end of a
pfalm; as the Gloria Patri, or Doxology.
tic
Act.
ACROTERIA, in architecture, fmall pedeftals,
uſually without baſes, anciently placed at the middle
or two extremes of pediments or frontifpieces, ferving
to ſupport the ſtatues, &c. It alſo fignifies the figures
placed as ornaments on the tops of churches, and the
Tharp pinnacles that ftand in ranges about flat buildings
with rails and balluſters.
Among ancient phyficians, it fignified the larger ex-
tremities of the body, as the head, hands, and feet.
It has alſo been uſed for the tips of the fingers, and
fometimes for the eminences or proceffes of bones.
ACROTHYMION, from axp, extreme, and buμor,
thyme. A fort of wart deſcribed by Celfus as hard,
rough, with a narrow bafis and broad top; the top is
of the colour of thyme, it eafily ſplits and bleeds.
This tumour is alſo called thymus.
ACT, in general, denotes the exertion of power;
and differs from power, as the effect from the cauſe.
Acr, in logic, is particularly underſtood of an ope-
ration of the human mind. Thus to difcern and ex-
amine, are acts of the underſtanding; to judge and af-
firm, are acts of the will. There are voluntary and
fpontaneous acts; the former are produced by the o-
peration of the foul, the latter without its privity or
participation.
ACT, in the univerſities, fignifies a thefis maintained
in public by a candidate for a degree, or to fhow the
capacity and proficiency of a ſtudent. The candidates
for a degree of bachelor and maſter of arts are to hold
philofophical Acts; and thofe for bachelor of divinity,
theological Acts, &c. At Oxford, the time when ma-
fters or doctors complete their degrees is alfo called the
act; which is held with great folemnity. At Cam-
bridge, they call it the commencement.
Acr of Faith, Auto da Fe, in the Romish church,
is a folemn day held by the inquifition, for the puniſh-
ment of heretics, and the abſolution of the innocent ac-
* See Inqui- cuſed*. They ufually contrive the Auto to fall on fome
fition. great feſtival, that the execution may pafs with the
more awe and regard; at leaſt it is always on a Sunday.
The Auto da Fe may be called the last act of the
inquifitorial tragedy; it is a kind of goal-delivery, ap-
pointed as oft as a competent number of prifoners in
the inquifition are convicted of herefy, either by their
own voluntary, or extorted confeffion, or on the evi-
dence of certain witneffes. The procefs is thus: in the
morning they are brought into a great hall, where
they have certain habits put on, which they are to wear
in the proceffion. The proceffion is led up by domi-
nican friars; after which come the penitents, fome with
fan-benitoes, and fome without, according to the na-
ture of their crimes; being all in black coats without
fleeves, and bare-footed, with a wax candle in their
hands. Theſe are followed by the penitents who have
narrowly eſcaped being burnt, who over their black
coats have flames painted with their points turned down-
wards, Feugo revolto. Next come the negative, and
relapſed, who are to be burnt, having flames on their
habits pointing upwards. After theſe come fuch as pro-
fefs doctrines contrary to the faith of Rome, who, be-
fides flames pointing upwards, have their picture paint-
ed on their breafts, with dogs, ferpents, and devils, all
VOL. I. Part I.
open-mouthed, about it. Each prifoner is attended
with a familiar of the inquifition; and thoſe to be burnt
have alſo a Jeſuit on each hand, who are continually
preaching to them to abjure. After the prifoners, comes
a troop of familiars on horſeback; and after them the
inquifitors, and other officers of the court, on mules ;
laft of all, the inquifitor-general on a white horſe, led
by two men with black hats and green hat-bands. A
fcaffold is erected in the Terriero de Paio, big enough
for two or three thouſand people; at one end of which
are the priſoners, at the other the inquifitors. After
a fermon made up of encomiums of the inquifition, and
invectives againft heretics, a prieft afcends a deſk near
the middle of the ſcaffold, and having taken the abjura-
tion of the penitents, recites the final ſentence of thoſe
who are to be put to death; and delivers them to the
fecular arm, earneftly befeeching at the fame time the
fecular power not to touch their blood, or put their
lives in danger. The prifoners being thus in the hands
of the civil magiftrate, are preſently loaded with chains,
and carried firſt to the fecular goal, and from thence in
an hour or two brought before the civil judge; who,
after afking in what religion they intend to die, pro-
nounces fentence, on fuch as declare they die in the
communion of the church of Rome, that they ſhall be
firſt ſtrangled, and then burnt to afhes; on ſuch as die
in any other faith, that they be burnt alive. Both are
immediately carried to the Ribera, the place of execu
tion; where there are as many ſtakes fet up as there are
prifoners to be burnt, with a quantity of dry furz a-
bout them. The ſtakes of the profeffed, that is, ſuch
as perfift in their herefy, are about four yards high, ha-
ving a ſmall board towards the top for the prifoner to
be feated on. The negative and relapfed being firſt
ftrangled and burnt, the profeffed mount their ſtakes
by a ladder; and the Jeſuits, after ſeveral repeated ex-
hortations to be reconciled to the church, part with
them, telling them they leave them to the devil, who
is ftanding at their elbow to receive their fouls, and
carry them with him into the flames of hell.
a great fhout is raiſed; and the cry is, Let the dogs
beards be made; which is done by thrufing flaming
furzes faltened to long poles against their faces, till
their faces are burnt to a coal, which is accompanied
with the loudeft acclamations of joy. At laft, fire is ſet
to the furz at the bottom of the ftake, over which the
profeffed are chained fo high, that the top of the flame
feldom reaches higher than the feat they fit on; ſo that
they rather ſeem roaſted than burnt. There cannot be
a more lamentable ſpectacle; the fufferers continually
cry out, while they are able, Mifericordia per amor de
Dios, "Pity for the love of God!" yet it is beheld by all
fexes, and ages, with tranſports of joy and fatisfaction.
•
On this
ACT, in dramatic poetry, fignifies a certain divi-
fion, or part, of a play, defigned to give fome refpite
both to the actors and fpectators. The Romans were
the first who divided their theatrical pieces into acts :
for no fuch divifions appear in the works of the firft
dramatic poets. Their pieces indeed confifted of feve-
ral parts or divifions, which they called protafis, epi-
tafis, cataftafis, and catastrophe; but thefe divifions were
not marked by any real interruptions on the theatre.
Nor does Ariftotle mention any thing of acts in his Art
of Poetry. But, in the time of Horace, all regular
and finiſhed pieces were divided into five acts.
N
Neuve
A&.
ACT
ACT
[
98 ]
Aû
Acta.
Neuve minor, neu fit quinto productior actu
Fabula, quæ pofci vult & fpectata reponi.
The first act, according to fome critics, befides in-
troducing upon the ftage the principal characters of the
play, ought to propoſe the argument or fubject of the
piece; the fecond, to exhibit this to the audience, by
carrying the fable into execution; the third, to raiſe ob
ftacles and difficulties: the fourth, to remove theſe, or
raiſe new ones in the attempt; and the fifth, to con-
clude the piece, by introducing fome accident that may
unravel the whole affair. This divifion, however, is
nct effentially neceffary; but may be varied according
to the humour of the author, or the nature of the fub-
ject. See POETRY, Part II. Sect. i.
Act of Grace. See GRACE.
ACT, among lawyers, is an inftrument in writing for
declaring or juſtifying the truth of any thing. In which
fenſe, records, decrees, fentences, reports, certificates,
&c. are called acts.
Acтs, alfo denote the deliberations and reſolutions
of an affembly, fenate, or convention; as acts of parlia-
ment, &c. Likewife matters of fact tranſmitted to
pofterity in certain authentic books and memoirs.
ACTA Confiftorii, the edicts or declarations of the
council of ſtate of the emperors.. Theſe edicts were
generally expreffed in fuch terms as thefe :
guft emperors, Dioclefian and Maximian, in council de-
clared, That the children of Decurions fhould not be
expoſed to wild beaſts in the amphitheatre.'
>>
"The au-
The fenate and foldiers often, fwore, either through
abject flattery or by compulfion, upon the edicts of the
emperor, as we do upon the bible. And the name of
Apidius Merula was erafed by Nero out of the regiſter
of fenators, becauſe he refuſed to fwear upon the edicts
of the emperor Auguftus..
ACTA Diurna, was a fort of Roman gazette, con-
taining an authorized narrative of the tranfactions wor-
thy of notice which happened at Rome. Fetronius has
given us a fpecimen of the acta diurna in his account
of Trimalchis; and as it may not perhaps be unenter-
taining to ſee how exactly a Roman newſpaper runs in
the ftyle of an Engliſh one, the following is an article
or two out of it:
"On the 26th of July, 30 boys and 40 girls were
born at Trimalchi's eftate at Cuma.
"At the fame time a flave was put to death for ut-
tering diſreſpectful words againſt his lord.
"The fame day a fire broke out in Pompey's gardens,
which began in the night, in the ſteward's apartment.”
ACTA Populi, among the Romans, were journals or
regiſters of the daily occurrences; as affemblies, trials,
executions, buildings, births, marriages, deaths, &c.
of illuſtrious perfons, and the like. Theſe were other
wife called Acta Publica, and Acta Diurna, or fimply
Acta. The Acta differed from Annals, in that only
the greater and more important matters were in the
latter, and thoſe of leſs note were in the former. Their
origin is attributed to Julius Cæfar, who firft ordered
the keeping and making public the acts of the people.
Some trace them higher, to Servius Tullius; who, to
diſcover the number of perfons born, dead, and alive,
ordered that the next of kin,. upon a birth, fhould put
a certain piece of money into the treafury of Juno Lu-
aina; upon a death, into that of Venus Libitina: the
like was alſo to be done upon affuming the toga virilis,
&c. Under Marcus Antoninus, this was carried fur-
ther: perfons were obliged to notify the births of their
children, with their names and furnames, the day, con-
ful, and whether legitimate or fpurious, to the præfects
of the Erarium Saturni, to be entered in the public
acts; though before this time the births of perfons of
quality appear thus to have been regiſtered.
ACTA Senatus, among the Romans, were minutes
of what paffed and was debated in the fenate-houſe.
Thefe were alſo.called Commentarii, and by a Greek
name υπομνηματα. They had their
They had their origin in the con-
fulfhip of Julius Cæfar, who ordered them both to be
kept and publiſhed. The keeping them was continued
under Auguftus, but the publication was abrogated.
Afterwards all writings, relating to the decrees or ſen-
tences of the judges, or what paffed and was done be-
fore them, or by their authority, in any caufe, were
alfo called by the name Acta:. In which ſenſe we read
of civil acts, criminal acts, intervenient acts; acta ci-
vilia, criminalıa, intervenientia, &c.
ACTS.
Public Acts. The knowledge of public acts forms
part of a peculiar fcience, called the DIPLOMATIC,
of great importance to an hiftorian, ftatefman, chro-
nologer, and even critic. The preſervation of them
was the firſt occafion of erecting libraries. The ſtyle
of acts is generally barbarous Latin. Authors are di-
vided as to the rules of judging of their genuineness,
and even whether there be any certain rules at all. F.
Germon will have the greater part of the acts of former
ages to be ſpurious. Fontanini afferts, that the num-
ber of forged acts now extant is very fmall.
It is cer-
tain there were fevere puniſhments inflicted on the for-
gers and falfifiers of acts.-The chief of the Engliſh.
acts, or public records, are publiſhed by Rymer, under
the title of Fadera, and continued by Saunderfon; an
extract whereof has been given in French by Rapin, and
tranflated into Engliſh under the title of Acta Regia.
Great commendations have been given this work: alſo
fome exceptions made to it; as that there are many ſpu-
rious acts, as well as errors, in it; fome have even char-
ged it with falfifications.-The public acts of France
fell into the hands of the Engliſh after the battle of
Poitiers, and are commonly faid to have been carried
by them out of the country. But the tradition is not
fupported by any fufficient teftimony.
ACTS of the Apostles, one of the facred books of the.
New Teftament,,containing the hiftory of the infant-
church, during the ſpace of 29 or 30 years from the
afcenfion of our Lord to the year of Chriſt 63.- It was
written by St Luke; and addreffed to Theophilus, the
perfon to whom the evangelift had before dedicated his
gofpel. We here find the accompliſhment of feveral of
the promifes made by our Saviour; his afcenfion; the
defcent of the Holy Ghoft; the firft preaching of the a-
poftles, and the miracles whereby their doctrines were
confirmed; an admirable picture of the manners of the
primitive Chriftians; and, in fhort, every thing that
paffed in the church till the difperfion of the apoftles,
who feparated themfelves in order to propagate the
gofpel throughout the world. From the period of that
feparation, St Luke quits the hiftory of the other apo-
ftles, who were then at too great a diſtance from him,
and confines himſelf more particularly to that of St
Paul, who had chofen him for the companion of his
labours. He follows that apoftle in all his miffions,
Acta,
Acts.
2
and.
ACT
[ 99
ACT
]
$
Ads.
and even to Rome itſelf; for it appears that the Acts
were publiſhed in the fecond year of St Paul's refidence
in that city, or the 36th year of the Chriſtian æra, and
in the 9th or 10th year of Nero's reign. The ſtyle of
this work, which was originally compoſed in Greek, is
much purer than that of the other canonical writers;
and it is obfervable, that St Luke, who was much better
acquainted with the Greek than with the Hebrew lan-
guage, always, in his quotations from the Old Tefta-
ment, makes uſe of the Septuagint verfion. The coun-
cil of Laodicea places the Acts of the Apoftles among
the canonical books, and all the churches have acknow-
ledged it as fuch without any controverſy.
There were feveral Spurious ACTS OF THE Aro-
STLES; particularly, I. Acts, fuppofed to be written
*See Abdias. by Abdias*, the pretended biſhop of Babylon, who
gave out that he was ordained biſhop by the apoſtles
themfelves when they were upon their journey into
Perfia. II. The Acts of St Peter: this book came o-
riginally from the ſchool of the Ebionites. III. The
Acts of St Paul, which is entirely loft. Eufebius, who
had ſeen it, pronounces it of no authority. IV. The
Acts of St John the Evangelift; a book made uſe of by
the Encratites, Manichæans, and Prifcillianifts. V. The
Acts of St Andrew; received by the Manichæans, En-
cratites, and Apotactics. VI. The Acts of St Thomas
the Apoſtle; received particularly by the Manichæans.
VII. The Acts of St Philip. This book the Gnoftics
made uſe of. VIII. The Acts of St Matthias. Some
have imagined that the Jews for a long time had con-
cealed the original acts of the life and death of St Mat-
thias written in Hebrew; and that a monk of the ab-
bey of St Matthias at Treves, having got them out of
their hands, procured them to be tranflated into Latin,
and publiſhed them; but the critics will not allow them
to be authentic.
+ Eufebii
lib.ii.cap.2.
and ix. 5.
Acts of Pilate; a relation fent by Pilate to the em
peror Tiberius, concerning Jefus Chrift, his death, re-
furrection, afcenfion, and the crimes of which he was
convicted before him t. It was a cuſtom among the
Hift. Ecclef. Romans, that the proconfuls and governors of provin-
ces fhould draw up acts, or memoirs, of what happened
in the courſe of their government, and fend them to the
emperor and fenate. The genuine acts of Pilate were
fent by him to Tiberius, who reported them to the fe-
nate; but they were rejected by that affembly, becauſe
not immediately addreffed to them: as is teftified by
Tertullian, in his Apol. cap. 5. and 20, 21. The
heretics forged acts in imitation of them: in the reign
of the emperor Maximin, the Gentiles, to throw an
odium on the Chriftian name, fpread about fpurious
Acts of Pilate; which the emperor, by a folemn edict,
ordered to be fent into all the provinces of the empire,
and enjoined the ſchool-mafters to teach and explain
them to their ſcholars, and make them learn them by
heart. Thefe acts, both the genuine and the ſpurious,
are loft. There is indeed extant, in the Pfeudo-Hege-
fippus, a letter from Pilate to the emperor Claudius,
Cave Hift. concerning Jefus Chrift; but it difcovers itſelf at
firſt ſight not to be authentic.
Literar.
Sec. Apoftol.
Act of Parliament is a pofitive law, confifting of
two parts, the words of the act, and its true fenfe and
meaning; which being joined, make the law. The
words of acts of parliament ſhould be taken in a lawful
fenfe.
Cafes of the fame nature are within the inten-
حمد
tion, though without the letter, of the act; and ſome
acts extend by equity to things not mentioned therein.
See PARLIAMENT.
ACTÆ, were meadows of remarkable verdure and
luxuriancy near the ſea-ſhore, where the Romans uſed
to indulge themſelves to a great degree in ſoftneſs and
delicacy of living. The word is uſed in this ſenſe by
Cicero and Virgil; but Voffius thinks it can only be
uſed in ſpeaking of Sicily, as theſe two authors did.
ACTŒA, ACONITUM RACEMOSUM, HERB CRIS←
TOPHER, or BANE-BERRIES; a genus of the monogy-
nia order, belonging to the polyandria claſs of plants.
The characters are: The calyx is a perianthium con-
fiſting of four roundiſh, obtufe, concave leaves, which
fall off. The corrolla confiſts of four petals, larger than
the calyx, pointed at both ends, and falling off. The
ftamina confiſt of numerous capillary filaments; the an-
there are roundish, erect, and didymous. The piftil-
lum has an ovate germen; no ftylus; the ftigma thick-
ifh and obliquely depreffed. The pericarpium is an o-
val fmooth one-furrow'd one-cell'd berry. The feeds
are very numerous, femiorbicular, and incumbent in a
double order.-This genus is affociated with the Mul-
tifiliqua, the 26th natural order. There are four
Species and properties. 1. The fpicata, or common
herb-chriftopher, is a native in feveral parts of Britain.
It grows to the height of about two feet and an half;
the foot-ſtalks of the leaves ariſe from the root; thefe
divide into three ſmaller foot-ſtalks, each of which are
again divided into three, and theſe have each three lobes;
fo that each leaf is compoſed of 27 lobes or ſmaller leaves.
The flowers grow in ramous fpikes, and are of a pure
white: they are borne upon a ſlender, jointed, and fur-
rowed ftem; appear in May; and are fucceeded by black,
fhining, pulpy berries, about the fize of peas, which
ripen in the autumn. This plant is a powerful repel-
lent, and the root has been uſed internally in fome ner-
vous cafes, but muſt be adminiſtered with caution. The
berries are highly poiſonous. It is faid toads refort to
this plant, on account of its fetid ſmell. Sheep and
goats eat it; cows, horfes, and fwine, refufe it. 2. The
alba, or American herb-chriſtopher, is a native of North
America. The leaves of this ſpecies are ſomewhat like
the former, but not fo deeply indented in the edges.
The flowers grow in a more compact ſpike, and the
berries are very white and tranfparent when ripe; the
roots are compofed of thick knobs. This fpecies has
been uſed as an emetic, and fometimes called ipecaco-
anha. 3. The racemofa, or American black or wild
fnakeroot, is likewiſe a native of North America. It
has large compound leaves, rifing immediately from the
root, and branched after the fame manner as the firſt,
which grow more than two feet high. The flower-
ftem rifes to the height of four or five feet; and carries
a long ſpike of white flowers reflexed at the top. Theſe
appear in June or the beginning of July, but the feeds
do not come to maturity in Britain. The root of this
plant is greatly uſed by phyſicians in North America,
in many diforders; and is fuppofed to be an antidote a-
gainft poifon, or the biting of a rattle-fnake. 4. The
cimicifuga, is a native of Siberia; the leaves reſemble
thofe of the feathered columbine; the ſtalks rife little.
more than a foot high, fupporting particles of white
flowers, which appear in May. This ſpecies is rare in
Britain.
N 2
Culture.
Acta,
Actæa.
?
ACT
[ 100 ]
ACT
Aftæon
Actinia.
a full-blown flower, which has given it the denomina-
tion of the flower fish.
ACTIO, in Roman antiquities, an action at law in
a court of juſtice. The formalities ufed by the Ro--
mans, in judicial actions, were thefe: If the difference
failed to be made up by friends, the injured perſon pro--
ceeded in jus reum vocare, to fummon the offending
party to the court, who was obliged to go, or give bond
for his appearance.
Culture. The firft fpecies hath a perennial root,
but the ftalks annually decay. It may be propagated
either by feeds, or parting the roots, which fhould be
tranſplanted in autumn. The feeds fhould be fown foon
after they are ripe, or they will lie a whole year in the
ground before they vegetate. They fhould be fown in
a fhady border; and as all the plants do not come up at
the fame time, the border fhould not be difturbed till
the following autumn, when they fhould be tranfplanted
into a fhady border, where they may be allowed to re-
main and flower.-The fecond fpecies may be propaga-
ted in the fame manner; only the plants fhould be al-
lowed three feet every way, on account of their wide-
fpreading leaves. This fpecies delights in a light moilt
foil, and a fhady fituation. The third is ufually pro-
pagated by feeds fent annually from North America:
it thrives in the fame kind of foil as the former; and is
very hardy, requiring no other culture than the com-
mon flowering-fhrubs. The plants fhould not be often
removed, for that will prevent their flowering ftrong.-
The fourth requires a moift loamy foil, and fhady fitua-
tion. It may be propagated in the fame manner as the
others.
ACTÆON, in fabulous hiſtory, the fon of Ariſtæus
and Autonoe; a great hunter. He was turned by Di-
ana into a ſtag, for looking on her while bathing; and
died by his own dogs.
ACTANIA, an iſland, according to Pliny, in the
North fea. It lies to the weft of Holſtein and Dit-
merſch, not far from the mouth of the Eyder and Elbe,
and is now called Heyligland.
ACTE. See SAMBUCUS.
ACTIAN GAMES, in Roman antiquity, were folemn
games inftituted by Auguftus, in memory of his vic-
tory over Marc Anthony at Actium, held every fifth
year, and celebrated in honour of Apollo, fince called
Actius. Hence Actian Years, an æra commencing from
the battle of Actium, called the Era of Auguftus.
Virgil infinuates them to have been inftituted by Æ-
neas; from that paſſage Æn. III. v. 280.
Actiaque Iliacis celebramus littora ludis.
250.
EN. iii.
But this he only does by way of compliment to Auguf-
tus; attributing that to the hero from whom he de-
fcended, which was done by the emperor himfelf: as
is obferved by Servius.
ACTINIA, in zoology, a genus belonging to the
order of vermes mollufca. The body is oblong and
fmooth, attaching itſelf firmly by its bafis to rocks or
ether ſolid fubftances, having a dilatable apex hooked
within. The mouth is furniſhed with crooked teeth,
the roftrum cylindrical and radiated. There are five
fpecies, fome of which make a beautiful appearance,
and are called Animal Flowers, Sea Anemonies, and
Urtica Marina. See ANIMAL Flower.
Progreffive motion in thefe creatures is fo flow, that
it is difficult to perceive any, as they ſcarce advance the
length of one inch in an hour. It would feem they do
not all produce, when handled, the painful fenfation
which had acquired them 'the name of fea-nettles.-
They are viviparous, feed on fhell fish, open their mouth
more or lefs according to the fize of the prey they have
to deal with, and then reject the fhell through the fame
aperture. When the mouth is open, all the tentacula
of the actinia may be feen, refembling in that fituation
The offending party might be fummoned into court
viva voce, by the plaintiff himſelf meeting the defen-
dant, declaring his intention to him, and commanding:
him to go before the magiftrate and make his defence.
If he would not go willingly, he might drag and force
him along, unlefs he gave fecurity for his appearance
on ſome appointed day. If he failed to appear on the
day agreed on, then the plaintiff, whenfoever he met.
him, might take him along with him by force, calling
any by-ftanders to bear witneſs, by aſking them vifne
anteftari; the by-ftanders upon this turned their ear to-
wards him in token of their confent: To this Horace
alludes in his Sat. againſt the impertinent, Lib. i. Sat.
See this further explained under the article An-·
9.
TESTARI.
Both parties being met before the prætor, or other
fupreme magiftrate prefiding in the court, the plaintiff
propofed the action to the defendant; in which he de-
figned to profecute him. This they termed edere ac
tionem; and was commonly performed by writing it in
a tablet, and offering it to the defendant, that he might
fee whether he had better ſtand the fuit or com-
pound.
In the next place came the poftulatio actionis, or the
plaintiff's petition to the prætor, for leave to profecute ·
the defendant in fuch an action. The petition was
granted by writing at the bottom of it actionem do, or
refufed by writing in the fame manner actionem non.
do.
The petition being granted, the plaintiff vadabatur
reum, i. e. obliged him to give fureties for his appear-
ance on fuch a day in the court; and this was all that.
was done in public, before the day fixed upon for the
trial.
In the mean time, the difference was often made up,
either tranfactione, by letting the cauſe fall as dubious;
or puctione, by compofition for damages amongſt
friends.
On the day appointed for hearing, the prætor or-
dered the feveral bills to be read, and the parties fum-
moned by an accenfus, or beadle. See ACCENSI.
Upon the non-appearance of either party, the de-
faulter loft his caufe ;-if they both appeared, they
were faid fe ftetiffe; and then the plaintiff proceeded
litem five actionem intendere, i. e. to prefer his fuit,
which was done in a fet form of words, varying accor-
ding to the difference of the actions. After this the
plaintiff defired judgment of the prætor, that is, to be
allowed a judex or arbiter, or elfe the recuperatores of
centumviri. Thefe he requested for the hearing and
deciding the buſineſs; but none of them could be de-
fired but by the confent of both parties.
The prætor having affigned them their judges, de-
fined and determined the number of witneffes to be ad-
mitted, to hinder the protracting of the fuit; and
then the parties proceeded to give their caution, that
the
Actio.
A C T
[ 101 ]
ACT
which before had always been referred to feparate laws; Action.
and to reduce the laws of motion, and thoſe of equili-
brium, to one and the fame principle.
Action, the judgment, whatever it was, ſhould ſtand and be per-
formed on both fides. The judges took a folemn oath
to be impartial; and the parties took the juramentum
calumnia. Then the trial began with the affiſtance of
witneffes, writings,, &c. which was called difceptatio
cauſa.
ACTION, in a general fenfe, implies nearly the
fame thing with Acr.-Grammarians, however, ob-
ſerve ſome diſtinction between action and act; the for-
mer being generally reftricted to the common or ordi-
nary tranfactions, whereas the latter is uſed to exprefs
thoſe which are remarkable. Thus, we fay it is a good
action to comfort the unhappy; it is a generous act to
deprive ourſelves of what is neceffary, for their fake.
The wife man propoſes to himſelf an honeft end in all
his actions; a prince ought to mark every day of his life
with ſome act of greatneſs. The abbé Girard makes a
further diftinction between the words action and act.
The former, according to him, has more relation to the
power that acts than the latter; whereas the latter has
more relation to the effect produced than the former:
and hence the one is properly the attribute of the other.
Thus we may properly fay," Be fure to preſerve a
preſence of mind in all your actions; and take care that
they be all acts of equity."
ACTION, in mechanics, implies either the effort which
a body or power makes againſt another body or power,
or the effect itſelf of that effort.
As it is neceffary in works of this kind to have a par-
ticular regard to the common language of mechanics
and philofophers, we have given this double definition:
but the proper fignification of the term is the motion
which a body really produces, or tends to produce, in
another; that is, fuch is the motion it would have pro-
duced, had nothing hindered its effect.
All power is nothing more than a body actually in
motion, or which tends to move itfelf; that is, a body
which would move itſelf if nothing oppofed it. The
action therefore of a body is rendered evident to us by
its motion only; and 'confequently we muſt not fix any
other idea to the word action, than that of actual mo-
tion, or a fimple tendency to motion. The famous que-
ftion relating to vis viva, and vis mortua, owes, in all
probability, its exiſtence to an inadequate idea of the
word action; for had Leibnitz and his followers obfer-
ved, that the only precife and diftinct idea we can give
to the word force or action, reduces it to its effect, that
is, to the motion it actually produces or tends to pro-
duce, they would never have made that curious diftinc
tion.
Quantity of ACTION, a name given by M. de Mau-
pertuis, in the Memoirs of the Parifian Academy of
Sciences for 1744, and thofe of Berlin for 1746, to the.
product of the mafs of a body by the ſpace which it
runs through, and by its celerity. He lays it down as
a general law," that, in the changes made in the ſtate
* of a body, the quantity of action neceffary to pro-
*duce fuch change, is the leaft poffible." This prin-
ciple he applies to the inveſtigation of the laws of re-
fraction, of equilibrium, &c. and even to the ways of
acting employed by the Supreme Being. In this man-
ner M. de Maupertuis attempts to connect the meta-
phyfics of final caufes with the fundamental truths of
mechanics, to fhow the dependence of the collifion of
both elaſtic and hard bodies upon one and the fame law,
ACTION, in ethics, denotes the external figns or ex-
preffions of the fentiments of a moral agent. See
ACTIVE Power, infra.
ACTION, in poetry, the fame with fubject or fable.
Critics generally diftinguiſh two kinds, the principal and
the incidental. The principal action is what is gene-
rally called the fable; and the incidental an epiſode.
See POETRY, Part II.
ACTION, in oratory, is the outward deportment of
the orator, or the accommodation of his countenance,
voice, and geſture, to the ſubject of which he is treat-
ing. See ORATORY, Part IV.
ACTION, in a theatrical fenfe. See DECLAMATION,
Art. IV.
ACTION for the Pulpit. See DECLAMATION, Art. I.
ACTION, in painting and fculpture, is the attitude
or pofition of the feveral parts of the face, body, and
limbs of fuch figures as are repreſented, and whereby
they feem to be really actuated by paffions. Thus we
fay, the action of ſuch a figure finely expreffes the paf-
fions with which it is agitated: we alſo uſe the fame-
expreffion with regard to animals.
ACTION, in phyfiology, is applied to the functions..
of the body, whether vital, animal, or natural.
The vital functions, or actions, are thoſe which are
abfolutely neceffary to life, and without which there is
no life, as the action of the heart, lungs, and arteries..
On the action and reaction of the folids and fluids on
each other, depend the vital functions. The pulfe and
refpiration are the external ſigns of life.. Vital difcafes.
are all thofe which hinder the influx of the venous blood
into the cavities of the heart, and the expulfion of the
arterial blood from the fame.-The natural functions
are thoſe which are inftrumental in repairing the feveral
loffes which the body fuftains; for life is deftructive of
itſelf, its very offices occafioning a perpetual wafte.
The manducation of food, the deglutition and digeftion
thereof, alſo the ſeparation and diſtribution of the chyle
and excrementitious parts, &c. are under the head of
natural functions, as by theſe our aliment is converted
into our nature. They are neceffary to the continuance
of our bodies.-The animal functions are thoſe which
we perform at wil, as muſcular motion, and all the vo-
luntary actions of the body: they are thoſe which con-
ftitute the fenfes of touch, tafte, fmell, fight, hearing;
perception, reafoning, imagination, memory, judg
ment, affections of the mind. Without any, or all
of them, a man may live, but not fo comfortably as.
with them.
ACTION, in commerce, is a term ufed abroad for a
certain part or fhare of a public company's capital
ftock. Thus, if a company has 400,000 livres capital
ſtock, this may be divided into 400 actions, each con-
fifting of 1000 livres. Hence a man is ſaid to have two,
four, &c. actions, according as he has the property of
two, four, &c. 1000 livres capital ftock. The tranf
ferring of actions abroad is performed much in the faine
manner as ſtocks are with us. See STOCKS.
ACTION, in law, is a demand made before a judge
for obtaining what we are legally intitled to demand,
and is more commonly known by the name of law-fuit
or procefs. See SUIT..
ACTIONARY,
AC T
[ 102 ]
1
ACT
Ationary
Acton.
* Dr Reid
on the Ac-
tive Porvers
of Man,
P. 12.
ACTIONARY, or ACTIONIST, a proprietor of ſtock
in a trading company.
ACTIONS, among merchants, fometimes fignify
moveable effects; and we fay the merchant's creditors
have ſeized on all his actions, when we mean that they
have taken poffeffion of all his active debts.
ACTIVÈ, denotes fomething that communicates
action or motion to another; in which acceptation it
ftands oppoſed to paffive.
ACTIVE, in grammar, is applied to fuch words as
exprefs action; and is therefore oppofed to paffive. The
active performs the action, as the paffive receives it.
Thus we fay, a verb active, a conjugation active, &c.
or an active participle.
ACTIVE Verbs, are ſuch as do not only fignify doing,
or acting; but have alſo nouns following them, to be
the fubject of the action or impreffion: thus, To love,
to teach, are verbs active; becauſe we can fay, To love
a thing, to teach a man. Neuter verbs alfo denote an
action, but are diſtinguiſhed from active verbs, in that
they cannot have a noun following them: fuch are,
To ſleep, to go, &c.-Some grammarians, however,
make three kinds of active verbs: the tranfitive, where
the action paſſes into a ſubject different from the agent;
reflected, where the action returns upon the agent;
and reciprocal, where the action turns mutually upon
the two agents who produced it.
ACTIVE Power, in metaphyfics, the power of exe-
cuting any work or labour; in contradistinction to
Speculative powers*, or the powers of feeing, hearing,
remembering, judging, reaſoning, &c.
The exertion of active power we call action; and
as every action produces fome change, ſo every change
muſt be cauſed by fome effect, or by the ceffation of
fome exertion of power. That which produces a
change by the exertion of its power, we call the cauſe
of that change; and the change produced, the effect
of that cauſe. See METAPHYSICS.
ACTIVE Principles, in chemiſtry, ſuch as are ſuppoſed
to act without any affiſtance from others; as mercury,
fulphur, &c.
ACTIVITY, in general, denotes the power of act-
ing, or the active faculty. See ACTIVE.
Sphere of ACTIVITY, the whole fpace in which the
virtue, power, or influence, of any object, is exerted.
ACTIUM (anc. geog.), a town fituated on the
coaſt of Acarnania, in itſelf inconfiderable, but famous
for a temple of Apollo, a ſafe harbour, and an adjoin-
ing promontory of the fame name, in- the mouth of
the Sinus Ambracius, over againft Nicopolis, on the
other fide of the bay: it afterwards became more fa-
mous on account of Auguftus's victory over Antony
and Cleopatra; and for quinquennial games inftituted
there, called Actia or Ludi Actiaci. Hence the epi-
thet Aftius, given to Apollo (Virgil). Actiaca ara,
a computation of time from the battle of Actium.
The promontory is now called Capo di Figalo.
ACTIUS, in mythology, a furname of Apollo, from
Actium, where he was worshipped.
ACTON, a town near London, where is a well that
affords a purging water, which is noted for the pun-
gency
of its falt. This water is whitiſh, to the taſte it
is fweetiſh, with a mixture of the ſame bitter which is
in the Epfom water. The falt of this water is not quite
ſo ſoft as that of Epfom; and is more calcareous than
2
it, being more of the nature of the falt of lime for a
quantity of the Acton water being boiled high, on be-
ing mixed with a ſolution of fublimate in pure water,
threw down a yellow fediment. The falt of the Acton
water is more nitrous than that of Epſom; it ſtrikes a
deep red, or purple, with the tincture of logwood in
brandy, as is ufual with nitrous falts; it does not pre-
cipitate filver out of the ſpirit of nitre, as common falt
does: 1 lb of this water yields 48 grains of ſalt.
ACTOR, in general, fignifies a perſon who acts or
performs fomething.
ACTOR, among Civilians, the proctor or advocate
in civil courts or caufes: as, Actor ecclefia has been
fometimes uſed for the advocate of the church; actor
dominicus for the lord's attorney; actor villa, the ſtew-
ard or head bailiff of a village.
-
ACTOR, in the drama, is a perfon who reprefents
fome part or character upon the theatre. The drama
confifted originally of nothing more than a ſimple cho-
rus, who fung hymns in honour of Bacchus ; fo that
the primitive actors were only fingers and muſicians.
Thefpis was the firft that, in order to eaſe this un-
formed chorus, introduced a declaimer, who repeated
fome heroic or comic adventure. Æfchylus, finding a
fingle perſon tireſome, attempted to introduce a fe-
cond, and changed the ancient recitals into dialogues.
He alfo dreffed his actors in a more majeſtic manner,
and introduced the cothurnus or buſkin. Sophocles
added a third, in order to reprefent the various incidents
in a mere natural manner: and here the Greeks ſtopped,
at leaſt we do not find in any of their tragedies above
three perfons in the fame ſcene. Perhaps they looked
upon it as a rule of the dramatic poem, never to admit
more than three ſpeakers at a time on the ftage; a rule
which Horace has expreffed in the following verfe :
Nec quarta loqui perfona laboret.
This, however, did not prevent their increafing the
number of actors in comedy. Before the opening of a
play, they named their actors in full theatre, together
with the parts they were to perform. The ancient ac
tors were maſked, and obliged to raiſe their voice ex-
tremely, in order to make themſelves heard by the in-
numerable crowd of people who filled the amphitheatres:
they were accompanied with a player on the flute, who
played a prelude, gave them the tone, and played while
they declaimed. Horace fpeaks of a kind of ſeconda-
ry actors, in his time, whoſe buſineſs was to imitate the
firft; and leffen themſelves, to become better foils to
their principals.
The moderns have introduced an infinite number of
actors upon the ſtage. This heightens the trouble and
diftrefs that fhould reign there, and makes a diverfity,
in which the ſpectator is fure to be intereſted.
Actors were highly honoured at Athens. At Rome
they were defpiſed, and not only denied all rank among
the citizens, but even when any citizen appeared upon
the ſtage he was expelled his tribe and deprived of the
right of fuffrage by cenfors. Cicero, indeed, efteems
the talents of Rofcius: but he values his virtues ftill
more; virtues which diſtinguiſhed him ſo remarkably
above all others of his profeffion, that they feemed to
have excluded him from the theatre. The French have,
in this refpect, adopted the ideas of the Romans; and
the Engliſh thofe of the Greeks.
ACTOR, the name of feveral perſons in fabulous hi-
ftory.
Actor.
ACT
[ 103 ]
A CU.
1
Actorum ftory. One Actor among the Aurunci is deſcribed by
Virgil as an hero of the firſt rank. Æn. xii.
Actuariæ.
ACTORUM TABULE, in antiquity, were tables in-
ftituted by Servius Tullius, in which the births of chil-
dren were regiſtered. They were kept in the treaſury
of Saturnus.
ACTRESS, in a general ſenſe, a female who acts
or performs fomething.
ACTRESS, in the drama, a female performer. Wo-
men actors were unknown to the ancients, among
whom men always performed the female character;
and hence one reafon for the uſe of maſks among
them.
Actreffes are faid not to have been introduced on the
Engliſh ſtage till after the reftoration of king Charles
II. who has been charged with contributing to the
corruption of our manners by importing this ufage
from abroad. But this can be but partly true: the
queen of James I. acted a part in a paſtoral; and
Prynn, in his Hiftriomaftix, fpeaks of women actors
in his time as whores; which was one occafion of the
ſevere proſecution brought againſt him for that book.
There are ſome very agreeable and beautiful talents,
of which the poffeffion commands a certain fort of ad-
miration; but of which the exerciſe for the fake of
gain is confidered, whether from reafon or prejudice,
as a fort of public proftitution. The pecuniary recom-
pence, therefore, of thoſe who exercife them in this
manner, muſt be ſufficient, not only to pay for the
time, labour, and expence of acquiring the talents,
but for the difcredit which attends the employment of
them as the means of fubfiftence. The exorbitant re-
wards of players, opera-fingers, opera-dancers, &c. are
founded upon thofe two principles; the rarity and
beauty of the talents, and the difcredit of employing
them in this manner. It ſeems abfurd at first fight
that we ſhould defpife their perfons, and yet reward
their talents with the moft profuſe liberality. While
we do the one, however, we muſt of neceffity do the
other. Should the public opinion or prejudice ever al-
ter with regard to fuch occupations, their pecuniary
recompence would quickly diminish. More people
would apply to them, and the competition would quick-
ly reduce the price of their labour. Such talents,
though far from being common, are by no means fo
rare as is imagined. Many people poffefs them in great
perfection, who difdain to make this ufe of them;
and many more are capable of acquiring them, if any
thing could be made honourably by them.
ACTUAL, fomething that is real and effective, or
that exiſts truly and abfolutely. Thus philofophers ufe
the terms actual heat, actual cold, &c. in oppofition
to virtual or potential. Hence, among phyſicians, a
red-hot iron, or fire, is called an actual cautery; in di-
ftinction from cauteries, or cauftics, that have the
power of producing the fame effect upon the animal
folids as actual fire, and are called potential caute-
ries. Boiling water is actually hot; brandy, pro-
ducing heat in the body, is potentially hot, though of
itfelf cold.
ACTUAL Sin, that which is committed by the perfon
himſelf; in oppofition to original fin, or that which he
contracted from being a child of Adam.
ACTUARIÆ NAVES, a kind of fhips among the
Romans, chiefly defigned for ſwift failing.
-
ACTUARIUS, a celebrated Greek phyfician, of Aduarius.
the 13th century, and the firſt Greek author who has
treated of mild purgatives, ſuch as caffia, manna, fena,
&c. His works were printed in one volume folio, by
Henry Stephens, in 1567.
ACTUARIUS, or ACTARIUS, a notary or officer ap-
pointed to write the acts or proceedings of a court, or
the like. In the Eaſtern Empire, the actuarii were
properly officers who kept the military accounts, re-
ceived the corn from the fufceptores or ftore-keepers,
and delivered it to the foldiers.
ACTUATE, to bring into act, or put a thing
in action. Thus an agent is faid, by the ſchoolmen,
to actuate a power, when it produces an act in a ſub-
ject. And thus the mind may be ſaid to actuate the
body.
ÁCTUS, in ancient architecture, a meaſure in length
equal to 120 Roman feet. In ancient agriculture, the
word fignified the length of one furrow, or the diſtance
a plough goes before it turns.
AcTUs Minimus, was a quantity of land 120 feet in
length, and four in breadth.
Actus Major, or Actus Quadratus, a piece of
ground in a fquare form, whofe fide was equal to 120
feet, equal to half the jugerum.
ACTUS Intervicenalis, a ſpace of ground four feet in
breadth, left between the lands as a path or way.
✓
ACUANITES, in ecclefiaftical hiftory, the fame
with thofe called more frequently MANICHEES. They
took the name from Acua, a diſciple of Thomas one-
of the twelve apoſtles..
ACULEATE, or ACULEATI, a term applied to any
plant or animal armed with prickles.
ACULEI, the prickles of animals or of plants.
ACULER, in the manege, is uſed for the motion-
of a horſe, when, in working upon volts, he does not
go far enough forward at every time or motion, ſo that
his fhoulders embrace or take in too little ground, and
his croupe comes too near the centre of the volt.
Horfes are naturally inclined to this fault in making:
demi-volts.
ACUMINA, in antiquity, a kind of military omen,
moft generally fuppofed to have been taken from the
points or edges of darts, fwords, or other weapons.
ACUNA (Chriftopher de), a Spaniſh Jefuit, born
at Burgos. He was admitted into the fociety in 1612,
being then but 15 years of age. After having devoted
fome years to ſtudy, he went to America, where he af-
fifted in making converts in Chili and Peru. In 1640,
he returned to Spain, and gave the king an account
how far he had fucceeded in the commiffion he had re-
ceived to make diſcoveries on the river of the Amazons;
and the year following he publiſhed a deſcription of
this river, at Madrid. Acuna was fent to Rome, as
procurator of his province. He returned to Spain
with the title of Qualificator of the Inquifition; but
foon after embarked again for the West Indies, and
was at Lima in 1675, when father Southwell publiſhed
at Rome the Bibliotheque of the Jefuit writers. Acu-
na's work is intitled, Nuevo defcubriment del gran rio
de las Amazonas ; i, e. “A new diſcovery of the great.
river of the Amazons.' He was ten months together
upon this river, having had inſtructions to inquire into
every thing with the greateſt exactneſs, that his majeſty ·
might thereby be enabled to render the navigation
>>
more.
Acuna.
A D
[ 104
ADA
]
ture
U
、 Ad.
far
AD Ludos, in antiquity, a fentence upon criminals
among the Romans, whereby they were condemned to
entertain the people by fighting either with wild beaſts,
or with one another, and thus executing juſtice upon
themſelves.
AD Metalla, in antiquity, the puniſhment of fuch
criminals as were condemned to the mines, among the
Romans; and therefore called Metallici.
Acupunc more eafy and commodious. He went aboard a ſhip
at Quito with Peter Texiera, who had already been fo
up the river, and was therefore thought a proper
perſon to accompany him in this expedition. They
embarked in February 1639, but did not arrive at Pa-
ra till the December following. It is thought that
the revolutions of Portugal, by which the Spaniards
loft all Brafil, and the colony of Para at the mouth of
the river of the Amazons, were the cauſe that the re-
lation of this Jefuit was fuppreffed; for as it could not
be of any advantage to the Spaniards, they were afraid
it might prove of great fervice to the Portugueſe.
The copies of this work became extremely fcarce, fo
that the publiſhers of the French tranſlation at Paris
afferted, that there was not one copy of the original
extant, excepting one in the poffeffion of the tranſla-
tor, and, perhaps, that in the Vatican library. M. de
Gomberville was the author of this tranflation: it was
publiſhed after his death, with a long differtation. An
account of the original may be ſeen in the Paris Jour-
nal, in that of Leipfic, and in Chevereau's Hiſtory of
the World.
ACUPUNCTURE, the name of a furgical opera-
tion among the Chineſe and Japaneſe, which is per-
formed by pricking the part affected with a filver needle.
They employ this operation in headachs, lethargies,
convulfions, colics, &c.
ACUS, in ichthyology, the trivial name of a fpe-
cies of fyngnathus. See SYNGNATHUS.
ACUSIO COLONIA, now ANCONE, according to
Holftenius, between Orange and Valence, near Mon-
telimart, on the banks of the Rhone.
ACUTE, an epithet applied to fuch things as ter-
minate in a ſharp point or edge. And in this fenſe it
ſtands oppoſed to obtuſe.
ACUTE Angle, in geometry, is that which is lefs
than a right angle, or which does not fubtend 90 de-
grees.
ACUTE-angled Triangle, is a triangle whofe three
angles are all acute.
ACUTE-angled Cone is, according to the ancients, a
right cone, whofe axis makes an acute angle with its
fide.
ACUTE, in mufic, is applied to a found or tone that
is fharp or high, in compariſon of fome other tone.
In this fenfe, acute ftands oppoſed to grave.
ACUTE Accent. See AcCENT.
ACUTE Difeafes, fuch as come fuddenly to a crifis.
This term is ufed for all difeafes which do not fall un-
der the head of chronic diſeaſes.
ACUTIATOR, in writers of the barbarous ages,
denotes a perfon that whets or grinds cutting inftru-
ments; called alſo in ancient gloffaries, acutor, axons,
famiarius, cobarius, &c. In the ancient armies there
were acutiatores, a kind of fmiths, retained for whet-
ting or keeping the arms fharp.
AD, a Latin prepofition, originally fignifying to,
and frequently uſed in compofition both with and with-
out the d, to expreſs the relation of one thing to ano-
ther.
AD Beftias, in antiquity, is the puniſhment of cri-
minals condemned to be thrown to wild beaſts.
·
AD Hominem, in logic, a kind of argument drawn
from the principles or prejudices of thoſe with whom
we argue.
No. 3.
3
AD Valorem, a term chiefly uſed in fpeaking of the
duties or cuſtoms paid for certain goods: The duties
on fome articles are paid by the number, weight, mea-
fure, tale, &c.; and others are paid ad valorem, that is,
according to their value.
ADAGE, a proverb, or ſhort ſentence, containing
fome wife obfervation or popular faying. Erafmus has
made a very large and valuable collection of the Greek
and Roman adages; and Mr Ray has done the fame
with regard to the English. We have alfo Kelly's
collection of Scots Froverbs.
ADAGIO, in mufic. Adverbially, it fignifies foft-
ly, leifurely; and is uſed to denote the floweft of all
times. Ufed fubftantively, it fignifies a flow move-
ment. Sometimes this word is repeated, as adagio,
adagio, to denote a ftill greater retardation in the time
of the mufic.
ADALIDES, in the Spaniſh policy, are officers
of justice, for matters touching the military forces.
In the laws of king Alphonfus, the adalides are fpo-
ken of as officers appointed to guide and direct the
marching of the forces in time of war. Lopez repre
fents them as a fort of judges, who take cogniſance of
the differences arifing upon excurfions, the diſtribution
of plunder, &c.
ADAM, the firft of the human race, was formed
by the Almighty on the fixth day of the creation. His
body was made of the duft of the earth; after which,
God animated or gave it life, and Adam then became
a rational creature.-His heavenly Parent did not leave
his offspring in a deſtitute ſtate to ſhift for himſelf; but
planted a garden, in which he cauſed to grow not on-
ly every tree that was proper for producing food, but
likewife fuch as were agreeable to the eye, or merely
ornamental. In this garden were affembled all the
brute creation; and, by their Maker, cauſed to paſs
before Adam, who gave all of them names, which were
judged proper by the Deity himſelf.-In this review,
Adam found none for a companion to himſelf. This
folitary ſtate was feen by the Deity to be attended with
fome degree of unhappineſs; and therefore he threw
Adam into a deep fleep, in which condition he took a
rib from his fide, and healing up the wound formed a
woman of the rib he had taken out. On Adam's a-
waking, the woman was brought to him; and he im-
mediately knew her to be one of his own fpecies, call-
ed her his bone and his fleſh, giving her the name of
woman becaufe fhe was taken out of man.
The first pair being thus created, God gave them
authority over the inferior creation, commanding them
to fubdue the earth, alfo to increaſe and multiply and
fill it. They were informed of the proper food for the
beafts and for them; the grafs, or green herbs, being
appointed for beafts; and fruits, or feeds, for man.
Their proper employment alfo was affigned them;
namely, to drefs the garden, and to keep it.
Though Adam was thus highly favoured and inſtruc-
ted
Ad
11
Adam.
A DA
ADA
[
105 ]
grew
Adam. ted by his Maker, there was a fingle tree, which
in the middle of the garden, of the fruit of which they
were not allowed to eat; being told, that they ſhould
furely die in the day they eat of it. This tree was
named, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
This prohibition, however, they foon broke through.
The woman having entered into converfation with the
Serpent, was by him perfuaded, that by eating of the
tree ſhe ſhould become as wife as God himſelf; and ac-
cordingly, being invited by the beauty of the fruit, and
its defirable property of imparting wiſdom, fhe plucked
and eat; giving her huſband of it at the ſame time,
who did likewife eat.
}
{
Adara
nouve iu ciel
tue or power of producing his like, without the con-
current affiftance of woman. The divifion into two
ſexes, fhe imagined*, was a confequence of man's fin ; *Preface to
and now, ſhe obſerves, mankind are become fo many a book in-
monsters in nature, being much lefs perfect in this re-titled, Le
fpect than plants or trees, who are capable of producing et la nouvelle
their like alone, and without pain or mifery. She even terre, Amſt.
imagined, that, being in an ecftafy, fhe faw the figure 1679.
of Adam before he fell, with the manner how, by him-
felf, he was capable of procreating other men. "God,"
fays fhe, "reprefented to my mind the beauty of the
firft world, and the manner how he had drawn it from
the chaos: every thing was bright, tranſparent, and
darted forth light and ineffable glory. The body of
Adam was purer and more tranſparent than cryftal, and
vaftly fleet; through this body were feen veffels and
rivulets of light, which penetrated from the inward to
the outward parts, through all his pores. In fome
veffels ran fluids of all kinds and colours, vaftly bright,
and quite diaphanous. The moſt ravishing harmony
aroſe from every motion; and nothing refifted, or could
annoy, him. His ftature was taller than the prefent
race of men; his hair was ſhort, curled, and of a colour
inclining to black; his upper lip covered with fhort
hair: and inſtead of the beſtial parts which modeſty
will not allow us to name, he was faſhioned as our bo-
dies will be in the life eternal, which I know not whe-
ther I dare reveal. In that region his noſe was form-
ed after the manner of a face, which diffuſed the moft
delicious fragrancy and perfumes; whence alſo men were
to iffue, all whofe principles were inherent in him; there
being in his belly a veffel, where little eggs were form-
nåted thofe eggs: and when man heated himself in
the love of God, the defire he had that other creatures
fhould exift befides himſelf, to praiſe and love God,
caufed the fluid abovementioned (by means of the fire
of the love of God) to drop on one or more of theſe
eggs, with inexpreffible delight; which being thus im-
pregnated, iffued, fome time after, out of man, by this
canalt, in the fhape of an egg, whence a perfect man ti. e. the
was hatched by infenfible degrees. Woman was form-nal canal,
ed by taking out of Adam's fides the veffels that con- above de-
tained the eggs; which fhe ftill poffeffes, as is diſcover-ſcribed.
ed by anatomifts."
Before this tranfgreffion of the divine command, A-
dam and his wife had no occafion for clothes, neither
had they any ſenſe of ſhame; but immediately on eat-
ing the forbidden fruit, they were afhamed of being
naked, and made aprons of fig-leaves for themfelves.
On hearing the voice of God in the garden, they were
terrified, and hid themſelves: but being queftioned by
the Deity, they confeffed what they had done, and re-
ceived ſentence accordingly; the man being condemn-
ed to labour; the woman to fubjection to her huf-
band, and to pain in child-bearing. They were now
driven out of the garden, and their acceſs to it pre-
vented by a terrible apparition. They had clothes
given them by the Deity made of the ſkins of beafts.
In this ftate Adam had ſeveral children; the names
of only three of whom we are acquainted with, viz.
Cain, Abel, and Seth. He died at the age of 930 years.
Theſe are all the particulars concerning Adam's life,
that we have on divine authority: but a vaſt multitude
of others are added by the Jews, Mahometans, and Pa-ed; and a fecond veffel filled with a fluid, which impreg-
piſts; all of which must be at beft conjectural; moſt of
them, indeed, appear downright falfehoods or abfurdities.
The curiofity of our readers, it is prefumed, will be fuffi-
ciently gratified by the few which are here fubjoined.
According to the Talmudifts, when Adam was crea-
ted, his body was of immenfe magnitude. When he
finned, his ftature was reduced to an hundred ells, ac-
cording to fome; to nine hundred cubits, according
to others; who think this was done at the request of
the angels, who were afraid of fo gigantic a creature.
In the iſland of Ceylon is a mountain, called the Peak
or mountain of Adam, from its being, according to the
tradition of the country, the reſidence of our firſt pa-
rent. Here the print of his footſteps, above two palms
in length, are ſtill pointed out.
Many reveries have been formed concerning the
perfonal beauty of Adam. That he was a handſome
well-fhaped man is probable; but fome writers, not
content with this, affirm, that God, intending to create
man, clothed Himſelf with a perfectly beautiful human
body, making this his model in the formation of the
body of Adam.
Nor has the imagination been lefs indulged con-
cerning the formation of the human fpecies male and
female. It would be endleſs to recount all the whim-
fies that have been wrote on this fubject; but as Mad.
Bourignon has made a confiderable figure in the religi-
gious, or rather fuperftitious world, we cannot help in-
ferting fome of her opinions concerning the first man,
which are peculiarly marvellous. According to the
revelations of this lady, Adam before his fall poffeffed
in himſelf the principles of both fexes, and the vir,
VOL. I. Part I
}
fituated as
Many others have believed, that Adam at his firſt
creation was both male and female: others, that he had
two bodies joining together at the fhoulders, and their
faces looking oppofite ways like thofe of Janus. Hence,
fay thefe, when God created Eve, he had no more to
do than to ſeparate the two bodies from one another. See
Of all others, however, the opinion of Paracelfus feems Androgynes.
the most ridiculous. Negabat primos parentes ante lap- || Paracelfus
fum habuiffe partes generationi hominis neceſſarias; cre apud Voffi-
debat poftea acceffiffe, ut ftrumam gutturi.
um de philo-
jophia, c. ix.
Extravagant things are afferted concerning Adam's p. 71.
knowledge. It is very probable that he was inſtructed
by the Deity how to accomplish the work appointed
him, viz. to drefs the garden, and keep it from being
deftroyed by the brute creatures; and it is alfo proba-
ble that he had likewife every piece of knowledge com-
municated to him that was either neceffary or pleafing:
but that he was acquainted with geometry, mathema-
tics, rhetoric, poetry, painting, fculpture, &c. is too
ridiculous to be credited by any fober perfon. Some
Ꮎ .
rabbies,
¡
ADA
[
106 ]
ADA
Alam. rabbies, indeed, have contented themſelves with equal-
ling Adam's knowledge to that of Mofes and Solomon;
while others, again, have maintained that he excelled
the angels themfelves. Several Chriftians feem to be
little behind thefe Jews in the degree of knowledge they
aſcribed to Adam; nothing being hid from him, ac-
cording to them, except contingent events relating to
futurity. One writer indeed (Pinedo) excepts politics;
but a Carthufian friar, having exhaufted, in favour of
Ariftotle, every image and comparifon he could think
of, at laſt afferted that Ariſtotle's knowledge was as ex-
tenfive as that of Adam.-In confequence of this fur-
prifing knowledge with which Adam was endued, he is
ſuppoſed to have been a confiderable author. The Jews
pretend that he wrote a book on the creation, and an-
other on the Deity. Some rabbies afcribe the 92ª pfalm
to Adam; and in fome manuſcripts the Chaldee title of
this pfalm exprefsly declares that this is the fong of
praiſe which the firſt man repeated for the fabbath-day.
Various conjectures have been formed concerning the
place where man was firſt created, and where the gar-
den of Eden was fituated; but none of theſe have any
folid foundation. The Jews tell us, that Eden was fe-
parated from the reft of the world by the ocean; and
that Adam, being baniſhed therefrom, walked acrofs
the fea, which he found every way fordable, by reafon
* This is of his enormous ftature. The Arabians imagined pa-
just the pic- radife to have been in the air; and that our first parents
were thrown down from it on their tranfgreffion, as
lyphemus of Vulcan is faid to have been thrown down headlong from
the poets. heaven by Jupiter.
Eneid. iii.
ture of the
Orion or Po-
663 664.
x. 763.
Strange ftories are told concerning Adam's children.
That he had none in the ſtate of innocence, is certain
from feripture; but that his marriage with Eve was not
confummated till after the fall, cannot be proved from
thence. Some imagine, that, for many years after the
fall, Adam denied himſelf the connubial joys by way
of penance; others, that he cohabited with ano-
ther woman, whofe name was LILITH. The Ma-
hometans tell us, that our firft parents having been
thrown headlong from the celeftial paradife, Adam fell
upon the ifle of Serendib, or Ceylon, in the Eaft-In-
dies; and Eve on Iodda, a port of the Red Sea, not
far from Mecca. After a feparation of upwards of
200 years, they met in Ceylon, where they multiplied:
according to fome Eve had twenty, according to others
only eight, deliveries; bringing forth at each time
twins, a male and a female, who afterwards married.
The Rabbins imagine that Eve brought forth Cain
and Abel at a birth; that Adam wept for Abel an
hundred years in the valley of tears near Hebron, du-
ring which time he did not cohabit with his wife; and
that this ſeparation would probably have continued
longer, had it not been forbid by the angel Gabriel.
The inhabitants of Ceylon affirm, that the falt lake on
the mountain of Colembo confifls wholly of the tears
which Eve for one hundred years together ſhed becauſe
of Abel's death.
Some of the Arabians tell us, that Adam was bu-
ried near Mecca on Mount Abukobeis; others, that
Noah, having laid his body in the ark, caufed it to
be carried after the deluge to Jerufalem by Melchife-
dek the fon of Shem: of this opinion are the eaſtern
Christians; but the Perfians affirm that he was interred
in the ifle of Serendib, where his corps was guarded by
lions at the time the giants warred upon one another.-
St Jerom imagined that Adam was buried at Hebron ;
others, on Mount Calvary. Some are of opinion that
he died on the very fpot where Jerufalem was after-
wards built; and was buried on the place where Chrift
fuffered, that ſo his bones might be ſprinkled with the
Saviour's blood!!!
ADAM (Melchior) lived in the 17th century. He
was born in the territory of Grotkaw in Silefia, and
educated in the college of Brieg, where the dukes of
that name, to the utmoſt of their power, encouraged
learning and the reformed religion as profeffed by Cal-
vin. Here he became a firm Proteftant; and was ena-
bled to purfue his ftudies by the liberality of a perſon
of quality, who had left ſeveral exhibitions for young
ftudents. He was appointed rector of a college at
Heidelberg, where he publiſhed his firft volume of il-
luftrious men in the year 1615. This volume, which
conſiſted of philofophers, poets, writers on polite lite-
rature, and hiftorians, &c. was followed by three others;
that which treated of divines was printed in 1619;-
that of the lawyers came next; and, finally, that of the
phyſicians the two laft were publiſhed in 1620. All
the learned men, whofe lives are contained in theſe four
volumes, lived in the 16th, or beginning of the 17th
century, and are either Germans or Flemings; but he
publiſhed in 1618 the lives of twenty divines of other
countries in a ſeparate volume. All his divines are Pro-
teftants. The Lutherans were not pleaſed with him,
for they thought him partial; nor will they allow his
work to be a proper ſtandard whereby to judge of the
learning of Germany. He wrote other works befides
his lives, and died in 1622.
ADAM's Apple, a name given to a ſpecies of CITRUS.
ADAM's Needle. See YuCCA.
ADAM's Peak, a high mountain of the Eaft Indies,
in the iſland of Ceylon, on the top of which they be-
lieve the firft man was created. See ADAM.
ADAM, or ADOM, a town in the Peræa, or on the o-
ther fide the Jordan, over-againſt Jericho, where the
Jordan began to be dried up on the paffage of the
Ifraelites; (Jofhua.)
ADAMA, or ADMAH, one of the towns that were
involved in the deftruction of Sodom; (Mofes.)
ADAMANT, a name fometimes given to the dia-
mond. (See DIAMOND.) It is likewife applied to the
fcoriæ of gold, the magnet, &c.
ADAMIC EARTH, a name given to common red
clay, alluding to that ſpecies of earth of which the firſt
man is ſuppoſed to have been made.
ADAMI POMUM, in anatomy, a protuberance in
the fore-part of the throat, formed by the os hyoides.
It is thought to be fo called upon a ſtrange conceit,
that a piece of the forbidden apple, which Adam eat,
ftuck by the way, and occafioned it,
ADAMITES, in ecclefiaftical hiftory, the name of
a fect of ancient heretics, fuppofed to have been a
branch of the Bafilidians and Carpocratians.
Epiphanius tells us, that they were called Adamites
from their pretending to be re-eſtabliſhed in the ſtate of
innocence, and to be fuch as Adam was at the moment
of his creation, whence they ought to imitate him in
his nakednefs. They detefted marriage; maintaining,
that the conjugal union would never have taken place
upon earth had fin been unknown.
Adam
11
Adamites,
»
This
ADA
ADA
[
107 ]
Adamus
H
Adamfon.
This obfcure and ridiculous fect did not at firſt laft
long; but it was revived, with additional abfurdities, in
the twelfth century, by one Tandamus, fince known by
the name of Tanchelin, who propagated his errors at
Antwerp, in the reign of the emperor Henry V. He
maintained, that there ought to be no diftinction be-
tween prieſts and laymen, and that fornication and adul-
tery were meritorious actions. Tanchelin had a great
number of followers, and was conftantly attended by
3000 of theſe profligates in arms. His fect did not,
however, continue long after his death; but another ap-
peared under the name of Turlupins, in 'Savoy and Dau-
phiny, where they committed the most brutal actions
in open day.
About the beginning of the fifteenth century, one
Picard, a native of Flanders, fpread theſe errors in
Germany and Bohemia, particularly in the army of
the famous Zifca, notwithstanding the fevere difcipline
he maintained. Picard pretended that he was fent into
the world as a new Adam, to re-eſtabliſh the law of
nature; and which, according to him, confifted in ex-
pofing every part of the body, and having all the wo-
men in cominon. This fect found alfo fome partizans
in Polland, Holland, and England: they affembled in
the night; and it is afferted, that one of the funda-
mental maxims of their fociety was contained in the
following verfe :
Jura, perjura, fecretum prodere noli.
ADAMUS, the philofopher's ftone is fo called by
alchemifts; they fay it is an animal, and that it has
carried its invifible Eve in its body, fince the moment
they were united by the Creator.
ÁDAMSHIDÉ, a diſtrict of the circle of Raften-
burg, belonging to the king of Pruffia, which, with
Dombrofken, was bought, in 1737, for 42,000 dollars.
ADAMSON (Patrick), a Scottiſh prelate, archbi-
fhop of St Andrews. He was born in the year 1543
in the town of Perth, where he received the rudiments
of his education; and afterwards ftudied Philoſophy,
and took his degree of mafter of arts at the univerſity
of St Andrews. In the year 1566, he fet out for
Paris, as tutor to a young gentleman. In the month of
June of the fame year, Mary queen of Scots being
delivered of a fon, afterwards James VI. of Scotland
and Firſt of England, Mr Adamſon wrote a Latin poem
on the occafion. This proof of his loyalty involved
him in ſome difficulties, having been confined in France
for fix months; nor would he have eaſily got off, had
not Queen Mary, and fome of the principal nobility,
intereſted themſelves in his behalf. As foon as he re-
covered his liberty, he retired with his pupil to Bour-
ges. He was in this city during the maſſacre at Paris;
and the fame perfecuting fpirit prevailing among
the catholics at Bourges as at the metropolis, he lived
concealed for ſeven months in a public houſe, the ma-
fter of which, upwards of 70 years of age, was thrown
from the top thereof, and had his brains dafhed out,
for his charity to heretics. Whilft Mr Adamfon lay
thus in his fepulchre, as he called it, he wrote his La-
tin poetical verfion of the Book of Job, and his Tra-
gedy of Herod in the fame language. In the year
1573, he returned to Scotland; and, having entered
into holy orders, became minifter of Paiſley. In the year
1575, he was appointed one of the commiffioners, by
the general affembly, to ſettle the juriſdiction and po-
در
3
His
licy of the church; and the following year he was na-
med, with Mr David Lindfay, to report their proceed-
ings to the earl of Mortoun, then regent. About this
time the earl made him one of his chaplains; and, on
the death of bifhop Douglas, promoted him to the
archiepifcopal fee of St Andrew's, a dignity which
brought upon him great trouble and uneafinefs: for now
the clamour of the Prefbyterian party roſe very high a-
gainſt him, and many inconfiftent abfurd ſtories were
propagated concerning him. Soon after his promo-
tion, he publiſhed his catechifm in Latin verſe, a
work highly approved even by his enemies; but, ne-
vertheless, they ftill continued to perfecute him with
great violence. In 1578, he fubmitted himſelf to
the general affembly, which procured him peace but
for a very little time; for, the year following, they
brought fresh accufations against him. In the year
1582, being attacked with a grievous difcafe, in which
the phyficians could give him no relief, he happened to
take a fimple medicine from an old woman, which did
him fervice. The woman, whofe name was Alifon
Pearſon, was thereupon charged with witchcraft, and
committed to prifon, but eſcaped out of her confinement;
however, about four years afterwards, fhe was again
found and burnt for a witch. In 1583, king James
came to St Andrew's; and the archbishop, being much
recovered, preached before him, and difputed with Mr
Andrew Melvil, in preſence of his Majefty, with great
reputation, which drew upon him freſh calumny and
perfecution. The king, however, was fo well pleaſed
with him, that he fent him embaſſador to Queen Eli-
fabeth, at whoſe court he refided for fome years.
conduct, during his embaffy, has been variouſly report-
ed by different authors. Two things he principally
laboured, viz. the recommending the king his mafter
to the nobility and gentry of England, and the pro-
curing fome fupport for the epifcopal party in Scotland.
By his eloquent preaching, he drew after him ſuch
crowds of people, and raiſed in their minds fuch a high
idea of the young king his mafter, that queen Elizabeth
forbad him to enter the pulpit during his ftay in her
dominions. In 1584, he was recalled, and fat in the
parliament held in Auguft at Edinburgh. The Prefby-
terian party was ftill very violent againſt the archbi-
fhop. A provincial fynod was held at St Andrew's
in April 1586: the archbiſhop was here accufed and
excommunicated: he appealed to the king and the
ftates, but this availed him little; for the mob being
excited against him, he durft fcarce appear in public.
At the next general affembly, a paper being pro-
duced, containing the archbiſhop's ſubmiſſion, he was
abfolved from the excommunication. In 1588, freſh
accufations were brought againſt him. The year fol-
lowing, he publiſhed the Lamentations of the pro-
phet Jeremiah in Latin verfe; which he dedicated to
the king, complaining of his hard ufage. In the lat-
ter end of the fame year, he publiſhed a tranſlation of
the Apocalypfe, in Latin verfe; and a copy of Latin
verfes, addreffed alfo to his Majefty, when he was in
great diftrefs. The king, however, was ſo far from
fo
giving him affiftance, that he granted the revenue of
his fee to the duke of Lennox; ſo that the remaining
part of this prelate's life was very wretched, he having
hardly fubfiftence for his family. He died in 1591.
ADANA, a town of Afia, in Natolia, and in the
0 2
province
Adana.
A DA
[ 108 ]
ADA
Adanfonia.
:
ning from the middle rib; they are of a lucid green Adanfonia.
colour. As the plants advance in height, the leaves
alter, and are divided into three parts, and afterwards
into five lobes, which fpread out in the fhape of an
hand. The tree ſheds its leaves in November, and new
ones begin to appear in June. It flowers in July, and
the fruit ripens in October and November.
It is very
common in Senegal, and the Cape de Verd iſlands;
and is found 100 leagues up the country at Gulam, and
upon the fea-coaſt as far as Sierra-leona.
province of Carmania. It is feated on the river Cho-
quen; on the banks of which ſtands a ſtrong little caftle
built on a rock. It has a great number of beautiful
fountains brought from the river by means of water-
works. Over the river there is a ſtately bridge of fif-
teen arches, which leads to the water-works. The cli-
mate is very pleaſant and healthy, and the winter mild
and ferene but the fummer is fo hot as to oblige the
principal inhabitants to retire into the neighbouring
mountains, where they ſpend fix months among fhady
trees and grottoes, in a moft delicious manner. The
adjacent country is rich and fertile, and produces me-
lons, cucumbers, pomegranates, pulfe, and herbs of
all forts, all the year round; befides corn, wine, and
fruits in their proper ſeaſon. It is 30 miles eaſt of
Tarfus, on the road to Aleppo. E. long. 35. 42. N.
lat. 38. 10.
ADANSONIA, ETHIOPIAN SOUR-GOURD, MON-
KIES-BREAD, or AFRICAN CALABASH-TREE, a genus
of the monodelphia order, belonging to the polyandria
clafs of plants; the characters of which are: The calyx
is a perianthium one-leav'd, half five-cleft, cup-form,
(the divifions revolute), deciduous: The corolla con-
fifts of five petals, roundiſh, nerved, revolute, growing
reciprocally with the claws and ftamina: The Stamina
have numerous filaments, coalefced beneath into a tube,
and crowning it, expanding horizontally; the antheræ
kidney-form, incumbent: The piftillum has an egged
germ; the ftylus very long, tubular, varionfly intorted;
the ftigmata numerous (10) priſmatic, villous, ray-ex-
panded: The pericarpium is an oval capfule, woody,
not gaping, 10-celled, with farinaceous pulp, the par-
titions membranous: The feeds are numerous, kidney-
fhaped, rather bony, and involved in a friable pulp.
There is at prefent but one known ſpecies belonging
to this genus, the BAOBAB, which is perhaps the lar-
geft production of the whole vegetable kingdom. It
is a native of Africa.
The trunk is not above 12 or 15 feet high, but from
65 to 78 feet round. The loweſt branches extend al-
moſt horizontally; and as they are about 60 feet in
length, their own weight bends their extremities to the
ground, and thus form an hemifpherical maſs of ver-
dure of about 120 or 130 feet diameter. The roots
extend as far as the branches: that in the middle forms
a pivot, which penetrates a great way into the earth;
the reft fpread near the furface. The flowers are in
proportion to the fize of the tree: and are followed by
an oblong fruit, pointed at both ends, about 10 inches
long, five or fix broad, and covered with a kind of
greenish down, under which is a ligneous rind, hard
and almoſt black, marked with rays which divide it
lengthwife into fides. The fruit hangs to the tree by
a pedicle two feet long and an inch diameter. It con-
tains a whitiſh ſpongy juicy ſubſtance; with feeds of a
brown colour, and fhaped like a kidney-bean. The
bark of this tree is nearly an inch thick, of an aſh-
coloured grey, greafy to the touch, bright, and very
fmooth: the outfide is covered with a kind of varniſh;
and the infide is green, fpeckled with red. The wood
is white, and very foft; the firſt ſhoots of the year are
green and downy.
The leaves of the young plants are entire, of an ob-
long form, about four or five inches long, and almoſt
three broad towards the top, having feveral veins run-
The age of this tree is perhaps no leſs remarkable
than its enormous fize. Mr Adanfon relates, that in a
botanical excurfion to the Magdalene Iflands, in the
neighbourhood of Goree, he difcovered fome calabaſh-
trees, from five to fix feet diameter, on the bark of
which were engraved or cut to a confiderable depth
a number of European names. Two of thefe names,
which he was at the trouble to repair, were dated one
the 14th, the other the 15th century. The letters
were about fix inches long, but in breadth they occu-
pied a very fmall part only of the circumference of the
trunk: from whence he concluded they had not been
cut when theſe trees were young. Theſe inſcriptions,
however, he thinks fufficient to determine pretty nearly
the age which theſe calabaſh-trees may attain; for even
fuppofing that thoſe in queftion were cut in their early
years, and that trees grew to the diameter of fix feet
in two centuries, as the engraved letters evince, how
many centuries must be requifite to give them a dia-
meter of 25 feet, which perhaps is not the laft term
of their growth! The infcribed trees mentioned by this
ingenious Frenchman had been feen in 1555, almoft
two centuries before, by Thevet, who mentions them
in the relation of his voyage to Terra Antarctica or
Auftralis. Adanfon faw them in 1749.
1
The virtues and ufes of this tree and its fruit are
various. The negroes of Senegal dry the bark and
leaves in the fhaded air; and then reduce them to
powder, which is of a pretty good green colour.
This powder they preferve in bags of linen or cot-
ton, and call it lillo. They uſe it every day, putting
two or three pinches of it into a mefs, whatever it
happens to be, as we do pepper and falt; but their
view is, not to give a reliſh to their food, but to pre-
ferve a perpetual and plentiful perſpiration, and to at-
temper the too great heat of the blood; purpoſes
which it certainly anſwers, as feveral Europeans have
proved by repeated experiments, preferving themſelves
from the epidemic fever, which, in that country, de-
ftroys Europeans like the plague, and generally rages
during the months of September and October, when,
the rains having fuddenly ceaſed, the fun exhales the
water left by them upon the ground, and fills the air
with a noxious vapour. M. Adanfon, in that critical
ſeaſon, made a light ptifan of the leaves of the baobab,
which he had gathered in the Auguſt of the preceding
year, and had dried in the ſhade; and drank conftantly
about a pint of it every morning, either before or af-
ter breakfaſt, and the fame quantity of it every even-
ing after the heat of the fun began to abate; he alſo
fometimes took the fame quantity in the middle of the
day, but this was only when he felt ſome ſymptoms of
an approaching fever. By this precaution he prefer-
ved himſelf, during the five years he refided at Senegal,
from the diarrhoea and fever, which are fo fatal there;
and
A DA
[ 109 ]
ADD
Adar.
Adanfonia and which are, however, the only dangerous diſeaſes
of the place; and other officers fuffered very ſeverely,
only one excepted, upon whom M. Adanfon prevailed
to ufe this remedy, which for its fimplicity was defpi-
fed by the reft. This ptifan alone alſo prevents that
heat of urine which is common in theſe parts, from the
month of July to November, provided the perſon ab-
ftains from wine.
The fruit is not leſs uſeful than the leaves and the
bark. The pulp that envelopes the feeds has an agree-
able acid tafte, and is eaten for pleaſure: it is alfo
dried and powdered, and thus ufed medicinally in pefti-
lential fevers, the dyfentery, and bloody flux; the doſe
is a drachm, paffed through a fine fieve, taken either in
common water, or in an infufion of the plantain. This
powder is brought into Europe under the name of terra
figillata lemnia. The woody bark of the fruit, and
the fruit itſelf when fpoiled, helps to fupply the ne-
groes with an excellent foap, which they make by
drawing: a ley from the ashes, and boiling it with palm-
oil that begins to be rancid.
The trunks of fuch of theſe trees as are decayed, the
negroes hollow out into burying places for their poets,
muſicians, buffoons: perfons of thefe characters they
efteem greatly while they live, fuppofing them to de-
rive their fuperior talents from forcery or a commerce
with demons; but they regard their bodies with a kind
of horror when dead, and will not give them burial in
the uſual manner, neither fuffering them to be put into
the ground, nor thrown into the fea or any river, be-
cauſe they imagine that the water would not then nou-
riſh the fiſh, nor the earth produce its fruits. The bo-
dies fhut up in theſe trunks become perfectly dry with-
out rotting, and form a kind of mummies without the
help of embalment.
The baobab is very diſtinct from the calabaſh-tree of
America, with which it has been confounded by father
Labat. See CRESCENTIA.
Culture. This tree is propagated from feeds, which
are brought from the countries where they grow na-
turally. Being natives only of hot climates, the plants
will not thrive in the open air in Britain, even in fum-
mer. The feeds are therefore to be ſown in pots, and
plunged into a hot-bed, where the plants will appear
in about fix weeks, and in a fhort time after be fit to
tranfplant. They must then be planted each in a fe-
parate pot, in light fandy earth, and plunged into a
hot-bed, fhading them until they have taken root: af-
ter which they ſhould have freſh air admitted every day
in warm weather: but muſt be fparingly watered, as
being apt to rot. They grow quickly for two or three
years, but afterwards make little progrefs; the lower
part of the ſtem then begins to fwell, and put out la-
téral branches, inclining to a horizontal pofition, and
covered with a light grey bark.Some of this kind
of plants were raiſed from feeds obtained from Grand
Cairo by Dr William Sherard, in 1724, and were
grown to the height of 18 feet; but were all deftroyed
by the fevere froſt in 1740; after which they were un-
known in Britain till the return of Mr Adanſon to Pa-
ris in 1754.
ADAPTERS, or ADOPTERS. See CHEMISTRY,
(Index.)
ADAR, the name of a Hebrew month, anfwering
to the end of February and beginning of March, the
2.
On
12th of their facred, and 6th of their civil year.
the 7th day of it, the Jews keep a feaſt for the death of
Mofes; on the 13th, they have the feaft of Efther; and
on the 14th, they celebrate the feaſt of Purim, for their
deliverance from Haman's confpiracy.-As the lunar
year, which the Jews followed in their calculations, is
fhorter than the folar by about 11 days, which at the
end of three years make a month, they then intercalate
a 13th month, which they call Veadar, or the fecond
Adar.
ADARCE, a kind of concreted falts found on reeds
and other vegetables, and applied by the ancients as a
remedy in feveral cutaneous diſeaſes.
ADARCON, in Jewiſh antiquity, a gold coin men-
tioned in fcripture, worth about 15 s. fterling.
ADARME, in commerce, a fmall weight in Spain,
which is alfo uſed at Buenos-Aires, and in all Spaniſh
America. It is the 16th part of an ounce, which at
Paris is called the demi-gros. But the Spaniſh ounce is
feven per cent. lighter than that of Paris. Stephens
renders it in Engliſh by a dram.
ADATAIS, ADATSI, or ADATYS, in commerce,
a muflin or cotton-cloth, very fine and clear, of which
the piece is ten French ells long, and three quarters
broad. It comes from the Eaft-Indies; and the fineſt
is made at Bengal.
ADCORDĂBILIS DENARII, in old law books,
fignify money paid by the vaffal to his lord, upon the
felling or exchanging of a feud.
ADCRESCENTES, among the Romans, denoted
a kind of foldiery, entered in the army, but not yet put
on duty; from theſe the ſtanding forces were recruited.
See ACCENSI.
ADDA, in geography, a river of Switzerland and
Italy, which rifes in mount Braulio, in the country of
the Grifons, and, paffing through the Valteline, tra-
verfes the lake Como and the Milaneſe, and falls into
the Po, near Cremona.
ADDEPHAGIA, in medicine, a term ufed by
fome phyficians, for gluttony, or a voracious appetite.
ADDER, in zoology, a name for the VIPER. See
COLUBER.
ADDER-Bolts, or Adder-flies. See LIBELULLA.
Sea-ADDER, the Engliſh name of a ſpecies of Syn--
GNATHUS..
Water-ADDER, a name given to the COLUBER Na--
trix.
·
ADDER-ftung, is uſed in reſpect of cattle, when ftung
with any kind of venomous reptiles, as adders, ſcor- -
pions, &c. or bit by a hedge-hog or fhrew.-For the
cure of fuch bites, fome ufe an ointment made of dra-
gon's blood, with a little barley-meal, and the whites of.
eggs.
ADDER-Wort, or Snakewood. See POLYGONUM.
ADDEXTRATORES, in the court of Rome, the
pope's mitre-bearers, fo called, according to Ducange,
becauſe they walk at the Pope's right-hand when he
rides to vifit the churches.
ADDICE, or ADZE, a kind of crooked ax uſed by
fhip-wrights, carpenters, coopers, &c.
ADDICTI, in antiquity, a kind of flaves, among.
the Romans, adjudged to ferve fome creditor whom
they could not otherwiſe fatisfy, and whofe flaves they
became till they could pay or work out the debt.
ADDICTION, among the Romans, was the ma
king
Adarce
11
Addiction.:
ADD
ADD
[ ITO ]
Addidio, king over goods to another, either by fale, or by legal
Addiſon. fentence; the goods fo delivered were called bona ad-
dicta. Debtors were fometimes delivered over in the
fame manner; and thence called fervi addicti.
ADDICTIO IN DIEM, among the Romans, the ad-
judging a thing to a perfon for a certain price, unleſs
by fuch a day the owner, or ſome other, give more
for it.
ADDISON (Lancelot), fon of Lancelot Addifon
a clergyman, was born at Mouldifmeaburne, in the pa-
rifh of Croſby Ravenſworth in Westmoreland, in the
year 1632. He was educated at Queen's College, Ox-
ford; and at the Reftoration of king Charles II. accept-
ed of the chaplainfhip of the garrifon of Dunkirk:
but that fortreſs being delivered up to the French in
1662, he returned to England, and was foon after
made chaplain to the garrifon of Tangier; where he
continued ſeven years, and was greatly esteemed. In
1670, he returned to England, and was made chaplain
in ordinary to the king; but his chaplainfhip of Tangier
being taken from him on account of his abfence, he
found himſelf ſtraitened in his circumſtances, when he
feaſonably obtained the rectory of Milfton in Wiltſhire,
worth about 120l. per annum. He afterwards became
a prebendary of Sarum; took his degree of doctor of
divinity at Oxford; and in 1683 was made dean of
Litchfield, and the next year archdeacon of Coventry.
His life was exemplary; his converfation pleafing, and
greatly inftructive; and his behaviour as a gentleman,
a clergyman, and a neighbour, did honour to the place
of his refidence. He wrote, 1. A Short Narrative of
the Revolutions of the Kingdoms of Fez and Morocco:
2. The prefent Hiftory of the Jews: 3. A Difcourfe
on Catechifing: 4. A Modeft Plea for the Clergy:
5. An Introduction to the Sacrament: 6. The firft
State of Mahometiſm: and ſeveral other pieces. This
worthy divine died on the 20th of April 1703 and
left three fons: Jofeph, the fubject of the next article;
Gulfton, who died while governor of Fort St George;
Lancelot, mafter of arts, and fellow of Magdalen Col-
lege in Oxford; and one daughter, firft married to Dr
Saitre prebendary of Weſtminſter, and afterwards to
Daniel Combes, Efq.
ADDISON (Joſeph), fon of dean Addifon the fub-
ject of the laſt article. He was born at Milfton, near
Ambrefbury, in Wiltſhire, on the 11th of May 1672;
and not being thought likely to live, was baptized the
fame day. He received the firft rudiments of his edu-
cation at the place of his nativity, under the reverend
Mr Naiſh; but was foon removed to Saliſbury, under
the care of Mr Taylor; and from thence to the char-
ter-houfe, where he commenced his acquaintance with
Sir Richard Steele. About fifteen, he was entered at
Queen's College, Oxford, where he applied very cloſe-
ly to the ftudy of claffical learning, in which he made
a furpriſing proficiency.
In the year 1687, Dr Lancaſter, dean of Magda-
len College, having, by chance, feen a Latin poem
of Mr Addiſon's, was fo pleafed with it, that he im-
mediately got him elected into that houfe, where he
took up his degrees of bachelor and maſter of arts. His
Latin pieces in the courfe of a few years, were exceeding-
ly admired in both univerfities; nor were they lefs efteem-
ed abroad, particularly by the celebrated Boileau, who is
reported to have faid, that he would not have written
againſt Perrault, had he before ſeen ſuch excellent pieces Addifon.
by a modern hand. He publiſhed nothing in Engliſh
before the twenty-fecond year of his age; when there
appeared a ſhort copy of verſes written by him, and ad-
dreffed to Mr Dryden, which procured him great re-
putation from the beft judges. This was foon follow-
ed by a tranflation of the Fourth Georgic of Virgil,
(omitting the ftory of Ariftaus), much commended by
Mr Dryden. He wrote alfo the Effay on the Geor-
gics, prefixed to Mr Dryden's tranflation. There are
feveral other pieces written by him about this time;
amongst the reft, one dated the 3d of April 1694,
addreffed to H. S. that is, Dr Sacheverel, who be-
came afterwards fo famous, and with whom Mr Addi-
fon lived once in the greateſt friendſhip; but their in-
timacy was fome time after broken off by their difagree-
ment in political principles. In the year 1695, he
wrote a poem to king William on one of his cam-
paigns, addreffed to Sir John Somers lord keeper of
the great feal. This gentleman received it with great
pleafure, took the author into the number of his friends,
and beſtowed on him many marks of his favour.
Mr Addiſon had been cloſely preffed, while at the uni-
verfity, to enter into holy orders; and had once refolved
upon it: but his great modeſty, his natural diffidence,
and an uncommonly delicate fenſe of the importance of
the facred function, made him afterwards alter his re-
folution; and having expreffed an inclination to travel,”
he was encouraged thereto by his patron above-men-
tioned, who by his intereft procured him from the
crown a penfion of L. 300 per annum to fupport him
in his travels. He accordingly made a tour to Italy
in the year 1699; and, in 1701, he wrote a poetical
epiftle from Italy to the earl of Halifax, which has
been univerfally efteemed as a moſt excellent perform-
ance. It was tranflated into Italian verfe by the abbot
Antonio Maria Salvini, Greek profeffor at Florence.
In the year 1705, he publiſhed an account of his tra-
vels, dedicated to lord Somers; which, though at firſt
but indifferently received, yet in a little time met with
its deferved applauſe.
In the year 1702, he was about to return to Eng-
land, when he received advice of his being appointed
to attend prince Eugene, who then commanded for the
emperor in Italy: but the death of king William hap-
pening foon after, put an end to this affair as well as his
penfion; and he remained for a confiderable time un-
employed. But an unexpected incident at once raiſed
him, and gave him an opportunity of exerting his fine
talents to advantage: for in the year 1704, the lord
treaſurer Godolphin happened to complain to lord Ha-
lifax, that the duke of Marlborough's victory at Blen-
heim had not been celebrated in verfe in the manner it
deferved; and intimated, that he would take it kindly,
if his lordſhip, who was the known patron of the poets,
would name a gentleman capable of doing juftice to fo
elevated a ſubject. Lord Halifax replied, ſomewhat
haftily, that he did know fuch a perfon, but would
not mention him; adding, that long had he ſeen, with
indignation, men of no merit maintained in luxury at
the public expence, whilſt thoſe of real worth and mo-
defty were fuffered to languish in obfcurity. The
treaſurer anſwered very coolly, that he was forry there
ſhould be occafion for ſuch an obſervation, but that he
would do his endeavour to wipe off ſuch reproaches for
the
ADD
[ III ]
A D D
ست
Addifen. the future ; and he engaged his honour, that whoever every line in which liberty was mentioned, as a fatire Adifon.
his lordſhip named, as a perfon capable of celebrating on the Tories; and the Tories echoed every clap, to
this victory, fhould meet with a fuitable recompence.
fhow that the fatire was unfelt. When it was printed,
Lord Halifax thereupon named Mr Addiſon; infifting, notice was given that the Queen would be pleafed if it
however, that the treaſurer himſelf ſhould fend to him; was dedicated to her ; "but as he had defigned that
which he promiſed. Accordingly he prevailed on Mr compliment elfewhere, he found himſelf obliged," fays
Boyle (afterwards lord Carlton) then chancellor of Tickell, "by his duty on the one hand, and his ho-
the exchequer, to make the propofal to Mr Addiſon ; nour on the other, to fend it into the world without
which he did in fo polite a manner, that our author any dedication." It was no leſs eſteemed abroad, ha-
readily undertook the taſk. The lord-treaſurer had a ving been tranflated into French, Italian, and German;
fight of the piece, when it was carried no farther than and it was acted at Leghorn, and feveral other places,
the celebrated fimile of the angel; and was ſo pleaſed with vaft applaufe. The Jefuits of St Omers made a
with it, that he immediately appointed Mr Addiſon a Latin verfion of it, and the ſtudents acted it with great
commiffioner of appeals, vacant by the promotion of magnificence.
Mr Locke, chofen one of the lords commiffioners for
trade. The Campaign is addreffed to the duke of
Marlborough; it gives a fhort view of the military
tranfactions in 1704, and contains a noble deſcription
of the two great actions at Schellemberg and Blen-
heim. In 1705, he attended lord Halifax to Hano-
ver; and the enfuing year was appointed under-fecre-
tary to Sir Charles Hedges fecretary of ftate; in which
office he acquitted himſelf ſo well, that the earl of Sun-
derland, who fucceeded Sir Charles in December, con-
tinued Mr Addiſon in his employment.
A tafte for operas beginning at this time to prevail
in England, and many perfons having folicited Mr Ad-
difon to write one, he complied with their requeft, and
compofed his Rofamond. This, however, whether
from the defect of the mufic, or from the prejudices
in favour of the Italian tafte, did not fucceed upon the
ſtage; but the poetry of it has, and always will be,
juftly admired. About this time, Sir Richard Steele
compofed his comedy of the Tender Huſband, to which
Mr Addiſon wrote a prologue. Sir Richard ſurpriſed
him with a dedication of this play, and acquainted the
public, that he was indebted to him for fome of the
moft excellent ftrokes in the performance. The mar-
quis of Wharton, being appointed lord lieutenant of
Ireland in 1709, took Mr Addiſon with him as his
fecretary. Her majetty alfo made him keeper of the
records of Ireland, and, as a farther mark of her fa-
vour, confiderably augmented the falary annexed to
that place. Whilft he was in this kingdom, the Tat
ler was firſt publiſhed; and he difcovered his friend
Sir Richard Steele to be the author, by an obfervation
on Virgil, which he had communicated to him. He
afterwards affifted confiderably in carrying on this pa-
per, which the author acknowledges. The Tatler be-
ing laid down, the Spectator was fet on foot, and Mr
Addiſon furniſhed great part of the moſt admired pa-
pers. The Spectator made its firft appearance in March
1711, and was brought to a conclufion in September
1712.
His celebrated Cato appeared in 1713. He form
ed the deſign of a tragedy upon this fubject when he
was very young, and wrote it when on his travels:
he retouched it in England, without any intention of
bringing it on the ftage; but his friends being per-
ſuaded it would ferve the cauſe of liberty, he was pre-
vailed on by their folicitations, and it was accordingly
exhibited on the theatre, with a pogue by Mr Pope,
and an epilogue by Dr Garth. It was received with
the moſt uncommon applauſe, having run thirty-five
nights without interruption. The Whigs applauded
*
About this time, another paper called the Guardian
was publiſhed by Steele, to which Addiſon was a prin-
cipal contributor. It was a continuation of the Spec-
tator, and was diſtinguiſhed by the fame elegance and
the fame variety; but, in confequence of Steele's pro-
penfity to politics, was abruptly diſcontinued in order
to write the Engliſhman.
-
The papers of Addiſon are marked in the Spectator
by one of the letters in the name of Clio, and in the
Guardian by a Hand. Many of thefe papers were
written with powers truly comic, with nice difcrimi-
nation of characters, and accurate obfervation of na-
tural or accidental deviations from propriety: but it
was not fuppofed that he had tried a comedy on the
ftage, till Steele, after his death, declared him the au
thor of "The Drummer." This, however, he did
not know to be true by any cogent teftimony: for
when Addiſon put the play into his hands, he only
told him it was the work of a gentleman in the com-
pany; and when it was received, as is confeffed, with
cold difapprobation, he was probably lefs willing to
claim it. Tickell omitted it in his collection; but the
teftimony of Steele, and the total filence of any other
claimant, has determined the public to affign it to Ad-
difon, and it is now printed with his other poetry.
Steele carried "The Drummer" to the playhouſe, and
afterwards to the prefs, and fold the copy for 50 gui-
To Steele's opinion may be added the proof
fupplied by the play itfelf, of which the characters are
fuch as Addifon would have delineated, and the ten- ·
dency fuch as Addiſon would have promoted.
neas.
It is faid that Mr Addiſon intended to have compo-
fed an English dictionary upon the plan of the Italian
(Della Crufca); but, upon the death of the queen,
being appointed fecretary to the lords juftices, he had
not leifure to carry on fuch a work. When the earl of
Sunderland was appointed lord lieutenant of Ireland, -
Mr Addiſon was again made fecretary for the affairs
of that kingdom; and, upon the earl's being removed
from the lieutenancy, he was chofen one of the lords
of trade.
Not long afterwards an attempt was made to revive
the Spectator, at a time indeed by no means favour. -
able to literature, when the fucceffion of a new family -
to the throne filled the nation with anxiety, difcord,
and confufion; and either the turbulence of the times.
or the fatiety of the readers put a stop to the publica-
tion, after an experiment of 80 numbers, which were
afterwards collected into an eighth volume, perhaps
more valuable than any of thoſe that went before it :
Addifon produced more than a fourth part.
In
→
A D D
ADD
[ 112 ]
A difon.
In 1715, he began the Freeholder, a political pa
per, which was much admired, and proved of great
ufe at that juncture. He publiſhed alſo, about this
time, verfes to Sir Godfrey Kneller upon the king's
picture, and fome to the princess of Wales with the
tragedy of Cato.
Before the arrival of king George he was made fe-
cretary to the regency, and was required by his office
to fend notice to Hanover that the queen was dead,
and that the throne was vacant. To do this would
not have been difficult to any man but Addiſon, who
was fo overwhelmed with the greatnefs of the event,
and fo diftracted by choice of expreffion, that the lords,
who could not wait for the niceties of criticiſm, called
Mr Southwell, a clerk in the houſe, and ordered him
to diſpatch the meffage. Southwell readily told what
was neceffary, in the common ftyle of bufinefs, and
valued himſelf upon having done what was too hard for
Addifon.
In 1716, he married the counteſs dowager of War-
wick, whom he had folicited by a very long and anxi-
ous courtship. He is faid to have firſt known her by
becoming tutor to her fon. The marriage, if uncon-
tradicted report can be credited, made no addition to
his happineſs; it neither found them nor made them
equal. She always remembered her own rank, and
thought herſelf intitled to treat with very little cere-
mony the tutor of her fon. It is certain that Addiſon
has left behind him no encouragement for ambitious
love. The year after, 1717, he rofe to his higheſt
elevation, being made fecretary of ftate; but is repre-
fented as having proved unequal to the duties of his
place. In the houſe of commons he could not ſpeak,
and therefore was uſeleſs to the defence of the govern-
ment. In the office he could not iffue an order with-
out lofing his time in queft of fine expreffions. At
laft, finding by experience his own inability for public
buſineſs, he was forced to folicit his difmiffion, with a
penfion of 1500l. a-year. Such was the account of
thoſe who were inclined to detract from his abilities;
but by others his relinquiſhment was attributed to de-
clining health, and the neceffity of recefs and quiet.
•
In his retirement, he applied himſelf to a religious
* Evidences work *, which he had begun long before; part of
of the Xian which, fcarce finiſhed, has been printed in his works.
Religion. He intended alfo to have given an Engliſh paraphrafe
of fome of David's pfalms. But his ailments increaſed,
and cut fhort his.defigns. He had for fome time been
oppreſſed by an aſthmatic diſorder, which was now ag-
gravated by a dropfy, and he prepared to die conform-
ably to his precepts and profeffions. He fent, as Pope
relates, a meffage by the earl of Warwick to Mr Gay,
defiring to fee him: Gay, who had not viſited him for
fome time before, obeyed the fummons, and found
himſelf received with great kindnefs. The purpoſe for
which the interview had been folicited was then difco-
vered: Addiſon told him, that he had injured him;
but that, if he recovered, he would recompenfe him.
What the injury was he did not explain, nor did Gay
ever know; but fuppofed that fome preferment defign-
ed for him had by Addiſon's intervention been with
held.-Another death-bed interview, of a more folemn
nature, is recorded: Lord Warwick was a young man of
very irregular life, and perhaps of loofe opinions. Addi-
fon, for whom he did not want refpect, had very diligent-
N° 3°
ly endeavoured to reclaim him; but his arguments and Addiſon.
expoftulations had no effect: One experiment, how-
ever, remained to be tried. When he found his life
near its end, he directed the young lord to be called :
and when he defired, with great tenderneſs, to hear his
laft injunctions, told him, " I have fent for you that
you may fee how a Chriftian can die." What ef-
fect this awful ſcene had on the earl's behaviour is not
known: he died himſelf in a ſhort time. Having gi-
ven directions to Mr Tickell for the publication of his
works, and dedicated them on his death-bed to his
friend Mr Craggs, he died June 17. 1719, at Holland-
houfe, leaving no child but a daughter who is ftill
living.
66
Addiſon's courfe of life before his marriage has been
detailed by Pope. He had in the houfe with him
Budgell, and perhaps Philips. His chief companions
were Steele, Budgell, Philips, Carey, Davenant, and
Colonel Brett. With one or other of theſe he always
breakfafted. He ftudied all morning; then dined at
a tavern, and went afterwards to Button's. From the
coffeehouſe he went again to the tavern, where he often
fat late, and drank too much wine.
Dr Johnfon, in delineating the character of Addi-
fon, obferves with Tickell, that he employed wit on
the fide of virtue and religion. He not only made the
proper ufe of wit himſelf, but taught it to others;
and from his time it has been generally fubfervient to
the cauſe of reafon and truth. He has diffipated the
prejudice that had long connected gaiety with vice,
and eafinefs of manners with laxity of principles. He
has reftored virtue to its dignity, and taught innocence
not to be ashamed. This is an elevation of literary
character, "above all Greek, above all Roman fame."
No greater felicity can genius attain than that of ha-
ving purified intellectual pleaſure, feparated mirth from
indecency, and wit from licentiouſneſs; of having
taught a fucceffion of writers to bring elegance and
gaiety to the aid of goodnefs; and, to ufe expreffions
yet more awful, of having "turned many to righte-
"oufnefs." As a defcriber of life and manners, he
muſt be allowed to ftand perhaps the firft of the firſt
rank. His humour, which, as Steele obferves, is pe-
culiar to himſelf, is fo happily diffuſed as to give the
grace of novelty to domeftic fcenes and daily occur-
rences.
He never 66
outſteps the modefty of nature,"
nor raifes merriment or wonder by the violation of
truth. His figures neither divert by diſtortion, nor
amaze by aggravation. He copies life with fo much
fidelity, that he can be hardly faid to invent; yet his
exhibitions have an air ſo much original, that it is dif-
ficult to fuppofe them not merely the product of ima-
gination. As a teacher of wiſdom he may be confi-
dently followed. His religion has nothing in it enthu-
fiaftic or fuperftitious; he appears neither weakly cre-
dulous nor wantonly fceptical; his morality is neither
dangerouſly lax nor impracticably rigid. All thé en-
chantment of fancy and all the cogency of argument
are employed to recommend to the reader his real in-
tereft, the care of pleafing the Author of his being.
Truth is fhown fometimes as the phantom of a viſion,
fometimes appears ha-veiled in an allegory; fometimes
attracts regard in the robes of fancy, and fometimes
fteps forth in the confidence of reafon. She wears a
thouſand dreffes, and in all is pleafing.
The
1
ADD
[ 113
]
ADD
Addifon.
of place.
fuch an occafion is always a fufficient, and the only re- Additament
ward to, Sir, your moft obedient, humble fervant, Additions
J. ADDISON."-The anecdote which follows was told
by the late Dr Birch. Addiſon and Mr Temple Stan-
yan were very intimate. In the familiar converfations
which paffed between them, they were accuſtomed
freely to diſpute each other's opinions. Upon ſome
occafion, Mr Addifon lent Stanyan five hundred pounds.
After this, Mr Stanyan behaved with a timid reſerve,
deference, and refpect; not converfing with the fame
freedom as formerly, or canvaffing his friend's fenti-
ments. This gave great uneafinefs to Mr Addifon.
One day they happened to fall upon a ſubject, on which
Mr Stanyan had always been uſed ſtrenuouſly to oppoſe
his opinion. But, even upon this occafion, he gave
way to what his friend advanced, without interpofing
his own view of the matter. This hurt Mr Addifon
fo much, that he ſaid to Mr Stanyan,
"Either con-
tradict me, or pay me the money.'
The Doctor, however, has related the following a
necdote, which every admirer of Addifon, every man
of feeling, muſt be reluctant to believe. "Steele (fays
the Doctor), whofe imprudence of generofity, or va-
nity of profufion, kept him always incurably neceffi-
tous, upon fome preffing exigence, in an evil hour,
borrowed an hundred pounds of his friend, probably
without much purpoſe of repayment; but Addifon,
who ſeems to have had other notions of a hundred
pounds, grew impatient of delay, and reclaimed his
loan by an execution. Steele felt, with great fenfibi-
lity, the obduracy of his creditor; but with emotions
of forrow rather than of anger." It is much to be
wifhed, fays Dr Kippis, that Dr Johnſon had produ-
ced his authority for this narration. It is very poffible,
that it may be only a ſtory the Doctor had fomewhere
heard in converſation, and which is entirely ground-
leſs: “and this I am the rather inclined to believe,
as I have been affured, by one of the moſt refpectable
characters in the kingdom, that the fact hath no foun-
dation in truth." Mr Potter, in a late publication,
hath informed us, that he is told by the beſt authority,
that the ſtory is an abſolute falſehood.
:
Mr Tyers, in "An hiftorical Effay on Mr Addi-
fon," printed, but not publiſhed, has mentioned fome
facts concerning him, with which we were not before
acquainted. Theſe are, That he was laid out for dead
as foon as he was born: that, when he addreffed his
verfes on the Engliſh poets to Henry Sacheverell, he
courted that gentleman's fifter: that, whenever Ja-
cob Tonfon came to him for the Spectator, Bayle's
French Hiftorical and Critical Dictionary lay always
open before him: that, upon his return to England,
after his travels, he diſcharged fome old debts he had
contracted at Oxford, with the generofity of good
intereft that he was put into plentiful circumftances
by the death of a brother in the Eaft Indies: that,
having received encouragement from a married lady,
of whom he had been formerly enamoured, he had the
integrity to refift the temptation: that he refuſed a
gratification of a three hundred pounds bank-note,
and afterwards of a diamond-ring of the fame value,
from a Major Dunbar, whom he had endeavoured to
ferve in Ireland by his intereſt with lord Sunderland:
and that his daughter by lady Warwick is ftill alive
and unmarried, refiding at Bilton near Rugby, and
poffeffing an income of more than twelve hundred a-year.
The following letter, which probably relates to the
cafe of Major Dunbar, reflects great honour on Mr
Addiſon's integrity. "June 26. 1715. SIR, I find
there is a very ſtrong oppofition formed againft you;
but I fhall wait on my lord lieutenant this morning,
and lay your cafe before him as advantageouſly as I
can, if he is not engaged in other company. I am
afraid what you ſay of his grace does not portend you
any good. And now, Sir, believe me, when I affure
you I never did, nor ever will, on any pretence what-
foever, take more than the ftated and cuftomary fees
of my office. I might keep the contrary practice
concealed from the world, were I capable of it, but
I could not from myfelf; and I hope I fhall always
fear the reproaches of my own heart more than
thofe of all mankind. In the mean time, if I can
ferve a gentleman of merit, and fuch a character as
you bear in the world, the fatisfaction I meet with on
VOL. I. Part I.
*
In Tickell's edition of Mr Addiſon's works there
are feveral pieces hitherto unmentioned, viz. The Dif
fertation on Medals; which, though not publiſhed till
after his death, yet he had collected the materials, and
began to put them in order, at Vienna, in 1 1702. A
pamphlet, intitled, The prefent State of the War,
and the Neceffity of an Augmentation, confidered.
The late Trial and Conviction of Count Tariff. The
Whig Examiner came out on the 14th of September
1716: there were five of theſe papers attributed to
Mr Addiſon, and they are the fevereft pieces he ever
wrote. He is faid alfo to have been the author of a
performance intitled Differtatio de infignioribus Roma-
norum Poetis, and of a Difcourfe on Ancient and Mo-
dern Learning.
ADDITAMENT, fomething added to another.
Thus phyſicians call the ingredients added to a medi-
cine already compounded, additaments.
ADDITION, is the joining together or uniting
two or more things, or augmenting a thing by the ac-
ceffion of others thereto.
ADDITION, in ARITHMETIC, ALGEBRA, &c. See
thefe articles.
ADDITION, in mufic, a dot marked on the right fide
of a note, fignifying that it is to be founded or length-
ened half as much more as it would have been without
fuch mark.
ADDITION, in law, is that name or title which is
given to a man over and above his proper name and
furname, to fhow of what eftate, degree, or myftery
he is; and of what town, village, or country.
'
ADDITIONS of Eftate, or Quality, are, Yeoman, Gentle-
man, Efquire, and fuch like.
ADDITIONS of Degree, are thofe we call names of
dignity; as Knight, Lord, Earl, Marquis, and Duke.
ADDITIONS of Myftery, are fach as fcrivener, painter,
mafon, and the like.
ADDITIONS of Plave, are, of Thorp, of Dale, of
Woodſtock.-Where a man hath houſehold in two
places, he fhall be faid to dwell in both; ſo that his
addition in either may fuffice. Knave was anciently a
regular addition. By ftat. 1. Hen. V. cap. 5. it was
ordained, that in fuch fuits or actions where procefs of
outlawry lies, fuch addition ſhould be made to the
name of the defendant, to fhow his eftate, myſtery,
and place where he dwells; and that the writs not ha-
P
ving
1
ADE
[ 14 ]
A DE
Adelia.
11
Adeno
Additions ving fuch additions fhall abate if the defendant take method, this genus belongs to the 38th order, Tricoccæ. Adelme
exception thereto; but not by the office of the court. Of this genus there are three fpecies; the bernardia,
The reaſon of this ordinance was, that one man might the ricinella, and acidoton, for which we have no pro-graphy.
not be troubled by the outlawry of another; but by per names in Engliſh. They are natives of Jamaica,
reaſon of the certain addition, every perſon might bear and are akin to the ricinus or croton, and may be pro-
his own burden.
pagated in hot-beds from feeds procured from Jamaica.
ADELME, or ALDHELM, fon to Kenred, nephew
to Ina king of the Weft-Saxons; after having been.
educated abroad, was abbot of Malmſbury 30 years..
He was the firſt Engliſhman who wrote in Latin, the
firſt who brought poetry into England, and the firſt
biſhop of Sherburn. He lived in great efteem till his
death, which happened in 709. He was canonized,
and many miracles were told of him. He is mention-
ed with great honour by Camden and Bayle, and his
life was written by William of Malmſbury..
ADDITIONS, în diftilling, a name given to fuch
things as are added to the waſh, or liquor, while in a
ſtate of fermentation, in order to improve the vinofity
of the fpirit, procure a larger quantity of it, or give
is a particular flavour. All things, of whatever kind,
thus added in the time of fermentation, are called by
thoſe of the buſineſs who ſpeak moſt intelligently add
tions; but many confound them with things of a very
different nature, under the name of ferments. See
DISTILLING.
ADDITIONS, in heraldry, fome things added to a coat
of arms, as marks of honour; and therefore directly
oppoſite to abatements. Among additions we reckon
BORDURE, QUARTER, CANTON, GYRON, PILE, &c..
See theſe articles..
ADDRESS, in a general fenfe, is ufed for fkill
and good management, and of late has been adopted
from the French. It is ufed alfo in commerce, as fy-
nonymous with direction to a perfon or place. The
word is formed of the French verb adreſſer, To direct
any thing to a perfon..
ADDUCENT MUSCLES, OF ADDUCTORS, in ana-.
tomy, thoſe muſcles which pull one part of the body
towards another.. See ANATOMY, Table of the Muscles.
ADEB, in commerce, the name of a large Egyp-
tian weight, uſed principally for rice, and confifting of
210 okes, each of three rotolos, a weight of about two
drams leſs than the Engliſh pound. But this is no cer-
tain weight; for at Roſetto the adeb is only 150 okes.
ADĚL, a kingdom on the eaſtern coaft of Africa,
which reaches as far as the ftraits of Babelmandel,
which unite the Red Sea to the fea of Arabia. This
country produces corn, and feeds a great number of
cattle. The inhabitants carry on a trade in gold, fil-
ver, ivory, oil, frankincenfe, a fort of pepper, and other
merchandiſes of Arabia and the Indies. The king was
formerly a vaffal to the grand negus of Abyffinia: but
being Mahometans, and the Abyffinians a fort of Chri-
ftians, they could not agree; and in 1535 came to an
open rupture, when the Adelines threw off the yoke,
feeking protection from the Grand Signior. The prin-
cipal places are, Adela, feated in the centre of the
country, and is the town where the king refides: Zeila,
near the Arabian Sea, is a rich town, and has a good
trade : Barbora, near the fea-coaft, is an ancient trading
town.
It rains very feldom in this country.
ADELIA, a genus of the monadelphia order, be-
longing to the diœcia clafs of plants; the characters
of which are: The MALE calyx is a perianthium one-
leaved, three-parted; the florets fublanced and con-
cave: No corolla: The ftamina confift of many capil-
lary filaments the length of the calyx, conjoined at
the baſe in a cylinder; the antheræ are roundífh. The
FEMALE calyx is a five-leaved perianthium; the leaflets
fublanced, concave, perfiftent: No corolla: The piftil-
lum has a roundiſh germen; the ftyli are three, fhort,
and divaricated; the ſtigmata lacerated: The perian
thium is a three-grained, roundifh, three-celled capfule:
The feeds are folitary and roundifh. In the natural
ADELPHIANI, in church-hiſtory, a fect of an--
cient heretics, who fafted always on Sundays.
ADELSCALC, in ancient cuſtoms, denotes a fer-
vant of the king.. The word is alfo written adelfcalche,
and adelfcalcus. It is compounded of the German anel,
or edel," noble," and fcale, " fervant." Among the
Bavarians, adelfcales appear to have been the fame with
royal thanes among the Saxons, and thoſe called mini-
tri regis in ancient charters.
ADEMPTION, in the civil law, implies the re-
vocation of a grant, donation, or the like.
ADEN, formerly a rich and confiderable town of
Arabia the Happy. It is ſeated by the fea-fide, a
little eastward of the ſtraits of Babelmandel.
ADENANTHERA, BASTARD FLOWER-FENCE, a
genus of the monogynia order, belonging to the de-
candria clafs of plants.
candria clafs of plants. In the natural method, it
belongs to the 33 order, Lomentacea. The cha-
racters, are The calyx is a perianthiam confifting
of one very ſmall five-toothed leaf. The corolla con-
fifts of five bell-ſhaped lanceolate feffile petals, convex
within and concave under. The ftamina have ten erect
fubulated filaments fhorter than the corolla; the anthe-
ræ are roundish, incumbent, bearing a globular gland on
the exterior top. The piftillum has a long gibbous ger-
men; the ftylus fubulated the length of the ftamina
the ftigma fimple. The pericarpium is a long com-
preffed membranous legumen. The feeds are very nur
merous, roundiſh, and remote.
;
Only one fpecies of this plant is known in Britain :
but there is a variety, with ſcarlet feeds; which, how-
ever, is rare, and grows very flowly. It is a native of
India, and rifes to a confiderable height. It is as large
as the tamarind tree; ſpreads its branches wide on every
fide, and makes a fine fhade,; for which reafon, it is
frequently planted by the inhabitants in their gardens
or near their habitations. The leaves of this tree are
doubly winged, the flowers of a yellow colour, and
difpofed in a long bunch. Theſe are fucceeded by long
twiſted membranaceous pods, inclofing feveral hard
compreffed feeds, of a beautiful ſcarlet, or fhining black,
colour. This plant must be raiſed in a hot-bed, and
kept during winter in a ſtove.
ADENBURG, or ALDENBURG, a town of Weft-
phalia, and in the duchy of Burg, fubject to the Elec-
tor Palatine. It is 12 miles N. E. of Cologne, and
17 W. of Bonn; E. long. 7. 25. lat. 51. 2.
ADENOGRAPHY, that part of anatomy which
treats of the glandular parts. See ANATOMY.
ADEL
A
ADH
[
ADI
115
]
Adenoides
Adhatoda.
ADENOIDES, glandulous, or of a glandular form;
an epithet applied to the PROSTATÆ.
ADENOLOGY, the fame with Adenography.
ADENOS, a kind of cotton, otherwife called ma-
rine cotton. It comes from Aleppo by the way of Mar-
feilles, where it pays 20 per cent. duty.
ADEONA, in mythology, the name of a goddeſs in-
voked by the Romans when they fet out upon a journey.
ADÉPHAGIA, in mythology, the goddefs of glut-
tony, to whom the Sicilians paid religious worſhip.
ÁDEPS, in anatomy, the fat found in the abdo-
men. It alſo fignifies animal fat of any kind.
ADEPTS, a term among alchemiſts for thoſe who
pretended to have found the panacea or philofophers-
ftone.
ADERBIJAN, a province of Perfia, bounded on
the N. by Armenia Proper, on the S. by Irac-Agemi,
on the E. by Ghilan, and on the W. by Curdiſtan.
The principal town is Tauris; from 42. to 48. long.
from 36. to 39. lat.
ADERNO, a ſmall place in the Val di Demona in
the kingdom of Sicily: E. long. 15. 25. lat. 28. 5.
The ancient ADRANUM.
11
Adjazzo,
ACTION OF ADHERENCE, in Scots law; an ac- Action of
tion competent to a huſband or wife, to compel either adherence
party to adhere, in cafe of defertion.
ADHESION, in a general fenfe, implies the ftick-
ing or adhering of bodies together.
ADHESION, in philofophy. See COHESION.
ADHESION, in anatomy, a term for one part ſticking
to another, which in a natural ſtate are feparate. For
the most part, if any of thoſe parts in the thorax or
belly lie in contact, and inflame, they grow together.
The lungs very frequently adhere to the pleura.
ADHIL, in aftronomy, a ftar of the fixth magni
tude, upon the garment of Andromeda, under the laft
ftar in her foot.
ADHOA, in ancient cuftoms, denotes what we
otherwiſe call relief. In which ſenſe we ſometimes alfo
find the word written adoha, adhoamentum, and adhoga-
mentum.
ADIANTHUM, MAIDEN-HAIR; a genus of the
order of filices, belonging to the cryptogamia clafs of
plants. The fructifications are collected in oval ſpots
under the reflected tops of the fronds.
Species. Of this genus botanical writers enumerate
ADES, or HADES, denotes the invifible ftate. In fifteen fpecies; the moſt remarkable are the following.
the heathen mythology, it comprehends all thoſe re-. The capillus veneris, or true maiden-hair, is a na-
gions that lie beyond the river Styx, viz. Erebus, Tar-
tarus, and Elyfium. See HELL.
ADESSENARIANS, ADESSENARII, in church-
hiftory, a fect of Chriſtians who hold the real prefence
of Chrift's body in the eucharift, though not by way
of tranfubftantiation. They differ confiderably as to
this prefence; fome holding that the body of Chrift is
in the bread; others that it is about the bread; and
others that it is under the bread.
ADFILIATION, a Gothic cuftom, whereby the
children of a former marriage are put upon the fame
footing with thoſe of the ſecond. This is alfo called
unio prolium, and ftill retained in fome parts of Ger-
many.
AD FINES (Antonine), a town of Swifferland,
fuppofed to be the modern Pfin, in the north of the
diſtrict of Turgow, on the rivulet Thur, not far from
the borders of Suabia, about half-way between Con-
ftance and Frauenfield. So called, becauſe when Ce-
cinna, general of the emperor Vitellius, with the auxi-
liary Rhetians, defeated the Helvetii, the former ex-
tended their borders thus far, their territory ending
here; and, in time of the Romans, it was the laft
town in this quarter, and of fome repute.
ADHA, a feſtival which the Mahometans celebrate
on the 10th day of the month Dhoulhegiat, which is
the 12th and laft of their year. This month being par-
ticularly deſtined for the ceremonies which the pilgrims
obferve at Mecca, it takes its name from thence, for
the-word fignifies the month of Pilgrimage On that
day they facrifice with great folemnity, at Mecca, and
no where elfe, a fheep, which is called by the fame
mame as the feſtival itſelf. The Turks commonly call
this feftival the Great Beiram, to diſtinguiſh it from
the leffer, which ends their faſt, and which the Chri-
ftians of the Levant call the Eafter of the Turks. The
Mahometans celebrate this feftival, out of the city of
Mecca, in a neighbouring valley; and fometimes they
facrifice there a camel. See BAIRAM.
ADHATODA, in botany. See JUSTICIA.
tive of the fouthern parts of France, from whence it
is brought to Britain; though it is likewiſe ſaid to
grow plentifully in Cornwall, and the Trichomanes has
been almoſt univerſally ſubſtituted for it. 2. The pe-
datum, or American maiden-hair, is a native of Ĉa-
nada; and grows in fuch quantities, that the French
fend it from thence in package for other goods, and the
apothecaries of Paris uſe it for maiden-hair in the com-
pofitions wherein that is ordered. 3. The trapezi-
forme, or black American maiden-hair, is a native of
Jamaica; and has fhining black ſtalks, and leaves of
an odd ſhape, which make an agreeable variety among
other plants, fo is fometimes cultivated in gardens.
Culture. The firſt ſpecies grows naturally out of
the joints of walls, and fiffures of rocks. Ít ought
therefore to be planted in pots filled with gravel and
lime-rubbiſh; where it will thrive much better than in
good earth. It muſt alſo be ſheltered under a frame
during the winter.-The ſecond is to be treated in
the fame manner; but the third will not thrive in Bri-
tain, unleſs kept in a ſtove during the winter.
Properties. The true maiden-hair has been greatly
celebrated in diſorders of the breaſt proceeding from a
thinnefs and acrimony of the juices; and likewiſe for
opening obftructions of the vifcera, and promoting the
expectoration of tough phlegm. But modern practice.
pays little regard to it; the afplenium trichomanes, or
Engliſh maiden-hair, ſupplying its place. · See ASPLE-
NIUM.
ADIAPHORISTS, in church-hiſtory, a name im-
porting lukewarmnefs, given, in the 16th century, to
the moderate Lutherans, who embraced the opinions
of Melancthon, whofe difpofition was vaftly more paci
fic than that of Luther.
ADIAPHOROUS, ADIAPHORUS, a name given
by Mr Boyle to a kind of ſpirit diftilled from tartar
and fome other vegetable bodies; and which is neither
acid, vinous, nor urinous; but in many reſpects diffe-
rent from any other fort of ſpirit.
ADJAZZO,ADRAZZO, or AJACCIO, in geography,
P 2
૩
ADJ
[ 116 ]
A DJ
debt; or that action by which the holder of an heri Adjun&
table right, labouring under any defect in point of form, #1.
may ſupply that defect.
Adlegation.
Adjective a handfome town and caftle of Corfica in the Mediter-
Η
ranean, with a biſhop's fee, and a good harbour. It
Adjudica- is populous, and fertile in wine. It is 27 miles S. W.
of Corte. E. long. 41. 54 lat. 38. 5.
ADJECTIVE, in grammar, a kind of noun joined
with a fubftantive, either expreffed or implied, to fhow
its qualities or accidents. See GRAMMAR.
tion.
ADIGE, a river in Italy, which taking its rife
fouth of the lake Glace among the Alps, runs fouth by
Trent, then east by Verona in the territory of Venice,
and falls into the gulph of Venice, north of the mouth
of the Po.
ADJOURNMENT, the putting off a court, or
other meeting, till another day. There is a difference
between the adjournment and the prorogation of the
parliament; the former not only being for a ſhorter
time, but alſo done by the houſe itſelf; whereas the
latter is an act of royal authority.
ADIPOSE, a term uſed by anatomiſts for any cell,
membrane, &c. that is remarkable for its fatnefs.
ADIRBEITSAN, in geography, a province of
Perfia, in Afia, and part of the ancient Media. It is
bounded on the N. by the province of Shirvan, on the
S. by Irac-Agemi and Curdiſtan, on the E. by Gilan
and the Cafpian fea, and on the W. by Turcomania.
ADIT, in a general fenfe, the paffage to, or entrance
of, any thing.
ADIT of a Mine, the hole, or aperture, whereby it
is entered and dug, and by which the water and ores
are carried away. The term amounts to the fame with
cuniculus or drift, and is diftinguiſhed from air-fhaft.
The adit is ufually made on the fide of a hill, towards
the bottom thereof, about four, five, or fix feet high,
and eight wide, in form of an arch; fometimes cut in
the rock, and fometimes fupported with timber, fo con-
ducted as that the fole or bottom of the adit may an-
fwer to the bottom of the fhaft, only fomewhat lower,
that the water may have a fufficient current to paſs
away without the uſe of the pump. Damps and the
impurity of the air are the great impediments againft
driving adits above 20 or 30 fathoms, by reafon of the
neceffity, in this cafe, of letting down air-fhafts from
the day to meet the adit, which are often very expen-
five, both on account of the great depth of mines, and
the hardness of the mineral ftrata to be cut through.
The beſt remedy againſt this is that practifed in the
coal-mines near Liege, where they work their adits
without air-ſhafts: the manner of which is defcribed
by Sir Robert Moray. Vid. Phil. Tranſ. N° 5.
ADIT of a Mine is fometimes uſed for the air-fhaft
itſelf, being a hole driven perpendicularly from the fur-
face of the earth into ſome part of a mine, to give en-
trance to the air. To draw off the ftanding water in
winter, in deep mines, they drive up an adit, or air-
thaft, upon which the air difengages itfelf from the
water, when it begins to run with fuch violence as pro-
duces a noife equal to the bursting of a cannon, daſhes
every thing in the way against the fides of the mine,
and loofens the very rocks at a diſtance. Ibid. N° 26.
ADJUDICATION, implies the act of adjudging,
or determining, a cauſe in favour of fome perfon.
ADJUDICATION, in Scots law, the name of that ac-
tion by which a creditor attaches the heritable eftate
of his debtor, or his debtor's heir, in order to appro-
priate it to himſelf, either in payment or fecurity of his
ADJUNCT, among philofophers, fignifies fomething
added to another, without being any neceffary part of
it. Thus water abforbed by cloth or a sponge, is an
adjunct, but no neceffary part of either of thefe fub-
ſtances.
ADJUNCT, in metaphyfics, fome quality belonging
to either the body or mind, whether natural or acqui-
red. Thus thinking is an adjunct of the mind, and
growth an adjunct of the body.
ADJUNCT, in mufic, a word which is employed to
denominate the connection or relation between the prin-
cipal mode and the modes of its two-fifths, which, from
the intervals that conftitute the relation between them
and it, are called its adjuncts.
ADJUNCT is alſo uſed to fignify a colleague, or fome
perfon affociated with another as an affiftant.
ADJUNCT Gods, or ADJUNCTS of the Gods, among
the Romans, were a kind of inferior deities, added as
affiſtants to the principal ones, to eafe them in their func-
tions. Thus, to Mars was adjoined Bellona and Ne-
mefis; to Neptune, Salacia; to Vulcan, the Cabiri;
to the Good Genius, the Lares; to the Evil, the Le-
mures, &c.
ADJUNCTS, in rhetoric and grammar, fignify certain
words or things added to others, to amplify or augment
the force of the difcourfe.
ADJUNCTS, or ADJOINTS, in the royal academy of
fciences at Paris, denote a claſs of members, attached
to the purſuit of particular fciences. The clafs of Ad-
juncts was created in 1716, in lieu of the Eleves: they
are twelve in number; two for geometry, two for me-
chanics, two for aftronomy, two for anatomy, two for
chemiſtry, and two for botany. The Eleves not ta-
ken into this eſtabliſhment were admitted on the foot
of fupernumerary Adjuncts.
ADJUTANT, in the military art, is an officer
whoſe buſineſs it is to affift the major. Each battalion
of foot and regiment of horfe has an adjutant, who re-
ceives the orders every night from the brigade-major;
which, after carrying them to the colonel, he delivers
out to the ferjeants. When detachments are to be
made, he gives the number to be furniſhed by each
company or troop, and affigns the hour and place of
rendezvous. He alfo places the guards; receives, and
diftributes the ammunition to the companies, &c.; and,
by the major's orders, regulates the prices of bread,
beer, and other provifions. The word is fometimes
uſed by the French for an aid-du-camp.
ADJUTANTS-general, among the jefuits, a felect
number of fathers, who refided with the general of the
order, each of whom had a province or country affigned
him, as England, Holland, &c. and their bufinefs was to
inform the father-general of ſtate-occurrences in fuch
countries. To this end they had their correfpon-
dents delegated, emiffaries, vifitors, regents, provin-
cials, &c.
ADJUTORIUM, a term ufed by phyficians for-
any medicine in a preſcription but the capital one.
ADLE-EGGS, fuch as have not received an impreg-
nation from the femen of the cock.
ADLEGATION, in the public law of the German
empire, a right claimed by the ftates of the empire of
adjoin
ADM
AD M
[
117 ]
11
Admini-
ſtration.
Adlocution adjoining plenipotentiaries, in public treaties and nego-
ciations, to thofe of the emperor, for the tranfacting of
matters which relate to the empire in general. In
which fenſe adlegation differs from legation, which is
the right of fending ambaffadors on a perfon's own ac
count. Several princes and ftates of the empire enjoy
the right of legation, who have not that of adlegation,
and vice verfa. The bishops, for inftance, have the
right of adlegation in the treaties which concern the
common intereſt, but no right of legation for their own
private affairs. The like had the duke of Mantua.--
The emperor allows the princes of Germany the privi-
lege of legation, but difputes that of adlegation. They
challenge it as belonging to them jure regni, which
they enjoy in common with the emperor himſelf.
ÁDLÓCUTION, ADLOCUTIO, in antiquity, is
chiefly underſtood of fpeeches made by Roman gene-
rals to their armies, to encourage them before a battle.
We frequently find theſe adlocutions expreffed on me-
dals by the abbreviature ADLOCUт. Coн.-The ge-
neral is fometimes reprefented as feated on a tribunal,
often on a bank or mount of turf, with the cohorts
ranged orderly round him, in manipuli and turma.
The ufual formula in adlocutions was, Fortis effet ac
fidus.
ADMANUENSES, in ancient law books, denote
perfons who ſwore by laying their hands on the book.
In which fenfe, admanuenfes amount to the fame
with laymen; and ſtand oppoſed to clerks, who were
forbid to fwear on the book, their word being to be re-
puted as their oath; whence they were alfo denomi-
nated fide digni.
ADMEASUREMENT, ADMENSURATIO, in law,
a writ which lies for the bringing thoſe to reafon, or
mediocrity, who ufurp more of any thing than their
fhare. This writ lies in two cafes; termed,
ADMEASUREMENT of Danver, Admenfuratio dotis,
where the widow of the deceaſed holds more from the
heir, or his guardian, on account of her dower, than of
right belongs to her. And,
ADMEASUREMENT of Pafture, Admenfuratio paftura;
this lies between thofe who have COMMON of paſtures
appendant to their freehold, or common by vicinage,
in cafe any of them ſurcharge the common with more
cattle than they ought.
ADMINICLE, a term ufed chiefly in old law-
books, to imply an aid, help, affiftance, or fupport.
The word is Latin, adminiculum; and derived from ad-
miniculor, to prop or ſupport.
ADMINICLE, in Scots law, fignifies any writing or
deed referred to by a party, in an action of law, for
proving his allegations.
ADMINICULATOR, an ancient officer of the
church, whoſe buſineſs it was to attend to and defend
the cauſe of the widows, orphans, and others deftitute
of help.
ADMINISTRATION, in general, the govern-
ment, direction, or management of affairs, and parti-
cularly the exerciſe of diftributive juftice; among ec-
clefiaftics, it is often ufed to exprefs the giving or dif-
penfing the facraments, &c.
ADMINISTRATION, is alfo the name given by the
Spaniards in Peru to the ſtaple magazine, or warehouſe,
eſtabliſhed at Callao, a ſmall town on the S. Sea, which
is the port of Lima, the capital of that part of South
America, and particularly of Peru. The foreign fhips,
ftrator
which have leave to trade along that coaft, are obliged Admini-
to unload here, paying 13 per cent. of the price they
#
fell for, if the cargo be entire, and even 16 per cent.
Admiral.
if otherwife; befides which, they pay 3 per 1000,
duty, for confulship and fome other fmall royal rights
and claims.
ADMINISTRATOR, in law, he to whom the or-
dinary commits the adminiftration of the goods of a
perfon deceaſed, in default of an executor. An action
lies for, or againſt an adminiſtrator, as for, or againſt
an executor; and he ſhall be accountable to the value
of the goods of the deceaſed, and no farther:- unleſs
there be wafte, or other abuſe chargeable on him. If
the adminiftrator die, his executors are not adminiftra-
tors; but the court is to grant a new adminiſtration.
-If a ſtranger, who is neither adminiftrator nor exe-
cutor, take the goods of the deceaſed, and adminiſter,
he ſhall be charged, and fued as an executor, not as an
adminiſtrator. The origin of adminiſtrators is derived
from the civil law. Their eſtabliſhment in England is
owing to a ftatute made in the 31st year of Edw. III,
Till then, no office of this kind was known beſide that
of executor: in cafe of a want of which, the ordinary
had the diſpoſal of goods of perfons inteftate, &c.
ADMINISTRATOR, in Scots law, a perfon legally im-
powered to act for another whom the law prefumes in-
capable of acting for himſelf. Thus tutors or curators
are fometimes ftyled adminiſtrators in law to pupils,
minors, or fatuous perfons. But more generally the
term is uſed to imply that power which is conferred
by the law upon a father over the perſons and eſtates
of his children during their minority. See Law, N°clxi.
ADMINISTRATOR, is fometimes ufed for the prefi-
dent of a province; for a perfon appointed to receive,-
manage, and diftribute, the revenues of an hofpital or
religious houfe; for a prince who enjoys the revenues
of a fecularized biſhopric; and for the regent of a king-
dom during a minority of the prince, or a vacancy of
the throne.
ADMIRABILIS SAL, the fame with GLAUBER'S
falt. See CHEMISTRY, nº 1 24.
ADMIRAL, a great officer or magiftrate, who has
the government of a navy, and the hearing of all ma-
ritime cauſes.
Authors are divided with regard to the origin and
denomination of this important officer, whom we find
eftabliſhed in moft kingdoms that border on the ſea.
But the moft probable opinion is that of Sir Henry
Spelman, who thinks, that both the name and dignity-
were derived from the Saracens, and, by reaſon of the
holy wars, brought amongſt us; for admiral, in the
Arabian language, fignifies a prince, or chief ruler,
and was the ordinary title of the governors of cities,
provinces, &c. and therefore they called the com-
mander of the navy by that name, as a name of dignity
and honour. And indeed there are no inftances of
admirals in this part of Europe before the year 1284,
when Philip of France, who had attended St Lewis in
the wars againſt the Saracens, created an admiral. Du
Cange affures us, that the Sicilians were the firſt, and
the Genoefe the next, who gave the denomination of
Admiral to the commanders of their naval armaments;
and that they took it from the Saracen or Arabic E-
mir, a general name for every commanding officer. As·
for the exact time when the word was introduced among
us, it is uncertain; fome think it was in the reign of
Edward L.
.
ADM
ADM
[ 118
]
{
1
Admiral. Edward I. Sir Henry Spelman is of opinion that it
was firſt uſed in the reign of Henry 111. becaufe nei-
ther the laws of Oleron made in 1266, nor Bracton,
who wrote about that time, make any mention of it;
and that the term admiral was not uſed in a charter in
the eighth of Henry III. wherein he granted this of-
fice to Richard de Lacey, by theſe words Maritimam
Anglia; but in the 56th year of the fame reign, not only
the hiftorians, but the charters themſelves, very fre-
quently uſe the word admiral.
Anciently there were generally three or four admi-
rals appointed in the Engliſh feas, all of them holding
the office durante bene placito; and each of them having
particular limits under their charge and government;
as admirals of the fleet of fhips, from the mouth of the
Thames northward, fouthward, or weftward. Befides
theſe, there were admirals of the Cinque Ports, as in the
reign of Edward III. when one William Latimer was
ftyled admiralis quinque portuum; and we fometimes
find that one perſon has been admiral of the fleets to.
the fouthward, northward, and weftward: but the title
of almiralis Anglia was not frequent till the reign of
Henry IV. when the king's brother had that title gi-
ven him, which in all commiffions afterwards was grant-
ed to the fucceeding admirals. It may be obſerved,
that there was a title above that of admiral of England,
which was, locum-tenens regis fuper mare, the king's lieu-
tenant-general of the ſea; this title we find mentioned
in the reign of Richard II.—Before the uſe of the
word admiral was known, the title of cuftos maris was
made ufe of.
Lord High ADMIRAL of England, in fome ancient re-
cords called capitanus maritimarum, an officer of great
antiquity and truft, as appears by the laws of Oleron,
fo denominated from the place they were made at by
Richard I. The firſt title of Admiral of England, ex-
preſsly conferred upon a fubject, was given by patent
of Richard II. to Richard Fitz-Allen, jun". earl of Arun-
del and Surrey; for thoſe who before enjoyed this of-
fice were fimply termed admirals, though their jurif-
diction feems as large, eſpecially in the reign of Edward
III. when the court of admiralty was firft erected.
This great officer has the management of all mari
time affairs, and the government of the royal navy, with
power of decifion in all maritime cafes both civil and
criminal: he judges of all things done upon or beyond
the fea, in any part of the world; upon the fea-coafts,
in all ports and havens, and upon all rivers below the
firft bridge from the fea. By him, vice-admirals, rear-
admirals, and all fea-captains, are commiffioned; all de-
puties for particular coafts, and coroners to view dead
bodies found on the fea-coafts, or at fea: he alſo ap-
points the judges for his court of admiralty, and may
impriſon, releafe, &c. All ports and havens are infra
corpus comitatus, and the admiral hath no juriſdiction
of any thing done in them. Between high and low wa-
ter-mark, the common-law and the high-admiral have
juriſdiction by turns, one upon the water, and the other
upon the land.
The lord-admiral has power, not only over the fea-
men ferving in his fhips of war, but over all other fea-
men, to arreft them for the fervice of the ftate; and,
if
any of them run away, without leave of the admiral,
he hath power to make a record thereof, and certi-
fy the fame to the ſheriffs, mayors, bailiffe, &c. who
all cauſe them to be apprehended and impriſoned.
To the lord high-admiral belong all penalties and Admiral,
amercements of all tranfgreffions at fea, on the fea-ſhore,
Admiralty.
in ports and havens, and all rivers below the firſt bridge
from the fea; the goods of pirates and felons condemn-
ed or enflaved, fea-wrecks, goods floating on the ſea,
or caſt on the ſhore (not granted to lords of manors
adjoining to the fea), and a ſhare of lawful prizes; alſo
all great fishes, commonly called royal fishes, except
whales and fturgeons: to which add, a falary of 7000l.
a-year.
In fhort, this is fo great an office, in point of truft,
honour, and profit, that it has been uſually given to
princes of the blood, or the moft eminent perfons among
the nobility. We have had no high admiral for fome
years; the office being put in commiffion, or under the
adminiftration of the lords commiffioners of the admi-
ralty, who by ftatute have the fame power and autho-
rity as the lord high admiral.
Lord High ADMIRAL of Scotland, one of the great of-
ficers of the crown, and fupreme judge in all maritime
cafes within that part of Britain. See LAW, Part III.
N° clvii. 15.
ADMIRAL, alfo implies the commander in chief of
any fingle fleet or ſquadron; or, in general, any flag-
officer whatever. The commander of a fleet carries his
flag at the main-top-maft head.
Vice ADMIRAL, is the commander of the ſecond fqua-
dron, and carries his flag at the fore-top-maſt head.
Rear ADMIRAL, is the commander of the third fqua-
dron, and carries his flag at the mizen-top-maſt head.
Vice ADMIRAL, is alfo an officer appointed by the
lords commiffioners of the admiralty. There are ſeveral
of thefe officers eſtabliſhed in different parts of Great
Britain, with judges and martials under them, for ex-
ecuting juriſdiction within their reſpective limits. Their
decrees, however, are not final, an appeal lying to the
court of admiralty in London.
ADMIRAL is alſo an appellation given to the moſt
confiderable ſhip of a fleet of merchant-men, or of the
veffels employed in the cod-fifhery of Newfoundland.
This laft has the privilege of choofing what place he
pleaſes on the ſhore to dry his fiſh; gives proper orders,
and appoints the fiſhing-places to thoſe who come after
him; and as long as the fishing-feafon continues, he
carries a flag on his main-maft.
ADMIRAL, in Zoology, the English name of a fpe-
cies of the voluta, a ſhell-fish belonging to the order of
vermes teftacea. See VOLUTA.
ADMIRALTY properly fignifies the office of lord
high-admiral, whether difcharged by one fingle per-
fon, or by joint commiffioners called lords of the admi-
ralty.
Court of ADMIRALTY, is a fovereign court, held by
the lord high-admiral, or lords of the admiralty, where
cognizance is taken in all maritime affairs, whether ci-
vil or criminal.-All crimes committed on the high-
feas, or on great rivers below the firſt bridge next the
fea, are cognizable in this court only, and before which
they muſt be tried by judge and jury. But in civil ca-
fes the mode is different, the decifions being all made
according to the civil law. From the ſentences of the
admiralty-judge an appeal always lay, in ordinary
courſe, to the king in chancery, as may be collected
from ftatute 25 Hen. VIII. c. 19. which directs the
appeal from the archbishop's courts to be determined by
perfons named in the king's commiffion, "like as in
• cafe
1
AD
N
]
ADN
[ 119
Admiralty" cafe of appeal from the admiral-court." But this is
alſo exprefsly declared by ſtatute 8 Eliz. c. 5. which
enacts, that upon an appeal made to the chancery, the
fentence definitive of the delegates appointed by com-
miffion fhall be final.
Adnate
Appeals from the vice-admiralty courts in Ameri-
ca, and our other plantations and fettlements, may be
brought before the courts of admiralty in England, as、
being a branch of the admiral's jurifdiction, tho' they
may alſo be brought before the king in council. But
in cafe of prize veffels, taken in time of war, in any
part of the world, and condemned in any courts of ad-
miralty or vice-admiralty as lawful prize, the appeal lies
to certain commiffioners of appeals confifting chiefly of
the privy council, and not to judges delegates. And
this by virtue of divers treaties with foreign nations,
by which particular courts are eſtabliſhed in all the
maritime countries of Europe for the decifion of this
queftion, Whether lawful prize or not? for this being
a queſtion between fubjects of different ftates, it
belongs entirely to the law of nations, and not to
the municipal laws of either country, to deter-
mine it.
Court of ADMIRALTY in Scotland. See Law, Part
III. No clvii. 15.
ADMIRALTY Íſlands, lie in about 2° 18′ S. Lat. and
146° 44′ E. Long. There are between 20 and 30
iflands faid to be fcattered about here, one of which
alone would make a large kingdom. Captain Carteret,
who firſt diſcovered them, was prevented touching at
them, although their appearance was very inviting, on
account of the condition of his ſhip, and of his being
entirely unprovided with the articles of barter which
fuit an Indian trade. He defcribes them as clothed
with a beautiful verdure of woods, lofty and luxuriant,
interſperſed with ſpots that have been cleared for plan-
tations, groves of cocoa nut-trees, and houſes of the na-
tives, who ſeem to be very numerous. The largeſt of theſe
islands is 18 leagues long in the direction. of eaft and
weit. The diſcoverer thinks it highly probable that
theſe iſlands produce ſeveral valuable articles of trade,
particularly fpices, as they lie in the fame climate and
latitude as the Moluccas..
ADMONITION, in ecclefiaftical affairs, a part of
difcipline much uſed in the ancient church. It was the
firſt act, or ſtep, towards. the puniſhment or expulfion
of delinquents. In cafe of private offences, it was per-
formed according to the evangelical rule, privately:
in cafe of public offence, openly, before the church.
If either of thoſe ſufficed for the recovery of the fallen
perfon, all further proceedings in the way of cenfure
ceafed if they did not, recourfe was had to excom-
munication.
ADMONITIO Fuſtium, among the Romans, a military
puniſhment, not unlike our whipping, only it was per-
formed with vine-branches.
ADMORTIZATION, in the feudal cuftoms, the
reduction of the property of lands or tenements to
mortmain. See MORTMAIN.
ADNATĄ, in anatomy, one of the coats of the
eye, which is alfo called conjunctiva and albuginea.
ADNATA, is alſo uſed for any hair, wool, or the like,
which grows upon animals or vegetables.
ADNATA, or Adnafcentia, among gardeners, denote
thofe off-fets, which, by a new germination under the
earth, proceed from the lily, narciffus, hyacinth, and
Adonia.
other flowers, and afterwards grow to true roots. The Adnoun
French call them "ftalks."
cayeux,
ADNOUN, is ufed by fome grammarians to ex-
prefs what we more ufually call an Adjective. The
word is formed by way of analogy to adverb; in re-
gard adjectives have much the fame office and relation
to nouns that adverbs have to verbs. Bifhop Wilkins
ufes the word adname in another ſenſe, viz. for what
we otherwife call a prepofition.
ADOLESCENCE, the ſtate of growing youth;
or that period of a perfon's age commencing from
his infancy, and terminating at his full ftature or man-
hood. The word is formed of the Latin adolefcere,
to grow. The ftate of adolefcence lafts fo long as
the fibres continue to grow, either in magnitude or
firmnefs. The fibres being arrived at the degree of
firmnefs and tenfion fufficient to fuftain the parts, no
longer yield or give way to the efforts of the nutri-
tious matter to extend them; fo that their farther ac-
cretion is ftopped, from the very law of their nutrition.
Adolefcence is commonly computed to be. between 15
and 25, or even 30 years of age; though in different
conftitutions its terms are very different.-The Ro-
mans ufually reckoned it from 12 to 25 in boys; and
to 21 in girls, &c.. And yet, among their writers, ju-
venis and adolefcens are frequently uſed indifferently.
for any perfon under 45 years.
ADOLLAM, or ODOLLAM (anc..geog.), a town
in the tribe. of Judah, to the east of Eleutheropolis.
David is faid to have hid himſelf in a cave near this
town, (Bible.)
ADON, a populous village in the province of Stuhl-
Weiffemberg, belonging to Hungary. It lies in a
fruitful country, towards the river Danube. Long. 19.
20. Lat. 47. 30.
ADONAI, one of the names of the Supreme Being
in the fcriptures. The proper meaning of the word is
my lords, in the plural number; as Adoni is my lord, in
the fingular. The Jews, who either out of refpect, or
fuperftition, do not pronounce the name of Jehovah,
read Adonai in the room of it, as often as they meet
with Jehovah in the Hebrew text. But the ancient
Jews were not fo fcrupulous; nor is there any law which
forbids them to pronounce the name of God.
Calmet.
ADONIA, in antiquity, folemn feaſts in honour
of Venus, and in memory of her beloved Adonis. The
Adonia were obferved with great folemnity by_moſt
nations; Greeks, Phoenicians, Lycians, Syrians, Egyp-
tians, &c. From Syria, they are fuppofed to have Ch.viii.14.
paffed into India. The prophet Ezekiel* is underſtood
to ſpeak of them. They were ftill obſerved at Alexan-
dria in the time of St Cyril; and at Antioch in that
of Julian the apoftate, who happened to enter that city
during the folemnity, which was taken for an ill omen.
The Adonia lafted two days: on the firſt of which cer-
tain images of Venus and Adonis were carried, with all
the pomp and ceremonies practiſed at funerals; the wo-
men wept, tore their hair, beat their breafts, &c. imi-
tating the cries and lamentations of Venus for the death
of her paramour. This lamentation they called A favicoμoss
The Syrians were not contented with weeping, but gave
themfelves difcipline, fhaved their heads, &c. Among
the Egyptians, the queen herfelf ufed to carry the image
of Adonis in proceffion. St Cyril mentions an extraordi-
nary ceremony practiſed by the Alexandrians: A letter
was written to the women of Bybulus, to inform them that
Adonis,
as
ADN
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ADO
Adonides, Adonis was found again: this letter was thrown into the has from five to fifteen oblong petals obtufe and glof- Adoniſts
Adonis fea, which (it was pretended) did not fail punctually to fy. The ftamina confift of very numerous, fhort, fub-
Adoption.
convey it to Bybulus in feven days; upon the receipt of ulated filaments; the antheræ are oblong and inflected.
which, the Byblian women ceafed their mourning, fung The piftillum has numerous germina collected in a
his praiſes, and made rejoicings as if he were raiſed to head; no ftyli; the ftigmata acute and reflected. There
life again Or rather, according to Meurfius, the two is no pericarpium; the receptacle is oblong and ſpiked.
offices of mourning and rejoicing made two diftinct The feeds are numerous, irregular, angular, gibbous at
feaſts, which were held at different times of the year, the bafe, reflected at the top, fomewhat prominent,
the one fix months after the other; Adonis being fup- and awnleſs.
poſed to paſs half the year with Proferpine, and half
with Venus.-The Egyptian Adonia are faid to have
been held in memory of the death of Ofiris; by others,
of his fickneſs and recovery. Biſhop Patrick dates their
origin from the flaughter of the firſt-born under Moſes.
ADONIDES, in botany, a name given to botanifts
who defcribed or made catalogues of plants cultivated
in any particular place.
ADONIS, fon to Cinyras king of Cyprus, the dar-,
ling of the goddeſs Venus: being killed by a wild boar
in the Idalian woods, he was turned into a flower of a
blood-colour, fuppofed to be the Anemone. Venus
was inconfolable; and no grief was ever more celebrated
than this, moft nations having perpetuated the memory
See Adonia of it by a train of anniverſary ceremonies *. Among
Shakeſpeare's poems, is a long one on the fubject of
Venus's affection for Adonis.
The text of the vulgate in Ezekiel, viii. 14. fays,
that this prophet faw women fitting in the temple, and
weeping for Adonis: but according to the reading of
the Hebrew text, they are faid to weep for Tammuz,
or the bidden one. Among the Egyptians, Adonis
was adored under the name of Ofiris the huſband of
His. But he was fometimes called by the name of
Ammuz, or Tammuz, the concealed, to denote pro-
bably his death or burial. The Hebrews, in derifion,
call him fometimes the dead, Pfal. cvi. 28. and Lev.
xix. 28. becauſe they wept for him, and repreſented
him as one dead in his coffin; and at other times, they
call him the image of jealouſy, Ezek. viii. 3. 5. be-
cauſe he was the object of the god Mars's jealouſy.
The Syrians, Phoenicians, and Cyprians called him A-
donis, and F. Calmet is of opinion, that the Ammo-
nites and Moabites gave him the name of Baal-peor.
See BAAL-PEOR.
ADONIS, Adonius, (anc. geog.); a river of Phœ-
nicia, rifing in mount Lebanon, and falling into
the ſea, after a north-weft courfe, at Bybulus; fa-
mous in fable, as a beautiful fhepherd youth, Virgil;
fon of Cynaras, king of the Cyprians, loved by Venus,
flain by a boar, and turned into a river. Theocritus la-
ments him dead in an idyllion, or rather ode, as did the
women yearly, when in flood-time, the river rolled
down a red earth, which tinged its waters, deemed to
be his wound bleeding afreſh In the Phoenician lan-
guage Adan fignifies a willow, and Adon lord, with
the fame radical letters. Hence ITαios Adwvis, Salignus,
and Kυρις, or Κιρις Αδωνις, for Κυριος. Adonidis horti,
are gardens beautifully arranged, but more adapted
for pleaſure than profit.
ADONIS, Birds-eye, or Pheasants-eye; a genus of
the polyandria order, belonging to the polygynia
clafs of plants. It is affociated with the Multifilis
quæ, or 26th Nat. Order.—The characters are: The
calyx is a perianthium, confifting of five obtufe concave
leaves, fomewhat coloured, and deciduous. The corolla
N° 3.
Species. The moſt remarkable fpecies are the follow-
ing: 1. The annua, or common adonis, is a native of
Kent, where it is found in great plenty in the fields fown
with wheat. Its flowers are of a beautiful ſcarlet colour,
and appear in the beginning of June; the feeds ripen-
ing in Auguft and September. Great quantities of
thefe flowers are fold in London, under the name of
Red Morocco. 2. The æſtivalis, or annual adonis, with
yellow flowers, grows much taller than the firſt, has its
leaves thinner fet, and of a lighter colour. 3. The
vernalis, or perennial adonis, grows naturally on the
mountains of Bohemia, Pruffia, and other parts of
Germany. It flowers the latter end of March, or be-
ginning of April; the ftalks rife about a foot and a
half high; and when the roots are large, and have ftood
unremoved for fome years, they will put out a great
number of ſtalks from each root; on the top of each of
thefe grows one large yellow flower. 4. The apennina,
is a native of Siberia and the Appenines.
Culture. The firſt two fpecies, being annual, muſt
be propagated from feeds, which ought to be ſown in
autumn, foon after they are ripe, or they will be in
danger of not growing up that year. They thrive beſt
in a light foil. The third and fourth fpecies are like-
wife to be propagated from feeds, which muſt be fown
in autumn, or they ſeldom fucceed. When the plants
come up, they muſt be carefully kept clear from weeds;
and in very dry weather their growth will be promoted
by being now and then watered. They ſhould remain
in the place where they are fown till the ſecond year;
and be tranſplanted thence in autumn, to the place
where they are to remain.
ADONISTS, a fect or party, among Divines and
Critics, who maintain, that the Hebrew points ordina-
rily annexed to the confonants of the word Jehovah, are
not the natural points belonging to that word, nor ex-
prefs the true pronunciation of it; but are the vowel-
points, belonging to the words Adonai and Elohim, ap-
plied to the confonants of the ineffable name Jehovah;
to warn the readers, that inſtead of the word Jehovah,
which the Jews were forbid to pronounce, and the true
pronunciation of which had been long unknown to
them, they are always to read Adonai. They are op-
pofed to Jehovifts: of whom the principal are Drufius,
Capellus, Buxtorf, Alting, and Reland, who has pu-
bliſhed a collection of their writings on this fubject.
ADOPTIANI, in church-hiftory, a fect of ancient
heretics, followers of Felix of Urgel, and Elipand of
Toledo, who, towards the end of the eighth century,
advanced the notion, that Jefus Chrift, in his human na-
ture, is the fon of God, not by nature, but by adoption.
ADOPTION, an act by which any one takes ano-
ther into his family, owns him for his fon, and appoints
him for his heir.
I
The cuſtom of adoption was very common. among
the ancient Greeks and Romans: yet it was not prac-
tifed,
ADO
[
121
ADO
1
]
1
Adoption. tifed, but for certain cauſes expreffed in the laws, and
with certain formalities uſual in fuch caſes. It was a
fort of imitation of nature, intended for the comfort
of thofe who had no children: wherefore he that was
to adopt was to have no children of his own, and to be
>
paft the age of getting any; nor were eunuchs allow
ed to adopt, as being under an actual impotency of
begetting children; neither was it lawful for a young
man to adopt an elder, becauſe that it would have been
>contrary to the order of nature; nay, it was even re-
quired that the perſon who adopted fhould be eighteen
years older than his adopted fon, that there might at
leaſt appear a probability of his being the natural fa-
ther.
Among the Greeks it was called vorne, filiation. It
was allowed to fuch as had no iffue of their own; ex-
cepting thoſe who were not xupine exursy, their own ma-
fters, e. g. flaves, women, madmen, infants, or perfons
under twenty years of age; who being incapable of
making wills, or managing their own eftates, were not
allowed to adopt heirs to them. Foreigners being in-
capable of inheriting at Athens, if any fuch were a-
dopted, it was neceffary firſt to make them free of the
city. The ceremony of adoption being over, the a-
dopted had his name inrolled in the tribe and ward of
his new father; for which entry a peculiar time was
allotted, viz. the feſtival Sapynia. To prevent rafh and
inconfiderate adoptions, the Lacedæmonians had a law,
that adoptions fhould be tranfacted, or at leaſt confirm-
ed, in the preſence of their kings. The children adopt-
ed were inveſted with all the privileges, and obliged to
perform all the duties, of natural children; and being
thus provided for in another family, ceafed to have any
claim of inheritance, or kindred, in the family which
they had left, unless they firft renounced their adop-
tion; which, by the laws of Solon, they were not al-
lowed to do, unless they had firſt begotten children, to
bear the name of the perſon who had adopted them:
thus providing against the ruin of families, which would
otherwife have been extinguiſhed by the deſertion of
thoſe who had been adopted to preferve them. If the
children adopted happened to die without children, the
inheritance could not be alienated from the family into
which they had been adopted, but returned to the re-
lations of the adopter. It fhould feem, that by the
Athenian law, a perfon, after having adopted another,
was not allowed to marry without permiffion from the
magiſtrate: in effect, there are inftances of perfons,
who being ill uſed by their adoptive children, petition-
ed for fuch leave. However this be, it is certain fome
men married after they had adopted fons: in which
cafe, if they begat legitimate children, their eftates
were equally ſhared between the begotten and adopted.
The Romans had two forms of adoption; one be-
fore the pretor; the other at an affembly of the people,
in the times of the commonwealth, and afterwards by
a refcript of the emperor. In the former, the natural
father addreffed himſelf to the pretor, declaring that
he emancipated his fon, refined all his authority over
him, and confented he ſhould be tranflated into the fa-
mily of the adopter. The latter was practifed, where
the party to be adopted was already free; and this was
called adrogation. The perfon adopted changed all
his names; affuming the prename, name, and finname,
of the perſon who adopted him.
VOL. I. Part L.
Befides the formalities preſcribed by the Roman law, Adoption.
various other methods have taken place; which have
given denominations to different fpecies of adoption,
among the Gothic nations, in different ages. As,
ADOPTION by arms, was when a prince made a pre-
fent of arms to a perfon, in confideration of his merit
and valour. Thus it was that the king of the Heruli was
adopted by Theodoric; Athalaric by the emperor Ju-
ftinian; and Cofroes, nephew of the king of Perfia, by
the emperor Juftin.-The obligation here laid on the
adoptive fon was, to protect and defend the father
from injuries, affronts, &c. And hence, according to
Selden, the ceremony of dubbing knights took its ori-
gin as well as name.
ADOPTION by baptifm, is that ſpiritual affinity which
is contracted by god-fathers and god-children in the.cc-
remony of baptifm. This kind of adoption was intro-
duced into the Greek church, and came afterwards in-
to uſe among the ancient Franks, as appears by the
Capitulars of Charlemagne.
In reality, the god-father was fo far confidered as
adoptive father, that his god-children were fuppofed
to be intitled to a fhare in the inheritance of his
eftate.
ADOPTION by hair, was performed by cutting off the
hair of a perfon, and giving it to the adoptive father.
It was thus that pope John VIII. adopted Bofon king
of Arles; which, perhaps, is the only inftance in hi-
ftory, of adoption, in the order of the ecclefiaftics; a
law that profeffes to imitate nature, not daring to give
children to thofe in whom it would be thought a crime
to beget any.
ADOPTION by matrimony, is the taking the children
of a wife or huſband, by a former marriage, into the
condition of proper or natural children; and admitting
them to inherit on the fame footing with thofe of the
prefent marriage. This is a practice peculiar to the
Germans; among whom, it is more particularly known
by the name of einkindfchaft; among their writers in
Latin, by that of unis prolium, or union of iffues. But
the more accurate writers obferve, that this no adop-
tion. See ADFILIATION.
ADOPTION by teſtament, that performed by appointing
a perfon heir by will, on condition of his affuming the
name, arms, &c. of the adopter. Of which kind we
meet with feveral inftances in the Roman hiftory.
Among the Turks, the ceremony of adoption is per-
formed by obliging the perfon adopted to paſs through
the fhirt of the adopter. Hence, among that people,
to adopt, is expreffed by the phrafe, to draw another
through my fhirt. It is faid, that fomething like this
has alfo been obferved among the Hebrews; where the
prophet Elijah adopted Eliſha for his fon and fucceffor,
and communicated to him the gift of prophecy, by let-
ting fall his cloak or mantle on him. But adoption,
properly fo called, does not appear to have been prac-
tifed among the ancient Jews: Mofes fays nothing of
it in his laws; and Jacob's adoption of his two grand-
fons, Ephraim and Manaffeh, is not fo properly an
adoption, as a kind of ſubſtitution, whereby thoſe two
fons of Jofeph were allotted an equal portion in Ifrael
with his own fons.
ADOPTION is alſo uſed, in theology, for a federal act
of God's free grace; whereby thoſe who are regene-
rated by faith, are admitted into his houfehold, and
е
intitled
ADO
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ADO
ADOPTION is alfo ufed in fpeaking of the admiffion of
perfons into certain hofpitals, particularly that of Lyons;
the adminiſtrators whereof have all the power and rights
of parents over the children admitted.
Adoption intitled to a fhare in the inheritance of the kingdom of to his lips, the fore-finger refting on his thumb, which Adoration?
U heaven.
was erect, and thus bowing his head, turned himſelf
Adoration. ADOPTION is fometimes alſo uſed, in ſpeaking of the round from left to right. The kifs thus given was
ancient clergy, who had a cuſtom of taking a maid or called ofculum labratum; for ordinarily they were afraid
widow into their houſes, under the denomination of an to touch the images of their gods themſelves with their
adoptive, or fpiritual fifter or niece.
profane lips. Sometimes, however, they would kifs
their feet, or even knees, it being held an incivility to
touch their mouths; ſo that the affair paffed at fome
diftance. Saturn, however, and Hercules, were adored
with the head bare; whence the worſhip of the laſt
was called inftitutum peregrinum, and ritus Græcani-
cus, as departing from the cuftomary Roman method,
which was to facrifice and adore with the face veiled,
and the cloths drawn up to the ears, to prevent any
interruption in the ceremony by the fight of unlucky
objects.-The Jewiſh manner of adoration was by
proftration, bowing, and kneeling.-The Chriftians
adopted the Grecian rather than the Roman method,
and adored always uncovered. The ordinary pofture
of the ancient Chriftians was kneeling, but on Sundays
ſtanding: and they had a peculiar regard to the Eaſt,
to which point they ordinarily directed their prayers.
ADOPTION is alſo uſed for the reception of a new aca-
demy into the body of an old one.--Thus
The French academy of Marfeilles was adopted by
that of Paris; on which account, we find a volume of
fpeeches extant, made by feveral members of the aca-
demy of Marfeilles, deputed to return thanks to that of
Paris for the honour.
In a fimilar fenfe, adoption is alſo applied by the
Greeks, to the admitting a monk, or brother, into a mo-
naftic community; fometimes called ſpiritual adoption.
ADOPTIVE, denotes a perfon or thing adopted
by another.
Adoptive children, among the Romans, were on the
fame footing with natural ones; and accordingly were
either to be instituted heirs, or exprefsly difinherited,
otherwiſe the teftament was null. The emperor Adrian
preferred adoptive children to natural ones; becauſe we
chooſe the former, but are obliged to take the latter
at random.
M. Menage has publiſhed a book of eloges, or verfes
addreffed to him; which he calls Liber Adoptivus, an
adoptive book; and adds it to his other works. He
infius, and Furftemburg of Munſter, have likewiſe pu-
bliſhed adoptive books.
In ecclefiaftical writers we find adoptive women, or
fifters, (adoptivæ femina, or forores,) ufed for thofe
handmaids of the ancient clergy, otherwife called fub-
introducta.
Adoptive arms are thoſe which a perfon enjoys by the
gift or conceffion of another, and to which he was not
otherwife intitled. They ftand contradiftinguiſhed from
arms of alliance.
We ſometimes meet with adoptive hair, by way of
oppofition to natural hair; and adoptive gods, by way.
of contradiftinction to domeftic ones. The Romans,
notwithſtanding the number of their domeftic, had
their adoptive gods, taken chiefly from the Egyptians:
fuch were Ifis, Ofiris, Anubis, Apis, Harpocrates, and
Canopus.
ADORATION, the act of rendering divine ho-
nours; or of addreffing a being, as fuppofing it a
god. The word is compounded of ad, "to ;" and os,
oris," mouth;" and literally fignifies, to apply the hand
to the mouth; Manum ad os admovere, q. d. " to kifs
the hand;" this being, in the eaſtern countries, one of
the great marks of refpect and fubmiffion.-The Ro-
mans practifed adoration at facrifices, and other fo-
lemnities; in paffing by temples, altars, groves, &c.;
at the fight of ftatues, images, or the like, whether
of ſtone or wood, wherein any thing of divinity was
ſuppoſed to refide. Ufually there were images of the
gods placed at the gates of cities, for thoſe who went in
or out, to pay their refpects to.-The ceremony of
adoration among the ancient Romans was thus: The
devotee having his head covered, applied his right hand
ADORATION is more particularly uſed for the act of
praying, or preferring our requeſts or thankſgivings to
Almighty God.
ADORATION is alſo uſed for certain extraordinary
civil honours or refpects which reſemble thoſe paid to
the Deity, yet are given to men.
The Perfian manner of Adoration, introduced by
Cyrus, was by bending the knee, and falling on the
face at the prince's feet, ftriking the earth with the
forehead, and kiffing the ground.
This ceremony,
which the Greeks called #gorxuveV, Conon refufed to
perform to Artaxerxes, and Calisthenes to Alexander
the Great, as reputing it impious and unlawful.
The Adoration performed to the Roman and Grecian
emperors confifted in bowing or kneeling at the prince's
feet, laying hold of his purple robe, and prefently with-
drawing the hand and clapping it to the lips. Some
attribute the origin of this practice to Conftantius. It
was only perfons of fome rank or dignity that were in-
titled to the honour. Bare kneeling before the empe
ror to deliver a petition, was alſo called adoration.
The practice of adoration may be ſaid to be ſtill ſub-
fifting in England, in the ceremony of kiffing the king's
or queen's hand, and in ferving them at table, both be-
ing performed kneeling.
ADORATION is more particularly uſed for kiffing one's
hand in prefence of another, as a token of reverence.
The Jews adored by kiffing their hands and bowing
down their heads; whence, in their language, kiſſing is
properly uſed for adoration.
ADORATION is alſo uſed among Roman writers for
a high fpecies of applaufe given to perfons, who had
ſpoken or performed well in public. (See ACCLAMA-
TION.) We meet with adoration paid to orators, ac-
tors, muficians, &c. The method of expreffing it was,
by rifing, putting both hands to their mouth, and then
returning them towards the perfon intended to be ho-
noured.
ADORATION is alſo uſed, in the court of Rome, for
the ceremony of kiffing the pope's feet. The intro-
duction of adoration among the Romans is aſcribed to
the low flattery of Vitellius, who, upon the return of C..
Cæfar from Syria, would not approach him otherwiſe
than.
1
.
Adoxa.
$
[ 123 ]
ADO
Adoration than with his head covered, turning himſelf round, and
then falling on his face. Heliogabulus reſtored the
practice, and Alexander Severus again prohibited it.
Dioclefian redemanded it; and it was, in fome meaſure,
continued under the fucceeding princes, even after the
eſtabliſhment of Chriftianity, as Conftantine, Conftan-
tius, &c. It is particularly ſaid of Dioclefian, that he
had gems faſtened to his fhoes, that divine honours
might be more willingly paid him, by kiffing his feet.
The like ufage was afterwards adopted by the popes,
and is obferved to this day. Theſe prelates, finding a
`vehement diſpoſition in the people to fall down before
them and kiſs their feet, procured crucifixes to be fa-
ftened on their flippers; by which ftratagem, the ado-
ration intended for the pope's perfon is fuppofed to be
transferred to Chrift. Divers acts of this adoration we
find offered even by princes to the pope.
ADORATION is alſo uſed for a method of electing a
pope. The election of popes is performed two ways;
by adoration, and by fcrutiny. In election by adora-
tion, the cardinals rush haftily, as if agitated by fome
fpirit, to the adoration of fome one among them, to
proclaim him pope. When the election is carried by
fcrutiny, they do not adore the new pope till he is pla-
ced on the altar.
Barbarous ADORATION is a term uſed, in the laws of
king Canute, for that performed after the manner of the
heathens who adored idols. The Romish church is
charged with the adoration of faints, martyrs, images,
crucifixes, relics, the virgin, and the hoft; all which by
Proteftants are generally aggravated into idolatry, on
a fuppofition, that the honour thus paid to them is ab-
folute and fupreme, called by way of diſtinction Latria,
which is due only to God. Roman-catholics, on the
contrary, explain them, as only a relative or fubordi-
nate worſhip, called Dulia and Hyperdulia, which ter-
minates ultimately in God alone. But may not the
fame be faid of the idol-worship of the heathens?
The Phoenicians adored the winds, on account of the
terrible effects produced by them; the fame was adopt-
ed by moſt of the other nations, Perfians, Greeks,
Romans, &c. The Perfians chiefly paid their adora-
tions to the fun and fire; fome fay alſo to rivers, the
wind, &c. The motive of adoring the fun was the
benefits they received from that glorious luminary,
which of all creatures has doubtiefs the beſt preten-
fions to fuch homage.
ADOREA, in Roman antiquity, a word uſed in
different fenfes; fometimes for all manner of grain,
fometimes for a kind of cakes made of fine flour, and
offered in facrifice; and finally for a dole or diftribu-
tion of corn, as a reward for fome ſervice; whence by
metonymy it is put for praife or rewards in general.
ADOSCULATIOÑ, a term uſed by Dr Grew,
to imply a kind of impregnation, without intromiffion;
and in this manner he fuppofes the impregnation of
plants is effected by the falling of the farina fœcundans
on the piftil.
ADÒSEE, in heraldry, fignifies two figures or
bearings being placed back to back.
ADOUR, the name of a river of France, which rifes
in the mountains of Bigorre, and running N. by Tarbes
through Gaſcony, afterwards turns E. and, paffing by
Dax, falls into the bay of Biſcay, below Bayonne.
ADOXA, TUBEROUS MOSCHATEL, HOLLOW-
ADR
Omnium
ROOT, or INGLORIOUS; a genus of the tetragynia or- Ad Pondus
der, belonging to the octandria clafs of plants. In
the natural method it belongs to the 13th order, or Adranum.
Succulenta.-The characters of this genus are: The
calyx is a perianthium beneath, divided into two ſeg-
ments, flat, perfiftent. The corolla is compofed of one
flat petal, divided into four ovate acute fegments long-
er than the calyx. The famina confiſt of eight fubu-
lated filaments the length of the calyx; with roundiſh
antheræ. The piftillum has a germen beneath the re-
ceptacle of the corolla; four fimple, erect, perſiſtent
ftyli, the length of the ſtamina; and ſimple ſtigmata.
The pericarpium is a globular four-celled berry between
the calyx and corolla. The feeds are folitary and com-
preffed.
There is but one ſpecies, which is a native of the
woods in Britain, and ſeveral parts of Europe: it is a
very low plant, feldom rifing more than four or five
inches high; the leaves refemble thoſe of bulbous fu-
mitory; the flower-ftalk arifes immediately from the
root, on the top of which grow four or five ſmall
flowers of an herbaceous white colour, which appear in
the beginning of April, and the berries ripen in May;
foon after which, the leaves decay. The herb may be
procured by tranſplanting the roots any time after the
leaves decay, till winter. They muſt be planted in the
fhade, under fhrubs; for they will not thrive if expoſed
to the fun. The leaves and flowers ſmell like muſk,
from whence it has by fome been called muſk-crowfoot.
AD PONDUS OMNIUM, among phyſicians, an abbre-
viation in their preſcriptions, fignifying that the laft
mentioned ingredient is to weigh as much as all the
reſt together.
AD Quod Damnum, in the English law, a writ di-
rected to the ſheriff, commanding him to inquire into
the damage which may befal from granting certain pri-
vileges to a place, as a fair, a market, or the like.
ĂDRACHNE, in botany, a ſpecies of the ſtraw-
berry-tree. See ARBUTUS.
ADRAMMELECH, one of the gods of the inha-
bitants of Sepharvaim, who were fettled in the country
of Samaria, in the room of thoſe Ifraelites who were
carried beyond the Euphrates. The Sepharvaites made
their children paſs through the fire, in honour of this
idol and another called Anamelech. It is fuppofed,
that Adrammelech meant the fun, and Anamelech the
moon: the firft fignifies the magnificent king; the ſe-
cond the gentle king.
ADRAMYTTIUM (anc. geog.), now Andrami-
ti; a town of Myfia Major, at the foot of mount Ida,
an Athenian colony, with a harbour and dock near
the Caicus. Adramyttenus the epithet; as, Adramyt-
tenus Sinus, a part of the Egean Sea, on the coaſt of
Myfia; Adramyttenus Convenus, feffions or affizes. The
eighth in order of the nine Conventus Juridici of the
province of Afia.
ADRANA, a river of Germany, (Polybius); now
the Eder, riſing on the borders of the county of Naſ-
fau, to the north-eaſt of, and not far from Dillenburg,
running through the landgraviate of Heffe, the county
of Waldeck, by Fritzlar, and then again through the
landgraviate, and, together with the Fulda, falling into
the Wefer, to the ſouth of, and not far from Caffel.
ADRANUM, or HADRANUM, (anc. geog.), now
Aderno; a town of Sicily, built by the elder Dionyfius,
27 th
ADR
[ 124
}
ADR
Adrianum.
rigin, is on coins and ftones Hadrianus; but if from Adriana
the town in the territory of Venice, as the more an-
cient, and of which that of the Piceni is a colony, this
will juftify the common appellation Adriaticum.
Ad-aftea at the foot of mount Etna, (Diodorus Siculus), four
11
hundred years before Chrift. So called from the temple
of Adranus, or Hadranus, a god much worſhipped by
the Sicilians; with a river of the fame name, (Stepha-
nus,) now Fiume d'Aderno. The inhabitants, Had-
ranitani, and Adranita.
ADRASTEA, in antiquity, an epithet given to the
goddeſs Nemeſis, or Revenge. It was taken from king
Adraftus, who firft erected a temple to that deity.
ADRASTIA Certamina, in antiquity, a kind of Py.
thian games, inftituted by Adraftus king of Argos, in
the year of the world 2700, in honour of Apollo, at
Sicyon. Theſe are to be diſtinguiſhed from the Py-
thian games celebrated at Delphi.
ADRASTUS, king of Argos, fon of Talaus and
Lyfianiffa, daughter of Polybius king of Sicyon, ac-
quired great honour in the famous war of Thebes, in fup-
port of Polynices his fon-in-law, who had been exclu-
ded the fovereignty of Thebes by Eteocles his brother,
notwithſtanding their reciprocal agreement. Adraftus,
followed by Polynices and Tydeus his other fon-in-law,
by Capaneus and Hippomedon his fifter's fons, by Am-
phiaraus his brother-in-law, and by Parthenopeus,
marched againſt the city of Thebes; and this is the
expedition of the Seven Worthies, which the poets
have fo often fung. They all loft their lives in this
war, except Adraftus, who was faved by his horfe
called Arion. This war was revived ten years after by
the fons of thofe deceaſed warriors, which was called
the war of the Epigones, and ended with the taking
of Thebes. None of them loft their lives except -
gialeus fon of Adraftus; which afflicted him ſo much
that he died of grief in Megara, as he was leading back
his victorious army.
ADRAZZO, or AJACCIO. The fame with AD-
JAZZO.
ADRIA, or HADRIA (anc. geog.), the name of two
towns in Italy. One in the country of the Veneti, on
the river Tartarus, between the Padus and the Athe-
fis, called Atria by Pliny and Ptolemy, but Adrias by
Strabo. Another on the river Vomanus, in the ter-
ritory of the Piceni, (to which Antonine's Itinerary
from Rome is directed), the country of the anceffors
of the emperor Adrian. From which of theſe the Ad-
riatic fea is denominated, is matter of doubt. A
third opinion is, that it is fo called from Adrias
the fon of Joan, of Italian origin; (Euftathius in
Dionyfium.)
ADRIANUM (or ADRIATICUM) MARE (anc.
geog.), now the gulf of Venice, a large bay in the Me-
diterranean, between Dalmatia, Sclavonia, Greece, and
Italy. It is called by the Greeks, Aspias Korxos; and
Adria by the Romans, (as Arbiter Adria Notus, Hor.)
Cicero calls it Hadrianum Mare; Virgil has Hadria-
ticas Undas. It is commonly called Mare Adriaticum,
without an aſpiration; but whether it ought to have
one, is a diſpute; if the appellation is from Hadria,
the town of the Piceni, it muſt be written Hadriaticum,
becauſe the emperor's name, who thence derives his o-
ADRIAN, or HADRIAN, (Publius Elius), the
Roman emperor. He was born at Rome the 24th of
January, in the 76th year of Chrift. His father left him
an orphan, at ten years of age, under the guardian-
ſhip of Trajan, and Cœlius Tatianus a Roman knight..
He began to ferve very early in the armies, having been
tribune of a legion before the death of Domitian. He
was the perfon chofen by the army of Lower Mœfia,
to carry the news of Nerva's death to Trajan, fuccef-
for to the empire. He accompanied Trajan in moft of
his expeditions, and particularly diftinguiſhed himſelf
in the ſecond war againſt the Daci; and having before
been quæftor, as well as tribune of the people, he was
now fucceffively prætor, governor of Pannonia, and
conful. After the fiege of Atra in Arabia was raiſed,
Trajan, who had already given him the government of
Syria, left him the command of the army: and at
length, when he found death approaching, it is faid he
adopted him. Adrian, who was then in Antiochia,
as foon as he received the news thereof, and of Tra-
jan's death, declared himſelf emperor, on the 11th of
Auguft, 117. No fooner had he arrived at the im-
perial dignity, than he made peace with the Perfians,
to whom he yielded up great part of the conquefts of
his predeceffors; and from generofity, or policy, he
remitted the debts of the Roman people, which, ac-
cording to the calculation of thoſe who have reduced
them to modern money, amounted to 22,500,000 gol--
den crowns; and he burnt all the bonds and obliga-
tions relating to thofe debts, that the people might be
under no apprehenfion of being called to an account
for them afterwards. There are medals in commemo-
ration of this fact, in which he is reprefented holding.
a flambeau in his hand, to fet fire to all thoſe bonds
which he had made void. He went to vifit all the pro-
vinces; and did not return to Rome till the year 118,
when the fenate decreed him a triumph, and honoured
him with the title of Father of his country; but he
refufed both, and defired that Trajan's image might.
triumph. No prince travelled more than Adrian;
there being hardly one province in the empire which
he did not vifit. In 120 he went into Gaul; from
thence he went over to Britain, in order to ſubdue
the Caledonians, who were making continual inroads
into the provinces. Upon his arrival they retired to-
wards the north: he advanced however as far as York,
where he was diverted from his intended conqueft by
the defcription fome old foldiers he found there, who
had ferved under Agricola, gave him of the country.
In hopes, therefore, of keeping them quiet by enlar-
ging their bounds, he delivered up to the Caledonians
all the lands lying between the two Friths and the
Tyne; and at the fame time, to ſecure the Roman
pro-
vince from their future incurfions, built the famous
wall which ſtill bears his name (A). Having thus fet-
tled
€
(A) This work, though called by the Roman hiftorians murus, which fignifies a wall of ftone, was only
compofed of earth covered with green turf. It was carried on from the Solway Frith, a little weft of the
village of Burgh on the Sands, in as direct a line as poffible, to the river Tyne on the eaft, at the place where
1
the
1
ADR
ADR
[
125 ]
Adrian. tled matters in Britain, he returned to Rome, where
he was honoured with the title of Reftorer of Britain,
as appears by fome medals. He foon after went into
Spain, to Mauritania, and at length into the Eaft,
where he quieted the commotions raiſed by the Par-
thians. After having vifted all the provinces of Afia,
he returned to Athens in 125, where he paſſed the
winter, and was initiated in the myfteries of Eleufi-
nian Ceres. He went from thence to Sicily, chiefly to
view mount Etna, contemplate its phenomena, and
enjoy the beautiful and extenfive profpect afforded from
its top. He returned to Rome the beginning of the
year 129; and, according to fome, he went again, the
fame year, to Africa; and, after his return from
thence, to the Eaft. He was in Egypt in the year
132, reviſited Syria the year following, returned to
Athens in 134, and to Rome in 135. The perfecu-
tion against the Chriftians was very violent under his
reign; but it was at length fufpended, in confequence
of the remonftrances of Quadrat biſhop of Athens,
and Ariftides, two Chriftian philofophers, who pre-
fented the emperor with fome books in favour of the
Chriſtian religion. He conquered the Jews; and, by
way of infult, erected a temple to Jupiter on Calvary,
and placed a ftatue of Adonis in the manger of Beth-
lehem; he cauſed alſo the images of fwine to be en-
graven on the gates of Jerufalem. At laft he was feiz-
ed with a dropfy, which vexed him to fuch a degree,
that he became almoft raving mad. A great number
of phyficians were fent for, and to the multitude of
them he afcribed his death. He died at Baiæ in the
630 year of his age, having reigned 21 years. The
Latin verfes (B) he addreffed to his foul have been
much criticiſed and variouſly interpreted. There are
fome fragments of his Latin poems extat, and there
are Greek verfes of his in the Anthology. He alfo
wrote the hiftory of his own life: to which, however,
he did not chufe to put his name; but that of Phlegon,
*Vide Spar one of his freed-men, a very learned perfon, was pre-
fixed to it*. He had great wit, and an extenſive me-
tian, in Adri-
229.
mory. He underſtood the ſciences perfectly well; but Adrian,
was very jealous of others who excelled in them. He
was alſo cruel, envious, and laſcivious. Antoninus his
fucceffor obtained his apotheofis; and prevented the re-
fciffion of his acts, which the fenate once intended.
ADRIAN IV. (Pope), the only Engliſhman who
ever had the honour of fitting in the papal chair. His
name was Nicholas Brekefpere; and he was born at
Langley, near St Alban's, in Hertfordshire. His
father having left his family, and taken the habit of
the monaftery of St Alban's, Nicholas was obliged to
fubmit to the loweſt offices in that houfe for daily fup-
port. After fome time, he defired to take the habit in
that monaſtery, but was rejected by the abbot Richard.
Upon this he refolved to try his fortune in another coun-
try, and accordingly went to Paris; where, though in
very poor circumftances, he applied himfelf to his
ftudies with great affiduity, and made a wonderful pro-
ficiency. But having ftill a ftrong inclination to a re-
Eigious life, he left Paris, and removed to Provence,
where he became a regular clerk in the monaftery of
St Rufus. He was not immediately allowed to take
the habit; but paffed fome time, by way of trial, in re-
commending himſelf to the monks by a ſtrict attention
to all their commands. This behaviour, together with
the beauty of his perfon, and prudent converſation,
rendered him fo acceptable to thoſe religious, that af-
ter fome time they intreated him to take the habit of
the canonical order. Here he diſtinguiſhed himſelf ſo
much by his learning and ftrict obfervance of the mo- -
naftic difcipline, that, upon the death of the abbot, he
was choſen fuperior of that houfe; and we are told
that ke rebuilt that convent. Pope Eugenius III.
being apprifed of the great merit of Nicholas, and
thinking he might be ferviceable to the church in a
higher ftation, created him cardinal-bishop of Alba
in 1146. In 1148, his Holineſs ſent him legate to.
Denmark and Norway; where, by his fervent preach-
ing and diligent inftructions, he converted thofe bar--
barous nations to the Chriftian faith; and erected Up-
fal
+
the town of Newcastle now ftands; ſo that it muſt have been above 60 Engliſh, and 1 near 70 Roman miles in
length. It confifted of four parts: 1. The principal agger, mound of earth, or rampart, on the brink of the
ditch. 2. The ditch on the north fide of the rampart. 3. Another rampart on the fouth fide of the principal
one, about five paces diftant from it. 4. A large rampart on the north fide of the ditch.This laft was pro-
bably the military way to the line of forts on this work it was fo to thoſe formerly built by Agricola; and if
it did not ferve the fame purpoſe in this, there muſt have been no military way attending it. The fouth ram-
part might ferve for an inner defence in cafe the enemy fhould beat them from any part of the principal ram-
part, or it might be defigned to protect the foldiers from any fudden attack of the provincial Britons.-For
many ages, this work hath been in fo ruinous a condition, that it is impoffible to difcover its original dimen-
fions with certainty. From their appearance, it ſeems probable that the principal rampart was at leaſt 10.or
12 feet high, and the fouth one not much lefs; but the north one was confiderably lower. From the dimen-
fions of the ditch taken as it paffes through a lime-ftone quarry near Harlow hill, it appears to have been 9 Feet
deep, and 11 wide at the top, but fomewhat narrower at the bottom. The north rampart was about 20 feet.
diftant from the ditch.
(B). The verſes are thefe :
Animula vagula, blandulă,
Hofpes, comefque corporis,.
Quæ nunc abibis in loca
Pallidula, rigida, nudula,
Nec, ut foles, dabis jocos:
Thus tranflated by Mr Pope:
Ah! fleeting fpirit! wand'ring fire,
'That long haft warm'd my tender breaft,
Muft thou no more this frame inſpire?
No more a pleafing cheerful gueft?
Whither, ah whither art thou flying?
To what dark undiſcover'd fhore
Thou ſeem'ſt all trembling, fhiv'ring, dying,.
And wit and humour are no more! :
ADR
[ 126 ]
ADR
:
this, made his efcape, and it could never be known Adrian
exactly what was become of him. He was one of the
11
firft that effectually reformed the Latin ftyle. He ftu- Adrianople.
died Cicero with great fuccefs, and made many excel-
lent obfervations on the propriety of the Latin tongue.
The treatiſe he compofed De fermone Latino, is a proof
of this. He had begun a Latin tranflation of the Old
Teſtament. He wrote De vera philofophia: This trea-
tife was printed at Cologn 1548.
ADRIAN VI. (Pope), was born at Utrecht in
1459. His father was not able to maintain him at
fchool, but he got a place at Louvain, in a college
in which a certain number of ſcholars were maintained
gratis. It is reported that he uſed to read in the
night-time by the light of the lamps in the churches
or ftreets. He made a confiderable progreſs in all the
fciences; led an exemplary life; and there never was
a man leſs intriguing and forward than he was. He
took his degree of doctor of divinity at Louvain; was
foon after made canon of St Peter's, and profeſſor of
divinity at Utrecht, and then dean of St Peters and
vice-chancellor of the univerfity. He was obliged to
leave an academical life, to be tutor to the archduke
Charles. This young prince made no great progreſs
under him: however, never was a tutor more confi-
derably rewarded; for it was by Charles V.'s credit he
was raiſed to the papal throne. Leo X. had given him
the cardinal's hat in 1517. After this pope's death,
feveral cabals in the conclave ended in the election of
Adrian, with which the people of Rome were very
much diſpleaſed. He would not change his name,
and in every thing he ſhowed a great diflike for all of-
tentation and fenfual pleaſures, though ſuch an averfion
had been long ago out of date. He was very partial
to Charles V. and did not enjoy much tranquillity un-
der the triple crown. He lamented much the wicked
morals of the clergy, and wiſhed to eſtabliſh a refor-
mation of manners among them.
He died Sept. 14.
1523.
Adrian. fal into an archiepifcopal fee. When he returned to
Rome, he was received by the pope and cardinals with
great marks of honour and Pope Anaftafius, who
fucceeded Eugenius, happening to die at this time,
Nicholas was unanimoufly chofen to the holy fee, in
November 1154, and he took the name of Adrian.
When the news of his promotion reached. England,
King Henry II. fent Robert abbot of St Alban's, and
three bishops, to Rome, to congratulate him on his
election; upon which occafion Adrian granted very
confiderable privileges to the monaſtery of St Alban's,
particularly an exemption from all epifcopal jurifdic-
tion, excepting to the fee of Rome. Adrian, in the
beginning of his pontificate, boldly withstood the at-
tempts of the Roman people to recover their ancient
liberty under the confuls, and obliged thofe magiftrates
to abdicate their authority, and leave the government
of the city to the pope. In 1155, he drove the he-
retic Arnaud of Breffe, and his followers, out of
Rome. The fame year he excommunicated William
king of Sicily, who ravaged the territories of the church,
and abfolved that prince's fubjects from their allegiance.
About the fame time, Frederic king of the Romans,
having entered Italy with a powerful army, Adrian
met him near Sutrium, and concluded a peace with
him. At this interview, Frederic confented to hold
the pope's stirrup whilft he mounted on horſeback.
After which, his holiness conducted that prince to
Rome, and in St Peter's church placed the imperial
crown on his head, to the great mortification of the
Roman people, who affembled in a tumultuous man-
ner, and killed feveral of the Imperialiſts. The next
year a reconciliation was brought about between the
pope and the Sicilian king, that prince taking an oath
to do nothing farther to the prejudice of the church,
and Adrian granting him the title of king of the two Si-
cilies. He built and fortified ſeveral caſtles, and left the
papal dominions in a more flouriſhing condition than he
found them. But notwithſtanding all his fuccefs, he was
extremely fenfible of the difquietudes attending fo high
a ſtation; and declared to his countryman John of Sa-
liſbury, that all the former hardships of his life were
mere amuſement to the misfortunes of the popedom
that he looked upon St Peter's chair to be the moft
uneafy feat in the world; and that his crown feemed to
* Baronius be clapped burning on his head*. He died Septem-
Annal tom ber 1. 1159, in the fourth year and tenth month of his
xii.an.1154. pontificate; and was buried in St Peter's church, near
the tomb of his predeceffor Eugenius. There are ex-
tant feveral letters, and fome homilies, written by Pope
Adrian.
:
ADRIAN, cardinal-prieft, of the title of St Chry-
fogonus, was a native of Cornetto in Tufcany. Inno-
cent VIII. fent him nuncio into Scotland and into
France; and after he had been clerk and treaſurer of
the apoſtolic chamber, pope Alexander VI. whofe fe-
cretary he had been, honoured him with the cardinal's
hat. His life was a continued fcene of odd alterations.
He narrowly eſcaped death the day Alexander VI. poi-
foned himſelf by miſtake. Afterward he drew upon
himſelf the hatred of Julius II. fo that he was obliged
to go and hide himſelf in the mountains of Trent. Ha
ving been recalled by Leo X. he was fo ungrateful, that
e engaged in a conſpiracy againſt him. The pope par-
doned his fault; but the cardinal, not caring to truft to
ADRIANI (Joanni Battista), was born of a patri-
cian family at Florence, in 1511. He wrote a Hiſtory
of his own Times in Italian; which is a continuation
of Guicciardini, beginning at the year 1536; to which
Thuanus acknowledges himſelf greatly indebted: be-
fide which, he compoſed fix funeral orations, on the em-
peror Charles V. and other noble perfonages; and is
thought to have been the author of a long letter on an-
cient painters and ſculptors, prefixed to the third vo-
lume of Vafari. He died at Florence in 1579.
ADRIANISTS, in ecclefiaftical hiftory, a fect of
heretics divided into two branches; the firft were dif
ciples of Simon Magus, and flouriſhed about the year
34. Theodoret is the only perfon who has preferved
their name and memory; but he gives us no account
of their origin. Probably this fect, and the fix others
which ſprung from the Simonians, took their name
from the particular difciples of Simon. The fecond
were the followers of Adrian Hamſtead, the anabaptift;
and held fome particular errors concerning Chriſt.
ADRIANOPLE, a city of Turky in Europe, in
the province of Romania, and the fee of an archbiſhop
under the patriarch of Conftantinople. It is about fe-
ven or eight miles in circumference, including the old
city and fome gardens. The houfes are low, moftly
built of mud and clay, and fome of brick; and the
1
ftreets
ADV
[ 127 ]
ADV
Advanced.
ADVANCED Guard, or Vanguard, in the art of war, Advanced
the firft line or divifion of an army, ranged or march-
ing in order of battle; or, it is that part which is next Adventure-
the enemy, and marches firft towards them.
Advanced Guard, is more particularly uſed for a
fmall party of horſe ftationed before the main-guard.
ADVANCER, among ſportſmen, one of the ſtarts
or branches of a buck's attire, between the back antler
and the palm.
ADUAR, in the Arabian and Moorish cuſtoms, a
kind of ambulatory village, confifting of tents, which
theſe people remove from one place to another, as ſuits
their conveniency.
ADVENT, in the calendar, properly fignifies the
approach of the feaſt of the nativity. It includes four
fundays, which begin on St Andrew's day, or on the
funday before or after it. During advent, and to the.
end of the octaves of epiphany, the folemnizing of
marriage is forbid without a ſpecial licence.
It is ap-
pointed to employ the thoughts of Chriftians on the
firſt advent or coming of Chrift in the fleſh, and his
fecond advent or coming to judge the world. The pri-
mitive Chriftians practifed great aufterity during this
Adrogation ſtreets are exceeding dirty. The walls and towers are
# in a great meaſure fallen to decay. However, there is
a beautiful bazar, or market, half a mile long, called
Ali Baffa. It is a vaſt arched building, with fix gates,
and 365 well-furniſhed fhops, kept by Turks, Arme-
nians, and Jews, who pay five crowns a-month for
each fhop. The number of inhabitants of all nations
and religions may be about 100,000: but it is dear
living here, becauſe the provifions are brought from
diftant places. The air is wholefome, and the coun-
try very pleaſant in the fummer-time, on account of
the river and ſtreams that run near and about the city;
the chief of which is the Mariza. Thefe promote
and preferve the verdure of the gardens, meadows, and
fields, for a confiderable part of the year. In the win-
ter there is plenty of game. Near the principal ba-
zar there is another, about a mile in length, covered
with boards, with holes on each fide to let in the light.
It is full of good fhops, which contain all kinds of
commodities. Sultan Selim's mofque ftands on the
fide of a hill, in the midſt of the city; and hence this
magnificent ftructure may be feen on all fides. Every
thing made of gold and filver, jewels, piftols, fcime-
tars, &c. are fold in another part of the city, called
by travellers the bizeftein, though it differs little from
a bazar. This contains about 200 fhops, and is co-
vered like the former: but the covering is fupported
by two rows of large pillars. The grand vifier's pa-
lace is nothing more than a convenient houſe, after the
Turkiſh manner of building. The emperor's feraglio
is a regular ſtructure, in a plain near the river Tungia.
It is two miles in compaſs, and has feven gates, be-
fides thofe of the gardens, which are feveral miles in
circumference. The city is governed by a mullah cadi,
who has an abſolute authority both in civil and crimi-
nal matters. In the time of the plague, or war, the
grand fignior fometimes refides here. The Turks took
this city from the Greeks, in 1362, and made it the
capital of the empire, till Mahomet II. took Conftan-
tinople in 1453- E. Long. 26. 27. Lat. 41. 41.
ADROGATION, in Roman antiquities, a fpecies
of adoption, whereby a perfon who was capable of
chooſing for himſelf was admitted by another into the
relation of a fon. The word is compounded of ad," to,"
and rogare,"to afk;" on account of a queftion put in the
ceremony of it, Whether the adopter would take fuch
a perfon for his fon? and another to the adoptive,
Whether he confented to become fuch a perſon's fon?
ADSIDELLA, in antiquity, the table at which the
flamens fat during the facrifices.
ADSTRICTION, among phyſicians, a term uſed
to denote the rigidity of any part.
ADUACA, or ATUACA, anciently a large and
famous city of the Tungri; now a fmall and inconfi-
derable village, called Tongeren, in the bishopric of
Liege, to the north-weft of the city of Liege, in the ter-
ritory of Hafpengow, on the rivulet Jecker, that foon
after falls into the Maefe. E. Long. 5. 52. Lat. 50. 54.
ADVANCE, in the mercantile ftyle, denotes mo-
sey paid before goods are delivered, work done, or bu-
finefs performed.
ADVANCED, in a general fenfe, denotes fome-
thing pofted or fituated before another. Thus,
ADVANCED Ditch, in fortification, is that which fur-
rounds the glacis or eſplanade of a place.
feafon.
ADVENTREM INSPICIENDUM, in law, a writ by which
a woman is to be ſearched whether fhe be with child
by a former huſband, on her with-holding of lands
from the next, failing iffue of her own body.
ADVENTURE, in a general ſenſe, ſome extraor-
dinary or accidental event. It alſo denotes a hazardous
or difficult undertaking.
Bill of ADVENTURE, among merchants, a writing
figned by a merchant, teftifying the goods mentioned
in it to be ſhipped on board a certain veffel belonging
to another perfon, who is to run all hazards; the mer-
chant only obliging himſelf to account to him for the
produce.
The
ADVENTURE-Bay, in Van Diemen's land. There is a
beautiful fandy beach, about two miles long, at the
bottom of Adventure Bay, formed to all appearance
by the particles which the fea waſhes from a fine white
fand-ftone. This beach is very well adapted for haul-
ing a feine. Behind it is a plain, with a brackiſh
lake, out of which we caught, by angling, fome bream
and trout. The parts adjoining the bay are moſtly
hilly, and are an entire forelt of tall trees, rendered
almoft impaffable by brakes of fern, fhrubs, &c.
foil on the flat land, and on the lower part of the
hills, is fandy, or confifts of a yellowish earth, and
in fome parts of a reddiſh clay; but further up the
hills, it is of a grey tough caſt. This country, upon
the whole, bears many marks of being very dry; and
the heat appears to be great. No mineral bodies, nor
ftones of any other kind than the white fand-ſtone,
were obferved by us; nor could we find any vegetables
that afforded fubfiftence for man. The foreft-trees
are all of one kind, and generally quite ftraight: they
bear cluſters of fmall white flowers. The principal
plants obferved, are wood-forrel, milk-wort, cudweed,
bell-flower, gladiolus, famphire, and feveral kinds of
fern: the only quadruped, a fpecies of opoffum, about
twice the fize of a large rat. The kangooroo, found
further northward in New Holland, may alſo be fup-
poſed to inhabit here, as ſome of the inhabitants had
pieces of the fkin of that animal.
The
Bay.
AD V
[ 128 1
ADU
!
Adventurer
Adverfa-
tive.
ADVERSATÖR, in antiquity, a fervant who at- Adverfator
tended the rich in returning from fupper, to give them H
notice of any obſtacles in the way, at which they might
be apt to ſtumble.
ADVERTISEMENT, in a general fenfe, denotes
any information given to perfons intereſted in an affair
and is more particularly uſed for a brief account of an
affair inferted in the public papers, for the information
of all concerned.
ADULA (anc.geog.), a mountain in Rhætia, or the
country of the Gaifons, part of the Alps, in which are
the fountains of the Rhine; now St Godhards.
The principal forts of birds in the woods are brown
H hawks or eagles, crows, large pigeons, yellowish pa-
roquets, and a ſpecies which we called motacilla cya-
nea, from the beautiful azure colour of its head and
neck. On the ſhore were ſeveral gulls, black oyſter-
catchers, or fea-pies, and plovers of a ftone-colour.
The inhabitants feemed mild and cheerful, with lit-
tle of that wild appearance that favages in general
have. They are almoft totally devoid of perfonal ac-
tivity or genius, and are nearly upon a par with the
wretched natives of Terra del Fuego. They difplay,
however, ſome contrivance in their method of cutting
their arms and bodies in lines of different directions,
raiſed above the furface of the ſkin. Their indiffer-
ence for prefents, their general inattention, and want
of curiofity, were very remarkable, and teftified no
acuteness of understanding. Their complexion is a
dull black, which they fometimes heighten by fmut-
ting their bodies, as was fuppofed, from their leaving
a mark behind on any clean fubftance. Their hair is
perfectly woolly, and is clotted with greafe and red
ochre, like that of the Hottentots. Their noſes are
broad and full, and the lower part of the face projects
confiderably. Their eyes are of a moderate fize, and
though they are not very quick or piercing, they give
the countenance a frank, cheerful, and pleafing caft.
Their teeth are not very white, nor well fet, and their
mouths are too wide: they wear their beards long, and
clotted with paint. They are, upon the whole, well
proportioned, though their belly is rather protuberant.
Their favourite attitude is to ftand with one fide for-
ward, and one hand graſping, acroſs the back, the
oppofite arm, which, on this occafion, hangs down by
the fide that projects.
廖
​፡
ADVENTURER, in a general fenfe, denotes one
who hazards fomething.
ADVENTURERS, is particularly uſed for an ancient
company of merchants and traders, erected for the dif-
of lands, territories, trades, &c. unknown. The
covery
fociety of adventurers had its rife in Burgundy, and
its firſt eſtabliſhment from John Duke of Brabant in
1248, being known by the name of The brotherhood
of St Thomas à Becket. It was afterwards tranflated
into England, and fucceffively confirmed by Edward
III. and IV. Richard III. Henry IV. V. VI. and
VII. who gave it the appellation of Merchant Adven-
turers.
ADVERB, in grammar, a particle joined to a verb,
adjective, or participle, to explain their manner of ac-
ting or fuffering; or to mark fome circumftance or
qnality fignified by them. The word is formed from
the prepofition ad, " to," and verbum, " a verb ;" and
fignifies literally a word joined to a verb, to fhow how,
when, or where, one is, does, or fuffers; as, the boy
paints neatly, writes ill; the houſe ftands there, &c.
See GRAMMAR.
་
ADVERSARIA, among the ancients, a book of
accounts, not unlike our journals or day-books. It is
more particularly uſed for a kind of common-place-
book. See COMMON-PLACE-BOOK.
ADVERSATIVE, in grammar, a word expreffing
fome difference between wirat goes before and what
follows it. Thus, in the phraſe, he is an honest man,
but a great enthufiaft, the word but is an adverfative
conjunction.
N° 4.
3
ADULE, or ADULIS, (anc. geog.) a town of E-
gypt built by fugitive flaves, diftant from its port on
the Red Sea 20 ftadia. Pliny calls the inhabitants
Adulitae. The epithet is either Adulitanus; as, Monu-
mentum Adulitanum, on the pompous infcription of the
ftatue of Ptolemy Euergetes, publiſhed by Leo Alatius
at Rome in 1631, and to be found in Spon and Theve-
not: Or, Âdulicus; as Adulicus Sinus, a part of the
Red Sea.
ADULT, an appellation given to any thing that is
arrived at maturity: Thus we fay, an adult perſon, an
adult plant, &c. Among civilians, it denotes a youth
between 14 and 25 years of age.
ADULTERER, a man who commits adultery.
See ADULTERY.
ADULTERESS, a woman guilty of ADULTERY.
An adulterefs, by our law, undergoes no temporal pu-
nifhment whatever, except the lofs of her dower; and
fhe does not lofe even that, if her huſband is weak e-
nough to be reconciled to her, and cohabit with her
after the offence committed. 13 Ed. I. cap. 34.
But it is to be obſerved, that adultereffes are fuch
either by the canon or civil law. According to the
former, a woman is an adulterefs who, either being
herſelf married, converfes carnally with another man;
or being fingle herſelf, converfes with a man that is
married. According to the latter, fhe is not an adul-
terefs, if ſhe be not herſelf in the married ſtate, though
the converſes with a man that is. The crime, in this
cafe, was more properly called ſtuprum than adulterium.
Hence, among the Romans, the word adultera,
dulterefs," differed from pellex, which denoted a fin-
gle woman who cohabited with a married man: and
pellex differed from concubina, which fignified her who
had only intercourfe with an unmarried man. The
former was reputed infamous, and the latter innocent.
ADULTERATION, the act of debafing, by an
improper mixture, ſomething that was pure and ge-
nuine.
a-
The word is Latin, formed of the verb adulterare,
"to corrupt," by mingling fomething foreign to any
ſubſtance. We have laws againft the adulteration of
coffee, tea, tobacco, fnuff, wine, beer, bread, wax,
hair-powder, &c.
ADULTERATION of Coin, properly imports the making,
or cafting of a wrong metal, or with too baſe or too
much alloy.
Adulterations of coins are effected divers ways; as,
by forging another ftamp or infcription; by mixing
impure metals with the gold or filver: moft properly,
by making ufe of a wrong metal, or an undue alloy,
or too great an admixture of the bafer metals with
gold or filver. Counterfeiting the ftamp, or clipping
and
Adultera
tion.
ADU
[129]
A DU
To adulterate or debaſe the current coin, is a capi-
tal crime in all nations.-The ancients puniſhed it with
great feverity: among the Egyptians both hands were
cut off; and by the civil law, the offender was thrown
to wild beafts. The emperor Tacitus enacted, that
counterfeiting the coin fhould be capital; and under
Conftantine it was made treaſon, as it is alfo among us.
The adulterating of gems is a curious art, and the me-
thods of detecting it no lefs ufeful. Nichols Lapid. p. 18.
ADULTERINE, in the civil law, is particularly
applied to a child iſſued from an adulterous amour or
commerce. Adulterine children are more odious than
the illegitimate offspring of fingle perfons.-The Ro-
man law even refufes them the title of natural children;
as if nature difowned them.-Adulterine children are
not eaſily diſpenſed with for admiffion to orders. Thoſe
are not deemed adulterine, who are begotten of awo-
man openly married, through ignorance of a former
wife being alive.-By a decree of the parliament of
Paris, adulterine children are declared not legitimated
by the fubfequent marriage of the parties, even though
a papal difpenfation be had for fuch marriage, wherein
is a claufe of legitimation.
Adulterine, and leffening the weight, do not fo properly come under There are various conjectures concerning the anci- Adultery.
Adultery, the denomination of adulterating.-Evelyn gives rules ent puniſhment of Adultery among the Romans. Some
and methods, both of adulterating and detecting a- will have it to have been made capital by a law of Ro-
dulterated metals, &c.-Adulterating is fomewhat lefs mulus, and again by the twelve tables. Others, that it
extenſive than debafing, which includes diminishing, was first made capital by Auguſtus; and others, not
clipping, &c.
before the emperor Conftantine. The truth is, the pu-
nifhment in the early days was very various, much be-
ing left to the difcretion of the huſband and parents of
the adulterous wife, who exerciſed it differently, rather
with the filence and countenance of the magiftrate than
any formal authority from him. Thus we are told, the
wife's father was allowed to kill both parties, wher
caught in the fact, provided he did it immediately, kill-
ed both together, and as it were with one blow. The
fame power ordinarily was not indulged the huſband,
except the crime were committed with fome mean or
infamous perſon; tho', in other cafes, if his rage car-
ried him to put them to death, he was not puniſhed as
a murderer. On many occafions, however, revenge was
not carried fo far; but mutilating, caftrating, cutting
off the ears, nofes, &c. ferved the turn. The puniſh-
ment allotted by the lex Julia, was not, as many have
imagined, death; but rather baniſhment, or deporta-
tion, being interdicted fire and water: though Octavius
appears, in feveral inftances, to have gone beyond his
own law, and to have put adulterers to death. Un-
der Macrinus, many were burnt at a ſtake. Conſtantine
first by law made the crime capital. Under Conftan-
tius and Conftans, adulterers were burnt, or fewed in
facks and thrown into the fea. Under Leo and Mar-
cian, the penalty was abated to perpetual baniſhment,
or cutting off the nofe. Under Juſtinian, a further mi-
tigation was granted, at leaſt in favour of the wife, who
was only to be fcourged, lofe her dower, and be ſhut up
in a monaſtery: after two years, the huſband was at li-
berty to take her back again; if he refuſed, ſhe was ſha-
ven, and made a nun for life: But it ſtill remained death
in the huſband. The reafon alleged for this difference
is, that the woman is the weaker veffel. Matthæus de-
claims against the emprefs Theodora, who is fuppofed
to have been the cauſe of this law, as well as of others
procured in favour of that ſex from the emperor.
ADULTERINE Marriages, in St Auguftine's ſenſe, de
note ſecond narriages, contracted after a divorce.
ADULTERY, an unlawful commerce between one
married perſon and another, or between a married and
unmarried perfon.
Puniſhments have been annexed to adultery in moſt
ages and nations, though of different degrees of feve-
rity. In many it has been capital; in others venial, and
attended only with flight pecuniary mulets. Some of
the penalties are ſerious, and even cruel; others of a jo-
cofe and humorous kind. Even contrary things have
been enacted as puniſhments for adultery. By fome
laws, the criminals are forbid marrying together, in cafe
they became fingle; by others, they are forbid to
marry any befides each other; by fome, they are inca-
pacitated from ever committing the like crime again;
by others, they are glutted with it till it becomes
downright naufeous.
Among the rich Greeks, adulterers were allowed to
redeem themfelves by a pecuniary fine; the woman's
father, in fuch cafes, returned the dower he had recei-
ved from her huſband, which fome think was refunded
by the adulterer. Another puniſhment among thofe
people was, putting out the eyes of adulterers.
The Athenians had an extraordinary way of puniſh.
ing adulterers, called raçalıμ agaçavoidweis, practifed
at leaſt on the poorer fort who were not able to pay the
fines. This was an awkward fort of empalement, per
formed by thruſting one of the largeſt radiſhes up the
anus of the adulterer, or, in defect thereof, a fish with
a large head, called mugil," mullet." Alcæus is faid
to have died this way, though it is doubted whether
the puniſhment was reputed mortal. Juvenal and Ca-
tullus fpeak of this cuftom, as received alfo among the
Romans, though not authorifed by an exprefs law, as
it was among the Greeks.
ง
VOL. I. Part I.
Under Theodofiùs, women convicted of this crime
were punished after a very fingular manner, viz. by a
public conftupration; being locked up in a narrow cell,
and forced to admit to their embraces all the men that
would offer themſelves. To this end, the gallants were
to drefs themſelves on purpoſe, having ſeveral little bells
faftened to their clothes, the tinkling of which gave
notice to thofe without of every motion. This cuftom
was again aboliſhed by the fame prince.
By the Jewish law, adultery was puniſhed by death
in both parties, where they were both married, or on-
ly the woman. The Jews had a particular method of
trying, or rather purging, an adulterefs, or a woman
fufpected of the crime, by making her drink the bit-
ter waters of jealoufy; which, if fhe were guilty, made
her fwell.
Among the Mingrelians, according to Chardin, a
dultery is puniſhed with the forfeiture of a hog, which
is ufually eaten in good friendſhip between the gallant,
the adulterefs, and the cuckold. In fome parts of the
Indies, it is faid any man's wife is permitted to pro-
ftitute herſelf to him who will give an elephant for the
ufe of her; and it is reputed no fmall glory to her to
R
have
ADU
[ 130 ]
ADU
&c.
vered unless it were committed, and the commiffion is Adultery.
never fecure from difcovery. 2dly, If adulterous con-
nections were allowable whenever the parties could hope
to efcape detection, which is the conclufion to which
this argument leads, the huſband would be left no other
fecurity for his wife's chaſtity, than in her want of op-
portunity or temptation: which would probably deter
moft men from marrying; or render marriage a ſtate of
continual jealouſy and alarm to the huſband, which
would end in the flavery and confinement of the wife.
The marriage-vow is" witneffed before God," and
accompanied with circumftances of folemnity and re-
ligion which approach to the nature of an oath. The
married offender, therefore, incurs a crime little fhort
of perjury, and the feduction of a married woman is
little less than fubornation of perjury :-and this guilt
is independent of the diſcovery.
Adultery. have been rated fo high. Adultery is faid to be fo
frequent at Ceylon, that not a woman but practiſes it,
notwithſtanding its being puniſhable with death. A-
mong the Japaneſe, and divers other nations, adultery
is only penal in the woman. Among the Abyffinians,
the crime of the husband is faid to be only puniſhed on
the innocent wife. In the Marian iſlands, on the con-
trary, the woman is not punishable for adultery; but
if the man go aftray he pays feverely: the wife and
her relations wafte his lands, turn him out of his houfe,
Among the Chineſe, there is reafon to conclude
that adultery is not capital; for it is faid that fond pa-
rents will make a contract for their daughters future
huſbands to allow them the indulgence of a gallant.
In Spain, they purified adultery in men by cutting
off that part which had been the inftrument of the
crime. In Poland, before Chriſtianity was eſtabliſhed,
they puniſhed adultery and fornication in a very parti-
cular manner: the criminal they carried to the mar-
ket-place, and there faftened him by the tefticles with
a nail; laying a- razor within his reach, and leaving
him under a neceffity, either of doing juſtice upon
himfelf or of perifhing in that condition.
*
The Saxons formerly burnt the adulterefs, and over
her afhes erected a gibbet, whereon the adulterer was
hanged. In this kingdom, likewife, adultery, by the
ancient laws, was feverely puniſhed. King Edmund
the Saxon ordered adultery to be puniſhed in the fame
manner as homicide; and Canute the Dane ordered
that a man who committed adultery ſhould be banish-
ed, and that the woman ſhould have her nofe and ears
cut off. In the time of Henry I. it was puniſhed with
the loſs of eyes and genitals.
In Britain, adultery is reckoned a ſpiritual offence,
that is, cognizable by the fpiritual courts, where it is
puniſhed by fine and penance. The common law takes
no farther notice of it, than to allow the party grie
ved an action and damages. This practice is often cen-
fured by foreigners, as making too light of a crime,
the bad conſequences of which, public as well as pri-
vate, are fo great. It has been anfwered, that per-
haps this penalty, by civil action, is more wifely cal-
culated to prevent the frequency of the offence, which
ought to be the end of all laws, than a feverer puniſh-
ment. He that by a judgment of law is, according
to circumſtances, ftripped of great part of his fortune,
thrown into prifon till he can pay it, or forced to fly
his country, will, no doubt, in moft cafes, own that
he pays dearly for his amuſement.
As to the moral turpitude of this offence, fome have
vainly endeavoured to deny or explain it away by va-
rious arguments, and even by an appeal to fcripture.
On the part of the man who folicits the chaſtity of a
married woman, it certainly includes the crime of SE-
DUCTION, and is attended with miſchief ftill more
complicated and extenfive: It creates a new fufferer,
the injured huſband, upon whofe fimplicity and affec-
tion is inflicted a wound the moſt painful and incu-
rable that human nature knows. The infidelity of the
woman is aggravated by cruelty to her children, who
are generally involved in their parents fhame, and al-
ways made unhappy by their quarrel.
It has been argued, that thefe confequences ought
lefs to be attributed to the crime than to the diſcovery.
But, in the first place, the crime could not be difco-
But the ufual apology for adultery is the prior tranſ
greffion of the other party; and fo far, indeed, as the
bad effects of adultery are anticipated by the conduct
of the huſband or wife who offends firft, the guilt of
the ſecond offender is extenuated. But this can never
amount to a juſtification; unleſs it could be ſhown that
the obligation of the marriage-vow depends upon the
condition of reciprocal fidelity; a conftruction which.
appears founded neither in expediency, nor in the terms
of the vow, nor in the deſign of the legiſlature which
prefcribed the marriage-rite. The way of confidering
the offence upon the footing of provocation and retali-
ation, is a childiſh trifling with words.
6
"Thou shalt not commit adultery," was an inter-
dict delivered by God himſelf; yet fcripture has been
adduced as giving countenance to the crime. As Chriſt
told the woman taken in adultery, "Neither do I con-
demn thee," we muſt believe, it is faid, that he deemed
her conduct either not criminal, or at leaſt not a crime
of the heinous nature we reprefent it to be. But from
a more attentive examination of the cafe, it will be
evident that nothing can be concluded from it favour-
able to fuch an opinion. The tranfaction is thus re-
lated* : Early in the morning Jefus came again in- * St John's
to the temple, and all the people came unto him ; Goſpel,
⚫ and he fat down and taught them; and the Scribes ch. viii.
• and Pharifees brought unto him a woman taken in
'adultery; and when they had fet her in the midft,
they fay unto him, Mafter, this woman was taken
in adultery, in the very act; now Mofes in the law
'commanded that fuch fhould be ftoned, but what
fayeft thou? This they faid tempting him, that they
might have to accuſe him: but Jefus ftooped down,
• and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though
• he heard them not. So when they continued afking
"
·
• him, he lift up himſelf, and faid unto them, He that
'is without fin amongst you, let him firſt caſt a
ftone at her; and again he ſtooped down and wrote
on the ground: and they which heard it, being con-
•victed by their own conſcience, went out one by one,
beginning at the eldeft, even unto the laft; and Je-
fus was left alone, and the woman ftanding in the
midft. When Jefus had lift up himſelf, and faw none
'but the woman, he faid unto her, Woman, where
are thoſe thine accufers? Hath no man condemned
thee? She faid unto him, No man, Lord: and he
• ſaid unto her, Neither do I condemn thee; go and fin
• This
"
no more.'
ADU
131 ]
ADV
[
Adultery.
Paley's
Political
6
Advocate.
allowed in the ancient church, and is ftill continued in Adultery,
the Greek, as well as the Lutheran and Calvinift
churches. Romanifts, however, difallow of it, and the
council of Trent even anathematized thoſe who main-
tain it; though the canon of anathematization was
mitigated in deference to the republic of Venice, in
fome of whofe dominions, as Zant, Cephalonia, &c.
the contrary uſage obtains. The ecclefiaftical courts
in England fo far agree with the papifts, that they
only grant a divorce à menfa et thoro, in cafe of adul-
tery; fo that a complete divorce, to enable the parties
to marry again, cannot be had without an act of par-
liament.
This they faid tempting him, that they might
have to accuſe him ;' that is, to draw him into an
exercife of judicial authority, that they might have
to accufe him before the Roman governor of ufurping
or-intermeddling with the civil government.
"This was their defign; and Chriſt's behaviour
Moral and throughout the whole affair proceeded from a know-
Philofophy, ledge of this defign, and a determination to defeat it.
P. 258. 3d He gives them at firſt a cold and fullen reception, well
edit. 4to. fuited to the infidious intention with which they came:
he ſtooped down, and with his finger wrote on
the ground as though he heard them not.' • When
they continued afking him,' when they teazed him
to ſpeak, he difmiffed them with a rebuke, which the
impertinent malice of their errand, as well as the fe-
cret character of many of them, deſerved: he that is
without fin (that is, this fin) among you, let him
• firſt caſt a ſtone at her.' This had its effect. Stung
with the reproof, and diſappointed of their aim, they
ftole away one by one, and left Jefus and the woman
alone. And then follows the converfation, which is
the part of the narrative moft material to our preſent
ſubject. Jefus faith unto her, Woman, where are
• thofe thine accuſers? Hath no man condemned thee?
• She faid, No man, Lord. And Jeſus faid unto her,
• Neither do I condemn thee; go and fin no more.'
Now, when Chriſt aſked the woman, Hath no man
• condemned thee? he certainly ſpoke, and was under-
flood by the woman to fpeak, of a legal and judicial
condemnation ; otherwife her anſwer, 'No man, Lord,'
was not true. In every other ſenſe of condemnation,
as blame, cenfure, reproof, private judgment, and the
like, many had condemned her; all thofe, indeed, who
brought her to Jeſus. If then a judicial fentence was
what Chriſt meant by condemning in the queftion, the
common uſe of language requires us to fuppofe that
he meant the fame in his reply, Neither do I con-
• demn thee:' i. e. I pretend to no judicial character
or authority over thee; it is no office or buſineſs of
mine to pronounce or execute the fentence of the law.
When Chriſt adds, Go and fin no more,' he in effect
tells her that ſhe had finned already; but as to the
degree, or quality of the fin, or Chrift's opinion con-
cerning it, nothing is declared, or can be inferred, ei-
ther way.'
""
C
It has been controverted, whether adultery may be
lawfully committed in war, with the enemies wives?
The anſwer is in the negative, and the authoriſed prac-
tice of civilized nations is agreeable to this. It has
alfo been a famous queftion, whether it be lawful for
a woman to commit adultery with the conſent of her
huſband, and for the procuring fome great good to
him? St Auitin apparently allows of it; at leaft, does
* De Serm, not condemn it *.
Dom, in
It has likewiſe been a difpute, whether it be lawful
Mont. lib. i. for one of the parties married to commit adultery, with
cap. 16.
$ 49. et De the confent of the other, for the fake of having chil-
Civ, Dei, dren? Of which we have inſtances in Abraham, who,
on this account, converfed with Hagar;, and likewife
among the Greeks and Romans. Pollman, a German
profeffor, has a differtation on the huſband's right to
alienate his wife's body to another's uſe.
lib. xvi.
cap. 25.
It is much diſputed, whether adultery diffolves the
bond of matrimony, and be a fufficient cauſe of di-
vorce, ſo that the parties may marry again. This was
ADULTERY is alſo uſed in ancient cuſtoms, for the
puniſhment or fine impofed for that offence, or the
privilege of profecuting for it. In which ſenſe, adul-
terium amounts to the fame with what the Saxons call
legerwita.
ADULTERY is fometimes ufed, in a more extenfive
fenfe, for any fpecies of impurity or crime, againſt
the virtue of chaſtity; and in this fenfe divines under-
ftand the feventh commandment.
ADULTERY is alſo uſed, eſpecially in fcripture, for
idolatry, or departing from the true God, to the wor-
fhip of a falſe one.
ADULTERY is alſo uſed, in ecclefiaftical writers, for
a perfon's invading or intruding into a biſhopric du-
ring the former bishop's life. The reafon of the ap-
pellation is, that a bishop is fuppofed to contract a
kind of ſpiritual marriage with his church. The tranf-
lation of a biſhop from one fee to another was alſo re-
puted a fpecies of adultery; on the fuppofition of its
being a kind of fecond marriage, which, in thoſe days,
was eſteemed a degree of adultery. This conclufion
was founded on that text of St Paul, Let a biſhop be`
the husband of one wife, by a forced conftruction of
church for wife and of bifhop for husband. Du-Cange.
ADULTERY is alfo ufed, in ancient naturalifts, for
the act of ingrafting one plant upon another. In
which fenfe, Pliny ſpeaks of the adulteries of trees,
arborum adulteria, which he reprefents as contrary
to nature, and a piece of luxury, or needlefs refine-
ment.
ADVOCATE, among the Romans, a perſon ſkill-
ed in their law, who undertook the defence of cauſes
at the bar. The Roman advocates anſwered to one
part of the office of a barrifter in England, viz. the
pleading part; for they never gave counſel, that being
the bufinefs of the jurifconfulti.
The Romans, in the firft ages of their ſtate, held
the profeffion of an advocate in great honour; and
the feats of their bar were crowded with fenators and
confuls; they, whofe voices commanded the people,
thinking it an honour to be employed in defending
them. They were ftyled comites, honorati, clariffimi,
and even patroni; as if their clients were not lefs obli-
ged to them than freed men to their maſters. The
bar was not at that time venal. Thofe who aſpired
to honours and offices took this way of gaining an in-
tereft in the people, and always pleaded gratis. But
no fooner were luxury and corruption introduced into
the commonwealth, than the bar became a fharer in
them. Then it was that the fenators let out their
voices for pay, and zeal and eloquence were fold to
the highest bidder. To put a stop to this abuſe, the
R 2
tribune
ADV
1
[
A D V
132 ]
Advocates. tribune Cincius procured a law to be paffed, called from
him Lex Cincia, whereby the advocates were forbid
to take any money of their clients. It had before this
been prohibited the advocates to take any preſents or
gratuities for their pleading. The emperor Auguftus
added a penalty to it: notwithſtanding which, the ad-
vocates played their part fo well, that the emperor
Claudius thought it an extraordinary circumftance,
when he obliged them not to take above eight great
fefterces, which are equivalent to about 641. Sterling,
for pleading each caufe.
ADVOCATE is ftill uſed, in countries and courts
where the civil law obtains, for thoſe who plead and
defend the cauſes of clients trufted to them.
ADVOCATE of a City, in the German polity, a ma-
giftrate appointed in the emperor's name to adminiſter
juftice.
ADVOCATE is more particularly ufed, in church hi
ftory, for a perfon appointed to defend the rights and
revenues of a church or religious houſe. The word
advocatus, or advowee, is ftill retained for what we ufu-
ally call the patron, or he who has the advowſon, or
right of prefentation, in his own name.
Confiftorial ADVOCATES; officers of the confiftory at
Rome, who plead in all oppofitions to the difpofal of
benefices in that court: they are ten in number.
Elective ADVOCATES, thofe chofen by the abbot,..
biſhop, or chapter; a particular licence being had from
the king, or prince, for that purpoſe. The elections
were originally made in the prefence of the count of
the province.
Feudal ADVOCATES. Thefe were of the military
kind, who, to make them more zealous for the inte-
reft of the church, had lands granted them in fee,
which they held of the church, and did homage, and
took an oath of fidelity to the bishop or abbot. Thefe
were to lead the vaffals of the church to war, not only
in private quarrels of the church itſelf, but in military
expeditions for the king's fervice, in which they were
the ſtandard-bearers of their churches..
Fifcal ADVOCATE, fifci advocatus, in Roman anti-
quity, an officer of ftate under the Roman emperors,
who pleaded in all cauſes wherein the fifcus, or private
treaſury, was concerned...
Juridical ADVOCATES, in the middle age, were thofe
who from attending cauſes in the court of the comes,
or count of the province, became judges themſelves,
and held courts of their vaſſals thrice a-year, under the
name of the tria placita generalia. In confideration
of this further ſervice, they had a particular allowance
of one third part of all fines, or mulets, impoſed on
defaulters, &c. befides a proportion of diet for them-
felves and fervants.
Matricular ADVOCATES, were the advocates of the
mother or cathedral churches.
Military ADVOCATES, thofe appointed for the de-
fence of the church, rather by arms and authority than
by pleading and eloquence. Thefe were introduced
in the times of confufion, when every perſon was obli-
ged to maintain their own property by force; biſhops
and abbots not being permitted to bear arms, and the
fcholaftic or gowned advocates being equally unac-
quainted with them, recourfe was had to knights, no-
blemen, foldiers, or even to princes.
Nominativę ADVOCATES, thoſe appointed by a king
or pope.
or pope. Sometimes the churches petitioned kings, Advocates.
&c. to appoint them an advocate at other times this
was done of their own accord. By fome regulations,
no perſon was capable of being elected advocate, un-
lefs he had an eſtate in land in the fame county.
Regular ADVOCATES, thofe duly formed and quali-
fied for their profeffion, by a proper courfe of ftudy,
the requifite oath, fubfcription, licence, &c.
จ
Subordinate ADVOCATES, thofe appointed by other
fuperior ones, acting under them, and accountable to
them. There were various reafons for the creation of
thefe fubordinate advocates; as, the fuperior quality
of the principal advocate, his being detained in war,
or being involved in other affairs; but chiefly the too
great diſtance of fome of the church-lands, and their
lying in the dominions of foreign princes..
Supreme or Sovereign ADVOCATES, were thoſe who
had the authority in chief; but acted by deputies or
fubordinate advocates. Thefe were called alfo princi-
pal, greater, and ſometimes general advocates. Such
in many cafes were kings, &c. when either they
had been chofen advocates, or became fuch by be-
ing founders or endowers of churches. Princes had
alfo another title to advocateship, fome of them pre-
tending to be advocati nati of the churches within
their dominions.
ADVOCATES, in the English courts, are more ge-
nerally called counfel. See COUNSEL.
Faculty of ADVOCATES, in Scotland, a reſpectable
body of lawyers, who plead in all cauſes before the
Courts of Seffion, Jufticiary, and Exchequer. They
are alfo intitled to plead in the houfe of peers, and o-
ther fupreme courts in England.
In the year 1660, the faculty founded a library
upon a very extenfive plan, fuggefted by that learned
and eminent lawyer Sir George M'Kenzie of Roſe-
haugh, advocate to king Charles II. and king James
VII. who enriched it with many valuable books. It
has been daily increafing fince that time, and now con-
tains not only the beſt collection of law-books in Eu-
rope, but a very large and ſelect collection of books on
all fubjects. Befides, this library contains a great
number of original manuſcripts, and a vaſt variety of
Jewiſh, Grecian, Roman, Scots, and Engliſh coins and
medals.
A candidate for the office of an advocate undergoes
three feveral trials: The firſt is in Latin, upon the ci-
vil law and Greek and Roman antiquities; the fecond,
in Engliſh, upon the municipal law of Scotland; and,
in the third, he is obliged to defend a Latin theſis,
which is impugned by three members of the faculty.
Immediately before putting on the gown, the candidate
makes a fhort Latin fpeech to the lords, and then takes
the oaths to the government and de fideli.
The faculty at prefent confifts. of above 200 mem-
bers. As an advocate or lawyer is efteemed the gen-
teeleft profeffion in Scotland, many gentlemen of for-
tune take the degree of advocate, without having any
intention of practifing at the bar.. This circumſtance
greatly increaſes their number, gives dignity to the
feffion, and enriches their library and public fund. It
is from this refpectable body that all vacancies on the
bench are generally fupplied.
pro-
Lord ADVOCATE, or King's Advocate, one of the
eight great officers of ſtate in Scotland, who as fuch
fat
ADV
[ 133
]
ADV
Advowee.
their example. Thus we read in hiftory of the ad- Advowee,
vowees of Augſburg, of Arras, &c.
The vidames affumed the quality of advowees; and
hence it is, that ſeveral hiftorians of the eighth cen-
tury confound the two functions together. Hence al-
ſo it is, that ſeveral ſecular lords in Germany bear
mitres for their crefts, as having anciently been ad-
vowees of the great churches.
Advocation fat in parliament without election. He is the princi-
pal crown-lawyer in Scotland. His bufinefs is to act
as a public proſecutor, and to plead in all cauſes that
concern the crown; but particularly in fuch as are of
a criminal nature. The office of king's advocate is
not very ancient: It ſeems to have been eſtabliſhed
about the beginning of the 16th century. Originally
he had no power to profecute crimes without the con-
currence of a private party; but, in the year 1597,
he was empowered to profecute crimes at his own in-
Atance. He has the privilege of pleading in court with
his hat on.
This privilege was firſt granted to Sir
Thomas Hope; who having three fons lords of feffion,
it was thought indecent that the father fhould plead
uncovered before the fons, who as judges fat covered.
BILL OF ADVOCATION, in Scots law, a writing
drawn up in the form of a petition; whereby a party,
in an action before an inferior court, applies to the fu-
preme court, or court of Seffion, for calling the action
from the inferior court before itſelf.
1
*
Letters of ADVOCATION, in Scots law, the decree or
warrant of the court of Seffion upon cogniſance of the
facts ſet forth in the bill, drawn up in the form of a
fummons, and paffing under the fignet, diſcharging the
inferior judge and all others from further procedure in
the caufe, and advocating it to itſelf.
ADVOWEE, in ancient cuſtoms and law books,
denotes the advocate of a church, religious houſe, or
the like. There were advowees of cathedrals, abbeys,
monafteries, &c. Thus, Charlemagne had the title of
advowee of St Peter's; king Hugh, of St Riquier;
and Bolandus mentions fome letters of pope Nicholas,
by which he conſtituted king Edward the Confeffor,
and his fucceffors, advowees of the monaftery at Weft-
minfter, and of all the churches in England. Thefe
advowees were the guardians, protectors, and admini-
ftrators of the temporal concerns of the churches, &c.
and under their authority were paffed all contracts
which related to them. It appears alfo, from the moſt
ancient charters, that the donations made to churches
were conferred on the perfons of the advowees. They
always pleaded the cauſes of the churches in court,
and diftributed juftice for them, in the places under
their jurifdiction. They alſo commanded the forces
furniſhed by their monafteries, &c. for the war ; and
even were their champions, and fometimes maintained
duels for them.
This office is faid to have been first introduced in the
fourth century, in the time of Stillico; though the
Benedictines do not fix its origin before the eighth
century. By degrees, men of the firſt rank were
brought into it, as it was found neceſſary either to de-
fend with arms or to protect with power and authori-
ty. In fome monafteries they were only called con-
fervators; but thefe, without the name, had all the
functions of advowees. There were alſo fometimes
ſeveral ſub-advowees, or fub-advocates, in each mona-
ftery, who officiated inſtead of the advowees them-
felves; which, however, proved the ruin of monafte-
ries; thofe inferior officers running into great abuſes.
Spelman diftinguiſhes two kinds of ecclefiaftical ad-
vowees.- -The one, of caufes or proceffes, advocati
caufarum; the other, of territory or lands, advocati
foli. The former were nominated by the king, and
were ufually lawyers, who undertook to plead the
caufes of the monafteries. The other, which ſtill ſub-
fift, and are ſometimes called by their primitive name,
advowees, though more uſually patrons, were heredi-
tary; as being the founders and endowers of churches,
&c. or their heirs.
Hence alſo, huſbands, tutors, and every perfon in
general, who took upon him the defence of another,
were denominated advowees, or advocates. Hence fe-
veral cities had their advowees; which were eſtabliſhed
long after the ecclefiaftical ones, and doubtless from
Women were fometimes advowees, advocatiffa. And,
in effect, the canon law mentions fome who had this
title, and who had the ſame right of preſentation, &c.
in their churches which the advowees themſelves had.
In a ſtat. 25 Edw. III. we meet with advowee para-
mount for the higheſt patron; that is, the king.
2...
Advowfon.
ADVOWSON, or ADVOWZEN, in common law,,
fignifies a right to prefent to a vacant benefice. Ad-
vowfon is fo called, becauſe the right of preſenting to
the church was first gained by fuch as were founders,
benefactors, or maintainers of the church.
Though the nomination of fit perfons to officiate in
every dioceſe was originally in the bishop, yet they
were content to let the founders of churches have the
nomination of the perſons to the churches fo founded,
referving to themſelves a right to judge of the fitneſs -
of the perfons fo nominated.
Advowfons formerly were moſt of them appendant
to manors, and the patrons were parochial barons:
the lordſhip of the manor and patronage of the church
were feldom in different hands, until advowfons were
given to religious houfes. But of late times the lord-
fhip of the manor and advowſon of the church have
been divided.
Advowfons are prefentative, collative, or donative:
prefentative, where the patron prefents or offers his
clerk to the biſhop of the dioceſe, to be inſtituted in
his church; collative, where the benefice is given by
the biſhop, as original patron thereof, or by means of
a right he has acquired by lapſe; donative, as where
the king or other patron does, by a fingle donation in
writing, put the clerk into poffeffion, without prefen-
tation, inftitution, or induction.
·
Sometimes, anciently, the patron had the fole no-
mination of the prelate, abbot, or prior; either by in-
veftiture (i. e. delivery of a paftoral ſtaff), or by direct
preſentation to the diocefan; and if a free election was
left to the religious, yet a conge d'elire, or licence of
election, was firft to be obtained of the patron, and
the perfon elected was confirmed by him. If the
founder's family became extinct, the patronage of the
convent went to the lord of the manor. Unleſs the
feveral colleges in the univerſities be reſtrained in the
number of advowfons they may receive, it is argued.
they will in time acquire fuch a ſtock as to fruftrate
the defign of their foundation (which is the education
of youth, by creating too quick a fucceffion of fel-
lows;
**
A DZ
[
EDI
134 ]
ll
Adze.
Aduft lows; fo that there will not be in the colleges a fuffi-
cient number of perfons of competent age, knowledge,
and experience, to inſtruct and form the minds of the
youth.-In fome colleges the number of advowfons is
faid to be already two thirds, or more, of the number
of fellows. It is objected, on the other fide, that the
fucceffion of fellows may be too flow as well as too
quick; whereby perfons well qualified may be detained
fo long in colleges as not to have ftrength or activity
enough left for the diſcharge of parochial functions.
Colleges holding more advowfons in number than a
moiety of the fellows, are not capable of purchaſing
more. Grants of advowfons by papifts are void.
9 Geo. II. c. 36. § 5. II Geo. II. c. 17. § 5.
Advowfons are temporal inheritances and lay fees;
they may be granted by deed or will, and are affets in
the hands of heirs or executors. Prefentations to ad-
vowfons for money, or other reward, are void. 31 Eliz.
cap. 6.
In Scotland, this right is called patronage.
PATRONAGE.
See
ADUST, ADUSTUS, among phyficians, &c. is ap-
plied to fuch humours as by long heat become of a hot
and fiery nature. Such is choler fuppofed to be.
Melancholy is ufually confidered as black and aduſt bile.
Blood is faid to be aduft, when, by reaſon of fome
extraordinary heat, its more fubtile parts are all eva-
porated, leaving the groffer, with all the impurities
therein, half torrified.
ADY, in natural hiftory, a name given to the palm-
tree of the iſland of St Thomas. It is a tall tree, with
a thick, bare, upright ftem, growing fingle on its root,
of a thin light timber, and full of juice. The head of
this tree ſhoots into a vaſt number of branches, which
being cut off, or an incifion being made therein, afford
a great quantity of fweet juice, which fermenting fup-
plies the place of wine among the Indians. The fruit
of this tree is called by the Portugueſe Caryoces and Ca-
rioffe; and by the black natives, Abanga. This fruit
is of the fize and ſhape of a lemon; and contains a
kernel, which is good to eat. The fruit itſelf is eat
roafled, and the raw kernels are often mixed with man-
dioc meal. Theſe kernels are fuppofed very cordial.
An oil is alſo prepared from this fruit, which anfwers
the purpoſe of oil or butter. This oil is alſo uſed for
anointing ftiff and contracted parts of the body.
ADYNAMIA, in medicine, debility, or weakneſs,
From fickneſs.
ADYNAMON, among ancient phyficians, a kind
of weak factitious wine, prepared from muſt boiled
down with water; to be given to patients to whom
genuine wine might be hurtful.
ADYTUM, in pagan antiquity, the moft retired
and facred place of their temples, into which none but
the prieſts were allowed to enter. The Sanctum Sanc-
torum of the temple of Solomon was of the nature of
the pagan adytum, none but the high prieft being ad-
mitted into it, and he but once a-year.
ADZE, or ADDICE, a cutting tool of the ax kind;
having its blade made thin and arching, and its edge
at right angles to the handle; chiefly uſed for taking
off thin chips of timber or boards, and for paring away
certain irregularities which the ax cannot come at.
The adze is uſed by carpenters, but more by coopers,
as being convenient for cutting the hollow fides of
boards, &c. It is ground from a bafe on its infide to
its outer edge; fo that, when it is blunt, they cannot
conveniently grind it without taking its helve out of
the eye.
AE, or Æ, a diphthong compounded of A and E.
Authors are by no means agreed as to the uſe of the
ae in English words.-Some, out of regard to etymo-
logy, infiſt on its being retained in all words, particu-
larly technical ones, borrowed from the Greek and
Latin; while others, from a confideration that it is
no proper diphthong in our language, its found be-
ing no other than that of the fimple e, contend that it
ought to be entirely difufed; and, in fact, the fimple e
has of late been adopted inſtead of the Roman e, as
in the word equator, &c.
EACEA, in Grecian antiquity, folemn feſtivals
and games celebrated at Ægina, in honour of Æacus.
EACUS, the ſon of Jupiter by Ægina. When
the iſle of Ægina was depopulated by a plague, his fa-
ther, in compaffion to his grief, changed all the ants
upon it into men and women, who were called Myrmi-
dons, from uupunt, an ant. The foundation of the fa-
μupμnž,
ble is faid to be, that when the country had been de-
populated by pirates, who forced the few that remain-
ed to take fhelter in caves, Æacus encouraged them to
come out, and by commerce and induſtry recover what
they had loft. His character for juftice was ſuch, that,
in a time of univerſal drought, he was nominated by
the Delphic oracle to intercede for Greece, and his
prayer was anfwered. See the article ÆGINA. The
Pagans alfo imagined that acus, on account of his
impartial juſtice, was choſen by Pluto one of the three
judges of the dead: and that it was his province to
judge the Europeans.
ÆBURA (anc. geog.), a town of Spain, in Eftre-
madura, on the river Guadiana, to the weſt of Me-
rida, now called Talavera. W. Long. 7. 15. Lat.
38. 40.
ÆCHMALOTARCHA, in Jewish antiquity, a
title given to the principal leader or governor of the
Hebrew captives refiding in Chaldea, Affyria, and the
neighbouring countries. This magiftrate was called
by the Jews rofch-galath, i. e. the chief of the capti-
vity: but the above term, of like import in the Greek,
is that uſed by Origen and others who wrote in the
Greek tongue.
The Jewish writers affure us, that the echmalotarche
were only to be chofen out of the tribe of Judah. The
eaftern Jews had their princes of the captivity, as the
weftern Jews their patriarchs. The Jews are ftill faid
to have an achmalotarcha at Babylon, but without the
authority of the ancient ones. Bafnage Hift. Jews,
and Prideaux's Connection.
ÆCULANUM (anc. geog.), a town of the Hir-
pini in Italy, at the foot of the Appenin, to the eaſt
of Abellinum, contracted Eclanum, fituate between
Beneventum and Tarentum. The inhabitants are called
Eculani by Pliny; and Eclanenfes, in an ancient in-
fcription, (Gruter). The town is now called Fricento,
Cluverius, 43 miles eaft of Naples. E. Long. 15. 38.
Lat. 41. 15.
ÆDES, in Roman antiquity, befides its more or-
dinary fignification of a houfe, likewife fignified an in-
ferior kind of temple, confecrated to fome deity.
ÆDICULA, a term uſed to denote the inner part
Az
11
Ædicula,
3
of
ÆDI
135 ]
[
ÆG I
Adilate, of the temple, where the altar and ſtatue of the deity
Edile. ftood.
ÆDILATE, the office of ædile, ſometimes called
Edility. See the next article.
ÆDILE (ædilis), in Roman antiquity, a magiftrate
whofe chief bufinefs was to fuperintend buildings of all
kinds, but more eſpecially public ones, as temples,
aquæducts, bridges, &c. To the ædiles likewife be-
longed the care of the highways, public places, weights
and meaſures, &c. They alfo fixed the prices of pro-
vifions, took cognizance of debauches, puniſhed lewd
women, and fuch perfons as frequented gaming houſes.
The cuftody of the plebifcita, or orders of the people,
was likewife committed to them. They had the infpec-
tion of comedies and other pieces of wit; and were ob-
liged to exhibit magnificent games to the people, at
their own expence, whereby many of them were ruin-
ed. To them alſo belonged the cuftody of the ple-
bifcita, and the cenfure and examination of books.
They had the power, on certain occafions, of iffuing
edicts; and, by degrees, they procured to themſelves
a confiderable jurifdiction, the cognizance of various
caufes, &c. This office ruined numbers by its expen-
fiveness; fo that, in Auguftus's time, even many fe-
nators declined it on that account.
:
·
All theſe functions which rendered the ædiles fo con-
fiderable belonged at firſt to the ædiles of the people,
ædiles plebeii, or minores: theſe were only two in num-
ber, and were firſt created in the fame year as the tri-
bunes for the tribunes, finding themſelves oppreffed
with the multiplicity of affairs, demanded of the fe-
nate to have officers, with whom they might intruſt
matters of leſs importance; and accordingly two ædiles
were created; and hence it was that the ædiles were
elected every year at the fame affembly as the tribunes.
But thefe plebeian ædiles having refufed, on a fignal
occaſion, to treat the people with fhows, as pleading
themſelves unable to fupport the expence thereof, the
patricians made an offer to do it, provided they would
admit them to the honours of the ædilate. On this
occafion there were two new ædiles created, of the
number of the patricians, in the year of Rome 388;
they were called ædiles curules, or majores; as having
a right. to fit on a curule chair, enriched with ivory,
when they gave audience; whereas the plebeian ædiles
only fat on benches.-Befides that the curule ædiles
fhared all the ordinary functions with the plebeian, their
chief employ was, to procure the celebration of the
grand Roman games, and. to exhibit comedies, fhews
and. to exhibit comedies, fhews
of gladiators, &c. to the people; and they were alfo
appointed judges in all cafes relating to the felling or
exchanging eftates.
To eaſe theſe four firſt ædiles, Cæfar created a new
kind, called ædiles cereales, as being deputed chiefly to
take care of the corn, which was called donum cereris;
for the Heathens honoured Ceres as the goddeſs who
prefided over corn, and attributed to her the invention
of agriculture. Thefe ædiles cereales were alfo taken
out of the order of patricians. In the municipal ci-
ties there were ædiles, and with the fame authority as
at Rome.
We alſo read of an adiles alimentarius, expreffed in
abbreviature by Ædil. alim. whoſe buſineſs ſeems to
have been to provide diet for thoſe who were maintain-
ed at the public charge, though others affign him a
different office. In an ancient infcription we alfo meet Ædilitium
with adle of the camp, adilis caftrorum
Ægida.
ÆDILITIUM EDICTUM, among the Romans, was
that whereby a remedy was given a buyer, in caſe a
vicious or unfound beaft, or flave, was fold him. It was
called ædilitium, becauſe the preventing of frauds in
fales and contracts belonged efpecially to the curule
ædiles.
ÆDITUUS, in Roman antiquity, an officer belong-
ing to the temple, who had the charge of the offerings,
treafure, and facred utenfils. The female deities had a
woman officer of this kind called Æditua.
ÆGAGROPILA, a ball compoſed of a fubftance
refembling hair, generated in the ftomach of the cha-
mois-goat. This ball is of the fame nature with thofe
found in cows, hogs, &c.
ÆGE, or ÆGEA (anc. geog.), the name of Edef
Ja, fo called from the following adventure: Caranus,
the firſt king of Macedonia, being ordered by the o-
racle to feek out a fettlement in Macedonia, under the
conduct of a flock of goats, ſurpriſed the town of Æ-
deffa, during a thick fog and rainy weather, in follow-
ing the goats that fled from the rain; which goats
ever after, in all his military expeditions, he caufed
to precede his ſtandard; and in memory of this he
called Edeffa Ægaa, and his people Egeade. And
hence probably, in the prophet Daniel, the he-goat is
the fymbol of the king of Macedon.
ÆGEAN SEA (anc. geog.), now the Archipelago,
a part of the Mediterranean, feparating Europe froin
Afia and Africa; washing, on the one hand, Greece
and Macedonia; on the other, Caria and Ionia. The
origin of the name is greatly difputed. Feftus advan-
ces three opinions: one, that it is fo called from the
many iſlands therein, at a diſtance appearing like fo
many goats: another, becaufe Egea queen of the
Amazons periſhed in it: a third opinion is, becauſe
Egeus, the father of Thefeus, threw himſelf headlong
into it.
ÆGEUS, in fabulous hiftory, was king of Athens,
and the father of Thefeus. The Athenians having
bafely killed the fon of Minos king of Crete, for carry-
ing away the prize from them, Minos made war upon
the Athenians; and being victorious, impofed this fevere
condition on Ægeus, that he ſhould annually fend into
Crete feven of the nobleft of the Athenian youths,
chofen by lot, to be devoured by the Minotaur. On
the fourth year of this tribute, the choice fell on The-
feus; or, as others fay, he himself intreated to be fent.
The king, at his fon's departure, gave orders, that as
the ſhip failed with black fails, it ſhould return with the
fame in cafe he perished; but, if he became victorious,
he fhould change them into white. When Thefeus re-
turned to Crete, after killing the Minotaur, and for-
got to change the fails in token of his victory, ac-
cording to the agreement with his father; the latter,
who watched the return of the veffel, fuppofing by
the black fails that his fon was dead, caft himſelf head-
long into the fea, which afterwards obtained the name
of the Egean Sea. The Athenians decreed
divine honours; and facrificed to him as a marine deity,
the adopted fon of Neptune.
geus.
EGIAS, among phyficians, a white fpeck on the
pupil of the eye, which occafions a dimneſs of fight.
ÆGIDA, (Pliny); now Capo d'Iftria, the princi
pal
:
AGI I
[ 136 ]
ÆG I
Egilops pal town on the north of the territory of Iftria, fituated
in a little iſland, joined to the land by a bridge. In an
Ægina.
infcription, (Gruter), it is called Egidis Infula. E.
Long. 14. 20. Lat. 45.50. It was afterwards called
Juftinopolis, after the emperor Juftinus.
ÆGILOPS, the name of a tumor in the great angle
of the eye; either with, or without, an inflammation.
The word is compounded of ait, goat, and w, eye;
as goats are fuppofed extremely liable to this diftem-
per.
Authors frequently ufe the words agilops, anchilops,
and fiftula lachrymalis, promifcuouſly; but the more
accurate, after Ægineta, make a difference.-The tu-
mor, before it becomes ulcerous, is properly called an-
chilops; and, after it is got into the lachrymal paffages,
and has rendered the os lachrymale carious, fiftula la-
chrymalis.
If the ægilops be accompanied with an inflamma
tion, it is fuppofed to take its rife from the abundance
of blood which a plethoric habit diſcharges on the cor-
ner of the eye. If it be without an inflammation, it is
ſuppoſed to proceed from a viſcous pituitous humour,
thrown upon this part.
The method of cure is the fame as that of the oph-
thalmia. But before it has reached the lachrymal paf-
fages, it is managed like other ulcers. If the agilops
be neglected, it burfts, and degenerates into a fiftula,
which eats into the bone.
EGILOPS, Wild Feftuc; a genus of the monoecia order,
belonging to the polygamia claſs of plants, and ranking
under the 4 th natural order, Gramina.-The characters
are: The hermaphrodite calyx is a two-valved glume, tri-
florous; the corolla a two-valved glume, the exterior
valvalet terminated by three ariftæ or awns, the interior
awnleſs: Stamina, three capillary filaments; ftyle, two:
Seed, one, oblong. Male calyx and corolla, each a glume
as in the former; and ftamina, the fame number.-
There are ſeven ſpecies, natives of Italy and fome other
parts of Europe; one of them, the incurvata, a native
of Britain, grows by the fea-fhore, and is vulgarly call-
ed fea-hard-grafs.
EGILOPS is alfo the trivial name of a ſpecies of
QUERCUS.
ÆGIMURUS (anc. geog.), an iſland on the bay
of Carthage, about 30 miles diftant from that city,
(Livy); now the Galetta: This ifland being after
wards funk in the fea, two of its rocks remained above
water, which were called Ara, and mentioned by Vir-
gil, becauſe the Romans and Carthaginians entered in-
to an agreement or league to ſettle their mutual boun-
daries at theſe rocks.
ÆGINA, in fabulous hiftory, the daughter of Æ-
Topus, king of Beotia, was beloved by Jupiter, who
debauched her in the fimilitude of a lambent flame,
and then carried her from Epidaurus to a defart iſland
called Oenope, which afterwards obtained her own
'name.
EGINA (anc. geog.), an iſland on the Saronic Bay,
or Bay of Èngia, zo miles diftant from the Piraeus,
formerly vying with Athens for naval power, and at the
fea-fight of Salamin difputing the palm of victory with
the Athenians. It was the country and kingdom of
Æacus, who called it Ægina from his mother's name,
it being before called Oenopia, (Ovid). The inhabi-
tants were called Ægineta, and Æginenfes. The Greeks
N° 4.
had a common temple dedicated to Jupiter in Egina. Egina.
The Æginetæ applied to commerce; and were the firſt
who coined money, called Noμioμa 'Ayivaio: hence E-
Æ-
gineticum æs, formerly in great repute. The inhabi-
tants were called Myrmydones, or a nation of ants,
from their great application to agriculture. See EA-
CUS.
This ifland was furrounded by Attica, the territory
of Megara, and the Peloponnefus, each diftant about 100
ftadia, or 12 miles and a half. In circumference it was
reckoned 180 ftadia, or 22 miles and a half.
It was
waſhed on the eaſt and ſouth by the Myrtoan and Cre-
tan feas.
It is now called Eyina, or Egina, the g ſoft and the i
fhort. The temple above-mentioned is fituated upon
the fummit of a mountain called Panhellenius, about
an hour diſtant from the ſhore. The Æginetans affirm-
ed it was erected by EACUS; in whofe time Hellas
being terribly oppreffed by drought, the Delphic oracle
was confulted; and the reſponſe was, That Jupiter muft
be rendered propitious by acus. The cities intreat-
ed him to be their mediator: He facrificed and prayed
to Jupiter Panhellenius, and procured rain.
The temple was of the Doric order, and had fix co-
lumns in front. Twenty-one of the exterior columns
are yet ftanding, with two in the front of the pronaos
and of the pofticum, and five of the number which
formed the ränges of the cell. The entablature, except
the architrave, is fallen. The ftone is of a light brown-
ifh colour, much eaten in many places, and indicating
a very great age. Some of the columns have been in-
jured by boring to their centres for the metal. In fe-
veral, the junction of the parts is fo exact, that each
feems to confift of one piece. This ruin Mr Chandler
confiders as fcarcely to be paralleled in its claim to a
remote antiquity. The fituation on a lonely mountain,
at a diſtance from the fea, has preſerved it from total
demolition, amid all the changes and accidents of nu-
merous centuries.
Near the ſhore is a burrow, raifed, it is related, for
Phocus, upon the following occafion. Telamon and
Peleus, fons of Eacus, challenged their half-brother
Phocus to contend in the Pentathlum. In throwing
the ftone, which ferved as a quoit, Peleus hit Phocus,
who was killed; when both of them fled. Afterwards,
Telamon fent a herald to affert his innocence. Eacus
would not fuffer him to land, or to apologize, except
from the veffel; or, if he choſe rather, from a heap caft
up in the water. Telamon, entering the private port
by night, raiſed a barrow, as a token, it is likely, of a
pious regard for the deceaſed. He was afterwards
condemned, as not free from guilt; and failed away a-
gain to Salamis. The barrow in the ſecond century,
when ſeen by Paufanias, was furrounded with a fence,
and had on it a rough ſtone. The terror of ſome
dreadful judgment to be inflicted from heaven had pre-
ferved it entire and unaltered to his time; and in a
country depopulated and neglected, it may ſtill endure
for many ages.
The foil of this ifland is, as defcribed by Strabo,
very ftony, eſpecially the bottoms, but in fome places
not unfertile in grain. Befides corn, it produces olives,
grapes, and almonds; and abounds in pigeons and
partridges. It has beer related, that the Egine-
tans annually wage war with the feathered race, care-
fully
E GI
ÆGI
[
137 ]
!
Æginhard.
gina fully collecting or breaking their eggs, to prevent their
multiplying, and in confequence a yearly famine. They
have no hares, foxes, or wolves. The rivers in fummer
are all dry. The vaiwode or governor farms the re-
venue of the Grand Signior for 12 purſes, or 6000
piaftres. About half this fum is repaid yearly by
the caratch-money, or poll-tax.
{
EGINA, the capital of the above iſland. Its fite has
been long forfaken. Inftead of the temples mention-
ed by Paufanias, there are 13 lonely churches, all
very mean; and two Doric columns fupporting their
architrave. Thefe ftand by the fea-fide toward the
low cape; and, it has been fuppofed, are a remnant
of a temple of Venus, which was fituated by the port
principally frequented. The theatre, which is recor-
ded as worth feeing, refembled that of the Epidaurians
both in fize and workmanſhip. It was not far from
the private port; the ftadium, which, like that at Priene,
was conftructed with only one fide, being joined to it
behind, and each ftructure mutually fuftaining and
propping the other. The walls belonging to the ports
and arſenal were of excellent mafonry, and may be tra-
ced to a confiderable extent, above, or nearly even with,
the water. At the entrance of the mole, on the left,
is a fmall chapel of St Nicholas; and oppofite, a fquare
tower with ſteps before it, detached, from which a
bridge was laid acroſs, to be removed on any alarm.
This ftructure, which is mean, was erected by the Ve-
netians, while at war with the Turks in 1693.
ÆGINETA (Paulus), a celebrated furgeon of the
iſland of Ægina, from whence he derived his name.
According to Mr Le Clerc's calculation, he lived in
the fourth century; but Abulpharagius the Arabian,
who is allowed to give the beſt account of thoſe times,
places him with more probability in the feventh. His
knowledge in furgery was very great, and his works
are defervedly famous. Fabricius ab Aquapendente
has thought fit to tranfcribe him in a great variety of
places. Indeed the doctrine of Paulus Ægineta, toge-
ther with that of Celfus and Albucafis, make up the
whole text of this author. He is the firft writer who
takes notice of the cathartic quality of rhubarb ; and,
according to Dr Milward, is the firft in all antiquity
who deferves the title of a man-midwife.
ÆGINHARD, the celebrated fecretary and fup-
pofed fon-in-law of Charlemagne. He is faid to have
been carried through the fnow on the ſhoulders of the
affectionate and ingenious Imma, to prevent his being
tracked from her apartments by the emperor her fa-
ther a ſtory which the elegant pen of Addifon has
copied and embelliſhed from an old German chronicle,
and inferted in the 3d volume of the Spectator.-This
happy lover (fuppofing the ftory to be true) feems to
have poffeffed a heart not unworthy of fo enchanting a
miſtreſs, and to have returned her affection with the
moſt faithful attachment; for there is a letter of Ægin-
hard's ftill extant, lamenting the death of his wife,
which is written in the tendereſt ſtrain of connubial af-
fliction ;—it does not, however, expreſs that this lady
was the affectionate princeſs, and indeed fome late critics
have proved that Imma was not the daughter of Char-
lemagne. But to return to our hiftorian: He was a
native of Germany, and educated by the munificence of
his imperial mafter, of which he has left the moft grate-
ful teftimony in his preface to the life of that monarch.
VOL. I. Part I.
Ægitthus.
Æginhard, after the lofs of his lamented wife, is fup- zipan
pofed to have paffed the remainder of his days in reli-
gious retirement, and to have died foon after the year
840. His life of Charlemagne, his annals from 741 to
889, and his letters, are all inferted in the 2d volume
of Duchefne's Scriptores Francorum. But there is an
improved edition of this valuable hiftorian, with the
annotations of Hermann Schmincke, in 4to, 1711
ÆGIPAN, in heathen mythology, a denomination
given to the god Pan, becauſe he was repreſented with
the horns, legs, feet, &c. of a goat.
EGIPHILA, GOAT-FRIEND; a genus of the mo-
nogynia-order, belonging to the tetrandia clafs of plants;
the characters of which are: The calyx is a fingle-leaved
perianthium, bell-fhap'd, four-tooth'd, loofe, very ſhort,
and perfiftent: The corolla confifts of one petal; the
tubus cylindric, narrower and longer than the calyx;
the border divided into four fegments, flat and equal;
the divifions oblong: The ftamina confift of four erect
capillary filaments; the antheræ are incumbent and
fquared: The piftillum has a germen above; a capil-
lary, two-cleft, middle-fized ftylus; and a fimple ſtig-
ma: The pericarpium is a roundish unilocular berry:
The feeds are four. There is only one fpecies, a na-
tive of Martinico.
ÆGIS, in the ancient mythology, a name given
to the ſhield or buckler of Jupiter and Pallas.
The goat Amalthea, which had fuckled Jove, being
dead, that god is faid to have covered his buckler with
the ſkin thereof; whence the appellation agis, from
ait, aiyos, she-goat. Jupiter, afterwards reftoring the
beaſt to life again, covered it with a new ſkin, and pla-
ced it among the ftars. As to his buckler, he made a
prefent of it to Minerva; whence that goddefs's buck-
ler is alfo called agis.
Minerva, having killed the Gorgon Medufa, nailed
her head in the middle of the ægis, which henceforth
had the faculty of converting into ftone all thoſe who
looked thereon; as Meduſa herſelf had done during
her life.
Others take the ægis not to have been a buckler, but
a cuirafs, or breaft-plate: and it is certain the ægis of
Pallas, defcribed by Virgil, En. lib. viii. ver. 435,
muſt have been a cuirafs; fince that poet fays expreſs-
ly, that Medufa's head was on the breaft of the god-
defs. But the ægis of Jupiter, mentioned a little high-
er, ver. 354, ſeems to have been a buckler: the words
Cum fæpe nigrantem
Ægida concuteret dextra,
agreeing very well to a buckler; but not at all to a
cuirafs or breaft-plate.
Servius makes the fame diftinction on the two paf-
fages of Virgil: for on verfe 354, he takes the ægis
for the buckler of Jupiter, made, as above-mentioned,
of the ſkin of the goat Amalthea; and on verfe 435
he deſcribes the ægis as the armour which covers the
breaſt, and which in fpeaking of men is called cui-
rafs, and agis in fpeaking of the gods. Many au-
thors have overlooked thefe diftinctions for want of go-
ing to the ſources.
ÆGISTHUS, in ancient hiftory, was the fon of
Thyeftes by his own daughter Pilopeia, who, to con-
ceal her ſhame, expoſed him in the woods: fome fay
he was taken up by a fhepherd, and fuckled by a goat,
whence he was called Egifthus. He corrupted Cly.
temneftra
ÆGO
[ 138 ]
EGO
身​の
​mos.
mos.
Egithallus temneftra the wife of Agamemnon; and with her af- into the Hellefpont, to the north of Seftos; alfo a Ayofpeta-
11 fiſtance flew her huſband, and reigned feven years in town, ftation, or road for fhips, at its mouth. Here
Egofpota-
Mycena. He was, together with Clytemneftra, flain the Athenians, under Conon, through the fault of his
by Oreftes. Pompey ufed to call Julius Cæfar gifthus, colleague Ifocrates, received a fignal overthrow from
on account of his having corrupted his wife Mutia, the Lacedemonians under Lyfander, which was follow-
whom he afterwards. put away, though he had three ed by the taking of Athens, and put an end to the
children by her.
Peloponnefian war. The Athenian fleet having fol-
lowed the Lacedemonians, anchored in the road, over
against the enemy, who lay before Lampfacus. The
Hellefpont is not above two thouſand paces broad in
that place. The two armies feeing themſelves fo near
each other, expected only to reft that day, and were
in hopes of coming to a battle on the next.
ÆGITHALLUS (anc. geog.), a promontory and
citadel of Sicily, between Drepanum and the Em-
porium Aegiftanum, afterwards called Acellus; cor-
ruptly written Aegitharfos, in Ptolemy; fituate near
mount Eryx, and now called Capo di Santo Teodoro.
AGIUM, (anc. geog.) a town of Achaia Propria,
five miles from the place where Helice ftood, and fa-
mous for the council of the Acheans, which uſually met
there on account either of the dignity or commodious
fituation of the place. It was alfo famous for the wor-
thip of Quayugios Zeus, Conventional Jupiter, and of Pa-
nachaan Ceres. The territory of Ægium was watered
by two rivers, viz. the Phoenix and Meganitas. The
epithet is Egienfis. There is a coin in the cabinet of
the king of Pruffa, with the infcription AITI, and the
figure of a tortoife, which is the fymbol of Pelopon-
nefus, and leaves no doubt as to the place where it was
ftruck.
ÆGOBOLIUM, in antiquity, the facrifice of a
goat offered to Cybele. The ægobolium was an ex-
piatory facrifice, which bore a near refemblance to the
taurobolium and criobolium, and feems to have been
fometimes joined with them.
ÆGOPODIUM, SMALL WILD ANGELICA, GOUT-
WORT, GOATSFOOT, HERB GERARD, or ASHWEED;
a genus of the digynia order, belonging to the pentan-
dria clafs of plants; the characters of which are
The univerfal calyx is a manifold convex umbel; the
partial one, confimilar and flat; there is no involucrum;
and the proper perianthium is. fcarcely difcernible
The univerfal corolla is uniform, the florets all fertile ;
the proper one has five inverfe-ovate, concave, equal
petals, inflected at the top: The Stamina confift of
five fimple filaments twice the length of the corolla;
the antheræ roundifh: The piftillum has a germen
neath; two purple erect ftyli the length of the corol-
let; the ftigmata are headed: No pericarpium: The
fruit is ovate, ſtriated, and bipartite: The feeds are two,
ovate, on one fide convex and ftriated, and flat on the
other. There is but one fpecies, a native of Britain
and other parts of Europe. It is very common under
hedges and about gardens; the leaves reſemble thofe
of Angelica, and it carries fmall white flowers. Its
roots run ſo faſt, as to render it a very troublesome
weed:
be-
ÆGOPRICON, a genus of the monocia order, be-
longing to the diandria claſs of plants; the characters
of which are: The calyx both of the male and female
is a tubular perianthium of one leaf divided into three
fegments: Corolla wanting in both: The ftamina con-
fift of a fingle erect filament longer than the calyx, with
an ovate anthera: The piftillum has an ovate germen,
three divaricated ftyli, and fimple perfiftent ftigmata:
The pericarpium is a globular berry, three-grained with-
in, and three-cell'd: The feeds are folitary, and angu-
lar on one fide.-There is but one ſpecies, a native of
Surinam.
ÆGOSPOTAMOS, (anc. geog.), a river in the
Thracian Cherfonefus, falling with a fouth-eaſt courſe
But Lyfander had another defign in his view. Hé
commanded the feamen and pilots to go on board their
galleys, as if they were in reality to fight the next
morning at break of day, to hold themfelves in readi-
nefs, and to wait his orders with profound filence.
He commanded the land-army in like manner to draw
up in battle upon the coaft, and to wait the day with-
out noife. On the morrow, as foon as the fun was ri-
fen, the Athenians began to row towards them with
their whole fleet in one line, and to bid them defiance.
Lyfander, though his fhips were ranged in order of
battle, with their heads towards the enemy, lay ftill
without making any movement. In the evening, when
the Athenians withdrew, he did not fuffer his foldiers
to go afhore, till two or three galleys, which he had
fent out to obſerve them, were returned with advice
that they had feen the enemy land. The next day
paffed in the fame manner, as did the third and fourth.
Such a conduct, which argued referve and apprehen-
fion, extremely augmented the fecurity and boldneſs
of the Athenians, and infpired them with an extreme
contempt for an army, which fear, in their fenfe, pre-
vented from showing themſelves, and attempting any
thing.
the
Whilft this paffed, Alcibiades, who was near ·
fleet, took horſe, and came to the Athenian generals;
to whom he repreſented, that they kept upon a very
difadvantageous coaft, where there were neither ports
nor cities in the neighbourhood; that they were ob-
liged to bring their provifions from Ceftos with great
danger and difficulty; and that they were very much
in the wrong to fuffer the foldiers and mariners of
the fleet, as foon as they were afhore, to ftraggle
and difperfe themſelves at their own pleaſure, whilft
they were faced in view by the enemy's fleet, ac-
cuſtomed to execute the orders of their general with
the readieft obedience, and upon the flighteft fignal.
He offered alfo to attack the enemy by land with a
ftrong body of Thracian troops, and to force them to
a battle. The generals, eſpecially Tydeus and Me--
nander, jealous of their command, did not content
themſelves with refufing his offers, from the opinion,.
that if the event proved unfortunate, the whole blame
would fall on them, and if favourable, that Alcibiades.
alone would have the honour of it; but rejected alfo
with infult his wife and falutary counſel, as if a man in
difgrace loft his fenfe and abilities with the favour of
the common-wealth. Alcibiades withdrew.
The fifth day the Athenians prefented themſelves
again, and offered battle; retiring in the evening ac-
cording to cuſtom with more infulting airs than the
days before. Lyfander, as ufual, detached fome gal-
leys to obſerve them, with orders to return with the
utmoft
ÆGY
[
ÆMI
139 ]
mos
Agofpota- utmoſt diligence when they faw the Athenians land-
ed, and to put up a brazen buckler at each fhip's head
11
as foon as they reached the middle of the channel.
Himſelf in the mean time ran through the whole line
in his galley, exhorting the pilots and officers to hold
the feamen and foldiers in readinefs to row and fight
on the firſt ſignal.
Egyptilla.
As foon as the bucklers were put up in the fhips
heads, and the admiral galley had given the fignal by
the found of trumpet, the whole fleet fet forward in
good order. The land-army at the fame time made all
poffible hafte to the top of the promontary to ſee the
battle. The ftrait that feparates the two continents
in this place is about fifteen ftadia, or three quarters
of a league in breadth; which ſpace was preſently clear-
ed through the activity and diligence of the rowers.
Conon the Athenian general was the firft who percei-
ved from ſhore, that fleet advance in good order to at-
tack him; upon which he immediately cried out for
the troops to embark. In the height of forrow and
trouble, fome he called to by their names, fome he
conjured, and others he forced to go on board their
galleys; but all his endeavours and emotion were inef-
fectual, the foldiers being diſperſed on all fides. For
they were no fooner come on fhore, than fome run
to the futlers, fome to walk in the country, fome
to fleep in their tents, and others had begun to dreſs
their fuppers. This proceeded from the want of vigi-
lance and experience in their generals, who, not fuf-
pecting the leaſt danger, indulged themfelves in their
taking repofe, and gave their foldiers the fame li-
berty.
The enemy had already fallen on with loud cries and
a great noife of their oars, when Conon, difengaging
himſelf with nine galleys, of which number was the fa-
cred ſhip called the Paralian, food away for Cyprus,
where he took refuge with Evagoras. The Pelopon-
nefians, falling upon the reft of the fleet, took imme-
diately the galleys which were empty, and difabled and
deſtroyed fuch as began to fill with men. The foldiers,
who ran without order or arms to their relief, were ei-
ther killed in the endeavour to get on board, or flying
on ſhore were cut to pieces by the enemy, who landed
in purfuit of them. Lyfander took 3000 prifoners,
with all the generals, and the whole fleet. After ha-
ving plundered the camp, and faftened the enemy's
galleys to the fterns of his own, he returned to Lamp-
facus amidſt the found of flutes and fongs of triumph.
It was his glory to have atchieved one of the greateſt
military exploits recorded in hiſtory with little or no
lofs, and to have terminated a war in the fmall ſpace
of an hour, which had already lafted 27 years, `and
which, perhaps, without him, had been of much longer
continuance.
ÆGYPT. See EGYPT.
ÆGYPTIACUM, in pharmacy, the name of feve-
ral detergent ointments; which are deſcribed under the
article OINTMENT.
ÆGYPTILLA, in natural hiftory, the name of a
ftone deſcribed by the ancients, and faid, by fome au-
thors, to have the remarkable quality of giving water
the colour and tafte of wine. This feems a very ima-
ginary virtue, as are indeed too many of thoſe in for-
mer ages
attributed to ſtones. The defcriptions left us
of this remarkable foffil tell us, that it was variegated
✔
Æmilius.
with, or compoſed of, veins of black and white, or black Egyptus
and blueish, with fometimes a plate or vein of whitiſh
11
red. The authors of theſe accounts feem to have un-
derſtood by this name the ſeveral ſtones of the onyx,
fardonyx, and camæa kind; all which we have at pre-
fent common among us, but none of which poffefs any
ſuch ſtrange properties.
ÆGYPTUS, (fab. hift.) was the fon of Beleus, and
brother of Danaus. See BELIDES.
EINATE, in antiquity, a denomination given to
the fenators of Miletus, becauſe they held their delibe-
rations on board a ſhip, and never returned to land till
matters had been agreed on.
ÆLIAN (Claudius), born at Prænefte in Italy. He
taught rhetoric at Rome, according to Perizonius, un-
der the emperor Alexander Severus. He was firnamed
Manyhoo, Honey-mouth, on account of the ſweet-
neſs of his ſtyle. He was likewife honoured with the
title of Sophift, an appellation in his days given only to
men of learning and wiſdom. He loved retirement,
and devoted himſelf to ſtudy. He greatly admired and
Audied Plato, Ariftotle, Ifocrates, Plutarch, Homer,
Anacreon, Archilochus, &c. and, though a Roman,
gives the preference to the writers of the Greek nation.
His two moft celebrated works are, his Various Hi-
ftory, and Hiftory of Animals. He compofed likewiſe
a book on Providence, mentioned by Euftathius; and
another on Divine Appearances, or The Declarations
of Providence. There have been feveral editions of his
Various Hiftory.
ÆLI PONS (anc. geog.), one of the fortreffes near
the wall or rampart, or, in the words of the Notitia,
through the line of the hither wall; built, as is thought,
by Adrian*. Now Porteland, (Camden), in North- “See Adrion
umberland, between Newcaſtle and Morpeth.
(emperor.)
ÆLIUS PONS, now il Ponte S. Angelo, a ſtone-
bridge at Rome, over the Tyber, which leads to the
Burgo and Vatican from the city, along Adrian's mole,
built by the emperor Adrian.
ALFRED. See ALFRED.
ÆLURUS, in Egyptian mythology, the deity or
god of cats; reprefented fometimes like a cat, and
fometimes like a man with a cat's head. The Egyp
tians had fo fuperftitious a regard for this animal, that
the killing it, whether by accident or defign, was pu-
nifhed with death: and Diodorus relates, that, in the
time of extreme famine, they choſe rather to eat one
another than touch theſe facred animals.
AEM, Am, or AME, a liquid meaſure ufed in moſt
parts of Germany; but different in different towns ;
the aem commonly contains 20 vertils, or 80 maffes;
that of Heidelbergh is equal to 48 maffes; and that of
Wirtembergh to 160 maffes. See AAM.
ÆMILIUS (Paulus), the fon of Lucius Paulus,
who was killed at the battle of Cannæ, was twice con-
ful. In his firſt confulate he triumphed over the Li-
gurians; and in the fecond fubdued Ferfeus king of
Macedonia, and reduced that country to a Roman pro-
vince, on which he obtained the furname of Macedoni-
He returned to Rome loaded with glory, and
triumphed for three days. He died 168 years before
Chrift.
cus.
EMILIUS (Paulus), a celebrated hiftorian, born at
Verona, who obtained fuch reputation in Italy, that he
was invited into France by the cardinal of Bourbon, in
S 2
the
i
EN E
[
140 ]
ÆNI
um
Æneid
Amoholi- the reign of Lewis XII. in order to write the hiſtory
of the kings of France in Latin, and was given a ca-
11
nonry in the cathedral of Paris. He was near 30
years in writing that hiftory, which has been greatly
admired; and died at Paris on the 5th of May 1529.
ÆMOBOLIUM, in antiquity, the blood of a bull
or ram offered in the facrifices, called taurobolia and
criobolia; in which fenfe the word occurs in ancient
infcriptions.
tures.
ÆNARIA (anc. geog.), an iſland on the bay of
Cumæ, or over-againſt Cume in Italy, (Pliny.) It is
alſo called Inarime, (Virgil); and now Ifchia: ſcarce
three miles diftant from the coaft, and the promontory
Mifenus to the weft; 20 miles in compaſs; called Pi-
thecusa by the Greeks. It is one of the Oenotrides,
and fenced round by very high rocks, ſo as to be inac-
ceffible but on one fide; it was formerly famous for its
earthen ware. See ISCHIA.
ENEAS (fab. hift.), a famous Trojan prince, the
fon of Anchifes and Venus. At the deftruction of
Troy, he bore his aged father on his back, and faved
him from the Greeks; but being too folicitous about
his fon and houſehold-gods, loft his wife Creufa in the
efcape. Landing in Africa, he was kindly received by
queen Dido: but quitting her coaſt, he arrived in Italy,
where he married Lavinia the daughter of king Lati-
nus, and defeated Turnus, to whom ſhe had been con-
tracted. After the death of his father-in-law, he was
made king of the Latins, over whom he reigned three
years but joining with the Aborigines, he was flain
in a battle against the Tufcans. Virgil has rendered
the name of this prince immortal, by making him the
hero of his poem. See ENEID.
ENEAS SYLVIUS, (Pope). See Pius II.
ÆNEATORES, in antiquity, the muficians in an
army, including thoſe who played trumpets, horns, &c.
The word is formed from aneus, on account of the bra-
zen inftruments uſed by them.
ENEID, the name of Virgil's celebrated epic
Blair's Lec- poem. The ſubject of the Æneid, which is the efta-
bliſhment of Æneas in Italy, is extremely happy. No-
thing could be more interefting to the Romans than to
look back to their origin from fo famous a hero. While
the object was fplendid itſelf, the traditionary hiſtory
of his country opened interefting fields to the poet;
and he could glance at all the future great exploits of
the Romans, in its ancient and fabulous ſtate.
As to the unity of action, it is perfectly well pre-
ferved in the Æneid. The fettlement of Æneas, by
the order of the gods, is conftantly kept in view. The
epiſodes are linked properly with the main fubject.
The nodus, or intrigue of the poem, is happily ma-
naged. The wrath of Juno, who oppoſes Æneas, gives
rife to all his difficulties, and connects the human with
the celeftial operations throughout the whole poem.
One great imperfection of the Æneid, however, is,
that there are almoſt no marked characters in it. Achates,
Canthes, Gyas, and other Trojan heroes who accom-
panied Æneas into Italy, are infipid figures. Even
Encas himself is without intereft. The character of
Dido is the beft ſupported in the whole Æneid.
The principal excellency of Virgil is tendernefs. His
foul was full of fenfibility. He must have felt him-
felf all the affecting circumſtances in the fcenes he de-
fcribes; and he knew how to touch the heart by a fingle
จ
ſtroke. In an epic poem this merit is the next to fub- Angina,
limity. The fecond book of the Æneid is one of the Enigma.
greateſt mafter-pieces that ever was executed. The
death of old Priam, and the family-pieces of Æneas,
Anchiſes, and Creuſa, are as tender as can be conceived.
In the fourth book, the unhappy paffion and death of
Dido are admirable. The epifodes of Pallas and Evan-
der, of Nifus and Euryalus, of Laufus and Mezentius,
are all fuperlatively fine.
In his battles, Virgil is far inferior to Homer. But
in the important epiſode, the deſcent into hell, he has
outdone Homer by many degrees. There is nothing in
antiquity to equal the fixth book of the Æneid.
ÆNGINA, one of the iſlands of the Archipelago.
It lies in the bay of Engia, and the town of that name
contains about 800 houſes and a caftle; and near it are
the ruins of a magnificent ftructure, which was probab-
ly a temple.
ÆNIGMA, denotes any dark faying, wherein fome-
well-known thing is concealed under obfcure language.
The word is Greek, Amyua, formed of aiviltioðar, ob-
fcure innuere, to hint a thing darkly, and of aves, an
obfcure fpeech or difcourfe. The popular name is riddle;
from the Belgic raeden, or the Saxon araethan, to in-
terpret. Fa. Bouhours, in the memoirs of Trevoux,
defines an ænigma, A difcourfe, or painting, including
fome hidden meaning, which is propofed to be gueffed.
Painted ENIGMAS, are repreſentations of the works
of nature, or art, concealed under human figures, drawn
from hiftory, or fable.
A Verbal ENIGMA, is a witty, artful, and abftrufe
defcription of any thing. In a general fenſe, every
dark faying, every difficult queftion, every parable,
may paſs for an anigma. Hence obfcure laws are
called Enigmata Juris. The alchemifts are great
dealers in the ænigmatic language, their proceffes for
the philofophers ftone being generally wrapped up in
riddles: e. g. Fac ex mare et famina circulum, inde
quadrangulum, hinc triangulum, fac circulum, et habebis
lapidem philofophorum.-F. Meneſtrier has attempted to
reduce the compofition and refolution of ænigmas to a
kind of art, with fixed rules and principles, which he
calls the philofophy of enigmatic images..
The Subject of an ENIGMA, or the thing to be
concealed and made a myftery of, he juſtly obferves,
ought not to be fuch in itfelf; but, on the contrary,
common, obvious, and eaſy to be conceived. It is to
`be taken, either from nature, as the heavens, or ftars ;
or from art, as painting, the compaſs, a mirror, or
the like.
The Form of ENIGMAS Confifts in the words, which,
whether they be in profe or verſe, contain either fome
defcription, a queftion, or a profopopæia. The laſt
kind are the moſt pleaſing, inafmuch as they give life
and action to things which otherwife have them not.
To make an ænigma, therefore, two things are to be
pitched on, which bear ſome reſemblance to each other;
as the fun and a monarch; or a fhip and a houſe:
and on this reſemblance is to be raiſed a fuperftructure
of contrarieties to amuſe and perplex. It is eaſier
to find great fubjects for ænigmas in figures than in
words, inafmuch as painting attracts the eyes and ex-
cites the attention to diſcover the fenfe. The fubjects
of enigmas in painting, are to be taken either from
hiftory or fable: the compofition here is a kind of me-
tamorphofis,
1
ENI
ENI
[141]
Ænigma. tamorphofis, wherein, e. g. human figures are chan-
ged into trees, and rivers into metals. It is effential
to ænigmas, that the history or fable, under which
they are preſented, be known to every body; other-
wife it will be two ænigmas inftead of one; the first
of the hiſtory or fable, the ſecond of the fenfe in which
it is to be taken. Another effential rule of the ænigma
is, that it only admit of one fenfe. Every ænigma which
is fufceptive of different interpretations, all equally na-
tural, is fo far imperfect. What gives a kind of erudi-
tion to an ænigma, is the invention of figures in fitua-
tions, geftures, colours, &c. authoriſed by paffages of
the poets, the cuſtoms of artiſts in ſtatues, baſſo relievos,
infcriptions, and medals.-In foreign colleges,
The Explication of ENIGMAS makes a confiderable
exerciſe; and that one of the moſt difficult and amu-
fing, where wit and penetration have the largeſt field.
-By explaining an ænigma, is meant the finding a
motto correfponding to the action and perfons repre-
fented in a picture, taken either from hiſtory or my-
thology. The great art of this exerciſe confifts in the
choice of a motto, which either by itſelf, or the cir-
cumſtances of time, place, perſon who ſpeaks, or thoſe
before whom he is fpeaking, may divert the fpectators,
and furniſh occaſion for ſtrokes of wit; alſo in ſhowing
to advantage the conformities between the figure and
thing figured, giving ingenious turns to the reaſons
employed to fupport what is advanced, and in artfully.
introducing pieces of poetry to illuftrate the ſubject and
awaken the attention of the audience.
As to the folution of ænigmas, it may be obfer-
ved, that thofe expreffed by figures are more difficult
to explain than thofe confifting of words, by reafon
images may fignify more things than words can; fo
that to fix them to a particular fenfe, we muſt apply
every fituation, fymbol,. &c. and without omitting a
circumſtance.-As there are few perfons in hiſtory, or
mythology, but have ſome particular character of vice
or virtue, we are, before all things, to attend to this
character, in order to divine what the figure of a per-
fon repreſented in a painting fignifies, and to find what
agreement this may have with the fubject whereof we
would explain it. Thus, if Proteus be repreſented in
a picture, it may be taken to denote inconftancy, and
applied either to a phyfical or moral fubject, whofe
character is to be changeable; e. g. an almanack, which
expreffes the weather, the feafons, heat, cold, ftorms,
and the like. The colours of figures may alſo help to
unriddle what they mean: white, for inftance, is a
mark of innocence, red of modefty, green of hope,
black of ſorrow, &c. When figures are accompani-
ed with ſymbols, they are lefs precarious; theſe being,
as it were, the foul of ænigmas, and the key that
opens the myſtery of them. Of all the kinds of fym-
bols which may be met with in thoſe who have treated
profeffedly on the fubject, the only truly enigmatical
are thofe of Pythagoras, which, under dark proverbs,
hold forth leffons of morality; as when he ſays, State-
ram ne tranfilias, to fignify, Do no injuftice.
-
exemplars of it: one found 140 years ago, on a mar. Enigma.
ble near Bolognia: the other in an ancient MS. writ-
ten in Gothic letters, at Milan. It is controverted be-
tween the two cities, which is to be reputed the more
authentic.
The Bononian Enigma.
But it muſt be added, that we meet with fome ænig-
mas in hiftory, complicated to a degree, which much
tranfcends all rules, and has given great perplexity
to the interpreters of them. Such is that celebrated
ancient one, Elia Lalia Crifpis, about which many of
the learned have puzzled their heads. There are two
D. M.
Elia Lalia Crifpis,
Nec vir, nec mulier,
Nec androgyna;
Nec puella, nec juvenis,
Nec anus;
Noc cafta, nec meretrix,
Nec pulica ;
Sed omnia:
Sublata
Neque fame, neque ferro,
Neque veneno;
Sed omnibus:
Nec cœlo, nec terris,
Nec aquis,
Sed ubique jacet.
Lucius Agatho Prifcius,
Nec maritus, nec amator,.
Nec neceffarius;
Neque mærens, neque gaudens,
Neque flens ;.
Hanc,
Nec molem, nec pyramidem,
Nec fepulchrum,
Sed omnia,
Scit et nefcit, cui pofuerit.
7
That is to fay, To the gods manes, Elia Lalia Cripis,
neither man, nor woman, nor hermaphrodite; neither girl,
nor young woman, nor old; neither chafte, nor a whore;
but all thefe: killed neither by hunger, nor ſteel, nor psi--
fon; but by all theſe : refis neither in heaven, nor cn
earth. nor in the waters; but every where. Lucius A--
gatho Prifcius, neither her huſband, nor lover, nor friend;
neither forrowful, nor joyful, nor weeping, certain, or
uncertain, to whom he rears this monument, neither e-
rects her a temple, nor a pyramid, nor a tomb, but
all theſe. In the MS. at Milan, inſtead of 1). M. we
find A. M. P..P. D. and at the end the following ade
dition:
Hoc eft fepulchrum intus cadaver non habens,
Hoc eft cadaver fepulchrum extra non habens,.
Sed cadaver idem eft et fepulchrum.
We find near 50 feveral folutions. of this ænigma
advanced by learned men. Marius Michael Ange-
lus maintains Ælia Lalia Crifpis to fignify rain-was
ter falling into the fea. Ri. Vitus firſt explained it of
Niobe turned to a ſtone, afterwards of the rational
foul, and afterwards of the Platonic idea; Jo. Turrius, .
of the materia prima; Fr. Schottus, of an eunuch;
Nic. Bernardus, of the philofophers-ſtone, in which he
is followed by Borrichius; Zach. Pontinus, of three
human bodies in the fame fituation, and buried by three
different men at the fame time; Nefmondius, of a
law-fuit; Jo. Gal. Gerartius, of love; Zu. Boxhor- -
nius, of a fhadow; P. Terronus, of mufic; Fort Li-
cetus, of generation, friendship, and privation: M. Ov.
Montalbanus, of hemp; Car. Cæf. Malvafia, of an a-
bortive girl promifed in marriage; Pet. Mengulus, of
the rule of chaſtity, preſcribed by the founder of the.
military
ÆOL
[ 142
EON
]
Enigmato-military
Enigmato- military religion of St Mary; M. de Ciconia, of pope
graphy Joan; Heumannus, of Lot's wife; and laftly, J. C. S.
Æolipile. an anonymous writer in the Leipfic Acts, of the Chri-
ftian church.
ÆNIGMATOGRAPHY, or ÆNIGMATHOLOGY,
the art of refolving or making ænigmas.
ANONA (anc.geog.), a city of Liburnia, called by
Pliny Civitas Prafini, the reaſon of which is unknown;
alfo Enona, and is now called Nona; on the Adriatic, by
which it is for the greater part furrounded; over-against
the island Giffa, from which it is diftant four miles to
the weft. E. Long. 16°, Lat. 28°.
ANUS (anc. geog.), now the Inn, a river of Ger-
many, which, rifing in the country of the Grifons,
out of the Alps, in the diftrict called Gottes-haus-punt,
runs through the Grifons, the county of Tyrol, the
duchy of Bavaria, and through Paffau into the Da-
nube.
ÆNUS, Ænos, or Enum (anc. geog.), a town of
Thrace, fituate on the eaft-moft mouth of the Hebrus,
which has two mouths; and faid to be built by the Cu-
means. It was a free town, in which ſtood the tomb
of Polydorus, (Pliny); Enius is the epithet. Here the
brother of Cato Uticenfis died, and was honoured with
a monument of marble in the forum of the Ænii, (Plu-
tarch); called Enei, (Stephanus); Livy fays that the
town was otherwife called Abfinthus. Now Eno.
ÆNITHOLOGIUS, in poetry, a verfe of two
dactyls and three trochæi; as, Prælia dira placent
truci juventa.
ÆOLIÆ INSULA, now Ifle di Lipari, (anc.
geog.), ſeven iſlands, fituated between Sicily and Italy,
fo called from olus, who reigned there about the
time of the Trojan war. The Greeks call them He-
phæftiades; and the Romans Vulcania, from their
fiery eruptions. They are alfo called Liparæorum In-
fula, from ther principal iſland Lipara. Dionfius Pe-
riegetes calls them IIA1z, becaufe circumnavigable.
ÆOLIC, in a general fenfe, denotes fomething be-
longing to Æolis.
ÆOLIC, or ÆOLIAN, in grammar, denotes one of
the five dialects of the Greek tongue. It was firſt uſed
in Boeotia; whence it paffed into Æolia, and was
that which Sappho and Alcæus wrote in. The Eolic
dialect generally throws out the afpirate or fharp fpirit,
and agrees in fo many things with the DORIC dialect,'
that the two are ufually confounded together.
The Eolic digama is a name given to the letter F,
which the Æolians ufed to prefix to words beginning
with vowels, as Forvos, for oivos; alfo to infert between
vowels, as Fis, for os.
EOLIC Verfe, in profody, a verfe confifting of an i-
ambus, or ſpondee; then of two anapeits, feparated
by a long fyllable; and, laftly, of another fyllable.
Such as, O felliferi conditor orbis. This is otherwife
called eulogic verfe; and, from the chief poets who uſed
ít, Archilochian and Pindaric.
ÆOLIPILE, in hydraulics, is a hollow ball of me-
tal, generally uſed in courfes of experimental philofo-
phy, in order to demonftrate the poffibility of convert-
ing water into an elaftic fteam or vapour by heat. The
inftrument, therefore, confifts of a flender neck, or
pipe, having a narrow orifice inferted into the ball by
means of a ſhouldered fcrew. This pipe being taken
out, the ball is filled almoſt full of water, and the pipe
of
being again fcrewed in, the ball is placed on a pan
kindled charcoal, where it is well heated, and there
iffues from the orifice a vapour, with prodigious vio-
lence and great noife, which continues till all the in-
cluded water is diſcharged. The ftronger the fire is,
the more elaftic and violent will be the fteam; but care
muſt be taken that the ſmall orifice of the pipe be not,
by any accident, ſtopped up; becauſe the inſtrument
would in that cafe infallibly burft in pieces, with ſuch
violence as may greatly endanger the lives of the per-
fons near it. Another way of introducing the water
is to heat the ball red-hot when empty, which will drive
out almoſt all the air; and then by fuddenly immerg-
ing it in water, the preffure of the atmoſphere will force
in the fluid, till it is nearly full. Des Cartes and o-
thers have uſed this inftrument to account for the na-
tural caufe and generation of the wind: and hence it
was called Æolopila: q. d. pila Æoli, the ball of Æolus
or of the god of the winds.
ÆOLIS, or ÆOLIA (anc. geog.), a country of
the Hither Afia, fettled by colonies of Æolian Greeks.
Taken at large, it comprehends all Troas, and the coaft
of the Hellefpont to the Propontis, becauſe in thoſe
parts there were feveral Æolian colonies: more ſtrictly,
it is fituated between Troas to the north, and Ionia to
the fouth. The people are called Æcles, or Eolii.
ÆOLIUM MARE (anc. geog.), a part of the
Egean fea, waſhing Æolis; called alfo Myfium, from
Myfia. Now called, Golfo di Smyrna.
EOLUS, in heathen mythology, the god of the
winds, was faid to be the fon of Jupiter by Acafta, or
Sigefia, the daughter of Hippotus; or, according to
others, the fon of Hippotus by Meneclea, daughter of
Hyllus king of Lipara. He dwelt in the iſland
Strongyle, now called Strombolo, one of the ſeven
iſlands called Eolian from their being under the do-
minion of Æolus. Others fay, that his refidence was
at Regium, in Italy; and others again place him in
the iſland Lipara. He is reprefented as having autho-
rity over the winds, which he held enchained in a vaſt
cavern, to prevent their continuing the devaſtations
they had been guilty of before they were put under his
direction. Mythologifts explain the original of thefe
fables, by faying, that he was a wife and good prince;
and, being ſkilled in aftronomy, was able, by the flux
and reflux of the tides, and the nature of the volcano
in the iſland Strongyle, to foretel ftorms and tempefts.
Harp of Æolus, or the Eolian lyre. See Acou-
STICS, n° 10.
ÆÓN, a Greek word, properly fignifying the age
or duration of any thing.
EON, among the followers of Plato, was uſed to
fignify any virtue, attribute, or perfection: hence
they reprefented the deity as an affemblage of all poſ-
fible æons; and called him pleroma, a Greek term
fignifying fullness. The Valentinians, who, in the firſt
ages of the church, blended the conceits of the Jewiſh
cabalifts, the Platonifts, and the Chaldean philofophers,
with the fimplicity of the Chriſtian doctrine, invented
a kind of Theogony, or Genealogy of Gods (not un-
like that of Hefiod), whom they called by feveral glo-
rious names, and all by the general appellation of
EONS: among which they reckoned Zwr, Life;. Dolos,
Word; Movofuvns, Only-begotten; angaua, Fullness; and
many other divine powers and emanations, amounting
Æolis
11
For
1
in
ERA
AER
[
143 ]
11
ora
Era.
in number to thirty: which they fancied to be fuc-
ceffively derived from one another; and all from one
felf-originated deity, named Bythus, i. e. profound
er unfathomable; whom they called likewife, The moft
high and ineffable Father. See VALENTINIANS.
AORA, among ancient writers on medicine, is uſed
for geſtation; which fort of exerciſe was often prefcrib-
ed by the phyſicians of thoſe days. Other exerciſes
confifted principally in the motion of the body; but
in the aora the limbs were at reft, while the body was
carried about and moved from place to place, in fuch
a manner as the phyſician prefcribed. It had there-
fore the advantages of exercife, without the fatigue of
it.-This exercife was promoted feveral ways: fome-
times the patient was laid in a fort of hammoc, fup-
ported by ropes, and moved backward and forward;
fometimes his bed run nimbly on its feet. And befide
theſe, the feveral ways of travelling were accounted
fpecies of the aora, whether in the litter, in a boat or
ſhip, or on even ground in a chariot.-Afclepiades was
the first who brought geftation into practice, which
was uſed as a means to recover itrength after a fe-
ver, &c.
ÆQUANA JUGA, (anc. geog.); mountains of
Picenum, in the kingdom of Naples, now called Mcn-
tagna di Sorrento, denominated from the town qua,
which being deftroyed, was replaced by Vicus, now
Vico di Sorrento; called alfo Æquana, Sil. Italicus.
ÆQUIMELIUM, in antiquity, a place in Rome,
where flood the houſe of Spurius Melius, who, by lar-
geffes corrupting the people, affected the fupreme
power: refufing to appear before the dictator Cincin-
natus, he was flain by Servilius Ahala, mafter of the
horſe; his houſe was razed to the ground; and the
fpot on which it ſtood was called Area Equimelii.
(Livy).
ÆRA, in chronology, a fixed point of time from
whence any number of years is begun to be counted.
It is fometimes alſo written in ancient authors Era.
The origin of the term is contefted, though it is ge-
nerally allowed to have had its rife in Spain. Sepul-
veda fuppofes it formed from A. ER. A. the notæ or
abbreviatures of the words, annus erat Augufti, occa-
fioned by the Spaniards beginning their computation
from the time their country came under the dominion
of Auguftus, or that of receiving the Roman calendar.
This opinion, however ingenious, is rejected by Sca-
liger, not only on account that in the ancient abbre-
viatures A never ſtood for annus, unleſs when preceded
by V for vixit; and that it feems improbable they
fhould put ER for erat, and the letter A, without any
difcrimination, both for annus and Auguftus. Voffius
nevertheleſs favours the conjecture, and judges it at
leaſt as probable, as either that of Ifidore, who de-
rives ara from as, the "tribute-money," wherewith
Auguftus taxed the world: or that of Scaliger himfelf,
who deduces it likewife from as, though in a different
manner. Æs, he obſerves, was uſed among the au-
cients for an article or item in an account; and hence
it came alſo to ftand for a fum or number itſelf.
From the plural ara, came by corruption era, aram,
in the fingular; much as. Oftia, Oftiam, the name of a
place, from Oftia, the mouths of the Tyber.
The difference between the terms ara and epoch is,
that the æras are certain points fixed by fome people,
or nation; and the epochs are points fixed by chrono- Ærarium
#
logifts and hiftorians. The idea of an æra compre-
Aerial.
hends alfo a certain fucceffion of years proceeding from
a fixed point of time, and the epoch is that point it-
felf. Thus the Chriftian æra began at the epoch of
the birth of Jefus Chrift. See CHRONOLOGY, where
the different Æras, &c. are enumerated and explained.
ÆRARIUM, the treafury or place where the pub-
lic money was depofited amongst the Romans.
ERARIUM Sanctius contained the monies arifing from
the twentieth part of all legacies: this was kept for the
extreme neceffities of the ſtate.
ÆRARIUM Privatum was the emperor's privy purſe,
or the place where the money arifing from his private
patrimony was depoſited.
ERARIUM Vicefimarum, the place where the money
arifing from the taxes levied from foreign countries was
laid up, fo called becauſe it moſt commonly conſiſted´
of a twentieth part of the produce.
RARIUM Ilithya, or Juncnis Lucine, was where
the monies were depofited which parents paid for the
birth of each child.
There are feveral other treafuries mentioned in hif-
tory, as the ararium Juventutis, Veneris, &c. The
temple of Saturn was the public treaſury of Rome,
either becauſe Saturn firft taught the Italians to coin.
money, or, which is moſt likely, becaufe this temple
was the ftrongeft and moft fecure, and therefore the
fitteft place for that purpoſe.
Erarium differs from fiftus, as the firft contained.
the public money, the fecond that of the prince. The
two are, however, fometimes indifcriminately uſed for
each other.
ÆRARIUS, a name given by the Romans to a
degraded citizen, who had been ftruck off the liſt of
his century. Such perfons were fo called becauſe they
were liable to all the taxes (ara), without enjoying
any of its privileges.
The ararii were incapable of making a will, of in--
heriting, of voting in affemblies, of enjoying any poft
of honour or profit; in effect, were only fubject to the
burdens, without the benefits of fociety; yet they re-
tained their freedom, and were not reduced to the con-
dition of flaves. To be made an ararius was a pu-
niſhment inflicted for fome offence, and reputed one
degree more fevere than to be expelled a tribe, tribu.
moveri:
ERARIUS was alſo an officer inftituted by Alexander
Severus, for the diſtribution of the money given in lar
geffes to the foldiery, or people.
ÆRARIUS was alfo ufed for a perfon employed in ·
coining or working brafs.
Theſe are fometimes called ararii fufcres: at other
times, ærarius is diſtinguiſhed from fufor; the former
anfwering to what we now call copper-fmiths, the lat-
ter to founders.
ÆRARIUS was likewife applied to a foldier who re-
ceives pay.
AERÍA, or EERIA (anc. geog.), the ancient name
of Egypt: the fcholiaft on Apollonius Rhodius, fays,
that not only Theffaly, but Egypt, was called 'Hegiz by
the Greeks, which Euſebius alfo confirms: and hence
Apollinarius, in his tranflation of the 114th Pfalm. -
ufes it for Egypt. Hefychius applies this name to
Ethiopia..
AERIAL,
AER
[ 44 ]
A ER
Į
Aerial,
Aerians.
AERIAL, in a general fenfe, denotes fomething
partaking of the nature of air; thus, aërial fubftance,
aerial particles, &c.
AERIAL Perspective. See PERSPECTIVE and PAINT-
ING.
AERIANS, in church-hiſtory, a branch of Arians,
who, to the doctrines of that fect, added ſome pecu-
liar dogmas of their own; as, that there is no diffe-
rence between biſhops and priefts; a doctrine main-
tained by many modern divines, particularly of the
prefbyterian and reformed churches. The fect received
its denomination from Aerius an Armenian prieſt of
the fourth century. He founded his doctrine chiefly
upon ſome paffages in St Paul; and, among others,
upon that in Tim. iv. 14. where the apoſtle exhorts
him not to neglect the gift he had received by the laying
on of the hands of the Prefbytery. Here, obferves Ae-
A E
E
rius, are no mention of biſhops: on the contrary, Ti- Flos Eris,
mothy evidently received his ordination from the pref- Aerogra-
phy.
byters or prieſts.-Epiphanius zealously maintains the
fuperiority of bishops againſt the Aerians. The word
prefbytery, ufed by the apoftle, he obferves, includes
both bishops and priests; the whole fenate or affembly
of the ecclefiaftics of the place.
FLos ÆRIS, among alchemiſts, ſmall ſcales procu←
red from copper melted by a ſtrong heat; it is fome-
times ufed for ærugo or verdigrife.
удария
AEROGRAPHY, from απρο air, and
tw, I de-
ſcribe; a defcription of the air, or atmoſphere, its limits,
dimenfions, properties, &c.-This amounts to much
the fame with aerology, unleſs we ſuppoſe the latter to
enter into the rational, and the former to confine it-
felf to a deſcription of the more obvious affections
thereof. See ATMOSPHERE.
R R
O O L
THE
HE doctrine or ſcience of AIR, its nature and dif-
ferent fpecies, with their ingredients, propertics,
phenomena, and uſes.
Air, in a general fenfe, is that invifible fluid every-
where furrounding this globe; on which depends not
only animal but vegetable life; and which feems, in
ſhort, to be one of the great agents employed by na-
ture in carrying on her operations throughout the
world.
Though the attention of philofophers has in all ages
been engaged in fome meaſure by inquiries concerning
the nature of the atmoſphere, yet till within thefe laft
30 years, little more than the mere mechanical action
of this fluid was diſcovered, with the exiſtence of ſome
anomalous and permanently elaftic vapours, whofe pro-
perties and relation to the air we breathe were almoft
entirely unknown. Within the above-mentioned pe-
riod, however, the diſcoveries concerning the confti-
tuent parts of the atmoſphere itſelf, as well as the na-
ture of the different permanently elaſtic fluids which go
under the general name of air, have been fo numerous
and rapid, that they have at once raiſed this ſubject to
the dignity of a Science, and now form a very confider-
able, as well as important, part of the modern ſyſtem of
natural philofophy.
Utility of Thofe difcoveries, indeed, have not been more in-
the ſubject. tereſting to philofophers, than uſeful to ſcience and be-
neficial to fociety. Many perplexing proceffes in che-
miftry have been explained in confequence of them,
feveral have been facilitated, and a number of new
and uſeful ones have been introduced. The phe-
nomena attending metallic calcinations and reduc-
tions have been greatly elucidated. The knowledge
of the ufe of the air in refpiration; the method of af-
certaining its purity and fitnefs for that function; the
invefligation of dephlogiſticated air; the method of
impregnating water with fixed air; are all calculated
to anfwer purpoſes of the higheft utility. The medi-
cinal properties of fixed air have been in a great mea-
fure aſcertained, and its antiſeptic qualities in other re-
ſpects promiſe to be of confiderable advantage. The
method of afecrtaining the purity of the air of a place,
and the manner of ventilating an apartment, are of
NO 4.
O G
Y,
great uſe for thoſe concerned in public buildings. In
ſhort, there is perhaps no ftation in life where ſome
knowledge of this ſubject may not be of uſe.
SECT. I. Of the general Conftitution, Mechanical
Properties, and Operations of the Air.
I
cerning the
1. The general Conftitution of the Air we breathe.-
For many ages this fluid was fuppoſed to be fimple Ancient o-
pinions cor-
and homogeneous; its common operations to depend
on its heat, cold, moiſture, or drynefs; and any effects air.
which could not be explained by thefe (ſuch as the
appearance of peftilential diſeaſes), were reckoned to be
entirely fupernatural, and the immediate effects of Di-
vine power.
vine power. But, however fimple and homogeneous
this fluid may have been thought in former times, it is
fo far from poffeffing the fimplicity of an element, that
it is the receptacle of all kinds of effluvia produced from
terreftrial fubftances either naturally or artificially.
Hence, whatever may be the nature of the aërial fluid
when abfolutely pure, that which we breathe, and com-
monly goes under the name of air, muſt be confidered 24
as an exceedingly heterogeneous mixture, various at va- Common
rious times, and which it is by no means poffible to a- air a very
nalife with accuracy.
heterogene-
ous fluid.
felf.
Though, in this view, air feems to be a kind of fink 3
or common fewer, where all the poiſonous effluvia ari- In what
fing from putrid and corrupted matters are depofited; manner it
yet it has a wonderful facility of purifying itfelf, and purifies it-
one way or other of depofiting thofe vapours contained
in it; fo that it never becomes noxious except in par-
ticular places, and for a fhort time; the general maſs
remaining upon all occafions pretty much the fame.
The way in which this purification is effected is dif-
ferent, according to the nature of the vapour with which 4
the air is loaded. That which most univerfally pre- Vaft quan
vails is water; and from experiments it appears, that tities of wa-
the quantity of aqueous vapour contained in the at-
ally diſchar-
moſphere is immenfe. Dr Halley, from an experi-ged into it
ment on the evaporation from a fluid furface heated to by evapora-
the fame degree with that given by our meridian fun, tion.
has calculated, that the evaporation from the Mediter-
ranean fea alone is fufficient to yield all the water of
3
the
ter continu-
Sect. I.
145
AEROLOGY.
properly peftilential. The contagion of the plague it
felf feems to be of an heavy fluggiſh nature, incapable
of arifing in the air, but attaching itſelf to the walls
of houfes, bed-cloaths, and wearing apparel. Hence
ſcarce any conftitution of the atmoſphere can diſpel
thefe noxious effluvia; nor does it ſeem probable that
peftilential diftempers ever ceafe until the contagion
has operated fo long, and been fo frequently commu-
nicated from one to another, that, like à ferment much
expofed to the atmoſphere, it becomes vapid, commu
nicates a milder infection, and at laſt lofes its ftrength
altogether.
Of Air the rivers which run in to it. Dr Watfon, in his Che-
in general. mical Effays, has given an account of fome experiments
made with a view to determine the quantity of the wa-
ter raiſed from the earth itſelf in time of drought.
He informs us, that, when there had been no rain for
above a month, and the grafs was become quite brown
and parched, the evaporation from an acre was not lefs
than 1600 gallons in 24 hours. Making afterwards
two experiments, when the ground had been wetted by
a thunder-ſhower the day before, the one gave 1973,
the other 1905, gallons in 12 hours. From this the
air is every moment purified by the aſcent of the va-
pour, which flying off into the clouds, thus leaves room
for the exhalation of freſh quantities; fo that as the
vapour is confiderably lighter than the common atmo-
ſphere, and of confequence afcends with great velocity,
the air during all this time is faid to be dry, notwith-
ftanding the vaſt quantity, of aqueous fluid that paffes
through it.
5
Different
kinds of va-
pours which
contami-
nate it.
Nor is it only from the aqueous vapour that the air
is purified at this time. Much of that vapour arifing
from decayed and putrid animal and vegetable fub-
ſtances, and which by fome modern philofophers is
called phlogiston, attaches itſelf to the aqueous vapour,
and aſcends along with it. Another part is abforb-
ed by vegetables; for the phlogiſtic vapour, as is
ſhown under AGRICULTURE, n° 5. is probably the food
of plants. The phlogiſtic vapours which aſcend along
with the water, probably continue there and defcend
along with the rain; whence the fertilizing qualities
of rain-water above thoſe of any other. Thus we may
ſee why a dry air, whether cold or hot, muſt always
be wholeſome; but as the atmoſphere cannot always
receive vapours, it is obvious, that when great rains
come on, eſpecially if attended with heat, the lower
regions of the air muſt be overloaded with vapours both
of the aqueous and phlogiſtic kind, and of confequence
be very unwholeſome.
But befides the aqueous and phlogiſtic vapours, both
of which are ſpecifically lighter than common air,
there are others, which, being fpecifically heavier,
cannot be carried off in this manner. Hence theſe
grofs vapours contaminate certain places of the atmo-
ſphere, rendering them not only unhealthy, but abfo-
lutely poiſonous. Of theſe are, 1. Sulphureous, acid,
and metalline exhalations. Theſe are produced prin-
cipally by volcanoes; and as they defcend, in confe-
quence of their ſpecific gravity, they fuffocate and
fpread deftruction all around them, poiſoning not only
animals, but vegetables alfo. 2. The vapours arifing
from houſes where lead and other metals are fmelted,
have the fame pernicious qualities; infomuch that the
men who breathe them, the cattle who eat the grafs,
and the fiſhes who inhabit the waters on which they
fall, are poiſoned by them if taken into the body in a
certain proportion. 3. Of the fame kind are the mo-
fetes, or emanations of fixed air, which ſometimes pro-
ceed from old lavas, or perhaps from fome other places
even of the ſurface. From all theſe the air ſeems not
capable of purifying itſelf, otherwife than either by
difperfing them by winds, or by letting them fubfide
by their fuperior gravity, till they are abſorbed either
by the earth or water, according as it is their nature
to unite with one or other of theſe elements. 4. Of
this kind alſo ſeem to be the vapours which are called
VOL. I. Part I. ·
a
Of Air
in general.
6
§ 2. Mechanical Properties of the AIR.-In common Specific
with water, the air we breathe poffeffes gravity, and gravity of
confequently will perform every thing in that way which the air.
water can do, making allowance for the great diffe-
rence between the fpecific gravity of water and of air.
This difference indeed is exceedingly great, and has
been variouſly calculated. Ricciolus eſtimates the gra-
vity of air to be to that of water as I to 1000; Mer-
fennus, as to 1300, or I to 1356; Lana, as I to 640;
and Galileo, only as I to 400. Mr Boyle, by more ac-
curate experiments, makes the air at London to be to
water as I to 938; and thinks, that, all things con-
fidered, the proportion of 1 to 1000 may be taken as
a medium. But by three experiments made ſince that
time before the Royal Society, the ſpecific gravity of
the air was determined to be to that of water as i to
840, 852, and 86c. By a very accurate experiment,
Mr Haukfbee fixed the proportion as 1 to 885. But
as all theſe experiments were made when the barome-
ter was at 29 inches, Dr Jurin fuppofes, that, at a
medium between heat and cold, when the barometer
is 30 inches high, the proportion between the two
fluids may be taken as 1 to 800; and this agrees with
the obfervations of the Hon. Mr Cavendish, made
when the barometer was at 291 inches, and the ther-
mometer at 50.
"
By means of its gravity, the air preffes with great Effects of
force upon all bodies, according to the extent of their the gravity
furface. M. Paſcal has computed the quantity of this of the air,
preffure to be no less than 2232 pounds upon every
fquare foot of ſurface, or upwards of 15 pounds on
every fquare inch. According to fome experiments
made by M. Amontons and de la Hire, a column of
air on the ſurface of the earth, and 36 fathoms high,
is equal in weight to three lines depth of mercury:
From the barometer, however, we know that the
whole preffure of the atmoſphere is very different;
fometimes being equal only to a column of 28 inches,
and varying from thence to 31 inches. The whole
quantity of preffure muft thus be immenfe, and has
been computed equal to a globe of lead 60 miles in dia-
meter.
By means of its gravity, the atmoſphere accompliſhes
many uſeful purpofés in nature. It prevents the ar-
terial veffels of animals and the fap-veffels of plants
from being too much diftended by the expanfive power-
(whatever it is), which has a perpetual tendency to
fwell them out. Thus we fee, that, in the operation
of cupping, where the preffure of the air is taken off
from a particular part, the expanfive force inſtantly
acts, and fwells out the veffels to a great degree. Hence
alfo, when animals are put into an air-pump, their
whole bodies fwell.
T
By
146
Sect. I.
AEROLOGY.
Of Air
8
the air.
By its gravity, the air promotes the union of fluid
in general. bodies, which would inftantly ceafe in vacuo. Thus
oils and falts, which remain united in air, feparate as
Elafticity of foon as that fluid is extracted. Hence alſo, when hot
water is put under an exhaufted receiver, it boils violent-
ly; becauſe the preffure of the air being now taken off,
the particles of fteam, which exifted invifibly among
the water, and which the gravity of the atmoſphere
prevented from flying off fo foon, are now hurried up
with great velocity, by means of the exceffive compa-
rative gravity of the aqueous fluid.
9
Whether
On the gravity of the air depend the afcent of wa-
ter in pumps, fyphons, &c. and likewife all the pheno-
nomena of the barometer.
Befides its gravity, which the air has in common
with water and other fluids, there is another which it
has only in common with fteam or vapour. This is
called its elaſticity; by which, like a fpring, it allows
itſelf to be compreffed into a ſmaller bulk, and then re-
turns again to its original fize upon removing the pref-
fure.
The elafticity of the air was firſt aſcertained by ſome
experiments of lord Bacon, who, upon this principle,
conftructed the first thermometer, which he called his
vitrum calendare. Of this power we have numerous
proofs. Thus, a blown bladder being ſqueezed in the
hand, we find the included air ſenſibly refift; ſo that,
upon ceafing to comprefs, the cavities or impreffions
made in its furface are readily expanded again and fill
ed up.
The ſtructure and office of the Air-PUMP depend
on this elaſtic property. Every particle of air always
exerts a nifus or endeavour to expand, and thus ftrives
againſt an equal endeavour of the ambient particles;
whofe refiftance happening by any means to be weak-
ened, it immediately diffuſes itſelf into an immenſe ex-
tent. Hence it is that thin glaſs bubbles, or bladders
filled with air, and exactly cloſed, being included in the
exhauſted receiver of an air-pump, burit by the force
of the air they contain; and a bladder almoſt quite
flaccid, fwells in the receiver and appears full. The
fame effect alſo takes place, though in a fmaller degree,
on carrying the flaccid bladder to the top of an high
mountain.
Of Air
fuch a property or not. The air, however, being e-
laftic, is neceffarily affected by the preffure, which re- in general,
duces it into fuch a ſpace, that the elafticity, which re-
acts against the compreffing weight, is equal to that
weight. In effect, the law of this elafticity is, that it
increaſes as the denſity of the air increaſes; and the
denfity increaſes as the force increaſes by which it is
preffed. Now there muft neceffarily be a balance be-
tween the action and re-action; i. e. the gravity of the
air which tends to comprefs it, and the elaſticity by
which it endeavours to expand, must be equal. Hence
the elafticity increafing, or diminiſhing univerfally, as
the denfity increaſes or diminiſhes, it is no matter whe-.
ther the air be compreffed and retained in ſuch a'ſpace
by the weight of the atmoſphere, or by any other
means; it inuft endeavour in either cafe to expand
with the fame force. And hence, if air near the earth
be pent up in a veffel, and all communication with the
external fluid cut off, the preffure of the incloſed air
will be equal to the weight of the atmoſphere at the
time the quantity was confined.. Accordingly, we find
mercury fuftained to the fame height, by the elaſtic
force of air incloſed in a glafs veffel, as by the whole
atmoſpherical preffure. On the fame principle air may
be artificially condenfed; and hence the ftructure of
the AIR-Gun.
ΤΟ
condenfa-.
The utmoſt limits to which air, of the denfity which Utmost li
it poffeffes at the furface of the earth, is capable of be- mits of its
ing compreffed, have not been aſcertained. Mr Boyle tion and
made it 3 times more denſe; Dr Halley fays that he
expanfion
has feen it compreffed fo as to be 60 times denſer than
in its natural ftate,. which is farther confirmed by M.
Papin and M. Huygens. Dr Hales, by means of a
prefs, condenfed it 38 times; and by forcing water in
an iron ball or globe, into 155r times leſs ſpace than
it naturally occupies. However, Dr Halley has af-
ferted, in the Philofophical Tranfactions, Abr. vol. ii.
p. 17. that from the experiments made at London, and
by the academy del Cimento at Florence, it might be
fafely concluded, that no force whatever is able to re-
duce air into 800 times lefs ſpace than that which it
naturally poffeffes on the furface of our earth. In an-
ſwer to this, M. Amontons, in the Memoirs of the
French Academy, maintains, that there is no fixing
any bounds to its condenfation; that greater and great-
er weights will ftill reduce it into lefs and lefs compafs;
that it is only elaſtic in virtue of the fire which it con-
tains; and that as it is impoffible ever to drive all the
fire out of it, it is impoffible ever to make the utmoſt
condenfation.
It has been queſtioned among philofophers, whether
this proper- this elaftic power of the air is capable of being deftroy-
ly, can be
ed or diminiſhed. Mr Boyle made feveral experiments
diminiſhed.
with a view to diſcover how long air would retain its
fpring after having affumed the greateſt degree of ex-
panfion his air-pump would give it; but he was never
able to obferve any fenfible diminution. Defaguliers The dilatation of the air, by virtue of its elaſtic force,
found, that air, after having been incloſed for half a is found to be very furprifing; and yet Dr Wallis fug-
year in a wind-gun, had loft none of its elafticity; and gefts, that we are far from knowing the utmoſt of
Roberval, after preferving it in the fame manner for which it is capable. In feveral experiments made by
16 years, obferved, that its expanfive projectile force Mr Boyle, it dilated firft into nine times its former
was the fame as if it had been recently condenfed.fpace; then into 31 times; then into-60; then into 150
Nevertheleſs, Mr Hauksbee concludes, from a later ex-
periment, that the ſpring of the air may be diſturbed
by a violent preffure, in fuch a manner as to require
fome time to return to its natural tone.. Dr Hales in,
ferred, from a number of experiments, that the elafti-
city of the air is capable of being impaired and dimi-
niſhed by a variety of cauſes.
The weight or preffure of the air has no dependence
on its elaſticity; but would be the fame whether it had
Afterwards it was brought to dilate into 8000 times.
its ſpace, then into 10,000, and even at laſt into 13,679
times its ſpace; and this altogether by its own expan
five force, without the help of fire. On this depend
the ſtructure and uſe of the MANOMETER.
Hence it appears, that the air we breathe near the
furface of the earth is compreffed by its own weight
into at leaft the 13,679th part of the ſpace it would
poffefs in vacuo. But if the fame air be condenſed by
art,,
Sect. I.
147
AEROLOGY.
Of Air art, the ſpace it will take up when moft dilated, to
in general, that it poffeffes when condenſed, will be, according to
the fame author's experiments, as 550,000 to 1.-
II
Expanſion
of the air
by heat.
12
General ef.
M. Amontons, and others, we have already ob-
ferved, attribute the rarefaction of the air wholly to
the fire contained in it; and therefore, by increaſing
the degree of heat, the degree of rarefaction may be
carried ſtill farther than its fpontaneous dilatation. Air
is expanded one-third of its bulk by boiling water.
Dr Hales found, that the air in a retort, when the
bottom of the veffel was juſt beginning to be red-hot,
was expanded through twice its former ſpace; and in a
white, or almoft melting heat, it occupied thrice its
former ſpace; but Mr Robins found it was expanded
by the heat of iron, juſt beginning to be white, to four
times its former bulk. On this principle depend the
ftructure and office of the THERMOMETER.
M. Amontons firſt diſcovered that air will expand
in proportion to its denfity with the fame degree of
heat. On this foundation the ingenious author has a
diſcourſe, to prove that the fpring and weight of
the air, with a moderate degree of warmth, may en-
able it to produce even earthquakes, and other of the
moft vehement commotions of nature." See the ar-
ticle EARTHQUAKE.
The elaftic power of the air, then, is the fecond great
fects of the ſource of the effects of this important fluid. Thus it infi-
air's elaſti- nuates into the pores of bodies; and, by poffeffing this
city.
prodigious faculty of expanding, which is fo eafily ex-
cited, it must neceffarily put the particles of bodies
into which it infinuates itself into perpetual oſcillations.
Indeed, the degree of heat, and the air's gravity and
denfity, and confequently its clafticity and expanfion,
never remaining the fame for the leaft fpace of time,
there muſt be an inceffant vibration or dilatation and
contraction in all bodies.
!
We obſerve this reciprocation in feveral inftances,
particularly in plants, the air-veffels of which do the
office of lungs; for the contained air alternately ex-
panding and contracting, according to the increaſe or
diminution of the heat, alternately preffes the veffels
and eaſes them again, thus keeping up a perpetual
motion in their juices.
Hence we find, that no vegetation or germination
will proceed in vacuo. Indeed, beans have been ob-
ferved to grow a little tumid therein; and this has led
ſome to attribute that to vegetation which was really
owing to no other cauſe than the dilatation of the air
within them. The air is very inftrumental in the pro-
duction and growth of vegetables, not only by invigo-
rating their ſeveral juices while in an elastic active ftate,
but alſo by greatly contributing in a fixed ſtate to the
union and firm connection of their ſeveral conſtituent
parts.
From the fame cauſe it is, that the air contained in
bubbles of ice, by its continual action burfts the ice.
Thus alfo, entire columns of marble fometimes cleave
in the winter time, from the increaſed elafticity of fome
little bubble of air contained in them. From the fame
principle ariſe all putrefaction and fermentation; nei-
ther of which will proceed, even in the beſt diſpoſed
fubje&s, in vacuo.
Since we find fuch great quantities of elaftic air ge-
nerated in the ſolution of animal and vegetable fub-
ftances, a good deal muſt conſtantly ariſe from the dif-
folution of theſe aliments in the ftomach and bowels, Of Air
which is much promoted by it; and, in reality, all in general.
natural corruption and alteration ſeem to dépend on
air.
§3. Effects of the different Ingredients of Air.-
This fluid acts not only by its common properties of
gravity and elafticity, but produces numerous other ef-
fects arifing from the peculiar ingredients of which it
confifts.
T
13
Thus, I. It not only diffolves and attenuates bodies Solvent
by its preffure and attrition, but as a chaos containing
power of
the air on
all kinds of menftrua, and confequently poffeffing pow metals.
ers for diffolving all bodies. It is known that iron
and copper readily diffolve and become ruſty in air, un-
lefs well defended with oil. Boerhaave affures us, that
he has feen pillars of iron fo reduced by air, that they
might be crumbled to duft between the fingers; and
as for copper, it is converted by the air into a ſubſtance
much like the verdigriſe produced by vinegar.
Mr Boyle relates, that in the fouthern Engliſh co-
lonies the great guns ruft fo faft, that after lying in
the air for a few years, large cakes of crocus martis
may be feparated from them. Acofta adds, that in
Peru the air diffolves lead, and confiderably increaſes
its weight. Yet gold is generally eſteemed indiffoluble
by air, being never found to contract ruft, though ex-
pofed to it ever fo long. In the laboratories of che-
mifts, however, where aqua regia is prepared, the air
becoming impregnated with a quantity of the vapour
of this menftruum, gold contracts a ruft like other
bodies.
14
Stones alſo undergo the changes incident to metals. On ftonce.
Thus Purbeck ftone, of which Saliſbury cathedral con-
fifts, is obferved gradually to become fofter, and to
moulder away in the air; and Mr Boyle gives the fame
account of Blackington ftone. He adds, that air may
have a confiderable eperation on vitriol, even when a
ftrong fire could act no farther upon it. And he has
found, that the fumes of a corrofive liquor work more
fuddenly and manifeftly on a certain metal when ſuf-
tained in the air, than the menftruum itſelf did, which
emitted fumes on thoſe parts of the metal which it co-
vered; referring to the effects of the effluvia of vine-
gar on copper.
The diffolving power of air is increaſed by heat, and
by other caufes. It combines with water; and by ac-
cefs of cold, depofites part of the matter which was
kept diffolved in it by a greater degree of heat. Hence
the water, by being depofited and condenfed upon any
cold body, fuch as glafs, &c. in windows, forms fogs,
and becomes vifible.
15
the air.
In the various operations of chemiſtry, air is a very Various
neceffary and important agent; the refult of particular chemical
proceffes depending on its prefence or abfence, on its effects of
being open or inclofed. Thus, the parts of animals
and vegetables can only be calcined in open air ; in
clofe veffels they never become any other than black
coals. And thefe operations are affected by the changes
to which the air is liable. Many inftances might be
adduced to this purpoſe. Let it fuffice to obſerve,
that it is very difficult to procure oil of fulphur, per
campanam, in a clear dry atmoſphere; but in a thick
moift air it may be obtained with greater eaſe, and in
larger quantities. So, pure well-fermented wine, if it
be carried to a place where the air is repleniſhed with
T 2
the
!
148
Sect. II.
AEROLOGY.
凑
​Of Air the fumes of new wine then fermenting, will begin to
in general. ferment afreſh.
16
firft difco-
of air.
་
The changes in the air arife from various cauſes,
and are obſervable, not only in its mechanical proper-
ties, fuch as gravity, denfity, &c. but in the ingredients
that compofe it. Thus, at Fafhlun in Sweden, noted
for copper-mines, the mineral exhalations affect the air
in fuch a manner as to diſcolour the filver coin in purfes;
and the fame effluvia change the colour of braſs. In
Carniola, Campania, &c. where are mines of fulphur,
the air fometimes becomes very unwholeſome, which
occafions frequent epidemic diſeaſes, &c.
The effluvia of animals alfo have their effect in vary-
ing the air; as is evident in contagious difeafes, plagues,
murrains, and other mortalities, which are ſpread by
an infected air.
For the vivifying principle of air, fee the article BLOOD.
SECT. II. Hiftorical Account of the principal Dif-
coveries concerning the Compofition of Atmofphe-
rical Air and other Aerial Fluids.
WHILE the preceding difcoveries were making con-
cerning the mechanical and other properties of the air,
little notice feems to have been taken of the elementa-
ry parts of the air itſelf, or the different kinds of fluid
which go under that name. It was known, indeed,
that air was feparable from terreftrial bodies by means
of fire, fermentation, &c. but this was commonly rec-
koned to be the fame with what we breathe. Van
Van Hel- Helmont, a difciple of Paracelfus, was the first who
anont the undertook to make inquiries concerning this fpecies of
verer of dif- air. He gave it the name of gas. fylveftre, from the
ferent kinds Dutch word ghoaft, fignifying ſpirit; and obferves, that
fome bodies refolve themſelves almoft entirely into it.
"Not (fays he) that it had been actually contained
in that form in the bodies from which it was feparated;
but it was contained under a concrete form, as if fixed,
or coagulated." According to this author, the gas
fylveftre is the fame with what is feparated from all
fubftances by fermentation; from vegetables by the
action of fire; from gun-powder when it explodes;
and from charcoal when burning. On this occafion he
afferts, that 62 pounds of charcoal contain 61 pounds
of gas and only one pound of earth. To the efflu-
vium of gas he alſo attributes the fatal effects of the
grotto del Cani in Italy, and the fuffocation of work-
men in mines. He afferts, that it is to the corruption
of the aliment, and the gas diſcharged from it, that
we are to attribute wind, and the diſcharges of it from
the bowels. Upon the fame principles he accounts for
the fwelling of dead bodies which have remained for a
time under water, and for the tumours which arife on
fome parts of the body in certain difeafes. He alfo
determines, that this gas is different from the air we
breathe; that it has a greater affinity with water:
and he imagined it might confift of water reduced to
vapours, or a very fubtile acid combined with volatile
alkali.
17
Difcoveries
by Mr
Boyle.
Mr Boyle repeated all Van Helmont's experiments
to more advantage than he himſelf had performed them;
but feems not to have proceeded further in his difco-
veries than Van Helmont did: only he found fome
bodies, fuch as fulphur, amber, camphor, &c. dimi-
wiſh the volume of air in which they burn..
+
18
19
ral waters.
20
Dr Hales firſt attempted to determine the quantity Of Air
of air produced from different bodies; for which pur
in general.
pofe he made experiments on almoſt every known ſub-
tance in nature, examining them by diftillation, fer-
mentation, combuftion, combinations, &c.
He alfo By Dr Hales
firft fufpected, that the brifknefs and fparkling of the Sufpicion of
waters, called acidulous, were owing to the air they air in mine-
contained. But notwithſtanding all his difcoveries con-
cerning the quantity of elaſtic fluid obtained from dif-
ferent bodies, he did not imagine there was any effen-
tial difference between this fluid and the air we breathe;
only that the former was loaded with noxious vapours,
foreign to its nature. His fufpicion concerning this
impregnation was confirmed by M. Venel, profeffor of Confirmed
chemiſtry at Montpelier, in a memoir read before the by Mr Vc-
Royal Academy of Sciences in 1750. This gentle. nel.
man was able to difengage the air from the Seltzer
waters, and to meaſure its quantity; which he con-
ftantly found to amount to about one-fifth of its bulk.
The water thus deprived of its air became flat, and
ceaſed to ſparkle; the only difference then betwixt it
and common water was, that the former contained a
fmall quantity of fea-falt. Upon theſe principles he
attempted to recompofe Seltzer water, by diffolving in
a pint of common water two drachms of foffile alkali,
and then adding an equal quantity of marine acid.
The quantity of fea-falt produced by the union of
theſe two, he knew would prove equal to that contain-
ed in a pint of Seltzer water; and the effervefcence
produced by the action of the acid and alkali upon
each other, he imagined, would produce air fufficient
for the impregnation of the water. In this he was
not deceived; the water thus produced was not only
analogous to Seltzer, but much more ftrongly impreg
nated with air.
21
Dr Black firſt diſcovered, that chalk, and the other Difcoveries
earths reducible to quicklime by calcination, confift of by DrBlack,
an alkaline earth, by itſelf foluble in water, but which, &c.
combined with a large quantity of fixed air, becomes
infoluble; lofing the properties of quicklime, and af-
fuming the natural appearance we obferve thofe earths
to have when not reduced into lime. The fame thing
he diſcovered in magnefia alba, and in alkalis both
fixed and volatile. On the fixed air contained in theſe
bodies, he found not only their property of effervef-
cing with acids to depend, but likewife their mildneſs;
both the alkalis and calcareous earth being highly
cauftic when deprived of their fixed air. He alſo found,
that this fluid, which he called fixed air, had different
degrees of affinity with different fubftances; that it
was ftronger with calcareous earth than with fixed al-
kali; with fixed alkali, than magnefia; and with mag-
nefia, than volatile alkali. He alſo fufpected, that the
fixed air of alkaline falts unites itſelf with the precipi-
tates of metals, when thrown down from acids; and
that the increaſe of weight obfervable in theſe precipi-
tates was owing to this caufe. But he was of opinion,
that the fluid which he called fixed air was very diffe-
rent from the common air we breathe; and therefore
adopted the name of air, merely as one already efta-
bliſhed, whatever impropriety there might be in the
term.
It was not long before the diſcovery of this ſpecies
of air fuggefted new theories in phyfiology and natural
philofophy. Mr Haller had inferred, from Dr Hales's
experiments,
ན
Sect. II.
r49
AEROLOGY.
Of Air experiments, that air is the real cement of bodies;
in general.
which, fixing itſelf in the folids and fluids, unites them
to each other, and ferves as a bond by which they are
kept from diffolution. In 1764, Dr Macbride of
Dublin published a number of experiments in fupport
of this doctrine. From his work it appears, that fixed
air is feparated, not only from all fubftances in fermen-
tion, but alſo from all animal fubftances as they begin
to putrefy; and that this air is capable of uniting it-
felf to all calcareous earths, as well as alkalis both fixed
and volatile, and reftoring to them the property of ef-
fervefcing with acids when they have by any means
been deprived of it. But though theſe opinions have
fince been found erroneous, the conclufions drawn by
him from his numerous experiments ftill hold good,
viz. that fixed air is an elaftic fluid, very different from
the common air we breathe: that it is poffeffed of a
ftrong antiseptic quality, and may be introduced with
fafety into the inteſtinal canal, and other parts of the
animal œconomy, where common air would have fatal
effects; but is mortal if breathed into the lungs, &c.
In 1766 and 1767, Mr Cavendish communicated
fome new experiments to the Royal Society at Lon-
don, wherein he determines the quantity of air con-
tained in fixed alkali, when fully faturated with it, to
mined by be five-twelfths of its weight, and ſeven-twelfths in vo-
Mr Caven- latile alkali: that water is capable of abſorbing more
than its own bulk of this air; that it has then an agree-
able, fpirituous, and acidulous taſte; and that it has the
property of diffolving calcareous earths and magnefia,
as well as almoſt all the metals, eſpecially iron and zinc:
that the vapour of burning charcoal occafions a remark-
able diminution of common air, at the fame time that
a confiderable quantity of fixed air is produced in the
operation. He alſo found, that folution of copper in
fpirit of ſalt, inſtead of producing inflammable air,
like that of iron or zinc, afforded a fpecies of air
which loft its elaſticity as foon as it came into contact
with water.
22
Quantity of
fixed air
contained
in alkaline
falts deter-
difh.
1
23
Conteſt
of fixed air.
24
The diſcoveries of Dr Black concerning fixed air
concerning had not been long publiſhed, when they were violently
the doctrine attacked by fome foreign chemiſts, while his cauſe was
as eagerly efpoufed by others. The principal oppo-
nents were Mr Meyer apothecary at Ofnabruck, Mr
Crans phyfician to his Ruffian Majeſty, and Mr de
Smeth at Utrecht. Their arguments, however, were
effectually anſwered at the time by Mr Jacquin, bota-
nical profeffor at Vienna; and the numerous difcove-
ries made fince that time have given ſuch additional
confirmation to his doctrine, that it is now univerfally
adopted by chemifts both in Britain and other coun-
tries. It was referved, however, for Dr Priestley to
Compol make the great diſcovery concerning the nature of our
tion of the atmosphere; and to inform the world, that it is com-
atmosphere
difcovenere pofed of two fluids; the one abfolutely noxious, and
incapable of fupporting animal life for a moment; the
other extremely falutary, and capable of preferving
animals alive and healthy for a much longer time than
the pureft air we can meet with. This may be confi-
dered as the ultimate period of our hiſtory: for fince
that time the diſcoveries of philofophers ftill living, in
many different countries, have been fo rapid, that it is
difficult to afcertain the dates of them by any authentic
documents; efpecially as, by reafon of fuch numerous
experiments, the fame things have not unfrequently
been difcovered by different perfons unknown to each Dephlogif-
other. We fhall therefore proceed to give an account ticated Air.
of the different kinds of aerial fluids, beginning with
thoſe which are known, or fuppofed, to conftitute a
part of our atmoſphere.
SECT. III. Of Dephlogiſticated Air.
25
$1. Discovery and Methods of procuring this Kind
of Air.-Dephlogiſticated air was firft obtained by Dr.
Priestley on the 1ft of Auguft 1774. The circumftan
ces which led him to the diſcovery, were his having-
always procured inflammable air from ſpirit of falt, by
adding to it fpirit of wine, oil of olives, oil of turpen-
tine, charcoal, phoſphorus, bees wax, and even fulphur.
Hence he ſuſpected, that the common air we breathe
might be compofed of fome kind of acid united with Whence
phlogifton. On this fuppofition he extracted air from firft extrac™-
mercurius calcinatus per fe, by expofing it to the focus ted.
of a burning-glafs 12 inches in diameter; and, having
repeated the experiment with red precipitate and mini--
um, he found, that though a quantity of fixed air was
always produced, yet after that was ſeparated, the re-
mainder ſupported flame much more vigorously than
common air; for a candle burned in it with a flame
very much enlarged, and with a crackling noife, at
the ſame time that it appeared fully as much diminiſh-
ed by the teft of nitrous air. Whence he concluded,
that it was reſpirable; and, on making the experiment,
found that it actually was fo, for a mouſe lived a full
half hour in a quantity of this fluid; which, had it been
common air, would only have kept it alive half that.
time. Nor did the animal feem to be otherwiſe injured
than by the cold; as it preſently revived on bringing
it near the fire, and the remainder of the air ftill
peared better than that of the atmoſphere, when the
teft of nitrous air was applied to it.
ap-
26
27
Produced
This
pure kind of air being difcovered, the Doctor Whynamed
next proceeded to name it dephlogifticated, from his dephlogiſti-
opinion that common air, in the act of burning, ab-cated.
forbed phlogifton; of confequence, he fuppofed, that
which abſorbed the moft, or which moft vigorouſly and
for the greateſt length of time fupported flame, was
fuppofed to contain the fmalleft quantity of this fub-
ftance. In the courfe of his inquiries why this kind
of air comes to be fo much dephlogiſticated, he fell upon
a method of extracting it from a great variety of fub-
ftances; viz. by moiſtening them with ſpirit of nitre, and
then diftilling them with a ftrong heat. Thus he ob- from a great
tained it from flowers of zinc, chalk, quicklime, flacked variety of
lime, tobacco-pipe clay, flint, Mufcovy tales, and even fubftances..
glafs. He then found, that by fimply diffolving any
metal in the nitrous acid, and then diftilling the falu--
tion, he could obtain very pure air: and Mr Warltire
found even the trouble of diftillation unneceffary; no--
thing more being requifite than to moiften red lead.
with the fpirit of nitre, and then pour upon it the oil-
of vitriol, which inftantly difengaged the dephlogiſti-
cated air without applying any more heat than what
was generated by the mixture.
28
While diſcoveries of this kind engaged Dr Prieſtley in This kind
England, Mr Scheele was employed in a fimilar man- of air dif-
ner in Sweden; and had actually obtained the fame covered ali
kind of air, without knowing any thing of what Dr M
Priestley had done. The latter had the merit of the
prior.
•
Scheele..
1
150
AEROLOG G Y.
Sect. III.
ticated Air.
ticated.Air.
Dephlogif prior difcovery: but Mr Scheele's method was more kind, and then expofed to a red heat, either in fand or Dephlogif-
over a naked fire, while the neck of the veffel was
fimple, confifting only in the diftillation of nitre with
a ftrong heat; by which means it is now found that plunged in water or mercury.
dephlogiſticated air may be obtained in very confider-
able quantity, and in as great purity, as by the more
expenfive proceffes. The pure air from nitre had in-
deed partly been obtained by Dr Hales long before
this time; fince he informs us, that half a cubic inch
of nitre yielded 90 cubic inches of air, which was un-
doubtedly the fluid we fpeak of; but as he neglected
to profecute the diſcovery, nothing farther was known
at that time.
29
trous acid,
·
May be
As the nitrous acid was univerfally concerned in the
produced firft proceffes for obtaining this kind of air, it was for
without ni- fome time generally believed to be a peculiar pro-
perty of that acid alone to produce it; but the in-
defatigable genius of Dr Prieffley foon found, that it
might not only be procured where no nitrous acid was
employed, but where the ſubſtances were treated with
vitriolic acid. It was indeed evident, from the very
firſt experiment, that nitrous acid was not effentially
neceffary; fince pure air was procured from precipitate
per fe, in the preparation of which no nitrous acid is
employed. The Abbé Fontana found, that 192 grains
of this fubftance yielded 26 cubic inches of dephlogi-
fticated air, at the fame time that the weight of it was
reduced to 178 grains, which is nearly the weight of
that quantity of air. It had formerly been obferved,
that the weight of mercury is augmented during its
converfion into precipitate per fe, as that of lead is by
its converfion inte minium. The experiments juſt now
mentioned, therefore, fhow, that during this procefs
the air is decompounded; the pure dephlogifticated
part of it being abſorbed by the metal, and appearing
again on the application of heat; and the fame appears
to be the cafe with red lead, from the experiment of
Mr Warltire already mentioned. With regard to this
laſt fubſtance, however, a very great fingularity is ob-
ferved; viz. that when newly prepared it yields none
at all, and even for fome time after the produce is
much ſmaller than when it has been long kept. The
reafon of this feems to be, that the minium ftill con-
tains a confiderable quantity of phlogiſton, which flies
off into the atmoſphere by long keeping, a larger quan-
tity of the dephlogiſticated part of the atmoſphere be-
ing imbibed at the fame time. The mode of applying
heat has alſo a very confiderable effect on the quantity
Exper. of air produced. Thus, Dr Prieſtley remarks*, that
and Obferv. "from equal quantities of red lead, without any mix-
30 ture of ſpirit of nitre, and ufing the fame apparatus for
Produced diftilling it, he obtained, by means of heat applied
in greatest fuddenly, more air than when flowly applied, in the
quantities
by a quick proportion of ten to fix. The proportion of fixed air
and violent was the fame in both cafes, and the remainder equally
heat. .dephlogifticated."
iii. 37.
Method of
ftances.
31 By heat alone, the Doctor found, that fedative falt,
extracting manganefe, lapis calaminaris, and the mineral called
extracting
it from va lapis ponderofus, wolfram, or tungsten, would yield de-
rious fub- phlogifticated air; the firſt indeed in very fmall quan-
tity, and fometimes even of a quality very little fupe-
rior to common air. In thefe experiments, he made
uſe of ſmall-bellied retorts of green glaſs, which can
ſtand the fire beft, containing about an ounce of water,
and having narrow necks 18 or 20 inches long. The
Lubſtance to be examined was put into a retort of this
9
❤
Having diffolved fix pennyweights of very clean iron
in oil of vitriol, and then diftilled the folution to dry-
nefs in a long-necked retort, he received the common
air a little phlogiſticated, fome fixed air, much vitrio-
lic acid air, and laſtly 18 ounce meaſures of dephlo-
gifticated air. The iron that remained undiffolved
weighed 23 grains, fo that the air was yielded by five
pennyweights one grain of iron. The ochre weighed
feven pennyweights thirteen grains: fo that, fays he,
there probably remained a quantity of oil of vitriol in
it; and confequently, had the heat been greater, more
air would have been obtained.
In his experiments with the nitrous acid, as it had
conftantly been found, that by pouring on more nitrous
acid on the refiduum, and repeating the operation,
more dephlogiſticated air might be obtained, the Doc-
tor determined to try whether the fame would not hold
good with vitriolic acid alfo. For this purpoſe, he
added more oil of vitriol to the refiduum of the laſt-
mentioned experiment. When in a red heat with a glafs
retort, it yielded a quantity of vitriolic acid air, no
fixed air, but about 24 ounce meaſures of dephlogiſti-
cated air; when, the retort being melted, a good deal
of the air was neceffarily loft; but, on refuming the
procefs in a gun-barrel, he procured as much air as
had been got before.-Purſuing theſe experiments, he
obtained with common cruft of iron and oil of vitriol,
dephlogifticated air at the firſt diſtillation, and a great
deal more from the refiduum, by pouring freſh oil of
vitriol upon it. The fame product he obtained from
blue vitriol, folution of copper in the vitriolic acid,
and from a folution of mercury in that acid. On this
fubftance he remarks, that "either by means of oil of
vitriol or ſpirit of nitre, it yields a great quantity of
dephlogiſticated air: but with this difference, that in
the proceſs with ſpirit of nitre, almoft the whole of
the mercury is revived (not more than a twentieth
part being loft, if the proceſs be conducted with care);
but in that with vitriolic acid, almoft the whole is loft.
From the later experiments of Mr Lavoifier, however,
it appears that the Doctor's proceſs had not been con-
ducted with fufficient care; as from two ounces of the
dry falt formed by a combination of vitriolic acid with
mercury, the former obtained 6 drachms 12 grains of
running mercury, befides 3 drachms 58 grains of mer-
curial fublimate of two different colours. Dephlogi-
fticated air was likewiſe obtained from pure calx of
tin, or putty, mixed with oil of vitriol; but none in
any trial with the marine acid, excepting when it was.
mixed with minium; in which cafe the air obtained was
probably that which the minium would have yielded
without any addition.
32
The refult of all theſe, and innumerable other experi-
ments made by philofophers in different countries, was,
that dephlogiſticated air may be obtained from a vaſt
variety of mineral and metallic fubftances by means of
the vitriolic and nitrous acids.
the vitriolic and nitrous acids. It now remained only How'de-
to diſcover in what manner this fluid, fo effentially ne- phlogifti-
ceffary to the fupport of animal life, is naturally pro- cated air is
duced in quantities fufficient for the great expence of naturally
produced.
it throughout the whole world, by the breathing of a-
nimals, the fupport of fires, &c. This diſcovery, in
deed,
Sect. III.
157
AEROLOGY.
}
ticated Air.
fest.4.
33
34
Dephlogif- deed, had been made before even the exiftence of de-
phlogiſticated air itſelf was known. Dr Priestley, af-
ter having tried various methods of purifying contami-
nated air unſucceſsfully, found at laft, that fome kinds
of vegetables anſwered this purpoſe very effectually;
for which diſcovery he received the thanks of the Royal
Society. Among the vegetables employed on this oc-
cafion, he found mint anfwer the purpoſe very effectu-
* Exper. ally. "When air," fays he*, "has been freſhly and
and Obferv. ftrongly tainted with putrefaction, fo as to fmell
vol. i. p. I. through the water, fprigs of mint have prefently died
upon being put into it, their leaves turning black; but
if they do not die prefently, they thrive in a moft fur-
prifing manner. In no other circumftances have I feen
vegetation fo vigorous as in this kind of air, which is
immediately fatal to animal life. Though theſe plants
have been crowded in jars filled with this kind of air,
every leaf has been full of life; fresh fhoots have
branched out in various directions, and grown much
faſter than other fimilar plants growing in the fame ex-
Noxious air pofure in common air."-Having in confequence of
improved this obfervation rendered a quantity of air thoroughly
by vegeta- noxious, by mice breathing and dying in it, he divided
ting mint.
it into two receivers inverted in water, introducing a
fprig of mint into one of them, and keeping the other
receiver unaltered. About eight or nine days after, he
found that the air of the receiver into which he had
introduced the ſprig had become reſpirable; for a mouſe
lived very well in this, whereas it died the moment it
was put into the other.
Experi- From theſe experiments the Doctor at first conclu
mentsfeem- ded, that in all cafes the air was meliorated by the ve-
ingly con- getation of plants: but even in his first volume he ob-
tradictory.
ferves, that ſome experiments of this kind did not an-
fwer fo well towards the end of the year as they had
done in the hot feaſon; and a fecond courfe feemed to
be almoſt entirely contrary to the former. Having
tried the power of feveral forts of vegetables upon air
infected by refpiration or by the burning of candles,
he found that it was generally rendered worſe by their
vegetation; and the longer the plants were kept in the
infected air, the more they phlogifticated it; though
in ſeveral cafes it was undoubtedly meliorated, efpeci-
cially, by the ſhoots of ſtrawberries and fome other
plants, introduced into the vials containing foul air,
and inverted. in water, which were placed near them,
whilft their roots continued in the earth in the garden.
Sometimes the infected air was fo far mended by the
vegetation of plants, that it was in a great meaſure
turned into dephlogifticated air. "On the whole,"
*Exper. fays Dr Prieftley, I ftill think it probable, that the
and Obferv. vegetation of healthy plants, growing in fituations na
tural to them, have a falutary effect on the air in which
they grow. For one inftance of the melioration of air
in theſe circumſtances ſhould weigh againſt an hundred
in which the air is made worſe by it, both on account
of the difadvantages under which all plants labour, in
the circumſtances in which thefe experiments muſt be
made, as well as the great attention and many precau-
tions that are requifite in conducting fuch a procefs."
Experi-
At the time that Dr Priestley made thefe experi-
ments of
Dr Ingen ments, he ſuppoſed that the air was meliorated merely
houfzon the by the abforption of phlogifton from that which had
melioration been tainted; but the experiments of Dr Ingenhoufz,
of air by made in 1779, fhowed that this was accompliſhed, not
ν.
žv. 302.
35
vegetation.
. و,
only by the abforption juft mentioned, but by the emif- Dephlogif-
fion of dephlogiſticated air. He obferved in general, ticated Air-
that plants have a power of correcting bad air, and
even of improving common air in a few hours, when
expofed to the light of the fun ; but, in the night-time,
or when they are not influenced by the folar rays, they
contaminate the air. This property, however, does
not belong.in an equal degree to all kinds of plants:
nor is it poffible to diſcover by the external properties
of a plant, whether it be fit for this purpoſe or not ; as
fome which have a bad fmell, and are entirely unfit for
food, fhow themſelves much fuperior to others whofe
external appearance would feem preferable. His me-
thod of making the experiment was, to fill a vial with
air, fouled either by refpiration or combuftion; after
which a fprig of any plant was introduced, by paffing
it through the water in which the vial was immerfed.
The vial was then ſtopped; or it was removed into a
fmall bafon full of water, and expoſed to the fun, or fi-
tuated in fome other proper place as occafion required.
Air phlogiſticated by breathing, and in which a candle
could not burn, after being expofed to the fun for three
hours, with a fprig of peppermint in it, was ſo far cor-
rected, as to be again capable of fupporting flame.
The following experiment, however, made with a mu-
ftard plant, may be looked upon as decifive: A plant
of this kind was put into a glafs receiver containing
common air, and its ftem cut off even with the mouth
of the receiver. The veffel was then inverted in an
earthen pan, containing fome water to keep the plant
alive, and the whole apparatus was fet over-night in a
room.. Next morning the air was found fo much con
taminated, that it extinguiſhed the flame of a wax ta-
per. On expoſing the apparatus to the fun for a quar-
ter of an hour, the air was found to be fomewhat cor-
rected; and after an hour and an half it was fo far im- -
proved, that by the teſt of nitrous air it appeared con
fiderably better than common air.
:
36
ced from
Before we proceed farther in the account of Dr In-Dephlo-
genhoufz's experiments, it will be neceffary to relate gifticated
fome obfervations made. by Dr Priestley; from which air produ
it appears, that dephlogifticated air, in very confider- water.,
able quantity, may, in certain circumftances, be pro-
cured from water alone. The fubftance of theſe is,
that water, efpecially pump-water, when expoſed to the
light.of the fun, emits air flowly but after fome time
a green matter appears on the bottom and fides of the
glafs; after which it emits very pure air in great quan-
tity, and continues to do fo for a very long time, even
after the green matter has ſhown fome fymptoms of de-
cay by becoming yellow. He obferved, that the water
which naturally contained the greateft quantity of -fix-
ed air, yielded alfo the greateſt quantity of that which
was dephlogiſticated; but that the quantity of the lat--
ter much exceeded that of the fixed air contained even
in any water. The light of the fun was found to be ar
effential requifite in the formation of this air, as very
little, and that of a much worſe quality, was produced
in the dark.
As the green matter produced in Dr Priestley's glaf
fes, was by himſelf, as well as others, confidered as be-
longing to the vegetable kingdom, Dr Ingenhoufz im-
proved upon his procefs, by putting the leaves of plants
into water, and expofing them to the fun. All plants
were not equally fit for producing dephlogiſticated airplants.-
by
37-
From the
A E R
152
OLOGY.
Sect. III.
ticated Air,
Dephlogif by this method more than by the other. Some poiſonous
plants, as the hyofcyamus, lauro-cerafus, night-fhade,
the tobacco-plant, a triplex vulvaria, cicuta aquatica,
and fabina, were found very fit for the purpofe; but
the pureft kind of air was extracted from fome aquatic
vegetables, the turpentine-trees, and eſpecially from the
green matter he collected in a stone trough which was
kept continually filled with water from a ſpring near
the high-road. The purity of this dephlogiſticated air,
he fays, was equal, if not fuperior, to that procured by
the beſt chemical proceffes; as it fometimes required
eight times its own quantity of nitrous air to faturate
it. All parts of the plants were not found equally pro-
per for the production of dephlogiſticated air; the full
grown leaves yielded it in greateſt quantity and puri-
ty, eſpecially from their under furface. It was alo
procured from the green ſtalks.-One hundred leaves
of Nafturtium Indicum, put into a jar holding a gallon,
filled with ordinary pump-water, and expoſed to the fun
from 10 to 12 o'clock, yielded as much air as filled a
cylinderical jar four inches and an half in length, and
one and three quarters in breadth. On removing this
quantity of air, and expofing them again to the fun till
feven o'clock, about half as much was produced, of a
quality ftill fuperior to the former; and next morning
by eleven o'clock, they yielded as much more of an
equal quality. The roots of plants, he fays, when kept
out of ground, generally yield bad air, and at all times
contaminate common air, a few only excepted. Flowers
and fruits, in general, yield a very fmall quantity of
noxious air, and contaminate a great quantity of com-
mon air at all times, eſpecially in the night, and when
kept in the dark. Two dozen of young and ſmall
French beans, kept in a quart-jar of common air for a
fingie night, contaminated the air to fuch a degree, that
a very lively chicken died by being confined in it lefs
than half a minute.
38
Conclufions
from Dr
Ingen-
houfz's ex-
periments.
39
min Thom
fon's expe-
air, which all plants abforb through their pores; the Dephlogif
phlogiſtic part becoming part of their fubftance, and ticated Air.
probably being the true vegetable food, as is explain-
ed more at large under the article AGRICULTURE.
Dry plants have little or no effect upon the air until
they are moiftened -On all theſe experiments, how-
ever, it muſt be obſerved, that they have fometimes
failed in the hands of thofe whom we cannot but fup-
pofe very capable of trying them; as Mr Scheele, Mr
Cavallo, and the Abbé Fontana.
After the publication of Dr Ingenhoufz's experi- Sir Benja
ments, it became generally believed, that the atmof-
phere was meliorated by the common procefs of vege- riments.
tation, and that plants abſorbed the phlogiſtic part as
their food, diſcharging the pure dephlogiſticated air as
an excrement; which is juſt the reverſe of what hap-
pens to animals, who abforb the pure part in reſpira-
tion, and reject the phlogiftic. In the Philofophical
Tranſactions for 1787, however, we find a number of
experiments related by Sir Benjamin Thompſon, which
feem to render this matter dubious.-One very confi-
derable objection is, that the green matter, already men-
tioned in Dr Priestley's experiments, when carefully
obferved by a good microſcope, appears not to be of a
vegetable, but of an animal nature. The colouring Green mat-
matter of the water, fays he, is evidently of an animal ter obfer-
nature; being nothing more than the aſſemblage of an ved by Dr
Priestley,
infinite number of very fmall, active, oval-formed ani- faid to be of
malcules, without any thing refembling tremella, or an animal
that kind of green matter or water-mofs which forms nature.
upon the bottom and fides of the veffel when this water
is fuffered to remain on it for a confiderable time, and
into which Dr Ingenhoufz fuppofes the animalcules
above mentioned to be actually transformed.
The obſervations of Dr Ingenhoufz on the whole,
fays Mr Cavallo, clearly fhow, "that the vegetation
of plants is one of the great means employed by nature
to purify the atmoſphere, fo as to counteract, in great
meafure, the damage done by animal refpiration, com-
buftion, &c. It may only be faid, that vegetation
does not appear to be fufficient to remedy entirely that
damage." The Doctor himſelf, however, fpeaks.very
highly of the powers of vegetables in this refpect. He
informs us, that their office in yielding dephlogiſticated
air begins a few hours after the fun has made his ap-
pearance in the horizon, or rather after it has paffed
the meridian, and ceaſes with the clofe of day; except-
ing fome plants which continue it a ſhort time after fun-
fet: The quantity of dephlogiſticated air, yielded by
plants in general, is greater in a clear day than when it is
fomewhat cloudy. It is alfo greater when the plants
are more expoſed to the fun, than when they are fitua-
ted in shady places. He obferves, moreover, that the
damage done by plants in the night, is more than coun-
terbalanced by the benefit they afford in the day-time.
"By a rough calculation, (fays he), I found the poi-
fonous air, yielded by any plant during the whole night,
could not amount to one hundredth part of the dephlogif
ticated air which the fame plant yielded in two hours
time in a fair day."-It
"-It does not appear, however, that
plants yield dephlogiſticated air by any kind of 'gene-
ration of that fluid, but only by filtrating the common
N° 4•
This gentleman has alfo found, that feveral animal
fubftances, as well as vegetables, have a power of fepa-
rating dephlogiſticated air from water when expoſed to
the light of the fun, and that for a very great length
of time. Not that the fame quantity of water will al-
ways continue to furniſh air; but the fame animal fub-
ftance being taken out, waſhed, and again put into
freſh water, ſeems to yield dephlogiſticated air, with-
out any kind of limitation.
40
41
Raw filk poffeffes a remarkable power of this kind. Dephlo-
To determine it, Sir Benjamin introduced 30 grains of gifticated
air produ-
this fubftance, previouſly waſhed in water, into a thin ced by raw
glafs globe 4 inches in diameter, having a cylindrical filk.
neck ths of an inch wide, and twelve inches long, in-
verting the globe into a jar filled with the fame kind of
water, and expofing it to the action of the fun in the
window. It had not been ten minutes in this fitua-
tion, when the filk became covered with an infinite
number of air-bubbles, gradually increafing in fize, till,
at the end of two hours, the filk was buoyed up, by
their means, to the top of the water. By degrees they
began to ſeparate themſelves, and form a collection of
air in the upper part of the globe; which, when exa-
mined by the teft of nitrous air, appeared to be very
pure. In three days he had collected 34 cubic inches
of air; into which a wax-taper being introduced, that
had juft before been blown out, the wick only remain-
ing red, it inſtantly took fire, and burned with a bright
and enlarged flame. The water in the globe appeared
to have loft fomething of its tranfparency, and had
changed its colour to a very faint greeniſh caſt, having
I
at
Se&t. III.
Y.
153
AERO
LOG
Dephlogif- at the fame time acquired the ſmell of raw filk.-This
ticated Air. was feveral times repeated with freſh water, retaining
the fame filk, and always with a fimilar refult; but
with this difference, that when the fun fhone very
bright, the quantity of air produced was not only
greater, but its quality fuperior to that yielded when
the fun's rays were feeble, or when they were frequent-
ly intercepted by flying clouds. "The air, however,
(fays he), was always not only much better than com-
mon air, but even than that produced by the freſh leaves
of plants expoſed in water to the fun's rays in the ex-
periments of Dr Ingenhoufz; and, under the moſt fa-
vourable circumſtances, it was ſo good, that one mea-
fure of it required four of nitrous air to faturate it,
and the whole five meaſures were reduced to 1.35.”
42
No air pro-
duced in the
dark.
43
Effects of
light with
out heat.
44
Of artificial
light.
An experiment was next made in order to determine
the effect of darkneſs upon the production of air: and
in this cafe only a few inconfiderable bubbles were
formed, which remained attached to the filk; nor was
the cafe altered by removing the globe into a German
ftove. Some fingle bubbles, indeed, had detached
themſelves from the filk and afcended to the top, but
the air was in too little quantity to be meaſured or
proved.—The medium heat of the globe, when expo-
fed to the fun's rays, was about 90° of Fahrenheit,
though ſometimes it would riſe as high as 96; but air
was frequently produced, when the heat did not exceed
65 and 70º.-Ôn reverfing this experiment, in order
to try the effect of light without heat, it was found,
that by plunging the globe into a mixture of ice and
water, which brought it to the temperature of about
50° of Fahrenheit, the produce of air was diminiſhed,
though it ftill continued in confiderable quantity.
The effect of artificial light, inftead of that of the
fun, was next tried. For this purpoſe all the air was
removed from the globe; and its place being ſupplied
with a quantity of freſh water, fo as to render it quite
full, it was again inverted in the jar, and removed into a
dark room furrounded with fix lamps and reflectors; fix
wax candles were alſo plaeed at different diftances from
three to fix inches from it, and diſpoſed in ſuch a man-
ner as to throw the greateſt quantity of light poffible
upon the filk, taking care at the fame time that the
water ſhould not acquire a greater heat than 90º. In
this ſituation the filk began to be covered with air
bubbles in about ten minutes; and in fix hours as much
was collected as could be proved by nitrous air, when
it was found to be very pure. A freſh-gathered,
healthy leaf of a peach tree, and a ftem of the pea-
plant with three leaves upon it, furniſhed air by expo-
fure to the fame light, but in ſmaller quantities than by
the action of the folar rays. The air produced in the
dark, in whatever manner procured, was always in too
fmall quantity to be meaſured.
In making thefe experiments, as it was found fome
what troubleſome to invert the globes in water, they were
at laſt only kept in an inclined poſture on the table, as re-
prefented in Plate VIII. fig. 1. the air collecting itfelf in
the upper part of the belly. Having provided him-
felf with a number of globes of different fizes, he then
proceeded in his experiments in the following manner.
Finding that raw filk, expoſed to the action of light,
fubftances produced ſo great a quantity of air, he was induced to
for raw try whether fome other fubftances might not be found
out capable of doing the fame. Having therefore
45
Various
fubftituted
VOL. I. Part I.
I
provided fix globes of 4 inches in diameter, and filled Dephlogif-
them with fpring water, he introduced into each of them ticated Air..
15 grains of one of the following ſubſtances, viz. ſheep's
wool, eider-down, fur of a Ruffian hare, cotton wool,
lint or the ravelings of linen yarn, and human hair.-
The refults of thefe experiments were, I. The globe
containing the ſheep's wool began to yield air in three
days; but feveral days of cloudy weather intervening,
he did not remove it for fome time, when only 12ths
of an inch of air was collected, which proved very
pure when tried with nitrous air; but the wool, even
in the moſt favourable circumſtances, never afforded
more than one third of the quantity which would have
been yielded by filk. 2. The water with the eider-
down began to furniſh air almoſt immediately, and con-
tinued to do fo in quantities little leſs than had been
furniſhed by the filk, and nearly of the fame quality.
One cubic inch and three quarters of this air, furniſhed
the eighth day from the beginning of the experiment,
with three meafures of nitrous air, was reduced to
1.34. 3. The fur of the hare produced more air than:
the wool, but leſs than the eider-down. Two cubic
inches of air were collected in four days; which made
its appearance in a different manner from that of the
other fubftances, the air-bubbles being at confiderable
diſtances from one another, and growing to an uncom-
mon ſize before they detached themſelves from the fur.
The cotton yielded a confiderable quantity of air of a
better quality than any of the former.
The ravelings
of linen were very flow in furniſhing air, and produced
but a fmall quantity; only two cubic inches being col-
lected in the fpace of a fortnight. This fubftance ap-
peared to be the very reverſe of the hare's fur; for the
air, inftead of attaching and collecting itſelf about the
fubftance in large bubbles, ſcarce ever made its appear-
ance in fufficient quantity to raiſe it to the top of the
water. The human hair furniſhed ftill lefs than the
linen, and the produce was of inferior quality, though
ftill fuperior to the common atmoſphere.
·
In order to diſcover the comparative fineneſs of air
produced from vegetables and from raw filk, a ſmall
quantity of air from the ftem of a pea-plant, which had
four healthy leaves upon it, was proved with nitrous
air, and found greatly inferior to that from raw filk
and feveral of the fubftances already mentioned. An
entire plant of houſewort, of a moderate frze, furniſhed
only 4ths of a cubic inch of air in ſeven hours, and
that greatly inferior to common air; but the leaves a-
lone afforded a much greater quantity, and of a qua-
lity greatly fuperior.
46
Having proceeded thus far, it was next determined Of the
to aſcertain how much air a given quantity of water quantity of
air procured
would yield by expofure to the fun's rays. For this by means
purpoſe, a globe of fine white, clear, and very thin of theſe ſub-
glafs, containing 296 inches, being filled with fresh ftances from
fpring water, and 30 grains of raw filk immerſed in it, water.
was expoſed to the air for three days in the month of
May, but for the moft part cold and cloudy. During
this time only 9 inches of air were produced; but
next day, by expofure to the fun from nine in the
morning till five in the afternoon, the weather being
very fine, 8.46 inches more were produced. The wa-
ter had now affumed a light greenish colour. Next
day, the product of air was nine cubic inches, of a
better quality; and the day following, fix inches ftill
U
fuperior,
1
154
Sect. III.
AEROLOG
Y.
{
Dephlogif fuperior, though expofed only for three hours and an
sicated Air half; but the next day, it being cold and cloudy, only
4ths of an inch of air were produced, and theſe ma-
nifeftly inferior to the foregoing. No more air could
afterwards be procured, excepting one quarter of a cu-
bic inch; fo that from 296 inches of this water, 33.96
of air were obtained.
47
Of the caufe
air.
In this experiment the air produced was every day
removed from the globe, and its place fupplied with
water: the following were made, to determine what
alteration would take place on allowing the quantity
of air produced to remain from firit to laft. The globe
being therefore filled again, and the filk well wathed
and replaced in it, the quantity of air produced a-
mounted in four days to 30.1 cubic inches; and would
probably have been more confiderable, had not the
globe been unable to contain it along with the water,
and therefore there was a neceffity for putting an end
to the experiment. The quality was fuperior to the
former. In this experiment the water had loft its
tranſparency, and acquired a greenish caft; a quantity
of yellowish earth was precipitated to the bottom, and
attached itſelf ſo ſtrongly to the glafs, that it could
not be removed without great difficulty.
On varying the experiment, by employing unwashed
raw filk, it was found, that 17 grains of it in 20 cubic
inches of water, produced, for the first four days, air
of a worfe quality than the atmoſphere; but afterwards
yielded near two inches of a fuperior quality. The
quantity of this air was fuperior to that in other expe-
riments, though its quality was ſomewhat inferior.
In reflecting on the experiments above related, it oc-
curred to Sir Benjamin, that the cotton-like fubftance
produced by the populus nigra, a fpecies of poplar tree,
might be a proper fubftitute for the raw filk; efpeci-
ally as he recollected, that on rendering it very dry
for fome other purpofe, fome parcels of it had quitted
the plate on which they were laid, and mounted up to
the top of the room. An hundred and twenty grains
of this fubftance were therefore put into the large
globe containing 296 inches; but after expofure to the
fun for fome hours, the air produced, in quantity a-
bout 14ths of a cubic inch, was found to be little bet-
ter than phlogiſticated air. In three days after, only
one cubic inch was formed; and this appeared to be
completely phlogiſticated. Next day, only a few in-
confiderable air-bubbles appeared; but, the day fol-
lowing, the water fuddenly changed to a greenish co-
lour, and began all at once to give good air, and in
great abundance.
This day 10.42 cubic inches were
The fame water con-
produced, and the next 14.34.
tinued to furnish air for four days longer; the whole
quantity amounting to 444 cubic inches, the quality
of which was fuperior to that of the air produced in
former experiments.
In fpeculating on the cauſe of this production of air,
of this pro it occurred to our author, that perhaps the quantity of
duction of it might be in proportion to the furfaces of both. In
order to aſcertain this, he viewed an hair of filk, and
another of poplar-cotton, through a good microſcope,
when the former appeared twice the diameter of the
latter. The ſpecific gravity of the cotton was found
48
to be nearly equivalent to that of water; and, by a Dephlogif
comparative view of the two through a microfcope, ticated Air.
the furfaces appeared to be as 1000 to 3468. By pro
ceeding in this calculation, it appeared that the furface
of 30 grains of the cotton could not be leſs than 6600
fquare inches, while that of a like quantity of the filk
amounted to no more than 476. Hence it evidently
appeared, that the produce of air from the two fub-
ftances was neither in proportion to their weights nor
their furfaces. It appeared alfo, that the quality of
the air produced at firft was confiderably inferior to that
yielded fome time afterwards. In order to afcertain
the times at which air of the best quality was produ-
ced, &c. the following experiments were made: 1. A At what
globe, containing 46 cubic inches, being filled with wa- times air of
ter, and 30 grains of raw filk, well washed, and freed the beſt
from the remains of former experiments, put into it, quality is
yielded in a cold and cloudy day only 4th of a cubic inch produced.
of air: the two following days it yielded 34 cubic inches,
the quality of which was fuperior to that of the former
in the proportion of 296 to 114 (4). 2. The globe
being filled again with water, in two other days when
the funfhine was lefs powerful, the quality was 197,
and the quantity 14th; but afterwards, when the
weather became fine, the quantity was again 3.8 in-
ches, and quality 342. 3. The globe being again fil-
led with water, and expofed to the fun for two days,
yielded 2.2 inches of air, of a quality equal to 233.
4. A fimilar globe, with poplar-cotton which had been
ufed in former experiments, gave 2.53 inches, of a qua
lity 280. 5. A fmall globe of 20 inches, with 17
grains of raw filk, gave one cubic inch of air, of the
quality 263. 6. A large globe of 296 inches, filled
with fresh water, and a fmall quantity of conferva rivu-
laris, gave 1 cubic inch, of the quality only of 124
The water was changed to a brown colour.
7. On
repeating the experiment with a ſmall handful of the
conferva, 13.14 cubic inches of air were produced, of
the quality 246. The water was very faintly tinged,
towards the end of the experiment, of a greeniſh caft.
8. The globe of 46 inches, with 30 grains of raw filk
ufed in many former experiments, produced in two days
1.6 cubic inches of air, of the quality 204. 9. A
globe of equal capacity, with 15 grains of poplar-cot-
ton, produced in the fame time.28 inches, of the
quality 260. In both thefe experiments, the water had
acquired a faint greenish caft; but the colour of that
with the cotton was deepeft. On examining this wa-
ter with a microſcope, it was found to contain a great
number of animalcules exceedingly fmall, and nearly
of an oval figure; that with the filk contained them
likewife, but not in fuch numbers: however, our
author affures us, that in all cafes in which the
water acquired a greeniſh hue, he never failed to find
them; and thinks, that from their prefence alone,
the colour of the water in the firſt inftance univerfally
aroſe.
Σ
-
R
49
As Sir Benjamin was now more than ever embarraſſed Experiment
with fpun
with refpect to the ſhare the filk and other bodies em-
glaſs.
ployed in theſe experiments had in producing the air,
he made the following experiment to determine the
matter: "Concluding (fays he), that if filk and other
(A) In all theſe experiments, the quality of atmoſpheric air is ſuppoſed to be 100.
bodies,
i
Sect. III.
155
AERO
Y.
LOG
Dephlogif bodies, ufed in the foregoing experiments, actually did
ticated Air, not contribute any thing, confidered as chemical fub-
ftances, in the proceſs of the production of pure air
yielded by water; but if, on the contrary, they acted
merely as a mechanical aid in its feparation from the
water, by affording a convenient furface for the air to
attach itſelf to; in this caſe, any other body having a
large ſurface, and attracting air in water, might be
made uſe of inſtead of the filk in the experiment, and
pure air would be furniſhed, though the body ſhould
be totally incapable of communicating any thing what-
duced from
ever to the water.”
With a view to aſcertain this, the large globe being
made perfectly clean, and filled with fpring-water, he
introduced into it a quantity of the fine thread of glafs
commonly called Spun-glafs, fuch as is uſed for making
brush for cleaning jewels, and an artificial feather
fold by Jew pedlars. The refult of the experiment
was, that the globe being expofed in the fun, air-
bubbles began almoſt inftantly to make their appear-
ance on the furface, and in four hours 0.77 of a cu-
bic inch of air was procured, which, with nitrous air,
fhowed a quality of 88; after which, not a fingle glo-
bule more was produced, though the globe was expo-
fed for a whole week in fine ſunſhine weather. Hence
it appears, that ſomething more than mere furface was
wanted to produce dephlogiſticated air from water by
means of the fun's light.
50
Of the The following experiments were made with a view
quantity to determine the quantity and quality of air produced
and quality by means of the heat and light of the fun from water
of air pro- alone. A large jar of clear glafs, containing 455 cu-
water alone. bic inches, being wafhed very clean, was filled with
freſh ſpring water, inverted in a glaſs baſon of the
fame, and expoſed to the weather for 28 days. At the
ſame time, another fimilar jar was filled with water
taken from a pond in a garden in which many aquatic
plants were growing, and expofed in the fame place,
and during the fame period. The latter began to yield
air in pretty large quantities on the third day, and
continued to do fo till the 14th; the former yielded
little or none till the 14th, when it began to emit air,
and continued to do ſo till the 22d. On removing the
air produced, that from the fpring-water was 14 in-
ches in quantity, and 138 in quality; but from the
pond water, 31 in quantity, and 252 in quality. The
colour of the waters was not changed; but both of
them had depofited a confiderable quantity of earth,
which was found adhering to the ſurfaces of the glaſs
baſons in which the jars were inverted. As theſe ba-
fons, however, were very thick, and confequently had
but little tranſparency, the ſediment of the water was
in a great meaſure deprived of the benefit of the fun's
light; the experiment was therefore repeated with the
following variation: In a large cylindrical jar of very fine
tranſparent glaſs, 10 inches in diameter and 12 inches
high, filled with ſpring-water, a conical jar, 92 inches in
diameter at the bottom, and containing 344 inches,
was inverted, and the whole expoſed to the fun for
21 days. Little air was furniſhed till the 7th day,
when the liquor affumed a greeniſh caſt, and a fine
flimy ſediment of the ſame colour, the green matter of
Dr Priestley, beginning to be formed on the bottom,
air was generated in abundance, and was furniſhed in
pretty large quantities till the 18th, when it entirely
ceaſed. The whole amounted to 40 cubic inches, and Dephlogif-
the quality 213.
•
ticated Air.
houfz's
teſted.
Theſe are the principal experiments contained in Sir 51
Benjamin Thompfon's letter to Sir Jofeph Banks. Dr Ingen-
In his poftfcript he obſerves, that as he never was
thoroughly fatisfied with the opinion of Dr Ingenhoufz, theory con
that the dephlogiſticated air was elaborated in the vef-
fels of the plant, he found his doubts rather confirmed
than diminiſhed by the experiments above related.
"That the freſh leaves of certain vegetables (fays he),
expofed in water to the action of the fun's rays, caufe
a certain quantity of pure air to be produced, is a fact
which has been put beyond all doubt: but it does not
appear to me by any means fo clearly proved, that this
air is elaborated in the plant by the powers of vege-
tation,-phlogiſticated or fixed air being received by
the plant as food, and the dephlogiſticated air rejected
as an excrement:' for befides that many other ſub-
ftances, and in which no elaboration or circulation can
poffibly be ſuppoſed to take place, cauſe the water in
which they are expofed to the action of the light to
yield dephlogiſticated air as well as plants, and even in
much greater quantities, and of a more eminent qua-
lity; the circumftances of the leaves of a vegetable,
which, accuftomed to grow in air, are feparated from
its ftem and confined in water, are ſo unnatural, that I
cannot conceive that they can perform the fame func-
tions in fuch different fituations.
CC
Among many facts which have been brought in
fupport of the received opinion of the elaboration of
air in the veffels of plants, there is one upon which
great ftrefs is laid, which, I think, requires further ex-
amination. The freſh healthy leaves of vegetables,
feparated from the plant, and expoſed in water to the
action of the fun's rays, appear, by all the experiments
which have hitherto been made, to furniſh air only for
a ſhort time. After a day or two, the leaves, chan-
ging colour, ceaſe to yield air. This has been con-
ceived to arife from the powers of vegetation being de-
ffroyed, or, in other words, the death of the plant:
and from hence it has been inferred, with fome degree of
plauſibility, not only that the leaves actually retained
their vegetative powers for fome time after they were
feparated from their ſtock; but that it was in confe-
quence of the exertion of thoſe powers, that the air
yielded in the experiment was produced.
52
“ But I have found, that though the leaves, expo- Leaves of
fed in water to the action of light, actually do ceaſe plants re-
to furniſh air after a certain time, yet that they regain fume their
this power after a fhort interval, when they furnish (or property of
rather cauſe the water to furniſh) more and better air emitting
than at firſt; which can hardly be accounted for upon feeming to
the fuppofition that the air is elaborated in the veſſels have loſt it.
of the plant."
In confirmation of this doctrine, the globe of 46
inches was filled with freſh ſpring-water, and two peach-
leaves were expofed for 10 days to the fun. In four
days the water feemed to be entirely exhauſted; but,
next day, the water acquired a greenish colour, and
again produced air pretty plentifully, which appeared
in bubbles on the leaves; and on the 6th day, 0.34 of·
a cubic inch of air was produced, of the quality 2
232.
Next day it yieldedths of a cubic inch, of the quality
297. The three fucceeding days it yielded 14 inches, the
quality 307; after which an end was put to the expe-
U 2
riment.-
air, after
156
AEROLOGY.
Sect. III.
Dephlogif- riment.-On making other trials with leaves immerſed
ticated Ai: in water already green and prepared to yield dephlogi-
fticated air, it was found that they produced air in
great quantity: but our author is of opinion, that all
the appearances may be folved, by fuppofing that the
air was produced in the mafs of water by the green
matter; and that the leaves, filk, &c. did no more than
affift it in making its efcape, by affording a conveni-
ent furface to which it could attach itſelf, in order to
collect together and affume its elaſtic form.
53
Pure air
found infea-
water.
54
How to
procure
pure air in
large quan-
tity.
Thus we fee, that nature is provided with abundant
refources for the fupplying of this pure part of the at-
moſphere which is fubject to fuch continual wafte; and
there is not the leaſt doubt, that in a great number of
cafes the light of the fun produces pure air from wa-
ter as well as from vegetables. It is probable, alfo,
that even the waters of the ocean contribute towards
this falutary purpofe; as Dr Dobfon of Liverpool
found, that fea-water contained air fuperior in quality
to that of the atmoſphere. The purification of atmo-
fpherical air by agitating it in water, will be conſidered
in a fubfequent fection..
As dephlogiſticated air is found to fupport animal
life for a much longer time than common air, it has
been fuppofed that it might anſwer valuable purpoſes
in medicine, provided any cheap method of procuring
it in large quantities could be fallen upon. With this
view, Mr Cavallo propoſes to diſtil it from nitre with a
ftrong heat; but the experiments already related cer-
tainly point out an eafier method, free from the ex-
pence and trouble which muſt neceffarily attend every
chemical operation of this kind.
§ 2. Properties of Dephlogisticated Air.-This kind
of air poffeffes fome of the properties of common air in
a very eminent degree, but is deficient in others. Thoſe
in which it excels, are the ſupport of flame and of ani-
mal life. It is equally elaſtic, or rather more fo, than
common air; as it likewife exceeds it a little in ſpecific
gravity, the proportion betwixt it and common air
being that of 160 to 152. On introducing a lighted
candle into dephlogiſticated air, the flame not only
Dephlogif grows larger, but becomes exceedingly bright; and
ticated air when the air is very pure, the candle burns with a
produces in- crackling noife, as if the air contained ſome combufti-
genfe licat.
ble matter, at the fame time that the wax or tallow
waſtes ſurpriſingly faſt.
flammable
The heat of the flame is in proportion to its light.
If we fill a bladder with dephlogiſticated air, and then
faften to its neck a glafs tube whofe aperture is drawn
to a fine point, the dephlogiſticated air, if driven out
by preffing the bladder, will augment the heat of a
candle to fuch a degree, that if any ſmall bits of metal,
placed on a piece of charcoal, be held in the apex of
the flame, they will almoſt inſtantly be melted.. Even
grains of platina may by this means be melted; and in
a larger fire there is no doubt that the effects of burn-
ing mirrors might be equalled.
56
On mixing dephlogiſticated' and inflammable air to-
Explodes
violently gether,. an explofion takes place as on mixing com-
with in- mon and inflammable air, but with much greater vio-
lence. If an ounce vial, which for this purpoſe fhould
be very ſtrong, be filled with a little more than one-
third of dephlogiſticated and the reſt inflammable air,
and the flame of a candle prefented to its mouth, it
will explode nearly as loud as a fmall piftol.
air,
57
Burns ve-
All phlogiftic proceffes are promoted much better Dephlogif-
by dephlogifticated than: common air. Dr Prieftley ticated Airs
put a quantity of pyrophorus into one of the fmall jars
ufed for making experiments upon air in quickfilver;
then filling up the veffel with that fluid, he inverted it hemently
in a bafon of the fame, and threw in dephlogifticated with pyro-
air at different times. It always occafioned a fudden phorus.
and vehement accenfion, like the flafhing of gun-pow-
der, and the air was greatly diminifhed.
58
59
It has been, almoſt throughout all ages, believed, Common
that combuſtion in every inftance diminiſhed common air is not die
miniſhed by
air, or reduced it to a fmaller volume: but the late
burning.
experiments of Mr Lavoifier have fhown, that this is
a miſtake; and that in ordinary proceffes attended
with the production of fixed and phlogifticated air,
the quantity of vapour produced is equivalent to that
abforbed, or otherwife made to diſappear during the
operation. With dephlogifticated air the cafe is very
different. Mr Lavoifier having introduced a burning But deplilo.
candle into a glaſs jar filled with very pure air obtain- gifticated
ed from calcined mercury, a great heat took place; air fuffers
diminution.
which at firſt expelled a ſmall quanity of the air; but
afterwards, when the candle was extinguiſhed, it was
found that two-thirds of the bulk of air employed had
been converted into fixed air, or a quantity of this
kind of air equivalent to the former had been produ-
ced. The remainder, after taking up the fixed air by
cauftic alkali, was ſtill as pure as before. In the com-
mon proceffes, he obferves, that not more than one-
tenth of the air employed is converted into fixed air.
In this experiment, the fuperior gravity of fixed air,
and the confequent condenſation of the other, muſt
undoubtedly have produced fome diminution in the
volume of air, though Mr Lavoifier does not take no-
tice of it. In other cafes, however, the diminution
is much more perceptible. Mr Scheele having intro-
duced fome live coals into a matraſs filled with dephlo-
gifticated air, found that it was diminiſhed by one-
fourth of its quantity. Repeating the experiment
with fulphur, the flame became larger and more vivid
than in common air, and three-fourths of its quantity
were loft. Putting a piece of phoſphorus into ſeven
ounce-meaſures of this kind of air, ſtopping the mouth
of the bottle with a cork, and ſetting fire to the phof-
phorus within it, the vial broke in pieces, as foon as
the flame was extinguiſhed, by the preffure of the ex-
ternal air. Repeating the experiment with a ftronger
vial, and opening it afterwards under water, the fluid
ruſhed into it in fuch a manner as almoft to fill it en-
tirely. This extraordinary diminution was alſo per-
ceived on ſetting fire to inflammable air in the dephlo-
gifticated kind. The way in which he accompliſhed
this was, by filling a matrafs with dephlogiſticated air,.
and inverting it over a phial containing an effervefcing
mixture of vitriolic acid and iron-filings plunged into
a veffel of hot water, and furnished with a flender tube
reaching above the furface of the veffel, as reprefented
Plate VIII. fig. 2. The inflammable air iffuing fromr
the orifice of the fmall tube, was fet on fire previous
to the inverfion of the matrafs, and the mouth of the
latter immerſed in the water; on which that fluid foon
began to rife, and continued to do ſo till ſeven-eighths
of the veffel were full. In cafes of flow combuftion,
where common air is diminiſhed and phlogiſticated,
the dephlogiſticated kind was found to be almoft en-
tirely
!
Sect. III.
157
AEROLOG
A
Y.
1
with nitrous
air.
Dephlogif tirely deftroyed. A phial, containing 20 ounce mea-
ticated Air. fures of dephlogiſticated air, and inverted into a folu-
tion of hepar fulphuris, was entirely filled with the lat-
60 ter in the ſpace of two days.
Phenomena The purity of dephlogiſticated air is afcertained
of dephlo- by its degree of diminution with nitrous air; which,
giſticated like that of the diminution by liver of fulphur, or o-
therwife, is to be confidered as a phlogistic proceſs, or
kind of burning, eſpecially as a confiderable degree of
heat is thereby generated. Very great differences are
perceived in this refpect; and according to the quan-
tity of diminution, the air is faid to be two, three,
or four times better than common air. It is not yet
accurately determined how far this proportionable pu-
rity extends. Dr Priestley mentions fome extracted
from red lead five times as pure as common air. Another
quantity, produced from a folution of mercury in nitrous
acid, was fo pure, that one meaſure of it mixed with
two of nitrous air, which had been obtained in the
firſt part of the fame procefs, occupied only 0.03 of a
meafure. "" Repeating the experiment (fays he), I
found, that two meaſures of nitrous air were rather
more than ſufficient to faturate one meaſure of the de-
phlogiſticated air; fo that poffibly, had the former ex-
periment been made with more circumfpection, the di-
minution, extraordinary as it was, would have been
fomewhat greater.
Indeed it cannot be fuppofed,
that exactly two meaſures of nitrous air fhould be the
precife quantity that would afford the greateſt diminu-
tion. It ſhould alſo be confidered, that a fmall por-
tion of air might be yielded by the water in which the
experiments were made. Upon the whole, therefore,
I am inclined to think, that, were it poffible to make
both the dephlogiſticated and nitrous air in the greateſt
purity, and then to mix them in fome exact pro-
portion, the aerial form of them-both would be de-
ftroyed, the whole quantity feeming to diſappear, as
in the mixture of alkaline and acid air.”
Br
How de-
cated air
may be con-
taminated.
•
Notwithstanding this great degree of purity, the
phlogifti- beft dephlogiſticated air is capable of being contami-
nated by fome of the proceffes which affect the com-
mon air of our atmoſphere. Dr Prieſtley having in-
troduced a quantity of very dry, clean nails, into a re-
ceiver filled with dephlogiſticated air, and inverted it
in quickfilver, found, that about nine months after,
one-tenth of the whole quantity had diſappeared, tho'
he could not perceive any ruft upon the nails. The
effects of combuſtion have already been related, viz. as
producing a great quantity of pure fixed air; but pu-
trefaction and animal reſpiration probably contaminate
it in a manner fimilar to that of atmoſpherical air,
though few or no experiments feem to have been made
on this fubject. Mr Cavallo, however, informs us,
that "when an animal is confined in a quantity of de-
phlogiſticated air, and is kept therein till it dies, that
air is not rendered fo bad but that it will ftill be ca-
pable of confiderable diminution by nitrous air. This
feems to fhow, that dephlogiſticated air is fomewhat
different from pure common air; or that common air
is originally different from dephlogiſticated air, lowered
by the addition of phlogifton. The phenomenon is
certainly very remarkable; and ſometimes a quantity
of dephlogiſticated air, after having been breathed by
an animal till it died, will appear by the nitrous teft
to be even better than common air. When the expe-
•
ticated Air.
riment is performed over lime-water (to abforb the Dephlogif
fixed air produced in refpiration), the diminution by a
mixture of nitrous air is lefs than it would otherwife
be; but it is ſtill diminiſhed much more than common
air after an animal has died in it; which feems to in-
timate, that the death of the animal in dephlogiſtica-
ted air is principally owing to the fixed air formed by
the act of refpiration. It may be faid, that the in-
flammable principle difcharged through the lungs of
an animal, being perhaps combined with fome other
principle, requires a longer time to combine with the
dephlogiſticated air than the phlogiston of nitrous air;
but this is only an hypothetical explanation of the
abovementioned remarkable phenomenon, which re-
quires many direct proofs."
62
Dephlogiſticated air is much inferior to that of the Vegetation
common atmoſphere in ſupporting vegetable life. This ill fupport-
has been afcertained by the experiments of Dr Prieft- ed by de-
phlogifti-
ley, Mr Fontana, Mr Scheele, Dr Ingenhoufz, &c. cated air.
Dr Priestley took three fprigs of mint, and having put
all the roots into vials containing the fame pump-water
which had been for fome time expofed to the atmoſphere,
introduced one of them into a jar of dephlogiſticated
air, another into a jar of common air, and a third into
that which had been phlogiſticated with nitrous air fe-
veral months before, and in ſuch a ſtate, that one
meaſure of it, and one of nitrous air, occupied the
fpace of 1 meafures. This was done in April; and
on examining them on the 12th of May following, it
was found, that the plant in phlogiſticated air had
grown remarbably, much better than that in common
air; while the plant in dephlogiſticated air had a very
fickly appearance. Examining them on the 26th of the
fame month, the appearance continued nearly as before;
but it was now found, that though the plant in phlo-
gifticated air had grown fo well, the air was not fen-
fibly improved by it, though the dephlogiſticated air
was injured by the plant which grew in it.
Dr
$ 3. Of the Compofition of Dephlogifticated Air.
63
When Dr Priestley firft diſcovered the exiſtence of this Dr Prieft-
fluid, having found that it was always procured by ley's firſt
means of earthy fubftances; and that as it came over; hypothefis,
the bubbles appeared full of fine white powder; he
concluded, that it is compofed of the nitrous acid and
earth, with as much phlogifton as is neceffary to its
elafticity; and that the common atmoſphere has as
much more as is neceffary to bring it into the mean
condition in which we find it. It was not long, how-
ever, before this theory met with oppofition.
Priestley himſelf, though induced, from the wafte of
the folid matter uſed in his experiments, to conclude
that the air contained fome quantity of earth, was
nevertheleſs unable, by any method he could think of,
to aſcertain that.quantity. His experiments were op-
pofed by others made by Lavoifier; who infifted, that Difference
when folution of mercury was carefully diftilled, the betwixt Dr
metal was obtained in full quantity, or with fearce Priestley,
any lofs, notwithſtanding the dephlogiſticated air pro- fier, &c.
duced. This gentleman having put two ounces and
one drachm of mercury into red precipitate, and after-
wards revived it, loft a very few grains of the metal
which, he fays, might be the weight of a little red
matter that was found adhering to the neck of the
veffel. The fame thing was obſerved by Mr Fontana,
who repeated the experiment often with leſs than a
;
64
Mr Lavoi..
grain
158
A E
Sect. III.
ROLOGY.
!
De blogf grain weight of lofs. The veffel he uſed had a neck
ticated Air of about two feet long: and he particularly remarks,
that, in order to fucceed in this experiment, the fire
fhould be managed with very great dexterity; for if
that be too ſtrong, part of the precipitate will be vo‐
latilized, and then the refult of the experiment is pre-
carious.
In one
Thefe experiments were oppofed by others made by
Dr Priestley, who in feveral trials found that a confi-
derable quantity of the metal was always loft.
of thefe experiments, out of 11 pennyweights 10
grains of mercury, the lofs amounted to one penny
weight two grains. In another experiment, 88 grains
were loft, out of a quantity of red precipitate, in the
preparation of which half an ounce of mercury had
heen employed. The quantity of mercury loft in his
experiments, or rather the proportion of it to that of
the metal employed, was always various, and the dif-
ference not very fmall; whence Mr Cavallo and others,
not be pro- with great appearance of reafon, conclude, that the
ved to exift true reafon of any perceptible lofs was the ftrong heat
in dephilo- made uſe of in the diſtillation, and conſequently that
gisticated
air. there is no reafon to fuppofe that any earth exifts in
dephlogiſticated air.
65
Farth can-
66
Whether
The next queſtion was, Whether any of the nitrous
acid exifted in dephlogiſticated air? That it contains
none in a proper ftate of acidity, is indeed evident from
many decifive experiments; but an idea was naturally
entertained, that in the formation of dephlogiſticated
air the nitrous acid was decompofed, and part of it en-
tered into the compofition of the aerial fluid. This
the nitrous gave rife to the theories of Mr Lavoifier and Mr
Kirwan, which are noticed under the article ACID;
as alfo the experiments of Mr Watt, which tend-
ed to fhow that no nitrous acid was deſtroyed in
the compofition of dephlogiſticated air. To thefe
Mr Kirwan replied in the manner related in that ar-
ticle. We fhall here, however, give a quotation from
Dr Prieſtley as a kind of addition to Mr Watt's tefti-
mony on this head, ſo that the reader may be the bet-
ter able to determine the weight of the evidence on
both fides.
acid enters
i's compofi-
tion.
“At Mr Watt's requeſt (fays he), I endeavoured to
afcertain the quantity of acid that was expelled from
nitre, in procuring the dephlogifticated air from it.
To do this, I put two ounces of purified nitre into a
glafs retort, and receiving the air in 300 ounce mea-
fures of water, only filled each recipient half full, and
agitated the air very much in the water, in order to
make the fluid imbibe as much as poffible of the acid
it contained. Notwithſtanding this agitation, however,
every veſſel of the air retained a ſtrong ſmell of the acid.
The moment the air ceafed to come, I filled a large
phial with the water, and carried it to Mr Watt, who
carefully examined it; and in a paper which he prefent-
ed to the Royal Society, and which is publiſhed in the
Philofophical Tranfactions, he has given an account of
the quantity of acid that was contained in all the 300
ounces of water: whence it may be fairly inferred,
that there was no occafion to fuppofe that any of the
acid entered into the compofition of the air; but that
it was all either rendered volatile or retained in the
water." On the other hand, the Abbé Fontana in-
forms us, that, in diftilling an ounce of nitre with a
ſtrong heat, in order to expel dephlogiſticated air from
ticated Air,
it, only a few grains of weak nitrous acid are obtain- Dephlogif-
ed, more or lefs as the fire applied is weak or ſtrong :
but that the quantity of dephlogiſticated air extricated
from it follows the contrary rule; being greateſt when
the heat is moſt violent and fuddenly applied, and leſs
when the fire is gradually applied.
67
On calcining metals in dephlogiſticated air, very fin- Dephlogif-
gular phenomena are obſerved, which feem to throw ticated air
great light upon the compofition of this fluid.
"One
imbibed by
calces of
of the moft fimple of all phlogiftic proceffes (fays Dr metals.
Priestley), is that in which metals are melted in dephlo-
gifticated air. I therefore began with this, with a
view to afcertain whether any water be produced when
the air is made to difappear in it. Accordingly, into
a glafs veffel, containing feven ounce-meafures of pretty
pure dephlogiſticated air, I introduced a quantity of
iron turnings, which is iron in thin fmall pieces, ex-
ceedingly convenient for thefe and many other expe-
riments, having previouſly made them, together with
the veffel, the air, and the mercury by which it was
confined, as dry as I poffibly could. Alſo to prevent
the air from imbibing any moiſture, I received it im-
mediately in the veffel in which the experiment was
made, from the procefs of procuring it from red pre-
cipitate, fo that it had never been in contact with any
water. I then fired the iron by means of a burning
lens, and prefently reduced the feven ounce-meaſures
to 0.65 of a meaſure; but I found no more water af-
ter this proceſs than I imagined it had not been poffi-
ble for me to exclude, as it bore no proportion to the
air which had difappeared. Examining the refiduum
of the air, I found one-fifth of it to be fixed air; and
when I tried the purity of that which remained by
the teft of nitrous air, it did not appear that any phlo-
gifticated air had been produced in the procefs: for
though it was more impure than I ſuppoſe the air with
which I began the experiment must have been, it was
not more ſo than the phlogifticated air of the ſeven
ounce-meaſures, which had not been affected by the
proceſs, and which must have been contained in the
refiduum, would neceffarily make it. In this cafe, one
meaſure of this refiduum, and two of nitrous air, oc-
cupied the ſpace of 0.32 of a meaſure. In another
experiment of this kind, ten ounce-meaſures of de-
phlogiſticated air were reduced to 0.8 of a meafure, and
by waſhing in lime-water to 0.38 of a meaſure.
another experiment, 7 ounce-meafures of dephlogifti-
cated air were reduced to half an ounce-meaſure, of
which one-fifth was fixed air, and the refiduum was
quite as pure as the air with which I began the expe-
riment; the teft with nitrous air, in the proportions.
above mentioned, giving 0.4 in both caſes.
In
pro-
"In thefe experiments the fixed air muft, I pre-
fume, have been formed by the union of the phlogifton
from the iron and dephlogiſticated air in which it was
ignited; but the quantity of it was very ſmall in
portion to the air which had diſappeared; and at that
time I had no fufpicion that the iron, which had been
melted and gathered into round balls, could have im-
bibed it; a melting heat having been fufficient, as I
had imagined, to expel every thing that was capable
of affuming the form of air from any fubftance what-
ever. Senfible, however, that fuch a quantity of air
muſt have been imbibed by ſomething, to which it muſt
have given a very perceptible addition of weight, and
feeing
Sect. III.
159
AEROL
ROLO OGY.
ticated Air.
iron.
G
Dephlogif- feeing nothing else that could have imbibed it, it oc-
curred to me to weigh the calx into which the iron
68 had been reduced; and I prefently found, that the
Dephlogif- dephlogiſticated air had actually been imbibed by the
ticated air melted iron, in the fame manner as inflammable air
imbibed by had been imbibed by the melted calces of metals in my
former experiments, however improbable fuch an ab-
forption might have appeared à priori. In the firft
inftance, about twelve ounce-meaſures of dephlogifti-
cated air had diſappeared, and the iron had gained fix
grains in weight. Repeating the experiment very fre-
quently, I always found that other quantities of iron,
treated in the ſame manner, gained fimilar additions of
weight, which was always very nearly that of the air
which had diſappeared.
69
Is capable
atmo-
fphere.
Concluding from the preceding experiments, that
of taking it iron, fufficiently heated, was incapable of faturating it-
up from the felf with pure air from the atmoſphere, I then pro-
ceeded to melt it with the heat of a burning lens in
the open air; and I prefently found, that perfect iron
was eaſily capable of being fuſed in this way, and con-
tinued in this fufion a certain time, exhibiting the ap-
pearance of boiling or throwing out air; whereas it
was, on the contrary, imbibing air; and, when it was
faturated, the fufion ceaſed, and the heat of the lens
could make no farther impreffion upon it. When this
was the cafe, I always found that it had gained weight
in the proportion of 7 to 24, which is very nearly
one-third of the original weight. The fame was the
effect when I melted ſteel in the fame circumftances,
and alſo every kind of iron on which the experiment
could be tried. But I have reafon to think, that with
a greater degree of heat than I could apply, the iron
might have been kept in a ſtate of fufion ſomewhat
longer, and by that means have imbibed more than
90 even one-third of its original weight.
Remark-
2
menon at-
"There was a peculiar circumftance attending the
able pheno- melting of caft iron with a burning lens, which ren-
dered it impoffible to afcertain the addition that was
tending the
melting of made to its weight, and at the fame time afforded an
caft-iron. amufing fpectacle: for the moment that any quantity
of it was melted, and gathered into a round ball, it
began to diſperſe in a thouſand directions, exhibiting
the appearance of a moſt beautiful fire-work; fome of
the particles flying to the diſtance of half a yard from
the place of fufion; and the whole was attended with
a confiderable hiffing noiſe. Some of the largeft pie-
ces, which had been difperfed in this manner, I was
able to collect, and having fubjected them to the heat
of the lens, they exhibited the fame appearance as the
larger maſs from which they had been ſcattered.
78
Formation
of water
When this caft iron was melted in the bottom of
a deep glafs receiver, in order to collect all the par.
ticles that were diſperſed, they firmly adhered to the
glafs, melting it fuperficially, though without making
it crack, ſo that it was ftill impoffible to collect and
weigh them. However, I generally found, that, not-
withſtanding the copious difperfion, what remained af-
ter the experiment rather exceeded than fell ſhort of
the original weight of the iron.'
-
">
On attempting to revive this calx of iron in infiam-
from de- mable air, a very new and unexpected appearance took
phlogifti place. Having put a piece of iron faturated with pure
cated and air into a veffel filled with inflammable air confined by
inflam-
water, the inflammable air diſappeared and the metal
mable air..
-
3.
-
ticated Air.
was revived; but on weighing it, he found that 2 Dej hlogi-
grains out of 11 had been loft, befides the 7½ ounce-
meaſures of inflammable air which had vaniſhed. Con-
fidering all thefe circumftances, the Doctor had now
no doubt that the two kinds of air had united and
formed either fixed air or water; and with a view to
determine this point, he repeated the experiment in a
veffel where the inflammable was confined by mercury,
both the veffel and mercury having been previouſly
made as dry as poffible. In thefe circumſtances he had
no fooner begun to heat the iron, than the air was
perceived to diminiſh, and at the fame time the infide
of the veffel to become cloudy, with particles of dew
that covered almoft the whole of it. Theſe particles
by degrees gathered into drops, and ran down in all
places, excepting thoſe which were heated by the fun-
beams. On collecting the water produced in this ex-
periment, by means of a piece of filtering paper care-
fully introduced to abſorb it, he found it to be as near-
ly as poffible of the fame weight with that which had
been loft by the iron; and alfo in every experiment of
this kind, in which he attended to the circumſtance,
he found that the quantity of inflammable air which Quantity
had diſappeared was about double that of the dephlo- in this man-
gifticated air fet loofe in the operation, fuppofing
that weight to have been reduced into air. Thus, at
one time, a piece of this flag abforbed 5 ounce mea-
fures of inflammable air, while it loft the weight of
about three ounce-meafures of dephlogiſticated air,
and the water collected weighed two grains. Another
time a piece of flag loft 1.5 grains, and the water pro-
duced was 1.7 grains. In a third cafe, where 6½ ounce-
meaſures of inflammable air were reduced to 0.92 of
a meaſure, the iron had loſt the weight of 3.3 ounce--
meaſures of dephlogiſticated air, or nearly two grains.
72
produced
ner.
73
The Doctor having fucceeded fo well with iron, next Experi-
tried the calx of copper, or thoſe ſcales which fly offments with
from it by hammering whilft it is red-hot; and found copi er, &c.
water produced in the inflammable air in the fame
manner as when the fcales of iron were uſed. On
ufing precipitate per fe, he imagined at firſt that water
was obtained from this fubftance alfo; but on repeat-
ing the experiment to more advantage, he found no-
more water than might be ſuppoſed to have been con--
tained as an extraneous fubftance either in the inflam-
mable air or in the red precipitate. With iron, how-
ever, the cafe was vaftly different. As the Doctor
had formerly fatisfied himſelf that inflammable air al-
ways contains a portion of water, and alſo that when
it has been fome time confined by water it imbibes
more, fo as to be increafed in its fpecific gravity by
that means, he repeated the experiment with inflam-
mable air which had not been confined by that fluid,
but was received in a veffel of dry mercury from the
veffel in which it had been generated; but in this cafe the-
water was produced, to appearance, as copiously as in the
former experiment. “Indeed (fays he), the quantity
of water produced, fo greatly exceeding the weight of
all the inflammable air, is fufficient to prove that it
muſt have had fame. other fource than any conítituent.
part of that air, or the whole of it, together with
the water contained in it, without taking into confi-
deration the correfponding lofs of weight in the iron.
"I muft here obferve, that the iron flag which I
had treated in this manner, and which had thereby loft
the
або
AERO
Sect. III.
LOG Y.
ticated Air.
74
Iron may
Dephlogif the weight which it had acquired in dephlogiſticated
air, became perfect iron as at firft, and was then ca-
pable of being melted by the burning lens again; fo
that the fame piece of iron would ferve for thefe ex-
he made to periments as long as the operator should chooſe. It
imbibe de- was evident, therefore, that if the iron had loft its
phlogifti- phlogiſton in the preceding fufion, it had acquired it
again from the inflammable air which it had abſorbed ;
and I do not fee how the experiment can be accounted
for in any other way.”
cated air as
often as we
pleaſe.
75
Experi-
ments of
water.
As thefe experiments of Dr Pricftley tend very
much to throw ſome light on the compofition of de-
Mr Caven- phlogiſticated air, we ſhall here give an account of
dith, &c. on
fome others made by Mr Cavendish, as well as thofe
of Dr Priestley and the French chemifts, upon water:
From all which it is concluded by the moſt celebrated
philofophers and chemifts, That dephlogiſticated air is
one of the conftituent and elementary parts of water,
inflammable air being the other; though the opinion
is ftill contefted by fome foreign chemiſts.
Poil. Tranf.
"As there feemed great reafon," fays Mr Caven-
ixxiv. 125. diſh," to think, from Dr Prieſtley's experiments, that
the nitrous and vitriolic acids were convertible into de-
phlogiſticated air, I tried whether the dephlogiſticated
part of common air might not be converted into nitrous
or vitriolic acid." For this purpofe he impregnated
fome milk of lime with the fumes of burning fulphur,
by burning 122 grains of fulphur in a large glafs re-
ceiver, in which fome lac calcis was included. No
nitrous falt, nor any thing befides felenite, was pro-
duced in the proceſs. Neither was any nitrous acid
produced by phlogiſticating common air with liver of
fulphur, or by treating dephlogiſticated air in the fame
manner. The liver of fulphur uſed in theſe experi-
ments was made with lime; and the only obfervation
made on this occafion was, that the ſelenite produced
was much more ſoluble in water than when made with
dephlogiſticated vitriolic acid.
+6
Whether
ac.do
ticated Air.
about two grains, though the veffel was ftopped in Dephlogif-
fuch a manner that no air could eſcape by the explo-
fion. It is alſo related, that on repeating the experi-
ment, in glaſs veffels, the infide of the glafs, though
clean and dry before, immediately became dewy;
which confirmed an opinion he had long entertained,
that common air depofites its moiſture by phlogiſtica-
tion. The experiment, however, did not fucceed with
Mr Cavendish, at leaſt with regard to the lofs of weight;
which never exceeded the fifth part of a grain, and 78
commonly was nothing at all. In thefe experiments Quantity of
the greateft care was taken to obferve with accuracy mable air
the diminution of air by the explofion, and quality of neceffary to
the remainder; from which it appeared, that 423 mea- phlogiſti-
fures of inflammable air were nearly fufficient to phlo- cate com-
gifticate 1000 of common air, and that the bulk of mon air.
air remaining after the explosion is very little more
than four-fifths of the common air employed; whence
he concludes, that "when they are mixed in this pro-
portion, almoſt all the inflammable, and about one-fifth
of the common air, lofe their elafticity, and are con-
denfed into the dew which lines the glaſs."
2
To examine more exactly the nature of this dew,
500,000 grain-meaſures of inflammable air were burnt
with about 2 times the quantity of common air, and
the burnt air was made to paſs through a glaſs cylinder
eight feet long and three-fourths of an inch in diame-
ter, in order to depofite the dew. The two airs were
conveyed flowly into this cylinder by feparate copper
pipes, paffing through a braſs plate which ſtopped up
one end of the cylinder; and as neither inflammable nor
common air can burn by themſelves, there was no dan-
ger of the flame fpreading to the magazines from which
they were conveyed. Each of theſe magazines con-
fifted of a large tin veffel inverted into another juſt big
enough to receive it. The inner veffel communicated
with the copper pipe, and the air was forced out of it
by pouring water into the outer veffel; and in order
that the quantity of common air expelled fhould be
2 times that of the inflammable air, the water was
let into the outer veffels by two holes in the bottom of
the fame tin pan; the hole which conveyed the water
into that veffel in which the common air was confined
being 2 times as big as the other. In trying the ex-
periments, the magazines being first filled with their
refpective airs, the glaſs cylinder was taken off, and
water let by the two holes into the outer veffels, till
the airs began to iffue from the ends of the copper
pipes; they were then fet on fire by a candle, and the
cylinder put on again in its place. By this means up-
wards of 135 grains of water were left in the cylinder,
which had no tafte nor fmell, and which left no per-
ceptible ſediment on being evaporated to drynefs; nei-
ther did it yield any pungent fmell during the evapo-
87ration; in ſhort, it feemed
Teemed pure water. In one of his
experiments a little footy matter was perceived, but it
was found to proceed from the luting. On repeating
the experiment with dephlogiſticated, inftead of com-
mon air, the produce was nitrous acid.
To try whether any vitriolic acid was produced by
the phlogif the phlogiſtication of air, 50 ounces of diſtilled water
tication of were impregnated with the fumes produced on mixing
air produces
vitriolic 52 ounce-meaſures of nitrous air with a quantity of
common air fufficient to decompound it. This was
done by filling a bottle with ſome of this water, and
inverting it into a baſon of the ſame; and then by a fy-
phon, letting in as much nitrous air as filled it half full;
after which, common air was added flowly by the fame
fyphon, till the nitrous air was decompounded. When
this was done, the diftilled water was further impreg-
nated in the fame manner till the whole quantity of
nitrous air was employed. The impregnated water
was fenfibly acid to the taſte; and on diftillation yield-
ed firft phlogisticated nitrous acid, then water, and
laftly a very acid liquor confifting of dephlogiſticated
nitrous acid. By faturation with falt of tartar,
grains of nitre, without any mixture of vitriolated tar-
tar, or other vitriolic falt, were obtained.
ๆๆ
Nitrous acid
produced
from de-
phlogiſti-
cated and
inflam-
mable air.
Thefe experiments having proved unfuccefsful, Mr
Cavendish next proceeded to try the effects of explo-
ding dephlogiſticated and inflammable air together in
clofe veffels. He begins with relating an experiment
of Dr Prieſtley; in which, it was faid, that on firing
a mixture of common and inflammable air by electri-
city, in a clofe copper veffel holding about three pints,
a lofs of weight was always perceived, on an average
N° 4.
The following conclufion is drawn by Mr Cavendiſh
from all thefe experiments: "There feem two ways
by which the production of the nitrous acid, in the
manner above-mentioned, may be explained: firſt, by
fuppofing that dephlogiſticated air contains a little ni-
trous acid, which enters into it as one of its component
parts;
inflam-
1
Sect. III.
161
AERO
L OGY.
79
ments,
Dephlogif parts; and that this acid, when the inflammable air is
ticated Air. in fufficient proportion, unites to the phlogifton, and is
turned into phlogiſticated air, but does not when the
Concluſions inflammable air is in too ſmall proportion: and, fecond-
from theſe ly, by fuppofing that there is no nitrous acid mixed
experi-
with or entering into the compofition of dephlogifti-
cated air; but that, when the air is in ſufficient propor-
tion, part of the dephlogiſticated air with which it is
debafed is, by the ftrong affinity of phlogifton to de-
phlogiſticated air, deprived of its phlogifton, and turn-
ed into nitrous acid; whereas, when the dephlogifti-
cated air, is not more than fufficient to confume the in-
flammable air, none then remains to deprive the phlo-
gifticated air of its phlogifton, and turn it into acid.-
If the latter explanation be true, I think we muſt al-
low that dephlogiſticated air is in reality nothing but
dephlogifticated water, or water deprived of its phlo-
gifton; or, in other words, that water confifts of de-
phlogiſticated air united to phlogiften. On the other
hand, if the former explanation be true, we muſt ſup-
pofe, that dephlogiſticated air confifts of water united
to a little nitrous acid, and deprived of its phlogiſton;
but ſtill the nitrous acid in it muſt only make a very
fmall part of the whole, as it is found that the phlo-
gifticated air into which it is converted is very fmall
in compariſon of the dephlogiſticated air. I think the
fecond of theſe explanations feems much the more like
Jy; as it was found that the acid in the condenfed li-
quor was of the nitrous kind, not only when the de-
phlogiſticated air was prepared from nitrous acid, but
when procured from plants or turbith mineral. Ano-
ther ſtrong argument in favour of this opinion is, that
dephlogiſticated air yields no nitrous acid when phlo-
giſticated by liver of fulphur; for if this air contains
nitrous acid, and yields it when phlogiſticated by ex-
ploſion with inflammable air, it is very extraordinary
that it fhould not do fo by other means. But what
forms a ſtronger, and, I think, almoſt decifive argu-
ment in favour of this explanation, is, that when the
dephlogiſticated air is very pure, the condensed liquor
is made much more ſtrongly acid by mixing the air to
be exploded with a little phlogiſticated air.'
80
Dr Prieft-
ments.
The experiments of Dr Priestley alluded to were
ley's experi- thofe in which inflammable air was fuppofed by Mr
Lavoifier to be procured from water by paffing its
fteam through red-hot iron tubes. It was foon difco-
vered, however, by Dr Prieſtley, that this inflammable
air did not proceed from the water, but from the iron of
the tube; and might be obtained by tranfmitting aqueous
vapour through charcoal or iron placed in tubes of cop-
per, glaſs, or earthen ware, made red-hot, but not
through theſe tubes by themfelves. In this cafe, the
lofs of the water employed exceeded that of the inflam-
mable air produced in the proportion of 1.3 to 2; and
the iron which had thus abforbed the water, appeared
exactly fimilar to that which had been burned in de-
phlogiſticated air in the manner already related. His
conclufions from thence are thefe: "Since iron gains
His opinion the fame addition of weight by being melted in de-
concerning phlogifticated air, and alfo by the addition of water
fition of VOL. I. Part I.
81
the compo-
water.
ticated Air,
when red hot, and becomes, as I have already obfer- Dephlogif-
ved, the fame fubftance in all refpects, it is evident that
this air or water, as exifting in the iron, is the very
fame thing; and this can hardly be explained but on
the fuppofition that water confiſts of two kinds of air,
viz. inflammable and dephlogiſticated."
Of theſe proceffes he gives the following explana-
tion: "When iron is heated in dephlogiſticated air, we
may ſuppoſe, that, though part of its phlogifton eſcapes,
to enter into the compofition of the ſmall quantity of
fixed air which is then procured, yet enough remains
to form water with the dephlogiſticated air which it
has imbibed, fo that this calx confifts of the intimate
union of the pure earth of iron and of water; and
therefore, when the fame calx, thus faturated with wa-
ter, is expofed to heat in inflammable air, this air en-
ters into it, deſtroys the attraction between the water
and the earth, and revives the iron, while the water is
expelled in its proper form."
The whole of the Doctor's opinions on the compo-
nent parts of this kind of air, however, are fummed up Obferv. and
in the following fentence in his Obfervations relating to Exper. vi.
Theory." The only kind of air that is now thought 402.
to be properly elementary, and to confift of a fimple
fubftance, is dephlogifticated air; with the addition at
leaft of the principle of heat, concerning which we know
very little; and as it is not probable that this adds any
thing to the weight of bodies, it can hardly be called
an element in their compofition. Dephlogifticated air
appears to be one of the elements of water, of fixed
air, of all the acids, and many other fubftances, which,
till lately, have been thought to be fimple."
82
Experi-
ments of
The experiments of the French philofophers were of
the fame nature with thoſe of Mr Cavendish, but con-
ducted on a larger fcale. The inference drawn from the Frenck
them was the fame with that already mentioned, viz. philoſo-
that dephlogiſticated and inflammable air in all cafes phers.
are the two conftituent parts of water. This opinion
is adopted by Mr Kirwan in his Treatife on Phlogifton. 83
"The experiments of Mr Cavendish, and of Mr Mr Kir
Monge," fays he, "appear to me to leave no room to wan's con-
doubt, that when very pure dephlogifticated and in-
flammable air are inflamed, the product is mere wa-
ter (A); for when theſe airs are employed in the pro-
per proportion, only 0.02 of the mixture of both airs
retains its aërial form. Now it is impoffible to ſuppoſe
that all the water obtained pre-exiſted in theſe airs ;
that is, that 49 parts in 50 were mere water.
from them.
Notwithstanding thefe pofitive conclufions, however, 84
by fome of the moſt refpectable names in this country, The forego-
the evidences adduced have been unfatisfactory to fome ing theories
not altoge-
French chemifts; who maintain, that Meffrs Caven- ther fatis-
difh, Priestley, and Kirwan, are totally miſtaken with factory.
regard to the production of water from dephlogifticated
and inflammable air; contending, that the water ob-
tained had previouſly exifted in the air, and was not
originally produced in the eperation. The fact, in-
deed, becomes fomewhat dubious from fome experiments
related by Dr Pricftley himſelf, and of which we ſhall
now proceed to give an account.
X
One
(A) The experiments of Mr Cavendish fhow that nitrous acid is the product in this cafe. He takes notice of
the difference between the refult of the French experiments and his, but afcribes it to their uſing inflammable
air prepared from charcoal: His was from zinc.
162
Sect. III.
AEROLOGY.
ments.
Dephlogif- One confequence of the hypothefis in queftion is evi-
ticated Air. dent, that if water really be produced by the dephlagra-
tion of either dephlogiſticated or common air with in-
85 flammable air, the quantity of liquid obtained ought to
Difficulties increaſe in proportion to the quantity of the two airs
arifing in confumed, and that without any limitation. This,
fome of Dr
however, is not the cafe, as Dr Priestley has obferved.
Priestley's
experi
He had fucceeded indeed with ſcales of iron and cop-
per, as has already been related; and in the experiment
with the latter, the production of water was fo copious,
that when only 3 ounce-meaſures of air were abforb-
ed, the water ſtood in drops on the infide of the veffel,
and fome of thefe ran down it.
Water was alfo pro-
cured by firing dephlogiſticated and inflammable air
from iron by the electric ſpark in a cloſe veſſel, an ex-
periment fimilar to thoſe made by Mr Lavoifier at Pa-
ris. In his firſt experiment he put 3.75 ounce mea-
fures of a mixture of air, of which one-third was de-
phlogiſticated and two-thirds inflammable air from
iron, in a cloſe veffel, and, after the exploſion, found in
it one grain of moiſture; but on repeating the experi-
ment with half as much dephlogiſticated as inflammable
air, he could perceive no ſign of moiſture. The greateſt
difficulty, however, which he ſays he ever met with re-
ſpecting the preceding theory, arofe from his never ha-
ving been able to procure any water when he revived
red precipitate in inflammable air, or at leaft no more
than might have been fuppofed to be contained in the
inflammable air as an extraneous ſubſtance.
In order to make the experiments with the fcales of
iron and that with the red precipitate as much alike
as poffible, and compare them both to the greateſt ad-
vantage, he made them one immediately after the other,
with every circumſtance as nearly the fame as he could.
The inflammable air was the fame in both experiments,
and both the ſcales of iron and red precipitate were
made as dry as poffible. They were heated in veffels
of the fame fize and form, and equally confined by dry
mercury; and yet, with the former, water was produced
as copiouſly as before, viz. running down the infide of
the veffel in drops, when only four ounce-meaſures of
inflammable air were abforbed; but though he heated
the red precipitate till eight ounce-meaſures of the in-
flammable air were abforbed, and only 0.75 of an ounce-
meaſure remained, there was hardly any fenfible quan-
tity of water produced, "certainly," fays he, "not
one-tenth of what appeared in the experiment with the
fcales of iron. In this experiment there can be no
doubt but that the dephlogiſticated air produced from
the red precipitate united with the inflammable air in
the veffel; and as no water equal to the weight of the
two kinds of air was produced, they muſt have formed
fome more folid fubftance, which, in the fmall quantities
I was obliged to ufe, could not be found.
pro-
"The difficulty, with reſpect to what becomes of
the two kinds of air, was not leffened by the attempts
which I made to collect all that I could from repeated
decompofitions of inflammable and dephlogiſticated air
in a clofe veffel. As I had produced water in this
ceſs when no more than a ſingle exploſion was made at
a time, I thought that by continuing to make explo-
fions in the fame veffel, the water would not fail to ac-
cumulate till any quantity might be collected; and I
intended to have collected a confiderable part of an
ounce. And as I fhould know exactly what quantity
ticated Air.
of air I decompofed, I had no doubt of being able to Dephlogif-
aſcertain the proportion that the water and air bore to
each other. With this view a mixture was made of a
large quantity of air, one-third dephlogiſticated and
two-thirds inflammable, from iron and oil of vitriol.
But though I had a fenfible quantity of water at the
firſt exploſion (in each of which between four and five
ounce-meafures of the mixture of air were uſed), I was
furpriſed to perceive no very fenfible increaſe of the
quantity of water on repeating the exploſions. Having
therefore expended 48 ounce-meaſures of the mixture,.
the procefs was difcontinued; and, collecting the wa-
ter with all the care that I could, I found no more
than three grains, when there ought to have been
eleven.
86
water.
"In this procefs the infide of the veffel was always
very black after each exploſion; and when I poured in
the mercury after the exploſion, though there was no-
thing viſible in the air within the veffel, there iffued
from the mouth of it a denſe vapour. This was the Inconden-
cafe, though I waited fo long as two minutes after any fible vapour
explofion, before I proceeded to put in more mercury arifing from
in order to make another; which, if the vapour had
been ſteam, would have been time more than fufficient
to permit it to condenſe into water. I even perceived
this vapour when I had a quantity of water in the vef-
fel, and the exploſion was confequently made over it,
as well as in contact with the fides of the veffel which
were wetted with it; fo that, as this vapour had paſ-
fed through the whole body of water when the veſſel
was inverted, it is probable that it muſt have confifted
of fomething elſe than mere water. But I was never
able to collect any quantity of it, though it muſt have
been ſomething produced by the union of the two kinds
of air."
In order to collect a quantity of this vapour, he con-
trived an apparatus, which, by diffuſing it through a
thin glaſs veffel, he fuppofed would condenſe all the
contents whether fluid or folid; but after repeating the
experiment as carefully as poffible, by taking 20 ex-
plofions, and repeating the whole feveral times over, he
could find nothing in the veffel befides a ſmall quantity
of water, which, added to that in the ftrong veffel,
came far fhort of the weight of the air that was decom-
pofed.
87
"All the conjecture," fay he, " that I can advance,
in order to explain this phenomenon is, that fince foot Priestley's
yields pure air, part of the foot is formed by the union conjecture
of the dephlogifticated air in the atmoſphere, and the this vapour.
concerning
inflammable air of the fuel: but fmoke, which contains
much foot, is foon diſperſed, and becomes invifible in
the open air. Such, therefore, may be the cafe here.
The foot formed by the union of the two kinds of air,
may be diffuſed through the air, in the veffel in which
they are exploded, and be carried invifibly into the
common atmoſphere; which may account for my not
being able to collect any quantity of it in this appa-
ratus.'
Not difcouraged by this bad fuccefs, the Doctor at- 88
tempted to collect this volatile matter by means of a Unfuccefs-
quantity of water incumbent upon the mercury in the ful attempts
ftrong glafs veffel in which the explofions were made,
to collect ite
though he had found that part of it could eſcape
through the water. He decompofed a great quantity of
the two kinds of air in theſe circumſtances; and pre-
fently
Sect. IV.
163
AEROLOG
Y.
Dephlogif fently found that the water became very cloudy, and
ticated Air. was at length filled with a blackiſh matter. This he
collected, and found that it remained perfectly black
upon the earthen veffel in which the water containing
it was evaporated; which would not have been the
cafe if the blackiſh matter in the water had been that
powder of mercury which is produced by agitating it in
pure water: For that black mafs always became white
running mercury the moment the water was evaporated
from it. If a fufficient quantity of this matter could
have been procured, he could have fatisfied himſelf
whether it was foot or not.
89
Water in
confider-
able quan-
flammable
"That water, in great quantities (fays he), is fome-
times produced from burning inflammable and dephlo-
gifticated air, is evident from the experiments of Meffrs
tity obtain- Cavendish and Lavoifier. I have alfo frequently collect-
ed from de- ed confiderable quantities of water in this way, though
phlogistica- never quite fo much as the weight of the two kinds of
ted and in- air decompofed. My apparatus for this purpoſe was
air. the following: Into the mouth of a large glaſs bal-
See Plate loon.
loon. I introduced a tube, from the orifice of which
VIII. fig. 3. there continually iffued inflammable air from a vef-
fel containing iron and oil of vitriol. This being
lighted, continued to burn like a candle. Prefently
after the lighting of it, the infide of the balloon al-
ways became cloudy, and the moiſture foon gathered
in drops, and fettled in the lower part of the balloon.
To catch what might iffue in the form of vapour, in
the current of air through the balloon, I placed the
glaſs tube b, in which I always found fome water con-
denfed. It is very poffible, however, that in both theſe
modes of experimenting, the water may be converted
into a kind of vapour, which is very different from
fteam, and capable of being conveyed a great way
through air, or even water, without condenſation along
with the air with which it is mixed; and on this ac-
count it may not be poffible, in either of thefe modes
of experimenting, to collect all the water into which
the two kinds of air may be converted. The nature
of this kind of vapour into which water may be changed,
and which is not readily condenſed by cold, is very
little underſtood, but well deferves the attention of phi-
lofophers.
That the water collected in the balloon comes
from the decompofition of the air, and not from the
fresh air circulating through it, was evident from pla-
cing balls of hot iron in the place of the flame, and
finding that, though the balloon was as much heated
by them as by the flame of the burning of the inflam-
mable air, and confequently there muſt have been the
fame current of the external air through it, no moiſture
was found in the balloon.”
SECT. IV. Of Phlogisticated Air.
THE.univerſal prejudice in favour of the existence
of that principle named Phlogiston, firft fuggefted by
Stahl, gave rife, on the firſt appearance of Dr Prieft-
ley's diſcoveries, to a theory, concerning the action
89
of this fubftance upon air and other bodies. As
Phlogulti- it had been obferved, that air was diminiſhed, in
cation of air fome cafes at leaſt, by burning, univerfally by re-
explained. fpiration, and by fome other proceffes, it was ima-
gined that phlogifton was a body of fuch a fingular na-
ture, that when mixed with air, it always diminiſhed
cated Air.
90
its bulk, inſtead of enlarging it, which might have been Phlogifti-
more naturally expected from the mixture of any va-
pour whatever. It was alfo fuppofed by fome, that the
phlogifton was not only entirely devoid of gravity, but that
it was a principle of pofitive levity; fo that the abfolute
weight of bodies was diminiſhed by an union with it,
and augmented when it was expelled, though their
Specific gravity was diminiſhed. Various other furpriſing
properties were attributed to phlogifton; fuch as that Too great
of giving elafticity to air, of conftituting flame by powers at-
a chemical combination with air, &c.
Its emiffion into phiogiton.
the atmoſphere was fuppofed to be always attended
with a diminution of air; and therefore, all proceffes
in which air was diminiſhed and become noxious, fuch
as that by liver of fulphur, a mixture of iron filings and
brimftone, &c. were called phlogistic proceffes. Refpi-
ration of animals was taken into the fame account; but
neither in this, nor in combuſtion, was it allowed that
any kind of vital ſpirit was abforbed by the blood, or
feparated from the air by the burning body. On the
contrary, it was ftrenuouſly argued, that all this was
performed by the emiſſion of phlogiston from the lungs
or the inflamed fubftance, which depraved the air, and
diminiſhed it in bulk; and as all air was ſuppoſed to
contain phlogiſton, it was likewife imagined, that in all
cafes where air was mended, as by the growing of ve-
getables, or agitation in water, the emendation was ac-
compliſhed, not by the emiffion of any thing into the
atmoſphere, but by the mere abforption of phlogiſton.
In other refpects this fubftance was thought to be an
exceedingly powerful principle in nature; the light of
the fun itſelf and the electric fluid being faid to be modi-
fications of it, the different kinds of airs to be phlogi-
giftic vapours, &c.; ſo that the whole fyftem of na-
taure ſeemed ready to be abſorbed by it at once.
gr
The formidable powers of this principle were firſt
checked by the diſcoveries of Mr Lavoifier, though the Doctrine of
phlogifton
latter erred equally on the contrary fide; and not con- oppofed by
tent with keeping the phlogiftic principle within due the foreign
bounds, would needs deny its existence altogether *, chemifts.
In a treatiſe publiſhed in the year 1782, he first im- See Pble-
pugns Dr Prieftley's theory of reſpiration, and denies gifton.
that "the reſpiration of animals has the property of
phlogiſticating air in a manner fimilar to what is effected
by the calcination of metals and many other chemical
proceffes; and that it ceaſes not to be refpirable till
the inſtant when it becomes furcharged, or at leaſt fa-
turated, with phlogifton.'
>"
92
calcination
In order to difprove this affertion, he introduced
four ounces of mercury to 50 cubic inches of common M Lavoi-
air, propofing to calcine the metal by keeping it for fier's expe-
12 days in a heat almoft equal to that which is necef- riments on
fary to make it boil. After the expiration of the ap of metals
pointed time, 45 grains of precipitate per fe were form- and refpira-
ed, and the air in the veffel was diminiſhed by about tion.
th of its volume. In this ftate it did not precipitate
lime water; but inftantly extinguifhed candles, and
killed animals immerſed in it; no longer affording any
red vapours, or being diminished by mixture with ni-
trous air: On diftilling the precipitate produced, about
as much dephlogiſticated air was obtained as had been
left by the common air in the calcination; and by re-
combining this with the noxious air left in the veffel,
he recompofed a fluid nearly of the fame goodneſs with
common air. Hence he draws the following conclu-
X 2
fions s
164
AEROLOG
Sect. IV.
Y.
cated Air.
ir.
93
94
on air.
water
97
indeed, either the one or the other may be extracted Phlogiſti-
at pleafure by employing the proper methods. The cated Air.
ftrongeſt arguments in favour of the tranſmutation of
phlogiſticated air into that of a purer kind, were drawn
from the purification of noxious air by vegetation, and
by agitation in water. In the former cafe, however,
it has been obferved in the laſt ſection, that this ſeem-
ing purification is no other than an exchange of the
one air for the other; the vegetables abforbing the
phlogiſticated, and emitting the dephlogiſticated air in
its ftead. With reſpect to the agitation in water, the
matter remained more dubious; and it is only in the How air is
laft volume of Dr Prieftley's treatiſe that we have any purified by
account of this being accompliſhed by an emiffion of agitation in
purer air from the water." In the infancy of my ex-
Exper. and
periments," fays he, "I concluded, that all kinds of Obferv. vi.
air were brought by agitation to the fame ftate; the 385
pureft air being partially phlogifticated, and air com-
pletely phlogiſticated being thereby made purer; in-
flammable air alfo lofing its inflammability, and all of
them brought into ſuch a ſtate as that a candle would
just go out in them. This inference I'made from all
the kinds of air with which I was then acquainted, and
which did not require to be confined by mercury, being
brought to that ſtate by agitation in a trough of wa-
ter, the furface of which was expofed to the open air;
never imagining that when the air in my jar was fepa-
rated from the common air by a body of water, gene-
rally about twelve inches in depth (adding that with-
in to that without the jar), they could have any influ-
ence on each other. I have, however, been long con-
vinced, that, improbable as it then appeared to me, this
is actually the cafe.”
Phlogifti- fions: 1. That ths of the air we breathe are mephitic,
or incapable of fupporting the refpiration of animals, or
the inflammation and combuſtion of bodies.
2. That
Compofi- the furplus, or only 4th of the volume of atmoſperical air,
tion of at- is refpirable. 3. That in the calcination of mercury,
moſpherical this metallic fubftance abſorbs the falubrious part, lea-
ving only the mephitic portion of the air. 4. That by
reuniting theſe two portions which had been feparated,
we can recompound air fimilar to that of the atmoſphere.
To determine the effects of refpiration upon air, a
Effects of live fparrow was placed under a glaſs receiver, filled with
reſpiration common air and inverted in mercury, containing 31
cubic inches. In a quarter of an hour it became agi-
tated, and in 55 minutes died convulfed. Notwith-
ſtanding the heat of the animal, which neceffarily, at
firſt, rarified the air in the receiver, there was a fen-
fible diminution of its bulk; which, at the end of 15
minutes, amounted to one-fortieth: but, inftead of
increafing afterwards, the diminution became fomething
lefs in about half an hour; and when the animal was
dead, and the air in the receiver had recovered the tem-
perature of the room where the experiment was made,
the diminution did not appear to exceed one-fixtieth
part. This air which had been refpired by the fpar-
row, though in many reſpects fimilar to that in which
the mercury had been calcined, differed from it in this
reſpect, that it precipitated lime-water, and, by intro-
ducing cauftic fixed alkali to it, was reduced one-fixth
in bulk by the abforption of fixed air; after which it
appeared ´exactly the fame with that produced by the
calcination of mercury or other metals; and atmoſphe-
rical air was recompoſed by mixing this with pure de-
phlogiſticated air in the proportions already men-
tioned..
95
Scheele's
experi-
ments.
96
Compofi-
ftrated.
1
This remarkable fact is illuftrated by the following
98
That common air is compounded of two kinds of experiments: 1. About three ounce-meaſures of air, Water per-
vious to air,
elaftic fluids, Mr Scheele has proved by the following phlogiſticated by nitrous air, was agitated for a quar-
and purifies
experiment: "I diffolved (fays he) one ounce of al- ter of an hour in a veffel containing 20 ounces of wa- it in paffing
kaline liver of fulphur in eight ounces of water; of this ter, which had been boiled for ſeveral hours, and which through.
folution I poured four ounces into an empty bottle, was ftill very warm. By this procefs it became dimi-
whofe capacity was 24 ounces, and worked it well; nifhed one-fixth, and confiderably improved in qua-
then I turned the bottle, immerſed its neck into a ſmall lity. The next day the remainder was agitated for
veffel with water, and kept it in this poſition a fort- another quarter of an hour, and the water which
night. The folution had partly loft its red colour, and had been boiled at the fame time, when it was alſo
fome fulphur had been precipitated from it during this diminiſhed in quantity and improved in quality.
time. After this I put the bottle in the fame pofition 2. An equal quantity of air, phlogifticated by means
in a larger veffel with water, keeping the mouth and of iron-filings and brimftone, being agitated for 20
neck under water, and the bottom of the bottle above minutes, was diminiſhed by one-feventh, and improved
water, and thus I drew the cork under water, which fo far that a candle would burn in it. 3. After ex-
immediately ruſhed with violence into the bottle. On
On pelling all the air he could from a quantity of water
examining the quantity of water in the bottle, it was by boiling, he put to it, in feparate phials, air that
found, that during this fortnight, fix parts out of 20 had been phlogiſticated with iron-filings and brimftone,
of air were loft." On repeating the experiment with as well as that which the heat had expelled, leaving
the ſame materials, and in the fame bottle, only four them with their mouths in water, and agitating them
parts out of 20 were loft by ſtanding a week, and no occafionally. On examining the phials in about two
more than fix after four months.
months, he found both the air that was confined by
water and that which had been expelled by heat com-
pletely phlogiſticated. 4. That water does imbibe the
purer part of the atmoſphere, in preference to that which
is impure, is evident, he ſays, from any examination of
it: For if the water be clear, and free from any thing
that is putrefcent, the air expelled from it by heat is ge-
nerally of the ſtandard of I; whereas that of the atmo-
ſphere, when the nitrous air is the pureft, is about 1.2.
;
From theſe experiments, and many others fimilar,
it appears that the doctrine of phlogifton had been car-
tion of at- ried too far by Dr Priestley and other British philofo-
moſpherical phers, and that the air confiſts of two kinds of fluids
air demon- one perfectly falutary, and friendly in the higheſt de-
gree to animal life; the other altogether unfit for it.
Theſe two appear incapable of being converted direct-
ly into one another by any procefs, natural or artifi-
cial: for though both are deftructible, yet they are`
always converted into other fubftances; from which,
99
Phlogiſticated air is equally inviſible with common
Properties
air, and fomething more elaftic. Mr Kirwan pro- of phlogifti-
cured cated air.
•
Sect. IV.
165:
AER
EROLOGY.
Phlogifti- cured fome perfectly phlogiſticated, ſo that it was not
cated Air. in the leaft diminiſhed by nitrous air, from a mixture
of iron-filings and brimftone. Having dried it by
frequently introducing dry filtering paper under the jar
that contained it, he found its weight to be to that of
the common air as 985 to 1000, the barometer ftand-
ing at 30.46 and the thermometer at 60°. The other
extremely fatal to ani-
properties of it are, that it is extremely fatal to ani-
mal life, and friendly to that of vegetables, infomuch
that it is now generally believed to be the true and proper
nouriſhment of the latter. It ſeems to exift originally, in
very large quantity, in our atmoſphere. It may be
ſeparated from the common maſs of air by combuſtion,
by refpiration, by putrefaction, and in fhort by every
fpecies of phlogiftic procefs; neither is there any other
fpecies of air but what may be converted into this by
means of fire, dephlogiſticated air alone excepted.
100
Nitrous
acid procu-
red from
ted air.
Phlogiſticated air is now generally believed to be a
combination of the nitrous acid with phlogifton; and
that, in its gradual progreſs towards this, which is its
phlogiſtica- ultimate ſtage, it firft affumes the character of phlo-
giſticated nitrous acid; then of nitrous air, in which it
readily parts with its phlogiſton to the atmoſphere, or
rather to the dephlogiſticated part of it; and laftly, it
becomes phlogiſticated air, in which the union betwixt
the principles is ſo ſtrong, that it cannot be broken by
fimple expofure to dephlogiſticated air without heat;
though the experiments of Mr Cavendish fhow, that
this may be done by means of the electric ſpark, which
produces the moſt violent heat we can imagine.
It had been frequently obferved, that common at
moſpherical air was always diminifhed by taking the
electric ſpark in it; and this dminution was fuppofed to
be occafioned by the phlogiſtication of the air, and fepa-
ration of its fixed part; in confequence of which it
was urged, that lime-water is precipitated by taking
the electric fpark over it in a fmall quantity of air.
Mr Cavendish, however, who has carefully examined
Mr Caven- this fubject, denies that any fixed air is produced in
diſh's expe- this manner; and by a ſet of very curious experiments,
the produc-
publiſhed in the 75th volume of the Philofophical
tion of i- Tranſactions, has clearly ſhown that nitrous acid, and
trous acid. not fixed air, is the product of this operation.
ΙΟΙ
riments on
The apparatus ufed in thefe experiments, was that
repreſented Plate VIII. fig. 4. and confifts only of a
crooked glaſs tube, whoſe ends are plunged into quick-
filver contained in two glaffes, in the middle part of
which the air is confined betwixt the two portions of
quickfilver. The air was introduced by means of a
fmaller tube, fig. 5. the tube M of the former fi-
gure being filled with quickfilver, the bent end of which
was introduced into a jar DEF, filled with the pro-
per kind of air, and inverted in water. The end C
being ſtopped by the finger, the quickfilver was thus
prevented from falling out, let the tube be placed in
what poſition it would, until this preffure was removed.
Upon introducing the crooked tube into the jar in the
pofition reprefented in the figure, and removing the
finger from the orifice at C, the quickfilver would de-
fcend; and by ftopping this orifice again, any quan-
tity of the fluid may be allowed to run out, and the
empty space of the tube will be filled with the air de-
fired. Having thus got the proper quantity of air in-
to the tube ABC, it was held with the end C upper-
moſt, and ſtopped with the finger; and the end A,
2
1
made fmaller for that purpoſe, being introduced into Phlogiſti-
the end of the bent tube M, the air, on removing the cated Air.
finger from C, was forced into that tube by the pref-
fure of the quickfilver in the leg BC. Thus he was
enabled to introduce any quantity he pleafed of any
kind of air into the tube M; and by the fame means it
was in his power to let up any quantity of foap-ley, or
other liquor which he wanted to be in contact with it.
In one cafe, however, in which he wished to introduce
air into the tube many times in the fame experiment,
he made ufe of the apparatus repreſented fig. 6. con-
fifting of a tube AB, of a fmaller bore, a ball C and
a tube DE of a larger bore. This apparatus was firſt
filled with quickfilver; and then the ball C and the
tube AB were filled with air, by introducing the end
A under a glaſs inverted into water, which contained
the proper kind of air, and drawing out the quick-
filver from the leg ED by a ſyphon. After being thus
furniſhed with air, the apparatus was weighed, and the
end A introduced into one end of the tube M, and
kept there during the experiment; the way of forcing
air out of this apparatus into the tube being by thruſt-
ing down the tube ED, a wooden cylinder of fuch a
fize as almoft to fill up the whole bore, and by occa-
fionally pouring quickfilver into the fame tube, to fup-
ply the place of that puſhed into the ball C. After
the experiment was finished, the apparatus was weigh-
ed again, which ſhowed exactly how much air had been
forced into the tube M during the whole experiment;
it being equal in bulk to a quantity of quickfilver,
whoſe weight was equal to the increafe of weight of
the apparatus. The bore of the tube M, uſed in theſe
experiments, was about the tenth of an inch in dia-
meter; and the length of the column of air occupying
the upper part of the tube was in general from 4ths
to 14 inches.-In order to force an electrical ſpark
through the tube M, it was neceffary to place an in-
fulated ball at fuch a diſtance from the conductor as to
receive a ſpark from it, and to make a communication
between that ball and the quickfilver in one of the
glaffes, while the quickfilver in the other glaſs commu-
nicated with the ground.
When the electric fpark was made to pafs through
common air included between ſhort columns of a folu-
tion of litmus, the ſolution acquired a red colour, and
the air was diminiſhed, as had been obferved by Dr
Priestley. When lime-water was uſed inſtead of the
folution of litmus, and the fpark was continued till the
air could be no farther diminiſhed; but not the ſmalleſt
cloud be perceived in the water, though the air was
reduced to two thirds of its original bulk; which is a
greater diminution than it could have fuffered by any
phlogiftic procefs, that being little more than one-fifth
of the whole. The experiment being repeated with
impure dephlogifticated air, a great diminution took
place, but without any cloud in the lime-water. Nei-
ther was any cloud produced when fixed air was let up
into it; but, on the addition of a little cauſtic volatile
alkali, a brown fediment immediately appeared.
It being thus evident that the lime was faturated by
fome acid produced in the operation, the experiment
was repeated with foap-leys, to diſcover the nature of
it. A previous experiment had been made in order to
know what degree of purity the air ought to be of to
produce the greateft diminution; and thus it was
found,
166
AEROLOG
Sect. IV.
Y.
102
quantity of nitre produced was the fame that would Phlogisti
have been obtained from the ſoap-leys, had they been cated Air.
faturated with nitrous acid; which ſhows, that the
production of the nitre was not owing to any decom-
pofition of the foap-leys.
"The foap-leys uſed in the foregoing experiments
were made from falt of tartar prepared without nitre,
and were of fuch a ftrength as to yield one-tenth
of their weight of nitre when faturated with nitrous
acid. The dephlogiſticated air was alſo produced
without nitre; that ufed in the firft experiment with
the foap-leys being procured from the black powder
formed by the agitation of quickfilver mixed with lead,
and that uſed in the latter from turbith mineral. In
the firft experiment, the quantity of foap-leys uſed was
35 meaſures, each of which was equal in bulk to one
grain of quickfilver; and that of the air abſorbed was
416 fuch meaſures of phlogiſticated air and 914 of
dephlogiſticated. In the fecond experiment, 178
meaſures of foap-leys were uſed; which abſorbed 1920
of phlogiſticated air and 4860 of dephlogiſticated.
It muſt be be obſerved, however, that in both experi-
ments fome air remained in the tube undecompofed,
whofe degree of purity I had no means of trying; fo
that the proportion of each fpecies of air abforbed
cannot be known with much exactneſs.
Phlogifi- found, that when good dephlogiſticated air was ufed,
cated Air. the diminution was but fmall; where perfectly phlo.
giſticated air was made uſe of, no fenfible diminution
Proportions took place; but when five parts of pure dephlogiſtica-
of the dif- ted air were mixed with three of common air, almoft
ferent airs the whole was made to diſappear.-It muſt be remem-
neceffary
for the pro-
bered, that common air confifts of one part of dephlo-
duction of gifticated and four of phlogiſticated air; ſo that a
nitrousacid. mixture of five parts of pure dephlogifticated air and
three of common air, is the fame thing as a mixture
of ſeven parts of dephlogifticated air with three of
phlogiſticated. Having made thefe previous trials, he
introduced into the tube a little foap-leys, and then let
up fome dephlogiſticated and common air mixed in the
above mentioned proportions, which, rifing into the
tube M, divided the ſoap-leys into its two legs. As
faſt as the air was diminiſhed by the electric ſpark, he
continued to add more of the fame kind till no further
diminution took place. The foap-leys being then
poured out of the tube, and ſeparated from the quick
filver, feemed to be perfectly neutralized, as they did
not at all difcolour paper tinged with blue flowers.
On evaporating the liquid to drynefs, a fmall quantity
of falt was left, which was evidently nitre, from the
manner in which a paper impregnated with the folution
of it burned. On repeating the experiment on a lar-
ger.ſcale, with five times the quantity of materials,
pure nitre was obtained in proportion, and was found,
by the test of terra ponderofa falita, to contain no more
vitriolic acid than what might have been expected in
the ſoap-ley itſelf, and which is exceedingly fmall.
As, in fome former experiments of Mr Cavendish,
Mr Caven- it had been found, that by deflagrating nitre with
nions on the charcoal, the whole of the acid was converted into
nature of phlogifticated air, he concluded that this kind of air
phlogiſtica- is nothing elfe than nitrous acid united to phlogifton;
according to which, it ought to be converted into ni-
trous acid by being deprived of its phlogiſton. "But
(fays he) as dephlogifticated air is only water depri-
ved of phlogifton, it is plain, that adding dephlogifti-
cated air to a body, is equivalent to depriving it of
phlogiſton, and adding water to it; and therefore
phlogiſticated air ought alfo to be reduced to nitrous
acid, by being made to unite or form a chemical com-
bination with dephlogifticated air; only the acid thus
formed will be more dilute than if the phlogiſticated
air was fimply deprived of phlogifton.
103
difh's opi-
ted air.
"This being premifed, we may fafely conclude, that
in the prefent experiments, the phlogiſticated air was
enabled, by means of the electrical fpark, to unite to,
or form a chemical combination with, the dephlogifti-
cated air, and was thereby reduced to nitrous acid,
which united to the foap-leys, and formed a folution
of nitre; for in theſe experiments the two airs actually
diſappeared, and nitrous acid was formed in their room:
and as it has been fhown, from other circumftances,
that phlogiſticated air muſt form nitrous acid when
combined with dephlogiſticated air, the abovemention-
ed opinion feems to be fufficiently eſtabliſhed. And a
further confirmation is, that no diminution of air is per-
ceived when the electric fpark is paffed either through
pure dephlogiſticated or through perfectly phlogifti-
cated air; which indicates a neceffity for the combi-
nation of the two in order to produce nitrous acid.
It was alfo found by the last experiment, that the
104
nature of
"As far as the experiments hitherto publiſhed extend,
we ſcarcely know more of the nature of the phlogiſti-
cated part of the atmoſphere, than that it is not dimi-
nifhed by lime-water, cauftic alkalis, or nitrous air;
that it is unfit to ſupport fire or maintain life in ani-
mals; and that its specific gravity is not much leſs
than that of common air: fo that though the nitrous
acid, by being united to phlogiſton, is converted into
air poffeffed of theſe properties; and, confequently,
though it was reaſonable to ſuppoſe, that part at leaſt
of the phlogiſticated air of the atmoſphere confifts of
this acid united to phlogiſton; yet it might be fairly
doubted whether the whole is of this kind, or whe
ther there are not, in reality, many different fubftan-
ces confounded by us under the name of phlogifticated
air. I therefore made an experiment to determine Experi-
whether the whole of a given portion of the atmo- ment to de-
ſphere could be reduced to nitrous acid, or whether there termine the
was not a part of a different nature from the reſt, which phlogistica-
would refufe to undergo that change. For this pur-ted air.
poſe, I diminiſhed a fimilar mixture of dephlogiſtica-
ted and common air in the fame manner as before,
until it was reduced to a fmall part of its original
bulk; after which fome dephlogiſticated air was add-
ed, and the ſpark continued until no further diminu-
tion took place. Having by theſe means condenſed
as much as I could of the phlogiſticated air, I let up
fome folution of liver of fulphur to abforb the dephlo-
gifticated air; after which only a fmall bubble of air
remained unabforbed, which certainly was not more
thanth of the bulk of the phlogiſticated air let up
into the tube; fo that if there is any part of the
phlogiſticated air of our atmoſphere which differs from
the reft, and cannot be reduced to nitrous acid, we
may fafely conclude, that it is not more than th
part of the whole."
Though theſe experiments had fhown, that the
chief cauſe of this diminution of airs is the converfion
of the phlogiſticated kind into nitrous acid, it ſeemed
3
not
Sect. V.
A E R
ROL
167
OGY.
105
or, more improperly, cretaceous acid, from its being Fixed Air.
contained in great quantities in chalk, as has been al-
ready mentioned.
gravity, &c.
Fixed air is the heaviest of all permanently elaftic 107
Specific
fluids, excepting thoſe derived from the mineral acids.
Mr Kirwan determines it to be to common air as 1500 of fixed air.
to 1000, the barometer being at 29.85, the thermo-
meter at 64, and the fixed air being extracted from
calcareous fpar by marine acid, whoſe ſpecific gravity
was 1.0145. He obferves, however, that though this
air was obtained in the drieft manner poffible, and that
the globe which contained it appeared perfectly free
from moiſture; yet, when carried into a room 27 de-
grees colder, the infide of the globe was covered with
dew, which foon formed vifible drops.—In its concrete
ftate, fixed air is one of the heavieſt bodies in nature.
Mr Kirwan, in the 71ft volume of the Philofophical
Tranfactions, gives an account of his ingenious method
of finding the ſpecific gravity of fixed air in its fixed
ftate, when combined with calcareous earth; from
which it appears, that fixed air, in that ſtate, is pro-
digiously concentrated, and, were it poffible to exift
by itſelf in that concentrated ſtate, it would be the
heaviest body known, gold and platina excepted.
Phlogiſti- not unlikely, that when any liquor containing inflam-
cated Air. mable matter was in contact with the air in the tube,
fome of this matter might be burnt by the fpark, and
thereby diminiſh the air. In order to determine this,
Effects of the electric ſpark was paffed through dephlogiſticated
the electric air included between diterent liquors; and the refult
fpark on
of the experiments was, that when dephlogiſticated
dephlogiſti-
cated air in- air, containing only th part of its bulk of phlogi-
clofed be- fticated air, was confined between fhort columns of
tween diffe- foap-leys, and the ſpark paffed through it till no far-
rent liquors. ther diminution could be perceived, the air loft 43ds of
its bulk; which is not a greater diminution than might
very likely proceed from the decompofition of the
fmall quantity of phlogiſticated air contained in it, as
the dephlogiſticated air might eafily be mixed with a
fmall quantity of common air while putting into the
tube. When the fame dephlogiſticated air was con-
fined between columns of diftilled water, the diminu-
tion was rather greater than before, and a white pow-
der was formed on the furface of the quickfilver be-
neath the reaſon of which, in all probability, was,
that the acid produced in the operation corroded the
quickfilver, and formed the powder; and that the ni-
trous air produced by that corrofion united to the de-
phlogiſticated air, and caufed a greater diminution
than would otherwiſe have taken place. When a fo-
lution of litmus was uſed inſtead of diſtilled water, the
folution foon acquired a red colour; which grew paler
and paler as the ſpark was continued, till it became
quite colourlefs and tranfparent. The air was dimi-
niſhed by almoft one-half, and might perhaps have been
further diminiſhed had the fpark been continued.
When lime-water was let up into the tube, a cloud
was formed, and the air was further diminiſhed by
about one-fifth; the remainder was good dephlogifti-
cated air. In this experiment, therefore, the litmus
was, if not burnt, at leaft decompounded, fo as to
lofe entirely its purple colour, and to yield fixed air;
fo that, though foap-leys, cannot be decompounded
by this procefs, yet the ſolution of litmus can, and
fo very likely might the ſolutions of many other fub-
ftances be. But there is nothing in any of thefe ex-
periments which favours the opinion of the air being
at all diminiſhed by means of phlogifton communica-
ted to it by the electric fpark..
*
тоб
Fixed air
found in a
great varie
ty of :ub-
ftances.
SECT. V. Of Fixed Air.
THE diſcovery of this kind of air is as old as Van
Helmont; who gave it the name of gas filveftre, from
its being emitted in great quantity by burning char-
coal. Subfequent difcoveries fhowed, that a fluid of
the fame kind was plentifully produced by fermenting
liquor, in almoſt every kind of combuſtion, and natu-
rally generated in vaft quantity in mines and coal-pits,
where it is known by the name of the choak-damp ;
that it exiſts in a concrete ftate in alkaline falts, chalk,
limeſtone, the ſhells of marine animals, magnefia alba,
&c. in a very large proportion, conftituting one-half,
and ſometimes more of their weight; and that it might
always be extracted from the atmoſphere, in unlimit-
ed quantity, by expofing certain fubftances to it.-
On examining the nature of this fluid, it was found
fo manifeftly acid, that it has now obtained a place
among theſe ſubſtances under the name of aërial acid;
Mr Kirwan firſt aſcertained the ſpecific gravity of a
piece of white marble; then expelled the fixed air from
a known weight of it finely powdered, by means of di-
luted vitriolic acid; the bulk and weight of the obtain-
ed fixed air being aſcertained. Next, he calcined a
known quantity of the fame fort of marble, by keeping
it in a white heat for the ſpace of 14 hours; after
which, being weighed again, and from the weight loft
by this calcination, the weight of the fixed air, which
muſt have eſcaped from it according to the above men-
tioned experiment, being fubtracted, the remainder is
the weight of water contained in the marble; from
which experiments it appears, that 100 grains of the
marble contained 32.42 grains of fixed air, 11.66 grains
of water, and 55.92 grains of pure calcareous earth.
3
"I next (fays he) proceeded to diſcover the ſpecific
gravity of the lime. Înto a braſs box, which weighed
607.65 grains, and in the bottom of which a ſmall hole
was drilled, I ftuffed as much as poffible of the finely-
powdered lime, and then fcrewed the cover on, and
weighed it both in air and in water. When immerſed
in this latter, a confiderable quantity of common air
was expelled; when this ceaſed, I weighed it. The
refult of this experiment is as follows:
Weight of the box in air
Its lofs of weight in water
Weight of the box and lime in air
Weight of the lime fingly in air
Lofs of weight of the box and lime in water
Lofs of weight of the lime fingly
Grains.
607.65
73.75
1043.5
435.85
256.5
182.3
Hence, dividing the abfolute weight of the lime
by its lofs in water, its fpecific gravity was found to
be 2.3908.
"From thefe data I deduced the ſpecific gravity of
fixed air in its fixed ftate; for 100 grains of marble con--
fift of 55.92.of earth, 32.42. of fixed air, and 11.66 of
water; and the ſpecific gravity of the marble is 2.717.
Now the ſpecific gravity of the fixed air, in its fixed
ftate, is as its abfolute weight, divided by its lofs of
weight in water; and its loſs of weight in water is as-
the
168
Sect. V.
AEROLOGY.
Fixed Air. the lofs of 100 grains of marble, minus the loffes of the made by Dr Priestley appear fully as convincing as Fixed Air.
pure calcareous earth and the water.
108
Its other
Lofs of 100 grs. of marble
Lofs of 55.92 grs. of calcareous
earth
Lofs of 11.66 grs. of water =
100
- =36.8 grs.
2.717
-55.92
2.39
32.42
1.75
11.66
any, we ſhall here content ourſelves with giving an ac-
count of them.
of his own.
110
ley's expe-
riments on
The compound nature of fixed air, and the principles
from which it is formed, were firft difcovered by Mr Dr Prieft-
Kirwan; but Dr Prieftley was not convinced by the
23.39 grs. proofs he adduced, till after making fome experiments the compo
The firft was, by firing fhavings of iron fition of
in dephlogiſticated air; when he obferved a confider- fixed air.
able refiduum of fixed air, though that in the receiver
had been of the pureft dephlogiſticated kind, and iron
could only have yielded inflammable air. The hypo-
thefis of Mr Kirwan was ftill further confirmed by an
experiment in which iron-filings, which could only have
yielded inflammable air, were mixed with red precipi-
tate, which is known to yield only pure dephlogifti-
cated air. On heating theſe in a glafs retort, they
gave a great quantity of fixed air, in fome portions of
which nineteen-twentieths were abforbed by lime-wa-
ter, and the refiduum was inflammable; but when the
red precipitate was mixed with powdered charcoal,
which had been found to yield only inflammable air,
the fixed air produced from it was fo pure that only
one-fortieth part remained unabforbed by water, which
is as pure as that generally prepared from chalk and oil
of vitriol. In fome of thefe experiments it appeared,
that three ounce-meaſures of dephlogiſticated air went
to the compofition of two of fixed air: for one ounce
of red precipitate gave 60 ounce-meaſures of dephlo-
gifticated air; and, when mixed with two ounces of
iron-filings, it gave about 40 ounce-meaſures of fixed
air that were actually abſorbed by water, befides a re-
fiduum that was inflammable. The fame proportion
was obtained when half the quantity of materials were
made ufe of; but on ufing an onnce of each, only 20
ounce-meaſures of fixed air, including the refiduum,
could be got.
35.05
“Then the loſs of the fixed air 36.8—35.05-1.75;
confequently its ſpecific gravity is 18.52."
Fixed air differs confiderably in its properties from
the airs already mentioned. Its acidity is manifeft to
properties. the taſte, and ftill more from its neutralifing both fixed
and volatile alkalis; which it will do in fuch a manner
as not only to deſtroy their cauſticity, but to give them
a manifeftly acid tafte, and will moreover enable them
'to form cryſtals of a neutral or acidulous falt. İt has
a confiderable antifeptic power, and will even check the
putrefaction of animal fubftances; though it has been
obferved, that in this cafe it acts only by abforbing the
putrid effluvia already emitted from the body, and be-
comes itſelf very offenfive, while it fweetens the other.
When taken into the lungs, it is equally poifonous with
phlogiſticated or any other noxious air, and extinguiſhes
flame as effectually; but, when mixed with dephlogif-
ticated air, may be infpired without any danger, and
even in its pure ftate may be fwallowed in large quan-
tities, not only without danger, but with the moft fa-
lutary effects in ſome diſeaſes, whence it has now be
come an article of the Materia Medica. As an acid it
ftands in the loweſt rank, being expelled from alkalis
by every other; though it is capable of feparating oils,
fulphur, and the colouring matter of Pruffian blue, from
the ſubſtances with which they are combined.
109
In confidering this fubject farther, it occurred to Dr
Priestley, that his experiments, in which charcoal was
ufed, lay open to an objection, that fince dry wood, and
imperfectly made charcoal, yield fixed air, it might be
faid, that all the elements of fixed air are contained in
charcoal; and though this ſubſtance alone, even with
the affiftance of water, will not yield fixed air, this
might be effected by treating it with other fubftances
without their importing any thing to it; eſpecially as
the inflammable air procured from charcoal by means
of water, appears to contain fixed air when decompoſed
with the dephlogifticated kind. In order to expel all
the fixed air from charcoal, he made a quantity of it
from dry oak, and pounding it while hot, inftantly
mixed four meaſures of it with one of red precipitate,
and, putting them into an earthen retort, got, with a
heat no greater than what was fufficient to revive the
mercury, a large quantity of air, half of which was
fixed. Afterwards the proportion of fixed air was leſs,
and at laſt no fixed air at all was obtained; but as the
refiduum was worſe than the common atmoſphere, he is
thence inclined to believe, notwithſtanding Mr Caven-
difh's experiments, that phlogifticated air may be com-
pofed of phlogifton and dephlogiſticated air. In ano-concerning
ther experiment he found a better proportion of char- the compo-
coal and red precipitate. This was by mixing one ſition of
ounce of precipitate with the fame quantity of perfect logistica-
The origin of this acid was for a long time as much
Conftituent unknown as that of the others; and while the general
principles prejudice remained that acids were a kind of primary
-of fixed air. elements unchangeable in their nature, it was fuppofed
that fixed air was fome modification of the others, pro-
bably the mitrous. But the diſcoveries made of late
years, have abundantly ſhown, that the chemical prin-
ciples are by no means ſo indeſtructible as they were
imagined; and that the vegetable acids particularly,
may be almoft totally refolved into fixed air. Hence
it was naturally fuggeſted, that fixed air itſelf might
be a compound of fome other principles; and it was
fuggefted by Dr Black, that it was a combination of
atmoſpherical air with phlogifton. As the air of our
atmoſphere, however, is compounded of two fubftances,
one of which naturally contains no phlogifton, and the
other as much as it can hold; it feemed unlikely that
there ſhould be any poffibility of adding to the quantity
of phlogifton contained in a portion of the atmoſphere,
without decompofing it in fome manner or other. Suc-
ceeding experiments evinced, that it was by a decom-
pofition of the pure part of atmoſpherical air, and a
combination of the phlogifton of the fuel with its bafis,
that fixed air was produced; and this fact was evinced
by numerous experiments made by Mr Kirwan, Mr
Lavoifier, and Dr Prieſtley, fo that it is now looked
upon to be generally eſtabliſhed: and as the experiments
No 5.
เ
char-
III
Prieſtley's
ted air.
Sect. V.
169
AEROLOG
Y.
Fixed Air charcoal hot from the retort in which it was made.
Putting theſe into a coated retort, he expelled from
them, by a ſtrong heat, about 30 ounce-meafures of air,
the whole of which was the pureft fixed air, leaving
only about one-fortieth part unabſorbed by water, and
this almoſt perfectly phlogiſticated.
Having recollected, that in fome former experiments
he had obtained fixed air from nitrous acid and char-
coal, he therefore repeated the experiment with fome
of the fame charcoal which had then been made uſe of;
when fixed air was obtained, in the quantity fometimes
only of one-fifth, and fometimes of one-half; to the for-
mation of which he ſuppoſed the dephlogiſticated air
produced by heating the nitrous acid must have contri-
buted. On account of the objections, however, which
might be made to the ufe of charcoal, he next employ-
ed iron, which was liable to nothing of this kind; and
en mixing an ounce of iron-filings with as much char-
coal, and then heating them in a glaſs retort, he ob-
tained 20 ounce-meaſures of air, of which one-feventh
remained unabſorbed by water. The refiduum was of
the ſtandard of 1.52, but flightly inflammable. Re-
peating the experiment with half an ounce of iron filings,
he got 26 ounce-meaſures of air,, of which the firft
part was pretty pure, but afterwards one-tenth remain
ed unabforbed by water; but on mixing one ounce of
precipitate with two ounces of filings, he got about 40
ounce-meaſures of air, of the firft portions of which
only one-twentieth was unabforbed by water, though
towards the conclufion the refiduum was greater. In
this proceſs he got in all 36 ounce-meaſures of pure
fixed air, completely abforbed by water, befides about
other four ounce-meaſures, which, he ſuppoſes, might
have been abſorbed in receiving the air and transferring
it into other veſſels.
Fixed air was alſo produced from red precipitate
mixed with brafs filings, with zinc, from turbith mi-
neral with iron filings, and from the black powder into
which mercury mixed with lead is eaſily converted. In
this laſt caſe the Doctor fuppofes that the fixed air was
produced from the dephlogiſticated kind abſorbed by
the metals and the phlogiston of the lead; and this is
confirmed by an obfervation that the fixed air always
comes firſt in the proceſs, when the phlogiston is moft
readily feparated, but afterwards the produce becomes
quite pure and dephlogiſticated. In attempting, how-
ever, to increaſe the quantity of fixed air by heating
this black powder in dephlogiſticated air, he found on-
ly an augmentation of the quantity of dephlogiſticated
air, and that of the pureft kind.
"Perhaps," fays he, " as decifive a proof as any of
the real production of fixed air from phlogiston and de-
phlogiſticated air, may be drawn from the experiments
in which I always found a quantity of it when I burn-
ed fulphur in dephlogiſticated air. In one of theſe ex-
periments, to which I gave particular attention, fix
ounce-meaſures and an half of the dephlogiſticated air
were reduced to about two ounce-meaſures, and one-
fifth of this was fixed air. When both the vitriolic
acid and fixed air produced by this operation were
abſorbed by water, the remainder was very pure dephlo-
gifticated air.
"I had always concluded, that no fixed air could
be procured by the decompofition of inflammable air
which had been produced by mineral acids, becauſe I
VOL. I. Part I.
had not been able to do it with that which I had got Fixed Air.
by means of vitriolic acid; but I learned from Mr Me-
therie, that this is peculiar to the vitriolic acid, the re-
mains of which, diffuſed through the inflammable air,
procured by it, he conjectures, may actually decompofe
the fixed air produced in the procefs. For, as I have
hinted before, when the inflammable air is produced
from iron by means of fpirit of falt, there is a very per-
ceivable quantity of fixed air when it is united with de-
phlogifticated air. When I decompoſed theſe two
kinds of air in equal quantities, they were reduced to
about 0.5 of a meaſure, and of this not more than a-
bout one fortieth part was fixed air. This experiment
ought, however, to be added to the other proofs of
fixed air being produced by the union of dephlogifti-
cated air and phlogiſton.
:
112
"The laſt inſtance, which I fhall mention, of the Proportion.
generation of fixed air from phlogifton and dephlogif- of fixed air
produced
ticated air, is of a much more ftriking nature than any from e-
that I have yet recited. Having made what I call phlogiſtica-
charcoal of copper, by paffing the vapour of fpirit ofted air.
wine over copper when it was red-hot, I heated a piece
of it in different kinds of air. In common air, obfer-
ving neither increaſe nor decreaſe in the quantity, I
concluded, perhaps too haftily, that no change was
made in it for when I repeated the experiment in
dephlogiſticated air, the charcoal burned very intenfe-
ly; and when a part of it was confumed, which (like
common charcoal in the fame proceſs, was done with-
out leaving any ſenſible refiduum) I found that no heat
which I could apply afterwards, had any farther effect
on what was left of the charcoal. Concluding, there-
fore, that fome change muſt be made in the quality of
the air, I examined it, and found about nine-tenths to
be the pureft fixed air; and the refiduum was ſuch as
would have been made by feparating the abfolutely pure
part of the dephlogifticated air, leaving all the impuri-
ties behind. Having afcertained this fact, I repeated
the experiment, weighing the piece of charcoal very
carefully before and after the process; and then found,
that by the lofs of one grain of charcoal, I reduced four
ounce-meaſures of dephlogiſticated air till one-ninth on-
ly remained unabforbed by water; and again, with the
lofs of one grain and an half of the charcoal, I reduced
fix and an half-meaſures of dephlogiſticated air till five
and an half-meaſures were pure fixed air. In this pro-
cefs there was a diminution of bulk after the experi-
ment, as might have been expected from the change of
the air into one of a heavier kind by means of a fub-
ſtance or principle that could not add much to the
weight of it. In one of the experiments, 4.3 ounce-
meafures of dephlogiſticated air were reduced about
one-thirtieth part of the whole; and in this cafe, when
the fixed air was feparated by water, there was a refi-
duum of 0.75 of a meaſure of the ſtandard of 1.0,
whereas the dephlogiſticated air, before the experiment,
had been of the ſtandard of 0.2.
"That dephlogiſticated air actually enters into the
compofition of the fixed air, in this experiment, is evi-
dent from the weight of the latter, which far exceeds
that of the charcoal diſperſed in the proceſs. For, in
this laſt experiment, the weight of the fixed air pro-
duced was 4.95 grains. Confequently, fuppofing the
charcoal to be wholly phlogifton, as it is very nearly fo,
fixed air may be ſaid to conlift of 3.45 parts of dephlo
Y
giſticated
170
AEROLOG
Sect. V.
Y.
113
Effects of
ved, that water impregnated with fixed air is a much Fixed Air.
worſe conductor of electricity than the fame fluid im-
pregnated with mineral acids. On ftill varying the
circumſtances of the experiment, by ufing common
water inſtead of that which had abforbed fixed air, he
found that the quality of the refiduum was evidently
better than that of the original fixed air.
115
In order to discover whether the heat or light of Effects of a
the electric ſpark were the circumſtances which effect- ftrong heat
on fixed air,
ed the change, the Doctor threw a ftrong light, by
means of a lens, for fome hours, on a quantity of
-pounded glafs confined in fome fixed air; but though
the volume of refiduum was thus fomewhat increaſed,
yet as it was of the fame quality with common air, he
fufpected that it might be only that portion which had
been introduced among the particles of the glaſs. The
quantity of air was increaſed after the operation. With
glafs-houſe fand made very hot, the quantity of air
was likewife increaſed; but the experiment was not
more fatisfactory than the former. Heated bits of
crucibles increaſed the quantity of refiduum in the pro-
portion of 10 to 6.6; but the quality was injured ei-
ther directly by a compariſon with nitrous air, or by
producing a larger quantity of refiduum equally bad.
By heating iron, however, in fixed air, part of it was
evidently converted into phlogifticated air. On heat-
ing turnings of malleable iron for fome time in fixed
air, one-tenth part of it was rendered immifcihle with
water; and on repeating the proceſs with the remain-
der, there was a refiduum of one-fourth of the whole.
There was alſo a ſmall addition to the quantity of air
after the first part of the procefs, but none after the
fecond; nor could he, after a third and fourth pro-
cefs, render more than one-fourth immifcible with wa-
Fixed Air. giſticated air, and 1.5 of phlogifton; fo that the de-
phlogiſticated air is more than three times the propor-
tion of phlogifton in it.I must not conclude, how-
ever, without obſerving, that, in one experiment, I ne-
ver failed to produce fixed air; though it is not eaſy to
fee how one of its fuppofed elements, viz. dephlogifti-
cated air, could enter into it. This is by heating iron
in vitriolic acid air. In one of thefe experiments, four
ounce-meaſures of the vitriolic acid air were reduced to
0.65 of an ounce-meafure; and of the quantity loft
three and an half meaſures were fixed air abforbed by
lime-water, and the remainder weakly inflammable.”
Fixed air, even when pure and unmixed, is remark-
the electric ably altered by the electric ſpark, part of it being thus
ſpark on rendered immifcible in water. Dr Prieftley, having
fxed air.
taken the electric ſpark for about two hours in a ſmall
quantity of fixed air confined by mercury, found, that
after the operation one-fourth of it remained immifci-
ble with water; though, before it, only one-thirtieth
part had remained unabſorbed. The infide of the tube
had become very black; which, in other experiments
of a fimilar kind with vitriolic acid air, he had obferved
to ariſe from the adheſion of a ſmall quantity of mer-
cury fuperfaturated with phlogifton. In another ex-
periment, in which the ſpark was taken an hour and
ten minutes in about half an ounce-meaſure of fixed
air, one-fifth remained unabſorbed, and the ſtandard of
the refiduum was 0.9; though, before the operation, only
one-thirtieth part had been abforbed, and the flandard of
the refiduum was 1.0. In this experiment, alſo, he ob-
ferved, that the air was increafed about a twentieth
part. On taking the electric ſpark an hour in half an
ounce of fixed air, as much refiduum was left as had
remained in five times the quantity of the fame fixed
air in which no ſpark had been taken. This refiduum
was alſo much purer than that of the original fixed air,
the ſtandard being 0.8; whereas that of the original
fixed air had been, as before, 1.0. On repeating the
experiment, he found the refiduum ftill greater, but
equally pure; and, in this cafe, a good quantity of
black matter was obferved adhering to the tube. Ha-
ving taken the ſpark in a fmall tube containing th of
an ounce-meaſure of fixed air, the infide of the tube
was clouded with black matter, and in the bottom was
Experi- a ſmall quantity of yellowish matter refembling ful-
ment in fa- phur; the refiduum was between one-fourth and one-
fifth of the whole, and lefs pure than formerly. This
eftle
circumftance he alfo fuppofes to be a proof that
concerning fixed air may be compofed of phlogifton and de-
the compo- phlogiſticated air. Purfuing this experiment, by ta-
fition of king the electric fpark three hours in a ſmall quantity
phlogiſtica-
ted air.
of fixed air, he obſerved that it was firſt increaſed, and
then diminiſhed about one-eighth of the whole; the
infide of the tube being very black on the upper part,
and below the mercury very yellow, for the ſpace of
a quarter of an inch all round the tube; but this fpace
had been above the mercury in the beginning of the
operation. One-third of the air remained unabforbed
by water; but fo impure, that the ſtandard of it was
1.8, or almost completely phlogifticated. Varying
the proceſs by uſing water impregnated with fixed air
inſtead of mercury, the quantity of air was much aug-
mented by that which came from the water; but thus
the far greater part of it was incapable of being ab-
orbed by lime-water; and on this occafion he obfer-
114
vour of
<
ter.
In two experiments, the refiduum was inflam-
mable, and burned with a blue flame.
116
different
With regard to the quantity of fixed air which may Quantity of
be expelled from different fubftances, Dr Preftley ob- fixed air ex-
ferves, that from feven ounces of whiting, the pureft pelled from
calcareous fubftance we are acquainted with, he expel-fubftances.
led by heat 630 ounce-meaſures of air; by which
means the whiting was reduced to four ounces. One
third of this was fomewhat phlogiſticated; the ſtand-
ard being .36 and 1.38. Repeating the experiment,
he obtained 440 ounce-meafures of air from fix ounces
of whiting; about one-half of which was fixed air, and
the remainder of the ſtandard of 1.4. On moiſtening
fome calcined whiting with water impregnated with vi-
triolic acid air, he obtained 90 ounce-meafures; of
which the firſt portions were three-fourths fixed air, and
the ſtandard of the refiduum 1.5; the latter had leſs fixed
air, and the ſtandard of the refiduum was 1.44. The
whiting was rendered black and hard, but became ſoft
and white with ſpirit of falt. Three ounces and a
quarter of lime fallen in the air, yielded 375 ounce-
meafures; of which about one-fifth was fixed air, and the
ſtandard of the refiduum 1.4. Four ounces of white
lead had yielded 240 meafures of air when the retort
melted. The refiduum of the firft proceſs was one-
third, the ftandard 1.36; and of the laft the ftandard
was 1.28, that with the common atmoſphere being
1.23. Two ounces and three quarters of wood-afhes
yielded, in a very ſtrong heat, 430 ounce-meaſures of
air; of the firſt portion of which one-tenth, of the fe-
cond one-third, and of the third one-half, was fixed
air
Sect. VI.
171
AEROLOG
Y.
Fixed Air. air. The ſtandard of the refiduum of the firſt portion
was 1.6, and of the ſecond 1.7. It extinguiſhed a
It extinguiſhed a
candle;
ſo that the air came properly from the ashes,
and not from any remaining particles of the charcoal
mixed with them. After the proceſs, the ashes weigh-
ed 839 grains; but by expoſure to the air for one day,
the weight was increafed to 842 grains; and, perhaps
with more heat than before, yielded 50 ounce-meafures
of air; of which about one-eighth was fixed air, and
the ſtandard of the refiduum 1.38 and 1.41. A can-
dle burned in this refiduum, and the ashes were redu-
ced to 789 grains. Two ounce-meaſures of Hom-
berg's pyrophorus burned in the open air, and then
diſtilled in a retort, yielded 144 ounce-meaſures of
air; of which one-half at firſt was fixed air, but at the
laft very little. The refiduum of the first portion ex-
tinguiſhed a candle, but that of the laft burned with
a blue lambent flame. The ftandards of both with ni-
trous air were about 1.8. The pyrophorus was then
kept two days in the retort, with the mouth immerfed
in mercury; after which, on being taken out, it burn-
ed as ſtrong as ever. Immediately before the burning,
it weighed 428 grains; immediately after it, 449:
but being ſpread thin and expoſed to the atmoſphere
for a night, the weight was increaſed to 828 grains;
though, on being well dried, it was again reduced to
486. Subjecting it to a greater heat than before, the
matter yielded 110 ounce-meaſures of air; the firſt
portions of which were half fixed air, but the laft con-
tained very little, and burned with a blue lambent
flame. It was then reduced to 396 grains. The ex-
periment was then repeated with a quantity of pyro-
phorus, which would not take fire in the open air;
and on heating this fubftance in an earthen retort, five-
fevenths of the first part of the produce was fixed air:
but this proportion gradually diminiſhed; till at last
nine-tenths of the whole was inflammable air, burning
with a lambent blue flame. This inflammable air be-
ing decompofed with an equal quantity of dephlogifti-
cated air, yielded 0.86 of a meaſure of fixed air. A-
nother quantity of pyrophorus, which burned very well,
and which by expofure to the atmoſphere had gained
132 grains, being again expoſed to heat in an earthen
retort, gave 180 ounce-meaſures of air; three-ſevenths
of the first portion of which was fixed, and the reft
phlogiſticated air; but afterwards only one-half was
fixed and the reft inflammable, burning with a lambent
blue flame ; and at laſt it was wholly inflammable.
This pyrophorus took fire again after being poured
out of the retort, but not without the affiftance of ex-
ternal heat. It had been red-hot through the whole
mafs at the firſt burning, and the furface was covered
with white aſhes; but all the infide was as black as
→ ever it had been. Four ounces of dry ox-blood yield-
ed 1200 ounce-meaſures of air, and it was conjectured
that not less than 200 meaſures had eſcaped. It con-
tained no fixed air. The firft portion burned with a
large lambent white flanie, the middle portion fainter,
and the laſt was hardly inflammable at all. The re-
maining coal weighed 255 grains, and was a good con-
ductor of electricity.
SECT. VI. Inflammable Air.
We owe the knowledge of the existence, and of fome
remarkable properties, of this air, to Mr Cavendish, by
I
ble Air.
117
duced in
whom they were firſt publiſhed in 1767. Its effects, Inflamma-
however, had long before been fatally experienced by
miners; in whofe fubterraneous habitations it is often
collected in fuch quantities as to produce the moft Inflamma-
dreadful effects. It is produced in abundance from ble air pro-
putrid animal and vegetable ſubſtances; and, in gene- mines from
ral, by all thoſe which part with their phlogifton ea-putrid wa
fily. Being much lighter than common air, it always ters, &c.
rifes to the top of thofe places where it is generated;
fo that it cannot be confined except in ſome vaulted
place, but always ftrives to aſcend and mix with the
atmofphere. By itſelf it is very noxious, and will in-
ftantly put an end to animal life; but when mixed
with atmoſpherical air, may be breathed in much
greater quantity than fixed air. Its great inflamma-
bility in this ſtate, however, renders it very dangerous
to bring any lights, or even to ſtrike a flint with fteel,
in thoſe places where it abounds. But this only takes
place when the inflammable air is mixed with common
atmoſpherical or with dephlogiſticated air; in which
cafe, the explofion is much more violent than the for-
mer; for pure inflammable air extinguiſhes flame as-
effectually as fixed or phlogiſticated air.
hot cli-
mares.
Befides the fubterraneous places already mentioned,
this kind of air is found in ditches; over the furface of
putrid waters, out of which it eſcapes; in burying-
places; in houſes of office, where putrid animal and vege-
table matters are accumulated; and may, by ſtanding
or boiling, be extracted from the waters of moſt lakes
and rivers, efpecially thoſe in which great quantities
of fermenting and putrefying matters are thrown and
as putrefaction thus feems to be the principal fource of 118
inflammable air, it thence happens, that much more Greatquan-
of it is produced in warm than in cold climates. In tities pro-
thofe countries, we are informed by Dr Franklin, that duced in
if the mud at the bottom of a pond be well ſtirred, and
a lighted candle brought near to the furface of the wa-
ter immediately after, a flame will inſtantly ſpread a
confiderable way over the water, from the accenfion of
the inflammable air, affording a very curious ſpectacle
in the night-time. In colder climates, the generation.
of inflammable air is not ſo plentiful as to produce this
phenomenon ; nevertheleſs Mr Cavallo informs.us, that
it may be plentifully procured in the following manner,
in all the ponds about London. "Fill a wide-mouthed Mr Caval
bottle with the water of the pond, and keep it invert- lo's method
ed therein; then, with a ftick, ftir the mud at the
ing inflam
bottom of the pond, juſt under the inverted bottle, fo mable air
as to let the bubbles of air which come out of it enter from ponds.
into the bottle; which air is inflammable. When by
thus ftirring the mud in various places, and catching
the air in the bottle until this is filled, a cork or glaſs
ftopper muſt be put over it whilft ftanding in water;
and then the bottle muſt be taken home, in order to
examine the contained inflammable fluid at leiſure."
119
of collect-
120
The great quantity of inflammable air produced in Meteors
warm climates has given occafion to fome philofophers thought to
proceed
to fuppofe, that it may poffibly have fome ſhare in from it.
producing certain atmoſpherical meteors. The weak
lightnings without any explofion, which are fome-
times perceived near the horizon in ferene weather,
are by them conjectured to proceed from inflammable
air fired by electric exploſions in the atmoſphere.
Mr Volta fuppofes that the ignes fatui are occafioned
by the inflammable air which proceeds from marſhy
Y 2
grounds,
172
AERO
'Sect. VI.
LO G
Y.
ble Air.
among in-
flammable
Inflamma- grounds, and is fet on fire by electric ſparks: but theſe
phenomena can be accounted for in a more probable
manner from the action of the electric fluid itſelf.
This kind of air is more common than any of the
other noxious airs; for there is hardly any inflammable
fubftance on earth, out of which it may not be ex-
tracted by one means or other. The fluids, however,
which go by the generel name of inflammable air, have
fcarce any other property in common to them all, be-
121 fides thoſe of inflammability, and being ſpecifically
Differences lighter than the common atmoſpherical air. In other
refpects, the differences between them are very confi-
airs. derable. The fmell, weight, power of burning, of
preferving their properties, and the phenomena attend
ing their combuſtion, are by no means the fame in
them all; fome burning in an explofive manner;
others quietly, and with a lambent flame of a white or
blue colour. It is, however, neceffary to make a
proper diftinction between an inflammable elaſtic fluid
or inflammable gas, which may be properly called fo,
and that which is evidently made by combining an in-
flammable fubſtance with common air; which being
eafily feparable from the air, leaves that fluid in the
Atate it was before. Thus a drop of ether, put into a
quantity of common air, mixes itſelf with it, and takes
fire on the approach of flame, like a mixture of inflam
mable and common air; but if the air to which ether
is added be waſhed in water, the latter is foon fepara-
ted from it. Common air becomes alfo inflammable
by being tranfmitted through feveral effential oils;
and thus the air contiguous to the plant called fraxi-
nella becomes inflammable in calm and hot weather,
by the emiffion of its inflammable air.
122
Extracted
from vari-
ous fubftan-
ces by heat.
123
By heat alone, a confiderable quantity of this kind
of air may be extracted from most inflammable fub-
ſtances, and even from fome of the metals. Dr Hales
obtained inflammable air by fimply diftilling wax,
pitch, amber, coals, peafe, and oyfter fhells; and Mr
Fontana informs us, that he obtained a confiderable
quantity of inflammable air from ſpathoſe iron, by the
action of fire only applied to it in a matras. Dr
Priestley, however, obtained it from a vaſt number of
other ſubſtances, by diftilling them in a gun-barrel; to
the extremity of which was luted a tobacco-pipe, or
fmall glass tube, with a flaccid bladder tied on the
end. He obferves, that the heat muſt be fuddenly
applied, in order to get a confiderable quantity of air
More air from theſe ſubſtances. "Notwithſtanding (fays he)
procured by the fame care be taken in luting, and in every other
than gradu-
reſpect, fix, or even ten, times more air may be got
al heat. by a ſudden heat than by a flow one, though the heat
that is laſt applied be as intenſe as that which was ap-
plied fuddenly. A bit of dry oak, weighing about
twelve grains, will generally yield a fheep's bladder
full of inflammable air with a brifk heat, when it will
only yield two or three ounce-meafures if the fame
heat be applied gradually." When he wanted to ex-
tract inflammable air from metals, a glaſs was uſed, the
focus of which afforded a more intenſe heat than any
furnace he could apply: and in this way he obtained
in Aammable air from feveral metals; as iron, braſs,
and tin; but with the metallic calces he had no fuc-
cefs.
a fudden
In the infancy of his experiments, and even after
very confiderable practice, the Doctor imagined, that
124
other fluid
the inflammable air produced in this way came only Inflamma-
from the metal, without attending to the ſhare which ble Air.
water had in the production. Some late experiments
of Mr Lavoifier, however, fhowed, that water had a How pro-
great ſhare in the production of inflammable air; info- cured from
much that it gave occafion to a fuppofition, that the water and
water was the only fource from whence it was derived. and folid
This miſtake, however, was detected by Dr Priestley; fubftances,
who, by his numerous and accurate experiments, feems
in a manner to have exhaufted the fubject. The me
thod which Mr Lavoifier had followed, was to fend
the fteam of boiling water through a red-hot iron
tube; in doing which, the intenſe heat acquired by
the water occafioned the production of a great quan-
tity of inflammable air. Dr Prieſtley repeated his ex-
periments not only with water, but with other fluids..
Sending the vapour of two ounces of ſpirit of wine
through a red-hot earthen tube, he obtained 1900
ounce-meafures of inflammable air, which burned with
a white lambent flame. It contained no fixed air;
and 30 ounce-meaſures of it weighed eight grains leſs
than an equal quantity of common air. He collected
alfo 0.35 of an ounce-meaſure of water. In this experi-
ment, the weight of the water collected was 168 grains,
of the inflammable air 633 grains, and that of the ſpirit
of wine originally was 821 grains; fo that as little was
loft in the procefs as could be expected.--Repeating the
experiment with vitriolic ether, an ounce of it treated
in the fame manner in an earthen tube almoſt filled
with pieces of broken earthen retorts and crucibles,
one tenth part of an ounce of water was collected,.
and 740 ounce-meafures of inflammable air were pro-
cured, without any mixture or fixed air, burning
with a white lambent flame like that of wood, and
not exploding with dephlogifticated air. Twenty-
nine ounce-meafures of this weighed five grains leſs
than an equal quantity of common air. Vapour of
fpirit of turpentine yielded inflammable air mixed with
much black fmoke, which foon collected on the fur-
face of the water in the receiver. The fmell of this
air was exceedingly offenfive, and its flame was much
lefs luminous than that of the former. Its fpecific
gravity was the fame with that of the air procured
from fpirit of wine. Olive oil yielded a confiderable
quantity of air on being mixed with calcined whiting ;.
the firft portions burning with a large white flame, and
the laft with a lambent blue one.
In extracting air from folid fubftances, the ſteam..
of water was always neceffary; and thus inflammable
air was produced from a great number of different
ones. From fulphur treated in this manner in an
earthen tube, inflammable air was obtained of a nature
fimilar to that from oil of vitriol and iron. From ar-
fenic, the produce was one-feventh of fixed air; but
all the reft ftrongly inflammable, with a ſmell ſcarcely
diftinguishable from that of phofphorus. Twenty
ounce-meaſures of this air weighed 4 grains leſs than
an equal quantity of common air. Both thefe experi-
ments, however, were very troublefome, on account of
the volatility of the matters, which fublimed and
choaked up the tubes. From two ounces of the
fcales of iron, or fining cinder, which he has found to
be the fame thing, Dr Priestley obtained 580 ounce-
meafures of air; one-tenth of the first part of which
was fixed air, but afterwards it was all inflammable.
Forty
Sect. VI.
173
AEROLOGY.
Inflamma- Forty ounce meaſures of this air weighed two grains
ble Air. more than an equal quantity of common air. From
charcoal expofed to the red-hot fteam of water, in-
flammable air was procured in great quantities. From
ninety-four grains of perfect charaoal, that is, prepared
with a ſtrong heat fo as to expel all fixed air from it,
and 240 ounces of water, 840 ounce-meafures of air
were obtained, one-fifth part of which was fixed air;
and the inflammable part appeared likewife, by decom-
pofition, to have a quantity of fixed air intimately
combined with it.-Three ounces of bones burnt black,
and treated in this manner in a copper tube, yielded
840 ounce-meaſures of air; the water expended being
288 grains, and the bones lofing 110 grains of their
weight. This air, he obferves, differs confiderably
from that of any other kind of inflammable air; being
in feveral reſpects a medium betwixt the air procured
from charcoal and that from iron. It contains about
one-fourth of its bulk of uncombined fixed air, but
not quite one-tenth intimately combined with the re-
mainder. The water that came over was blue, and
pretty ftrongly alkaline; owing to the volatile alkali
not having been totally expelled by the heat which had
reduced the bones to blackneſs.
125
Propor-
A variety of fubftances, faid not to contain any
phlogifton, were fubjected to the fame procefs, but
without yielding any inflammable air. The experi-
The experi-
ments with iron, however, were the moſt fatisfactory,
as being fubject to lefs variation than thoſe with char-
coal; and clearly evincing, that the air in the procefs
does not come from the water alone, but from the
iron alfo; or, as Dr Priestley fays, "only from the
iron; the weight of water expended, deducting the
weight of air produced, being found in the addition
of weight in the iron as nearly as could be expected in
experiments of this kind. And though the inflam-
And though the inflam-
mable air procured in this procefs is between one-
third and one-half more than can be procured from
iron by folution in acids, the reafon may be, that
much phlogifton is retained in the folutions; and
therefore much more may be expelled from iron when
pure water, without any acid, takes place of it. The
produce of air, and likewiſe the addition of weight
gained by the iron, are alſo much more eaſily afcer-
tained in theſe experiments than the quantity of water
expended in them; on account of the great length of
the veſſels uſed in the proceſs, and the different quan-
tities that may perhaps be retained in the worm of the
tub.
The following are the refults of fome of the Doc-
t'ons of ir-tor's experiments.- Two hundred and fixty-feven
flammable grains, added to the weight of a quantity of iron, pro-
ai; obtain- duced a lofs of 336 grains of water, and an emiffion
of 840 ounce-meaſures of air; and in another experi-
ment, 140 grains added to the weight of the iron
produced a lofs of 240 grains of water, and the emif-
fion of 420 ounce-meaſures of air. "The inflammable
“The inflammable
ed from
iron by
means of
Leam.
ble Air.
air produced in this manner (fays he) is of the lighteft Inflamma-
kind, and free from that very offenfive ſmell which is
generally occafioned by the rapid folution of metals in
oil of vitriol; and it is extricated in as little time in
this way as it is poffible to do it by any mode of folu-
tion. The following experiment was made with a
view to afcertain the quantity of inflammable air that
may be procured in this manner from any given quan-
tity of iron. Nine hundred and fixty grains of iron,
when diffolved in acids, will yield about 800 ounce-
meaſures of air; but, treated in this manner, it yield-
ed 1054 meaſures, and then the iron had gained 329.
grains in weight” (A).
126
ftituent
127
Inflammable air having been at firſt produced only of the con-
from metals by means of acids, it was then fuppofed principles cf
that part of the acid neceffarily enters into its compo-inflamma-
fition; but this hypothefis is now found to be ill ble air.
grounded.
"That no acid (ſays Dr Prieſtley), is ne- No acid
ceffarily contained, or at leaſt in any fenfible quantity, contained
either in inflammable air, though produced by means in it.
of acids, or in the dephlogiſticated air of the atmo-
fphere, is evident from the following experiment, which
I made with the greateſt care: Taking a bafon which
contained a ſmall quantity of water tinged blue withr
the juice of turnfole, I placed it in a bent tube of
glafs, which came from a veffel containing iron and
diluted oil of vitriol; and lighting the current of in-
flammable air as it iffued from this tube, ſo that it
burned exactly like a candle, I placed over it an in-
verted glass jar, fo that the mouth of it was plunged
in the liquor. Under this jar the inflammable air burn-
ed as long as it could; and when extinguished for
want of more pure air, I fuffered the liquor to rife as
high as it could within the jar, that it might imbibe
whatever fhould be depofited from the decompofition
of either of the two kinds of air. I then took off
the jar, changed the air in it, and, lighting the ſtream
of inflammable air, replaced the jar as before. This
I did till I had decompofed a very great quantity of
the two kinds of air, without perceiving the leaſt
change in the colour of the liquor, which muſt have
been the cafe if any acid had entered as a neceffary
conftituent part into either of the two kinds of air.
I alſo found no acid whatever in the water, which was
procured by keeping a ſtream of inflammable air con-
ftantly burning in a large glaſs balloon, through which
the air could circulate, fo that the flame did not go
out. Neither was there any acid produced in the de-
compofition of inflammable and dephlogifticated air
in a strong clofe glafs veffel.
"With refpect to inflammable air, I have obſerved,.
that when fufficient care is taken to free it from any
acid vapour that may be accidentally contained in it,
it is not in the ſmalleſt degree affected by a mixture of
alkaline air.
alkaline air. On the whole, therefore, I have at pre-
fent no doubt, but that pure inflammable air, though it
certainly contains water, does not neceffarily contain
any
(a) In thefe experiments, the Doctor feems not to have fuppofed that any particular kind of water was ne-
ceffary for this production of inflammable air: but in the Memoirs of the Philofophical Society at Haerlem, it
is afferted by Dr Deiman and M. Paets Van Trooftwyk, that the experiment will not fucceed when boiled or
diftilled water, or any other than that containing fixed air, is made ufe of; and to this air they attribute the
calcination of the iron and production of inflammable air.. This affertion, however, is contrary to what we find
related by Mr Kirwan. See nº 138.
}
174
Sect. IV.
AEROLOGY.
ble Air.
Inflamma- any acid: yet an acid vapour may be eafily diffufed
through it, and may perhaps in many cafes be obſti-
nately retained by it, as no kind of air feems to be ca-
pable of fo great a variety of impregnations as inflam-
128
Water ne-
ceffary to
its produc-
tion.
129
to inflam-
mable air is."
Mr Cavendish firſt perceived the neceffity of moi-
ſture to the production of inflammable air; but it was
not until after making feveral experiments that Dr
Prieſtley could adopt the fame idea. He had obferved
fome very remarkable circumftances relating to the
production of inflammable air from charcoal, by which
he was induced to fuppofe that the former was pure
phlogiſton in a volatile ftate without any moiſture
Charcoal whatever. The Doctor obferves, that "charcoal is
totally con- generally faid to be indeftructible, except by a red
vertible in- heat in contact with air. But I find (fays he), that it
mable air. is perfectly deftructible, or decompofed, in vacuo, and,
by the heat of a burning lens, almoft convertible into
inflammable air; fo that nothing remains befides_an
exceedingly ſmall quantity of white aſhes, which are
feldom viſible, except when in very ſmall particles they
happen to cross the fun-beams as they fly about the
receiver. It would be impoffible to collect or weigh
them; but, according to appearance, the aſhes thus
produced, from many pounds of wood, could not be
Weight of fuppofed to weigh a grain. The great weight of ahes
produced by burning wood in the open air arifes from
what is attracted by them from the air. The air which
I get in this manner is wholly inflammable, without
the leaft particle of fixed air in it. But in order to
this, the charcoal muſt be perfectly well made, or with
fuch a heat as would expel all the fixed air which the
wood contains; and it muſt be continued till it yield
inflammable air only, which, in an earthen retort, is
foon produced.
130
afhes deri-
ved from
the air.
I3I
water to
air.
"Wood or charcoal is even perfectly deſtructible,
that is, refolvable into inflammable air, in a good
earthen retort, and a fire that would about melt iron.
In theſe circumſtances, after all the fixed air had come
over, I feveral times continued the proceſs during a
whole day; in all which time inflammable air has
been produced equably, and without any appearance
of a termination. Nor did I wonder at this, after
ſeeing it wholly vanifh into inflammable air in vacuo.
A quantity of charcoal made from oak, and weighing
about an ounce, generally gave me about five ounce-
meaſures of inflammable air in twelve minutes.'
""
Experi- Although from theſe experiments it did not appear
ment ſhow-that water was in any way effentially neceffary to the
ing the ne- production of this kind of inflammable air, it appeared
ceffity of
manifeftly to be fo in the following: "At the time
the produc- (fays he) when I difperfed any quantity of charcoal with
tion of in- a burning lens in vacuo, and thereby filled my receiver
flammable with nothing but inflammable air, I had no fufpicion
that the wet leather on which my receiver ſtood could
have any influence in the cafe, while the piece of char-
coal was fubject to the intenfe heat of the lens, and
placed feveral inches above the leather. I had alſo
procured inflammable air from charcoal in a glazed
earthen retort for two whole days fucceffively, during
which it continued to yield it without intermiffion.
Alſo iron-filings in a gun-barrel, and a gun-barrel it-
ſelf, had always given inflammable air whenever I tried
132
the experiment. Thefe circumftances, however, de- Inflamma-
ceived me, and perhaps would have deceived any other ble Air.
perfon; for I did not know, and could not have be-
lieved, the powerful attraction between water and char- Excellive
coal or iron, when the latter are intenfely hot. They attraction
will find, and attract it, in the midft of the hottest betwixt
charcoal, or
fire, and through any pores that may be left open in iron and
a retort; and iron-filings are feldom fo dry as not to water.
have as much moiſture adhering to them as is capable
of enabling them to give a confiderable quantity of ine
flammable air. But my attention being now fully
awakened to the fubject, I prefently found that the
circumftances above mentioned had actually miſled me ;
I mean with reſpect to the conclufion which I drew
from the experiments, and not with reſpect to the ex-
periments themſelves, every one of which will, I doubt
not, be found to anfwer, when properly tried:
"Being thus apprifed of the influence of unper-
ceived moiſture in the production of inflammable air,
and willing to aſcertain it to my perfect fatisfaction,
I began with filling a gun-barrel with iron-filings in
their common ftate, without taking any particular pre-
caution to dry them, and I found that they gave air
as they had been uſed to do, and continued to do fo
many hours: I even got ten ounce-meafures of inflam-
mable air from two ounces of iron-filings in a coated
glafs retort: At length, however, the production of
inflammable air from the gun-barrel ceafed; but, on
putting water to it, the air was produced again; and 133
a few repetitions of the experiment convinced me that Inflamma-
I had been too precipitate in concluding that inflam- ble air is not
mable air is pure phlogifton. I then repeated the ex-
pure phlo-
periment with the charcoal, making the receiver, the
ftand on which I placed the charcoal, and the charcoal
itſelf, as dry and hot as poffible, and uſing cement in-
ftead of wet leather, in order to exclude the air. In
theſe circumſtances I was not able, with the advantage
of a good fun and an excellent burning lens, to decom-
pofe quite fo much as two grains of the piece of char-
coal which gave me ten ounce-meaſures of inflamma-
ble air; and this, I imagine, was effected by means
of fo much moisture as was depofited from the air in
its ſtate of rarefaction, and before it could be drawn
from the receiver. To the production of this kind of
inflammable air, therefore, I was now convinced that
water is as effential as to that from iron.”
gifton.
134
different
kinds of in-
In his analyſis of different kinds of inflammable air, Priestley's
the Doctor obferves, that the difference moft com- analyſis of
monly perceived is, that fome of them burn with a
lambent flame, fometimes white, fometimes yellow, flammable
and fometimes blue; while another kind always burns air.
with an exploſion, making more or lefs of a report
when a lighted candle is dipped into a jar filled with
it. The inflammable air extracted from metals by
means of acids is of this laſt kind; and that from wood,
coal, or other inflammable ſubſtances by means of heat,
belongs to the former. It has alſo been obferved, that
theſe kinds of inflammable air have different ſpecific
gravities; the pureft, or that which is extracted from
iron, &c. being about ten times as light as common
air; but fome of the other kinds not more than twice
as light (A).
This difference was for fome time attributed to a
quantity
(A) Here the Doctor's calculation differs fomewhat from that of Mr Kirwan; who, in his Treatife on Phlo-
giſton,
Sect. VI.
AEROLO
G GY.
175
ble Air.
13KK
Tixed air
tion of in-
ble Air.
Equal parts of dephlogiſticated air and the inflam-Inflamma-
mable kind produced from ſpirit of wine, were redu-
ced to one meaſure, and by waſhing in lime-water to
0.6 of a meaſure. The ſtandard of the refiduum was
1.7.-In another experiment, in which the vapour of
the fpirit of wine had paffed through a tube filled with
bits of crucibles, the firſt diminution was to 1.6, the
fecond to 1.4, and the ftandard of the refiduum was to
1.84 but in a third, the firſt diminution was to 1.2,
the fecond to 0.9.-Air procured by fteam from red-
hot platina was reduced to 0.72 of a meafure, and the
ſtandard of the refiduum was 0.9. It contained no
fixed air. Air from brimftone, with an equal part of
dephlogifticated air, was diminiſhed to 0.6, and no
fixed air was found in the reſiduum. Its ftandard was
0.95.—With inflammable air from arfenic, the firſt re-
duction was to 1.15, the fecond to 0.95. The ftand-
ard was 0.82.-With the inflammable air procured by
a decompofition of alkaline air, the diminution by ex-
ploſion was to 0.96, and no fixed air was contained in
the refiduum; the flandard of which was 0.8.—In-
flammable air from ether reſembles that from ſpirit of
wine. The firft diminution was to 1.36, the ſecond to
1.2; and the ſtandard was 1.9.
Inflamma- quantity of fixed air intimatcly combined with the
heavier kinds, fo that it could not be diſcovered by
lime-water, while the lighteſt contained no fixed air at
all. In order to afcertain this point, he had recourſe
to decompofition; which was performed by mixing
with the inflammable air to be tried an equal quantity
of common or dephlogiſticated air, and then confining
them in a ſtrong glafs veffel previouſly filled either with
water or mercury; making afterwards an electric fpark
in fome part of the mixture by means of wires inferted
through the fides of the veffel, and nearly meeting
within it. Thus he fuppofed that he might be able to
determine the quantity of combined fixed air, and like-
wife the relative quantity of phlogiston contained in
each of them. The former appeared by waſhing the
air with lime-water after the explosion, and obferving
how much of them was obſerved; and the latter by
examining the refiduum with the teft of nitrous air,
and obferving the purity of it. Finding, however,
that, in fome cafes, more fixed air was found after the
exploſion than could have been contained in the inflam-
mable air, he was thence led to obferve the generation of
fixed air from the principles mentioned in the laft fection.
In profecuting this fubject, it was found, that one
generated meaſure of inflammable air produced by ſteam from
In the de- metals, and one of dephlogifticated air, fuch as by
compofi-
mixture with two meafures of nitrous air was reduced
Hammable to 0.72 of a meafure, were reduced by explofion to
0.6 of a meaſure; the refiduum, by an equal quantity
of nitrous air, was reduced to 0.87. With the fame
dephlogiſticated air, the inflammable air from fining-
cinder and charcoal was reduced only to 1.85 of a
meaſure; but by wafhing in lime-water, to 1.2. The
refiduum examined by nitrous air appeared to be of the
ſtandard of 0.9. In another procefs, the diminution after
the exploſion was to 1.55, and that after waſhing in lime-
water to 0.65, of a meaſure; in a third, by exploſion to
1.6, and by waſhing to 0.66; and in a fourth, the firſt
diminution was to 1.6, and the fecond to 0.6. In this
laſt
Jaft experiment there was a generation of an entire
meaſure of fixed air; and that this had not been con-
tained originally in any latent ftate in the original
fluid, was evident from the fpecific gravity of the in-
flammable air made ufe of. This, indeed, was one of
the heaviest kinds of the fluid: but 40 ounce-meaſures
of it weighed only two grains more than an equal bulk
of common air; whereas, had all the fixed air found
in the refiduum been contained in the original air, it
muſt have been at leaſt one-half heavier. "Indeed
(fays the Doctor) if any quantity of inflammable air,
of about the fame fpecific gravity with common air
(which is the cafe with that fpecies of it I am now
confidering), yield fo much as feven-tenths of its bulk
of fixed air in confequence of its explofion with de-
phlogiſticated air, it is a proof that at leaſt part of
that fixed air was generated in the proceſs, becauſe
feven-tenths of fuch fixed air would weigh more than
the whole meaſure of inflammable air."
air.
Inflammable air procured by means of fteam from
charcoal of metals produces a confiderable quantity of
fixed air; the firſt diminution being to 1.12, the fe-
cond to c.8, and the ſtandard of the refiduum 1.9.
This analyfis was of the firſt portion that came over,
the fecond was fomewhat different; the firſt diminu-
tion being to 1.0, the ſecond to 0.75, and the ſtand-
ard of the refiduum 1.9.- From coak, or the charcoal
of pitcoal, the firſt diminution was to 1.15, the ſecond
to 0.95, and the ſtandard 1.9; but the dephlogiftica-
ted air in this experiment was by no means pure.
With inflammable air from ſpirit of turpentine, the
firſt diminution was to 1.7, the ſecond to 1.6, and the
ſtandard 1.9-From bones, the firft diminution was
to 0.67, the fecond to 0.58; the ftandard 1.47.
From common charcoal, the firſt diminution was to
1.5, the fecond to 0.74, and the ſtandard 1.7. In ano-
ther experiment, the firſt diminution was to 0.82, the
fecond to 0.63, and the ſtandard of the refiduum
1.37.
Inflammable air procured by diftilling fome rich
mould in a gun-barrel had a very offenfive fmell, like
that procured from putrid vegetables; it contained one-
twentieth part of uncombined fixed air. When this
was ſeparated from it, and the remainder decompofed
with dephlogifticated air, the first diminution was to
1.4, the fecond to 0.67, and the ſtandard of the refi-
duum was 0.6.-The air procured from caft-iron has
likewife a peculiarly offenfive fmell; and, on this ac-
count, the Doctor imagined, that it might contain
more phlogiston than common inflammable air, ſo as
to abforb more dephlogiſticated air than the other.
But this conjecture did not appear to be well founded;
for on exploding it with dephlogiſticated air in the
proportions
gifton, informs us, that in his experiments he ufed " inflammable air extracted from clean newly-made filings
of foft iron, in the temperature of 59°, by vitriolic acid whoſe ſpecific gravity was 1.0973, and obtained over
mercury, having very little fmell, and what it had being very unlike the ufual fmell of inflammable air.”—The
weight of this air, when the barometer ſtood at 29.9, and the thermometer at 60°, was found to be to that of
common air as. 84.3 to 1000; and, confequently, near 12 times lighter..
176
Sect. VI.
AERO
Y.
LOG
Inflamma- proportions already mentioned, the diminution was
ble Air. the fame as with inflammable air produced from the
malleable kind, viz. 1.56.
136
into infiam-
mable air.
In theſe experiments, it feemed evident, that at leaſt
part of the fixed air found after the explosion was pro-
duced by its means; but the following feem no lefs con-
vincing proofs, that fixed air may be converted into the
inflammable kind, or at leaſt that the elements of fixed
air may remain in inflammable air in fuch a manner as
to be imperceptible. On heating in an earthen re-
Five air tort a quantity of laked lime, which had long been
convertible kept cloſe corked in a bottle, it gave air, of which one-
fifth was generally fixed air; but in the gun-barrel the
fame lime yielded no fixed air at all, but a great quan-
tity of inflammable air of the exploſive kind, like that
which is got from iron alone by means of water. As
this total diſappearance of the fixed air appeared ex-
traordinary, the Doctor was induced to repeat it feve-
ral times with all poffible care; and the following was
the refult of his experiments: Three ounces of flaked
lime, which had for fome time been expofed to the
open air, heated in an earthen tube, yielded 14 ounce-
meaſures of air, of which only two and an half remain
ed unabſorbed by water; the refiduum was flightly in-
flammable, but not perfectly phlogiſticated. Three
ounces of the fame lime, heated in a gun-barrel, gave
20 ounce-meaſures of air, all of which was inflam-
mable, and no part fixed. It was expected, how-
ever, that the fixed air would have appeared on the de-
compoſition of this inflammable air with the dephlogif
ticated kind: but after this proceſs, it appeared to be
exactly ſuch inflammable air as is procured from metals
by the mineral acids, or by ſteam; the diminution of
the two kinds of air being exactly the fame: and tho'
fome fixed air was found in the refiduum, it was no
more than is uſually met with in the decompofition of
inflammable air procured by means of ſpirit of falt.-
Suppofing that the two kinds of air might incorporate,
when one of them was generated within the other, a
gun-barrel was filled with fixed air, and the cloſed end
of it put into a hot fire. Inflammable air was inftant-
ly produced; but when the fixed air was feparated
from it, it burned like inflammable air with which no
other kind had ever been mixed.
On heating iron-turnings in five ounce-meaſures of
fixed air, the quantity of it was increaſed about one
ounce-meaſure, and there remained one and three-fourths
unabforbed by water. The experiment was repeated.
with the fame refult; and it was farther obſerved, that
though the inflammable air procured in this manner
did not appear by the teſt of lime-water to contain any
fixed air, yet when it was decompoſed by firing it with
an equal quantity of dephlogifticated air, the refiduum
contained one-third of fixed air. The diminution was
to 1.45. Hence the Doctor conjectures, that though,
in fome cafes, the fixed air appears to be generated by
the decompofition of dephlogiſticated and inflammable
air, yet that inflammable air, when thus produced in
contact with fixed air, may combine with it, fo as to be
properly contained in it, and in fuch a manner that it
cannot be diſcovered by lime-water.
Inflammable air, when produced in the drieft way
poffible, is exceedingly light, as has been already ob-
ferved.: but Dr Priestley has found, that by ftanding
N° 5.
on water, a very confiderable increaſe is made in its Inflamma-
inflamma-
ſpecific gravity; fo that from being ten or twelve times ble Air.
lighter than atmoſpherical air, it foon becomes only. 137
feven times lighter. This great propenfity to unite Great pro-
with water is alſo taken notice of by Mr Kirwan; who penfity of
tells us, that the bulk of innflammable air obtained o- ble air to
ver water with the affiftance of heat towards the end, unite with
was one-eighth greater than when produced over mer- water.
cury; but that the weight of it in the former cafe was
only eight or nine times lefs than common air.
"From 85 cubic inches of inflammable air obtained
over water, I extracted,” ſays he, "by oil of vitriol ex-
poſed to it for 55 hours, two grains of water; and,
though undoubtedly there is an error in all theſe expe-
riments, yet there can be little doubt but this inflam-
mable air contained one-half its weight of water. The
inflammable air, by the fubtraction of its water, loft its
fmell, but continued as inflammable as ever; and there-
fore there is no reaſon to think that it was decompoſed,
or that water is any way effential to it."
3.
This conclufion is directly contrary to that of Dr
Priestley, that water is an effential ingredient in the
compofition of inflammable air; nor do the experi-
ments of the latter, already recited, feem to have had
any weight with him, as he concludes his Treatife on
138
Phlogifton in theſe words. "To the proofs I have Mr Kir-
heretofore given, that inflammable air and phlogifton wan's con-
are the ſame ſubſtance, juſt as ice and the vapour of clufion con-
water are called the fame fubftance, no objection of cerning the
principles
any weight has fince been made. Some have thought of inflam
that I fhould have included the matter of heat or cle- mable air.
mentary fire in the definition of inflammable air: but as
fire is contained in all corporeal ſubſtances, it is per-
fectly needlefs, except where bodies differ in the quan-
tity of it they contain; and in this reſpect I expreſsly
mentioned its difference with phlogifton to confift.—
Others, attending to the quantity of water contained
in inflammable air, have fuppofed it to be an effential
ingredient in the compofition of this air, and have call-
ed it phlogiſticated water; but they may as well ſup-
pofe water to be an effential ingredient in common air,
or fixed air, and call this laft acidulated water: for in-
flammable air, equally as other airs, may be deprived of
its water without any limitation, and yet preſerve all
its properties unaltered; which fhows the prefence of
water to be no way effential to it. Laftly, others have
thought, that it effentially requires an acid or an alkali,
or fome faline fubftance, for its bafis; as if there were
any more repugnance in the nature of things, that phlo-
gifton ſhould exift in an aerial ſtate without any bafis,
than marine air, alkaline air, or dephlogiſticated air;
when it is evident, that an aërial ftate requires no more
than a certain proportion of latent heat but the pro-
duction of inflammable air from iron by means of di-
ftilled water, without any acid or falt, has effectually
done away any fufpicion of that fort.”
:
$39
On the other hand, Dr Priestley informs us, that Dr Prieft-
"inflammable air feems now to confift of water and ley' con-
inflammable air: which, however, feems extraordinary, cluſion.
as the two ſubſtances are hereby made to involve each
other; one of the conftituent parts of water being in-
flammable air, and one of the conftituent parts of in-
flammable air being water; and therefore, if the expe-
riments would favour it (but I do not fee that they do
fo),
Sect. VI.
177
A EROLOGY.
Inflamma- fo), it would be more natural to ſuppoſe, that water,
ble Air. like fixed air, confifts of phlogifton and dephlogiſticated
air, in fome different mode of combination.
"There is an aſtoniſhing variety in the different
kinds of inflammable air, the cauſe of which is very im-
perfectly known. The lighteft, and therefore probably
the pureft kind, feems to confift of phlogiſton and wa-
ter only. But it is probable that oil, and that of dif-
ferent kinds, may be held in folution in ſeveral of them,
and be the reaſon of their burning with a lambent flame,
and alſo of their being fo readily refolved into fixed air
when they are decompofed by dephlogiſticated air;
though why this ſhould be the cafe, I cannot ima-
gine.
140
Abforption
of inflam-
mable air
by water.
"When inflammable and dephlogifticated air are
burned together, the weight of the water produced is
never, I believe, found quite equal to that of both kinds
of air. May not the light, therefore, emitted from the
flame, be part of the phlogiſton of the inflammable air
united to the principle of heat? And as light accom-
panies the electric spark, may not this alſo be the real
accenfion of fome phlogiſtic matter, though it is not eafy
to find the fource of it?"
The French chemifts, who deny the existence of
phlogiſton, are of opinion, that inflammable air is a
fimple uncompounded element; but for a more full
difcuffion of this fubject, ſee the article PHLOGISTON.
Inflammable air is abſorbed by water in confiderable
quantity, but by the application of heat may be expel-
led again in equal quantity. By agitation in water Dr
Prieſtley was formerly of opinion that this kind of air
might be rendered as good as common air; but this
undoubtedly proceeds from the atmoſpherical air tranf-
mitted by the water, as is the cafe with phlogifticated
air mentioned in the laft fection. After a quantity of
water, which had abſorbed as much inflammable air as
it could, had been fuffered to ſtand a month, it was ex-
pelled by heat, and found to be as ſtrongly inflammable
as ever. The water, after the procefs, depofited a
kind of filmy matter; which he fuppofed to be the
earth of the metal that had been employed in produ-
cing it.
141
Its effects
tion and
- Plants in general grow tolerably well in inflammable
on vegeta- air, and the willow plant has been obſerved to abſorb
animal life. great quantities of it.
Its inflammability is not dimi-
nifhed by the putrefaction of animal fubftances, nor
does their putrefaction feem to be retarded by it. Anf-
mals confined in it are killed almoft as foon as in fixed
air: but infects, which can live a confiderable time in
phlogiſticated air, live alfo a confiderable time in this
kind of air; but at laſt they become torpid, and appear
to be dead, though they will ftill recover if removed
into the open air. Mr Cavallo relates, that the Abbé
Fontana, having filled a large bladder with inflammable
air, began to breathe it in his prefence; after having
made a very violent expiration, in which cafe the ef-
fects are most powerful. The firſt inſpiration produced
a great oppreffion in his lungs, the ſecond made him
look very pale, and the third was ſcarce accompliſhed
when he fell on his knees through weakneſs. Birds and
fmall quadrupeds, inclofed in fmall veffels of this air,
Has little died after a very few inſpirations. Laftly, inflammable
refractive air appears to have a ſmaller ſhare of refractive power
than common air; for Mr Warltire informs us, that
having placed an hollow triangular prifm, of which the
VOL. I. Part I.
142
power.
ble Air,
angle was 72 degrees, fo as to half cover a large object- Inflamma-
glafs in one of Mr Dollond's perfpectives, and fo turn-
ed round as to make the frame of a window, at the di-
ftance of 1280 feet, feen partly through the prifm and
partly through common air, appear undivided. The
inflammable air was then blown out of the prifm, but
no part of the apparatus was moved; when the frame
of the window feen through the object-glafs and
the prifm as before, feemed to feparate about four
inches.
143
for various
The inflammability of this ſpecies of air has given Schemes to
occafion to various projects concerning it; fuch as that employ it
of employing it to give light and heat; and lamps have purpoſes.
been deſcribed, which may be lighted by the electric ſpark
in the night-time. By its means alſo very pretty arti-
ficial fires are made, with glafs tubes bent in various
directions, and pierced with a great number of ſmall
apertures. The inflammable gas is introduced into
theſe tubes, from a bladder filled with that fluid, and
fitted with a copper cock. When the bladder is pref-
fed, the inflammable air, being made to paſs into the
tube, iffues out of all the fmall apertures, and is fet on
fire by a lighted taper. None of thefe contrivances,
however, have ever been applied to any uſe; and the
ſcheme of Mr Volta, who propoſed to ſubſtitute its ex-
plofive force inftead of gun-powder, is found infuffi-
cient, on account of the weakneſs of the explofion, ex-
cept when the two airs are fired in very great quantity,
which would be incompatible with the fmall bulk ne-
ceffary for warlike engines.
SECT. VII.
Sulphurated Inflammable Air.
144
THIS was diſcovered by Dr Prieſtley at the time
when he was engaged in the experiments of which fome
account has been given in the laft fection, of tranſmit-
ting the fteam of water and other fluids through red-
hot tubes containing fome folid material. Having, a- Firſt pro-
mong others, treated manganefe in this manner, by cured from
ftopping one end of the heated tube with a cork be- manganeſe.
fore the ſteam was applied, he received forty ounce-
meaſures of air, of which one-fixth was fixed air and
the reft of the ftandard of 1.7, lambently inflammable.
Having then opened the other end of the tube in or-
der to admit the fteam, air was produced more co-
piouſly than before. Of 50 ounces of this air, one-
feventh was fixed, and the reſt, of the ſtandard of 1.8,
explofively inflammable. The laft portions were very
turbid; and the fmell, eſpecially that of the laſt por-
tion, was very fulphureous, tinging the water of a very
dark colour, by depofiting in it a quantity of blackiſh
water. However, the air itſelf became prefently tranf-
parent, and had no other appearance than that of any
other kind of air. On looking at the jar in about ten
minutes after, it was quite black and opaque; fo that
nothing could be feen in the infide of it. Filling after-
wards another jar with the fame kind of air, in order
to obferve the progrefs of this uncommon phenomenon,
he found, that when the water was well ſubſided, black
fpecks began to appear in different places, and, ex--
tending themſelves in all directions, at length joined
each other, till the whole jar was become perfectly
black, and the glafs opaque. When this was done, he
transferred the air into another jar; and it foon pro-
duced a fimilar effect upon this, though it never became
Z
fo
178
AEROLO
G Y..
Sec. VIII.
ble Air.
Inflamma fo black as the jar in which it had been firft recei-
ved. It alfo frequently happened, that only the lower
part of the jar would become black, as if the matter
with which it was loaded had kept fubfiding, though
invifibly, in the mafs of air, and occupied only the
lower regions, leaving the upper part entirely free from
it. On expofing to the open air the veffels thus turn
ed black, the colour prefently diſappeared, and a yel
low or brown incruſtation was left upon it. The fame
change took place when the veffels were inverted in
water, in order to obferve the alteration of the air with..
in them; but on examining this air, no fenfible change
was perceived. In fome cafes, indeed, he thought the
air was injured, but it was much lefs fo than he had
expected. After depofiting the black matter, the air
ftill retained its fulphureous fmell, and he did not
magine that it would ever leave it entirely.
145
Procured
from ivory
melted in
vitriolic
acid air.
J
Air.
146
Properties
This kind of air, when pure, is inftantly fatal to ani- Alkaline
mal life, and extinguiſhes flame; though, when mixed
with common atmoſpherical air, it is flightly inflam-
mable, and alfo medicinal in faintings and other cafes
of debility. A candle dipped into a jar of this air of alkaline
is extinguished; but just before the flame goes out, it air.
is enlarged by the addition of another flame of a pale
yellow colour, and fometimes a weak flaine fpreads for
a confiderable way, or even through the whole body of
the alkaline air. The electric fpark taken in it ap-
pears of a red colour. Every ſpark taken in it aug-
ments its bulk, and by degrees turns the whole into
inflammable air. It is readily abſorbed by water, as
has been already obferved, and diffolves ice almoſt as
faſt as an hot fire. On confining fome water impreg-
inated with alkaline air in a glaſs tube, and thus expo-
fing it to a ſtrong heat in a fand-furnace for fome days,
he obferved that a white fediment or incrustation was
formed on the furface. The Doctor remarked, that
bits of linen, charcoal, and fponge, admitted into a
quantity of alkaline air, diminiſhed it, and acquired a
very pungent fmell; efpecially the fponge, a bit of
which, about the fize of an hazle-nut, abforbed an
ounce-meaſure.
ounce-meaſure. It is remarkable that copper, which
is fo eafily corroded by the common volatile alkalis,
is not affected by alkaline air. The ſpecific gravity of
this kind of air is, by Mr Kirwan, determined to be
to that of common air as 600 to 1000; though, as he
justly obferves, this muft differ very confiderably accor-
ding to the quantity of moiffure it contains.
On trying other fpecimens of manganefe, no air of
this kind was obtained; but fome time after, having
occafion to make a large quantity of inflammable air,
he uſed, inſtead of fresh iron, fome that had becn al-
ready melted in vitriolic acid air. Diffolving this with
a confiderable quantity of freſh metal in diluted vitrio
lic acid, he found that the water in which the air was
received became very black, and depofited more fedi-
ment than had appeared in the experiment with the
manganefe. The jars were as black as ink, but be-
came yellow on expoſure to the air as before; fo that
there could be no doubt of its being the fame thing
he had got before. On burning a quantity of it, this
kind of air appeared to contain fome vitriolic acid, the
balloon being filled with a very denſe white fume, which
rendered the water fenfibly acid to the tafte. On de-.
compofing it with dephlogiſticated air, however, he
found the diminution exactly the fame as when com-
mon inflammable and deplogiſticated air were uſed; fo
that it appeared to contain neither more nor leſs phlo-
giſton than the other; only there was a ſmall quantity
of fixed air produced, which is never the cafe with
common inflammable air from vitriolic acid and iron.
When the fulphurated inflammable air is received o-
ver mercury, very little black matter is produced on
the jars; and it is remarkable, that though the black
matter collected on them, when the air is taken through
water, foon grows yellow upon expofing it to the air,
it is not the cafe with that which remains in the wa-
ter; it adheres to the evaporating veffel in form of a
black incruſtation, which does not burn blue until it
has been digefted in the nitrous acid, which deprives it
of its fuperfluous phlogifton, and leaves it both of the
colour and ſmell of fulphur.
SECT. VIII. Of Alkaline Air.
THIS was procured by Dr Priestley, in the begin-
ning of his experiments, from common fpirit of fal-
ammoniac with quicklime, or the materials from which
it is made. He did not at that time profecute the
diſcovery farther than by impregnating water with it;
by which means he could make a much ftronger alka-
line ſpirit than any to be met with in the fhops. His
method of procuring it was by mixing one part of
pounded fal-ammoniac with three parts of flacked lime;
and for common experiments the fame quantity of ma-
terials would laft a confiderable time.
147
In profecuting his experiments on alkaline air, Dr Proofs of
Priestley concluded that it contains phlogifton, both its contain
from its being convertible into inflammable air by elec ing phlo-
gilton.
tric exploſions, and likewife from its reviving the cal-
ces of metals. In attempting to afcertain the quan-
tity of lead revived in alkaline air, he met with two
difficulties; the firit, on account of fome part of the
calx being blackened and imperfectly revived; the fe-
cond, that the lead completely revived was diffolved by
the mercury employed to confine the air. To prevent
this laft inconvenience, he put the powdered mafficot
(the ſubſtance he choſe to employ on this occafion) in-
to ſmall earthen cups, contriving to place them with
their mouths upwards, in fuch a manner, that when
the lead was revived by means of a burning lens, it
would remain in the cup, and not mix with the mer-
cury which fupported it. The proportions of metal
then revived, were fix grains of lead in three ounce-
meaſures, 16 in three meaſures and an half, 13 in two
and an half, and 12 in three and three-fourths; but the
experiment on which he laid the greateſt ſtreſs, was that
in which 26 grains of lead were revived in 7ounce-
meaſures of alkaline air. In this proportion, 100-
ounce-meafures of alkaline air would' revive 352 grains
of lead; but an equal quantity of inflammable air from
iron would have revived 480 grains of metal. This
deficiency appeared fomewhat furprifing to the Doctor,
confidering that alkaline air is refolved into more than
twice its bulk of the inflammable kind; though it is
poffible, that inflammable air from iron may contain
more phlogifton than that into which alkaline air is re-
folvable.
On heating red precipitate in alkaline air, the mer-
cury was revived as in other cafes, and a confiderable
quantity of water was produced, though none appears..
ON
1
Sect. VII.
179
AERO
Y.
LO G
Air.
;
Alkaline on reviving it with common inflammable air. "It has
even (fays he) run down in drops in the infide of a
veffel which contained five ounce-meaſures of the air
and a confiderable quantity of dephlogiſticated air was
found in the refiduum." On throwing the focus of the
lens on red precipitate, incloſed in this kind of air, till
three meaſures of it were reduced to two, water was
produced as uſual, and the ſtandard of the refiduum
was 1.7. In another experiment, a violent explofion
took place before he could obſerve whether any water
was produced or not.
148
Converfion
into inflam-
mable air.
?
In examining the phenomena which attend the con-
of alkaline verfion of alkaline air into the inflammable kind, the
Doctor was induced to believe that it was occafioned
by heat alone, without the concurrence of light. The
effects of the former were first perceived on heating
fome ochre of iron in alkaline air; when, though the
matter turned black, as in an incipient reduction of the
metal, he found a confiderable increaſe of quantity in-
ftead of decreaſe in the air, as he had expected; and,
on examining the quality of it, he found that it con-
tained no fixed air, but was entirely inflammable. With
fcales of iron a fimilar enlargement was perceived; but
in this way he could never increaſe the quantity to more
than double that which had been originally employed,
and even after this the whole fmelled ftrongly of vola-
tile alkali; the iron had undergone no change.
The Doctor now, concluding from thefe experiments
that the change of alkaline into inflammable air was
produced by this caufe alone, proceeded to repeat the
experiment, by heating in the alkaline air bits of dry
crucibles, or of earthen retorts, which had been just
before expofed to very great heats, ſo that they could
not be fuppofed to give out any air themſelves, and
therefore could only ferve to communicate a ftrong
heat to the alkaline air; and in theſe experiments the
refult was the fame as when ochre and iron were made
ufe of. The bits of white earthen ware were always
turned black; but finding the fame effect of augment-
ing the air and giving it an inflammable quality, though
he uſed the bit of crucible over and over again, he was
thoroughly convinced that the change was effected by
heat alone.
In all theſe experiments, however, with a burning-
glafs, as a ftrong light was alſo concerned, he heated a
quantity of alkaline air in a green glaſs retort, receiving
in a glaſs tube, filled with water, all the air that could
be expelled from it by heat. At first it was all abforb-
ed by the water, being merely alkaline air expelled by
the rarefaction; but when the bulb of the retort be-
came red-hot, he found that the bubbles driven out
were not wholly abſorbed, and at laft none of them
were fo. Theſe were altogether inflammable; fo that
no doubt remained of the change being produced by
heat alone, without any intervention of light.
It was farther obſerved, that whenever the alkaline
air was changed into inflammable by means of bits of
retorts or crucibles containing clay, they always be
came black during the procefs. He inclined therefore
to fuppofe, that fomething might be depofited from
the air which might attach itſelf to the clay. "In
deed, (ſays he) if this was not the cafe, I do not fee
why the clay fhould become black; though, perhaps,
part of the fame phlogiston which forms the inflam-
mable air may be attracted by the red-hot clay, with
*
149
ced from
out there being any proper decompofition of the air. NitrousAir.
That this is the cafe feems probable from an experi-
ment in which I ufed porcelain inftead of commen
earthen ware; which did not become black in the pro-
cefs, though inflammable air was produced."
In fome of Dr Prieſtley's experiments, he had ob- Volatile al-
ſerved that iron, which had long rufted in nitrous air,
kali produ-
gave out a ſtrong ſmell of volatile alkali. This extra-
This extra- nitrous air
ordinary phenomenon, however, was only perceived and iron.
where the nitrous air and iron had been in contact for
a very long time; but he found that it was much foon-
er produced by making uſe of a weak folution of cop-
per; by putting iron into which he obtained that ſpe
cies of nitrous air called dephlogiſticated. A phial con-
taining fome of this iron, which had been uſed only
once for the purpoſe juſt mentioned, having been kept
clofe corked for about two months, was accidentally
broken; when ſome pieces of the iron were found co-
vered with a green cruft, and theſe had a ſtrong ſmell
of volatile alkali. On making fome more experiments
on this fubject, he found that two months ftanding was
requifite to produce the alkaline ſmell defired.
SECT. VIII. Of Nitrous Air.
150
THIS kind of air is plentifully obtained in all cafes How pro
where the nitrous acid is combined with phlogiſton : duced.
Thus, when it is mixed with metals, or animal or ve-
getable fubftances, nitrous air is produced in great
quantities; but very fparingly when treated with me-
tallic calces, earths, or other matters which are ſaid to
contain little or no phlogifton. All the metals, ex-
cepting gold, platina, and regulus of antimony, which
are not foluble in the pure nitrous acid, yield nitrous
air on being treated with it; and even from thefe,
when diffolved in aqua regia, fome quantity of this air
may be obtained. Every metal, however, does not
yield it in equal quantity, with equal facility, or e-
qually good. Silver, copper, iron, braſs, bifmuth or
nickel, when put into nitrous acid, yield this air in
confiderable quantity: Mercury yields it but flowly
without the application of heat, though no great de-
gree of it is neceffary. Copper and iron, efpecially the
latter, require the acid to be cautiouſly applied on ac-
count of the violent emiffion of fumes. Gold, platina,
and regulus of antimony, when put in aqua regia, yield
nitrous air pretty readily; but lead yields it in fmaller
proportion than any other metal, and zinc does the
fame among the femimetals, the elaſtic fluid produced
from it being moftly phlogiſticated air.
151
In the production of this kind of air, great differen-
ces are perceived by a diverſity in the ftrength of the
acid.
acid. Thus, if we diffolve copper in ftrong nitrous a-
cid, no nitrous air is produced, though the fame ma-
terials will yield air in great quantity by the mere af-
fuffion of water to dilute the acid. This is very pro- Why ftrong
perly explained by Doctor Priestley, from the property nitrous acid
that the nitrous acid has of attracting phlogifton, nitrous air.
yields its
which is evident from what happens in the folution of
mercury. When ftrong spirit of nitre is poured upon
this metal, the folution foon begins, and is very rapid,
yet not a fingle bubble of elastic fluid is produced; but
in a fhort time the acid next to the mercury is chan-
ged of an orange colour, which is an indication of its
having acquired phlogifton, probably from the nitrous
air
180
AEROLOG
Sect. VIII.
Y.
perifh very foon in nitrous air, and even in common NitrousAir,
air faturated with nitrous air; but Dr Prieſtley informs
us, that "though in general plants die almoft imme-
diately in water impregnated with nitrous air, yet in
one caſe of this kind, when the fuperfluous nitrous air
was let out under water, ſo that no part of it was de-
compofed in contact with the water, the plant grew
in it remarkably well."
NitrousAir air which is decompoſed the moment it is formed, and
before its particles are united into viſible bubbles. The
bubbles of air indeed break through the coloured acid,
but they diſappear the moment they come in contact
with the pale-coloured acid. As foon as the whole
quantity of acid has affumed the orange colour, nitrous
air eſcapes from it in confiderable quantity; but the
mixture of water deprives the acid of its power of de-
compoſing nitrous air. The ftrong and pale-coloured
nitrous acid ought to be diluted with at leaſt two or
three parts of water to one of the acid, for the
eafy production of nitrous air from copper and mer-
752
Properties
of nitrous
air.
cury.
In common experiments, no other degree of heat is
neceffary than that produced by the effervefcence itſelf,
except mercury be uſed, which requires the application
of fome degree of heat; but when the metal expofes
a very great furface to the acid, as is the caſe when
the filings of the metal are uſed, the effervefcence and
production of nitrous air are often much quicker than
can be conveniently managed. The moft proper me-
thod of producing nitrous air, however, is explained
in the laſt ſection of this treatiſe.
Nitrous air by itfelf is equally tranfparent and in-
vifible with common air, excepting at its firft produc-
tion, when it is fomewhat coloured, owing to a little
fuperfluous nitrous acid, or to fome earthy particles
which are carried up with it. Its ſmell reſembles that
Its ſmell reſembles that
of nitrous acid, or indeed is the very fame; becauſe,
in paffing through the common air to our noftrils, it
is decompofed, and converted into nitrous acid. The
fame is to be faid of its tafte; though Mr Fontana,
who tafted it without any contact of external air, af-
firms that it has no tafte whatever. The method in
which he aſcertained this fact was as follows. Having
firſt introduced the nitrous air into a bottle of elaſtic
gum in water, as is done with glafs bottles, he brought
his mouth, ſhut, while the neck of the elaſtic-gum
bottle was under water, near the neck of it; and then,
by preffing the bottle, introduced the nitrous air into
his mouth. The experiment, however, is by no means
void of danger; for if the perfon happens to draw any
quantity of this air into the lungs, he may be nearly
fuffocated, as nitrous air is exceedingly noxious. In
performing of it, he recommends to exhauſt the mouth
entirely of common air, though he does not inform us
how this can be done; nor indeed is it eaſy to con-
ceive the poffibility of doing fo.
Water, by agitation in nitrous air, may be made to
imbibe one tenth part of its bulk; and afterwards the ni-
trous air may be expelled again by boiling, though not
in the fame quantity as it was abforbed; but for this
purpoſe the water fhould be previouſly deprived of its
air. Dr Priestley informs us, that having carefully
pumped all the air out of a quantity of rain-water,
letting it ſtand 24 hours in a good vacuum, and then
impregnating it with nitrous air, he inſtantly expelled
it again by boiling, when he obtained only about one
fourth part of it, though fufficiently pure, and with-
out any mixture of fixed air. Water may alſo be de-
prived of the nitrous air it contains, though it does not
freeze quite fo readily when impregnated with this air
as in its natural ſtate.
Nitrous air is abſorbed by ſtrong oil of vitriol nearly
in the fame quantity as by water; the acid acquiring
a purple colour, by reafon of the phlogifton contained
in the nitrous air. The ftrọng nitrous acid abſorbs it
in great quantity; and becomes fmoking, orange co-
loured, and afterwards green, on account of the phlo-
gifton contained in it. Marine acid imbibes but a
fmall quantity, and very flowly, acquiring at the fame
time a light-blue colour. Both nitrous air and com-
mon air phlogiſticated by it are meliorated by agita-
tation in nitrous acid.
Nitrous air is abforbed in confiderable quantity by
radical vinegar, and the concentrated vegetable-acid.
Solution of green vitriol imbibes it in much greater
quantity than water, and acquires a black colour;
which, however, foon goes off by expoſure to the
common air. Its tafte alfo becomes acid.-Very little
is abforbed by cauftic alkalis. Oil-olive flowly ab-
forbs a confiderable quantity, but oil of turpentine
abſorbs much more. By a little agitation, it will
imbibe more than ten times its quantity of nitrous
air; acquiring at the fame time a yellowiſh or orange
colour, and becoming a little glutinous. The part
which is not abforbed appears to be converted into.
phlogiſticated air.-Ether and fpirit of wine abforb
Though nitrous air extinguiſhes flame, it may by it very quickly, but no nitrous air is obtained by the
certain proceffes be brought in to ſuch a ſtate that a application of heat after they have abſorbed it. It is
candle will burn in it with an enlarged flame; and it greatly diminiſhed by oil of turpentine, liver of ful-
becomes what Dr Priestley calls dephlogisticated nitrous phur, and pyrophorus; all of which leave it in a phlo-
air, which is treated of in the next fectión. It is gifticated ſtate. It is alfo diminiſhed and phlogiſtica-
remarkable, however, that when a candle is extin- ted by being kept in a bladder, alternately expofed to
guiſhed, as it never fails to be in common nitrous air, moiſture and drynefs. Nitrous acid air has the fame
the flame feems to be a little enlarged about its edges effect.
by the addition of another bluiſh flame before the for-
mer goes out.
Extremely Nitrous air feems to be the moſt fatal to animal life
fatal to ani- of any. Even infects, which can bear phlogiſticated
nial and ve-
getable life.
and inflammable air, generally die the moment they
are put into it. Frogs, fnails, and other animals
which do not refpire very frequently, die in a few mi-
nutes, and generally do not recover even when taken
out of this noxious fluid before they are dead. Plants
353
154.
One of the moſt remarkable properties of nitrous Diminiſhes
air, is its diminution with dephlogiſticated air; by dephlogifti,
which means it becomes a teft of the quantity of that cated air,
kind of air contained in the atmoſphere. With pure
dephlogiſticated air, the diminution is almoſt to no-
thing, at the fame time that fome quantity of nitrous
acid is reproduced by the decompofition of the nitrous
air; but as our atmoſphere is always mixed with a
confiderable quantity of phlogiſticated air, on which
nitrous
Se&t. IX.
181
A EROLOG
Y.
NitrousAir. nitrous air has no effect, the diminution in this cafe is
never fo confiderable. Upon this principle the EUDI-
OMETER is conftructed.
155
Its antifep- Another very remarkable property of nitrous air is
tic power. its strong antifeptic power; infomuch that animal mat-
ters may, by its means, be preferved for many months
without corruption. This property, it was thought,
might have been extremely uſeful on many occafions;
but Dr Priestley, after a number of experiments on
the fubject, concludes in the following manner. "Ni-
trous air will indeed preferve meat from putrefaction;
but after long keeping, it becomes very offenfive both
to the noftrils and palate, though the ſmell is not alto-
gether that of putrefaction; and indeed the fubftance
continuing quite firm, it could not be properly putrid.
-Having formerly experienced the remarkable anti-
feptic power of nitrous air, I propoſed an attempt to
preferve anatomical preparations, &c. by means of it;
but Mr Key, who made the trial, found, that, after
fome months, various animal ſubſtances were fhrivel-
led, and did not preſerve their forms in this kind of
156 air."
Specificgra- The ſpecific gravity of nitrous air, as well as of
vity of i- other kinds, has been aſcertained by Mr Kirwan. As
it corrodes metals, he endeavoured to find its weight
by comparing the loſs ſuſtained by the materials which
produce it. Thus he found, that 14 grains of the
materials produced 38.74 inches of nitrous air; and,
confequently, by proper calculation, that the ſpecific
gravity of nitrous air is to that of atmoſpheric air as
1195 to 1000." If this air (fays he) had been ob-
tained over water, or in ftrong heat, its weight would
probably have been very different; as it is liable to be
mixed with phlogiſticated air, nitrous vapour, and a
variable quantity of water. Nitrous vapour would
render it heavier, and phlogiſticated air or water pro-
bably lighter."
trous air.
trous air,
157
Component With regard to the conftituent principles, or ele-
parts of ni- ments of nitrous air, all thoſe who look upon phlogi-
ſton to be a diſtinct fubftance, have believed that the
former is a compound of nitrous acid and phlogiſton.
By the oppofite party, it is fuppofed to be a fubftance
entirely fimple, and one of the conftituent parts of the
nitrous acid. This opinion feems in part now to be
entertained by Dr Prieſtley himſelf, notwithstanding
his former fentiments on the ſubject.
"I had no
doubt on the ſubject (fays he) until I read the work
of Mr Metherie; who afferts, that nitrous air contains
no proper nitrous acid, but only one of the elements
of it; the other being dephlogifticated air, which had
before been confidered by Mr Lavoifier as the prin-
ciple of all acidity.-Among other obfervations in
fupport of his affertion, Mr Metherie has the follow-
ing. 1. Nitrous air burnt together with inflammable
air, produces no nitrous acid. 2. Though nitrous air
be obtained from a folution of mercury in the nitrous
acid, almoſt all the acid is found in the ſolution. 3.
Nitrous air, abforbed by marine acid, does not make
aqua regia. 4. He is of opinion, that a fmall portion
of the nitrous acid being decompofed, furniſhes a pure
air, ſo altered, that, uniting with inflammable air, it
changes it into nitrous air.
"In reviewing the experiments I had formerly
made on this kind of air, I could not recollect any of
them in which the pure nitrous acid was produced, ex-
cepting that with dephlogiſticated air, befides the ex-NitrousAir..
periment in which it was decompofed by the electric
ſpark; which furniſhes a ſtrong objection to this hy
pothefis."
pothefis." To afcertain the matter more fully, the
following experiments were made.
"When nitrous air is decompoſed by iron, or by a
mixture of iron and fulphur, the water, over which the
procefs is conducted, acquires no acidity; but I had
fuppofed that all the acid was abforbed by the iron.
Having by me a quantity of this iron which had been
reduced to perfect ruft in nitrous air, and which, I
knew, muſt have imbibed more than its weight of this
air, I thought that the acid might be obtained from it
by diftillation; but a quantity of this ruft of iron, di-
ftilled in an earthen retort, yielded neither nitrous air
nor nitrous acid, at leaſt in any quantity that could
favour the common hypothefis.
"I then endeavoured to decompofe nitrous air by
heating iron in it with a burning lens; and-in this
procefs I fucceeded far beyond my expectation: for
the air was preſently diminiſhed in quantity, while the
iron became of a darker colour, was fometimes melted
into balls, and gathered confiderable weight, though
it had no appearance of containing any nitrous acid.-
In the firft experiment, the original quantity of ni-
trous air was diminiſhed to about one-third; and after
this, it was increafed." The increaſe was found to
arife from a production of inflammable and dephlogi-
fticated nitrous air.
The Doctor proceeded to try various other experi
ments on the decompofition of nitrous air, particularly.
that of burning Homberg's pyrophorus ; but without.
any fuccefs, or obtaining the fmalleft particle of ni-
trous, acid. His conclufions from the whole are the
following.
158
"Water ſeems to be a neceffary ingredient in ni- Nitrous air-
trous as well as inflammable air; at leaft, without a compofed
quantity of water, nitrous air cannot be formed. For of phlogif-
example, copper will be diffolved in ftrong nitrous
acid without producing any nitrous air, juft as iron and water,
may be diffolved in concentrated vitriolic acid without
producing inflammable air.
"That nothing is neceffary to the formation of ni--
trous air befides phlogiſticated nitrous acid and water,
is evident from the production of it by the impreg
nation of pure water with phlogiſticated nitrous vapour.
formed by the rapid folution of bifmuth; an experi-
ment which I mentioned before. However, to make.
it in a more unexceptionable manner, I interpofed a
glaſs veffel between that in which the folution was
made and that in which the water to be impregnated
with the phlogiſticated vapour was contained, that
whatever was diftilled over by the heat of the proceſs
might be prevented from reaching the water.
thefe circumftances, however, when nothing but the
dry phlogifticated vapour could enter the water, it be-
gan to ſparkle and yield nitrous air very copioufly as
foon as it had received a bluer tinge from the impreg-
nation.-Nitrous air is alſo produced by pouring a
highly coloured or phlogiſticated nitrous acid into pure
water, in which no metal or earthy matter is any way
concerned.
In
ticated ni-
trous acid
139
"I have formerly obferved, how readily nitrous air Effects of
is diminiſhed by taking the electric ſpark in it.
This the electric
experiment I have frequently repeated, in order more park on
particularly
trous ac
us
!
182
A E R
OLOG GY.
Sect. IX.
NitrousAir. particularly to aſcertain the quantity and quality of the
refiduum. In one experiment half an ounce of nitrous
air was reduced, an leſs than half an hour, to one quar
ter of its bulk. One-fourth of the refiduum was ftill
nitrous, and the reft phlogiſticated. Taking the elec-
tric fpark in a quantity of nitrous air till it was dimi-
niſhed to one-third, the whole was completely phlogi-
fticated, not affecting common air at all, and extinguiſh-
ing a candle. A white matter was formed with the
mercury over which the ſpark was taken, which made
the water admitted to it extremely turbid. In another
procefs, the electric fpark was taken in a quantity of
nitrous air till it could be no more diminiſhed, when it
was reduced in bulk in the proportion of 10 to 24.
Letting it ftand all night upon the mercury, it was in-
creaſed in the proportion of 11 to 24; feemingly by
the acid uniting to the mercury and generating more
nitrous air, fince it had that ſmell. No water appear-
ed after the procefs; and the water admitted to it ac-
quired no acid taſte, but an aftringent one like that of
water impregnated with nitrous air. There was a white
powder formed, as in the former experiments. To try
if it were poffible to make water imbibe the acid from
the nitrous air, the electric ſpark was taken in it, with
a fmall quantity of water over the mercury. But even
this water did not acquire any acid tafte, but only an
aftringent one."
1
160
cured.
ΙΙ
The Doctor concludes his experiments on this fub-
ject with a conjecture, that the phlogifton, and neither
the heat nor light of the electric, contributes to the de-
compofition of the nitrous air. As his final fentiments
on the matter, however, are merely conjecture, without
any certain experiments to confirm them, we ſhall here
refer the reader to his Section on Theory, at the end
of his fixth volume of Experiments, &c.
SECT. IX. Of Dephlogiſticated Nitrous Air.
THIS fpecies differs from common ritrous air in be-
ing able to fupport flame, though it ftill continues fatal
How pro- to animal life. Common nitrous air may be converted
into the dephlogiſticated kind by particular proceffes;
though, when zinc is diffolved in the nitrous acid, if
the air be taken at different times, that which comes
about the middle, or rather the latter end of the pro-
cefs, will be of this kind; in which it not only fup-
ports the burning of a candle, but the flame is enlarged
(fometimes to four or five times its original bulk) by
the addition of a weaker and bluish flame round
the former; and this burning is fometimes accompa-
nied with a crackling noife, as if the candle was burn-
ing in dephlogiſticated air. It may alſo be obtained
in fome part of the procefs of procuring nitrous air
from iron, though with this metal the fuccefs is uncer-
tain; but tin yields a confiderable quantity of it. By
expofing iron to nitrous air, it may be fo far dephlo-
giſticated as to admit a candle to burn in it. Dr Prieft-
ley filled an eight-ounce phial with nails, and then with
mercury; and difplacing the mercury with nitrous air,
left the phial inverted in a quantity of the fame fluid.
Two months after, the nitrous air was found to be
changed in fuch a manner as to admit a candle to burn
in it with its natural flame; and by continuing ftill
longer in contact with the iron, a candle would burn
jn it with an enlarged flame. Thefe changes, however,
trous Air.
are very irregular, fo that they feldom produce the like Dephlogif-
effects with the regularity one might expect. Drticated Ni
Priestley once found, that by the contact of iron in
quickfilver, it was fo changed as to be fired with an
explofion like a weak inflammable air; whilſt another
quantity of nitrous air, which had been treated in like
manner for about the fame length of time, only ad-
mitted a candle to burn in it with an enlarged flame.
161
ted nitrous
In that fection of his laft volume in which the Doc- Component
tor treats of this kind of air, he obferves, that water is parts of de-
abfolutely neceffary to its compofition, or rather to the phlogiftica.
decompofition of the common nitrous air by iron. He air.
had decompofed it before, either by previouſly filling
the veffels that were to contain the nitrous air with wa-
ter or with mercury; though it had always required
a much longer time when the latter was made ufe of.
The reafon of its being formed at all in this laſt way,
was a ſmall quantity of moiſture adhering to the inſide
of the veffel containing the mercury.
162
To try the influence of water in this cafe, he now Effects of
procured a number of very clean fmall needles; and water on
having made a phial, and likewife a proper quantity of nitrous air,
mercury, quite clean and dry, he put the needles into
the phial, and, filling it up with mercury, introduced the
nitrous air: but it continued in this way for fix or
eight months without the ſmalleſt alteration. Intro-
ducing a few drops of water, a diminution of about
one-third of the air took place, and the remainder ap-
peared to be phlogiſticated. On the 26th of May 1782,
he examined a quantity of nitrous air, which had been
confined with iron-fhavings from the 27th of Auguft
preceding, when he found one-half of it abforbed; the
remainder fupported the flame of a candle better than
common air, though a moufe died in it; and yet this
air had continued feveral months in the fame ſtate with
regard to quantity, nor was it at all probable that its
quality would have been altered by any length of
time.
163
Though this kind of air is produced by the contact Beft me-
of iron and nitrous air, the Doctor has never been able thod of
to afcertain the quantity of nitrous air which a given procuring
quantity of iron can decompofe; and though iron foon
becomes fo much affected by this procefs that it crum-
bles into powder, it ftill feems equally capable of de-
compofing a fresh quantity. Having made a compa-
rative experiment, by putting together one quantity of
nitrous air with freſh iron and another with ruft, he
found that in both the air was diminiſhed to about one-
third, and a candle burned in both equally well; but
neither of them had the properties of freſh nitrous air
in any degree.
copper
As the procefs for obtaining dephlogiſticated nitrous
air by means of iron is very tedious, the Doctor en-
deavoured to find another which might be attended
with lefs inconvenience. This he accomplished by dif
folving turnings of iron in a dilute folution of
in nitrous acid (the fame that remains after the pro-
duction of nitrous air), mixing it again with an equal
quantity of water. Without this precaution, he tells
us, that though the iron will at firſt be acted upon very
flowly, yet the mixture will at length grow fo hot as
actually to boil, and the procefs will be exceedingly
troubleſome; however it will be neceffary, previous to
any attempt to diffolve the iron, to heat the folution of
copper, in order to expel all the nitrous air and fuper-
Auous
f
Sect. IX.
183
AEROLOGY.
Dephlogif- fluous nitrous acid. Without this precaution a quan-
tity of common nitrous air will be produced.
ticated Ni-
trous Air.
Dephlogiſticated nitrous air is abſorbed by water al-
moſt as readily as fixed air, and in confiderable quan-
tity; the liquid taking up about one-half its bulk of
air. After being thus faturated, the whole quantity
of deplìlogiſticated nitrous air may be expelled pure by
heat, and is eaſily received in veffels containing mer-
cury. It was likewife obferved, that as this kind of
air much reſembles fixed air in its properties of being
îmbibed by water, and expelled again by heat, it re-
fembles it alſo in this farther property, that all the air
which has been actually incorporated with the water
will not be imbibed by water again. But the propor-
tion of this part is three or four times greater than the
correfponding part of fixed air; it is alfo confiderably
more phlogiſticated. Water impregnated with it very
foon parts with it again on being expoſed to the atmo-
fphere. It difcovers not the ſmalleſt trace of contain
ing either acid or alkali. Its ſpecific gravity is lefs
than that of common air. On heating red precipitate
in this kind of air, pure dephlogisticated air was pro-
duced without affecting, or being affected by, the ni-
trous air. Repeating the experiment with malleable
iron, the quantity of it was enlarged, and the whole
phlogiſticated, without any mixture of fixed air. By
Made to
heating bits of clean crucibles or retorts in this kind of
approach to
the nature air, it ſeemed to approach in quality to common atmo-
of atmo- fpherical air; and the effects were always found to be
ſpherical the more confiderable the longer the procefs was con-
tinued. On attempting, however, to determine whe-
ther this change in the conftitution of dephlogiſticated
nitrous air was occafioned by means of heat or light,
he heated it in earthen tubes; but found, that though
theſe were glazed both on the outfide and infide, and
feemed perfectly air-tight both before and after the ex-
periment, the air had efcaped. By the electric fpark
it was rendered wholly immifcible with water, and
brought to the ftandard of 1.45; fo that the Doctor
had no doubt of its being refpirable. Yet this kind of
air, though it admits a candle to burn fo well in it, will
not kindle pyrophorus, though the nitrous air from
which it is produced would inſtantly ſet it on fire.
AIT.
164
165
How pro-
cured.
SECT. X. Of Vitriolic, Nitrous, Marine,
and other Acid Airs.
§ 1. Vitriolic acid Air.-THIS is always a combina-
tion of vitriolic acid with phlogifton, and confequently
may be procured from any mixture of that acid in its
highly concentrated ſtate with phlogiſtic matters. Hence
it is obtained from all the metals, gold and platina ex-
cepted, on boiling them with ſtrong oil of vitriol. It
is alſo procurable from the fame acid rendered black by
any phlogiftic matter. No greater heat is required to
expel this kind of air than that produced by the flame
of a candle. It is the heaviest of all aerial fluids, next
to fluor acid air, being to common air as 2265 to 1000.
Dr Priestley informs us, that a quantity of vitriolic
acid thus impregnated with phlogifton, will yield many
times more air than an equal quantity of the ftrongeſt
fpirit of falt.-When the vitriolic acid air is produced
in great plenty, the top of the phial in which it is gene-
rated is commonly filled with white vapours. The air
has alſo the fame appearance as it is tranſmitted through
the glaſs tube; and it is fometimes difcoverable in the Nitrous
recipient. When fuch ſubſtances are put to the oil of Acid Air.
vitriol as cauſe a great effervefcence with that acid, care
fhould be taken to add them by very ſmall quantities
at a time, and likewiſe to apply the heat by very flow
degrees, left the rapid production of air, and the heat
attending it, fhould break the veſſels. It is moft equa-
bly produced by ufing ftrong oil of vitriol and char-
coal; but in moft cafes the production of vitriolic acid
air is attended with that of inflammable, and ſometimes
fixed or phlogiſticated air. With ether about one-
half of the firſt produce is inflammable; but the quan-
tity leffens as the procefs goes on. The Doctor ob-
ferved, that, when quickfilver was uſed, the acid was
not turned black, as in other experiments of the like
nature. He alfo obferved, that iron yielded a little in-
flammable air together with the acid gas; but that the
elaſtic fluid produced when zinc was uſed, contained
about two parts of inflammable and one of acid air.
Copper, filver, and lead, when heated in vitriolic acid,
yield the pureft vitriolic acid air, without any mixture
of inflammable air; but the lead yields only a very
finall quantity, and requires a great degree of heat. It
is procured in the greateft abundance from the fumes
of burning fulphur, and is then called the volatile vi-
triclic, or fulphureous acid; for an account of the pro-
perties of which, fee CHEMISTRY, (Index).
166
157
§ 2. Of Nitrous Acid Air.-THIS is the pure nitrous How ob--
acid by itſelf, without any addition of phlogifton. It tained.
is procured by heating the ftrong fpirit of nitre in a
phial, and then receiving the vapour in glafs vcffels filled
with quickfilver. It is, however, extremely difficult,
or rather impoffible, to preſerve it for a length of time
by means of any fluid hitherto known. Water abſorbs Cannot be
it immediately, and quickfilver is corroded, and pro- preſerved
duces nitrous air. "But (ſays Dr Prieſtley) tho' the by means.
acid vapour very foon unites with the quickfilver, yet,
the jar in which it was received being narrow, the fa
line cruft which was formed on the furface of the quick-
filver, impeded the action of the acid upon it till I
had an opportunity of admitting water to the air I
had produced, and of fatisfying myſelf, by its abſorp-
tion, of its being a real acid air, having an affinity with
water fimilar to other acid airs.”
of fluids.
1687
The mot remarkable property of this vapour is, that Affumes a
its colour may be made more or lefs intenſe by the red colour-
by being:
mere circumftance of heat. It may be confined in heated.
glaſs veffels with ground-toppers, or in tubes hermeti-
cally fealed, and thus expofed to the action of heat:
in which cafe it will be found, that the colour of the
vapour becomes confiderably more intenfe in propor-
tion as the glaſs veffel containing it is more or lefs
heated; and that, on the contrary, the intenſity of
the colour diminiſhes as it is cooled.
"It feems pro-
bable (fays Dr Prieftley), that if this vapour was not
confined, but had room to expand itſelf, it would be-
come colourleſs with heat. This at leaſt is the caſe
when it is combined with water. The phenomena I
refer to are very common in the procefs for making
dephlogisticated air, in which I firſt obferved them.
But the fame things are obfervable in the proceís for
producing any other kind of air in which much ſpirit of
nitre is made ufe of; and likewife conftantly in the
common proceſs for making fpirit of nitre itſelf. It
is, that when the heat is moderate, the vapour within
the
184
Sect. X.
AERO
OGY
L
Marine
Acid Air.
the glaſs tube or retort is red; but that, as the heat
increaſes, it becomes tranfparent." The Doctor ha-
169
ving obſerved that red lead, impregnated with nitrous
Its effects vapour, may be preferved a long time without deli-
on red-lead. quefcing or lofing its acid, made ufe of a compofition
of this kind for procuring the nitrous vapour with
which he filled his tubes. By imbibing this vapour
the minium loft its red colour and became white."I
put (fays he) a ſmall quantity of this white minium
into a glaſs tube cloſed at one end; then holding it to
the fire, make it emit the red vapour till the whole
tube is filled with it; and having the other end of the
tube drawn out ready for clofing, as foon as the vapour
begins to iffue out of that end, I apply my blowpipe
and feal it. By this means I conclude that the tube
is filled with a pure red vapour, without any mixture
of nitrous air, and perhaps common air alfo." For a
further account of the properties of nitrous acid air,
fee CHEMISTRY, (Index.)
T7༠
How ob-
tained.
ties.
3. Of Marine Acid Air.-The marine acid, by
heat, may be refolved into a permanently elaſtic and
tranſparent inviſible vapour, which, however, is more
eafily preferved in its aërial ftate than nitrous acid air,
as the former has no effect upon quickfilver. An eafy
and cheap method of obtaining this kind of air is by
filling a phial, fitted with a glaſs tube and ſtopper,
with common falt, and then pouring a fmall quantity
of oil of vitriol upon it; which, by the affiftance of
heat, will difengage the acid principle, or the marine
acid air, from the falt. "A phial (fays Dr Prieftley)
prepared in this manner will fuffice, for common ex-
periments, many weeks; eſpecially if fome more oil
of vitriol be occafionally put to it. It only requires a
little more heat at the laſt than at the firſt. Indeed,
at firſt, the heat of a perſon's hand will often be fuf-
ficient to make it throw out the vapour. In warm
weather it will even keep ſmoking many days without
the application of any other heat. On this account
it fhould be placed where there are no metallic uten-
fils which it can corrode; and it may eaſily be per-
ceived when the phial is throwing out this acid vapour,
as it always appears in the open air in form of a light
white cloud."
172
mable air,
as to fink in water; and its fmell is in great meafure Fluor Acid
altered. Ether abforbs it very faft, and has its colour Air, &c.
altered by the impregnation, becoming firft turbid,
then yellow, and at laſt brown. The air over the ether
is ftrongly inflammable. A fmall bit of phoſphorus Changed
fmoked and gave light in this acid air; and the elaftic into inflam.
fluid was but little diminiſhed in twelve hours.
On
the admiffion of water, about four-fifths of the gas
were abforbed, and the reft was inflammable. This
change was alfo effected by a great number of other
fubftances: fome of which, however, required a con-
fiderable time to produce their effect; fuch as crufts
of bread not burned, dry wood, dry fleſh, roaſted pieces
of beef, ivory, and even flints. See CHEMISTRY, (Index.)
$4. Of Fluor Acid Air.-The difcovery of fluor
acid air was made by Mr Scheele, who obtained it by
diftilling the ſpar called fluor with vitriolic acid. Dr
Priestley, who made feveral experiments upon the fub-
ject, was of opinion that this new acid was only the Different
vitriolic diſguiſed by its connection with the fluor. from vitrio
He even fuppofed that he had produced it by pouring
vitriolic acid on other phoſphoric fpars: both theſe
opinions, however, he has now retracted, and believes
the fluor acid to be one of a peculiar kind. Its moft
remarkable property is the great attraction it has for
filiceous earth, fo that it even corrodes and makes
holes in the retorts in which it is distilled. See CHE-
MISTRY,
MISTRY, (Index.)
After the marine acid has yielded all the air that
11
can be expelled from it, it is extremely weak, fo that
Its proper- it can but barely corrode iron. The gas itſelf is con-
fiderably heavier than common air, the fpecific gravity
of the two being in the proportion of five to three;
à cubic inch weighing 0.654 grains. It is very fatal
to animal life, but lefs fo than pure nitrous air; for
flies and ſpiders live longer in marine acid than in ni-
trous air.
In dipping a candle into a jar of this air
the flame is extinguished; but the moment before it
goes out, and alfo when it is afterwards firſt lighted
again, it burns with a green or light-blue flame, like
that of common falt thrown into a fire. Its diminu-
tion by the electric fpark is barely perceptible. Ice
is diffolved by it as fait as if it touched a red-hot iron.
It is partly abforbed by almoſt every ſubſtance con-
taining phlogifton, and the remaining part becomes
inflammable. Oil of olives abforbs it very flowly, and
oil of turpentine very faft; by which they both be-
come almoſt black, and the remainder of the air is in-
flammable. Effential oil of mint abſorbs marine air
pretty faft, becoming brown, confiftent, and fo heavy
N° 5.
Į
173
lic acid air.
$5. Of the Vegetable and another Acid Air.-By
means of heat alone, the concentrated vegetable acid
emits a permanently elaſtic and aërial fluid. This has
the properties of the acid of vinegar; but, like it, is
weaker than the reſt of the mineral acid airs, though
it agrees with them in its general characters. Water
imbibes it as readily as any of the other acid airs; oil-
olive readily abſorbs it, and in confiderable quantity,
lofing at the fame time its yellowish colour, and be-
coming quite tranfparent. Common air is phlogiſti- Phlogiſti
cated by it, as it is alfo by the liquid vegetable acid. cates come
As the vegetable acid, however, from which this air
had been obtained, was diſtilled by oil of vitriol, the
Doctor fufpected that what he had examined might
derive moſt of its properties from the oil of vitriol,
and rather be vitriolic than vegetable acid air.
"The
174
mon air.
175
folution of
An acid air, fomewhat different from any hitherto Air from
defcribed, was obtained by Dr Prieſtley from the va-
pour arifing on diftilling to drynefs a folution of gold gold.
in marine acid impregnated with nitrous acid vapour,
which makes the best kind of aqua regia.
produce (fays he) was an acid air of a very peculiar
kind, partaking both of the nature of the nitrous and ma-
rine acids; but more of the latter than of the former, as
it extinguiſhed a candle; but it was both extinguiſhed
and lighted again with a moſt beautiful deep blue flame.
A candle dipped into the fame jar with this kind of
air went out more than 20 times fucceffively, making
a very pleafing experiment. The quantity of this
acid air is very great; and the refiduum I have ſome-
times found to be dephlogifticated, fometimes phlo-
gifticated, and at other times nitrous air.'
SECT. XI. of Hepatic Air.
THIS fpecies of air, firſt particularly taken notice
of by Mr Bergman, who obtained it from an ore of
zinc
1
!
Sect. XII.
185
A
EROLOGY.
ris.
177
Atmoſphe zinc called Pfeudogalena nigra Dannemorenfis, and
rical Air. which was found to contain 29 parts of fulphur, one
of regulus of arfenic, fix of water, fix of lead, nine
176
Produced of iron, 45 of zinc, and four of filiceous earth. The
firſt from hepatic air was produced but in fmall quantity by
an ore of pouring oil of vitriol on this mineral; fpirit of falt
zinc. produced it in much larger quantity; but nitrous acid
Beft obtain- produced only nitrous air. The moft proper method
ed from he- of obtaining this air is by pouring marine acid on he-
It
par fulphu- par fulphuris, which extricates it in vaft quantity. It
is faid alfo to be fometimes produced naturally from
putrefying matters. It is the characteriſtic of all li-
vers of fulphur, whether they be made with alkalis or
earths. The ſmell of the pure gas is intolerable; and
the vapour has a difagreeable effect on many metallic
fubftances, particularly filver, lead, copper, &c. de-
ftroying their colour, and rendering them quite black.
It is fuddenly fatal to animal life, renders fyrup of
violets green, and is inflammable, burning with a very
light blue flame. It is decompoſed by vitriolic and
nitrous air, by dephlogiſticated air, and by the contact
of atmoſpherical air, in which cafe it depofites a ſmall
quantity of fulphur; being indeed, as is fuppofed by
Mr Bergman and Mr Kirwan, no other than fulphur
kept in an aerial form. Its ſpecific gravity, compared
with that of atmoſpherical air, is as 1106 to 1000.
It combines readily with water, and gives the ſmell to
the fulphureous medicinal waters. Its great attraction
for fome of the metals and their calces makes it the
bafis of fome Sympathetic INKS. See alfo CHEMISTRY,
(Index.)
178
SECT. XII. Of Atmoſpherical Air.
♪
8
TT
was. The 23d of March it was, though the A mofphe
cold increaſed, and the barometer ftood higher than rical Air.
before. The 19th of April it was, though the ba-
rometer and thermometer did not vaiy, and fo ſtood till
the 21ft. In May and June it ftood between and
The 30th of July it ftood at. From the 3d
to the 15th of September at. The 6th of Octo-
ber at
ber at, during a high ftorm; but after it ftcod be-
tween and, till the 4th of November, when it
fell to
8
, and continued between and to the
20th, when it rofe to . The 21ft it fell to 8, and
ftood between and till the 8th of December,
when it roſe to; and from thence to the 31ft it
ftood between and
8
8
8
8
33
ΙΟ
उउ
•
37
As it has already been fhown that the pure dephlo-
giſticated part of the atmoſphere is entirely confumed
by phlogistic proceffes, fuch as that of fermenting
brimftone and iron-filings, this eudiometer muſt be
confidered as an exact teft of the proportion of de-
phlogiſticated air contained in the atmoſphere. The
fmall variation in the quantity fhows, that the procef-
fes in nature which deftroy this air, are nearly balanced
by thofe which produce it; though it muft appear fur-
prifing, that both theſe fluids, fo extremely different,
fhould be produced at all feaſons of the year in a pro-
portion nearly equal; nor is it lefs furprifing that two
fluids of unequal fpecific gravity fhould remain incor-
porated together without any tendency to feparate,
which it is certain they never do, either in the atmo-
fphere itſelf, or when confined in veffels in any quanti-
ty whatever. As phlogiſticated air is fomewhat light-
er than dephlogiſticated, it might be fuppofed that the
former would occupy the higher regions of the atmo- Upper re-
ſphere in ſuch a manner as to render them confider- gions of the
ably more unwholeſome than the lower parts; but this falubrious
feems not to be the cafe: On the contrary, it appears tan the
by experiments with the eudiometer, that the upper lower.
parts of the air contain a greater proportion of dephlo-
gifticated air than thoſe near the earth. See EUDIO-
METER.
different Kinds.
§ 1. FIXED Air, or Aerial Acid. The artificial me-
thods of producing this are principally three, viz. by
fermentation, by heat, and by acids.
THE two component parts of our atmoſphere, viz.
dephlogiſticated and phlogiſticated air, have been fo
fully treated of under their reſpective fections, that
little remains to be faid in this place, excepting to de-
termine the proportion in which they are ufually met
Proportion with in the common air. The only regular fet of ex-
of the two periments which have been made on this ſubject are
ingredients
thoſe of Mr Scheele. He conftructed an eudiometer, SECT. XIII. Of the artificial Production of Airs of
of which it
iscompofed. confifting of a glafs receiver, which could contain 34
ounces of water, and a glafs cup containing a mixture
of one pound of iron-filings, and an equal weight of
flowers of fulphur moiſtened; which cup ftanding up-
on a glaſs fupporter, was inferted in the former re-
ceiver, which, when this was in it, could contain 33.
ounces of water. To the outfide of the glafs tube or
receiver, was affixed a flip of paper, to the height of a
third of the tube, containing 11 divifions, each corre-
fponding to one ounce of water. This paper was var-
niſhed over with oil varniſh, to prevent its being ſpoil-
ed by water. The whole then was placed in water,
which gradually rofe as the air was diminiſhed. This
mixture would ſerve four times before the power of di-
miniſhing air was loft. He carefully compared the
height of the air therein with the barometer and ther-
mometer, both before and after the experiment; in
eight hours the experiment was completed. With
this inftrument he examined the goodneſs of the com-
mon air in Stockholm every day for a whole year, and
found the diminution never to exceed 30, nor to fall ſhort
of; ſo that upon a medium it may be eſtimated at
During the months of January and February it
VOL. I. Part I.
(1.) By fermentation. When vegetable or animal
fubftances, efpecially the former, are fermented, they
yield a great quantity of fixed air. In breweries, on
the furface of the fermenting liquor, there is always a
ftratum of fixed air reaching as high as the edge of the
vats; ſo that if theſe veffels are deep, and the ferment
ing liquor much below their edges, the above-mention-
ed ftratum may be fome feet in thickneſs. The fame
phenomenon is obfervable in the fermentation of wines
in general; and it is owing to the production and ela-
fticity of fixed air, that fermenting liquors, when put
into cloſe veffels, often burft them with great violence.
The cafe is the fame whatever fubftance it is that un-
dergoes the vinous fermentation, though the quantity
of fixed air produced is not the fame in all fubftances,
nor even in the fame fubftance at different times. From
42 cubic inches of beer Dr Hales obtained 639 cubie
inches of air in 13 days. From a quantity of fugar
A a
undergoing
179
air more
}
186
Sect. XIII.
AEROLOG
Y.
OfArtificial
undergoing the vinous fermentation, Mr Cavendish ob-
Airs. tained fo much fixed air, that out of 100 parts of the
former 57 appeared to have been volatilized and con-
verted into fixed air.
But though a vatt quantity of fixed air eſcapes du-
ring this proceſs of fermentation, a very confiderable
portion ftill remains united with the fermented liquor,
and to this it owes all its briſkneſs and agreeable pun-
gent acidulous tafte; for when the fixed air is totally
evaporated, the liquor becomes entirely vapid and flat.
Hence alfo we are furniſhed with a method of reſtoring
the brifkneſs to theſe liquors after they have loft it in
confequence of being expofed to the atmoſphere, viz.
by impregnating them again with fixed air, either na-
turally or artificially produced.
Dr Priestley has made feveral experiments in order
to determine the quantity of fixed air contained in fe-
veral forts of wine. His method was to take a glaſs
phial (fitted with a ground ſtopple and tube), capable
of containing 1 ounce-meaſure. This he filled with
wine, plunging it into a proper veffel of water. The
whole was then put over the fire, and the water, into
which the phial was plunged, fuffered to boil. The
end of the tube being placed under the mouth of an
inverted receiver filled with quickfilver, the heat expel-
led the fixed air from the wine, which entering into
the receiver, aſcended in bubbles through the quick-
filver to the top, puſhing out part of the metal and ta-
king its place. The refult of his experiments was as
follows:
오늘 ​02.
(Madeira
Port of fix years old
Hock of five years
meaſure Barrelled claret
of
Tokay of 16 years
Champagne of two years
contained of pure
fixed air
I
TOO
I
48
27
12
TO
of an
ounce
meaſure.
2 oz. meaſures.
Bottled cyderof 12 years
34 ditto.
During the acetous fermentation alfo, liquors emit
a vapour, great part of which is fixed air, though the
nature of its other component parts has not yet been
thoroughly aſcertained.
Fixed air is likewiſe produced, though in no great
quantity, by putrefaction. In this cafe, however, a
great part of the elaſtic fluid confifts of inflammable
and phlogiſticated air, and the fixed air itſelf ſeems to
be intimately connected with a putrid offenfive effluvi-
It ſeemed to Dr Priestley to "depend in fome
meaſure upon the time and other circumftances in the
diffolution of animal or vegetable ſubſtances, whether
they yield the proper putrid effluvium, or fixed or in-
flammable air.”
um.
The elaftic fluid produced by putrifying vegetables,
when kept in a moderate degree of heat, is almoſt all
fixed air; while that from animal fubftances contains
ſeveral times more inflammable than fixed air. Vege-
table ſubſtances yield almoſt all the permanently elaftic
fluid in a few days, but animal bodies continue to emit
it for feveral weeks. When the elaſtic fluid yielded
by animal fubftances is abforbed by water, and that
water boiled, the fixed air may then be obtained with-
out any mixture of the putrid effluvium. It is alfo to
be obferved, that the quantity of elaftic fluid produ-
cible from animal fubftances is various according to
the nature of the parts of the animal employed. Thus
the muſcular parts will yield. lefs elaſtic fluid, and alſo
Airs.
leſs mixed with any putrid or offenfive effluvium, than Of Artificial
a whole animal, or than the liver, &c. The propor-
tion of inflammable and of fixed air is alſo various, ac-
cording to the various parts employed.
(2.) By heat. In every combuftion, except that of
fulphur or of metals, a quantity of fixed air is genera-
ted. This may be obſerved by fixing a lighted candle
in an inverted receiver over a baſon of lime-water, for
a precipitation of the lime will prefently enfue; and
the fame precipitation (which is one of the characte-
riftics of fixed air) will always enfue, whether a candle
a burning piece of wood, or, in fhort, any other com-
buftible fubitance, except fulphur or metals, be made
ufe of.
During this production or extrication of fixed from
atmoſpherical air, the latter is commonly fuppofed to
be confiderably diminiſhed, though Mr Lavoifier and
Mr Scheele have now rendered that opinion doubt-
ful. If a piece of charcoal be burned by throwing.
the focus of a lens upon it when contained in a glaſs-
receiver inverted in water, after the apparatus is cool-
ed, the water will have mounted a ſmall way into the
receiver. The diminution, however, is limited, and
depends on feveral circumſtances. Dr Hales has ob-
ferved, that, in equal receivers, the air fuffers a greater
diminution by burning large candles than fmall ones;
and likewiſe that, when equal candles are made uſe of,
the diminution is greater in ſmall than in large´recei-
vers. The caufe of this phenomenon probably is, that
the air contained in the receiver cannot all come into
contact with the flame of the candle; whence, as ſoon
as the air which is neareſt the flame becomes conta-
minated, the candle is extinguiſhed. Thus the author
of a Concife Treatife on the Various Kinds of Perma-
nently Elaftic Fluids, has diminiſhed the air of an in-
verted receiver one fixth part, by moving the candle
whilſt it burned through the different parts of the veſ-
fel, ſo that the flame was brought into contact with a
greater quantity of the confined air than if it had re-
mained in one fituation till it became extinct. Dr
Mayow obferved, that by the burning of a candle the
air was diminiſhed of one thirtieth only; Dr Hales
found it to be diminiſhed of one twenty fixth part; and
Dr Prieſtley found it to be diminiſhed of one fifteenth
or fixteenth. Mr Cavendish obferved, that air fuf-
fered a diminution of one-tenth of the whole quantity,
by paffing through an iron-tube filled with red-hot
powder of charcoal. A candle, or any other combuſ
tible body, will ceaſe to burn by itſelf, and confequently
to contaminate a quantity of confined air much fooner
than when it is, in ſome manner, forced to burn by the
external application of heat. "The focus of a burn-.
ing mirror," fays Dr Priestley, "thrown for a fuffi
cient time either upon brimftone or wood, after it has.
ceafed to burn of its own accord, and has become
charcoal, will have a much greater effect of the fame
kind, diminiſhing the air to its utmoft extent, and
making it thoroughly noxious.' The combuftion of
the phofphorus of urine diminiſhes air in a great de--
gree. Mr Lavoifier has obferved, that by the com-
buftion of phoſphorus, air may be diminiſhed of about
one-fifth or one-fixth. This accurate philofopher has
alfo obferved, that the acid of phoſphorus thus formed,
acquires the weight loft by the diminiſhed air; finding
that about three inches of air were abſorbed by every
""
น
1
}
4.
one
Sect. XIII.
187
AEROLOGY.
Airs.
OfArtificial one grain of phofphorus, when the experiment was
tried with a receiver inverted in water, upon the fur-
face of which a ſmall quantity of oil had been intro-
duced; but when the receiver was inverted in quick-
filver, the abforption was conftantly between two one-
fourth and two three-fourth inches for each grain. Mr
Cavallo mentions his having often repeated the expe-
riment of burning phoſphorus in a glaſs tube inverted
in water, by applying the cloſed part of the tube,
wherein the phofphorus was contained, to a pretty
ftrong fire, when he always obferved that the utmoſt
diminution of the incloſed air effected by this means
was full one-fifth.
Dr Hales remarked, that after the extinction of
candles in a receiver, the air continued to diminiſh for
ſeveral days after. This may be owing to the gradual
abforption of part of it by the water; it having been
remarked by Dr Prieſtley, "that this diminution of
air by burning is not always immediately apparent, till
the air has paffed feveral times through water; and that
when the experiment was made with veffels ſtanding in
quickfilver inſtead of water, the diminution was generally
inconfiderable till the air had paſſed through water.'
In theſe experiments of burning combuftible bodies
in a quantity of air, and meaſuring the diminution, we
fhould always remark two cauſes of miſtake, viz. the
abforption of air by the coaly refiduum of the burned
matter, which fometimes is very confiderable, or by the
fluid in which the receiver is inverted, and the produc-
tion of elaſtic fluid from the burning fubftances; thus
gunpowder generates a great quantity of elaftic fluid
when inflamed, &c.
Even the electric fpark feparates fixed air from com-
mon atmoſpherical air; for when a number of thefe
fparks are taken in a fmall quantity of common air
over lime-water, a diminution will take place, the lime
will be precipitated, and if we put a blue vegetable
juice inftead of the lime-water, it will be turned red
by the acidity of the fixed air depofited upon it. Dr
Prieſtley having cemented a wire into one end of a glafs
tube, the diameter of which was about one-tenth of an
inch, and having fixed a braſs ball to that extremity
of the wire which was out of the tube, filled the lower
part of it with the juice of turnfole or archil, fo that a
quantity of common air was contained in the tube be-
tween the extremity of the wire and the furface of the
liquor. Then taking electric ſparks between the faid
wire and liquor for about one minute, the upper part
of the liquor began to look red, and in about two mi-
nutes it was manifeftly fo. The air, at the fame time,
was diminiſhed in proportion as the liquor became red;
but when the diminution arrived to be one-fifth of the
quantity of the air contained, then a longer electriza-
tion produced no fenfible effect. "To determine,"
fays the Doctor, whether the caufe of the change of
colour was in the air or in the electric matter, I ex-
panded the air which had been diminiſhed in the tube
by means of an air-pump, till it expelled all the liquor,
and admitted freſh blue liquor in its place; but after
that, electricity produced no fenfible effect, either on
the air or on the liquor; fo that it was evident that the
electric matter had decompofed the air, and had made
it depofite fomething that was of an acid nature."
The calcination of metals, as already obferved, phlo-
gifticates, and confequently diminiſhes common air;
Airs.
180
/
of heat.
but does not produce any fixed air, fince the lime-water, OfArtificial
over which the calcination is made, does not become
turbid; and when metallic calxes are expoſed to a ſuf-
ficient ftrong heat, they in general yield fome fixed
air: fo that it ſeems that the fixed air which is formed
in the act of the calcination of metals is abforbed by
the calx. Some fixed air may be obtained from red
lead, by no greater degree of heat than that of the flame
of a candle applied to the phial that contains it.
The calcareous earths, which, when acted on by Obtained
acids, yield a vaft quantity of fixed air, produce a very from earths
fmall quantity of it when expoſed to a ftrong heat by by means
themſelves, in a proper veffel, even when expoſed to the
focus of a lens. Dr Prieftley, in his experiments re-
lating to the production of dephlogiſticated air from va-
rious fubftances, when moistened with nitrous acid, and
afterwards expoſed to a fufficient degree of heat, gene-
rally found that fome fixed air was produced together
with the dephlogiſticated air; but often obtained fixed
air only, without any dephlogiſticated air being mixed
with it, or fixed and nitrous air together. From half an
ounce of ruft of iron, moiſtened with ſpirit of nitre, and
dried, he obtained about a quart of elaſtic fluid, about
one-third of which was fixed and the reſt nitrous air.
From aſhes of pit-coal, treated in the fame manner, he
obtained nearly the like refult. But in thofe experi-
ments, the Doctor moftly uſed a gun-barrel, into which
he introduced the ſubſtances to be tried; ſo that it is very
probable, as he juftly obferves, that the iron might have
contributed to the formation of the fixed air. In fact,
when he tried fubftances of the fame fort, firft in a gun-
barrel and then in glaſs veffels, he obtained much more
fixed air in the former than in the latter cafe. One
of thofe experiments he made with tobacco pipe-clay,
which, after being moiſtened with ſpirit of nitre, was
when dry expofed to the fire in a gun-barrel, and yield-
ed fome elaftie fluid, which appeared to be wholly fix-
ed air; but repeating the experiment in a glafs-phial
with a ground ftopple, and taking the produced cla
ftic fluid at eight different times, found that on the
beginning fome fixed air was produced, but afterwards
the produce was dephlogiſticated air. He made a
fimilar experiment with fiints carefully calcined in clofe
veffels, and obtained a fimilar refult.
18t
Moft minerals contain fixed air, which may be ex- From diffe-
tracted to a certain degree by means of heat. Mr rent mine-
Krenger, diftilling a greenifh fufible fpar, which was rals.
luminous in the dark, obtained from it ſome perma-
nently elaftic fluid, which, like fixed air, cryftallized a
folution of fixed alkali. Mr Fontana, in his analyſis of
the malachite, finds that that mineral contains a vaſt
quantity of fixed air, as pure as that which is extract-
ed from chalk by means of vitriolic acid.
From almoſt every metallic ore and earthy mineral
fome fixed air may be obtained, as well as from chalk,
lime-ftone, marble, marine fhells, fixed and volatile al-
kali, and from magneſia alba, by means of a violent fire,
or of acids.
In Mr Boyle's, Dr Boerhaave's, and Dr Hales's
works, and in other books, the quantities of elaftic
fluid generated in various proceffes, and by divers ſub-
ſtances, are mentioned with diftinction; but as thoſe
writers were not acquainted with the characteriſtic pro-
perties of fixed air, we do not know whether the elaſtic
fluid mentioned by them was pure fixed air or not.
A a 3
From
188
Sect. XIII.
AEROLOGY.
OfArtificial
Airs.
182
Abundant-
reous fub-
ftances.
From animal fubftances, mixed with fpirit of nitre,
and fometimes heated a little, in order to facilitate the
production of elaftic fluid, Dr Prieftley obtained, in
general, fixed air; but whereas the fixed air produced
by a fimilar procefs with vegetable fubftances is moſtly
mixed with nitrous air, this is mixed with an elaftic
fluid, which is feldom nitrous in a very flight degree,
but is often phlogifticated air, viz. in fuch a ftate as
extinguiſhes a candle, does not diminiſh common air,
nor is itſelf diminiſhed by nitrous air. Towards the
end of the proceſs, the Doctor remarks, "that when,
by means of a ſtrong heat, the produce of air is very
rapid, and the air full of clouds, it is, like air, produ-
ced from vegetable fubftances in the fame circumftan-
ces, flightly inflammable, burning with a lambent,
greeniſh, or bluiſh flame."
(3.) By acids. Calcareous fubftances in general pro-
ly produced duce abundance of fixed air when acted upon by any
from calca- acid, only the ſtrongeſt acids will expel from them
more fixed air than the weakeft; and it happens to be
peculiarly advantageous for thoſe who want to produce
a great quantity of fixed air, that the vitriolic acid is
both the cheapeſt and ſtrongeſt acid, and, upon the
whole, the fitteft for this purpofe. The phenomena
attending the production of fixed air from calcareous
fubftances, &c. are themfelves very remarkable, and
furniſh the ſubject of much fpeculation in philofophy.
—The principal facts are the following. 1. When
calcareous earths, alkalis, and magneſia, in their uſual
ftate, are mixed with acids, they caufe an effervefcence;
and confequently the production of a permanently ela-
ftic fluid, namely, fixed air. 2. Theſe fubftances re-
tain the fixed air very obftinately; fo that a ſtrong fire
is neceſſary to expel it from magnefia, and the ftrongeft
is not fufficient to expel it entirely from fixed alkalis,
and eſpecially from calcareous earths (A). When thefe
fubftances are treated with acids, they yield the fixed
air, becauſe they have a ftronger attraction to thofe
acids than to the fixed air. 3. The calcareous earths
which are infoluble in water, when deprived of the
fixed air become foluble in it. Thus lime-ftone is not
foluble in water, but lime (viz. lime-ftone deprived of
its fixed air) is ſoluble in water. And if thofe fub-
ftances, deprived of their fixed air, are put in a fitua
tion proper to recover their loft fixed air, they lofe
the property of being foluble in water. Thus, when
lime-water is expofed to fixed air, the lime abſorbs the
fixed air; and, lofing at the fame time its property of
being foluble in water, is precipitated from it in the
Atate it was before calcination, viz. of a calcareous
earth infoluble in water, and capable of effervefcing
with acids. 4. Alkalis, both fixed and volatile, when
deprived of their fixed air, become more cauftic, and
more powerful folvents, incapable of cryftallization,
and of efferveſcing with acids. But if to thofe alkalis,
and alfo earths rendered more cauftic, their fixed air
be reſtored, they acquire at once all the properties
they had before they were deprived of the fixed air,
viz. they become more mild, effervefce with acids, re-
cover their weight, &c.
x
The
Airs.
Thofe properties of calcareous earths and alkalis OfArtificial
were aſcertained by the learned Dr Black, who per-
formed a variety of decifive and well-contrived experi-
ments, upon which he formed a juſt theory, viz. that
the caufticity, ſharpneſs, folubility, &c. of thoſe ſub-
ftances, was owing to the fixed air being expelled from
them; and that when they were combined with a pro-
per quantity of fixed air, they were mild, &c.
Doctor gives the epithet of mild to thoſe fubftances
when they are combined with air, and of cauftic when
deprived of it; as cauſtic calcareous earth, caultic fixed
alkali, &c. Among the other experiments, he connec
ted two phials by means of a bent tube; in one of which
he put fome cauftic ſpirit of fal ammoniac, and in the
other fome mild alkali, or mild calcareous earth; then
pouring, through a hole made in the fide of the latter
phial, fome acid upon the mild alkali, ſo as to produce
fome fixed air, which, paffing through the tube into
the other phial, combined with the ſpirit of fal ammo
niac, and rendered it mild.
Easy methods of obtaining Fixable Air for occafional
Experiments, &c.
(1.) By Fermentation. Mix together equal parts of
brown fugar and good yeft of beer, to which add about
twice the bulk of water. This mixture being put in-
to a phial, to which a bent tube with a cork may be
adapted, will yield a confiderable quantity of fixed air,
which may be received into a phial filled with quickfil-
ver or water, as in the following proceſs.
(2.) By Acids. Let a glafs tube, open at both ends,
be bent, by means of a blow-pipe and the flame of a
candle, nearly into the fhape of an S, as it is repre-
fented by AB, and fix a cork D to one of its extre- Plate VIII
mities, fo as to fit the neck of a common phial, that fig. I.
may hold about four or five ounce meaſures. The hole
through the cork may be made with an iron wire red-
hot, and the tube may be faſtened in it with a bit of
foft wax, fo as not to let any air go through. Fill a
fimilar phial, or any glaſs receiver K, with water, and Cavallo en
invert it after the manner ſhown above, in a bafin HI, Air.
about half filled with water Now put fome chalk or
marble, grofsly powdered, into the bottle E, fo as to
fill about a fourth or fifth part of it, and
upon it
pour
fome water, juft enough to cover the chalk; then add
fome oil of vitriol to it, which needs not be more than
about the fourth or fifth part of the water. Imme-
diately after, apply the cork D, with the tube AB,
to the bottle, and putting it in the fituation FG, let
the extremity B of the tube pafs through the water of
the bafin into the neck of the bottle K, which now
muſt be kept up with the hand, or other convenient
fupport, as it cannot reft upon the bottom of the ba-
fin. The mixture of chalk, &c. in the bottle FG,
will immediately begin to effervefce, fhowing a froth-
ing, and an inteftine motion accompanied with heat,
that may be felt by applying the hand to the outfide
of the fluid. The elaftic fluid called fixed air is co-
piouſly emitted from this mixture, and paffing through
the bent tube, will go into the bottle K, as appears
by the bubbles which come out of the tube, and, paf-
fing
(A) Chalk, lime-ftone, &c. after being kept in a very ftrong fire for many hours, if they are put into
acids, yield a confiderable quantity of fixed air; which fhows that the pureft quick-lime contains fome
fixed air.
1
Sect. XIII.
189
AEROLOGY.
Airs.
OfArtificial ting through the water, afcend to the top of the in-
verted bottle. In proportion as the elaftic fluid fills
the bottle K, the water gradually defcends, and at laft
is quite expelled from it; the bottle K then is filled
with fixed air, and being corked under water, may be
removed from the bafin, and kept for uſe. Another
bottle may then be filled with water, and may be in-
verted over the extremity of the bent tube in the place
of K, which other bottle may be filled in a fimilar man-
ner, and ſo on till the mixture in FG has finiſhed to
yield any fixed air.
Air.
If one of theſe bottles filled with fixed air be un-
corked, and, holding it with the mouth upwards, a
lighted wax taper, bent like L, or a ſmall piece of it
affixed to the extremity of a wire, be immediately let
down in it, the flame will be inftantly extinguished.
The fame thing will happen if a lighted piece of wood
is let down in it.
Take a clean bowl, and putting the mouth of a bot-
tle, filled with fixed air, in it, uncork it, and keep it in
that fituation for about a minute. The fixed air be-
ing ſpecifically heavier than common air, will come out
of the bottle, and will remain at the bottom of the
bowl, whilft common air enters into the bottle; which
bottle may now be removed; and, in order to fhow the
real exiſtence of the fixed air, which will immediately
Cavallo on fhow its being heavier than common air, put a lighted
wax-taper into the bowl, pretty near its bottom, which
taper will be extinguiſhed immediately. The air in
this experiment muſt be agitated as little as it is pof-
fible. That the flame of the wax taper was really ex-
tinguiſhed by the fixed air, may be eafily proved in the
following manner :-Blow once or twice into the bowl,
by which means the fixed air will be expelled from it;
and then, on letting down a lighted wax-taper in it as
before, it will be found that it is no longer extinguiſh-
ed, but will burn very well, the bowl being now filled
with common air. This experiment never fails of fur-
priſing the ſpectators, as it clearly exhibits two remark-.
able properties of a fluid, which they can neither fee
nor diſtinguiſh by the feeling.
When the bottle K is about half filled with fixed
air, put a mark with a bit of foft wax on the outſide
of it, juſt coinciding with the level of the water in it,
and immediately after fhake the bottle; but taking
care that its mouth be not lifted above the furface of
the water in the bafin. After having fhaked it for
about a minute, on intermitting the agitation, it will
be found that the water is above the mark; which
ſhows that ſome of the fixed air has been abforbed by
it. Let this abforption be carried on as far as pof-
fible, by agitating the bottle repeatedly, and allowing
time to let more fixed air be produced and enter into
the bottle in proportion as the water abſorbs it. Then
appply the hand, or a finger, to the mouth of the bottle
whilſt under water; bring the bottle out, and turn it
with the mouth upwards. The water then will be
found to have acquired a pleaſant acidulous tafte. The
water thus impregnated with fixed air changes the blue
infufion of fome vegetable ſubitances into red;. fo that
if a weak folution of heliotrope is mixed with it, or
indeed if it is fimply expofed to fixed air, the liquor
acquires a reddiſh appearance. It alſo corrodes iron,
and ſome other metals, much more eafily than common
water. But the greateſt and moſt uſeful property of
Airs.
this acidulated water, or water impregnated with fixed OfArtificial
air, is its being a powerful antifeptic. As the moſt
ufed mineral waters are medicinal principally on account
of their being impregnated with fixed air, befides which
they generally contain fome fmall portion of metal or
falt diffolved; they may be imitated by impregnating
water with fixed air, and then adding that quantity of
falt or of metal, that by analyſis the original minerał
waters are found to contain.
183
It is for its great property of hindering putrefac- Ufefui pro
tion, that fixed air by itfelf, or incorporated with va-perties of
rious fluids, efpecially with water, and that vegetables, fixed air.
fugar, and other fubftances which abound with fixed
air, are very powerful remedies in putrid difeafes. Sir
John Pringle fuppofes, with great probability, that
the frequent uſe of fugar and fresh vegetables, which
at this time make up a conſiderable part of the diet of
the European nations, prevents thofe putrid diſeaſes
and plagues which formerly were rather frequent.-
Dr Macbride, fhowing experimentally that fixed air
is diſcharged by fuch fubftances as form our common
food, afcribes the preſervation of the body from putre-
faction in great meaſure to the fixed air, which in the
ordinary procefs of digeftion is difengaged from the a
liment, and incorporates with the fluids of the body.
From the fame property it may be alfo ufefully ap--
plied to feveral economical purpofes. Mr Henry
found, that fixed air can preferve fruit for a confider-
able time. He tried a bunch of Italian grapes, which
being fufpended in the middle part of Dr Nooth's ap-
paratus, and being fupplied with plentiful ſtreams of
fixed air every day, was preſerved without any figns of
decay for about one month longer than a fimilar bunch
fufpended in a decanter containing common air.
Strawberries and cherries he alſo found to be prefer-
ved without decay fome days longer in fixed than in
common air. Indeed, fixed air preferves not only
fruit, but refifts putrefaction in general. Dr Mac-
bride, in his elegant Effays on Medical and Philofo-
phical Subjects, has publiſhed various experiments which
demonftrate this property of fixed air. He found, that
not only good meat was preferved incorrupt for a con-
fiderable time, when expofed to fixed air; but that
the putrefaction of ſubſtances actually. putrid was im--
peded by this means, and even that thofe fubftances
were restored from the putrefcent to a found ſtate.
That putrefaction was checked by fermentation, was Refifts
difcovered by Sir John Pringle; and Dr Macbride trefaction.
obferved, that this effect was owing to the fixed air
produced in the act of fermentation. But it muft
be obferved, that when the found, or even putrid ſüb-
ftances, expoſe a very great furface to the fixed air, as
is the cafe with milk, bile, and other fluids impregna-
ted with fixed air, and alſo with ſmall bits of meat,
then they are preferved for a confiderable time: but
large pieces of folid animal fubftances, as for inftance
roundish pieces of fleſh of about half a pound weight,
do not feem to remain incorrupt much longer in fixed
than in common air; at leaſt the difference is inconfi-
derable. Sir William Lee, baronet, in two of his let.
ters to Dr Priestley, informs him of his having found,
that fleſh-meat, even in the hot feaſon, could be pre-
ferved wholeſome for feveral days, by only waſhing it
two or three times a-day in water impregnated with
fixed.
184
•
190
AEROLOGY.
Sect. XIII.
Airs.
OfArtificial fixed air. "We have been enabled," fays he, "to
preſerve meat as perfectly ſweet and good to the ex-
tent of ten days, as at the firft killing; and there feems
no doubt it might be preferved much longer." He
has even recovered fome meat that had begun to
change. This uſeful diſcovery, Sir William juftly ob-
ferves, may be very beneficial to the public, efpe-
cially to butchers. "Particularly a butcher," fays
he, "who deals pretty largely, affures me he found
the greateſt fuccefs from it, and only objects that the
veal was a little difcoloured, though kept perfectly
fweet."
185
Production
of inflam-
mable air.
186
Pheno
mena.
Fixed air, as it combines with water, fo it may be
combined with other liquors. Beer, wine, and other
fermented liquors, may be impregnated with fixed air,
and by this means their fharpneſs may be reftored,
when they are become vapid, or, as it is commonly faid,
dead. The acidulous tafte communicated by the im-
pregnation of fixed air, cannot be diſcovered in beer,
wines, and, in fhort, in fuch liquors which have much
tafte of their own. Milk acquires an acidulous tafte
by being impregnated with fixed air, and is thereby
preferved incorrupt for fome days; which affords a very
eafy expedient of preſerving milk in thoſe places where
it cannot be had new very often.
§ 2. To produce INFLAMMABLE Air.-The procefs
for making this fort of gas is the fame as that for ma
king fixed air: one of the materials only muſt be dif-
ferent, viz. iron-filings, or grofsly powdered zinc, muſt
be uſed inftead of chalk; to which filings fome oil of
vitriol and water muſt be added, in the fame propor-
tion as in the fixed air, or rather a little more of cil of
vitriol.
N.B. Inftead of the filings of iron, fmall nails, or
fmall bits of iron-wire, anfwer equally well.
The inflammable elaftic fluid produced by this mix-
ture has a diſpleaſing fmell, even when mixed with a
very large quantity of common air; fo that if any
confiderable quantity of it comes out of the bottle,
before the cork with the bent tube be applied to it, &c.
its ſmell may be perceived all over the room in which
the experiment is made, but this ſmell is not particu
larly offenfive.
When a bottle has been filled with this elaftic fluid,
ftop the mouth of it with your thumb, or any ſtopper,
and taking it out of the bafin, bring it near the flame
of a candle and when the mouth of the bottle is very
near it, remove the ftopper, and the elaftic fluid cons
tained in the bottle will be immediately inflamed; and
if the capacity of the bottle is nearly equal to four
ounce-meaſures, it will continue burning quietly for
about half a minute, the flame gradually defcending
lower and lower, as far as about the middle of the bot
tle, in proportion as the inflammable gas is confumed.
In this experiment we fee, that inflammable air fol-
lows the general rule of all other combuftible fub-
ftances, namely, that of burning only when in contact
with common air: thus the flame of this gas, whilft
burning, is obfervable only on that ſurface of it which
is contiguous to the common air; ſo that if the bottle
be clofed, the flame is put out immediately, becauſe
the air is intercepted from it. But if the inflammable
air were put in fuch a fituation as to expofe a very
great ſurface to the common air, it is plain, that by
Airs.
this means its combuftion would be accelerated, fo as OfArtificial
to let it burn inſtantly, and go off with an explofion,
caufed by the fudden rarefaction of the air. In fact,
this effect may be eaſily obferved in the following man-
ner: When the bottle is to be inverted into the bafin,
in order to let it be filled with the inflammable gas,
inſtead of filling it entirely with water, let half of it
remain filled with common air; then invert it, and let
the other half, which is now filled with water, be filled
with inflammable air after the uſual manner; and when
the bottle is full, remove it in the manner ſhown above,
and approach it to the flame of the candle, by which
means the inflammable air takes fire; but now it ex-
plodes all at once with a large flame and a confider
able report, fometimes breaking the bottle in which it
is contained. In this cafe, the bottle being filled with
equal parts of inflammable and common air, theſe two
elaftic fluids were mixed together, fo that almoſt every
particle of the one touched every particle of the other,
and hence the fudden combuftion was occafioned. The
force of this exploſion is ſo very confiderable, that fome
piſtols have been contrived, which are charged with a
mixture of air and inflammable gas, and being fired
by means of an electric fpark, are capable to drive a
leaden bullet with great violence. Sometimes thofe
piftols are made of glaſs (but in this cafe they are not
charged with a bullet), and it is very diverting to ſhow
that piftols are charged and explode by the combuſtion
of an invifible ſubſtance.
in-
When a flender pipe is tied to the neck of a blad-
der, and the bladder is filled with inflammable air,
after the manner defcribed in the preceding experi
ment (viz. when the bladder was required to be filled
with fixed air), two very pleafing experiments may be
performed with it. Firft, the inflammable gas may be
inflamed by applying the flame of the candle to the
extremity of the pipe; and fqueezing at the fame time
the bladder, a ftream of fire will be formed in the air,
which will last as long as the bladder contains any
flammable air; for this gas coming out of the pipe
with violence, will continue inflamed for a confiderable
way in the air. Secondly, the extremity of the pipe
may be dipped into a folution of foap, then removing
it from the folution, and fqueezing the bladder very
gently, a ball of foap-water may be formed, including
inflammable air: which ball, on account of the inflam-
mable gas being much lighter than common air, as foon
as it is detached from the pipe will aſcend upwards,
and will break by daſhing against the ceiling, contrary
to thofe commonly made by children, which in ftill air
go downwards.-Whilſt the ball is afcending, if the
flame of the candle be approached to it, the film of
foap-water will be inftantly broke, and the inflam-
mable air will take fire; thus a fiame may be ſhown
to be feemingly produced from a foap-ball.
་
187
flances.
By taking electric fparks in any kind of oil, fpirit Inflammas
of wine, ether, or ſpirit of fal ammoniac, Dr Prieſt- ble air ob-
ley obtained inflammable air. The oil, or other li tained front
quor, was confined in a glaſs tube by quickfilver, and various fuba
a wire was cemented in the upper part of the tube,
through which the ſparks being fent, went to the
quick filver through the oil; but after that a few ſparks
had been taken, a quantity of inflammable air was
generated, &c. Left the production of inflammable
air fhould be attributed to the cement which faſtened ·
the
Sect. XIII.
AEROLOGY.
191
Airs.
OfArtificial the wire, the Doctor repeated the experiment with
ether in a glaſs fyphon; but the inflammable air was
generated as before. This claftic fluid does not lofe
its inflammability by being paffed feveral times from
one veſſel into another through water.
Alkaline air, by taking electric explofions in it, is
changed into inflammable air.
By means of acids, inflammable air is obtained in
greater abundance, and more readily. Iron, zinc, or
tin, yield plenty of inflammable air when acted on by
diluted vitriolic or marine acids.
If iron is put into ftrong vitriolic acid, the quan
tity of elaſtic fluid that is produced is very little, ex-
cept heat be applied to the phial, for then the pro-
duction of elaſtic fluid is more copious; but this ela-
ftic fluid is vitriolic acid air, mixed with a ſmall por-
tion of inflammable air, the proportional quantity of
it being lefs when the acid is more concentrated.
Zinc, treated after the fame manner, produces the like
effects, except that it gives more claftic fluid, without
the application of heat, than iron does; and the great-
eft part of the produced elaſtic fluid is inflammable.
In order to obtain the greateſt quantity of inflam-
mable air from iron or zinc, the vitriolic acid muſt be
diluted with much water, as about one part of ftrong
oil of vitriol to five or fix parts of water. Dr Prieft-
ley found, that II grains of iron yielded 84 ounce-
meaſures of inflammable air. According to Mr Ca-
vendish, one ounce of zinc, diffolved either in the vi-
triolic or marine acid, yields a quantity of inflammable
air equal to the bulk of 356 ounces of water; one
ounce of iron, diffolved by means of vitriolic acid,
yields a quantity of inflammable air equal to the bulk
of 412 ounces of water; and one ounce of tin yields
half as much inflammable air as iron does.
The folutions of iron, tin, copper, lead, and zinc,
in the marine acid, produce marine acid air, and in-
flammable air, but in various quantities. The propor-
tion of the former to the latter is as one to eight in
iron, as one to fix. in tin, as three to one in copper
and lead, and as one to ten in zinc. Regulus of anti-
mony, diffolved in marine acid, with the application
of heat, yields a ſmall quantity of elaftic fluid, which
is weakly inflammable.
Dr Priestley obtained inflammable air, not only by
diffolving various fubitances in marine acid, but alfo by
expofing divers bodies to marine acid. air, which is
probably the pureft.part of the marine acid. Having
admitted iron-filings to this acid air, they were diffol-
ved by it pretty falt; half of the elaftic fluid diſap-
peared, and the reft was rendered unabforbable by wa-
ter, and inflammable. The fame effect was produced
by almoſt every fubftance which contains phlogifton,
as by fpirit of wine, oil of olives, ſpirit of turpentine,
charcoal, phofphorus, bees-wax, fulphur, dry cork-
wood, pieces of oak, ivory, pieces of roafted beef, and
even ſome pieces of a whitiſh kind of flint.
A greater or ſmaller portion of the acid air was ab-
forbed, and the reft fometimes was all inflammable,
and often was partly acid air, which was foon abforbed
on the admiffion of water, and partly inflammable.
In ſhort, it ſeems as if this acid air, having a great
affinity with phlogifton, feparates it from all thofe fub-
ftances which contain it even in fmall quantity, and
from that combination becomes inflammable..
Airs.
By means of nitrous acid, inflammable air may be OfArtificial
obtained from various fubftances containing phlogifton
but it is always mixed with nitrous air, and fometimes
alfo with fixed and common or phlogiſticated air. If
two parts of ſpirit of wine, mixed with one part of
nitrous acid, are put into a phial with a ground-ſtopple
and tube, and the flame of a candle be applied to it, fo
as to heat it gradually, the inflammable air will be pro-
duced very readily; the inflammability of which is,
however, not very permanent, for by a little waſhing
in water it may be annihilated. In the folution of
moſt ſubſtances in nitrous acid, it generally happens,
that the elaftic fluid, which is obtained towards the
latter end of the procefs, poffeffes the property of be-
ing inflammable: thus iron, diffolved in nitrous acid,
yields nitrous air; but when the nitrous air ceaſes to
be produced, if the heat of a candle be applied to the
folution, more elaftic fluid will be produced which is
inflammable. "The nitrous acid (fays Dr Ingen-
houfz) when mixed with iron-filings in a very diluted
ftate, gives, by the affiſtance of a moderate degree of
heat, a mixture of different airs, partly fixed, partly
common air, and partly phlogifticated air. See further
the article AEROSTATION.
§ 3. To produce NITROUS Air-This permanently
elaſtic fluid is never found naturally, like fixed or in-
flammable air, but is entirely artificial.
188
189
Either filver, copper, brafs, iron, mercury, bifmuth, Nitrous air-
or nickel, when mixed with nitrous acid, yield nitrous artificial.
is entirely
air in great quantities. Some of them, eſpecially mer-
cury, require the aid of heat in order to produce the
elaftic fluid; the flame of a candle applied to the phial
is fufficient: but others, eſpecially copper and iron,
do not want the application of any heat. Gold, pla--
tina, and the regulus of antimony, when put in aqua
regia, yield nitrous air pretty readily. Among the
metals, lead yields nitrous air in the ſmalleſt quantity.
"I poured (fays Dr Priestley) ſmoking ſpirit of nitre
into a phial with a ground-ftopple and tube, contain--
ing 1 ounce-meaſure filled with ſmall leaden ſhot,
fo as to leave no common air at all, either in the
phial or in the tube; and I placed it fo as to
receive the air that might come from it in water.
After waiting an hour, in which little or no air was From what
produced, I applied the flame of a candle, though fubftances
not very near, to it: and in thefe circumftances I got produced.
about an ounce-meaſure of air: but upon ſome water
ruſhing into the phial while the candle was withdrawn,
air was produced very plentifully. I collected in all
about a quarter of a pint; and might probably have
got much more, but that the falt formed by the folt-
tion of the lead had fo nearly cloſed up the tube, that
I thought proper to difcontinue the proceſs. The air,
both of the firft and of the laft produce, was of the
fame quantity; and fo far nitrous, that two meafures
of common air, and one of this, occupied the ſpace:
of two meafures only; excepting that the very firít
and very laſt produce, mixed with common air, took
up a little more room than that which I got in the
middle of the procefs. When the air was produced
very faft, it was exceedingly turbid, as if it had been.
filled with a white powder.'
Among the femi-metals, zinc gives the weakeft ni
trous air, when diſſolved in nitrous acid. The elaſtic
fluid:
1.92
AEROLO OGY.
Sect. XIII.
Airs.
elaftic fluid, render the operation both difficult and OfArtificial
dangerous for the operator.
OfArtificial fluid produced from it is moftly phlogiſticated air.
From four pennyweights and 17 grains of zinc, diffol-
ved in fpirit of nitre diluted with an equal quantity of
water, Dr Prieſtley obtained about 12 ounce-meafures
of very weak nitrous air. It occafioned a very flight
effervefcence when mixed with common air. The
Doctor obtained nitrous air even from fome flowers of
zinc. rr
Having (fays he) mixed a quantity of blue
fpirit of nitre with flowers of zinc, which were of a
dull colour, and appeared from feveral experiments to
contain a portion of phlogifton, it yielded, with the
heat of a candle applied to the phial which contained
it, ftrong nitrous air; when the common fpirit of nitre,
applied in the fame manner, gave only phlogifticated
air; the phlogiſton of which came probably from the
calx itſelf, though a fmall portion of it might have been
in the nitrous acid, which I believe is never entirely
free from it."
The quantity of nitrous air that may be obtained
from various metals, is difficult to be aſcertained, on
account of the diverfity occafioned by the ftrength of
the acid, the various nature of the metallic ſubſtance,
and the method of performing the experiments. The
following is a table of the produces of nitrous air from
various metals, extracted from Dr Prieftley's firſt vo-
lume of Experiments and Obfervations; but which,
as the author himſelf intimates, is far from being very
accurate.
dwt. grs.
6 O of filver yielded 17½ ounce-meaſures.
5
19
of quickfilver,
4 ½
1
2
of copper,
2
O
of brafs,
142
21
о
20
of iron,
I
5
of bifmuth,
I 2 of nickel,
6
4
The various ftrength of the nitrous acid produces
great diverfity in the production of nitrous air. Thus,
if copper is diffolved in ſtrong nitrous acid, it will not
produce the leaft quantity of nitrous air; but when dif-
folved in diluted nitrous acid, it produces a great quan-
tity of that elaſtic fluid. The ftrong and pale-coloured
nitrous acid ſhould be diluted with at leaſt two or three
parts of water to one of the acid, for the eaſy pro-
duction of nitrous air from copper and mercury.
The briſkneſs of the effervefcence, and the produc-
tion of nitrous air, are promoted by heat, and alfo by
letting the metallic fubſtance preſent a great quantity
of furface to the acids.
For the generality of experiments, no other degree
of heat is required than that produced by the effer-
vefcence itſelf, except mercury be uſed, which requires
the application of fome heat. When the metal exhi-
bits a very great furface to the acid, as is the cafe when
filings are uſed, the effervefcence and production of
nitrous air are often much quicker than can be con-
veniently managed.
Copper or brafs, when clipped into flat bits, each
about two or three grains in weight, and about a
quarter of a ſquare inch in furface, and when diffolved
in nitrous acid properly diluted, yield nitrous air very
equably; but if iron be uſed, the pieces of it ſhould
be larger and fewer; in fhort, it ſhould prefent a much
Jeſs ſurface to the diluted acid; otherwife the increaſe
of heat in the proceſs, and the rapid production of
No 5.
3
Airs.
190
Pure mer-
cury yields
As the nitrous air is moftly neceffary to try the
goodneſs of refpirable air, it is of great confequence
to make it always of one conftant degree of goodneſs;
but this object is anſwered by diffolving fubftances of the beft.
a very homologous nature in the nitrous acid; there-
fore it is plain, that the metals whofe nature is more
uniform must be preferred for this purpoſe. Accord-
ingly, braſs yields nitrous air of a more uniform nature
than iron: copper is fuperior to brafs; but pure mer-
cury is ftill fuperior to copper: and indeed this is the
metal which, confidering its nature, uniformity of fub-
ftance, and eafy folution, is upon the whole the moſt
uſeful for this purpoſe.
It has been generally obferved, that folid vegetable
fubftances, when diffolved in nitrous acid, yield more
nitrous air than the animal fubftances, though this ni-
trous air is not fo pure as that obtained from metals.
Sometimes it contains fome fixed air, and a good
deal of inflammable air, which is moſtly produced to-
wards the end of the proceſs. On the other hand, the
nitrous air extracted from animal-fubftances generally
contains a good deal of phlogiſticated air, and fome-
times fome fixed air. In order to obtain nitrous air
from the folution of animal and vegetable ſubſtances
in nitrous acid, often fome degree of heat muſt be ap-
plied to the phial. The acid alfo fometimes must be.
very concentrated, and in other cafes it muſt be dilu-
ted; but it is hardly worth while, or practicable, to
determine with exactnefs all thofe particular cafes.
To make Nitrous Air.-The metal, viz. copper,
brafs, or mercury, is firft put into the bottle (which,
as well as the whole procefs, is the fame as that de-
ſcribed for fixed Air), fo as to fill about one-third of
the fame; then fome water is poured into the bottle,
fo as just to cover the metal-filings; and laftly, the ni-
trous acid is added, the quantity of which, when ſtrong,
fhould be about one-third or half the quantity of the
water. The ſmell of the nitrous gas is very penetra-
ting and offenfive, and occafions a red ſmoke as foon
as it comes into contact with the common air; hence,
whenever any of it eſcapes from the bottle, it may be
obferved not only by the ſmell, but alſo by the flight
red colour.
In order to obſerve the principal property of this
elaſtic fluid, which is that of diminiſhing the bulk of
common air, let a glaſs tube, cloſed at one end, and
about nine inches long, and half or three quarters of
an inch in diameter, be filled with water, and inverted
in water; then take a ſmall phial, of about half an
ounce-meafure, filled with common air, and plunging
it under the water contained in the fame bafin where
the inverted tube is kept, let that quantity of air en-
ter into the tube, which will go to the top of it, the
water fubfiding accordingly. Let a mark be made,
either with a file or by fticking foft wax on the tube,
juſt oppoſite to the furface of the water in it, which
will mark how much of the tube is filled by that given
meaſure of air. After the fame manner, fill the fame
fmall phial (which we ſhall call the meaſure) again with
air; throw that air into the tube, and put a mark on
the tube coinciding with the level of the water in it.
In this manner let four or five meaſures be marked on
the tube. Now, if three meaſures of common air are
put
Sect. XIII.
193
AEROLOGY.
Airs.
OfArtificial put into this tube, when filled with water and inverted,
they will fill a ſpace of it as far as the third mark.
The fame thing will happen if three meaſures of ni-
trous inſtead of common air be put in it; but if two
meaſures of common air and one meaſure of nitrous
air, or one meaſure of the former and two of the lat-
ter, be introduced in it, they will fill a fpace much
ſhorter than the third mark. On the moment that
theſe two kinds of elaftic fluids come into contact, a
reddiſh appearance is perceived, which foon vanishes,
and the water, which at firſt nearly reaches the third
mark, riſes gradually into the tube, and becomes nearly
ſtationary after about two or three minutes; which
fhows that the diminution is effected gradually. See
EUDIOMETER.
§ 4. To procure DEPHLOGISTICATED Air.-This is
no other than exceedingly pure atmoſpherical air, en-
tirely free from thofe heterogeneous vapours which con-
taminate the air we commonly breathe. The eafieft
method of procuring this air is to put fome red-lead into
the bottle, together with fome good ftrong oil of vi-
triol, but without any water. Let the red-lead fill
about a quarter of the bottle, and the vitriolic acid be
about the fame quantity or very little lefs; then ap-
ply the bent tube to the bottle, and proceed in the
fame manner as above. But it muſt be remarked, that
without heat this mixture of red-lead and vitriolic acid
will not give any dephlogiſticated air, or it yields an
inconfiderable quantity of it; for which reaſon the flame
of a candle (that of a wax taper is fufficient) muft be
applied under the bottom of the bottle; which for this
purpoſe muſt be rather thin, otherwife it will be eafily
cracked (A). In this manner the red-lead will yield
a good quantity of elaftic fluid, the greateſt part of
which is dephlogiſticated air; but not the whole quan-
tity of it, for a good portion of fixed air comes out
with it. In order to ſeparate the fixed from the de-
phlogiſticated air, the inverted bottle, when filled with
the compound of both, as it is emitted from the red-
lead, muſt be fhook in the bafin for impregnating
water with fixed air; by which means the water will
abforb the whole quantity of fixed air, and leave the
dephlogiſticated air by itſelf.
From every experiment it appears, that dephlogiſti-
cated air, if it could be readily obtained, and at a cheap
rate, would be a most valuable manufacture. The
heat communicated by means of it to burning fuel is
incredible.
Thefe are not the only advantages which might be
expected from dephlogiſticated air. It has been found
by experience, that animals will live much longer in
this kind of air than in an equal quantity of common
air; whence it is fuppofed, that the breathing of it muft
be much more healthy, and contribute to longevity
much more than the common atmoſphere. Nay, there
are not wanting fome who attribute the longevity of
VOL. I. Part I.
Airs.
the Antediluvians to the great purity of the atmoſphere OfArtificial
at that time; the whole maſs being afterwards tainted
by the deluge, in fuch a manner that it could never
regain its former purity and falubrity. But all this as
yet is mere conjecture; and excepting the fingle fact,
that animals live much longer in a quantity of dephlo-
gifticated than of common air, there is no evidence
that the former contributes more to longevity than the
latter. Dr Priestley even throws out a conjecture, that
the ufe of dephlogiſticated air might perhaps wear out
the ſyſtem much ſooner than common air, in the fame
manner as it confumes fuel much fafter than common
air. The great quantity, however, even of the pureft
air, which is requifite to ſupport animal life, and the
expence and trouble of the moſt ready methods of
procuring it, have hitherto prevented any fair trial
from being made. Yet philofophers, confidering the
probability there is of this kind of air being falutary
in many diſeaſes, have beftowed fome pains in at-
tempting to find out methods of procuring it eafily
and in large quantity; concerning which we have
the following obfervations in Cavallo's Treatiſe on
Air.
“A man makes in general about 15 inſpirations in
a minute, and takes in about 30 cubic inches of aërial
fluid. But the air which has been once inſpired is not
thereby much injured, and it may be reſpired again
and again; ſo that, upon a very moderate calculation,
and as appears from actual experiments often repeated,
we may fafely affert, that a perſon can breathe 400
cubic inches of good ordinary atmoſpheric air, at
leaft 30 times, without any inconvenience, i. e. it
would ferve for two minutes; after which that air,
though much depraved, is ftill in a ftate of being
breathed, but then it would occafion fome uneafinefs.
Now, fuppofing the dephlogiſticated air employed to
be four times more pure than common air, 400 cubic
inches of dephlogiſticated air would ſerve for at leaſt
120 refpirations or eight minutes.
"But fuppofing that 30 inches of common air are
completely phlogiſticated by a fingle inſpiration, and
changed for fuch as is quite fresh, which indeed is the
cafe in common refpiration, then 450 cubic inches of
common air will be requifite for one minute's reſpira-
tion, and 27,000 for one hour; and as dephlogiſtica-
ted air is ſuppoſed to be four times as good, the fame
quantity of it will ferve for four hours. Indeed, if we
could depend on the affertions of Mr Fontana, that
by adding lime-water to abſorb the fixed air produced
by refpiration, an animal can live 30 times as long as
without it, no doubt a much ſmaller quantity would
ferve."
But it is certain fuch aſſertions cannot be true; be-
caufe, though the fixed air fhould be abforbed as foon
as produced, the remaining quantity would ſtill be
contaminated by phlogifton. Nay, we are informed
by Dr Priestley, who repeated Fontana's experiments,
B b
that
(A) In this operation the flame of the candle, when once applied, muſt be kept continually near it; and
when the mixture does not produce any more elaſtic fluid, or the operation is required to be intermitted, care
ſhould be taken to remove the extremity of the bent tube from the water firft, and then to take off the flame of
the candle from under the bottle; otherwife, if the flame of the candle be firft removed, the materials withîn
the bottle condenfing by cold, the water immediately enters, which in an inftant fills the bottle, and generally
breaks it.
194
AEROLOG
Y.
Sect. XIII.
Airs.
Airs.
ufual apparatus and furnace, the expences at prefent OfArtificial
neceffary in London for the production of 12,000 cu-
bic inches of dephlogiſticated air, (viz. the price of one
pound of nitre, of an earthen retort or other veffel, and
of charcoal), amount to about 4s. or 4s. 6d.”
OfArtificial that animals will not live longer in a quantity of de-
phlogiſticated air when it ftands in contact with lime-
water, than they will when no lime-water is ufed.
In what manner a difference fo enormous can take
place, between philofophers in other refpects fo accu-
rate, we can by no means determine. It is plain,
however, that if 27,000 inches of common air are ne-
ceffary for a perfon in one hour, the fame quantity of
dephlogiſticated air cannot be breathed longer than
four hours, nor even fo long, with any real advantage.
Mr Cavallo indeed allows only 12000 inches for four
hours; but though this might no doubt fuftain life for
that time, the perfon muft at beſt expect nothing
from it fuperior to the common atmofpere, if he was
not materially injured by it.
1
A very ready method of procuring dephlogiſticated air
in large quantity, is by means of nitre; and on the fup-
pofition that 12,000 inches are fufficient for four hours,
(or for 40 hours, as he limits the Abbé Fontana's fuppo-
Sition), Mr Cavallo proceeds in the following manner:
"The inftruments neceffary for the production of de-
phlogiſticated air from nitre are the following; viz.
earthen retorts, or earthen veffels with a ſtraight neck,
fomewhat in the fhape of Florence flaſks, but with a
longer neck, thefe being cheaper than the retorts, and
anfwering as well;-a ſmall furnace, in which the
earthen retort must be kept red-hot; a common
chimney-fire is not fufficient. Theſe furnaces may be
very eaſily made out of large black lead crucibles.
The nitre must be put into the retort or other veffel,
fo as to fill half or nearly three quarters of its belly;
then a bent glafs tube is luted to the neck of the ear-
then veffel, in fuch a manner as not to let any elaftic
fluid efcape into the open air. The beft lute or ce-
ment for this or fimilar purpoſes is made by mixing to
gether whiting and drying oil. The retort being put
into the furnace, must be furrounded with lighted
charcoal, which is to be fupplied according as it waftes:
in fhort, the belly of the retort must be kept quite
red-hot, or rather white-hot, for about three hours at
leaft. If, inftead of the retort, the other deferibed
earthen veſſel be uſed, care fhould be had to place it
with the neck as little inclined to the horizon as pof-
fible, left the nitre ſhould ſtop the neck and break it."
The air is then to be received into large glafs jars, as
is ufual in other experiments on air.
"The retort or other earthen veffel that is uſed for
this purpofe cannot ferve for more than once, becauſe
it generally breaks in cooling; and befides, the de-
compoſed nitre cannot eaſily be taken out of it. The
retort capable of holding a pound of nitre (the quan-
tity neceffary for producing 12,000 cubic inches of
dephlogiſticated air) for this operation, coſts at leaſt
half-a-crown; the other earthen veffels in the ſhape of
Florence flaſks, but with longer necks, coft about
188. a-piece, or 2 s.; fo that the price of thefe veffels
forms a confiderable part of the expence. If glaſs
veffels are employed, the nitre will not yield near fo
much air, though of a purer fort, becauſe the glaſs
veffels cannot endure fuch a great fire as the earthen
ones. The retorts of metal, or at leaſt of thofe metals
which are moſt uſually employed for this purpofe, viz.
iron and copper, phlogiſticate in a great meaſure the
air as foon as produced. Confidering, then, all thefe
circumſtances, it appears, that when a perfon has all the
Another method of preparing dephlogiſticated air
is, by blowing that of the common atmoſphere thro'
melted nitre. In this procefs the phlogifton contained
in the atmoſphere is gradually confumed, by detonating
with the acid of the nitre, and therefore iflues much
This method has the appear-
more pure than before.
ance at firſt of being much eaſier and more commodious
than the former; but as it is impoffible to mix the at-
mofperic air fo exactly with the melted nitre that every
particle of the one may come in contact with every
particle of the other, it is plain that the former me-
thod must be preferable; not to mention that it will
be found exceedingly troubleſome to blow the air
through the nitre, as the latter will be perpetually apt
to cool and concrete into lumps by the cold blaſt.
§ 5.
To procure VITRIOLIC Acid Air.-This confifts of
the vitriolic acid, united with fome phlogiston, which vo-
latilizes and renders it capable of affuming the form of
a permanently elaftic fluid. To obtain it, fome ftrong
concentrated vitriolic acid muſt be put into the uſual
bottle, together with fome fubftance capable of fur-
nifhing phlogifton. Olive oil anfwers very well. The
oil of vitriol fhould be about three or four times as
much as the fweet oil, and both together fhould fill
about one-third or half the bottle. A gentle degree
of heat is then required, in order to let theſe materials
yield any elaftic fluid; which may be done by apply
ing the flame of a wax taper, as directed above for the
production of dephlogiſticated air.
ther than the marine acid itſelf, and which without any
§ 6. To procure MARINE Acid Air, which is no o-
addition becomes a permanently elaftic fluid; put fome
fea-falt, or common kitchen falt, into the ufual bottle
in which the materials for producing elaſtic fluids are
generally put, fo as to fill about a fourth part of it,
centrated vitriolic acid; then apply the bent tube to
and upon this falt pour a fmall quantity of good con-
the bottle, and introduce it through the quickfilver
into the receiver, filled with and inverted in quickfilver
after the ufual method, and the elaftic fluid is copi-
oufly produced.
§ 7. To procure NITROUS Acid Air.-This may be
obtained from heated nitrous acid, the vapour of which
acquires a permanent elafticity, and it has been found
to remain uncondenfed into a vifible fluid by any cold
to which it has been hitherto expofed. The great dif-
ficulty is to find a fluid capable of confining this acid
air; becauſe it is eafily and abundantly abforbed by
water, which is one of its properties by which it differs
from nitrous air. It acts upon quickfilver, and alſo up-
on oils: hence its examination cannot be made but
very imperfectly; for fubftances muſt be expofed to it,
or mixed with it, whilſt it is actually changing its na-
ture by acting on the mercury or other fluid that con-
fines it.
When water has abforbed a good quantity of this
elaftic fluid, it acquires the properties of nitrous acid;
and when heated, it yields a large quantity of nitrous.
▾
aira
Sect. XIII.
195
A. ER O L
LOG
Y.
OfArtificial air, viz. a.quantity many times greater than that which
water is wont to imbibe of it by agitation, or by any
known means.
:
Airs.
When the nitrous acid air is combined with effen-
tial oils, a confiderable effervefcence and heat are pro-
duced, nearly in the fame manner as when the nitrous
acid itſelf is poured upon thoſe oils.
§ 8. FLUOR Acid Air.-Put fome of thoſe minerals
called fluors, or fuſible ſpars, pulverized, into the uſual
bottle, and upon it pour fome concentrated oil of vi-
triol; then adapt the bent tube, &c. The fluor acid
A.
Aerial acid, a name for fixed
air, n° 106.
Air, fuppofed anciently to be
homogeneous, I. Not fo in
reality, 2. Has fome way
of
purifying itſelf, 3. Halley's
calculation of the quantity of
water evaporated into it from
the fea, 4. Dr Watſon's of
the moiſture evaporated from
dry ground, ibid. How it is
purified from the aqueous va-
pour, 4. From phlogiſtic va-
pours, 5. Why a dry air is
always wholeſome, but a
moiſt one is not, ibid. Con-
taminated in certain places by
various kinds of vapours, ibid.
How purified from vapours
heavier than itfelf, ibid. Its
fpecific gravity compared with
water, 6. Its preffure as a
gravitating fluid, 7. Effects
of its gravity on vegetables
and animals, ibid. Of its e-
lafticity, 8. Whether this can
be impaired, 9. Its elafticity
is always in proportion to its
denfity, ibid. How far a
quantity of air may be com-
preffed, 10. Is capable of
vaft dilatation by its elaſtic
force, ibid. In what propor-
tion it is expanded by heat,
11. Its elafticity ſuppoſed to
be the caufe of earthquakes,
ibid. Effects of its elaſticity
on various bodies, 12.. Great
folvent power of the air, 13.
Its chemical effects, 15. Air
contained in mineral waters,
19, 20. Decompounded in
the calcination of metals, 29.
Is not diminiſhed in common
cafes of combuſtion, 58. A
kind of air procured from fo-
lution of gold, 175.
་
I
N
D
Alkaline air: Its properties,
146. Contains phlogifton,
147. Converted into inflam-
mable air, 148.
Animals: Caufe of their death
in dephlogiſticated air, 61.
Effects of inflammable air on
them, 141.
Arfenic: Inflammable air pro-
duced from it by the red-hot
fteam of water, 124.
Afbes gain moft of their weight
by abforption from the atmo-
fphere, 122.
Atmosphere confifts of two very
different kinds of fluids, 24,
93. The proportions of
thefe, 178. The upper parts
of it more falubrious than the
lower, 179.
B.
Black's (Dr) difcoveries, 21.
His theory concerning fixed
air attacked at firft, but now
univerfally received, 23-
Boyle's difcoveries, 17.
C.
Calcination of metals: Mr La-
voifier's experiments on it,
92. His conclufions there-
from with regard to the
compofition of atmoſpherical
air, 93.
Cast iron: Remarkable pheno-
menon attending its calcina-
tion with a burning-glaſs, 70.
Cavallo's conclufions from Dr
Ingenhoufz's experiments, 38
His method of collecting in-
flammable air from ponds,
119.
Cavendish's experiments On
water, 75.
On the pro-
duction of nitrous acid, 101,
102.
L
Charcoal yields a great quantity
of fixed air, 16.-totally con-
vertible into inflammable air,
Airs.
air is at firft produced without the help of heat; but in OfArtificial
a ſhort time it will be neceffary to apply the flame of
a candle to the bottle, by which means a confiderable
quantity of this elaſtic fluid is obtained.
§ 9. ALKALINE Air.-Let the uſual bottle be about
half filled with volatile ſpirit of fal ammoniac; and after
applying the bent tube, &c. let the flame of a candle
be brought under the bottle, by which means the al-
kaline air will be produced copiouſly.
HEPATIC Air. See Sect. XI. fupra.
E
X.
129. Its exceffive attraction
for water, 132.
Combustion, whether common
air is diminiſhed by it, 58,
183.
Contagion of the plague, of a hea-
vy fluggiſh nature, 5.
Copper: Dr Prieſtley's experi-
ments to produce water by its
means, 73. Is not affected
by alkaline air, 146.
Cotton-wool: Quantity of de-
phlogiſticated air produced by
its means from water, 45.
Cretaceous acid: An improper
name for fixed air, 107.
D.
Darkness: Its effects on the
production of air, 42.
Dephlogifticated air difcovered
by Dr Priestley, 24. Firſt
obtained by means of a burn-
ing-glafs from precipitate per
fe, 25. Why called dephlo-
gifticated, 26. Produced from,
a great variety of ſubſtances,
ibid. Diſcovered by Mr
Scheele, 28. May be ob-
tained without the ufe of ni-
trous acid, 29. Produced in
greateſt quantities by a fud-
den and violent heat, 30.
Method of procuring it from
different fubftances, 31. How
it is produced by nature, 32.
Method of obtaining it from
water, 36. From the leaves
of plants, 37. By means of
raw filk, 41. From various
other fubftances, 45. Quan-
tity of it produced from wa-
ter, 46. Of the cauſe of its
production, 47- At what
times it is produced of the
beſt quality, 48. Found in
fea-water, 53. How to pre-
ferve it in large quantity, 54.
It produces intenſe heat, 55.
B
Explodes violently with in-
flammable air, 56. Burns
violently with pyrophorus,
57. Is diminiſhed by com-
buftion, 59,-and by nitrous
air, 60, 154. In what man-
ner it may be contaminated,
61. Does not ſupport vege-
tation, 62. Of its compo-
nent parts, 63. Does not
contain earth, 65. Whether
it contains any nitrous acid,
66. Imbibed by calces of
metals, 67. By iron, 68.
Mr Cavendish's experiments
on its compofition, 75. Ni-
trous acid produced from a
mixture of it and inflamma-
ble air, 77. Suppofed to be
one of the component parts
of water, 81, 82, 83. Ef-
fects of the electric ſpark on
it when incloſed between dif-
ferent liquors, 105. Dr
Priestley's experiments on the
production of fixed air from
it, 110.
Dephlogiſticated nitrous air, how
procured, 160. Its compo-
nent parts, rб1. Beft me-
thod of procuring it, 163.
Made to approach to the na-
ture of atmoſpherical air,
164.
Diminution of air, fuppofed to
be owing to phlogifton emit-
ted into it, 89.
E.
Earth is not a component part
of dephlogiſticated air, 65.
Effervefcence between acids and
alkalis occafioned by fixed air
in the latter, 21.
Eider-down: Dephlogiſticated
air produced by its means
from water, 45.
Electric ſpark: Its cffects on de-
phlogiſticated air incloſed be-
b z
tween
196
INDEX.
AEROLOGY.
tween different liquors, 105.
On fixed air, 113. On nitrous
air, 159.
F.
Fermentation: Why it will not
go on in vacuo, 12.
Fermented liquors reſtored from
a vapid ftate by adding fixed
air to them, 180.
Finery-cinder, the fame with
fcales of iron, confifts of the
metal united with dephlogi-
fticated air, 124.
Fire fuppofed to be the caufe of
the air's elafticity, 11.
Fixed air contained in abfor-
bent earths and alkaline falts,
21. Its proportion in thefe
fubftances, 22. Effervefcence
of theſe ſubſtances with acids
occafioned by fixed air, 21.
Increaſes the weight of me-
tallic precipitates, 21. Sup-
pofed to be the principle of
unionin terreftrialbodies, ibid.
Separated from fermenting
and putrefying fubftances, 2 1.
Diffolves earths and metals,
22. Formed by the union
of phlogifton with dephlogi-
fticated air, 67. Found in a
great variety of ſubſtances,
106. Specific gravity, and
other properties of this kind
of air, 107, 108. Its con-
ftituent principles, 109. Dr.
Priestley's experiments on its
compofition, 110. Propor-
tion of it produced from de-
phlogiſticated air, 112. Ef
fects of the electric ſpark on
it, 113. Of a ſtrong heat on
it, 115. Quantity of it ex-
pelled from different fubftan-
ces, 11.6. Generated in the
decompofition of inflammable
air, 135. Convertible into
inflammable air, 136. Great
quantities produced by fer-
menting fubftances, 180. Pro-
portions contained in differ-
ent kinds of wines, 181.. E-
mitted by putrefying mat-
ters, 182.
Fontana, Abbè: Effects of his
breathing inflammable air, 141.
French philofophers, their expe-
riments on the compofition of
water, 82.
Fur of a Rufian hare produces
dephlogiſticated air with wa-
ter, 45.
G.
Gold: A peculiar kind of air
produced from its folution,
175. A beautiful experi-.
ment with it, ibid. Green
matter obſerved by Dr Prieſt-
ley in glass jars producing de-
phlogiſticated air, proved to
be of an animal nature, 40.
H
Hales, Dr, his difcoveries, 18,
19.
Heat: Its effects on fixed air,
115.
Hepatic air, produced from an
ore of zinc, 176.
Beft obtained from liver of ful-
phur, 177. Its properties,
ibid.
Hot climates: Great quantity
of inflammable air produced
in them, 118.
Human hair produces dephlo-
giſticated air with water, 45.
I.
Ice diffolved very faft by alka-
line air, 146. And by ma-
rine acid air, 171.
Incondenfible vapour arifing from
water, 86. Priestley's con-
jectures concerning it, 87.
Attempts to collect it, 88.
Inflammable air: Method of
burning it in the dephlogi-
fticated kind, 59. Water
produced from a mixture of
inflammable and dephlogiſti-
cated air, 77. Quantity of
it neceffary to phlogiſticate
common air, 78. This kind
of air produced in mines,
from putrid waters, &c. 117.
Great quantities generated in
hot climates, 118. Mr Ca-
vallo's method of collecting
it from ponds, 119. Me-
teors thought to be produced
by it, 120. Different kinds
of inflammable air, 121. Ex-
tracted from various fubftan-
ces by heat, 122. More air
procured by a fudden and
violent than by a gradual
heat, 123. How procured
from water and other fluid
and folid ſubſtances, 124.
Proportions of inflammable
air procured from iron by
means of ſteam, 125. Of
the conſtituent parts of in-
flammable air, 126. No acid
contained in it, 127. Water
neceffary to its production
according to Dr Priestley,
128. Denied by Mr Kir-
wan, 138. Charcoal totally
convertible into it, 129. Ex-
periment ſhowing the necef-
•
fity of water for the produc
tion of inflammable air, 131
Is not pure phlogifton, 133.
Priestley's analyfis of diffe-
rent kinds of it, 134. Fixed
air generated in its decom-
pofition, 135. Fixed air
convertible into it, 136. Has
a great propenfity to unite
with water, 137. Dr Prieft-
ley's conclufion with regard
to its component parts, 139.
Its abforption by water, 140.
Its effects on vegetation and
animal life, 141. Has little re-
fractive power, 142. Schemes
to employ it for various pur-
poſes, 143.
Ingenhoufz, Dr, his experiments
in the melioration of air by
vegetation, 35. Produces de-
phlogiſticated air from water
by means of the leaves of
plants, 37. Conclufions from
his experiments, 38. His
theory difputed, 51.
Iron fometimes diffolved by the
air, 13. Yields dephlogiſti-
cated air with oil of vitriol,
31. Imbibes dephlogiſticated
air, 68. Takes it from the
atmoſphere, 69. May be
made to imbibe dephlogiſti-
cated air as often as we pleafe,
74. Properties of the in-
flammable air obtained from
it by means of ſteam, 125.
K.
Kirwan's conclufion concerning
the artificial production of
water, 83. Obferves the pro-
penfity of inflammable air to
unite with water, 137. His
opinion concerning the confti-
tuent principles of inflamma-,
ble air, 138.
L.
Lavoisier corrects a procefs of
Dr Priestley, 31. His ex-
periments on the diminution.
of air by burning, 58, 59.
Differences betwixt him and
Dr Priestley, 64. Denies
the exiſtence of phlogifton,
91. His experiments on the
calcination of metals and re-
fpiration, 92, 93, 94:
Lead: Proportions of it re-
vived in alkaline air, 147.
Leaves of plants feparate de-
phlogiſticated air from water,
37. Refume this property
after they ſeem to have loſt
it, 52.
Light: Effects of it in the pro-
duction of dephlogiſticated
air, 36. Effects of light
without heat, 43. Of arti-
ficial light, 44.
Lint produces dephlogiſticated
air, 45.
Litmus, its folution decom-
pounded by taking the elec-
tric fpark in dephlogiſticated
air confined over it, 105.
Liver of fulphur abforbs dephlo-
gifticated air, 95.
Yields
hepatic air in plenty, 177.
M.
Manganefe: Sulphurated in-
flammable air first produced
from it, 144.
Marble, why it fometimes burfts
with froft, 5.
Marine acid air, how procu-
red, 170. Its properties, 171.
Changed into inflammable air,
172.
Mediterranean fea: Quantity
of water evaporated from its
furface, 4.
Metallic vapours, their poifon
ous qualities, 5.
Metallic calces imbibe dephlo-
gifticated air, 67.
Mercury yields dephlogiſticated
air either with nitrous or vi-
triolic acid, 31.
Mineral waters contain air, 19,
20.
Mint reftores noxious air to a
ftate of falubrity by its vege
tation, 32, 33.
Mofetes, their nature, 5.
Mustard, its effects on air; 35.
N.
Nitre yields a great quantity of
dephlogiſticated air, 28.
Nitrous air diminiſhes dephlo-
gifticated air, 60, 154. Yields
nitrous acid when decompo
fed, 76. How procured, 150.
Why ftrong nitrous acid yields.
none, 151. Properties of it,
152. Extremely fatal to ve-
getable and animal life, 153.
Has a ftrong antifeptic pow-
er, 155. Its ſpecific gravity,
156. Its component parts,
157. Compofed of phlo-
gifticated nitrous acid and
water, 158. Effects of the
electric fpark on it, 159.
Nitrous acid, whether or not
it enters the compofition of
nitrous air, 66. "Produced
from dephlogiſticated and in-
flammable air, 77.
Nitrous acid air, how procu--
red, 166. Cannot be pre-
ferved
INDEX.
107
AEROLOGY.
ferved by means of any fluid,
167. Affumes a red colour
by being heated, 168. Its
effects on red lead, 169.
Noxious air, how purified by
agitation in water, 97.
0.
Oils and Salts, why they fepa-
rate in vacuo, 7.
Olive oil, with whiting, yields
inflammable air, 124.
P.
Phlogifticated air, its properties,
99. Nitrous acid procured
by means of it, 100. Mr
Cavendish's opinions on its
nature, 103.
Phlogistication of air, whether
it produces any vitriolic acid,
76. Explained, 89.
Phlogiston, too great powers at-
tributed to it, 90. Its ex-
iftence denied by the foreign
chemifts, 91. Whether in-
flammable air is pure phlo-
gifton or not, 133, 138.
Contained in alkaline air,,
147.
Plants purify air by their ve-
getation, 38.
Populus nigra, dephlogiſticated
air plentifully produced from
water by means of its cotton-
like fubftance, 46, 47.
Precipitate per fe, yields no
water on being revived into
a metal, 73.
Priestley, Dr, diſcovers dephlo-
gifticated air, 24. His firft
hypothefis concerning the
component parts of dephlo-
gifticated air, 63. Diffe-
rence betwixt fome of his ex-
periments and thofe of La-
voifier, 64. His opinion con-
cerning the non-exiſtence of
nitrous acid in dephlogiftica-
ted air, 66. Difficulties a-
rifing from fome of his ex-
periments concerning the ge-
neration of water in defla-
grating dephlogiſticated and
inflammable air, 85. His
conjectures concerning the
incondenfible vapour of wa-
ter, 87. His experiments on
the compofition of fixed air,
1 [0.
His opinion concern-
ing the compofition of phlo-
gifticated air, 111. Experi-
ment in favour of his hypo-
thefis concerning phlogifti-
cated air, 114.
Putrefying fubftances emit fixed
air, 182.
R.
Raw-filk produces dephlogifti-
cated air by means of water,
41.
Various ſubſtances fub-
ftituted for it, 45. Compa-
rifon between its furface and
that of the cotton-like fub-
ftance of the Populus nigra,
47.
Red-lead yields no dephlogifti-
cated air when firſt prepared,
and but little for fome time
after, 29. Gives a greater
quantity by a fudden than a
flow heat, 30.
Refpiration, Mr Lavoifier's ex-
periments on it, 91.
Retorts with long necks proper
for diftilling dephlogifticated
air, 31.
S.
Scales of iron the fame with
finery-cinder, 124.
Scheele difcovers dephlogiſtica-
ted air, 28. His experiments
on its diminution by com-
buftion, 59. On the com-
ponent parts of the atmo-
fphere, 24.
Sea-water contains pure air, 53.
Seltzer-water imitated by Mr
Venel, 20.
Sheep's wool feparates dephlogi-
fticated air from water, 45.
Soot yields pure air by diftilla-
tion, 87.
Sponge imbibes a great quantity
of alkaline air, 146.
Spun-glafs, unfuccefsful attempt
to procure dephlogiſticated
air from water by its means,
49.
Steam, proportions of inflamma-
ble air obtained by its means
from different fubftances, 125.
Its influence on the produc-
tion of inflammable air from
charcoal, 132.
Stones fometimes diffolved by
the air, 14.
Sulphureous vapours, their per-
nicious effects, 5.
Sulphur yields inflammable air
with fteam, 124..
Sulphurated inflammable air pro-
cured from manganefe, 144.
and from iron melted in vi-
triolic acid air, 145.
T.
Thomson, Sir Benjamin, his ex-
periments on the production
of dephlogifticated air, 39
et feq.
Turpentine oil yields inflamma-
ble air, 124.
V.
Vegetation will not go on in
vacuo, and why, 12. Pro-
duces dephlogiſticated air, 32.
Improves noxious air, 33.
Experiments feemingly con-
tradictory, 34. Dr Ingen-
houfz's experiments on this-
fubject, 35.
Van Helmont's diſcoveries, 16.
Vegetable acid air phlogiſticates
common air, 174.
Vitriolic acid air, 165.
Volatile alkali produced from
nitrous acid and iron, 149.
W.
Water, quantity of it evapo-
rated from the Mediterrane-
an, 4. From an acre of
ground, ibid. Why it boils
violently in vacuo, 7. Pro-
duces dephlogisticated air,
36. Quantity of air yielded
by it, with the mixture of
various fubftances, 46. By
water alone, 50. Formed by
the deflagration of inflam-
mable and dephlogiſticated
air, 71. Quantity produced
in this manner, 72, 73. Ca-
vendifh's experiments on this
fubject, 75. Dr Priestley's
experiments on the fame, 80,
81. Experiments of the
French philofophers and Mr
Kirwan, 82, 83. Water per-
vious to air, 98. Method of
procuring inflammable air by
its means, 124. Always ne-
ceffary to the production of
this kind of air, 128, 131.
Attraction betwixt it and
burning charcoal or iron, 132.
Great propenfity of inflam-
mable air to unite with it,
137, 140. Its effects on ni-
trous air, 162.
Wines, proportions of fixed air
in different kinds of them,
182.
Acromancy
11
Aeronau
tica.
A ER
AEROMANCY, a fpecies of divination performed
by means of air, wind, &c. See DIVINATION, nº 5.
AEROMETRY, the fcience of meaſuring the air.
It comprehends not only the doctrine of the air itſelf,
confidered as a fluid body; but alſo its preffure, elafti-
city, rarefaction, and condenſation. But the term is
at preſent not much in ufe, this branch of natural phi-
lofophy being more frequently called Pneumatics. See
PNEUMATICS.
AERONAUT, a perſon who attends and guides
an air-balloon. See AEROSTATION and AIR-Ballon.
AERONAUTICA, from anp, and UTIXOS, derived
from vaus, ſhip; the art of failing in a veffel or inachine
AER
through the atmoſphere, fuftained as a fhip in the fea. Aerophy
See AEROSTATION.
AEROPHYLACEA, a term uſed by naturaliſts
for caverns or reſervoirs of air, fuppofed to exift in the
bowels of the earth. Kircher fpeaks much of aero-
phylacea, or huge caverns, replete with air, difpo-
fed under ground; from whence, through numerous
occult paffages, that element is conveyed either to
fubterraneous receptacles of water, which, according
to him, are hereby raiſed into ſprings or rivers, or in-
to the funds of fubterraneous fire, which are hereby
fed and kept alive for the reparation of metals, mine
rals, and the like.
lacea.
A)
AEROSTATION
198
1
I
lifhed the
by mecha-
Is
AEROSTATION
S a fcience newly introduced into the Encyclopædia.
The word, in its primitive fenfe, denotes the fcience
of fufpending weights in the air; but in its modern ac-
ceptation, it fignifies aerial navigation, or the art of na-
vigating through the atmoſphere. Hence alfo the ma-
chines which are employed for this purpoſe are called
aeroftats, or aercfiatic machines; and from their globu-
lar fhape, air-balloons.
The romances of almoſt every nation have recorded
inftances of perfons being carried through the air, both
by the agency of ſpirits and by mechanical inventions;
Lord Bacon but till the time of the celebrated Lord Bacon, no ra-
firft pub- tional principle appears ever to have been thought of
true prin- by which this might be accompliſhed. Before that
ciples of ae- time, indeed, Friar Bacon had written upon the ſubject;
reftation. and many
had been of opinion, that, by means of arti-
ficial wings, fixed to the arms or legs, a man might fly
2 as well as a bird: but thefe opinions were thoroughly
Impoffibili- refuted by Borelli in his treatiſe De Motu Animalium,
ty of flying where, from a compariſon between the power of the
nical means. muſcles which move the wings of a bird, and thofe
which move the arms of a man, he demonftrates that
the latter are utterly infufficient to ftrike the air with
fuch force as to raiſe him from the ground. It can-
not be denied, however, that wings of this kind, if
properly conftructed, and dexterously managed, might
be fufficient to break the fall of a human body from an
high place, ſo that fome adventurers in this way might
poffibly come off with fafety; though by far the great-
cft number of thoſe who have rafhly adopted ſuch
ſchemes, have either loft their lives or limbs in the at-
tempt.
3
Scheme of
kins and
Albertus de
Saxenia.
:
In the year 1672, Bishop Wilkins publiſhed a trea-
Biſhop Wil- tife, intitled, The Diſcovery of the New World; in
which he mentions, though in a very indiftinct and
confuſed manner, the true principle on which the air
is navigable; quoting, from Albertus de Saxonia and
Francis Mendoca, "that the air is in fome part of it
navigable and upon this ftatic principle, any brafs or
iron veffel (fuppofe a kettle), whofe fubftance is much
heavier than that of water, yet being filled with the
lighter air, it will ſwim upon it and not fink. So fup-
pofe a cup or wooden veffel upon the outward borders
of this elementary air, the capacity of it being filled
with fire, or rather ethereal air, it muſt neceffarily, up-
on the fame ground, remain fwimming there, and of it-
felf can no more fall than an empty fhip can fink."
This idea, however, he did not by any means purfue,
but reſted his hopes entirely upon mechanical motions,
to be accompliſhed by the mere ftrength of a man, or
by fprings, &c. and which have been demonftrated in-
capable of anfwering any uſeful purpoſe.
4
Biſhop La-
The only perfon who brought his fcheme of flying
na's ſcheme. to any kind of rational principle was the Jefuit Francis
Lana, cotemporary with Bishop Wilkins. He, being
acquainted with the real weight of the atmoſphere,
juſtly concluded, that if a globular veffel were exhauft-
ed of air, it would weigh leſs than before; and confi-
dering that the folid contents of veffels increafe in
much greater proportion than their ſurfaces; he ſuppo-
fed that a metalline veffel might be made fo large,
that, when emptied of its air, it would be able not
only to raiſe itſelf in the atmoſphere, but to carry up
paffengers along with it; and he made a number of
calculations neceffary for putting the project in execu-
tion. But though the theory was here unexception-
able, the means propofed were certainly inſufficient to
accomplish the end: for a veffel of copper, made fo
thin as was neceffary to make it float in the atmo-
fphere, would be utterly unable to refift the external
preffure; which being demonftrated by thoſe ſkilled in
mechanics, no attempt was made on that principle.
In the year 1709, however, as we were informed by Strange
a letter publiſhed in France in 1784, a Portugueſe propofal of
projector, Friar Gufman, applied to the king for en-
couragement to his invention of a flying machine. The
principle on which this was conftructed, if indeed it
had any principle, feems to have been that of the pa-
per kite. The machine was conſtructed in form of a
bird, and contained ſeveral tubes through which the
wind was to paſs, in order to fill a kind of fails, which
were to elevate it; and when the wind was deficient,
the fame effect was to be performed by means of bel-
lows concealed within the body of the machine. The
afcent was alſo to be promoted by the electric attrac-
tion of pieces of amber placed in the top, and by two
fpheres inclofing magnets in the fame fituation.
Thefe childish inventions fhow the low ftate of fci-
ence at that time in Portugal, eſpecially as the king,
in order to encourage him to farther exertions in fuch
an uſeful invention, granted him the firſt vacant place
in his college of Barcelos or Santarem, with the firſt
profefforſhip in the Univerſity of Coimbra, and an an-
nual penfion of 600,000 reis during his life. Of this
De Gufman, it is alſo related, that in the year 1736,
he made a wicker baſket of about ſeven or eight feet
diameter, and covered with paper, which raiſed itſelf
about 200 feet in the air, and the effect was generally
attributed to witchcraft.
Friar Guf
man.
6
of bodies
MrCavalio.
In the year 1766, Mr Henry Cavendish afcertained Poffibility
the weight and other properties of inflammable air, de-
rifing in the
termining it to be at leaft feven times lighter than air thought
common air. Soon after which, it occurred to Dr of by Dr
Black, that perhaps a thin bag filled with inflammable Black and
air might be buoyed up by the common atmoſphere;
and he thought of having the allantois of a calf prepa-
red for this purpoſe: but his other avocations prevent-
ed him from profecuting the experiment. The fame
thought occurred fome years afterwards to Mr Cavallo ;
and he has the honour of being the firft who made ex-
periments on the fubject. He first tried bladders; but
the thinneft of theſe, however well fcraped and prepa-
red, were found too heavy. He then tried Chineſe
paper; but that proved fo permeable, that the vapour
paffed through it like water through a fieve. His ex-
periments, therefore, made in the year 1782, proceed-
ed
Hiftory.
199
AEROSTATI
O N.
7
Aeroftation
fier.
´ed no farther than blowing up foap-bubbles with in-
flammable air, which afcended rapidly to the cieling,
and broke againſt it.
But while the diſcovery of the art of aeroftation
difcovered feemed thus on the point of being made in Britain, it
by Monf.
was all at once announced in France, and that from a
Montgol
quarter whence nothing of the kind was to have been
expected. Two brothers, Stephen and John Mont-
golfier, natives of Annonay, and maſters of a confider-
able paper-manufactory there, had turned their thoughts
towards this project as early as the middle of the year
1782. The idea was firft fuggefted by the natural
afcent of the ſmoke and clouds in the atmoſphere; and
their defign was to form an artificial cloud, by incloſing
the ſmoke in a bag, and making it carry up the cover-
ing along with it. Towards the middle of November
Account of that year, the experiment was made at Avignon with
his experi- a fine filk bag of a parallelopiped fhape. By applying
burning paper to the lower aperture, the air was rare-
fied, and the bag afcended in the atmoſphere, and
ftruck rapidly againſt the ceiling. On repeating the
experiment in the open air, it rofe to the height of
about 70 feet.
8
ments.
An experiment on a more enlarged ſcale was now
projected; and a new machine, containing about 650
cubic feet, was made, which broke the cords that con-
fined it, and roſe to the height of about 600 feet. A.
nother of 35 feet in diameter roſe about 1000 feet
high, and fell to the ground three quarters of a mile
from the place where it afcended. A public exhibition
was next made on the 5th of June 1783, at Annonay,
where a vaſt number of ſpectators affembled. An im-
menfe bag of linen, lined with paper, and containing
upwards of 23,000 cubic feet, was found to have a
power of lifting about 500 pounds, including its own
weight. The operation was begun by burning chop-
ped ftraw and wool under the aperture of the machine,
which immediately began to fwell; and after being ſet
at liberty, afcended into the atmoſphere. In ten mi-
nutes it had aſcended 6oco feet; and when its force
was exhaufted, it fell to the ground at the diſtance of
7668 feet from the place from whence it fet out.
Soon after this, one of the brothers arrived at Paris,
where he was invited by the Academy of Sciences to
repeat his experiments at their expence. In confe-
quence of this invitation, he conftructed, in a garden
in the Fauxbourg of St Germain, a large balloon of an
elliptical form. In a preliminary experiment, this ma-
chine lifted up from the ground eight perſons who held
it, and would have carried them all off if more had not
quickly come to their affiftance. Next day the expe-
Next day the expe-
riment was repeated in preſence of the members of the
academy; the machine was filled by the combuftion of
50 pounds of ftraw made up in fmall bundles, upon
which about 12 pounds of chopped wool were thrown
at intervals. The ufual fuccefs attended this exhibi-
tion: The machine foon fwelled; endeavoured to a-
fcend ; and immediately after ſuſtained itſelf in the
air, together with the charge of between 4 and 500
pounds weight. It was evident that it would have.
afcended to a great height; but as it was defigned
to repeat the experiment before the king and royal
family at Verfailles, the cords by which it was tied
down were not cut. But in confequence of a violent rain
and wind which happened at this time, the machine was
fent thro'
fo far damaged, that it became neceffary to prepare a
new one for the time that it had been determined to
honour the experiment with the royal prefence; and
fuch expedition was uſed, that this vaft machine, of
near 60 feet in height and 43 in diameter, was made,
painted with water-colours both within and without,
and finely decorated, in no more than four days and.
four nights. Along with this machine was fent a Some ani-
wicker cage, containing a fheep, a cock, and a duck, mals fafely
which were the firft animals ever fent through the at-
mofphere. The full fuccefs of the experiment was pre-
vented by a violent guft of wind which tore the cloth
in two places near the top before it afcended: How-
ever, it rofe to the height of 1440 feet; and, after re-
maining in the air about eight minutes, fell to the
ground at the diſtance of 10,200 feet from the place
of its fetting out. The animals were not in the leaſt
hurt.
the air.
ΤΟ
the first ae-
The great power of theſe aeroſtatic machines, and Mr Pilatre
their very gradual defcent in falling to the ground, had de Rozier
originally thowed that they were capable of tranſport-rial naviga
ing people through the air with all imaginable ſafety; tor.
and this was further confirmed by the experiment al-
ready mentioned. As Mr Montgolfier, therefore,
propofed to make a new aeroftatic machine of a firmer
and better conftruction than the former, Mr Pilatre de
Rozier offered himſelf to be the firft acrial adven--
turer.
II
rent voya>
This new machine was conftructed in a garden in
the Fauxbourg of St Antoine. It was of an oval fhape,
about 48 feet in diameter and 74 in height; elegantly
painted on the outfide with the figns of the zodiac,.
ciphers of the king's name, and other ornaments. A
proper gallery, grate, &c. were appended in the man-
ner afterwards defcribed; fo that it was eafy for the
perfon who afcended to fupply the fire with fuel, and
thus keep up the machine as long as he pleafed. The
weight of the whole apparatus was upwards of 1600
pounds. The experiment was performed on the 15th
of October 1783. Mr Pilatre having placed himſelf Account of
in the gallery, the machine was inflated, and permit- his diffe-
ted to aſcend to the height of 84 feet, where he kept ges.
it afloat for about four minutes and a half; after
which it defcended very gently and fuch was its
tendency to aſcend, that it rebounded to a confiderable
height after touching the ground. Two days after,
he repeated the experiment with the fame fuccefs as
before; but the wind being ftrong, the machine did
not ſuſtain itſelf fo well as formerly. On repeating
the experiment in calmer weather, he afcended to-
the height of 210 feet. His next afcent was 262.
feet; and in the deſcent, a guft of wind having
blown the machine over fome large trees of an adjoin-
ing garden, Mr Pilatre fuddenly extricated himſelf
from fo dangerous a fituation, by throwing fome ftraw
and chopped wool on the fire, which raifed him at
once to a fufficient height. On defcending again, he
once more raiſed himſelf to a proper height by throw-
ing ftraw on the fire. Some time after, he afcended
in company with Mr Girond de Villette to the height
of 330 feet; hovering over Paris at leaſt nine minutes
in fight of all the inhabitants, and the machine keep-
ing all the while perfectly fteady.
Thefe experiments had fhown, that the aeroftatic
machines might be raiſed or lowered at the pleaſure of
the
3
200
Hiſtory.
AEROSTATI
O N.
12
Montgol-
thofe filled
air.
the perfons who afcended: they had likewiſe diſcover-
ed, that the keeping them faft with ropes was no
advantage; but, on the contrary, that this was attend-
ed with inconvenience and hazard. On the 21ft of
November 1783, therefore, M. Pilatre determined to
undertake an aerial voyage in which the machine fhould
be fully ſet at liberty. Every thing being got in rea-
dinefs, the balloon was filled in a few minutes; and
M. Pilatre placed himſelf in the gallery, counterpoiſed
by the Marquis d'Arlandes, who occupied the other
fide. It was intended to make fome preliminary ex-
periments on the afcending power of the machine:
but the violence of the wind prevented this from being
done, and even damaged the balloon effentially; fo
that it would have been entirely deftroyed had not
timely affiftance been given. The extraordinary exer-
tions of the workmen, however, repaired it again in
two hours, and the adventurers fet out. They met
with no inconvenience during their voyage, which
lafted about 25 minutes; during which time they
had paffed over a fpace of above five miles. From
the account given by the Marquis d'Arlandes, it ap-
pears that they met with ſeveral different currents of
air; the effect of which was, to give a very fenfible
fhock to the machine, and the direction of the motion
feemed to be from the upper part downwards. It ap-
pears alſo that they were in fome danger of having the
balloon burnt altogether; as the Marquis obferved fe-
veral round holes made by the fire in the lower part of
it, which alarmed him confiderably, and indeed not
without reafon. However, the progrefs of the fire
was eafily ſtopped by the application of a wet fpunge,
and all appearance of danger ceaſed in a very fhort
time.
•
a
This voyage of M. Pilatre and the Marquis d'Ar-
er's ma- landes may be faid to conclude the hiſtory of thoſe
chines fu- aeroftatic machines which are elevated by means of
perfeded by fire; for though many other attempts have been made
with in- upon the fame principle, moſt of them have either
flammable proved unfuccefsful or were of little confequence. They
have therefore given place to the other kind, filled with
inflammable air; which, by reafon of its fmaller fpe-
cific gravity, is both more manageable, and capable of
performing voyages of greater length, as it does not
require to be fupplied with fuel like the others. This
was invented a very ſhort time after the diſcovery had
been made by M. Montgolfier. This gentleman had
indeed defigned to keep his method in fome degree
fecret from the world; but as it could not be conceal-
ed, that a bag filled with any kind of fluid lighter than
the common atmoſphere would rife in it, inflammable
air was naturally thought of as a proper fuccedaneum
for the rarefied air of M. Montgolfier. The firſt ex-
periment was made by two brothers Meffrs Roberts,
and M. Charles a profeffor of experimentál philofo-
Charles and phy. The bag which contained the gas was compo-
fed of luteftring, varniſhed over with a folution of the
elaſtic gum called caoutchouc; and that with which
they made their firft effay was only about 13 Engliſh
feet in diameter. Many difficulties occurred in filling
it with the inflammable air, chiefly owing to their ig-
norance of the proper apparatus; infomuch, that, af-
ter a whole day's labour from nine in the morning,
they had got the balloon only one third part full.
Next morning they were furpriſed to find that it had
13
Experi
ment of
Meffrs
Roberts.
N° 5.
•
14
manner &
itſelf.
fully inflated of itſelf during the night: but upon in-
quiry, it was found, that they had inadvertently left In what
open a ftop-cock connected with the balloon, by which balloon
the common air gaining accefs, had mixed itſelf with partly filled
the inflammable air; forming a compound ftill lighter may inflate
than the common atmoſphere, but not fufficiently light
to anſwer the purpoſes of aeroftation. Thus they were
obliged to renew their operation; and, by fix o'clock
in the evening of next day, they found the machine
confiderably lighter than the common air; and, in an
hour after, it made a confiderable effort to aſcend.
The public exhibition, however, had been announced
only for the third day after; fo that the balloon was
allowed to remain in an inflated ſtate for a whole day;
during which they found it had loft a power of aſcent Lofs of
equal to about three pounds, being one ſeventh part power in
of the whole. When it was at laſt ſet at liberty, after loon.
having been well filled with inflammable air, it was 35
pounds lighter than an equal bulk of common air.
remained in the atmoſphere only three quarters of an
hour, during which it had traverfed 15 miles. Its
ſudden defcent was fuppoſed to have been owing to a
rupture which had taken place when it aſcended into
the higher regions of the atmoſphere.
1
It
15
their bal
16
Meffrs
The fuccefs of this experiment, and the aerial voy- Firſt aerial
age made by Meffrs Rozier and Arlandes, naturally voyage of
fuggefted the idea of undertaking fomething of the Charles and
fame kind with a balloon filled with inflammable air. Roberts.
The machine uſed on this occafion was formed of gores
of filk, covered over with a varniſh made of caoutchouc,
of a ſpherical figure, and meaſuring 27 feet in dia-
meter. A net was fpread over the upper hemifphere,
and was faftened to an hoop which paffed round the
middle of the balloon. To this a fort of car, or ra-
ther boat, was fufpended by ropes, in fuch a manner
as to hang a few feet below the lower part of the bal-
loon; and, in order to prevent the bursting of the ma-
chine, a valve was placed in it; by opening of which
fome of the inflammable air might be occafionally let.
out. A long filken pipe communicated with the bal-
loon, by means of which it was filled. The boat was
made of baſket-work, covered with painted linen, and
beautifully ornamented; being 8 feet long, 4 broad,
and 3 deep; its weight 130 pounds. At this time,
however, as at the former, they met with great difficul-
ties in filling the machine with inflammable air, owing
to their ignorance of the moft proper apparatus. But
at laſt, all obſtacles being removed, the two adventu-
rers took their feats at three quarters after one in the
afternoon of the firft of December 1783. Perfons
ſkilled in mathematics were conveniently ſtationed with
proper inftruments to calculate the height, velocity,
&c. of the balloon. The weight of the whole appa-
ratus, including that of the two adventurers, was found
to be 604 pounds, and the power of afcent when they
fet out was 20 pounds; fo that the whole difference
betwixt the weight of this balloon and an equal bulk
of common air was 624 pounds. But the weight of
common atmoſphere difplaced by the inflammable gas Specific
was calculated to be 771 pounds, fo that there remains gravity of
147 for the weight of the latter; and this calculation the inflam
makes it only 54 times lighter than common air.
17
mable air in
this first
At the time the balloon left the ground, the ther- voyage.
mometer ftood at 9° of Fahrenheit's ſcale, and the
quickfilver in the barometer at 30.18 inches; and, by
means
Montgolfiers Balloon.
AEROSTATION.
Fuxbourgest Intoine?
Charles' Roberts' B.
Champ de Mars.
Verfailles
B.
INIAN
Plate II.
Blanchard's Balloon.
•
."
14
sa bad •
"
Montgolfier's B.
Fauxbourg of St Germain'
X
}
ABell Sculpt
!
Hiſtory.
201
AEROSTATI O
18
himſelf.
-
means of the power of aſcent with which they left the
ground, the balloon rofe till the mercury fell to 27 in-
ches, from which they calculated their height to be
about 600 yards. By throwing out ballaſt occafion-
ally as they found the machine defcending by the e-
fcape of fome of the inflammable air, they found it
practicable to keep at pretty near the fame diſtance
from the earth during the reft of their voyage; the
quickfilver fluctuating between 27 and 27.65 inches,
and the thermometer between 53° and 57°, the whole
time. They continued in the air for the ſpace of an
hour and three quarters, when they alighted at the
diſtance of 27 miles from Paris; having fuffered no
inconvenience during their voyage, nor experienced
any contrary currents of air, as had been felt
by Meffrs Pilatre and Arlandes. As the balloon
Mr Charles ftill retained a great quantity of inflammable gas, Mr
afcends by Charles determined to take another voyage by him-
ſelf. Mr Robert accordingly got out of the boat,
which was thus lightened by 130 pounds, and of
confequence the aeroftatic machine now had nearly
as much power of afcent. Thus he was carried up
with fuch velocity, that in twenty minutes he was al-
moft 9000 feet high, and entirely out of fight of ter-
reftrial objects. At the moment of his parting with
the ground, the globe had been rather flaccid; but it
foon began to fwell, and the inflammable air eſcaped
from it in great quantity through the filken tube. He
alfo frequently drew the valve that it might be the
more freely emitted, and the balloon effectually pre-
vented from burſting. The inflammable gas being
confiderably warmer than the external air, diffuſed it-
felf all round, and was felt like a warm atmoſphere;
but in ten minutes the thermometer indicated a varia-
tion of temperature as great as that between the
warmth of fpring and the ordinary cold of winter.
His fingers were benumbed by the cold, and he felt a
Has a pain violent pain in his right ear and jaw, which he afcribed
to the dilatation of the air in theſe organs as well-as to
the external cold. The beauty of the proſpect which
he now enjoyed, however, made amends for theſe in-
conveniences. At his departure the fun was ſet on
the valleys; but the height to which Mr Charles was
got in the atmoſphere, rendered him again vifible, tho'
only for a ſhort time. He faw, for a few feconds, va-
pours rifing from the valleys and rivers. The clouds
feemed to afcend from the earth, and collect one upon
the other, ftill preſerving their uſual form; only their
colour was grey and monotonous for want of fufficient.
light in the atmoſphere. By the light of the moon,
curients of he perceived that the machine was turning round with
him in the air; and he obferved that there were con-
trary currents which brought him back again. He ob-
ferved alfo, with ſurpriſe, the effects of the wind, and
21 that the ftreamers of his banners pointed upwards;
of his ban. which, he ſays, could not be the effect either of his
ners ftand aſcent or deſcent, as he was moving horizontally at the
upwards. time. At laft, recollecting his promiſe of returning
to his friends in half an hour, he pulled the valve, and
accelerated his defcent. When within 200 feet of the
earth, he threw out two or three pounds of ballaft,
which rendered the balloon again ftationary: but, in a
little time afterwards, he gently alighted in a field
about three miles diftant from the place whence he fet
out; though, by making allowance for all the turn-
VOL. I.. Part I.
19
in his ear
and jaw
when in the
higher re-
gions.
20
Various
wind and
eddies in
thefe re-
gions.
Streamers
ings and windings of the voyage, he ſuppoſes that he
had gone through nine miles at leaft. By the calcu-
lations of M. de Maunier, he rofe at this time not leſs
than 10,500 feet high; a height fomewhat greater
than that of Mount Etna. A fmall balloon, which
had been ſent off before the two brothers fet out on
their voyage, took a direction oppoſite to that of the
large one, having met with an oppofite current of air,
probably at a much greater height.
22
aeroftatic
23
The ſubſequent aerial voyages differ fo little from
that juſt now related, that any particular defcription of
them feems to be fuperfluous. It had occurred to Mr Attempts
Charles, however, in his laft flight, that there might be to guide
a poffibility of directing the machine in the atmoſphere; machine in
and this was foon attempted by Mr Jean-Pierre Blan- the atmo-
chard, a gentleman who had, for feveral years before, fphere.
amufed himſelf with endeavours to fly by mechanical
means, though he had never fucceeded in the under-
taking. As foon as the difcovery of the aeroftatic ma
chines was announced, however, he refolved to add the
wings of his former machine to a balloon, and made no
doubt that it would then be in his power to direct him-
felf through the air at pleaſure. In his firft attempt
he was fruftrated by the impetuofity of a young gentle-
man, who infifted, right or wrong, on afcending along
with him. In the fcuffle which enfued on this occa-.
fion, the wings and other apparatus were entirely de-
ftroyed; fo that Mr Blanchard was obliged to commit Two firſt
himſelf to the direction of the wind; and in another voyages of
attempt it was found, that all the ſtrength he could ap-
ply to the wings was fcarce fufficient to counteract the
impreffion of the wind in any degree. In his voyage,
he found his balloon, at a certain period, acted upon:
by two contrary winds; but, on throwing out four
pounds of ballaft, he afcended to a place where he met
with the fame current he had at fetting out from the
earth. His account of the fenfations he felt during His fenfa
this voyage, was fomewhat different from that of Mrtions while
Charles; having, in one part of it, found the atmo- in the at-
ſphere very warm, in another cold; and having once moſphere.
found himſelf very hungry, and at another time almoſt
overcome by a propenfity to fleep. The height `to-
which he arofe, as meaſured by ſeveral obfervations with-
mathematical inftruments, was thought to be very little.
leſs than 10,000 feet; and he remained in the atmo--
fphere an hour and a quarter.
Mr Blan-
24
25
The attempts of Mr Blanchard to direct his machine Voyage of
through the atmoſphere, were repeated in the month of Meir "Mor-
April 1784 by Meffrs Morveau and Bertrand, at Dijon, veau and
who raifed themſelves with an inflammable air-balloon Bertrand.
to the height, as it was thought, of 13,000 feet; paf--
fing through a ſpace of 18 miles in an hour and 25:
minutes. Mr Morveau had prepared a kind of oars
for directing the machine through the air; but they
were damaged by a guft of wind, fo that only two of
them remained ferviceable; by working thefe, however,
they were able to produce a fenfible effect on the mo-
tion of the machine. In a third aerial voyage perform. Third you-
ed by Mr Blanchard, he feemed to produce fome effect age of M
by the agitation of his wings, both in afcending, de-
fcending, moving fidewife, and even in fome meafure
against the wind; however, this is fuppofed, with fome
probability, to have been a mistake, as, in all his fuc-
ceeding voyages, the effects of his machinery could not-
be perceived.
Сс
The
26
Blanchard.
202
Hiftory.
AEROSTATION.
27
Robert.
28
The fuccefs of Meffrs Charles and Robert in their
Second voy former experiments, encouraged them foon to repeat
age of Meff.
Charles and them, with the addition of fome machinery to direct
their courfe. Having enlarged their former balloon to
the ſize of an oblong ſpheroid 45 feet long and 27
in diameter, they made it to float with its longeſt part
parallel to the horizon. The wings were made in the
fhape of an umbrella without the handle, to the top of
which a ſtick was faftened parallel to the aperture of
the umbrella. Five of theſe were difpofed round the
beat, which was near 17 feet in length. The balloon
was filled in three hours, and, with the addition of
450
pounds of ballaft, remained in aquilibrio with the at-
mofphere. About noon, on the 19th of September
1784, they began to afcend very gently in confequence
of throwing out 24 pounds of ballaft, but were foon
obliged to throw out eight pounds more in order to
Are in dan- avoid running againſt ſome trees. Thus they roſe to
ger of run- the height of 1400 feet, when they perceived fome
ning into
thunder-
thunder-clouds near the horizon. On this they afcend-
clouds. ed and defcended, to avoid the danger, as the wind
blew directly towards the threatening clouds; but,
from the height of 600 feet to that of 4200 above the
furface of the earth, the current was quite uniform and
in one direction. During their voyage they loft one
of their oars; but found, that by means of thoſe which
remained, they confiderably accelerated their courfe.
From the account of their voyage, it would ſeem that
they had paſſed ſafely through the thunder-clouds; as
we are informed, that, about 40 minutes after three,
they heard a loud clap of thunder; and, three minutes
after, another much louder; at which time the ther-
mometer funk from 77 to 59 degrees. This fudden
cold, occafioned by the approach of the clouds, con-
denfed the inflammable air ſo that the balloon defcend
ed very low, and they were obliged to throw out 40
pounds of ballaft; yet on examining the heat of the air
Heat of the within the balloon, they found it to be 104°, when that
of the external atmoſphere was only 63. When they
had got fo high that the mercury in the barometer ſtood
only at 23,94 inches, they found themfelves becalmed;
fo that the machine did not go even at the rate of two
feet in a ſecond, though it had before gone at the rate
Effect of of 24 feet in a fecond. On this they determined to
their oars in try the effect of their oars to the utmoft; and, by
moving the working them for 35 minutes, and marking the fhadow
of the balloon on the ground, they found, in that time,
that they had defcribed the ſegment of an ellipfis whofe
longeft diameter was 6oco feet. After having tra
velled about 150 miles, they defcended, only on account
of the approach of night, having ftill 200 pounds of
ballaft left.
29
air within
their 'bal-
loon.
30
machine.
which a deviation of about 80 degrees would have been
obtained.
"We had already obferved (ſay they), that if we
did not deviate more than zz degrees, it was becaufe
the wind carried us at the rate of 24 miles an hour;
and it is natural to judge, that, if the wind had been
twice as ftrong as it was, we fhould not have deviated
more than one-half of what we actually did; and, on
the contrary, if the wind had been only half as ftrong,
our deviation would have been proportionably great-
er."
31
waſte of in-
de Chartres
33
Having thus related all that has been done with re- Contrivan
gard to the conducting of aeroſtatic machines through ccs uſed to
the atmoſphere, we fhall now relate the attempts that prevent the
have been made to leffen their expence, by falling upon flammable
fome contrivance to afcend without throwing out bal- air.
laft, and to defcend without lofing any of the inflam- 32
mable air. The first attempt of this kind was made Voyage of
by the Duke de Chartres; who, on the 15th of July the Duke
1784, afcended with the two brothers, Charles and Ro-
bert, from the Park of St Cloud. The balloon was
of an oblong form, made to aſcend with its longeft dia-
meter horizontally, and meaſured 55 feet in length
and 24 in breadth. It contained within it a ſmaller
balloon filled with common air; by blowing into which
with a pair of bellows, and thus throwing in a confi-
derable quantity of common air, it was fuppofed that
the machine would become fufficiently heavy to deſcend,
efpecially as, by the inflation of the internal bag, the
inflammable air in the external one would be condenfed
into a fmaller ſpace, and thus become ſpecifically hea-
vier. The voyage, however, was attended with ſuch
circumftances as rendered
This fudden circumftances as rendered it impoffible to know what
would have been the event of the ſcheme. The
power
of afcent with which they fet out, feems to have been
very great; as, in three minutes after parting with the
ground, they were loft in the clouds, and involved in
fuch a denfe vapour that they could fee neither the fky Is involved
nor the earth. In this fituation they feemed to be in dark
attacked by a whirlwind, which, befides turning the clouds and
atracked by
balloon three times round from right to left, fhocked, a whirl-
and beat it fo about, that they were rendered incapable wind.
of ufing any of the means propofed for directing their
courfe, and the filk ftuff of which the helm had been
compofed was even torn away. No feene can be con-
ceived more terrible than that in which they were now
involved. An immenfe ocean of ſhapeleſs clouds rolled
one upon another below them, and feemed to prevent
any return to the earth, which ftill continued invifible,
while the agitation of the balloon became greater every
moment. In this extremity they cut the cords which
held the interior balloon, and of confequence it fell
down upon the aperture of the tube that came from
the large balloon into the boat, and ftopped it up.
They were then driven upwards by a guft of wind from
below, which carried them to the top of that ſtormy
vapour in which they had been involved. They now
faw the fun without a cloud; but the heat of his rays,
with the diminiſhed denfity of the atmoſphere, had fuch
an effect on the inflammable air, that the balloon feem-
ed every moment ready to burft. To prevent this they
introduced a flick through the tube, in order to puſh
away the nne balloon from its aperture; but the ex-
panfion of the inflammable air puſhed it fo clofe, that
Their conclufion, with regard to the effect of
their wings, is as follows: "Thofe experiments fhow,
that far from going againſt the wind, as is faid by
fome perſons to be poffible in a certain manner, and
fome aeronauts pretend to have actually done, we only
obtained, by means of two oars, a deviation of 22 de-
grees: it is certain, however, that if we could have
ufed our four oars, we might have deviated about 40
degrees from the direction of the wind, and as our ma
chine would have been capable of carrying ſeven per-
fons, it would have been eafy for five perfons to have
gone, and to have put in action eight oars, by means of
all
Hiſtory.
203
AEROSTATI O N.
!
34
Unfortu
and death
of Meff's
all attempts of this kind proved ineffectual. It was
now, however, become abfolutely neceffary to give vent
to a very confiderable quantity of the inflammable air;
for which purpoſe the Duke de Chartres himſelf bored
two holes in the balloon, which tore open for the length
of ſeven or eight feet. On this they defcended with
great rapidity; and would have fallen into a lake, had
they not haftily thrown out 60 pounds of ballaft, which
enabled them juft to reach the water's edge.
The fuccefs of the ſcheme for raifing or lowering
aeroſtatic machines by means of bags filled with com-
mon air being thus rendered dubious, another method
was thought of. This was to put a ſmall aeroftatic
machine with rarefied air under an inflammable air-
balloon, but at ſuch a diſtance that the inflammable air
of the latter might be perfectly out of the reach of the
fire uſed for inflating the former; and thus, by increa-
fing or diminiſhing the fire in the fmall machine, the
abfolute weight of the whole would be confiderably di-
miniſhed or augmented. This fcheme was unhappily
nate voyage put in execution by the celebrated Mr Pilatre de Ro-
zier, and another gentleman named Mr Romaine. Their
Rozier and inflammable-air balloon was about 37 feet in diameter,
Romaine. and the power of the rarefied-air one was equivalent to
about 60 pounds. They afcended without any appear
ance of danger or finifter accident; but had not been
long in the atmoſphere when the inflammable-air bal-
loon was ſeen to fwell very confiderably, at the fame
time that the aeronauts were obſerved, by means of te-
leſcopes, very anxious to get down, and bufied in pull
ing the valve and opening the appendages to the bal-
loon, in order to facilitate the eſcape of as much in-
flammable air as poffible. A fhort time after this the
whole machine was on fire, when they had then attained.
the height of about three quarters of a mile from the
ground. No explofion was heard; and the filk which
compofed the air-balloon continued expanded, and
feemed to refift the atmoſphere for about a minute;
after which it collapſed, and the remains of the appara-
tus defcended along with the two unfortunate travellers
fo rapidly, that both of them were killed. Mr Pilatre
feemed to have been dead before he came to the ground;
but Mr Romaine was alive when fome perfons came up
to the place where he lay, though he expired imme-
diately after.
Theſe are the moſt remarkable attempts that have
been made to improve the ſcience of aeroftation; tho'
a great number of other expeditions through the at-
moſphere have taken place.. But of all the voyages
which had been hitherto projected or put in exe-
35 cution, the moſt daring was that of Mr Blanchard:
Voyage of
Meff. Blan- and Dr Jeffries acrofs the ftraits. of Dover which.
chard and ſeparate Britain: from France. This took place on
Jeffries the 7th of January 1785, being a clear froſty mor-
across the ning, with a wind, barely perceptible, at N. N. W..
The operation of filling the balloon began at 10
o'clock, and, at three quarters after twelve, every
thing was ready for their departure. At one o'clock
Mr Blanchard defired the boat to be pushed off, which
now ſtood only two feet diftant from that precipice fo
finely deſcribed by Shakeſpeare in his tragedy of King
Straits of
Dover.
Lear. As the balloon was fcarcely fufficient to carry
two, they were obliged to throw out all their ballaft
except three bags of 10 pounds each; when they at
laft rofe gently, though making very little way on
account of there being fo little wind. At a quarter
after one o'clock, the barometer, which on the cliff
ftood at 29.7 inches, was now fallen to 27.3, and the
weather proved fine and warm. They had now a moft
beautiful profpect of the fouth coast of England, and
were able to count 37 villages upon it. After paffing
over ſeveral veſſels, they found that the balloon, at 50
minutes after one, was deſcending, on which they threw
out a fack and an half of ballaſt; but as they faw that
it ftill defcended, and that with much greater velocity
than before, they now threw out all the ballaft. This
ftill proving ineffectual, they next threw out a parcel of
books they carried along with them, which made the
balloon afcend, when they were about midway betwixt
France and England. At a quarter paft two, finding
themſelves again defcending, they threw away the re-
mainder of their books, and, ten minutes after, they
had a moſt enchanting profpect of the French coaft.
Still, however, the machine defcended; and as they had
now no more ballaft, they were fain to throw away
their provifions for eating, the wings of their boat, and.
every other moveable they could eaſily ſpare.
threw away, fays Dr Jeffries, our only bottle, which,
in its defcent, caft out a fteam like ſmoke, with a ruſh-
ing noiſe; and when it ftruck the water, we heard and
felt the fhock very perceptibly on our car and balloon.'
All this proving infufficient to ftop the defcent of the
balloon, they next threw out their anchors and cords,
and at laft ftripped off their cloths, faftening themſelves
to certain flings, and intending to cut away the boat
as their laſt reſource. They had now the fatisfaction,
however, to find that they were rifing; and as they
paffed over the high lands between Cape Blanc and.
Calais, the machine roſe very faft, and carried them to
a greater height than they had been at any former
part of their voyage. They defcended fafely among
fome trees in the foreft of Guiennes, where there was-
juft opening enough to admit them.
"We
It would be tedious as well as unneceffary to recount
all the other aerial voyages that have been performed
in our own or other countries: It appeared fufficient
for the purpoſe of this article to notice thoſe which
were moſt remarkable and interefting; and therefore ·
an account of the ingenious Mr Baldwin's excurſion.
from Chefter, alluded to above, ſhall now cloſe our enu--
meration.
On the 8th of September 1785, at forty minutes :
paſt one P. M. Mr Baldwin afcended from Cheſter in
Mr Lunardi's (4) balloon. After traverfing in a variety
of different directions, he firſt alighted, at 28 minutes -
after three, about twelve miles from Chefter, in the
neighbourhood of Frodsham; then reafcending and.
purfuing his excurfion, he finally landed at Rixton.
mofs, five miles N. N. E. of Wavington, and 25 miles ·
from Chefter. Mr Baldwin has publiſhed his Obferva...
tions and Remarks made during his voyage, 'and taken
from minutes. Our limits will not admit of relating:
Cca
many.
(A) Of this gentleman's adventurous excurfions moft people have been witneffes; and therefore it appeared
unneceſſary to take up room with an account of them in this article.
204
1
AERO STATION.
Hiſtory.
height he poured down a pint-bottle full of water; and
as the air did not oppofe a refiſtance fufficient to break
the fteam into ſmall drops, it moftly fell down in large
drops. In the courfe of the balloon's tract it was
found much affected by the water (a circumftance ob-
ferved in former aerial voyages). At one time the
direction of the balloon kept continually over the wa-
ter, going directly towards the fea, fo much as to en-
danger the aeronaut; the mouth of the balloon was
opened, and he in two minutes defcended into an under
current blowing from the fea: he kept defcending, and
landed at Bellair farm in Rinfley, 12 miles from Chefter.
Here he lightened his car by 31 pounds, and inftantly
reafcending, was carried into the interior part of the
country, performing a number of different manœuvres.
At his greateſt altitude he found his reſpiration free and
eafy. Several bladders which he had`along with him
crackled and expanded very confiderably. Clouds and
land, as before, appeared on the fame level. By way
of experiment, he tried the upper valve two or three
times, the neck of the balloon being cloſe; and re-
marked, that the eſcape of the gas was attended with a
growling noife like millftones, but not near fo loud.
Again, round the ſhadow of the balloon, on the clouds
he obferved the iris. A variety of other circumſtances
and appearances he met with, is fancifully defcribed d;
and at 53 minutes past three he finally landed.
The frequency of aerial voyages, accompanied with Ufes of ac-
particular details of trifling and uninterefting circum-
ftances, and apparently made with a view to promote
the intereft of particular perfons, regardleſs of any ad-
vancement in knowledge, have now funk the ſcience of
aeroftation fo low in the opinion of moſt people, that
before giving any account of the moſt proper method
of conftructing theſe machines, it may feem neceffary
to premiſe fomething concerning the uſes to which
they may poffibly be applied. Thefe, according to Mr
Cavallo, are the following.
AEROSTAT
many of his obfervations; but the few following are
fome of the moſt important and curious. "The fen-
fation of afcending is compared to that of a ftrong
preffure from the bottom of the car upwards againſt
the foles of his feet At the diſtance of what appeared
to him feven miles from the earth, though by the ba-
rometer ſcarcely a mile and a half, he had a grand and
moſt enchanting view of the city of Cheſter and its
adjacent places below. The river Dee appeared of a
red colour; the city very diminutive; and the town
entirely blue. The whole appeared a perfect plain,
the higheſt building having no apparent height, but
reduced all to the fame level, and the whole terreftrial
profpe& appeared like a coloured map. Juft after his
firſt afcent, being in a well-watered and maritime part
of the country, he obferved a remarkable and regular
tendency of the balloon towards the fea; but fhortly
after rifing into another current of air, he efcaped the
danger: this upper current, he fays, was viſible to him
at the time of his afcent, by a lofty found ftratum of
clouds flying in a ſafe direction. The perſpective ap-
pearance of things to him was very remarkable. The
loweft bed of vapour that first appeared as cloud was
pure white, in detached fleeces, increafing as they
rofe: they preſently coalefced, and formed, as he
expreffes it, a fea of cotton, tufting here and there by
the action of the air in the undisturbed part of the
clouds. The whole became an extended white floor
of cloud, the upper furface being fmooth and even.
Above this white floor he obferved, at great and une-
qual diſtances, a vaft affemblage of thunder-clouds,
each parcel confifting of whole acres in the denfeft
form: he compares their form and appearance to the
fmoke of pieces of ordnance, which had conſolidated
as it were into maffes of fnow, and penetrated through the
upper furface or white floor of common clouds, there
remaining viſible and at reft. Some clouds had mo-
tions in flow and various directions, forming an appear-
ance truly ftupendous and majeftic. He endeavours
to convey fome idea of the ſcene by a figure; (and from
which fig. 13. of 2d Plate II. is copied). A reprefents
a circular view he had from the car of the balloon, him-
felf being over the centre of the view, looking down on the
white floor of clouds and feeing the city of Chefter
through an opening, which diſcovered the landſcape be-
low, limited by furrounding vapour, to lefs than two miles
in diameter. The breadth of the outer margin defines
his apparent height in the balloon (viz. 4 miles) above
the white floor of clouds. Mr Baldwin alſo gives a
curious defcription of his tracing the fhadow of the
halloon over tops of volumes of clouds. At firſt it
was ſmall, in fize and ſhape like an egg; but foon en-
creafed to the magnitude of the fun's difc, ftill grow
ing larger, and attended with a moft captivating ap-
pearance of an iris encircling the whole fhadow at fome
diſtance round it, the colours of which were remarkably
brilliant. The regions did not feel colder, but rather
warmer, than below, The fun was hotteft to him
when the balloon was ftationary. The difcharge of a
cannon when the balloon was at a confiderable height,
was diſtinctly heard by the aeronaut; and a diſcharge
from the fame piece, when at the height of 30 yards,
fo diſturbed him as to oblige him for fafety to lay hold
firmly of the cords of the balloon. At a confiderable
"The fmall balloons, efpecially thofe made of paper,
and raiſed by means of ſpirit of wine, may ſerve to ex-
plore the direction of the winds in the upper regions
of the atmoſphere, particularly when there is a calm
below: they may ferve for fignals in various circum-
ftances, in which no other means can be uſed; and let-
ters or other ſmall things may be eaſily ſent by them,
as for inftance from fhips that cannot fafely land on
account of ftorms, from befieged places, iflands, or the
like. The larger aeroftatic machines may anfwer all
the abovementioned purpoſes in a better manner; and
they may, befides, be uſed as a help to a perfon who
wants to afcend a mountain, a precipice, or to croſs a
river; and perhaps one of thoſe machines tied to a boat
by a long rope, may be, in ſome caſes, a better fort of
fail than any that is uſed at preſent. The largeſt ſort
of machines, which can take up one or more men, may
evidently be fubfervient to various œconomical and phi-
lofophical purpofes. Their conveying people from
place to place with great ſwiftnefs, and without trouble,
may be of effential uſe, even if the art of guiding them
in a direction different from that of the wind fhould
never be diſcovered. By means of thoſe machines the
fhape of certain feas and lands may be better aſcer-
tained; men may afcend to the tops of mountains they
never vifited before; they may be carried over marfhy
and
36
roſtation.
1
کا
Principles.
205
AEROSTATI
O N.
37
Principles
tion.
and dangerous grounds; they may by that means come
out of a befieged place, or an iſland; and they may, in
hot climates, afcend to a cold region of the atmoſphere,
either to refreſh themſelves, or to obferve the ice, which
is never feen below; and, in fhort, they may be thus
taken to feveral places, to which human art hitherto
knew of no conveyance.
"The philofophical ufes, to which thefe machines
may be fubfervient, are numerous indeed; and it may
be fufficient to ſay, that hardly any thing which paffes
in the atmoſphere is known with precifion, and that
principally for want of a method of aſcending into it.
The formation of rain, of thunder-ſtorms, of vapours,
hail, fnow, and meteors in general, require to be atten-
tively examined and afcertained. The action of the
barometer, the refraction and temperature of the air in
various regions, the defcent of bodies, the propagation
of found, &c. are ſubjects which all require a ſeries of
obfervations and experiments, the performance of which
could never have been properly expected before the
diſcovery of aeroſtatic machines."
To thofe ufes we may add the gratification of curiofity
and pleaſure as a very ftrong inducement to the practice
of an art, in which, with any tolerable degree of cau-
tion, there appears not to be the ſmalleſt danger.
Every one who has tried the experiment teftifies, that
the beauty of the profpect afforded by an aſcent, or
the pleaſure of being conveyed through the atmo-
fphere, cannot be exceeded. No one has felt the
leaft of that giddinefs confequent upon looking from
the top of a very high building or of a precipice, nor
have they any of the fickneſs arifing from the motion
of a veffel at fea. Many have been carried by bal-
loons at the rate of 30, 40, or even 50 miles an hour,
without feeling the leaft inconvenience, or even agi-
tation of the wind; the reaſon of which is, that as
the machine moves with nearly the velocity of the wind
itſelf, they are always in a calm, and without uneafi-
nefs. Some have apprehended danger from the elec-
tricity of the atmoſphere; and have thought that a
ftroke of lightning, or the ſmalleſt electric fpark, hap-
pening near a balloon, might fet fire to the inflamma-
ble air, and deſtroy both the machine and the adven-
turers. Mr Cavallo has fuggeſted ſeveral confiderations
for diminiſhing apprehenfions of this kind. Balloons
have been already raiſed in every ſeaſon of the year,
and even when thunder has been heard, without in-
jury. In caſe of danger, the aeronauts may either de-
ſcend to the earth, or aſcend above the region of the
clouds and thunder-ftorms. Befides, as balloons are
formed of materials that are not conductors of electri-
city, they are not likely to receive ftrokes, eſpecially
as by being encompaffed with air they ſtand infulated.
Moreover, inflammable air by itſelf, or unmixed with
a certain quantity of common air, will not burn; fo
that if an electric ſpark fhould happen to paſs through
the balloon, it would not fet fire to the inflammable
air, unleſs a hole was made in the covering.
The general principles of aeroftation are fo little
of aeroſta- different from thofe of hydroftatics, that it may feem
fuperfluous to infift much upon them. It is a fact
univerfally known, That when a body is immerſed in any
fluid, if its weight be lefs than an equal bulk of that
fluid, it will rife to the furface; but if heavier, it vill
fink; and if equal, it will remain in the place where it
38
ments
is left. For this reafon ſmoke afcends into the atmo-
fphere, and heated air in that which is colder. The
afcent of the latter is fhown in a very eaſy and fatis- Experi-
factory manner by bringing a red-hot iron under one
fhowing the
of the fcales of a balance, by which the latter is in-
impulfe of
ftantly made to afcend; for, as foon as the red-hot heated air.
iron is brought under the ſcale, the hot air being light-
er than that which is colder, afcends, and ſtrikes the
bottom, which is thus impelled upwards, and the op-
pofite ſcale defcends, as if a weight had been put in-
to it.
I th
500
Upon this fimple principle depends the whole theo-
ry of aeroftation; for it is the fame thing whether we
render the air lighter by introducing a quantity of
heat into it, or inclofing a quantity of gas fpecifically
lighter than the common atmoſphere in a certain ſpace;
both will afcend, and for the fame reaſon. A cubic
foot of air, by the moſt accurate experiments, has
been found to weigh about 554 grains, and to be ex-
panded by every degree of heat, marked on Fahren-
heit's thermometer, about
part of the whole.
By heating a quantity of air, therefore, to 500 de-
grees of Fahrenheit, we will juſt double its bulk when
the thermometer ftands at 54 in the open air, and in
the fame proportion we will diminiſh its weight; and
if fuch a quantity of this hot air be incloſed in a bag,
that the exceſs of the weight of an equal bulk of com-
mon air weighs more than the bag with the air con-
tained in it, both the bag and air will rife into the at-
moſphere, and continue to do fo until they arrive at a
place where the external air is naturally fo much rare-
fied that the weight becomes equal; and here the whole
will float.
Ale
The power of hot air in raifing weights, or rather
that by which it is itſelf impelled upwards, may be
fhown in the following manner: Roll up a fheet of
paper into a conical form, and, by thruſting a pin in-
to it near the apex, prevent it from unrolling. Faften
it then, by its apex, under one of the ſcales of a ba-
lance by means of a thread, and, having properly
counterpoiſed it by weights, put it into the oppoſite
fcale; apply the flame of a candle underneath, you
will inftantly perceive the cone to arife, and it will not
be brought into equilibrium with the other but by a
much greater weight than thoſe who have never ſeen
the experiment would believe. If we try this experi-
ment with more accuracy, by getting proper recep-
tacles made which contain determinate quantities of
air, we will find that the power of the heat depends
much more on the capacity of the bag which contains
it than could well be fuppofed. Thus, let a cubical
receptacle be made of à fmall wooden frame covered
with paper capable of containing one foot of air, and
let the power of a candle be tried with this as above
directed for the
directed for the paper cone. It will then be found that
a certain weight may be raiſed; but a much greater
one will be raiſed by having a receptacle of the fame
kind which contains two cubic feet; a ftill greater
by one of three feet; a yet greater by one of four feet,
&c. and this even though the very fame candle be
made uſe of; nor is it known to what extent even 39
the power of this ſmall flame might be carried. Rarefied
From theſe experiments it appears, that in the aero- air balloons
ftatic machines conftructed on Montgolfier's plan, it ought to be
muſt be an advantage to have them as large as poffible; large as
becauſe poffible.
made as
206
Principles.
AEROSTATION.
40
loons might
common
becauſe a ſmaller quantity of fire will then have a great-
er effect in raifing them, and the danger from that
element, which in this kind of machines is chiefly to be
dreaded, will be in a great meaſure avoided. On this
How bal- ſubject it may be remarked, that as the cubical con-
rife by the tents of a globe, or any other figure of which balloons
are made, increaſe much more rapidly than their fur-
heat of the faces, there muft ultimately be a degree of magni-
atmoſphere.tude at which the inalleft imaginable heat would raiſe
any weight whatever. Thus, fuppofing any aeroftatic
machine capable of containing 500 cubic feet, and the
air within it to be only one degree hotter than the ex-
ternal atmoſphere; the tendency of this machine to
rife, even without the application of artificial heat,
would be near an ounce.. Let its capacity be increaſed
16 times; and the tendency to arife will be equivalent
to a pound, though this may be done without making
the machine 16 times heavier than before. It is cer-
tain, however, that all aeroftatic machines have a ten-
dency to produce or preferve heat within them, which
would by no means be imagined by thofe who have
not made the experiment. When Meffrs Charles and
Roberts made their longeſt aerial voyage of 150 miles,
they had the curiofity to try the temperature of the
air within their balloon, in compariſon with that of
the external atmoſphere; and at this time they found,
that, when the external atmoſphere was 63, the ther
mometer within the balloon ſtood at 104°. Such a dif-
ference of temperature muft have given a machine of
the magnitude which carried them a confiderable afcend-
ing power independent of any other cauſe, as it amount
ed to 41 grains on every cubic foot; and therefore in
a machine containing 50,000 fuch feet would have
been almost 200 pounds. Hence we may eafily ac-
count for what happened at Dijon, and is recorded by
Mr Morveau. "A balloon, intended to be filled with
inflammable air, being completed, was, by way of
trial, filled with common air, and in that ftate ex-
mof here. pofed to the atmoſphere. Now it was obferved, and
indeed a fimilar obfervation had been made before,
that the air within the balloon was much hotter than
the circumambient air: the thermometer in the former
ftood at 120°; whereas in the latter, even when the fun
fhone upon it, the thermometer ftood at 84°. This
ſhowed a confiderable degree of rarefaction within the
balloon; and confequently it was fufpected, that, by
means of this rarefaction alone, eſpecially if it were
to increaſe a little, the balloon might afcend. On the
30th of May, about noon, the wind being rather
ftrong, agitated the balloon fo that two men were em-
ployed to take care of it; but, notwithſtanding all
their endeavours, it eſcaped from its confinement, and,
lifting up about 65 pounds weight of cords, equato-
rial circle, &c. rofe many feet high, and, paffing over
fome houſes, went to the diſtance of 250 yards, where
at length it was properly fecured.”
4F
A balloon
at Dijon
rifes thus
into the at-
42
Internal
great influ-
ence on1
This difference between the external and internal
hear of the heat being fo very confiderable, muſt have a great in-
balloons has fluence upon aeroftatic machines, and will undoubtedly
influence thofe filled with inflammable air as well as the
other kind. Nor is it unlikely, that the fhort time
which many aerial voyagers have been able to continue
in the atmoſphere, may have been owing to the want
of a method of preferving this internal heat. It may
naturally be fuppofed, and indeed it has always been
aerial voy-
ages.
Mr Blan-
found, that balloons, in paffing through the higher re-
gions of the atmoſphere, acquire a very confiderable
quantity of moiſture, not only from the rain or ſnow
they fometimes meet with, but even from the dew and
vapour which condenſes upon them. On this an eva-
poration will inftantly take place; and, as it is the pro-
perty of this operation to produce a very violent cold,
the internal heat of the balloon muſt be foon exhauſted
in fuch a manner as to make it become ſpecifically hea-
vier than the common atmoſphere, and confequently
deſcend in a much ſhorter time than it would have done.
by the mere lofs of air. To this, in all probability,
43
we are to afcribe the deſcent of the balloon which car- Great tene
ried Meffrs Blanchard and Jeffries; and which feemed dency of
fo extraordinary to many people, that they were ob-chard's bala
liged to have recourfe to an imaginary attraction in loon to de-
the waters of the ocean in order to folve the pheno-ſcend ac-
menon. This fuppofition is rejected by Mr Caval- counted for.
lo; who explains the matter, by remarking, that in
two former voyages made with the fame machine,
it could not long fupport two men in the atmoſphere;
ſo that we had no occafion to wonder at its weakneſs
on this occafion. "As for its rifing higher (fays he),
juſt when it got over the land, that may be eaſily ac-
counted for. In the first place, the two travellers
threw out their clothes juſt about that time; fecondly,
in confequence of the wind's then increafing, the bal-
loon travelled at a much greater rate than it had done
whilft over the fea; which increaſe of velocity leffened.
its tendency to defcend: befides which, the viciffitudes
of heat and cold may produce a very confiderable ef-
fect; for if we fuppofe, that the air over the land was
colder than that over the fea, the balloon coming into
the latter from the former, continued to be hotter than
the circumambient air for fome time after; and confe-
quently, it was comparatively much lighter when in
the cold air over the land, than when in the hotter air
over the fea; hence it floated eafier in the former than
in the latter cafe.”
It ſeems indeed very probable, that there was fome--
thing uncommon in the cafe of Mr Blanchard's balloon
while paffing over the fea; for, as it rofe higher after
reaching the land than in any former period of the
voyage, and likewiſe carried them to the diſtance over
land more than half of that which they had paffed over
water, we can ſcarce avoid fuppofing, that it had a
tendency to defcend when over the water more than
when over land, independent of any lofs of air. Now,
it does not appear that the air over the fea is at all
warmer than that above land; on the contrary, there
is every reafon to believe, that the fuperior reflective
power of the land renders the atmoſphere above it.
warmer than the ſea can do: but it is very natural to
fuppofe, that the air above the fea is more moift than.
that above land; and confequently, by letting fall its.
moiſture upon the balloon, muft have occafioned an e-.
vaporation that would deprive the machine of its inter-
nal heat, which it would partly recover after it entered
the warmer and drier atmoſphere over land.
44
roftatic ma
We flrall now proceed to the conſtruction of aero- Conftruc
ftatic machines; of which the fmaller are only for a- tion of ae-
mufement, or fome flight experiments, and are very chines.
eafily made. As in all of them, however, it is of the
utmoft confequence to have the weight as little as pof-
fible, the fhape becomes an object of great confidera-.
tion..
Practice.
207
A E ROS
OSTATION.
45
Of their
ſhape.
46
Materials.
47
;
tion. For this purpoſe a ſpherical figure has been ma-
thematically demonftrated to be the beft; as capable of
containing a greater quantity under a ſmaller ſurface
than any other. Thus a perfect fphere contains lefs
furface in proportion to its folidity than a ſpheroid; a
ſpheroid leſs than a cylinder; the latter lefs than a
cube and a cube ſtill leſs than a parallelopiped. In
all cafes, therefore, where we can fill the whole capa-
city of the balloon with air equally light, the ſpherical
figure is undoubtedly to be preferred; and this holds
good with regard to all inflammable air-balloons, whe-
ther their fize be great or fmall; but in the rarefied
air ones, where the under part muft neceffarily be much
colder than the upper, the globular ſhape ſeems not fo
proper. An inverted cone, or truncated pyramid, with
the fmaller part undermoft, ſeems then to be moſt pro-
per, as it allows the heated air (which has a great ten-
dency to expand as well as to afcend) to collect in the
wide part at the top, while the uſeleſs ſurface in the
lower part, and which, in any other figure, would con-
tain only the colder and heavier air, is thus thrown
afide. In fact it has been found, that aeroftatic ma-
chines, raiſed by means of rarefied air, when made of
the fhape of a parallelopiped, or even one deviating
ftill more from the ſhape of a globe, have anſwered the
purpoſe as well as they could have been fuppofed to
do, had ever ſo much care been taken in forming them
exactly to that ſhape. The very firft machine made
by Mr Montgolfier was in form of a parallelopiped;
and though it contained only 40 cubic feet, fhowed a
very confiderable
of afcent. A very large one,
74 feet high, which Mr Montgolfier had defigned to
exhibit before the royal family, had the middle part of
it prifmatic for about the height of 25 feet; its top
was a pyramid of 29 feet; and its lower part was a
truncated cone of near 20 feet. It weighed 1000
pounds; and, notwithſtanding its ſhape, in a very short
time manifeſted a power of afcent equal to 500 pounds.
Another aeroftatic machine of a ſmall fize, but of the
figure of a parallelopiped, being fuffered to afcend
with 30 fheets of oiled paper fixed in a wire frame,
and ſet on fire, rofe to a great height, and in 22 mi-
nutes could not be feen. It ſeems therefore, that, with
regard to the ſhape of theſe machines, it is by no means
neceffary to adhere rigidly to that of a ſphere; but
that any oblong form anfwers very well.
power
For experimental purpoſes, both the inflammable
and rarefied air-balloons may be made of paper; the
former being made of that kind called thin-poft, var-
nished over with linfeed-oil; the latter either of that
or any other kind, without varnish. In order to avoid
the danger of burning, however, it has been propofed
to impregnate the paper of which theſe ſmall rarefied
air-balloons are made with folution of fal-ammoniac,
alum or fome other falt; but this does not feem to be
neceffary. Thofe filled with inflammable air have been
made of gold-beater ſkin or peeled bladders; but the
cheaper material of paper is undoubtedly preferable.
For aeroftatic machines of a larger fize, the material
Beft varniſh univerfally employed is varniſhed filk; and for thofe of
for inflam- the rarefied-air kind, linen painted over with ſome fize
mable-air colour, or lined with paper. The beft varniſh for an
balloon-,ac-inflammable air-balloon is that made with bird-lime,
cording to
Mr de St
and recommended by Mr Faujas de Saint-Fond, in a
Fond.
treatife pabliſhed on the fubject. The following is his
very
48
method of preparing it: "Take one pound of bird-
lime, put it into a new proper earthen pot that can re-
fift the fire, and let it boil gently for about one hour,
viz. till it ceafes to crackle; or, which is the fame
thing, till it-is fo far boiled, as that a drop of it being
let fall upon the fire will burn: then pour upon it a
pound of fpirits of turpentine, ftirring it at the ſame
time with a wooden ſpatula, and keeping the pot at a
good diſtance from the flame, left the vapour of this
effential oil fhould take fire. After this, let it boil for
about fix minutes longer; then pour upon the whole
three pounds of boiling oil of nuts, linfeed, or poppy,
rendered drying by means of litharge; ftir it well, let
it boil for a quarter of an hour longer, and the varniſh
is made. After it has refted for 24 hours, and the
fediment has gone to the bottom, decant it into ano-
ther pot; and when you want to uſe it, warm, and ap-
ply it with a flat brush upon the filk ftuff, whilft that
is kept well ftretched. One coat of it may be fuffi-
cient; but if two are neceffary, it will be proper to
give one on each fide of the filk, and to let them dry
in the open air while the filk remains extended.”
Mr Cavallo gives the following method of preparing Mr Caval
this varniſh, which he prefers to that of M. de St lo's method.
Fond." In order to render linfeed-oil drying, boil
it with two ounces of faccharum faturni and three
ounces of litharge, for every pint of oil, till the oil
has diffolved them, which will be accompliſhed in half
an hour; then put a pound of birdlime and half a
pint of the drying oil into a pot (iron or copper pots
are the fafeft for this purpoſe), the capacity of which
may be equal to about one gallon, and let it boil
gently over a flow charcoal fire till the birdlime ceafes
to crackle, which will be in about half or three quar-
ters of an hour; then pour upon it two pints and a
half more of drying oil, and let it boil for one hour
longer, ftirring it very frequently with an iron or
wooden fpatula. As the varnish, whilft boiling, and
eſpecially when it is nearly done, fwells very much,
care fhould be had to remove, in thofe cafes, the pot
from the fire, and to replace it when the varniſh fub-
fides, otherwife it will boil over. Whilft the ftuff is
boiling, the operator fhould, from time to time, ex-
amine whether the varnish has boiled enough; which
is thus known:-Take fome of it upon the blade of a
knife, and then, after rubbing the blade of another
knife upon it, feparate the knives; and when, on this
feparation, the varniſh begins to form threads between
the two, you may conclude that it is done; and,
withoot lofing time, it muſt be removed from the fire.
When it is almoft, though not quite, cold, add about
an equal quantity of fpirit of turpentine: mix it
well together, and let it reft till the next day; when,
having warmed it a little, ftrain and bottle it. If
it is too thick, add fome more fpirit of turpentine.
When this varnish is laid upon the filk, the ftuff
fhould be made perfectly dry, and ftretched; fo that
the varniſh, which ought to be uſed lukewarm, may
fill up the pores of the ftuff. The varniſh ſhould be
laid once very thin upon one fide of the ftuff; and,
about 12 hours after, two other coats of it ſhould be
laid on, one on each fide; and, 24 hours after, the
filk may be uſed, though, in cold weather, it may be
left to dry fome time longer."
Much has been faid in France of their elaftic gums
varnish,
208
Practice.
AEROSTATION.
49
tern.
each equal to a quarter of the circumference, ſo that
the whole length AE of the pattern may be equal to
half the circumference. Thirdly, divide AD into 18
equal parts; and to the points of divifion apply the
lines fg, hi, kl, &c. parallel to each other, and perpen-
dicular to AD. Fourthly, divide the whole circum-
ference in twice the given number of pieces, and make
DC and BB each equal to the quotient of this divi-
fion; fo that the whole, BC, is equal to the greateſt.
breadth of one of theſe pieces. Fifthly, multiply the
above-mentioned quotient by the decimals annexed to
fg, viz. 0.99619, and then the product expreffes the
length of fg again multiply the fame length of DE
by the decimals annexed to hi, and the product ex-
preffes the length of hi; and, in ſhort, the product
arifing from the multiplication of the length of DC by
the decimals annexed to each of the parallel lines,
gives the length of that line. Laftly, having found.
the lengths of all theſe lines, draw by hand a curve-
line paffing through all the extremities of the faid.
lines, and that is the edge of one quarter of the pat-
The other quarters may be eafily deſcribed, by
applying to them-a piece of paper cut according to
that already found. Suppoſe, for example, that the
diameter of the balloon to be conftructed is 20 feet,
and that it is required to make it of 12 pieces: then,
in order to draw the pattern for thoſe pieces, find the
circumference of the balloon, which is 62.83 feet, and,
dividing it by four, the quotient is 15.7 feet; make
therefore AD equal to 15.7 feet, and DE likewiſe of
the ſame length. Divide the circumference 62.83 by-
24, which is double the number of pieces that are to
form the balloon, and the quotient, 2.618 feet, is the
length of DC and likewife of BD; fo that BC is
equal to 5.236 feet. Then, having divided the line
AD into 18 equal parts, and having drawn the paral-
lel lines from thoſe points of divifion, find the length
of each of thofe lines by multiplying 2.618 by the de-
cimals annexed to that line. Thus, 2.618, multiplied
by 0.99619, gives 2.608 feet for the length of fg, and
again, multiplying 2.618 by 0.98481, gives 2.578
feet for the length of hi; and ſo of the reſt.-In cut-
ting the pieces after fuch a pattern, care ſhould be
taken to leave them about three quarters of an inch all
round larger than the pattern, which will be taken up
by the feams.
varniſh, and its compofition kept a fecret; but Mr
Baldwin, after many expenfive trials, declares to the
world what he confiders as the fecret; and it is merely
this: "Take any quantity of caoutchouc, as two ounces
averdupois; cut it into ſmall bits with a pair of fcif-
fars; put a ſtrong iron ladle (like that uſed by plum-
bers) over a common pitcoal or other fire. The fire
muft be gentle, glowing, and without fmoke. When
the ladle is hot, much below a red heat, put a fingle
bit into the ladle. If black ſmoke iffues, it will pre-
fently flame and diſappear, or it will evaporate with-
out flame the ladle is then too hot. When the
ladle is lefs hot, put in a ſecond bit, which will pro-
duce a white fmoke. This white ſmoke will continue
during the operation, and evaporate the caoutchouc:
therefore no time is to be loft; but little bits are to
be put in, a few at a time, till the whole are melted.
It ſhould be continually and gently ſtirred with an
iron or braſs ſpoon. Two pounds or one quart of
the beſt drying oil (or of raw linfeed-oil, which, to-
gether with a few drops of neats-foot oil, has ftood a
month, or not fo long, on a lump of quicklime, to
make it more or lefs drying), is to be put into the
melted caoutchouc, and ſtirred till hot, and the whole
poured into a glazed veffel, through a coarſe gauze or
fine fieve. When fettled and clear, which will be in
a few minutes, it will be fit for uſe either hot or cold.”
Mr Baldwin is not at liberty, he obferves, to publifh
the art of laying on the varniſh: but ſays, that it con-
fifts in making no inteftine motion in the varniſh, which
would create minute bubbles; that therefore bruſhes
are improper. Mr Blanchard's method of making elaſtic-
gum varniſh for the filk of a balloon, is the following.
"Diffolve elaſtic gum (caoutchouc) cut fmall in five
times its weight of ſpirit of turpentine, by keeping them
fome days together; then boil one ounce of this folu-
tion in eight ounces of drying linfeed-oil for a few mi-
nutes; laftly, ftrain it. It muſt be uſed warm." The
pieces of filk for the balloon muſt be cut out of a pro-
per fize, according to the dimenſions, after the varniſh
is fufficiently dry. They may be joined by laying
about half an inch of the edge of one piece over the
edge of the other, and ſewing them by a double ſtitch-
ing. Mr Blanchard ufes expeditiously the following
method. He lays about half an inch of the edge of
one piece flat over the edge of the other, and paffes a
hot iron over it; in doing which a piece of paper To the upper part of the balloon there ſhould be
ought to be laid both under and over the filk. The adapted, and well fitted in, a valve opening inwards ;.
joining may be rendered more fecure by running it with to which fhould be faftened a string paffing through
a filk thread, and ſticking a ribband over it. The a hole made in a ſmall piece of round wood fixed in
ribbands laid over feams may be ſtuck with common the loweft part of the balloon oppofite to the valve, the
glue, provided the varniſh of the filk is properly dried. end of this ſtring faſtened in the car below, ſo that the
When the glue is quite dry, the ribbands fhould be aeronaut may open the valve when occafion requires.
varniſhed over, to prevent their being unglued by the The action of this valve may be underſtood from fig. 3.
rain.
A round braſs plate AB has a round hole CD, about
two or three inches diameter, covered on both fides
with ftrong ſmooth leather. On the infide there is a
ſhutter E, alſo of braſs, covered with leather, which is
to clofe the hole CD; being about two inches larger
in diameter than the hole. It is faftened to the lea-.
ther of the plate AB; and by a fpring, which need
not be very ftrong, it is kept againſt the hole. The
elafticity of the gas itſelf will help to keep it fhut.
To this fhutter the ftring is faftened, by which it is
occafionally opened for the efcape of gas. A fmall
Of cutting
The beſt method of cutting the pieces of filk that are
the gores
to form a balloon, is to deſcribe a pattern of wood or ftiff
fer à globe. card-paper, and then to cut the filk upon it. As the
edges of fuch a pattern are not perfect circles, they
cannot be defcribed by a pair of compaffes: but the
2d Plate II. beſt method of drawing them is as follows. Firſt, draw,
fig. 5.
on a flat furface two right lines AE and BC, per-
pendicular to each other. Secondly,, find the circum-
ference anfwering to the given diameter of the balloon
in feet and decimals of a foot; and make AD and DE
N° 6.
3
·
ftring

2 Plate II.
ACOUSTICS.
Fig.
4.
D
A
Fig. 1.
E
G
B
Fig. 3.
E
A4
B
Fig. 2.
F
H
D
Fig. 12. Fig. 6.
ACDB
E
Fig.11.
I
T
K
R
A
E
F
AEROSTATION.
Fig. 13.
I
Fig. 5.
A
Fig. 8.
Wiew from a Balloon above the clouds, seen by
Fig. 9.
H
C
1. Baldwin.
B
H
G
0.08716
0.17365
0.25882
0.34202
0.42262
0,5
-0,57368
---0,64270
-0.70711
-0.76604
-0,81915
-0,86603
090631
093969
1
k
090593
h
1
0.98481
f
0.99019
C
D
Fig. 10.
D D
E
E
B
B
Fig. 7.
B
A
A
E
Bell Frontal. Sculptor perit.
Practice.
209
AEROSTATI O N.
ftring or other fecurity fhould be fixed to the fhutter
and the plate, ſo as not to admit the fhutter to be
opened beyond a certain fafe diftance. To the lower
part of the balloon two pipes ſhould be fixed, made of
the ſame ſtuff as the envelope; 6 inches diameter for
a balloon of 30 feet, and proportionally larger for bal-
loons of a greater capacity. They muſt be long enough
for the car.
For balloons of 18 feet and leſs diame-
ter, one neck or pipe will be fufficient. Theſe pipes
are the apertures through which the inflammable gas
is introduced into the balloon.
The car or boat is beſt made of wicker-work, cover-
ed with leather, and well painted or varniſhed over;
and the proper method of fufpending it, is by ropes pro-
ceeding from the net which goes over the balloon.
This net ſhould be formed to the ſhape of the balloon,
and fall down to the middle of it, with various
cords proceeding from it to the circumference of a
circle about two feet below the balloon; and from
that circle other ropes fhould go to the edge of the
boat. This circle may be made of wood, or of feve-
ral pieces of ſlender cane bound together. The meſhes
of the net may be ſmall at top, againſt which part of
the balloon the inflammable air exerts the greateſt
Force; and increaſe in fize as they recede from the top.
A hoop has fometimes been applied round the middle
of the balloon to fasten the net. This, though not
abfolutely neceffary, is beft made of pieces of cane
bound together, and covered with leather.
With regard to the rarefied-air machines, Mr Ca-
vallo recommends firſt to ſoak the cloth in a ſolution
of fal ammoniac and commen fize, "ufing one pound of
each to every gallon of water; and when the cloth is
quite dry, to paint it over in the infide with fome
earthy colour, and ftrong fize or glue. When
this paint has dried perfectly, it will then be proper to
varniſh it with oily varniſh, which might dry before it
could penetrate quite through the cloth. Simple dry-
ing linfeed oil will anſwer the purpoſe as well as any,
provided it be not very fluid.
50
Of filling
It now only remains to give ſome account of the
aeroftatic method by which aeroftatic machines may be filled
machines. with their proper gas, in order to give them their
power of afcending into the atmoſphere; and here we
are enabled to determine with much greater precifion
concerning the inflammable-air balloons than the others.
Methods of With regard to them, a primary confideration is, the
procuring moft proper method of procuring the inflammable air.
inflamma- It may be obtained in various ways, as has been ſhown
SI
ble air..
under the article AEROLOGY: But the moſt advanta-
geous methods are, by applying acids to certain metals;
by expofing animal, vegetable, and fome mineral fub-
ſtances, in a cloſe veffel to a ſtrong fire; or by tranf-
mitting the vapour of certain fluids through red-hot
tubes.
1. In the first of theſe methods, iron, zinc, and
vitriolic acid, are the materials moft generally uſed.
The vitriolic acid muſt be diluted by five or fix parts
of water.
Iron may be expected to yield in the com-
mon way 1700 times its own bulk of gas; or one cubic
foot of inflammable air to be produced by 4 ounces
of iron, the like weight of oil of vitriol, and 22 oun-
ces of water. Six ounces of zinc, an equal weight of
oil of vitriol, and 30 ounces of water, are neceffary
for producing the fame quantity of gas. It is more
VOL. I. Part I.
proper to uſe the turnings or chippings of great pieces
of iron, as of cannon, &c. than the filings of that
metal, becauſe the heat attending the effervefcence
will be diminished; and the diluted acid will pafs
more readily through the interftices of the turnings
when they are heaped together, than through the filings,
which ſtick cloſer to one another. The weight of the
inflammable air thus obtained by means of acid of vi-
triol, is, in the common way of procuring it, gene-
rally one ſeventh part of the weight of common air;
but with the neceffary precautions for philofophical
experiments, lefs than one-tenth of the weight of
common air. Two other forts of elaſtic fluids are
ſometimes generated with the inflammable air. Thefe
may be feparated from it by paffing the inflammable
air through water in which quicklime has been diſſol-
ved. The water will abſorb theſe fluids, cool the in-
flammable air, and prevent its over-heating the bal-
loon when introduced into it.
Fig. 7. of 2d Plate II. reprefents an apparatus de-
fcribed by Mr Cavallo as proper for filling balloons of,
the fize of two or three feet in diameter with inflam-
mable air, after paffing it through water.-A is the
bottle with the ingredients; BCD a tube faſtened in
the neck at B, and paffing through C, the cork of the
other bottle, in which there is another hole made to re-
ceive the tube on which the balloon is tied. Thus it
is plain, that the inflammable air coming out of the
tube D will paſs firft through the water of the bottle
E and then into the balloon. Two fmall caſks may
be uſed inſtead of the bottles A and E.
2.
Inflammable air may be obtained at a much
cheaper rate by the action of fire on various ſubſtances;
but the gas which theſe yield is not fo light as that
produced by the effervefcence of acids and metals. The
fubftances proper to be uſed in this way are, pit-coal,
aſphaltum, amber, rock-oil, and other minerals; wood,
and efpecially oak, camphor-oil, fpirits of wine, ether,
and animal ſubſtances, which yield air in different de-
grees, and of various ſpecific gravities; but pit-coal is
the preferable ſubſtance. A pound of this expoſed to
a red heat, yields about three cubic feet of inflammable
air, which, whether it be paffed through water or not,
weighs about one-fourth of the weight of common air.
Dr Priestley found, as we have elſewhere noticed, that
animal or vegetable fubftances will yield fix or ſeven
times more inflammable air when the fire is fuddenly
increaſed than when it is gently raiſed, though it be
afterwards made very ftrong. Mr Cavallo obferves,
that the various fubftances above enumerated generally
yield all their inflammable air in about one hour's time.
The general method is, to inclofe the fubftances in
iron or earthen veffels, and thus expoſe them to a ſtrong
fire fufficient to make the veffels red-hot: the inflam-
mable air proceeding from the aperture of the veſſel is
received into a tube or refrigeratory, and, paffing through
the tube or worm, is at laſt collected in a balloon or
other veffel. A gun-barrel has often been uſed for eſ-
fays of this kind. The fubftance is put into it ſo as
to fill fix or eight inches of its loweſt part, the re-
mainder filled with dry fand: a tube, adapted to
the mouth of the barrel, is brought into a bafin of
water under an inverted receiver; and the part of the
barrel containing the fubftance being put into the
fire and made red-hot, the inflammable air is col-
Dd
lected
210
Practice.
AEROSTATION.
lected in the inverted receiver. As the gun-barrel can-
not ferve for producing a large quantity of inflammable
air, Mr Cavallo recommends, as the most advantageous
fhape, the following contrivance :-Let the veffel be
made of clay, or rather of iron, in the ſhape of a Flo-
rence flaſk, fomewhat larger, and whofe neck is longer
and larger (See ABC, fig. 8.) Put the fubftance to be
ufed into this veffel, fo as to fill about four-fifths or lefs
of its cavity AB. If the ſubſtance is of fuch a nature
as to fwell much by the action of the fire, lute a tube
of braſs, or firſt a braſs and then a leaden tube, to the
neck C of the veffel; and let the end D of the tube be
fhaped as in the figure, fo that going into the water of a
tube HI, it may terminate under a fort of inverted vef-
fel EF, to the upper aperture of which the balloon G
is adapted. Things thus prepared, if the part AB of
the veffel is put into the fire, and made red-hot, the in-
flammable air produced will come out of the tube CD,
and paffing through the water will at laft enter into the
balloon G. Previous to the operation, as a confider-
able quantity of common air remains in the inverted
veffel EF, which it is more proper to expel, the veffel
EF fhould have a ſtop-cock K, through which the
common air may be fucked out, and the water afcend
as high as the ftop-cock. The dimenfions of ſuch an
apparatus Mr Cavallo gives thus: Diameter of largeſt
part of the veffel ABC feven inches, length of whole
veffel 16 inches; diameter of its aperture one inch, dia-
meter of the cavity of tube CD three-fourths of an
inch; lower aperture of the veffel. EF fix inches, leaft
height of the veſſel EF 24 inches; its aperture F about
two inches. The aperture of the veffel EF fhould be
at leaft one foot below the furface of the water in HI.
Care muſt be taken that the fire uſed in this proceſs be
at a fufficient diſtance, otherwiſe it may happen to fire
the inflammable air which may eſcape out of the veffel
EF.
3. The laſt method of obtaining inflammable air was
lately difcovered by Mr Lavoifier, and alſo by Dr
Priestley. Mr Lavoifier made the ſteam of boiling wa
ter paſs through the barrel of a gun, kept red-hot by
burning coals. Dr Prieftley uſes, inftead of the gun-
barrel, a tube of red-hot brafs, upon which the fleam
of water has no effect, and which he fills with the
pieces of iron which are feparated in the boring of can
non. By this method he obtains an inflammable air,
the ſpecific gravity of which is to that of common air
as 1 to 13. In this method, not yet indeed reduced
to general practice, a tube, about three quarters of an
inch in diameter, and about three feet long, is filled
with iron turnings; then the neck of a retort, or cloſe
boiler, is luted to one of its ends, and the worm of a
refrigeratory is adapted to its other extremity. The
middle part of the tube is then furrounded with burn-
ing coals, fo as to keep about one foot in length of it
red-hot, and a fire is always made under the retort or
boiler fufficient to make the water boil with vehemence.
In this proceſs a confiderable quantity of inflammable
air comes out of the worm of the refrigeratory. It is
faid that iron yields one half more air by this means
than by the action of vitriolic acid.
For filling large balloons, a greater apparatus is ne-
ceffary; and the only materials that can, with any cer-
tainty of ſucceſs, be employed for producing the pro-
per gas, are, oil of vitriol, and iron filings or turnings.
His
52
53
It has indeed been recommended to uſe zinc inſtead
of iron filings, becauſe white vitriol, the falt produced
by the union of the vitriolic acid and zinc, is much
more valuable than the green fort produced by the u
nion of the fame acid with iron. But though this is
undoubtedly the cafe, it will as certainly be found, up-
on trial, that the fuperior price of the zinc will be more
than an equivalent for all the advantage that can be
derived from the additional price of the white vitriol.
For a balloon of 30 feet diameter, Mr Cavallo recom- Mr Caval-
mends 3900 pounds of iron turnings, as much oil of lo's receipt,
vitriol, and 19,500 pounds of water.
Theſe pro-
portions, however, appear too great with reſpect to
the acid and metal, and too little with refpect to the
water. Oil of vitriol will not exert its power upon
iron unleſs it be diluted with five or fix times its quan
tity of water; in which cafe, a much fmaller quantity
of both acid and metal will ferve. Mr Lunardi, who Mr Lunar-
from the number of his voyages had certainly much di'smethod.
practical knowledge in aeroftation, filled his balloon
at Edinburgh and Glafgow with about 2000 pounds
of iron (the borings of cannon procured from Carron),
as much vitriolic acid, and 12,coo pounds of water.
The iron was placed in his veffels in layers, with ſtraw
between them, in order to increaſe the furface.
apparatus was not materially different from that of Mr
Cavallo, reprefented bottom of Plate I. fig. 2. where
AA are two tubs, about three feet in diameter and
nearly two feet deep, inverted in large tubs BB filled
with water. In the bottom of each of the inverted
tubs a hole is made, and a tube E of tin adapted, which
is about feven inches in diameter, and feven or eight
long. To thefe tubes the filken ones of the balloon
are to be tied. Round each of the tubs B, five, fix,
or more ſtrong cafks are placed; in the top of each
two holes are made, and to one of theſe holes a tin
tube is adapted, and fo fhaped, that, paffing over the
edge of the tub B, and through the water, it may ter-
minate with its aperture under the inverted tub A.
The other hole of theſe caſks ferves for the introduc-
tion of materials, and is ſtopped with a wooden plug.
When the balloon is to be filled, put the net over it,
and let it be fufpended as ſhown by CDF; and having
expelled all the common air from it, let the filken tubes
be faſtened round the tin ones EE; and the materials
being put into the cafks, the inflammable air, paffing
into the balloon, will foon diftend, and render it ca-
pable of fupporting itſelf; after which the rope GH
may be flipped off. As the balloon continues to be
filled, the net is adjuſted properly round it; the cords
that ſurround it are faftened to the hoop MN; then.
the boat IK being placed between the two fets of
cafks, is faftened to the hoop MN, and every thing
that is required to be fent up, as ballaft, inftruments,
&c. is placed in it. At laft, when the balloon is little
more than three quarters full, the filken tubes are fe-
parated from the tin ones of the inverted tubs, and their
extremities being tied up, are placed in the boat.
Laftly, the aeronauts being feated in the boat, the la
teral ropes are flipped off, and the machine is abando
ned to the air. (See Blanchard's balloon, Plate II.)
This apparatus was at laft reduced by Mr Lunardi to
its utmoft fimplicity, by ufing only two large caſks,
and fuffering the vapour to go into the balloon with-
out paffing through water. Thus his balloon was filled.
iza.
Practice.
21I
AEROSTATION.
54
Of filling
in leſs than half an hour, when, before, it had requi-
red two hours at leaft. The finking of his cafks in the
ground was alſo an additional convenience, as it created
no confuſion, and rendered the materials much more
eafily conveyed into them.
With regard to the rarefied-air balloons, the method
rarefied-air of filling them is as follows. A fcaffold ABCD, the
balloons.
breadth of which is at leaſt two-thirds of the diameter of
the machine, is elevated about fix or eight feet above
the ground. From the middle of it defcends a well E,
rifing about two or three feet above it, and reaching
to the ground, furniſhed with a door or two, through
which the fire in the well is fupplied with fuel. The
well ſhould be conſtructed of brick or of plaſtered wood,
and its diameter ſhould be ſomewhat lefs than that of
the machine. On each fide of the ſcaffold are erected
two mafts HI, KL, each of which has a pulley at the
top, and rendered firm by means of ropes KG, KP,
HP, HG. The machine to be filled is to be placed
on the ſcaffold, with its neck round the aperture of
the well. The rope paffing over the pullies of the
two maſts, ſerves, by pulling its two ends, to lift the
balloon about 15 feet or more above the ſcaffold; and
the reft of the machine is reprefented by the dotted
lines in the figure MNO. The machine is kept ſteady,
and held down, whilſt filling, by ropes paſſing through
loops or holes about its equator; and theſe ropes may
eaſily be difengaged from the machine, by flipping
them through the loops when it is able to fuftain it-
felf. The proper combuftibles to be lighted in the
well, are thoſe which burn quick and clear, rather than
fuch as produce much ſmoke; becauſe it is hot air,
and not ſmoke, that is required to be introduced into
the machine. Small wood and ftraw have been found
to be very fit for this purpofe. Mr Cavallo obferves, as
the refult of many experiments with ſmall machines, that
ſpirits of wine are upon the whole the beſt combustible;
but its price may prevent its being uſed for large machines.
As the current of hot air afcends, the machine will foon
dilate, and lift itſelf above the ſcaffold and gallery
which was covered by it. The paffengers, fuel, inftru-
ments, &c. are then placed in the gallery. When the
machine makes efforts to afcend, its aperture muſt be
brought, by means of the ropes annexed to it, towards
the fide of the well a little above the fcaffold; the fire-
place is then fufpended in it, the fire lighted in the
grate, and the lateral ropes being flipped off the ma-
chine is abandoned to the air. (See Montgolfier's bal-
loon, Plate II.) It has been determined by accurate ex-
periments, that only one-third of the common air can
be expelled from thefe large machines; and therefore
the aſcending power of the rarefied air in them can be
cftimated as only equal to half an ounce averdupoiſe
for every cubic foot.
The conduct of balloons, when conftructed, filled,
and actually afcending in the atmoſphere, is an object
of great importance in the practice of aeroſtation. The
method generally uſed for elevating or lowering the
balloons with rarefied air, has been the increaſe or di-
minution of the fire; and this is entirely at the com-
mand of the aeronaut, as long as he has any fuel in the
gallery. The inflammable-air balloons have been ge-
nerally raiſed or lowered by diminiſhing the weight in
the boat, or by letting out fome of the gas through
the valve but the alternate efcape of the air in de-
fcending, and diſcharge of the ballaft for afcending,
will by degrees render the machine incapable of float-
ing; for in the air it is impoffible to ſupply the loſs of
ballaft, and very difficult to ſupply that of inflammable
air. Theſe balloons will alſo rife or fall by means of
the rarefaction or condenſation of the inclofed air, oc-
cafioned by heat and cold. It has been propoſed to
aid a balloon in its alternate motion of afcent and de-
fcent, by annexing to it a veffel of common air, which
might be condenſed for lowering the machine, and ra-
refied again, by expelling part of it, for raiſing the
machine: But a veffel adapted to this purpoſe muſt
be very ftrong; and, after all, the affiftance afforded by
it would not be very confiderable. M. Meunier, in or-
der to attain this end, propoſes to inclofe one balloon
filled with common air in another filled with inflam-
mable air: as the balloon aſcends, the inflammable air
is dilated, and of courſe compreſſes the internal balloon
containing the common air; and by diminiſhing its
quantity, leffens its weight. If it ſhould be neceffary
to fupply this lofs, he fays it may be eaſily done by a
pair of bellows fixed in the gallery. Others have pro-
pofed to annex a ſmall machine with rarefied air to an
inflammable-air balloon by ropes, at ſuch a diſtance that
the fire of the former might not affect the inflammable
air of the latter: the whole apparatus, thus combined,
of balloons formed on the two principles of heated and
inflammable air, might be raiſed or lowered by merely
increafing or diminiſhing the fire in the lower balloon.
Wings or oars are the only means of this fort that have
been uſed with ſome fuccefs; and, as Mr Cavallo ob-
ferves, they ſeem to be capable of confiderable improve-
ment. Although great effects are not to be expected
from them, when the machine goes at a great rate, the
beft methods of moving thoſe wings are by the hu-
man ſtrength applied fimilarly to the oars of a water-
man. They may be made in general of filk ſtretched
between wires, tubes, or ſticks; and when uſed, muſt
be turned edgewife when they are moved in the direc-
tion in which the machine is intended to be impelled,
but flat in the oppofite direction. Fig. 9. 2d Plate II.
is the repreſentation of one of Mr Blanchard's wings.
Fig. 10. is one of thoſe uſed by Mr Lunardi,
which confiſts of many filk fhutters or valves, ABCD,
DECF, &c. every one of which opens on one fide
only, viz. ADBC opens upon the line AB, DECF
opens upon the line DC, &c. In confequence of this
conftruction, this fort of oars do not need being turn-
ed edgewife. Fig. 11. reprefents one of the wings u-
fed by the brothers Roberts in the aerial voyage of the
19th September 1784; and fig. 12. reprefents one of
the wings conftructed by Count Zambeccari, which con-
fifts of a piece of filk ftretched between two tin tubes
fet at an angle; but thefe wings are ſo contrived as to
turn edgewife by themfelves when they go on one di-
rection. Other contrivances have been made to direct
aeroftatic machines, but they have moftly been invent-
ed to effect a power upon them as upon a ſhip. It ap-
pears, however, that they can have no effect when a ma-
chine is only moved by the wind alone, becauſe the cir-
cumambient air is at reſt in reſpect to the machine. The
cafe is quite different with a veffel at fea, becauſe the
water on which it floats ftands ftill whilft the veffel goes
on; but it muſt be time and experience that can realize
the expectations fuggefted by thefe contrivances.
-
Dd 2
AERSHOT,
ES C
[ 212
212
1
ESC
Acrfhot
Æfchines.
AERSHOT, a town in the Netherlands, in the duchy
of Brabant, and capital of the duchy of Aerfhot. It is
feated on the river. Demur, ten miles eaft of Malines or
Mechlin, and eight north of Louvain. E. Long. 5. 4.
N. Lat. 51. 15.
ÆRUGINOUS, an epithet given to fuch things as
reſemble or partake of the nature of the ruft of copper.
ÆRUGO, in natural hiſtory, properly fignifies the
ruſt of copper, whether natural or artificial. The for-
mer is found about copper mines, and the latter, called
verdegris, made by corroding copper-plates with acids.
See Verdegris.
ERUSCATORES, in antiquity, a kind of ftrol-
ling beggars, not unlike gypfies, who drew money from
the credulous by fortune-telling, &c. It was alfo a de-
nomination given to griping exactors, or collectors of
the revenue. The Galli, or priefts of Cybele, were
called arufcatores magne matris; and μngayugla, on
account of their begging or collecting alms in the
ftreets ; to which end they had little bells whereby
to draw peoples attention to them, much like fome or-
ders of mendicants abroad.
AERY, or AIRY, among ſportfment. See AIRY.
ES UXORIUM, in antiquity, a fum paid by bache-
lors, as a penalty for living fingle to old age. This
tax for not marrying ſeems to have been firft impofed
in the year of Rome 350, under the cenforſhip of M.
Furius Camillus and M. Pofthumus. At the cenfus,
or review of the people, each perfon was aſked, Et tu
ex anima fententia uxorem habes liberum quærendorum
caufa? He who had no wife was hereupon fined after
a certain rate, called as uxorium.
Es per et libram was a formula in the Roman
law, whereby purchaſes and fales are ratified. Ori-
ginally the phrafe feems to have been only uſed in
fpeaking of things fold by weight, or by the fcales;
but it afterwards was uſed on other occafions. Hence
even in adoptions, as there was a kind of imaginary
purchaſe; the formula whereof expreffed, that the
perfon adopted was bought per as et libram.
Es Flavum, yellow copper, among the Romans, an
appellation given to the coarſer kinds of braſs.
Es Caldarium, a term uſed by the German minera-
liſts, for a ſubſtance which fometimes occurs to thofe
who work upon cobalt, and is uſed for the making the
fine blue colour called fmalt.
►
Es Uftum, a chemical preparation, made of thin
leaves of copper, fulphur, and nitre, placed ftratum
fuper ftratum in a crucible, and fet in a charcoal fire
till all the fulphur is confumed; after which, the cop-
per is taken out of the crucible, and reduced to powder.
Some quench the leaves of copper in vinegar, and re-
peat the calcination.-Its principal ufe is in colouring
glaſs, to which it gives a beautiful tincture. The fur-
geons
uſe it as a deterfive, and fome have given it in
ternally; but it is certainly a very dangerous medicine,
and fhould be avoided.
ÆSCHINES, a Socratic philofopher, the fon of
Charinus a fauſage-maker. He was continually with
Socrates; which occafioned this philofopher to fay, that
the ſauſage-maker's fon was the only perfon who knew
how to pay a due regard to him. It is faid that po-
verty obliged him to go to Sicily to Dionyfius the Ty-
rant; and that he met with great contempt from Plato,
but was extremely well received by Ariftippus; to whom
he ſhowed ſome of his dialogues, and received from him Æfchylus.
a handſome reward. He would not venture to profeſs
philofophy at Athens, Plato and Ariftippus being in
fuch high efteem; but he fet up a ſchool to maintain
himſelf. He afterwards wrote orations for the Forum.
Phrynicus, in Photius, ranks him amongſt the beſt ora-
tors, and mentions his orations as the ftandard of the
pure Attic ftyle. Hermogenes. has alſo ſpoken very high-
ly of him. He alſo wrote feveral dialogues, of which
there are only three extant: 1. Concerning Virtue, whe-
ther it can be taught. 2. Eryxias, or Erafiftratus; con-
cerning riches, whether they are good. 3. Axiochus.;.
concerning death, whether it is to be feared. Mr Le
Clerc has given a Latin tranſlation of them, with notes,
and feveral differtations intitled Sylva Philologica.
ÆSCHYLUS, the tragic poet, was born at Athens.
Authors differ in regard to the time of his birth, ſome
placing it in the 65th, others in the 70th Olympiad ;
but according to Stanley, who relies on the Arunde-
lian marbles, he was born in the 63d Olympiad. He
was the fon of Euphorion, and brother to Cynegirus
and Aminias, who diſtinguiſhed themſelves in the battle
of Marathon, and the fea-fight of Salamis, at which en-
gagements Æfchylus was likewife prefent. In this laft
action, according to Diodorus Siculus, Aminias, the
younger of the three brothers, commanded a ſquadron
of fhips, and behaved with ſo much conduct and bra-
very, that he funk the admiral of the Perfian fleet, and
fignalized himſelf above all the Athenians. To this
brother our poet was, upon a particular occafion, obli-
ged for faving his life: Ælian relates, that Æfchylus
being charged by the Athenians with certain blafphe-
mous expreffions in fome of his pieces, was accuſed of
impiety, and condemned to be ſtoned to death: they
were juft going to put the fentence in execution, when
Aminias, with a happy preſence of mind, throwing afide
his cloak, fhowed his arm without a hand, which he had
loft at the battle of Salamis in defence of his country.
This fight made fuch an impreffion on the judges, that,
touched with the remembrance of his valour, and with
the friendſhip he fhowed for his brother, they pardoned
Æfchylus. Our poet, however, refented the indignity
of this profecution, and refolved to leave a place where
his life had been in danger. He became more deter-
mined in this refolution when he found his pieces leſs
pleafing to the Athenians than thofe of Sophocles, tho'
a much younger writer. Some affirm, that Æſchylus ne-
ver fat down to compofe but when he had drank liberally.
He wrote a great number of tragedies, of which there
are but feven remaining: and notwithſtanding the ſharp
cenfures of fome critics, he must be allowed to have
been the father of the tragic art. In the time of Thefpis,
there was no public theatre to act upon; the ftrollers
driving about from place to place in a cart. Æfchylus
furniſhed his actors with maſks, and dreffed them
fuitably to their characters. He likewiſe introduced the
buſkin, to make them appear more like heroes.-The-
ancients gave Æfchylus alſo the praife of having been
the first who removed murders and ſhocking fights from
the eyes of the fpectators. He is faid likewife to have
leffened the number of the chorus. M. Le Fevre
has obferved, that Æſchylus never reprefented women
in love in his tragedies; which, he fays, was not fuited
to his genius; but, in repreſenting a woman tranſported
with fury, he was incomparable. Longius fays, that
J
Æfchylus
ÆS C
[213]
ÆS C
1
mene.
fucceeded by large pods containing kidney-shaped feeds. fculapius,
Culture. Thefe plants are propagated by feeds,
which fhould be fown early in the fpring, on a hot-
bed; and when the plants have ftrength enough to be
removed, they fhould each be put into a feparate pot
filled with light earth, and plunged into a hot-bed.
As they increaſe in fize, they must be removed into
larger pots; but if theſe are too large, the plants will
not thrive. They muſt be brought forward early in
the year, otherwiſe the ſecond kind will not perfect its
feed.
Efchyno- fchylus has a noble boldneſs of expreffion; and that
his imagination is lofty and heroic. It must be owned,
however, that he affected pompous words, and that his
fenfe is too often obfcured by figures: this gave Sal-
mafius occafion to fay, that he was more difficult to
be underſtood than the fcripture itſelf. But notwith-
ſtanding theſe imperfections, this poet was held in great
veneration by the Athenians, who made a public de-
cree that his tragedies ſhould be played after his death.
He was killed in the 69th year of his age, by an eagle
letting fall a tortoife upon his head as he was walking in
the fields. He had the honour of a pompous funeral
from the Sicilians, who buried him near the river Ge-
la ;
and the tragedians of the country performed plays
and theatrical exerciſes at his tomb.-The beſt edition
of his plays is that of London, 1663, fol. with a La-
tin tranſlation and a learned commentary by Thomas
Stanly.
ÆSCHYNOMENE, BASTARD SENSITIVE-PLANT:
A genus of the decandria order, belonging to the dia-
delphia clafs of plants; the characters of which are:
The calyx is a one-leav'd campanulated bilabiated pe-
rianthium; the lips equal, but the fuperior one two-
cleft, the inferior tridentate. The corolla is papillio-
naceous; the banner cordated and fubringent; the ala
ovate, obtuſe, and fhorter than the banner; and the
carina lunated, pointed, and the length of the ala.
The ftamina confift of 10 fimple 9-cleft filaments;
the antheræ fmall. The piftillum is an oblong villous
columnar germen; the ftylus fubulated and aſcending,
the ftigma fimple and fomewhat obtufe. The pericar-
pium is a long compreffed, unilocular jointed pod.
The feeds are kidney-fhaped, and folitary within each
joint. Of this genus they are reckoned fix
Species. 1. The afpera (as well as the reft of this ge-
nus) is a native of warm countries. It rifes to the height
of four or five feet, having a fingle herbaceous ftalk,
which is rough in fome parts. The leaves come out on
every fide towards the top, forming a fort of head;
the flowers come out between the leaves, two or three
together upon long footftalks; they are yellow, and
fhaped like thofe of peas: after the flower is paft, the
germen becomes a flat jointed pod, which, when ripe,
parts at the joints, and in each divifion is lodged a fingle
kidney-fhaped feed. 2. The Americana, feldom rifes
more than two feet in height. The flowers come out
from the leaves on branching footſtalks, five or fix to-
gether; theſe are much less than the former, and of a
paler yellow colour. The feed is lodged in pods like the
other. 3. The arborea, grows to the height of fix or
feven feet, with a fingle ftem; the flowers come out two
or three together, of a copper colour, and as large as
thofe of the afpera. 4. The fefban hath woody ftems, and
branches garniſhed with fmooth leaves. The flowers
are fmall, of a deep yellow colour, and come out on
long ſpikes hanging downward. The feed is contain
ed in a ſmooth pod not jointed. 5. The pumila, rifes
to the height of about three feet; has flowers of a pale
yellow colour, which come out fometimes fingle, at o-
ther times two or three upon each footftalk. The feeds
are contained in a long falcated pod having 13 or 14
divifions, each of which lodges a fingle feed. 6. The
grandiflora, rifes fix or eight feet high, with a woody
item, fending out branches towards the top, garniſhed
with obtufe leaves. The flowers are large, yellow, and
Z
ESCULAPIUS, in the Heathen mythology, the
god of phyfic, was the fon of Apollo and the nymph
Coronis. He was educated by the centaur Chiron,
who taught him phyfic; by which means Æfculapius
cured the moft defperate difeafes. But Jupiter, enraged
at his reftoring to life Hippolitus, who had been torn
in pieces by his own horſes, killed him with a thunder-
bolt. According to Cicero, there were three deities
of this name: the first, the fon of Apollo, worshipped
in Arcadia, who invented the probe, and bandages for
wounds; the fecond, the brother of Mercury, killed
by lightning; and the third, the fon of Arifippus and
Arfinoe, who firft taught the art of tooth-drawing
and purging. At Epidaurus, Æfculapius's ftatue was
of gold and ivory, with a long beard, his head fur-
rounded with rays, holding in one hand a knotty ſtick,
and the other entwined with a ferpent; he was feated
on a throne of the fame materials as his ftatue, and
had a dog lying at his feet. The Romans crowned him
with laurel, to repreſent his deſcent from Apollo; and
the Phaliafins reprefented him as beardlefs. The cock,
the raven, and the goat, were facred to this deity. Hig
chief temples were at Pergamus, Smyrna, Trica a ci-
ty in Ionia, and the iſle of Coos; in all which, votive-
tablets were hung up, fhowing the diſeaſes cured by his.
affiſtance. But his moft famous fhrine was at Epidau--
rus; where, every five years, games were inftituted to
him, nine days after the Ifthmian games at Corinth.
ESCULUS, the HORSE-CHESTNUT: A genus of
the monogynia order, belonging to the heptandria.
clafs of plants; and ranking, in the natural method,
under the 39 order, Tribilata.-The characters are:
The calyx is a ſmall, fingle-leaved, bellied perianthium,
divided into five fegments. The corolla (except in the
pavia, where it is four-petal'd and cloſe) confifts of
five roundish, flat, expanding petals, unequally co-
loured, and with narrow claws inferted into the calyx..
The ftamina have ſeven fubulated declining filaments,
the length of the corolla; the antheræ afcending. The
piftillum is a roundish germen, ending in a fubulated
ftylus; the ftigma pointed. The pericarpium is a
leathery, roundiſh, trilocular, three-valved capfule.
The feeds are two, and fubglobular.-In this genus
Van Rozen and Miller obſerve both male and herma-
phrodite flowers. There are two
Species. 1. The hippocastanum, or common horſe.
cheftnut. It was brought from the northern parts of
Afia about the year 1550, and ſent to Vienna about
1588. This tree makes a noble appearance all the
month of May, the extremities of the branches being
terminated by fine ſpikes of flowers fpotted with rofe
colours, fo that the whole tree feems covered with them.
It is quick in its growth; fo that in a few years it ar-
rives at a fize large enough to afford a good ſhade in
ſummer,
1
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ÆS C
they fhould be left to Nature to form their beautiful Æfculus,
parabolic heads, and affume their utmoſt beauty.-The
horfe-chefnut, like most other trees, delights moſt in
good fat land; but it will grow exceedingly well on
clayey and marley grounds.
Æfculus. fummer, as alfo to produce plenty of flowers. They
have, however, this great inconvenience, that their
wood is of no uſe, being unfit even for burning; and
their leaves beginning to fall in July, foon deprive the
trees of their beauty. There is fomething very fingu-
lar in the growth of thefe trees; which is, that the
whole ſhoot is performed in lefs than three weeks after
the buds are opened.-The nuts are reckoned good
food for horfes. In Turkey, they are ground, and
mixed with the provender of theſe animals, efpecially
thoſe which are troubled with coughs or broken-wind-
ed. Deer are alſo very fond of the fruit; and at the
time of their ripening keep much about the trees, but
eſpecially in ftrong winds, when the nuts are blown
down, which they carefully watch, and greedily de-
vour as they fall.
2. The pavia, or ſcarlet-flowering horſe-cheftnut, a
native of Carolina, the Brafils, and the Eaft. It grows
to about fifteen or fixteen feet high; and there is a
delicacy in this tree that makes it deſirable. The bark
of the young ſhoots is quite ſmooth, and the growing
fhoots in fummer are of a reddiſh hue. The leaves
are palmated, being pretty much like thoſe of the
horfe-chefnut, only much ſmaller, and the indentures
at the edges are deeper and more acute. The
lobes of which they are compoſed are ſpear-ſhaped;
they are five in number, are united at their baſe, and
ftand on a long red footftalk. The leaves grow oppo-
fite by pairs on the branches, which are fpread abroad
on every fide. The flowers come out from the ends
of the branches. The firft appearance of the buds is
in May; though they will not be in full blow till the
middle of June. They are of a bright red colour, and
confequently have a pleafing effect among the vaft tribe
of yellow-flowering forts which fhow themfelves in
bloom at that ſeafon. They continue in fucceffion for
upwards of fix weeks; and fometimes are fucceeded by
ripe feeds in our gardens.
Propagation and culture. The firft fpecies is pro-
pagated from the nuts. In autumn, therefore, when
they fall, a fufficient quantity fhould be gathered.
Theſe ſhould be ſown foon afterwards in drills, about
two inches afunder. If the nuts are kept till fpring,
many of them will be faulty; but where the feminary-
ground cannot be got ready before, and they are kept
fo long, it may be proper to put them in water, to try
their goodneſs. The good nuts will fink, whilft thofe
which are faulty will fwim; fo that by proving them
this way you may be fure of good nuts, and have more
promifing hopes of a crop. In the fpring the plants
will come up; and when they have ſtood one year,
they may be taken up, their tap-roots fhortened, and
afterwards planted in the nurſery. When they are of
fufficient ſize to be planted out finally, they muſt be
taken out of the nurſery with care, the great fide-fhoots
and the bruifed parts of the roots fhould be taken off,
and then planted in large holes level with the furface
of the ground, at the top of their roots; the fibres be-
ing all ſpread and lapped in the fine mold, and the
turf alfo worked to the bottom. A ſtake ſhould be
placed to keep them fafe from the winds; and they
muſt be fenced from the cattle till they are of a fuffi-
cient ſize to defend themſelves. The beſt ſeaſon for all
this work is October. After the trees are planted,
neither knife nor hatchet ſhould come near them; but
Miller fays, "When thefe trees are tranfplanted,
their roots fhould be preſerved as entire as poffible, for
they do not fucceed well when torn or cut: nor ſhould
any of the branches be ſhortened, for there is ſcarce
any tree that will not bear amputation better than this;
fo that when any branches are by accident broken, they
fhould be cut off cloſe to the ftem, that the wound
may heal over.”
The ſecond ſpecies is propagated, 1. By budding
it upon the young plants of the horſe-chefnut. Thefe
ftocks ſhould be raiſed as was directed in that article.
They fhould be planted in the nurſery way, one foot
afunder, and two feet diſtant in the rows, which
fhould be kept clean of weeds, and muſt be dug be-
tween every winter till the operation is to be perform-
ed. After they have ftood in the nurſery-ground
about two years, and have made at leaſt one good
fummer's fhoot, the fummer following is the time for
the operation. Then, having your cuttings ready foon
after midfummer, the evenings and cloudy weather
ſhould be made choice of for the work. Whoever has
a great number of trees to inoculate, muft regard no
weather, but keep working on, to get his buſineſs over
before the feafon ends; and, indeed, a good hand will
be always pretty ſure of fuccefs be the weather what
it will. If the ftocks were healthy, the fummer fol-
lowing they will make pretty good fhoots; and in a
year or two after that will flower. This is one me-
thod of propagating this tree; and thoſe plants that
are propagated this way will grow to a larger fize than
thofe raiſed immediately from feeds.-2. This tree
alfo may be propagated by feeds; which will fome-
times ripen with us, and may be obtained out of our
own gardens. The manner of raiſing them this way
is as follows: Let a warm border be prepared; and if
it is not naturally fandy, let drift-fand be mixed with
the foil; and in this border let the feeds be fown in
the month of March, about half an inch deep. After
this, conftant weeding muſt be obſerved; and when
the plants are come up, if they could be ſhaded in the
heat of the day, it would be much better. Thefe,
with now and then a gentle watering in a dry feaſon,
will be all the precautions they will require the firſt
fummer. The winter following, if the fituation is not
extremely well fheltered, protection must be given them
from the hard black frofts, which will otherwife often
deſtroy them; fo that it will be the ſafeſt way to have
the bed hooped, to cover them with mats in fuch
weather, if the fituation is not well defended: if it is,
this trouble may be faved; for, even when young,
they are tolerably hardy. In about two or three years
they may be removed into the nurſery, or planted
where they are to remain, and they will flower in three
or four years after. The ufual nurfery-care muſt be
taken of them when planted in that way; and the beſt
time for planting them there, or where they are to re-
main, is October; though they will grow exceeding
well if removed in any of the winter months; but, if
planted late in the fpring, they will require more
watering, as the ground will not be fo regularly
fettled
AU
R
1
ÆSO
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TH
Æ
A
figned this as a puniſhment for their treatment of fop: fop
they endeavoured to make an atonement, by raifing a
pyramid to his honour.
for fettled to the roots as if they had been planted ear-
lier.
ÆSOP, the Phrygian, lived in the time of Solon,
ahout the 50th Olympiad, under the reign of Cræfus
the laſt king of Lydia. As to genius and abilities, he
was greatly indebted to nature; but in other reſpects
not fo fortunate, being born a flave and extremely de-
formed. St Jerom, fpeaking of him, fays he was un-
fortunate in his birth, condition in life, and death;
hinting thereby at his deformity, fervile ſtate, and
tragical end. His great genius, however, enabled him
to fupport his misfortunes; and in order to alleviate the
hardſhips of fervitude, he compofed thofe entertaining
and inftructive fables which have acquired him ſo much
reputation. He is generally fuppofed to have been the
inventor of that kind of writing; but this is conteſted
by ſeveral, particularly Quintilian, who feems to think
that Hefiod was the firſt author of fables. Æfop, how-
ever, certainly improved this art to a very great degree;
and hence it is that he has been accounted the author
of this fort of productions :
}
Æthalia.
ESOP (Clodius), a celebrated actor, who flouriſhed
about the 670th year of Rome. He and Rofcius were
cotemporaries, and the beſt performers who ever appear.
ed upon the Roman ftage, the former excelling in tra-
gedy, the latter in comedy. Cicero put himſelf under
their direction to perfect his action. Efop lived in a
moft expenfive manner, and at one entertainment is
ſaid to have had a diſh which coſt above eight hundred
pounds; this diſh, we are told, was filled with finging
and fpeaking birds, fome of which coft near 50%. The
delight which fop took in this fort of birds proceed-
ed, as Mr Bayle obferves, from the expence. He did
not make a difh of them becauſe they could ſpeak, ac-
cording to the refinement of Pliny upon this circum-
ftance, this motive being only by accident; but becauſe
of their extraordinary price. If there had been any
birds that could not ſpeak, and yet more ſcarce and
dear than theſe, he would have procured fuch for his
table. Æfop's fon was no leſs luxurious than his fa-
ther, for he diffolved pearls for his guefts to fwallow.
Phad. Prol. ad. lib. i. Some ſpeak of this as a common practice of his; but
others mention his falling into this excefs only on a
particular day, when he was treating his friends. Ho-
race* ſpeaks only of one pearl of great value, which
he diffolved in vinegar, and drank. Efop, notwith-lib.ii. 239-
ftanding his expences, is faid to have died worth above
160,000l. When he was upon the ftage, he entered
into his part to ſuch a degree, as fometimes to be feized
with a perfect ecſtaſy: Plutarch mentions it as report-
ed of him, that whilft he was repreſenting Atreus de-
liberating how he fhould revenge himſelf on Thyeftes,
he was fo tranfported beyond himſelf in the heat of
action, that with his truncheon he fmote one of the
fervants croffing the ſtage, and laid him dead on the ſpot.
Æfopus auctor quam materiam reperit,
Hanc ego pollivi verfibus fenariis.
If any thoughts in theſe iambics fhine,
Th' invention's Æfop's, and the verſe is mine."
The firſt maſter whom Æſop ferved, was one Cara-
fius Demarchus, an inhabitant of Athens; and there
in all probability he acquired his purity in the Greek
tongue. After him he had feveral maſters; and at length
came under a philofopher named Idmon or Iadmon, who
enfranchiſed him. After he had recovered his liberty,
he foon acquired a great reputation amongſt the Greeks;
fo that, according to Meziriac, the report of his wif-
dom having reached Crofus, he fent to inquire after
him, and engaged him in his fervice. He travelled
through Greece, according to the fame author; whe-
ther for his own pleaſure, or upon the affairs of Crœfus,
is uncertain; and paffing by Athens foon after Pifi-
ftratus had ufurped the fovereign power, and finding
that the Athenians bore the yoke very impatiently, he
told them the fable of the frogs who petitioned Jupiter
for a king. The images made ufe of by Æſop are cer-
tainly very happy inventions to inftruct mankind; they
poffefs all that is neceffary to perfect a precept, having
a mixture of the uſeful with the agreeable. Afop
the fabulift (fays Aulus Gellius) was defervedly e-
fteemed wife, fince he did not, after the manner of the
philoſophers, rigidly and imperiously dictate fuch things
as were proper to be adviſed and perfuaded; but, fra-
ming entertaining and agreeable apologues, he thereby
charms and captivates the human mind."-Eſop was
put to death at Delphi. Plutarch tells us, that he came
there with a great quantity of gold and filver, being
ordered by Crafus to offer a facrifice to Apollo, and
to give a confiderable fum to each inhabitant: but a
quarrel arifing betwixt him and the Delphians, he fent
back the money to Crafus; for he thought thoſe for
whom the prince defigned it, had rendered themfelves
unworthy of it. The inhabitants of Delphi contrived
an accufation of facrilege againſt him; and pretending
they had convicted him, threw him headlong from a
rock. For this cruelty and injuftice, we are told they
were vifited with famine and peftilence; and confulting
the oracle, they received for anfwer, that the god de-
(
ÆSTIMATIO CAPITIS, a term met with in old
law-books for a fine anciently ordained to be paid for
offences committed against perfons of quality, accord-
ing to their feveral degrees.
ESTIVAL, in a general ſenſe, denotes fomething
connected with, or belonging to, fummer. Hence
æftival fign, æftival folftice, &c.
ÆSTUARIA, in geography, denotes an arm of the
fea, which runs a good way within land. Such is the
Briſtol channel, and many of the friths of Scotland.
ÆSTUARIES, in ancient baths, were ſecret paſ.
fages from the hypocauftum into the chambers.
ESTUARY, among phyficians, a vapour-bath,
or any other inftrument for conveying heat to the
body.
ÆSYMNIUM, in antiquity, a monument erected to
the memory of the heroes, by fymnus the Megarean,
He confulting the oracle in what manner the Megare-
ans might be moft happily governed, was anfwered, If
they held confultation with the more numerous: whom he
taking for the dead, built the faid monument, and. a
fenate-houſe that took within its compaſs the monu
ment; imagining, that thus the dead would aſſiſt at
their confultations. (Paufanias.)
ÆETH, or Arн, a ftrong little town in the Auſtrian
Netherlands and province of Hainault, fituated on the
river Dender, about twenty miles S. W. of Bruffels.
ÆTHALIA, or ILUA (anc. geog.) now Elba; zn
*Sat. .
I
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216 ]
thelitan, iſland on the coaſt of Etruria, in compaſs an hundred
Ether. miles, abounding in iron, as Elba ftill does. Stephanus
calls it Aethale. The port of Aethalia was called Ar-
gous, (Diod. Sicul.)
ÆTHELSTAŃ, fee ATHELSTAN.
ÆTHER, is ufually understood of a thin, fubtile
matter, or medium, much finer and rarer than air; which
commencing from the limits of our atmoſphere, pof-
feffes the whole heavenly ſpace.-The word is Greek,
abne, fuppofed to be formed from the verb aienp, "to
burn, to flame;" fome of the ancients, particularly
Anaxagoras, fuppofing it of the nature of fire. See
FIRE.
The philofophers cannot conceive that the largeſt
part of the creation fhould be perfectly void; and there-
fore they fill it with a ſpecies of matter under the de-
nomination of ather. But they vary extremely as to the
nature and character of this æther. Some conceive it as a
body fui generis, appointed only to fill up the vacuities
between the heavenly bodies; and therefore confined
to the regions above our atmoſphere. Others fuppofe
it of ſo ſubtile and penetrating a nature, as to pervade
the air, and other bodies, and poffefs the pores and
intervals thereof. Others deny the exiſtence.of any
fuch ſpecific matter; and think the air itſelf, by that
immenſe tenuity and expanſion it is found capable of,
may diffuſe itſelf through the interftellar ſpaces, and
be the only matter found therein.
In effect, æther, being no object of our ſenſe, but
the mere work of imagination, brought only upon the
ftage for the fake of hypothefis, or to folve fome phe-
nomenon, real or imaginary; authors take the liberty
to modify it how they pleaſe. Some ſuppoſe it of an
elementary nature, like other bodies; and only diftin-
guiſhed by its tenuity, and the other affections confe-
quent thereon: which is the philofophical æther. O-
thers will have it of another fpecies, and not elemen-
tary; but rather a fort of fifth element, of a purer,
more refined, and ſpirituous nature, than the fubftances
about our earth and void of the common affections
thereof, as gravity, &c. The heavenly ſpaces being
the fuppofed region or refidence of a more exalted claſs
of beings, the medium must be more exalted in pro-
portion. Such is the ancient and popular idea of æther,
or ætherial matter.
The term ether being thus embarraffed with a va-
riety of ideas, and arbitrarily applied to fo many dif
ferent things, the later and feverer philofophers chooſe
to fet it afide, and in lieu thereof fubftitute other more
determinate ones. Thus, the Cartefians uſe the term
materia fubtilis; which is their æther and Sir Ifaac
Newton, fometimes a fubtile fpirit, as in the clofe of
his Principia; and fometimes a fubtile or etherial me-
dium, as in his Optics.
The truth is, there are abundance of confiderations,
which feem to evince the exiftence of fome matter in
the air, much finer than the air itſelf. There is an un-
known fomething, which remains behind when the air
is taken away; as appears from certain effects which
we fee produced in vacus, Heat, Sir Ifaac Newton
obferves, is communicated through a vacuum almoſt as
readily as through air: but fuch communication can-
not be without fome interjacent body, to act as a me-
dium. And fuch body may be fubtile enough to pe-
netrate the pores of glafs; and may be very well con-
N° 6.
་
cluded to permeate thofe of all other bodies, and con- Æther
fequently be diffufed. through all the parts of ſpace
which anfwers to the full character of an æther. See
HEAT.
The exiſtence of ſuch an ætherial medium being ſet-
tled, that author proceeds to its properties; inferring
it to be not only rarer and more fluid than air, but ex-
ceedingly more elaftic and active: in virtue of which
properties, he fhows, that a great part of the phenome-
na of nature may be produced by it. To the weight,
e. g. of this medium, he attributes gravitation, or the
weight of all other bodies; and to its elafticity, the
elaftic force of the air and of nervous fibres, and the
emiffion, refraction, reflection, and other phenomena
of light; as alfo, fenfation, muſcular motion, &c. In
fine, this fame matter feems the primum mobile, the
firft fource or fpring of phyſical action in the modern
ſyſtem.
The Cartefian æther is fuppofed not only to pervade,
but adequately to fill, all the vacuities of bodies; and
thus to make an abfolute plenum in the univerſe.
But Sir Ifaac Newton overturns this opinion, from
divers confiderations; by ſhowing, that the celeſtial
ſpaces are void of all fenfible reſiſtance: for, hence it
follows, that the matter contained therein muſt be im-
menfely rare, in regard the refiftance of bodies is chief-
ly as their denfity; fo that if the heavens were thus
adequately filled with a medium or matter, how fubtile
foever, they would refift the motion of the planets and
comets much more than quickfilver or gold.
The late diſcoveries in electricity have thrown great
light upon this fubject, and rendered it extremely pro-
bable that the æther ſo often talked of is no other than
the electric fluid, or folar light, which diffuſes itſelf
throughout the whole fyftem of nature. See ELEC
TRICITY, FIRE, HEAT, LIGHT, &c.
ETHER, in chemiſtry, the lighteft, moft volatile,
and moft inflammable of all liquids, is produced by
diftillation of acids with rectified fpirit of wine. See
CHEMISTRY and PHARMACY (the Indexes).
ETHERIAL, ETHERIUS, fomething that belongs
to, or partakes of, the nature of ETHER.
Thus we
fay, the etherial space, alherial regions, &c.
Some of the ancients divided the univerſe, with re-
ſpect to the matter contained therein, into elementary
and ætherial.
Under the ætherial world was included all that ſpace
above the uppermoft element, viz. fire. This they
fuppofed to be perfectly homogeneous, incorruptible,
unchangeable, &c. See CORRUPTION. The Chaldees
placed an etherial world between the empyreum and
the region of the fixed ftars. Befide which, they
fometimes alſo ſpeak of a ſecond ætherial world, mean-
ing by it the ftarry orb; and a third ætherial world,
by which is meant the planetary region.
ETHIOPIA. See ETHIOPIA.
ÆTHIOPS, Mineral, Martial, and Antimonial.
See PHARMACY (Index).
ÆTHUSA, in botany, a genus of the pentandria
digynia clafs; and, in the natural method, ranking
under the 45th order, Umbellata. The characters are:
The calyx is an univerſal umbel expanding, the interior
rays fhorter by degrees; with a partial umbel, ſmall,
and expanding. There is no univerfal involucrum ;
the partial one is dimidiated, with three or five leaf-
1
lets,
Ethufa.
:
A E T
[
217 ]
ETN
Actius.
4
Actians lets, and pendulous; the proper perianthium ſcarcely
II
difcernible. The univerfal corolla is uniform, with
fertile florets; the partial one has five heart-inflected
unequal petals. The ftamina confift of five fimple fila-
ments, with roundish antheræ. The piftillum is a ger-
men beneath; with two reflected ftyli; the ftigmata
obtufe. There is no pericarpium; the fruit is ovate,
ftriated, and tripartite. The feeds are two, roundifh
and ftriated. There is but one fpecies, viz. the æthufa
ſynapium, fools-parſley, or leffer hemlock, (a native of
Britain), which grows in corn-fields and gardens. This
plant, from its reſemblance to common parſley, hath
fometimes been miſtaken for it; and when eaten, it oc-
cafions fickneſs. If the curled-leaved parfley only was
cultivated in our gardens, no fuch miſtakes would hap-
pen in future. Cows, horſes, ſheep, goats, and ſwine,
eat it. It is noxious to geefé.
AETIANS, in church-hiſtory, a branch of Arians
who maintained, that the Son and Holy Ghoft are in
all things diffimilar to the Father. See AETIUS.
ETIOLOGY, is that part of Pathology which is
employed in exploring the caufes of diſeaſes.
AETION, a celebrated painter, who has left us an
excellent picture of Roxana and Alexander, which he
exhibited at the Olympic Games: it repreſents a mag-
nificent chamber, where Roxana is fitting on a bed of
a moſt ſplendid appearance, which is rendered ftill
more brilliant by her beauty. She looks downwards,
in a kind of confufion, being ftruck with the prefence
of Alexander ſtanding before her. A number of little
Cupids flutter about, ſome holding up the curtain, as
if to fhow Roxana to the prince, whilft others are
bufied in undreffing the lady; fome pull Alexander by
the cloak, who appears like a young baſhtul bride-
groom, and prefent him to his miſtreſs: he lays his
crown at her feet, being accompanied by Epheftion,
who holds a torch in his hand, and leans upon a youth,
who repreſents Hymen. Several other little Cupids
are repreſented playing with his arms
fome carry his
lance, ftooping under fo heavy a weight; others bear
along his buckler, upon which one of them is feated,
whom the reft carry in triumph; another lies in am-
buſh in his armour, waiting to frighten the reft as they
pafs by. This picture gained Aetion fo much repu-
tation, that the prefident of the games gave him his
daughter in marriage.
ties.
ÆTITES, or EAGLE-STONE, in natural hiftory, a
flinty or cruftated ftone, hollow within, and contain-
ing a nucleus, which, on ſhaking, rattles within. It
was formerly in repute for ſeveral extraordinary magi-
cal as well as medical powers; fuch as preventing abor-
tion, difcovering thieves, and other ridiculous proper-
The word is formed from a«☺, “ eagle" the
popular tradition being, that it is found in the eagle's
neft, whither it is fuppofed to be carried while the fe-
male fits, to prevent her eggs from being rotten. It
is found in feveral parts: near Trevoux in France, one
can fcarce dig a few feet, without finding confiderable
frata or beds of the coarfer or ferruginous kind. They
are originally foft, and of the colour of yellow oaker.
But the fineſt and moſt valued of all the eagle-ſtones,
are accidental ftates of one or other of our common
pebbles.
AETIUS, one of the moft zealous defenders of
Arianifm, was born in Syria, and flouriſhed about the
year 336. After being fervant to a grammarian, of
VOL. I. Part I.
Ætna.
whom he learned grammar and logic, he was ordained Aetius,
deacon, and at length biſhop, by Eudoxus patriarch
of Conftantinople. St Epiphanius has preſerved 47 of
his propofitions against the Trinity. His followers
were called AETIANS.
AETIUS, a famous phyfician, born at Amida in Me-
fopotamia, and the author of a work intitled Tetrabi-
blos, which is a collection from the writings of thoſe
phyficians who went before him. He lived, accor
ding to Dr Freind, at the end of the 5th or the begin-
ning of the 6th century.
AETIUS, governor of Gallia Narbonenfis in the reign
of Valentinian III. forced the Franks who were paf-
fing into Gaul to repaſs the Rhine. He defeated the
Goths; and routed Attila king of the Huns, who in-
vaded Gaul with an army of 700,000 men.
But the
emperor, jealous of the merit of this great man, killed
him in 454 with his own hand, under the pretence
that he had permitted the invaſion of the Huns, after
Attila's defeat.
ÆTNA, (in the Itineraries Ethna, ſuppoſed from
alow," to burn"; according to Bochart, from Athuna,
a furnace, or Ætuna, darkneſs), now Monte Gibello: a
vulcano or burning mountain of Sicily, fituated in
lat. 38. N. long. 15°. E.
This mountain, famous from the remoteft antiquity,
both for its bulk and terrible eruptions, ftands in the
eaftern part of the iſland, in a very extenfive plain,
called Val Demoni, from the notion of its being inha-
bited by devils, who torment the ſpirits of the damned
in the bowels of this vulcano.
Concerning the dimenfions of mount Etna, we can inconfiftent
ſcarce extract any thing confiftent, even from the ac-accounts
counts of the lateſt and moſt ingenious travellers. Pin- concerning
the magni
dar, who lived about 435 years before Chriſt, calls it tude of Æt-
the Pillar of heaven, on account of its great height. na.
All modern writers likewiſe agree, that this mountain
is very high, and very large; but differ exceffively both
as to its height and magnitude: fome making it no leſs
than twelve miles high, others eight, others fix, fome
four, while Mr Brydone, and Sir William Hamilton,
who lately afcended to its higheft fummit, reduce its
height to little more than two miles; nay, by fome
it is reduced to 10,036 feet, fomewhat lefs than two
miles. No lefs remarkable are the differences concern-
ing its circumference: fome making it only 60 miles
round, others 100; and Signior Recupero, from whom
Mr Brydone had his information in this refpect, affirms
it to be no less than 183 miles in circuit.
pro-
map,
We are forry to detract from the merit of Mr Bry-
done, or to involve in obfcurity what he hath been at
fo much pains to elucidate; but every perſon who com-
pares the account of mount Etna's circumference, gi-
ven by Signior Recupero, and to which Mr Brydone
feems to have affented, with its apparent circumference -
on the map prefixed to that gentleman's tour through
Sicily and Malta, muft at once be ftruck with the
digious difparity. Indeed, it is plain, that, in the
the geographer hath not left room for any fuch moun-
tain; nor can we help thinking, that, by comparing
the diftances of fome of the Sicilian towns from one a-
nother, Signior Recupero's dimenfions will be found
enormouſly egaggerated.-Certain it is, that there the
geographer hath placed Catania, which ſtands at the
foot of mount Etna, on one fide, no more than 28
miles from the moft diftant point of the river Alcan-
E e
tara,
ÆT N
N
[ 218 ]
ÆT
Etna.
tara, which forms the boundary, on the oppofite fide;
ſo that a circle, whoſe radius is 14 or 15 miles, muſt
encompaſs as much ſpace as we can poffibly think is
occupied by the baſis of mount Etna. Thus we will
reduce the circumference of this famous mountain to
between 80 and 90 miles; and even when we do fo,
it muſt ſtill be acknowledged to be very great.
་
But if we are embarraſſed with the circumference of
Ætna, we are much more fo with the accounts relating
to its height; and one circumſtance, particularly, cre-
ates almoſt infurmountable difficulties. It is agreed
upon by all travelles, and among the reft by Sir William
Hamilton, that from Catania, where the aſcent firſt be
gius, to the fummit, is not leſs than 30 miles. The
defcent on the other fide we have no account of; but,
whatever fuppofition we make, the height of the moun-
tain must be prodigious. If we fuppofe it likewiſe to be
30 miles, and that mount Etna can be reprefented by
an equilateral triangle, each of whofe fides is 30 miles,
we will have an amazing elevation indeed, no lefs than
26 miles perpendicular!-Such a height being beyond
all credibility, we must contract the fides of our tri-
angle, in proportion to its bafis. We fhall begin with
allowing to miles for the difference between a ftraight
line from Catania to the fummit, and the length of
the road, occafioned by the inequalities of the moun-
tain; and ſuppoſing the defcent on the other fide to
be fomewhat ſhorter, we may call it 15 miles. Mount
Etna will now be reprefented by a ſcalene triangle,
whoſe baſe is 30 miles, its longeſt fide 20, and its
fhorteſt 15; from which proportions we will ftill find
Dimerfions its height to be betwixt eight and nine miles. This
uncertain. is ftill incredible; and when all the various relations
concerning the height of Ætna are compared, we hope
it will not be thought prefumptuous in us to give it as
our opinion, that the true dimenfions of this mountain
are as yet unknown. The following meaſures are given
by different authors:
General ap-
&c.
Height above the furface of the fea, 10,036 feet.
One hundred and eighty miles circumference at the
bafe.-Faujas de S. Fon in his Volcans du Vivarais.
Height 12,000 feet.-Brydone. Tour to Sicily.
Height 2500 toifes.-La Platrière, faid as from
Recupero.
Height 1950 toifes.-Diameter 30 miles.-Men-
telle Geogr. comp.
Others make its height only 2000 toifes, and its
fuperfices 300 fquare miles.
Concerning the products and general appearance of
pearance, this vulcano, authors are much better agreed. The
journey from Catania to its fummit has been lately
deferibed by three travellers, M. D'Orville, Mr Bry-
done, and Sir William Hamilton. All theſe agree,
that this fingle mountain affords an epitome of the dif-
ferent climates throughout the whole world: towards
the foot, it is very hot; farther up, more temperate;
and grows gradually more and more cold the higher we
afcend. At the very top, it is perpetually covered with
fnow: from thence the whole iſland is fupplied with that
article, ſo neceſſary in a hot climate, and without which
the natives fay, Sicily could not be inhabited. So great
is the demand for this commodity, that the biſhop's re-
venues, which are confiderable, ariſe from the fale of
mount Ætna's fnow; and he is faid to draw 1000l. a-
one fmall portion lying on the north fide of the
from
mountain. Great quantities of fnow and ice are like
year
* See Cold,
and Conge-
lution.
wife exported to Malta and Italy, making a confiderable Ætna.
branch of commerce. On the north fide of this fnowy
region, Mr Brydone was affured, that there are ſeveral
fmall lakes which never thaw; and that the fnow mixed
with the aſhes and falt of the mountain are accumulated
to a vaft depth. The quantity of falts contained in this
mountain, he, with great probability, conjectures to be
one reafon of the prefervation of its fnows; for falt in-
creafes the coldneſs of ſnow to a ſurpriſing degree*..
In the middle of the fnowy regions ftands the great
crater, or mouth of Etna; from which, though con-
trary to the ufual method of travellers, we ſhall begin
our particular account of this mountain. Sir William
Hamilton defcribes the crater as a little mountain,
about a quarter of a mile perpendicular, and very ſteep,
fituated in the middle of a gently inclining plain, of Crater de-
about nine miles in circumference. It is entirely form- ſcribed.
ed of ftones and afhes; and, as Mr Hamilton was in-
formed by feveral people of Catania, had been thrown
up about 25 or 30 years before the time (1769) he vi-
fited mount Etna. Before this mountain was thrown
up, there was only a prodigious large chafm, or gulph,
in the middle of the above-mentioned plain; and it
has been remarked, that about once in 100 years the
top of Ætna falls in; which undoubtedly muſt be the
cafe at certain periods, or the mountain behoved conti-
nually to increaſe in height. As this little mountain,
though emitting fmoke from every pore, appeared fo-
lid and firm, Mr Hamilton and his companions went up
to the very top. In the middle is a hollow, about two
miles and a half in circumference, according to Mr
Hamilton; three miles and a half, according to Mr
Brydone; and three or four, according to Mr D'Or-
ville. The infide is crufted over with falts and fulphur
of different colours. It goes fhelving down, from the
top, like an inverted cone; the depth, in Mr Hamil-
ton's opinion, nearly correfponding to the height of
the little mountain. From many places of this ſpace
iffue volumes of fulphureous fmoke, which being much
heavier than the circumambient air, inſtead of aſcend-
ing in it, roll down the fide of the mountain, till, co-
ming to a more denfe atmoſphere, it ſhoots off horizon-
tally, and forms a large tract in the air, according to the
direction of the wind; which, happily for our tra-
vellers, carried it exactly to the fide oppofite to which
they were placed. In the middle of this funnel is the
tremenduous and unfathomable gulph, ſo much cele-
brated in all ages, both as the terror of this life, and
From this gulph
the place of puniſhment in the next.
continually iffue terrible and confufed noifes, which in
eruptions are increaſed to ſuch a degree as to be heard
at a prodigious diftance. Its diameter is probably very
different at different times: for Mr Hamilton obfer-
ved, by the wind clearing away the fmoke from time
to time, that the inverted hollow cone was contracted
almoft to a point; while Mr D'Orville and Mr Bry-
done found the opening very large. Both Mr Bry-
done and Mr Hamilton found the crater too hot to
defcend into it; but Mr D'Orville was bolder: and
accordingly he and his fellow-traveller, faftened to
ropes which two or three men held at a diſtance for
fear of accidents, defcended as near as poffible to the
brink of the gulph; but the ſmall flames and ſmoke
which iffued from it on every fide, and a greeniſh ful-
phur, and pumice-ftones, quite black, which covered
the margin, would not permit them to come fo near
29
ÆT N
ÆTN
[
219 ]
Ætna.
Splendor of
the ſtar-
the top of
Etna.
as to have a full view. They only faw diſtinctly in
the middle, a maſs of matter which rofe, in the ſhape
of a cone, to the height of above 60 feet, and which
towards the baſe, as far as their fight could reach, might
be 600 or 800. While they were obſerving this fub-
ſtance, ſome motion was perceived on the north fide,
oppofite to that whereon they ſtood; and immediately
the mountain began to fend forth fmoke and afhes.
This eruption was preceded by a ſenſible increaſe of
its internal roarings; which, however, did not conti-
nue; but after a moment's dilatation, as if to give it
vent, the vulcano réfumed its former tranquillity; but
as it was by no means proper to make a long ſtay in
fuch a place, our travellers immediately returned to
their attendants.
On the fummit of mount Etna, Mr Hamilton ob-
ſerves, that he was fenfible of a difficulty in refpiration
from the too great fubtilty of the air, independent of
what aroſe from the fulphureous ſmoke of the moun-
tain. Mr Brydone takes no notice of this; which pro-
bably aroſe from the air being in a more rarefied ſtate
at the time of Mr Hamilton's obſervation than of Mr
Brydone's; the barometer, as obferved by the former,
ſtanding at 18 inches and 10 lines, by the latter at 19
inches 64 lines.
In theſe high regions there is generally a very vio-
lend wind, which, as all our travellers found it conftantly
blowing from the fouth, may poffibly be commonly di-
rected from that point. Here Mr Brydone's thermo-
meter fell to 27°.
The top of Ætna being above the common region
of vapours, the heavens appear with exceeding great
feen from fplendor.- Mr Brydone and his company obferved, as
they afcended in the night, that the number of ſtars
ſeemed to be infinitely increaſed, and the light of each
of them appeared brighter than ufual; the whitenefs of
the milky-way was like a pure flame which ſhot acroſs
the heavens; and, with the naked eye, they could ob-
ferve cluſters of ftars that were invifible from below.
Had Jupiter been viſible, he is of opinion that fome of
his fattellites might have been diſcovered with the naked
eye, or at leaſt with a very ſmall pocket-glafs. He like-
wife took notice of ſeveral of thoſe meteors called fall-
ing fters; which appeared as much elevated as when
viewed from the plain: a proof, according to Mr Bry-
done, that "theſe bodies move in regions much be-
"yond the bounds that fome philofophers have affign-
"ed to our atmoſphere."
Extenfive
To have a full and clear proſpect from the fummit
proſpect. of mount Ætna, it is neceffary to be there before fun-
rife; as the vapours raiſed by the fun, in the day-time,
will obfcure every object: accordingly, our travellers
took care to arrive there early enough; and all agree,
that the beauty of the profpect from thence cannot be
expreffed.-Here Mr Brydone and Mr Hamilton had a
view of Calabria in Italy, with the fea beyond it; the
Lipari iſlands, and Stromboli a vulcano at about 70
miles diftance, appeared juſt under their feet; the whole
iſland of Sicily, with its rivers, towns, harbours, &c.
appeared diſtinct, as if feen on a map. Maffa, a Sici-
lian author, affirms, that the African coaft, as well as
that of Naples, with many of its iſlands, have been dif-
covered from the top of Etna. The viſible horizon
here is not lefs than 8 or 900 miles in diameter. The
pyramidal ſhadow of the mountain reaches acroſs the
whole ifland, and fat into the fea on the other fide, form-
ing a viſible tract in the air, which, as the fun rifes a-
bove the horizon, is fhortened, and at laft confined to
the neighbourhood of Ætna. The moſt beautiful part
of the ſcene, however, in Mr Brydone's opinion, is the
mountain itſelf, the iſland of Sicily, and the numerous
iſlands lying round it. Theſe laſt ſeem to be cloſe to
the ſkirts of Etna; the diſtances appearing reduced to
nothing.
Ætna.
zones.
This mountain is divided into three zones, which Divifion in-
might properly enough be diſtinguiſhed by the names to three
of torrid, temperate, and frigid: they are, however,
known by the names of the Piedmontefe, or Regione cul-
ta, the cultivated, or fertile region; the Sylvofa, woody,
or temperate zone; and the Regione deferta, the frigid,
or defert zone, or region. All theſe are plainly diftin-
guiſhed from the fummit. The Regione deferta is mark- Regione
ed out by a circle of fnow and ice, which extends on all deferta.
fides to the diſtance of about eight miles, beginning at
the foot of the crater. Greateſt part of this region is
ſmooth and even. This is immediately fucceeded by
the Sylvofa, or woody region; which forms a circle of
the most beautiful green, furrounding the mountain on
all fides. This region is variegated with a vaſt number
of mountains of a conical form, thrown up by Etna in
thofe eruptions which burſt out from its fides. Mr Ha-
milton counted 44 on the Catania fide, each having its
crater, many with large trees flourishing both within
and without the crater. All theſe, except a few of late
date, have acquired a wonderful degree of fertility. The
circumference of this zone, or great circle, according to
Recupero, is not lefs than 70 or 80 miles. It is every-
where fucceeded by the Regione culta; which is much
broader than the reft, and extends on all fides to the
foot of the mountain. Here terrible devaſtations are
fometimes committed by the eruptions; and the whole.
region is likewife full of conical mountains thrown up
by them. The circumference of this region, is, by Re-
cupero, reckoned 183 miles; but we have already gi-
ven our reaſons for rejecting thefe dimenfions.
region is bounded by the fea to the ſouth and fouth-
eaſt; and on all other fides, by the river Semetus and
Alcantara, which form the boundaries of mount Ætna.
This
About a mile below the foot of the great crater, are
found the ruins of an ancient ftructure, called Il Torre 11 Torre del
del Filofofo, by ſome ſuppoſed to have been built by the Filofofo.
philofopher Empedocles, who took up his habitation
here, the better to ſtudy the nature of mount Ætna.
By others they are ſuppoſed to be ruins of a temple of
Vulcan. They are of brick, and ſeem to have been or-
namented with marble. Somewhere in this region alſo,
Mr D'Orville found a great oblong block of poliſhed
marble, eight or ten feet high, and three or four thick;
though how it came there, was quite unaccountable to
him. From Mr D'Orville's and Mr Brydone's accounts,,
we muſt reckon this part of the mountain pretty ſteep:
but Mr Hamilton fays, that the aſcent was fo gradual,
as not to be in the leaſt fatiguing; and had it not been
for the fnows, they might have rode on their mules to
the very foot of the crater.
The woody region deſcends eight or nine miles be- Regione
low the Regione deferta, but differs greatly in the tem- Sylvofa.
perature of its climate. Mr Hamilton obferved a gra-
dual decreaſe of the vegetation as he advanced; the
under part being covered with large timber trees, which
E e 2
grew
ÆT N
[220]
ÆTN
efteemed Sicilian authors, affirms that he has feen folid
oaks there upwards of 40 feet round All thefe grow
on a thick rich foil, which feems originally to have
been formed of afhes thrown out by the mountain. Here
the barometer ftood at 26 inches 5 lines and an half,
indicating an elevation of near 4000 feet.
Ætha. grew gradually lefs as he approached the third region,
at laft they degenerated into the fmall plants of the
northern climates. He alfo obferved quantities of ju
niper and tanfey; and was informed by his guide, that
later in the feafon (he vifited Ætna in June 1769) there
are a great many curious plants, and in fome places
rhubarb and ſaffron in great plenty. In Carrera's hi-
ftory of Catania, there is a lift of all the plants and
herbs of Ætna, in alphabetical order.
ter.
This region is extolled by Mr Brydone as one of the
moft delightful ſpots on earth. He lodged for a night
in a large cave near the middle, formed by one of the
moſt ancient lavas. It is called La Spelonca del Gapri-
ole, or the goats cavern; becauſe it is frequented by
thofe animals, which take refuge there in bad weather.
Here his reft was diſturbed by a mountain thrown up
in the eruption 1766. It diſcharged great quantities
of ſmoke, and made feveral exploſions like heavy can-
non fired at a diſtance; but they could obferve no ap-
pearance of fire.
This gentleman likewife vifited the eaftern fide of
the Regione fylvoſa, intending to have afcended that way
to the fummit, and defcended again on the ſouth fide
to Catania; but found it impracticable; though what
the infurmountable difficulties were, he does not men-
Eruption of tion. On this fide, part of the woody region was de-
boiling wa- ftroyed, in 1755, by an immenſe torrent of boiling wa-
ter, which iffued from the great crater. Its traces were
ftill very viſible, about a mile and an half broad, and
in fome places more. The foil was then only begin-
ning to recover its vegetative power, which it feems this
torrent had deſtroyed for 14 years.-Near this place are
fome beautiful woods of cork, and evergreen oak, grow.
ing abfolutely out of the lava, the foil having hardly
filled the crevices; and not far off, our traveller obfer-
ved feven little mountains that ſeemed to have been form
ed by a late eruption.. Each of theſe had a regular cup,
or crater, on the top; and, in fome, the middle gulph,
or Voragine, as the Sicilians call it, was ftill open.
Into thefe gulphs Mr Brydone tumbled down ftones,
and heard the noiſe for a long time after. All the
fields round, to a confiderable diftance, were covered
with large burnt ftones diſcharged from theſe little vul-
Overgrown
trees.
canoes.
The woody region, eſpecially the eaſt fide, called
cheftnut- Carpinetto, abounds with very large cheftnut-trees; the
moſt remarkable of which has been called, from its fize,
Caftagno de Cento Cavalli, or cheftnut-tree of an hun-
dred horſe. Mr Brydone was greatly difapppointed at
the fight of this tree, as it is only a buſh of five large
ones growing together: but his guides affured him, that
all theſe five were once united into one ftem; and Sig-
nior Recupero told him, that he himſelf had been at
the expence of carrying up peafants with tools to dig
round this buth of trees, and found all the ftems united
below ground in one root. The circumference, as mea-
fured by Meffrs Brydone and Glover who accompanied
him, amounted to 204 feet. Another of thefe, about a
mile and a half higher on the mountain, is called Caftag-
na del Galea: it rifes from one folid ftem to a confide-
rable height; after which it branches out, and is a much
finer object than the other: this was menfured two feet
above the ground, and found to be 76 feet in circum-
ference. A third, called Castagna del Nave, is pretty
ncarly of the fame fize; and Maffa, one of the moft
Ætna.
The Piedmonteſe diſtrict is covered with towns, vil-
Regione
lages, monafteries, &c. and is well peopled, notwith- Culta.
ſtanding the danger of fuch a fituation: but the ferti-
lity of the foil tempts people to inhabit that. country;
and their fuperftitious confidence in their faints, with
the propenfity mankind have to deſpiſe danger which
they do not fee, render them as fecure there as in any o-
ther place. Here, Sir William Hamilton obferves, they
keep their vines low, contrary to the cuſtom of thoſe
who inhabit mount Vefuvius; and they produce a
ftronger wine, but not in fuch abundance: here alfo
many terrible eruptions have burft forth; particularly
one in 1669. At the foot of the mountain raifed by Subterrane
that eruption, is a hole, through which Sir William ous caverns..
Hamilton defcended, by means of a rope, into ſeveral
fubterraneous caverns, branching out, and extending
much farther than he chofe to venture, the cold there
being exceffive, and a violent wind extinguiſhing ſome
of the torches. Many other caverns are known in this
and the other regions of Etna; particularly one near
this place called La Spelonca della Palomba, (from the
wild pigeons building their nefts there.) Here Mr
Brydone was told that fome people had lost their fenfes,
from having advanced too far, imagining they faw de--
vils and damned fpirits. Some of theſe caverns are
made ufe of as magazines for fnow; which they are
well adapted for, on account of their extreme cold.
Theſe are with great probability fuppofed by Sir Wil-
liam Hamilton to be the hollows made by the iſſuing
of the lava in eruptions.
In this region the river Acis, fo much celebrated by River Acise.
the poets, in the fable of Acis and Galatea, takes its
rife. It burfts out of the earth at once in a large ftream,
runs with great rapidity, and about a mile from its
fource throws itſelf into the fea. Its water is remark-
ably clear; and fo extremely cold, that it is reckoned
dangerous to drink it: it is faid, however, to ha. a
poifonous quality, from being impregnated with vitriol;
in confequence of which cattle have been killed by it.
It never freezes, but is faid often to contract a greater
degree of cold than ice.
Having thus given an account of this mountain in Appearan
its quiet and peaceable ftate, we muſt now defcribe the ces during
an eruption,
appearance it puts on during the time of an eruption,
when it fpreads deftruction for many miles round, and
is capable of ftriking the boldeft with terror..
Sir William Hamilton, who has examined both Ve-
fuvius and Etna in a very accurate manner, never had
an opportunity of feeing an eruption of the latter; but
as he is of opinion that the two vulcanoes agree per-.
fectly in all refpects, only that the latter is on a much
larger fcale than the former, we hope it will not be un--
acceptable to our readers to give an account of ſome.
of the general appearances of Vefuvius when in a ſtate
of eruption, the better to help their ideas, concerning.
Etna..
It has been already obferved, that a fmoke con-
ftantly iffues from the top of Ætna, and that its inter-
nal noifes never ceafe. The cafe is the ſame with Vefu-.
vius:
ÆTN
AT N
[221]
Ætna. vius: and Sir William Hamilton obferved, that in bad
weather the ſmoke was more confiderable, as well as
the noiſes much louder, than when it was fair; fo that
in bad weather he had frequently heard the inward ex-
plofions of the mountain at Naples fix miles diftant from
Vefuvius. He alſo obſerved the fmoke that iffued
from the mountain in bad weather to be very white,
moiſt, and not near ſo offenfive as the fulphureous fteams
from various cracks in the fide of the mountain.
Signs of an
ing erup-
tion.
Obferva-
The firſt ſymptom of an approaching eruption is an
approach increaſe of the fmoke in fair weather: after fome time,
a puff of black ſmoke is frequently feen to ſhoot up in
the midſt of the white, to a confiderable height. Theſe
puffs are attended with confiderable exploſions: for
Hamilton's while Vefuvius was in this ftate, Sir William Hamilton
went up
to its top, which was covered with fnow; and
tions, p.4. perceiving a little hillock of fulphur, about fix feet
high, which had been lately thrown up, and burnt with
a blue flame at the top, he was examining this pheno-
menon, when fuddenly a violent report was heard, a
column of black ſmoke fhot up with violence, and was
followed by a reddiſh flame. Immediately a fhower of
ftones fell; upon which he thought proper to retire.
Phenomena of this kind, in all probability, precede the
eruptions of Ætna in a much greater degree.-The
ſmoke at length appears wholly black in the day-time,
and in the night has the appearance of flame; fhowers
of aſhes are fent forth, earthquakes are produced, the
mountain difcharges volleys of red-hot ftones to a great
height in the air. The force by which theſe ftones
are projected, as well as their magnitudes, feems to be
in proportion to the bulk of the mountain. Signior
Recupero affured Mr Brydone, that he had feen im-
menfely large ones thrown perpendicularly upwards
to the height of 7000 feet, as he calculated from the
time they took to arrive at the earth after beginning
to defcend from their greateſt elevation. The largeſt
ſtone, or rather rock, that was ever known to be emit-
ted by Vefuvius, was 12 feet long and 45 in circum-
ference. This was thrown a quarter of a mile; but
much larger ones have been thrown out by mount Æt-
na, almoſt in the proportion in which the latter exceeds
Vefuvius in bulk. Along with theſe terrible fymp-
toms, the ſmoke that iffues from the crater is fome-
times in a highly electrified ftate. In this cafe, the
fmall afhes which are continually emitted from the cra-
ter, are attracted by the fmoke, and rife with it to a
great height, forming a vaſt black, and to appearance
denfe, ´column; from this column continual flaſhes of
Thunder & forked or zig-zag lightning iffue, fometimes attended
lightning with thunder, and fometimes not, but equally powerful
fmoke. with ordinary lightning. This phenomenon was ob-
ferved by Sir William Hamilton in the fmoke of Vefu-
vius, and has alſo been taken notice of in that of Et-
na; and where this electrified ſmoke hath ſpread over
a tract of land, much miſchief hath been done by the
lightning proceeding from it.
from the
When theſe dreadful appearances have continued
fometimes four or five months, the lava begins to make
its appearance. This is a ftream of melted mineral
matters, which in Vefuvius commonly boils over the
top, but very feldom does fo in Etna; owing to the
great weight of the lava, which long before it can be
raiſed to the vaft height of mount Etna, burſts out
through fome weak place in its fide. Upon the ap-
pearance of the lava, the violent eruptions of the moun-
tain generally, though not always, ceafe; for if this
burning matter gets not fufficient vent, the commo-
tions increaſe to a prodigious degree.—In the night-
time the lava appears like a ftream of fire, accompanied
with flame: but in the day-time it has no ſuch appear-
ance; its progrefs is marked by a white ſmoke, which
by the reflection of the red-hot matter in the night aſ-
ſumes the appearance of flame.
On
Ætna.
All the abovementioned fymptoms preceded the great Eruption in
eruption of Etna in 1669. For feveral months before 1669.
the lava broke forth, the old mouth, or great crater on
the fummit, was obſerved to fend forth great quantities
of fmoke and flame; the top had fallen in, fo that the
mountain was much lowered; the iſlands alſo of Volcan
and Stromboli, two volcanoes to the weftward of Sicily,
were obſerved to rage more than ufual.-Eighteen days
before the eruption, the fky was very thick and dark,
with thunder, lightning, frequent concuffions of the
earth, and dreadful fubterraneous bellowings.
the 11th of March, fome time before the lava got vent,
a rent was opened in the mountain twelve miles in
length, into which, when ftones were thrown down,
they could not be heard to ftrike the bottom. Burning
rocks, 60 palms (15 of our feet) in length, were thrown
to the diſtance of a mile; others of a leffer fize were
carried three miles off; the internal noifes of the moun-
tain were exceedingly dreadful, and the thunder and
lightning from the fmoke fcarce lefs terrible than
they. When the lava at laſt got vent, it burſt out of
a vineyard, 20 miles below the great crater, and ſprung
up into the air to a confiderable height. Here it formed
a mountain of ftones and aſhes, not lefs, as Sir Wi
Hamilton conjectures, than half a mile perpendicular
in height, and three miles in circumference. For 54
days neither fun nor ftars had appeared: but foon af-
ter the lava got vent, the mountain became very quiet.
The terrible effects of this fiery ſtream may be imagined
from its amazing extent; being, as Sir Wm Hamilton
obferves, no lefs than 14 miles long, and in many pla-
ces fix in breadth. In its courſe, it deftroyed the ha
bitations of near 30,000 perfons; and meeting with a
lake four miles in compafs, it not only filled it up,
though feveral fathom deep, but made a mountain in
the place of it. Having reached Catanea, it deftroyed
part of its walls, and ran for a confiderable length into
the fea, forming a ſafe and beautiful harbour; which,
however, was foon filled up by a freſh torrent of the
fame inflamed matter.
It is not eaſy for thoſe who have never been prefent Phenome-
at thofe terrible operations of nature, to reprefent to na at the
breaking
their minds the horror which must attend the breaking forth of the
forth of the lava; for though the giving vent to this lava.
burning matter generally produces a ceffation of the
violent efforts of the internal fire, yet at the very in-
ftant of its exploſion ſcarce any thing can be conceived
fo dreadful. See VESUVIUS.
m
1
When the lava firft iffues, it appears very fluid, and Hamilton's
runs with the rapidity of a fwift river; but even then it obſerva-
ſurpriſingly refifts the impreffion of folid bodies: for Sir tions, p. 10.
Win Hamilton could not pierce that of Vefuvius with a
ſtick driven againſt it with all his force; nor did the
largeft ftone he was able to throw upon it fink, but made
a flight impreffion, and then floated along. This hap-
pened almoft at the very mouth, when the lava appear-
Ee 3
ed
ÆTN
[222]
ÆT N
Lava of
bed.
Etna. ed liquid as water, and when he faw it running with a
rapidity equal to the river Severn at the paffage near
Briſtol.-A deſcription of the lava iffuing from mount
Ætna in 1669 was fent to the court of England by
Lord Winchelſea, who at that time happened to be at
Catania in his way home from an embaſſy at Conſtanti-
nople. His account is not now to be procured; but
Mr Hamilton found a copy in Sicily, and hath given
an extract, part of which follows. "When it was
1669 defcri- night, I went upon two towers in divers places; and I
could plainly fee, at ten miles diftance, as we judged,
the fire begin to run from the mountain in a direct line,
the flame to afcend as high and as big as one of the
greateft fteeples in your Majefty's kingdoms, and to
throw up great ftones into the air; I could difcern the
river of fire to defcend the mountain of a terrible fiery
or red colour, and ftones of a paler red to ſwim there-
on, and to be fome as big as an ordinary table. We
could fee this fire to move in feveral other places, and
all the country covered with fire, afcending with great
flames in many places, fmoking like to a violent fur-
nace of iron melted, making a noife with the great
pieces that fell, efpecially thofe that fell into the fea.
A cavalier of Malta, who lives there, and attended me,
told me, that the river was as liquid, where it iffues
out of the mountain, as water, and came out like a
torrent with great violence, and is five or fix fathom
deep, and as broad, and that no ftones fink therein."
The account given in the Philoſophical Tranfactions
is to the fame purpofe. We are there told, that the
lava is "nothing elſe than diverſe kinds of metals and
minerals, rendered liquid by the fiercenefs of the fire
in the bowels of the earth, boiling up and gufhing
forth as the water doth at the head of fome great ri-
ver; and having run in a full body for a ſtone's caft
or more, began to cruft or curdle, becoming, when
cold, thofe hard porous ftones which the people call
Sciarri." Thofe, though cold in compariſon of what
firſt iſlues from the mountain, yet retained fo much heat
as to reſemble huge cakes of fea-coal ſtrongly ignited,
and came tumbling over one another, bearing down or
burning whatever was in their way. In this manner
the lava proceeded flowly on till it came to the fea,
when a moſt extraordinary conflict enfued betwixt the
two adverſe elements. The noife was vaſtly more
dreadful than the loudeft thunder, being heard thro'
the whole country to an immenfe diſtance; the water
feemed to retire and diminish before the lava, while
clouds of vapour darkened the fun. The whole fish on
the coaft were deftroyed, the colour of the fea itſelf
was changed, and the tranſparency of its waters loft for
many months.
While this lava was iffuing in fuch prodigious quan-
tity, the merchants, whofe account is recorded in the
Philofophical Tranſactions, attempted to go up to the
mouth itſelf; but durft not come nearer than a furlong,
left they ſhould have been overwhelmed by a vaſt pil-
lar of afhes, which to their apprehenfion exceeded twice
the bignefs of St Paul's fteeple in London, and went
up into the air to a far greater height; at the mouth
itſelf was a continual noife, like the beating of great
waves of the ſea againſt rocks, or like diſtant thunder,
which fometimes was fo violent as to be heard 60, or
even 100 miles off; to which diftance alſo part of the
aſhes were carried. Some time after, having gone up,
'
they found the mouth from whence this terrible deluge Erna.
iffued to be only a hole about to feet diameter. This
is alſo confirmed by Mr Brydone; and is probably the
fame through which Sir W Hamilton defcended into whence the
the fubterranean caverns already mentioned.
Diameter
of the hole
lava iffued.
tions.
Mount Etna, as we have already remarked, has Antiquity
been a celebrated volcano from the remoteft antiquity, of the erup-
Diodorus Siculus mentions eruptions of it as happening
500 years before the Trojan war, or 1693 years before
the Chriftian æra. From Homer's filence with regard
to the phenomenon of Ætna, it is to be prefumed that
the volcano had been many ages in a ſtate of inactivity,
and that no tradition of its burning remained among
the inhabitants at the time he compofed his Odyſſey;
perhaps it never had emitted flames fince the country
was peopled. The firft eruption taken notice of by an-
cient, but by no means cotemporary authors, happened
before the Greeks landed on the iſland, and is fuppofed
to have ſcared the Sicani from the eaſt part of Sicily.
Pindar, quoted above, is the oldeft writer extant who
ſpeaks of Ætna as a volcano. The firft recorded erup-
tion was in the time of Fythagoras. Plato was invited
by the younger Dyonifius to examine the ftate of the
mountain after the fixth. It threw up flames and lava
near an hundred times between that period and the
battle of Pharfalia; it was particularly furious while
Sextus Pompeius was adding the horrors of war to its
devaftations. Charlemagne happened to be at Catania
during one of the eruptions; and from his reign the
chronicles mention fifteen down to that of the year
1669, the moſt terrible of them all. Since 1669 there
have been feveral eruptions, but none of them compa-
rable to it. In that which happened in 1766, the lava
fprung up into the air to a confiderable height, twelve
miles below the fummit; but formed a ſtream only fix
miles in length and one mile in breadth.
The laft eruption happened in 1787. From the 1ft Account of
to the 10th of July, there were figns of its approach. the late e-
On the 11th, after a little calm, there was a fubterra- ruption,
1787.
neous noife, like the found of a drum in a cloſe place,
and it was followed by a copious burſt of black ſmoke.
It was then calm till the 15th, when the fame progno-
ftics recurred. On the 17th, the fubterraneous noife
was heard again; the ſmoke was more abundant, flight
fhocks of an earthquake followed, and the lava flowed
from behind one of the two little mountains which form
the double head of Etna. On the 18th, while the
fpectators were in anxious expectation of a more fevere
eruption, all was quiet, and continued fo more than
12 hours: foon after they perceived fome new ſhocke,
accompanied with much noife; and the mountain threw
out a thick fmoke, which, as the wind was wefterly,
foon darkened the eaſtern horizon: two hours after-
wards a fhower of fine black brilliant fand defcended:
on the eaſt fide it was a ſtorm of ſtones; and, at the
foot of the mountain, a deluge of flaſhes of fire, of
fcoria and lava.
Theſe appearances continued the whole day; at the
fetting of the fun the ſcene changed. A number of
conical flames rofe from the volcano; one on the north,
another on the fouth, were very confpicuous, and rofe
and fell alternately. At three in the morning, the
mountain appeared cleft, and the fummit ſeemed a burn-
ing maſs. The cones of light which aroſe from the
crater were of an immenfe extent, particularly the two
juſt
ÆT N
[ 223 ]
AFF
tried many experiments on it; from whence he con- Etolarcha
cluded, that this falt is fo far from occaſioning the ex-
ploſions of that mountain, as fome have fuppofed, that
it does not exift in it, but is formed during the burn-
ing. Phil. Tranf. N' 100.
ETOLARCHA, in Grecian antiquity, the prin-
cipal magiftrate or governor of the Ætolians.
Atna. just mentioned. The two heads feemed to be cut away;
Etna falt. and at their feparation was a cone of flame, feemingly
compofed of many leffer cones. The flame feemed of
the height of the mountain placed on the mountain ;
fo that it was probably two miles high, on a bafe of a
mile and a half in diameter. This cone was ftill co-
vered with a very thick fmoke, in which there appear-
ed very brilliant flashes of lightning, a phenomenon
which Etna had not before afforded. At times, founds
like thoſe from the explofion of a large cannon were
heard feemingly at a lefs diftance than the mountain.
From the cone, as from a fountain, a jet of many fla-
ming volcanic matters were thrown, which were car-
ried to the diſtance of fix or feven miles: from the
baſe of the cone a thick ſmoke aroſe, which, for a mo-
ment, obſcured fome parts of the flame, at the time
when the rivers of lava broke out. This beautiful ap-
pearance continued three quarters of an hour. It be-
gan the next night with more force; but continued
only half an hour. In the intervals, however, Etna
continued to throw out flames, fmoke, ftones ignited,
and ſhowers of fand. From the 20th to the 22d, the
The ſtream of lava was
appearances gradually ceaſed.
carried towards Bronte and the plain of Lago.
After the eruption, the top of the mountain on the
weſtern fide was found covered with hardened lava,
fcoria, and tones. The travellers were annoyed by
fmoke, by fhowers of fand, mephitic vapours, and ex-
ceffive heat. They faw that the lava which came from
the weſtern point divided into two branches, one of
which was directed towards Libeccio; the other, as we
have already faid, towards the plain of Lago. The lava
on the western head of the mountain, had from its va-
rious ſhapes been evidently in a ſtate of fuſion: from
one of the fpiracula, the odour was ftrongly that of li
ver of fulphur. The thermometer, in defcending, was
at 40 degrees of Farenheit's fcale; while near the
lava, in the plain of Lago, it was 140 degrees. The
lava extended two miles; its width was from 13 to
21 feet, and its depth 13 feet.
Theſe are the moſt remarkable circumſtances we have
been able to collect, that might ferve to give an ade-
quate idea of this famous mountain.-Many things,
however, concerning the extent, antiquity, &c. of the
lavas, remain to be difcuffed, as well as the opinions of
philofophers concerning the origin of the internal fire
which produces fo much mischief: but the confideration
of thefe belongs to the general article VOLCANO, to
which the reader is referred.-The fate of Catania and
Hybla, which have often been deſtroyed by eruptions,
will be mentioned under thefe two words.
+
ÆETNA falt, Sal Etɛæ, a name given by fome au-
thors to the fal ammoniac, which is found on the fur-
face and fides of the openings of Ætna, and other
burning mountains after their eruptions; and fome-
times on the furface of the ferruginous matter which
they throw out. This falt makes a very various ap-
-pearance in many cafes; it is fometimes found in large
and thick cakes, fometimes only in form of a thin
powder, fcattered over the furface of the earth and
ftones. Some of this falt is yellow, fome white, and
fome greeniſh. This falt is a concrete of nitre, fulphur,
and vitriol, burnt and fublimed together; Borelli found
once a vaſt quantity of this falt on mount Etna, and
•
AFER (Domitius), a famous orator, born at Niſ-
mes, flouriſhed under Tiberius and the three fucceed-
ing emperors. Quintilian makes frequent mention of
him, and commends his pleadings. But he difgraced
his talents, by turning informer againſt ſome of the moſt
diftinguished perfonages in Rome. Quintilian, in his
youth, cultivated the friendſhip of Domitius very affi-
duouſly. He tells us that his pleadings abounded with
pleaſant ſtories, and that there were public collections
of his witty fayings, fome of which he quotes. He
alfo mentions two books of his " On Witneſſes." Do-
mitius was once in great danger from an inſcription he
put upon a ftatue erected by him in honour of Cali-
gula, wherein he declared that this prince was a ſecond
time a conful at the age of 27. This he intended as
an encomium, but Caligula taking it as a ſarcaſm up-
on his youth, and his infringement of the laws, raiſed
a proceſs againſt him, and pleaded himſelf in perſon.
Domitius, inftead of making a defence, repeated part
of the emperor's ſpeech with the higheſt marks of ad-
miration; after which he fell upon his knees, and, beg-
ging pardon, declared, that he dreaded more the elo-
quence. of Caligula than his imperial power.
This
piece of flattery fucceeded fo well, that the emperor
not only pardoned, but alſo raiſed him to the conful-
fhip. Afer died in the reign of N.ro, A. D. 59.
AFFA, a weight uſed on the Gold Coaſt of Gui-
nea. It is equal to an ounce, and the half of it is cal-
led eggeba. Moſt of the blacks on the Gold Coaſt give
thefe names to thoſe weights.
Affection.
* See Moral
Part I. fec. i.
AFFECTION, in a general fenſe, implies an at-
tribute infeparable from its fubject. Thus magnitude,
figure, weight, &c. are affections of all bodies; and
love, fear, hatred, &c. are affections of the mind *.
AFFECTION, fignifying a fettled bent of mind toward Philofopby,
a particular being or thing, occupies a middle ſpace.
between difpofition on the one hand, and paffion on the
other t. It is diftinguiſhable from Difpofition, which † See Difpo
being a branch of one's' nature, originally, muft exiftition, and
Paſſion
before there can be an opportunity to exert it upon any
particular object; whereas Affection can never be ori-
ginal, becauſe, having a ſpecial relation to a particular
object, it cannot exift till the object have once at leaſt
been preſented. It is alſo diſtinguiſhable from Paffion,
which, depending on the real or ideal prefence of its
object, vanishes with its object: whereas Affection is a
lafting connection; and, like, other connections, ſubſiſts
even when we do not think of the perfon. A familiar
example will illuftrate this. There may be in one per-
fon's mind a difpofition to gratitude, which, through
want of an object, happens never to be exerted; and
which therefore is never diſcovered even by the perfon
himfelf. Another, who has the fame difpofition, meets
with a kindly office that makes him grateful to his bene-
factor: An intimate connection is formed between them,
termed affection: which, like other connections, has ſa
permanent exiſtence, though not always in view, The
}
-
af
AFF
[ 224
]
A F F
1
cubine, and the action of Ammon with his fifter Ta- Affinity
mar; and that of Herod-Antipas, who married He-
rodias his fifter-in-law, his brother Philip's wife, while
her huſband was yet living.
Affection affection, for the moft part, lies dormant, till an oppor-
tunity offer for exerting it: in that circumftance, it is
Affinity.
converted into paffion of gratitude; and the opportu-
nity is eagerly feized of teftifying gratitude in the
warmest manner.
AFFECTION, among phyficians,. fignifies the fame
as diſeaſe. Thus the hysteric affection is the fame with
the hysteric diſeaſe.
AFFERERS, or AFFERORS, in law, perfons ap-
pointed in court-leets, courts-baron, &c. to ſettle, upon
oath, the fines to be impofed upon thoſe who have been
guilty of faults arbitrarily punifhable.
AFFETUOSO, or Con AFFETTO, in the Italian
mufic, intimates that the part to which it is added ought
to be played in a tender moving way, and confequently
rather flow than faft.
AFFIANCE, in law, denotes the mutual plight-
ing of troth between a man and woman to marry each
other.
AFFIDAVIT, fignifies an oath in writing, fworn
before fome perfon who is authoriſed to take the fame.
AFFINITY, among civilians, implies a relation con-
tracted by marriage; in contradiftinction to confangui-
nity, or relation by blood.-Affinity does not found any
real kinſhip; it is no more than a kind of fiction, intro-
duced on account of the cloſe relation between huſband
and wife. It is even ſaid to ceafe when the cauſe of it
ceaſes: hence a woman who is not capable of being a
witneſs for her huſband's brother during his lifetime,
is allowed for a witnefs when a widow, by reaſon the
affinity is diffolved. Yet with regard to the contract-
ing marriage, affinity is not diffolved by death, though
it be in every thing elſe.
་
There are feveral degrees of affinity, wherein mar-
riage was prohibited by the law of Mofes: thus, the
fon could not marry his mother, nor his father's wife
(Lev. xviii. 7. et feq.): the brother could not marry
his fifter, whether he were fo by the father only or
by the mother only, and much lefs if ſhe was his fifter
both by the fame father and mother: the grandfather
could not marry his grand-daughter, either by his fon
or daughter. No one could marry the daughter of his
father's wife; nor the fifter of his father or mother.
Nor the uncle his niece; nor the aunt her nephew.
Nor the nephew the wife of his uncle by the father's
fide. The father-in-law could not marry his daugh-
ter-in-law: nor the brother the wife of his bro-
ther, while living; nor even after the death of his
brother, if he left children. If he left no children,
the furviving brother was to raiſe up children to his
deceaſed brother, by marrying his widow. It was for
bidden to marry the mother and the daughter at one
time, or the daughter of the mother's fon, or the
daughter of her daughter, or two fifters together. It
is true the patriarchs before the law married their
fifters, as Abraham married Sarah, who was his father's
daughter by another mother; and two fifters together,
as Jacob married Rachel and Leah; and their own
fifters by both father and mother, as Seth and Cain.
But theſe cafes are not to be propoſed as examples:
becauſe in fome they were authoriſed by neceffity; in
others by cuſtom; and the law as yet was not in being.
If fome other examples may be found, either before
ór fince the law, the fcripture expreſsly diſapproves of
them, as Reuben's inceſt with Balah his father's con-
N° 6
5
AFFINITY is alſo uſed to denote conformity or agree-
ment: Thus we fay, the affinity of languages, the af-
finity of words, the affinity of founds, &c.
AFFINITY, OF ELECTIVE ATTRACTION, are terms
ufed by modern chemifts to exprefs that peculiar pro-
penſity which different ſpecies of matter have to unite
and combine with certain other bodies exclufively, or
in preference to any other connection.
AFFIRMATION, in logic, the afferting the truth
of any propoſition.
AFFIRMATION, in law, denotes an indulgence allow-
ed to the people called Quakers; who, in cafes where
an oath is required from others, may make a folemn af-
firmation that what they fay is true; and if they make
a falſe affirmation, they are fubject to the penalties of
perjury. But this relates only to oaths taken to the
government, and on civil occafions; for Quakers are
not permitted to give their teftimony in any criminal
cafe, &c.
AFFIRMATION is alſo uſed for the ratifying or con-
firming the fentence or decree of fome inferior court:
Thus we fay, the houſe of lords affirmed the decree of
the lord chancellor, or the decree of the lords of feffion.
AFFIRMATIVE, in grammar. Authors diſtin-
guiſh affirmative particles; fuch is, yes.-The term
affirmative is fometimes alfo ufed fubftantively. Thus
we ſay, the affirmative is the more probable fide of the
queftion: there were fo many votes, or voices, for the
affirmative.
AFFIX, in grammar, a particle added at the cloſe
of a word, either to diverfify its form or alter its figni-
fication. We meet with affixes in the Saxon, the Ğer-
man, and other northern languages; but more efpecially
in the Hebrew, and other oriental tongues. The He-
brew affixes are fingle fyllables, frequently ſingle letters,
fubjoined to nouns and verbs; and contribute not a little
to the brevity of that language. The oriental languages
are much the fame as to the radicals, and differ chiefly
from each other as to affixes and prefixes.
AFFLATUS, literally denotes a blaft of wind,
breath, or vapour, flriking with force againſt another
body. The word is Latin, formed from ad "to," and
flare" to blow." Naturalifts fometimes ſpeak of the
afflatus of ferpents. Tully ufes the word figuratively,
for a divine inſpiration; in which fenfe, he afcribes all
great and eminent accompliſhments to a divine afflatus.
The Pythian prieſteſs being placed on a tripod or per-
forated ſtool, over a holy cave, received the divine
afflatus, as a late author expreffes it, in her belly; and
being thus infpired, fell into agitations, like a phrene-
tic; during which the pronounced, in hollow groans
and broken fentences, the will of the deity. This af
flatus is fuppofed, by fome, to have been a fubterra-
neous fume, or exhalation, wherewith the prieſteſs was
literally inſpired. Accordingly, it had the effects of
a real phyſical diſeaſe; the paroxyfm of which was fo
vehement, that Plutarch obſerves it ſometimes proved
mortal. Van Dale fuppofes the pretended enthuſiaſm
of the Pythia to have arifen from the fumes of aro-
matics.
AFFLICTION, is not itſelf, in propriety of medi-
cal
Affliction.
A FR
[ 225 ]
AFR
Afforage cal fpeech, a difeafe, but it produces many for what
ever excites envy, anger, or hatred, produces difeafes
from tenſe fibres; as whatever excites fear, grief, joy,
or delight, begets diſeaſes from relaxation.
။
Africa,
AFFORAGE, in the French cuſtoms, a duty paid
to the lord of a diftrict, for permiffion to fell wine, or
other liquors, within his feignory. Afforage is alfo
ufed for the rate or price of provifions laid and fixed by
the provoft or ſheriffs of Paris.
AFFORESTING, AFFORESTATIO, the turning
ground into foreſt. The Conqueror, and his fuccef-
fors, continued afforefting the lands of the fubject for
many reigns; till the grievance became fo notorious,
that the people of all degrees and denominations were
brought to fue for relief; which was at length obtain-
ed, and commiffions were granted to furvey and pe-
rambulate the foreſt, and ſeparate all the new afforeſted
lands, and re-convert them to the uſes of their proprie-
tors, under the name and quality of purlieu or pouralle
·land.
AFFRAY, or AFFRAYMENT, in law, formerly fig-
nified the crime of affrighting other perfons, by ap-
pearing in unuſual armour, brandishing a weapon, &c.
but, at preſent, affray denotes a ſkirmiſh or fight be
tween two or more.
AFFRONTEE, in heraldry, an appellation given
to animals facing one another on an efcutcheon; a kind
of bearing which is otherwife called confrontee, and
ftands oppoſed to adoffee.
AFFUSION, the act of pouring fome fluid fub-
ftance on another body. Dr Grew gives feveral expe-
riments of the luctation arifing from the affufion of
divers menftruums on all forts of bodies. Divines and
church hiſtorians ſpeak of baptifm by affuſion; which
amounts to much the fame with what we now call
Sprinkling.
AFRANIUS, a Latin poet, who wrote comedies
in imitation of Menander, çommended by Tully and
Quintilian he lived in the 170th olympiad.
AFRICA (according to Bochart, from a Punic
word, fignifying Ears of Corn); one of the four great
divifions, by the moderns called quarters, of the world,
and one of the three called by the Greeks Haapos, or
continents. By them it was alſo called Libya.
Africa lies fouth of Europe, and weft of Afia. It is
bounded on the north by the Mediterranean, which fe-
parates it from the former; on the north-eaſt, by the
Red Sea, which divides it from Afia, and to which it is
attached by a neck of land called the Ifthmus of Suez,
about 60 miles over, feparating the Mediterranean from
the Red Sea. On the weft, fouth, and eaft, it is bound-
ed by the main ocean: fo that it is properly a vaft
peninfula, bearing fome faint refemblance of a pyra-
mid, the bafe of which is the northern part, running a-
long the fhores of the Mediterranean; and the top of
the pyramid is the moſt ſoutherly point, called the Cape
of Good Hope. Its greateſt length from north to fouth is
4300 miles, and its greateſt breadth from east to west
is 3500 miles; reaching from Lat. 37° N. to 35° S.
and from Long. 170 W. to 500 E.
Though the greateſt part of this continent hath been
in all ages unknown both to the Europeans and Afia-
tics, its fituation is more favourable than either Europe
or Afia for maintaining an intercourfe with other na-
tions. It ftand, as it were, in the centre of the three
VOL. I. Part I.
other quarters of the globe; and has thereby a much.
nearer communication with Europe, Afia, and Ame-
rica, than any one of theſe has with another. For, (1.)
It is oppofite to Europe in the Mediterranean, for al-
moft 1000 miles in a line from eat to weft; the dif-
tance feldom 100 miles, never 100 leagues, and fome-
times not above 20 leagues. (2.) It is oppoſite to
Afia for all the length of the Red Sea, the diſtance fome-
times not exceeding five leagues, feldom fifty. (3.) Its
coaft for the length of about 2ooo miles lies oppofite
to America at the diſtance of from 500 to 700 leagues,
including the iſlands: whereas America, unleſs where
it may be a terra incognita, is no where nearer Europe
than 1000 leagues; and Afia, than 2500.
As the equator divides this continent almoſt in the
middle, the far greateſt part of it is within the tro-
pics; and of confequence the heat in fome places is al
molt infupportable by Europeans, it being there great-
ly increafed by vaft deferts of burning fand.-It can-
not be doubted, however, that, were the country well
cultivated, it would be extremely fertile; and would
produce in great abundance not only the neceffaries,
but alſo the luxuries, of life. It has been afferted, that
the fugars of Barbadoes and Jamaica, as alfo the gin-
ger, cotton, rice, pepper, pimento, cocoa, indigo,
&c. of theſe iſlands, would thrive in Africa to as much
perfection as where they are now produced. Nor can
it be doubted, that the Eaft Indian ſpices, the tea of
China and Japan, the coffee of Mocha, &c. would all
thrive in fome parts of the African coaft; as this con-
tinent has the advantage of feeling no cold, the climate
being either very warm or very temperate.
Whatever may be the caſe with the internal parts of
Africa, it is certain that its coafts are well watered
with many very confiderable rivers. The Nile and the
Niger may be reckoned among the largeſt in any part
of the world, America excepted. The firft diſcharges
itſelf into the Mediterranean, after a prodigious courfe
from its fource in Abyffinia. The origin neither of
the Nile, nor of the Niger, is certainly known; but that
of the latter is fuppofed to run through a tract of land
little lefs than 3000 miles. Both theſe rivers annually
overflow their banks, fertilizing by_that_means the
countries through which they pafs. The Gambia and
Senegal rivers are only branches of the Niger. Many
vaft ridges of mountains alfo run through different parts
of this continent; but their extent is very little known.
Some of the moſt remarkable are, (..) Thoſe called
Atlas, lying between the 20th and 25th degree of north
latitude, and fuppofed almoft to divide the continent
from eaft to weft. (2.) The mountains of the moon, ſo
called on account of their great height; fuppofed to
be the boundaries between Abyffinia and fome of the
interior kingdoms. (3.) The mountains of Sierra
Leona, fo called on account of their abounding with
lions, and likewiſe ſuppoſed to be the boundaries of
fome of the nations. (4.) Thofe called by the ancients
the mountains of God, on account of their being fub-
ject to perpetual thunder and lightning. Of all theſe,
however, little more is known than their names.
To what we have already faid concerning the pro-
duce of Africa, we may add, that no part of the world
abounds with gold and filver in a greater degree. Here
alfo are a prodigious number of elephants; and it is
furprifing, that neither the ancient nor modern Euro-
F f
peans,
Africa.
}
AFR
[226]
AFR
Africa.
peans, notwithſtanding their extravagant and infatiable the former was annihilated by Alexander's conqueft of Africa..
thirft after gold and filver, ſhould have endeavoured to Tyre, and the empire of the latter was overturned by
eſtabliſh themſelves effectually in a country much nearer
the Romans.
to them than either America or the East Indies; and
where the objects of their defire are found in equal, if
not greater, plenty.
Next to gold and filver, copper is the moſt valuable
metal; and on this continent is found in great plenty,
infomuch that the mountains of Atlas above mentioned
are faid all to be compofed of copper ore. In short,
Africa, though a full quarter of the globe, ftored with
an inexhauſtible treaſure, and capable of producing al-
moſt every neceffary, conveniency, and luxury of life,
within itſelf, feems to be utterly neglected both by its
own inhabitants and all other nations: the former,
being in a favage ftate, are incapable of enjoying the
bleffings offered them by nature; and the latter taking
no farther notice of the inhabitants, or their land, than
to obtain at the eaſieſt rate what they procure with as
little trouble as poffible, or to carry them off for flaves
to their plantations in America.
Only a ſmall part of this continent was known to
the ancients, viz. the kingdom of Egypt, and the nor-
thern coaft, comprehending little more than what is
now known by the name of Barbary. It was divided
into Africa Propria, and Africa Interior. Africa Pro-
pria comprehended only the Carthaginian territories.
Africa Interior comprehended all other nations to the
fouthward of theſe ferritories, or thofe at a greater di-
ftance from Rome. The only kingdoms, however,
with which the Romans had any connection, were the
Numidians, the Mauritanians, and the Gætuli. All
thefe, as well as Egypt, were fwallowed up by that
enormous power, and reduced to the condition of Ro-
man provinces. But the Romans never ſeem to have
penetrated beyond the tropic of cancer. There appears,
indeed, to have been fome intercourfe between them
and the Ethiopians: but the latter always preſerved
their liberty; and we find their queen Candace men-
tioned in the times of the apoftles, when the Roman
power was at its higheſt pitch.
Between the tropic of cancer and the equinoctial
line, a multitude of favage nations were fuppofed to
have their refidence, known by the names of Melano-
gætuli, Nigritæ, Blemmyes, Dolopes, Aftacuri, Lo-
tophagi, Ichthyophagi, Elephantophagi, &c. (which
are taken notice of, as well as the others already men-
tioned, under their proper names); but that Africa
was a peninſula, feems to have been totally unknown
both to the Europeans and Afiatics for many ages.
It is probable indeed, that fome of the Phenicians, and
their offspring the Carthaginians, were not fo ignorant;
as they carried navigation to a much greater height
than either the Greeks or Romans: but their diſcove-
ries were all concealed with the greateſt care, left other
nations fhould reap the benefit of them; and accord-
ingly we can now find no authentic accounts concern-
ing them. The navigation round Africa, in particular,
is recorded by the Greek and Roman writers rather as
a ſtrange amuſing tale than as a real tranfaction; and
as neither the progreſs of the Phenician and Carthagi-
nian diſcoveries, nor the extent of their navigation, were
communicated to the reſt of mankind, all memorials of
their extraordinary ſkill in naval affairs ſeem in a great
meafure to have perifhed, when the maritime power of
J.
That the peninfula of Africa, however, was in
reality failed round by the Phenicians, we have on
indifputable authority; for fome of that nation un-
dertook the voyage, at the command of Necho king
of Egypt, about 604 years before the Chriftian æra.
They failed from a port in the Red-fea, and after
three years returned by the Mediterranean: and the
very objections that were made to the veracity of their
accounts at that time, are unanfwerable proofs to us
that this voyage was really accomplished. They pre-
tended, that, having failed for fome time, the fun be-
came more and more vertical, after which he appeared
in the north, and feemed to recede from them: that
as they returned, the fun gradually ſeemed to move
fouthwards; and, after becoming vertical once more,
appeared then in the fouth fide of them as before they
fet out. This, which we know muſt certainly have been
the cafe, was deemed incredible at that time, and uni-
verfal ignorance concerning the extent of this continent
prevailed till the 15th century. The first attempts to-
wards attaining a knowledge of Africa was made by
the Portugueſe in 1412. Notwithſtanding their vici-
nity, they had never ventured beyond Cape Non, ſituated
in about N. lat. 270.: it had received its name from a
fuppofed impoffibility of paffing it. This year they
proceeded 160 miles farther, to Cape Bojador; which
ftretching a confiderable way into the Atlantic ocean,
with rocky clifts, appeared fo dreadful to the naviga-
tors, that they returned without any attempt to pafs
it. In an attempt to double this formidable cape,
they difcovered the Madeira iſlands in 1419: but Cape
Bojador continued to be the boundary of their conti-
nental difccveries till 1433; when they penetrated
within the tropics, and in a few years difcovered the
river Senegal, Cape de Verd, and the iſlands which lie
off that promontory. In 1449, the weſtern iſlands,
called the Azores, were diſcovered: and in 1471, they
firſt penetrated beyond the line; and were furpriſed to
find, that the torrid zone, contrary to the opinion of
the ancients, who imagined it to be burnt up with
heat, was not only habitable, but fertile and populous..
In 1484, they proceeded 1500 miles beyond the line
fo that they began to entertain hopes of finding that
way a paffage to the Eaft Indies: and two years after-
wards, the Cape of Good Hope was diſcovered by Bar--
tholomew de Diaz; but it was not till the year 1497,
that the Portugueſe, under Vafquez de Gama, actually
doubled this cape, and diſcovered the true fhape of the
continent. Thus the coafts of Africa were made per-.
fectly known; and probably the knowledge concerning
its interior parts would have been much greater than it
is, had not the general attention been called off from
this continent by the diſcovery of America in 1492.
;
The Romans for a long time maintained their power
in Africa: but in the year 426, Bonifacius, fupreme
governor of all the Roman dominions in this quarter,
being compelled to revolt by the treachery of another
general called Aetius, and finding himſelf unable to
contend with the whole ftrength of the Roman em、
pire, called in Genferic king of the Vandals to his aid;:
who thereupon abandoned the provinces he had feized
in Europe, and paffed over into Africa. Bonifacius,.
however,
A FR
[ 227 ]
AFR
Africa. however, being foon after reconciled to his emprefs thority of theſe princes ftands on a precarious foot- Africa.
Placidia, endeavoured in vain to perfuade the Vandals ing, each tribe or ſeparate body of their fubjects being
to retire. Hereupon a war enfued, in which the bar- under the influence of a petty chieftain of their own,
barians proved victorious, and quickly over-ran all the ftyled Negus, to whofe commands, however contrary
Roman provinces in Africa. In the year 435, a peace to thofe of the Negafcha Negaſcht, or king of kings,
was concluded; when Numidia and fome other coun- they are always ready to ſubmit.
tries were ceded to the Vandals, who foon after ſeized
all the reſt. Theſe barbarians did not long enjoy their
ill-gotten poffeffions: for, about the year 533, Be-
lifarius drove them out, annexing the provinces to
the eaſtern empire; and in 647, the Saracens, having
conquered Mefopotamia, Egypt (which anciently was
not included in the meaning of the word Africa),
Phenicia, Arabia, and Paleſtine, broke like a torrent
into Africa, which they quickly fubdued. Their vaft
empire being in 936 divided into feven kingdoms, the
African ftates retained their independency long after
the others were fubdued by the Turks: but in the be-
ginning of the 16th century, being afraid of falling un-
der the yoke of Spain, they invited the Turks to their
affiftance; who firſt protected, and then enflaved, them.
They ſtill continue in a kind of dependence on the Ot-
toman empire. They are not, however, properly ſpeak-
ing, the fubjects of the grand Signior, but call him their
protector, paying him an annual tribute. On the coafts,
the natives are almoſt all addicted to piracy; and with
ſuch ſucceſs have they carried on their employment,
that the greateſt powers in Europe are become their
tributaries, in order to procure liberty to trade on the
Mediterranean.
Concerning even thofe ftates which are reareſt to
Europe, very little is known: but the interior nations
are ſcarce known by name; nor do almoſt any two of
the moſt learned moderns agree in their divifion of A-
frica into kingdoms; and the reafon is, that ſcarcely
any traveller hath ever penetrated into theſe inhofpi-
table regions, According to the beft accounts, con-
cerning thoſe regions of Africa lying beyond Egypt
and Barbary, they are divided in the following man-
On the weſtern coaft, to the ſouth of Barbary,
lie the kingdoms of Bildulgerid, Zaara, Negroland,
Loango, Congo, Angola, Benguela, and Terra de
Natal. On the eaſtern coaft beyond Egypt, are thoſe
of Nubia, Adel, Ajan, Zanguebar (between theſe two
a huge defart is interpofed), Monomatapa, and Sofola.
In the interior parts, the kingdoms of Lower Ethiopia,
Abex, Monemuge, and Matanan, are made mention
of. The fouthermoft part, called Cafraria, is well
known for the habitation of the Hottentots.
ner.
*In many material circumftances, the, inhabitants of
this extenſive continent agree with each other. If we
except the people of Abyffinia, who are tawny, and
profeſs a mixture of Chriftianity, Judaifm, and Pagan-
iſm, they are all of a black complexion. In their re-
ligion, except on the fea-coafts, which have been vifi-
ted and fettled by ſtrangers, they are pagans; and the
form of government is every where monarchical. Few
princes, however, poffefs a very extenfive juriſdiction;
for as the natives of this part of Africa are grofsly ig-
norant in all the arts of utility or refinement, they
are little acquainted with one another; and generally
united in fmall focieties, each governed by its own
prince. In Abyffinia, indeed, as well as in Congo,
Loango, and Angola, we are told of powerful mo-
narchs; but on examination, it is found that the au-
The fertility of a country ſo prodigiouſly extenfive,
might be fuppofed more various than we find it is: in
fact, there is no medium in this part of Africa with
regard to the advantages of foil; it is either perfectly
barren or extremely fertile. This arifes from the in-
tenſe heat of the fun; which, where it meets with ſuf-
ficient moifture, produces the utmoſt luxuriancy; and
in thofe countries where there are few rivers, reduces
the ſurface of the earth to a barren fand. Of this fort
are the countries of Anian and Zaara; which, for
want of water, and confequently of all other neceffa-
ries, are reduced to perfect deferts, as the name of the
latter denotes. In thofe countries, on the other hand,
where there is plenty of water, and particularly where
the rivers overflow the land part of the year, as in A-
byffinia, the productions of nature, both of the animal
and vegetable kinds, are found in the higheſt perfec-
tion and greateſt abundance. The countries of Man-
dingo, Ethiopia, Congo, Angola, Batua, Truticui,
Monomotapa, Cafati, and Mehenemugi, are extreme-
ly rich in gold and filver. The bafer metals, likewife,
are found in theſe and many other parts of Africa.
But the perfons of the natives make the moſt confider-
able article in the produce and traffic of this miſerable
quarter of the globe.
On the Guinea or weftern coaft, the Engliſh trade
to James Fort, and other fettlements near and up the
river Gambia; where they exchange their woollen and
linen manufactures, their hardware, and ſpirituous li-
quors, for the perfons of the natives. By the treaty
of peace in 1783, the river of Senegal, with its de-
pendencies, were given up to France. Gold and ivory,
next to the ſlave trade, form the principal branches of
African commerce. Theſe are carried on from the
fame coaft, where the Dutch and French, as well as
English, have their fettlements for this purpoſe.
The Portugueſe are in poffeffion of the eaſt and weſt
coaſt of Africa, from the Tropic of Capricorn to the
Equator; which immenfe tract they became mafters
of by their fucceffive attempts and happy diſcovery and
navigation of the Cape of Good Hope. From the
coaft of Zanguebar, on the eaſtern fide, they trade not
only for the articles abovementioned, but likewiſe for
feveral others; as fena, aloes, civet, ambergris, and
frankincenfe. The Dutch have fettlements towards
the fouthern part of the continent, in the country
called Caffraria, or the land of the Hottentots, parti-
cularly Cape Town, which is well fettled and fortified;
where their fhips bound for India ufually put in, and
trade with the natives for their cattle, in exchange for
which they give them fpirituous liquors.
The Portugueſe being fovereigns of the greateſt part
of the coaft, have a number of black princes their tri-
butaries. There are fome independent princes who
have extenfive dominions; particularly the kings of
Dahome and Widah, the moft noted of any for the
infamous flave trade. Upwards of 200 years have the
European nations traded with Africa in human fleſh ;
and encouraged in the Negro countries, wars, rapine,
Ff2
defolation,
ي
AGA
[228]
AGA
U
Africa defolation, and murder, that the Weft India iſlands
might be ſupplied with that commodity. The annual
Aga.
exportation of poor creatures from Africa for flaves
hath exceeded 100,000; numbers of whom are driven
down like ſheep, perhaps a 1000 miles from the fea-
coaft, who are generally inhabitants of villages that
have been furrounded in the night by armed force, and
carried off to be fold to our traders.-Nor do our plan-
ters, who purchaſe them, ufe any pains to inftruct
them in religion, to make them amends for the op-
preffion thus exerciſed on them. It is faid they are
unnaturally averfe to every thing that tends to it; yet
the Portugueſe, French, and Spaniards, in their fet-
tlements, fucceed in their attempts to inftruct them,
as much to the advantage of the commerce as of reli-
gion. It is for the fake of Chriſtianity, and the ad
vantages accompanying it, that Engliſh flaves embrace
every occafion of deferting to the fettlements of thefe
nations. But upon this fubject the feelings and re-
flection of the nation have of late been abundantly
roufed, and in the inveſtigation of it the wifdom of
the legiſlature is foon to be employed.
AFRICAN COMPANY, a fociety of merchants, efta-
bliſhed by King Charles II. for trading to Africa;
which trade is now laid open to all his Majeſty's fub-
jects, paying 10 per cent. for maintaining the forts.
AFRICANUS (Julius), an excellent hiftorian of the
third century, the author of a chronicle which was
greatly efteemed, and in which he reckons 5500 years
from the creation of the world to Julius Cæfar. This
work, of which we have now no more than what is to
be found in Eufebius, ended at the 221ft year of the
vulgar æra. Africanus alfo wrote a letter to Origen
on the hiſtory of Sufanna, which he reckoned fuppo-
fititious; and we have ftill a letter of his to Ariftides,
in which he reconciles the feeming contradictions in
the two genealogies of Chrift recorded by St Matthew
and St Luke.
AFSLAGERS, perfons appointed by the burgo-
maſters of Amfterdam to prefide over the public fales
made in that city. They muſt always have a clerk of
the ſecretary's office with them, to take an account of
the fale. They correfpond to our brokers, or auc-
tioneers.
AFT, in the fea language, the fame with ABAFT.
AFTERBIRTH, in midwifery, fignifies the mem-
branes which ſurround the infant in the womb, generally
called the fecundines. See MIDWIFERY.
AFTERMATH, in huſbandry, fignifies the grafs
which fprings or grows up after mowing.
AFTERNOON, the latter half of the artificial day,
or that ſpace between noon and night.
AFTER-PAINS, in midwifery, exceffive pains felt
in the groin, loins, &c. after the woman is delivered.
AFTER-SWARMS, in the management of bees,
are thoſe which leave the hive ſome time after the firft
has ſwarmed. See BEE.
AFWESTAD, a large copper-work belonging to
the crown of Sweden, which lies on the Dala, in the
province of Dalecarlia, in Sweden. It looks like a
town, and has its own church. Here they make cop-
per-plates; and have a mint for ſmall filver coin, as well
as a royal poft-houſe. W. Long. 14. 10. N. Lat. 58. 10.
AGA, in the turkish language, fignifies a great lord
er commander.. Hence the aga of the Janiffaries is
200
the commander in chief of that corps; as the general Agades.
of horfe is denominated fpahiclar aga. The aga of
the Janiffaries is an officer of great importance. He is
Agare.
the only perfon who is allowed to appear before the
Grand Signior without his arms acrofs his breaft in the
pofture of a flave. Eunuchs at Conftantinople are in
poffeffion of moft of the principal pofts of the feraglio:
The title aga is given to them all, whether in employ-
ment or out. This title is alfo given to all fuch men
without employ, and eſpecially to wealthy landholders.
We find alfo agas in other countries. The chief
officers under the Khan of Tartary are called by this.
name. And among the Algerines, we read of agas
chofen from among the boluk baſis (the firſt rank of
military officers), and fent to govern in chief the towns
and garrifons of that ftate. The age of Algiers is the
prefident of the divan, or fenate. For fome years, the
aga was the fupreme officer; and governed the ſtate in
the place of baſhaw, whoſe power dwindled to a fha-
dow. But the foldiery rifing againſt the boluk bafhis,
or agas, maffacred molt of them, and transferred the
fovereign power to the calif, with the title of Dey or
King.
AGADES, a kingdom and city of Negroland in A-
frica. It lies nearly under the tropic of Cancer, be-
tween Gubur and Cano. The town ftands on a river
that falls into the Niger; it is walled, and the king's
palace is in the midft of it. The king has a retue,
who ferve as a guard. The inhabitants are not fo
black as other negroes, and confift of merchants and
artificers. Thofe that inhabit the fields are fhepherds-
or herdſmen, whofe cottages are made of boughs, and
are carried about from place to place on the back of
oxen. They are fixed on the fpot of ground where
they intend to feed their cattle. The houſes in the
city are ftately, and built after the Barbary faſhion.
This kingdom was, and may be ftill, tributary to the
king of Tombut. It is well watered; and there is great
plenty of grafs, cattle, fenna, and manna. The pre-
vailing religion is the Mahometan, but very looſely
profeffed. N. Lat. 26. 10. E. Long. 9. 10.
AGALLOCHUM. See XYLO ALOES.
AGALMATA, in antiquity, a term originally
ufed to fignify any kind of ornaments in a temple;
but afterwards for the ftatutes only, as being moſt con-
fpicuous.
AGAMEMNON, the fon of Atreus by Erope, was
captain-general of the Trojan expedition. It was fore-
told to him by Caffandra, that his wife Clytemneftra
would be his death: yet he returned to her; and ac-
cordingly was flain by Egifthus, who had gained up-
on his wife in his abfence, and by her means got the
government into his own hands.
AGANIPPIDES, in ancient poetry, a defignation
given to the mufes, from a fountain of mount Helicon,
called Aganippe.
AGANIPPE, in antiquity, a fountain of Boeotia
at mount Helicon, on the borders between Phocis and
Boeotia, facred to the mufcs, and running into the river
Permeffeus; (Pliny, Paufanias.) Ovid feems to make
Aganippe and Hippocrene the fame. Solinus more tru- .
ly diftinguishes them, and afcribes the blending them
to poetical licenſe.
AGAPE, in ecclefiaftical hiſtory, the love-feaft, or
feaft of charity, in ufe among the primitive Chriftans;
when:
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A GA
AGA
[229]
:
Agapetæ, when a liberal contribution was made by the rich to
Agard. feed the poor. The word is Greek, and fignifies love.
St Chryfoftom gives the following account of this feaſt,
which he derives from the apoftolical practice. He
ſays, "the firſt Chriſtians had all things in common,
as we read in the Acts of the Apoſtles; but when that
equality of poffeffions ceafed, as it did even in the A-
poftles time, the agape, or love-feaſt, was ſubſtituted
in the room of it. Upon certain days, after partaking
of the Lord's fupper, they met at a common feaſt; the
rich bringing provifions, and the poor who had nothing
being invited." It was always attended with receiving
the holy facrament; but there is fome difference between
the ancient and modern interpreters as to the circum-
ſtance of time, viz. Whether this feaſt was held before
or after the communion. St Chryfoftom is of the lat-
ter opinion; the learned Dr Cave of the former.-Thefe
love-feafts, during the three firft centuries, were held
in the church without fcandel or offence; but, in after
times, the heathens began to tax them with impurity.
This gave occafion to a reformation of thefe agapa.
The kifs of charity, with which the ceremony uſed to
end, was no longer given between different fexes; and
it was exprefsly forbidden to have any beds or couches,
for the conveniency of thoſe who ſhould be difpofed to
eat more at their eafe. Notwithstanding theſe precau-
tions, the abuſes committed in them became fo noto-
rious, that the holding of them (in churches at leaſt)
was folemnly condemned, at the council of Carthage,
in the year 397.
AGAPETÆ, in ecclefiaftical hiftory, a name given
to certain virgins and widows, who, in the ancient
church, affociated themſelves with, and attended on,
ecclefiaftics, out of a motive of piety and charity.
In the primitive days there were women inflituted
DEACONESSES; Who, devoting themſelves to the fervice of
the church, took up their abode with the miniſters, and
affifted them in their functions. In the fervour of the
primitive piety, there was nothing fcandalous in theſe
focieties: but they afterwards degenerated into liber-
tinifm; infomuch, that St Jerom afks, with indigna-
tion, unde agapetarum peftis in ecclefias introiit? This
gave occafion to councils to fupprefs them.-St Atha-
nafius mentions a prieft, named Leontius, who, to re-
move all occafion of fufpicion, offered to mutilate him-
ſelf, to preferve his beloved companion.
AGARD (Arthur), a learned Engliſh antiquarian,
born at Tofton in Derbyſhire in the year 1540. His
fondneſs for Engliſh antiquities induced him to make
many large collections; and his office as deputy cham
berlain of the exchequer, which he held 45 years, gave
him great opportunities of acquiring fkill in that ſtudy.
Similarity of tafte brought him acquainted with Sir
Robert Cotton, and other learned men, who affociated
themſelves under the name of The Society of Antiquarians,
of which fociety Mr Agard was a confpicuous member.
He made the doomſday-book his peculiar ftudy; and
compoſed a work purpoſely to explain it, under the title
of Tractatus de ufu et obfcurioribus verbis libride Dome
day: he alfo compiled a book for the fervice of his fuc-
ceffors in office, which he depofited with the officers.
of the king's receipt, as a proper index for fucceeding
officers. All the reft of his collections, containing at
leaſt twenty volumes, he bequeathed to Sir Robert
Cotton; and died in 1615.
AGARIC. See AGARICUS.
Female AGARIC. See BOLETUS.
It is
Mineral AGARIC, a marley earth refembling the
vegetable of that name in colour and texture.
found in the fiffures of rocks, and on the roofs of ca-
verns; and is ſometimes uſed as an aftringent in fluxes,
hemorrhagies, &c.
AGARICUS, or MUSHROOM, a genus of the order
of fungi, belonging to the cryptogamia claſs of plants.
Species and ufes. Botanical writers enumerate 55 fpe-
cies belonging to this genus; of which the moſt re-
markable are the following.
1. The campeftris, or common muſhroom, has the
top or cap firft of a dirty cream colour, convex, and,
if but juft expanding, the under part, or what is called
the gills, is of a bright fleſh red: this colour lafts but
a little time before it turns darker; and when the
plant is old, or has been fome time expanded, the gills
become of a dark brown, the cap almoft flat, of a
dirty colour, and often a little ſcaly. It differs much
in fize in different plants, it being from an inch to
ſeven inches broad. The general uſe of it is well
known. It is found in woods, old paftures, and by
road-fides, and is in the greateft perfection in Sep-
tember. There is a variety of this with a yellowish
white cap and white gills; this is very firm, but ſeldom
expands ſo freely as the true fort, and when broiled
will exude a yellowish juice. It is probable this fort
is not pernicious, though it is always rejected by fuch
as can diftinguiſh it.
2. The pratenfis, or champignien, is very common
upon heaths and dry paftures. A number of them ge...
nerally come up in a place, ranged in curved lines or
circles. The cap is fmall, almoft flat, from one to
two or three inches diameter, of a pale buff colour,
often crimpled at the edges, and, when dry, tough
like leather or a thin piece of fine cork. The gills -
are of the colour of the cap; are thinly placed; with
a ſhort one, and fometimes two, coming from the edge
of the cap between each. The ftalk or pillar is alfo
of the colour of the cap; it is long, flender, and all
the way of a thickneſs. This plant has but little ſmell
is rather dry; and yet, when broiled or ftewed, it
communicates a good flavour. In perfection at the
fame time with the former.
3. The chantarellus, or chantarelle agaric, is rather
a fmaller fungus than the former. The cap is yellow,
of different hues in different plants, fome being of a
pale yellow, and others of an orange colour. It is gene-
rally funk in the middle, fomewhat reſembling a tunnel,.
and its edges are often twifted and contorted fo as to
form finufes or angles. The gills are of a deeper colour -
than the outfide, are very fine, even, numerous, and
beautifully branched. The ramifications begin at the
ftalk, and are variouſly extended towards the edge of
the cap. The pillar is of the fame colour as the cap,
is feldom inferted in the centre, but rather fideways;
it is fhort, thickifh at the root, and the gills moftly
run down the top, which make it appear fmalleft in
the middle. This plant. broiled with falt and pepper:
has much the flavour of a roaſted cockle; and is eſteem-
ed a delicacy by the French, as is the former. It is
found in woods and high paftures, and is in perfection
about the end of September.
4. The deliciofus, or orange agaric. The general
Agaric,
Agaricus.
fize
A GA
[ 230 ]
A GA
R
prey to worms, flies, and other infects. The common Agaricus.
muſhroom, which is in general eſteem (though we have
feveral others better) is not fafely eaten when produced
upon a moift foil. Thofe who gather muſhrooms for
fale fhould therefore have particular regard to the lands
they collect them from, efpecially if they know they
are to broiled; but if they be intended for catchup,
perhaps they may be lefs cautious, as the falt and ſpices
with which the juice is boiled may correct any evil
difpofition in the plants. But, even in this cafe, catch-
up made of muſhrooms taken from a dry foil has a
more aromatic and pleaſant flavour than that which is
made of thoſe taken from a moiſt one, and it will al-
ways keep a great deal better.
Agaricus. fize of the cap of this fpecies is from two to four
inches broad. Its form is circular, with the edges
bent inwards; convex on the upper furface, except in
the centre, where it is a little depreffed, fo as nearly
to reſemble the apex of a ſmooth apple. The colour
is a fordid yellow, ftreaked with aſh and yellowish
brown, from the centre to the edge, and when it is
broken it emits a gold-colour juice. The gills are of
a deep yellow, and a few of them come out by pairs
at the ſtalk, but divide immediately, and run ſtraight
to the edge of the cap. The ftalk or pillar is thinneft
near the middle, thickeſt at the root, and when cut
tranfverfely, it is quite white in the centre, with a
fine yellow ring that goes to the edge. This fungus,
well feaſoned and then broiled, has the exact flavour
of a roafted mufcle. Its prime time is September, and
it is to be found in high dry woods.
}
Its cap,
5. The cinnamomeus, or brown muſhroom, has a
cap the colour of freſh-tanned hides. At firft it is
hemiſpherical, firm, even, and fleſhy, with moſtly a
fmall rifing in the centre; but when old it is quite flat.
The gills are of a yellowish brown, not very diftant
from each other, bent like a knee at the pillar, and
have a ſhort one or two run from the edge of the cape
between each. The pillar is near the length of a fin-
ger, firm, rather thick, brown at the baſe, of a for-
did yellow upward, and, when cut tranſverſely, of a
fine white grain. The cap in different plants is from
two to five inches broad. The whole plant has a plea-
fant fmell, and when broiled gives a good flavour. It
is found in woods in September and October.
6. The violaceus, or violet muſhroom.
when firſt expanded, is ſmooth, hemifpherical, the
main furface of a livid colour, but towards the margin
it is of a better blue. When full grown or old, it be-
comes corrugated, and of a rufty brown. The gills
of a young plant are of a beautiful violet colour, and
regularly placed. The pillar is of the colour of the
gills, fhort, of a conical form, but fwelled at the bafe
into a fort of bulb. Its upper part is furrounded with
an iron-coloured wool, which, in a plant juft expand-
ing, ftretches croſs to the edge of the cap like a web.
This ſpecies requires much broiling; but when fufficient-
ly done and ſeaſoned, it is as delicious as an oyfter. It
is found in woods in October. Hudfon's bulbofus is
only a variety of this plant.
The above are the only fpecies that can be fafely
recommended as edible: though there are fome o-
ther forts which are frequently eaten by the country
people; and it is probable the greateſt part of thoſe
with firm fleſhy caps might be eaten with fafety, pro-
vided they were chofen from dry grounds. It is
well known that foil and fituation have a great in-
fluence upon the properties of plants; and theſe be-
ing of a fingular nature, and abfolutely between that
of an animal and vegetable, may be more powerfully
affected than a complete ſpecies of either, by reafon
they have neither leaves nor branches to carry off the
noxious damps and vapours of a ſtagnant foil, as a per-
fect vegetable has; nor have they any grofs excremen-
tal diſcharges, like thofe of a living animal. The gills
no doubt do exhale fome of their fuperfluous moifture;
but their ſituation is fuch, that any thick fteam from
the earth may lodge in them, and by clogging their
excretory ducts, render the plants morbid. Thus they
foon run into a ſtate of putrefaction, and become a
Of the poiſonous forts, the two following are the
moft fingular :
This is
7. The muſcarius, or reddiſh muſhroom, has a large
hat almoft flat, either white, red, or crimſon, ſometimes
befet with angularred warts; the gills are white, flat, and
inverfely fpear-fhaped; the pillar is hollow, the cap fixed
to the middle of the pillar, limber, and hanging down.
This fpecies grows in paftures, and is faid to deftroy
bugs effectually if the juice is rubbed upon the walls and
bed-pofts. The inhabitants of the north of Europe,
whofe houſes are greatly infefted with flies at the de-
cline of fummer, infuſe it in milk, and ſet it in their
windows, and the flies upon tafting the leaſt drop are
inftantly poifoned. An infufion of common pepper in
milk anſwers the fame purpoſe: but the flies through
time become wife enough not to tafte it; and though
vaft numbers are at firſt deſtroyed, it is impoffible to
clear a houſe of theſe infects by this means.
the moucho-more of the Ruffians, Kamtſchadales, and
Koriacs, who uſe it as an inftrument of intoxication.
They fometimes eat it dry, fometimes immerſed in a
fermented liquor made with the epilobium, which they
drink notwithſtanding the dreadful effects. They are
firft feized with convulfions in all their limbs, then
with a raving fuch as attends a burning fever. A thou-
fand phantoms, gay or gloomy (according to their
conftitutions), prefent themſelves to their imaginations:
fome dance, others are feized with unfpeakable hor-
rors. They perſonify this muſhroom; and, if its ef-
fects urge them to ſuicide, or any dreadful crime, they
fay they obey its commands. To fit themſelves for
premeditated affaffinations, they take the moucho-
more. Such is the faſcination of drunkenneſs among
theſe people, that nothing can induce them to forbear
this dreadful potion!
8. The clypeatus, or long-ftalked muſhroom, has
an hemifpherical hat tapering to a point, and clammy;
the pillar is long, cylindrical, and white; the gills are
white, and not concave, dufted with a fine powdery
fubftance on each fide; the root is bulbous, long, and
hooked at the end. It is found in September, in
woodlands and paſtures. This fpecies is thought to
be poifonous; and we have the following account of
the fymptoms produced by eating it, in Dr Percival's
Effays." Robert Ufherwood, of Middleton, near
Manchefter, a ftrong healthy man, aged 50 years, ear-
ly in the morning gathered and eat what he fuppofed
to be a muſhroom. He felt no fymptoms of indifpo-
fition, till five o'clock in the evening; when, being
very thirty, he drank near a quart of table-beer.
Soon afterwards he became univerfally fwoln, was fick,
and in great agonies. A fevere vomiting and purging
fucceeded,
A GA
[
231 ]
AGA
Agaricus fucceeded, with violent cramps in his legs and thighs.
He diſcharged feveral pieces of the fungus, but with
little or no relief. His pains and evacuations continued,
almoſt without intermiffion, till the next night; when
he fell into a found fleep, and awaked in the morning
perfectly eafy, and free from complaint."
Many of the different fpecies of this genus grow on
cows or horfes dung, on dunghills, on rotten wood, in
cellars, or on the trunks of trees; of which the moſt
remarkable is,
9. The quercinus, or agaric of the oak. This is
of various fizes, fometimes not exceeding the bignefs
of the fift, fometimes as large as a man's head. It
takes at leaſt an year or two to grow to its full fize.
It is dark coloured, hard, heavy, and woody; it is
fometimes uſed by the dyers, as an ingredient in the
black dye. It taftes at firſt ſweetiſh in the mouth, but
preſently becomes very bitter and naufeous. It was
formerly an article in the Materia Medica; but is
now deſervedly rejected from our pharmacopæias.
rature to receive the ſpawn; for this is deftroyed by Agaricus.
too much heat; though, before planting, it may be kept
very dry, not only without detriment, but with confi-
derable advantage. The bed being in a proper tem-
perature for the ſpawn, the covering of litter ſhould be
taken off, and the fides of the bed ſmoothed; then a
covering of light rich earth, about an inch thick,
ſhould be laid all over the bed; but this ſhould not be
wet. Upon this the ſpawn muft be thruft, laying the
lumps two or three inches afunder: then gently cover
this with the fame light earth, above half an inch
thick; and put the covering of litter over the bed, lay-
ing it fo thick as to keep out wet, and prevent the bed.
from drying. In fpring or autumn the muſhrooms
will begin to appear, perhaps in a month after making;
but when the beds are made in fummer or winter, they
are much longer before they produce. In any feafon,
however, they ought not to be haftily deftroyed; fince
muſhroom-beds have been known to produce very
plentifully, even after the ſpawn has lain in them five
or fix months. When the beds are deſtroyed, the
ſpawn fhould be carefully preferved, and laid up in a
dry place, at leaſt five or fix weeks before it is again
planted. The difficulty of managing muſhrom-beds
is, to keep them always in a proper degree of moiſture.
In the fummer ſeaſon they may be uncovered to re-
ceive gentle fhowers of rain at proper times; and in
long dry ſeaſons the beds fhould now and then be
watered, but much wet ought by no means to be fuf-
fered to come to them. During the winter ſeaſon they
muſt be kept as dry as poffible, and fo cloſely covered.
as to keep out cold. In frofty, or very cold weather,
if fome warm litter, ſhaken out of a dung-heap, is laid
on, the growth of the muſhrooms will be promoted:
but betwixt this and the bed, a covering of dry litter
muſt be interpofed; which fhould be renewed as it de-
cays; and, as the cold increaſes, the covering muſt be
thickened. By attending to thefe directions, plenty of
muſhrooms may be produced all the year round. Óne
bed will continue good for many months. For a pe-
culiar, perhaps fabulous, method of producing muſh-
rooms, fee the article LYNCURIUS.
Culture. Only the efculent kinds of muſhrooms are
cultivated; and the following method is ufed by the
gardeners who raiſe them for ſale.-If the young mufh-
rooms cannot be procured from gardens, they muſt be
looked for in rich paſtures during the months of Au-
guſt and September: the ground muſt be opened about
their roots, where it is frequently found full of ſmall
white knots; which are the off-fets, or young muſh-
rooms. Theſe muſt be carefully gathered in lumps,
with the earth about them: but as this ſpawn cannot
be found in the pafture, except at that feaſon when the
muſhrooms are naturally produced, it may be ſearched
for at any time in old dung-hills, eſpecially where there
has been much litter, and it hath not been penetrated
by wet ſo as to rot: it may alſo be found very often
in old hot-beds; or it may be procured by mixing
fome long dung from the ftable, which has not been
thrown on a heap to ferment, with ftrong earth, and
put under cover to prevent wet getting to it. The
ſpawn commonly appears in about two months after
the mixture is made; but proportionably fooner the
more effectually the air is excluded, provided the mix-
ture is not kept ſo cloſe as to heat. Old thatch, or
litter which has lain long abroad fo as not to ferment,
is the beſt covering. The ſpawn has the appearance
of white mould ſhooting out into long ftrings, by which
it may be eaſily known wherever it is met with.-The
beds for receiving the ſpawn are now to be prepared.
Theſe ſhould be made of dung in which there is plenty
of litter, but which fhould not be thrown on a heap to
ferment that dung which has lain fpread abroad for a
month or longer is beft. The beds ſhould be made on
dry ground, and the dung laid on the furface; the
width at the bottom ſhould be two and a half or three
feet, the length in proportion to the quantity of mush-
rooms defired; then lay the dung about a foot thick,
covering it with ftrong earth about four inches deep.
Upon this lay more dung, about 10 inches thick; then
another layer of earth, ftill drawing in the fides of the
bed, fo as to form it like the roof of a houſe; which may
be done by three layers of dung, and as many of earth.
When the bed is finiſhed, it muſt be covered with litter
or old thatch, both to prevent its drying too faft and
to keep out wet. In this fituation it ought to remain
eight or ten days, when it will be in a proper tempe-
→
1
Phyſicians have difputed much about the qualities
of muſhrooms; fome confidering them as a rich nou-
rifhment, and perfectly innocent, when properly cho-
fen; and others afferting them to be extremely dele-
terious. Moſt of the fungi are indeed of a hurtful
quality; and, with reſpect to the whole tribe, the ef-
culent are very few. Efculent muſhrooms are very
nutritive, very readily alkalefcent, and more fo with-
out intermediate acefcency than any other vegetable
they are therefore a rich nouriſhment, and much akin
to animal food; on which account they may be in-
dulged in confiderable quantity to ftrong perfons. It
requires, however, ſkill to diftinguiſh this efculent kind
and very few, eſpecially of thoſe who are commonly
employed to gather them, viz. the fervants, have ftu
died Clufius, or other authors who have been at the
pains to diſtinguiſh them. Perhaps our efculent mufh-
rooms, if old, acquire a dangerous acrimony; and for
theſe reaſons Dr Cullen is of opinion that it is for the
moft part prudent to avoid them. In the warmer cli
mates they may be uſed as light food; but here it is
prepofterous to uſe them along with animal food, as
they do not correct its alkaline tendency.
AGATE,
;
AGA
[ 232
]
AGA
Agate.
AGATE, or ACHAT, (among the Greeks and La-
tins, Axarns, and Achates, from a river in Sicily, on the
banks of which it was firſt found), a very extenfive ge-
nus of the femipellucid gems.
Theſe ftones are variegated with veins and clouds,
but have no zones like thoſe of the onyx. They are
compoſed of chryſtal debaſed by a large quantity of
earth, and not formed, either by repeated incruftations
round a central nucleus, or made up of plates laid even-
ly on one another; but are merely the effect of one fim-
ple concretion, and variegated only by the difpofition
given, by the fluid they were formed in, to their differ-
ently coloured veins or matters.
Agates are arranged according to the different co-
lours of their ground. Of thofe with a white ground
there are three fpecies. (1.) The dendrachates, mocoa
ftone, or áborefcent agat. This feems to be the fame
with what fome authors call the achates with roſemary
in the middle, and others achates with little branches
of black leaves. (2.) The dull, milky-looking agate.
This, though greatly inferior to the former, is yet a
very beautiful ſtone. It is common on the fhores of
rivers in the Eaſt Indies, and alfo in Germany and
fome other parts of Europe. Our lapidaries cut it in-
to counters for card-playing, and other toys of fmall
value (3.) The lead-coloured agate, called the phaſa
chates by the ancients.
Of the agates with a reddish ground there are four
fpecies. (1.) An impure one of a flesh-coloured white,
which is but of little beauty in compariſon with other
agates. The admixture of flesh-colour is but very
flight; and it is often found without any clouds, veins,
or other variegations; but fometimes it is prettily vein
ed or variegated with fpots of irregular figures, ha-
ving fimbriated edges. It is found in Germany, Italy,
and fome other parts of Europe; and is wrought into
toys of fmall value, and often into the German gun-
flints. It has been ſometimes found with evident fpeci-
mens of the perfect moffes bedded deep in it. (2.)
That of a pure blood colour, called hamachates, or
the bloody agate, by the ancients. (3.) The clouded
and ſpotted agate, of a pale flesh colour, called by the
ancients the carnelian agate, or fardachates. 4. The
red-lead-coloured one, variegated with yellow, called
the coral agate, or coralla-achates, by the ancients.
Of the agates with a yellowish ground there are on-
ly two known fpecies; the one of the colour of yel-
Tow wax, called cerochates by the ancients; the other
a very elegant ftone, of a yellow ground, variegated
with white, black, and green, called the leonina, and
leonteferes by the ancients.
Laftly, Of the agates with a greenish ground, there
is only one known fpecies, called by the ancients jaf
pachates.
Of all thefe fpecies there are a great many varieties;
fome of them having upon them natural reprefentations
of men and different kinds of animals, &c. Thefe
repreſentations are not confined to the agates whoſe
ground is of any particular colour, but are occafional
ly found on all the different fpecies. Velfchius had in
his cuſtody a fleſh-coloured agate, on one fide of which
appeared a half-moon in great perfection, reprefented
by a milky femicircle; on the other fide, the phaſes of
vefper, or the evening-ſtar; whence he denominated it
an aphrodifian agate. An agate is mentioned by Kir-
N° 6.
cher*, on which was the reprefentation of a heroine Agate.
armed; and one in the church of St Mark in Venice
has the reprefentation of a king's head adorned with a German.
Ephem.
diadem. On another, in the mufæum of the prince dec. i. an. I.
of Gonzaga, was reprefented the body of a man with obf. 151.
all his clothes in a running poſture. A ftill more cu-
rious one is mentioned by de Boot †, wherein appears a + De Gem.
circle ftruck in brown, as exactly as if done with a pair l. ii. c. 95.
of compaffes, and in the middle of the circle the exact
figure of a bishop with a mitre on: but inverting the
ftone a little, another figure appears; and if it is turn-
ed yet further, two others appear, the one of a man,
and the other of a woman. But the moſt celebrated
agate of this kind is that of Pyrrhus, wherein were re-
prefented the nine mufes, each with their proper attri-
butes, and Apollo in the middle playing on the harp ‡ ‡ Pliny,
In the emperor's cabinet is an oriental agate of a fur-1. xxxvii.
prifing bignefs, being faſhioned into a cup, whofe dia- c. 3.
meter is an ell, abating two inches. In the cavity is
found delineated in black fpecks, B. XRISTOR. S. XXX.
Other agates have alfo been found, repreſenting the
numbers 4191, 191; whence they were called arithme-
tical agates, as thofe reprefenting men or women have
obtained the name of anthropomorphous.
Great medicinal virtues were formerly attributed to
the agate, fuch as refifting poifons, eſpecially thofe of
the viper, fcorpion, and ſpider; but they are now very
juftly rejected from medicinal practice. The oriental
ones are all faid to be brought from the river Gambay.
A mine of agates was fome time ago difcovered in
Tranfylvania, of divers colours; and fome of a large
fize, weighing feveral pounds.
Agates may be ftained artificially with folution of
filver in fpirit of nitre, and afterwards expofing the
part to the fan; and though thefe artificial colours
diſappear on laying the ftone for a night in aquafortis,
yet a knowledge of the practicability of thus ftaining
agates, muft render thofe curious figures above-men-
tioned ftrongly ſuſpected of being the work not of na-
ture, but of art. Some account for thefe phenome-
na from natural caufes. Thus, Kircher, who had ſeen
a ftone of this kind in which were depicted the four
letters ufually infcribed on crucifixes, I. N. R. I. ap-
prehends that fome real crucifix had been buried un-
der-ground, amnog ftones and other rubbiſh, where the
infcription happening to be parted from the crofs, and
to be received among a foft mould or clay fufceptible
of the impreffion of the letters, came afterwards to be
petrified. In the fame manner he fuppofes the agate
of Pyrrhus to have been formed. Others refolve much
of the wonder into fancy, and fuppofe thofe ftones.
formed in the fame manner with the camicux * or Flo- * See Ca-
rentine ftones.
The agate is ufed for making cups, rings, feals, han-
dles for knives and forks, hilts for fwords and hangers,
beads to pray with, fmelling boxes, patch-boxes, &c.
being cut or fawed with no great difficulty. At Paris,
none have a right to deal in this commodity except the
wholefale mercers and goldfmiths. The fword-cutlers
are allowed to ſell it, but only when made into handles
for couteaux de chaffe, and ready fet in. The cutlers
have the fame privilege for their knives and forks.
mieux.
Confiderable quantities of theſe ſtones are ftill found ·
near the river Achates in Sicily. There are found in
fome of theſe the furpriſing reprefentations above-
men-
A GA
[ 233 ]
A
GA
Leyden, 1594, in 4to; and in Paris at the king's print- Agatho
ing-houſe, 1660, in folio.
Agave.
Agate mentioned, or others fimilar to them. By a dexterous
#1
management of theſe natural ftains, medals have been
Agathias.
produced, which feem mafter-pieces of nature: for this
tone bears the graver well; and as pieces of all mag
nitudes are found of it, they make all forts of work of
it. The high altar of the cathedral of Meffina is all over
encrufted with it. The lapidaries pretend that the In-
dian agates are finer than the Sicilian; but Father La-
bat informs us, that in the fame quarries, and even in
d'Ital. tom. the fame block, there are found pieces much finer than
v. p. 156.
others, and theſe fine pieces are fold for Indian agates
in order to enhance their price.
Voyage
337-344.
*
AGATE, among antiquaries, denotes a ftone of this
kind engraven by art. In this fenfe, agates make a fpe-
cies of antique gems; in the workmanſhip whereof we
find eminent proofs of the great ſkill and dexterity of
the ſculptors. Several agates of exquifite beauty are
preſerved in the cabinets of the curious; but the facts
or hiftories repreſented on theſe antique agates, however
well executed, are now become fo obfcure, and their
explications fo difficult that feveral diverting miſtakes
and difputes have arifen among thoſe who undertook
to give their true meaning.
The great agate of the apotheofis of Auguftus, in
the treaſury of the holy chapel, when fent from Con-
ſtantinople to St Lewis, paffed for a triumph of Jofeph.
An agate, now in the French king's cabinet, had been
Hift. Acad. kept 700 years with great devotion, in the Benedictine
R. Infcript. abbey of St Evre at Toul, where it paffed for St John
tom.i.p. the Evangelift carried away by an eagle, and crowned
by an angel; but the Heathenifm of it having been
lately detected, the religious would no longer give it
a place among their relicts, but prefented it in 1684
to the king. The antiquaries found it to be the apo-
theofis of Germanicus. In like manner the triumph
of Jofeph was found to be a repreſentation of Germa-
nicus and Agrippina, under the figures of Ceres and
Triptolemus. Another was preferved, from time im-
memorial, in one of the moſt ancient, churches of
France, where it had paffed for a reprefentation of pa-
radife and the fall of man; there being found on it two
figures repreſenting Adam and Eve, with a tree, a fer-
pent, and a Hebrew infcription round it, taken from
the third chapter of Genefis, "The woman faw that
the tree was good," &c. The French academifts, in-
ftead of our firſt parents, found Jupiter and Minerva
repreſented by the two figures: the infcription was of
a modern date, written in a Rabbinical character, very
incorrect, and poorly engraven. The prevailing opi-
nion was, that this agate repreſented fimply the worship
of Jupiter and Minerva at Athens.
AGATE, is alſo a name of an inſtrument uſed by gold-
wire-drawers; ſo called from the agate in the middle of
it, which forms its principal part.
AGATHIAS, or, as he calls himſelf in his epi-
grams, AGATHIUs, diftinguiſhed by the title of Scho-
lafticus, a Greek hiſtorian in the 6th century under Ju-
ftinian. He was born at Myrina, a colony of the an-
cient Æolians, in Afia the leſs, at the mouth of the ri-
ver Phythicus. He was an advocate at Smyrna. Tho'
he had a tafte for poetry, he was yet more famous for
his hiftory, which begins with the 26th year of Jufti-
nian's reign, where Procopius ends. It was printed in
Greek and Latin, with Bonaventure Vulcanius's, at
VOL. I. Part I.
AGATHO, a tragic and comic poet, difciple to
Prodicus and Socrates, applauded in Plato's Dialogues
for his virtue and beauty. His firft tragedy obtained
the prize; and he was crowned in the prefence of
upwards of 30,000 men, the 4th year of the 90th
Olympiad. There is nothing now extant of his, ex-
cept a few quotations in Ariftotle, Athenæus, and
others.
AGATHOCLES, the famous tyrant of Sicily, was
fon of a potter at Reggio. He was a thief, a common
foldier, à centurion, a general, and a pirate, all in a
regular fucceffion. He defeated the Carthaginians fe-
veral times in Sicily, and was once defeated himſelf.
He firft made himſelf tyrant of Syracufe, and then of
all Sicily; after which, he vanquished the Carthagi-
nians again both in Sicily and Africa. But at length
having ill fuccefs, and being in arrears with his foldiers,
they mutinied, forced him to fly his camp, and cut
the throats of his children, whom he left behind. Re-
covering himſelf again, he relieved Corfou, befieged by
Caffander; burnt the Macedonian fleet; returned to Si-
cily; murdered the wives and children of thoſe who had
murdered his; afterwards meeting with the foldiers
themſelves, he put them all to the fword; and ravaging
the fea-coaft of Italy, took the city of Hipponium.
He was at length poifoned by his grandfon Archaga-
thus, in the 72d year of his age, 290 years before Chrift,
having reigned 28 years.
→
AĞATHYRNA, or AGATHYRNUM, AGATHYR-
SA, or AGATHYRSUM, (anc. geog.), a town of Sicily;
now S. Marco; as old as the war of Troy, being built
by Agathyrnus, ſon of Æolus, on an eminence. The
gentilitious name is Agathyrnaus; or, according to the
Roman idiom, Agathyrnenfis.
AGAVE, the common American aloe: A genus
of the monogynia order, belonging to the hexandria clafs
of plants; and in the natural method ranking under
the 10th order, Coronaria. The characters are: There
is no calyx: The corolla is monopetalous and funnel-
fhaped; the border fix-parted, with lanced erect divi-
fions; The ftamina conſiſt of fix erect filaments, longer
than the corolla; the antheræ are linear, fhorter than
the filaments, and verfatile: The piftillum is an oblong
germen; the ftylus is filiform, the length of the ftami-
na, and triangular; the ftigma headed and triangular:
The pericarpium is an oblong triangular capfule, tri-
locular and three-valved: The feds are numerous. Of
this genus, botanical writers enumerate eight ſpecies.
Of the Americana, or great American aloe, the items
generally rife upwards of 20 feet high, and branch out
on every fide towards the top, fo as to form a kind of py-
ramid: the flender fhoots being garnished with greenish
yellow flowers, which ſtand erect, and come out in thick
clutters at every joint: theſe make a fine appearance,
and continue long in beauty; a fucceffion of new flowers
being produced for near three months in favourable
feafons, if the plant is protected from the autumnal
colds. The feeds do not ripen in England. It has
been generally thought, that theſe plants do not flower
till they are 100 years old: but this is a miſtake; for
the time of their flowering depends on their growth:
fo that in hot countries, where they grow faft, and ex-
G g
pand
AGE
]
[ 234
AGE
Adge,
Age.
pand many leaves every feaſon, they will flower in a
few years; but in colder climates, where their growth
is flow, it will be much longer before they ſhoot up
their ſtem. There is a variety of this fpecies with
ftriped leaves, which are pretty common in the Engliſh
gardens. The other forts are fo tender, that they muſt
conftantly remain in the ftove.
ADGE, a city of France, in Lower Languedoc,
in the territory of Agadez, with a bifhop's fee. The
diocefe is fmall, but is one of the richeſt countries in
the kingdom. It produces fine wool, wine, oil, corn,
and filk. It is feated on the river Eraut, a mile and à
quarter from its mouth, where it falls into the gulph
of Lyons, and where there is a fort built to guard its
entrance. It is well peopled; the houfes are built of
black ſtone, and there is an entrance into the city by
four gates.
The greateſt part of the inhabitants are
merchants or feamen. The public buildings are but
mean: the cathedral is fmall, and not very handfome:
the bishop's palace is an old building, but conve-
nient. The city is extended along the river, where
it forms a little port, wherein ſmall craft may enter.
There is a great concourfe of pilgrims and other devout,
people to the chapel of Notre Dame de Grace. It is
a little without the city, between which and the chapel.
there are about 13 or 14 oratories, which they vifit
with naked feet. The convent of the Capuchins is well
built, and on the outfide are lodgings and apartments.
for the pilgrims who come to perform their neuvaine
or nine days devotion. The chapel, which contains
the image of the Vigin Mary, is diftinct from the con-
vent. E. Long. 3. 20. Lat. 43. 19.
AGE, in the moft general fenfe of the word, figni-
hes the duration of any being, from its first coming in-
to exiſtence to the time of ſpeaking of it, if it ſtill con-
tinues; or to its deftruction, if it has ceaſed to exift
ſome time before we happen to mention it.
Among the ancient poets, this word was uſed for the
ſpace of thirty years; in which fenfe, age amounts to
much the fame with generation.. Thus, Neftor is faid
to have lived three ages when he was 90 years old.
By ancient Greek hiftorians, the time elapfed fince the
beginning of the world is divided into three periods,
which they called ages. The first reaches from the crea-.
tion to the deluge which happened in Greece during
the reign of Ogyges; this they called the obfcure or
uncertain age, becauſe the hiftory of mankind is alto-
gether uncertain during that period. The ſecond they
call the fabulous or heroic age, becauſe it is the pe-
riod in which the fabulous exploits of their gods and
heroes are faid to have been performed. It began with
the Ogygian deluge, and continued to the firft Olym-.
piad; where the third or hiſtorical age commenced.
This divifion, however, it muſt be obferved, holds good
only with regard to the Greeks and Romans, who had
no hiftories earlier than the firſt Olympiad; the Jews,
Egyptians, Phenicians, and Chaldees, not to mention
the Indians and Chinefe, who pretend to much higher.
antiquity, are not included in it.
The interval fince the firft formation of man has been
divided by the poets into four ages, diſtinguiſhed by the
epithets of golden, filver, brazen, and iron. During
the golden age, Saturn reigned in heaven, and juſtice
and innocence, in this lower world. The earth then
*
yielded her productions without culture; men held all
things in common, and lived in perfect friendſhip.
This period is fuppofed to have lafted till the expulfion.
of Saturn from his kingdom. The filver age commen-
ced when men began to deviate from the paths of vir-
tue; and in confequence of this deviation, their lives
became lefs happy. The brazen age commenced on a
farther deviation, and the iron age took place in confe-
quence of one ftill greater.-A late author, however,
reflecting on the barbarifm of the firſt ages, will have
the order which the poets affign to the four ages invert,-
ed; the firft being a time of rudeneſs and ignorance,
more properly denominated an iron than a golden age.
When cities and ftates were founded, the filver age
commenced; and fince arts and fciences, navigation
and commerce, have been cultivated, the golden age has ;
taken place.
In fome ancient northern monuments, the rocky or
ftony age correſponds to the brazen age of the Greeks.
It is called rocky, on account of Noah's ark, which
refted on mount Ararat; whence men were faid to be
deſcended or ſprung from mountains: or from Deu-
calion and Pyrrha, reftoring the race of mankind, by
throwing ftones over their heads. The northern poets.
alfo ftyle the fourth age of the world the aſhen age, from
a Gothic king Madenis, or Mannus, who on account
of his great ftrength was faid to be made of aſh, or be-
caufe in his time people began to make uſe of weapons-
made of that wood..
Among the Jews, the duration of the world is alſo
divided into three ages. 1. The feculum inane, or
void age, was the ſpace of time from the creation to
Mofes. 2. The preſent age, denotes all the ſpace of
time from Mofes to the coming of the Meffiah; and,
3. The age to come, denotes the time from the co-
ming of the Meffiah to the end of the world.
Various other divifions of the duration of the world
into ages have been made by hiſtorians.--The Sibyl-
line oracles, wrote, according to fome, by Jews ac-
quainted with the prophecies of the Old Teſtament,
divide the duration of the world into ten ages; and ac
cording to Jofephus, each age contained fix hundred ·
years. It appears, by Virgil's fourth eclogue, and
other teftimonies, that the age of Auguftus was repu-
ted the end of thofe ten ages, confequently as the period.
of the world's duration.
By fome, the ſpace of time commencing from Con-
ſtantine, and ending with the taking of Conftantinople
by the Turks in the 15th century, is called the mid-
dle age: but others chooſe rather to date the middle
age from the divifion of the empire made by Theodo-
fius at the cloſe of the 4th century, and extend it to
the time of the emperor Maximilian I. in: the begin- .
ning of the 16th century, when the empire was firſt di-
vided into circles.-The middle is by fome denoted
the barbarous age, and the latter part of it the lowest
age. Some divide it into the non-academical and aca-
demical ages. The firft includes the ſpace of time from
the 6th to the 9th centuries, during which ſchools or
academies were loft in Europe. The fecond from the
9th century, when ſchools were reſtored, and univer
fities eftablished, chiefly by the care of Charlemagne.
The ſeveral ages of the world may be reduced to three
grand epochas, viz. the age of the law of nature, called
by.
Age.
M
A GE
[ 235 ]
1
A GĚ.
Age
Agema.
by the Jews the void age, from Adam to Mofes; the
of the Jewish law, from Mofes to Chrift; and
age
of grace, from Chrift to the prefent year.
AGE is alfo frequently uſed in the fame fenſe with
century, to denominate a duration of 100 years.
age
the
AGE likewife fignifies a certain period of the du
ration of human life: by fome divided into four ftages,
namely, infancy, youth, manhood, and old age; the
firft extending to the 14th year, the fecond to the
25th, the third to the 50th, and the fourth to the end
of life by others divided into infancy, childhood,
youth, manhood, and old age.
AGE, in law, fignifies a certain period of life, when
perfons of both fexes are enabled to do certain acts.
Thus, one at twelve years of age ought to take the
oath of allegiance to the king in a leet; at fourteen
he may marry, chufe his guardian, and claim his lands
held in foccage. Twenty-one is called full age, a man
or woman being then capable of acting for themſelves,
of managing their affairs, making contracts, difpofing
of their eftates, and the like.
AGE of a Horfe. See HORSE.
AGE of Trees. Thefe after a certain age waſte.
An oak at an hundred years old ceafes to grow. The
ufual rule for judging of the age of wood, is by the
number of circles which appear in the fubftance of a
trunk or flock cut perpendicularly, each circle being
fuppofed the growth of a year: though fome reject
this method as precarious, alleging, that a fimple cir-
cle is fometimes the produce of feveral years; befides
that, after a certain age, no new circles are formed.
AGE-prier, in law, is when an action being brought
againſt a perfon under age, for lands defcended to him,
he, by motion or petition, fhews the matter to the
court, praying the action may be ftaid till his full age,
which the court generally agrees to.
AGELNOTH, EGELNOTH, or ETHELNOTH, in
Latin Achelnotus, archbishop of Canterbury, in the
reign of Canute the Great, fucceeded Livingus in that
fee in the year 1020. This prelate, firnamed the God,
was fon of earl Agilmer, and, at the time of his elec
tion, dean of Canterbury. After his promotion he
went to Rome, and received his pall from Pope Bene-
dict VIII. In his way thither, as he paffed through
Pavia, he purchaſed, for an hundred talents of filver
and one of gold, St Auguftin's arm, which was kept
there as a relic; and fent it over to England as a pre-
fent to Leofric earl of Coventry. Upon his return, he
is faid to have raiſed the fee of Canterbury to its for-
mer luftre. He was much in favour with king Ca-
nute, and employed his intereft with that monarch to
good purpofes. It was by his advice the king fent
over large fums of money for the fupport of the foreign
churches; and Malinfbury obferves, that this prince
was prompted to acts of picty, and refrained from ex-
ceffes, by the regard he had for the archbiſhop. Agel-
noth, after he had fat 17 years in the fee of Can-
terbury, departed this life the 29th of October 1038,-
and was fucceeded by Eadfius, king Harold's chap-
lain. This archbishop was an author, having written,
1. A Panegyric on the bleffed Virgin Mary. 2. A
Letter to Earl Leofric concerning St Auguftin. 3.
Letters to feveral perſons.
AGEMA, in Macedonian antiquity, was a body of
foldiery, not unlike the Roman legion.
1
AGEMOĞLANS, AGIAMOGLANS, or AZAMO- Agême-
GLANS, in the Turkiſh polity, are children purchaſed glans
from the Tartars, or raifed every third year, by way Agent.
of tribute, from the Chriſtians tolerated in the Turkiſh
empire. Thefe, after being circumciſed and inſtructed
in the religion and language of their tyrannical maſters,
are learnt the exerciſes of war, till they are of a pro-
per age for carrying arms; and from this corps the Ja-
niffaries are recruited. With regard to thoſe who are
thought unfit for the army, they are employed in the
loweft offices of the feraglio. Their appointments alſo
are very ſmall, not exceeding feven afpers and a half
per day, which amount to about threepence-halfpenny
of our money.
AGEN, a city of France, on the river Garonne, the
capital of Agenois in Guienne, and the fee of a bishop.
The gates and old walls, which are yet remaining, ſhow
that this city is very ancient, and that its former cir-
cuit was not fo great as the preſent. The palace,
wherein the prefidial holds his feffions at this day, was
heretofore called the caſtle of Montravel, and is feated
without the walls of the old city, and on the fide of
the foffe. There are likewife the ruins of another
caſtle called La Sagne, which was without the walls clofe
by a brook. Though the fituation of Agen is very
convenient for trade and commerce, the inhabitants
are fo very indolent that there is very little; of which
the neighbouring cities take the advantage. It is feat-
ed on the bank of the river Garonne, in a pleaſant
country; but is itſelf a very mean and diſagreeable place,
the houſes being ill built, and the ſtreets narrow, crook-
ed, and dirty. E. Long. 0.30. N. Lat.
AGENDA, among philofophers and divines, "figni-
fies the duties which a man lies under an obligation to
perform: thus, we meet with the agenda of a Chri-
tian, or the duties he ought to perform; in oppofition
to the credenda, or things he is to believe.
AGENDA, among merchants, a term fometimes uſed
for a memorandum-book, in which is ſet down all the
bufinefs to be tranſacted during the day, either at home
or abroad.
AGENDA, among ecclefiaftical writers, denotes the
fervice or office of the church. We meet with agenda
matutina & vefpertina, " morning and evening pray-
ers;" agenda diei, "the office of the day," whether
feaft or faft day; agenda mortuorum, called alfo fimply
agenda, "the fervice of the dead."
AGENDA is alfo applied to certain church-books,
compiled by public authority, prefcribing the order
and manner to be obferved by the minifters and peo
ple in the principal ceremonies and devotions of the
church. In which fenfe, agenda amounts to the ſame
with what is otherwife called ritual, liturgy, acaloa-
thia, miffal, formulary, directory, &c.
AGENHINE, in our old writers, fignifies a gueſt
that has lodged at an inn for three nights, after which
time he was accounted one of the family; and if he
offended the king's peace, his hoft was anſwerable
for him. It is alſo written HOGENHINE and HOGEN-
HYNE.
AGENORIA, in mythology, the goddeſs of cou-
rage and induftry, as Vacuna was of indolence.
AGENT, in a general fenfe, denotes any active
power or caufe. Agents are either natural or moral.
Natural agents are fuch inanimate bodies as have ä
Gg 2
power
AGE
AGE
[ 236 ]
A
Agent power to act upon other bodies in a certain and deter-
11
minate manner; as, gravity, fire, &c. Moral agents, on
Agefilaus.
the
contrary, are rational creatures, capable of regula-
ting their actions by a certain rule.
AGENT, is alfo uſed to denote a perfon intrufted with
the management of an affair, whether belonging to a
fociety, company, or private perſon.
AGENTES in rebus, one of the ranks of officers in the
court of the Conftantinopolitan emperors, whofe bu-
finefs was to collect and convey the corn both for the
army and houſehold; to carry letters and meffages from
court to all parts of the empire; to regulate couriers, and
their vehicles; to make frequent journeys and expedi-
tions through the provinces, in order to infpect any mo-
tions, diſturbances, or machinations tending that way,
and to give early notice thereof to the emperor.
The agentes in rebus, are by ſome made fynonymous
with our poſt-mafters, but their functions were of great
extent. They correfpond to what the Greeks call
upeçopor, and the Latins veredarii.
There were various orders or degrees of agentes in
rebus; as, tribuni, primicerii, fenatores, ducenarii, bi
archi, circitores, equites, tyrones, &c. through all which
they rofe gradatim. Their chief, who refided at Con-
ftantinople, was denominated princeps; which was a
poſt of great dignity, being reckoned on a level with
that of procunful. They were fettled in every part of
the empire, and are alſo ſaid to have ferved as inter-
preters.
AGER, in Roman antiquity, a certain portion of
land allowed to each citizen. See AGRARIAN LAW.
AGER PICENUS, or Picenum, (anc. geog.) a ter-
ritory of Italy to the fouth-east of Umbria, reaching
from the Apennine to the Adriatic. The people are
called Picentes (Cicero, Livy), diftinct from the Picen-
tini on the Tuſcan fea, though called by Greek writers
Πικέντινοι. This name is ſaid to be from the bird Picus,
under whofe conduct they removed from the Sabines,
of whom they were a colony.
AGERATUM, BASTARD HEMP-AGRIMONY: Age-
nus of the polygamia æqualis order, belonging to the
fyngenefia clafs of plants; and in the natural method
ranking under the 49th order, Compofita difcoides. The
characters are: The common calyx is oblong, with ma-
ny ſcales.
The compound corolla is uniform; the co-
rollets hermaphrodite, tubular, and numerous: the
proper corolla is funnel-ſhaped; the border 4-cleft, and
expanded. The ftamina confiſt of 5 capillary very ſhort
filaments; the anthera is cylindric and tubular. The
piftillum is an oblong germen ;. with a filiform. ftylus,
and two flender erect ftigmata. There is no pericar-
pium; the calyx unchanged. The feeds are folitary,
oblong, and angular. The receptaculum is naked, con-
vex, and very ſmall. Of this genus there are three
Species; the conyzoides, the houſtonianum, and the
altiffimum. All theſe are natives of warm climates.
The two firft are annual plants, and confequently can
be propagated only by feeds; which, however, come
to perfection in this country. The third fpecies will
bear the fevereft cold of this country, but its feeds do
not ripen in it.
AGERATUM, or MAUDLIN. See ACHILLEA.
AGESILAUS, king of the Lacedæmonians, the
fon of Archidamus, was raiſed to the throne notwith-
ſtanding the fuperior claim of Leotychides. As foon
as he came to the throne, he adviſed the Lacedæmo- Agefilaus,
nians to be beforehand with the king of Perfia, who
was making great preparations for war, and to attack
him in his own dominions. He was himſelf chofen for
this expedition; and gained fo many advantages over
the enemy, that if the league which the Athenians and
the Thebans formed againſt the Lacedæmonians had
not obliged him to return home, he would have car-
ried his victorious arms into the very heart of the Per-
fian empire. He gave up, however, all theſe triumphs
readily, to come to the fuccour of his country, which
he happily relieved by his victory over the allies in Bo-
otia. He obtained another near Corinth; but to his
great mortification, the Thebans afterward gained fe-
veral over the Lacedæmonians. Theſe misfortunes at
firſt raiſed ſomewhat of a clamour againſt him. He had
been fick during the firſt advantages which the enemy
gained; but as foon as he was able to act in perſon,
by his valour and prudence he prevented the Thebans
from reaping the advantages of their victories; infomuch
that it was generally believed, had he been in health at
the beginning, the Lacedæmonians would have ſuſtained
no loffes, and that all would have been loft had it not
been for his affiftance. It cannot be denied but he loved
war more than the intereſt of his country required; for
if he could have lived in peace, he had faved the Lace-
dæmonians feveral loffes, and they would not have been
engaged in many enterpriſes which in the end contri-
buted much to weaken their power. He died in the
third year of the 104th Olympiad, being the 84th year
of his age, and 41ft year of his reign. Agefilaus would
never fuffer any picture or ſculpture to be made of him,
and prohibited it alfo by his will: this he is fuppofed
to have done from a conſciouſneſs of his own deformity;
for he was of a fhort ftature, and lame of one foot, fo
that ftrangers uſed to deſpiſe him at the first fight. His.
fame went before him into Egypt, and there they had:
formed the higheſt idea of Agefilaus. When he landed
in that country, the people ran in crowds to fee him :-
but great was their ſurpriſe when they faw an ill-dreffed,
flovenly, mean-looking little fellow lying upon the
grafs; they could not forbear laughing, and applied to-
him the fable of the mountain in labour. He was,-
however, the firſt to jeſt upon his own perſon; and fuch.
was the gaiety of his temper, and the ftrength with
which he bore the rougheft exercifes, that thefe qua-
lities made amends for his corporal defects. He was
extremely remarkable for plainneſs and frugality in his
drefs and way of living. "This (fays Cornelius Nepos)
is eſpecially to be admired in Agefilaus: when very
great prefents were fent him by kings, governors, and
ftates, he never brought any of them to his own houſe;
he changed nothing of the diet, nothing of the apparel
of the Lacedæmonians. He was contented with the
fame houfe in which Eurifthenes, the founder of his fa-
mily, had lived: and whoever entered there, could fee no
fign of debauchery, none of luxury; but on the contrary,
many of moderation and abftinence; for it was furniſh-
ed in fueh a manner, that it differed in nothing from
that of any poor or private perfon." Upon his arrival
into Egypt, all kind of provifions were fent to him;
but he chofe only the moſt common, leaving the per-
fumes, the confections, and all that was eſteemed moſt
delicious, to his fervants. Agefilaus was extremely
fond of his children, and would often amufe himſelf by
joining
AG G
[ 237 ]
AGH
now generally known by the name chauffees, or caufe- Aggerhuys
H
ways.
Arhrim.
Agga, joining in their diverfions: one day when he was fur-
Agger. prifed riding upon a ftick with them, he faid to the
perfon who had feen him in this pofture," Forbear
talking of it till you are a father."
AGGA, or ÁGGONNA, a Britiſh fettlement on the
gold-coaſt of Guinea. It is fituated under the meri-
dian of London, in 6 degrees of N. lat.
AGGER, in the ancient military art, a work of for-
tification, uſed both for the defence and the attack of
towns, camps, &c. In which fenſe it is the fame with
what was otherwife called vallum, and in later times ag-
geſtum; and among the moderns lines, fometimes cava-
liers, terraſſes, &c. The agger was uſually a bank, or
elevation of earth or other matter, bound and ſupport-
ed with timber; having ſometimes turrets on the top,
wherein the workmen, engineers, and foldiery, were
placed. It was alſo accompanied with a ditch, which
ferved as its chief defence. The ufual materials of
which it was made were earth, boughs, faſcines, ſtakes,
and even trunks of trees, ropes, &c. variouſly croffed,
and interwoven fomewhat in the figure of ſtars; whence
they were called ſtellati axes. Where theſe were want-
ing, ftones, bricks, tiles, fupplied the office: on fome
occafions, arms, utenfils, pack-faddles, were thrown in
to fill it up. We even read of aggers formed of the
carcafes of the flain; fometimes of dead bones mixed
with lime; and even with the heads of flaughtered ci-
tizens. For want of due binding, or folid materials,
aggers have fometimes tumbled down, with infinite
mifchief to the men. The befiegers uſed to carry on
a work of this kind nearer and nearer towards the
place, till at length they reached the very wall. The
methods taken, on the other fide, to defeat them, were
by fire, eſpecially if the agger were of wood; by fap
ping and undermining, if of earth; and, in fome cafes,
by erecting a counter agger.
The height of the agger was frequently equal to that
of the wall of the place. Cæfar tells us of one he made,
which was 30 feet high and 330 feet broad. Befides
the uſe of aggers before towns, the generals uſed to
fortify their camps with fuch works; for want of this
precaution, armies have often been ſurpriſed and
Fuined.
There were vaft aggers made in towns and places on
the fea-fide, fortified with towers, caftles, &c. Thofe
made by Cæfar and Pompey at Brundufium, are fa-
mous. Sometimes aggers were even built acrofs arms
of the fea, lakes, and moraffes; as was done by Alex-
der before Tyre, and by M. Antony and Caffius.
The wall of Severus, in the north of England, may be
confidered as a grand agger, to which belong feveral
leffer ones. See SEVERUS's Wall.
AGGER, in ancient writers, likewife denotes. the
middle part of a military road, raiſed into aridge, with
a gentle flope on either fide, to make a drain for the
water, and keep the way dry.
The term is alſo uſed for the whole road, or military
way. Where highways were to be made in low grounds,
as between two hills, the Romans uſed to raiſe them
above the adjacent land, fo as to make them of a level
with the hills. Theſe banks they called aggeres. Ber-
gier mentions feveral in Gallia Belgica, which were
thus raiſed ten, fifteen, or twenty feet above ground.
They are fometimes alſo called aggeres calceati; and
AGGERHUYS, a city of Norway, capital of the
province of the fame name. It is fubject to Denmark,
and fituated in E. Long. 28. 35. and N. Lat. 59. 30.
AGGERS-HERRED, a diſtrict of Chriſtianfand
and a dioceſe of Norway. It confifts of three juridical
places; namely, Afcher, Weft Barum, and Ager.
AGGLUTINANTS, in pharmacy, a general name
for all medicines of a glutinous or vifcid nature; which,
by adhering to the folids, contribute greatly to repair
their lofs.
AGGLUTINATION, in a general fenfe, denotes
the joining two or more things together, by means of a
proper glue or cement.
AGGLUTINATION, among phyficians, implies the
action of reuniting the parts of a body, feparated by a
wound, cut, &c. It is alſo applied to the action of
fuch internal medicines as are of an agglutinating qua-
lity, and which, by giving a glutinous confiftence to
the animal-fluids, render them more proper for nouriſh-
ing the body.
AGGREGATE, in a general fenfe, denotes the fum
of feveral things added together, or the collection of
them into one whole. Thus, a houfe is an aggregate
of ftones, wood, mortar, &c. It differs from a mixed
or compound, inaſmuch as the union of theſe laſt is more
intimate than between the parts of an aggregate.
AGGREGATE, in botany, is a term uſed to exprefs
thofe flowers, which are compofed of parts or florets,
fo united by means either of the receptacle or calyx,
that no one of them can be taken away without de-
ftroying the form of the whole. They are oppoſed to
fimple flowers, which have no ſuch common part, and
are ufually divided into feven kinds, viz. the aggregate,
properly fo called, whofe receptacle is dilated, and
whofe florets are fupported by foot-ftalks; fuch are
the blue daify, thrift, or fea-pink, &c.; the compound
the umbellati; the cymofe; the amentaceous; the glu-
mofe; and the spadiceous..
AGGREGATION, in phyfics, a fpecies of union
whereby feveral things which have no natural depen-
dence or connection with one another are collected to-
gether, fo as in fome fenſe to conftitute one. Thus, a
heap of fand, or a maſs of ruins, are bodies by aggre-
gation.
AGHER, a town of Ireland, which fends two mem-
bers to parliament. It is fituated in the fouthern part
of Ulfter, not far from Clogher.
AGHRIM, a town of Ireland, in the county of
Wicklow, and province of Leinfter, fituated about 13
miles fouth-west of Wicklow.
AGHRIM, in Galway; a fmall village, diftant about
32 miles from Dublin, and rendered memorable by a
decifive battle fought there, and at Kilcommodon-hill,
the 12th of July 1691, between general Ginckle and
Monfieur St Ruth, the commanders under king Wil
liam III. and James II. when St Ruth, the general of
the Irish army, with 7000 of his men, were flain; but
of the English only 600. The victory was the more.
confiderable, as the English army confifted of no more
than 18,000 men; whereas the Irish were computed at.
20,000 foot and 5000 horfe and dragoons. They loft:
likewife nine pieces of braſs.cannon; all their ammuni--
·
tion,
AGI
[ 238 ]
AG I
Agiades tion, tents, and baggage; moſt of their ſmall arms,
which they threw away to expedite their flight; with
Agincourt.
II ſtandards, and 32 pair of colours.
AGIADES, in the Turkish armies, a kind of pio-
neers employed in fortifying camps, fmoothing of
roads, and the like offices.
AGILITY, an aptitude of the ſeveral parts of the
body to motion. The improving of agility was one of
the chief objects of the inftitution of games and exer-
ciſes. The athleta made particular profeffion of the fci-
ence of cultivating and improving agility. Agility of
body is often fuppofed peculiar to fome people; yet it
feems lefs owing to any thing peculiar, in their frame
and ſtructure, than to practice.
AGINCOURT, a village of the French Nether-
lands, ſituated in E. Long. 2. 10. N. Lat. 50.35.; fa-
mous on account of the victory obtained by Henry V.
of England over the French, in 1415.
The army of Henry, after landing in France, was
by various accidents reduced to 10,000 men, of whom
not a few were fick, or flowly recovering from fickneſs;
-they had to traverſe a long tract of country, inha-
bited by exafperated enemies, from whom they were
to procure provifions, lodgings, guides, intelligence,
and every thing they wanted; that country was de-
fended by many ftrong towns, interfected by deep ri-
vers, and guarded by an army of 100,000, or (accord-
ing to fome contemporary writers) 140,000 men.
Henry, undaunted by all thefe dangers and difficul-
ties, departed from Harfleur, marching his army in
three lines, with bodies of cavalry on the wings. He
proceeded by very eafy journeys, that he might not fa-
tigue his troops, or difcourage them by the appearance
of a flight; obferving the ftricteft difcipline, and pay-
ing generouſly for every thing he received; which in-
duced the country people to bring provifions to his
camp, in ſpite of all the commands they had received
to the contrary. To keep his men in fpirits, and from
repining, the king fared as ill as the meaneft foldier,
always appearing with a cheerful countenance, and ad-
dreffing them in the most friendly and encouraging
language. They arrived at the village of Agincourt,
in the county of St Pol, on the evening of October
24th; and there beheld the whole French army, at a
fmall diftance, directly in their route. The king took
an attentive view of it from an eminence; and being
fully convinced that it was impoffible to proceed any
further on his way to Calais without a battle, and e-
qually impoffible to return to Harfleur with fo great an
army
in his rear, he refolved to hazard an action next
morning, as the only means of preſerving himſelf and
his little army from deftruction.
The English army lodged that night in the villages
of Agincourt, Maiſoncelle, and fome others; where
they met with better accommodation than they had
been accuſtomed to for fome time paſt, and ſpent part
of their time in mutual exhortations to fight bravely in
the approaching battle. The king, overhearing fome
of his nobles expreffing a wish that the many brave
men who were idle in England were prefent to affift
them, is faid to have cried out" No! I would not
have one man more:-if we are defeated, we are too
many-if it fhall pleaſe God to give us the victory, as
I truſt he will, the fmaller our number the greater our
glory." The moon happening to fhine very bright,
Henry, with ſome of his beſt officers, carefully exa-.
mined the ground, and pitched upon a field of battle,
admirably calculated to preferve a fmall army from be
ing furrounded by a great one. It was a gentle de-
clivity from the village of Agincourt, of fufficient ex-
tent for his fmall army, defended on each fide by hedges,
trees, and brufh-wood. Having placed guards and
kindled fires on all fides, the king and his army betook
themſelves to reft; except fuch as were of a more fe-
rious turn of mind, and, confidering that as the laſt
night of their lives, fpent it in devotion.
The French, exulting in their numbers, confident of
victory, and abounding in provifions, ſpent the night
in noify feftivity, and in forming fanciful fchemes a-
bout the difpofal of their prifoners and their booty.
It was in general refolved to put all the Engliſh to the
fword, except the king and the chief nobility, who
were to be taken priſoners for the fake of their ran-
foms.
•
On the morning of Friday, the memorable 25th of
October, A. D. 1415, the day of Crifpin and Crifpia-
nus, the Engliſh and French armies were ranged in or-
der of battle, each in three lines, with bodies of cavalry
on each wing. The Conftable D'Albert, who com-
manded the French army, fell into the ſnare that was
laid for him, by drawing up his army in the narrow
plain between the two woods. This deprived him, in
a great meaſure, of the advantage he ſhould have de-
rived from the prodigious fuperiority of his numbers;
obliged him to make his lines unneceffarily deep, about
30 men in file; to crowd his troops, particularly his
cavalry, fo cloſe together, that they could hardly move
or ufe their arms; and, in a word, was the chief cauſe
of all the difafters that followed. The French, it is
faid, had a confiderable number of cannon of different
fizes in the field; but we do not hear that they did
any execution, probably for want of room. The firft
line of the French army, which confifted of 8000 men-
at-arms on foot mixed with 4000 archers, with 500
men-at-arms mounted on each wing, was commanded
by the Conftable D'Albert, the dukes of Orleans and
Bourbon, and many other nobles; the dukes of Alen-
çon, Brabant, and Bar, &c. conducted the ſecond line;
and the earls of Marle, Damartine, Fauconberg, &c.
were at the head of the third line. The king of Eng-
land employed various arts to fupply his defect of num-
bers. He placed zoo of his beſt archers in ambuſh, in
a low meadow, on the flank of the firft line of the
French. His own firſt line confifted wholly of archers,
four in file; each of whom, befides his bow and ar-
rows, had a battle-axe, a fword, and a ſtake pointed
with iron at both ends, which he fixed before him in
the ground, the poin. inclining outwards, to protect
him from cavalry; which was a new invention, and had
a happy effect. That he might not be encumbered, he
difmiffed all his prifoners, on their word of honour to
furrender themſelves at Calais, if he obtained the vic-
tory; and lodged all his baggage in the village of A-
gincourt, in his rear, under a flender guard. The
command of the firſt line was, at his earneſt requeſt,
committed to Edward duke of York, affifted by the
lords Beaumont, Willoughby, and Fanhope; the fecond
was conducted by the king, with his youngeſt brother
Humphry duke of Gloucefter, the earls of Oxford,
Marſhal, and Suffolk; and the third was led by the
duke
Agincourt.
C
1
A GI
[ 239 ]
AGI
I
was inconfiderable: thofe of our own contemporary Agio
writers who make it the greateſt, affirm, that it did not Agis.
exceed 100, and that the duke of York and the earl
of Suffolk were the only great men who fell on that
fide in this memorable action.
Agincourt. duke of Exeter, the king's uncle. The lines being
formed, the king, in fhining armour, with a crown of
gold adorned with precious ftones on his helmet, mount-
ed on a fine white horfe, rode along them, and addref-
fed each corps with a cheerful countenance and ani-
mating fpeeches. To inflame their refentment againſt
their enemies, he told them, that the French had de-
termined to cut off three fingers of the right hand of
every prifoner; and to roufe their love of honour, he
declared, that every foldier in that army who behaved
well, fhould from henceforth be deemed a gentleman,
and intitled to bear coat-armour.
When the two armies were drawn up in this man-
ner, they ſtood a confiderable time gazing at one ano-
ther in folemn filence. But the king, dreading that
the French would diſcover the danger of their fituation
and decline a battle, commanded the charge to be
founded, about ten o'clock in the forenoon. At that
inftant, the first line of the English kneeled down,
and kiffed the ground; and then starting up, difchar-
ged a flight of arrows, which did great execution a-
mong the crowded ranks of the French. Immediate-
ly after, upon a fignal being given, the archers in am-
buſh arofe, and diſcharged their arrows on the flank of
the French line, and threw it into fome diforder. The
battle now became general, and raged with uncommon
fury. The English archers, having expended all their
arrows, threw away their bows, and, ruſhing forward,
made dreadful havoc with their fwords and battle-axes..
The firſt line of the enemy was, by thefe means, de-
feated; its leaders being either killed or taken prifon-
The fecond line, commanded by the duke D'A-
lençon, (who had made a vow either to kill or take the
king of England, or to perifh in the attempt), now
advanced to the charge, and was encountered by the
fecond line of the English, conducted by the king.
This conflict was more cloſe and furious than the for-
mer. The duke of Glouceſter, wounded and unhorfed,
was protected by his royal brother till he was carried
off the field. The duke D'Alençon forced his way to
the king, and afſaulted him with great fury; but that
prince brought him to the ground, where he was in-
ftantly diſpatched. Difcouraged by this difafter, the
fecond line made no more refillance; and the third fled
without ftriking a blow; yielding a complete and glo-
rious victory to the Engliſh, after a violent ftruggle of
three hours duration.
ers.
•
The king did not permit his men to purfue the fu-
gitives to a great diftance, but encouraged them to take
as many prifoners as they could on or near the field;
in which they were ſo ſucceſsful, that, in a little time,
his captives were more numerous than his foldiers. A
great proportion of thefe prifoners were men of rank
and fortune; for many of the French nobleffe being
on foot, and loaded with their heavy armour, could not
make their eſcape. Among theſe were the dukes of
Orleans and Bourbon, the marshal Boucicaut, the counts
D’Eu, Vendome, Richemont, and Harcourt, and 7000
barons, knights, and gentlemen. The French left dead
on the field of battle, the conſtable D'Albert, the three
dukes of Alençon, Brabant, and Bar, the archbiſhop of
Sens, one marshal, 13 earls, 92 barons, 1500 knights,
and a far greater number of gentlemen, befides ſeveral
thouſands of common foldiers. Even the French hi-
ftorians acknowledge, that the lofs of the Engliſh
4.
1
AGIO, in commerce, is a term chiefly uſed in Hol-
land, and at Venice, to fignify the difference between
The
the value of bank-ſtock and the current coin.
agio in Holland is generally three or four per cent.
and at Rome it is from 15 to 25 per cent. but at Venice
the agio is fixed at 20 per cent:
AGIOSYMANDRUM, a wooden inftrument ufed
by the Greek and other churches under the dominion
of the Turks, to call together affemblies of the people.
The agiofymandrum was introduced in the place of bells,
which the Turks prohibited their Chriftian fubjects -
the ufe of, left they fhould make them fubfervient to
fedition.
AGIS, king of Lacedæmon, was defcended from
Agefilaus II. in a right line. He projected the re--
formation of his kingdom, by the reftoring of the laws
of Lycurgus; but he fell under the weight of an en-
terprife that could not but be diſagreeable to all thoſe
who had great poffeffions, and had been long accuítom-
ed to the fweets of a voluptuous life. Agis being in
the flower of his age, and having a very refined defire
of glory, practifed the ancient difcipline firft in his
own perfon: his clothes and his table were accord-
ing to the manners of former times; which is fo
much the more to be admired, becauſe Agefiftrata
his mother and Archidamia his grandmother had
brought him up voluptuouſly. When he founded
his peoples minds, he found the younger fort oppo-
fed his project lefs than thofe who had enjoyed a
relaxation of diſcipline ſeveral years.
The greateſt
difficulty was expected to arife from the women. They
had at that time more credit than ever; for their
power is never greater than when luxury is in faſhion.
Agefilaus's mother did not at all relish the propo-
fed reformation. She must have loft her riches, which
gave her a fhare in a thouſand forts of intrigues; fo
fhe oppoſed the defign at once, and treated it as a
chimera. But her brother Agefilaus, whom Agis had
engaged in his interefts, knew how to manage her in
fuch a manner that fhe promiſed to fecond the enter-
prife. She endeavoured to gain the women: but in-
tead of fuffering themfelves to be perfuaded, they ap-.-
plied to Leonidas the other king of Lacedæmon, and
humbly befought him to fruftrate the defigns of his.:
colleague. Leonidas durft not oppofe it openly, for
fear of irritating the people; to whom the reforma-
tion was agreeable, becauſe they found their account
in it. He contented himſelf with countermining it by
intrigues, and fowing fufpicions as if Agis had afpired
to tyranny, by pulling down the rich and raiſing the
poor. Agis did not fail to propofe his new laws to
the fenate, relating to the difcharge of debts, and a
new divifion of the lands. Leonidas, being fupported
by the rich, oppoſed this project fo ftrongly, that there
was one voice more againſt it than for it.
He paid
dear for the fuccefs in this affair. Lyfander, one of
the Ephori, who had been the grand promoter of the
reformation, called him to account; alleged the celeftial
figns; and put to death Cleombrotus, a prince of the royal
blood and fon-in-law to Leonidas, to make fure of the.
J
kingdom...
C
+
AGI
[240]
AGM
and are created by letters-patent. Each royal foreft Agifymba
has four agiftors.
U
Agmen.
AGISYMBA (anc. geog.), a diftrict of Libya In-
terior, according to Agathemerus, fituated to the fouth-
eaft of the thiopes Anthropophagi; the parallel paf-
fing through which, at 16° to the fouth of the equator,
was the utmost extent of the knowledge of the ancients
to the fouth (Ptolemy).
AGITATION, the act of ſhaking a body, or toffing
it backwards and forwards.
AGITATION, in phyfics, is often uſed for an inteſtine
commotion of the parts of a natural body. Fermen-
tation and effervefcence are attended with a briſk agi-
tation of the particles.
AGITATION is one of the chief caufes or inftruments
of mixtion: by the agitation of the parts of the blood
and chyle, in their continual circulation, fanguification
is in a good meaſure effected. Butter is made out of
milk by the fame means: in which operation, a fepa-
ration is made of the oleous parts from the ferous, and
a conjunction of the oleous together. Digeftion itſelf
is only fuppofed to be an infenfible kind of agitation.
Agilement, kingdom. Leonidas being frightened at this, took re
Agiftor. fuge in a temple; whither his daughter, the wife of
Cleombrotus, followed him. He was fummoned; and
becauſe he did not appear, he was degraded of his dig-
nity, which was conferred on Cleombrotus. He ob-
tained leave to retire to Tegea. The new Ephori had
Lyfander and Mandroclidas tried for innovation: thefe
perfuaded the two kings to unite and turn out theſe
Ephori. The thing was brought about; but not with-
out a great uproar in the city. Agefilaus, one of the
Ephori that fucceeded thoſe who were juſt turned out,
would have cauſed Leonidas to be killed on the way
to Tegea, if Agis had not fent him a ftrong guard.
The reformation might then have been eſtabliſhed, if
Agefilaus had not found means to elude the good in-
tentions of the two kings. Whilft this was tranfact-
ing, the Achaians afked affiftance; which was given
them, and Agis had the command of the troops. He
acquired a good deal of reputation in this campaign.
At his return, he found his affairs fo embroiled by
the ill conduct of Agefilaus, that it was impoffible
for him to maintain himſelf. Leonidas was recalled
to Lacedæmon: Agis retired into one temple and
Cleomenes into another. The wife of the latter be-
haved herſelf in fuch a manner that ſhe became the ad-
miration of every body. Leonidas was contented with
banishing his fon-in-law; after which he applied him-
felf entirely to the ruin of Agis. One of the Ephori,
who had no mind to return what Agefiftrata had lent
him, was the principal inftrument of the misfortune
of this family. Agis never went out of his fanctuary
hut to bathe. One day, as he was returning from
thence to the temple, he was feized by that Ephorus
and carried to prifon. Then he was brought to his
trial and condemned to death, and delivered to the
executioner. His mother and grandmother ufed all
the intreaty and importunity imaginable, that, as he
was king of Lacedæmon, he might at leaſt be permit
ted to plead his cauſe before the people. But they
were apprehenfive left his words would make too great
an impreffion, and therefore they ordered him to he
frangled that very hour. The Éphorus who was in
debt to Agefiftrata permitted that princefs to g into
the priſon; which he granted likewife to Agis's grand-
mother; but he gave orders to ſtrangle them one after
another. Agefiftrata died in a manner that was ex-
tremely to her honour. The wife of Agis, who was
a princefs of great fortune and prudence, and one of
the fineſt ladies in Greece, was forced away from her
apartment by king Leonidas, and obliged to marry his
fon, who was then very young, and hardly fit for mar
riage.
AGISTMENT, AGISTAGE, or AGISTATION, in
law, the taking in other people's cattle to graze at fo
much per week. The term is peculiarly ufed for the
taking cattle to feed in the king's forefts, as well as
for the profits arifing from that practice.It is alfo
ufed, in a metaphorical fenfe, for any tax, burden, or
change; thus, the tax levied for repairing the banks of
Romney-marſh was called agiſtamentum.
AGİŞTOR, or AGISTATOR, an officer belonging
to foreſts, who has the care of cattle taken in to be
grazed, and levies the moneys due on that account.
Thev are generally called quet-takers or gift-takers,
N° 6.
3
AGITATION is reputed one of the fymptons of in-
fpiration. Petit informs us*, that, in the laſt century, * Petit. de
there aroſe in a church in Italy, for the ſpace of a year, Sybilla, I. i.
a vapour of an extraordinary kind, which put all the Nouv. Rep.
people into trembling and agitations, and unleſs they
got away betimes, fet them a dancing, with ftrange
contortions and gefticulations. This feems to verify
what has been related of the temple of Delphi.
AGITATION is alſo uſed in medicine for a fpecies
of exerciſe popularly called ſwinging. Maurice prince
of Orange found this method a relief againſt the ſevere
pains of the gout and ftone. Bartholine mentions fits
of the toothach, deafnefs, &c. removed by vehement
agitations of the body.
AGITATOR, in antiquity, a term fometimes uſed
for a charioteer, eſpecially thoſe who drove in the cir-
cus at the curule games.
AGITATORS, in the Engliſh hiſtory, certain officers
fet up by the army in 1647, to take care of its inte-
refts.-Cromwell joined the agitators, only with a view
to ferve his own ends; which being once accomplished,
he found means to get them aboliſhed.
AGLAIA, the name of the youngeſt of the three
Graces, efpoufed to Vulcan.
AGLIONBY (John), an Engliſh divine, chaplain
in ordinary to king James I. a man of univerfal learn-
ing, who had a very confiderable hand in the tranfla-
tion of the New Teftament appointed by king James I.
in 1604.
AGMEN, in antiquity, properly denotes a Roman
army in march in which fenfe, it ftands contradi-
ftinguished from acies, which denoted the army in bat-
tle array; though, on fome occafions, we find the two
words uſed indifferently for each other. The Roman
armies, in their marches, were divided into primum ag-
men, anfwering to our vanguard; medium agmen, our
main-battle; and poftremum agmen, the rear-guard.
The order of their march was thus: After the firſt fig-
nal with the trumpets, &c. the tents were taken down,
and the baggage packed up; af the ſecond fignal, the
baggage was to be loaden on the horſes and carriages ;
and at the third fignal, they were to begin their march.
Firt
Lett. tom.
vii.p.1113.
5
]
241]
AGN
AGO
[ 24
Agnate Firft came the extraordinarii; then the auxiliaries of
the firft wing, with their baggage; theſe were follow-
Agnus.
ed by the legions. The cavalry marched either on
each fide or behind.
AGNATE, in law, any male relation by the fa-
ther's fide.
AGNEL, an ancient French gold coin, firft ftruck
under the reign of St Louis, worth about twelve fols
fix deniers. The agnel is alfo called fometimes mouton
d'or, and agnel d'or. The denomination is fuppofed
to have arifen from the figure of a lamb, agnus, or
ſheep, ftruck on one fide.
AGNO, a river of Naples, which, taking its rife
in the mountainous parts of Terra di Lavoro, waſhes
the town of Acerra; and, paffing between Capua and
Averfa, falls into the Mediterranean, about ſeven miles
north of Puzzuoli.
AGNOETÆ (from ayvoew, to be ignorant of), in
church-hiſtory, a fect of ancient heretics, who main-
tained that Chriſt, confidered as to his human nature,
was ignorant of certain things, and particularly of the
time of the day of judgment. Eulogius, patriarch of
Alexandria, aſcribes this herefy to certain folitaries in
the neighbourhood of Jerufalem, who built their opi-
nion upon the text Mark xiii. 32. " Of that day and
"hour knoweth no man, no not the angels who are
❝in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only."-
The fame paffage was made ufe of by the Arians; and
hence the orthodox divines of thoſe days were induced
to give various explications thereof. Some allege, that
our Saviour here had no regard to his divine nature,
but only ſpoke of his human. Others underſtand it
thus, That the knowledge of the day of judgment
does not concern our Saviour confidered in his quality
of Meffiah, but God only: which is the moſt natural
folution.
from all manner of accidents; to expel evil fpirits, &c. Agnus
The name literally fignifies Lamb of God; this being
fuppofed an image or reprefentation of the Lamb of Agonalis.
God who took away the fins of the world. They co-
ver it up with a piece of ſtuff cut in form of a heart,
and carry it very devoutly in their proceffions.-The
Romish priests and religious derive confiderable pecu-
niary advantage from felling theſe Agnus Dei's to fome,
and prefenting them to others. The pope provides a
regular fupply, by confecrating once in feven years;
they are diftributed by the mafter of the wardrobe,
and received by the cardinals and other prelates, with
great reverence, in their caps and mitres.-This cere-
mony they pretend to derive from an ancient cuſtom
of the church, wherein part of the pafchal taper con-
fecrated on Holy Thurſday was diftributed among the
people, to perfume their houſes, fields, &c. in order to
drive away devils, and to preferve them from ftorms
and tempefts. The Agnus Dei is forbidden to be
brought into England under pain of incurring a pre-
munire; 13 Eliz. cap. 2.
AGNOMEN, in Roman antiquity, a kind of fourth
or honorary name, given to a perfon on account of
fome extraordinary action, virtue, or other accompliſh-
ment. Thus the agnomen Africanus was beftowed
upon Publius Cornelius Scipio, on account of his great
atchievements in Africa. The agnomen was the third
in order of the three Roman names: thus, in Marcus
Tullius Cicero, Marcus is the prænomen, Tullius the
nomen, and Cicero the
agnomen.
AGNUS, or LAMB, in zoology, the young of the
ovis or fheep. See Ovis.
AGNUS Caftur, in botany, the trivial name of a fpe-
cies of the vitex. See VITEX. The Greeks call it
«yv&, chaſte; to which has fince been added the re-
duplicative caftus, q. d. chafte chaſte. It was famous
among the ancients as a ſpecific for the preſervation of
chaftity. The Athenian ladies, who made profeffion
of chaſtity, lay upon leaves of agnus caftus during the
feafts of Ceres.-Being reputed a cooler, and parti-
cularly of the genital parts, it was anciently uſed in
phyfic to allay thofe inordinate motions arifing from
feminal turgefcences: but it is out of the prefent
practice.
AGNUS Dei, in the church of Rome, a cake of wax
ſtamped with the figure of a lamb fupporting the ban-
ner of the crofs. Thefe being confecrated by the
pope with great folemnity, and diftributed among the
people, are fuppofed to have great virtues; as, to pre-
ferve thofe who carry them worthily, and with faith,
- VOL. I. Part I.
AGNUS Dei is alfo a popular name for that part of
the mafs wherein the prieft, ftriking his breaſt three
times, rehearſes, with a loud voice, a prayer beginning
with the words Agnus Dei.-The Agnus Dei is faid
to have been firſt brought into the miffal by pope Ser-
gius I.
AGNUS Scythicus. See Scythian LAMB.
AGOGE, among ancient muſicians, a fpecies of
modulation, wherein the notes proceed by contiguous
degrees.
AGON, among the ancients, implied any difpute
or conteft, whether it had regard to bodily exercifes
or the accompliſhments of the mind; and therefore
poets, muficians, painters, &c. had their agones, as
well as the athletæ. Games of this kind were celebra-
ted at moſt of the heathen feſtivals, with great folemnity,
either annually, or at certain periods of years. Among
the latter were celebrated at Athens, the agon gymnicus,
the agon nemeus inftituted by the Argives in the 53d
Olympiad, and the agon Olympius inſtituted by Her-
cules 430 years before the firſt Olympiad.-The Ro-
mans alſo, in imitation of the Greeks, inftituted conteſts
of this kind. The emperor Aurelian eſtabliſhed one
under the name of agon folis, the conteft of the ſun ;
Dioclefian another, which he called agon capitolinus,
which was celebrated every fourth year, after the man-
ner of the Olympic games. Hence the years, inſtead
of luftra, are fometimes numbered by agones.
AGON alfo fignified one of the minifters employed in
the Heathen facrifices, and whoſe buſineſs it was to ſtrike
the victim. The name is fuppofed to have been derived
from hence, that ftanding ready to give the ftroke he
afked, Agen'? or Agone? Shall I ftrike?
AGONALES, an epithet given to the SALII.
AGONALIA, in Roman antiquity, feftivals ce-
lebrated in honour of Janus, or the god Agonius,
whom the Romans invoked before undertaking any
affair of importance.
AGONALIS CIRCUS, now La Piazza Navona,
a long, large, beautiful ftreet in the heart of Rome,
adorned with fountains, and the obeliſk of Caracalla,
ftill retaining the form of that circus. The reafon of
the name Agonalis is either unknown or doubtful. Ovid
feems to derive it from the agones, or folemn games,
Hh
there
1
A GO
242 ]
[
AGR
Agoniſma there celebrated; fuppofed to have been the Ludi Apol-
linares, or Aftiaci, inftituted by Auguftus: whence
Agorano- the circus was called Apollinaris; alfo Alexandrinus,
from the emperor Alexander Severus, who either en-
clofed or repaired the circus.
mus.
<<
ranomi, at Athens, were ten in number, five belong Agouti
ing to the city, and as many to the Piræus; though
Agricola.
others make them fifteen in all, of whom they affign
ten to the city. To theſe a certain toll or tribute was
paid, by all who brought any thing to fell in the
market.
and ܳܝ
AGONISMA, in antiquity, denotes the prize given
to the victor in any combat or difpute.
AGONISTARCHA, from yav "combat,"
aBxos chief,"
"in antiquity, ſeems to have been much
the fame with agon theta; though fome fuggeft a dif-
ference, making it the office of the former to prefide
at and direct the private exerciſes of the athlete, which
they went through by way of practice, before they
made their appearance on the public theatres or am-
phitheatres.
AGONISTICI, in church-hiſtory, a name given by
Donatus to fuch of his difciples as he fent to fairs,
markets, and other public places, to propagate his
doctrine; for which reaſon they were alfo called Cir-
quitores, Circelliones, Catropite, Coropite, and at Rome
Montenfes. They were called Agonistici, from the Greek
ayov, combat," in regard they were fent as it were
to fight and ſubdue the people to their opinions.
AGONIUM, in Roman antiquity, was uſed for the
day on which the rex facrorum facrificed a victim, as
well as for the place where the games were celebrated,
otherwife called agon.
AGONOTHĚTA, or AGONOTHETES, in Grecian
antiquity, was the prefident or fuperintendant of the
facred games; who not only defrayed the expences at-
tending them, but infpected the manners and difcipline
of the athlete, and adjudged the prizes to the victors.
AGONY, any extreme pain. It is alſo uſed for
the pangs of death. Much of the terror of death con-
fifts in the pangs and convulfions wherewith the agony
feems attended; tho' we have reaſon to believe that
the pain in fuch cafes is ordinarily not extremely acute;
a courfe of pain and ſickneſs having ufually ftupified
and indifpofed the nerves for any quick fenfations.
However, various means have been thought of for mi-
tigating the agony of death. Lord Bacon confiders
this as part of the province of a phyſician; and that
not only when fuch a mitigation may tend to a reco-
very, but alſo when, there being no further hopes of a
recovery, it can only tend to make the paffage out of
life more calm and eaſy. Complacency in death, which
Auguftus fo much deſired, is certainly no ſmall part of
happineſs. Accordingly the author laft cited ranks
euthanafia, or the art of dying eafily, among the de-
fiderata of ſcience; and does not even feem to diſap-
prove of the courfe Epicurus took for that end,
-Hinc ftygias ebrius haufit aquas.
Opium has been applied for this purpoſe, with the ap-
plauſe of ſome, but the condemnation of more.
AGONYCLITÆ, or AGONYCLITES, in church-
history, a fect of Chriftians, in the 7th century, who
prayed always ftanding, as thinking it unlawful to
kneel.
AGORÆUS, in heathen antiquity, an appellation
given to fuch dieties as had ftatues in the market-
places; particularly Mercury, whofe ftatue was to be
feen in almoſt every public place.
AGORANOMUS, in Grecian antiquity, a magi-
ftrate of Athens, who had the regulation of weights
and meaſures, the prices of provifions, &c.-The ago-
AGOUTI, or AGUTI. See Mus.
AGRA, the capital town of a province of the fame
name, in Indoftan, and in the dominions of the Great
Mogul. It is looked upon as the largeſt city in theſe
parts, and is in the form of a half-moon. A man on
horfeback can hardly ride round it in a day. It is fur-
rounded with a wall of red ftone, and with a ditch 100
feet wide. The palace is prodigiouſly large, and the fera-
glio commonly contains above 1000 women. There are
upwards of 800 baths in this town; but that which
travellers moſt admire, is the maufoleum of one of the
Mogul's wives, which was 20 years in building. The
indigo of Agra is the moſt valuable of all that comes
from the Eaft Indies.
from the Eaſt Indies. This town is feated on the river
Jemma, about 50 miles above its confluence with the
Tehemel, and is 300 miles N. E. of Surat. E. Long..
79. 12. N. Lat. 26. 29.
AGRARIAN LAWS, among the Romans, thoſe
relating to the divifion and diftribution of lands; of
which there were a great number; but that called the
Agrarian Law, by way of eminence, was publiſhed by
Spurius Caffius, about the year of Rome 268, for di-
viding the conquered lands equally among all the citi
zens, and limiting the number of acres which each-
citizen might enjoy.-The Roman lands were of feve-
ral kinds; fome conquered from the enemies, and not
yet brought to the public account; others brought in-
deed to the public, but clandeftinely ufurped by pri
vate great men; laftly, others purchafed with the
public money, in order to be divided. Agrarian laws,
either for dividing lands taken from the enemy, or the
public lands, or thofe purchaſed with the public mo-
ney, were eafily paffed without difturbance; but thofe
whereby private rich men were to be deprived of their
lands, and the common people put in poffeffion of
what had been held by the nobility, were never at-
tempted without great diſturbances.
Several have pleaded for the neceffity of agrarian ·
laws among us: but no author has entered fo deeply
into the fubject as Mr Harrington in his Oceana; which
the reader who chooſes may confult..
AGREDA, a town of Spain, in Old Caſtile, near
the frontiers of Arragon, and about three leagues
fouth-west of Taracon,
AGRIA, called by the Germans Eger, is a fmall
but ftrong town in Upper Hungary, and is a biſhop's
fee. It is fituated on a river of the fame name, and
has a citadel called Eriaw. It was befieged by the
Turks in 1552, with 70,000 men: but they loft 8000-
in one day; and were obliged to raiſe the fiege, though
the garrifon confifted only of 2000 Hungarians, affift-
ed by the women, who performed wonders on this
occafion. However, it was afterwards taken by Ma-
homet III. in 1596; but was retaken by the emperor
in 1687; fince which time it has continued under the
dominion of the houſe of Auftria. It is 47 miles north--
eaſt of Buda, and 55 ſouth-weft of Cafſovia. E. Long.
20. 10. N. Lat. 48. 10.
1.
AGRICOLA (Cneus Junius), born at Frejus in
Pro-
1
AGR
[243]
AGR
AGRICOLA (George), a German phyfician, famous Agricola.
for his fkill in metals. He was born at Glaucha,
in Mifnia, the 24th of March 1
in Mifnia, the 24th of March 1494. The difcoveries
which he made in the mountains of Bohemia, gave
him ſo great a defire of examining accurately into e-
very thing relating to metals, that though he had en-
gaged in the practice of phyfic at Joachimfta! by ad-
vice of his friends, he ftill profecuted his ftudy of fof-
fils with great affiduity; and at length removed to
Chemnitz, where he entirely devoted himſelf to this
ftudy. He ſpent in purſuit of it the penfion he had of
Maurice duke of Saxony, and part of his own eftate;
fo that he reaped more reputation than profit from his
labours. He wrote feveral pieces upon this and other
fubjects; and died at Chemnitz the 21ft of November
1555, a very firm Papift. In his younger years he
feemed not averfe to the Proteftant doctrine; and he
highly diſapproved of the fcandalous traffic of indul
Rome. The following lines of his were pofted up ia
gences, and feveral other things in the church of
the ftreets of Zwickaw, in the year 1719:
Agricola. Provence, was, in Vefpafian's time, made lieutenant to
Vettius Bolanus in Britain; and, upon his return, was
ranked by that emperor among the patricians, and
made governor of Aquitania.
of Aquitania. This poft he held three
years; and upon his return was chofen counfel, and after
ward appointed governor of Britain, where he greatly
diftinguished himſelf. He reformed many abuſes oc-
cafioned by the avarice or negligence of former gover-
nors, put a stop to extortion, and caufed juſtice to be
impartially adminiftered. Vefpafian dying about this
time, his fon Titus, knowing the great merit of Agri-
cola, continued him in the government. In the
fpring, he marched towards the north, where he made
fome new conqueſts, and ordered forts to be built for
the Romans to winter in. He ſpent the following win-
ter in concerting ſchemes to bring the Britons to con-
form to the Roman cuſtoms. He thought the beſt way
of diverting them from rifing and taking arms, was to
ſoften their rough manners, by propofing to them new
kinds of pleaſure, and inſpiring them with a defire of
imitating the Roman manners. Soon after this, the
country was adorned with magnificent temples, porti-
cos, baths, and many other fine buildings. The Britiſh
nobles had at length their fons educated in learning; and
they who before had the utmoft averfion to the Roman
language, now began to ftudy it with great affiduity:
they wore likewife the Roman habit; and, as Tacitus
obſerves, they were brought to confider thofe things as
marks of politenefs, which were only ſo many badges
of flavery. Agricola, in his third campaign, advan-
ced as far as the Tweed; and in his fourth, he fub-
dued the nations betwixt the Tweed and the friths of
Edinburgh and Dumbritton, into which the rivers
Glotta and Bodotria diſcharge themſelves; and here he
built fortreffes to fhut up the nations yet unconquered.
In his fifth, he marched beyond the friths; where he
made fome new acquifitions, and fixed garriſons along
the weſtern coafts, over againſt Ireland. In his fixth
campaign he paffed the river Bodotria, ordering his
fleet, the first which the Romans ever had in thofe
parts, to row along the coafts, and take a view of the
northern parts.
In the following ſpring, the Britains
raiſed an army of 30,000 men; and the command was
given to Galgacus, who, according to Tacitus, made
an excellent ſpeech to his countrymen on this occafion.
Agricola likewife addreffed his men in very ſtrong and
eloquent terms. The Romans gained the victory, and
10,000 of the Britains are faid to have been killed.
This happened in the reign of the emperor Domitian;
who, growing jealous of the glory of Agricola, recal-
led him, under pretence of making him governor of
Syria. Agricola died foon after; and his death is
fufpected to have been occafioned by poifon given him
by that emperor. Tacitus the hiftorian married his
daughter, wrote his life, and laments his death in the
moſt pathetic manner.
Definition.
M
Si nos injecto ſalvebit ciftula nummo,
Heu nimium infelix tu mihi, pauper, eris i
Si nos. Chrifle, tua fervatos morte beafti,
Tam nibil infelix tu mibi, pauper, eris.
If wealth alone falvation can procure,
How fad a ftate for ever waits the poor!
But if thou, Chrift, our only ſaviour be,
Thy merits ſtill may bleſs ev'n poverty!
In the latter part of his life, however, he had
attacked the Proteftant religion: which rendered him
fo odious to the Lutherans, that they ſuffered his
body to remain unburied for five days together;
fo that it was obliged to be removed from Chem-
nitz to Zeits, where it was interred in the principal
church.
AGRICOLA (John), a Saxon divine born at Iſlebe
in 1492. He went as chaplain to count Mansfield, when
that nobleman attended the Elector of Saxony to the
diet of Spire in 1526, and that of Aufburg in 1530.
He was of a refleís ambitious temper, rivalled and
wrote againſt Melancthon, and gave count Mansfield
occafion to reproach him feverely. He obtained a pro-
fefforſhip at Wittemberg, where he taught particular
doctrines, and became founder of the fect of Antino-
mians; which occafioned warm difputes between him
and Luther, who had before been his very good friend.
But though he was never able to recover the favour -
ther of the elector of Saxony or of Luther, he recei-
ved fome confolation from the fame he acquired at Ber-
lin: where he became preacher at court; and was cho-
fen in 1548, in conjunction with Julius Phlug and
Michael Heldingus, to compofe the famous Interim,
which made fo much noiſe in the world. He died at
Berlin in 1566.
AGRICULTURE
AY be defined, The art of difpofing the earth in
ſuch a manner as to produce whatever vegetables
we defire, in large quantity, and in the greateſt perfec-
tion of which their natures are capable.—But though,
by this definition, agriculture, ftrictly ſpeaking, includes
in it the cultivation of every fpecies of vegetable what-
ever, and confequently comprehends all that is under-
ſtood of gardening and planting, we mean here to con-
Hh 2
fiae
244
Hiſtory.
AGRICULTURE.
HISTORY.
fine ourſelves to the cultivation of thoſe ſpecies of grain,
grafs, &c. which, in this country, are generally ne-
ceffary as food for men and beaſts.
THE antiquity of this art is undoubtedly beyond
that of all others; for we are informed by Scrip-
ture, that Adam was fent from the garden of Eden
to till the ground; and, this being the cafe, he certain-
ly must have known how to do fo.-It would be ridi-
culous, however, to imagine that he was acquainted
with all the methods of ploughing, harrowing, fallow
ing, &c. which are now made uſe of; and it would be
equally ſo to ſuppoſe, that he uſed fuch clumfy and
unartful inftruments as wooden hooks, horns of oxen,
&c. to dig the ground, which were afterwards employ-
ed for this purpoſe by certain favages: but as we know
nothing of the particular circumſtances in which he was
fituated, we can know as little concerning his method
of agriculture.
The prodigious length of life which the antedilu-
vians enjoyed, muſt have been very favourable to the
advancement of arts and fciences, efpecially agriculture,
to which it behoved them to apply themſelves in a parti-
cular manner, in order to procure their fubfiftence. It
is probable, therefore, that, even in the antediluvian
world, arts and ſciences had made great progreſs, nay,
might be farther advanced in fome refpects than they are
at preſent. Of this, however, we can form no judg-
ment, as there are no hiftories of thoſe times, and the
fcripture gives us but very flight hints concerning theſe
matters.
No doubt, by the terrible cataſtrophe of the flood,.
which overwhelmed the whole world, many ſciences
would be entirely loft, and agriculture would fuffer; as
it was impoffible that Noah or his children could put
in practice, or perhaps know, all the different methods
of cultivating the ground that were formerly ufed. The
common methods, however, we cannot but ſuppoſe to
we cannot but fuppofe to
have been known to him and his children, and by them
tranſmitted to their poſterity: ſo that as long as man-
kind continued in one body without being diſperſed in-
to different nations, the arts, agriculture eſpecially, would
neceffarily advance; and that they did fo, is evident from
the undertaking of the tower of Babel. It is from the
difperfion of mankind confequent upon the confufion
of tongues, that we muft date the origin of favage na-
tions. In all focieties where different arts are cultiva-
ted, there are ſome perfuns who have a kind of gene-
ral knowledge of moſt of thoſe practiſed through the
whole fociety, while others are in a manner ignorant
of every one of them. If we fuppofe a few people of
underſtanding to feparate from the reft, and become
the founders of a nation, it will probably be a civilized
one, and the arts will begin to flourish from its very
origin; but, if a nation is founded by others whofe in-
tellects are in a manner callous to every human ſcience
(and of this kind there are many in the moſt learned
countries), the little knowledge or memory of arts that
were among the original founders will be loft, and fuch
a people will continue in a ſtate of barbariſm for many
ages, unleſs the arts be brought to them from other
nations.
From this, or fimilar cauſes, all nations of equal an-
tiquity have not been equally favage, nor is there any
ſolid reaſon for concluding that all nations were origi-
4
nally unſkilled in agriculture; though as we know not
the original inftruments of huſbandry uſed by mankind
when living in one fociety, we cannot fix the date of
the improvements in this art. Different nations have
always been in a different ſtate of civilization; and agri-
culture, as well as other arts, has always been in diffe--
rent degrees of improvement among different nations at.
the fame time.
From the earlieſt accounts of the eaſtern. nations, we-
have reafon to think, that agriculture has at all times.
been underſtood by them. in confiderable perfection;.
feeing they were always ſupplied not only with the ne-
ceffaries, but the greateſt luxuries of life..
As foon as the defcendants of Abraham were fettled:
in Palestine, they generally became huſbandmen, from:
the chiefs of the tribe of Judah to the loweſt branch
of the family of Benjamin. High birth or rank did.
not at that time make any diftinction, for agriculture
was confidered as the moſt honourable of all employ-
ments; witnefs the illuftrious examples of Gideon,.
Saul, and David..
The Chaldeans, who inhabited the country where
agriculture had its birth, carried that valuable art to a
degree of excellence unknown in former times. They:
cultivated their lands with great affiduity, and feem to
have found out fome means of reftoring fertility to an
exhaufted foil, by having plentiful harveſts in fucceffion;
on which account they were not obliged, as their prede.
ceffors had been, to change their fituations, in order to:
obtain a fufficiency for themſelves and their numerous.
flocks and herds.
The Egyptians, who, from the natural fertility of
their country by the overflowing of the Nile, raiſed
every year vaſt quantities of corn, were fo fenfible of
the bleffings refulting from agriculture, that they aſcri
bed the invention of that art to Oliris. They alfo re-
garded Ifis, their fecond deity, as the diſcoverer of
the uſe of wheat and barley, which before grew wild in
the fields, and were not applied by that people to the
purpoſes of food. Their fuperftitious gratitude was
carried fo far, as to worſhip thoſe animals which were
employed in tillage; and even to the produce of their
lands, as leeks, onions, &c..
The divine honours paid to Bacchus in India were
derived from the fame fource, he being confidered in:
that country as the inventor of planting vineyards, and.
the other arts attendant upon agriculture.
It is alſo related of the ancient Pérfians, on the moſt
refpectable authority, that their kings laid aſide their
grandeur once every month to eat with hufbandmen..
This is a ftriking inftance of the high eſtimation in
which they held agriculture; for at that time arts were
practifed among that people in great perfection, parti
cularly thofe of weaving, needle-work, and embroidery.
The precepts of the religion taught by their ancient
magi, or priefts, included the practice of agriculture.
The faint among them was obliged to work out his.
falvation by purſuing all the labours of agriculture :
And it was a maxim of the Zendavefta, that he who.
fows the ground with care and diligence, acquires a
greater degree of religious merit, than he could have.
gained by the repetition of ten thoufand prayers."
The Phenicians, fo well known in fcripture by the
name of Philistines, were alſo remarkable for their at-
tention to, and ſkill in agriculture. But finding them-
felves
R
Hiftory.
AGRICULTUR E.
245
felves too much difturbed and confined by the incur
fions and conquefts of the Ifraelites, they fpread them-
felves throughout the greateſt part of the Mediterra-
nean iſlands, and carried with them their knowledge
in the arts of cultivation.
Mago, a famous general of the Carthaginians, is faid
to have written no lefs than 28 books on the fubject;
which Columella tells us were tranflated into Latin by
the exprefs order of the Roman fenate. We are in-
formed by the ancient writers, that Ceres was born in
Sicily, where fhe first invented the arts of tillage and
of fowing corn. For this effential fervice, fhe was,
agreeably to the fuperftition of thofe ages, deified,
and worshipped as the goddefs. of plenty. The truth
of this is, that in the time of Ceres, the iſland, through
her endeavours and the induſtry of the people, became
very fruitful in corn; and agriculture was there efteem-
ed ſo honourable an employment, that even their kings
did not diſdain to practiſe it with their own hands.
But time, which at firft gave birth to arts, often
cauſed them to be forgotten when they were removed
from the place of their origin. The defcendants of
Noah, who fettled in Europe, doubtlefs carried their
knowledge of agriculture with them into the regions
which they fucceffively occupied. But thofe who took
poffeffion of Greece were fuch an uncivilized race, that
they fed on roots, herbs, and acorns, after the man-
ner of beafts. Pelafgus had taught them the culture
of the oak, and the uſe of acorns as food; for which
fervice, we are told, divine honours were paid him by
the people.
The Athenians, who were the firft people that ac-
quired any tincture of politenefs, taught the ufe of corn
to the reft of the Greeks. They alſo inftructed them
how to cultivate the ground, and to prepare it for the
reception of the feed. This art, we are told, was
taught them by Triptolemus. The Greeks foon per-
ceived that bread was more wholeſome, and its taſte
more delicate, than that of acorns and the wild roots
of the fields; accordingly they thanked the gods for
fuch an unexpected and beneficial prefent, and honour--
ed their benefactor.
As the arts of cultivation increafed, and the blef
fings they afforded became generally experienced, the
people foon preferred them to whatever the ravages of
conqueft, and the cruel depredations of favage life,
could procure. And accordingly we find, that the A-
thenian kings, thinking it more glorious to govern a
fmall ftate wifely, than to aggrandize themfelves, and
enlarge the extent of their dominions by foreign con-
quefts, withdrew their fubjects from war, and mottly
employed them in cultivating the earth. Thus, by
continued application, they brought agriculture to a
confiderable degree of perfection, and foon reduced it
to an art..
Hefiod was the firft we know of among the Greeks
who wrote on this intereſting ſubject. According to
the cuſtom of the Oriental authors, he wrote in poetry,
and embelliſhed his poem with luxuriant defcription
and fublime imagery. He calls his poem Weeks and
Days, becauſe agriculture requires exact obfervations on
times and feafons.
Xenophon has alfo, in his Oeconomics, remarked,
that agriculture is the nurfing mother of the arts. For,
fays he,, "where agriculture fucceeds profperously,
">
there the arts thrive; but where the earth neceffarily
lies uncultivated, there the other arts are deſtroyed."
Other eminent Greek writers upon agriculture
were, Democritus of Abdera, Socraticus, Archytas,
Tarentinus, Ariftotle, and Theophraftus, from whom
the art received confiderable improvements.
The ancient Romans eſteemed agriculture fo honour-
able an employment, that the moft illuftrious fenators
of the empire, in the intervals of public concerns, ap-
plied themſelves to this profeffion; and fuch was the
fimplicity of thoſe ages, that they affumed no appear-
ance of magnificence and fplendor, or of majefty, but
when they appeared in public. At their return from
the toils of war, the taking of cities, and the fubduing
of hoftile nations, their greateſt generals were impatient
till they were again employed in the arts of cultiva-
tion.
Regulus, when in Africa, requeſted of the fenate to
be recalled, left his farm might ſuffer, for want of pro-
per cultivation, in his abfence; and the fenate wrote
him for anſwer, that it ſhould be taken care of at the
public expence, while he continued to lead their ar-
mies.
Cato the cenfor, after having governed extenſive
provinces, and fubdued many warlike nations, did not
think it below his dignity to write a Treatife on Agri-
culture. This work (as we are told by Servius) he
dedicated to his own fon, it being the firſt Latin trea--
tife written on this important fubject; and it has been.
handed down to us in all its purity, in the manner
that Cato wrote it.
Varro compofed a treatiſe on the fame fubject, and
on a more regular plan. This work is embelliſhed.
with all the Greek and Latin erudition of that learned-
author, who died 28 years before the commencement
of the Chriſtian æra.. Virgil, who lived about the
fame time, has, in his Georgics, adorned this fubject
with the language of the Muſes, and finely illuftrated:
the precepts and rules of huſbandry left by Hefiod,.
Mago, and Varro.
Columella, who flouriſhed in the reign of the em-
peror Claudius, wrote 12 books on huſbandry, replete.
with important inftruction..
From this period to that of the reign of Conftantine
Poganatus, huſbandry continued in a declining ſtate ;-
but that wife emperor caufed a large collection of the
moft ufeful precepts relating to agriculture to be ex--
tracted from the beft writers, and publiſhed them un--
der the title of Geoponics. It has been afferted, that he
made this collection with his own hand; and the truth.
of the affertion is not improbable, as it is well known,
that after he had conquered the Saracens and the A-
rabians, he not only practifed and encouraged, but ftu-.
died the arts of peace, fixing his principal attention on
agriculture, as their beft foundation.
After the death of Conftantine, however, the in--
creafing attention of the people to commerce, and the
ignorance and grofs fuperftition of the ages which fuc
ceeded, feems to have rendered agriculture an almoft ne-
glected fcience. The irruptions of the northern na-
tions foon aboliſhed any improved fyftem. Theſe innu-
merable and enterpriſing barbarians, who over-ran all
Europe, were originally fhepherds or hunters, like the
prefent Tartars and the favages of America. They con--
tented themfelves with poffeffing thoſe vaft deferts made
by
246
Hiftory.
AGRICULTURE.
by their own ravages, without labour or trouble, cul-
tivating only a very ſmall ſpot near their habitations;
and in this trifling hufbandry only the meaneft flaves
were employed: fo that the art itſelf, which formerly
was thought worthy of the ftudy of kings, was now
looked upon as mean and ignoble; a prejudice which
is fcarcely effaced at prefent, or at leaſt but very lately.
During this period, therefore, we find no veftiges
of any thing tolerably written on the fubject. No new
attempts were made to revive it, or to improve it, till
the year 1478, when Crefcenzio publifhed an excellent
performance on the ſubject at Florence. This rouzed
the flumbering attention of his countrymen, feveral of
whom foon followed his example. Among thefe, Tat-
ti, Steffano Auguftino Gallo, Sanſovino, Lauro, and
Tarello, deferve particular notice.
At what time agriculture was introduced into Bri-
tain, is uncertain. When Julius Cæfar firſt invaded this
iſland, it was not wholly unknown. That conqueror
was of opinion, that agriculture was first introduced by
fome of thoſe colonies from Gaul which had ſettled in
the fouthern parts of Britain, about 100 years before
*Cæfar de the Roman invaſion*.
Bell Gall.
lib. 5. c. 12.
It is not to be expected that we can now be acquaint-
ed with many of the practices of theſe ancient huf-
bandmen. It appears, however, that they were not
unacquainted, with the ufe of manures, particularly
+ Plin. Nat. marle. This we have on the authority of Plinyt, who
Hift. lib. 17 tells us, that it was peculiar to the people of Gaul and
of Britain; that its effects continued 80 years; and
that no man was ever known to marle his field twice,
&c.—It is highly probable, too, that lime was at this
time alſo uſed as a manure in Britain, it being certain-
ly made ufe of in Gaul for this purpoſe at the time of
Julius Cæfar's invafion.
cap.6.
The eſtabliſhment of the Romans in Britain produ-
ced great improvements in agriculture, infomuch that
prodigious quantities of corn were annually exported
from the iſland; but when the Roman power began to
decline, this, like all the other arts, declined alſo, and
was almoft totally deſtroyed by the departure of that
people. The unhappy Britons were now expofed to
frequent incurfions of the Scots and Picts, who deftroy-
ed the fruits of their labours, and interrupted them in
the exerciſe of their art. After the arrival of the Sax-
ons in the year 449, they were involved in fuch long
wars, and underwent ſo many calamities, that the huf-
bandmen gradually loft much of their ſkill, and were at
laſt driven from thoſe parts of their country which were
moft proper for cultivation.
After the Britons retired into Wales, though it ap-
pears from the laws made relative to this art, that agri-
culture was thought worthy of the attention of the le-
giſlature, yet their inftruments appear to have been very
unartful. It was enacted that no man ſhould undertake
to guide a plough who could not make one; and that
the driver fhould make the ropes of twisted willows,
with which it was drawn. It was ufual for fix or eight
perfons to form themſelves into a fociety for fitting out
one of theſe ploughs, providing it with oxen and every
thing neceffary for ploughing; and many minute and
curious laws were made for the regulation of fuch fo-
cieties. If any perfon laid dung on a field with the
confent of the proprietor, he was by law allowed the
uſe of that land for one year. If the dung was carried
out in a cart in great abundance, he was to have the
ufe of the land for three years. Whoever cut down a
wood, and converted the ground into arable, with the
confent of the owner, was to have the uſe of it for five
years. If any one folded his cattle, for one year, up-
on a piece of ground belonging to another, with the
owner's confent, he was allowed the uſe of that field
for four years.
Thus, though the Britons had in a great meaſure
loft the knowledge of agriculture, they appear to have
been very affiduous in giving encouragement to fuch as
would attempt a revival of it; but, among the Anglo-
Saxons, things were not at preſent in ſo good a ſtate.
Theſe reillefs and haughty warriors, having contrac-
ted a diſtafte and contempt for agriculture, were at
pains to enact laws to prevent its being followed by any
other than women and flaves. When they firft arri-
ved in Britain, they had no occafion for this art, being
fupplied by the natives with all the neceffaries of life.
After the commencement of hoftilities, the Saxons
fubfifted chiefly by plunder: but having driven out or
extirpated moſt of the ancient Britons, and divided
their lands among themſelves, they found themſelves in
danger of ſtarving, there being now no enemy to plun-
der; and therefore they were obliged to apply to agri-
culture.
The Saxon princes and great men, who, in the divi-
fion of the lands, had received the greateſt ſhares, are ſaid
to have fubdivided their eftates into two parts, which
were called the in-lands and the out-lands. The in-
lands were thoſe which lay moſt contiguous to the
manfion-houſe of their owner, which he kept in his
own poffeffion, and cultivated by his flaves, under the
direction of a bailiff, for the purpoſe of raifing provi
fions for the family. The out-lands were thoſe at a
greater diftance from the houſe, and were let to the
ceorls, or farmers of thofe times, at very moderate
rents. By the laws of Ina king of the weft Saxons,
who reigned in the end of the feventh and beginning
of the eighth century, a farm confiſting of ten hides,
or plough-lands, was to pay the following rent: "Ten
cafks of honey; three hundred loaves of bread; twelve
caſks of ftrong ale; thirty cafks of ſmall ale; two
oxen; ten wedders; ten geefe; twenty hens; ten
cheefes; one caſk of butter; five falmon; twenty pounds
of forage; and one hundred eels." From this low
rent, the imperfection of agriculture at that time is
eaſily diſcoverable; but it is ftill more fo from the low
prices at which land was then fold. In the ancient
hiftory of the church of Ely, publifhed by Dr Gale,
there are accounts of many purchaſes of lands by Edel-
wold the founder of that church, and by other bene-
factors, in the reign of Edgar the Peaceable, in the
tenth century. By a compariſon of theſe accounts it
appears, that the ordinary price of an acre of the beft
land in that part of England, in thofe times, was no
more than 16 Saxon pennies, or about four fhillings of
our money: a very trifling price, even in compariſon
with that of other commodities at the fame time: for, by
comparing other accounts, it appears, that four fheep
were then equal in value to an acre of the beft land,
and one horſe of the fame value with three acres. The
frequent and deplorable famines which afflicted England
about this time, are further inftances of the wretched
ſtate of agriculture. In 1043, a quarter of wheat ſold
for
Hiſtory.
247
AGRICULTURE.
}
for 60 Saxon pennies (15 of our fhillings), and at that
time equal in value to feven or eight pounds of our
money now.
The invafion of the Normans, in 1066, contributed
very much to the improvement of agriculture; for, by
that event, many thouſands of huſbandmen from Flan-
ders, France, and Normandy, fettled in Britain, ob-
tained eftates or farms, and cultivated them after the
manner of their country. The implements of huſban.
dry, uſed.at this time, were of the fame kind with thoſe
employed at prefent; but fome of them were lefs per-
fect in their conftruction. The plough, for example,
had but one ftilt or handle, which the ploughman
guided with one hand, having in his other hand an in-
ftrument which ſerved both for cleaning and mending
the plough, as well as for breaking the clods. The
Norman plough had two wheels; and in the light foil
of Normandy was commonly drawn by one or two
oxen; but, in England, a greater number was often
neceffary. In Wales, the perſon who conducted the
oxen in the plough walked backwards. Their carts,
harrows, fcythes, fickles, and flails, from the figures
of them ſtill remaining, appear to have been nearly of
the fame conftruction with thofe that are now ufed. In
Wales, they did not uſe a fickle for reaping their corns,
but an inftrument like the blade of a knife, with a
wooden handle at each end.-Their chief manure, next
to dung, ſeems ſtill to have been marle. Summer fal-
lowing of lands defigned for wheat, and ploughing
them feveral times, appear to have been frequent prac-
tices of the Engliſh farmers in this period.
We are, after all, very much in the dark with reſpect
to the ſtate and progrefs of agriculture in Great Bri-
tain previous to the fourteenth century. That it was
pretty generally practifed, eſpecially in the eaſtern,
fouth, and midland parts of England, is certain; but
of the mode, and the fuccefs, we are left almoft totally
ignorant. In the latter end of the fifteenth century,
however, it ſeems to have been cultivated as a ſcience,
and received very great improvement.
At this time our countryman, Fitzherbert, Judge
of the Common-Pleas, fhone forth with diſtinguiſhed
eminence in the practical parts of huſbandry. He ap-
pears to have been the firſt Engliſhman who ſtudied the
nature of foils, and the laws of vegetation, with philo-
fophical attention. On theſe he formed a theory con-
firmed by experiments, and rendered the ftudy pleafing
as well as profitable, by realizing the principles of the
ancients, to the honour and advantage of his country.
Accordingly, he publiſhed two treatifes on this fubject:
the firft, intitled The Book of Huſbandry, appeared 1534;
and the fecond, called The Book of Surveying and Im-
provements, in 1539. Theſe books, being written at
a time when philofophy and fcience were but juft
emerging from that gloom in which they had long
been buried, were doubtless replete with many errors;
but they contained the rudiments of true knowledge,
and revived the ſtudy and love of an art, the advantages
of which were obvious to men of the leaft reflection.
We therefore find that Fitzherbert's books on Agri-
culture foon raiſed a ſpirit of emulation in his country.
men, and many treatifes of the fame kind fucceffively
appeared, which time has however deprived us of, or
at leaſt they are become fo very ſcarce as only to be
found in the libraries of the curious..
About the year 1600, France made ſome confider-
able efforts to revive the arts of husbandry, as appears
from feveral large works, particularly Les Moyens de
devenir Riche; and the Cofmopolite, by Bernard de
Paliffy, a poor porter, who feems to have been placed
by fortune in a ſtation for which nature never intended
him; Le Theatre d'Agriculture, by Deferres; and
L'Agriculture et Maifon Rustique, by Meffrs Etienne,
Liebault, &c.
Nearly in the fame period, the practice of huſbandry
became more prevalent among this people and the Fle-
mings than the publiſhing of books on the ſubject.
Their intention feemed to be that of carrying on a pri-
vate lucrative employment, without inftructing their
neighbours. Whoever therefore became defirous of
copying their method of agriculture, was obliged to
vifit that country, and make his own remarks on their
practice.
The principle idea they had of hufbandry was, by
keeping the lands clean and in fine tilth, to make a
farm refemble a garden as nearly as poffible.
+
Such an excellent principle, at firft fetting out, led
them of courſe to undertake the culture of fmall farms
only, which they kept free from weeds, continually
turning the ground, and manuring it plentifully and
judicioufly. When they had by this method brought
the foil to a proper degree of cleanlineſs, health, and.
fweetneſs, they chiefly cultivated the more delicate
graffes, as the fureft means of obtaining a certain pro-
fit upon a fmall eftate, without the expence of keep-
ing many draught horſes and fervants. A few years
experience was fufficient to convince them, that ten
acres of the beſt vegetables for feeding cattle, properly
cultivated, would maintain a larger flock of grazing
animals than forty acres of common farm grafs on
land badly cultivated. They alfo found, that the beſt
vegetables for this purpoſe were lucerne, faintfoin, tre-
foil of moft kinds, field turnips, &c.
The grand political ſecret of their huſbandry, there-
fore, confifted in letting farms on improvement. They
are faid alſo to have diſcovered nine forts of manure;
but what they all were, we are not particularly in-
formed.
formed. We find, however, that marle was one of
them; the ufe and virtues of which appear alſo to have
been well known in this kingdom two hundred years
ago, although it was afterwards much neglected. They
were the first people among the moderns who plough-
ed in green crops for the fake of fertilizing the foil;
and who confined their fheep at night in large fheds
built on purpoſe, the floors of which were covered
with fand or virgin earth, &c. which the ſhepherd
carted away each morning to the compoft dunghill.
In England, during the civil wars, though the ope-
rations and improvements in hufbandry fuffered fome
temporary checks, there flouriſhed feveral excellent
writers on the ſubject; and the art itſelf received con-
fiderable encouragement. Sir Hugh Platt was one of
the moft ingenious huſbandmen of the age in which he
lived; yet fo great was his modefty, that all his works,
except his Paradife of Flora, feem to be pofthumous.
He held a correfpondence with moft of the lovers and
patrons of agriculture and gardening in England; and
fuch was the juftice and modeſty of his temper, that he
always named the author of every diſcovery communica-
ted to him. Perhaps no man in any age difcovered, or at
•
leaft
བ་
248
A GR. I CULTURE.
leaft brought into ufe, fo many new kinds of manure.
This will be evident to thoſe who read his account of
the compoft and covered dung-hills, and his judicious
obfervations on the fertilizing qualities lodged in falt,
ftreet-dirt, and the fullage of ftreets in great cities,
clay, fuller's earth, moorish earths, dung-hills made in
layers, fern, hair, calcination of all vegetables, malt-
duft, willow-tree earth, foaper's afhes, urine, marle,
and broken pilchards.
Gabriel Plattes may be faid to have been an origi-
nal genius in hufbandry. He began his obfervations
at an earlier period, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth,
and continued them down to the Commonwealth. But
notwithſtanding the great merit of this writer, and the
effential ſervice he had rendered his country by his wri-
tings, the public ungratefully fuffered him to ftarve
and perish in the ſtreets of London; nor had he a ſhirt
on his back when he died.
Samuel Hartlib, a celebrated writer on agriculture
in the last century, was highly esteemed and beloved
by Milton, and other great men of his time. In the
preface to his work intitled Hi Legacy, he laments
that no public director of huſbandry was eſtabliſhed in
England by authority; and that we had not adopted
the Flemish method of letting farms upon improvement.
This remark of Hartlib's procured him a penfion of
L. 100 a-year from Cromwell; and the writer after
wards, the better to fulfil the intention of his bene-
factor, procured Dr Beatti's excellent annotation on
the Legacy, with other valuable papers from his nu-
merous correfpondents.
The time in which Hartlib flouriſhed feems to have
been an era when the Engliſh huſbandry roſe to great
perfection, compared with that of former ages; for
the preceding wars had impoverished the country gen-
tlemen, and of courſe made them induftrious. They
found the cultivation of their own lands to be the most
profitable ſtation they could fill. But this wife turn
was not of long continuance. At the Reftoration,
they generally became infected with that intoxication
and love of pleaſure which fucceeded. All their in-
duftry and knowledge were exchanged for neglect and
diffipation; and huſbandry defcended almoft entirely
into the hands of common farmers.
Evelyn was the firft writer who infpired his country-
men with a defire of reviving the ftudy of agriculture;
and he was followed by the famous Jethro Tull. The
former, by his admirable treatiſes on earth and on
planting, and the latter, by fhowing the fuperior advan-
tages of the drill-huſbandry, excited numbers to bring
their theory to the teſt of fair experiment.
Many valuable and capital improvements have, fince
that period, been made in Engliſh huſbandry: and
thefe great men have been fucceeded by a variety of
writers, many of whom have done effential ſervice, by
enlightening the minds of their countrymen, and ex-
citing them to emulation.
About the middle of the laſt century, Ireland be
gan to make a confiderable figure in the art of huf-
bandry. It muſt indeed be confeffed, that the Iriſh
had very ſtrong prejudices in favour of a wretched me-
thod of agriculture, till Blyth opened their eyes by his
excellent writings. Since that time, a ſpirit of im-
provement has more or leſs been promoted, and in
many inftances carried on with great zeal, by the
N° 7.
Hiftory.
nobility, clergy, and gentry of that kingdom. In
proof of this, it will be fufficient to obferve, that
the Tranfactions of the Dublin Society for encourage-
ing Hufbandry are now cited by all foreigners in their
memoirs relating to that fubject. And the obferva-
tions of that difcerning and judicious writer, Arthur
Young, Efq; in his late Tour through that kingdom,
fhow, that in many refpects improvements there have
of late years made a progreſs nearly as rapid as-in
England.
After the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, moſt of the na-
tions of Europe, by a fort of tacit confent, applied
themſelves to the ftudy of agriculture, and continued
to do fo, more or lefs, amidſt the univerſal confufion
that fucceeded.
The French found, by repeated experience, that
they could never maintain a long war, or procure a to-
lerable peace, unleſs they could raiſe corn enough to
fupport themſelves in fuch a manner as not to be ob-
liged to harſh terms on the one hand, or to periſh by
famine on the other. This occafioned the King to give
public encouragement to agriculture, and even to be
prefent at the making of feveral experiments. The
great, and the rich of various ranks and ſtations, fol-
lowed his example; and even the ladies were candi-
dates for a fhare of fame in this public-ſpirited and
commendable undertaking.
During the hurry and diftreffes of France in the war
of 1756, confiderable attention was paid to agricul
'ture. Prize-queftions were annually propofed in their
rural academies, particularly thoſe of Lyons and Bour-
deaux; and many judicious obfervations were made by
the Society for improving agriculture in Brittany.
Since the conclufion of that war in 1760, matters
have been carried on there with great vigour. The
univerfity of Amiens made various propoſals for the
advancement of huſbandry; and the Marquis de Tour-
billy (a writer who proceeded chiefly on experience)
had the principal direction of a Georgical fociety eſta
bliſhed at Tours.
The ſociety at Rouen alſo deſerves notice; nor have
the King and his miniſters thought it unworthy their
attention. There are at prefent about fifteen focieties
exifting in France, eftabliſhed by royal approbation,
for the promoting of agriculture; and thefe have twen-
ty co-operating focieties belonging to them.
About this time vigorous exertions began to be
made in Ruffia to introduce the most approved fyftem
of huſbandry which had taken place in other parts of
Europe. The prefent Empreſs has fent feveral gentle-
men into Britain and other countries to ftudy agricul-
ture, and is giving it all poffible encouragement in her
own dominions.
The art of agriculture has alſo been for near 30
years publicly taught in the Swediſh, Danish, and
German univerfities, where the profeffors may render
effectual fervice to their refpective countries, if they
underſtand the practical as well as the fpeculative part,
and can converſe with as much advantage with the far-
mer as with Virgil and Columella.
Even Italy has not been totally inactive. The Nea-
politans of this age have condefcended to recur to the
firft rudiments of revived huſbandry, and begun to ftu-
dy anew the Agricultural Syftem of Crefcenzio, firft
publiſhed in 1478. The people of Bergamo have pur-
fited
1
}
}
Hiftory.
249
AGRICULTUR
E.
i
fued the fame plan, and given a new edition of the Ri-
cordo d'Agriculturæ de Tarello, firſt publiſhed in 1577.
The dutchy of Tuſcany have imbibed the fame ſpirit
for improvement. A private gentleman, above 40 years
fince, left his whole fortune to endow an academy of
agriculture. The firft ecclefiaftic in the dutchy is pre-
fident of this fociety, and many of the chief nobility
are members.
His Sardinian Majefty has alſo fent perfons to learn the
different modes of practice in foreign countries; and
made fome ſpirited attempts to eſtabliſh a better me-
thod of agriculture among his fubjects.
In Poland, alfo, M. De Bielufki, grand marſhal of
the crown, has made many fuccefsful attempts to in-
troduce the new huſbandry among his countrymen;
and procured the beſt inftruments for that purpofe from
-France, England, and other parts of Europe.
The Hollanders are the only people now in Europe
who feem to look upon agriculture with indifference.
Except the fingle collateral inftance of draining their
fens and moraffes, they have ſcarcely paid any atten-
tion to it; and even this ſeems to have proceeded more
from the motive of felf-preſervation than any love of,
or difpofition to, huſbandry.
In the year 1759, a few ingenious and public-
fpirited men at Berne in Switzerland eſtabliſhed a fo-
ciety for the advancement of agriculture and rural
œconomics. In that fociety were many men of great
weight in the republic, and moſt of them perfons of a
true caft for making improvements in huſbandry, being
enabled to join the practice with the theory.
Nor muft we here omit to mention, that the juftly cele-
brated Linnæus and his diſciples have performed great
things in the north of Europe, particularly in difcover-
ing new kinds of profitable and well-tafted food for cat-
tle. About the fame time, Sweden beſtowed fuccefsful
labours on a foil which had before been looked upon as
cold, barren, and incapable of melioration. Of this
the Stockholm Memoirs will be a laſting monument.
Denmark, and many of the courts in Germany, fol-
lowed the fame example. Woollen manufactures were
encouraged, and his Daniſh Majefty fent three perfons
into Arabia Felix to make remarks, and bring over
fuch plants and trees as would be uſeful in hufbandry,
building, and rural affairs.
The duchy of Wirtemburgh, alfo, a country by
no means unfertile, but even friendly to corn and paf-
turage, has contributed its affiftance towards the im-
provement of agriculture, having more than 30 years
fince publiſhed 14 œconomical relations at Stutgard.
Neither muſt we forget the very affiduous attention
PART I. THEORY
IN an art ſo extenſively uſeful to mankind, and which
has been fo univerfally practifed fince the creation
of the world, it is natural to expect the most exact and
perfect theory. But in this we are totally difap-
Ignorance pointed.
Y
of the food
of vege-
reaſon of
~
One reaſon of this want of a diſtinct theory of agri-
culture is, the ignorance of what is properly the food
tables, the of vegetables; for as the art of agriculture confifts
imperfec- principally in fupplying them with a proper quantity of
tion in the food, in the most favourable circumftances, it is evi-
theory of a- dent, we might proceed upon a much furer foun-
VOL. I. Part I.
of the learned in Leipfic and Hanover to this im-
portant object. During the rage and devaſtation of a
long war, they cultivated the arts of peace; witneſs
the Journal d'Agriculture printed at Leipfic, and the
Recueils d'Hanover printed in that city.
Even Spain, conſtitutionally and habitually inactive
on fuch occafions, in fpite of all their natural indo-
lence, and the prejudices of bigotry, invited Linnæus,
with the offer of a large penfion, to fuperintend a col-
lege founded for the purpoſe of making new enqui-
ries into the hiftory of Nature and the art of agriculture.
Among the Japaneſe, agriculture is in great repute;
and among the Chineſe it is diſtinguiſhed and encou-
raged by the court beyond all other ſciences. The
Emperor of China yearly, at the beginning of ſpring,
goes to plough in perfon, attended by all the princes and
grandees of the empire. The ceremony is performed
with great folemnity; and is accompanied with a fa-
crifice, which the emperor, as high-prieft, offers to
Chang-Ti, to enfure a plentiful crop in favour of his
people.
But, without any improper partiality to our own
country, we are fully juftified in afferting, that Bri-
tain alone exceeds all modern nations in huſbandry;
and from the ſpirit which for the last twenty years
has animated many of our nobility and gentry, to
become the liberal patrons of improvement, there
is reafon to hope that this moſt uſeful of arts will,
in a few years, be carried to a greater pitch of per-
fection than it has ever yet attained in any age or
country. The Royal Society, the Bath Society, and
the Society of Arts, &c. in particular, have been fig-
nally uſeful in this refpect; and the other affociations,
which are now eſtabliſhed in many parts of the kingdom,
co-operate with them in forwarding their laudable de-
fign.
It is not, however, to the exertion of public focie-
ties, excellent and honourable as they are, that all our
modern improvements in agriculture owe their origin.
To the natural genius of the people have been added
the theory and practice of all nations in ancient and
modern times. This accumulated mafs of knowledge
has been arranged, divided, and ſubdivided; and after
paffing the telt of practical experiments, the effential
and moſt valuable parts of it have been preſerved, im-
proved, and amply diffufed in the works of Lord
Kames, Mr Young, Stillingfleet, Dr Hunter, Ander-
fon, Dickfon, Ellis, Randal, Lifle, Marſhal, Mortimer,
Duhamel, Bradley, Kent, Mills, and a few other wri-
ters upon this great art of rendering mankind happy,
wealthy, and powerful.
OF AGRICULTURE.
dation if we could afcertain what their proper nou-
rifhment is, than we can do without this knowledge.
-The reafon of the great differences regarding the
practice, probably, is the difficulty of making experi
ments in agriculture. It is not in this art as in Me-
chanics, Chemiſtry, &c. where an experiment can be
made in an hour, or a day or two at fartheſt: an ex-
periment in agriculture cannot be properly made in lefs
than feveral years. Some favourable unobferved cir-
cumftances, quite foreign to the experiment itſelf, may
concur to produce plentiful crops for a year or two:
I i
and
250
A
GRICULTURE.
Part I.
Theory. and thus the farmer may be induced to publifh his
fancied improvements; which failing in the hands of o-
thers, or perhaps even in his own on a repetition of the
experiment, the new improvements are totally neglect
ed, and things continue in their old way. Were he,
however, capable of feeing and handling the food of
vegetables, as well as he can do that of a horfe or an
ox, and procuring it in any imaginable quantity, it is
plain, that he would be able to caufe vegetables grow
in their utmoſt luxuriancy, or, if we may be allowed
the expreffion, fatten them, with as great certainty as
he can fatten a horfe or an ox, when he hath plenty of
proper food to give them.-To aſcertain what this food
is, therefore, muſt be a step towards the perfection of
agriculture; and to this we ſhall contribute our endea-
2
Various
vour.
SECT. I. Of the proper Food of Plants.
fuppofitions
WE fhall not here ſpend time in refuting the theories
concerning
the food of of thofe who imagined the vegetable food to confift
plants. of oily and faline fubftances. A more probable fuppo-
fition has been, That Water and Air are the proper
vegetable food, to which alone they owe their increafe
in bulk and weight.-That plants cannot be fupported
without both theſe, is very certain : but we know, that
air is a compound fluid; and water is never without
fome impurities, fo may alſo be confidered as a coin-
pound. Is it then the aqueous, the earthy, the acid, or
the phlogiſtic part of the air, which nouriſhes plants' In
like manner, is it the pure elementary part of water
which nouriſhes them? or does it contribute to their
growth only by the heterogeneous fubſtances which it
contains?
Vegetables
thrive in
putrid air.
4
Water ca-
From Dr Priestley's experiments on different kinds
of air, it appears that the pureft kind of that fluid
not the fittest for the purpoſes of vegetation. On the
contrary, vegetables flouriſhed in a furprifing degree
when confined in a ſmall quantity of air made perfectly
noxious by the putrid effluvia of animal bodies.
Hence it appears probable, that fuch effluvia, or, in
other words, the effence of corrupted matter, conftitute
at leaſt one ſpecies of vegetable food; and when vege-
tables are put into fuch circumstances that the ſteams
of putrefying bodies can have accefs to them, we are
fure they will thrive the better.
The Doctor alfo found, that by agitating putrid air
pable of im- in water, part of which was expofed to the atmoſphere,
bibing pu- the water acquired a very putrid noxious fmell; which
trid efflu-
via.
ſhows, that water, as well as air, is capable of abforbing
thoſe effluvia which are found proper food for vegetables.
We cannot help concluding, therefore, that in the con-
tinual afcent of water in vapour, and its deſcent again
in rain, which is a much more effectual agitation than
could be made by Dr Priestley, the water must be very
intimately combined with the phlogistic or putrid efflu-
via which are contained in the air. To this union we
are led ftrongly to fufpect that rain-water owes its fer-
tilizing qualities; for the pureft fpring waters, though
moft wholefome for animals, are not found to be fitteft
Putrid ef- for promoting the growth of vegetables.-As, there-
Bluvia the fore, vegetables evidently receive nouriſhment both by
proper food their leaves and roots, and increaſe remarkably in bulk
of plants,
by abſorbing the putrid effluvia from the air; and as
they likewife increafe in bulk by admitting water to Theory.
their roots, and more fo when the water contains much
of that kind of effluvium than when it contains lefs:
fo we would conclude, that the nourishment recei-
ved by the roots of plants is of the fame kind with
that received by their leaves; and that this food may be
given them in greater plenty than they naturally re-
ceive it, by impregnating the air which ſurrounds them,
or the water which moiftens them, with a greater quan-
tity of putrid matter than what they contain in a natu
ral ftate.
SECT. II. The foregoing Theory confirmed from con-
fiderations on the nature of vegetable Mould, and
the different kinds of Manure found proper for
fertilizing the Soil.
6
per for nous
THOUGH plants will grow on any kind of earth, and All kinds of
earth not
flourish vigorously, if plentifully fupplied with water;
equally pro-
yet fome kinds of foil are found much more proper for
fupplying them with nouriſhment than others. We riding ve
cannot, indeed, allow the inferences to be quite fair getables.
which fome would draw from experiments on plants
fet in mere fand, &c.; viz. that the earth is of no other
ufe to vegetation than to afford a proper fupport to the
plant, that it be not eafily moved out of its place; be-
caufe the experiments made on fingle vegetables are al-
ways performed in or very near houſes, where the air
is by no means fo pure as in the open fields, and con-
fequently where they have an opportunity of receiving
as much nouriſhment from the air as may compenfate
the want of what they would have derived from the
earth if planted in a rich foil. Lord Kames, in the
Gentleman Farmer, mentions an experiment wherein a
pea was planted on fome cotton fpread on water, in a
phial. It fprung, and puſhed roots through the cotton.
into the water. The plant grew vigorously, and, at
the time of his writing the experiment, carried large
pods full of ripe feed.-From this experiment, or
others of a fimilar kind, however, a farmer would not
be thought to act very judiciouſly, who fhould conclude
that nothing more was requifite to produce a plentiful
crop, than to keep his fields conftantly ſoaking with
water, and apply his labour only for that purpoſe, with-
out regarding either tillage, manure, or the difference
of foils. Experience has abundantly ſhown, that by
certain operations performed on the earth itſelf, it is
rendered much more capable of fupplying vegetables
with plenty of nouriſhment than if fuch operations were
omitted; and that fome kinds of foils cannot without
certain additions be rendered fo fit for this purpoſe as
others; and this is what conſtitutes the difference be-
tween a rich and a poor foil.
earth.
7
That fpecies of earth which is capable of fupply- Of the true
ing the vegetable kingdom with nourishment in the vegetable
greateſt plenty, is found beft in well cultivated gar-
dens. It is not, however, even in theſe, found in per-
fect purity; being conftantly mixed with greater or leſs
It can be had
proportions of fand, fmall ftones, &c.
by itſelf, and entirely ſeparated from all other ſubſtances,.
only by fuffering vegetable or animal bodies to putrefy.
By undergoing this operation, they are at laſt reſolved
into a kind of earth, which appears perfectly the fame,
from whatever fubftance it is produced. Of this earth
Dr Lewis gives us the following characters. It is in-
diffoluble
1
Part I.
251
AGRICULTUR
E.
Theory, diffoluble in acids, ſomewhat tenacious when moistened
with water, friable when dry, and acquires no addition-
al hardneſs in the fire.-The chemiſtry of nature, and
that of art, however, are ſo very diffimilar, that an ac-
count of the chemical properties of this earth can be but
of very little ſervice to the practice of agriculture; how
ever, to thoſe above mentioned we may add, that when
it is diftilled with a violent fire, a volatile alkaline fpi-
rit, and fœtid oil, fimilar to thoſe of hartſhorn or other
animal ſubſtances, are obtained.
8
This earth
ted with
putrid ef-
fluvia.
As the volatile alkali is known to be produced in
impregna- great plenty by diſtilling putrid fubftances either ani-
mal or vegetable, the obtaining an alkaline ſpirit from
this kind of earth is a ſtrong argument of its being
much impregnated with the putrid effluvium, which we
have already mentioned as the proper vegetable food
contained in the air and water. Indeed, confidering
that this kind of earth is produced by putrefaction, it
is next to an impoffibility that it fhould not be impreg-
nated with putrid fteams, as much as earth can be; and
if the earth which is moft impregnated with thefe fteams
is found to afford the greateft quantity of nourishment
to vegetables, we have from thence an additional proof
that they live on the putrid matter emitted from dead
animals and vegetables like themſelves.
Earth is ca-
trid fteams
ties.
That we may be the more afcertained of this, it
pable of ab- muſt be confidered, that the earth, which undoubtedly
forbing pu- is the great fource of nouriſhment to vegetables, is ca-
in prodigi- pable of abſorbing putrid effluvia more powerfully, or
ous quanti- at leaft in much greater quantity, before it is faturated,
than either the air or water. The practice of bury-
ing dead bodies is an undeniable proof of this. They
are laid but a ſmall depth under ground; yet the abo-
minable 'ftench emitted by the carcafe is retained in
the earth, fo that it never penetrates in fuch a man-
ner as to be offenfive. That earth may be faturated
with this putrid matter, as well as air or water, is very
certain; and, in cafe of fuch a faturation, no doubt
either of theſe will take up the fuperfluous quantity,
and become noxious: but unleſs the earth is fully fa-
turated, both of them will depofite part of what they
themſelves contain in the earth, and by that means be-
come more falutary than they were before.
Agreeable That earth is capable of attracting putrid effluvia from
odour emit- the air, perhaps, may not be fo readily granted; and in-
ted by moift deed we know of no experiment whereby it can be
earth. hown that putrid air is made falutary by having any
kind of earth agitated in it: but if we confider the ex-
ceeding great falubrity of the air in the country, and
the healthineſs of thoſe who follow the plough or are
employed in digging the ground, we muſt at leaſt al-
low, that when the ground is turned up, it communi-
cates no kind of noxious quality to the air; which it
would certainly do, if it emitted a putrid effluvium.
So far from this, the fmell of moift earth is always a-
greeable and wholeſome; and here we have the fatisfac-
tion to find our theory fomewhat confirmed by the ce-
lebrated Baron van Swieten, late phyfician to the em-
prefs of Hungary.
ΤΟ
"Phyficians," fays he, " ufually adviſe their patients
to ruftication, not only that they may enjoy a pure and
freely circulating air; but that, as their ftrength in-
creaſes, they may, difengaged from all care, exerciſe
their body by the flighter labours of agriculture, and
other country amufements.
But
"There may perhaps be another cauſe why ruítica.
tion will be of benefit in confumptions. It is well
known, that, after fome days drought, on the falling
of rain that moiftens the earth, there arifes a grateful
ſmell, which we all are fenfible of; and this is common-
ly attributed to the vegetables, which before fapleſs, but
now refreſhed by rain, perfpire more copiouſly.
Reaumur obferved, that a like fragrancy is alfo per-
ceptible after rain when the corn has been cut down in
the fields, where there only remains dry ſtubble; and
examining the matter more particularly, he found that
dry earth is without fmell, but as foon as it is moiften-
ed to the degree of having the confiftence of foftiſh pap,
it then diffufes a ſtrong fmell; but if more water is
added, the ſmell is diminiſhed, nay even quite diffipated.
Neither does it ſeem an eaſy matter to exhauſt that
of producing fmells which the earth is poffeffed of. E-
very day, during a fortnight, he made cakes of moiſtened
earth; and having dried and wetted them over again, he
could not perceive that the earth was lefs fragrant after
all theſe repeated experiments, if it was again wetted.
He further obferved, that this fragrancy does not diffuſe
itſelf to any thing at a great diſtance, without being much
diminished, and foon entirely gone.-It has been ob-
ſerved, that this exfpiration of the earth ceaſes if thun-
der and ftorms foon follow: while they continue, it be-
gins to return; and when over, the fame fragrancy of
the earth for fome hours affects the fmell of a man as
power
he walks along over a confiderable tract of ground.
There is no one, I believe, but has fometimes made
this obfervation; and hence the earth, when moistened
to a certain degree, feems to exhale fragrant odours,
and indeed various in various places, as we are ſenſible
of from their diverfity. They are for the moſt part of
a falubrious quality; as fome perfons quite faint and
languid in the fummer-heats perceive themſelves won-
derfully refreshed, whilft, after rain, they fnuff up the
fragrant odour. In fome places thoſe effluvia are per-
haps bad, and may be the cauſes of difeafes."
This property of emitting a fragrant fmell is like-
wife taken notice of by Dr Home in his Principles of
Agriculture and Vegetation. Some phyficians have
prefcribed a bath of earth for the cure of confump-
tive patients; and Dr Solano de Luque was of opinion,
that the earth had the property of abforbing conta-
gious miafmata into it: but whether it can abforb theſe
miafinata from living bodies or not, it certainly can ab-
forb them from dead ones; for a piece of putrid meat
will be much ſweetened by lying for a ſhort time in the
ground.
Theory.
II
earth affert-
ed.
From all this we cannot indeed infer, that putrid Power of
air is fweetened by mere earth; but we diſcover what tranfmuta-
is perhaps more important, namely, that though earth tion in the
is the common receptacle of all putrid matters both
animal and vegetable, there is a change made on them
when in it, which cannot be made either by air or wa-
ter. Thus, if the carcafe of a fmall animal is left to
putrefy in the air, it becomes exceedingly offenfive,
and continues fo from firſt to laft. The fame thing
happens if it is left to putrefy in water. But, in earth,
the cafe is quite different. After the carcaſe is con-
fumed, the earth which has imbibed all the putrid
fteams, inſtead of exhaling an offenfive odour, diffuſes
an agreeable one; and thus we may fee that it is en-
dued with a power no lefs remarkable than that of at-
Iiz
traction
252
Part I.
AGRICULTURE.
of
I2
Theory. traction or repulfion, and which we may diftinguiſh by
the name of tranfmutation. With regard to water,
the cafe is more evident; for the moſt putrid water will
be fweetened by percolation through earth, or even
running in a channel for fome time on its furface; but
if it contains any impurities of the faline kind, they
will not be ſeparated, or at leaſt in very fmall quan-
tity.
Attraction The exiftence of fuch a power as that of tranfmuta-
infufficient tion we will be obliged to own, whatever we imagine
to folve the the vegetable food to confiſt of; for it is impoffible to
phenomena folve the phenomena of vegetation by attractions and
repulfions. If we fuppofe the vegetable food to be
falt, let us attract and repel falt as we will, it remains
falt from firſt to laft. Let us ſuppoſe it water, the
cafe is the fame; and, by mere attraction, nothing but
maffes of falt, or pools of water, could be produced.
The cafe is the fame on our own hypothefis; for, fup-
pofing plants compoſed of the putrid effluvia of others,
and of dead animals, if nature was endued with no
other power than attraction or repulfion, the vegetable
would neceffarily be a corrupted mafs like that of which
it was compofed. This power, as we have already feen,
refides only in the earth, and in the vegetables them-
felves; air and water can indeed act as powerful fol-
vents, but cannot transform or compound.
f vegeta-
tion.
13
Confirma-
above theo-
different o-
14
*
We muſt next confider the nature of thofe different
tion of the operations, which, from time immemorial, have been
ry from the performed on the earth, in order to caufe it produce
the greateſt crops of vegetables. If all of theſe ſhall
perations of be found confpiring to one general purpoſe, then the
agriculture. ſhorteſt and moſt eafy method of attaining that pur-
pofe is undoubtedly the moſt proper to be practiſed in
agriculture, whether it hath been as yet put in execu-
tion or not. Theſe are,
Fallowing. 1. Frequent ploughing, or fallowing. The imme-
diate confequences of this is to expofe different quan-
tities of the foil to the action of the air and fun, which
will not fail to exert their folvent powers upon it. In
confequence of this action, the earth is partly reduced
to powder; many of the roots of vegetables, with which
it always abounds, are diffolved and putrefied; and the
earth produced from them mixes with the reft, as well
as the effluvia they emit during their diffolution. The
earth foon begins again to exert its prolific powers,
and a crop of vegetables is produced. By a repetition
of the ploughing, theſe are turned with their roots up-
wards, are expofed to the folvent powers of the air and
light; in confequence of which they die, are putrefied,
and more of the native foil is reduced to powder, and
mixed with them. By a frequent repetition of this
procefs, the foil becomes vaftly more tender, and ap-
proaches to the nature of garden-mould, and its ferti-
lity is confiderably increaſed.
15
The capaci-
ty of a foil
to retain
Lord Kames is of opinion, that the reafon of the
fertility of any foil being increaſed by fallowing, is,
that its capacity of retaining water is increafed. But
water not this cannot be admitted; for fo far from being more
increaſed by
fallowing. difpofed to retain water by its pulverifation, the foil is
evidently more diſpoſed to part with it, either by eva-
poration, or by fuffering the moisture to percolate thro'
it. In this refpect it is far inferior to clay; for though
dry garden-mould abforbs water much more quickly
than clay, it alfo dries much ſooner, and thus all the
advantage is loft.
table food,
To thoſe who reckon the food of vegetables to con- Theory.
fift of oils or falts, the operation of fallowing ground 16
muſt appear an uſeleſs one, as it can tend neither to Oils and
produce oils nor falts, but to deſtroy them. As its falts not the
utility, however, cannot be denied, the favourers of true vege-
this theory imagine, that the ground, by repeated ope-
rations of this kind, is fitted for attracting the nitrous
falts from the air: but it is found, that theſe falts can-
not be attracted by earth, or any other ſubſtance, even
when expofed for a great length of time to the air
with a view to produce falt-petre; which gives a ſtrong
fufpicion against their exiftence; and even if nitre is
mixed with the foil, it is found to be detrimental, and
will kill or poifon plants inſtead of nouriſhing them.
2. Overflowing the ground with water.-This is Overflow-
found prodigiouſly to increaſe the fertility of any foil. ing the foil
It is well known how much Egypt owes to the annual
overflowing of the Nile; and even in this country the
overflowing of any ground is found to be attended with
great advantage. This is practifed by Mr Bakewell
of Leiceſterſhire, famous for his improvements in the
breed of cattle; and he finds it fully to anſwer an an-
nual manuring of any other fort. It is alfo recom-
mended by Mr Anderſon of Monkfhill, ir his Effays on
Agriculture.
17
with water,
18
The fertilizing quality of water will eafily be ac- Reafons of
counted for on the fame principles. When grown`ve- the increaſe
getables are covered with water, their growth, how-
of fertility
by the over
ever vigorous before, is immediately ftopt, unleſs they flowing,
be of the aquatic kind: they die, are diffolved, and
putrefied; in which cafe, their finer parts are undoubt-
edly abforbed by the earth: and thus the floating, as
it is called, of fields with water, anfwers the purpoſe of
fallowing, with very little trouble. This is not all: for
ftagnating water always depofites a fediment, which
mixing with the diffolved parts of the vegetables all
over the field, forms an excellent manure; and when
the water is allowed to run off, the heat of the fun foon
brings the higheſt degree of putrefaction on the dead
vegetables; the effluvia of which, mixing with the mud
depofited from the water, makes it exceedingly rich.
19
Upon the fuppofition of oily and faline food for ve- Oils & falts
getables, this operation muft certainly be prejudicial; cannot be
for nothing can fo effectually deprive any fubftance of the vegeta
falt as ſteeping it in water. Neither will water either ble fuud.
depofite oil from itſelf, or ſuffer it to mix with the ground
if accidentally brought to it; nay, though a field were
previouſly impregnated with oil, upon overflowing it
with water great part of the oil would be feparated,
and rife to the top: fo that, in either caſe, this opera-
tion could not fail to impoverish land rather than enrich
it; and as vegetables are found to be ſupplied with food
in plenty by an operation which muft undoubtedly
tend to take away both oils and falts from them, we
cannot help thinking this a demonftration, that their
food is compofed neither of oil nor falt.
20
3. Manuring, or mixing the foil with different fub- Ofmanures,
ftances. We fhall here confine ourſelves to thoſe which and their o
are of undoubted efficacy, and have their credit efta- peration.
bliſhed by long experience. Theſe are, 1. lime, chalk,
marle, fhells, or other earths, called by the chemifts
calcareous earths; 2. foot; 3. afhes: 4. dung of dif
ferent kinds.(1.) The lime, chalk, marle, and fhells,
are all found to be of the fame nature. The marle
differs from the reft, only in having a mixture of clay
along
Part I.
253
AGRICULTURE.
27
ftances on
d.
Theory. along with its calcareous part. Thefe contain neither falt of any kind from dung, they would probably al- Theory.
falt nor oil of any kind; they readily imbibe water, ter their fentiments. The volatile falts procured from
and as readily part with it. Quicklime, indeed, retains this as well as other animal matters, are mere creatures
water very obftinately: but fuch lime as is laid upon of the fire: putrid urine produces them indeed without
Never-
the ground foon returns to the fame ſtate in which it heat, but fcarce any other animal fubftance.
originally was; and powdered limeftone is found to theleſs, other putrid fubftances will fertilize the ground
anſwer as well for the purpoſes of manure as that which as well as urine, and therefore muſt act in fome other
has been burnt; ſo that here we may confider them way than by their falts. Though Dr Priestley's experi-
all as fubftances of the fame clafs. If any of thefe ments had never been made, we could have formed no
fubftances are mixed with dead animal or vegetable other rational fuppofition concerning the manner in
bodies, they remarkably quicken their diffolution and which putrid fubftances fertilize the earth, than what
corruption, as appears from Sir John Pringle's expe- we have already done; but as he has ſhown that vege-
riments on putrefaction. When mixed with the foil, tables are prodigiouſly increaſed in bulk by the mere
therefore, they muſt undoubtedly exert their powers on contact of theſe putrid fteams, where no faline ſub-
ſuch ſubſtances as they find there, in the fame manner ftances could have acceſs to them, we cannot help think-
as they do on others; that is, they must haften their ing this a decifive experiment concerning the manner
diffolution and putrefaction, and give the pure vege- in which the ground is fertilized by manuring with
table mould an opportunity of abſorbing their putrid dung or other putrid fubftances.
fteams, and confequently of being fertilized by it in
the fame manner as by putrid ſubſtances of
any kind.
(2.) Thoſe who contend for oily and faline principles
in the vegetable food, avail themſelves of the uſefulneſs
of foot as a manure; which is not only oily of itſelf,
but affords a great quantity of volatile falt, along with
fome neutral fal-ammoniac. It must be remembered,
however, that not an atom either of volatile falt or fal-
ammoniac can be extracted from foot without a confi-
derable heat, which no foil can give, nor could any
vegetable bear. Neither doth its oil appear without
a great degree of heat: and though it feels fomewhat
unctuous to the touch, this is but a mere deception; for
no true oil, capable of floating on water, can be ob-
tained from foot without diftillation. It is impoffible,
therefore, that foot can act upon the foil either as an
oily or a faline fubftance; how far it is capable of dif-
ſolution by putrefaction, or being otherwiſe converted
into an earth, hath not yet been determined by expe-
riments ; but as it yields, on diftillation, the fame
principles which are obtained from animal or putrefied
vegetable ſubſtances, it is probable that foot enriches
the ground in the fame manner that they do. (3.) The
uſe of aſhes in manure is likewife urged as an argument
for the food of vegetables being of a faline nature; as
it is known, that the common alkaline falts are procured
by lixiviating the afhes of wood and other vegetables.
Experience, however, fhows us, that aſhes are no lefs
fit for manure after the falt is extracted from them than
before. Indeed, if there be any difference, it is in fa-
vour of the waſhed afhes. The alkali itſelf, though in
Sir John Pringle's experiments it was found to be anti-
feptic, or a refifter of putrefaction, is nevertheleſs a
powerful diffolvent; and as it muſt ſoon lofe its alkaline
properties when mixed with the earth, in confequence
of the univerfal exiſtence of the vitriolic acid, thofe
ſubſtances which it has diffolved will be more difpofed
to putrefaction than before, and confequently tend to
fertilize the ground in the manner we have already de-
ſcribed. The waſhed afhes are feptics, or promoters
of putrefaction, and confequently act in the fame man-
ner as chalk or limeſtone. (4.) All kinds of dung are
fo much diſpoſed to putrefaction, that it is difficult to
imagine any other way in which they can be ſerviceable
to vegetation than by their putrid effluvia.-People in-
deed may dream of imaginary falts in dung; but if
they knew or confidered the difficulty of procuring
We fhall conclude this part of the ſubject with an ac- Effects of
count of fome experiments concerning the effects of fa- faline ſub-
line fubftances on the growth of vegetables. The fol-
growing
lowing are related by Lord Kames, in his Gentleman
vegetables.
Farmer.-" A number of Jerufalem artichokes were fet
in pots filled with pure fand. One plant was kept as
a ftandard, being nourished with water only. Other
plants of the fame kind were nouriſhed with water in
which falt of tartar, a fixed alkali, was diffolved.
Thefe grew more vigorously than the ftandard plant;
but, by reiterated waterings, there came to be fuch an
accumulation of the fixed alkali among the fand, as to
make the plants decay, and at laft to die. Some plants
were nouriſhed with water in which fal-ammoniac, a
volatile alkali, was diffolved. Theſe grew alfo well
for fome time; but, like the former, were deſtroyed by
frequent reiterations of it. Weak lime-water promo-
ted the growth of its plants more than common water.
But water completely faturated with quicklime, pro-
ved more noxious than that which contained a fixed al-
kali, though leſs than that which contained a folution
of volatile alkali.-Urine promoted, for a long time,
the growth of its plants; and the most putrid appeared
to have the frongeſt effect; but at laſt it totally deſtroyed
them. Water impregnated with putrid animal and ve
getable fubftances, did mos e effectually promote the growth
of its plants than any other folution; and in every flage
of the process appeared to be falutary."
1
V
22
tual as a
marire,
With regard to other faline fubftances, there are not Common
many experiments which can be depended upon con- falt ineffec
cerning their qualities as a manure.
Mr Anderſon re-
lates an experiment made with common falt; the fuccefs
of which, we apprehend, may juſtly enough be taken
as a fpecimen of what is to be expected from manures
of a fimilar kind.-He marked out a circle of fix feet
diameter in the middle of a grafs-field, which he di-
ftinguished by driving a ſtake in its centre.
All over
this circle he ftrewed common falt, which, about the
ftake, lay near an inch thick on the ground. In this
ftate he left it to the operations of nature.
The grafs
fprung up as ufual, neither better nor worſe about the
ſtake than in the reft of the field, and the place where
the circle was could be diftinguiſhed only by the ftake,
which was left there for fome years.
Upon theſe experiments we need make very few ob- ·
fervations. They are ſo much in favour of our theory,
that they feem made on purpoſe to confirm it. The
fised
254
Part I.
AGRICULTURE.
Theory.
23
End to be
•
fixed alkali employed in Lord Kames's experiments
would first exert its folvent powers on fuch heteroge-
neous fubitances as it met with among the fand; for no
fand can be ſuppoſed to be perfectly free of theſe. As
long as it exerted its ftrength on thefe only, the plant
would thrive, for the reafons we have already men-
tioned; but having exhaufted the fmall quantity of fub-
ftances contained in the fand, it would next attack the
plant itſelf, which confequently would decay and die. The
fame effects would neceffarily follow in a greater degree
from ftrong lime-water which contains lime in its cau-
ftic ſtate; for this is a more powerful folvent than fix-
ed alkali itſelf, and would not fail to deſtroy every thing
it touched; nor is it at all improbable that the plant
would ſeem to grow vigorously by the diffolution of
part of its own roots, more nouriſhment being by this
means given to thofe which remained found.-Volatile
alkali is likewiſe a powerful folvent: but, by reafon of
its volatility, would exert its cauftic power on the plant
fooner than either lime or fixed alkali; and according-
ly it ſeems to have been the moſt deſtructive of any
thing that was tried. It feems owing to this, that pu-
trid urine at laſt deſtroyed the plants whofe growth it
fo long promoted; while water impregnated with other
putrid matters, which yield no volatile alkali without
heat, proved always falutary.
From all this, we may draw the following general
kept in view conclufion, viz. That the principal end which a farmer
by a farmer. ought to keep in view, is to impregnate his ground as
much as poffible, with fubftances which either actually
contain putrid matter, or which are in their own na-
*ture feptic, or promoters of putrefaction. To impreg
nate the air with putrid effluvia is impoffible: and tho'
it could be done, would be highly dangerous; for how
ever falutary fuch effluvia may be to vegetables, nothing
can be more fatal to mankind. The putrid fubftances,
therefore, can only be uſed by mixing them with the
earth; and in whatever manner they can be moft per-
fectly, and in the greateft quantity, mixed with the
foil, there the best crops may be expected.
24
Richest foils
Tifhed.
SECT.III. Of the different Soils, and the Ma-
nures moſt proper for each.
ACCORDING to the theory we have juft now laid
muſt at laſt down, the richeſt foil muſt be that which contains the
be impove-greateſt quantity of putrid matter, either animal or ve-
getable; and fuch is the earth into which animal and
vegetable ſubſtances refolve themſelves. Was this earth
to be had in perfection, it is evident it could not ſtand
in need of manure of any kind, or be in the leaft enrich-
ed by it; for containing an immenfe quantity of putrid
-matter, it would freely communicate it to the vegetables
planted in it, which would grow in the moft luxɩiant
manner, without requiring any other care than that of
keeping them conftantly ſupplied with water.
If
fuppofe the crop left upon the ground to putrefy and
mix with the earth as before, the foil will contain the
fame quantity of putrid matter the fecond year that it
did the firft, and be equally prolific: but if the crop
is removed to another place, and nothing is brought
back to enrich the ground in its ſtead, it is evident,
that it will contain lefs of the true vegetable food the
fecond year than it did the firſt, and confequently be
lefs prolific. For fome time, however, the difference
we
will not be perceptible; and people who are in poffef- Theory.
fion of fuch ground may imagine that they enjoy a
foil which will be perpetually fertile; but long expe-
rience has taught us, that the richeſt foils will at laſt
be exhauſted by repeated cropping without manure, as
according to our theory they ought to be.
Where the ground has been ſuffered to remain un-
cultivated for many ages, producing all that time fuc-
culent plants which are eafily putrefied, and trees, the
leaves of which likewife contribute to enrich the ground
by their falling off and mixing with it, the foil will in
a manner be totally made up of pure vegetable earth,
and be the richest, when cultivated, that can be ima-
gined. This was the cafe with the lands of America.
They had remained uncultivated perhaps fince the crea-
tion, and were endowed with an extraordinary degree
of fertility; nevertheleſs we are affured by one who went
to America in order to purchaſe lands there, that ſuch
grounds as had been long cultivated, were fo much ex-
haufted, as to be much worſe than the generality of cul- 25
tivated grounds in this country. Here, then, we have One fpecies
an example of one fpecies of poor foil; namely, one of poor foil
deſtroyed
that has been formerly very rich, but has been deprived, by lime.
by repeated cropping, of the greateſt part of the vege-
table food it contained. The farmer who is in poffef-
fion of fuch ground, would no doubt willingly reftore it
to its former ftate; the prefent queftion is, What muſt
be done in order to obtain this end? We have men-
tioned feveral kinds of manures which long practice has
recommended as ferviceable for improving ground: we
ſhall ſuppoſe the farmer tries lime, or chalk; for, as
we have already feen, their operations upon the foil
muſt be precifely the fame. This fubftance, being of
a ſeptic nature, will act upon fuch parts of the foil as
are not putrefied, or but imperfectly fo; in confequence
of which, the farmer will reap a better crop than for-
merly. The feptic nature of the lime is not altered by
any length of time. In ploughing the ground, the lime
is more and more perfectly mixed with it, and gradually
exerts its power on every putrefcible matter it touches.
As long as any matter of this kind remains, the far-
mer will reap good crops: but when the putrefcible
matter is all exhauſted, the ground then becomes per-
fectly barren; and the cauftic qualities of the lime are
moft unjustly blamed for burning the ground, and re-
ducing it to a caput mortuum; while it is plain, the
lime has only done its office, and made the foil yield
all that it was capable of yielding.
pu-
26
meliorated
When ground has been long uncultivated, producing A'fpecies of
all the time plants, not fucculent, but fuch as are very poor foil
difficultly diffolved, and in a manner incapable of
trefaction; there the foil will be exceffively barren, and by lime.
yield very ſcanty crops, tho' cultivated with the greateſt
care. Of this kind are thofe lands covered with heath,
which are found to be the moſt barren of any, and the
moft difficultly brought to yield good crops. In this
cafe lime will be as ferviceable, as it was detrimental
in the other: for by its feptic qualities, it will con-
tinually reduce more and more of the foil to a putrid
ftate; and thus there will be a conftant fucceffion of
better and better crops, by the continued ufe of lime
when the quantity firſt laid on has exerted all its force.
By a continued uſe of this manure, the ground will be
gradually brought nearer and nearer to the nature of gar-
den-mould; and, no doubt, by proper care, might be
2
made
Part I.
AGRICULTUR
255
E.
that lime alone, upon a poor foil, will, in many cafes, Theory.
produce a much greater and more lafting degree of
fertility than dung alone."
Theory. made as good as any: but it will be as great a miſtake
to imagine, that, by the ufe of lime, this kind of foil
may be rendered perpetually fertile, as to think that
the other was naturally fo; for though lime enriches
this foil, it does fo, not by adding vegetable food to it,
but by preparing what it already contains; and when
all is properly prepared, it muſt as certainly be exhauft-
ed as in the other cafe.
27
Poor foils,
how refto-
red.
28
Mr Ander-
fon's opini
on concern-
ing lime.
Here, then, we have examples of two kinds of poor
foils; one of which is totally deftroyed, the other
greatly improved, by lime, and which therefore require
very different manures; lime being more proper for the
laft than dung; while dung, being more proper to reftore
an exhauſted ſoil than lime, ought only to be uſed for
the firit. Befides dunging land which has been ex-
hauſted by long cropping, it is of great fervice to let it
lie fallow for fome time: for to this it owed its ori-
ginal fertility; and what gave the fertility originally,
cannot fail to reſtore it in fome degree.
By attending to the diftinction between the reafons
for the poverty of the two foils juft now mentioned, we
will always be able to judge with certainty in what cafes
lime is to be uſed, and when dung is proper. The
mere poverty of a foil is not a criterion whereby we can
judge; we muſt confider what hath made it poor. If
it is naturally fo, we may almoſt infallibly conclude, that
it will become better by being manured with lime. If
it is artificially poor, or exhausted by continual crop-
ping, we may conclude that lime will entirely de-
ftroy it.We apprehend, that it is this natural kind of
poverty only which Mr Anderfon fays, in his Effays on
Agriculture, may be remedied by lime; for we can fcarce
think that experience would direct any perſon to put
lime upon land already exhauſted. His words are,
"Calcareous matters act as powerfully upon land
that is naturally poor, as upon land that is more
richly impregnated with thofe fubftances that tend
to produce a luxuriant vegetation."
"Writers on agriculture have long been in the cu-
ftom of dividing manures into two claffes, viz. Enriching
manures, or thofe that tended directly to render the
foil more prolific, however fterile it may be; among the
foremoſt of which was dung: Exciting manures, or thoſe
that were fuppofed to have a tendency to render the
foil more prolific, merely by acting upon thoſe enrich-
ing inanures that had been formerly in the foil, and
giving them a new ftimulus, fo as to enable them to
operate anew upon that foil which they had formerly
fertilized. In which clafs of ftimulating manures, lime
was always allowed to hold the foremoft place.
1
"In confequence of this theory, it would follow,
that lime could only be of uſe as a manure when ap-
plied to rich foils and when applied to poor foils,
would produce hardly any, or even perhaps hurtful,
effects.
་
"I will frankly acknowledge, that I myfelf was fo
far impofed upon by the beauty of this theory, as to
be hurried along with the general current of mankind,
in the firm perfuafion of the truth of this obfervation,
and for many years did not fufficiently advert to thoſe
facts that were daily occurring to contradi& this
theory.-I am now, however, firmly convinced, from
repeated obfervations, that lime, and other calcareous
manures, produce a much greater proportional improve-
ment upon poor foils than fuch as are richer. And
•
29
Thus far Mr Anderfon's experience is exactly con-
formable to the theory we have laid down, and what
ought to happen according to our principles. He men-
tions, however, fome facts which feem very ſtrongly to
militate againſt it; and indeed he himſelf feems to
proceed upon a theory altogether different.
"Calcareous matter alone (fays he) is not capable Query con-
of rearing plants to perfection ;-mould is necef- cerning the
perfection;-mould
fary to be mixed with it in certain proportions, nature of a
before it can form a proper foil. It remains, proper foil.
however, to be determined, what is the due pro-
portion of thefe ingredients for forming a proper
foil.
"We know that neither chalk, nor marle, nor lime,
can be made to nourish plants alone; and foils are
fometimes found that abound with the two firſt of theſe
to a faulty degree. But the proportion of calcareous
matter in thefe is fo much larger than could ever be
produced by art, where the foil was naturally deftitute
of thefe fubitances, that there feems to be no danger of
erring on that fide. Probably it would be much eaſier
to correct the defects of thoſe foils in which calcareous
matters fuperabound, by driving earth upon them as
a manure, than
a manure, than is generally imagined; as a very ſmall
proportion of it fometimes affords a very perfect foil.
I fhall illuftrate my meaning by a few examples.
30
fertile,
"Near Sandfide, in the county of Caithnefs, there Examples-
is a pretty extenfive plain on the fea-coaft, endowed of foil per--
with a moft fingular degree of fertility. In all feafons petually
it produces a moſt luxuriant herbage, although it never
got any manure fince the creation; and has been for
time immemorial fubjected to the following courfe of
crops.
"C
1. Bear, after once ploughing from grafs,
ufually a good crop.
"2. Bear, after once ploughing, a better crop
than the firſt.
"3. Bear, after once ploughing, a crop equal-
to the firſt.
4. 5. and 6. Natural grafs, as cloſe and rich
as could be imagined, might be cut, if
the poffeffor fo inclined, and would yield
an extraordinary crop of hay each year.
"After this the fame courſe of cropping is renewed.
The foil that admits of this fingular mode of farming, -
appears to be a pure incoherant fand, deftitute of the
fmalleft particle of vegetable mould; but, upon exa-
mination, it is found to confift almost entirely of broken.
fhells: the fine mould here bears fuch a fmall propor-
tion to the calcareous matter, as to be ſcarce percep-
tible, and yet it forms the moſt fertile foil that ever I
yet met with.
"I have ſeen many other links (downs) upon the
fea-fhore, which produced the most luxuriant herbage,
and the clofeft and ſweeteſt pile of grafs, where they
confifted of fhelly fand; which, without doubt, derive
their extraordinary fertility from that cauſe.
“A very remarkable plain is found in the iſland of
Jir-eye, one of the Hebrides. It has been long em-
ployed as a common; fo that it has never been difturb-
ed by the plough, and affords annually the moſt luxu-
riant crop of herbage, confifting of white clover, and
other
256
Part I.
AGRICULTURE.
ર
Theory. other_valuable pafture-graffes, that can be met with
any where. The foil confiſts of a very pure ſhelly ſand.
"From thefe examples, I think it is evident, that a
very fmall proportion of vegetable mould is fufficient to
render calcareous matter a very rich foil. Perhaps,
however, a larger proportion may be neceffary when it
is mixed with clay than with fand; as poor chalky
foils feem to be of the nature of that compofition.
31
Inconfiften-
Kames's
theory.
To thefe examples brought by Mr Anderſon, we
may add ſome of the fame kind mentioned by Lord
Kames. His lordſhip having endeavoured to eſtabliſh
the theory of water being the only food of plants, tho'
he himself frequently deviates from that theory, yet
thinks it poffible, upon fuch a principle, to make a foil
perpetually fertile.
:
"To recruit (fays he) with vegetable food, a foil
impoverished by cropping, has hitherto been held the
only object of agriculture. But here opens a grander
object, worthy to employ our keeneft induftry, that of
making a foil perpetually fertile. Such foils actually
exift; and why ſhould it be thought, that imitation
here above the reach of art? Many are the inftan-
ces of nature being imitated with fuccefs. Let us not
deſpair, while any hope remains; for invention never
was exerciſed upon a fubject of greater utility. The
attempt may fuggeft proper experiments: it may open
new views and if we fail in equalling nature, may we
not, however, hope to approach it? A foil perpetually
fertile must be endowed with a power to retain moiſture
fufficient for its plants; and at the fame time muſt be
of a nature that does not harden by moiſture. Cal-
careous earth promiſes to anſwer both ends: it prevents
a foil from being hardened by water; and it may pro-
bably alſo invigorate its retentive quality. A field
that got a fufficient dofe of clay-marle, carried above
30 fucceffive rich crops, without either dung or fallow.
Doth not a foil fo meliorated draw near to one per-
petually fertile? Near the eaft fide of Fife, the coaft
for a mile inward is covered with ſea-fand, a foot deep
or fo; which is extremely fertile, by a mixture of fea-
fhells reduced to powder by attrition. The powdered
fhells, being the fame with fhell-marle, make the fand
retentive of moiſture; and yet no quantity of moiſture
will unite the ſand into a ſolid body. A foil fo mix-
ed, ſeems to be not far diftant from one perpetually
fertile. Thefe, it is true, are but faint effays; but
what will not perfeverance accompliſh in a good cauſe?”
Having thus, in a manner, pofitively determined
with Mr Anderfon, that no doſe of calcareous matter
can poffibly be too great, we cannot help owning our-
felves furpriſed on finding his Lordſhip expreffing him-
felf as follows: “An over-dofe of fhell-marle, laid per-
cy in Lord haps an inch, and an inch and a half, or two inches
thick, produces, for a time, large crops; but at laſt it
renders the foil a caput mortuum, capable of neither
corn nor grafs; of which there are too many inſtances
in Scotland; the fame probably would follow from an
over-doſe of clay-marle, ftone-marle, or pounded lime-
ftone."-To account for this, he is obliged to make a
fuppofition directly contrary to his former one; name-
ly, that calcareous matter renders the foil incapable of
retaining water. This phenomenon, however, we think
is folved upon the principles above laid down, in a fa-
tisfactory manner, and without the leaft inconfiftency.
As to rendering foils perpetually fertile, we cannot
N° 7.
I
Perpetual
help thinking the attempt altogether chimerical and Theory.
vain. There is not one example in nature of a foil
perpetually fertile, where it has no fupply but from the 32
air, and the rain which falls upon it. The above re-
fertility of
cited examples can by no means be admitted as proofs foils chime-
of perpetual fertility. We know, that the grafs on the rical.
banks of a river is much more luxuriant than what
grows at a distance: the reafon is, that the water is at-
tracted by the earth, and communicates its fertilizing
qualities to it; but was the river to be dried up, the
grafs would foon become like the reft. Why should
not the ocean have the fame power of fertilizing plains
near its fhores, that rivers have of fertilizing ſmall ſpots
near their banks? We fee, however, that it hath not;
for the fea-fhores are generally fandy and barren. The
reafon of this is, that the waters of the ocean contain a
quantity of loofe acid *; and this acid is poiſonous to *See Waters
plants; but abftracting this acid part, we hefitate not
to affirm, that fea-water is more fertilizing than river-
water. It is impoffible to know how far the waters of
the ocean penetrate under ground through a fandy
foil. Where they meet with nothing to abſorb their
acid, there the ground is quite barren; but in paffing
through an immenfe quantity of broken fhells, the cal-
careous matter, we are very certain, will abforb all the
acid; and thus the foil will be continually benefited by
its vicinity to the ocean. All the above fields, there-
fore, are evidently fupplied with nouriſhment from the
ocean for if the falt-water has fufficient efficacy to
render fields which are in its neighbourhood barren,
why ſhould it not render them fertile when the cauſe
of barrennefs is removed from its waters ?
After all, the field in Caithnefs, mentioned by Mr
Anderſon, ſeems to have been perpetually fertile only
in grafs; for though the ſecond year it carried a better
crop of bear than it did the firſt, yet the third year
the crop was worſe than the ſecond, and only equal to
the firft. Had it been ploughed a fourth time, the crop
would probably have been worſe than the firſt. Ground
is not near ſo much exhauſted by grafs as corn, even
though the crop be cut, and carried off; and ſtill leſs,
if it only feeds cattle, and is manured by their dung;
which appears to have been the cafe with this field.
Lord Kames, indeed, mentions fields in Scotland, that,
paft memory, have carried fucceffive crops of wheat,
peafe, barley, oats, without a fallow, and without a ma-
nure; and particularifes one on the river Carron, of
nine or ten acres, which had carried 103 crops of oats
without intermiffion, and without manure: but as we
are not acquainted with any ſuch fields, nor know any
thing about their particular fituation, we can form no
judgment concerning them.
3.3
Befides the two kinds of foils above mentioned, there Clay and
are others, the principal ingredient of which is clay or fandy foils.]
fand. The firft of thefe is apt to be hardened by the
heat of the fun, ſo that the vegetables can ſcarce pe-
netrate it in fuch a manner as to receive proper nou-
riſhment. The fecond, if it is not fituated fo as to re-
ceive a great deal of moiſture, is very apt to be parch.
ed up in fummer, and the crop deſtroyed; nor has it
ſufficient adheſion to ſupport plants that have few roots
and grow high. From thefe oppofite qualities, it is
evident, that theſe two foils would be a proper manure
for one another; the clay would give a fufficient de-
gree of firmness to the fand, and the fand would break
the
Part. I.
257
AGRICULTURE.
1
34
nited.
*
Theory. the too great tenacity of the clay. According to Dr
Home's experiments, however, fand is the worft manure
for clay that can be uſed. He recommends marle moft.
To reduce clay-ground as near as poffible to the form
of pure vegetable mould, it must firft be pulverized.
This is moſt effectually performed by ploughing and
harrowing; but care muſt be taken not to plough it
whilft too wet, otherwiſe it will concrete into hard clots
which can ſcarcely be broken. After it is pulverized,
however, fome means must be taken to keep it from
concreting again into the fame hard maffes as before.
According to Lord Kames, though clay, after pulve-
rization, will concrete into as hard a mafs as before, if
mixed with water; yet if mixed with dunghill juice, it
will not concrete any more. Lime alſo breaks its tenaci-
ty, and is very uſeful as a manure for this kind of foil.
Fertility of
The conclufion we wish the practical farmer to draw
the earth li- from our theory is, That there is a certain limit to the
fertility of the earth, both as to. duration and to de-
gree, at any particular time: that the nearer any foil
approaches to the nature of pure garden-mould, the
nearer it is to the moſt perfect degree of fertility; but
that there are no hopes of keeping it perpetually in fuch
a ſtate, or in any degree of approximation to it, but
by conſtant and regular manuring with dung. Lime,
chalk, marle, &c. may be proper to bring it near to
this ſtate, but are abfolutely unfit to keep it continu-
ally fo. They may indeed for feveral years produce
large crops; but the more they increaſe the fertility.
for fome years, the fooner will they bring on an abfo-
lute barrenness; while regular manuring with plenty of
dung will always enfure the keeping up the foil in
good condition, without any occafion for fallow. What
we have faid concerning the ufe of lime, &c. applies
likewiſe to the practice of frequent ploughing, though
in a lefs degree. This tends to meliorate ground that
is naturally poor, by giving an opportunity to the ve-
getable parts to putrefy; but when that is done, it
tends to exhauft, though not fo much as lime. A ju-
dicious farmer will conftantly ftrive to keep his lands
always in good condition, rather than to make them
fuddenly much better; left a few years fhould convince
him that he was in reality doing almoſt irreparable mif-
chief, while he fancied himſelf making improvements.
As for the ridiculous notions of ftimulating the ground
by ſaline manures, we hope they will never enter the
brain of any rational practitioner of agriculture.
SECT. IV. Of the different kinds of Vegetables
proper to be raiſed with a view to the Meliora-
tion of Soil:
35
Soil pulve-
THE methods of meliorating foils, which we have
rized by mentioned above, confifting of tedious and laborious
certain ve- operations that yield no return at firſt, it is natural for
getables.
a farmer to wifh for fome method of meliorating his
ground, and reaping crops at the fame time. One very
confiderable ftep towards the melioration of ground is,
its pulverization. This is accomplished by repeated
ploughings (A), as already mentioned; eſpecially if per-
formed in autumn, that the ground may be expofed to
VOL. I. Part I.
the winter's froft; but theſe ploughings yield no crop
as long as the field is not fown. By planting in the
field, however, thofe vegetables whoſe roots fwell to a
confiderable bulk, the ground muſt conſtantly be acted
upon by the fwelling of their roots in all directions; and
thus the growing of the crop itſelf may be equal, or fupe-
rior, in efficacy to feveral ploughings, at the fame time
that the farmer enjoys the benefit of it. The plant moft
remarkable for the fwelling of its roots is the potato;
and by none is the ground meliorated more, or even ſo
much. They are not, however, equally proper for all
foils. In clay they do not thrive, nor are palatable
but in hard gravelly or fandy foils, they grow to a large
fize, and are of an excellent quality. Turnips likewiſe
contribute to meliorate the ground, by the ſwelling of
their roots, though not fo much as potatoes. They
have this advantage, however, that they will thrive in
almoſt any foil. In clay ground, peaſe and beans thrive
exceedingly well, and therefore are proper in this kind
of foil as a preparatory for other kinds of grain. Theſe
pufh their roots deep into the ground, and cover it
with their leaves more than other crops; fo that the
fun has not fo much accefs as when it is covered with
other kinds of grain. Wherever any of theſe kinds
of vegetables are raiſed, it is obfervable, that more or
lefs blackneſs is communicated to the foil: an evident
fign of its melioration; this being the colour of the
true vegetable mould, or loamy foil, as it is called.
Beſides the above-mentioned plants, carrots, parfnips,
cabbages, and all thofe vegetables which fink their
roots deep in the ground, anſwer the fame purpoſe of
loofening and pulverifing the earth; but as they will
not thrive but on ground already well cultivated, they
cannot be raiſed to any advantage for the purpoſe of
meliorating a poor foil.
It hath been cuftomary in many places, particular-
ly in England, to fow turnip, peafe, buck-wheat, &c.
and then to plough them down for manuring the land.
This being fimilar to that operation of nature by
which the renders the uncultivated foils fo exceedingly
fertile, cannot fail of being attended with fingular ad-
vantages; and might be looked upon as preferable even
to driving dung on the land to fatten it, was it not
attended with the entire loſs of
a crop for that year.
SECT. V. Of destroying Weeds.
WHAT We have already faid regarding the cultivation
all kinds of vegetables indifcriminately. Experience,
of the foil, refpects only the fitting it for producing
however, fhows, that the ground is naturally much
more difpofed to produce and nouriſh fome kinds of
vegetables than others; and thofe which the earth
feems moſt to delight in, are commonly fuch as are of
very little uſe to man; but if neglected, will increaſe to
fuch a degree, as entirely to deftroy the plants intended
to be raiſed, or at leaft hinder them from coming to
perfection, by depriving them of nourishment. The
clearing the ground of weeds, therefore, is an article
no lefs neceffary in agriculture, than the difpofing it to
produce vegetables of any kind in plenty.
K k
The
(A) This, however, must be understood with fome limitation: for it appears from experience, that many
light and thin foils receive detriment rather than advantage from frequent ploughings; particularly in fummer,
when the fun exhales the nutritive particles in great abundance.
Theory.
258
Part. I.
AGCI GCICUL
CULTURE.
Theory.
36
rennial.
The weeds may be divided, according to the time of
their duration, into annual, or fuch as fpring from a
Weeds divi- feed, and die the fame year; and perennial, that is, fuch
ded into an- as are propagated by the roots, and laſt for a number
nual and pe- of years. The firft kind are the leaft noxious, and moſt
eafily deftroyed. For this purpoſe it will be fufficient
to let them ſpring up till near the time of ripening their
feed, and then plough them down before it comes to
maturity. It is alfo of fervice to deftroy fuch weeds
as grow in borders, or neglected corners, and frequent
ly fcatter their feeds to a great diſtance; fuch as the
thiſtle, dandelion, rag-weed, &c. for thefe are fufficient
to propagate their fpecies through a deal of ground;
as their feeds are carried about with the wind to very
confiderable diſtances. A farmer ought alfo to take
care, that the ſmall feeds of weeds, feparated from corn
in winnowing, be not fown again upon the ground;
for this certainly happens when they are thrown upon
a dunghill; becauſe, being the natural offspring of the
earth, they are not eafily deftroyed. The beft method
of preventing any mifchief from this caufe, would be
37
Perennial
weeds, how
deſtroyed.
38
Broom,
furze, &c.
how de-
ftroyed.
to burn them.
'Perennial weeds cannot be effectually deftroyed, but
by removing the roots from the ground, which is often
a matter of fome difficulty. Many of theſe roots ftrike
fo deep in the ground, that they can fcarcely be got
out. The only method that can be depended upon in
this cafe, is frequent ploughing, to render the ground
as tender as poffible; and harrowing with a particular
kind of harrow, which fhall hereafter be deſcribed, in
order to collect theſe pernicious roots. When collec-
ted, they ought to be dried and burnt, as the only
effectual method of infuring their doing no further
miſchief.
There is a particular fpecies of weed, peculiar only
to grafs-lands, of a ſoft ſpongy nature, called fog, which
it is found very difficult to exterminate. Where the land
can be conveniently tilled, this weed may be deftroyed
by covering it with a crop of peafe, potatoes, &c. or,
paffing a heavy roller over the gound will be of great
fervice; for fog owes its origin to too great a laxity of
the foil, and will not grow upon firm ground.
Beſides theſe kinds of weeds which are of an herba-
ceous nature, there are others which are woody, and
grow to a very confiderable fize; ſuch as broom, furze
or whins, and thorns. Broom is an evergreen fhrub,
that thrives beft in fandy foil; and there it grows fo vi-
gorously, as fcarce to admit any grafs under it. It pro-
pagates by feed which grows in pods; and thefe, when
fully ripe, break with violence, fcattering the feeds all
around. Thus, a field which is overgrown with
broom, befides the old plants, always contains an in-
finite number of young ones; ſo that though the old
plants die when cut over, a freſh crop conftantly ſprings
up. It may, however, be deftroyed by frequent plough-
ing and harrowing, in the fame manner as other peren-
nial weeds are; for it does not for fome time carry any
feed, and the frequent ploughing encourages the vege-
tation of all thofe that are already in the ground, which
cannot fail of being deftroyed by frequent repetitions of
the operation. Another method of deftroying broom,
is by pafturing the field where it grows with fheep. A
few of the old buſhes may be left as a ſhelter, and theſe
will be in a good meaſure prevented from ſpreading by
the cropping of the ſheep. Thefe animals are very fond
of broom, and greedily devour every young ſhoot; fo Theory.
that if any remain after the firſt year, there will not be
a veftige the fecond. If this method of extirpating
broom is equally effectual with that of frequent plough-
ing, it is certainly much more profitable, as there is
no food more nourishing to fheep than young broom.
Broom, however, is faid to have a fingular effect upon
fheep: it makes them drunk fo effectually, that when
heated with a little driving, they tumble over, and lie
without motion.
The whin is a fine evergreen fhrub, carrying a fweet-
fmelling flower all the year round. It propagates both
by feed and by its roots, which ſpread fometimes to the
diftance of 10 or 12 feet; and hence, when once efta-
blifhed, it is with difficulty extirpated. The beft me-
thod is to ſet fire to the whins in frofty weather; for
froft has the effect to wither whins, and make them
burn readily. The ftumps muft then be cut over with
a hatchet; and when the ground is well foftened by
rain, it may be ploughed up, and the roots taken out
by a harrow adapted to that purpofe. If the field is
foon laid down to grafs, the whins will again fpring up
in great abundance, from the feeds, and fmall parts of
the roots left in the ground. In this cafe, pafturing
with fheep is an effectual remedy; as they are no lefs
fond of young whins than of young broom; and if
there are a fufficient number, they will not leave a
fingle plant above ground. But if grafs is not imme-
diately wanted, the moſt effectual method of clearing a
field of whins, is by reiterated ploughings.
The thorn, or bramble, fpreads its roots very wide,
and at the fame time finks them deep in the earth.
Though cut in the winter, it rifes, and comes to fuch
perfection as to carry fruit in fummer. It can only
be extirpated by ploughing up the ground, and collec-
ting the roots.
SECT. VI. Of the moſt proper kinds of Vegetables to
be raiſed for the purpoſes of feeding Cattle.
39
THOUGH this muſt be an article of the utmoſt con-
fequence to every farmer, we do not find that it has been
much conſidered. Mr Anderſon ſeems to have been the
firft writer on agriculture who hath properly attended to
this fubject; and what he hath wrote upon it, is rather
a catalogue of defiderata, than any thing elſe: and
indeed the defiderata on this fubject are fo many and ſo
great, that we muſt acknowledge ourſelves very un-
able to fill them up. To attain to a competent
knowledge in this refpect, the following things must be Qualities of
taken into confideration. い ​(1.) The wholeſomeneſs of the food re-
the food for cattle, with regard to health and ſtrength, quifite for
or fatnefs. (2.) The quantity that any extent of cattle.
ground is capable of yielding. (3.) The quantity ne-
ceffary to feed the different kinds of cattle. (4.) The
labour of cultivation; and, (5.) The foil they require
to bring them to perfection, and the effect they have
upon it.
With regard to the wholeſomeneſs, it is plain, that
as the natural food of wild cattle is the green fucculent
plants they meet with all the year round, food of this.
kind, could it be had, muſt be preferable to hay; and
accordingly we find that cattle will always prefer fuc-
culent vegetables where they can get them. To find
·
plants.
Part I.
259
AGRICULTURE.
1
1
40
Cabbages,
their pro-
perties.
1
Theory. plants of this kind, and having proper qualities in o-
ther refpects, we muſt ſearch among thoſe which con-
tinue green all the year round, or come to their great-
eft perfection in the winter-time. Of thefe, cabbages
bid fair for holding the firſt place; both as being very
fucculent, and a very large quantity of them growing
upon a ſmall ſpace of ground. In Mr Young's Six
Months Tour, we have an account of the produce of
cabbages in many different places, and on a variety of
foils. The produce by Mr Crow at Keplin, on a clay
foil, was, on an average of fix years, 35 tons per acre;
by Mr Smelt at the Leaſes, on a fandy gravel, 18 tons
per acre; by Mr Scroop at Danby, on an average of
fix years, 37 tons per acre: and the general average
of all the accounts given by Mr Young, is 36 tons per
acre.
Cabbages, however, have the great inconveniency
of fometimes imparting a diſagreeable flavour to the
milk of cows fed with them, and even to the flesh of
other cattle. This, it is faid, may be prevented by
carefully picking off the decayed and withered leaves:
and very probably this is the cafe; for no vegetable
inclines more to putrefaction than this; and therefore
particular care ought to be taken to pull off all the
Air render- leaves that have any fymptoms of decay. Dr Priestley
ed noxious found that air was rendered noxious by a cabbage-leaf
by them.
remaining in it for one night, though the leaf did not
ſhow any ſymptom of putrefaction. For milk-cows,
probably the cabbages might be rendered more proper
food by boiling them.
4I
42
Turnip-
The culture of the turnip-rooted cabbage has lately
rooted cab- been much practifed, and greatly recommended, parti-
bage. cularly for the purpoſe of a late ſpring feed; and feems
indeed to be a most important article in the farming
œconomy, as will be ſhown in its proper place.
1
43
Turnips.
44
Carrots.
་
Turnips likewife produce very bulky crops, though
far inferior to thofe of cabbages. According to Mr
Young's calculation, the fineft foil does not produce
above five tons of turnips per acre; which is indeed a
very great difproportion: but poffibly fuch a quantity
of turnips may not be confumed by cattle as of cab-
bages; an ox, of 80 ftone weight, eat 210 lb. of cab-
bages in 24 hours, befides feven pound of hay.
Carrots are found to be an excellent food for cattle
of all kinds, and are greatly reliſhed by them. In a
rich fand, according to Mr Young's account, the pro-
duce of this root was 200 bushels per acre. In a finer
foil, it was 640 bushels per acre. A lean hog was fat-
ted by carrots in ten days time: he eat 196 lb.; and
his fat was very fine, white, firm, and did not boil a-
way in the dreffing. They were preferred to turnips
by the cattle; which having tafted the carrots, foon
became fo fond of them, as difficultly to be made to
eat the turnips at all. It is probable, indeed, that
carrots will make a more wholeſome food for cattle
than either cabbages or turnips, as they are ftrongly an-
tiſeptic; infomuch as to be uſed in poultices for correc-
ting the fanies of cancers. It is probably owing to
this, that the milk of cows fed on carrots is never found
to have any bad taſte. Six horſes kept on them thro'
the winter without oats, performed their work as ufual,
and looked equally well. This may be looked upon
as a proof of their falubrity as a food; and it certain-
ly can be no detriment to a farmer to be fo much ver-
fant in medical matters, as to know the impropriety of
men,
giving putrefcent food to his cattle. It is well known, Theory.
what a prodigious difference there is in the health of
the human fpecies when fed on putrid meats, in com-
pariſon of what they enjoy when fupplied with food of
a contrary nature; and why may there not be a dif-
ference in the health of beafts, as well as of when
in fimilar circumſtances?—It is alſo very probable,
that as carrots are more folid than cabbages or tur-
nips, they will go much farther in feeding cattle than
either of them. The above-mentioned example of the
hog feems fome kind of confirmation of this; he being
fed, for ten days together, with 21 lb. lefs weight of
carrots than what an ox devoured of cabbages and hay
in one day. There is a great difproportion, it muſt
be owned, between the bulk of an ox and that of a
hog; but we can ſcarce think that an ox will eat as
much at a time as ten hogs. At Parlington in York.
fhire, 20 work-horſes, four bullocks, and fix milk-cows,
were fed on the carrots that grew on three acres, from
the end of September till the beginning of May; and
the animals never tafted any other food but a little hay.
The milk was excellent, and 30 hogs were fattened
upon what was left by the other cattle.
45
art. 16.
Potatoes likewiſe appear to be a very palatable food Potatoes,
for all kinds of cattle; and not only oxen, hogs, &c.
are eafily fed by them, but even poultry. The cheap-
nefs of potatoes compared with other kinds of food for
cattle, cannot well be known, as, beſides the advantage
of the crop, they improve the ground more than any
other known vegetable. According to a correfpondent
of the Bath Society*, "roafting pork is never fo moiſt * Letters ané
and delicate as when fed with potatoes, and killed from Papers on
the barn-doors without any confinement. For bacon Agriculture,
and hams, two bushels of pea-meal ſhould be well in- &c. vol. iii.
corporated with four bushels of boiled potatoes, which
quantity will fat a hog of twelve ftone (fourteen pounds
to the ftone). Cows are particularly fond of them:
half a bufhel at night, and the fame proportion in the
morning, with a ſmall quantity of hay, is fufficient to
keep three cows in full milk; they will yield as much
and as fweet butter as the beſt graſs. In fattening
cattle, I allow them all they will eat: a beaſt of about
35 ftone will require a buſhel per day, but will fatten
one-third fooner than on turnips. The potatoes ſhould
be clean waſhed, and not given until they are dry.
They do not require boiling for any purpose but fat-
tening hogs for bacon, or poultry; the latter eat them
greedily. I prefer the champion potato to any fort
I ever cultivated. They do not anſwer fo well for
horſes and colts as I expected (at leaſt they have not
with me), though fome other gentlemen have approved
of them as fubftitutes for oats."
}
The above-mentioned vegetables have all of them the
property of meliorating, rather than exhaufting the foil
and this is certainly a very valuable qualification: but
carrots and cabbages will not thrive except in foils that
are already well cultivated; while potatoes and tur-
nips may be uſed as the firſt crops of a foil with great
advantage. In this reſpect, they are greatly fuperior
to the others; as it may be diſagreeable to take up the
beft grounds of a farm with plants defigned only for
food to cattle.
46
Buck-wheat (Polygonum fagopyrum) has been late- Buck-
ly recommended as an uſeful article in the prefent as wheat,
well as other refpects. It has been chiefly applied to the
K k 2
feeding
1
260
AGRICULTU URE.
Part I.
excluded, under the name of weeds, from cultivated Theory.
fields and places fet apart for natural grafs, green or
freſh meat was no longer to be found.
Theory. feeding of hogs, and efteemed equal in value to barley;
it is much more eafily ground than barley, as a malt-
mill will ground it completely. Horſes are very fond
of the grain; poultry of all forts are ſpeedily fattened
by it; and the bloffom of the plant affords food for
bees at a very opportune ſeaſon of the year, when the
meadows and trees are mostly ſtripped of their flowers.
Probably the grain may hereafter be even found a ma-
terial article in diftillation, fhould a fufficient quantity
be raiſed with that view. From the fuccefs of fome
experiments detailed in the Bath Society Papers, and
for which a premium was beſtowed, it has been infer-
has been infer-
red, that this article ought in numerous caſes to ſuper-
fede the practice of fummer-fallowing.
47
Whins an
excellent
food for
borfes.
48
Burnet.
49
Whins have lately been recommended as a very pro-
per food for cattle, efpecially horfes; and are recom-
mended by Mr Anderſon in a particular manner.
They have this advantage, that they require no culture,
and grow on the very worft foil; but they are trouble-
fome to cut, and require to be bruiſed in a mill con-
ftructed for this purpoſe; neither is the ground at all
meliorated by letting whins grow upon it for any length
of time. Notwithstanding thefe difadvantages, how-
ever, as whins continue green all the year round, and
when bruifed will afford an excellent fucculent food,
which feems poffeffed of strongly invigorating qualities,
they may be looked upon as the cheapest winter-food
that can poffibly be given to cattle.-According to the
calculations of Mr Eddifon of Gateford, a fingle acre,
well cropped with whins, will winter fix horfes: at
three or four years growth, the whole crop fhould be
taken, cut cloſe to the ground, and carried to the
mill; in which the whins are to be bruiſed, and then
given to the horſes. Four acres ought to be planted,
that one may be uſed each year, at the proper age to
be cut; and he reckons the labour of one man fuffi-
eient for providing food to this number of horſes. He
fays they all prefer the whins to hay, or even to corn.
In a
The herb called burnet hath likewife been recom-
mended as proper food for cattle, on account of its
being an evergreen; and further recommended, by
growing almoſt as faft in winter as in fummer. Of this
herb, however, we have very various accounts.
letter addreffed by Sir James Caldwell, F. R. S. to the
Dublin Society, the culture of this plant is ftrongly
recommended on the authority of one Bartholomew
Rocque, farmer at Walham-Green, a village about three
miles fouth-west of London.
What gave occafion to the recommendation of this
Recom-
plant, was, that about the year 1760, Mr Wych, chair-
mended by
Sir James man of the committee of Agriculture of the London
Caldwell. Society for the encouragement of arts, manufactures,
and commerce, came to Rocque (who was become very
eminent by the premiums he had received from the fo-
ciety), and told him, he had been thinking, that as
there are many animals which fubfift wholly upon the
fruits of the earth, there muft certainly be fome plant
or herb fit for them that naturally vegetates in winter;
otherwiſe we muſt believe the Creator, infinitely wife
and good, to have made creatures without providing
for their fubfiftence; and that if there had been no
fuch plants or herbs, many fpecies of animals would
have perifhed before we took them out of the hands of
nature, and provided for them dry meat at a feaſon,
when, indigenuous plants having been indifcriminately
4,
Rocque allowed the force of this reafoning; but faid,
the knowledge of a grafs, or artificial paſture, that
would vegetate in winter, and produce green fodder for
cattle, was loft; at leaſt, that he knew of no fuch
plant.-Mr Wych, however, knowing how very great
the advantage would be of difcovering a green fodder
for winter and early in the fpring, wrote to Bern, and
alfo to fome confiderable places in Sweden, ftating the
fame argument, and aſking the ſame queftion. His an-
fwers to thefe letters were the fame that had been given
by Rocque. They owned there must be fuch plant,
but declared they did not know it.
Mr Wych then applied again to Rocque; and defi-
red him to ſearch for the plant ſo much deſired, and fo
certainly exifting. Rocque ſet about this ſearch with
great affiduity; and finding that a pimpernel, called
burnet, was of very fpeedy growth, and grew near as
faft in winter as in fummer, he took a handful of it
and carried it into his ftable, where there were five hor-
fes; every one of which eat of it with the greateſt eager-
neſs, ſnatching it even without firſt ſmelling it. Upon
the fuccefs of this experiment he went to London, and
bought all the burnet-feed he could get, amounting to
no more than eight pounds, it having been only uſed in
falads; and he paid for it at the rate of 4 s. a pound.
Six of the eight pounds of feed he fowed upon half an
acre of ground, in March, in the year 1761, with a
quarter of a peck of ſpring-wheat, both by hand. The
feed being very bad, it came up but thin. However, he
fowed the other two pounds in the beginning of June,
upon about fix rood of ground: this he mowed in the
beginning of Auguft; and at Michaelmas he planted .
off the plants on about 20 rood of ground, giving each
plant a foot every way, and taking care not to bury
the heart. Thefe plants bore two crops of feed the
year following; the firſt about the middle of June, the
ſecond about the middle of September; but the June
crop was the beft. The year after, it grew very rank,
and produced two crops of feed, both very good. As
it ought not to be cut after September, he let it ftand
till the next year; when it ſheltered itſelf, and grew
very well during all the winter, except when there was
a hard froft; and even during the froft it continued
green, though it was not perceived to grow. In the
March following it covered the ground very well, and.
was fit to receive cattle.
If the winter is not remarkably fevere, the burnet,
though cut in September, will be 18 inches long in
March; and it may be fed from the beginning of Fe-
bruary till May: if the cattle are taken off in May,
there will be a good crop of feed in the beginning of
July. Five weeks after the cattle are taken off, it may
be removed, if that is preferred to its ſtanding for feed;
it grows at the rate of an inch a-day, and is made into
hay like other grafs. It may be mown three times in
one fummer, and fhould be cut juft before it begins to
flower. Six rood of ground has produced 1150 pounds
at the firſt cutting of the third year after it was fowed
and, in autumn 1763, Rocque fold no leſs than 300
bufhels of the feed..
-
According to Rocque, the foil in which burnet flou-
rifhes beft, is a dry gravel; the longeft drought never
hurts
?
Part I.
261:
AGRICULTUR
50
without injuring the plant. The leaves are more pa-
latable to cattle than moſt other garden plants, and are
found to be very wholefome. The farmers in thofe
parts of Germany where it is chiefly cultivated, we are
told, prefer this fpecies of beet, for feeding cattle, to
cabbages, principally becauſe they are not fo liable to
be hurt by worms or infects; but they think they are
not ſo nouriſhing as turnips, potatoes, or carrots, and
that cattle are not nearly fo foon fattened by this root
as by carrots, parfnips, or cabbages. It has even been
afferted, that this root affords lefs nouriſhment than
any of thofe that have been commonly employed for
feeding cattle. This does not correfpond with the
pompous accounts with which the public has been en-
tertained. Upon the whole, however, it is a plant which
feems to deferve the attention of our farmers; as on fome
foils, and in particular circumftances, it may prove a
very uſeful article for the above purpoſes.
53
Theory. hurts it: and Sir James Caldwell afferts, that he ſaw a in fummer, which may be cut three or four times Theory.
very vigorous and exuberant plant of this kind, growing
from between two bricks in a wall in Rocque's ground,
without any communication with the foil; for he had
cut away all the fibres of the root that had ſtretched
downward, and penetrated the earth, long before.
Burnet was found equally fit for feeding cows, fheep,
and horſes; but the ſheep must not be fuffered to crop
it too cloſe. Though no feed was left among the hay,
yet it proved nouriſhing food; and Rocque kept a
horſe upon nothing elfe, who, at the time of writing
the account, was in good heart, and looked well. He
affirmed alfo, that it cured horfes of the diftemper call-
ed the greafe, and that by its means he cured one
which was thought incurable; but fays, it is only the
firft crop which has this effect.
Burnet rec- This is the fubftance of Sir James Caldwell's letter
koned an to the Dublin Society, at leaſt as to what regards the
improper culture of burnet; and it might reaſonably be expect
food by Mr
Miller and ed, that a plant, whofe ufe was recommended to the
Mr Ander- public with ſo much parade, would foon have come into
univerfal eſteem. We were furpriſed, therefore, on look-
ing into Mr Miller's Dictionary, to find the following
words, under the article Poterium :-"This plant has
of late been recommended by perfons of little fkill, to be
fown as a winter pabulum for cattle: but whoever will
give themſelves the trouble to examine the grounds
where it naturally grows, will find the plants left un-
eaten by the cattle, when the graſs about them has been
cropped to the roots; befides, in wet winters, and in
ftrong land, the plants are of ſhort duration, and there-
fore very unfit for that purpoſe: nor is the produce
fufficient to tempt any perfon of ſkill to engage in its
culture; therefore I wiſh thofe perſons to make trial
of it in fmall quantities, before they embark largely in
theſe new ſchemes.”—Mr Anderſon, too, in his Effays
on Agriculture, mentions the produce of burnet being
fo fmall, as not to be worth cultivating.
fon.
51
recom-
mended.
White beet Upon the authority of Mr Rocque, likewife, the
white beet is recommended as a moft excellent food
for cows; that it vegetates during the whole winter,
confequently is very forward in the fpring; and that
the moſt profitable way of feeding cows is, to mow this
herb, and give it to them green all the fummer. It
grew in Rocque's garden, during a very great drought,
no less than four feet high, from the 30th of May to
the 3d of July; which is no more than one month and
four days. In fummer it grows more than an inch a-
day, and is beſt ſown in March: a bufhel is enough
for an acre, and will not coft more than ten fhillings.
It thrives beft in a rich, deep, light foil: the ftalks
are very thick and fucculent; the cows ſhould therefore
eat them green..
Another fpecies of beet (Beta cicla), the Mangel
Scarcity. Wurzel, or Root of Scarcity, as it has been called, has
been lately extolled as food both for man and cattle;
but, after all, feems only to deſerve attention in the
latter view. It is a biennial plant; the root is large
and fleſhy, ſometimes a foot in diameter. It rifes above
the ground ſeveral inches, is thickeſt at the top, taper-
ing gradually downward. The roots are of various
colours, white, yellow, and red; but theſe laſt are al-
ways of a much paler colour than beetrave. It is good
fodder for cows, and does not communicate any tafte
to the milk. It produces great abundance of leaves.
32.
Root of
In Mr Anderſon's effays, we find it recommended to Sheep's fef.
make trial of ſome kinds of graffes, which probably cue-graſs.
would not only anſwer for freſh fodder during the win-
ter, but might alfo be cut for hay in fummer. This
is particularly the cafe with that fpecies called sheep's
fefcue grass. "I had (fays he) a fmall patch of this.
grafs in winter 1773; which, having been cut in the
month of Auguft or September preceding, was faved
from that period, and had advanced before winter to
the length of five or fix inches; forming the cloſeſt
pile that could be imagined. And although we had
about fix weeks of very intenſe froft, with fnow; and
about other fix weeks, immediately fucceeding that,
of exceeding keen froft every night, with frequent
thaws in the day-time, without any fnow, during which
time almoft every green thing was destroyed; yet this
little patch continued all along to retain as fine a ver- -
dure as any meadow in the month of May; hardly a
point of a leaf having been withered by the uncommon
feverity of the weather. And as this graſs begins to
vegetate very early in the ſpring, I leave the reader to
judge what might be the value of a field of graſs of
this kind in thefe circumftances."
•
54
Of another kind of grafs, called purple fefcue, Mr Purple fe
Anderfon gives the following character. "It retain, cue.
ed its verdure much better than rye-grafs during the
winter-feafon; but it had more of its points killed by
the weather than the former. It likewife rifes in the
fpring, at leaſt as early as rye-graſs.”
>>
This ingenious farmer has alfo made experiments
on the culture of theſe and ſeveral other kinds of graf-
fes; which being very well worthy of attention, we
fhall here infert.
1. Purple fefcue-grafs. " Although this grafs is very
often found in old paftures, yet as it has but few flower--
ftalks, and as it is greedily eat by all domeſtic animals,
thefe are feldom fuffered to appear; fo that it uſually
remains there unperceived. But it feems to be better
able to endure the peculiar acrimony of the dung of
dogs than almoſt any other plant; and is therefore of-
ten to be met with in dog-hills, as I call the little hills.
by road-fides where dogs ufually pifs and dung: and
as it is allowed to grow there undiſturbed, the farmer-
may have an opportunity of examining the plant, and i
becoming acquainted with its appearance.
"The leaves are long and fmall, and appear to be..
roundifh,,
262
Part I.
AGRICULTURE.
+
1
Theory. roundish, fomething like a wire; but, upon examina-
tion, they are found not to be tubulated like a reed or
rufh; the fides of the leaf being only folded together
from the middle rib, exactly like the ftrong bent-grafs
on the fea-fhore. The flower-ſtalk is ſmall, and branches
out in the head, a little reſembling the wild-oat; only
the grains are much ſmaller, and the ear does not ſpread
full open, but lies bending a little to one fide. The
ftalks are often ſpotted with reddiſh freckles, and the
tops of the roots are uſually tinged with the fame co-
lour; from whence it has probably obtained its diftinc-
has probably obtained its diftinc-
tive name of Festuca rubra, or red (purple) fefcue.
55
“It is often to be met with in old garden-walks; and,
as its leaves advance very quickly after cutting, it may
uſually be diſcovered above the other graffes, about a
week or fortnight after the walks are cut. Nor do
they ſeem to advance only at one ſeaſon, and then ftop
and decay, like the rye-grafs; but continue to advance
during the whole of the fummer, even where they are not
cut; fo that they fometimes attain a very great length.
Laſt ſeaſon, (1774,) I meaſured a leaf of this grafs, that
fprung up in a neglected corner, which was four feet
and four inches in length, although not thicker than
a fmall wire. It is unneceffary to add, that thefe leaves
naturally trail upon the ground, unleſs where they meet
with ſome accidental ſupport; and that if any quan-
tity of it is fuffered to grow for a whole feafon, with
out being eat down or cut, the roots of the leaves are
almoſt rotted, by the overshadowing of the tops of the
other leaves, before the end of the ſeaſon.
P
Appearance "This is the appearance and condition of the plant
in its culti- in its native fituation: as it is feldom that it is difco-
vated ſtate. vered but in pretty old paſtures, and as in that ſtate
it carries only a very few feed-ftalks, it was with fome
difficulty that I could collect a fmall handful of the feed,
which I carefully fowed in a fmall patch of garden-
mould, to try if it could be eafily cultivated. It came
up as quickly as any other kind of grafs, but was at
firft as fmall as hairs: the leaves, however, advanced a-
pace; and were, before autumn, when the grain with
which they had been fowed was cut down, about 16
or 18 inches in length: but having been fown very
thin, it was neceſſary to pick out fome other kinds of
grafs that came up amongſt it, left it might have
been choaked by them. Early next ſpring it advanced
with prodigious vigour, and the tufts that were form-
ed from every feed became exceeding large; ſo that it
quickly filled the whole ground. But now the leaves
were almost as broad as thofe of common rye-grafs,
and the two fides only inclined a little towards one
another from the mid-rib, without any appearance of
roundneſs. In due time a great many feed-ftalks fprung
out, which attained very nearly to the height of four
fcet, and produced feeds in abundance; which may be
as eaſily faved as thoſe of common rye-grafs.
"The prodigious difference between this plant in its
native and cultivated ſtate amazed me; but it was with
a good deal of fatisfaction that I found there would be
no difficulty of procuring feeds from it, which I had
much doubted of at firſt. It would feem, that nature
hath endowed this plant with a ſtrong generative power
during its youth, which it gradually lofes as it advan-
ces in age (for the difference perceived in this cafe
could not be attributed to the richneſs of the foil);
and that, on the contrary, when it was old, the leaves
advanced with an additional vigour, in proportion to Theory.
the declining ftrength of the flower-ftalks: for the
leaves of the young plant feldom exceed two feet,
whereas numbers of the old leaves were near four feet
in length.
"From thefe peculiarities in the growth of this plant,
it would ſeem to promiſe to be of great uſe to the far-
mer; as he could reap from a field of it, for the firſt twe
or three years, as great a weight of hay as he could
obtain from any of the culmiferous graffes (thofe bearing
a long jointed ſtalk); and, if he meant afterwards to
pafture it, he would fuffer no inconveniences from the
flower-ftalks; and the fucculent leaves that continue to
vegetate during the whole fummer, would at all times
furniſh his cattle with abundance of wholeſome food.
It has alſo been remarked, that this graſs rifes as early
in the fpring as rye graſs; and continues green for the
greateſt part of winter, which the other does not. It
is moreover an abiding plant, as it feems never to wear
out of the ground where it has once been eſtabliſhed.
On all which accounts, it appears to me highly to me-
rit the attention of the farmer; and well deferves to
have its feveral qualities, and the culture that beſt agrees
with it, afcertained by accurate experiments.
2.
as
56
cue defcri-
Sheeps fefcue grass, or festuca ovina, is much Sheeps fef-
praiſed by the Swediſh naturalifts for its fingular value
a pafture-grafs for fheep; this animal being reprefent- bed.
ed as fonder of it than of any other grafs, and fatten-
ing upon it more quickly than on any other kind of
food whatever. And indeed, the general appearance
of the plant, and its peculiar manner of growth, ſeems
very much to favour the accounts that have been given
us of it.
"This plant is of the fame family with the former,
and agrees with it in feveral refpects; although they
may be eaſily diſtinguiſhed from one another.
Its
leaves, like the former, in its natural ftate, are always
rounded, but much ſmaller; being little bigger than
large horſe-hairs, or fwines-briftles, and feldom exceed
fix or feven inches in length. But theſe ſpring out of
the root in tufts, fo cloſe upon one another, that they
refemble, in this refpect, a cloſe hair-bruſh more than
any thing elfe I know: fo that it would feem natural-
ly adapted to form that thick fhort pile of grafs in
which ſheep are known chiefly to delight. Its flower-
ftalks are numerous, and fometimes attain the height
of two feet; but are more ufually about 12 or 15 inch-
es high.
57
Upon gathering the feeds of this plant, and fowing Its appear-
them as the former, it was found that they ſprung up ance when
as quickly as any other kind of grafs; but the leaves cultivated.
are at firft no bigger than a human hair. From each
fide fprings up one or two of thefe hair-like filaments,
that in a ſhort time ſend out new off-fets, fo as quickly
to form a fort of tuft, which grows larger and larger,
till it at length attains a very large fize, or till all the
intervals are cloſed up, and then it forms the cloſeſt
pile of grafs that it is poffible to imagine. In April
and May it pushed forth an innumerable quantity of
flower-ftalks, that afforded an immenfe quantity of
hay; it being fo cloſe throughout, that the ſcythe
could ſcarcely penetrate it. This was allowed to ſtand
till the feeds ripened; but the bottom of the ſtalks
were quite blanched, and almoſt rotted for want of air
before that time.
66 This
Part I.
263
AGRICULTUR
E.
Theory.
58
What foil
molt
pio-
per.
59
Holcus la-
natus.
"This was the appearance that it made the firft year
after it was fowed: but I have reaſon to think, that, af-
ter a few years, it likewife produces fewer feed-ftalks,
and a greater quantity of leaves than at firſt. But
however that may be, it is certain, that if theſe are eat
down in the ſpring, it does not, like rye-grafs, perfift
in a continued tendency to run to feed; but is at once
determined to puſh forth a quantity of leaves without
almoft any ſtalks at all: and as all domeftic animals,
but more eſpecially fheep, are extremely fond of this
grafs, if they have liberty to pafture where it grows,
they bite it ſo cloſe as never to fuffer almoſt a ſingle feed-
ftalk to eſcape them; ſo that the botaniſt will often
ſearch in vain for it, when he is treading upon it with
his feet. The beſt way to diſcover it in any paſture,
is to ſearch for it in winter, when the tufts of it may
be eafily diftinguiſhed from every other kind of grafs,
by their extraordinary cloſeneſs, and the deep green
colour of the leaves.
"It ſeems to grow in almoſt any foil; altho' it is ima-
gined that it would flouriſh beſt in a light fandy foil,
as it can evidently live with lefs moiſture than almoft
any other kind of grafs; being often ſeen to remain in
the fods that have been employed in coping for ſtone-
dykes, after all the other graffes that grew in them
have diſappeared. It is likewife found in poor barren
foils, where hardly any other plant can be made to grow
at all; and on the furface of dry worn-out peat-mofs,
where no moiſture remains fufficient to fupport any o-
ther plant whatever: but in neither of theſe fituations
does it thrive; as it is there only a weak and unfightly
plant, very unlike what it is when it has the good for
tune to be eſtabliſhed upon a good foil; although it is
feldomer met with in this laft ftate than in the former.
“I will not here repeat what has been already faid
about the particular property that this plant poffeffes of
continuing all winter; nor point out the benefits that
the farmer may reap from this valuable quality.-He
need not, however, expect to find any verdure in win-
ter on fuch plants as grow upon the loofe moffy foil
above-mentioned; for, as the froft in winter always
hoves up the furface of this foil, the roots of the plants
are` fo lacerated thereby, as to make it, for fome time
in the ſpring, to all appearance dead. Nor will he of
ten perceive much verdure in winter upon thoſe plants
that grow upon poor hungry foils, which cannot afford
abundant nouriſhment to keep them in a proper ſtate
of vegetation at all times: but fuch plants as grow
on earthen dykes, which uſually begin to vegetate with
vigour when the autumnal rains come on, for the moft
part retain their verdure at that ſeaſon almoſt as well as
if they were in good garden-mould.
"I have been very particular in regard to this plant;
becauſe, in as far as my obſervations have yet gone, it
promifes on many accounts to make a moít valuable ac-
quifition to the farmer, and therefore juftly demands a
very particular fhare of his attention.”
3. The holcus lanatus, or creeping foft-grafs of Hud-
fon.-This is confidered by our author as one of the
moft valuable kinds of meadow-graffes; its pile being
exceedingly cloſe, foft, and fucculent. It delights
much in moiſture, and is feldom found on dry ground,
unleſs the ſoil is exceeding rich. It is often found on
thoſe patches near fprings, over which the water fre-
quently flows; and may be known by the uncommon
2_
foftneſs and fucculence of the blade, the lively light Theory.
green colour of the leaves, and the matted intertexture
of its roots. But, notwithſtanding the foftneſs of its
firft leaves, when the feed-ftalks advance, they are rough
to the touch, ſo that the plant then affumes a very dif-
ferent appearance from what we would have expected.
The ear is branched out into a great number of fine ra-
mifications fomewhat like the oat, but much ſmaller.-
This kind of grafs, however, would not be eaſily culti
vated, on account of a kind of foft membrane that
makes the feeds adhere to the ftalk, and to one another,
after they are ſeparated from it, as if they were inter-
mixed with cobweb, ſo that it is difficult to get them
ſeparated from the ftalk, or to fpread readily in fowing.
It ſpreads, however, fo faft by its running roots, that
a ſmall quantity fowed very thin, would be fufficient to
ftock a large field in a fhort time.
Theſe are the kinds of graffes, properly ſo called,
which have not as yet been cultivated, that Mr An-
derſon thinks the most likely to be of value; but, be-
fides thefe, he recommends the following, of the pea-
tribe.
60
1. Milk-vetch, liquorice-vetch, or milkwort. This Milk-vetch,
plant, in ſome reſpects, very much reſembles the com-
mon white clover; from the top of the root a great
number of fhoots come out in the ſpring, ſpreading a-
long the furface of the ground every way around it;
from which ariſe a great many clufters of bright yel-
low flowers, exactly reſembling thoſe of the common
broom. Thefe are fucceeded by hard round pods, fil-
led with ſmall kidney-fhaped feeds. From a ſuppoſed
refemblance of a cluſter of theſe pods to the fingers of
an open hand, the plant has been fometimes called
ladies-fingers. By others it is called crow-toes, from a
fancied reſemblance of the pods to the toes of a bird.
Others, from the appearance of the bloffom, and the
part where the plant is found, have called it feal, im-
properly fell-broom. It is found plentifully almoſt e-
very where in old grafs-fields; but as every fpecies of
domeſtic animals eat it, almoft in preference to any o-
ther plant, it is feldom allowed to come to the flower
in paſture-grounds, unleſs where they have been acci-
dentally faved from the cattle for fome time; ſo that
it is only about the borders of corn-fields, or the fides
of inclofures to which cattle have not accefs, that we
have an opportunity of obſerving it. As it has been
imagined that the cows which feed on theſe paſtures,
where this plant abounds, yield a quantity of rich milk,
the plant has, from that circumſtance, obtained its moſt
proper Engliſh name of milk-vetch.
←
One of the greateſt recommendations of this plant Its good
is, that it grows in poor barren ground, where almoft qualities.
no other plant can live. It has been obferved in ground
fo poor, that even heath, or ling (erica communis),
would fcarcely grow; and upon bare obdurate clays,
where no other plant could be made to vegetate; in-
fomuch that the furface remained entirely uncovered,
unleſs where a plant of this kind chanced to be efta-
blifhed; yet even in theſe unfavourable circumitances,
it flouriſhed with an uncommon degree of luxuriance,
and yielded as tender and fucculent, though not fuch
abundant fhoots, as if reared in the richeſt manured
fields. In dry barren fands, alſo, where almoſt no o-
ther plant could be made to live, it has been found to
fend out fuch a number of healthy fhoots all round, as
to.
264
Part I.
AGRICULTURE.
حد
Theory. to cover the earth with the clofeft and most beautiful
-62
Yellow
·
carpet that can be defired.
The ftalks of the milk-vetch are weak and ſlender,
fo that they fpread upon the furface of the ground, un-
lefs they are fupported by fome other vegetable. In
ordinary foils they do not grow to a great length, nor
produce many flowers; but in richer fields the ſtalks
grow to a much greater length, branch out a good
deal, but carry few or no flowers or feeds. From thefe
qualities our author did not attempt at firſt to cultivate
it with any other view than that of pafture; and, with
this intention, fowed it with his ordinary hay feeds,
expecting no material benefit from it till he defifted
from cutting his field. In this, however, he was a-
greeably diſappointed; the milk-vetch growing, the
firſt ſeaſon, as tall as his great clover, and forming ex-
ceeding fine hay; being fcarce diftinguifhable from lu-
cerne, but by the flenderneſs of the ſtalk, and propor-
tional fmallneſs of the leaf.
Another recommendation to this plant is, that it is
perennial. It is feveral years after it is fowed before
it attains to its full perfection; but, when once efta-
blifhed, it probably remains for a great number of
years in full vigour, and produces annually a great
quantity of fodder. In autumn 1773, Mr ‍Anderſon
In autumn 1773, Mr Anderſon
cut the ftalk from an old plant that grew on a very in-
different foil; and after having thoroughly dried it, he
found that it weighed 14 ounces and a half.
The ftalks of this plant die down entirely in winter,
and do not come up in the ſpring till the fame time
that clover begins to advance; nor does it advance ve-
ry faft, even in fummer, when once cut down or eat
over: fo that it feems much inferior to the abovemen-
tioned graffes; but might be of uſe to cover the worst
parts of a farm, on which no other vegetable could
thrive.
2. The common yellow vetchling,(Lathyrus pratenfis)
vetchling or everlaſting tare, grows with great luxuriance in
ftiff clay foils, and continues to yield annually a great
weight of fodder, of the very best quality, for any
length of time. This is equally fit for pafture, or
hay; and grows with equal vigour in the end of fum-
mer as in the beginning of it; fo would admit being
paſtured upon in the fpring, till the middle, or even
the end of May, without endangering the lofs of the
crop of hay. This is an advantage which no other
plant except clover poffeffes; but clover is equally un-
fit for early pafture or for hay. Sain-foin is the only
plant whofe qualities approach to it in this refpect, and
the yellow vetchling will grow in fuch foils as are ut-
terly unfit for producing fain-foin.-It is alfo a peren-
nial plant, and increaſes fo faft by its running roots,
that a fmall quantity of the feed would produce a fuf-
ficient number of plants to fill a whole field in a very
fhort time. If a ſmall patch of good ground is fowed
with the ſeeds of this plant in rows, about a foot di-
ftance from one another, and the intervals kept clear of
weeds for that feafon, the roots will ſpread fo much as
to fill up the whole patch next year; when the ſtalks
may be cut for green fodder or hay. And if that
patch were dug over in the ſpring following, and the
roots taken out, it would furnish a great quantity of
plants, which might be planted at two or three feet
diſtance from one another, where they would probably
overfpread the whole field in a fhort time.
No 7.
Blue tare.
3. The common blue tare feems more likely than Theory.
the former to produce a more nouriſhing kind of hay,
as it abounds much more in feeds; but as the ſtalks
63
come up more thinly from the root, and branch more
above, it does not appear to be fo well adapted for a
pafture-grafs as the other. The leaves of this plant
are much ſmaller, and more divided, than thoſe of the
other; the ftalks are likewife fmaller, and grow to a
much greater length. Though it produces a great
quantity of feeds, yet the finall birds are fo fond of
them, that, unleſs the field was carefully guarded, few
of them would be allowed to ripen.
i
64
4. The Vicia fepium, purple everlafting, or bush-vetch. Bufh-vetch.
Our author gives the preference to this plant beyond
all others of the fame tribe for pafture. The roots.
of it fpread on every fide a little below the furface
of the ground, from which, in the ſpring, many ftems
arife quite cloſe by one another; and as theſe have a
broad tufted top covered with many leaves, it forms as
clofe a pile as could be defired. It grows very quick-
ly after being cut or cropt, but does not arrive at any
great height; fo that it feems more proper for paftu-
rage than making hay; altho', upon a good foil, it will
grow fufficiently high for that purpoſe; but the ſtalks
grow fo cloſe upon one another, that there is great dan-
ger of having it rotted at the root, if the feaſon ſhould
prove damp. It feems to thrive beft in a clay foil.
Befides theſe, there are a variety of others of the fame Everlaſting
clafs, which he thinks might be uſeful to the farmer. pea.
The common garden everlaſting pea, cultivated as a
flowering plant, he conjectures, would yield a prodi-
gious weight of hay upon an acre; as it grows to the
height of ten or twelve feet, having very ſtrong ſtalks,
that could fupport themſelves without rotting till they
attained a great height.
65
66
One other plant, hitherto unnoticed, is recommend- Achillæa
ed by our author to the attention of the farmer; it millefolium
is the common yarrow,( Achillea millefolium), or hundred-
leaved grass. Concerning this plant, he remarks, that,
in almoft every fine old pafture, a great proportion of
the growing vegetables with which the field is covered,
confifts of it; but the animals which feed there are fo
fond of the yarrow, as never to allow one feed-ſtalk of
it to come to perfection. Hence theſe feed-ſtalks are
never found but in neglected corners, or by the fides of
roads; and are fo difagreeable to cattle, that they are
never taſted; and thus it has been erroneouſly thought
that the whole plant was refufed by them. The leaves
of this plant have a great tendency to grow very thick
upon one another, and are therefore peculiarly adapted
for pafturage.
for pafturage. It arrives at its greateft perfection in
rich fields that are naturally fit for producing a large
and fucculent crop of grafs. It grows alfo upon clays;
and is among the firſt plants that ſtrike root in
barren clay that has been lately dug from any confi-
derable depth; fo that this plant, and thiftles, are uſual-
ly the firſt that appear on the banks of deep ditches
formed in a clayey foil. All animals delight to eat it;
but, from the dry aromatic tafte it poffeffes, it would
feem peculiarly favourable to the conftitution of ſheep.
It feems altogether unfit for hay.
any
67,
Befides theſe plants, which are natives of our own Lucerne.
country, there are others, which, though natives of a
foreign climate, are found to thrive very well in Bri-
tain; and have been raiſed with fuch fuccefs by indi-
viduals,
Part I.
265
AGRICULTURE.
Theory. viduals, as highly to merit the attention of every farmer.
Among theſe the first place is claimed by lucerne.
68
Timothy-
giafs.
1
69
Entcats of
of juices.
This is the plant called medica by the ancients, be-
cauſe it came originally from Media, and on the culture
of which they beftowed fuch great care and pains. It
hath a perennial root, and annual ſtalks, which, in good
foil, rife to three feet, or ſometimes more in height; its
leaves grow at a joint like thofe of clover; the flowers
which appear in June, are purple, and its pods of a
fcrew-like fhape, containing feeds which ripen in Sep-
tember. All forts of domeftic cattle are fond of this
plant, eſpecially when allowed to eat it green, and black
cattle may be fed very well with the hay made from it;
but an excefs of this food is faid to be very dangerous.
Lucerne has the property of growing very quickly
after it is cut down, infomuch that Mr Rocque has
mowed it five times in a ſeaſon, and Mr Anderfon af-
firms he has cut it no leſs than fix times. It is, how
ever, not very eafily cultivated; in confequence of which
it fometimes does not fucceed; and as it dies entirely
in the winter, it is perhaps inferior to the feſcue graffes
already mentioned, which, tho' deſpiſed and neglected,
might probably yield as rich a crop as lucerne, with
out any danger of a mifcarriage.
Another grafs was brought from Virginia, where it
is a native, and fown by Rocque in 1763. This grafs
is called Timothy, from its being brought from New-
York to Carolina by one Timothy Hanfon. It grows
beſt in a wet foil; but will thrive in almoſt
but will thrive in almoſt any. If it
is fown in Auguft, it will be fit for cutting in the latter
end of May or beginning of June. Horfes are very
fond of it, and will leave lucerne to eat it. It is alfo
preferred by black cattle and ſheep; for a fquare piece
of land having been divided into four equal parts, and
one part fowed with lucerne, another with fain-foin, a
third with clover, and the fourth with timothy, ſome
horfes, black cattle, and ſheep, were turned into it,
when the plants were all in a condition for pafturage;
and the timothy was eaten quite bare, before the clover,
lucern, or fain-foin, was touched.
One valuable property of this grafs is, that its roots
are fo ftrong and interwoven with one another, that
they render the wetteft and fofteft land, on which a
horſe could not find footing, firm enough to bear the
heaviest cart. With the view of improving boggy lands,
therefore, fo as to prevent their being poached with the
feet of cattle, Mr Anderſon recommends the cultivation
of this kind of grafs, from which he has little expecta-
tion in other refpects.
SECT. VII. Of the Diſeaſes of Plants.
THESE are divided by Tournefort into the following
claffes. 1. Thoſe which arife from too great an abun-
dance of juice; 2. From having too little; 3. From its
bad qualities; 4. From its unequal diſtribution; and
From external accidents.
5.
Too great an abundance of juices caufes at firſt a
too great an prodigious luxuriant growth of the vegetable; fo that
abundance it does not come to the requifite perfection in a due
time. Wheat is fubject, in ſome climates, to a diſeaſe
of this kind; it vegetates exceffively, without ever car-
rying ripe grain; and the fame diſeaſe may be artifi-
cially produced in any grain, by planting it in too rich
a foil.. Too much rain is apt likewife to do the fame.
When a vegetable is fupplied too abundantly with jui-
VOL. I. Part I.
·
-
70
71
ces, it is very apt to rot; one part of it overfhadowing Theory.
another in fuch a manner as to prevent the acceſs of
freſh air; upon which putrefaction foon enfues, as has
been already obferved with regard to the feſcue graffes.
In grafs, or any herbaceous plant, where the leaves Smat in
are only wanted, this over luxuriancy cannot be called grain.
a diſeaſe, but is a very defirable property; but in any
kind of grain, it is quite otherwife. Dr Home, in his
Principles of Agriculture and Vegetation, claffes the fmut
in grain among the diſeaſes arifing from this caufe. He
is of opinion, that too great an abundance of juices in a
vegetable will produce difeafes fimilar to thoſe occa-
fioned by repletion in animal-bodies; viz. flagnations,
corruptions, varices, cariofities, &c. along with the
too great luxuriancy we have juft now mentioned,
which he expreffes by "too great an abundance of wa-
ter-fhoots." Hence he is induced to clafs the fmut a-
mong diſeaſes arifing from this caufe; it being a cor-
ruption happening moft in rainy ſeaſons, and to weak
grain.-Like other contagious diſeaſes, he tells us, the
fmut may be communicated from the infected to health-
ful grain. As a preventative, he recommends fleeping How pre-
the grain in a ftrong pickle of fea-falt. Befides the ef- vented.
fect which this has upon the grain itſelf, it is uſeful for
feparating the good from the bad; the beft feed falling
to the bottom, and the faulty fwimming on the top of
the liquor.-For the fame purpoſe, a ley of wood-athes
and quicklime is recommended by fome; and, by others,
a folution of faltpetre or copperas; after which the grain
is to be dried with flacked lime, or dry turf aſhes. This
folution, however, we can by no means recommend, as
it feems most likely to kill the grain entirely.
According to Dr Home, dung is a preventative of Difeafes
difeafes arifing from too great moiſture; in confirmation from too
of which, he relates the following experiment. " Two
fture, how
acres of poor ground, which had never got any ma- prevented.
nure, were fallowed with a defign to be fown with
wheat; but the ſcheme being altered, fome dung was
laid on a ſmall part of it, and the whole fowed, after it
had got five furrows, with barley. A great quantity
of rain fell. The barley on that part which was dung-
ed was very good; but what was on the rest of the
field turned yellow after the rains, and when ripe was
not worth the reaping."
72
great moi-
fron.
73
pe-
The want of nourishment in plants may be eafily Difeafe
known by their decay; in which cafe, the only remedy culiar tofaf-
is, to fupply them with food, according to the methods
we have already directed, or to remove from their neigh-
bourhood fuch other plants as may draw off the nou-
riſhment from thoſe we wish to cultivate.-In the Me-
moirs of the Academy of Sciences for 1728, Mr Du
Hamel mentions a diſeaſe, which he calls le mort, that
attacks faffron in the fpring. It is owing to another
plant, a ſpecies of trefoil, fixing fome violet-coloured.
threads, which are its roots, to the roots of the ſaffron,
and fucking out its juice. This diſeaſe is prevented
by digging a trench, which faves all the unaffected.
74
The bad qualities, or unequal diftributions, of the Vegetables
juices of plants, are the occafion of fo few of the diſeaſes deftroyed
to which vegetables in this country are fubject, that by infects.
we forbear to mention them at prefent. Moft of the
difeafes of our plants are owing to external accidents,
particularly to the depredations of infects.-The infects
by which the greatest devaſtations are committed in
this country are, fnails, caterpillars, grubs, and flies.
The fuails and caterpillars feed on the leaves and
young
fhoots;
LI
བབ་པས
Un
266
Part I.
AGRICULTUR
E.
75
Theory fhoots; by which means they often totally deftroy the
vegetable. Where the plants are of eaſy acceſs, thefe
Infects de vermin may be destroyed by fprinkling the vegetable
troyel by with lime-water; for quick-lime is a mortal poifon to
lime-water. creatures of this kind, and throws them into the great-
eft agonies the moment they are touched with it. On
trees, however, where this method cannot fo well be
followed, fumigation is the moft proper; and, for this
purpoſe, nothing is better than the ſmoke of vege-
tables not perfectly dry. In fome cafes the eggs of
theſe deſtroying creatures may be obſerved, and ought
without doubt immediately to be taken away. On the
fruit trees, as apples, pears, medlars, on fome foreft-
trees, the oak and dwarf-maple eſpecially, and the white
and black thorn in hedges, a kind of little tufts are to
be obferved, refembling, at firft fight, withered leaves
twiſted, by a cobweb, about the uppermost twigs or
branches. Theſe contain a vaft number of little black
eggs, that in the fpring produce fwarms of caterpillars
which devour every thing. To prevent this, all the
twigs on which thefe cobwebs appear fhould be taken
off and burnt as foon as poffible. This ought to be
done before the end of March, that none of the eggs
be allowed fufficient time for hatching.
76
Grubs.
77
The grubs are a kind of worms which deftroy the
corn by feeding upon its roots; they are transformed
every fourth year into the beetles called cock-chaffers,
may-bugs, &c. they are very deftructive when in their
vermicular ſtate, and cannot then be deftroyed becauſe
they go deep in the ground. When become beetles,
they conceal themſelves under the leaves of trees, where
they ſeem aſleep till near funfet, when they take their
flight. It is only now that they can be deftroyed, and
that by a very laborious method; namely, by ſpreading
pack-fheets below the trees in the day-time when the
beetles are in their torpid ſtate, then ſhaking them off
and burning them. Some time ago, they made fuch
devaſtations in the county of Norfolk, that ſeveral far-
mers were entirely ruined by them; one gathered 80
bufhels of thefe infects from the trees which grew on
his farm. It is faid that, in 1574, there fell fuch a
multitude of thefe infects into the river Severn, that
they ſtopped and clogged the wheels of the water-
mills.
Turnip-fly. Turnips, when young, are apt to be totally deftroyed
by a multitude of little black flies, from thence called
the turnip-fly. As a preveniative of theſe, fome ad-
vife the feed to be mixed with brimflone; but this is
improper, as brimstone is found to be poiſonous to ve-
getables. The beft method feems to be the fumiga.
tion of the fields with fioke of half-dried vegetables.
For this purpoſe weeds will anſwer as well as any.
Prevented This fumigation muft no doubt be often repeated, in
by fumiga- order to drive away the innumerable multitudes of theſe
tion, &c.
infects which are capable of deftroying a large field of
turnip.
78
Some have fuppofed that the fly is either engendered
in new dung, or enticed by it; and have therefore ad-
vifed the manure to be laid on in the autumn prece-
ding, by which it lofes all its noxious qualities, while
its nutritive ones are retained, notwithſtanding theſe
might be fuppofed liable in fome degree to be exhaled
by the fun. This method is faid to have been afcer-
tained by experiments; and it is added, that another
material advantage accruing from autumn manuring for
turnips is, that all the feeds contained in the dung, and Theory.
which of courfe are carried on the land with it, vege-
tates almoft immediately, are moftly killed by the fe-
verity of the winter, and the few that remain ſeldom
avoid deftruction from the plough-fhare.
79
The following method of fowing has alſo been re- Various re-
commended as a preventative of the fly :-" About medics a-
Midfummer, take the first opportunity when it rains, gainſt the
turnip-fly.
or there is an apparent certainty of rain approaching,
to fow your turnip feed; if about the full moon, the
better. In this cafe, neither harrow, bruſh, nor roll,
after fowing. The natural heat of the ground at that
ſeaſon, and the confequent fermentation occafioned by
copious rain, will give an aftonishingly quick vegeta-
tion to the feed, which in a few days will be up and out
of all danger from the fly. At all events, fow not till it
rains; it is better to wait a month, or even longer, for
rain, than to fow (merely for the fake of fowing about
the ufual time) when the ground is parched with heat.
By the fcorching of the fun, the oil and vegetative
quality of the feed are exhauſted; and the few weak
plants that come up will be deſtroyed by the fly before
they can attain ftrength to put forth their rough leaves.
The fly infefts the ground abundantly in dry hot wea-
ther, but do no injury in rain. The falling rain will
fufficiently wash the turnip-feed into the ground with-
out harrowing it in; which, inftead of merely cover-
ing, too often buries this ſmall feed at fo great a depth,
as never afterwards to get above ground.'
""
The following remedies are alfo recommended as
having often proved fucceſsful :-A fmall quantity of
foot fown over the land at their firſt appearance. Bran-
ches of elder with the leaves bruifed, drawn in a gate
over them. Mufk mixed with the feed before it is
fown. And fulphur burnt under it, after moiftening
it with water in which tobacco has been fteeped.
But ſhowers on the plants as foon as they appear a-
bove ground, are eſteemed the beſt prefervatives. They
enfeeble and kill the fly, and haften the plants into the
rough leaf, in which ftate they are out of danger.
The fweet fmell of the turnip has been thought to
attract the fly; upon which fuppofition, the remedy
appeared to confift in overpowering that ſmell by one
which is ftrong, fetid, and difagreeable. Hence it has
been recommended, that upon an acre of turnips ſown
in the ufual way, a peck or more of dry foot be
thrown after the ground is finiſhed, and in as regular a
way as he ſows the feed.
80
Some time ago an infect, called the corn-butterfly, Corn but
committed fuch ravages while in its vermicular ftate, terfly.
in France, that upwards of 200 pariſhes were ruined
by it; and the miniftry offered a reward to the diſco-
verer of an effectual remedy againſt this deftroying
worm. The cure which was at laft difcovered, was
to heat the corn, in an oven, fo much as not to de-
ftroy its vegetative power, but fufficiently to deftroy
the ſmall worms which made their neft in the ſubſtance
of the grain, and at laft eat out the fubftance fo com-
pletely that nothing could be got from the huſk, even
by boiling it in water. It is certain, that though in-
fects can bear a great deal of cold, they are eaſily de-
ftroyed by a flight degree of heat; nor is the vegeta-
tive power of corn eafily deftroyed, even when kept for
a long time in a pretty ftrong heat. This method muft
therefore be very effectual for deſtroying all kinds of
infects
1
F
Part I.
267
AGRICULTURE.
Theory. in.ects with which grain is apt to be infected: but care
muſt be taken not to apply too great a heat; and the
adjuſting of the precife degree neceffary to deſtroy the
infect, without hurting the corn, will be attended with
fome difficulty.
81
The curled
diſeaſe in
potatoes.
82
Various
methods of
prevention.
The curled diſeaſe in potatoes has long been a fub-
ject of inveſtigation and experiment among farmers;
and the knowledge of its caufe and cure feems yet to
remain a defideratum. The Agriculture Society at
Mancheſter, a few years ago, offered a premium for
diſcovering by actual experiment the cauſe of the dif-
eaſe in queſtion; and a great variety of letters were,
in confequence, addreffed to them upon the ſubject.-As
theſe contain many intereſting obfervations both on the
diſeaſe itſelf and the beſt methods hitherto adopted for
preventing it, the following abſtract of them may not
improperly be introduced in this place.
1. According to the writer of the first letter, this
diſeaſe is cauſed by an infect produced by froft or bad
keeping before ſetting; and the neweft kinds, fuch as
have been raiſed within theſe nine or ten years, are
moſt apt to curl, becauſe they will not ſtand to be kept
in winter and ſpring before ſetting, as the old kinds
will. In autumn 1776, he got up a bed of potatoes
to lay by in winter, leaving plenty in the ground as
regular as poffible; and, before the feverity of winter
came on, covered part of the bed with ſtraw and peafe-
haulm, and left the other part of the bed uncovered.
That part of the bed which was covered was quite free
from curled ones; but the uncovered part produced a
great many curled, owing, as the writer fays, to froſt
and feverity of the weather.
II. This writer had about a quarter of an acre of
potatoes, well manured with cow and horfe dung, and
took the greateſt care in picking the fine fmooth-ſkinned
potatoes for fets; yet nine out of ten parts were curled.
He attributes the cauſe of this diſeaſe to a white grub or
infect, which he found near the root, about half an
inch long, with eight or ten legs, its head brown and
hard; as upon examining a number of the curled roots,
he found them all bitten, chiefly from the furface to
the root, which of courſe ſtopped the progrefs of the
fap, and threw the leaf into a curl. The uncurled
roots were not bitten. He tried a few experiments as
follow:-Firſt, he put foot to the infects in the rows
for two days; and after that, he put lime to them for
the fame time, but they ftill kept lively; next he put
a little falt, which deftroyed them in a few hours.
From which he infers, that if coarſe falt were put into
the ground at the time the land is preparing for pota-
toes, it would effectually cure this diftemper.
III. In this letter, the caufe of the diſeaſe is attri-
buted to the method of earthing the ſtems while in cul-
tivation; and the branch, ftriking root into the new
earthed-up foil, it is faid, produces potatoes of fuch a
nature as the year following to caufe the diſeaſe com-
plained of.
To prevent the diſeaſe, it is recommended to take
the fets from thoſe potatoes that have not bred any
from the branch covered; or otherwife, to dig the part
the fets are to be raiſed from.
IV. According to this writer, the diforder proceeds
from potatoes being fet in old-tilled or worn-out ground;
for though thofe potatoes may look tolerably well, yet
their fets will moft, if not all, produce curled potatoes.
Hence he is convinced, that no fets ought to be ufed Theory.
from old-tilled or couch-grafs land; and that, in order
to have good fets, they fhould be procured from land
that was purpoſely fallowed for them; from freſh ley
land, where they are not curled; or from ley land that
was burnt laſt ſpring. He directs to plant them on
virgin mould, and the potatoes will have no curled ones
amongst them; and to keep them for winter, from any
other kind.
To avoid the uncertainty of getting good fets, he
recommends crabs to be gathered from potatoes grow-
ing this year on freſh land free from curl, and the next
fpring to fow them on freſh ley land; and continue to
plant their fets on freſh ley land yearly, which he is
convinced will prevent the curl.
All the good potatoes he ſaw this year, either on
freſh ley land or on old-tilled land, were raiſed from
fets that grew upon freſh ley land laſt year; and where
he has feen curled potatoes, he found, upon inquiry,
the potato-fets grew upon old-tilled and worn-out land
laft year. He gives as a general reaſon for the difor-
der, that the land is oftener cropt than it had uſed to
be, much more corn being now raiſed than formerly.
V. In 1772, this writer planted fome potatoes by
accident full nine inches deep: when taken up, many
of the plants were rotted, and a few curled. He kept
the whole produce for feed, and planted two acres with
it in 1773, not quite fix inches deep. The crop was
amazingly great; and he did not obferve any curled
plants among them. In 1774, many of theſe were
planted in different foils; yet they were ſo infected
with the curled diſeaſe, that not one in twenty eſcaped
In 1775, the complaint of this diſeaſe became general.
In 1776, it occurred to him that the good crop of
1773 was owing to the accidental deep fetting of
1772; and that the reaſon why the fame feed became
curled in 1774, was their being fet fo near the ſurface
in 1773; and attributes the diſeaſe to the practice of
ebb-fetting. In 1777, he took fome potatoes from a
crop that was curled the year before, and after cutting
the fets, left them in a dry room for a month. Half
were planted in ground dug fourteen days before; the
other half, having been fteeped in a brine made of
whitfter's afhes for two hours, were alfo planted in the
fame land at the fame time. The fteeped ones came
up ten days before the others, and hardly any miſſed
or were curled. The unfteeped ones generally failed,
and thoſe few that came up were moftly curled.
He therefore adviſed as a remedy, 1. That the po-
tatoes intended for next year's fets be planted nine in-
ches deep. 2. That they remain in the ground as long
as the ſeaſon will permit. 3. That thefe fets be well
defended from froft till the beginning of March. · 4.
That the fets be cut a fortnight before planting. 5.
That they be fteeped, as above, two hours in brine or
ley. 6. That the dung be put over the ſets.
7. That freſh ſets be got every year from fandy foils
near the coaft, or on the fhore.
And
P. S. At planting, the hard dry fets ſhould be caft
afide, for they will probably be curled. Curled pota-
toes always proceed from fets which do not rot or pu-
trefy in the ground.
VI. This writer had five drills of the old red pota-
toes, and four of the winter whites, growing at the
fame time in the fame field. The drills were prepared
L12
exactly
268
AGRICULTUR
Part I.
ז'
He allows, that the curl has frequently happened to Theory.
perfons who have uſed large potatoes for fets; for, as
all roots are not equally affected, fome curled ones may
be mixed with the reft.
Theory. exactly alike. Among the red not one was curled;
the winter whites were nearly all curled. He fays he
has found by experience, that the red never curl.
VII. Two of the writer's neighbours had their fets
out of one heap of potatoes. They both fet with the
plough, the one early, and the other late in the fea-
fon. Moſt of thoſe early fet proved curled, and moſt
of thoſe fet late fmooth; the latter on clay land.
A few roods of land were alſo planted with ſmall
potatoes, which had lain ſpread on a chamber floor all
the winter and ſpring, till the middle of May. They
were foft and withered; they proved fmooth and a
good crop.
Middle-ſized potatoes, withered and foft,
which had been kept in a large dry cellar, and the
fprouts of which had been broken off three times, pro-
duced alſo a ſmooth good crop.
Hence he was led to think a fuperfluity of fap, oc-
cafioned by the feed being unripe, might caufe the dif-
eaſe. To be fatisfied in this, he aſked the farmer whe-.
ther he had fet any of the fame potatoes this year, and
what was the nature of his land? He told him "he
had; that they had been ſet on his farm fourteen years,
without ever curling; that his foil was a poor whitiſh
fand, of little depth; that he let thoſe he deſigned for
keeping grow till they were fully ripe."
Hence he concludes, the only fure way to prevent
the curl is, to let potatoes intended for feed ftand till
they are fully ripe, and to keep them dry all winter.
VIII. This writer fet a quantity of the red potatoes,
without having a curled one amongſt them. His me-
thod is, when the ſets are cut, to pick out fuch as are
reddeſt in the infide. On digging them up at Mi-
chaelmas, he mixes none of the curled feed among the
others. The curled are eaſily diſtinguiſhed, by their
ftalks withering two months before the reft of the
crop.
The cauſe of the curled diſeaſe he attributes to po-
tatoes being of late years produced from feed inſtead
of roots, as formerly. Such will not ſtand good more
than two or three years, ufe what method you pleaſe.
Laſt ſpring, he fet the old red and white ruffets, and
had not a curled potato amongſt them.
On the lime-tone land about Denbigh, in North
Wales, they have no curled potatoes. If this be ow-
ing to the nature of that land, perhaps lime might pre-
vent the diſeaſe.
IX. According to this writer, all forts of grain
wear out and turn wild if fown too long on the fame
land; the fame will hold good in all forts of pulſe,
peafe, beans, and (as he conceives) potatoes. It ge-
nerally happens, that thofe who have moſt curled po-
tatoes plant very fmall fets.
Eleven years ago he bought a parcel of freſh fets, of
the golden-dun kind, and has uſed them without change
to the preſent year, without any being curled. This
he principally attributes to his having always planted
good large fets.
About four years fince, he thought of changing his
fets, as his potatoes were too fmooth, too round, and
much diminiſhed in fize. But the curl at that time
beginning to be very alarming, he continued his fets
till part of his crop miffing laft year, he was obliged to
buy new fets this fpring, which, being ſmall, were
eurled like other peoples.
To prevent the evil, cut your fets from clear and
middle-fized potatoes, gathered from places as clear of
the curl as poffible; preferve them as uſual till ſpring.
If any are harder, or grafh more in cutting than ufual,
caft them afide. He would alſo recommend the raiſing
a freſh ſort from the crab produced on the forts leaſt
affected, which in Lancashire are the long-duns.
X. Set potatoes with the ſprits broke off, and they
will (ſays the writer of this letter) be curled ones; if
fet with the fprits on, they will not be curled. Again,
take a potato which is fprit, and cut fet off with two
fights: break one fprit off, and let the other ftay on,
and fet it; the former will be curled, and the latter
will not.
When you have holed your potatoes, take them out
before they are ſprit, and lay them dry until you have
fet or fown them, and you will have no curled po-
tatoes.
XI. This writer was at the expence of procuring
fets at fifty miles diftance, and where this diſeaſe was
not known. The firſt year's trial was ſucceſsful; the
year following he procured fets from the fame place,
but one-fifth of his crop was infected. By way of ex-
periment, he planted fets from roots which had been
infected the year before, and fome of theſe produced
healthy plants, free from all infection.
As every effect muſt have a cauſe, 'he fuppofed it
might be fome infect, which, living on the leaves, gave
them that curled and fickly appearance, as is the cafe
in the leaves of many fhrubs and trees. But whether
the infect is lodged in the old fets, and to be deſtroyed
at the time of planting, or, proceeding from fome ex-
ternal caufe, can only be deftroyed afterwards, he is
not yet certain, although he has made the following
experiments.
On a piece of ground that had not been dug for 20
years, he planted four rows of fets, which he knew to
be perfectly clear; the drills were two feet diftant, the
fets one foot diftant in each drill. He then planted
on the fame ground four rows with fets from cuiled
potatoes, at equal diſtances; in each row were about,
20 fets.
Lot it, the curled ftate.
No 1. Without manure, N° 3. In foot,
2. In falt,
4. In quicklime..
Lot 2d, the clear fets..
N° 1. Without manure, N° 3. In foot,
2. In falt,
4. In quicklime.
Thoſe planted in falt and foot in both lots were de-
ftroyed. In lot 1. n° 1. and 4. all curled. Lot 2. n° 1..
and 4. quite clear.
This experiment was made on a fuppofition that the
infect lodged in the fet, and muſt be deftroyed on plant-
ing. But of that he is not fully fatisfied. He re-
peated falt, foot, and quicklime, on the branches of
feveral curled potatoes. Salt deftroyed all he touched
with it. Lime and foot had, he thought, a partial
effect on the plants. After fome time, they appeared
almoſt as healthy as the reft. Thus, although he had
done little towards the cure, he fatters himſelf he has
pointed.
Part I.
26g
AGRICULTURE.
Theory. pointed out the caufe, the infects on the curled plants
being not only very numerous, but vifible to the naked
:
eye.
XII. This writer afcribes the cauſe of the difeaſe to
the froſt, and bad keeping in winter and ſpring before
fetting. They are liable to be damaged by froft after
they are fet, but this may be prevented by covering.
If it he aſked, why froſt did not injure them formerly?
he anſwers, it is only the NEW kinds which are apt to
curl. To this may be added, that lefs care is now ta-
ken of the feed than formerly. To prevent the latter,
let them remain in the ground covered with haulm or
litter, till the time they are wanted for fetting; and,
in caſe no froſt touches them afterwards, they will be
free from the diſeaſe.
XIII. This writer fays, the red potato was as ge-
nerally planted as the winter-white and the Lincolnſhire
kidney are now. The firſt, being a later potato, did
not ſprout fo fearly as the others. The white fprout
very early, and therefore ſhould firft be moved out of
the place where they have been preferved in the winter.
Inftead of that, they are often let remain till their
roots and ſprouts are matted together. On feparating
them, theſe ſprouts are generally rubbed off, and they
are laid by till the ground is ready; during which in-
terval they ſprout a fecond time: but theſe fecond
fprouts, being weak and languid, will fhrink, ficken,
and die; and the fruit at the roots will be ſmall, hard,
ill fhaped, and of a brown colour.
Now, if putting off the fprouts once or more, be-
fore the fets are put in the ground, be the caufe (as
he verily believes it is) of the curled diſeaſe, an eafy
remedy is at hand. When the potatoes intended for
fets are dug up, lay them in a weſt aſpect as dry as
poffible: in fuch a fituation they will not ſprout ſo foon.
The beſt time for removing moft forts, is the firft fine
day after the 24th of February. Cut them into fets
as foon as poffible, and let them remain covered with
dry fand till the ground is prepared, which ſhould be
a winter fallow. Lay the fets in without breaking off
any of the ſprouts, for the ſecond will not be fo vigo-
rous. This accounts for one ſprout out of three from
the fame fet being curled. The two ftems not curled
rofe from two later eyes, and were firft fprouts. The
ſprout curled was a fecond, the firſt having been rub-
bed off.
XIV. This writer fays, that laſt ſpring one of his
neighbours cut and fet, in the ufual way of drilling,
fome loads of the largeſt potatoes he could procure;
and more than half of them proved curled. Being a
few ſets ſhort of the quantity wanted, he planted fome
very ſmall potatoes which he had laid by for the pigs.
Theſe being fully ripe and folid, there was not a cur-
led plant among them. He apprehends, the others
being curled was owing to their not being fully ripe.
A crop of potatoes, fet this year in rows on ground
that had borne a crop of them laſt year, were moftly
curled ; but many plants came up from feed left in the
ground laſt ſeafon, and there was not a curled one
among them.
XV. Of late years, this writer fays, great improve
ments have been made in fetting potatoes and cutting
the fets. The ground is dreffed cleaner and dunged
fronger. Many people, in drilling, wrap up the fets
entirely in the dung; by which means, though their
potatoes are larger, the difeafe feems to be encreafed.
They alfo cut their fets out of the richeft and largeſt
potatoes, which is perhaps another cauſe of this evil.
In cold countries, where they ſet their own feed,
which has grown on poor land, with lefs dung, they
have no curled plants. On the contrary, when they,
bought rich and large potatoes for feed, they have
been curled in great quantities. He believes, the
richneſs and largenefs of the feed to be the cauſe of
the evil; for he does not remember to have ſeen a
curled ftem which did not ſpring from a ſet of a large
potato.
XVI. This writer apprehends the curled difeafe in
potatoes to proceed from a defect in the planta femina-
lis, or feed-plant; and from comparing curled ones
with others, there appeared to be a want of, or ina-
bility in, the powers of expanding or unfolding the
parts of the former; which, from this defect, forms
fhrivelled, ftarved, curled ftems. On examining fome-
of the fets at the time of getting the crop, he found
them hard and undecayed; fo hard, indeed, that fome
of them would not be foft with long boiling. This
led him to think, that fome manures might have the
fame effect on them as tanners ooze has on leather,
and fo harden them, that the embryo plant could not
come forth with eaſe; but a cloſer examination taught
him otherwife, and that that they grow equally in all
manures.
Some have thought that the fermentation is occa-
fioned by too great quantities being heaped together;
but the writer has feen an inftance, wherein a fingle
potato, preferved by itſelf, when fet, produced ftems
of the curled kind. He thinks the moſt conſiſtent and
rational opinion is, that the diſeaſe is occafioned by
the potatoes being taken from the ground before the-
ftamen, or miniature-plant, is properly matured and
ripened.
•
For let it be obſerved, that the potato, being a na--
tive of a warmer climate, has there more fun, and a
longer continuance in the ground, than in its prefent:
exotic itate; confequently, it has not the fame natu--
ral caufes here to mature the feed-plant as in its na--
tive ftate. We ought, therefore, to give all the op-
portunities our climate will admit for nature to com-
plete her work, and fit the ftamen for the next ſtate
of vegetation, eſpecially in thoſe intended for feed.
But if the potato be taken up before the feed-plant be
fully matured, or the air and fap-veffels have acquired
a proper degree of firmnefs or hardneſs, it muſt, when
thus robbed of further nutrition, fhrivel up; and when
the veffels, in this immature ftate, come to act again.
in the fecond ſtate of vegetation, they may produce-
plants which are curled.
If it be aſked, why are they more common now
than formerly? he anfwers, that before the preſent
mode of fetting them took place, people covered them,
while in the ground, with ſtraw, to protect them from
froft.
If it be aſked, why one fet produces both curled and
ſmooth ſtems? he anfwers, we fuppofe every eye to
contain a planta feminalis; that all the embryos, or
feed-plants, contained in one potato, are nouriſhed by
one root; that, as in ears of corn, fome of theſe feed-
plants may be nouriſhed before others.
One of his neighbours, laſt year, ſet two rows of
potatoes
Il eory.
270
AGRICU
ICULTUR
Part I.
E.
Theory. potatoes, which proving all curled, he did not take
them up; and this year there is not a curled one
among them. Such potatoes, therefore, as are defign-
ed for feed, fhould be preferved as long in the ground
as poffible.
83
Scots
plough.
XVII. This writer adviſes ſuch ſets to be planted
as grow in mofs-land; and, he fays, there will not be
a fingle curled one the first year. This is affirmed by
the inhabitants of two townſhips, where they grow a
mazing quantities.-A medical gentleman fowed laft
year two bushels of fets from one of the above places,
and had not one curled; but on fowing them again
this year, he had a few.
Notwithſtanding there feems to be a diverfity of
opinions in the above writers, occafioned by the diffe.
rent appearances of their crops, and the feemingly
contrary effects of the means uſed to prevent or cure
the difeafe, we conceive that the following general
propofitions may be fairly drawn from the whole.
1. That fome kinds of potatoes are (cateris paribus)
much more liable to be affected by the diſeaſe than the
reft; and that the old-red, the golden-dun, and the
long-dun, are the moft free from it.-2. That the
diſeaſe is occafioned by one or more of the following
caufes, either fingly or combined: 1ft, By froft, either
before or after the fets are planted: 2d, From planting
fets out of large unripe potatoes: 3d, From planting too
near the furface, and in old worn-out ground: 4th, From
the firſt ſhoots of the ſets being broken off before plant-
ing; by which means there is an incapacity in the plan-
ta feminalis to fend forth others fufficiently vigorous to
expand fo fully as they ought.-3. That the moft fuc-
cefsful methods of preventing the diſeaſe, are cutting
the fets from fmooth middle-fized potatoes, that were
fully ripe, and had been kept dry after they were taken
out of the ground; and without rubbing off their first
fhoots, planting them pretty deep in freſh earth, with Theory.
a mixture of quicklime, or on lime-flone land.
A correfpondent of the Bath Society is convinced
that, whatever may be its caufe, the fault itſelf is inhe-
rent in the feed; and has communicated the following
method of avoiding it: "I made a hot-bed in the fol-
lowing manner: (which method I have uſed ever fince)
I laid horfe-dung, &c. (as is generally ufed in making
hot-beds) about 18 inches thick; over which I ſpread
a layer of fine rich mould about four or five inches
thick: upon the top of this mould I laid, in different
divifions, a certain number of potatoes of various forts,
fome of my own growth, and others bought from dif-
ferent parts, and covered thefe lightly over with more
mould; they foon came up. I then obferved which
was freeft from the blight or curl; for if there were not
more than one defective in forty or fifty, I concluded I
might fet of that fort with fafety. This method I
have now practifed near twelve years, and never loft
my crop or any part thereof worth mentioning; whilft
my neighbours, who followed the old method, were
frequently diſappointed in their crops; and to the beſt
of my knowledge, all thofe of my neighbours who have
of late been perfuaded to take the trouble of ufing the
fame means as myfelf, have never failed of fuccefs to
their utmoſt wiſhes in one inftance; nor do I ever think
it will fail, if duly attended to; the fault being fome
hidden cauſe in the feed unknown at preſent, and I be-
lieve incurable by any means, at least which have yet
come to my knowledge. My reafon for planting my
hot-beds fo foon is, that if the froft hinders the first
experiment, or they all prove bad, I may have time to
make a fecond or third if neceffary, with different forts
of feed, before the proper ſeaſon arrives for planting in
the fields and grounds appointed for the great and ge-
neral crop."
PART II. PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE.
SECT. I. Inftruments of Hufbandry.
THE
HE inftruments employed in agriculture are vari-
ous; as the plough, the harrow, the roller, &c.
which are again greatly diverfified by various conftruc-
tions adapted to particular ufes.
I. Of PLOUGHS.
THE plough conftructed in the following manner is
ftill the moſt common and the moſt generally underſtood
in Scotland; and, if properly made, is the beft for an-
fwering all purpofes, when only one is uſed; though
others are, perhaps, more proper on fome particular oc-
84
cafions.
Defcription The parts of which this plough is compofed, are, the
of the Scots head, the beam, the ſheath, the wreft, the mould-board,
plough.
the two handles, the two rungs, the fock, and the coul-
ter; the two laft are made of iron, and all the reſt ofwood.
The HEAD, is defigned for opening the ground be
low. The length of the head from A to B is about 20
inches, and the breadth from A to D about five inches;
C is the point upon which the fock is driven, and the
length from B to C is about fix inches; a is the mor-
toife into which the larger handle is fixed, and b is the
mortoife into which the fheath is fixed.
Plate IV.
fig. 1.
The head is that part of the plough which goes in
the ground; therefore the fhorter and narrower it is,
the friction will be the lefs, and the plough more eafily
drawn; but the longer the head is, the plough goes
more ſteadily, and is not fo eaſily put out of its direc-
tion by any obſtructions that occur. Twenty inches is
confidered as a mean length; and five inches as the moſt
convenient breadth.
The SHEATH, E, is driven into the mortoiſe b, and Fig. 2.
thus fixed to the head A B. It is not perpendicular to
the head, but placed obliquely, fo as to make the angle
formed by the lines A B and EB about 60 degrees.
The ſheath is about 13 inches long, befides what is dri-
ven into the mortoife b (fig. 1.); about three inches
broad, and one inch thick.
The ſheath is fixed to the mould-board, as in fig. 11.
E, in the fame manner as the wreft is fixed to the head
in fig. 7.
The MOULD-BOARD, is defigned to turn over the Fig. 3.
carth of the furrow made by the plough; and it is ob-
vious, that, according to the pofition of the fheath, the
mould-board will turn over the earth of the furrow more
or lefs fuddenly. Befides, when it forms a lefs. angle
with the head than 60 degrees, the plough is in great
danger of being choked, as the farmers term it.
The
Part II.
271
AGRICU UL TUR E.
2
Practice.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 6.
Fig. 7.
The Larger HANDLE, FA, is fixed to the head, by
driving it into the mortoiſe a (fig. 1.). It is placed in the
fame plane with the head; and its length from A Fis
about five feet four inches, and its diameter at the place
where it is fixed to the beam is about two inches and an
half, and tapers a little to the top F. About ten inches
from A, there is a curve in the handle, which, when F
is raiſed to its proper height, makes the lower part of
it nearly parallel to the fheath E B. This curve is de-
figned to ſtrengthen the handle. The proper pofition
of the handle is, when the top F is about three feet two
inches higher than the bottom of the head A B.
The longer the handles, the plough is the more eafi-
ly managed, becauſe the levers are more diſtant from the
centre of motion. The higher the top of the handles,
the plough is more eaſily raiſed out of the ground, pro-
vided they be no higher than the lower part of a man's
breaſt.
The BEAM, is fixed to the larger handle and the
ſheath, all of which are placed in the fame plane with
the head. The length of it, from H to I, is about fix
feet; its diameter is about four inches. When the
plough is in the ground, the beam ſhould be juſt high
enough not to be incommoded by any thing on the fur-
face.
The poſition of the beam depends on the number of
cattle in the plough. When two horfes are yoked, the
beam fhould be placed in ſuch a manner as to make the
perpendicular diſtance betwixt the bolt-hole of the beam
and the plane of the head about 21 inches; when four
horſes are yoked, two a-breaſt, this diſtance ſhould only
be about 18 inches.
The Sock, BP, is fixed to the end of the head, and
is about two feet long. In fitting the fock to the head,
the point ought to be turned a little to the land or left
fide; becauſe otherwiſe it is apt to come out of the
land altogether. When turned to the left, it likewife
takes off more land; when turned upwards, the plough
goes fhallow; and when downwards, it goes deeper.
The COULTER, is fixed to the beam, and is about
two feet ten inches long, two inches and a half broad,
fharp at the point and before, and thick on the back,
like a knife. It is fixed and directed by wedges, ſo as
to make the point of it equal to, or rather a little be-
fore the point of the fock, and upon a line with the left
fide of the head. This oblique pofition enables it to
throw roots, &c. out of the land, which requires lefs
force than cutting or puſhing them forward.
The WREST, BD, is fixed to the head, and is about
26 inches long, two broad, and one thick. It is fixed
to the head at B, in fuch a manner as to make the
angle contained between the lines AB and BD about
25 degrees. The wreft is feldom or never placed in
the fame plane with the head, but gradually raiſed from
the place where it is fixed to it; that is, from B to K,
as in fig. 8. The pofition of the wreft determines the
nature of the furrow. When the wreſt is wide and low
fet, the furrow is wide; and when it is narrow and high.
fet, the furrow is narrow.
Fig. 9. repreſents the two HANDLES, fixed together
by the two rungs. The larger handle has already been
defcribed; the leffer one is a few inches fhorter, and
does not require to be quite fo ftrong. The diftance of
the handles at the little rung depends on the pofition of
the wreft. Their diſtance at M and P is about two
3-
feet fix inches. The leffer handle is fixed to the mould Practice.
board at M, fig. 10. and to the wreft K B, at L.
Fig. 11. reprefents the plough complete, by joining
together figures 6. and 10. in the fheath E B. The
wreft B K is fuppofed to make an angle with the head
A B as in fig. 7. and the handles joined together as in
fig. 9.
After having given fuch a particular deſcription of
all the parts and proportions of the Scots plough, it
will eafily appear how it feparates, raifes, and turns over
the earth of the furrow. If it had no coulter, the earth
would open above the middle of the fock, and in a line
before the fheath; but as the coulter opens the earth
in a line with the left fide of the head, if the foil has
any cohefion, the earth of the furrow will be wholly rai-
fed from the left fide, and, as the fock moves forward,
will be thrown on the right fide of the fheath, and by
the cafting out of the mould-board, or the railing of
the wreft, will be turned over.
The BRIDLE, or MUZZLE, is another article belong- Fig. 12
ing to the plough. It is fixed to the end of the beam,
and the cattle are yoked by it. The muzzle commonly
uſed is a curved piece of iron, fixed to the beam by a
bolt through it. ABC is the muzzle, A C the bolt
by which it is fixed to the beam; D is the fwingle-tree
or croſs-tree, to which the traces are fixed; and B is a
hook, or cleek, as it is commonly called, which jcins
the muzzle and fwingle-tree.
Some uſe another kind of muzzle, ABCD. It is Fig. 13.
fixed to the beam by two bolts, and has notches by
which the cleek of the fwingle-tree may be fixed ei-
ther to the right or the left of the beam. There are
alfo different holes for the hind-bolt to pafs thro', by
which the draught may be fixed either above or below
the beam. AD is the fore-bolt upon which the
muzzle turns; on B C are four notches, betwixt any
two of which the cleek of the fwingle-tree may be fixed.
When the cleek is fixed at B, the plough is turned to-
wards the firm land, and takes off a broader furrow;
and when fixed at C, it is turned towards the plough-
ed land, and takes of a narrower furrow. E and F
are the holes on each fide thro' which the hindmoſt bolt
paffes. When the bolt is put thro' the higheſt two,theſe
holes being thereby brought to the middle of the beam,
the fore-part of the muzzle is raiſed above the beam,
and the plough is made to go deeper; and when put
through the loweſt two, the fore-part of the muzzle is-
funk below the beam, and the plough is made to go
fhallower. This muzzle may be fo conftructed as to
have the fame play with the common cne.
A is the Fig. rĆ,
end of the beam; B a plate of iron funk into it, and,
with a fimilar one in the other fide, is rivetted into it
by bolts; C is the muzzle fixed to theſe plates of iron
by the bolt D, which bolt may be put through any of
the holes E E. From the conſtruction of this muzzle
it is plain, that it has the fame play with the common
one, and that by it the land of the plough may be al-
tered at pleaſure.
85
Of all forms, that of the Scotch plough is the fit- Properties
teft for breaking up ftiff and rough land, efpecially of the Scots
where ftones abound; and no-lefs fit for itrong clays Plough.
hardened by drought. The length of its head gives it
a firm hold of the ground; its weight prevents it from
being thrown out by ftones; the length of the handles
gives the ploughman great command to direct its mo-.
tion;..
3
**
272
Part II.
AGRICULTUR E.
Practice. tion; and by the length of its head, and of its mould-
board, it lays the furrow-flice cleverly over. This
plough was contrived during the infancy of agriculture,
and was well contrived: in the foils above defcribed,
it has not an equal.
86
In what foil
But in tender foil it is improper, becauſe it adds
improper. greatly to the expence of ploughing, without any coun-
terbalancing benefit. The length of the head and
mould-board increaſes the friction, and confequently it
requires a greater number of oxen or horfes than are
neceffary in a fhorter plough. There is another par-
ticular in its form, that refifts the draught: the mould-
board makes an angle with the fock, inſtead of making
a line with it gently curving backward. There is an
objection againſt it no lefs folid, that it does not ftir
the ground perfectly: the hinder part of the wreft
rifes a foot above the fole of the head; and the earth
that lies immediately below that hinder part, is left
unſtirred. This is ribbing land below the furface, fi-
milar to what is done by ignorant farmers on the fur-
face.
87
Chain-
plough.
Plate V.
fig. I.
88
Ofthe Sock.
Thefe defects muſt be fubmitted to in a foil that re-
quires a ſtrong heavy plough; but may be avoided in
a cultivated foil by a plough differently conftructed.
Of all the ploughs fitted for a cultivated foil free of
ftones, that introduced into Scotland about 20 years
ago, by James Small in Blackadder Mount, Berwick-
fhire, is the beft. It is now in great requeſt; and with
reaſon, as it avoids all the defects of the Scots plough.
The ſhortneſs of its head and of its mouldboard leffen
the friction greatly from the point of the fock to the
back part of the head it is only 30 inches; and the
whole length, from the point of the beam to the end
of the handles, between eight and nine feet. The
fock and mouldboard make one line gently curving;
and confequently gather no earth. Inſtead of a wreft,
the under edge of the mouldboard is in one plain with
the fole of the head; which makes a wide furrow, with-
out leaving any part unftirred. It is termed the chain-
plough, becauſe it is drawn by an iron chain fixed to
the back part of the beam immediately before the
coulter. This has two advantages: firft, by means of
a muzzle, it makes the plough go deep, or fhallow;
and, next, it ftreffes the beam lefs than if fixed to the
point, and therefore a flenderer beam is fufficient.
This plough may well be confidered as a capital im-
provement; not only by faving expence, but by ma-
king better work. It is proper for loams; for carfe-
clays; and, in general, for every fort of tender foil
free of ftones. It is even proper for opening up pa-
ſture-ground, where the foil has been formerly well
cultivated.
A fpiked fock is uſed in the Scotch plough. The
Plate IV. difference between it and the feathered fock will be beft
underſtood by comparing their figures. Fig. 14. is the
common ſock, and fig. 15. the feathered one.
From the conſtruction of the feathered fock, it is
obvious, that it muſt meet with greater refiftance than
the common fock. However, when the plough takes
off the earth of the furrow broader than that part of
the fock which goes upon the head, it is more eafily
drawn than the plough with the common fock; for the
earth which the common fock leaves to be opened by
the wreft, is more eafily opened by the feather of the
other fock. In lea, the feathered fock makes the
N° 7.
plough go more eaſily, becauſe the roots of the grafs, Practice.
which go beyond the reach of the plough, are more
eafily cut by the feather, than they can be torn afunder
by the common fock. The feathered fock is alſo of
great uſe in cutting and deftroying root-weeds. The
common fock, however, anfwers much better in ſtrong
land.
It is proper here to add, that in fitting the feathered
fock to the head, the point of it ſhould be turned a
little from the land, or a little to the right hand.
89
in Scotland
If we look back 30 years, ploughs of different con- Ignorance
ftructions did not enter even into a dream. The Scotch of farmers
plough was univerfally uſed, and no other was known. but a few
There was no lefs ignorance as to the number of cattle years ago.
neceffary for this plough. In the fouth of Scotland,
fix oxen and two horfes were univerfal; and in the
north, 10 oxen, fometimes 12. The firft attempt to
leffen the number of oxen was in Berwickſhire. The
low part of that county abounds with ftone, clay, and
marl, the moſt fubftantial of all manures, which had
been long ufed by one or two gentlemen. About 25
years ago it acquired reputation, and ſpread rapidly.
As two horfes and two oxen were employed in every
marl-cart; the farmer, in fummer-fallowing, and in
preparing land for marl, was confined to four oxen and
two horfes. And as that manure afforded plenty of
fucculent ftraw for oxen, the farmer was ſurpriſed to
find that four oxen did better now than fix formerly.
Marling, however, a laborious work, proceeded flow-
ly, till people were taught by a noted farmer in that
country, what induftry can perform by means of power
properly applied. It was reckoned a mighty taſk to
marl five or fix acres in a year. That gentleman, by
plenty of red clover for his working-cattle, accom-
pliſhed the marling 50 acres in a fummer, once 54.
Having fo much occafion for oxen, he tried with fuc-
cefs two oxen and two horfes in a plough; and that
practice became general in Berwickſhire.
Now here appears with luftre the advantage of the Advantages
of thechain-
chain-plough. The great friction occafioned in the
plough par'-
Scotch plough by a long head, and by the angle it ticularly il
makes with the mould-board, neceffarily requires two luftrated.
oxen and two horſes, whatever the foil be. The fric-
tion is fo much lefs in the chain-plough, that two good
horfes are found fufficient in every foil that is proper
for it. Befides, the reducing the draught to a couple
of horſes has another advantage, that of rendering a
driver unneceffary. This faving on every plough, where
two horfes and two oxen were formerly uſed, will, by
the ftricteft computation, be L. 15 Sterling yearly; and
where four horfes were uſed, no lefs than L. 20 Sterling.
There is now ſcarce to be ſeen in the low country of
Berwickſhire a plough with more than two horfes;
which undoubtedly in time will become general. We
know but of one further improvement, that of ufing
two oxen inftead of two horfes. That draught has
been employed with fucceſs in feveral places; and the
faving is fo great, that it muſt force its way every
where. It may be confidently affirmed, no foil ſtirred
in a proper feaſon, can ever require more than two
horfes and two oxen in a plough, even fuppofing the
ftiffeft clay. In all other foils, two good horfès, or
two good oxen abreaft, may be relied on for every o-
peration of the chain-plough.
A chain-plough of a fmaller fize than ordinary,
4.
drawn
90
Plate IV.
'
D
Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
E
AGRICULTURE.
T
Fig. 5.
A
(201
B
Fig. 4.
A
B
P
A
H
Fig. 6.
I
B
Fig. 3.
E
བt
A
B
A
B
D
K
Fig. 8.
P
JB
B
Fig. 9.
1
Fig. 13.
D
Fig. 10.
F
Τ
M
E
A
B
N
F
B
K.L
M
Fig.11.
I
Τ
Fig. 12.
B
~ Sig. 15.
D
12
K
I
A
B
B
Fig.10.
Sig. 1.J.
A
A Bell Sculp
Part II.
273
GRICULTURE.
Practice. drawn by a fingle horſe, is of all the most proper
for horse-hoeing, fuppofing the land to be mellow,
which it ought to be for that operation. It is fuffi-
cient for making furrows to receive the dung, for
ploughing the drills after dunging, and for hoeing the
91
A fmall
crop.
A ſtill ſmaller plough of the fame kind may be re-
fingle-horſe.commended for a kitchen-garden. It can be reduced
plough re-
to the ſmalleſt ſize, by being made of iron; and where
commend-
ed for va- the land is properly dreffed for a kitchen-garden, an
rious pur- iron plough of the ſmalleſt fize drawn by a horſe will fave
rofes. much ſpade-work.-In Scotland, thirty years ago, a kit-
chen-garden was an article of luxury merely, becauſe
at that time there could be no cheaper food than oat-
meal. At prefent, the farmer maintains his fervants at
double expence, as the price of oat-meal is doubled;
and yet he has no notion of a kitchen-garden more
than he had thirty years ago. He never thinks, that
living partly on cabbage, kail, turnip, carrot, would
fave much cat-meal : nor does he ever think, that
change of food is more wholefome, than vegetables
alone, or oat-meal alone. We need not recommend
potatoes, which in fcanty crops of corn have proved
a great bleffing: without them, the labouring poor
would frequently have been reduced to a ftarving con-
dition. Would the farmer but cultivate his kitchen-
garden with as much induftry as he beſtows on his
potatoe crop, he needed never fear want; and he can
cultivate it with the iron plough at a very finall ex-
pence. It may be held by a boy of 12 or 13; and
would be a proper education for a ploughman. But it
is the landlord who ought to give a beginning to the
improvement. A very fmall expence would inclofe an
acre for a kitchen-garden to each of his tenants; and
it would excite their induſtry, to beſtow an iron plough
on thoſe who do beſt.
92
Rotheram
Plough,
Plate VI,
g.3.
7
may
Nor is this the only cafe where a fingle-horſe plough
be profitably employed. It is fufficient for feed-
furrowing barley, where the land is light and well-
dreffed. It may be uſed in the ſecond or third plough-
ing of fallow, to encourage annual weeds, which are
deftroyed in fubfequent ploughings.
-
The Rotheram plough is a machine of very fimple
conftruction, and eafily worked. AB is the beam,
CD the fheath, EBD the main handle, FR the fmal-
ler handle, GH the coulter, KI the fock or fhare, NP
the bridle, S the fly-band, and ML a piece of wood
in place of a head. The whole of this plough fhould
be made of afh or elm; the irons fhould be ſteeled and
well-tempered; and that part of the plough which is
under ground in tilling fhould be covered with plates
of iron. The difference between this and the common
plough ſeems to confift in the bridle at the end of the
beam, by which the ploughman can give the plough
more or lefs land by notches at N, or make it cut deep-
er or ſhallower by the holes at P; in the coulter or
fhare, which are fo made and fet as to cut off the new
furrow without tearing; and in the mould-board, which
is fo fraped at firſt to raiſe a little, and then gradually
turn over the new cut furrow with very little refiftance.
But the greateft advantage attending it, is its being fo
eafy of draught, that it will do double the work of any
common plough.
The Paring-plough is an inftrument ufed in feveral parts
of England for paring off the furface of the ground, in
VOL. I. Part I.
93
order to its being burnt. Mr Bradley has given the fol- Practice.
lowing defcription of a very fimple inftrument of this
kind: From A to A (fig. 15.) is the plough-beam,
The Paring
about feven feet long, mortifed and pinioned into the Plough,
block B, which is of clean timber without knots. Plate VI.
CC are the fheaths or ftandards, made flat on the in- fig. 4.
fide, to cloſe equally with the paring plate, and faſteń-
ed to it with a bolt and key on each fide, as at D.
E is the paring plate of iron laid with ſteel, about four
inches wide, and from 12 to 18 inches long. This
plate muſt be made to cut on the fides, which are bolt-
ed to the ſtandards as well as at the bottom part. FF
are two iron braces to keep the ftandards from giving
way: thefe ftandards muſt be mortifed near their out-
fides and through the block. GG are the plough
handles, which must be fixed flope-ways between the
beam and the ftandards. The pin-holes in the beam,
the ufe of which is to make this plough cut more or
lefs deep, by fixing the wheels nearer to or farther
from the paring plate, ſhould not be above two inches
afunder.
94
Plate VI.
Fig. 1. repreſents the four-coultered plough of Mr The Four
Tull. Its beam is ten feet four inches long, where- coultered
as that of the common plough is but eight. The beam Plough,
is ftraight in the common plough, but in this it is
ftraight only from a to b, and thence arched: fo that
the line let down perpendicularly from the corner at a,
to the even furface on which the plough ftands, would
be 11 inches; and if another line were let down from
the turning of the beam at b to the fame furface, it
would be one foot eight inches and a half; and a third
line let down to the furface from the bottom of the
beam at that part which bears upon the pillow, will
fhow the beam to be two feet ten inches high in that
part. At the diſtance of three feet two inches from
the end of the beam a, at the plough-tail, the firſt coul-
ter, or that next the fhare, is let through; and at 13
inches from this, a fecond coulter is let through: a third
at the fame diftance from that; and, finally, the fourth
at the fame diſtance from the third, that is, 13 inches:
and from a to b is feven feet.
The crookedneſs of the upper part of the beam of
this plough is contrived to avoid the too great length
of the three foremoft coulters, which would be too
much if the beam was ftraight all the way; and they
would be apt to bend and be diſplaced, unleſs they
were very heavy and clumſy. Afh is the beſt wood to
make the beam of, it being fufficiently ftrong, and yet
light. The fheat in this plough is to be feven inches
broad. The fixing of the fhare in this, as well as in
the common plough, is the niceft part, and requires
the utmoſt art of the maker; for the well-going of the
plough wholly depends upon the placing this. Sup-
pofing the axis of the beam, and the left fide of the
fhare, to be both horizontal, they muft never be fet
parallel to each other; for if they are, the tail of the
fhare bearing againſt the trench as much as the point,
would cauſe the point to incline to the right hand, and
it would be carried out of the ground into the furrow.
If the point of the ſhare fhould be fet fo, that its fide
fhould make an angle on the right fide of the axis of
the beam, this inconvenience would be much greater;
and if its point fhould incline much to the left, and
make too large an angle on that fide with the axis of
the beam, the plough would run quite to the left hand;
M m
and
1
274
Part II.
AGRICULTURE.
Practice. and if the holder, to prevent its running quite out of
the ground, turns the upper part of his plough to-
wards the left hand, the pin of the ſhare will rife up,
and cut the furrow diagonally, leaving it half unplough-
ed. To avoid this and ſeveral other inconvenienccs,
the ftraight fide of the ſhare muſt make an angle upon
the left fide of the beam; but that muſt be ſo very a-
cute a one, that the tail of the ſhare may only prefs
leſs againſt the ſide of the trench than the point does.
This angle is ſhown by the pricked lines at the bottom
of fig. 9. where ef is ſuppoſed to be the axis of the
beam let down to the furface, and gf parallel to the left
fide of the fhare: and it is the fubtenfe eg that deter-
mines the inclination which the point of the ſhare muſt
have towards the left hand. This fubtenfe, fays Mr
Tull, at the fore-end of an eight-feet beam, ſhould ne-
ver be more than one inch and a half, and whether the
beam be long or fhort, the fubtenſe muſt be the fame.
The great thing to be taken care of, is the placing
the four coulters; which muſt be fo fet, that the four
imaginary places deſcribed by their four edges, as the
plough moves forward, may be all parallel to each o-
ther, or very nearly fo; for if any one of them fhould
be very much inclined to, or ſhould recede much from
either of the other, then they would not enter the
ground together. In order to place them thus, the
beam muſt be carefully pierced in a proper manner.
The fecond coulter-hole muſt be two inches and a half
more on the right hand than the firft, the third muft
be as much more to the right of the fecond, and the
fourth the ſame meaſure to the right hand of the third;
and this two inches and a half muſt be carefully mea-
fured from the centre of one hole to the centre of the
other. Each of theſe holes is a mortife of an inch and
quarter wide, and is three inches and a half long at the
top, and three inches at the bottom. The two oppo-
fite fides of this hole are parallel to the top and bot-
tom, but the back is oblique, and determines the ob-
liquity of the ftanding of the coulter, which is wedg-
ed tight up to the poll. The coulter is two feet eight
inches long before it is worn; the handle takes up fix-
teen inches of this length, and is allowed thus long,
that the coulter may be driven down as the point wears
away. As to the wheels, the left hand wheel is 20
inches diameter, and that on the right hand two feet
three inches, and the diſtance at which they are ſet
from each other is two feet 5 inches.
95
Patent
Sward-
cutter,
Plate VI.
•
2. The PATENT SWARD-CUTTER.
THE different parts of this inftrument are reprefent-
eď by Nº 1. 2. 3. of fig. 6. A. A. &c. a ſquare frame
3 feet 4 inches from the fore to the hind part, by 4
feet 3 inches, the breadth of the machine within
fide; the timber (when of fir) 4 inches fquare, pla-
ced on two wheels B. B. 3 feet diameter, a little more
or leſs (the old fore-wheels of a chaife may anſwer the
purpoſe), to fupport the hind part of the machine.
C. C. &c. are fix ftrong pieces of wood, called bulls,
3 feet long, 5 inches and a half broad, the thicknefs
6 inches at E, and tapering to 3 inches at F. Into
theſe bulls are fixed the cutting wheels, which are iron,
13 inches diameter, 4ths of an inch thick at the cen-
tre, about an inch diameter for piercing holes to fix
the iron axles in; from that they are to be of fuch
thicknefs, as allow the edges to be well fteeled. The Practice.
wheels are fixed by two bolts going through the bulls,
with eyes on one end for the axles of the wheels to
run in, and nuts and ſcrews on the other to make them,
very firm by funk in the bulls, to prevent their inter-
fering with the weights L. L. &c. refting on them.
G. G. &c. are hollow pieces of wood, called thorles,
each 3 inches long, which incloſe the bolt M. M..
and keep the bulls C. C. &c. at their proper diſtances,.
but may be made longer or fhorter at pleaſure, ac-
cording as the fward requires to be cut in larger or
fmaller pieces. They are in two pieces bound toge-
ther, and jointed by a ſtrap of leather or cord, which.
allows them to be readily changed when the cutting
wheels require to be kept at more or leſs diſtance.
The iron bolt M. M. goes through two pieces of
wood or iron P. P. 7 inches long, clear of the wood,
fupported by iron ftays fixed to the frame, and thro'
all the bulls. It requires to be ſtrong, as the draught
of the horſes terminate there.
H. H. N° 2. and 3. a cylinder or fegment of
wood, 7 inches diameter, called a rocking tree, which
goes across the frame, and moves on the pivots fixed
into it, one at each end, ſupported by an iron bolt or
piece of wood mortoiſed into the frame, 8 inches high,.
as appears in N° 2. and 3. to which 6 chains or ropes.
are fixed by hooks, at different diſtances, as you want
your cuts, 9, 8, 7, or 6 inches from one another, and
are joined to the end of each bull in which the cutting
wheels run; fo that when the rocking tree is turned
about by the lever I. fixed in the middle of it, all
the bulls, with their cutting wheels, are raiſed out of
the ground at once, as in No 3. by which means the
machine may be turned, or moved from place to place.
with great eaſe, without any danger of ſtraining the
wheels.
•
L. L. L. &c. No 1. 2. 3. are weights of freeftone,
26 inches long and 6 inches broad; the under one 4
inches thick, the upper one 3 inches thick; weighing
about 64 lb. the under, and 48 the upper; each of
them having two holes, through which iron ſpikes,
firmly fixed in the bulls, paſs, in order to keep them.
fteady.
When the ground is eafily cut, the under ftone may
anfwer; when more difficult, the other ſtone may be
added; fo that every wheel may have 7 ftone-weight
upon it, which has been found fufficient for the ſtiffeft.
land and tougheſt ſward the machine has ever been-
tried on. Caft iron weights will anfwer fully better,
but are more expenfive.
The lever I. N° 2. 3. which ought to be 5 feet long,
muſt have a ſliding rope on it; fixed to the back part
of the frame; fo that when the cutting wheels are all.
taken out of the ground three or four inches, by the
rocking tree's being turned partly round by the lever,
the rope may be fixed to it by a loop over the pin R.
N° 3. (it ought to be placed 3 feet 4 inches from the:
extremity of the lever I.) Thus all the cutting wheels
are kept out of the ground till the machine is turned
and then by moving the loop off the pin, it flips back.
towards the frame, and the lever is gently let back to
its place, as in No 2. by which the cutting wheels are
put into their former pofture, by the weights fixed on
the bulls in which they run. The levers may be made.
of good tough aſh..
P.P.N° 1.
Part II.
275
AGRICULTURE.
Practice.
P. P. N° 1. a fmall bolt of iron, with a hook on
one end of it (one is fufficient), to Itrengthen the bolt
M. M. to be hooked on the centre of it, and joined to
the frame by a nut and ſcrew.
The grooves in which the cutting wheels run, may
be covered below at the hinder part with a plate of
thin black iron, 6 inches long, 3 inches broad, having
a flit in it where the wheels run, to prevent (if found
neceffary) any grafs, weeds, or fmall ftones, from fill-
ing the grooves, and clogging the wheels.
To the frame N° 1. are fixed (for a double-horſe
fward-cutter) three fhafts, as in a waggon, of fuch
length, ftrength, and diſtance from one another, as any
workman may think proper.
For a fingle-horſe ſward-cutter (which has only four
cutting wheels), a pair of ſhafts are uſed, and may
make the two fides of the frame without any joinings.
The width of the frame, in proportion to the double-
horfe fward-cutter, is as four to fix.
It is recommended for a double-horſe ſward-cutter
to have eight bulls and wheels, in order that when it
is uſed to reduce hard clody fummer-fallow, or land
for barley, before the laft furrow, or even after it, the
whole weight (42 ftone) employed in cutting the ſtiff-
eft land and tougheſt ſward, may be applied to the 8
bulls then at 6 inches from one another. The 64 lb.
weights to be applied to fix of the bulls, and two of
the 48 lb. weights to each of the additional bulls,
which is a fufficient weight for the purpoſe, and will
effectually prevent a clod of more than fix inches
breadth from eſcaping being broke to pieces.
In the fame manner, a fingle-horſe fward-cutter may
have fix bulls for the above-mentioned purpoſe; the
28 ftone belonging to it divided thus: The 64 lb.
weights to four of the bulls, and two of the 48 lb.
weights to each of the additional bulls.
That the machine may come as cheap as poffible to
the public, the inventor is of opinion, that the expence
of the two wheels and the iron axle (which is confi-
derable) may be faved, by joining ſtrongly to the frame
at S. N° 3. a piece of wood with a little curve at the
extremity of it, refembling the foot of a fledge, for-
merly much uſed in Scotland to carry in the corn from
the field; the part of it refting on the ground being
kept 18 inches (the half diameter of the wheels) from
the frame, by a ftrong fupport of wood.
As the two outer bulls next the frame are apt to
get under it, ſo as to prevent the cutting wheels from
being taken out of the ground, a thin flip of iron fixed
to the infide of the frame, nearly oppoſite to the back
end of the bulls, of convenient length, will be found
neceffary.
The original intention of this machine was to pre-
pare old graſs-ground for the plough, by cutting it
acroſs the ridges, in the beginning of or during win-
ter, when the ground is foft, in order to anſwer all
the purpoſes that Mr Tull propofed by his four-coulter
plough above defcribed, and fo ftrongly recommended
by him for bringing into tilth grafs-ground that has
been long refted. This the fward-cutter has been
found to do much more effectually and expeditiously:
For Mr Tull's machine cuts the ſward in the fame di-
rection with the plough; and is liable, from every ob-
ftruction any of the coulters meet with, to be thrown
out of its work altogether, or the inftrument broken:
3
to which the fward-cutter, confifting of four, fix, or
more cutting wheels, is never liable, from theſe being
entirely independent of one another, cutting the ground
acroſs the ridges before ploughing, and rendering that
operation eafier to two horſes than it would be to three,
without its being cut. The furrow being cut acroſs,
falls finely from the plough in fquares of any fize re-
quired not under fix inches, in place of long flips of
tough fward feldom and imperfectly broke by the four-
coultered plough.
This inftrument is very fit for preparing ground for
burnbating, as it will fave much hand-labour.
It may be properly uſed in croſs-cutting clover of
one or two years ſtanding, to prepare the ground for
wheat, if the land is ftiff and moift enough.
It may be applied to cutting and crofs-cutting pa-
fture-ground, intended to have manure of any kind
put
upon it to meliorate the graſs. In this it will far ex-
ceed the ſcarificator mentioned in one of Mr Young's
tours; as that inftrument is liable, as well as the four-
coultered plough, to be thrown out of its work when
meeting with a ſtone or other interruption. This the
fward-cutter is proof againſt, which is looked on as its
greateft excellence.
In preparing for barley, the ſward-cutter excels a
roller of any kind in reducing the large hard clods in
clay land, occafioned by a fudden drought, after its
being ploughed too wet; and it is likewiſe very pro-
per for reducing ſuch clay land when under a fummer-
fallow. In this operation, the ſward-cutter is grealy
to be preferred to the cutting-roller, likewife men-
tioned by Mr Young in one of his tours; for the
wheels of the latter being all dependent one on ano-
ther, when one is thrown out by a ſtone, three or four
muft ſhare the ſame fate. Befides, the cutting-roller
has but feven wheels in fix feet; whereas the fward-
cutter has fix in four feet three inches, at nine inches
diftant; and, if neceffary, may have them ſo near as
fix inches.
After old graſs-ground is cut acrofs with the fward-
cutter and ploughed, it has a very uncommon and
worklike appearance, from each fquare turned over by
the plough being raiſed up an inch or two at the fide
laft moved by the earth-board; fo that the field, when
finifhed, is all prettily waved, and refembles a piece of
water when blown on by a gentle breeze. By this
means a very great deal of the land's furface is expofed
to the froft and other influences of the air, which can-
not fail to have a good effect on it.
Two horſes are ſufficient for the draught of a double-
horfe fward-cutter, and one horſe for a fingle-horſe one.
Oneman manages the machine and drives the horſes. He
begins his operation by firſt meaſuring off 20 or 30 paces
from the machine, lefs or more as he inclines, and
there fixes a pole. He then cuts the field croſs, as
near at right angles with the ridges as he can. When
the cutting wheels are paft the laft furrow about a
yard or fo, and the machine is upon the outmoft ridge
of the field on which it muſt turn, he muſt ſtop the
horfes; then take hold of the lever I. No 2. and by
pulling it to him he raiſes the cutting wheels out of
the ground, which are kept ſo by the loop of the rope
being put over the pin R. in the lever I. N° 3. till the
machine is turned and brought to its proper place,
which is done by meaſuring off the fame diftance for-
M m 2
merly
Practice.
276
Part II.
AGRICULTURE.
Practice. merly done on the oppofite fide of the field. When
the cutting wheels are exactly over the outmoft furrow,
then, on the horfes being ſtopped, the rop is flipt off
the pin R. and the lever returned to its former place,
as reprefented N°2. which allows the weights L. L. &c.
to force the cutting wheels into the ground again.
He then goes on till the interval betwixt the firft and
fecond ſtroke of the machine is all cut. In this manner
the field is to be finished, after which you may begin
to plough when you pleaſe. (N. B. There muſt be a
pole at each fide of the field.)
96
Brake de-
fcribed,
Plate V.
fig 2.
97
Ules.
It is of no confequence whether the land to be ſward-
cut is in crooked ridges or ftraight, in flat ridges or in
very high raiſed ones. Be the furface ever ſo uneven,
the cutting wheels, being all independent of one ano-
the, are forced by their weights into every furrow or
hollow.
One fward-cutter will cut as much in one day as fix
ploughs will plough.
The land may lie feveral months in winter after be-
ing fward-cut, when there is no vegetation to make
the cuts grow together again before it is ploughed;
but the fooner it is ploughed after cutting the better,
that it may have the benefit of all the winter's froft,
which makes it harrow better at feed-time.
When the ground is harrowed, the harrows ought
to go with the waves which appear after ploughing,
not againſt them, as by that means they are lefs apt to
tear up the furrows all cut into fquares. This, how-
ever, need only be attended to the two firſt times of
harrowing, as they are called.
Any common wright and ſmith may make the in-
flrument. It is very ftrong, very fimple, and eafily
managed and moved from place to place; and, if put
under cover, will laſt many years.
It was invented fome time ago by the Honourable
Robert Sandilands; and is reprefented in the Plate as
it has been lately improved by him, the price being at
the fame time reduced from L. 15 or L. 16 to L. 5
or L. 6.
3. The BRAK E.
THE brake is a large and weighty harrow, the pur-
pofe of which is to reduce a ſtubborn foil, where an
ordinary harrow makes little impreffion. It confifts of
four ſquare bulls, each fide five inches, and fix feet and
a half in length. The teeth are 17 inches long, bend-
ing forward like a coulter. Four of them are infert-
ed into each bull, fixed above with a fcrew-nut, ha-
ving 12 inches free below, with a heel cloſe to the un-
der part of the bull, to prevent it from being pushed
back by ſtones. The nut above makes it eaſy to be
taken out for ſharping. This brake requires four horfes
or four oxen. One of a leffer fize will not fully anſwer
the purpoſe: one of a larger fize will require fix oxen;
in which cafe the work may be performed at leſs ex-
pence with the plough.
This inftrument may be applied to great advantage
in the following circumftances. In the fallowing ſtrong
clay that requires frequent ploughings, a brakeing he-
tween every ploughing will pulverize the foil, and ren-
der the fubfequent ploughings more eafy. In the
month of March or April, when ftrong ground is
ploughed for barley, cfpecially if bound with couch-
grafs, a crofs-brakeing is preferable to a cross-plough- Practice.
ing, and is done at half the expence. When ground
is ploughed from the ſtate of nature, and after a com-
petent time is crofs-ploughed, the brake is applied with
great fuccefs, immediately after the croſs-ploughing, to
reduce the whole to proper tilth.
Let it be obſerved, that a brake with a greater num-
ber of teeth than above-mentioned, is improper for
ground that is bound together by the roots of plants,
which is always the cafe of ground new broken up from
its natural ſtate. The brake is foon choked, and cau
do no execution till freed from the earth it holds. A
lefs number of teeth would be deficient in pulverizing
the foil.
4. The HARROW.
w.
HARROWS are commonly confidered as of no uſe
but to cover the feed; but they have another uſe
fcarce lefs effential, which is to prepare land for the
feed. This is an article of importance for producing
a good crop. But how imperfectly either of theſe pur-
pofes is performed by the common harrow, will appear
from the following account of it.
\
98
harrow,
The harrow commonly uſed is of different forms. Imperfec-
The firſt we ſhall mention has two bulls, four feet long tion of the
and 18 inches aſunder, with four wooden teeth in each. common
A fecond has three bulls and 12 wooden tecth. A
third has four bulls, and 20 teeth of wood or iron,
10, 11, or 12 inches afunder. Now, in fine mould,
the laſt may be fufficient for covering the feed; but
none of them are fufficient to prepare for the feed any
ground that requires fubduing. . The only tolerable
form is that with iron teeth; and the bare deſcrip-
tion of its imperfections will ſhow the neceffity of a.
more perfect form. In the firſt place, this harrow is
by far too light for ground new taken up from the
ftate of nature, for clays hardened with ſpring-drought,
or for other ftubborn foils: it floats on the furface
and after frequent returns in the fame tract, nothing
is done effe&ually. In the next place, the teeth are
too thick fet, by which the harrow is apt to be choked,
efpecially where the earth is bound with roots, which
is commonly the cafe. At the fame time, the lightnefs
and number of teeth keep the harrow upon the furface,
and prevent one of its capital purpofes, that of divi
ding the foil. Nor will fewer teeth anfwer for covering
the feed properly. In the third place, the teeth are
too fhort for reducing a coarfe foil to proper tilth; and
yet it would be in vain to make them longer, becauſe
the harrow is too light for going deep into the ground.
Funer, the common harrows are fo ill conftructed, as
to ride at every turn one upon another. Much time is
loft in difengaging them. Laftly, it is equally unfit
for extirpating weeds. The ground is frequently fo
bound with couch-grafs, as to make the furrow-flice
ftand upright, as when old lea is ploughed: notwith-
ftanding much labour, the graſs-roots keep the field,
and gain the victory.
A little reflection, even without experience, will
make it evident, that the fame harrows, whatever be
the form, can never anſwer all the different purpoſes of
harrowing, nor can operate equally in all different foils,
rough or fimooth, firm or looſe. The following, there-
fore, have been recommended; which are of three dif-
ferent
辈
​AGRICULTURE.
Plate V.
[
Fig. 1. Chain Plough
Fig. 3. first Harreur
Fig. 2. Brake?
Fig.&. Chain & Screw Harrow
Fig.
4. swond Harrow
魚
​#
B
A
T
Fig.6. Cleaning Harrow Fig. 7.
Grass Sad: Harrow
Fig. 5. third Harrow
DJ
}
A. Bell Sculp',
t
Part II.
277
لب
AGRICULTURE.
99
Improved
harrows.
Plate V.
fig. 3.
Practice. ferent forms, adapted for different purpoſes. They
are all of the fame weight, drawn each by two horfes.
Birch is the best wood for them, becauſe it is cheap,
and not apt to ſplit. The firſt is compofed of four
bulls, each four feet ten inches long, three and a quar-
ter inches broad, and three and a half deep; the in-
terval between the bulls II and three-fourths inches;
ſo that the breadth of the whole harrow is four feet.
The bulls are connected by four fheths, which go thro'
each bull, and are fixed by timber-nails driven through
both. In each bull five teeth are inſerted, ten inches
free under the bull, and ten inches afunder. They are
of the fame form with thoſe of the brake, and inferted
into the wood in the fame manner. Each of theſe teeth
is three pounds weight; and where the harrow is made
of birch, the weight of the whole is fix ftone 14 pounds,
Dutch. An erect bridle is fixed at a corner of the
harrow, three inches high, with four notches for draw-
ing higher or lower. To this bridle a double tree is
fixed for two horſes drawing abreaſt, as in a plough.
And to ftrengthen the harrow, a flat rod of iron is
nailed upon the harrow from corner to corner in the
line of the draught.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.
100
Properties
harrows.
The ſecond harrow confifts of two parts, connected
together by a crank or hinge in the middle, and two
chains of equal length, one at each end, which keep
the two parts always parallel, and at the fame diſtance
from each other. The crank is fo contrived, as to al-
low the two parts to ply to the ground like two un-
connected harrows; but neither of them to riſe above
the other, more than if they were a fingle harrow
without a joint. In a word, they may form an angle
downward, but not upward. Thus they have the ef-
fect of two harrows in curved ground, and of one
weighty harrow in a plain. This harrow is compofed
of fix bulls, each four feet long, three inches broad,
and three and a half deep. The interval between the
bulls nine and a half inches; which makes the breadth
of the whole harrow, including the length of the crank,
to be five feet five inches. Each bull has five teeth,
nine inches free under the wood, and ten inches afun-
der. The weight of each tooth is two pounds; the
reft as in the former.
The third confifts alſo of two parts, connected to-
gether like that laſt mentioned. It has eight bulls,
each four feet long, two and a half inches broad, and
three deep. The interval between the bulls is eight
inches; and the breadth of the whole harrow, inclu-
´ding the length of the crank, is fix feet four inches.
In each bull are inferted five teeth, feven inches free un-
der the wood, and ten and a half inches afunder, each
tooth weighing one pound. The reft as in the two for-
mer harrows.
Theſe harrows are a confiderable improvement. They
of thefe ply to curved ground like two unconnected harrows; and
when drawn in one plain, they are in effect one harrow
of double weight, which makes the teeth pierce deep
into the ground. The imperfection of common har-
rows, mentioned above, will fuggeft the advantages of
the ſet of harrows here recommended. The firft is pro-
per for harrowing land that has long lain after plough-
ing, as where cats are fown on a winter-furrow, and in
general for harrowing ftiff land: it pierces deep into the
foil by its long teeth, and divides it minutely. The fe-
cond is intended for covering the feed: its long teeth Practice.
lays the feed deeper than the common harrow can do ;
which is no flight advantage. By placing the feed
confiderably under the furface, the young plants are,
on the one hand, protected from too much heat, and,
on the other, have fufficiency of moisture. At the
fame time, the feed is fo well covered that none of it is
loft. Seed flightly covered by the common harrows
wants moisture, and is burnt up by the fun; befide,
that a proportion of it is left upon the furface unco-
vered. The third harrow fupplies what may be defi-
cient in the ſecond, by ſmoothing the furface, and co-
vering the feed more accurately. The three harrows
make the ground finer and finer, as heckles do lint;
or, to ufe a different compariſon, the firſt harrow makes
the bed, the fecond lays the feed in it, the third
ſmooths the cloaths. They have another advantage not
inferior to any mentioned: they mix manure with the
foil more intimately than can be done by common har-
rows; and upon fuch intimate mixture depends greatly
the effect of manure, as has already been explained.
To conclude, theſe harrows are contrived to anſwer an
eſtabliſhed principle in agriculture, That fertility de-
pends greatly on pulverizing the foil, and on an inti-
mate mixture of manure with it, whether dung, lime,
marl, or any other.
The Chain and Screw Harrow. Fig. 8. is the plan Plate V.
of a harrow alfo invented by Mr Sandilands, and to
which he has given the name of the chain and ſcrew
harrow. Its properties are, that if your ridges be
high, and you wish to harrow them from one end to the
other, by lengthening the chain (which the fcrew com-
mands), the harrow, when drawn along, forms an angle
downwards, and miffes none of the curve of the ridge,
fo far as it extends (which may be nine feet, the di-
ftance from A to B. The extent, in the contrary di-
rection, is five feet fix inches). When the crowns of the
ridges have got what is thought fufficient harrowing
lengthwife, you fhorten the chain by the fcrew, which
forms an angle upwards: the harrow is then drawn by
the horſes, one on each ſide of the furrow; which com-
pletely harrows it, and the fides of the ridge, if 18 feet
broad.
When you want to harrow even ground or high
ridges acrofs with the fcrew, you can bring the har-
row to be horizontal, fo as to work as a folid harrow
without a joint.
The teeth are formed and fixed in the common man-
ner, fquare, not in the faſhion of coulters; and are nine
or ten inches below the wood, and of ſuch ſtrength as
it is thought the land requires. The teeth cut, or ra-
ther tear, the ground at every four inches without va-
riation, though feemingly placed irregularly; and this
without any risk of choking, except fometimes at the
extreme angles, where the teeth are neceffarily near
other; but which may be cleaned with the greateſt eaſe,
by railing them a little from the ground. The figures
1, 2, &c. point out where the 12 teeth on each fide of
the harrow are placed.
Where a ſtrong brake-harrow is not neceffary, by
making the teeth fhorter and lighter, you may have 48
teeth, which will tear the ground at every two inches
cover the feed well, and make a fine mould.
It is recommended, that harrows for every purpoſe,
and
278
Part II.
AGRICULTURE.
Practice. and of any fize, be made on the above principle; by
which no tooth can ever follow the track of another,
and all of them will be kept conftantly acting.
ΤΟΣ
The roller.
TO2
-Seafon for
rolling.
103
Effect of
rolling.
5. The ROLLER.
THE roller is an inftrument of capital ufe in huf-
bandry, though fcarcely known in ordinary practice;
and, where introduced, it is commonly ſo flight as to
have very little effect.
Rollers are of different kinds; ftone, caft-iron, wood.
Each of theſe has its advantages. We would recom
mend the laft, conftructed in the following manner.
Take the body of a tree, fix feet ten inches long, the
larger the better, made as near a perfect cylinder as
poffible. Surround this cylinder with three rows of
fillies, one row in the middle, and one at each end.
Line thefe fillies with planks of wood equally long with
the roller, and fo narrow as to ply into a circle. Bind
them faft together with iron rings. Beech-wood is the
the
beſt, being hard and tough. The roller thus mount-
ed, ought to have a diameter of three feet ten inches.
It has a double pair of fhafts for two horfes abreaft.
Theſe are fufficient in level ground; in ground not le-
vel, four horfes may be neceffary. The roller without
the fhafts ought to weigh 200 ftone Dutch; and the
large diameter makes this great weight eaſy to be
drawn.
Rolling wheat in the month of April is an import-
ant article in looſe foil; as the winter-rains preffing
down the foil leave many roots in the air. Barley
ought to be rolled immediately after the feed is ſown;
efpecially where grafs-feeds are fown with it. The
beft time for rolling a gravelly foil, is as foon as the
mould is ſo dry as to bear the roller without clinging to
it. A clay foil ought neither to be tilled, harrowed,
nor rolled, till the field be perfectly dry. And as
rolling a clay foil is chiefly intended for fmoothing the
furface, a dry feafon may be patiently waited for, even
till the crop be three inches high. There is the greater
reafon for this precaution, becauſe much rain imme-
diately after rolling is apt to cake the furface when
drought follows. Oats in a light foil may be rolled
immediately after the feed is fown, unleſs the ground
be ſo wet as to cling to the roller. In a clay foil, de-
lay rolling till the grain be above ground. The pro-
per time for fowing graſs-feeds in an oat-field, is when
the grain is three inches high; and rolling fhould im-
mediately fucceed, whatever the foil be. Flax ought
to be rolled inmediately after ſowing. This fhould ne-
ver be neglected; for it makes the feed puſh equally,
and prevents after-growth; the bad effect of which is
viſible in every ſtep of the procefs for dreffing flax. The
first year's crop of fown graffes ought to be rolled as
early the next ſpring as the ground will bear the hor-
fes. It fixes all the roots precifely as in the cafe of
wheat. Rolling the fecond and third crops in loofe
foil is an uſeful work; though not fo effential as rolling
the firſt crop.
In the firſt place, rolling renders a looſe foil more com-
pact and folid; which encourages the growth of plants,
by making the earth clap clofe to every part of every
Nor need we be afraid of rendering the foil too
compact; for no roller that can be drawn by two or
four horfes will have that effect. In the next place,
root.
rolling keeps in the moisture, and hinders drought to Practice.
penetrate. This effect is of great moment.
In a dry
ſeaſon, it may make the difference of a good crop, or
no crop, eſpecially where the foil is light. In the third
place, the rolling grafs feeds, befide the foregoing ad-
vantages, facilitates the mowing for hay; and it is to
be hoped, that the advantage of this practice will lead
farmers to mow their corn alfo, which will increaſe the
quantity of ſtraw both for food and for the dunghill.
There is a ſmall roller for breaking clods in land in-
tended for barley. The common way is, to break
clods with a mell; which requires many hands, and is a
laborious work. This roller performs the work more
effectually, and at much leſs expence : let a harrowing
precede, which will break the clods a little; and after
lying a day, or a day and a half, to dry, this roller will
diffolve them into powder. This however does not ſu-
perfede the uſe of the great roller after all the other ar-
ticles are finiſhed, in order to make the foil compact,
and to keep out the fummer-drought. A ftone roller
four feet long, and fifteen inches diameter, drawn by
one horſe, is ſufficient to break clods that are eaſily dif-
folved by preffure. The ufe of this roller in preparing
land for barley is gaining ground daily, even among
ordinary tenants, who have become fenfible both of the
expence and toil of ufing wooden mells. But in a clay
foil, the clods are ſometimes too firm, or too tough, to
be ſubdued by fo light a machine. In that caſe, a
roller of the fame fize, but of a different conftruction, is
neceffary. It ought to be furrounded with circles of
iron, fix inches afunder, and ſeven inches deep; which
will cut even the moſt ſtubborn clods, and reduce them
to powder. Let not this inftrument be confidered as
a finical refinement. In a ftiff clay, it may make the
difference of a plentiful or fcanty crop.
6. The FALLOW-CLEANSING MACHINE.
104
Plate VI.
THIS was invented by Mr Aaron Ogden, a fmith The fallow
at Afhton-under-Line, near Mancheſter in Lancaſhire. cleanſing
It is intended for cleanfing fallows from weeds, &c. machine,.
which exhauft the riches of the foil. A, A, is the frame;
fig. 5.
B, the first roller; C, the fecond ditto; in which laſt are
two cranks to move the arms D, D, which work the rake
up the directors fixed on the plank E. The under fide of
the lower ends or fhares of thefe directors are ſharp, to cut
the clods and let them come on the upper fide. Each al-
ternate heel of the ſhare is longer than the intermediate
one, that they may not have more than one-half to cut
at once. At the back of the plank E are two ſcrews
to let it looſe, that the directors may be fet higher or
lower. The fhares are to penetrate the ground two or
three inches, to raiſe the quicks till the rake I, I,
fetches them into the cart H, where a man muft be
ready with a muck-hook to clear them backward when
gathered. In the rake I are two teeth for every ſpace
of the directors, that ftones, &c. may be gathered
without damage.
without damage. K, K, are two ftaples, by which
the machine is drawn: under them at b are two hooks,
placed low to raiſe the machine in turning, by the help
of the traces; and the axle-tree of the cart fhould be
fixed upon a pin, that it may turn like a waggon.
F, F, are the triggers to throw the rake behind the
roots. The long teeth at G, G, are to cleanſe the
roller C. I, I, is the rake which gathers up the weeds
into
4
Part II.
279
AGRICU
GRICULTURE.
As there may be fome objections to the rake not
leaving the roots when it has brought them up, Mr
Ogden has ſeveral methods of cleaning it; but as he
would make it as fimple as poffible, he chooſes to let
it be without them at prefent; but fuppofe it ſhould.
bring fome roots back again with it, it will probably
loſe them before it gets back to the extremity; whence
they will lie light, and be of but little detriment to
the others coming up. Mr Ogden would have the
firſt machine made four feet fix inches wide, the teeth
divided into equal ſpaces, the outfides into half ſpaces...
Practice into the cart H, and is drawn above the trigger F by to the plank on which the directors are fixed, that is
the working of the arms D, expreffed by the dotted to fay, fix inches long (the directors are alſo to be
lines at dd, i i i. The triggers F, of which there is made fix inches broad above the plank). The rake-
one on each fide, move on the pivots a; fo that when head ſhould alſo fall a little before the crank is at its
the points b, of the rake I, have been drawn up by the extremity, which will cauſe the rake to puſh forward
directors E to the part marked c, the trigger, giving to let the teeth come into the roots. The rake-teeth
way, permits the rake to pafs; but immediately fall- muſt drop in the fame plane with the roller and wheels,
ing, the rake returns along the upper furface of the or on the ſurface of the earth. No more.fpace ſhould
trigger marked e, e, and of courfe falls on the weeds be given from the roller C to the long teeth at G G
when it comes to the end, a little beyond the pivot a. than that the rake may juſt miſs the ſpikes of the rol-
The reader will obferve, that the boarding is taken ler C and fall on the places before mentioned. As
away on one fide, in the Plate, in order to give a more the firſt roller B was intended to cleanſe the ſecond C-
perfect view of the inner parts of the machine; and more than for any other ufe, it may be omitted when
in fact it would perhaps be better if all the boarding, the machine is made in large, as Mr Ogden has lately
marked L, L, L, was taken away, and frame-work found that the long teeth at G G anſwer the end alone,
put in its ftead.
The cart H might undoubtedly alſo and this renders the machine about a fixth part ſhorter.
be made lighter. The wheels M, M, appear in the Now, to fuit any fort of earth, there ſhould be to each
Plate to be made of folid wood; but there is no ne- machine three planks, with directors at different ſpaces,
ceffity they ſhould be fo. At N is another view of to uſe occafionally; in the firft, the ſpaces between
the roller C, by which the difpofition of the ſpikes the directors fhould be eight inches wide, in the ſecond
may be eaſily comprehended. Suppoſe the circle O, fix, and the third four. This will anſwer the fame-
defcribed by the end of the roller N, to be divided by end as having fo many machines.
four ſtrait lines into eight equal fegments, as reprefent-
ed at P. Let the fame be done at the other end of
the roller, and parallel lines be drawn from one corre-
fponding point to the other the length of the roller;
mark the points with figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8;
afterwards draw oblique lines, as from 1, at the end of
O, to 2, at the other end, and from 2 to 3, &c. on
thefe oblique lines the fpikes. are to be fixed at equal
diſtances, in eight circles, defcribed on the circumfe-
rence of the roller.
The ſpikes of the ſmall roller B
are fixed in the ſame manner, except that the diameter
being ſmaller, there are only fix inſtead of eight rows.
R is another view of the directors, with the plank E
on which they are fixed; and S is a ſection of a part
of the plank, with one of the directors as fixed, in
which may be ſeen the heel m, from whence to the
point of the ſhare n is a fharp cutting edge. See the
fame letters in figure R. At T is one of the long
teeth to be ſeen at G; it is bent towards the roller C,
which it ferves to cleanſe. When the end of the rake
b, after rifing above c, is pushed, by the motion of the
arms D, D, along the upper part e, e, of the trigger
F, and comes, to the end beyond a; as it falls, the
part of the arm marked refts in the notch p, till it
is again raiſed by the motion of the roller C with the
rake. The roller C is to be one foot diameter, the
fpikes nine inches long, that they may go through the
furrow (if the foil fhould be loofe) into the hard earth,
the more effectually to work the rake, which other
wife might be fo overcharged as to caufe the roller to
drag without turning. In the rake-ends b there ſhould
be pivots, with rollers or pullers on, to go in the
groove, to take off the friction; and they would like-
wife take the triggers more furely as the rake comes
back. The rake ſhould alſo be hung fo far backward-
er, that when it is fallen the arms of it may lie in the
fame plane or parallel, with the directors, on which it.
comes up (which will require the frame to be two inches.
longer in the model).. This will cauſe the rake to fall
heavier, and drive the teeth into the roots, and bring
them up without fhattering. Theſe teeth muſt be
made of ſteel, very fine, and fo long as to reach down
7. The new-invented Patent Univerfal SowING
Machine.
Practice.
IOS:
2d Plate VII.
fig. 1.2.11..
THIS machine, whether made to be worked by hand, Univerfal
drawn by a horſe, or fixed to a plough, and uſed with ſowing
it, is extremely fimple in the conftruction, and not machine,
liable to be put out of order; as there is but one-
movement to direct the whole, nor does it require any
ſkill in working. It will fow wheat, barley, oats, rye,
clover, cole-feed, hemp, flax, canary, rape, turnip, be-
fides a great variety of other kinds of grain and feeds
broad-caft, with an accuracy hitherto unknown. It
is equally uſeful in the new huíbandry, particularly
when fixed to a plough; it will then drill a more exten-
five variety of grain, pulfe, and feed (through every-
gradation, with regard to quantity), and deliver each-
kind with greater regularity than any drill-plough
whatever. When uſed in this manner, it will likewife
be found of the utmoſt ſervice to farmers who are par-
tial to the old huſbandry, as, among many other very
valuable and peculiar properties, it will not only fow
in the broad-caft way with a moft fingular exactnefs,
but fave the expence of a feedfman; the feed being.
fawn (either over or under furrow at pleafure), and.
the land ploughed, at the fame operation.
Perhaps a fair and decifive experiment for aſcertain--
ing the fuperior advantage of broad-cafting or drilling:
any particular crop, was never before fo practicable; as
the feed may now be put in with the utmoſt degree of
regularity, in both methods of culture, by the fame:
machines.
280
Part II.
AGRICULTURE.
Practice. machine; confequently, the feed will be fown in both
cafes with equal accuracy, without which it is impof-
fible to make a juft decifion.
Fig. 2.
The excellence of this machine confifts in fpreading
any given quantity of feed over any given number of
acres, with a mathematical exactnefs, which cannot be
done by hand; by which a great faving may be made
in feeding e ground, as well as benefiting the ex-
pected crop.
There has always been a difficulty in fowing turnip
feed with any degree of exactnefs, both from the mi-
nuteneſs of the feed, and the ſmallneſs of the quantity
required to be fown on an acre. Here the machine
has a manifeft advantage, as it may be ſet to fow the
leaſt quantity ever required on an acre; and with an
accuracy the beſt feedſman can never attain to.
It will alſo fow clover, cole, flax, and every other
kind of fmall feed, with the utmoft degree of regularity.
It will likewife broad-caft beans, peafe, and tares, or
drill them with the greateſt exactnefs, particularly when
conftructed to be uſed with a plough.
Another advantage attending the uſe of this machine
is, that the wind can have no effect on the falling of
the feed.
Of the Machine when made to be used without a
Plough, and to be drawn by a Horfe.-It may in
this cafe be made of different lengths at the defire of
the purchafer. The upper part AAAA, contains
the hoppers from which the grain or feed deſcends into
the spouts. The feveral ſpouts all reft upon a bar,
which hangs and plays freely by two diagonal ſupport-
ers BB; a trigger fixed to this bar bears a catch wheel:
this being fixed on the axle, occafions a regular and
continual motion, or jogging of the ſpouts, quicker or
flower in proportion to the pace the perfon fowing
with it drives; and of courfe, if he quickens his pace,
the bar will receive a greater number of ftrokes from
the catch wheel, and the grain or feed will feed the
fafter. If he drives flower, by receiving fewer ftrokes,
the contrary must take place. In going along the
fide of a hill, the ftrength of the ftroke is corrected by
a fpring which acts with more or lefs power, in pro-
portion as the machine is more or lefs from a horizon-
tal pofition, and counteracts the difference of gravity in
the bar, ſo that it preffes, in all' fituations, with a pro-
per force againſt the catch wheel. This fpring is un-
neceffary if the land be pretty level. At the bottom
of the machine is placed an apron or fhelf in a floping
pofition, and the corn or feed, by falling thereon from
the ſpouts above, is fcattered about-in every direction
under the machine, and covers the ground in a moft
regular and uniform manner.
To fow the corn or feed in drills, there are moveable
fpouts, (fee fig. 10.) which are fixed on, or taken off
at pleaſure, to direct the feed from the upper ſpout to
the bottom of the furrow.
The machine is regulated for ſowing any particular
quantity of feed on an acre by a brafs flider, A, fig. 7.
fixed by fcrews againſt a braſs bridge on each of the
ſpouts. The machine is prevented from feeding while
turning at the ends, by only removing the lever, E,
fig. 2. out of the channel G, to another at H, on the
right hand of it, which carries back the bar from the
catch-wheel, and occafions the motion of the ſpouts to
ceaſe, and at the fame time brings them upon a level
N° 7.
by the action of the diagonal fupporters; fo that no Practice.
corn or feed can fall from them.
The machine in this form is particularly ufeful for
broad-cafting clover upon barley or wheat; or for fow-
ing any other kind of feed, where it is neceffary that
the land fhould firſt be harrowed exceedingly fine and
even.
Manner of using the Machine, when drawn by a
Horfe. Place the machine about two feet from the
ends of the furrows where you intend it ſhall begin to
fow. Fill the hoppers with feed, and drive it forwards
with the outſide wheel in the firft furrow. When you
are at the end of the length, at the oppofite fide of the
field, lift the lever E, fig. 2, into the channel H, and
the machine will inftantly ftop fowing. Drive it on
about two feet, and then turn. Fill the hoppers again
if neceffary; then remove the lever back again into the
channel G, and in returning, let the outſide wheel of
the machine go one furrow within the track which
was made by it, in paffing from the oppofite end; as
for example, if the wheel paffed down the eighth fur-
row from the outfide of the field, let it return in the
feventh; and in every following length let the outfide
wheel always run one furrow within the tract made by
the fame wheel: becauſe the breadth fown is about nine
inches leſs than the diſtance between the wheels.
Let the machine be kept in a perpendicular fitua-
tion. If the farmer wishes to fow more or leſs feed
on any one part of the field than the other, it is only
raifing the handles a little higher, or finking them a
little lower than ufual, and it will occafion a fufficient
alteration; and ſhould the laſt turn be leſs in breadth
than the machine, thoſe ſpouts which are not wanted
may be taken up from the bar, and prevented from
feeding, by turning the knob above them.
1
Alfo, when the land required to be fown has what is
called a vent, that is, when the fides of the field run in
an oblique line to the furrows, which by this means
are unequal in length; the ſpouts muſt be taken up or
let down in fucceffion by turning the knobs; as that
part of the machine, where they are placed, arrives at
the ends of the furrows. This is done while the ma-
chine is going forwards.
If the land be tolerably level, the machine may be
fixed by the fcrew in the front, and the machine may
then be uſed by any common harrow boy.
Method of regulating the Machine.-In each ſpout is
fixed a bridge, (fee fig. 7.) with an aperture in it, B,
for the grain or feed to pafs through. This aperture is
enlarged or contracted by a ſlider, A, which paffes over
it; and when properly fixed for the quantity of ſeed
defigned to be fown on an acre, is faſtened by means
of two ftrong fcrews firmly againſt the bridge. This
is made ufe of in fowing all kinds of feed, where it is
required to fow from one bufhel upwards on an acre.
To fow one, two, three gallons, or any of the inter-
mediate quantities, as of clover, cole-feed, &c. the
brafs plate, fig. 6, is placed between the bridge and the
flider, with the largeft aperture B downwards, which
aperture is enlarged or contracted by the flider as be-
fore. To fow turnips, the fame plate is placed between
the bridge and the flider, with its ſmalleſt aperture A
downwards, and the hollow part about the fame aper-
ture inwards.
2
Fig. 8. is a view of the regulator, by which the
apertures
&

AGRICULTURE.
Plate VI.
F
K
h
b
Fig. 1. Four Coulterd PLOUGH.
Fig. 2. Drill RAKE.
f
1
E
Fig.3. Rotheram or Patent PLOUGH.
B
G
AC
P
N
Fig. 4 Paring PLOUGH.
B
K
H
I
K
A
I
D
Fig. 5.FALLOW Cleansing Machine.
d
e I
i
d A
E
D
H
E
M
M
Fig. 6. Patent SWARD COTTER.
I
N. 2.
L
H
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N.3. L
I
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A
80
e
a
h
B
C
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1114
P
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111
B
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A
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ABAL PRINWAL SCULPTOR fecit.
Part II.
281
AGRICULTUR
E.
Practice. apertures in the feveral ſpouts are all fet exactly alike,
with the utmoſt eaſe, to make them feed equally. The
extreme height of the largeſt aperture is equal to the
breadth AB, and the breadth at C is equal to the
height of the ſmalleſt aperture ufed, viz. that for tur-
nips. The fide AC, is divided into 60 equal parts,
and on it moves the flider or horfe D; which being
placed at any particular degree, according to the quan-
tity of feed required to be fown on an acre, is fixed
upon it, by a ſcrew on the fide of the flider or horſe.
When this is done, the end of the regulator is put
through the aperture in the bridge or plate (whichever
is intended to be uſed), and the flider againſt the
bridge in the ſpout, raiſed by it, till it ſtops againſt the
horfe on the regulator; then the flider is faitened
againſt the bridge firmly by the two fcrews; care be-
ing taken at the fame time that it ftands nearly ſquare.
By this means the fpouts (being all fixed in the
fame manner) will feed equally.
It is eaſy to conceive that the ſize of the apertures,
and confequently the quantity of feed to be fown on an
acre, may be regulated with a far greater accuracy than
is required in common practice.
The ſpouts may be regulated with the utmoſt nicety,
in five minutes, to fow each particular feed, for the
whole feafon. But a little practice will enable any per-
fon, who poffeffes but a very moderate capacity, to
make the ſpouts feed equally, even without uſing the
regulator (A).
Of the Machine, when made to be used by Hand.
The difference of the machine in this cafe is, that it is
made lighter, with but three fpouts, without fhafts,
and is driven forwards by the handles. It hath alfo a
bolt in front, which being puſhed in by the thumb, re-
leaſes the machine; fo that it can then eafily be placed
in a perpendicular pofition. This alteration is necef-
fary to keep the handles of a convenient height, in
fowing up and down a hill, where the flope is confider-
able; and is done while the machine is turning at the
end of the length. The method of regulating and
ufing it is the fame as when made to be drawn by a
horfe.
:
Of the Machine, when conftructed to be used with a
Plough. This is, without doubt, the moſt uſeful ap--
plication of the machine; and it can be fixed without
difficulty to any kind of plough, in the fame manner as
to that reprefented in fig. I..
The advantages arifing from the uſe of it are great
and numerous; for, betide the increaſe in the crop,
which will be inſured by the feeds being broad-cait
with a mathematical nicety, a large proportion of feed
(the value of which alone, in a few months, will amount
VOL. I. Part I..
to more than the price of the machine) and the feedf- Practice.
man's labour will be faved. The feed may likewile be
fown either under or over furrow; or one caft each
way, as is practiſed by ſome farmers. The feed alſo,
being caft by the machine upon the freſh ploughed
land, may be immediately harrowed in, before the
mould has loft any part of its moiſture; which in a dry
feafon will greatly promote the crop. In drilling any
kind of grain, pulfe, or feed, it poffeffes every property
that can be wifhed for in the beſt drill-plough, nor will
it (as most of them do) bruiſe the feed, or feed irre-
gularly. The conftruction of the machine is the ſame
as the large ones, except being made with one hopper
and fpout inttead of ſeveral, and the apron moveable
instead of being fixed, as may be ſeen by inſpecting
fig. 4. The only alteration neceffary to make the
machine broad-caft or drill is, in the former cafe to
place the apron B, fig. 1, at the bottom of the ma-
chine, upon the hooks FF, floping either towards the
furrows or the imploughed land, according as it is in-
tended to fow the feed, either over or under furrow.
Whenever the apron is required to be ſhifted, it is done
in leſs than a ſecond of time; as it only requires to be
moved up or down with the hand, when a catch fixes it.
To prepare it for drilling, inftead of the apron, place
the long ipout, fig. 10, upon the brackets, on the front
of the machine, by the ears AA, to receive the feed
from the upper fpout, and faſten the lower end of it,
by a finall cord, to that hook upon which the apron is
hung for broad-cafting, which is next the plough (fee
fig. 3;) the feed will then be directed by the long
fpout, to the centre of the furrow, near the heel of the
plough. The fpring for correcting the ftrength of the
ftroke, is neceffary only when they are required to go,
along the fide of a confiderable declivity. The ma-
chine, when fixed to a plough, does not require the
fmalleſt degree of ſkill in ufing, as nothing is neceffary
but to keep the hopper filled, which will contain a fuf-
ficient quantity of feed to go upwards of 140 rods, be-
fore it will want re-filling, when three bushels and a
half are fown on an acre. The accuracy with which
it will broad-caft, may in fome meaſure be conceived,
by confidering that the feed regularly defcends upon
the apron or ſhelf, and is from thence ſcattered upon
the ground, in quantity exactly proportioned to the
ſpeed of the plough: alſo that each caft fpreads to the
third furrow; and by this means fhuts upon the laſt.
In this manner it is continually filling up till the whole
field is completely covered; fo that it is impoffible to
leave the finalleft ſpace without its proper quantity of
feed.
When the plough is wanted for any other purpoſe,,
Nn
the
(A) Proper directions are given with each machine for ufing it, as alfo for fixing the fliders to fow any parti-
cular quantity of corn or feed on an acre, fo'as to enable any perſon to ſet the ſpouts.
The prices of the machine (exclufive of the packing cafes) are as follow. If conftructed to be uſed with a
fingle furrow plough; the wheel, with the axle and cheeks fteeled, ftrap, regulator, braſs-plates for broad-caſt-
ing or drilling turnips, lucerne, tares, wheat, barley, &c. &c. &c. and every article neceffary for fixing it inclu-
ded, three guineas and a half. If made with a fpring (for fowing on the fide of a hill, where the flope is confi-
derable), but which is very rarely neceffary, five fhillings more. If made to be fixed to any double-furrow
plough, four guineas and a half.
The large machine, fig. 2. when made to broad-coaſt ſeven furrows at a time and to be drawn by a horſe, -
eight guineas and a half. If conftructed to fow five furrows at a time, and to be ufed by hand, fix guineas...
Thefe are alſo five fhillings more if made with a ſpring.
282
Part II.
AGRICULTURE,
Practice. the machine, with the wheel at the heel of the plough
for giving it motion, can be removed or replaced at any
time in five minutes.
Fig. 11. repreſents the machine fixed to a double-
furrow creafing plough, and prepared for drilling. As
this plough may not be generally known, it will not be
improper to obferve, that it is chiefly uſed for creafing
the land with furrows (after it has been once ploughed
and harrowed); which method is neceffary when the
feed is to be fown broad-caft upon land that has been a
clover-lay, &c. becaufe, if the feed be thrown upon the
rough furrows, a confiderable part of it will fall be-
tween them, and be unavoidably loft, by laying too
deep buried in the earth. This mode anſwers ex-
tremely well, and partakes of both methods of culture;
the feed, though fown broad-caft, falling chiefly into
the furrows.
The machine is very uſeful for ſowing in this man-
ner; as the feed is broad-caft, with an inconceivable
regularity, at the time the land is creafed. The ad-
vantages it likewife poffeffes for drilling all forts of
grain or feed with this plough, are too evident to need
mentioning.
The machine, when conftructed to be uſed with a
double-furrow plough, is made with two upper and
two long ſpouts for drilling, two aprons for broad-
cafting, and with a double hopper; but in other re-
fpects the fame as when intended for a fingle furrow
plough: it is ufed in all cafes with the greateſt eaſe
imaginable.
The interval between the points of the two fhares of
a creafing plough is ufually ten inches; the beam about
nine feet long; and the whole made of a light con-
ftruction.
2d Plate VII Ainore particular explanation of the figures.-Fig. 1.
The machine fixed to a Kentish turn wreft plough. A,
The machine. B, The apron upon which the feed falls
and rebounds upon the land, in broad-cafting. C, Lid
to cover the hopper. D, Wheel at the heel of the
plough. E, ftrap. FF, Hooks, upon which the apron
turns by a pivot on each fide. G, Stay, to keep the
machine fteady. H, Lever, to prevent it from ſowing.
Fig. 2. The machine conftructed to be drawn by a
horſe. AAAA, The hoppers. BB, The diagonal
fupporters. CCCC, The upper fpouts. D, The apron
or fhelf upon which the feed falls from the upper fpouts.
E, The lever, which carries back the bar, and prevents
the machine from fowing. FF, Staples upon the han-
dles, through which the reins paſs, for the man who
conducts the machine, to direct the horſe by. I,
Screw, to fix the machine occafionally. N. B. The
knobs (by turning which each particular ſpout may
be taken from off the bar, and thereby prevented from
feeding) are over each upper fpout; but, to prevent
confufion, are not lettered in the Plate.
Fig. 3. Is the fame machine with that in fig. 1. The
dotted lines, expreffing the fituation of the long fpout,
when the apron is removed, and the machine adapted
for drilling,
Fig. 4. Alfo the fame machine, with the front laid
open to fhow the infide. A, The catch-wheel fixed
upon the axle. BB, The axle upon which the machine
hangs between the handles of the plough. C, The
pulley, by which the ftrap from the wheel at the heel
of the plough turns the catch-wheel. D, The bar,
2
-
upon which the upper ſpout refts, fufpended by the Practice.
diagonal fupporters EE, bearing againſt the catch-
wheel by the trigger F, and thereby kept in motion
while the plough is going. G, The apron in a floping
pofition, upon which the corn or feed falls from the
upper fpout, and is fcattered by rebounding upon the
land. It turns upon pivots, and by this means throws
the feed either towards the right hand or left at plea-
fure.
Fig. 5. The upper ſpout.
Fig. 6. The plate which is placed between the bridge
and the flider, for fowing finall feeds. The aperture
A being downwards for fowing turnips; the larger
one B downwards for fowing clover, &c.
Fig. 7. The bridge, fixed in the upper fpouts. A,
The flider, which contracts or enlarges the different
apertures. B, The aperture in the bridge, through
which the feed paffes, when ſowing any quantity from
one buſhel upwards on an acre.
Fig. 8. The regulator, made of braſs. D, The
flider or horfe which moves upon it, and is fixed at
any particular degree by a ſcrew in its fide.
Fig. 9. Reprefents the movement in the machine
fig. 2. AAAA, Cleets, between which the upper
ſpouts reft. BB, The diagonal fupporters, by which
the bar with the upper fpouts hang. C, The catch-
wheel. DD, The axle. E, The trigger upon the
bar, which bears againſt the catch-wheel. FF, Stays
from the back of the machine, by which the bar plays.
Fig. 10, The long fpout. AA, The ears by which
it hangs.
SECT. II. Preparing Land for Cropping.
I. OBSTRUCTIONS to CROPPING.
106
Stones,
In preparing land for cropping, the firſt thing that Obſtruc-
occurs, is to confider the obftructions to regular plough- tions, víz.
ing. The moſt formidable of theſe, are ſtones lying a- 107
bove or below the ſurface, which are an impediment to
a plough, as rocks are to a fhip. Stones above the
furface may be avoided by the ploughman, though not
without lofs of ground; but ftones below the furface
are commonly not diſcovered till the plough be fhat-
tered to pieces, and perhaps a day's work loft. The
clearing land of ftones is therefore neceffary to prevent
miſchief. And to encourage the operation, it is at-
tended with much actual profit. In the first place, the
ſtones are uſeful for fences: when large they muſt be
blown, and commonly fall into parts proper for build-
ing. And as the blowing, when gunpowder is furniſh-
ed, does not exceed a halfpenny for each inch that is
bored, theſe ftones come generally cheaper than to dig
as many out of the quarry. In the next place, as the
foil round a large ftone is commonly the beſt in the
field, it is purchafed at a low rate by taking out the
ftone. Nor is this a trifle; for not only is the ground
loft that is occupied by a large ftone, but alſo a con-
fiderable ſpace round it, to which the plough has not
accefs without danger. A third advantage is greater
than all the reft; which is, that the ploughing can be
carried on with much expedition, when there is no ap-
prehenfion of ftones: in ftony land, the plough muſt
proceed fo flow, as not to perform half of its work.
To clear land of ftones, is in many inftances an un-
dertaking
Part II.
AGRICULTUR
283
E.
in the middle, is to carry it off by fome drain ftill low- Practice.
er. This is commonly the cafe of a morafs fed with
water from higher ground, and kept on the furface by
a clay bottom.
Practice. dertaking too expenfive for a tenant who has not a
very long leafe. As it is profitable both to him and to
his landlord, it appears reaſonable that the work ſhould
be divided, where the leafe exceeds not nineteen years.
It falls naturally upon the landlord to be at the expence
of blowing the ftones, and upon the tenant to carry
them off the field
108
Wetnefs.
Another obſtruction is wet ground.
Water may
improve gravelly or fandy foils; but it fours (a) a clay
foil, and converts low ground into a morafs, unfit for
any purpoſe that can intereft the husbandman.
A great deal has been written upon different me-
thods of draining land, moftly fo expenfive as to be
icarce fit for the landlord, not to mention the tenant.
One way of draining without expence when land is
to be incloſed with hedge and ditch, is to direct the
ditches fo as to carry off the water. But this method is
not always practicable, even where the divifions lie con-
venient for it. If the run of water be confiderable, it
will deftroy the ditches, and lay open the fences, efpe-
cially where the foil is loofe or fandy.
If ditches will not anfwer, hollow drains are fome-
times made, and fometimes open drains, which must be
made fo deep as to command the water. The former
is filled up with loofe ftones, with bruſh-wood, or with
any other porous matter that permits the water to
pafs. The latter is left open, and not filled up. To
make the former effectual, the ground muſt have fuch
a flope as to give the water a briſk courſe. To execute
them in level ground is a grofs error: the paffages are
foon ſtopped up with fand and ſediment, and the work
is rendered uſeleſs. This inconvenience takes not place
in open drains; but they are fubject to other inconve-
niences: They are always filling up, to make a yearly
reparation neceffary; and they obftruct both plough-
ing and pafturing.
The following is the beft in all views. It is an open
drain made with the plough, cleaving the ſpace in-
tended for the drain over and over, till the furrow be
made of a fufficient depth for carrying off the water.
The flope on either fide may, by repeated ploughings,
be made fo gentle as to give no obſtruction either to
the plough or to the harrow. There is no occaſion for
a ſpade, unleſs to ſmooth the fides of the drain, and to
remove accidental obftructions in the bottom. The
advantages of this drain are manifold. It is executed
at much lefs expence than either of the former; and
it is perpetual, as it can never be obſtructed. In level
ground, it is true, grafs may grow at the bottom of
the drain; but to clear off the grafs once in four or five
years, will reſtore it to its original perfection. A hol-
low drain may be proper between the ſpring-head and
the main drain, where the diftance is not great; but
in every other cafe the drain recommended is the beft.
Where a level field is infefted with water from
higher ground, the water ought to be intercepted by
a ditch carried along the foot of the high ground, and
terminating in fome capital drain.
The only way to clear a field of water that is hollow
A clay foil of any thickneſs is never peftered with
fprings; but it is peſtered with rain, which fettles on
the furface as in a cup. The only remedy is high nar-
row ridges, well rounded. And to clear the furrows,
the furrow of the foot-ridge ought to be confiderably
lower, in order to carry off the water cleverly. It can-
not be made too low, as nothing hurts clay foil more
than the ſtagnation of water on it; witneſs the hollows
at the end of crooked ridges, which are abſolutely bar-
ren. Some gravelly foils have a clay bottom; which is
a ſubſtantial benefit to a field when in grafs, as it re-
tains moifture. But when in tillage, ridges are necef-
fary to prevent rain from fettling at the bottom; and
this is the only cafe where a gravelly foil ought to be
ridged.
Clay foils that have little or no level, have fometimes
a gravelly bottom For difcharging the water, the beit
method is, at the end of every ridge to pierce down to
the gravel, which will abſorb the water. But if the
furrow of the foot-ridge be low enough to receive all
the water, it will be more expeditious to make a few
holes in that furrow. In fome cafes, a field may be
drained, by filling up the hollows with earth taken from
higher ground. But as this method is expenfive, it
will only be taken where no other method anſwers.
Where a field happens to be partly wet, partly dry,
there ought to be a ſeparation by a middle ridge, if it
can be done conveniently; and the dry part may be
ploughed while the other is drying.
The low part of Berwickshire is generally a brick clay,
extremely wet and poachy during winter. This in a
good meaſure may be prevented by proper inclofing,
as there is not a field but can be drained into lower
ground all the way down to the river Tweed. But
as this would leffen the quantity of rain in a dry cli-
mate, fuch as is all the eaft fide of Britain, it may ad-
mit of fome doubt whether the remedy would not be
as bad as the difeafe. (See the article DRAINING.)
2. Bringing into CULTURE, LAVD from the
STATE OF NATURE.
ICC
To improve a moor, let it be opened in winter when Moorifa
it is wet; which has one convenience, that the plough ground.
cannot be employed at any other work. In fpring, after
froft is over, a flight harrowing will fill up the feams
with mould, to keep out the air, and rot the fod. In
that ſtate let it lie the following fummer and winter,
which will rot the fod more than if laid open to the air
by ploughing. Next April, let it be cross-ploughed,
braked, and harrowed, till it be fufficiently pulverized.
Let the manure laid upon it, whether lime or dung,
be intimately mixed with the foil by repeated harrow-
ings. This will make a fine bed for turnip-feed if fown
broad-caft. But if drills be intended, the method muft
Nn 2
be
(A) By this expreffion it is not meant that the ground really becomes acid, but only that it becomes unfit
for the purpoſes of vegetation. The natural products of fuch a foil are rufhes and four grass: which laft ap-
pears in the furrows, but feldom in the crown of the ridge; is dry and taſtelefs like a chip of wood; and feels
rough when ſtroked backwards.
284
Part II.
AGRICULTURE.
Practice. be followed that is directed afterward in treating more
directly of the culture of turnip.
IIO.
Swampy
ground.
III
Of ridges.
སྙ
A fucceſsful turnip-crop, fed on the ground with
fheep, is a fine preparation for laying down a field with
grafs-feeds. It is an improvement upon this method,
to take two or three fucceffive crops of turnip, which
will require no dung for the fecond and following crops.
This will thicken the foil, and enrich it greatly.
The best way of improving fwampy ground after
draining, is paring and burning.' But where the ground
is dry, and the foil fo thin as that the furface cannot
be pared, the beſt way of bringing it into tilth from
the ſtate of nature, as mentioned above, is to plough
it with a feathered fock, laying the graffy furface un-
der. After the new furface is mellowed with froft,
fill up all the ſeams by harrowing crofs the field, which
by excluding the air will effectually rot the fod. In
this ſtate let it lie fummer and winter. In the begin-
ing of May after, a crofs-ploughing will reduce all to
fmall fquare pieces, which must be pulverized with the
brake, and make it ready for a May or June crop. If
theſe ſquare pieces 'be allowed to lie long in the fap
without breaking, they will become tough and not be
eafily reduced.
3. Forming RIDGES.
THE first thing that occurs on this head, is to con-
fider what grounds ought to be formed into ridges, and
what ought to be tilled with a flat furface. Dry foils,
which fuffer by lack of moisture, ought to be tilled flat,
which tends to retain moiſture. And the method for
fuch tilling, is to go round and round from the cir-
cumference to the centre, or from the centre to the cir-
cumference. This method is advantageous in point of
expedition, as the whole is finiſhed without once turn-
ing the plough. At the fame time, every inch of the
foil is moved, inftead of leaving either the crown or
the furrow unmoved, as is commonly done in tilling
ridges. Clay foil, which fuffers by water ftanding on
it, ought to be laid as dry as poffible by proper ridges.
A loamy foil is the middle between the two mentioned.
It ought to be tilled flat in a dry country, eſpecially
if it incline to the foil firft mentioned. In a moist
country, it ought to be formed into ridges, high or
low according to the degree of moisture and tendency
to clay.
In grounds that require ridging, an error prevails,
that ridges cannot be raiſed too high. High ridges
labour under feveral diſadvantages. The foil is heap-
ed upon the crown, leaving the furrows bare: the
crown is too dry, and the furrows too wet: the crop,
which is always beſt on the crown, is more readily fha-
ken with the wind, than where the whole crop is of an
equal height: the half of the ridge is always covered
from the fun, a diſadvantage which is far from being
flight in a cold climate. High ridges labour under
another diſadvantage in ground that has no more level
than barely fufficient to carry off water: they fink the
furrows below the level of the ground; and confe-
quently retain water at the end of every ridge. The
furrows ought never to be funk below the level of the
ground. Water will more effectually be carried off
by leffening the ridges both in height and breadth: a
narrow ridge, the crown of which is but 18 inches Practice.
higher than the furrow, has a gr.ater flope than a very
broad ridge where the difference is three or four f et.
Next, of forming ridges where the ground hings
confiderably. Ridges may be too fteep as well as too
horizontal; and if to the ridges be given all the ſteep-
nefs of a field, a heavy ſhower may do irreparable mif-
chief. To prevent fuch miſchief, the ridges ought to
be fo directed crofs the field, as to have a gentle flope
for carrying off water flowly, and no more. In that
refpect, a hanging field has greatly the advantage of
one that is nearly horizontal; becauſe in the latter,
there is no opportunity of a choice in forming the
ridges. A hill is of all the beſt adapted for directing
the ridges properly. If the foil be-gravelly, it may be
ploughed round and round, beginning at the bottom
and afcending gradually to the top in a fpiral line.
This method of ploughing a hill, requires no more
force than ploughing on a level; and at the fame time
removes the great inconvenience of a gravelly hill, that
rains go off too quickly; for the rain is retained in
every furrow.
every furrow. If the foil be fuch as to require ridges,
they may be directed to any flope that is proper.
In order to form a field into ridges, that has not been
formerly cultivated, the rules mentioned are eaſily put
in execution. But what if ridges be already formed,
that are either crooked or too high? After ſeeing the
advantage of forming a field into ridges, people were
naturally led into an error, that the higher the better.
But what could tempt them to make their ridges crook-
ed? Certainly this method did not originate from de-
fign; but from the lazinefs of the driver ſuffering the
cattle to turn too haftily, inſtead of making them finiſh
the ridge without turning.
the ridge without turning. There is more than one
difadvantage in this flovenly practice. First, the wa
ter is kept in by the curve at the end of every ridge,
and fours the ground. Next, as a plough has the leaſt
friction poffible in a ſtraight line, the friction muſt be
increaſed in a curve, the back part of the mouldboard
preffing hard on the one hand, and the coulter preffing
hard on the other. In the third place, the plough
moving in a ſtraight line, has the greateſt command in
laying the earth over. But where the ftraight line of
the plough is applied to the curvature of a ridge in
order to heighten it by gathering, the earth moved by
the plough is continually falling back, in fpite of the
moft ſkilful ploughman.
The inconveniences of ridges high and crooked are fo
many, that one would be tempted to apply a remedy at
any risk. And yet, if the foil be clay, it would not be
advifable for a tenant to apply the remedy upon a leaſe
fhorter than two nineteen years. In a dry gravelly
foil, the work is not difficult nor hazardous. When
the ridges are cleaved two or three years fuccef-
fively in the courſe of cropping, the operation ought
to be concluded in one fummer. The earth, by reite-
rated ploughings, fhould be accumulated upon the fur-
rows, fo as to raiſe them higher than the crowns: they
cannot be raiſed too high, for the accumulated earth
will fubfide by its own weight. Crofs-ploughing once
or twice, will reduce the ground to a flat furface, and
give opportunity to form ridges at will. The fame
method brings down ridges in clay foil: only let care
be taken to carry on the work with expedition; be-
caufe
Part. II.
285
AGRICULTURE.
even in
Practice caufe a hearty fhower, before the new ridges are form-
ed, would foak the ground in water, and make the far-
mer fufpend his work for the remainder of that year at
leaft. In a ftrong clay, we would not venture to alter
the ridges, unless it can be done to perfection in one
Agriculture, fcafon. On this fubject Mr Anderſon has the follow-
Vol I.p.146 ing obfervations*.
Inconveni-
*Effays on
112
common
"The difficulty of performing this operation pro-
ences in the Perly with the common implements of huſbandry, and
the obvious benefit that accrues to the farmer from ha-
methods of ving his fields level, has produced many new inventions
levelling. of ploughs, harrows, drags, &c. calculated for ſpeedily
reducing the fields to that ftate; none of which have
as yet been found fully to anfwer the purpofe for
which they were intended, as they all indifcriminately
carry the earth that was on the high places into thoſe
that were lower; which, although it may, in fome ca-
fes, render the ſurface of the ground tolerably ſmooth
and level, is ufually attended with inconveniences far
greater, for a confiderable length of time, than that
which it was intended to remove.
113
Vegetable "For experience fufficiently fhows, that even the
mould be beft vegetable mould, if buried for any length of time
comes inert fo far beneath the ſurface as to be deprived of the be-
by being
long buried, nign influences of the atmoſphere, lofes its vis vita, if
I be allowed that expreffion; becomes an inert,
may
lifeless mafs, little fitted for nouriſhing vegetables; and
conſtitutes a foil very improper for the purpoſes of the
farmer. It therefore behoves him, as much as in him
lies, to preſerve, on every part of his fields, an equal
covering of that vegetable mould that has long been
uppermoft, and rendered fertile by the meliorating in-
fluence of the atmoſphere. But, if he fuddenly levels
his high ridges by any of theſe mechanical contrivan-
ces, he of neceffity buries all the good mould that was
on the top of the ridges in the old furrows; by which
he greatly impoverishes one part of his field, while he
too much enriches another; infomuch that it is a mat-
ter of great difficulty, for many years thereafter, to get
the field brought to an equal degree of fertility in dif-
ferent places; which makes it impoffible for the far-
mer to get an equal crop over the whole of his field by
any management whatever: and he has the mortifica-
tion frequently, by this means, to fee the one half of
his crop rotted by an over-luxuriance, while other parts
of it are weak and fickly, or one part ripe and ready
for reaping, while the other is not properly filled; fo
that it were, on many occafions, better for him to have
his whole field reduced at once to the fame degree of
poorneſs as the pooreſt of it, than have it in this ftate.
An almoſt impracticable degree of attention in fpread-
ing the manures may indeed in fome meaſure get the
better of this; but it is fo difficult to perform this pro-
perly, that I have frequently feen fields that had been
thus levelled, in which, after thirty years of continued
culture and repeated dreffings, the marks of the old
ridges could be diftinctly traced when the corn was
growing, altho' the furface was fo level that no traces
of them could be perceived when the corn was off the
ground.
But this is a degree of perfection in levelling that
cannot be ufually attained by following this mode of
practice; and, therefore, is but ſeldom feen. For all
that can be expected to be done by any levelling ma-
•
chine, is to render the furface perfectly fmooth and Practice.
every part, at the time that the operation is
performed: but as, in this cafe, the old hollows are
fuddenly filled up with looſe mould to a great depth,
while the earth below the furface upon the heights of
the old ridges remain firm and compact, the new-raifed
earth after a ſhort times fubfides very much, while the
other parts of the field do not fink at all; fo that in
a fhort time the old furrows come to be again below
the level of the other parts of the field, and the water
of courfe is fuffered in fome degree to ſtagnate upon
them; in fo much that, in a few years, it becomes ne-
ceffary once more to repeat the fame levelling proceſs,
and thus renew the damage that the farmer fuftains by
this pernicious operation.
114
not to be
attempted.
"On theſe accounts, if the farmer has not a long Levelling
leafe, it will be found in general to be much his intereft fometimes
to leave the ridges as he found them, rather than to
attempt to alter their direction: and, if he attends with
due caution to moderate the height of theſe old ridges,
he may reap very good crops, although perhaps at a
fomewhat greater expence of labour than he would
have been put to upon the fame field, if it had been re-
duced to a proper level ſurface, and divided into ſtraight
and parallel ridges.
"But, where a man is fecure of poffeffing his ground
for any confiderable length of time, the advantages
that he will reap from having level and well laid-out
fields, are fo confiderable as to be worth purchaſing, if
it fhould even be at a confiderable expence. But the
lofs that is fuftained at the beginning, by this mecha-
nical mode of levelling ridges, if they are of confider-
able height, is ſo very great, that it is perhaps doubt-
ful if any future advantages can ever fully compenſate
it. I would therefore advife, that all this levelling
apparatus fhould be laid aſide; and the following more
efficacious practice be fubftituted in its ftead: A prac-
tice that I have long followed with fuccefs, and can
fafely recommend as the very beſt that has yet come to
my knowledge.
IIS
EA mee
L
"If the ridges have been raiſed to a very great thod of
height, as a preparation for the enfuing operations, levelling
they may be firſt cloven, or ſcaled out, as it is called in
different places; that is, ploughed fo as to lay the earth
on each ridge from the middle towards the furrows.
But, if they are only of a moderate degree of height,
this operation may be omitted. When you mean to
proceed to level the ground, let a number of men be
collected, with fpades, more or fewer as the nature of
the ground requires, and then fet a plough to draw a
furrow directly acroſs the ridges of the whole field in-
tended to be levelled. Divide this line into as many
parts as you have labourers, allotting to each one ridge
or two, or more or lefs, according to their number,
height, and other circumftances. Let each of the la-
bourers have orders, as foen as the plough has paffed
that part affigned him, to begin to dig in the bottom
of the furrow that the plough has juft made, about the
middle of the fide of the old ridge, keeping his face
towards the old furrow, working backwards till he
comes to the height of the ridge, and then turn to-
wards the other furrow, and repeat the fame on the
other fide of the ridge, always throwing the earth that
he digs up into the deep old furrow between the rid
ges,
).
286
Part II.
AGRICULTURE.
116
Let it be a rule, to direct the ridges north and Proper di
fouth, if the ground will permit. In this direction, the rection of
the ridges.
eaft and weft fides of the ridges, dividing the fun e-
qually between them, will ripen at the fame time.
117
Practice. ges, that is directly before him; taking care not to dig expences of levelling by the plough and by the fpade, Practice.
deep where he first begins, but to go deeper and deeper in which he finds the latter by far the cheapest me-
as he advances to the height of the ridge, fo as to leave thod.
the bottom of the trench he thus makes acroſs the
ridge entirely level, or as nearly fo as poffible. And
when he has finiſhed that part of the furrow allotted to
him that the plough has made in going, let him then
go and finish in the fame manner his own portion of
the furrow that the plough makes in returning. In this
manner, each man performs his own talk through the
whole field, gradually raifing the old furrows as the
old heights are depreffed. And, if an attentive over-
feer is at hand, to fee that the whole is equally well
done, and that each furrow is raiſed to a greater height
than the middle of the old ridges, fo as to allow for the
fubfiding of that loofe earth, the operation will be en-
tirely finiſhed at once, and never again need to be re-
peated.
"In performing this operation, it will always be
proper to make the ridges, formed for the purpoſe of
levelling, which go acrofs the old ridges, as broad as
poffible; becauſe the deep trench that is thus made in
each of the furrows are an impediment in the future
operations, as well as the height that is accumulated
in the middle of each of theſe ridges; ſo that the fewer
there are of theſe, the better it is. The farmer, there-
fore, will do well to advert to this in time, and begin
by forming a ridge by always turning the plough to
the right hand, till it becomes of fuch a breadth as
makes it very inconvenient to turn longer in that man-
ner; and then, at the diftance of twice the breadth of
this new-formed ridge from the middle of it, mark off
a furrow for the middle of another ridge, turning
round it to the right hand, in the fame manner as was
done in the former, till it becomes of the fame breadth
with it; and then, turning to the left hand, plough out
the interval that was left between the two new-formed
ridges. By this mode of ploughing, each ridge may
be made of 40, or 50 or 60 yards in breadth, without
any great inconvenience; for although fome time will
be loft in turning at the ends of theſe broad ridges,
yet, as this operation is only to be once performed in
this manner, the advantage that is reaped by having
few open furrows, is more than fufficient to counter-
more than fufficient to counter-
balance it. And, in order to moderate the height
that would be formed in the middle of each of thefe
great ridges, it will always be proper to mark out the
ridges, and draw the furrow that is to be the middle of
each fome days before you collect your labourers to
level the field; that you may, without any hurry or
lofs of labour, clear out a good trench through the
middle of each of the old ridges; as the plough at this
time going and returning nearly in the fame track, pre-
vents the labourers from working properly without this
precaution.
"If theſe rules are attended to, your field will be at
once reduced to a proper level, and the rich earth that
formed the furface of the old ridges be ftill kept upon
the furface of your field; fo that the only lofs that the
poffeffor of ſuch ground can fuftain by this operation,
is merely the expence of performing it."
He afterwards makes a calculation of the different
It is a great advantage in agriculture, to form ridges Narrow
fo narrow, and fo low, as to admit the crowns and fur- ridges an
rows to be changed alternately every crop. The foil advantage.
nearest the furface is the beft; and by fuch ploughing,
it is always kept near the furface, and never buried.
In high ridges, the foil is accumulated at the crown
and the furrows left bare. Such alteration of crown
and furrow, is eafy where the ridges are no more but
feven or eight feet broad. This mode of ploughing
anfwers perfectly well in fandy and gravelly foils, and
even in loam; but it is not fafe in clay foil. In that
foil, the ridges ought to be 14 feet wide, and 20 inches
high; to be preferved always in the fame form by caft-
ing, that is, by ploughing two ridges together, be-
ginning at the furrow that ſeparates them, and plough-
ing round and round till the two ridges be finiſhed.
By this method, the feparating furrow is raifed a little
higher than the furrows that bound the two ridges.
But at the next ploughing, that inequality is correc-
ted, by beginning at the bounding furrows, and going
round and round till the ploughing of the two ridges
be completed at the feparating furrow.
118
Plate V.
4. CLEARING GROUND of WEEDS.
For this purpoſe a new inftrument, termed a cleaning Cleaning
harrow, has been introduced by Lord Kames, and is harrow.
ftrongly recommended (B). It is one entire piece
like the firſt of thoſe mentioned above, conſiſting of
fig. 6.
feven bulls, four feet long each, two and one-fourth
inches broad, two and three-fourths deep. The bulls
are united together by fheths, fimilar to what are men-
tioned above. The intervals between the bulls being
three and three-fourths inches, the breadth of the whole
harrow is three feet five inches. In each bull are in-
ferted eight teeth, each nine inches free below the
wood, and diſtant from each other fix inches. The
weight of each tooth is a pound, or near it. The
whole is firmly bound by an iron plate from corner to
corner in the line of the draught. The reft as in the
harrows mentioned above. The fize, however,
is not
invariable. The cleaning harrow ought to be larger
or leſs according as the foil is ftiff or free.
To give this inftrument its full effect, ftones of fuch
a fize as not to paſs freely between the teeth ought to
be carried off, and clods of that fize ought to be bro-
ken. The ground ought to be dry, which it commonly
is in the month of May.
In preparing for barley, turnip, or other fummer-
crop, begin with ploughing and cross-ploughing. If
the ground be not fufficiently pulverized, let the great
brake be applied, to be followed fucceffively with the ift
and 2d harrows. In ftiff foil, rolling may be proper, Plate V.
or twice between the acts. Theſe operations will loofen fig. 3, 4
every root, and bring fome of them to the furface.
This
(B) In his Gentleman Farmer; to which performance the practical part of this article is materially indebted..
!
Part II.
AGRICULTURE.
287
Practice. This is the time for the 3d harrow, conducted by a
boy mounted on one of the horſes, who trots ſmartly
Fig. 5.
along the field, and brings all the roots to the furface:
there they are to lie for a day or two, till perfectly
dry. If any ftones or clods remain, they muſt be car-
ried off in a cart. And now fucceeds the operation of
the cleaning harrow. It is drawn by a fingle horſe,
directed by reins, which the man at the oppofite corner
puts over his head, in order to have both hands free.
In this corner is fixed a rope, with which the man from
time to time raiſes the harrow from the ground, to let
the weeds drop. For the fake of expedition, the weeds
ought to be dropt in a ftraight line crofs the field,
whether the harrow be full or not; and ſeldom is a
field fo dirty but that the harrow may go 30 yards be-
fore the teeth are filled. The weeds will be thus laid
in parallel rows, like thoſe of hay raked together for
drying. A harrow may be drawn fwiftly along the
rows, in order to ſhake out all the duft; and then the
weeds may be carried clean off the field in carts. But
we are not yet done with thefe weeds: inftead of burn-
ing, which is the ordinary practice, they may be con-
verted into uſeful manure, by laying them in a heap
with a mixture of hot dung to begin fermentation.
At firſt view, this way of cleaning land will appear
operofe; but upon trial, neither the labour nor ex-
pence will be found immoderate. At any rate, the la-
bour and expence ought not to be grudged; for if a
field be once thoroughly cleaned, the feafons muſt be
very crofs, or the farmer very indolent, to make it ne-
ceffary to renew the operation in leſs than 20 years. In
the worſt ſeaſons, a few years pafture is always under
command; which effectually deftroys triennial plants,
fuch as thiſtles and couch-grafs.
eafily it penetrates the clay; but it abides lefs time in Practice.
it than the larger.
The next beſt fand is that waſhed down by rains on
gravelly foils. Thofe which are dry and light are the
worſt. Small gritty gravel has alſo been recommended
by the beſt writers on agriculture for theſe foils; and
in many inftances we have found them to anſwer the
purpoſe.
Shell marle, aſhes, and all animal and vegetable ſub-
ftances, are very good manures for clay; but they have
been found moſt beneficial when fand is mixed with
them. Lime has been often uſed, but the writer of
this fection would not recommend it, for he never
found any advantage from it fingly, when applied to
clays.
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محمد
The crops moſt fuitable for fuch lands are, wheat,
beans, cabbages, and rye-grafs. Clover feldom fuc-
ceeds, nor indeed any plants whoſe roots require depth,
and a wide fpread in the earth.
2. Chalk. Chalky foils are generally dry and warm,
and if there be a tolerable depth of mould, fruitful;
producing great crops of barley, rye, peafe, vetches,
clover, trefoil, burnet, and particularly faint foin. The
latter plant flouriſhes in a chalky foil better than
other. But if the ſurface of mould be very thin, this
foil requires good manuring with clay, marle, loam, or
dung. As theſe lands are dry, they may be ſown ear-
lier than others.
any
When your barley is three inches high, throw in
10 lb. of clover, or 15 lb. of trefoil, and roll it well.
The next fummer mow the crop for hay; feed off the
aftermath with fheep; and in winter give it a top-dref-
fing of dung. This will produce a crop the fecond
fpring, which fhould be cut for hay. As foon as this
crop is carried off, plough up the land, and in the be-
5. On the Nature of different kinds of SOILS, and the ginning of September fow three bufhels of rye per
PLANTS proper to each.
1. CLAY, which is in general the ſtiffeft of all foils,
and contains an unctuous quality. But under the
term clays, earths of different forts and colours are in-
cluded. One kind is fo obftinate, that fcarcely any
thing will fubdue it; another is fo hungry and poor,
that it abſorbs whatever is applied, and turns it into
its own quality. Some clays are fatter than others,
and the fatteft are the beft; fome are more foft and
flippery. But all of them retain water poured on
their furfaces, where it ſtagnates, and chills the plants,
without finking into the foil. The clofenefs of clay
prevents the roots and fibres of plants from ſpreading
in fearch of nourishment. The blue, the red, and the
white clay, if ftrong, are unfavourable to vegetation.
The ftony and loofer fort are lefs fo; but none of them
are worth any thing till their texture is fo loofened by
a mixture of other fubftances, and opened, as to ad-
mit the influence of the fun, the air, and frofts. A-
mong the manures recommended for clay, fand is of
all others to be preferred; and fea-fand the beſt of all
where it can be obtained: This moſt effectually breaks
the cohefion.
The reafon for preferring fea-fand is, that it is not
formed wholly (as moft other fands are) of fmall ftones;
but contains a great deal of calcareous matter in it,
fuch as, fhells grated and broken to pieces by the tide ;
and alfo of falts. The fmaller the fand is the more
acre, either to feed off with fheep in the fpring or to
ftand for harveſt. If you feed it off, fow winter
vetches in Auguft or September, and make them into
hay the following fummer. Then get the land into
as fine tilth as poffible, and fow it with faint foin, which,
with a little manure once in two or three years, will
remain and produce good crops for 20 years together.
3. Light poor land, which feldom produces good
crops of any thing till well manured. After it is well
ploughed, fow three bufhels of buck-wheat per acre,
in April or May: When in bloom, let your cattle in
a few days to eat off the beft, and tread the other
down; this done, plough in what remains immediate-
ly. This will foon ferment and rot in the ground;
then lay it fine, and fow three bushels of rye per acre.
If this can be got off early enough, fow turnips; if
not, winter vetches to cut for hay.
Then get
good tilth and fow turnip-rooted cabbages, in rows
three feet apart. This plant feldom fails, if it has
fufficient room, and the intervals be well horſe-hoed;
and you will find it the beſt ſpring-feed for ſheep when
turnips are over.
it in
The horſe-hoeing will clean and prepare the land
for faint foin; for the fowing of which April is
reckoned the beſt ſeaſon.
reckoned the beft feafon. The ufual way is to fow
it broad-caft, four bufhels to an acre; but the writer
prefers fowing it in drills two feet afunder; for then
it may be horfe-hoed, and half the feed will be fuffi-
cient.
The
288
Part II.
AGRICUL
ICULTURE.
F
Practice.
139
The horfe-hoeing will not only clean the crop, but
earth up the plants, and render them more luxuriant
and lafting.
If you fow it broad-caft, give it a top-dreffing in
December or January, of rotten dung or afhes, or,
which is ftill better, of both mixed up in compoft.
From various trials, it is found that taking only one
crop in a year, and feeding the after-growth, is better
than to mow it twice. Cut it as foon as it is in full
bloom, if the weather will permit. The hay will be
the fweeter, and the ftrength of the plants lefs im-
paired, than if it ftands till the feed is formed.
4. Light rich land, being the moſt eaſy to cultivate
to advantage, and capable of bearing moft kinds of
grain, pulfe, and herbage, little need be faid upon it.
One thing however is very proper to be obferved, that
fuch lands are the beft adapted to the drill huſbandry,
efpecially where machines are uſed, which require fhal-
low furrows to be made for the reception of the feed.
This, if not prone to couch-grafs, is the beſt of all
foils for lucerne ; which, if fown in two feet drills,
and kept clean, will yield an aflonishing quantity of
the moſt excellent herbage. But lucerne will never
be cultivated to advantage where couch-grafs and weeds.
are very plentiful; nor in the broad-caft method, even
where they are not fo; becauſe horfe-hoeing is effen--
tial to the vigorous growth of this plant.
5. Coarfe rough land. Plough deep in autumn;
when it has lain two weeks, crofs-plough it, and let it
lie rough through the winter. In March give it ano-
ther good ploughing; drag, rake, and harrow it well,
to get out the rubbish, and fow four bufhels of black
oats per acre if the foil be wet, and white oats if dry.
When about four inches high, roll them well after a
fhower: This will break the clods; and the fine mould
falling among the roots of the plants will promote their
growth greatly.
Some fow clover and ray grafs among the oats, but
this appears to be bad huſbandry. If you defign it
for clover, fow it fingle, and let a coat of dung be laid
on in December. The fnow and rain will then dilute
its falts and oil, and carry them down among the roots
of the plants. This is far better than mixing the
crops on fuch land, for the oats will exhauft the foil fo
much that the clover will be impoverished. The fol-
lowing fummer you will have a good crop of clover,
which cut once, and feed the after-growth. In the
winter plough it in, and let it lie till February: Then
plough and harrow it well; and in March, if the foil
be moift, plant beans in drills of three feet, to admit
the horfe-hoe freely: When you horfe-hoe them a fe-
cond time, fow a row of turnips in each interval, and
they will fucceed very well. But if the land be ſtrong
But if the land be ſtrong
enough for ſowing wheat as foon as the beans are off,
the turnips may be omitted..
SECT. III: Culture of particular Plants..
THE articles hitherto infifted on, are all of them
preparatory to the capital object of a farm, that of
raifing plants for the nouriſhment of man, and of o-
ther animals. Thefe are of two kinds; culmiferous
and leguminous; differing widely from each other.
Wheat, rye, barley, oats, rye-grafs, are of the firft
N° 8.
kind: of the other kind are, peaſe, beans, clover, cab- Pradice.
bage, and many others.
120
121
Culmiferous plants, fays Bonnet, have three fets of Culmife-
roots. The firft iffue from the feed, and puſh to the rous plants.
furface an upright ftem; another fet iſſue from a knot
in that item; and a third from another knot, nearer
the furface. Hence the advantage of laying feed fo
deep in the ground as to afford ſpace for all the fets.
Leguminous plants form their roots differently. Legumi-
Peafe, beans, cabbage, have ftore of finall roots, all nous plants..
iffuing from the feed, like the undermoft fet of culmi-
ferous roots; and they have no other roots. A potato
and a turnip have bulbous roots. Red clover has a.
ftrong tap-root. The difference between culmiferous
and leguminous plants with respect to the effects they
produce in the foil, will be infitted on afterward, in
the fection concerning rotation of crops. As the pre-.
fent fection is confined to the propagation of plants,.
it falls naturally to be divided into three articles: firſt,,
Plants cultivated for fruit; fecond, Plants cultivated.
for roots; third, Plants cultivated for leaves..
I. Plants Cultivated for Fruit..
1. WHEAT and RyE..
:
322
ANY time from the middle of April to the middle Fallowing.
of May, the fallowing for wheat may commence. The for wheat.
moment ſhould be choſen, when the ground, beginning
to dry, has yet fome remaining foftneſs: in that con-
dition, the foil divides cafily by the plough, and falls
into fmall parts.. This is an effential article, deferving
the ftricteft attention of the farmer. Ground plough..
ed too wet, riſes, as we fay, whole-fur, as when pafture-
ground is ploughed where ploughed too dry, it riſes -
in great lumps, which are not reduced by fubfequent
ploughings; not to mention, that it requires double
force to plough ground too dry, and that the plough is
often broken to pieces. When the ground is in pro-
per order, the farmer can have no excufe for delaying.
a fingle minute. This firft courfe of fallow muft, it is
true, yield to the barley-feed; but as the barley-feed
is commonly over the firft week of May, or fooner, the
feafon must be unfavourable if the fallow cannot be
reached by the middle of May.
As clay foil requires high ridges, theſe ought to be
cleaved at the firit ploughing, beginning at the furrow,
and ending at the crown. This ploughing ought to
be as deep as the foil will admit: and water-furrowing
ought inftantly to follow.; for if rain happen before
water-furrowing, it ftagnates in the furrow, neceffarily
delays the fecond ploughing till that part of the ridge
be dry, and prevents the furrow from being mellowed
and roafted by the fun. If this firft ploughing be well.
executed, annual weeds will rife in plenty.
About the first week of June, the great brake will
loofen and reduce the foil, encourage a fecond crop of
annuals, and raife to the furface the roots of weeds.
moved by the plough.. Give the weeds time to ſpring,..
which may be in two or three weeks. Then proceed
to the fecond ploughing about the beginning of July ;.
which muft be crofs the ridges, in order to reach all.
the flips of the former ploughing. By crofs-ploughing
the furrows will be filled up, and water-furrowing be
ftill more neceffary than before. Employ the brake
again about the 10th of Auguft, to deftroy the annuals
that
4.
AL
a
Part II.
289
+
AGRICULTURE.
Practice. that have fprung fince the laft ftirring. The deftruc-
tion of weeds is a capital article in fallowing: yet fo
blind are people to their intereft, that nothing is more
common than a fallow field covered with charlock and
wild muſtard, all in flower, and 10 or 12 inches high.
The field having now received two harrowings and two
breakings, is prepared for manure, whether lime or
dung, which without delay ought to be incorporated
with the foil by a repeated harrowing and a gathering
furrow. This ought to be about the beginning of
September, and as foon after as you pleaſe the feed may
123
Dreffing
loam for
wheat.
124
Dreffing a
be fown.
As in ploughing a clay foil it is of importance to
of importance to
prevent poaching, the hinting furrows ought to be done
with two horſes in a line. If four ploughs be employ-
ed in the ſame field, to one of them may be allotted the
care of finiſhing the hinting furrows.
Loam, being a medium between fand and clay, is
of all foils the fitteft for culture, and the leaſt fubject
to chances. It does not hold water like clay; and
when wet, it dries ſooner. At the fame time, it is more
retentive than fand of that degree of moiſture which
promotes vegetation. On the other hand, it is more
fubject to couch-grafs than clay, and to other weeds;
to deſtroy which, fallowing is ftill more neceflary than
in clay.
Beginning the fallow about the fift of May, or as
foon as barley-feed is over, take as deep a furrow as
the foil will admit. Where the ridges are fo low and
narrow as that the crown and furrow can be changed
alternately, there is little or no occaſion for water fur-
rowing. Where the ridges are fo high as to make it
proper to cleave them, water-furrowing is proper. The
fecond ploughing may be at the diſtance of five weeks.
Two crops of annuals may be got in the interim, the
firſt by the brake and the next by the harrow; and by
the fame means eight crops may be got in the ſeaſon.
The ground muſt be cleared of couch-grafs and knot-
grafs roots, by the cleaning harrow defcribed above.
The time for this operation is immediately before the
manure is laid on. The ground at that time being in
its loofeft ftate, parts with its grafs roots more freely
than at any other time. After the manure is ſpread,
and incorporated with the foil by brakeing or harrow-
ing, the feed may be fown under furrow, if the ground
hang fo as cafily to carry off the moisture. To leave
it rough without harrowing has two advantages: it
is not apt to cake with moiſture, and the inequali-
ties make a ſort of ſhelter to the young plants againft
froft. But if it lie flat, it ought to be fmoothed with
a flight harrow after the feed is fown, which will facilitate
the courſe of the rain from the crown to the furrow.
A fandy foil is too loofe for wheat. The only chance
fendy foil. for a crop is after red clover, the roots of which bind
the foil; and the inftructions above given for loam are
applicable here. Rye is a crop much fitter for fandy
foil than wheat; and, like wheat, it is generally ſown
after a fummer-fallow.
125
Time for
Lowing.l
Laſtly, Sow wheat as foon in the month of October as
the ground is ready. When fown a month more early,
it is too forward in the fpring, and apt to be hurt by
froft; when fown a month later, it has not time to
root before froſt comes on, and froft fpews it out of
the ground.
Setting of wheat, a method which is reckoned one
VOL. I. Part I.
126
of the greateſt improvements in huſbandry that has ta- Practice.
ken place this century. It feems to have been firſt
fuggefted by planting grains in a garden from mere cu-
riofity, by perfons who had no thought or opportunity
of extending it to a lucrative purpoſe. Nor was it
attempted on a larger fcale, till a little farmer near
Norwich began it about 17 years fince, upon leſs than
an acre of land. For two or three years only a few Setting of
followed his example; and thefe were generally the wheat;
butt of their neighbours merriment for adopting fo
fingular a practice. They had, however, confiderably
better çorn and larger crops than their neighbours :
this, together with the faving in feed, engaged more
to follow them: while fome ingenious perfons, ob-
ferving its great advantage, recommended and pub-
lifhed its utility in the Norwich papers.
Thefe re-
commendations had their effect. The curiofity and
inquiry of the Norfolk farmers (particularly round
Norwich) were excited, and they found fufficient rea-
fon to make general experiments. Among the reit
was one of the largeſt occupiers of lands in this county,
who fet 57 acres in one year. His fuccefs, from the
vifible fuperiority of his crop, both in quantity and
quality, was fo great, that the following autumn he
fet 300 acres, and has continued the practice ever
fince. This noble experiment eftabliſhed the practice, 127
and was the means of introducing it generally among A capital
the intelligent farmers in a very large diſtrict of land; improve-
there being few who now fow any wheat, if they can
griculture.
procure hands to fet it. It has been generally obferved,
that although the fet crops appear very thin during the
autumn and winter, the plants tiller and fpread prodi-
gioufly in the ſpring. The ears are indifputably lar-
ger, without any dwarfish or ſmall corn; the grain is
of a larger bulk, and ſpecifically heavier per bufhel
than when ſown.
ment in a-
The lands on which this method is particularly pro-
fperous, are either after a clover ftubble, or on which
trefoil and grafs-feed were fown the ſpring before the 128
laft. Thefe grounds, after the ufual manuring, are Me:hod.
once turned over by the plough in an extended flag or
turf, at ten inches wide; along which a man, who is
called a dibbler, with two fetting-irons, fomewhat big-
ger than ram-rods, but confiderably bigger at the
lower end, and pointed at the extremity, ſteps back-
wards along the turf and makes the holes about four in-
ches afunder every way, and an inch deep. Into theſe
holes the droppers (women, boys, and girls) drop two
grains, which is quite fufficient. After this, a gate
buſhed with thorns is drawn by one horſe over the
land, and clofes up the holes. By this mode, three
pecks of grain is fufficient for an acre; and being im-
mediately buried, it is equally removed from vermin or
the power of froft. The regularity of its rifing gives
the best opportunity of keeping it clear from weeds,
by weeding or hand-hoeing.
129
:
Wheat-fetting is a method peculiarly beneficial when Peculiar
corn is dear; and, if the feafon be favourable, may advantages,
be practifed with great benefit to the farmer. Sir
Thomas Beevor of Hethel-Hall in Norfolk, found the
produce to be two bushels per acre more than from the
wheat which is fown; but having much leſs ſmall corn
intermixed with it, the fample is better, and always
fetches a higher price, to the amount generally of two
fhillings per quarter.
O o
This
290
Part II.
AGRICULTURE.
Practice.
130
Propaga-
ting of
wheat by
dividing
the roots.
1
This method, too, faves to the farmer and to the
public fix pecks of feed-wheat in every acre; which, if
nationally adopted, would of itſelf afford bread for
more than half a million of people.
Add to theſe confiderations, the great fupport given
to the poor by this fecond harveft, as it may be called,
which enables them to diſcharge their rents and main-
tain their families without having recourfe to the pa-
riſh.-The expence of fetting by hand is now reduced
to about fix fhillings per acre; which, in good wea-
ther, may be done by one dibbler, attended by three
droppers, in two days. This is five fhillings per day;
of which, if the dibbler gives to the children fixpence
each, he will have himfelf three fhillings and fixpence
for his day's work, which is much more than he can
poffibly earn by any other labour ſo eaſy to himſelf.
But put the cafe, that the man has a wife who dibbles
with him, and two or three of his own children to
drop to him, you fee his gains will then be prodigious,
and enough to enfure a plenty of candidates for that
work, even in the leaft populous parts of the country.
It is, however, to be obſerved with regard to this
method, that in feafons when feed-corn is very cheap,
or the autumn particularly unfavourable to the practice,
it muſt certainly be leffened. In light lands, for in-
ftance, a very dry time prevents dibbling; as the holes
made with the inftruments will be filled up again by
the mould as faſt as the inftrument is withdrawn. So,
again, in a very wet ſeaſon, on ftrong and ftiff clays, the
feeds in the holes cannot be well and properly covered
by the buſhes drawn over them. But thefe extremes of
dry and wet do not often happen, nor do they affect
lands of a moderately confiftent texture, or both light
and heavy foils at the fame time, fo that the general
practice is in fact never greatly impeded by them.
Propagating of wheat by dividing and transplanting
its roots. In the Philofophical Tranſactions for 1768,
we meet with a very extraordinary experiment, of
which the following is an abstract. On the 2d of June
1766, Mr C. Miller fowed fome grains of the common
red wheat; and on the 8th of Auguft a fingle plant
was taken up and feparated into 18 parts, and each
part planted feparately. Theſe plants having puſhed
out feveral fide-ſhoots, by about the middle of Sep-
tember fome of them were then taken up and divid-
ed, and the reſt of them between that time and the
middle of October. This fecond divifion produced 67
plants. Theſe plants remained through the winter,
and another divifion of them, made between the middle
of March and the 12th of April, produced 500 plants.
They were then divided no further, but permitted to
remain. The plants were in general ftronger than any
of the wheat in the fields. Some of them produced
upwards of 100 ears from a fingle root. Many of the
ears meaſured ſeven inches in length, and contained
between 60 and 70 grains.
The whole number of ears which, by the procefs
above mentioned, were produced from one grain of
wheat, was 21,109, which yielded three pecks and
three quarters of clear corn, the weight of which was
47 lb. 7 ounces; and from a calculation made by
counting the number of grains in an ounce, the whole
number of grains was about 576,840.
By this account we find, that there was only one
general divifion of the plants made in the fpring. Had
a fecond been made, Mr Miller thinks the number of Practice.
plants would have amounted to 2000 inftead of 500,
and the produce thereby much enlarged.
The ground was a light blackiſh foil, upon a gra-
velly bottom; and, confequently, a bad foil for wheat.
One half of the ground was well dunged, the other
half had no manure. There was, however, not any
difference difcoverable in the vigour, or growth, or
produce, of the plants.
131
It must be evident, that the expence and labour of
fetting in the above manner by the hand, will render
it impracticable upon a large fcale fo as to be produc-
tive of any utility. A correfpondent of the Bath So-
ciety, therefore (Robert Bogle, Efq; of Daldowin,
near Glafgow), with a view to extend the practice,.
has propofed the uſe of the harrow and roller until
fome better implements be invented. This method Method
occurred to him from attending to the practice ufual propofed by
with farmers on certain occafions, of harrowing their
Mr Bogle.
fields after the grain is fprung up. Upon inveftigating
the principles upon which theſe practices are founded,
he found them confined merely to that of pulverifing
the earth, without any attention to Mr Miller's doc-
trine. They faid, "that after very heavy rains, and
then exceffive dry weather, the ſurface of their lands
were apt to be caked, the tender fibres of the young
roots were thereby prevented from pufhing, and of
courfe the vegetation was greatly obftructed; in fucli
inftances, they found very great benefit from harrow-.
ing and rolling."
Thefe principles he acknowledges to be well found-
ed, fo far as relates to pulverifing; but contends, that
the benefit arifing from harrowing and rolling is not
derived from pulverizing entirely, but alfo from fub-
dividing and enabling the plants to tiller (as it is term-
ed). The harrow (he obferves) certainly breaks
the incruftation on the furface, and the roller crumbles
the clods; but it is alſo obvious, that the harrow re-
moves a great many of the plants from their original
ftations; and that if the corn has begun to tiller at the
time it is ufed, the roots will be, in many infances,
fubdivided, and then the application of my fyftem of di-
vifibility comes into play. The roller then ferves to plant
the roots which have been torn up by the harrow."
132
But on this the Society obferve, that the teeth of a Objections,
harrow are too large to divide roots ſo ſmall and tena-
cious as are thofe of grain; and whenever fuch roots
(however tillered) ftand in the line any tooth makes,
they will, if fmall, be only turned on one fide by the
earth yielding to their lateral preffure, or, if large, the
whole root will probably be drawn out of the ground.
The principal ufes, therefore, derived from harrowing
and rolling theſe crops are, opening the foil between
the plants, earthing them up, breaking the clods, and
clofing the earth about their roots.
In a fubfequent letter, Mr Bogle, without conteft-
ing thefe points, further urges the fcheme of propaga-
ting wheat by dividing and tranſplanting its roots. "I
have converfed (fays he) much with many practical
farmers, who all admit that my plan has the appearance
not only of being practical, but advantageous. I have
alfo feen in the ninth number of Mr Young's Annals of
Agriculture, the account of an experiment which
ftrongly corroborates my theory. It was made by the
Rev. Mr Pike of Edmonton. From this, and other
experiments.
Part II.
291
AGRICULTURE.
T33
fcheme af-
Practice. experiments which have been made under my own eye,
I forefee clearly, that the fyftem is practicable, and
will certainly be productive of great benefit, fhould it
Practicabi- become general. Befides the faving of nine-tenths of
lity of the feed in the land fown broad-caft, other very important
ferted. advantages will attend the fetting out of wheat from a
feed-bed, ſuch as an early crop; the certainty of good
crops; rendering a fummer fallow unneceffary; faving
dũng; and having your wheat perfectly free from weeds
without either hand or horfe-hoeing. Five hundred
plants in April produced almoſt a bufhel of grain. My
gardener fays, he can fet one thouſand plants in a day,
which is confirmed by the opinion of two other gar.
deners. Mr Miller found no difference in the produce
of what was planted on lands that had dung, and on
what had none, except where the land was improper
for wheat at all.”
from which his fields may be fupplied; he calculates Practice.
that one acre will yield plants fufficient for 100 acres.
4. That a very great increaſe of crops may be ob-
tained by this method, probably a double crop, nay
perhaps a triple quantity of what is reaped either by
drilling, or by the broad-caft huſbandry.
134
Bath Socie.
vations.
On this letter we have the following note by the fo-
ty's obfer- ciety: "Mr Bogle will fee, by the fociety's premium-
book this year, that by having offered feveral premi-
ums for experiments of the kind he ſo earneſtly recom-
mends, we wish to have his theory brought to the teft
of practice. Our reaſon for this, as well as for print-
ing Mr B's letter, was rather to excite decifive trials
by ingenious perfons, than from any expectation of the
practice ever becoming a general one. General, in-
deed, it never can be. A fufficient number of hands
could not be found to do it. Unkindly ſeaſons at the
time of tranſplanting and dividing the roots would fre-
quently endanger and injure, if not deftroy the crops.
But admitting the mode generally practicable, we very
much doubt whether all the advantages he has enumera-
ted would be derived from this mode of culture. Why
fhould dividing and tranfplanting the roots of wheat
cauſe the crop to be early, or afford a certainty of its
being a good one? We cannot think that lefs manure
is neceſſary in this method, than either in drilling or
broad-caft; nor can we by any means admit, that ſuch
crops would be perfectly free from weeds without
either hand or horfe-hoeing." We readily agree with
Mr Bogle, that by this mode of culture on a general
ſcale, an immenſe quantity of feed-corn would be an-
nually faved to the nation; and in this, we believe, the
advantage, wereit practicable, would principally confift."
Upon the fame fubject, and that of harrowing all
fervations kinds of corn, we are informed, Mr Bogle afterwards
Bogle.
communicated to the Society his thoughts more at
large, together with authentic accounts which were
made at his inftance, and which were attended with
very great fucceſs. Theſe, however, were received too
late for publication in the laft (3d) volume of their pa-
pers. But the Society, conceiving his fyftem may be
attended with confiderable advantages if brought into
general practice, have given, at the end of the volume,
a few of his leading principles. Mr Bogle ftates, 1.
That he has known many inftances of very great crops
having been obtained by harrowing fields of corn after
they were fprouted; and therefore recommends the
practice very warmly.
135
Further ob
of Mr
}
2. That he has alſo received an authentic account of
one inſtance where the fame good effects were produ-
ced by ploughing the field.
3. On the fyftem of tranſplanting, he ftates, that a
very great proportion of the feed will be faved, as a
farmer may have a nurſery, or ſmall patch of plants,
5. That a great part of the labour may be perform-
ed by infirm men and women, and alfo by children,
who are at preſent ſupported by the parish charity;
and that of courfe the poor's rates may be confiderably
reduced.
6. That the expence will not exceed from 20s. to
30s. per acre, if the work be performed by able-bodied
men and women; but that it will be much lower, if
that proportion of the work which may be done by
employing young boys and girls ſhould be allotted to
them.
7. That in general he has found the diftance of nine
inches every way a very proper diſtance for fetting out
the plants at; but recommends them to be tried at o-
ther ſpaces, ſuch as fix, eight, or even 12 inches.
8. That he conceives an earlier crop may be obtain-
ed in this manner than can be obtained by any other
mode of cultivation.
9. That a clean crop may alſo be procured in this
way, becaufe if the land be ploughed immediately be-
fore the plants are ſet out, the corn will ſpring much
quicker from the plants than the weeds will do from
their feeds, and the corn will thereby bear down the
growth of the weeds.
10. That fuch lands as are overflowed in the winter
and fpring, and are of courſe unfit for fowing with
wheat in the autumn, may be rendered fit for crops cf
wheat by planting them in the fpring, or even in the
fummer.
11. That he has known inftances of wheat being
tranfplanted in September, October, November, Fe-
bruary, March, April, and even as late as the middle
of May, which have all anſwered very well.
12. That he has known an early kind of wheat ſown
as late as the middle of May, which has ripened in very
good time; and from that circumftance he conceives,
if the plants ſhould be taken from that early kind, the
feafon of tranfplanting might be prolonged at leaſt till
the 1ft of July, perhaps even later.
13. That he has reaſon to think wheat, oats, and
barley, are not annuals, but are perennials, provided
they are eaten down by cattle and ſheep, or are kept
low by the ſcythe or fickle; and are prevented from
fpindling or coming to the ear.
14. That one very prevalent motive with him in
profecuting this plan, is, that he is of opinion it may
enable Government to devife means of fupporting the
vagrant poor, both old and young, who are now to be
met with every where, both in towns and in the coun-
try, and who are at preſent a burden on the commu-
nity: but if ſuch employment could be ftruck out for
them, a comfortable ſubſiſtence might be provided for
them by means of their own labour and induſtry; and
not only fave the public and private charitable contri-
butions, but may alfo render that clafs of people uſeful
and profitable ſubjects; inftead of their remaining in
a uſeleſs, wretched, and perhaps a profligate and vi-
cious courſe of life.
Laftly, Mr Bogle has hinted at a fecondary object
002
which
T
292
Part II.
AGRICULTURE.
Practice. which he has in view, from this mode of cultivation, better to ſummer-fallow, and to fow wheat in the autumn. Practice.
136
Obferva-
tion of the
Bath So-
ciety.
137
Effect of
which he apprehends may in time, with a fmall degree
of attention, prove extremely advantageous to agricul-
ture.—It is, that in the first place, the real and intrin-
fic value of different kinds of grain may be more ac-
curately aſcertained by making a compariſon of it with
a few plants of each kind ſet out at the fame time,
than can be done when fown in. drills or broad-caft;
and when the moft valuable kinds of wheat, oats, or
barley, are diſcovered, he ſtates, that in a very fhort
time (not exceeding four or five years) a fufficient
quantity of that valuable kind may be procured to fup-
ply the kingdom with feed from a fingle grain of each
kind; for he calculates, that 47,000 grains of wheat
may be produced by divifibility in two years and three
months.
Upon theſe propofitions the Society obferves, "That
although Mr Bogle appears to be too fanguine in his
expectations of ſeeing his plan realized in general prac-
tice, it certainly merits the attention of Gentlemen
Farmers. We wish them to make fair experiments, and
report their fuccefs. Every grand improvement has
been, and ever will be, progreffive. They muft necef-
farily originate with gentlemen; and thence the circle
is extended by almoſt imperceptible degrees over pro-
vinces and countries. At all events, Mr Bogle is juftly
intitled to the thanks of the Society, and of the pub-
lic, for the great attention he has paid to the ſubject."
2. OATS.
:
As winter-ploughing enters into the culture of oats,
froſt upon we muſt remind the reader of the effect of froſt upon
tilled land. tilled land. Providence has neglected no region in-
tended for the habitation of man. If in warm cli-
mates the foil be meliorated by the fun, it is no lefs
meliorated by froft in cold climates. Froft acts upon
water, by expanding it into a larger ſpace. Froft has
no effect upon dry earth; witnefs fand, upon which it
it makes no impreffion. But upon wet earth it acts
moft vigorously it expands the moisture, which re-
quiring more ſpace puts every particle of the earth out
of its place, and feparates them from each other. In
that view, froft may be confidered as a plough fuperior
to any that is made, or can be made, by the hand of
man: its action reaches the minuteft particles; and, by
dividing and feparating them, it renders the foil loofe
and friable. This operation is the moſt remarkable in
tilled land, which gives free accefs to froft. With re-
ſpect to clay-foil in particular, there is no rule in huf-
bandry more effential than to open it before winter in
hopes of froft. It is even adviſable in a clay-foil to
leave the ftubble rank; which, when ploughed in be-
fore winter, keeps the clay loofe, and admits the froft
into every cranny.
138
Culture of
oats.
To apply this doctrine, it is dangerous to plough
clay-foil when wet; becauſe water is a cement for clay,
and binds it ſo as to render it unfit for vegetation. It
is, however, lefs dangerous to plough wet clay before
winter than after. A fucceeding froft corrects the bad
effects of fuch ploughing; a fucceeding drought increaſes
them.
The common method is, to fow oats on new-plough
ed land in the month of March, as foon as the ground
is tolerably dry. If it continue wet all the month of
March, it is too late to venture them after. It is much
But the preferable method, eſpecially in clay-foil, is
to turn over the field after harveft, and to lay it open
to the influences of froft and air, which leffen the te-
nacity of clay, and reduce it to a free mould. The fur-
face-foil by this means is finely mellowed for reception
of the feed; and it would be a pity to bury it by a fe-
cond ploughing before fowing. In general, the bulk
of clay-foils are rich; and fkilful ploughing without
dung, will probably give a better crop, than unikilful
ploughing with dung.
Hitherto of natural clays. We muft add a word of
carfe-clays which are artificial, whether left by the
fea, or fweeped down from higher grounds by rain.
The method commonly uſed of dreffing carfe-clay for
oats, is, not to ftir it till the ground be dry in the
ſpring, which feldom happens before the firft of March,.
and the feed is fown as foon after as the ground is fuffi-
ciently dry for its reception. Froft has a ſtronger
effect on fuch clays than on natural clay. And if the-
field be laid open before winter, it is rendered ſo looſe by
froft as to be ſoon drenched in water. The particles at
the fame time are fo fmall, as that the firſt drought in
fpring makes the furface cake or cruft. The difficulty.
of reducing this cruft into mould for covering the oat--
feed, has led farmers to delay ploughing till the month
of March. But we are taught by experience, that this
foil ploughed before winter, is fooner dry than when
the ploughing is delayed till: fpring; and as early fow-
ing is a great advantage, the objection of the fuperfi-
eial crufting is eafily removed by the firſt harrow above
deſcribed, which will produce abundance of mould for
covering the feed. The ploughing before winter not
only procures early fowing, but has another advantage::
the furface-foil that had been mellowed during winter
by the fun, froſt, and wind, is kept above.
The dreffing a loamy foil for oats differs little from
dreffing a clay foil, except in the following particular,
that being leſs hurt by rain, it requires not high ridges,.
and therefore ought to be ploughed crown and furrow
alternately.
Where there is both clay and loam in a farm, it is
obvious from what is faid above, that the ploughing
of the clay after harveſt ought firfl to be diſpatched..
If both cannot be overtaken that feaſon, the loam may
be delayed till the fpring with lefs hurt.
Next of a gravelly foil; which is the reverſe of clay,
as it never fuffers but from want of moisture. Such a
foil ought to have no ridges; but be ploughed circularly
from the centre to the circumference, or from the cir-
cumference to the centre. It ought to be tilled after
harveft: and the firft dry weather in fpring ought to be
laid hold of to fow, harrow, and roll; which will pre-
ferve it in fap.
The culture of oats is the fimpleft of all. That grain
is probably a native of Britain: it will grow on the
worſt foil with very little preparation. Fothat reafon,
before turnip was introduced, it was always the firſt
crop upon land broken up from the ſtate of naturè.
Upon fuch land, may it not be a good method,
to build upon the crown of every ridge, in the form
of a wall, all the furface-earth, one fod above ano-
ther, as in a fold for ſheep? After ftanding in this form
all the fummer and winter, let the walls be throw
down, and the ground prepared for oats. This will
Lecure
1
Part II.
293
AGRICULTUR E.
URE.
Practice. fecure one or two good crops; after which the land
may be dunged for a crop of barley and graſs-feeds.
This method may anfwer in a farm where manure is
fcanty.
139
Culture of
barley.
140
141
A better
method.
3. BARLEY.
THIS is a culmiferous plant that requires a mellow
foil. Upon that account, extraordinary care is requi-
fite where it is to be fown in clay. The land ought to
be ſtirred immediately after the foregoing crop is re-
moved, which lays it open to be mellowed with the
froft and air. In that view, a peculiar fort of plough-
Ribbing, ing has been introduced, termed ribbing; by which the
greateſt quantity of furface poffible is expofed to the
air and froft. The obvious objection to this method is,
that half of the ridge is left unmoved. And to ob-
viate that objection, the following method is offered,
which moves the whole foil, and at the fame time ex-
poſes the fame quantity of furface to the froſt and air.
As foon as the former crop is off the field, let the
ridges be gathered with as deep a furrow as the foil
will admit, beginning at the crown and ending at the
furrows. This ploughing loofens the whole foil, gi-
ving free accefs to the air and froft. Soon after, begin
a fecond ploughing in the following manner. Let the
field be divided by parallel lines crofs the ridges, with
intervals of 30 feet or fo. Plough once round an in-
terval, beginning at the edges, and turning the earth
toward the middle of the interval; which covers a foot
or ſo of the ground formerly ploughed. Within that
foot plough another round fimilar to the former; and
after that, other rounds, till the whole interval be finiſh-
ed, ending at the middle. Inſtead of beginning at
the edges, and ploughing toward the middle, it will
have the fame effect to begin at the middle and to
plough toward the edges. Plough the other intervals
in the fame manner. As by this operation the furrows
of the ridges will be pretty much filled up, let them
be cleared and water-furrowed without delay. By
this method, the field will be left waving like a plot
in a kitchen-garden, ridged up for winter. In this
form, the field is kept perfectly dry; for befide the
capital furrows that ſeparate the ridges, every ridge
has a number of crofs furrows that carry the rain in-
ftantly to the capital furrows. In hanging grounds
retentive of moiſture, the parallel lines above mention-
ed ought not to be perpendicular to the furrows of the
ridges, but to be directed a little downward, in order
to carry rain-water the more haftily to theſe furrows.
If the ground be clean, it may lie in that ſtate winter
and fpring, till the time of feed-furrowing. If weeds
happen to rife, they muſt be deſtroyed by ploughing,
or brakeing, or both; for there cannot be worfe huf-
bandry, than to put feed into dirty ground.
142
Advanta-
ges of this
method.
This method reſembles common ribbing in appear-
ance, but is very different in reality. As the common
ribbing is not preceded by a gathering furrow, the
half of the field is left untilled, compact as when the
former crop was removed, impervious in a great mea-
fure to air or froft. The common ribbing at the ſame
-time lodges the rain-water on every ridge, preventing
it from defcending to the furrows; which is hurtful in
all foils, and poiſonous in a clay foil. The stitching
here deſcribed, or ribbing, if you pleaſe to call it. ſo,
prevents theſe noxious effects. By the two ploughings Practice.
the whole foil is opened, admitting freely air and froft;
and the multitude of furrows lays the ſurface perfectly
dry, giving an early opportunity for the barley-feed.—
But further, as to the advantage of this method :
When it is proper to fow the feed, all is laid flat with
the brake, which is an eafy operation upon foil that is
dry and pulverized; and the feed-furrow which fuc-
ceeds, is fo fhallow as to bury little or none of the fur-
face-earth: whereas the ftirring for barley is common-
ly done with the deepeſt furrow; and confequently bu-
ries all the furface-foil that was mellowed by the froft
and air. Nor is this method more expenfive; becaufe feed in a
the common ribbing must always be followed with a dry feafon..
firring furrow, which is faved in the method recom-
mended. Nay, it is lefs expenfive; for after common
ribbing, which keeps in the rain water, the ground is
commonly fo foured, as to make the ftirring a labo-
rious work..
It is well known that barley is lefs valuable when it
does not ripen equally; and that barley which comes
up fpeedily in a dufky foil, muſt gain a great advantage
over feed-weeds. Therefore, firft take out about one-
third of the contents of the facks of feed barley or
bear, to allow for the fwelling of the grain. Lay the
facks with the grain to fleep in clean water; let it lie
covered with it for at least 24 hours. When the
ground is fo dry as at prefent, and no likelihood of
rain for 10 days, it is better to lie 36 hours. Sow the
grain wet from ſteeping, without any addition of pow-
dered quick-lime, which, though often recommended
in print, can only poifon the feed, fuck up part of its
uſeful moiſture, and burn the hands of the fower. The
feed will fcatter well, as clean water has no tenacity;
only the fower muit put in a fourth or a third more
feed in bulk than ufual of dry grain, as the grain is
fwelled in that proportion: harrow it in as quickly as
poffible after it is fown; and though not neceſſary,.
give it the benefit of freſh furrow, if convenient. You
may expect it up in a fortnight at fartheft.
The following experiment by a correſpondent of the
Bath Society being confidered as a very interefting
one, is here fubjoined.
143
Manage
ment of
144
ments on
"The laft fpring (1783) being remarkably dry, Important
foaked my feed-barley in the black water taken from a experi-
refervoir which conftantly receives the draining of my feed-barley..
dung-heap and ſtables. As the light corn floated on
the top, I fkimmed it off, and let the reft ſtand 24
hours. On taking it from the water, I mixed the feed
grain with a fufficient quantity of fifted wood-afhes, to
make it fpread regularly, and fowed three fields with
it I began fowing the 16th, and finished the 23d of
April.. The produce was 60 bushels per acre, of good
clean barley, without any small or green corn, or weeds
at harveft. No perfon in this country had better
grain..
I fowed alfo feveral other fields with the fame feed
dry, and without any preparation; but the crop, like
thofe of my neighbours, was very poor; not more than
twenty buthels
per acre, and much mixed with green
corn and weeds when harvefted. I alſo fowed fome of
the feed dry on one ridge in each of my former fields,.
but the produce was very poor in compariſon of the
other parts of the field.”
Where the land is in good order, and free of weeds,.
April
294
Part II.
AGRICULTURE.
Practice. April is the month for fowing barley. Every day is
proper, from the first to the laſt.
145
'Time of
fowing.
146
Mifcellane-
-
The dreffing loamy foil and light foil for barley, is
the fame with that defcribed; only that to plough dry
is not altogether fo effential as in dreffing clay-foil.
Loam or fand may be ſtirred a little moift: better,
however, delay a week or two, than to ftir a loam when
moift. Clay muſt never be ploughed moift, even tho'
the ſeaſon ſhould efcape altogether. But this will fel
dom 'be neceffary; for not in one year of 20 will it hap-
pen, but that clay is dry enough for ploughing fome
time in May. Froft may correct clay ploughed wet
after harveſt; but ploughed wet in the fpring, it unites
into a hard mafs, not to be diffolved but by very hard
labour.
On the cultivation of this grain we have the follow
ing obfervations by a Norfolk farmer.
The beſt foil, he obferves, is that which is dry and
ous cher healthy, rather light than ftiff, but yet of fufficient
vations con- tenacity and ftrength to retain the moisture. On this
cerning the
cultivation kind of land the grain is always the belt bodied and
ef barley. coloured, the nimbleft in the hand, and has the thin-
neft rind. Theſe are qualities which recommend it
moſt to the maltſter. If the land is poor, it ſhould be
dry and warm; and when fo, it will often bear better
corn than richer land in a cold and wet fituation.
In the choice of your feed, it is needful to obſerve,
that the beſt is of a pale lively colour, and brightiſh
caft, without any deep redneſs or black tinge at the
tail. If the rind be a little fhrivelled, it is the better;
for that flight ſhrivelling proves it to have a thin ſkin,
and to have ſweated in the mow. The neceffity of a
change of feed by not fowing two years together what
grew on the fame foil, is not in any part of huſbandry
more evident than in the culture of this grain, which,
if not frequently changed, will grow coarfer and coar-
fer every fucceeding year.
It has generally been thought that feed-barley would
be benefited by fteeping; but liming it has, in many
inftances, been found prejudicial. Sprinkling a little
foot with the water in which it is ſteeped has been of
great fervice, as it will fecure the feed from infects.
In a very dry feed-time, barley that has been wetted
for malting, and begins to ſprout, will come up fooner,
and produce as good a crop as any other.
If you fow after a fallow, plough three times at leaſt.
At the firſt ploughing, lay your land up in fmall ridges,
and let it remain fo during the winter, for the froft to
mellow it; the fecond ploughing fhould be the begin-
ning of February. In March ſplit the ridges, and lay
the land as flat as poffible, at the fame time harrowing
it fine. But in ftrong wet lands (if you have no other
for barley) lay it round, and make deep furrows to re-
ceive the water.
"I have often (continues he), taken the following
method with fuccefs: On lands tolerably manured, I
On lands tolerably manured, I
fowed clover with my barley, which I reaped at har-
veft; and fed the clover all the following winter, and
from fpring to July, when I fallowed it till the fol-
lowing fpring, and then fowed it with barley and clo-
ver as before. Repeating this method every year I had
very large crops, but would not recommend this prac
tice on poor light land.
"We fow on our lighteft lands in April, on our
moift lands in May; finding that thofe lands which are
the moſt ſubject to weeds produce the beſt crops when Practice.
fown late.
"The common method is to fow the barley-feed
broad-caft at two fowings; the firſt harrowed in once,
the fecond twice; the ufual allowance from three to
four bushels per acre. But if farmers could be pre-
vailed on to alter this practice, they would foon find
their account in it. Were only half the quantity ſown
equally, the produce would be greater, and the corn
lefs liable to lodge: For when corn ftands very cloſe,
the ftalks are drawn up weak; and on that account are
lefs capable of refifting the force of winds, or ſupport-
ing theinfelves under heavy rains.
From our great fuccefs in fetting and drilling
wheat, fome of our farmers tried thefe methods with
barley; but did not find it anſwer their expectations,
except on very rich land.
"I have myſelf had 80 ftalks on one root of barley,
which all produced good and long ears, and the grain
was better than any other; but the method is too ex-
penfive for general practice. In poor land, fow thin,
or your crop will be worth little. Farmers who do
not reafon on the matter, will be of a different opinion;
but the fact is indifputable."
When the barley is fowed and harrowed in, he ad-
vifes that the land be rolled after the firſt ſhower of rain,
to break the clods. This will clofe the earth about
the roots, which will be a great advantage to it in dry
weather.
When the barley has been up three weeks or a
month, it is a very good way to roll it again with a
heavy roller, which will prevent the fun and air from
penetrating the ground to the injury of the roots.
This rolling, before it branches out, will alſo cauſe it
to tiller into a greater number of ftalks; ſo that if the
plants be thin, the ground will be thereby filled, and
the ftalks ftrengthened.
If the blade grows too rank, as it fometimes will in
a warm wet ſpring, mowing is a much better method
than feeding it down with fheep; becauſe the ſcythe
takes off only the rank tops, but the ſheep being fond
of the fweet end of the ſtalk next the root, will often
bite ſo cloſe as to injure its future growth.
4. BUCK-WHEAT.
147
Buck-
THE uſes of this plant have been mentioned in the Culture of
preceding part, nº 46. It delights in a mellow fan- wheat.
dy foil; but fucceeds well in any dry loofe healthy
land, and moderately fo in a free loamy ſtone-braſh.
A ftiff clay is its averfion, and it is entirely labour loft
to fow it in wet poachy ground. The proper feafon
for fowing is from the laft week of May or the begin-
ning of June. It has been fown, however, fo early as
the beginning of April, and fo late as the 22d of July,
by way of experiment; but the latter was rather ex-
treme to be chofen, and the former was in danger from
froft. In an experiment upon a ſmall piece of ground,
the grain of two different crops was brought to matu-
rity in the fummer 1787. After fpring feedings,
a crop of turnip-rooted cabbage, or vetches, there will
be fufficient time to fow the land with buck-weat.
Probably, in hot dry fummers, a crop of vetches
might even be mown for hay early enough to introduce
a crop of this grain after it.
In the year 1780, about ſeven acres of a fandy foil
3
on
Part II.
AGRICULTU
295
R E.
a fummer-fallowing is far from being fo advantageous Praice.
a preparation for a fucceeding crop.
Practice. on Briflington Common (A), having been firft tole-
rably well cleanfed from brambles, furze, &c. received
one ploughing. To reduce the irregularities of the
ſurface, it was rolled; and on the 9th of June in that
year, two bushels and a half of buck-weak per acre
fown, the ground rolled again without harrowing.
148
Advanta-
?
The vegetation appeared in five or fix days, as is
ges of this conftantly the cafe be the weather wet or dry. The
cropping.
growth was fo rapid, that the fern, with which this
land greatly abounded, was completely kept under.
About the middle of September the crop was mown,
but by reaſon of a great deal of rain about that time,
it was not fecured until the beginning of October;
hence a lofs of great part of the grain by shedding, as
well as fome eaten by birds. However, there were
faved about 24 Wincheſter bushels per acre; and, not-
withstanding its long expofure to the weather, recei-
ved no fort of damage, only perhaps that the finelt
and moſt perfect grain was the first to fall from the
plant. The ground after this had almoft the appear-
ance of a fallow, and was immediately ploughed.
When it had lain a moderate time to meliorate, and
to receive the influences of the atmoſphere, it was har-
rowed, fown with Lammas wheat, and ploughed in
under furrow, in a contrary direction to the firft
ploughing. Thus a piece of land, which in the
month of April was altogether in a ſtate of nature, in
the following November was feen under a promifing
crop
of what is well ſtyled the king of grain, and this
without the aid of manure, or of any very great degree
of tillage. Nor was the harvest by any means deficient;
for feveral perfons converfant in fuch things eftimated
the produce from 26 to 30 bufhels per acre.
As foon
as the wheat crop was taken off, the ground had one
ploughing, and on the firft of September following was
fown with turnip-feed. The turnips were not large,
but of an herbage fo abundant as in the following
fpring to fupport 120 ewes with their lambs, which
were fed on it by folding four weeks. After this it
was manured with a compofition of rotten dung and
natural earth, about 20 putt loads per acre, and plant-
ed with potatoes. The crop fold for L. 138, befides
a confiderable number uſed in the family, and a quan-
tity referved with which ten acres were planted the
following feafon. The enfuing autumn it was again
fown with wheat, and produced an excellent crop, In
the fpring of 1784, it was manured and planted with
potatoes, as in the preceding inftance; the crop (tho'
tolerably good) by no means equal to the former, pro-
ducing about 100 facks per acre only. In fpring
1785, the land was now for a third time under a crop
of wheat, it being intended to try how far this mode
of alternate cropping, one year with potatoes and
another with wheat, may be carried..
From the fuccefs of the preceding and other expe-
riments, by Nehemiah Bartley, Efq; of Briſtol, as de-
tailed in the Bath Society Papers, it would feem, that
the culture of this plant ought in many cafes to be a-
dopted inſtead of a fummer-fallowing for the crop
produced appears not only to be fo much clear gain in
refpect to fuch practice, but alfo affords a confiderable
quantity of ftraw for fodder and manure; befide that
:.
5. BEANS.
149
THE propereft foil for beans is a deep and moift clay. Culture of
There was lately introduced into Scotland a method beans.
of fowing beans with a drill-plough, and horfe-hoeing
the intervals; which, befide affording a good crop,. is
a dreffing to the ground. But as that method is far
from being general, we keep in the common track.
As this grain is early fown, the ground intended for
it fhould be ploughed before winter, to give acceſs to
the froft and air; beneficial in all foils, and neceffary
in a clay foil. Take the first opportunity after Ja-
nuary when the ground is dry, to loofen the foil with
the harrow firſt defcribed, till a mould be brought up-
on it. Sow the feed, and cover it with the fecond
harrow. The third will ſmooth the furface, and cover
the feed equally. Theſe harrows make the very beft
figure in fowing beans; which ought to be laid deep
in the ground, not lefs than fix inches. In clay foil,
the common harrows are altogether infufficient. The
foil, which has reſted long after ploughing, is render--
ed compact and folid: the common harrows ſkim the
furface: the feed is not covered; and the firſt hearty
fhower of rain lays it above ground. Where the far-
mer overtakes not the ploughing after harveſt, and is
reduced to plough immediately before fowing, the
plough anſwers the purpoſe of the first harrow; and
the other two will complete the work. But the labour
of the first harrow is ill faved; as the ploughing before
winter is a fine preparation, not only for beans, but
for grain of every kind. If the ground ploughed be--
fore winter happen by fuperfluity of moisture to cake,
the first harrow going along the ridges, and croffing
them, will loofen the furface, and give accefs to the air
for drying. As foon as the ground is dry, fow with-
out delaying a moment. If rain happen in the interim,
there is no remedy but patience till a dry day or two
come.
Carfe-clay, ploughed before winter, feldom fails to
cake. Upon that account, a fecond ploughing is ne--
ceffary before fowing; which ought to be performed
with an ebb furrow, in order to keep the froft-mould -
as near the furface as poffible. To cover the feed with
the plow is expreffed by the phrafe to fow under fur.
The clods raifed in this ploughing are a fort
of fhelter to the young plants in the chilly fpring-
months.
row.
The foregoing method will answer for loam. And
as for a fandy or gravelly foil, it is altogether impro-
per for beans.
Though we cannot approve the horfe-hoeing of
beans, with the invervals that are commonly allotted
for turnip, yet we would strongly recommend the drill-
ing them at the diftance of 10 or 12 inches, and keep--
ing the intervals clean of weeds. This may be done
by hand-hoeing, taking opportunity at the fame time
to lay freſh foil to the roots of the plants. But as this
is an expenſive operation, and hands are not always to be
got, a narrow plough, drawn by a fingle horſe, might
be uſed, with a mould-board on each fide to ſcatter the
(A) A very rough piece of land, at that time juft inclofed.
earth
296
A
GRICULTURE.
Part II.
Practice. earth upon the roots of the plants. This is a cheap
and expeditious method: it keeps the ground clean;
and nourishes the plants with freſh foil.
150
Culture of
peafe.
"
As beans delight in a moift foil, and have no end
of growing in a moift feafon, they cover the ground
totally when fown broadcaft, keep in the dew, and ex-
clude the fun and air: the plants grow to a great
height; but carry little feed, and that little not well
ripened. This diſplays the advantage of drilling;
which gives free access to the fun and air, dries the
ground, and affords plenty of ripe feed.
6. PEASE.
PEASE are of two kinds; the white, and the gray.
The cultivation of the latter only belongs to this place.
There are two fpecies of the gray kind, diftinguifh-
ed by their time of ripening. One ripens foon, and for
that reaſon is termed hot feed: the other, which is flower
in ripening, is termed cold feed.
Peafe, a leguminous crop, is proper to intervene
between two culmiferous crops; lefs for the profit of a
peafe-crop, than for meliorating the ground. Peafe,
however, in a dry feafon, will produce fix or ſeven bolls
each acre; but, in an ordinary feaſon, they feldom reach
above two, or two and a half. Hence, in a moift cli-
mate, which all the weft of Britain is, red clover feems
a more beneficial crop than peafe; as it makes as good
winter-food as peaſe, and can be cut green thrice du-
ring fummer.
Å field intended for cold feed ought to be ploughed
in October or November; and in February, as ſoon as
the ground is dry, the feed ought to be fown on the
winter-furrow. A field intended for hot feed ought to
be ploughed in March or April, immediately before
fowing. But if infefted with weeds, it ought to be al-
fo ploughed in October or November.
but
Peaſe laid a foot below the furface will vegetate ;
the moſt approved depth is fix inches in light foil, and
four inches in clay foil; for which reaſon, they ought
to be fown under furrow when the ploughing is delayed
till ſpring. Of all grain, beans excepted, they are the
leaft in danger of being buried.
Peaſe differ from beans, in loving a dry foil and a
dry feafon. Horſe-hoeing would be a great benefit,
could it be performed to any advantage; but peaſe
grow expeditiously, and foon fall over and cover the
ground, which bars ploughing. Horfe-hoeing has
little effect when the plants are new fprung; and when
they are advanced to be benefited by that culture, their
length prevents it. Faft growing at the fame time is
the caufe of their carrying fo little feed: the feed is
buried among the leaves; and the fun cannot penetrate
to make it grow and ripen. The only practicable re-
medy to obtain grain, is thin fowing; but thick.fowing
produces more ſtraw, and mellows the ground more.
Half a boll for an Engliſh acre may be reckoned thin
fowing; three firlots, thick fowing..
Notwithſtanding what is faid above, Mr Hunter, a
noted farmer in Berwickshire, began fome time ago to
fow all his peaſe in drills; and never failed to have great
crops of corn as well as of ftraw. He fowed double
rows at a foot interval, and two feet and an half be-
tween the double rows, which admit horfe-hoeing. By
that method, he had alſo good crops of beans on light
land.
N° 8.
4
Peafe and beans mixed are often fown together, in Practice.
order to catch different feafons. In a moilt ſeaſon, the
beans make a good crop ; in a dry ſeaſon, the pcafe.
The growth of plants is commonly checked by
drought in the month of July; but promoted by rain
in Auguft. In July, grafs is parched; in Auguft, it
recovers verdure. Where peafe are fo far advanced in
the dry feafon as that the feed begins to form, their
growth is indeed checked, but the feed continues to fill.
If only in the bloffom at that feaſon, their growth is
checked a little; but they become vigorous again in
Auguft, and continue growing without filling till ftop-
ped by froft. Hence it is, that cold feed, which is
early fown, has the best chance to produce corn: hot
feed, which is late fown, has the beſt chance to pro-
duce ftraw.
The following method is practifed in Norfolk, for
fowing peafe upon a dry light foil, immediately opened
from pafture. The ground is pared with a plough ex-
tremely thin, and every fod is laid exactly on its back.
In every fod a double row of holes is made.
A pea
dropt in every hole lodges in the flay'd ground imme-
diately below the fod, thruſts its roots horizontally, and
has fufficient moiſture. This method enabled Norfolk
farmers, in the barren year 1740, to furniſh white peaſe
at 12s. per boll.
II. Plants cultivated for Roots. [See alfo Art. III.]
I. TURNI P.
151
TURNIP delights in a gravelly foil; and there it can Culture of
be raiſed to the greateſt perfection, and with the leaf turnip.
hazard of mifcarrying. At the fame time, there is no
foil but will bear turnip when well prepared.
No perfon ever deferved better of a country, than he
who firſt cultivated turnip in the field. No plant is bet-
ter fitted for the climate of Britain, no plant profpers
better in the coldeft part of it, and no plant contributes
more to fertility. In a word, there has not for two
centuries been introduced into Britain a more valuable
improvement.
Of all roots, turnip requires the fineft mould; and
to that end, of all harrows froft is the beft. In order
to give access to froft, the land ought to be prepared
by ribbing after harveft, as above directed in preparing
land for barley. If the field be not ſubject to annuals,
it may lie in that ſtate till the end of May; otherwiſe
the weeds must be deftroyed by a brakeing about the
middle of April;, and again in May, if weeds rifc.
The first week of June, plough the field with a fhallow
furrow. Lime it if requifite, and harrow the lime into
the foil. Draw fingle furrows with intervals of three
feet, and lay dung in the furrows. Cover the dung fuf-
ficiently, by going round it with the plough, and form-
ing the three-feet ſpaces into ridges. The dung comes
thus to lie below the crown of every ridge.
152
The feafon of fowing muſt be regulated by the time Seafon and
intended for feeding. Where intended for feeding in method of
fowing.
November, December, January, and February, the
feed ought to be fown from the 1ft to the 20th of June.
Where the feeding is intended to be carried on to
March, April, and May, the feed muft not be fown
till the end of July. Turnip fown earlier than above
directed, flowers that very fummer, and runs faſt to
feed; which renders it in a good meaſure unfit for
food,
1
Part II.
297
AGRICULTUR
E.
Practice. food. If fown much later, it does not apple, and there
is no food but from the leaves.
Though by a drill-plough the feed may be fown of
any thickneſs, the ſafeſt way is to fow thick. Thin
fowing is liable to many accidents, which are far from
being counterbalanced by the expence that is faved in
thinning. Thick-fowing can bear the ravage of the
black fly, and leave a fufficient crop behind. It is a pro-
tection against drought, gives the plants a rapid pro-
greſs, and eſtabliſhes them in the ground before it is
neceffary to thin them.
The fowing turnip broadcaſt is univerfal in England,
and common in Scotland, though a barbarous practice.
The eminent advantage of turnip is, that befide a pro-
fitable crop, it makes a moſt complete fallow; and the
latter cannot be obtained but by horfe-hoeing. Upon
that account, the fowing turnip in rows at three feet
diſtance is recommended. Wider rows anfwer no pro-
fitable end, ftraiter rows afford not room for a horſe
to walk in. When the turnip is about four inches high,
annual weeds will appear.
Go round every interval
with the flighteſt furrow poffible, at the diſtance of
two inches from each row, moving the earth from the
rows toward the middle of the interval. A thin plate
of iron muſt be fixed on the left fide of the plough, to
prevent the earth from falling back and burying the
turnip. Next, let women be employed to weed the
rows with their fingers; which is better, and cheaper
done, than with the hand-hoe. The hand-hoe, be-
fide, is apt to diſturb the roots of the turnip that are to
ftand, and to leave them open to drought by removing
the earth from them. The ftanding turnip are to be
at the diſtance of twelve inches from each other: a
diſtance makes them ſwell too much; a lefs di-
greater
ftance affords them not fufficient room. A woman
foon comes to be expert in finger-weeding. The fol-
lowing hint may be neceffary to a learner. To fecure
the turnip that is to ſtand, let her cover it with the left
hand; and with the right pull up the turnip on both
fides. After thus freeing the ftanding turnip, he may
fafely uſe both hands. Let the field remain in this
ftate till the appearance of new annuals make a fecond
ploughing neceffary; which muſt be in the fame fur-
row with the former, but a little deeper. As in this
ploughing the iron plate is to be removed, part of the
loofe earth will fall back on the roots of the plants:
the reft will fill the middle of the interval, and bury
every weed. When weeds begin again to appear, then
is the time for a third ploughing in an oppofite direc-
tion, which lays the earth to the roots of the plants.
This ploughing may be about the middle of Auguft;
after which, weeds rife very faintly. If they do rife,
another ploughing will clear the ground of them.
Weeds that at this time rife in the row, may be cleared
with a hand-hoe, which can do little mitchief among
plants diftant twelve inches from each other. It is cer-
tain, however, that it may be done cheaper with the
hand (a). And after the leaves of turnips in a row meet
VOL. I. Part I.
together, the hand is the only inftrument that can be Practice.
applied for weeding.
once.
In fwampy ground, the furface of which is beft re-
duced by paring and burning, the feed may be fown
in rows with intervals of a foot. To fave time, a drill-
plough may be uſed that fows three or four rows at
Hand-hoeing is proper for fuch ground; be-
cauſe the foil under the burnt firatum is commonly full
of roots, which digeft and rot better under ground than
when brought to the furface by the plough. In the
mean time, while theſe are digeiting, the afhes will fe-
cure a good crop.
153
In cultivating turnips to advantage, great care fhould Properties
be taken to procure good, bright, nimble, and well- of different
dried feed, and of the beſt kinds.
nip.
The Norfolk farmers generally raiſe the oval white,
the large green-topp'd, and the red or purple-topp'd
kinds, which from long experience they have found to
be the moſt profitable.
The roots of the green-topp'd will grow to a large
fize, and continue good much longer than others. The
red or purple-topp'd will alfo grow large, and continue
good to the beginning of February; but the roots be-
come hard and ſtringy fooner than the former.
The green-topp'd growing more above ground, is in
more danger of ſuſtaining injury from fevere froits than
the red or purple, which are more than half covered by
the foil; but it is the fofteft and ſweeteſt, when grown
large, of any kind. We have ſeen them brought to ta-
ble a foot in diameter, and equally good as garden
turnips.
Turnips delight in a light foil, confifting of fand
and loam mixed; for when the foil is rich and heavy,
although the crop may be as great in weight, they
will be rank, and run to flower earlier in fpring.
forts of tur-
feed,
154
Turnip-feed, like that of grain, will not do well obferva-
without frequent changing. The Norfolk feed is fent tions with
to moit parts of the kingdom, and even to Ireland, but regard to
after two years it degenerates; fo that thoſe who wiſh
to have turnips in perfection fhould procure it freſh e-
very year from Norwich, and they will find their ac-
count in fo doing. For from its known reputation,
many of the London feedfmen fell, under that cha-
racter, feed raiſed in the vicinity of the metropolis,
which is much inferior in quality.
་
When the plants have got five leaves, they ſhould be
hoed, and ſet out at leaſt fix inches apart. A month
afterward, or earlier if it be a wet ſeaſon, a fecond hoe-
ing ſhould take place, and the plants be left at leaſt 14
inches diſtant from each other, eſpecially if intended
for feeding cattle; for where the plants are left thick-
er, they will be proportionably ſmaller, unleſs the land
is very rich indeed.
ISS
Some of the beſt Norfolk farmers fow turnips in Methods of
drills three feet aſunder, and at a fecond hoeing leave culture in
them a foot a part in the rows. By this means the Norfolk,
trouble and expence of hoeing is much leffened, and
the crop of equal weight as when fown in the com-
Pp
mon
(A) Children under thirteen may be employed to weed turnip with the fingers. We have ſeen them go on
in that work with alacrity; and a ſmall premium will have a good effect. For boys and girls above thirteen,
a hand-hoe adapted to their fize is an excellent inftrument: it ftrengthens the arms amazingly. In driving the
plough, the legs only are exerciſed; but as the arms are chiefly employed in huſbandry, they ought to be pre
pared beforehand by gentle exerciſe.
298
AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
Practice. mon method. The intervals may eafily be cleared of
weeds by the horſe-hoe.
156
Value as
fool for
cattle.
157
•
Great quantities of turnips are raiſed in Norfolk e-
very year for feeding black cattle, which turn to great
advantage.
It is well known, that an acre of land contains 4840
fquare yards, or 43,560 ſquare feet; fuppofe then that
every fquare foot contains one turnip, and that they
weigh only two pounds each on an average, here will
be a mafs of food excellent in kind, of 46 tons per acre,
often worth from four to five guineas, and fometimes
more.
Extraordinary crops of barley frequently fucceed
turnips, eſpecially when fed off the land. In feeding
them off, the cattle ſhould not be fuffered to run over
too much of the ground at once, for in that cafe they
will tread down and ſpoil twice as many as they eat.
In Norfolk, they are confined by herdles to as much
as is fufficient for them for one day. By this mode
the crop is eaten clean, the foil is equally trodden, which
if light, is of much fervice, and equally manured by
the cattle..
A notion prevails in many places, that mutton fat-
tened with turnips is thereby rendered rank and ill-
tafted; but this is a vulgar error. The beſt mutton
in Norfolk (and few counties have better) is all fed
with turnips. It is rank paftures, and marshy lands,
that produce rank mutton.
If the land be wet and fpringy, the beft method is
to draw and carry off your turnips to fome dry paſture;
for the treading of the cattle will not only injure the
crop, but render the land fo ſtiff, that you muſt be at
an additional expence in ploughing,
Method of To preferve turnips for late fpring feed, the beft me-
preferving thod, and which has been tried with fuccefs by fome
turnips.
of the beſt Engliſh farmers, is, To ftack them up in
dry ftraw; a load of which is fufficient to preferve
40 tons of turnips. The method is eafy, and as fol-
lows:-
After drawing your turnips in February, cut off the
tops and tap roots, (which may be given to ſheep),
and let them lay a few days in the field, as no weather
will then hurt them.
Then, on a layer of ſtraw next the ground, place a
layer of turnips two feet thick; and then another layer
of ſtraw, and fo on alternately, till you have brought
the heap to a point. Care must be taken to turn up
the edges of the layers of ftraw, to prevent the turnips
from rolling out; cover the top well with long ftraw,
and it will ferve as a thatch for the whole.
In this method, as the ftraw imbibes the moisture
exhaled from the roots, all vegetation-will be prevent-
ed, and the turnips will be nearly as good. in May as
when firft drawn from the field. If ftraw be fcarce,
øld haulm or ſtubble will anſwer the fame purpoſe.
But to prevent this trouble and expence, perhaps
farmers in all counties would find it moſt to their in-
tereft to adopt the method ufed by our neighbours the
Norfolk farmers, which is, to continue fowing turnips
to the latter end of Auguſt; by which means their late
crops remain good in the field till the latter end of A-
pril, and often till the middle of May.
The advantages of having turnips good till the fpring
feed is generally ready, are fo obvious and fo great,
that many of the moft intelligent farmers (although at
firft prejudiced against the practice) are now come into Practice.
it, and find their account in fo doing.
2. POTATOES.
158
THE choice of foil is not of greater importance in General
any other plant than in a potato. This plant in clay culture.
foil, or in rank black loam lying low without ventila-
tion, never makes palatable food. In a gravelly or
fandy foil, expofed to the fun and to free air, it thrives
to perfection, and has a good relish. But a rank black
loam, though improper to raiſe potatoes for the table,
produces them in great plenty; and the product is,
as already obferved, a palatable food for horned cattle,
hogs, and poultry.
The fpade is a proper inftrument for raiſing a ſmall
quantity, or for preparing corners or other places inac-
ceffible to the plough; but for raifing potatoes in quan-
tities, the plough is the only inftrument.
As two great advantages of a drilled crop are, to
deftroy weeds, and to have a fallow at the fame time
with the crop, no judicious farmer will think of raiſing
potatoes in any other way. In September or October,
as foon as that year's crop is removed, let the field have
a roufing furrow, a crofs-brakeing next, and then be
cleared of weeds by the cleaning harrow. Form it into
three-feet ridges, in that ftate to lie till April, which
is the proper time for planting potatoes. Crofs-bake
it, to raife the furrows a little. Then lay well-digefted
horfe-dung along the furrows, upon which lay the roots
at eight inches diflance. Cover up thefe roots with the
plough, going once round every row. This makes a
warm bed for the potatoes; hot dung below, and a looſe
As
covering above, that admits every ray of the fun.
foon as the plants appear above ground, go round every
row a fecond time with the plough, which will lay up-
on the plants an additional inch or two of mould, and
at the fame time bury all the annuals; and this will
complete the ploughing of the ridges. When the po-
tatoes are fix inches high, the plough, with the deepeſt
furrow, must go twice along the middle of each inter-
val in oppofite directions, laying earth firſt to one row,
and next to the other. And to perform this work, a
plough with a double mould-board will be more expe-
ditious. But as the earth cannot be laid cloſe to the
roots by the plough, the ſpade muſt fucceed, with
which four inches of the plants must be covered, lea-
ving little more but the tops above ground; and this
operation will at the fame time bury all the weeds that
have fprung fince the former ploughing. What weeds
arife after muſt be pulled up with the hand. A hoe
is never to be ufed here: it cannot go fo deep as to
deftroy the weeds without cutting the fibres of the
plants; and if it ſkim the ſurface, it only cuts off the
heads of the weeds, and does not prevent their puſhing
again.
159
In the Bath Society Papers, we have the following Particular.
practical obfervations on the culture and ufe of pota- methods.
toes, given as the refult of various experiments made
for five years fucceffively on that valuable root, the
growth of which cannot be too much encouraged.
When the potato crop has been the only object in
view, the following method is the moſt eligible..
The land being well pulverized by two or three good
harrowings and ploughings, is then manured with 15
or 20 cart-loads of dung per acre, before it receives its
laft
1
R
Part II.
299
AGRICULTURE.
Practice. laft earth. Then it is thrown on to what the Suffolk
farmers call the Trench balk, which is narrow and deep
ridge-work, about 15 inches from the centre of one
ridge to the centre of the other. Women and children
drop the ſets in the bottom of every furrow 15 inches
apart; men follow, and cover them with large hoes, a
foot in width, pulling the mould down fo as to bury
the fets five inches deep; they muft receive two or three
hand-hoeings, and be kept free from weeds; always
obſerving to draw the earth as much as poffible to the
ftems of the young plants. By repeated trials, the firſt
or fecond week in April is found the moft advantageous
time for planting.
160
In the end of September or the beginning of Octo-
ber, when the haulm becomes withered, they ſhould be
ploughed up with a strong double-breafted plough.
The workman must be cautioned to fet his plough very
deep, that he may ftrike below all the potatoes, to a
void damaging the crop. The women who pick them
up, if not carefully attended to, will leave many in the
ground, which will prove detrimental to any fucceeding
corn, whether wheat or barley. To avoid which in-
convenience, let the land be harrowed, and turn the
ſwine in to glean the few that may be left by their ne-
gligence.
By this method, the fets will be 15 fquare inches
from each other; it will take 18 bufhels to plant an
acre; and the produce, if on a good mixed loamy foil,
will amount to 300 bushels.
If the potatoes are grown as a preparation for wheat,
it is preferable to have the rows two feet two in-
ches from each other, hand-hoeing only the ſpace from
plant to plant in each row; then turning a ſmall fur-
row from the infide of each row by a common light
plough, and afterwards with a double-breafted plough
with one horſe, ſplit the ridge formed by the firft
ploughing thoroughly to clean the intervals. This
work fhould not be done too deep the firſt time, to a-
void burying the tender plants; but the laft earth fhould
be ploughed as deep as poffible; and the cloſer the
mould is thrown to the ftems of the plants, the more
advantageous it will prove. Thus 15 bufhels will plant
an acre, and the produce will be about 300 bushels;
but the land, by the fummer ploughings, will be pre-
pared to receive feed-wheat immediately, and almoft
enfure a plentiful crop.
To prevent
The potato-fets fhould be cut a week before plant-
the grub. ing, with one or two eyes to each, and the pieces not
fmall; two bufhels of freſh flaked lime ſhould be
fown over the ſurface of the land as ſoon as planted,
which will effectually prevent the attacks of the grub.
very
The expence attending an acre of potatoes well cul-
tivated in the firſt method, fuppofing the rent 20 fhil-
lings, tithe and town charges. rather high (as in Suf-
folk), taking up, and every thing included, will be a-
bout fix pounds. In the laſt method, it would be fome
what reduced.
"When predilections for old cuſtoms are fubdued
(adds the author), I hope to fee the potato admitted in
the conftant courſe of crops by every ſpirited huſband
man. The moſt beneficial effects will, I am certain,
accrue from fuch a fyftem. The advantages in my
neighbourhood are apparent, I cultivated and fed my
own children upon them, and my poorer neighbours
fenfibly followed the example. A great proportion of
every cottager's garden is now occupied by this root, Practice.
and it forms a principal part of their diet. Potatoes
are cheap and excellent fubftitutes for peafe in ſoups
and broths, allowing double the quantity.
161
for the
Although it is nearly a tranfcript of the direc- A cheap,
tions given by a very ingenious author, yet I fhall take preparation
the liberty of inferting a receipt for making a potato- poor.
foup, which I have weekly diſtributed amongſt the poor
to their great relief.
An ox's head
Two pecks of potatoes
Quarter of a peck of onions.
Three quarters of a pound of falt
An ounce and a half of pepper
s. d.
2
O
O
I
0 3
Total
3 10
Ninety pints of water to be boiled with the above in-
gredients on a flow fire until reduced to 60, which re-
quire one peck of coals, value threepence. I have ad-
ded the expence of every article according to their
prices with me, that gentlemen may nearly perceive at
how eafy a rate they can feed 60 of their poor neigh-
bours. I find from experience, a pint of this foup, with
a fmall piece of the meat, is fufficient to fatisfy a hearty
working man with a good meal. If vegetables are
plentiful, fome of every fort may be added, with a few
fweet herbs.
"I hope my inferting the above, will not be eſteem
ed improper; though fomewhat deviating from the
culture of potatoes, it may poffibly be a means of ren-
dering them more extenfively uſeful."
A premium having been offered by the abovemen-
tioned Society for the cultivation of potatoes by far-
mers, &c. whofe rent does not exceed 401. per annum,
the following methods were communicated, by which
thofe who have only a ſmall ſpot of ground may obtain
a plentiful crop.
162
Firſt, then, the earth fhould be dug 12 inches deep, Methods of
if the foil will allow of it; after this, a hole ſhould be cultivating
opened about fix inches deep, horſe-dung, or long lit- potatues on
ter fhould be put therein about three inches thick ;
fmall fpote
this hole fhould not be more than 12 inches in diame-
ter; upon this dung or litter, a potato fhould be plant-
ed whole, upon which a little more dung fhould be
ſhook, and then earth muſt be put thereon. In like
manner the whole plot of ground muſt be planted, ta-
king care that each potato be at leaſt 16 inches apart
and when the young ſhoots make their appearance, they
fhould have freſh mould drawn round them with a hoe;
and if the tender fhoots are covered, it will prevent the
froft from injuring them: they ſhould again be earthed
when the fhoots make a fecond appearance, but not be
covered, as in all probability the feafon will then be leſs
fevere. A plentiful fupply of mould fhould be given
them, and the perſon who performs this buſineſs ſhould
never tread upon the plant, or the hillock that is raiſed
round it; as the lighter the earth is, the more room
the potato will have to expand.
root thus planted, very near 40 pounds weight of large
petatoes were obtained, and from almoft every other
root upon the fame plot of ground from 15 to 20
pounds weight; and except the foil be ftoney or
gravelly, 10 pounds or half a peck of potatoes-may al-
moit always be obtained, from each root, by purſuing
Pp 2
From a fingle
the
300
Part II.
AGRICULTURE.
Practice. the foregoing method. But note, cuttings or ſmall fets
will not do for this purpoſe.
163
Methods
The fecond method will fuit the indolent, or thofe
of culture who have not time to dig their ground, and that is,
adapted to where weeds much abound and have not been cleared
mallfarms, in the winter, a trench may be opened in a ſtraight line
the whole length of the ground, and about fix inches
deep; in this trench the potatoes ſhould be planted a-
bout 10 inches apart; cuttings or fmall potatoes
will do for this method. When they are laid in the
trench, the weeds that are on the furface may be pared
off on each fide about 10 inches from it, and be turned
upon the plants; another trench fhould then be dug,
and the mould that comes out of it turned carefully on
the weeds. It must not be forgot, that each trench
fhould be regularly dug, that the potatoes may be
throughout the plot 10 or 12 inches from each other.
This flovenly method will in general raife more pota-
toes than can be produced by digging the ground twice,
and dibbling in the plants; and the reaſon is, that the
weeds lighten the foil, and give the roots room to ex-
pand. They ſhould be twice hoed, and earthed up in
And here note, that if cut potatoes are to be
planted, every cutting ſhould have two eyes, for though
fewer fets will be obtained, there will be a greater cer-
tainty of a crop, as one eye often fails or is deſtroyed
by grubs in the earth.
rows.
Where a crop of potatoes fail in part (as will fome-
times be the caſe in a dry ſeaſon), amends may ftill be
made by laying a little dung upon the knots of the
Araw or haulm of thoſe potatoes that do appear, and
covering them with mould; each knot or joint thus or-
dered will, if the weather prove wet afterwards, pro-
duce more potatoes than the original roots.
From the ſmalleſt potatoes planted whole, from four
to fix pounds at a root were obtained, and ſome of the
fingle potatoes weighed near two pounds. Thefe were
dug in as before-mentioned, in trenches where the
ground was covered with weeds, and the foil was a ſtiff
loamy clay.
A good crop may be obtained by laying potatoes
upon turf at about 12 or 14 inches apart, and upon
beds of about fix feet wide; on each fide of which a
trench fhould be opened about three feet wide, and the
turf that comes from thence fhould be laid with the
graffy fide downwards upon the potatoes; a ſpit of
mould fhould next be taken from the trenches, and be
ſpread over the turf; and in like manner the whole plot
of ground that is defigned to be planted muſt be treat-
ed.
And remark, that when the young ſhoots appear,
another fpit of mould from the trenches fhould be
ftrewed over the beds fo as to cover the fhoots; this
will prevent the froft from injuring them, encourage
them to expand, and totally deſtroy the young weeds;
and when the potatoes are taken up in the autumn, a
careful perfon may turn the earth again into the tren-
ches, fo as to make the furface level; and it will be
right to remark, that from the fame ground a much
better crop of potatoes may be obtained the following
year.
ten inches apart. Plants that are cut with two eyes are Practice.
beſt for this purpofe. The reafon for planting them at fo
great a distance as every third furrow, is, that when the
fhoots appear, a horſe-hoe may go upon the two va-
cant furrows to keep them clean; and after they are
thus hoed, they ſhould be moulded up in ridges; and
if this crop be taken up about October or November,
the land will be in excellent condition to receive a crop
of wheat. Lands that are full of twitch or couch-grafs
may be made clean by this method, as the horſe-hoeing
is as good as a fummer-fallow; and if, when the pota-
toes are taken up, women and children were to pick
out fuch filth, not any traces of it would remain ; `and
by laying it on heaps and burning it, a quantity of
afhes would be produced for manure.
After ploughing, none ſhould ever dibble in potatoes,
as the perfons who dibble, plant, or hoe them, will all
tread the ground; by which means it will become fo
bound, that the young fibres cannot expand, as has
been already obferved. Good crops have indeed been
obtained by ploughing the land twice, and dropping
the plants in every other furrow, and by hand-hoeing
and earthing them up afterwards as the gardeners do
peafe; but this method is not equal to the other.
Vacant places in hedge-rows might be grubbed and
planted with potatoes, and a good crop might be ex-
pected, as the leaves of trees, thorns, &c. are a good
manure, and will ſurpriſingly encourage their growth,
and gratify the wishes of the planter; who by cultiva-
ting fuch places, will then make the moſt of his ground,
and it will be in fine order to receive a crop of corn the
following year.
164
Account of the culture, expences, and produce of fix acres Method of
of potatoes, being a fair part of near 70 acres, raiſed culture, &c.
by John Billingley, Ffq; and for which the premium premium
was granted him in the year 1784.
EXPENCE S.
Plowing an oat-ftubble in October 1783, at
4s. per acre
Crofs-ploughing in March 1784
Harrowing, 2s. per acre
180 cart-loads of compoft, 31. per acre
42 facks of feed-potatoes (each fack weigh-
ing 240 lb.) of the white fort
fack
Cutting the ſets, 6d. per
Setting on ridges eight feet wide (leaving
an interval of two feet for an alley) 6d.
for every zo yards.
Hoeing, at 5s. per acre
Digging up the two feet interval, and
throwing the earth on the plants, at ios.
per acre
for which a
was grante
ed.
L. s. d.
I
4
I
4
O 12
18
оо
10 10
e
I 1 0
10 12 0
I 10 0
3 0 0
Digging up the crop, at 8d. for every 20
yards in length, the breadth being 8 feet 14 6 0
Labour and expence of fecuring in pits,
wear and tear of baſkets, ftraw, reed,
fpikes, &c. os. per acre.
Rent
Tithe
For field planting, a good (if not the beft) method
is to dung the land, which ſhould be once ploughed
previous thereto; and when it is ploughed a fecond Profit
time, a careful perfon fhould drop the potato plants be-
fore the plough in every third furrow at about eight or
3
3
0
O
6 0
I 10
72 9 0
73 11
O
I. 146 0 0
PRO-
1
Part II.
301
AGRICULTU
LTUR
E.
Practice.
165
Fet ine-
thod of ta-
king them
up.
166
PRODUCE.
600 facks of beſt potatoes at 4s.
120 facks middle-ſized, 3s. 6d.
50 of fmall, 28.
N. B. Each fack 240 lb.
L. s. d. up at the ordinary time before froit. This cargo, ha- Practice.
ving not arrived to full growth, will not be fo ready to
puſh as what are ſet in April.
120 O O
21 o o
5 0 0
L. 146 0
O
The field on which the above experiment was made,
was an oat-ſtubble in the autumn of 1783. In Octo-
ber it was ploughed, and left in a rough ftate during
the winter. In April it was croſs-ploughed and har-
Fowed. On the 8th of May the field was marked out
into beds or ridges eight feet wide, leaving a ſpace of
two feet wide for an alley between every two ridges.
The manure (a compoft of ftable dung, virgin earth,
and ſcrapings of a turnpike road) was then brought on
the land, and depofited in fmall heaps on the centre of
each ridge, in the proportion of about 30 cart-loads to
each acre.
A trench was then opened with a ſpade,
breadth-way of the ridge, about four inches deep; in
this trench the potato-fets were placed, at the diſtance
of nine inches from each other; the dung was then
ſpread in a trench on the fets, and a ſpace or plit of 14
inches in breadth, dug in upon them. When the plants
were about fix inches high, they were carefully hoed,
and ſoon after the two feet intervals between the ridges
were dug, and the contents thrown around the young
plants. This refreſhment, added to the ample manu-
ring previouſly beſtowed, produced fuch a luxuriance
and rapidity of growth, that no weed could fhow its
head.
The fhorteſt and moſt certain method of taking up
potatoes, is to plough once round every row at the di-
ftance of four inches, removing the earth from the
plants, and gathering up with the hand all the potatoes
that appear. The diſtance is made four inches, to pre-
vent cutting the roots, which are ſeldom found above
that diſtance from the row on each fide. When the
ground is thus cleared by the plough, raife the pota-
toes with a fork having three broad toes or claws; which
is better than a ſpade, as it does not cut the potatoes.
The potatoes thus laid above ground muſt be gathered
with the hand. By this method fcarce a potato will
be left.
Of 1 refer- As potatoes are a comfortable food for the low peo-
ving them ple, it is of importance to have them all the year round:
For a long time, potatoes in Scotland were confined to
the kitchen-garden; and after they were planted in
the field, it was not imagined at firft that they could
be uſed after the month of December. Of late years,
they have been found to anſwer even till April; which
has proved a great fupport to many a poor family, as
they are eaſily cooked, and require neither kiln nor
mill. But there is no cauſe for ſtopping there. It is
eaſy to preſerve them till the next crop: When taken
out of the ground, lay in the corner of a barn a quan-
tity that may ſerve till April, covered from froft with
dry ftraw preffed down: bury the remainder in a hole
dug in dry ground, mixed with the hufks of dried oats,
fand, or the dry leaves of trees, over which build a
ſtack of hay or corn. When the pit is opened for
taking out the potatoes, the eyes of what have a ten-
dency to puſh must be cut out; and this cargo will
ferve all the month of June. To be ſtill more certain
of making the old crop meet the new, the ſetting of a
fmall quantity may be delayed till June, to be taken.
-
If the old crop happen to be exhauſted before the new
crop is ready, the interval may be fupplied by the po-
tatoes of the new crop that lie next the furface, to be
picked up with the hand; which, far from hurting the
crop, will rather improve it.
3. CARROT and PARSNIP.
167
G
Of all roots, a carrot requires the deepest foil. It Culture of
ought at leaſt to be a foot deep, all equally good from carrot.
top to bottom. If fuch a foil be not in the farm, it
may be made artificially by trench-ploughing, which
brings to the furface what never had any communica-
tion with the fun or air. When this new foil is fuffi-
ciently improved by a crop or two with dung, it is fit
for bearing carrots. Beware of dunging the year when
the carrots are fown; for with freſh dung they feldom
eſcape rotten ſcabs.
The only foils proper for that root, are a loam and a
fandy foil.
The ground muſt be prepared by the deepeſt furrow
that can be taken, the fooner after harveſt the better;
immediately upon the back of which, a ribbing ought
to fucceed, as directed for barley. At the end of March,
or beginning of April, which is the time of fowing the
feed, the ground muſt be ſmoothed with a brake. Sow
the feed in drills, with intervals of a foot for hand-
hoeing: which is no expenfive operation where the
crop is confined to an acre or two: but if the quantity
of ground be greater, the intervals ought to be three
feet, in order for horſe-hoeing.
In flat ground without ridges, it may be proper to
make parallel furrows with the plough, ten feet from
each other, in order to carry off any redundant moi-
fture.
At Parlington in Yorkshire, from the end of Sep--
tember to the firſt of May, 20 work-horſes, four bul-
locks, and fix milk-cows, were fed on the carrots that
grew on three acres; and thefe animals never tafted
any other food but a little hay. The milk was excel-
lent: and, over and above, 30 hogs were fattened upon
what was left by the other beafts. We have this fact
from undoubted authority.
168
The culture of parfnips is the fame with that of Parfaipse-
carrots.
III. Plants cultivated for Leaves, or for both Leaves,
and Root.
THERE are many garden-plants of thefe kinds. The
plants proper for the field are cabbage red and white,
colewort plain and curled, turnip-rooted cabbage, and
the root of ſcarcity.
169:
1. Cabbage is an interefting article in hufbandry. It Culture of
is eafily raiſed, is fubject to few difeafes, refifts froft cabbage..
more than turnip, is palatable to cattle, and fooner fills
them than turnip, carrot, or potatoes.
The ſeaſon for fetting cabbage depends on the uſe
it is intended for. If intended for feeding in Novem-
ber, December, and January, plants procured from
feed fown the end of July the preceding year muſt be
fet in March or April. If intended for feeding in
March, April, and May, the plants muſt be ſet the firſt
week-
302
Part II,
AGRICULTURE.
Practice. week of the preceding July, from feed fown in the end of
February or beginning of March the fame year. The
late fetting of the plants retards their growth; by
which means they have a vigorous growth the follow-
ing fpring. And this crop makes an important link
in the chain that connects winter and fummer green
food. Where cabbage for fpring-food happens to be
neglected, a few acres of rye, fown at Michaelmas, will
fupply the want. After the rye is confumed, there is
time fufficient to prepare the ground for turnip.
And now to prepare a field for cabbage. Where
the plants are to be fet in March, the field muft be.
made up after harveſt, in ridges three feet wide. In
that form let it lie all winter, to be mellowed with air
and froft. In March, take the firſt opportunity, be-
tween wet and dry, to lay dung in the furrows. Cover
the dung with a plough, which will convert the furrow
into a crown, and confequently the crown into a fur-
row. Set the plants upon the dung, diftant from each
other three feet. Plant them fo as to make a ſtraight
line cross the ridges, as well as along the furrows, to
which a gardener's line ftretched perpendicularly crofs
the furrows will be requifite. This will fet each plant
at the diſtance precifely of three feet from the plants
that furround it. The purpofe of this accuracy is to
give opportunity for ploughing, not only along the
ridges, but croſs them. This mode is attended with
three fignal advantages: it faves hand-hoeing, it is a
more complete dreffing to the foil, and it lays earth
neatly round every plant.
If the foil be deep and compofed of good earth, a
trench-ploughing after the preceding crop will not be
amifs; in which cafe, the time for dividing the field
into three-feet ridges, as above, ought to be immediately
before the dunging for the plants.
If weeds happen to riſe ſo cloſe to the plants as not
to be reached by the plough, it will require very little
labour to destroy them with a hand-hoe.
Unleſs the foil be much infefted with annuals, twice
ploughing after the plants are fet will be a fufficient
dreffing. The firſt removes the earth from the plants;
the next, at the diſtance of a month or fo, lays it back.
Where the plants are to be fet in July, the field
mult be ribbed as directed for barley. It ought to
have a flight ploughing in June before the planting, in
order to locfen the foil, but not fo as to bury the fur-
face-earth; after which the three feet ridges must be
formed, and the other particulars carried on as direct-
ed above with reſpect to plants that are to be fet in
March.
170
Cultivation 2. As to the turnip-rooted cabbages, their importance
of the tur- and value feem only to have been lately afcertained.
nip-rooted In the Bath Society Papers we have the following ac-
cabbages. count of Sir Thomas Beevor's method of cultivating
them; which from experience he found to be cheaper
and better than any other.
"In the firft or fecond week of June, I fow the
fame quantity of feed, hoe the plants at the fame fize,
leave them at the fame diſtance from each other, and
treat them in all reſpects like the common turnip. In
this method I have always obtained a plentiful crop of
them; to aſcertain the value of which I need only in-
form you, that on the 23d day of April laft, having
then two acres left of my crop, found, and in great
I
171
perfection, I divided them by fold hurdles into three Practice.
parts of nearly equal dimenfions. Into the first part
I put 24 fmall bullocks of about 30 ftone weight each
(14 lb. to the ftone), and 30 middle-fized fat wethers, Their utili-
which, at the end of the firft week, after they had ty and va-
eaten down the greater part of the leaves, and ſome lue.
part of the roots, I fhifted into the fecond, divifion,
and then put 70 lean fheep into what was left of the
firft; thefe fed off the remainder of the turnips
left by the fat ftock; and fo they were fhifted through
the three divifions, the lean flock following the fat
as they wanted food, until the whole was confumed.
--
The 24 bullocks and 30 fat wethers continued
in the turnips until the 21ft of May, being exactly
four weeks; and the 70 lean fheep until the 29th,
which is one day over four weeks: fo that the two
acres kept me 24 fmall bullocks and 110 ſheep four
weeks (not reckoning the overplus day of keeping the
lean fheep); the value, at the rate of keeping at that
feaſon, cannot be eſtimated in any common year at lefs
than 4 d. a-week for each fheep, and 1s. 6d. per week
for each bullock, which would amount together to the
fum of L. 14: 10: 8 for the two acres.
"You will hardly, I conceive, think I have fet the
price of keeping the ſtock at too high a rate; it is be-
neath the price here in almoft every fpring, and in this
laft it would have coft double, could it have been pro-
cured; which was fo far from being the cafe, that
hundreds of ſheep and lambs here were loft, and the
reft greatly pinched for want of food.
"You will obferve, gentlemen, that in the valua-
tion of the crop above mentioned I have claimed no
allowance for the great benefit the farmer receives by
being enabled to fuffer his grafs to get into a forward
growth, nor for the fuperior quality of theſe turnips
in fattening his flock; both which circumftances mult
ſtamp a new and a great additional value upon them.
But as their continuance on the land may feem to be
injurious to the fucceeding crop, and indeed will de-
prive the farmer totally of either oats or barley; fo to
fupply that lofs I have always fown buck-wheat on the
firft earth upon the land from which the turnips were
thus fed off; allowing one bufhel of feed per acre, for
which I commonly receive from five to fix quarters per
acre in return. And that I may not throw that part
of my land out of the fame courſe of tillage with the
reft, I fow my clover or other graſs-feeds with the
buck-wheat, in the fame manner as with the oat or
barley crops, and have always found as good a layer
(ley) of it afterwards.
"Thus you fee, that in providing a moſt incompa-
rable vegetable food for cattle, in that ſeaſon of the
year in which the farmer is generally moft diftreffed,
and his cattle almoſt ſtarved, a confiderable profit may
likewife be obtained, much beyond what is uſually de-
rived from his former practice, by the great produce
and price of a crop raifed at fo eafy an expence as that
of buck-wheat, which, with us, fells commonly at the
fame price as barley, oftentimes more, and but very
rarely for leſs.
"The land on which I have ufually fown turnip-
rooted cabbages is a dry mixed foil, worth 15 s. per acre.
To the preceding account the Society have fubjoin-
ed the following note: "Whether we regard the im-
portance
Part II.
303
AGRICULTUR
URE.
Practice. portance of the fubject, or the clear and practical in-
formation which the foregoing letter conveys, it may
be confidered as truly interefting as any we have ever
been favoured with: and therefore it is recommended
mendation in the ſtrongeſt manner to farmers in general, that they
by the Bath adopt a mode of practice fo decifively afcertained to
Society. be in a high degree judicious and profitable."
172
Recom-
173
To raiſe
ing.
To raife the turnip-rooted cabbage for tranſplanting,
the best method yet diſcovered is, to breaſt-plough and
burn as much old paſture as may be judged neceffary
for the feed-bed; two perch well ftocked with plants
will be fufficient to plant an acre. The land fhould
be dug as fhallow as poffible, turning the aſhes in ; and
the feed fhould be fown the beginning of April.
The land intended for the plantation to be cultivated
the turnip- and dunged as for the common turnip. About Mid-
rooted cab- fummer (or fooner if the weather will permit) will be
bage for
tranſplant- a proper time for planting, which is beft done in the
following manner: the land to be thrown into one-bout
ridges, upon the tops of which the plants are to be fet,
at about 18 inches diſtance from cach other. As foon
as the weeds riſe, give a hand-hoeing, afterwards run
the ploughs in the intervals, and fetch a furrow from
each ridge, which, after laying a fortnight or three
weeks, is again thrown back to the ridges; if the weeds
rife again, it is neceffary to give them another hand-
hoeing.
174
If the young plants in the feed-bed fhould be at-
tacked by the fly, fow wood-afhes over them when the
dew is on, which will effectually prevent the ravages
they would otherwife make.
4
Culture of 3. The racine de difette, or root of fcarcity, (Beta cicla)
the root of delights in a rich loamy land well dunged. It is direct-
Scarcity.
ed to be fown in rows, or broad-caft, and as ſoon as the
plants are of the fize of a goofe-quill, to be tranſplanted
in rows of 18 inches diſtance, and 18 inches a part, one
plant from the other care muſt be taken in the fow-
ing, to fow very thin, and to cover the feed, which
lays in the ground about a month, an inch only.-In
tranfplanting, the root is not to be fhortened, but the
leaves cut at the top; the plant is then to be planted
with a fetting-ftick, ſo that the upper part of the root
fhall appear about half an inch out of the ground; this
laft precaution is very neceffary to be attended to.
Thefe plants will ftrike root in twenty-four hours, and
a man a little accustomed to planting, will plant with
eafe 1800 or 2000 a-day. In the feed-bed, the plants,
like all others, must be kept clear of weeds: when
they are planted out, after once hoeing, they will take
care of themſelves, and fuffocate every kind of weed
near them.
The beſt time to fow the feed is from the beginning
of March to the middle of April: it is, however, ad-
viſed to continue fowing every month until the begin-
ning of July, in order to have a fucceffion of plants.
Both leaves and roots have been extolled as excellent
both for man and beaft. This plant is faid not to be
liable, like the turnip, to be deſtroyed by infects, for
no infect touches it, nor is it affected by exceffive
drought, or the changes of feafons. Horned cattle,
horfes, pigs, and poultry, are exceedingly fond of it
when cut fmall. The leaves may be gathered every
12 or 15 days; they are from 30 to 40 inches long,
by 22 to 25 inches broad. This plant is excellent for
milch cows, when given to them in proper proportions,
as it adds much to the quality as well as quantity of Practice.
their milk; but care muſt be taken to proportion the
leaves with other green food, otherwiſe it would abate
the milk, and fatten them too much, it being of fo
exceeding a fattening quality. To put all theſe pro-
perties beyond doubt, however, further experiments.
are wanting.
SECT. IV. Culture of Grass.
175
THE latter end of Auguft, or the beginning of Sep-
tember, is the beſt feafon for ſowing grafs-feeds, as.Of laying
there is time for the roots of the young plants to fix down fields-
themſelves before the fharp frofts fet in.
It is fcarce to graſs.
neceffary to fay, that moift weather is beſt for ſowing;
the earth being then warm, the feeds will vegetate im-
mediately; but if this feafon prove unfavourable, they
will do very well the middle of March following.
If you would have fine pafture, never fow on foul
land. On the contrary, plough it well, and clear it
from the roots of couch-grafs, reft harrow, fern, broom,
and all other noxious weeds. If thefe are fuffered to
remain, they will foon get above, and deftroy your
young grafs. Rake thefe up in heaps, and burn them
on the land, and fpread the afhes as a manure. Thefe
ploughings and harrowings fhould be repeated in dry
weather. And if the foil be clayey and wet, make
ſome under-drains to carry off the water, which, if ſuf-
fered to remain, will not only chill the grafs, but make
it four. Before fowing, lay the land as level and fine
as poffible. If your grafs-feeds are clean, (which fhould
always be the cafe) three bufhels will be fufficient per
acre. When fown, harrow it in gently, and roll it in
with a wooden roller. When it comes up, 6ll all the
bare fpots by freſh feed, which, if rolled to fix it, will
foon come up, and overtake the reſt.
up
In Norfolk they fow clover with their graffes, par-
ticularly with rye-grafs; but this fhould not be done
except when the land is defigned for grafs only three or
four years, becauſe neither of thefe kinds will last long
in the land. Where you intend it for a continuance, it
is better to mix only fmall white Dutch clover, or marle
grafs, with your other grafs feed, and not more than
eight pounds to an acre. Theſe are abiding plants,.
fpread clofe on the furface, and make the fweeteft feed
of any for cattle. In the following ſpring, root up
thistles, hemlock, or any large plants that appear.
The doing this while the ground is foft enough to per-
mit your drawing them by the roots, and before they
feed, will ſave you infinite trouble afterwards.
The common method of proceeding in laying down ·
fields to grafs is extremely injudicious. Some fow
barley with their graffes, which they fuppofe to be
uſeful in fhading them, without confidering how much
the corn draws away the nouriſhment from the land.
876
Others take their feeds from a foul hay-rick; by
which means, befides filling the land with rubbiſh and
weeds, what they intend for dry foils may have come
from moift, where it grew naturally, and vice verfa. Different
The confequence is, that the ground, inftead of being kinds of
covered with a good thick fward, is filled with grafs,
plants unnatural to it. The kinds of grafs moſt
eligible for pafture-lands are, the annual-meadow,
creeping, and fine bent, the fox-tails, and crefted -
dog's-tail, the poas, the fefcues, the vernal, oat--
grafs
304
Part II.
AGRICULTURE.
Practice. grafs, and the ray, or rye-grafs. We do not, how
ever, approve of fowing all theſe kinds together; for
not to mention their ripening at different times, by
which means you can never cut them all in perfection
and full vigour, no kind of cattle are fond of all alike.
Horfes will ſcarcely eat hay which oxen and cows
will thrive upon; fheep are particularly fond of fome
kinds, and refufe others. The Darnel-grafs, if not
cut before feveral of the other kinds are ripe, becomes
fo hard and wiry in the ftalks, that few cattle care to
eat it.
177
Of red clo
vere
1
Such gentlemen as wiſh a particular account of the
above-mentioned graffes, will be amply gratified in con
fulting Mr Stillingfleet on this fubject. He has treat
ed it with great judgment and accuracy, and thofe
who follow his directions in the choice of their graffes
will be under no fmall obligation to him for the valu-
able information he has given them. The fubftance
of his obfervations are given in the article GRASSES in
this Dictionary.
The graffes commonly fown for paſture, for hay, or
to cut green for cattle, are red clover, white clover,
yellow clover, rye-grafs, narrow-leaved plaintain com-
monly called ribwort, faintfoin, and lucerne.
Red clover is of all the moft proper to be cut green
for fummer-food. It is a biennial plant when fuffered
to perfect its feed; but when cut green, it will laſt
three years, and in a dry foil longer. At the fame
time the ſafeſt courfe is to let it ſtand but a ſingle year:
if the fecond year's crop happen to be ſcanty, it proves,
like a bad crop of peafe, a great encourager of weeds
by the ſhelter it affords them.
Here, as in all other crops, the goodneſs of feed is
of importance. Chooſe plump feed of a purple colour,
becauſe it takes on that colour when ripe. It is red
when hurt in the drying, and of a faint colour when
unripe.
Red clover is luxuriant upon a rich foil, whether clay,
loam, or gravel: it will grow even upon a moor, when
properly cultivated. A wet foil is its only bane; for
there it does not thrive.
To have red clover in perfection, weeds muſt be ex-
tirpated, and ftones taken off. The mould ought to
be made as fine as harrowing can make it; and the
furface be fmoothed with a light roller, if not fuffi-
ciently fmooth without it. This gives opportunity for
diftributing the ſeed evenly: which muſt be covered by
a fmall harrow with teeth no larger than that of a gar-
* Plate V. den-rake, three inches long, and fix inches afunder*. In
fig. 7.
harrowing, the man ſhould walk behind with a rope in
his hand fixed to the back part of the harrow, ready
to difentangle it from ftones, clods, turnip or cabbage
roots, which would trail the feed, and diſplace it.
Nature has not determined any precife depth for the
feed of red clover more than of other feed. It will
grow vigorously from two inches deep, and it will
grow
when barely covered. Half an inch may be reckoned
the moſt advantageous pofition in clay foil, a whole
inch in what is light or loofe. It is a vulgar error,
that fmall feed ought to be fparingly covered. Milled
by that error, farmers commonly cover their clover-
feed with a bushy branch of thorn; which not only
covers it unequally, but leaves part on the furface to
wither in the air.
The proper feaſon for fowing red-clover, is from the
N° 8.
middle of April to the middle of May. It will ſpring Practice.
from the first of March to the end of Auguſt; but
fuch liberty ought not to be taken except from ne-
ceffity.
There cannot be a greater blunder in huſbandry, than
to be ſparing of feed. Ideal writers talk of fowing an
acre with four pounds. That quantity of feed, fay
they, will fill an acre with plants as thick as they ought
to ftand. This rule may be admitted where grain is
the object; but it will not anſwer with refpect to grafs.
Grafs-feed cannot be fown too thick: the plants fhel-
ter one another: they retain all the dew: and they
muſt puſh upward, having no room laterally. Obſerve
the place where a fack of peafe, or of other grain, has
been fet down for fowing: the feed dropt there acci-
dentally grows more quickly than in the reſt of the
field fown thin out of hand. A young plant of clover,
or of faintfoin, according to Tull, may be raiſed to a
great fize where it has room; but the field will not
produce half the quantity. When red clover is fown
for cutting green, there ought not to be leſs than 24
pounds to an acre. A field of clover is feldom too
thick: the ſmaller a ftem be, the more acceptable it is
to cattle. It is often too thin; and when ſo, the ſtems
tend to wood.
178
Red clover is commonly fown with grain; and the Of fowing
moſt proper grain has been found by experience to be clover with
flax. The foil muſt be highly cultivated for flax as well grain.
as for red clover. The proper ſeaſon of ſowing is the
fame for both; the leaves of flax being very ſmall, ad-
mit of free circulation of air; and flax being an early
crop, is removed fo early as to give the clover time for
growing. In a rich foil it has grown ſo faſt, as to af-
ford a good cutting that very year. Next to flax,
barley is the beſt companion, to clover. The foil muſt
be loofe and free for barley; and fo it ought to be for
clover: the feafon of fowing is the fame; and the clo-
ver is well eſtabliſhed in the ground, before it is over-
topped by the barley. At the fame time, barley com-
monly is ſooner cut than either oats or wheat. In a
word, barley is rather a nurſe than a ſtepmother to
clover during its infancy. When clover is fown in
fpring upon wheat, the foil, which has lain five or fix
months without being stirred, is an improper bed for
it; and the wheat, being in the vigour of growth,
overtops it from the beginning. It cannot be fown
along with oats, becauſe of the hazard of froſt; and when
fown as ufual among the oats three inches high, it is
over-topped, and never enjoys free air till the oats be
Add, that where oats are fown upon the winter-
furrow, the foil is rendered as hard as when under
wheat.-Red clover is fometimes fown by itſelf with-
out other grain: but this method, befide lofing a crop,
is not falutary; becauſe clover in its infant ftate re-
quires ſhelter.
cut.
As to the quantity of grain proper to be fown with
clover: In a rich foil well pulverized, a peck of barley
on an Engliſh acre is all that ought to be ventured';
but there is not much foil in Scotland fo rich. Two
Linlithgow firlots make the proper quantity for an
acre that produces commonly fix bolls of barley; half
a firlot for what produces nine bolls. To thoſe who
are governed by cuſtom, ſo ſmall a quantity will be
thought ridiculous. Let them only confider, that a
rich foil in perfect good order, will from a fingle feed
of
•
۱
Part. II.
1
AGRICULTURE.
305
Practice. of barley produce 20 or 30 vigorous ftems. People
may flatter themſelves with the remedy of cutting bar-
ley green for food, if it happen to opprefs the clover.
This is an excellent remedy in a field of an acre or two;
but the cutting an extenfive field for food must be flow;
and while one part is cutting, the clover is fmothered
in other parts.
179
ver, rib-
wort, and
rye-grafs.
White and The culture of white clover, of yellow clover, of
yellow clo- ribwort, of rye-grafs, is the fame in general with that
of red clover. We proceed to their peculiarities. Yel-
low clover, ribwort, rye-grafs, are all of them early
plants, blooming in the end of April or beginning of
May. The two latter are evergreens, and therefore
excellent for winter-pafture. Rye-grafs is lefs hurt by
froſt than any of the clovers, and will thrive in a moi-
fter foil: nor in that foil is it much affected by
drought. In a rich foil, it grows four feet high: even
in the dry fummer 1775, it roſe to three feet eight
inches; but it had gained that height before the drought
came on. Thefe graffes are generally fown with red
clover for producing a plentiful crop. The proportion
of feed is arbitrary; and there is little danger of too
much. When rye-grafs is fown for procuring feed, five
firlots wheat-meafure may be fown on an acre; and
for procuring feed of ribwort, 40 pounds may be fown.
The roots of rye-grafs ſpread horizontally: they bind
the foil by their number; and tho' fmall, are yet fo vi-
gorous as to thrive in hard foil. Red clover has a large
tap root, which cannot penetrate any foil but what is
open and free; and the largenefs of the root makes the
foil ſtill more open and free. Rye-grafs, once a great
favourite, appears to be difcarded in moft parts of Bri-
tain. The common practice has been, to fow it with red
clover, and to cut them promifcuously the beginning of
June for green food, and a little later for hay. This in-
deed is the proper feafon for cutting red clover, becauſe
at that time it begins to flower; but as at that time the
feed of the rye-grafs is approaching to maturity, its
growth is ftopped for that year, as much as of oats or
barley cut after the feed is ripe. Oats or barley cut
green before the feed forms, will afford two other cut-
tings; which is the cafe of rye-grafs, of yellow clover,
and of ribwort. By fuch management, all the profit
will be drawn that theſe plants can afford.
When red clover is intended for feed, the ground
ought to be cleared of weeds, were it for no other pur-
poſe than that the feed cannot otherwife be preferved
pure: what feeds eſcape the plough ought to be ta-
ken out by the hand. In England, when a crop of
feed is intended, the clover is always firft cut for hay.
This appears to be done, as in fruit-trees, to check the
growth of the wood, in order to encourage the fruit.
This practice will not anſwer in Scotland, as the feed
would often be too late for ripening. It would do bet-
ter to eat the clover with fheep till the middle of May,
which would allow the feed to ripes. The feed is ripe
when, upon rubbing it between the hands, it parts
readily from the huſk. Then apply the ſcythe, fpread
the crop thin, and turn it carefully. When perfectly
dry, take the firft opportunity of a hot day for threfh-
ing it on boards covered with a coarfe fheet. Another
way lefs fubject to rifk, is to ftack the dry hay, and
to threfh it in the end of April. After the first threſh-
ing, expofe the huſks to the fun, and threfh them over
and over till no feed remain. Nothing is more effica-
VOL. I. Part I.
+
cious than a hot fun to make the huſk part with its Practice.
feed; in which view it may be expofed to the fun by
parcels, an hour or two before the flail is applied.
White clover, intended for feed, is managed in the
fame manner. No plant ought to be mixed with rye.
grafs that is intended for feed. In Scotland, much rye-
grafs feed is hurt by tranfgreffing that rule. The feed
is ripe when it parts eafily with the hufk. The yellow-
nefs of the ftem is another indication of its ripeneſs;
in which particular it reſembles oats, barley, and other
culmiferous plants. The beft manner to manage a crop
of rye-grafs for feed, is to bind it looſely in ſmall
heaves, widening them at the bottom to make them
ftand erect; as is done with oats in moift weather. In
that ſtate they may ftand till fufficiently dry for
threſhing. By this method they dry more quickly,
and are leſs hurt by rain, than by cloſe binding and
putting the fheaves in fhocks like corn. The worft
way of all is to ſpread the rye-grafs on the moift ground,
for it makes the feed malten. The fheaves, when fuffi-
ciently dry, are carried into cloſe carts to where they
are to be threſhed on a board, as mentioned above for
clover. Put the ftraw in a rick when a hundred ſtone
or ſo are threſhed. Carry the threſhing-board to the
place where another rick is intended; and fo on till the
whole feed be threſhed, and the ſtraw ricked. There is
neceffity for clofe carts to fave the feed, which is apt
to drop out in a hot fun; and, as obferved above, a hot
fun ought always to be chofen for threſhing. Carry
the feed in facks to the granary or barn, there to be
feparated from the huſks by a fanner. Spread the feed
thin upon a timber-floor, and turn it once or twice a-
day till perfectly dry. If fuffered to take a heat, it is
ufelefs for feed.
pro-
180
fainfoin.
The writers on agriculture reckon fainfoin prefer- Culture of
able to clover in many refpects: They ſay, that it
duces a larger crop; that it does not hurt cattle when
eaten green; that it makes better hay; that it continues
four times longer in the ground; and that it will grow
on land that will bear no other crop.
Sainfoin has a very long tap-root, which is able to
pierce very hard earth. The roots grow very large; and
the larger they are, they penetrate to the greater depth;
and hence it may be concluded, that this grafs, when
it thrives well, receives a great part of its nouriſhment
from below the ftaple of the foil: of courfe, a deep dry
foil is beſt for the culture of ſainfoin.
When plants
draw their nouriſhment from that part of the foil that
is near the furface, it is not of much confequence
whether their number be great or finall. But the cafe
is very different when the plants receive their food, not
only near, but alſo deep below, the furface. Befides,
plants that fhoot their roots deep are often ſupplied
with moisture, when thoſe near the furface are parched
with drought.
To render the plants of fainfoin vigorous, it is necef-
fary that they be fown thin. The beft method of do-
ing this is by a drill; becauſe, when fown in this man
ner, not only the weeds, but alſo the fupernumerary
plants, can eaſily be removed. It is feveral years be-
fore fainfoin comes to its full ftrength; and the num
ber of plants fufficient to flock a field, while in this im-
perfect ftate, will make but a poor crop for the firſt
year or two. It is therefore neceflary that it be ſown
in fuch a manner as to make it eafy to take up plants
Q
in
306
Part II.
AGRICULTURE.
Practice. in fuch numbers, and in fuch order, as always to leave
in the field the proper number in their proper places.
This can only be done, with propriety, by fowing the
plants in rows by a drill. Suppofing a field to be dril-
led in rows at ten inches diftance, the partitions may
be hand-hoed, and the rows dreſſed in fuch a manner
as to leave a proper number of plants. In this fitua-
tion the field may remain two years; then one-fourth
of the rows may be taken out in pairs, in fuch a man-
ner as to make the beds of fifty inches, with fix rows in
each, and intervals of thirty inches, which may be
ploughed. Next
Next year, another fourth of the rows
may be taken out in the fame manner, fo as to leave
double rows with partitions of ten inches, and
intervals of thirty: All of which may be hoed at
once or alternately, as it may be found moft conve-
181
Remarks
ture of fain-
foin in
England.
nient.
The great quantity of this grafs which the writers on
this fubje&t affure us may be raiſed upon an acre, and
the excellency and great value of the hay made of it,
ſhould induce farmers to make a complete trial of it,
and even to uſe the ſpade in place of the hoe, or hoe-
plough, if neceffary.
The plants taken up from a field of fainfoin may be
fet in another field; and if the tranfplanting of this
grafs fucceeds as well as the tranſplanting of lucerne
has done with Mr Lunin de Chateauvieux, the trouble
and expence will be fufficiently recompenfed by the
largenefs of the crops. In tranfplanting, it is necef-
fary to cut off great part of the long tap-root: this
will prevent it from ftriking very deep into the foil,
and make it puſh out large roots in a floping direction
from the cut end of the tap-root. Sainfoin managed in
this manner, will thrive even on fhallow land that has
a wet bottom, provided it be not overſtocked with
plants.
Whoever inclines to try the culture of this grafs in
Scotland, fhould take great pains in preparing the
land, and making it as free from weeds as poffible.
In England, as the roots ſtrike deep in that chalky
foil, this plant is not liable to be fo much injured by
drought as other graffes are, whofe fibres lie horizon-
tally, and lie near the furface. The quantity of hay
produced is greater and better in quality than any
other. But there is one advantage attending this grafs,
which renders it fuperior to any other; and that ari-
fes from feeding with it milch cows. The prodigious
increaſe of milk which it makes is aftoniſhing, being
nearly double that produced by any other green food.
The milk is alſo better, and yields more cream than
any other; and the butter procured from it much bet-
ter coloured and flavoured.
The following remarks by an Engliſh farmer are
on the cul- made from much experience and obfervation.
Sainfoin is much cultivated in thofe parts where
the foil is of a chalky kind. It will always fucceed
well where the roots run deep; the worſt foil of all for
it is where there is a bed of cold wet clay, which the
tender fibres cannot penetrate. This plant will make
a greater increaſe of produce, by at leaſt 30 times,
than common grafs or turf on poor land. Where it
meets with chalk or ſtone, it will extend its roots
through the cracks and chinks to a very great depth
in ſearch of nourishment. The drynefs is of more
confequence than the richneſs of land for fainfoin; al- Practice.
though land that is both dry and rich will always pro-
duce the largeſt crops.
It is very commonly fowed broadcaft; but it is found
to anſwer beſt in drills, eſpecially if the land be made
fine by repeated ploughing, rolling, and harrowing.
Much depends on the depth which this feed is fown.
If it be buried more than an inch deep, it will feldom
grow; and if left uncovered, it will push out its roots
above ground, and theſe will be killed by the air.
March and the beginning of April are the beſt ſeaſons
for fowing it, as the feverity of winter and the drought
of fummer are equally unfavourable to the young
plants. A bufhel of feed fown broadcaſt, or half that
quantity in drills, if good, is fufficient for an acre.
The drills fhould be 30 inches apart, to admit of horſe-
hoeing between them. Much, however, depends on
the goodnefs of the feed, which may be beft judged of
by the following marks.
The husk being of a bright colour, the kernel
plump, of a grey or bluish colour without, and, if cut
acrofs, greenish and freſh withinfide; if it be thin and
furrowed, and of a yellowish caft, it will ſeldom grow.
When the plants ſtand ſingle, and have room to ſpread,
they produce the greateſt quantity of herbage, and
the feed ripens beft. But farmers in general, from a
miftaken notion of all that appears to be waſte ground
being unprofitable, plant them fo clofe, that they choke
and impoverish each other, and often die in a few
years. Single plants run deepeſt and draw moſt nou-
rifhment; they are alſo eaſieſt kept free from weeds.
A fingle plant will often produce half a pound of hay,
when dry. On rich land this plant will yield two good
crops in a year, with a moderate fhare of culture. A
good crop must not be expected the firſt year; but, if
the plants ftand not too thick, they will increaſe in
fize the fecond year prodigiouſly.
No cattle fhould be turned on the field the firft win-
ter after the corn is off with which it was fown, as
their feet would injure the young plants. Sheep ſhould
not come on the following fummer, becauſe they would
bite off the crown of the plants, and prevent their
fhooting again. A fmall quantity of foapers afhes as
a top-dreffing will be of great fervice, if laid on the
firft winter.
If the fainfoin be cut juft before it comes into
bloom, it is admirable food for horned cattle; and if
cut thus early, it will yield a fecond crop the fame
feafon. But if it proves a wet feafon, it is better to
let it ftand till its bloom be perfected; for great care
muſt be taken, in making it into hay, that the flowers
do not drop off, as cows are very fond of them; and
it requires more time than other hay in drying. Sain-
foin is fo excellent a fodder for horſes, that they require
no oats while they eat it, although they be worked
hard all the time. Sheep will alſo be fattened with it
faſter than with any other food.
If the whole ſeaſon for cutting proves very rainy, it
is better to let the crop ftand for feed, as that will
amply repay the lofs of the hay; becauſe it will not only
fetch a good price, but a peck of it will go as far as
a peck and a half of oats for horfes.
The beſt time of cutting the ſeeded fainfoin is, when
the greateft part of the feed is well filled, the firſt
blown
Part II.
307
AGRICULTUR
E.
Practice. blown ripe, and the laft blown beginning to open. For is cut off, and the plant ſhoots out a number of lateral Practice.
want of this care fome people have loft moſt of their
feed by letting it ftand too ripe. Seeded fainfoin
fhould always be cut in a morning or evening, when
the dews render the ftalks tender. If cut when the
fun fhines hot, much of the feed will fall out and be
loft.
182
Its excel-
lence as
food for
COWS,
183
Culture of
lucerne.
7
An acre of very ordinary land, when improved by
this grafs, will maintain four cows very well from the
firſt of April to the end of November; and afford, be-
fides, a fufficient ftore of hay to make the greater part
of their food the four months following.
If the foil be tolerably good, a field of fainfoin will
laft from 15 to 20 years in prime; but at the end of
feven or eight years, it will be neceffary to lay on a
moderate coat of well-rotted dung; or, if the foil be
very light and fandy, of marle. By this means the
future crops, and the duration of the plants in health
and vigour, will be greatly increaſed and prolonged.
Hence it will appear, that for poor land there is no-
thing equal to this graſs in point of advantage to the
farmer.
Clover will laſt only two years in perfection; and
often, if the foil be cold and moiſt, near half the plants
will rot, and bald patches be found in every part of
the field the ſecond year. Befides, from our frequent
rains during the month of September, many crops
left for feeding are loft. But from the quantity and
excellent quality of this grafs (fainfoin), and its ripen-
ing earlier, and continuing in vigour fo much longer,
much riſk and certain expence is avoided, and a large
annual profit accrues to the farmer.
The writers on agriculture, ancient as well as mo-
dern, beftow the higheſt encomiums upon lucerne as
affording excellent hay, and producing very large crops.
Lucerne remains at leaſt 10 or 12 years in the ground,
and produces about eight tons of hay upon the Scots
acre. There is but little of it cultivated in Scotland. How-
ever, it has been tried in ſeveral parts of that country;
and it is found, that, when the feed is good, it comes
up very well, and ftands the winter froft. But the
chief thing which prevents this graſs from being more
uſed in Scotland, is the difficulty of keeping the foil
open and free from weeds. In a few years the ſurface
becomes fo hard, and the turf fo ftrong, that it de-
ftroys the lucerne before the plants have arrived at
their greateſt perfection: fo that lucerne can fcarce be
cultivated with fucceſs there, unleſs ſome method be
fallen upon of deftroying the natural grafs, and pre-
vent the ſurface from becoming hard and impenetrable.
This cannot be done effectually by any other means
than horfe-hoeing. This method was firft propofed by
Mr Tull, and afterwards practifed fuccefsfully by M.
de Chateauvieux near Geneva. It may be of uſe
therefore to give a view of that gentleman's method of
cultivating lucerne.
He does not mention any thing particular as to the
manner of preparing the land; but only obſerves in ge-
neral, that no pains ſhould be fpared in preparing it.
He tried the fowing of lucerne both in rows upon the
beds where it was intended to ftand, and likewife the
ſowing it in a nurfery, and afterwards tranfplanting it
into the beds prepared for it. He prefers tranſplant-
ing; becaufe, when tranfplanted, part of the tap-root
branches from the cut part of the root, which makes it
fpread its roots nearer the furface, and confequently
renders it more eaſily cultivated: befides, this circum-
ftance adapts it to a ſhallow foil, in which, if left in its
natural ſtate, it would not grow.
The tranſplanting of lucerne is attended with many
advantages. The land may be prepared in the fummer
for receiving the plants from the nurſery in autumn;
by which means the field muſt be in a much better ſi-
tuation than if the feed had been ſown upon it in the
fpring. By tranfplanting, the rows can be made more
regular, and the intended diſtances more exactly ob-
ferved; and confequently the hoeing can be performed
more perfectly, and with leſs expence. Mr Chateau-
vieux likewiſe tried the lucerne in fingle beds three feet
wide, with fingle rows; in beds three feet nine inches
wide, with double rows; and in beds four feet three
inches wide, with triple rows. The plants in the
fingle rows were fix inches afunder, and thofe in
the double and triple rows were about eight or nine
inches. In a courſe of three years he found, that
a fingle row produced more than a triple row of
the fame length. The plants of lucerne, when cul-
tivated by tranſplantation, ſhould be at leaſt fix in-
ches afunder, to allow them room for extending their
crowns.
He further obferves, that the beds or ridges ought to
be raiſed in the middle; that a fmall trench, two or
three inches deep, fhould be drawn in the middle; and
that the plants ought to be ſet in this trench, covered
with earth up to the neck. He fays, that if the lu
cerne be ſown in ſpring, and in a warm foil, it will be
ready for tranſplanting in September; that, if the wea
ther be too hot and dry, the tranſplanting fhould be
delayed till October; and that, if the weather be un-
favourable during both theſe months, this operation
muſt be delayed till ſpring. He further directs, that
the plants ſhould be carefully taken out of the nurſery,
fo as not to damage the roots; that the roots be left
only about fix or feven inches long; that the green
crops be cut off within about two inches of the crown;
that they be put into water as foon as taken up, there
to remain till they are planted; and that they ſhould
be planted with a planting-ſtick, in the fame manner as
cabbages.
He does not give particular directions as to the times
of horſe-hoeing; but only fays in general, that the in-
tervals fhould be ſtirred once in the month during the
whole time that the lucerne is in a growing ſtate. He
likewife obferves, that great care ought to be taken not
to fuffer any weeds to grow among the plants, at leaft
for the firft two or three years; and for this purpoſe,
that the rows, as well as the edges of the intervals
where the plough cannot go, ſhould be weeded by the
hand.
184
Burnet is peculiarly adapted to poor land; be- Culture of
fides, it proves an excellent winter-pafture when hardly burnet.
any thing elſe vegetates. Other advantages are, It
makes good butter; it never blows or fwells cattle;
it is fine pafture for ſheep; and will flouriſh well on
poor, light, fandy, or ftony foils, or even on dry chalk
hills.
The cultivation of it is neither hazardous nor expen
Q & 2
five,
308
Part II.
AGRICULTUR
E.
Practice. five. If the land is prepared as is generally done for
turnips, there no danger of its failing. After the
firft year, it will be attended with very little expence,
as the flat circular ſpread of its leaves will keep down,
or prevent the growth of weeds.
185
crops.
On the failure of turnips, either from the fly or the
black worm, fome of our farmers have fown the land
with burnet, and in March following had a fine pafture
for their ſheep and lambs. It will perfect its feed twice
in a fummer; and this feed is faid to be as good as
oats for horſes; but it is too valuable to be applied to
that uſe.
It is fometimes fown late in the ſpring with oats and
barley, and fucceeds very well; but it is beft to fow it
fingly in the beginning of July, when there is a pro-
ſpect of rain, on a ſmall piece of land, and in October
following, tranfplant it in rows two feet apart, and a-
bout a foot diftant in the rows. This is a proper dif-
tance, and gives opportunity for hoeing the intervals
in the fucceeding fpring and fummer.
After it is fed down with cattle, it fhould be har-
rowed clean. Some horſes will not eat it freely at firſt,
but in two or three days they are generally very fond
of it. It affords rich pleaſant milk, and in great plenty.
A gentlemen farmer near Maidſtone fome years
fince fowed four acres as foon as the crop of oats were
got off, which was the latter end of Auguft. He
threw in 12 pounds of feed per acre, broadcaſt; and
no rain falling until the middle of September, the plants
did not appear before the latter end of that month.
There was however a good crop, and in the fpring he
fet the plants out with a turnip-hoe, leaving them about
a foot diſtant from each other. But the drill method
is preferable, as it faves more than half the feed. The
fand was a poor dry gravel, not worth three fhillings
an acre for any thing elſe.
The fevereft froft never injures this plant; and the
oftener it is fed the thicker are its leaves, which ſpring
conſtantly from its root.
SECT. V. Rotation of Crops.
Rotation of No branch of huſbandry requires more fkill and fa-
gacity than a proper rotation of crops, fo as to keep
the ground always in heart, and yet to draw out of it
the greateſt profit poffible. Some plants rob the foil,
others are gentle to it: fome bind, others loofen. The
nice point is, to intermix crops, fo as to make the
greateſt profit confiftently with keeping the ground in
trim. In that view, the nature of the plants employ-
ed in huſbandry muſt be accurately examined.
321.
786
The difference between culmiferous and leguminous
Culmife-
rous and le- plants, is occafionally mentioned above*. With re-
guminous fpect to the preſent fubject, a clofer infpection is necef-
plants.
fary. Culmiferous plants, having fmall leaves and few
* N° 120, in number, depend moſtly on the foil for nouriſhment,
and little on the air. During the ripening of the feed,
they draw probably their whole nouriſhment from the
foil; as the leaves by this time, being dry and wither-
ed, muſt have loft their power of drawing nouriſhment
from the air. Now, as culmiferous plants are chiefly
cultivated for their feed, and are not cut down till the
feed be fully ripe, they may be pronounced all of them
to be robbers, fome more, fome lefs. But fuch plants,
while young, are all leaves; and in that ftate draw
very
most of their nouriſhment from the air. Hence it is, Practice.
that where cut green for food to cattle, a culmiferous
crop is far from being a robber. A hay-crop accor-
dingly, even where it confifts mostly of rye-grafs, is not
a robber, provided it be cut before the feed is formed;
which at any rate it ought to be, if one would have
hay in perfection. And the foggage, excluding the
froft by covering the ground, keeps the roots warm. A
leguminous plant, by its broad leaves, draws much of
its nouriſhment from the air. A cabbage, which has
broad leaves, and a multitude of them, owes its
growth more to the air than to the foil. One fact is
certain, that a cabbage cut and hung up in a damp
place, preferves its verdure longer than other plants.
At the fame time, a feed is that part of a plant which
requires the moſt nouriſhment; and for that nouriſh-
ment a culmiferous plant muſt be indebted entirely to
the foil. A leguminous crop, on the contrary, when
cut green for food, muſt be very gentle to the ground.
Peafe and beans are leguminous plants; but being cul-
tivated for feed, they feem to occupy a middle ſtation :
their feed makes them more ſevere than other legumi-
nous crops cut green; their leaves, which grow till
reaping, make them lefs fevere than a culmiferous plant
left to ripen.
Thefe plants are diftinguiſhed no leſs remarkably by
the following circumftance. All the feeds of a culinife-
rous plant ripen at the fame time. As foon as they begin
to form, the plant becomes ſtationary, the leaves wither,
the roots ceafe to puſh, and the plant when cut down
is blanched and faplefs. The feeds of a leguminous plant
are formed fucceffively: flowers and fruit appear at the
fame time in different parts of the plant. This plant
accordingly is continually growing, and pushing its
roots. Hence the value of bean or peaſe ſtraw above
that of wheat or oats: the latter is withered and dry
when the crop is cut; the former, green and fucculent.
The difference therefore, with reſpect to the foil, be-
tween a culmiferous and leguminous crop, is great. The
latter, growing till cut down, keeps the ground in con-
ſtant motion, and leaves it to the plough looſe and mel-
low. The former gives over growing long before reap-
ing; and the ground, by want of motion, turns com-
pact and hard. Nor is this all. Dew falling on a
culmiferous erop after the ground begins to harden,
refts on the furface, and is fucked up by the next fun.
Dew that falls on a leguminous crop, is fhaded from
the fun by the broad leaves, and finks at leifure into
the ground. The ground accordingly, after a culmi-
ferous crop, is not only hard, but dry: after a legu-
minous crop, it is not only loofe, but foft and unc-
tuous.
Of all culmiferous plants, wheat is the moſt ſevere,
by the long time it occupies the ground without ad-
mitting a plough. And as the grain is heavier than
that of barley or oats, it probably requires more nou-
riſhment than either. It
riſhment than either. It is obferved above, that as
peafe and beans draw part of their nouriſhment from
the air by their green leaves while allowed to ſtand,
they draw the lefs from the ground; and by their con-
ftant growing they leave it in good condition for ſub-
fequent crops. In both reſpects they are preferable
to any culmiferous crop.
Culmiferous crops, as obferved above, are not rob-
bers when cut green: the foil, far from hardening, is
kept.
7
7.
Part II.
309
AGRICULTUR R E.
Practice. kept in conftant motion by the pufhing of the roots,
and is left more tender than if it had been left at reſt
without any bearing crop.
Bulbous-rooted plants are above all fuccefsful in di-
viding and pulverizing the foil. Potato-roots grow
fix, eight, or ten inches under the furface; and, by
their fize and number, they divide and pulverize the
foil better than can be done by the plough; confequent-
ly, whatever be the natural colour of the foil, it is
black when a potato-crop is taken up. The potato,
however, with refpect to its quality of dividing the
foil, muft yield to a carrot or parſnip; which are large
roots, and pierce often to the depth of 18 inches.
The turnip, by its tap-root, divides the foil more than
can be done by a fibrous-rooted plant; but as its bul-
bous root grows moftly above ground, it divides the
foil leſs than the potato, the carrot, or the parſnip.
Red clover, in that refpect, may be put in the fame
clafs with turnip.
Whether potatoes or turnip be the more gentle crop,
appears a puzzling queftion. The former bears feed,
and probably draws more nourishment from the foil
than the latter, when cut green. On the other hand,
On the other hand,
potatoes divide the foil more than turnip, and leave it
more loofe and friable. It appears no lefs puzzling,
to determine between cabbage and turnip: the former
draws more of its nouriſhment from the air, the latter
leaves the foil more free and open.
any
The refult of the whole is what follows: Culmi-
ferous plants are robbers; fome more, fome leſs: they
at the fame time bind the foil; fome more, fome leſs.
Leguminous plants in both refpects are oppofite: if
of them rob the foil, it is in a very flight degree;
and all of them without exception locfen the foil. A
culmiferous crop, however, is generally the more pro-
fitable but few foils can long bear the burden of fuch
crops, unleſs relieved by interjected leguminous crops.
Thefe, on the other hand, without a mixture of cul-
miferous crops, would foon render the foil too looſe..
Theſe preliminaries will carry the farmer fome length
in directing a proper rotation of crops. Where dung,
lime, or other manure, can be procured in plenty to
recruit the foil after fevere cropping, no rotation is
more proper or profitable in a ſtrong foil, than wheat,
peaſe or beans, barley, oats, fallow. The whole farm
may be brought under this rotation, except ſo far as
hay is wanted. But as fuch command of manure is
rare, it is of more importance to determine what ſhould
be the rotation when no manure can be procured but
the dung collected in the farm. Confidering that cul-
miferous crops are the more profitable in rich land, it
would be proper to make them more frequent than the
other kind. But as there are few foils in Scotland that
will admit fuch frequent culmiferous crops without fuf-
fering, it may be laid down as a general rule, that al-
ternate crops, culmiferous and leguminous, ought to
form the rotation. Nor are there many foils that will
ſtand good, even with this favourable rotation, un-
lefs relieved from time to time by pafturing a few
years. If fuch extended rotation be artfully carried
on, crops without end may be obtained in a tolerable
good foil, without any manure but what is produced in
the farm.
It is ſcarce neceſſary to be mentioned, being known
to every farmer that clay anfwers beft for wheat,
with re-
moift clay for beans, loam for barley and peafe, light Practice.
foil for turnip, fandy foil for rye and buck-wheat; and
187
that oats thrive better in coarfe foil than any other The nature
grain. Now, in directing a rotation, it is not fuffi- of foil con-
cient that a culmiferous crop be always fucceeded by a fidered,
leguminous: attention muft alfo be given, that no crop gard to the
be introduced that is unfit for the foil. Wheat, being rotation of
a great binder, requires more than any other crop a crops.
leguminous crop to follow. But every fuch crop is
not proper: potatoes are the greatest openers of foil;
but they are improper in a wheat foil. Neither will tur-
nip anſwer, becauſe it requires a light foil. A very looſe
foil, after a crop of rye, requires rye-grafs to bind it, or
the treading of cattle in pafturing: but to bind the foil,
wheat must not be ventured; for it fucceeds ill in looſe-
foil.
Another confideration of moment in directing the
rotation, is to avoid crops that encourage weeds. Peaſe
is the fittest of all crops for fucceeding to wheat, be-
cauſe it renders the ground loofe and mellow, and the
fame foil agrees with both.. But beware of peafe, un-
lefs the foil be left by the wheat perfectly free of weeds;
becauſe peafe, if not an extraordinary crop, fofter
weeds. Barley may be ventured after wheat, if the
farmer be unwilling to lofe a crop. It is indeed a rob-
ber; better, however, any crop, than run the hazard of
poiſoning the foil with weeds. But to prevent the ne-
ceffity of barley after wheat, the land ought to be fal-
lowed before the wheat: it cleans the ground tho--
roughly, and makes peaſe a ſecure crop after wheat..
And after a good crop of peaſe, barely never fails. A
horſe-hoed crop of turnip is equal to a fallow for root-
ing out weeds; but turnip does not fuit land that is-
proper for wheat. Cabbage does well in wheat foil;
and a horfe-hoed crop of cabbage, which eradicates
weeds, is a good preparation for wheat to be fucceed-
ed by peafe; and a crop of beans diligently hand-
hoed, is in that view little inferior. As red clover re-
quires the ground to be perfectly clean, a good crop
of it enfures wheat, and next peaſe.. In loam, a drill-
ed crop of turnip
of turnip or potatoes prepares the ground, e--
qual to a fallow, for the fame fucceffion.
Another rule is, to avoid a frequent repetition of
the fame fpecies; for to produce good crops, change
of ſpecies is no lefs neceffary than change of feed.
The fame fpecies returning every fecond or third year,
will infallibly degenerate, and be a ſcanty crop.
is remarkably the cafe of red clover. Nor will our
fields bear pleafantly perpetual crops of wheat after-
fallow, which is the practice of fome Engliſh farmers.
This
Hitherto of rotation in the fame field. We add
one rule concerning rotation in different fields; which
is, to avoid crowding crops one after another in point-
of time; but to chooſe fuch as admit intervals fufficient:
for leifurely dreffing, which gives opportunity to ma- -
"nage all with the fame hands, and with the fame cat--
tle; for example, beans in January or February, peaſe
and oats in March, barley and potatoes in April, tur-
nip in June or July, wheat and rye in October.
188
For illuftrating the foregoing rules, a few inftances Exception
of exceptionable rotations will not be thought amifs. able rotas-
The following is an ufual rotation in Norfolk. Firſt, tions.
wheat after red clover. Secondly, barley.. Third, tur-
nip. Fourth, barley with red clover. Fifth, clover
cut for bay. Sixth, a fecond year's crop of clover
commonly
310
Part II.
AGRICULTURE.
સ
Practice. commonly paftured. Dung is given to the wheat and
turnip.-Againft this rotation feveral objections lie.
Barley after wheat is improper. The two crops of bar-
ley are too near together. The fecond crop of clover
muſt be very bad, if pafturing be the beſt way of con-
fuming it; and if bad, it is a great encourager of
weeds. But the ſtrongeſt objection is, that red clover
repeated fo frequently in the fame field cannot fail to
degenerate; and of this the Norfolk farmers begin to
be fenfible.-Salton in East Lothian is a clay foil;
and the rotation there is, Wheat after fallow and dung.
Second, barley after two ploughings; the one before
winter, the other immediately before the feed is fown.
Third, oats. Fourth, peafe. Fifth, barley. Sixth,
oats: and then fallow. This rotation confifts chiefly
of robbing crops. Peafe are the only leguminous
crop, which even with the fallow is not fufficient to
looſen a ſtiff foil. But the foil is good, which in ſome
meaſure hides the badnefs of the rotation. -About
Seaton, and all the way from Preſton to Gosford, the
ground is ſtill more ſeverely handled: wheat after fal-
low and dung, barley, oats, peaſe, wheat, barley, oats,
and then another fallow. The foil is excellent; and
it ought indeed to be fo, to fupport many rounds of
fuch cropping.
189
Fields not
too long in
paſture.
In the parishes of Tranent, Aberlady, Dirleton,
North-Berwick, and Athelftonefoord, the following
rotations were formerly univerfal, and to this day are
much more frequent than any other mode.
1. After fallow with dung, wheat, barley, oats, peaſe
and beans, barley, oats, wheat.
2. After fallow and dung, barley, oats, peafe and
beans, wheat, barley, oats peafe, wheat.
3. After fallow and dung, wheat, oats, peafe, bar-
ey, oats, wheat.
4. After fallow and dung, barley, oats, beans, wheat,
peafe, barley, oats.
In the ſeveral Tours of Young the itinerant farmer,
are found, in the beft counties of England, examples
without end, of rotations no lefs exceptionable than
many of thoſe mentioned.
Where a field is laid down for pafture in order to be
recruited, it is commonly left in that ftate many years;
to be kept for it is the univerſal opinion, that the longer it lies,
the richer it becomes for bearing corn. This may be
true; but in order to determine the mode of cropping,
the important point is, what upon the whole is the
moft profitable rotation; not what may produce luxu-
riant crops at a diftant period. Upon that point, it
may be affirmed, that the farmer who keeps a field in
paſture beyond a certain time, lofes every year confi-
derably; and that a few luxuriant crops of corn, after
20 years of paſture, and ſtill more after 30, will not
make up
the lofs.
Pafture-grafs, while young, maintains many animals;
and the field is greatly recruited by what they drop;
it is even recruited by hay crops, provided the grafs be
cut before ſeeding. But as old grafs yields little pro-
fit, the field ought to be taken up for corn when the
paſture begins to fail; and after a few crops, it ought
to be laid down again with grafs-feeds. Seduced by
a chimerical notion, that a field, by frequent corn-erops,
is fatigued and requires reft like a labouring man or
animal, careful farmers give long reft to their fields by
paſture, never adverting that it affords little profit. It
ought to be their study, to improve their foil, by ma- Practice.
king it free, and alfo retentive of moiſture. If they
accomplish thefe ends, they need not be afraid of ex-
haufting the foil by cropping.
190
Where a farmer has accefs to no manure but what Examples
is his own production, the cafe under confideration, of rotations,
there are various rotations of crops, all of them good
though perhaps not equally fo. We fhall begin with
two examples, one in clay, and one in free foil, each
of the farms 90 acres. Six acres are to be incloſed for
a kitchen-garden, in which there muſt be annually a
crop of red clover, for fummer-food to the working
cattle. As there are annually 12 acres in hay, and 12
in pafture, a fingle plough with good cattle will be fuf-
ficient to command the remaining 60 acres.
Rotation in a clay foil.
1775.1776. | 1777. 1778.
1779.
1780.
Oats.
1. Fallow. Wheat. Peafe. Barley. Hay..
2. Wheat. Peafe. Barley. Hay. Oats. Fallow.
3. Peafe. Barley. Hay. Oats. Fallow. Wheat.
4. Barley. Hay. Oats. Fallow. Wheat. Peaſe.
5. Hay. Oats. Fallow. Wheat. Peafe. Barley.
6. Oats. Fallow. Wheat. Peafe. Barley. Hay.
7. Pafture. Pafture. Pafture. Pafture. Pafture. Pafture.
When the rotation is completed, the feventh inclo-
fure having been fix years in paſture, is ready to be ta-
ken up for a rotation of crops which begins with oats
in the year 1781, and proceeds as in the fixth inclo-
fure. In the fame year 1781, the fifth incloſure is
made paſture, for which it is prepared by ſowing pa-
fture grafs feeds with the barley of the year 1780. And
in this manner may the rotation be carried on without
end. Here the labour is equally diftributed; and there
no hurry nor confufion. But the chief
But the chief property of
this rotation is, that two culmiferous or white-corn
crops are never found together; by a due mixture of
crops, the foil is preſerved in good heart without any
adventitious manure. At the fame time, the land is
always producing plentiful crops: neither hay nor pa-
fture get time to degenerate. The whole dung is laid
upon the fallow.
Every farm that takes a graſs-crop into the rotation
muſt be inclofed, which is peculiarly neceffary in a clay
foil, as nothing is more hurtful to clay than poaching.
Rotation in a free foil.
1775. 1776. | 1777. 1778. | 1779. | 1780.
1. Turnip. Barley. Hay. Oats. Fallow. Wheat.
2. Barley. Hay. Oats. Fallow. Wheat. Turnip.
3. Hay.
Oats. Fallow. Wheat. Turnip. Barley.
4. Oats. Fallow. Wheat. Turnip. Barley. Hay.
5. Fallow. Wheat. Turnip. Barley. Hay.
6. Wheat. Turnip. Barley. Hay. Oats. Fallow.
7. Pafture. Pafture. Paſture. Paſture. Paſture. Paſture.
Oats.
For the next rotation, the feventh incloſure is taken
up for corn, beginning with an oat-crop, and proceed-
ing in the order of the fourth incloſure; in place of
which, the third incloſure is laid down for pafture by
fowing pafture-graffes with the laft crop in that inclo-
fure, being barley. This rotation has all the advanta-
ges
1
Part II.
31 I
AGRICULTURE.
Practice.
191
Of:ipeness.
ges of the former. Here the dung is employed on the
turnip-crop.
We proceed to confider what rotation is proper for
carfe clay. The farm we propofe confifts of 73 acres.
Nine are to be incloſed for a kitchen garden, affording
plenty of red clover to be cut green for the farm-cattle.
The remaining 64 acres are divided into four inclo-
fures, 16 acres each, to be cropped as in the following
table.
Inclof.
1775 1776 | 1777. | 1778..
Oats.
1. Beans. Barley. | Hay.
2. Barley. Hay. Oats. Beans.
3. Hay. Oats. Beans. Barley.
4. Oats.
Beans. Barley. Hay.
Here the dung ought to be applied to the barley.
Many other rotations may be contrived, keeping to
the rules above laid down. Fallow, for example, wheat,
peaſe and beans, barley, cabbage, oats, for clay. Here
dung muſt be given both to the wheat and cabbage.
For free foil, drilled turnip, barley, red clover, wheat
upon a fingle furrow, drilled potatoes, oats. Both
the turnip and potatoes muſt have dung. Another for
free foil: turnip drilled and dunged, red clover, wheat
on a ſingle furrow with dung, peafe, barley, potatoes,
oats. The following rotation has proved fucceſsful in
a foil proper for wheat. 1. Oats with red clover, after
fallow, without dung. 2. Hay. The clover-ftubble
dunged, and wheat fown the end of October with a
fingle furrow. 3. Wheat. 4. Peafe. 5. Barley. Fal-
low again. Oats are taken the firft crop, to fave the
dung for the wheat. Oats always thrive on a fallow,
though without dung, which is not the caſe of barley.
But barley feldom fails after peafe. In ftrong clay
foil, the following rotation anſwers. 1. Wheat after
fallow and dung. 2. Beans fown under furrow as early
as poffible. Above the beans, fow peafe end of March,
half a boll per acre, and harrow them in. The two
grains will ripen at the fame time. 3. Oats or barley
on a winter furrow with grafs-feeds. 4. Hay for one
year or two; the fecond growth paftured. Lay what
dung can be fpared on the hay ftubble, and fow wheat
with a fingle furrow. 5. Wheat. 6. Beans or peafe.
7. Oats. Fallow again.
192
This leads to the hands that are commonly engaged Practice.
to cut down corn. In Scotland, the univerfal prac-
tice was, to provide a number of hands, in proportion of reapers.
to the extent of the crop, without regard to the time
of ripening. By this method, the reapers were often
idle for want of work; and what is much worſe, they
had often more work than they could overtake, and
ripe fields were laid open to ſhaking winds. The Lo-
thians have long enjoyed weekly markets for reapers,
where a farmer can provide himſelf with the number
he wants; and this practice is creeping into neighbour-
ing fhires. Where there is no opportunity of ſuch
markets, neighbouring farmers ought to agree in bor-
rowing and lending their reapers.
One ſhould imagine, that a caution againſt cutting
corn when wet is unneceffary; yet from the impatience
of farmers to prevent fhaking, no caveat is more ſo.
Why do they not confider, that corn ſtanding dries in
half a day; when, in a cloſe fheaf, the weather mult
be favourable if it dry in a month? in moiſt weather it
will never dry.
193
With reſpect to the manner of cutting, we muſt pre- Manner of
mife, that barley is of all the most difficult grain to be cutting,
dried for keeping. Having no huſk, rain has eaſy
accefs; and it has a tendency to malten when wet.
Where the ground is properly fmoothed by rolling, it
feems beft to cut it down with the feythe. This man-
ner being more expeditious than the fickle, removes it
fooner from danger of wind; and gives a third more
ftraw, which is a capital article for dung, where a farm
is at a diſtance from other manure. We except only
corn that has lodged; for there the fickle is more con-
venient than the fcythe. As it ought to be dry when
cut, bind it up directly: if allowed to lie any time in
the fwath, it is apt to be diſcoloured.-Barley fown
with grafs-feeds, red clover eſpecially, requires a dif-
ferent management. Where the grafs is cut along
with it, the difficulty is great of getting it fo dry as
to be ventured in a ſtack. The best way is, to cut
the barley with a fickle above the clover, fo as that
nothing but clean barley is bound up. Cut with a
feythe the ftubble and grafs: they make excellent winter-
food. The fame method is applicable to oats; with:
this only difference, that when the field is expofed to
the fouth-weft wind, it is lefs neceffary to bind imme-
diately after mowing.. As wheat commonly grows
higher than any other grain, it is difficult to manage
SECT. VI. Of Reaping Corn and Hay Crops, and it with the feythe; for which reafon the fickle is pre-
Storing them up for uſe.
CULMIFEROUS plants are ripe when the ftem is to-
tally white: they are not fully ripe if any green Areaks
remain. Some farmers are of opinion, that wheat ought
to be cut before it is fully ripe. Their reafons are,
firſt, that ripe wheat is apt to ſhake; and next, that
the flour is not ſo good. With reſpect to the laft, it is
contrary to nature, that any feed can be better in an
unripe ftate than when brought to perfection: nor
will it be found fo upon trial. With refpect to the
firſt, wheat, at the point of perfection, is not more apt
to ſhake than for fome days before: the huſk begins
not to open till after the feed is fully ripe; and then
the fuffering the crop to ftand becomes tickliſh: after
the minute of ripening, it ſhould be cut down in an
inftant, if poffible.
I
ferred in England. Peafe. and beans grow fo irregu-
larly, as to make the fickle neceffary.
194
The beſt way for drying peafe, is to keep feparate Drying of
the handfuls that are cut: though in this way they wet peafe.
eafily, they dry as foon.. In the common way of heap-
ing peafe together for compofing a fheaf, they wet as
eafily, and dry not near fo foon. With refpect to beans,
the top of the handful laft cut, ought to be laid on the
bottom of the former; which gives ready accefs to the
wind. By this method peafe and beans are ready for
the ftack in half the ordinary time.
195
A. fheaf commonly is made as large as can be con- Size of
tained in two lengths of the corn made into a rope. To leaves.
fave frequent tying, the binder preffes it down with his
knee, and binds it fo hard as totally to exclude the air,
If there be any moiſture in the crop, which feldom fails,
a proceſs of fermentation and putrefaction commences.
in
!
312
AGRICULTURE.
Part II.
the covering ought to be fo thick as to be proof Practice.
againſt rain.
nect
diftant
Practice. in the fheaf; which is perfected in the ſtack, to the
deſtruction both of corn and ftraw. How flupid is it,
to make the fize of a fheaf depend on the height of the
plants! By that rule, a wheat-fheaf is commonly fo
weighty, as to be unmanageable by ordinary arms: it
requires an effort to move it, that frequently burfts the
knot, and occafions lofs of grain, befide the trouble of
a fecond tying. Sheaves ought never to be larger than
can be contained in one length of the plant, cut cloſe
to the ground; without admitting any exception, if
the plants be above eighteen inches high. The bind-
er's arm can then compreſs the fheaf fufficiently, with-
out need of his knee. The additional hands that this
way of binding may require, are not to be regarded,
compared with the advantage of drying foon. Corn
thus managed may be ready for the ſtack in a week;
it ſeldom in the ordinary way requires lefs than a fort-
night, and frequently longer. Of a ſmall fheaf com-
preffed by the arm only, the air pervades every part;
nor is it fo apt to be unloofed as a large fheaf, how-
ever firmly bound. We omit the gathering of fheaves
into ſhocks, becauſe the common method is good,
which is to place the ſhocks directed to the fouth-weft,
in order to reſiſt the force of the wind. Five fheaves
on each ſide make a fufficient ftay; and a greaternum-
ber cannot be covered with two head-fheaves.
196
Carrying
off the
victual.
T07
Every article is of importance that haftens the ope-
ration in a country, like Scotland, fubjected to unequal
harveſt-weather; for which reaſon, the moſt expediti-
ous method fhould be chofen for carrying corn from the
field to the ftack-yard. Our carriages are generally
too ſmall or too large. A fledge is a very aukward
machine: many hands are required, and little progrefs
made. Waggons and large carts are little lefs dilato-
ry, as they muſt ftand in the yard till unloaded fheaf
by fheaf.
The beſt way is, to ufe long carts moveable
upon the axle, fo as at once to throw the whole load on
the ground; which is forked up to the ftack by a
hand appointed for that purpoſe. By this method,
two carts will do the work of four or five.
Offtacking. Building round ftacks in the yard is undoubtedly
preferable to houfing corn. There it is fhut up from
the air; and it muſt be exceedingly dry, if it contract
not a muftinefs, which is the firft ftep to putrefaction.
Add to this, that in the yard, a ſtack is preferved from
rats and mice by being fet on a pedeſtal; whereas no
method has hitherto been invented for preferving corn
in a houſe from fuch deftructive vermin. The proper
manner of building, is to make every fheaf incline
downward from its top to its bottom. Where the
fheaves are laid horizontally, the ftack will take in rain
both above and below. The best form of a ftack is
that of a cone placed on a cylinder; and the top of
the cone fhould be formed with three fheavcs drawn to
a point. If the upper part of the cylinder be a little
wider than the under, fo much the better.
198
Covering The delaying to cover a ftack for two or three
the ftacks. weeks, though common, is, however, exceedingly ab-
furd; for if much rain fall in the interim, it is beyond
the power of wind to dry the ſtack. Vegetation be-
gun in the external parts, fhuts out the air from the
internal; and to prevent a total putrefaction, the ſtack
muſt be thrown down, and expofed to the air, every
fheaf. In order to have a ftack covered the moment it
is finiſhed, ftraw and ropes ought to be ready; and
N° 8.
Scotland is fubject not only to floods of rain, but to
high winds. Good covering guards againſt the for-
mer, and ropes artfully applied guards againſt the lat-
ter. The following is a good mode. Take a hay-
rope well twiſted, and furround the ſtack with it, two
feet or fo below the top. Surround the ftack with
anot¹ fuch rope immediately below the eafing. Con-
fe two with ropes in an up-and-down pofition,
from each other at the eafing about five or fix
feet. Then furround the ftack with other circulat
ropes parallel to the two firft mentioned, giving them
a twift round every one of thoſe that lie up and down,
by which the whole will be connected together in a
fort of net-work. What remains is, to finiſh the two
feet at the top of the ſtack. Let it be covered with
bunches of ftraw laid regularly up and down; the un-
der part to be put under the circular
first men-
tioned, which will keep it faft, and the upper part be
bound by a ſmall rope artfully twifted, commonly call-
ed the crown of the stack. This method is preferable
to the common way of laying long ropes over the top
of the ftack, and tying them to the belting-rope; which
flattens the top, and makes it take in rain. A ſtack
covered in the way here deſcribed, will ſtand two years
fecure both againſt wind and rain; a notable advantage
in this variable climate.
rope
199
The great aim in making hay is, to preferve as much Hay-ma-
of the fap as poffible. All agree in this; and yet differ king.
widely in the means of making that aim effectual. To
defcribe all the different means would be equally tedi-
ous and unprofitable. We fhall confine ourſelves to
two, which appear preferable to all others. A crop of
rye-grafs and yellow clover ought to be ſpread as cut.
A day or two after, when the dew is evaporated, rake
it into a number of parallel rows along the field, term-
ed wind-rows, for the convenience of putting it up into
fmall cocks. After turning the rows once and again,
make ſmall cocks weighing a ftone or two. At the
diſtance of two days or fo, put two cocks into one,
obferving always to mix the tops and bottoms together,
and to take a new place for each cock, that the leaſt
damage poffible may be done to the grafs. Proceed
in putting two cocks into one, till fufficiently dry for
tramp-ricks of 100 ftone each. The cafieft way of
erecting tramp-ricks, is to found a rick in the middle
of the row of cocks that are to compofe it. The cocks
may be carried to the rick by two perfons joining arms
together. When all the cocks are thus carried to the
rick within the diſtance of 40 yards or fo, the relt cf
the cocks will be more expeditiouſly carried to the
rick, by a rope wound about them and dragged bya
horſe.
horfe. Two ropes are fufficient to fecure the ricks
from wind the fhort time they are to ſtand in the field.
In the year 1775, 10,000 ftone were put into tramp-
ricks the fourth day after cutting. In a country fo wet
as many parts of Scotland are, expedition is of mighty
confequence in the drying both of hay and corn. With
refpect to hay intended for horned cattle, it is by the
generality held an improvement, that it be heated a
little in the ftack. But we violently fufpect this doc-
trine to have been invented for excufing indolent ma-
nagement.
nagement. An ox, it is true, will eat fuch hay; but
it will always be found that he prefers fweet hay; and
4
it
Part II.
313
AGRICULTUR
E.
Practice. it cannot well be doubted, but that fuch hay is the
moſt falutary and the moſt nouriſhing.
200
Hay of red
clover.
201
Other me-
The making hay confifting chiefly of red clover,
requires more care. The feafon of cutting is the laſt
week of June, when it is in full bloom; earlier it may
be cut, but never later. To cut it later would indeed
produce a weightier crop; but a late firft cutting
makes the ſecond alfo late, perhaps too late for drying.
At the fame time, the want of weight in an early first
cutting, is amply compenſated by the weigf the
fecond.
When the ſeaſon is too variable for making hay of
the fecond growth, mix ftraw with that growth, which
will be a fubftantial food for cattle during winter.
This is commonly done by laying ftrata of the ftraw
and clover alternately in the ftack. But by this me-
thod, the ftrata of clover, if they do not heat, turn
mouldy at leaſt, and unpalatable. The better way is,
to mix them carefully with the hand before they be put
into the ftack. The dry ſtraw imbibes moiſture from
the clover and prevents heating.
202
of this me-
fork, lift up one of thefe fmall cocks between them Practice.
with the greateſt eaſe, and carry them one after ano-
ther to the place where the tramp-cock is to be built (a):
and in this manner they proceed over the field till the
whole is finiſhed.
"The advantages that attend this method of making Advantages
hay, are, That it greatly abridges the labour; as it does thod.
not require above the one-half of the work that is ne-
ceffary in the old method of turning and tedding it :
That it allows the hay to continue almoft as green as
when it is cut, and perferves its natural juices in the
greateſt perfection; for, unleſs it be the little that is
expofed to the fun and air upon the furface of the
cocks, which is no more bleached than every ſtraw of
hay faved in the ordinary way, the whole is dried in
the moſt flow and equal manner that could be defired:
and, laftly, That it is thus in a great meaſure ſecured
from almoft the poffibility of being damaged by rain.
This laft circumftance deferves to be much more at-
tended to by the farmer than it uſually is at prefent; as
I have ſeen few who are fufficiently aware of the lofs
But the beſt method of hay-making feems to be that that the quality of their hay fuftains by receiving a
thod. recommended by Mr Anderfon *. "Inftead," fays flight ſhower after it is cut, and before it is gathered;
*Effays on he, "of allowing the hay to lie, as ufual in moft pla- the generality of farmers feeming to be very well fatis-
Agriculture, ces, for fome days in the ſwathe after it is cut, and af-fied if they get in their hay without being abſolutely
Vol. I. p. 186
terwards alternately putting it up into cocks and fpread- rotted; never paying the leaft attention to its having
ing it out, and tedding it in the fun, which tends great- been feveral times wetted while the hay was making.
ly to bleach the hay, exhales its natural juices, and But, if theſe gentlemen will take the trouble at any
fubjects it very much to the danger of getting rain, time to compare any parcel of hay that has been made
and thus runs a great riſk of being good for little, I perfectly dry, with another parcel from the ſame field
make it a general rule, if poffible, never to cut hay that has received a ſhower while in the ſwathe, or even
but when the graſs is quite dry; and then make the a copious dew, they will foon be ſenſible of a very ma-
gatherers follow cloſe upon the cutters,-putting it up nifeft difference between them; nor will their horfes or
immediately into ſmall cocks about three feet high each cattle ever commit a miſtake in chooſing between the
when new put up, and of as ſmall a diameter as they
can be made to ftand with; always giving each of them
a flight kind of thatching, by drawing a few hand-
fuls of the hay from the bottom of the cock all around,
and laying it lightly upon the top with one of the ends
hanging downwards. This is done with the utmoft
eafe and expedition; and when it is once in that ſtate,
I confider my hay as in a great meafure out of dan-
ger: for unleſs a violent wind ſhould ariſe immediately
after the cocks are put up, fo as to overturn them, no-
thing elſe can hurt the hay; as I have often experienced,
that no rain, however violent, ever penetrates into theſe
cocks but for a very little way. And, if they are
dry put up, they never fit together fo cloſely as to
heat; although they acquire, in a day or two, ſuch a
degree of firmnefs, as to be in no danger of being
overturned by wind after that time, unleſs it blows a
hurricane.
"In theſe cocks I allow the hay to remain, until,
upon infpection, I judge that it will keep in pretty
large tramp-cocks (which is ufually in one or two
weeks, according as the weather is more or lefs favour
able, when two men, each with a long pronged pitch-
VOL. I. Part I.
two.
203
this method
"Let it be particularly remarked, that in this man- Particular
ner of making hay, great care muſt be taken that it be caution re
dry when firft put into the cocks; for, if it is in the quifite in
leaft degree wet at that time, it will turn inſtantly
mouldy, and fit together fo as to become totally imper-
vious to the air, and will never afterwards become dry
till it is fpread out to the fun. For this reafon, if at
any time during a courſe of good ſettled weather you
fhould begin to cut in the morning before the dew is off
the grafs, keep back the gatherers till the dew is eva-
porated; allowing that which was firſt cut to lie till it
is dry before it is cocked. In this cafe, you will al-
moſt always find that the uncut grafs will dry fooner
than that which has been cut when wet; and, there-
fore, the gatherers may always begin to put up that
which is freſh cut before the other; which will ufually
require two or three hours to dry after the new-cut hay
may be cocked. And if, at any time, in cafe of ne-
ceflity, you ſhould be obliged to cut your hay before it
is dry, the fame rule muſt be obſerved, always to allow
it to remain in the ſwathe till it is quite dry: but, as
there is always a great riſk of being long in getting it
Rr
up,
(A) If the hay is to be carried to any confiderable diſtance, this part of the labour may be greatly abridged,
by caufing the carriers take two long fticks of a fufficient ftrength, and having laid them down by the fmall
cocks parallel to one another, at the diſtance of one and a half, or two feet afunder, let them lift three or four
cocks, one after another, and place them carefully above the fticks, and then carry them altogether, as if upon
a hand-barrow, to the place where the large rick is to be built.
314
AGRICUL
Part II.
LTUR E.
Practice.
204
1y-ftacks.
A stack of clover-hay in the fame circumftances weighs Practice.
fomewhat lefs.
up, and as it never in this cafe wins (a) fo kindly as
if it had been dry cut, the farmer ought to endeavour,
if poffible, in all cafes, to cut his hay only when dry;
even if it fhould cost him fome additional expence to
the cutters, by keeping them employed at any other
work, or even allowing them to remain idle, if the
weather ſhould be variable or rainy.
up
"But if there is a great proportion of clover, and
the weather ſhould chance to be cloſe and calm at the
time, it may, on fome occafions, be neceffary to open
thefe cocks a little, to admit fome fresh air into
them; in which cafe, after they have ftood a day or
two, it may be of great uſe to turn theſe cocks and o-
pen them up a little, which ought to be done in the
drieft time of the day; the operator taking that part of
each cock which was the top, and with it forming the
baſe of a new one; fo that the part which was moſt ex-
pofed to the air becomes excluded from it, and that
which was undermoft comes to be placed upon the top,
fo as to make it all dry as equally as poffible.
"If the hay has not been damp when it was firft
put up, the cock may be immediately finiſhed out at
once; but if it is at all wet, it will be of great uſe to
turn over only a little of the top of the cock at firft, and
leaving it in that ſtate to dry a little, proceed to ano-
ther, and a third, and fourth, &c. treating each in
the fame way; going on in that manner till you find
that the infide of the first opened cock is fufficiently
dried, when it will be proper to return to it, turning
over a little more of it till you come to what is ftill
damp, when you leave it and proceed to another, and
fo on round the whole; always returning afreſh till the
cocks are entirely finiſhed. This is the beſt way of fa-
ving your hay, if you have been under the neceffity of
cutting it while damp; but it is always beſt to guard
againſt this inconvenience, if poffible."
In the yard, a ftack of hay ought to be an oblong
fquare, if the quantity be greater than to be eaſily
ftowed in a round ftack; becauſe a ſmaller furface is
expofed to the air, than in a number of round ſtacks.
For the fame reafon, a ftack of peaſe ought to have the
fame form, the ſtraw being more valuable than that of
oats, wheat, or barley. The moment a ftack is finiſh-
ed, it ought to be covered; becauſe the furface-hay is
much damaged by withering in dry weather, and moi-
ftening in wet weather. Let it have a pavilion-roof;
for more of it can be covered with ftraw in that ſhape,
than when built perpendicular at the ends. Let it be
roped as directed above for corn-ftacks; with this dif-
ference only, that in an oblong fquare the ropes muſt
be thrown over the top, and tied to the belt-rope be-
low. This belt-rope ought to be fixed with pins to
the ſtack: the reaſon is, that the ropes thrown over the
ftack will bag by the finking of the ftack, and may
be drawn tight by lowering the belt-rope, and fixing
it in its new poſition with the fame pins.
The ftems of hops, being long and tough, make
excellent ropes; and it will be a faving article, to pro-
pagate a few plants of that kind for that very
end.
A ftack of rye-grafs hay, a year old, and of a mode-
rate fize, will weigh, each cubic yard, 11 Dutch, ftone.
SECT. VII. Manures.
THE manures commonly uſed are dung, lime, ſhell-
marl, clay-marl, and ftone-marl. Many other fub-
ftances are ufed; fhavings of horn, for example, refufe
of malt, and even old rags: but as the quantity that
can be procured is inconfiderable, and as their applica-
tion is fimple, we fhall confume no time upon them..
Dung is the chief of all manures; becaufe a quan-
tity of it may be collected in every farm, and becauſe
it makes the quickeſt return. A field fufficiently dung-
ed will produce good crops four or five years.
Dung of animals that chew the cud, being more
thoroughly putrefied than that of others, is fit to be
mixed with the foil without needing to be collected in-
to a dunghill. A horfe does not chew the cud; and
in horfe-dung may be perceived ftraw or rye-grafs bro-
ken into fmall parts, but not diffolved: it is proper
therefore that the putrefaction be completed in a dung-
hill.
It ought to be mixed there with cool materials:
fo hot it is, that, in a dunghill by itfelf, it finges and
burns inftead of putrefying. The difference between
the dung of a horfe and of a horned animal, is viſible
in a pafture-field: the graſs round the former is wither-
ed; round the latter, it is ranker and more verdant than
in the reft of the field. A mixture of dry and moiſt
ftuff ought to be ſtudied: the former attracting moi-
fture from the latter, they become equally moiſt.
205
Dung
hill.
206
To prevent fap from running out of a dunghill, its Of a dung-
fituation fhould be a little below the furface; and to
prevent rain from running into it, it ſhould be fur-
rounded with a ring of fod. If the foil on which the
dunghill ftands be porous, let it be paved, to prevent
the fap from finking into the ground. If moiſture
happen to fuperabound, it may be led off by a ſmall
gutter to impregnate a quantity of rich mould laid
down to receive it, which will make it equal to good
dung.
Straw fhould be prepared for the dunghill, by being
laid under cattle, and fufficiently moistened. When laid
dry into a dunghill, it keeps it open, admits too much
air, and prevents putrefaction.
Dung from the ſtable ought to be carefully fpread on
the dunghill, and mixed with the former dung. When
left in heaps upon the dunghill, fermentation and putre-
faction go on unequally.
Complete putrefaction is of importance with regard
to the feed of weeds that are in the dunghill: if they
remain found, they are carried out with the dung, and
infeit the ground. Complete putrefaction is of ftill
greater importance by pulverizing the dung; in which
condition it mixes intimately with the foil, and operates
the most powerfully. In land intended for barley, un-
digefted dung has a very bad effect: it keeps the ground
open, admits drought, and prevents the feed from
fpringing. On the other hand, when thoroughly rotted,
it mixes with the foil, and enables it to retain moiſture.
It follows, that the propereſt time for dunging a field,
is
(4) By winning hay, is meant the operation by which it is brought from the fucculent ftate of grafs to that
of a dry fodder.
Part II.
315
AGRICULTURE.
:
207
208
3
Practice. is in its highest pulverization; at which time the earth and therefore can never be intimately mixed with the Practice.
mixes intimately with the dung. Immediately before foil. Sometimes an opportunity offers to bring home
Time for fetting cabbage, fowing turnip, or wheat, is a good fhell-lime before the ground is ready for it; and it is
dunging. time. Dung divides and fpreads the most accurately commonly thrown into a heap without cover, trufting
when moist. Its intimate mixture with the foil is of to rain for flaking. The proper way is, to lay the
fuch importance, that hands fhould be employed to di- fhell-lime in different heaps on the ground where it is
vide and ſpread any lumps that may be in it.
to be ſpread, to reduce theſe heaps into powder by ſla-
Manner of Dung fhould be fpread, and ploughed into the king with water, and to cover the flaked lime with fod
dunging. ground without delay. When a heap lies two or three fo as to defend it from rain. One however would avoid
weeks, fome of the moiſture is imbibed into the ground, as much as poffible the bringing home lime before the
which will produce tufts of corn more vigorous than in ground be ready for it. Where allowed to lie long in
the reft of the field. There cannot be a worfe practice a heap, there are two bad confequences: firft, lime at-
than to lead out dung before winter, leaving it expo- tracts moiſture, even though well covered, and runs in-
fed to froſt and fnow. The whole ſpirit of the dung is to clots, which prevents an intimate mixture; and,
extracted by rain, and carried off with it. The dung next, we know, that burnt limeſtone, whether in fhells
diveſted of its fap becomes dry in fpring, and incapable or in powder, returns gradually into its original ſtate
of being mixed with the mould. It is turned over of limestone; and upon that account alfo, is lefs capable
whole by the plough, and buried in the furrow. of being mixed with the foil. And this is verified by a
fact, that, after lying long, it is fo hard bound together
as to require a pick to feparate the parts.
209
Of collect- As dung is an article of the utmoſt importance in
ing dung. huſbandry, one fhould imagine, that the collecting it
would be a capital article with an induftrious farmer.
Yet an ingenious writer, obferving that the Jamaicans
are in this particular much more induftrious than the
Britiſh, afcribes the difference to the difficulty of pro-
curing dung in Jamaica. "In England, where the
long winter enables a farmer to raiſe what quantity he
pleaſes, it is not collected with any degree of induftry.
But in Jamaica, where there is no winter, and where
the heat of the fun is a great obftruction, the farmer
muſt be indefatigable, or he will never raiſe any dung."
Cool intereft is not alone a fufficient motive with the
indolent, to be active. As dung is of great import-
ance in huſbandry, a farmer cannot be too affiduous in
collecting animal and vegetable fubftances that will rot.
One article of that kind there is, to collect which there
is a double motive, and yet is neglected almoſt every
where. A farm full of weeds is a nuifance to the
neighbourhood: it poiſons the fields around; and the
poffeffor ought to be difgraced as a peft to fociety.
Now the cutting down every weed before the feed is
formed, anfwers two excellent purpoſes. First, it en-
courages good crops, by keeping the ground clean.
Next, thefe weeds mixed with other materials in a
dunghill, may add confiderably to the quantity of
dung.
210
Of lime.
211
Its opera-
tion.
Next of lime, which is a profitable manure, and great-
ly fo when it can be got in plenty within a moderate
moderate
diſtance. The benefit of lime is ſo vifible, that the
ufe of it has become general, where the price and car-
riage are in any degree moderate.
per
However people may differ in other particulars, all
agree, that the operation of lime depends on its inti-
mate mixture with the foil; and therefore that the pro-
time of applying it, is when it is perfectly powder-
ed and the foil at the fame time in the highest degree
of pulverization. Lime of itſelf is abfolutely barren;
and yet it enriches a barren foil. Neither of the two
produces any good effect without the other: and con-
fequently, the more intimately they are mixed, the effect
muſt be the greater.
Hence it follows, that lime ought always to be fla-
ked with a proper quantity of water, becaufe by that
means it is reduced the moſt effectually into powder.
Lime left to be flaked by a moiſt air, or accidental rain,
is feldom or never thoroughly reduced into powder;
For the fame reaſon, it is a bad practice, though
common, to let fpread lime lie on the furface all win-
ter. The bad effects above mentioned take place here
in part: and there is another; that rain waſhes the
lime down to the furrows, and iñ a hanging field car-
ries the whole away.
212
As the particles of powdered lime are both ſmall and
heavy, they quickly fink to the bottom of the furrow,
if care be not taken to prevent it. In that view, it is Time of li-
a rule, that lime be ſpread, and mixed with the foil, ming.
immediately before fowing, or along with the feed. In
this manner of application, there being no occafion to
move it till the ground be ſtirred for a new crop, it has
time to incorporate with the foil, and does not readily
ſeparate from it. Thus, if turnip-feed is to be fown
broadcaft, the lime ought to be laid on immediately
before ſowing, and harrowed in with the feed.
crop of drilled turnip or cabbage be intended, the lime
ought to be fpread immediately before forming in
drills. With refpect to wheat, the lime ought to be
fpread immediately before feed-furrowing. If ſpread
more early, before the ground be fufficiently broken,
If a
finks to the bottom. If a light foil be prepared
for barley, the lime ought to be ſpread after feed-fur-
rowing, and harrowed in with the feed. In a ftrong
foil, it finks not fo readily to the bottom; and there-
fore, before fowing the barley, the lime ought to be
mixed with the foil by a brake.
mixed with the foil by a brake. Where moor is fum-
mer-fallowed for a crop of cats next year, the lime
ought to be laid on immediately before the laft plough-
ing, and braked in as before. It has fufficient time
to incorporate with the foil before the land be ſtirred
again.
<
213
The quantity to be laid on depends on the nature Quantis.
of the foil. Upon a ſtrong foil, 70 or 80 bolls of
fhells are not more than fufficient, reckoning four ſmall
firlots to the boll, termed wheat-meaſure; nor will it
be an overdoſe to lay on 100 bolls. Between 50 and
60 may fuffice upon medium foils; and upon the thin
or gravelly, between 30 and 40. It is not fafe to lay
a much greater quantity on fuch foils.
*
214
It is common to lime a pafture-field immediately Liming pa-
before ploughing. This is an unſafe practice; it is fture-tields.
thrown to the bottom of the furrow, from which it is
never fully gathered up. The proper time for liming
Rr 2
3
316
Part II.
AGRICULTURE.
Practice.
215
ftone.
a paſture field, intended to be taken up for corn, is a
year at leaſt, or two, before ploughing. It is wafhed
in by rain among the roots of plants, and has time to
incorporate with the foil.
Limeſtone beat ſmall makes an excellent manure ;
and ſupplies the want of powdered lime where there is
Beat lime- no fuel to burn the limeſtone. Limeſtone beat ſmall
has not hitherto been much uſed as a manure; and the
proportion between it and powdered lime has not been
afcertained. What follows may give fome light. Three
pounds of raw lime is by burning reduced to two
pounds of ſhell-lime. Yet nothing is expelled by the
fire but the air that was in the limeftone: the calca-
reous earth remains entire. Ergo, two pounds of ſhell-
lime contain as much calcareous earth as three pounds
of raw limeſtone. Shell-lime of the beſt quality, when
flaked with water, will meaſure out to thrice the quan-
tity. But as limeftone lofes none of its bulk by being
burnt into fhells, it follows, that three bushels of raw
limeſtone contain as much calcareous earth as fix bufhels
of powdered lime; and confequently, if powdered
lime poffefs not fome virtue above raw limeftone, three
bufhels of the latter beat ſmall ſhould equal as a ma-
nure fix bufhels of the former.
216
Of fhell-
marl.
217
Of clay
and ſtone-
marls,
Shell-marl, as a manure, is managed in every re-
fpect like powdered lime; with this only difference, that
a fifth or a fourth part more in meaſure ought to be
given. The reafon is, that fhell-marl is lefs weighty
than lime; and that a boll of it contains lefs calcareous
earth, which is the fructifying part of both.
Clay and ſtone marls, with respect to huſbandry, are
the fame, though in appearance different.
The goodneſs of marl depends on the quantity of
calcareous earth in it: which has been known to amount
to a half or more. It is too expenfive if the quantity
be leſs than a third or a fourth part. Good marl is the
moſt ſubſtantial of all manures; becauſe it improves the
weakeft ground to equal the beſt borough-acres. The
low part of Berwickſhire termed the Merfe, abounds
every where with this marl; and is the only county in
Scotland where it is plenty.
Land ought to be cleared of weeds before marling;
and it ought to be ſmoothed with the brake and harrow,
in order that the marl may be equally ſpread. Marl
is a foffil on which no vegetable will grow; its efficacy
depends, like that of lime, on its pulverization, and in-
timate mixture with the foil. Toward the former, al-
ternate drought and moisture contribute greatly, as alfo
froft. Therefore, after being evenly fpread, it ought
to lie on the ſurface all winter. In the month of Oc-
tober it may be rouſed with a brake; which will bring
to the furface, and expofe to the air and froft, all the
hard parts, and mix with the foil all that is powdered.
In that reſpect it differs widely from dung`and lime,
which ought to be ploughed into the ground without
delay. Oats is a hardy grain, which will anfwer for
being the first crop after marling better than any o-
ther; and it will fucceed though the marl be not tho-
roughly mixed with the foil. In that cafe, the marl
ought to be ploughed in with an ebb furrow immediate-
ly before fowing, and braked thoroughly. It is tick-
liſh to make wheat the first crop: if fown before win-
ter, froft fwells the marl, and is apt to throw the feed
out of the ground; if fown in ſpring, it will fuffer more
than oats by want of due mixture.
Summer is the proper feafon for marling; becauſe Practice.
in that feafon the marl, being dry, is not only lighter,
but is eafily reduced to powder. Froft however is not
improper for marling, efpecially as in froft there is
little opportunity for any other work.
Marl is a heavy body, and finks to the bottom of
the furrow, if indifcreetly ploughed. Therefore the
firft crop fhould always have an ebb furrow. During
the growing of that crop, the marl has time to incor-.
porate with the foil, and to become a part of it.;. after
which it does not readily ſeparate.
SECT. VIII. Principles and Operations of the New
or Horfe-hoeing Huſbandry,.
THE general properties attributed to the new-huf-
bandry may be reduced to two, viz. the promoting the
growth of plants by hoeing, and the faving of feed;
both of which are equally profitable to the farmer.
218
The advantages of tillage before fowing have al- Advanta-
ready been pointed out.. In this place we muſt con- ges afcribed
fine ourſelves to the utility of tillage after fowing, to horſe-
This kind of tillage. is. moft generally known by the hoeing,
name of horſe-hoeing..
Land fowed with wheat, however well it.
may be
cultivated in autumn, finks in the winter; the particles
get nearer together, and the weeds rife; fo that in
fpring,. the land is nearly in the fame fituation as if it
never had been ploughed. This, however, is the fea-
fon when it ſhould branch and grow with moſt vigour;
and confequently ſtands molt in need of ploughing or
hoeing, to deftroy the weeds, to fupply the roots with
freſh earth, and, by dividing anew the particles of the
foil, to allow the roots to extend and collect nouriſh-
ment.
It is well known, that, in gardens, plants grow with
double vigour after being hoed or tranfplanted. If
plants growing in arable land could be managed with
eaſe and ſafety in this manner, it is natural to expect,
that their growth would be promoted accordingly. Ex-
perience ſhows, that this is not only practicable, but.
attended with many advantages.
In the operation of hoeing wheat, though fome of
the roots be moved or broken, the plants receive no
injury; for this very circumftance makes them fend
forth a greater number of roots than formerly, which
enlarge their paſture, and conſequently augment their
growth.
Sickly wheat has often recovered its vigour after a
good hoeing, eſpecially when performed in weather not.
very hot or dry.
Wheat, and ſuch grain as is fown before winter,
requires hoeing more than oats, barley, or other grain
fown in the fpring; for, if the land has been well
ploughed before the fowing of fpring-corn, it neither
has time to harden, nor to produce many weeds, not
having been expoſed to the winter's fnow and rain.
Of SoWIN G...
219.
Huſbandry
As, in the practice of the New Huſbandry, plants Method of
grow with greater vigour than by the old method, the fowing in
land fhould be fowed thinner. It is this principle of New
the new huſbandry that has been chiefly objected to;
for, upon obferving the land occupied by a fmall num-
ber of plants, people are apt to look upon all the va-
cant
{
Part II.
317
AGRICULTURE.
Practice. cant ſpace as loft. But this prejudice will foon be re-
moved, when it is confidered, that, in the beft land
cultivated in the common method, and fown very thick,
each feed produces but one or two ears; that, in the
fame land fown thinner, every feed produces two or
three ears; and that a fingle feed fometimes produces
220
The diffe-
rent hoe-
ings..
18 or 21 ears.
pares the ground for the next fowing, as the feed is Practice.
then to be put in the middle of the ground that form-
ed the intervals.
The beſt ſeaſon for hoeing is two or three days af-
ter rain, or ſo ſoon after rain as the foil will quit the
inftrument in hoeing. Light dry foils may be hoed al-
moft any time, but this is far from being the cafe with.
In the common method, as there are many more ftrong clay foils; the feafon for hoeing fuch is fre-
plants than can find fufficient nouriſhment, and as it is quently ſhort and precarious; every opportunity there-
impoffible to affift them by hoeing, numbers die before fore fhould be carefully watched, and eagerly embra- -
they attain maturity, the greateſt part remain fickly ced. The two extremes of wet and dry, are great ene-
and drooping; and thus part of the feed is loft. On mies to vegetation in ftrong clay foils. There is a pe-
the contrary, in the new method, all the plants have riod between the time of clay foils running together,
as much food as they require; and as they are, from fo as to puddle by fuperfluous wet, and the time of
time to time, affifted by hoeing, they become fo vigo- their caking by drought, that they are as tractable as
rous as to equal in their production the numerous but need be. This is the juncture for hoeing; and fo
fickly plants cultivated in the common method.
much land as ſhall be thus feaſonably hoed, will not
cake or cruſt upon the ſurface, as it otherwife would
have done, till it has been foaked or drenched again
with rain; in which cafe the hoeing is to be repeated
as ſoon as the foil will quit the inftrument, and as of
ten as neceffary; by which time the growing crop will
begin to cover the ground, fo as to act as a fcreen to
the furface of the land againſt the intenſe heat of the
fun, and thereby prevent, in great meaſure, the bad
effects of the foil's caking in dry weather.
Of HOEIN G.
THE new huſbandry is abfolutely impracticable in
lands that are not eafily ploughed. Attempting to
cultivate land according to this huſbandry, without at-
tending to this circumftance, that it is practicable in
no land excepting fuch as have already been brought
into good tilth by the old method, has gone far to
make it contemptible in many places.
When a field is in good tilth, it ſhould be fown fo
thin as to leave fufficient room for the plants to extend
their roots. After being well ploughed and harrowed,
it muſt be divided into rows, at the diſtance of thirty
inches from one another. On the fides of each of theſe
rows, two rows of wheat muſt be fowed fix inches di-
ftant from each other.. By this means there will be an
interval of two feet wide betwixt the rows, and every
plant will have room enough to extend its roots, and to
fupply it with food. The intervals will likewife be fuf-
ficient for allowing the earth to be hoed or tilled with
out injuring the plants in the rows.
The firft hoeing, which ſhould be given before the
winter, is intended to drain away the wet, and to dif-
poſe the earth to be mellowed by the frofts. Theſe
two ends will be anſwered by drawing two ſmall fur-
rows at a little diſtance from the rows, and throwing
the earth taken from the furrows into the middle of
the intervals. This firſt hoeing ſhould be given when
the wheat is in leaf.
The ſecond hoeing, which is intended to make the
plants branch, ſhould be given after the hard frofts are
over.
To do this with advantage, after ftirring the
earth a little near the rows, the earth which was thrown
in the middle of the intervals fhould be turned back in-
to the furrows.. This earth, having been mellowed by
the winter, fupplies the plants with excellent food, and
makes the roots extend.
The third hoeing, which is intended to invigorate
the ſtalk, ſhould be given when the ears of the corn
begin to fhow themſelves. This hoeing may, however,
be very flight.
But the laft hoeing is of the greateſt importance,
as it enlarges the grain, and makes the ears fill at their
extremities. This hoeing fhould be given when the
wheat is in bloom; a furrow muſt be drawn in the
middle of the interval, and the earth thrown to the
right and left on the foot of the plants. This fupports
the plants, prevents them from being laid, and pre-
.
By this fucceffive tillage, or hoeing, good crops will
be obtained, provided the weather is not very unfa-
vourable.
"
But as ftrong, vigorous plants are longer before they
arrive at maturity, corn raiſed in the new way is later
in ripening than any other, and muſt therefore be fown
earlier.
In order to prepare the intervals for fowing again,
fome well-rooted dung may be laid in the deep furrows
made in the middle of the intervals; and this dung
muſt be covered with the earth that was before thrown
towards the rows of wheat. But, if the land does not
require mending, the deep furrow is filled without any
dung. This operation fhould be performed immedi-
ately after harveft, that there may be time to give the
land a flight ſtirring before the rows are fowed; which
fhould occupy the middle of the ſpace which formed.
the intervals during the laft crop. The intervals of the
ſecond year take up the ſpace occupied by the ſtubble
of the firft.
Suppofing dung to be neceffary, which is denied by
many, a very fmall quantity is fufficient; a fingle layer,
put in the bottom of each furrow, will be enough.
DESCRIPTION of the INSTRUMENTS commonly uſed in
the NEW HUSBANDRY.
·
223
Fig. 1. is a marking plough. The principal ufe of Inftruments
this plough is to ftraight and regulate the ridges. The deſcribed.
firſt line is traced by the eye, by means of three poles, Plate VII.
placed in a ftraight line. The plough draws the firſt
furrow in the direction of this line; and, at the fame
time, with the tooth A, fixed in the block of wood
near the end of the croſs-pole or flider B B, marks the
breadth of the ridge at the diſtance intended. The
ploughman next traces the ſecond line or rutt made by
the tooth, and draws a finall furrow along it; and con-
tinues in this manner till the whole field is laid out in
ftraight and equidiftant ridges,
Fig.
318
Part II.
AGRICULTURE.
Practice.
Fig. 2. is a plough for breaking up lee, or turning
up the bottom of land when greatly exhaufted. By its
conſtruction, the width and depth of the furrows can
Plate VII. be regulated to a greater certainty than by any other
hitherto known in this country. Its appearance is
heavy; but two horfes are fufficient to plough with it
in ordinary free land; and only four are neceffary in
the ftiffeft clay-foils. This plough is likewife eafily
held and tempered. A, is the fword fixed in the fizers
B, which runs thro' a mortoife E, at the end of the beam
C, and regulates the depth of the furrow by raiſing or
-depreffing the beam; it is fixed by putting the pin D
thro' the beam and fword, and is moveable at E.
!
Plate VI.
Fig. 3. is a jointed brake-harrow with 24 teeth, fha-
ped like coulters, and ftanding at about an angle of 80
degrees. By this inftrument the land is finely pulve-
rized, and prepared for receiving the feed from the drill.
It requires four horfes in ftiff, and two in open, land.
This harrow is likewife ufed for levelling the ridges;
which is done by preffing it down by the handles where
the ridge is high, and raifing it up when low.
Fig. 4. is an angular weeding harrow, which may
follow the brake when neceffary. The feven hindmoit
teeth ſhould ſtand at a more acute angle than the reft,
in order to collect the weeds, which the holder can
drop at pleaſure, by raifing the hinder part, which is
fixed to the body of the harrow by two joints.
Fig. 5. is a pair of harrows with fhafts. This har-
row is uſed for covering the feed in the drills, the horſe
going in the furrow.
Fig. 6. is a drill-plough, conftructed in fuch a man-
ner as to fow at once two rows of beans, peaſe, or
wheat. This machine is eafily wrought by two horſes.
A, is the happer for containing the feed; B, circular
boxes for receiving the feed from the happer; CC, two
fquare boxes which receive the feed from ſmall holes in
the circular boxes, as they turn round; and laft of all,
the feed is dropped into the drills through holes in the
ſquare boxes, behind the coulters D. The cylinder E
follows, which, together with the wheel F, regulates
the depth of the coulters, and covers the feed; the har-
row G comes behind all, and covers the feed more
completely, HH, two ſliders, which, when drawn
out, prevent the feed from falling into the boxes; and,
I, is a ketch which holds the rungs, and prevents the
boxes from turning, and lofing feed at the ends of the
ridges.
Fig. 7. is a fingle hoc-plough of a very fimple con-
ftruction, by which the earth in the intervals is ftir-
red and laid up on both fides to the roots of the plants,
and at the fame time the weeds are deſtroyed. ´A A
the mould-boards, which may be raifed or depreffed at
pleaſure, according as the farmer wants to throw the
earth higher or lower upon the roots.
Fig. 2. is a drill-rake for peafe. This inftrument,
which is chiefly calculated for fmall incloſures of light
grounds, is a fort of ftrong plough rake, with four
large teeth at a, a, b, b, a little incurvated. The diftance
from a to a, and from b to b, is nine inches. The interval
between the two inner teeth, a and b, is three feet fix in-
ches, which allows fufficient room for the hole-plough to
move in. To the piece of timber cc, forming the head
of the rake, are fixed the handles d, and the beam e,
to which the horfe is faftened. When this inftrument
is drawn over a piece of land made thoroughly fine,
2
and the man who holds it bears upon the handles, four Practice.
furrows, f, g, h, i, will be formed, at the diftances de-
termined by the conſtruction of the inftrument. Theſe
diſtances may be accurately preferved, provided that
the teeth a a return when the ploughman comes back,
after having ploughed one turn, in two of the channels
formed before, marked bb: thus all the furrows in the
field will be traced with the fame regularity. When
the ground is thus formed into drills, the peafe may
be ſcattered by a fingle motion of the hand at a cer-
tain diſtance from one another into the channels, and
then covered with the flat part of a hand-rake, and
preffed down gently. This inftrument is fo fimple,
that any workman may eafily make or repair it.
On 2d Plate VII. is delineated a patent drill
machine, lately invented by the Reverend James
Cooke of Heaton-Norris near Manchefter, A, the
upper part of the feed-box. B, the lower part of
the fame box. C, a moveable partition, with a le-
ver, by which the grain or feed is let fall at pleaſure
from the upper to the lower part of the feed-box,
from whence it is taken up by cups or ladles ap-
plied to the cylinder D, and dropped into the funnel
E, and conveyed thereby into the furrow or drill made
in the land by the coulter F, and covered by the rake
or harrow G. H, a lever, by which the wheel I is
lifted out of generation with the wheel K, to prevent
the grain or feed being ſcattered upon the ground,
while the machine is turning round at the end of the
land, by which the harrow G is alfo lifted from the
ground at the fame time, and by the fame motion, by
means of the crank, and the horizontal lever h h. L,
a fliding lever, with a weight upon it, by means of
which, the depth of the furrows or drills, and confe-
quently the depth that the grain or feed will be depofi-
ted in the land, may be eaſily aſcertained. M, a ſcrew
in the coulter beam, by turning of which, the feed-box
B is elevated or depreffed, in order to prevent the grain
or feed being cruſhed or bruifed by the revolution of
the cups or ladles. Fig. 13. a rake with iron teeth,
to be applied to the under fide of the rails of the ma-
chine, with ftaples and fcrew nuts at n n, by which
many uſeful purpoſes are anſwered, viz. in accumula-
ting cuitch or hay into rows, and as a fcarificator for
young crops of wheat in the ſpring, or to be uſed upon
a fallow; in which cafe, the feed-box, the ladle cylin-
der, the coulters, the funnels, and harrows, are all taken
away.
This fide view of the machine is reprefented, for the
fake of perfpicuity, with one feed-box only, one coul-
ter, one funnel, one harrow, &c. whereas a complete
machine is furniſhed with five coulters, five harrows,
feven funnels, a feed-box in eight partitions, &c. with
ladles of different fizes, for different forts of grain and
feeds.
Theſe machines, (with five coulters fixteen guineas,
with four coulters fifteen guineas) equally excel in ſet-
ting or planting all forts of grain and feeds, even carrot
feed, to exactneſs, after the rate of from eight to ten
chain acres per day, with one man, a boy, and two
horfes. They depofite the grain or feed in any given
quantity from one peck to three bufhels per acre, re-
gularly and uniformly, and that without grinding or
bruifing the feed, and at any given depth, from half an
inch to half a dozen inches, in rows at the diſtance of
twelve,
$
;
$
Part II.
319
AGRICULTURE.
Practice. twelve, fixteen, and twenty-four inches, or any other
diſtance. They are equally uſeful on all lands, are
durable, eaſy to manage, and by no means ſubject to
be put out of repair.
The ladle cylinder D is furniſhed with cups or la-
dlcs of four different fizes for different forts of grain
or feeds, which may be diftinguiſhed by the numbers
1, 2, 3, 4.~~N³ 1. (the fmalleft fize) is calculated for
turnip-feed, clover-feed, cole-feed, rape, &c. and will
fow fomething more than one pound per ftatute acre.
N 2. for wheat, rye, hemp, flax, &c. and will fow
fomething more than one buſhel per acre. N 3. for
barley; and will fow one bufhel and a half per acre.
N° 4. for beans, oats, peafe, vetches, &c. and will
fow two bushels per acre.
Notwithstanding the above fpecified quantities of
grain or feeds, a greater or lefs quantity of each may
be fown at pleaſure, by flopping up with a little clay,
or by adding a few ladles to each reſpective box. The
grain or feeds intended to be fown, must be put in thofe
boxes, to which the cups or ladles as above defcribed
reſpectively belong, an equal quantity into each box,
and all the other boxes empty. The ladle cylinder may
be reverfed, or turned end for end at pleafure, for dif-
ferent forts of grain, &c.
For fowing beans, oats, peaſe, &c. with a five-coulter
machine, four large ladles muft occafionally be applied
at equal diftances round thofe parts of the cylinder
which fubtend the two end boxes. And for fowing
barley, eight large ones muſt be applied as above; or
four ladles, N° 2. to each of the wheat boxes. Theſe ad-
ditional ladles are fixed on the cylinder with nails, or ta-
ken off in a few minutes; but for fowing with a four-coul-
ter machine, the above alterations are not neceffary.
The funnels are applied to their reſpective places by
correfponding numbers. Care fhould be taken, that
the points of the funnel ftand directly behind the backs
of the coulters, which is done by wedges being applied
to one fide or other of the coulters, at the time they
are fixed in their refpective places.
The machine being thus put together, which is rea-
dily and expeditiously done, as no feparate part will
coincide with any other but that to which it refpec-
tively belongs, and an equal quantity of grain or feed
in each of the reſpective boxes, the land alfo being pre-
vioufly ploughed and harrowed once or fo in a place to
level the furface; but if the land be very rough, a rol-
ler will beſt anſwer that purpoſe, whenever the land is
dry enough to admit of it; and upon ftrong clays, a
fpiked roller is fometimes neceffary to reduce the fize
of the large dry clods; which being done, the driver
fhould walk down the furrow or edge of the land, and
having hold of the laft horfe's head with his hand, he
will readily keep him in ſuch a direction, as will bring
the outfide coulter of the machine within three or four
inches of the edges of the land or ridge, at which
uniform extent, he fhould keep his arm till he comes
to the end of the land; where having turned round,
he muſt come to the other fide of his horfes, and walk-
ing upon the laft outſide drill, having hold of the horfe's
head with his hand as before, he will readily keep the
machine in ſuch a direction, as will flrike the fucceed-
ing drill at fuch a diftance from the laſt outſide one, or
that he walks upon, as the coulters are diflant from each
other.
The perſon who attends the machine ſhould put down Practice.
the lever H foon enough at the end of the land, that
the cups or ladles may have time to fill, before he be-
gins to fow; and at the end of the land, he muſt ap-
ply his right hand to the middle of the rail between the
handles, by which he will keep the coulters in the
ground, while he is lifting up the lever H with his left
hand, to prevent the grain being ſcattered upon the
headland, while the machine is turning round; this he
will do with great eafe, by continuing his right hand
upon the rail between the handles, and applying his
left arm under the left handle, in order to lift the coul-
ters out of the ground while the machine is turning
round.
If there be any difficulty in ufing the machine, it
confifts in driving it ftraight. As to the perfon who
attends the machine, he cannot poffibly commit any er-
rors, except fuch as are wilful, particularly as he fees at
one view the whole procefs of the buſineſs, viz. that the
coulters make the drills of a proper depth; that the
funnels continue open to convey the grain or feed into
the drills; that the rakes or harrows cover the grain
fufficiently; and when feed is wanting in the lower
boxes B, which he cannot avoid feeing, he readily fup-
plies them from the upper boxes A, by applying his
hand, as the machine goes along, to the lever C. The
lower boxes B, ſhould not be fuffered to become empty
before they are fupplied with feed, but ſhould be kept
nearly full, or within an inch or fo of the edge of the
box.
If chalk lines are made acroſs the backs of the coul-
ters, at fuch a diſtance from the ends as the feed fhould
be depofited in the ground (viz. about two inches for
wheat, and from two to three for ſpring corn), the per-
fon that attends the machine will be better able to af-
certain the depth the feed fhould be depofited in the
drills, by obferving, as the machine goes along, whe-
ther the chalk lines are above or below the furface of
the land; if above, a proper weight muſt be applied
to the lever L, which will force the coulters into
the ground; if below, the lever L and weight muft
be reverfed, which will prevent their finking too
deep.
In different parts of the kingdom, lands or ridges
are of different fizes; where the machine is too wide
for the land, one or more funnels may occafionally be
ftopped with a little looſe paper, and the feed received
into fuch funnel returned at the end of the land, or
fooner if required, into the upper feed-box. But for
regularity and expedition, lands confifting of ſo many
feet wide from outfide to outſide, as the machine con-
tains coulters, when fixed at twelve inches diftance, or
twice or three times the number, &c. are beſt calcula-
ted for the machine. In wet foils or tiong clays,
lands or ridges of the width of the machine, and in dry
foils, of twice the width, are recommended. For fow-
ing of narrow high-ridged lands, the outfide coulters
fhould be let down, and the middle ones raiſed, fo that
the points of the coulters may form the fame curve
that the land or ridge forms. And the loofe foil har-
rowed down into the furrows fhould be returned to the
edges of the lands or ridges from whence it came, by
a double mould-board or other plough, whether the
land be wet or dry.
Clover or other lays, intended to be fown by the
machine,
320
Part II.
AGRICULTURE.
Practice. machine, fhould be ploughed a deep ftrong furrow
and well harrowed, in order to level the furface, and to
get as much loofe foil as poffible for the coulters to
work in; and when fown, if any of the feed appears
in the drills uncovered by reaſon of the ftiff texture of
the foil, or toughneſs of the roots, a light harrow may
be taken over the land, once in a place, which will ef-
fectually cover the feed, without difplacing it at all in
the drills. For fowing lays, a confiderable weight muſt
be applied to the lever L, to force the coulters into the
ground; and a ſet of wrought-iron coulters, well-fteel-
ed, and made fharp at the front edge and bottom, are
recommended; they will pervade the foil more readily,
confequently require lefs draught, and expedite bufinefs
more than adequate to the additional expence.
For every half acre of land intended to be fown by
the machine with the feed of that very valuable root,
(carrot) one bufhel of faw-duft, and one pound of car-
rot feed, fhould be provided; the faw-duft fhould be
made dry, and fifted to take out all the lumps and
chips, and divided into eight equal parts or heaps; the
carrot-feed fhould likewife be dried, and well rubbed
between the hands, to take off the beards, fo that it
will ſeparate readily, and being divided into eight e-
qual parts or heaps, one part of the carrot-feed muft
be well mixed with one part of the faw-duft, and fo on,
till all the parts of carrot-feed and ſaw-duft are well
mixed and incorporated together; in which ftate it may
be fown very regularly in drills at twelve inches dif-
tance, by the cups or ladles N° 2. Carrot-feed refem-
bling faw-duft very much in its fize, roughneſs, weight,
adhefion, &c. will remain mixed as above during the
´fowing; a ladle-full of faw-duft will, upon an average,
contain three or four carrot-feeds, by which means the
carrot-feed cannot be otherwife than regular in the
drills. In attempting to depofite fmall feeds near the
furface, it may fo happen that fome of the feeds may
not be covered with foil; in which cafe, a light roller
may be drawn over the land after the feed is fown,
which will not only cover the feeds, but will alſo, by
levelling the ſurface, prepare the land for an earlier
hoeing than could otherwife have taken place.
It has always been found troublefome, fometimes
impracticable, to fow any kind of grain or feeds (even
broad-caft) in a high wind. This inconvenience is en-
tirely obviated, by placing a ſcreen of any kind of
cloth, or a fack, fupported by two uprights nailed to
the fides of the machine, behind the funnels, which will
prevent the grain or feed being blown out of its direc-
tion in falling from the ladles into the funnels. Small
pipes of tin may alſo be put on to the ends of the fun-
nels, to convey the grain or feed fo near the furface of
the land, that the higheſt wind ſhall not be able to in-
terrupt its deſcent into the drills.
Reſpecting the uſe of the machine, it is frequently
remarked by fome people not converfant with the pro-
perties of matter and motion, that the foil will cloſe
after the coulters, before the feed is admitted into the
drills. Whereas the very contrary is the cafe; for the
velocity of the coulters in paffing through the foil, is
fo much greater than the velocity with which the foil
clofes up the drills by its own fpontaneous gravity, that
the incifions or drills will be conftantly open for three
or four inches behind the coulters; by which means,
it is morally impoffible (if the points of the funnels
N° 8.
ftand directly behind the coulters) that the feed with Practice.
the velocity it acquires in falling through the funnels,
fhall not be admitted into the drills.
Fig. 12. is a new constructed fimple hand-hoe, by 2dPlateVII
which one man will effectually hoe two chain acres per
day, earthing up the foil at the fame time to the rows
of corn or pulfe, fo as to cauſe roots to iffue from the
firft joint of the ftem, above the furface of the land,
which otherwiſe would never have exiſted.
This hoe is worked much in the fame manner as a
common Dutch hoe, or fcuffle, is worked in gardens.
The handle is elevated or depreffed, to fuit the fize of
the perſon that works it, by means of an iron wedge
being refpectively applied to the upper or under fide of
the handle that goes into the focket of the hoe.
The wings or moulding plates of the hoe, which are
calculated to earth up the foil to the rows of corn, fo as
to cauſe roots to iffue from the firft joint of the ftem
above the furface, which otherwife would not have
exifted, fhould never be uſed for the firft hoeing, but
fhould always be uſed for the laſt hoeing, and uſed or
not uſed, at the option of the farmer, when, any inter-
mediate hoeing is performed.
SUMMARY of the OPERATIONS neceffary in executing
the NEW HUSBANDRY with the PLOUGH.
1. It is indifpenfably neceffary that the farmer be Summary of
provided with a drill and hoe-plough.
222
the opera-
2. The new huſbandry may be begun either with the tions.
winter or ſpring corn.
3. The land muft be prepared by four good plough-
ings, given at different times, from the beginning of
April to the middle of September.
4 Thefe ploughings muſt be done in dry weather,
to prevent the earth from kneading.
5. The land muſt be harrowed in the fame manner as
if it were fowed in the common way.
6. The rows of wheat ſhould be fowed very ſtraight.
7. When the field is not very large, a line muſt be
ftrained acrofs it, by which a rill may be traced with
a hoe for the horſe that draws the drill to go in; and
when the rows are fown, 50 inches muſt be left betwixt
each rill. But, when the field is large, ftakes at five
feet diſtance from each other muſt be placed at the two
ends. The workman muſt then trace a ſmall furrow
with a plough that has no mold-board, for the horſe to
go in that draws the drill, directing himſelf with his eye
by the ftakes.
8. The fowing ſhould be finiſhed at the end of Sep-
tember, or beginning of October.
9. The furrows must be traced the long way of the
land, that as little ground as poffible may be loft in head-
lands.
10. The rowз, if it can be done, fhould run down
the flope of the land, that the water may get the ea-
fier off.
11. The feed-wheat muſt be plunged into a tub of
lime-water, and ftirred, that the light corn may come
to the furface and be ſkimmed off.
12. The feed muſt be next fpread on a floor, and
frequently ftirred, till it is dry enough to run through
the valves of the happer of the drill.
13. To prevent fmut, the feed may be put into a ley
of afhes and lime.
4
14. Good
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AGRICULTURE.
Fig. 2.
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AGRICULTURE.
The Universal Sowing Machine.
Fig. 1.
AKUMITTALL
READER
Fig. 2.
BA
Fig. 10.
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Fig. 7. Fig. 6.
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V ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ I
A BellPrinHal Sculptor feil,
Part II.
321
AGRICULTURE.
:
Practice.
14. Good old feed-wheat fhould be chofen in prefe-
rence to new, as it is found by experience not to be fo
ſubject to ſmut.
15. After the happers of the drill are filled, the
horfe must go ſlowly along the furrow that was traced.
That a proper quantity of feed may be fown, the a-
perture of the happer muſt be ſuited to the fize of the
grain.
16. As the drill is feldom well managed at firſt, the
field ſhould be examined after the corn has come up,
and the deficiencies be fupplied.
17. Upon wet foils or ftrong clays, wheat ſhould not
be depofited more than two inches deep, on any ac-
count whatever; nor leſs than two inches deep on dry
foils. From two to three inches is a medium depth for
all ſpring corn. But the exact depth at which grain
ſhould be depofited in different foils, from the lighteft
fand to the ſtrongeft clay, is readily afcertained only
by obferving at what diſtance under the furface of the
land, the fecondary or coronal roots are formed in the
fpring.
18. Stiff lands, that retain the wet, muſt be ſtirred
or hoed in October. This fhould be done by opening
a furrow in the middle of the intervals, and afterwards
filling it up by a furrow drawn on each fide, which
will raiſe the earth in the middle of the intervals, and
leave two fmall furrows next the rows, for draining off
the water, which is very hurtful to wheat in winter.
19. The next ſtirring muſt be given about the end
of March, with a light plough. In this ftirring the
furrows made to drain the rows must be filled up by
earth from the middle of the intervals.
20. Some time in May, the rows must be evened;
which, though troubleſome at firſt, foon becomes eafy,
as the weeds are foon kept under by tillage.
21. In June, juſt before the wheat is in bloom, ano-
ther ſtirring muft be given with the plough. A deep
furrow muſt be made in the middle of the intervals,
and the earth thrown upon the fides of the rows.
22. When the wheat is ripe, particular care muſt be
taken, in reaping it, to trample as little as poffible on
the ploughed land.
23. Soon after the wheat is carried off the field, the
intervals muſt be turned up with the plough, to prepare
them for the feed. The great furrow in the middle
muſt not only be filled, but the earth raiſed as much as
poffible in the middle of the intervals.
24. In September, the land muſt be again fowed
with a drill, as above directed.
25. In October, the ftubble muſt be turned in for
forming the new intervals; and the fame management
muſt be obſerved as directed in the firſt year.
WE pretend not to determine whether the old or
new huſbandry be preferable in every country. With
regard to this point, the climate, the fituation of parti-
cular land, fkill and dexterity in managing the machinery,
the comp .rative expence in raifing crops, and many
other circumſtances, muſt be accurately attended to be-
fore a determination can be given.
The following comparative view of the old and new
methods of culture, was furniſhed for the editors of Mr
Tull's Horſe-hoeing Huſbandry, by a gentleman who for
fome years practifed both in a country where the foil was
light and chalky, like that from which he drew his ob-
VOL. I. Part I.
fervations. It is neceffary to remark, that in the new Practice.
huſbandry every article is ſtated at its full value, and
the crop of each year is four buſhels ſhort of the other;
though, in feveral years experience, it has equalled and
generally exceeded thofe of the neighbourhood in the
old way.
"An eſtimate of the expence and profit of 10 acres
of land in 20 years.
I. In the old way.
Firft year, for wheat, cofts 33 1. 5s.
L. S.
viz.
First ploughing, at 6s per acre 3
Second and third ditto, at 8s.
per acre
Manure, 3os. per acre
Two harrowings, and fowing,
at 2s. 6d. per acre
Seed, three buſhels per acre,
at 4s. per bufhel
Weeding, at 2s. per acre
Reaping, binding, and carry-
ing, at 6s. per acre
Second year, for barley, cofts
111. 6s. 8d. viz.
Once ploughing, at 6s. pér
acre
Harrowing and fowing, at
Is. 6d. per acre
Weeding, at is. per acre
Seed, four bufhels per acre,
at 2s. per bufhel
Cutting, raking, and carry-
ing, at 3s. 2d. per acre
Grafs-feeds, at 3s. per acre
d. L. s.
d.
оо
4 O
15 0
22 0 0
I 5 0
60
I
3 0 0
3 0 0
0 15 0
O 10 O
4 0 0
I II 8
I 10 0
Third and fourth years, lying in grafs,
coft nothing fo that the expence of
ten acres in four years comes to 441.
IIS. 8d. and in twenty years to
First years produce is half a
load of wheat per acre, at 71. 35 0 0
Second years produce is two
quarters of barley per acre;
at il.
Third and fourth years graſs
is valued at 11. 10s. per acre 15 0 0
So that the produce of ten
acres in four years is
And in twenty years it will be
Deduct the expence, and there remains
clear profit on ten acres in twenty years
by the old way
20 0 0
70 oo
II. In the new way.
Firlt year's extraordinary expence is, for
ploughing and manuring the land, the
fame as in the old way L. 22
SI
оо
11 5 0
11 6 8
44 118
222 18 4
350 0 0
127 1 8
Ploughing
223
Compara-
tive view of
the expence
and profits
of the Old
and New
Huſbandry.
322
Part II.
AGRICULTURE.
Practice.
224
the New
Method.
Ploughing once more, at 4s.
per acre
Seed, nine gallons per acre,
at 4s. per buſhel
Drilling, at 7d. per acre
Hand-hoeing and weeding, at
2s. 6d. per acre
Horfe-hoeing fix times, at
*
ics. per acre
Reaping, binding, and car-
rying, at 6s. per acre
The ſtanding annual charge on
L. s. d. L. s.
2
2
5 O
O
5 10
I 1 5 0
5 0
3 0 0
ten acres is
13 15 10
Therefore the expence on ten acres in
twenty years is
275 16
Add the extraordinaries of the first year,
and the fum is
297 16
The yearly produce is at leaſt two quar-
ters of wheat per acre, at 11. 8s. per
quarter; which, on ten acres in twen-
ty years, amounts to
Therefore, all things paid, there remains
clear profit on ten acres in twenty years
by the new way
560
d. accidents attending wheat crops, are owing to their Practice.
being late fown, which is neceffary to the farmer in
the old way; but in the horſe-hoeing method the far-
mer may plough two furrows whereon the next crop
is to ftand immediately after the firft crop is off. In
this manner of huſbandry, the land may be ploughed
dry and drilled wet, without any inconvenience; and
the feed is never planted under the furrow, but placed
juft at the depth which is moſt proper, that is, at about
two inches; in which cafe it is eaſy to preſerve it, and
there is no danger of burying it. Thus the feed has
all the advantage of early fowing, and none of the dif
advantages that may attend it in the other way, and
the crop is much more certain than by any other means
that can be uſed.
8
8
The condition in which the land is left after the
crop, is no lefs in favour of the horfe-hoeing huſbandry
than all the other articles. The number of plants is
the great principle of the exhaufting of land.ˆ In the
common huſbandry, the number is vaftly greater than
in the drilling way, and three plants in four often.
come to nothing, after having exhaufted the ground
oo as much as profitable plants; and the weeds which live
to the time of harveſt in the common way, exhauſt the
land no leſs than fo many plants of corn, often much
more. The horſe-hoeing method deſtroys all the weeds
in the far greater part of the land, and leaves that part
unexhaufted and perfectly freſh for another
The
wheat plants being alfo but a third part of the number
at the utmoft of thofe in the fowing way, the land is
fo much the lefs exhauſted by them ; and it is very e-
vident from the whole, that it muſt be, as experience
proves that it is, left in a much better condition after
this than after the common huſbandry.
262 3 4
Arguments "So that the profit on ten acres of land in twenty
in favour of years, in the new way, exceeds that in the old by
L. 135:1:8, and confequently is confiderably more
than double thereof; an ample encouragement to prac-
tiſe a ſcheme, whereby fo great advantage will arife
from ſo ſmall a quantity of land, in the compafs of a
twenty-one years leafe; one year being allowed, both
in the old and new way, for preparing the ground.
"It ought withal to be obſerved, that Mr Tull's huf-
bandry requires no manure at all, though we have here,
to prevent objections, allowed the charge thereof for
the firſt year; and moreover, that though the crop of
wheat from the drill-plough is here put only at two
quarters on an acre, yet Mr Tull himſelf, by actual ex-
periment and meaſuré, found the produce of his drill-
ed wheat-crop amounted to almoſt four quarters on an
acre."
It appears alfo from a comparative calculation of ex-
pence and profit between the drill and common huf-
bandry, taken from Mr Baker's report to the Dublin
Society of his experiments in agriculture for the year
1765, that there is a clear profit arifing upon an Irifh
acre of land in 15 years in the drill huſbandry of
L. 52:3: 11, and in the common huſbandry of
L. 27:19:2; and therefore a greater profit in the
drilled acre in this time of L. 24:4:9, which amounts
to L. 1:12:34 per annum. From hence he infers,
that in every 15 years the fee-fimple of all the tillage-
lands of the kingdom is loft to the community by the
common courſe of tillage. In ftating the accounts,
from which their refult is obtained, no notice is taken
of fences, water-cutting the land, weeding and reap-
ing, becauſe theſe articles depend on a variety of cir-
cumſtances, and will, in general, exceed in the com-
mon huſbandry thofe incurred by the other..
Befides, the certainty of a crop is greater in this new
way than in the old way of ſowing;, for moſt of the
3
crop.
225
The farmers who are againſt this method object, that Objections
it makes the plants too ftrong, and that they are more and an-
fwers.
liable to the blacks or blights of infects for that rea-
fon; but as this allows that the hoeing can, without
the ufe of dung, give too much nouriſhment, it is very
plain that it can give enough; and it is the farmer's
fault if he do not proportion his pains fo as to have the
advantage of the nouriſhment without the diſadvanta-
ges. It is alſo objected, that as hoeing can make poor
land rich enough to bear good crops of wheat, it may
make good land too rich for it. But if this ſhould
happen, the ſowing of wheat on it may be let alone a
while, and in the place of it the farmer may have a
crop of turnips, carrots, cabbages, and the like, which
are excellent food for cattle, and cannot be over-nou-
riſhed: or, if this is not chofen, the land, when thus
made too rich, may foon be fufficiently impoveriſhed:
by fowing corn upon it in the common old way.
The method of horſe-hoeing huſbandry, fo ftrongly
recommended by Mr Tull, is objected to by many on
account of the largeneſs of the intervals which are to
be left behind the rows of corn. Thefe are required
to be about five feet wide; and it is thought that fuch
wide ſpaces are fo much loft earth, and that the crop
is to be fo much the lefs for it. But it is to be obfer-
ved, that the rows of corn feparated by theſe intervals.
need not be fingle; they may be double, triple, or
quadruple, at the pleaſure of the farmer and four
rows thus ſtanding as one will have the five foot inter-
val but one-fourth of its bigneſs as to the whole quan-
tity, and it will be but as fifteen inch intervals to plants-
in
}
Part II.
Practice. in fingle rows.
226
In what
AGRICULTURE.
Corn that is fown irregularly in the
common way, ſeems indeed to cover the ground bet-
ter than that in rows: but this is a mere deceptio vifus;
for the ftalks of corn are never fo thick as when they
come out of one plant, or as when they ftand in a row;
and a horſe-hoed plant of corn will have 20 or 30
ſtalks in a piece of ground of the fame quantity, where
an unhoed plant will have only two or three ftalks. If
theſe ſtalks of the hoed plant were feparated and
planted over the intervals, the whole land would be
better covered than it is in the common way; and the
truth is, that though thefe hoed fields feem to con-
tain a much leſs crop than the common fown fields, yet
they in reality do contain a much greater. It is only
the different placing that makes the fown crop feem
the larger, and even this is only while both crops are
young.
The intervals are not loft ground, as is ufually fup-
pofed, but when well horſe-hoed they are all employ-
ed in the nouriſhment of the crop; the roots of the
plants in the adjoining rows fpreading themſelves thro'
the whole interval, and drawing fuch nouriſhment from
it, that they increaſe accordingly. When the plants
ſtand in the ſcattered way, as in common fowing, they
are too cloſe to one another; each robs its neighbours
of part of their nouriſhment, and confequently the earth
is foon exhauſted, and all the plants half ftarved. The
cloſe ſtanding of them alſo prevents the benefit of after-
tilling, as the hoe cannot be brought in, nor the
ground by any means ftirred between them to give it
a new breaking, and conſequently afford them new food.
Experiments have abundantly proved, that in large
grounds of wheat where the different methods have
been tried, thofe parts where the intervals were largeſt
have produced the greateſt crops, and thoſe where hoe-
ing was uſed without dung have been much richer
than thoſe where dung was uſed without hoeing. If it
were poffible that plants could ſtand as thick, and thrive
as well over the whole furface of the ground, as they
do in the rows feparated by theſe large intervals, the
crops of corn fo produced would be vaftly greater than
any that have been heard of; but the truth is, that
plants receive their growth not according to the ground
they ftand on, but to the ground they can extend their
roots into; and therefore a fingle row may contain
more plants than a large interval can nouriſh, and
therefore the fame number that ſtand in that row, and
no more than thefe, could be nouriſhed, if ſcattered
over the whole interval; and they would be much worfe
nouriſhed in that way; becauſe while the interval is
void, the earth may be ſtirred about them, and new
roots will be formed in great numbers from every one
broken by the inftruments, and new nouriſhment laid
before theſe roots by the breaking the particles of
earth, by which the plants will have fupplies that they
cannot have when ſcattered over the whole furface,
becauſe the ground is then all occupied, and cannot be
moved between the plants.
All foils and all fituations are not equally proper
circum- for this method of planting in rows, with large inter-
ſtance the vals and hoeing between. The lighteft foils feem to
thod is lefs be beft for it, and the tough and wet clays the worft.
proper.
Such grounds as lie on the fides of hills are alfo lefs pro-
per than others for this work.
Nèw me-
This method is not fo proper in common fields, but
323
that not in refpect of the foil, but of the huſbandry of Practice.
the owners, who are uſually in the old way, and change
the ſpecies of corn, and make it neceffary to fallow
every ſecond, third or fourth year. Nevertheleſs it
has been found by later experiments, that the intervals
betwixt the rows of plants, as recommended by Mr
Tull, were too great, perhaps double of what they
ſhould be in the moſt profitable method of culture; by
which means much lefs crops are obtained than might
be produced at nearly the fame expence. This has
rendered the profits of the drill method much lefs than
they would have been in a more judicious practice, and,
confequently, has proved a great difadvantage to it in
compariſon with the broad-caft. Mr Tull was led into
this, partly from the want of more perfect inftruments
for hoeing, and of ploughs proper for drilling.
To the preceding ftatements, the following obferva-
tions by Sir John Anftruther, publiſhed among the Se-
lect Papers of the Bath Society, may not be improper-
ly fubjoined.
227
The flow progrefs which the Drill-huſbandry has Obferva
made in many parts of Great Britain fince Mr Tull's tions by Sir
time, he obferves, has been principally owing to the
John An-
want of proper drill-ploughs. Before drilling can be-
ftruther.
come general, thoſe ploughs muſt be fimple, fuch as a
common ploughman accustomed to ufe ftrong inftru-
ments can uſe without breaking, and fuch alfo as com-
mon workmen can eaſily make or repair. Mathema-
tical accuracy he confiders as not required for deliver-
ing the feed: for it matters very little whether there
be a quarter of a peck more or leſs fown, if it be deli-
vered with tolerable regularity. He therefore had a
plough made, according to his own directions, by a
common plough-wright, of fufficient ſtrength for any
land made fit for turnips or wheat. It was tried on
very rough ground unfit for fowing, in order to aſcer-
tain its ftrength; and it had been uſed for eight years
without its needing any repair. It is a double drill-
plough, which fows two ridges at a time, the horſe
going in the furrow between them, and of courfe does
not tread upon the ground intended to be ſown; which
with a fingle drill must be the cafe, and does much
harm by the horfes feet finking and making holes in
the fine ground, which retain the water, and hurt the
wheat when young.
He proceeds to obferve, "That having read Mr For-
bes upon the extenfive practice of the new huſbandry,
and fome other authors, who gave a more clear and di-
ftinct account of the different operations in drilling than
had heretofore been given, I wished to try them, and
to adapt my plough to fow the quantities therein di-
rected. It was, however, adjuſted to ſow a ſmaller
quantity, and the feed was not ſteeped.
"Not having ground fo proper as I wifhed, it was
drilled on the fide of a field, the foil of which was light
and fandy, and in fuch bad order, that the preceding
crop was a very indifferent one. It was therefore ma-
nured with a compoft dung-hill.
"After cross-ploughing and manuring, it was laid
into four and a half feet ridges, then harrowed and
drilled with one peck and a half of wheat on an acre
and a quarter, which is nearly one peck and a fifth
per
English acre. It was drilled the 27th of October, and
rolled after drilling. The crop was late in its appear-
ance, and very backward in the ſpring.
Sf 2
"March
324
Part II.
AGRICULTURE.
Practice.
March 31ft, it was horfe-hoed one furrow from
the rows.
rows.
April 8th, it was hand-hoed and weeded in the
"25th, horſe-hoed again, laying a furrow back to
the rows..
"May 15th, hand-hoed the fecond time.
"June 2d, horſe-hoed from the rows.
June 12th, hand-hoed the third time.
"July 14th, horfe-hoed to the rows.
"At this laſt hoeing, as many of the ears were
beaten down into the intervals by wind and rain, a man
went before the horfe-hoe, and turned the ears back
into their proper place.
"The crop, when reaped and threſhed, yielded me
36 bushels on one acre and a quarter, which is 28
bufhels and three pecks per acre; and the produce
from one peck and half 96 for one.
"As the produce appeared fo great, from land in
fuch bad order, it was carefully meaſured again, and
found to be right. But this increafe, though great,
was not fo large as Mr Crake of Glaſgow had without
dung.
Mr Randal fays, It is an experimented fact, that
on a fine loam exquifitely prepared, 144 bushels have
been produced from one acre. And, I believe, it is
not known what the increaſe may be brought to in rich
lands by high cultivation.'
"Some years fince, I had beans dropt alternately
with potatoes, at two feet diſtance in the rows, which
were three feet apart, and ploughed in the intervals.
The land adjoining was fown with beans and peaſe,
which were a good crop; but thoſe fown among the
potatoes a better one. I pulled one ftem of the beans
planted with the potatoes, which had three branches
rifing from the bottom, and it produced 225 beans. In
all the trials of drilled beans, moſt of the ſtems had two
branches, with many pods upon each. From theſe
and other inftances, I believe it is not yet known to
what increaſe grain may be brought by drilling, good
cultivation, and manure.
"Horſe-hoeing is certainly preferable to clofe drill-
ing or hand-hoeing; but the latter is fuperior to broad-
caft.
"Horfe-hoeing the full depth increaſes the crop, by
making it tiller or branch more than it otherwife would
do; and the advantage is diſtinctly obfervable every
hoeing, by the colour of the grain. It prepares the
ground for the next crop, at the fame time that it in-
creaſes the crop growing, which hand-hoeing does not,
although it may deftroy the weeds. Thus drilled
ground is kept in a loofe open ftate to receive the be-
nefit of the influence of the air and weather, which
broadcoaft has not; and it is evident, from certain ex-
perience, that crops may be drilled many years to good
advantage without manure.
"Suppoſe the crops only 20 bushels per acre, what
courſe of broadcaft crops will give 5 1. an acre for the
courfe? But fuppofe they are dunged the fame as any
ground in the moſt approved courſe, there is the great-
eft reafon to expect as much as in the above experi-
ment, which is 28 and three-quarters, and at 5s. per
bufhel amounts to 71. 3s. 9d.
"Calculations may be of fervice to thoſe who wiſh
to try drilling, and have few books to direct them.
·
น
"One acre is 10 chains long, of 660 feet, or 220 Practice.
yards long, and one yard broad, containing 4840 fquare
yards. Then if the ridge is four feet fix inches, this
makes 14 ridges, and three feet to fpare. This length
of 220 yards, multiplied by 14 (the number of ridges)
gives a length of yards 308q, to which add 146 for the
fpare three feet, and it will be 3226 yards. And as
two rows are drilled on a ridge, the number of rows
will be in length 6452 yards; but as a deduction of
172 yards muſt be made for the head ridges, fuppofe
three yards each, &c. the whole length to be fown will
be 6280 yards clear. Now a gallon (Wincheſter) holds
about 80,000 grains. The quantity recommended to
be drilled by Mr Forbes and others, being fix gallons,
or two-thirds of a bufhel per acre, is nearly 78 grains
to a yard, or 26 to a foot. But in my experiment, by
this calculation, it was only about 11 grains to a foot;
which is quite fufficient, if the feed be good, and it be
not deftroyed by vermin.
"Now with regard to the quantity of land this
drill-plough may fow; if a horfe walks at the rate of
two miles per hour, he goes 16 miles in eight hours,
or 28,460 yards. As he fows two ridges at once, this
is feven lengths and two-thirds per acre, or 1686 yards.
to fow an acre, being nearly 17 acres in a day.
"Four horfe-hoeings are calculated equal to two
ploughings. In plain ploughing they fuppofe the ridge
is ploughed with four furrows, or eight for twice
ploughing. The four horfe-hoeings are eight furrows,
equal to two ploughings.
"Mr Tull directs four hoeings, and Mr Forbes
five. Firft, In November, when the plant has four
blades. 2dly, In March, deep, and nearer the rows
than the former; both theſe hoeings ſhould be from
the rows. 3dly, Hand-hoed when it begins to fpindle,
if the earth be crumbly, to the rows. 4thly, When
it begins to bloffom, from the rows, but as near to
them as in the fecond hoeing. 5thly, When done
bloffoming, to ripen and fill the grain, to the rows.
"The laft hoeing Mr Tull does not direct, but Mr
Forbes adviſes it, as being of effential fervice in filling
the grain, and faving trouble in making the next feed-
furrows. They adviſe the patent or fowing-plough for
herfe-hoeing; and the expence is calculated by Mr
Craick at one guinea per acre, reaping included.
"But let us fuppofe the following, which are the
prices in the county I live in (Fife).
Ploughing to form the ridges,
Harrowing,
Four hoeings, equal to two ploughings,
Sowing,
Hand-hoeing twice,
L. s. d.
O
Ο
0 8
0 0
4
0 8 0
Seed, one peck and a half, at 5s. a bufhel, o 10
Whole expence per acre,
L. I 2 6" £28
and the
;
Drill-hufbandry is, as a good writer has juftly defi- The drill
ned it, "the practice of a garden brought into the field." broad-caft
Every man of the leaſt reflection must be fenfible, that methods
the practice of the garden is much better than that of more parti-
the field, only a little more expenfive; but if (as is the cularly
cafe) this extra expence be generally much more than
rapid by the fuperior goodnefs and value of drilled
crops, it ought to have no weight in comparing the
two modes of huſbandry.
Ia
compared,
1
Part II.
Practice.
AGRICULTURE.
In the broadcaſt method the land is often fown in
bad tilth, and always fcattered at random, fometimes
by very unſkilful hands. In drilling, the land muſt be
in fine order; the feed is fet in trenches drawn regu-
larly, all of nearly an equal depth, and that depth ſuit-
ed to the nature of each kind of feed. Thefe feeds
are alſo diftributed at proper diſtances, and by being
equally and ſpeedily covered, are protected from vermin
and other injuries; fo that the practice of the garden
is here exactly introduced into the field.
In the broadcaſt method the feed falls in fome pla-
ces too thick, in others too thin; and being imper-
fectly covered, a part of it is devoured by vermin which
follow the fower; another part is left expoſed to rain
left expoſed to rain
or froſt, or to heats, which greatly injure it. When
When
harrowed, a great part of it (fmall feeds efpecially) is
buried ſo deep, that if the foil be wet, it periſhes be-
fore it can vegetate.
Again: When thus fown, there is no meddling with
the crop afterwards, becauſe its growth is irregular.
The foil cannot be broken to give it more nouriſhment,
nor can even the weeds be destroyed without much in-
convenience and injury.
But in the drill-husbandry the intervals between the
rows, whether double or fingle, may be horfe-hoed;
and thereby nouriſhment may repeatedly be given to
the plants, and the weeds almost totally deftroyed.
The very fame effects which digging has upon young
ſhrubs and trees in a garden, will refult from hoife-
hoeing in a field, whether the crop be corn or pulfe:
For the reafon of the thing is the fame in both cafes,
and being founded in nature and fact, cannot ever fail.
In drilling, no more plants are raiſed on the foil than
it can well fupport; and by dividing and breaking the
ground they have the full advantage of all its fertility.
goes
325
no further; for in the broadcaſt huſbandry it cannot
The plough prepares the land for a crop, but Practice,
be uſed: but the crop receives greater benefit from the
tillage of the land by the horſe-hoe, while it is
ing, than it could in the preparation. No care in til-
grow-
ling the land previous to fowing can prevent weeds ri-
fing with the crop; and if theſe weeds be not deſtroy-
ed while the crop is growing, they will greatly injure
it. In the broadcaſt huſbandry this cannot be done
but in drilling, the horſe-hoe will effect it eafily.
And what adds to the farmer's misfortune is, that
the moft pernicious weeds have feeds winged with
down, which are carried by the wind to great diftan-
ccs; fuch are thiftles, fow-thiftles, colts-foot, and fome
others.
If the expence of horfe-hceing be objected, there
are two anſwers which may very properly be made :
The firſt is, that this expence is much leſs than that
of hand-hoeing were it practicable, or of hand-weed-
ing. The fecond is, that it is more than rapid by the
quantity of feed faved by drilling; to fay nothing of
the extra quantity and goodness of the crops, which
are generally felf-evident.
Upon the whole: If the particular modes of cul-
tivating land by the new huſbandry ſhould, after all,
be confidered as perhaps too limited to be univer-
fally adopted; yet it has been of great ufe in rai-
fing fufpicions concerning the old method, and in turn-
ing the views of philofophers and farmers towards im-
proving in general. Many real improvements in agri-
culture have been the confequences of theſe fufpicions;
and as this fpirit of inquiry remains in full vigour, a
folid foundation is laid for expecting ftill further im
provements in this uſeful art.
AGR
AGRIFOLIUM, or AQUIFOLIUM. See ILEX.
AGRIGENTUM, (anc. geog.), a city of Sicily,
part of the fite of which is now occupied by a town
called Girgenti from the old name. See GIRGENTI.
According to ancient authors, Dedalus, the moft fa-
mous mechanician of fabulous antiquity, fled to this
fpot for protection against Minos, and built many won-
derful edifices for Cocalus king of the iſland. Long
after his flight, the people of Gela fent a colony hi-
ther 600 years before the birth of Chrift; and from
the name of a neighbouring ſtream called the new city
Acragas, whence the Romans formed their word Agri-
gentum. Thefe Greeks converted the ancient abode
of the Siculi into a citadel to guard the magnificent
city, which they erected on the hillocks below..
An advantageous fituation, a free government with
all its happy effects, and an active commercial fpi-
rit, exalted their commonwealth to a degree of riches
and power unknown to the other Greek fettlements,
Syracufe alone excepted. But the profperity of Agri-
gentum appears to have been but of ſhort duration, and
tyranny foon deftroyed its liberties.
Phalaris was the firſt that reduced it to flavery. His
name is familiar to moft readers on account of his
cruelty, and the brazen bull in which he tortured his
enemies: (See PHALARIS.)-Phalaris met. with the
AGR
common fate of tyrants, and after his death the A-
grigentines enjoyed their liberty for 150 years; at
the expiration of which term Thero ufurped the fo-
vereign authority. The moderation, juftice, and va-
lour of this prince preferved him from oppofition
while living, and have refeued his memory from the
obloquy of pofterity. He joined his fon-in-law Gelo,
king of Syracufe, in a war againſt the Carthaginians ;
in the courfe of which victory attended all his fteps,
and Sicily faw herſelf for a time delivered from her
African oppreffions. Soon after his deceaſe, his fon
Thrafydeus was defpoiled of the diadem, and Agrigen
tum reftored to her old democratical government. Du-
cetius next difturbed the general tranquillity. He was
a chief of the mountaineers, defcendants of the Siculi;
and was an overmatch for the Agrigentintes while they
were unfupported by alliances, but fank under the weight
of their union with the Syracufans. Some trifling alter-
cations diffolved this union, and produced a war, in
which the Agrigentines were worfted, and compelled
to fubmit to humiliating terms of peace.
peace. Refentment
led them to embrace with joy the propoſals of the A-
thenians, then meditating an attack upon Syracufe.
Their new friends foon made them feel that the fa-
crifice of liberty and fortune would be the price of.
their protection; and this confideration brought them .
fpeedily
5
AGR
[ 326
]
AGR
tum.
felves up for fafety among the bleak and inacceffible Agrigen-
rocks of the preſent city.
At the north-eaſt angle of the ancient limits, upon
fome foundations of large regular (tones, a church has
been erected; a road appears hewn in the folid rock
for the convenience of the votaries that vifited this
temple in ancient days. It was then dedicated to
Ceres and her daughter Proferpine, the peculiar pa-
troneffes of Sicily. Bishop Blaife has fucceeded to
their honours.
:
At the ſouth-eaft corner, where the ground, rifing
gradually, ends in a bold eminence, which is crowned
with majestic columns, are the ruins of a temple faid
to have been confecrated to Juno. To the weft of
this, ftands the building commonly called the Temple
of Concord; the ftone of which, and the other buildings,
is the fame as that of the neighbouring mountains and
cliffs, a conglutination of fea-fand and ſhells, full of per-
forations, of a hard and durable texture, and a deep
reddish brown colour. This Doric temple has all its
columns, entablature, pediments, and walls entire; only
part of the roof is wanting. It owes its prefervation to
the piety of fome Chriftians, who have covered half the
nave, and converted it into a church conſecrated un-
der the invocation of St Gregory, biſhop of Girgenti.
Agrigen- fpeedily back to their old connections. But as if it
had been decreed that all friendſhip fhould be fatal to
their repoſe, the reconciliation and its effects drew up-
on them the anger of the Carthaginians. By this ene
my their armies were routed, their city taken, their
race almoſt extirpated, and ſcarce a veſtige of magnifi-
cence was left. Agrigentum lay 50 years buried under
its own ruins; when Timoleon, after triumphing over
the Carthaginians, and reftoring liberty to Sicily, col-
lected the defcendants of the Agrigentines, and fent
them to re-eſtabliſh the dwellings of their forefathers.
Their exertions were rewarded with aftonishing fuc-
cefs; for Agrigentum roſe from its afhes with fuch a
renewal of vigour, that in a very ſhort time we find it
engaged in the bold fcheme of feizing a lucky moment,
when Agathocles and Carthage had reduced Syracufe
to the loweſt ebb, and arrogating to itſelf fupremacy
over all the Sicilian republics. Xenodicus was appoint-
ed the leader of this arduous enterpriſe; and had his
latter operations been as fortunate as his firft campaign,
Agrigentum would have acquired fuch a preponderance
of reputation and power, that the rival ftates would
not even have dared to attack it. But a few brilliant
exploits were fucceeded by a fevere overthrow; the
Agrigentines loft courage, diſagreed in council, and
humbly fued for peace to Agathocles. This common-
wealth afterwards took a ftrong part with Pyrrhus;
and when he left Sicily to the mercy of her enemies,
threw itſelf into the arms of Carthage. During the
firſt Punic war Agrigentum was the head-quarters of
the Carthaginians, and was befieged by the Roman
confuls, who after eight months blockade took it by
ftorm. It nevertheleſs changed mafters feveral times
during the contest between thofe rival ſtates, and in
every inſtance ſuffered moft cruel outrages. After this
period very little mention of it occurs in hiftory, nor
do we know the precife time of the deftruction of the
old city and the building of the new one. See
GIRGENTI.
The principal part of the ancient city lay in the
vale; the prefent town, called Girgenti, occupies the
mountain on which the citadel of Cocalus ftood.
It was difficult to be more judicious and fortunate
in the choice of fituation for a large city. The
inhabitants were here provided with every requifite
for defence, pleafure, and comfort of life; a na-
tural wall, formed by abrupt rocks, prefented a ſtrong
barrier againſt affailants; pleafant hills fheltered them
on three fides without impeding the circulation of air;
before them a broad plain watered by the Acragas,
gave admittance to the fea-breeze, and to a noble pro-
ſpect of that awful element; the port or emporium lay
in view at the mouth of the river, and probably the
road acroſs the flat was lined with gay and populous
fuburbs.
The hofpitality and parade for which the Agrigen-
tines are celebrated in hiſtory were fupported by an ex-
tenfive commerce; by means of which, the common-
wealth was able to refift many fhocks of adverfity, and
always to rife again with freſh fplendour. It was,
however, cruſhed by the general fall of Grecian liberty;
the feeble remnants of its population, which had fur-
vived fo many calamities, were at length driven out of
its walls by the Saracens, and obliged to lock them-
3
Proceeding in the fame direction, you walk between
rows of fepulchres cut in the rock wherever it admit»
ted of being excavated by the hand of man, or was fo
already by that of nature. Some maffes of it are hewn
into the fhape of coffins; others drilled full of ſmall
fquare holes employed in a different mode of interment,
and ferving as receptacles of urns. One ponderous
piece of the rock lies in an extraordinary pofition; by
the failure of its foundation, or the fhock of an earth-
quake, it has been loofened from the general quarry,
and rolled down the declivity, where it now remains fu-
pine with the cavities turned upwards. Only a ſingle
column marks the confufed heap of mofs-grown ruins
belonging to the temple of Hercules. It ftood on a
projecting rock above a chaſm in the ridge, which was
cut through for a paffage to the emporium.
In the fame tract, over fome hills, is fituated the
building uſually called the tomb of Thero. It is fur
rounded by aged olive-trees, which caft a wild irregular
fhade over the ruin. The edifice inclines to the pyra-
midical fhape, and confifts at prefent of a triple plinth,
and a baſe fupporting a ſquare pedeſtal: upon this plain
folid foundation is raifed a fecond order, having a win-
dow in each front, and at each angle two Ionic pila-
fters crowned with an entablature of the Doric order.
Its infide is divided into a vault, a ground room, and
one in the Ionic ftory, communicating with each other
by means of a ſmall internal ſtaircaſe.
In the plain are feen the fragments of the temple of
Efculapius; part of two columns and two pilafters,
with an intermediate wall, fupport the end of a farm-
houfe, and were probably the front of the cella. Pur-
fuing the track of the walls towards the weft, you ar
rive at a ſpot which is covered with the gigantic re-
mains of the temple of Jupiter the Olympian, minute-
tely defcribed by Diodorus Siculus. It may literally
be faid that it has not one ftone left upon another; and
it is barely poffible, with the help of much conjecture,
to diſcover the traces of its plan and dimenſions. Die
odorus
tum.
百
​AGR
[
327 ]
AGR
3
Agrigen- odorus calls it the largeft temple in the whole ifland:
tum, but adds, that the calamities of war caufed the work to
Agrimonia.
be abandoned before the roof could be put on; and
that the Agrigentines were ever after reduced to fuch
a ſtate of poverty and dependence, that they never had
it in their power to finiſh this fuperb monument of the
taſte and opulence of their ancestors. The length of
this temple was 370 Greek feet, its breadth 60, and
its height 220, exclufive of the foundations or baſement
ftory; the extent and folidity of its vaults and under-
works were wonderful; its ſpacious porticos and ex-
quifite fculpture were fuited to the grandeur of the
whole. It was not built in the uſual ſtyle of Sicilian
temples with a cella of maffive walls and a peryftile,
but was defigned in a mixt taſte with half columns let
into the walls on the outfide, the infide exhibiting a
plain furface.
The next ruin belongs to the temple of Caftor and
Pollux; vegetation has covered the lower parts of the
building, and only a few fragments of columns appear
between the vines. This was the point of the hill
where the wall ſtopt on the brink of a large fifh-pond
fpoken of by Diodorus: it was cut in the folid rock
30 feet deep, and water was conveyed to it from the
hills. In it was bred a great quantity of fiſh for the
ufe of public entertainments; fwans and various other
kinds of wild fowl fwam along its furface, for the a-
mufement of the citizens, and the great depth of water
prevented an enemy from furprifing the town on that
fide. It is now dry and uſed as a garden On the
oppofite bank are two tapering columns without their
capitals, most happily placed in a tuft of carob trees.
Monte Toro, where Hanno encamped with the Car-
thaginian army, before the Roman confuls drew him
into an engagement that ruined his defenſive plan, is a
noble back-ground to this pictureſque group of objects.
-The whole fpace comprehended within the walls of
the ancient city abounds with traces of antiquity, foun-
dations, brick-arches, and little channels for the con-
veyance of water; but in no part are any ruins that
but in no part are any ruins that
can be prefumed to have belonged to places of public
entertainment. This is the more extraordinary, as the
Agrigentines were a fenfual people, fond of fhews and
dramatic performances, and the Romans never dwelt
in any place long without introducing their favage
games. Theatres and amphitheatres feem better cal-
culated than moſt buildings to refift the outrages of
time; and it is furpriſing that not even the veftiges of
their form fhould remain on the ground.
AGRIMONIA, AGRIMONY: A genus of the di-
gynia order, belonging to the dodecandria claſs of
plants; and in the natural method ranking under the
35th order, Senticofe. The characters are thefe: The
calyx is a monophyllous perianthium, divided into five
acute fegments, perfiftent, and fenced with another
calyx: The corolla confifts of five petals, flat, and cre-
nated at the ends: The ftamina have ten capillary fila-
ments, fhorter than the corolla, and inferted into the
calyx; the antheræ are fmall, didymous, and compreff
ed: The piftillum has a germen beneath; the ftyli are
two, fimple, and the length of the ftamina: There is
no pericarpium; the calyx is contracted in the neck,
and indurated: The feeds are two, and roundiſh. Of
this genus there are five fpecies enumerated by botani-
cal writers; but none of them have any remarkable Agrimonia
properties except the two following.
Species and properties. 1. The eupatoria, or com-
mon agrimony, grows naturally in feveral parts of Bri-
tain by the fides of hedges and of woods. It
is eat by fheep and goats, but refuſed by horfes
and fwine. The Canadians are faid to uſe an infufion
of the root in burning fevers with great fuccefs. An
infufion of fix ounces of the crown of the root in a
quart of boiling water, fweetened with honey, and half
a pint of it drank three times a-day, is an effectual cure
for the jaundice, according to Dr Hill. He advifes
to begin with a vomit, afterwards to keep the belly
foluble, and to continue the medicine as long as any
fymptoms of the diſeaſe remain. It is faid to be an
aperient, detergent, and ftrengthener of the vifcera.
Hence it is recommended in fcorbutic diforders, in de-
bility and laxity of the inteftines, &c. Digefted in
whey, it affords an uſeful diet-drink for the fpring-
feafon, not ungrateful to the palate or ſtomach. Doc-
tor Alfton fays, that the beſt mode of adminiftering
this herb is in powder, when the intention is to cor--
roborate; and that if thus taken in a large quantity,
we may expect many of the effects of the bark from it
in agues.
2. The odorata, or ſweet-fcented agrimony. This
grows near four feet high; the leaves have more pinnæ.
than the former; the ferratures of the leaves are alfo
fharper, and, when handled, they emit an agreeable
odour. The leaves of this fpecies make an agreeable
cooling tea, which is fometimes prefcribed by phyfi-
cians as a drink for people in fevers.
Culture Both thefe fpecies may be propogated
either by feed, or by parting the roots in autumn when
the leaves begin to decay. The feeds ought alſo to be
fown in this feafon; for if kept out of the ground till
fpring, they feldom come up that year.- Agrimony is
a hardy perennial plant, and will thrive in almoft any
foil or fituation; but the plants fhould not be placed
nearer one another than two feet, that the roots may.
have room to fpread.
Hemp AGRIMONY. See EUPATORIUM.
Water Hemp-AGRIMONY. See BIDENS.
AGRIONÍA, in Grecian antiquity, feftivals an-
nually celebrated, by the Boeotians, in honour of
Bacchus. At thefe feftivals, the women pretended to
fearch after Bacchus as a fugitive; and, after fome time,
gave over their inquiry, faying, that he was filed to the
Mufes, and was concealed among them.
46
AGRIOPHAGI, in antiquity, a name given ta
thoſe who fed on wild beafts. The word is Greek,
compounded of aygios, wild,” “favage,” and payw,
"I eat." The name is given, by ancient writers, to
certain people, real or fabulous, faid to have fed alto-
gether on lions and panthers. Pliny and Solinus ſpeak
of Agriophagi in Ethiopia, and Ptolemy of others in
India on this fide the Ganges.
AGRIPPA, in midwifery, a term applied to chil-
dren, brought forth with their feet foremoſt.
AGRIPPA (Herod), the ſon of Ariſtobulus and
Mariamne, and grandfon to Herod the Great, was
born in the year of the world 3997, three years be-
fore the birth of our Saviour, and feven years be-
fore the vulgar æra. After the death of Ariſtobu-
lis
#
Agrippa.
>
AGR
A GR
[ 328 ]
Agrippa. lus his father, Jofephus informs us, that Herod his grandfather. He returned to Judea, and governed it Agrippa.
grandfather took care of his education, and ſent him to the great fatisfaction of the Jews. But the defire
to Rome to make his court to Tiberius. The em- of pleafing them, and a miſtaken zeal for their religion,
peror conceived a great affection for Agrippa, and induced him to commit an unjuſt action, the memory of
placed him near his fon Drufus. Agrippa very foon which is preferved in Scripture, Acts xii. 1, 2, &c. for
won the graces of Drufus, and of the emprefs An- about the feaſt of the paffover, in the year of Jeſus Chriſt
tonia. But Drufus dying fuddenly, all thofe who 44, St James major, the ſon of Zebedee and brother to
had been much about him were commanded by Tibe- St John the Evangelift, was feized by his order and
rius to withdraw from Rome, left the fight and pre- put to death. He proceeded alfo to lay hands on St
fence of them fhould renew his affliction. Agrippa, Peter, and imprifoned him, waiting till the feſtival was
who had indulged his inclination to liberality, was ob- over, that he might then have him executed. But
liged to leave Rome overwhelmed with debts, and in a God having miraculouſly delivered St Peter from the
very poor condition. He did not think it fit to go to place of his confinement, the deſigns of Agrippa were
Jerufalem, becauſe he was not able to make a figure fruftrated. After the paffover, this prince went from
there fuitable to his birth. He retired therefore to Jerufalem to Cæfarea, and there had games performed
the caſtle of Maffada, where he lived rather like a pri- in honour of Claudius. Here the inhabitants of Tyre
vate perſon than a prince. Herod the Tetrarch, his and Sidon waited on him to fue for peace. Agrippa
uncle, who had married Herodias his fifter, affifted him being come early in the morning to the theatre, with
for fome time with great generofity. He made him a defign to give them audience, feated himſelf on his
principal magiftrate of Tiberias, and prefented him throne, dreffed in a robe of filver-tiffue, worked in the
with a large fum of money: but all this was not fuffi- moft admirable manner. The rifing fun darted on it
cient to anſwer the exceffive expences and profufion with its rays, and gave it fuch a luftre as the eyes of
of Agrippa; ſo that Herod growing weary of affifting the fpectators could not endure. When therefore the
him, and reproaching him with his bad oeconomy, A- king ſpoke to the Tyrians and Sidonians, the parafites
grippa took a refolution to quit Judea and return to around him began to fay, that it was the voice of a
Rome. Upon his arrival, he was received into the god, and not that of a man. Inftead of rejecting theſe
good graces of Tiberius, and commanded to attend impious flatteries, Agrippa received them with an
Tiberius Nero the fon of Drufus. Agrippa, however, air of complacency; but at the fame time obſerved an
having more inclination for Caius the fon of Germani- owl above him on a cord. He had feen the fame bird
cus, and grandfon of Antonia, chofe rather to attach before when he was in bonds by order of Tiberius;
himſelf to him; as if he had fome prophetic views of and it was then told him, that he ſhould be ſoon ſet
the future elevation of Caius, who at that time was be- at liberty: but that whenever he ſaw the ſame thing a
loved by all the world. The great affiduity and agree- fecond time, he ſhould not live above five days after-
able behaviour of Agrippa fo far engaged this prince, wards. He was therefore extremely terrified; and he
that he kept him continually about him.
died at the end of five days, racked with tormenting
pains in his bowels, and devoured with worms. Such
was the death of Herod Agrippa, after a reign of ſeven-
years, in the year of Chriſt 44.
Agrippa being one day overheard by Eutyches, a
flave whom he had made free, to expreſs his wishes for
Tiberius's death and the advancement of Caius, the
flave betrayed him to the Emperor; whereupon A-
grippa was loaded with fetters, and committed to the
cuitody of an officer. Tiberius foon after dying, and
Caius Caligula fucceeding him, the new Emperor
heaped many favours and much wealth upon Agrippa;
changed his iron fetters into a chain of gold; fet a
royal diadem upon his head; and gave him the tetrar-
chy which Philip, the fon of Herod the Great, had
been poffeffed of, that is, Batanæa and Trachonitis.
To this he added that of Lyfanias; and Agrippa re-
turned very foon into Judea to take poffeffion of his
new kingdom.
Caius being foon after killed, Agrippa, who was
then at Rome, contributed much by his advice to
maintain Claudius in poffeffion of the imperial dignity,
to which he had been advanced by the army. But in
this affair Agrippa acted a part wherein he ſhowed
more cunning and addreſs than fincerity and honeſty;
for while he made a fhow of being in the intereft of
the fenate, he fecretly adviſed Claudius to be refolute,
and not to abandon his good fortune. The Emperor,
as an acknowledgment for his kind offices, gave him
all Judea and the kindom of Chalcis, which had been
poffeffed by Herod his brother. Thus Agrippa be-
came of a fudden one of the greateft princes of the
Eaft; and was poffeffed of as much, if not more, ter-
ritories than had been held by Herod the Great his
N° 9.
I
AGRIPPA II. fon of the preceding Herod, was made
king of Chalcide; but three or four years after, he
was deprived of that kingdom by Claudius, who gave
him in the place of it other provinces. In the war Vef-
pafian carried on againſt the Jews, Herod fent him a
fuccour of 2000 men; by which it appears, that, tho' a
Jew by religion, he was yet entirely devoted to the Ro-
mans, whofe affiſtance indeed he wanted, to ſecure the
peace of his own kingdom. He lived to the third year
of Trajan, and died at Rome A. C. 100. He was the
feventh and laft king of the family of Herod the Great.
It was before him and Berenice his fifter, that St Paul
pleaded his caufe at Cæfarea.
AGRIPPA (Marcus Vefpanius), fon-in-law to Augu-
ftus, of mean birth, but one of the moft confiderable
generals among the Romans. Auguftus's victory over
Pompey and Mark Anthony was owing to his counfel:
he adorned the city with the pantheon, baths, aque-
ducts, &c.
AGRIPPA (Cornelius), born at Cologne in 1486, at
man of confiderable learning, and by common report
a great magician; for the monks at that time ſuſpected
every thing of herefy or forcery which they did not un-
derftand. He compofed his Treatife of the Excellence
of Women, to infinuate himſelf into the favour of Mar-
garet of Auftria, governefs of the Low-Countries. He
accepted of the charge of hiftoriographer to the empe-
ror,
1
AGR
A GR
[ 329 ]
Agrippina ror, which that princeſs gave him. The treatife of the
Vanity of the Sciences, which he publiſhed in 1530, en-
Agrottema, raged his enemies extremely; as did that of Occult Philo-
fophy, which he printed foon after at Antwerp. He
was impriſoned in France for ſomething he had written
againſt Francis I.'s mother; but was enlarged, and went
to Grenoble, where he died in 1534. His works are
printed in two volumes octavo.
AGRIPPINA, daughter of Germanicus, fifter of
Caligula, and mother of Nero; a woman of wit, but
exceffively lewd. She was thrice married, the laſt time
to Claudius her own uncle, whom ſhe poiſoned to make
way for Nero her fon. Nero afterward cauſed her to
be murdered in her chamber, when ſhe bid the execu-
tioner ſtab her firft in the belly that had brought forth
fuch a monfter.
AGRIPPINA COLONIA UBIORUM (anc. geog.), now
Cologne: fo called from Agrippina, the daughter of
Germanicus, and mother of Nero, who had a colony fent
thither at her requeft by the emperor Claudius, to ho-
nour the place of her birth. See COLOGNE.
AGRIPPINIANS, in church-hiſtory, the followers
of Agrippinus biſhop of Carthage, in the third century,
who first introduced and defended the practice of re-
baptization.
AGROM, a difeafe frequent in Bengal and other
parts of the Indies, wherein the tongue chaps and
cleaves in feveral places, being extremely rough withal,
and fometimes covered with white fpots. The Indians
are very fearful of this diſeaſe, which they attribute to
extreme heat of the ftomach. Their remedy is, to drink
fome chalybeate liquor, or the juice of mint.
AGROSTEMA, WILD LYCHNIS, or CAMPION:
A genus of the pentagynia order, belonging to the de-
candria clafs of plants; and in the natural method
ranking under the 22d order, Caryophyllei. The cha-
racters are: The calyx is a fingle-leaved perianthium,
leathery, tubular, quinquedentated, and perfiftent:
The corolla confifts of five ungulated petals: The fta-
mina have ten fubulated filaments; the antheræ are
fimple: The piftillam has an egg-shaped germen; the
ftyli are five, filiform, erect, and the length of the
ftamina; the ftigmata are fimple: The pericarpium is
an oblong covered capfule, having two cells and five
valves: The feeds are numerous and kidney-ſhaped;
the receptacula are as many as the feeds, the interior
ones gradually longer.
Species. The moſt remarkable are, i. The githago,
hairy wild lychnis, or common campion, which grows
naturally in corn-fields in moft parts of Britain. The
flowers appear in June, are generally purple, fometimes
white, and by cultivation yellow.
2. The coronaria, or fingle-rofe campion. Of this
fpecies there are four varieties; one with deep red,
another with flesh-coloured, a third with white, flowers;
and a fort with double flowers, which has turned moft
of the others out of the gardens.
3. The flosjovis, or umbelliferous mountain-campion,
grows naturally upon the Helvetian mountains. It is
a low plant with wooly leaves: the flower-flem rifes
near a foot high; the flowers grow in umbels on the
top of the ftalk, and are of a bright red colour. They
appear in July, and the feeds ripen in September.
Culture. The firft and third fpecies are annual
plants, fo muſt be propagated by feeds; but as the
VOL. I. Part I.
neuf.
first is found naturally in corn-fields, it is very feldom Agroítis
cultivated in gardens; the third fort fhould have a 11
fhady fituation, and thrives beft in a ftrong foil. The guilla-
fecond fpecies is perennial, but only thofe varieties
which have fingle flowers produce any feeds; the double
kind, therefore, as it produces no feeds, muſt be pro-
pagated by parting the roots in autumn, after the
flowers are paft. In doing this, every head which can
be flipped off with roots fhould be parted: theſe ſhould
be planted in a border of freſh undunged earth, at the
diftance of fix inches one from the other, obferving to
water them gently until they have taken root ; after
which they will require no more; for much wet is very
injurious to them, as is alſo dung. In this border they
may remain till ſpring, when they ſhould be planted in
the borders of the flower-garden, where they will be
very ornamental during the time of their flowering
which is in July and Auguft.-This plant is eat by
horfes, goats, and ſheep.
AGROSTIS, BENT-GRASS, in botany: A genus of
the triandria order, belonging to the digynia clafs of
plants; and, in the natural method, ranking under the
4th order, Gramina. The characters are: The calyx
is a one-flowered, two-valved, pointed gluma, rather
leſs than the corolla. The corolla is two-valved and
pointed. The ftamina have three capillary filaments,
which are larger than the corolla. The anthera are
forked. The piftillum has a roundifh germen; the fty-
li are two, reflected, and villous; the ftigmata hifped
longitudinally. The pericarpium is the corolla grow-
ing to the feed, not gaping. The feed is one, globu
lar, and pointed at both ends. There are 15 fpecies;
eight of them natives of Britain.
AGROSTOGRAPHIA, fignifies the hiſtory or
defcription of graffes. See GRASS.
AGROUND, the fituation of a fhip whofe bottom,
or any part of it, hangs, or refts upon the ground, fo
as to render her immoveable, till a greater quantity of
water floats her off, or till fhe is drawn out into the
ftream by the application of mechanical powers.
AGRYPNIA, among phyſicians, implies an inap
titude to fleep; a troubleſome ſymptom of feveriſh and
other diſorders.
AGRYPNIA, in the Greek church, implies the vigil
of any of the greater festivals.
AGUE, a general name for all periodical fevers,
which, according to the different times of the returns
of the feverish paroxyfm, are denominated tertian, quar-
tian, and quotidian. See MEDICINE (Index.)
AGUE-Cake, the popular name for a hard tumour on
the left fide of the belly, lower than the falfe ribs, faid
to be the effect of intermitting fevers.
AGUE-Tree, a name given to the faffafras, on ac-
count of its febrifuge qualities.
AGUEPERSE, a town of France, fituated on the
Lyonnois, about 15 miles north of Clermont.
AGUILLANEUF, or AUGILLANEUF, a form of
rejoicing ufed among the ancient Franks on the firſt
day of the year. The word is compounded of the
French A “to,” gui “ miſleto,” and l'an neuf “ the
new year." Its origin is traced from a druid-ceremo
ny: the prieſts uſed to go yearly in December, which
with them was reputed a facred month, to gather miſleto
of the oak in great folemnity. The prophets marched
in the front, finging hymns in honour of their deities ;
Tt
after
AGU
[
330 ]
A HA
AGURAH, in Jewish antiquity, the name of a
filver coin, otherwife called gerah and kefhita.
AGURIUM, or AGYRIUM (anc. geog.), a town
of Sicily in the Val di Demona, near the river Seme
tus. The people were called Populus Agyrinenfis by
Cicero; Agyrinus by Pliny. It was the birth-place of
Diodorus Siculus, as he himſelf teftifies; but he calls it
Argyrum, as it is now called S. Philippo d'Argirone,
which modern name ſeems to confirm that Argyrium is
the true reading.
Aguillar after them came a herald with a caduceus in his hand;
11
thefe were followed by three druids a-breaft, bearing
Agur.
the things neceffary for facrifice; laft of all came the
chief or arch druid, accompanied with the train of
people. The chief druid climbing the oak, cut off the
miſleto with a golden fickle, and the other druids re-
ceived it in a white cloth; on the firſt day of the year
it was diftributed among the people, after having blef
fed and confecrated it by crying A gui l'an neuf, to
proclaim the new year. This cry is ftill continued in
Picardy, with the addition of Plantes, Plantez, to
wifh a plentiful year. In Burgundy and fome other
parts, the children ufe the fame word to beg a new
year's gift. Of later times the name Aquillaneuf was
alfo given to a fort of begging, practifed in fome dio-
cefes, for church-tapers, on new-year's day, by a troop
of young people of both fexes, having a chief, &c.
It was attended with various ridiculous ceremonies, as
dancing in the church, &c. which occafioned the fynods
to fupprefs it.
AGUILLAR, a town of Spain, in the province of
Navarre, about 24 miles weft of Eftella.
AGUILLAR Del Campo, a town of Old Caftile, with
the title of marquifate, about 15 leagues north of the
city of Burgos.
AGUILLONIUS (Francis), a Jefuit, born at Bruf-
fels: he was rector of the Jefuits college at Antwerp,
and eminent for his fkill in mathematics. He was
the firſt who introduced that ſcience among the Jefuits
in the low countries: he wrote a book of Optics, and
was employed in finiſhing his Catoptrics and Dioptrics,
when death prevented him in 1617.
AGUIRRA (Jofeph Sænz de), a Benedictine, and
one of the moſt learned men of the 17th century, was
born March 24. 1630. He was cenfor and fecretary
of the fupreme council of the inquifition in Spain, and
interpreter of the fcriptures in the univerſity of Sala-
manca. He printed three volumes in folio upon Phi-
Fofophy, a commentary upon Ariftotle's ten books of
Ethics, and other pieces. He died at Rome Auguft
19. 1699.
AGUL, in botany, a fynonime of the hedyfarum.
See HEDYSARUM.
AGUSADŪRA, in ancient cuftoms, a fee due
from vaffals to their lord for the fharpening their
ploughing tackle. Anciently the tenants in fome
nors were not allowed to have their rural implements
fharpened by any but whom the lord appointed; for
which an acknowledgment was to be paid, called Agu
fadura, in fome places Agufage: which fome take to
be the fame with what was otherwiſe called Reillage,
from the ancient French reille, a ploughfhare.
AGUTI, in zoology, the trivial name of a fpecics
of the mouſe, belonging to the mammalia glires of
Linnæus. See Mus.
AGYEI, in antiquity, a kind of obelisks, facred
to Apollo, erected in the veftibles of houſes, by way
of fecurity.
α
AGYNIANI, in church-hiſtory, a fect who con-
demned all uſe of fleſh, and marriage, as not inſtituted
by God, but introduced at the inftigation of the devil.
The word is compounded of the privative a and yurṇ
woman. They are fometimes alfo called Agynnenfes, and
Agynii; and are faid to have appeared about the year
694. It is no wonder they were of no long continuance.
Their tenets coincide in a great meaſure with thoſe of
the Abelians, Gnoftics, Cerdonians, and other preach-
ers of chaſtity and abſtinence.
AGYRTÆ, in antiquity, a kind of ſtrolling im-
poftors running about the country, to pick up money
by telling fortunes at rich mens doors, pretending to
cure difeafes by charms, facrifices, and other religious
myfteries; alfo to expiate the crimes of their deceaſed
ancestors, by virtue of certain odours and fumigations;
to torment their enemies, by the uſe of magical verſes
and the like. The word is Greek Ayuglas, formed of
of Charletans, who gather a crowd about them.
Agyrta, among the Greeks, amount to the fame
with Erufcatores among the Latins, and differ not
much from Gypfies among us.
A&UR. The xxxth chapter of the Proverbs be--the verb ayuga, I congregate; alluding to the practice
gins with this title: "The words of Agur, the fon
of Jakeh ;" which, according to the fignification of
the original terms, may be tranflated, as the Vulgate
has it, Verba congregantis, filii vomentis; which tranf
lation Le Clerc condemns, fuppofing thefe to be pro-
per names, which ought not to be tranflated. Thefe
words are rendered by Lewis de Dieu: "The words
of him who has recollected himſelf, the fon of obe-
dience." The generality of the fathers and commen-
tators will have it, that Solomon defcribes himſelf un-
der the name of Agur the fon of Jakeh; others con-
jecture that Agur, as well as Lemuel (in chap. xxxi. 1.)
were wife men who lived in the time of Solomon, and
were his interlocutors in the book of Proverbs; an opi-
nion which F. Calmet thinks is without the leaft fhew
of probability, this book being nothing like a dia-
ogue. This laft expofitor thinks it probable, that
Agur was an inſpired author different from Solomon,
whoſe ſentences it was thought fit to join with thofe of
this prince, becauſe of the conformity of their mat-
ter.
AHAB, ſon of Omri king of Ifrael, fucceeded his.
father A. M. 3086, and furpaffed all his predeceffors
in impiety and wickedneſs. He married Jezebel the
daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, who in-
troduced the idols of Baal and Aftarte among the If-
raelites, and engaged Ahab in the worſhip of thefe
falfe deities. God, being provoked by the fins of
Ahab, fent the prophet Elijah to him (1 Kings xvii.
1, feq.) who declared to him, that there would be a
famine of three years continuance. The dearth having
lafted three years, the prophet defired Ahab to gather
all the people to mount Carmel, and with them the
prophets of Baal: when they were thus affembled,.
Elijah cauſed fire to deſcend from heaven upon his fa-
crifice, after which he obtained of God that it ſhould
rain; and then the earth recovered its former fertility.
Six years after this, Ben-hadad king of Syria (chap.
Agurak
B
Ahab.
24.
(XX..
AHA
[ 33
]
A HA
Ahab. xx. laid fiege to Jerufalem. But God, provoked at
this proud Syrian, fent a prophet to Ahab, not only
to aſſure him of victory, but to inftruct him likewiſe
in what manner he was to obtain it. Ahab was order-
ed to review the princes of the provinces, which he
found to be a choice company confifting of 232 young
men, who were to command the people in Samaria,
amounting to about 7000 men: with this fmall army
Ahab was directed to fall upon the great hoft of the
Syrians, and that at noon-day, while Ben-hadad and
the 32 kings that accompanied him were drinking and
making merry. Ben-hadad having notice that they
ere marching out of the city, ordered them to be
brought before him alive, whatever their defigns were:
but the young men, followed by this ſmall army, ad-
vanced, and killing all that oppofed them, fuch a pa-
nic ſeized the Syrian troops, that they began to fly;
and even Ben-hadad himſelf mounted his horſe and fled
with his cavalry; which Ahab perceiving, purſued
them, killed great numbers of them, and took a con-
fiderable booty. After this the prophet came to Ahab,
to animate him with freſh courage, and to caution him
to keep upon his guard; affuring him, that Ben-hadad
would return againſt him the year following. Ac-
cording to this prediction, at the end of the year he
returned and encamped at Aphek, with a refolution
to give the Ifraelites battle. Both armies being ranged
in order of battle for feven days fucceffively, at length,
upon the ſeventh day, a battle enfued, wherein the If
raelites killed 100,000 of the Syrians, and the reft fled
to Aphek; but as they were preffing to get into the
city, the walls of Aphek fell upon them and killed
27,00 more. Ben-hadad throwing himſelf upon the
mercy of Ahab, this prince received him into his own
chariot, and made an alliance with him. The year
following, Ahab defiring to make a kitchen-garden near
his palace (chap. xxi.), requefted of one Naboth, a
citizen of Jezreel, that he would fell him his vineyard,
becauſe it lay convenient for him. But being refufed,
he returned in great difcontentment to his houſe,
threw himſelf upon the bed, turned towards the wall,
and would eat nothing. Jezebel his wife coming in,
aſked the reaſon of his great concern; of which being
informed, the procured the death of Naboth, and Ahab
took poffeffion of his vineyard. As he returned from Jez-
reel to Samaria, the prophet Elijah met him, and ſaid,
"Haft thou killed and alfo taken poffeffion? Now faith
the Lord, In the place where dogs licked up the blood
of Naboth, ſhall dogs lick thy blood, even thine. As
for Jezebel, of her the Lord fpake, faying, The dogs
fhall eat Jezebel by the way of Jezreel." Ahab, hear-
ing theſe and other denunciations, rent his clothes,
put fackcloth upon his flesh, and gave other indications
of his forrow and repentance. But his repentance was
neither fincere nor perfevering. Two years after thefe
things, Jehoshaphat king of Judah came to Samaria
to viſit Ahab (chap. xxii.) at a time when he was
preparing to attack Ramoth-gilead, which Ben-hadad
king of Syria unjuſtly with-held from him. The
king of Ifrael invited Jehofhaphat to accompany him
in this expedition; which that prince agreed to do,
but defired that ſome prophet might firſt be confulted.
Ahabtherefore affembled the prophets of Baal, in number
about 400; who all concurred in exhorting the king to
march refolutely againſt Ramoth-gilead. But Micaiah
"
being alfo confulted, at Jehoshaphat's fuggeftion, prophe-
fied the ruin of Ahab. Upon this, Ahab gave orders to
his people to feize Micaiah, and to carry him to Amon
the governor of the city, and to Joafh the king's ſon ;
telling them in his name, "Put this fellow in prifon,
and feed him with the bread of affliction, and with the
water of affliction, until I come in peace. But Mi-
caiah faid, "If thou return at all in peace, the Lord
hath not fpoken by me." Ahab therefore and Jehofha-
phat marched up to Ramoth-gilead; and the king of
Ifrael faid unto Jehoshaphat, "I will diſguiſe myſelf, and
enter into the battle, but put thou on thy robes :" for
he knew that the king of Syria had commanded two and
thirty captains that had rule over his chariots, faying,
Fight neither with fmall nor with great, fave only
with the king of Ifrael." Thefe officers therefore having
obferved that Jehoshaphat was dreffed in royal robes,
took him for the king of Ifrael, and fell upon him
with great impetuofity but this prince feeing himſelf
preffed fo clofely, cried out; and the mistake being
difcovered, the captains of the king of Syria gave over
purfuing him. But one of the Syrian army fhot a
random arrow, which pierced the heart of Ahab. The
battle lafted the whole day, and Ahab continued in his
chariot with his face turned towards the Syrians. In
the mean time, his blood was ftill iffuing from his
wound, and falling in his chariot; and towards the
evening he died: whereupon proclamation was made
by found of trumpet, that every man fhould return to
his own city and country. The king of Ifrael being
dead, was carried to Samaria and buried: but his cha-
riot and the reins of his horfes were waſhed in the fiſh-
pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked his blood, ac-
cording to the word of the prophet. Such being the
end of Ahab; his fon Ahaziah fucceeded him, in the
year of the world 3107.
AHÆTULA, the trivial name of a ſpecies of the
coluber. See COLUBER.
AHASUERUS, or ARTAXERXES, the husband of
Efther; and according to archbishop Ufher and F. Cal-
met, the fcripture name for Darius, the fon of Hyftaf-
pes, king of Perfia; though Scaliger will have Xerxes
to be the huſband of Efther, or the Ahasuerus of ſcrip-
ture; and Dr Prideaux believes him to be Artaxerxes
Longimanus. See Hiftory of PERSIA.
AHAZ, king of Judah, the ſon of Jotham, re-
markable for his vices and impieties. One of his fons
he confecrated, by making him paſs through and pe
rifh by the fire, in honour of the falle god Moloch
and he offered facrifices and incenfe upon the high
places, upon hills, and in groves. Rezin king of Sy-
ria and Pekah king of Ifrael invaded Judea in the be-
ginning of the reign of Ahaz; and having defeated
his army and pillaged the country, they laid fiege to
Jerufalem. When they found that they could not
make themſelves mafters of that city, they divided their
army, plundered the country, and made the inhabitants
prifoners of war. Rezin and his part of the confede-
rate army marched with all their ſpoil to Damafcus;
but Pekah with his divifion of the army having at-
tacked Ahaz, killed 120,000 men of his
battle, and carried away men, women, and children,
without diftinction, to the number of 200,000. But
as they were carrying thofe captives to Samaria, the
prophet Oded, with the principal inhabitants of the
Ttz
army
in one
city's
Ahab
Ahaz.
AHA
[
332 ]
A HA
Ahaz
Ahead.
city, came out to meet them; and by their remon-
ftrances prevailed with them to ſet their priſoners at
liberty. At the fame time, the Philiftines and Edo-
mites invaded other parts of his land, killed multitudes
of the people, and carried off much booty. In this
diftreffed condition, Ahaz finding no other remedy for
his affairs, ſent ambaffadors to Tiglath-pilefer king of
the Affyrians; and to engage him to his intereft, he
ftripped the temple and city of all the gold which he
could meet with, and fent it as a prefent. Accor-
dingly Tiglath-pilefer marched to the affiftance of Ahaz,
attacked Rezin and killed him, took his capital Damaf-
cus, deſtroyed, it and removed the inhabitants thereof
to Cyrene.
AHICCYATLI, in zoology, the Indian name of Ahiccyatli
a ferpent reſembling the rattle-fnake, only it wants the
Ahitophel.
rattles. It is as fatal in the effect of its poifon as any
known fpecies of ferpent.
The misfortunes of this prince had no influence to
make him better: on the contrary, in the times of
his greateſt affliction, he facrificed to the Syrian
deities, whom he looked upon as the authors of
his calamities, and endeavoured to render propitious
to him, by honouring them in this manner. He broke
in picces the veffels of the houſe of God, fhut up the
gates of the temple, and erected altars in all parts of
Jerufalem. He fet up altars likewife in all the cities of
Judah, with a defign to offer incenfe on them. At
length he died, and was buried in Jerufalem, but
not in the fepulchres of the kings of Judah his pre-
deceffors; which honour he was deprived of, on ac-
count of his iniquitous courfe of life. Hezekiah his
fon fucceeded him in the year of the world 3278,
before Jefus Chrift 726.
AHAZIAH, the fon and fucceffor of Ahab
king of Ifrael, reigned two years, part alone, and
part with his father Ahab, who ordained him his af
fociate in the kingdom a year before his death. Aha-
ziah imitated his father's impieties (1 Kings xxii. 52,
feq.), and paid his adoration to Baal and Aftarte, the
worſhip of whom had been introduced in Ifrael by Je-
zebel his mother. The Moabites, who had been al-
ways obedient to the kings of the ten tribes ever fince
their feparation from the kingdom of Judah, revolted
after the death of Ahab, and refuſed to pay the ordi-
nary tribute. Ahaziah had not leiſure or power to
reduce them (2 Kings i. 1, 2, &c.): for about the
fame time, having fallen through a lattice from the
top of his houfe, he hurt himſelf confiderably, and
fent meffengers to Ekron, in order to confult Baal-
zebub, the god of that place, whether he fhould
recover of the indifpofition occafioned by this ac-
cident. But the prophet Elijah went to Ahaziah,
and declared that he should not recover from his ill-
nefs and accordingly he died in the year of the world
3108, and Jehoram his brother fucceeded to the
crown.
AHAZIAH, king of Judah, the fon of Jehoram and
Athaliah, fucceeded. his father in the kingdom of Ju-
dah in the year of the world 3119. He walked in the
ways of Ahab's houfe, to which he was allied, his
mother being of that family. He reigned only one
year, being flain by Jehu the fon of Nimfhi.
AHEAD, a fea-term, fignifying further onward
than the ſhip, or at any diſtance before her, lying im-
mediately on that point of the compafs to which her
ftem is directed. It is ufed in oppofition to aftern,
which expreffes the fituation of any object behind the
fhip. See ASTERN.
•
AHIJAH, the prophet of Shilo. He is thought
to be the perſon who fpoke twice to Solomon from
God, once while he was building the temple (1 Kings
vi. 11.), at which time he promifed him his protec-
tion; and at another time (id. xi. 6.) after his falling
into all his irregularities, when God expreffed his in-
dignation with great threatenings and reproaches. A-
hijah was one of thoſe who wrote the annals or hiſtory
of this prince (2 Chr. ix. 29.). The fame pro
declared to Jeroboam that he would ufurp the king-
dom (1 Kings xi. 29, &c.), and that two heifers ſhould
alienate him from the Lord, meaning the golden calves
erected by Jeroboam, one at Dan, the other at Bethel.
About the end of Jeroboam's reign, towards the year
of the world 3046, Abijah the fon of that prince fell
fick; upon which Jeroboam fent his wife to this pro-
phet to inquire what would become of the child. The
queen therefore went to Ahijah's houſe in Shilo, diſgui-.
fed: But the prophet, upon hearing the found of her feet,
faid, "Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam, why feigneft
thou thyfelf to be another? for I am fent to thee with
heavy tidings." Then he commanded her to go and
tell Jeroboam all the evil that the Lord had declared he
would bring upon his houſe for his impieties; that fo
foon as fhe would enter into the city her fon Abijah
fhould die, and ſhould be the only one of Jeroboam's
houſe that ſhould come to the grave or receive the
honours of a burial. Ahijah in all probability did not.
long furvive the time of this laft prophecy; but with
the time and manner of his death we are not ac-
quainted.
.
AHITOPHEL, a native of Gillo, was for fome
time the counfellor of king David, whom he at length
deferted, by joining in the rebellion of Abfalom. This
prince, upon his being preferred to the crown by the
greateſt part of the Ifraelites, fent for Ahitophel from
Gillo (2 Sam. xv. 12.) to affiſt him with his advice in
the prefent ſtate of his affairs: for at that time Ahi-
tophel's counfels were received as the oracles of God..
himfelf (chap. xvi. ult.). Nothing gave David more
uneafinefs than this event; and when Hufhai his friend
came to wait on him and attend him in his flight, he
intreated him to return rather to Jerufalem, make a
fhow of offering his fervices to Abfalom, and endea
vour to fruftrate the prudent mcafures which fhould
be propofed by Ahitophel. When Abfalom was come
to Jerufalem, he defired Ahitophel to deliberate with
his other counfellors upon the meafures which were
proper for him to take. Ahitophel adviſed him in the
firft place to abuſe his father's concubines; fo that when
his party ſhould underſtand that he had diſhonoured
his father in this manner, they might conclude that
there were no hopes of a reconciliation, and therefore
efpoufe his intereft more refolutely. A tent, therefore,
being prepared for this purpofe upon the terraſs of
the king's palace, Abfalom, in the fight of all Ifrael,
lay with his father's concubines. The next thing A-
hitophel propofed was in the terms following: "Let
me now chooſe out 12,000 men, and I will arife and.
purfue after David this night, and I will come upon
him while he is weary and weak-handed, and I will make
him-
AHU
[
333 ]
A JA
1
{
Ahmella him afraid, and all the people that are with him fhall flee,
and I will ſmite the king only; and I will bring back all
Ai.l
the people unto thee; the man whom thou ſeekeſt is as if
all returned; fo all the people ſhall be in peace. This
advice was very agreeable to Abfalom and all the elders
of Ifrael. However, Abfalom defired Hufhai to be call-
ed to have his opinion. Hufhai being come, and hear-
ing what advice Ahitophel had given, faid, The coun-
fel which Ahitophel has given is not good at this time;
what, for the prefent, in my opinion, may do better,
is this: Let all Ifrael be gathered unto thee, from Dan
even to Beersheba, as the fand that is by the fea for
altitude, and put thyfelf in the midft of them, and
wherever David is, we may fall upon him, and over-
whelm him with our numbers, as the dew falleth upon
the ground. This laft advice being more agreeable to
Abfalom and all the elders of Ifrael, was preferred;
upon which Ahitophel faddled his afs, went to his
houfe at Gillo, hanged himſelf, and was buried in the
fepulchre of his fathers. He forefaw, without doubt,
all that would happen in confequence of Hufhai's ad-
vice, and was determined to prevent the death which
he had deſerved, and which David would probably
have inflicted on him, as foon as he ſhould be refettled
on his throne.
AHMELLA, in botany. See BIDENS.
AHOLIBAH and AHOLAH, are two feigned names
made uſe of by Ezekiel (xxiii. 4.) to denote the two
kingdoms of Judah and Samaria. Aholah and Aho-
Fibah are repreſented as two fifters of Egyptian extrac-
tion. Aholah ftands for Samaria, and Aholibah for
Jerufalem. The firft fignifies a tent; and the fecond,
my tent is in her. They both prostituted themſelves
to the Egyptians and Affyrians, in imitating their
abominations and idolatries: for which reaſon they
were abandoned to thofe very people for whom they
had ſhown fo paffionate and fo impure an affection;
they were carried into captivity, and reduced to the
fevereft fervitude.
AHOUAI, in botany, a fynonime and alfo the
trivial name of a ſpecies of CERBERA.
A-HULL, in the fea-language, the fituation of a
fhip when all her fails are furled on account of the vio-
lence of the ftorm, and when having lafhed her helm
on the lee-ſide, ſhe lies nearly with her fide to the wind
and fea, her head being fomewhat inclined to the di-
rection of the wind.
AHUN, a town in France, in the Upper Marche
and generality of Moulins, and is a royal jurifdiction.
It is feated on the river Creuſe, near a Benedictine ab-
bey of the fame name, eight miles fouth-east of Gue-
ret, 30 north-eaft of Lomages, and 55 fouth-caft of
Moulins. E. Long. 2. 8. N. Lat. 49. 5.
AHUYS, a town of Sweden. It is fmall, but very
ftrong by its fituation, and has a good port. It is in
the principality of Gothland, in the territory of Blec-
kingy, near the Baltic ſea, about 18 miles from Chrif-
tianſtadt. E. Long. 14. 10. N. Lat. 56. 20.
AI, (anc. geog.) a town in Judea, to the north of
Jericho, called Ava by Jofephus, and the inhabitants
Ainata. Joshua having fent a detachment of 3000
men againſt Ai, God permitted them to be repulfed on
account of Achan's fin, who had violated the anathema
pronounced against the city of Jericho. But after the
expiation of this offence, God commanded Joſhua
4.
1
(chap. viii.) to march with the whole army of the If-
raelites againſt Ai, and treat this city and the kingdom
thereof as he had treated Jericho, with this difference,
that he gave the plunder of the town to the people.
Joſhua fent by night 30,000 men to lie in ambuſh be-
hind Ai; having firft well inftructed thoſe who had the
command of them in what they were to do; and the
next day, early in the morning, he marched againſt the
city with the remainder of his army. The king of Ai
perceiving them, fallied haftily out of the town with all
his people, and fell upon the forces of the Ifraelites; who
upon the first onfet fled, as if they had been under fome
great terror.
As foon as Jofhua faw the enemy all out of the gates,
he raiſed his fhield upon the top of a pike, which was the
fignal given to the ambufcade; whereupon they imme-
diately entered the place, which they found without
defence, and fet fire to it. The people of Ai percei-
ving the fmoke afcending, were willing to return, but
diſcovered thofe who had fet fire to the city in their
rear, while Joshua and thofe who were with him turn-
ing about, fell upon them, and cut them in pieces..
The king was taken alive, and afterwards put to
death.
6
<
•
The chevalier Folard obferves, that Joshua's enter-
prife on Ai, excepting in fome particulars of military
art, is very like that of Gibeah, which is fcarce any
thing more than a copy of it.
It would appear, fays
that writer, by the fcripture account, that Joshua was
not the author of the ftratagem made ufe of by him:
for when God directs himſelf to Joshua, he fays, Go
up against Ai; lay an ambufcade behind the town; I
have delivered the king and the people of it into thine
hands:' yet notwithſtanding this, God might leave
the whole glory of the invention and execution of it to
him, as to a great general. Jofhua arofe,' fays the
facred author, and all the people of war, to go up a-
gainft Ai (verfe 3.); and Jofhua chofe out 3c,coo
mighty men of valour, and ſent them away by night.'
Folard remarks, that there is a manifeft contradiction
between this verfe and the 12th, wherein it is faid,
that Joſhua chofe out 500 men, whom he fent to lie in
ambuſh, between Bethel and Ai. How is this to be
reconciled? Calmet fays, that Mafius allows but 5000
men for the ambuſcade, and 25,000 for the attack of
the city, being perfuaded that an army of 600,000
men could only create confufion on this occafion, with-
out any neceffity for, or advantage in, fuch numbers:
but the generality of interpreters, continues Calmet,
acknowledge two bodies to be placed in ambuſcade,
both between Bethel and Ai; one of 25,000, and the
other of 5000 men.
With regard to the fignal Jofhua made to that part
of his army which lay in ambufcade, the learned Fo-
lard embraces the opinion of the Rabbins, who believe
what is called the fhield to be too fmall to ſerve for a
fignal: hence they make it to be the ſtaff of one of
their colours from this, our author concludes, that
the whole colours were uſed on the occafion; for in
the Afiatic ftyle, which is very near the poetic, the
part is oftentimes to be taken for the whole.
+
AJALON, (anc. geog.) a town of the tribe of
Dan, one of the Levitical. Another in the tribe
of Benjamin, in whofe valley Joſhua commanded the
moon to ftand ftill, being then in her decreaſe, and i
Con> ·
Ai
Ajalon.
*
AIG
[ 334
AIG
]
Ajan
#1
Aichſtat
confequently to be feen at the fame time with the
fuz.
AJAN, a coaft and country of Africa, has the ri-
ver Quilmanci on the fouth; the mountains from which
that river fprings, on the weft; Abyffinia, or Ethio-
pia, and the ftraight of Babelmandel, on the north;
and the eaſtern, or Indian ocean, on the eaſt. The
coaſt abounds with all neceffaries of life, and has plenty
of very good horfes. The kings of Ajan are often at
war with the emperor of the Abyffins; and all the pri-
foners they take they fell to the merchants of Cambaya,
thoſe of Aden, and other Arabs, who come to trade
in their harbours, and give them in exchange, coloured
cloths, glafs-beads, raifins, and dates; for which they
alfo take back, beſides flaves, gold and ivory. The
whole fea-coaft, from Zanguebar to the ftraight of
Babelmandel, is called the coaft of Ajan; and a confi-
derable part of it is ſtyled the Deſert-coaſt.
AJAX, the ſon of Oileus, was one of the principal
generals that went to the fiege of Troy: he raviſhed
Caffandra the daughter of Priam, even in the temple
of Minerva, where the thought to have found fanc-
tuary. It is faid, he made a ferpent of fifteen feet
long fo familiar with him, that it eat at his table, and
followed him like a dog. The Locrians had a fingular
veneration for his memory.
AJAX, the fon of Telamon, was, next to Achilles,
the moft valiant general among the Greeks at the fiege
of Troy: he commanded the troops of Salamis, and
performed many great actions, of which we have an
account in the Iliad, in Dictys Cretenfis, and in the 23d
book of Ovid's Metamorphofes. He was fo enraged
that the arms of Achilles were adjudged to Ulyffes,
that he immediately became mad. The Greeks paid
great honours to him after his death, and erected a
magnificent monument to his memory upon the pro-
montory of Rhetium.
AJAX, in antiquity, a furious kind of dance, in ufe
among the Grecians; intended to reprefent the mad-
nefs of that hero after his defeat by Ulyffes, to whom
the Greeks had given the preference in his conteft for
Achilles's arms. Lucian, in his treatiſe of Dancing,
fpeaks of dancing the Ajax.-There was alfo an annual
feaft called Ajantia, Aavleia, confecrated to that prince,
and obferved with great folemnity in the iſland of Sa-
lamis, as well as in Attica; where, in memory of the
valour of Ajax, a bier was expoſed, ſet out with a
complete ſet of armour.
AJAZZO, a fea-port town of the iſland of Corfi-
ca, in the Mediterranean, with a bishop's fee. Long.
26. 35. Lat. 41. 40.
AJAZZO, a fea-port town of Natolia, in the pro-
vince of Caramania, anciently Silefia, feated on the
coaſt of the Mediteranean, 30 miles north of Antioch
and 50 weft of Aleppo, where the city of Iffus anci-
ently ftood, and near which Alexander fought his fe-
cond battle with Darius. Long. 33. 10. Lat. 37.0.
AICHSTAT, a town of Germany, in Franconia,
and capital of a bishopric of the fame name. It
remarkable for a curious piece of workmanship, called
the fun of the Holy Sacrament, which is in the church:
it is of maffy gold, of great weight, and is enriched
with 350 diamonds, 1400 pearls, 250 rubies, and o-
ther precious ftones. This place is moderately large,
and feated in a valley on the river Altmul, 10 miles N.
of Newburgh, and 37 S. of Nuremberg. E. Lon. 1 1.
10. N. Lat. 49. o. The bishopric is 45 miles in length
and 17 in breadth; and the bishop is chancellor of the
church of Mayence or Mentz.
AICUROUS, a fpecies of parrot. See PSITTACUS.
AID, in a general fenfe, denotes any kind of affiſt-
ance given by one perſon to another.
AID, in law, denotes a petition made in court to
call in help from another perſon who has intereſt in
land, or any other thing conteſted.
AID-de-camp, in military affairs, an officer employ-
ed to receive and carry the orders of a general.
AID, Auxilium, in ancient cuftoms, a fubfidy paid
by vaffals to their lords on certain occafions. Such were
the aid of relief, paid upon the death of the Lord
Mefne to his heir; the aid cheval, or capital aid, due
to the chief lord on feveral occafions, as, to make his
eldeſt ſon a knight, to make up a portion for marry-
ing his daughter, &c.
AIDS, in the French cuftoms, certain duties paid
on all goods exported or imported into that kingdom.
Court of AIDS, in France, a fovereign court eſta-
bliſhed in feveral cities, which has cognizance of all
caufes relating to the taxes, gabelles, and aids, impo-
fed on feveral forts of commodities, efpecially wine.
AIDS, in the manege, are the fame with what fome
writers call cherishings, and uſed to avoid the neceffity
of corrections. The inner heel, inner leg, inner rein,
&c. are called inner aids; as the outer heel, outer leg,
outer rein, &c. are called outer aids.
AIDAN, a famous Scottiſh biſhop of Lindisfarne,
or Holy Ifland, in the 7th century, was employed by
Ofwald king of Northumberland in the converſion of
the English, in which he was very ſucceſsful. He died
in 651.
AIGHENDALE, the name of a liquid meaſure
uſed in Lancaſhire, containing ſeven quarts.
AIGLE, a bailiwick in the territory of Romand
in Swifferland, confifts of mountains and valleys, the
principal of which are the Aigle and Bex. Through
thefe is the great road from Vallais into Italy. When
you paſs by Villeneuve, which is at the head of the
lake of Geneva, you enter into a deep valley three miles
wide, bordered on one fide with the Alps of Swiffer-
land, and on the other with thoſe of Savoy, and croffed
by the river Rhone. Six miles from thence you meet
with Aigle, a large town, ſeated on a wide part of the
valley, where there are vineyards, fields, and meadows.
The governor's caftle is on an eminence that overlooks
the town, and has a lofty marble tower. This govern-
ment has nine large parishes; and is divided into four
parts, Aigle, Bex, Olon, and Ormont. This laft is
among the mountains, and joins to Rougement. It
is a double valley, abounding in pafture-lands. Ivor-
na, in the diſtrict of Aigle, was in part buried by the
fall of a mountain, occafioned by an earthquake inli 584.
AIGLE, a fmall town, in France, in Upper Norman-
dy, twenty-three miles from D'Evereux, and thirty-
eight from Rouen. It is furrounded with walls and
ditches, has fix gates, three fuburbs, and three pariſhes.
It trades in corn, toys, and more particularly in needles
and pins. E. Long. 1. 5. N. Lat. 48. 35.
AIGUILLON, a ſmall town of Erance in the pro-
vince of Guienne, fituated at the conflux of the rivers
Garonne and Lọt.
AI-
Aid
11
Aiguillon.
+
A IL
AIR
[ 335 ]
F
Aiguifce
Ailred.
}
C
AIGUISCE, in heraldry, denotes a crofs with its
four ends fharpened, but fo as to terminate in obtufe
angles. It differs from the croſs fitchee, in as much
as the latter tapers by degrees to a point, and the for-
mer only at the ends.
AILANA, AILATH, or АHELOTH, anciently a
town of Arabia Petræa, fituated near the Sinus Ela-
nites of the Red Sea. It was alfo called Elath, and
Eloth, (Stephanus, Strabo, Mofes.) The fame with
Elana.
AILE, in law, a writ which lies where a perfon's
grandfather, or great-grandfather, being feifed of
lands, &c. in fee-fimple, the day that he died, and a
ftranger abates and enters the fame day, and difpoffeffes
the heir of his inheritance.
AILESBURY, AYLESBURY, or ALESBURY, a bo-
rough town in Buckinghamshire, confifting of about
400 houses. It confifts of feveral ſtreets, though the
houſes are not very contiguous: thefe lie round about
the market-place, in the middle of which is a conve-
nient hall, where the feffions are held, and fometimes
the affizes for the county. It fends two members to
Parliament; has a market on Saturdays; and three
fairs for cattle, viz. on the Saturday before Palm-
funday, June 14th, and September 25th. It is fixty
miles fouth-eaft of Buckingham, and forty-four north-
weft of London. W. Long. o. 40. N. Lat. 51. 40.
AILMER, or ETHELMARE, Earl of Cornwall and
Devonshire, in the reign of king Edgar. It is not
known of what family he was. His authority and
riches were great, and fo alfo in appearance was his
piety. He founded the abbey of Cerne, in Dorfet-
fhire; and had fo great a veneration for Eadwald, the
brother of St Edmund the martyr, who had lived a
hermit in that country, near the filver well, as they
called it, that, with the affiftance of Archbiſhop Dun-
ftan, he tranflated his relics to the old church of
Cernel. In 1016, when Canute, the fon of Suane, in-
vaded England, and found himſelf ftoutly oppofed by
that valiant Saxon prince Edmund Ironfide, the fon
of Æthelred, this Earl Ailmer, with that arch traitor
Eadric Streone, Earl of Mercia, and Earl Algar, join-
ed the Dane againſt their natural prince, which was
one great cauſe of the Saxons ruin. He did not long
furvive this; and we find mentioned in hiſtory only one
ſon of his, whoſe name was Æthelward, Earl of Čorn-
wall, who followed his father's maxims, and was pro-
perly rewarded for it. For in 1018, Canute reaping
the benefit of their treafons, and perceiving that the
traitors were no longer ufeful, he caufed the infamous
Eadric Streone, and this Earl Æthelward, to be both
put to death.
AILRED, or EALRED, abbot of Revefby in Lin-
colnshire, in the reigns of Stephen and Henry II. He
was born in 1109, of a noble family, and educated in
Scotland with Henry the fen of king David. On his
return to England, he became a monk of the Ciftertian
order, in the monastery of Revesby, of which he after-
wards was made Abbot. He died on the 12th of Ja-
nuary 1166, aged 57, and was buried in his mona-
ftery. He was (fays Leland) in great efteem du-
ring his life; celebrated for the miracles wrought after
his death; and admitted into the catalogue of faints."
He was author of feveral works; moſt of which were
publiſhed by Gilbo the Jefuit at Douay, 1631; part
of them may be alſo found in the Bibliotheca Ciftertien-
fis, and Bibliotheca Patrum. His principal works is the
Speculum charitatis. Leland, Bale, and Pits, mention
feveral manufcripts which never were publiſhed.
AILSA, an infulated rock on the weſtern coaft of
Scotland, between the fhores of Airſhire and Cantire.
It is two miles in circumference at the bafe, is accef-
fible only at one place, and rifes to a great-height in a
pyramidical form. A few goats and rabbits pick up
a fubfiftence among the fhort grafs and furze; but the
importance of the rock confifts in the great variety and
boundless numbers of birds, by which it is frequented,
particularly the gannets or folan-geefe, whofe young
are ufed at the beft tables, and bring a good price.
Other birds are caught for their feathers. The rock
is rented from the Earl of Caffilis at L. 33. per annum.
The depth of water around the bafe is from 7 to 48
fathoms. It is furrounded with excellent banks, well
flocked with cod and other white fiſh.
AINSWORTH (Dr Henry), an eminent noncon-
formift divine, who, about the year 1590, diſtinguiſh-
ed himſelf among the Brownifts; which drew upon
him fuch troubles that he was obliged to retire to
Holland, and became minifter of a church at Amfter-
dam. His fkill in the Hebrew language, and his ex--
cellent Annotations on the Holy Scriptures, which are
fill highly esteemed, gained him great reputation. He
alfo wrote feveral pieces in defence of the Brownifts,
and feveral other works.
AINSWORTH (Robert), born at Woodyale in Lan-
cafhire in 1660, was mafter of a boarding-ſchool at
Bethnal-green, from whence he removed to Hackney,.
and to other places in the neighbourhood of London.
After acquiring a moderate fortune, he retired, and
lived privately till the time of his death, which happen-
ed in 1743. We are indebted to him for the beſt La-
tin and English Dictionary extant: he publiſhed it in
quarto 1736; and in 1752, the fourth edition, under
the care of Doctor Ward of Grefham College, and the-
Rev. William Younge, was enlarged to two vols folio.
AIR, in natural philofophy, a thin, fluid, elaſtic,
tranfparent, ponderous, compreffible, and dilatable bo
dy, furrounding the terraqueous globe to a confider-
able height. See AEROLOGY, ATMOSPHERE, and
PNEUMATICS.
Impregnation of Water with Fixed AIR, and with
Sulphureous AIR. See MINERAL Waters.
AIR, in Medicine, &c. makes one of the fix non-
naturals. From obfervations on bleeding in rheuma-
tifms, and after taking cold, it is evident, the air can
enter with all its qualities, and vitiate the whole tex-
ture of the blood, and other juices. From the palfies,
vertigoes, and other nervous affections caufed by damps,
mines, &c. it is evident, that air thus qualified can re-
lax and obftruct the whole nervous fyftem. And from
the colics, fluxes, coughs, and confumptions produced
by damp, moift, and nitrous air, it is evident it can
corrupt and ſpoil the noble organs, &c.
Circulation of AIR in Rooms. To render the circu-
lation of air fenfible, let the air of a room be heated by
a ftrong fire, whilft the air of a contiguous room is cold;
then let the door between thefe two rooms be opened,
in which cafe the hot air of one room being lighter,
will pafs through the upper part of the opening of the
door into the cold room; and, on the contrary, the
cold.
Aila
Air.
AIR
[
336 ]
AIR
Air.
cold air of the other room being heavier, will paſs into
the former room through the lower part of the open-
ing; accordingly, it will be found, that applying a
lighted candle at the top, in the middle, and at the
lower part of the opening between the two rooms, a
ftrong current of air will appear to paſs from the hot
into the cold room near the top; a contrary current
of air will appear to pafs from the latter into the for-
mer room near the lower part of the faid opening;
whilſt in the middle there is little or no motion at all,
as may be clearly perceived by the direction of the
flame of the candle.
It is for the fame reafon that when the fire is lighted
in a chimney, a ſtrong current of air is occafioned to
enter the room, which may be felt by applying the
hand near the key-hole, or other fuch fmall openings,
if the doors and windows are fhut; for the air over
the fire being heated, becomes lighter, and afcends in-
to the chimney, confequently other colder air muft
fupply its place, which forces its way through all the
fmall openings it can find. Were a room with a fire
in it to be perfectly clofed, excepting the chimney, the
air in it would foon become unwholefome for reſpira-
tion, and the fire would be foon extinguiſhed, befides
other inconveniences. Hence it appears, that thoſe
perfons miſtake who expect to keep the air of a room
ſweet and wholeſome, eſpecially for convalefcents, by
accurately ſtopping all the fmalleft openings that ad-
mit fresh air. When the current of air that enters in-
to a room is on fome fide of it where it falls imme
diately upon the perfons who fit in the room, then it
may be offenfive, eſpecially to delicate conftitutions.
In that cafe, fuch opening fhould be cloſed: but at the
fame time another opening fhould be made for admit-
ting fresh air, in another more convenient part; for a
circulation of air, eſpecially in rooms where a fire is
kept, is not only falutary and uſeful, but is abfolutely
neceffary.
"
In an ingenious publication, intitled, A Practical
Treatife on Chimneys, there are the following remarks
relating to the propereft method of admitting air into
a room, and of expelling the contaminated air. The
author, directing to make a vent-hole near the top of
the room, in order to expel the heated and contami-
nated air, "this," fays he might be done by means
of a ſmall tube opening into the room, either in or
near the ceiling; which might either be carried to the
top of the building, or be made to communicate with
the external air by a fmall perforation through the
wall at the roof of the room; by means of either of
which, a proper circulation would be eſtabliſhed, and
the foul air be carried off.
N° 9.
"For the fire would no fooner have warmed any
particles of air within the room, than thefe would be
greatly expanded, and rife immediately upwards, fo as
to fill the higher parts of the room with rarefied air;
and as other particles would be fucceffively heated and
rarefied in their turn, by their expanfive force they
would preſs upon the fides of the apartment in every
place, fo as to force the lighteft particles through the
opening left for that purpofe in the top of the room;
by which means the fouleft air would be gradually
drawn off, without defcending again into the lower
regions to the annoyance of the company."
But in order to admit freſh air into the room, "Let,"
fays he, "another opening be made in the ceiling of
the room, having a communication with a ſmall pipe
that fhould lead from thence either to the outſide of
the wall, or to any other part of the building that might
be judged more convenient, where it fhould be bent,
and conducted downwards, till it reached the ground;
where it ſhould be left open, to communicate with the
external air.-In this fituation the cool external air
would be forced in at the lower opening of the tube,
and made to afcend into the apartment in proportion
to the quantity that eſcaped towards the higher regions
by means of the ventilator. And as that weighty air
would no fooner enter the room, than it would tend
towards the floor by its own natural gravity, it would
gradually mix with the heated air in its defcent-be-
come, in ſome meaſure, warmed by that means, and
equally difperfed through the room, fo as flowly and
imperceptibly to reach the candles and the company in
the room, and fupply them with a fufficient quantity
of freſh and wholeſome air, without the inconveniences
to which the company are fubjected by the uſual way
of admitting freſh air (A). For if it enters near the
floor of the apartment, it is hurried along in a rapid un-
divided ftream towards the fire-place, and ftriking upon
the legs and inferior parts of the body, affects them
with a ftrong fenfation of cold. To overcome the ef-
fects of this, large fires muft be kept; by which other
parts of the body are warmed to an extraordinary de-
gree, which is productive of moſt of thoſe diſorders
that are pernicious to the young, and often prove fatal
to the old, during the winter-feafon, in theſe cold re-
gions.
"Thus might our apartments be kept conftantly,
and moderately, and equally warm, at a moderate ex-
pence, without endangering our health on the one
hand, by refpiring a confined, ftagnant, and putrid air,
or, on the other hand, by fubjecting ourſelves to fuch
danger of catching colds, confumptions, and rheumatic
complaints, by being expoſed to fuch exceedingly un-
equal
(A) Such readers as have been little accuftomed to fpeculations of this fort, will be at a lofs to comprehend
in what manner two holes, both of them in the roof of the room, and communicating with the air, without any
valve, or other contrivance, for opening or cloſing of themſelves, fhould yet anſwer the two very oppofite pur-
pofes; one, of conftantly bringing cool air into the room without emitting any warm air-and the other, of as
conftantly emitting warm and admitting no cool air. They will pleaſe to advert, that the one of theſe tubes
communicates with the atmoſphere at the bottom of the houſe, and the other towards the top: the opening of
the one is beneath the level of the room, that of the other above it. Now, as the air is more denfe at the fur-
face of the ground than at any height above it, the warm rarefying air will naturally iffue at that opening where
meets with leaſt reſiſtance, which muft invariably be through that which opens to the external air at the great-
eft height; and as the cool air will naturally be preffed into the room by that opening where the air is mot
weighty, this muſt invariably be by that which is neareſt the furface of the carth.
Air.
AIR
AIR
[ 337 ]
Air
11
Air-gun.
Plate VII.
equal degrees of heat and cold, as are unavoidable
where our apartments are fo open as to admit a ready
paffage to the external air during the winter-feafon.
"The reader will eafily perceive, that all that has
been here ſaid has a reference only to thofe apartments
in cold climates, and rigorous weather, where fire to
warm them becomes neceffary. In warmer regions, or
during the fummer-ſeaſon, there can be no objection to
the wheel-ventilator in the window. -It is a fimple
contrivance, and a fafe and effectual mean of preſerving
the air in our apartments fweet and wholeſome at that
feafon."
It is a vulgar error among many people, to believe
that fire purifies the contaminated air, by deftroying
the noxious particles mixed with it; and for this rea-
fon they think, that the fire kept in a room where the
air is tainted, purifies the room, by rendering the air
in it again fit for refpiration. Indeed, a fire kept in a
room or apartment where the air is tainted, as is the
cafe with hoſpitals, goals, and the like, does certainly
purify the apartment, and the practice is very ufeful;
but this effect is only becauſe the fire promotes the
circulation of the air, and dries the dampnefs of rooms,
furniture, &c.: fo that it is not the infected air that is
purified, but is new, freſh, and wholeſome air, that by
the action of the fire has taken the place of the infect-
ed air; which infected air, being rarefied by the heat,
has been expelled from the apartment. Fire and com-
buftion in general is fo far from purifying contami-
nated air, that it actually contaminates a prodigious
quantity of it in a ſhort time; fo that not only a com-
mon fire, but even a lighted candle, when kept in a
well-clofed room, wherein the external air has not a
free acceſs, inſtead of purifying, renders the air of that
room noxious.
Inftrument for ascertaining the Purity or Wholefome-
nefs of refpirable AIR. See EUDIOMETER.
AÍR BALLOONS, a general name given to bags of
any light ſubſtance filled with inflammable air, or other
permanently elaftic fluid, whoſe ſpecific gravity is con-
fiderably lefs than that of common atmoſpheric air. The
confequence of their heing filled in this manner is, that if
they are of any confiderable magnitude, they afcend in
the air to an amazing height; and will not only afcend
in this manner by themfelves, but carry up along with
them great weights, and continue to rife till they at-
tain an height in which the circumambient air is of the
fame ſpecific gravity with themfelves. In this fitua-
tion they will either float or be driven in the direction
of the wind or current of air in which they are expo-
fed, remaining in theſe elevated regions till the fluid
efcapes by the bursting of the bags from the fuperior
elaſticity of the fluid, or by its gradual evaporation
through the pores of the envelope. The hiftory, prin-
ciples, &c. of thoſe machines are detailed under the ar-
ticle AEROSTATION.
AIR-Bladder, in fiſhes. See COMPARATIVE ANA-
TOMY, chap. iii. and ICHTHYOLOGY.
AIR-Gun, a pneumatic machine for exploding bul-
lets, &c. with great violence.
The common air-gun is made of braſs, and has two
barrels; the infide barrel A, fig. 8. which is of a ſmall
bore, from whence the bullets are exploded; and a large
barrel ECDR on the outfide of it. There is a fyringe
SMNP fixed in the ſtock of the gun, by which the
VOL. I. Part I.
·
air is injected into the cavity between the two barrels Air-gun.
through the valve E P. The ball K is put down into
EP.
its place in the ſmall barrel, with the rammer, as in any
other gun. At SL is another valve, which, being
opened by the trigger O, permits the air to come be-
hind the bullet, fo as to drive it out with great force.
If this valve be opened and ſhut fuddenly, one charge
of condenſed air may be fufficient for ſeveral diſcharges
of bullets; but if the whole air be diſcharged on one
fingle bullet, it will drive it out with a great force.
This diſcharge is effected by means of a lock, fig. 9.
placed here as uſual in other guns; for the trigger be-
ing pulled, the cock will go down and drive the lever
O, fig. 8. which will open the valve, and let in the air
upon the bullet K.
copper-
Air-guns of late years have received very great im-
provements in their conftruction. Fig. 10. is a repre-
ſentation of one made by the late Mr B. Martin of
London, and now by feveral of the mathematical in-
ftrument and gun makers of the metropolis. For fim-
plicity and perfection it exceeds any other heretofore
contrived. A is the gun-barrel, with the lock,` ſtock,
ram-rod, and of the fize and weight of a common
fowling-piece. Under the lock, at b, is a round ſteel
tube, having a ſmall moveable pin in the infide, which is
pushed out when the trigger a is pulled, by the fpring-
work within the lock; to this tube b, a hollow
ball c fcrews, perfectly air-tight. This copper ball is
fully charged with condenfed air by the fyringe B
(fig. 7.) previous to its being applied to the tube b of
fig. 10. It is then evident, that if a bullet be rammed
down in the barrel, the copper ball fcrewed faſt at b,
and the trigger a be pulled, that the pin in 6 will, by
the action of the ſpring-work within the lock, forcibly
ſtrike out into the copper ball; and thereby puſhing in
fuddenly a valve within the copper ball, let out a por-
tion of the condenſed air; which air will ruſh up thro'
the aperture of the lock, and forcibly act againſt the
bullet, driving it to the diftance of 60 or 70 yards
or further. If the air is ftrongly condenfed at every
difcharge, only a portion of the air efcapes from the
ball; therefore, by re-cocking the piece, another dif
charge may be made; and this repeated to the amount
of 15 or 16 times. An additional barrel is fometimes
made, and applied for the diſcharge of ſhot, inſtead of
the one above defcribed.
The air in the copper ball is condenſed by means of
the fyringe B (fig. 7.), in the following manner: The
ball c is fcrewed quite clofe on the top of the fyringe
at b, at the end of the fteel pointed rod: a is a ftout
ring through which paffes the rod k upon this rod
the feet ufe to be formerly fet; then the hands are to
be applied to the two handles ii, fixed on the ſide of
the barrel of the fyringe. Now by moving the barrel
B fteadily up and down on the rod a, the ball c will
become charged with condenſed air; and it may be ea-
fily known when the ball is as full as poffible, by the
irreſiſtible action that the air makes againſt the piſton
when you are working the fyringe. At the end of the
rod k is uſually a four-fquare hole, which with the rod.
ferves as a key to faſten the ball c faſt on the ſcrew b
of the gun and fyringe cloſe to the orifice in the ball c.
In the infide is fixed a valve and ſpring, which gives
way for the admiffion of air; but upon its emiffion
comes cloſe up to the orifice, fhutting up the internal
U u
air.
AIR
AIR
[ 338 ]
Air-gun. air. The pifton-rod works air-tight, by a collar of
leather on it, in the barrel B; it is therefore plain,
when the barrel is drawn up, the air will ruſh in at the
hole h. When the barrel is puſhed down, the air there-
in contained will have no other way to paſs from the
preffure of the piſton but into the ball c at top. The
barrel being drawn up, the operation is repeated, until
the condenſation is fo ftrong as to reſiſt the action of
the piſton.
Sometimes the fyringe is applied to the end of the
barrel C (fee fig. 11.); the lock and trigger fhut up in
a braſs cafed; and the trigger pulled, or diſcharge made,
by pulling the chain b. In this contrivance there is a
round chamber for the condenſed air at the end of the
fyringe at e, and it has a valve acting in a fimilar man-
ner to that of the copper ball. When this inftrument
is not in uſe, the brafs cafe d is made to flide off, and
the inftrument then becomes a walking-ſtick; from
which circumftance, and the barrel being made of cane,
brafs, &c. it has received the appellation of the Air-
cane. The head of the cane unfcrews and takes off at
a, where the extremity of the piſton-rod in the barrel
is fhown: an iron rod is placed in a 1ing at the end of
this, and the air condenfed in the barrel in a fimilar
manner to that of the gun as above; but its force of
action is not near fo ftrong and permanent as that of
the latter.
The Magazine AIR-gun was invented by that inge-
nious artiſt L. Colbe. By this contrivance ten bullets
are fo lodged in a cavity, near the place of diſcharge,
that they may be drawn into the fhooting-barrel, and
fucceffively diſcharged fo faſt as to be nearly of the
fame ufe as fo many different guns.
Fig. 12. reprefents the preſent form of this machine,
where part of the ftock is cut off, to the end of the in-
jecting fyringe. It has its valve opening into the ca-
vity between the barrels, as before. KK is the fmall
fhooting-barrel, which receives the bullets from the
magazine ED, which is of a ferpentine form, and
clofed at the end D when the bullets are lodged in it.
The circular part abc, is the key of a cock, having
a cylindric hole through it, ik, which is equal to the
bore of the fame barrel, and makes a part of it in the
prefent fituation. When the lock is taken off, the fe-
veral parts Q, R, T, W. &c. come into view, by which
means the diſcharge is made by puſhing up the pin Pp,
which raifes and opens a valve V, to let in the air againſt
the bullet I, from the cavity FF; which valve is im-
mediately ſhut down again by means of a long ſpring
of brafs NN. This valve V being a conical piece of
brafs, ground very true in the part which receives it,
will of itſelf be fufficient to confine the air.
To make a diſcharge, you will pull the trigger ZZ,
which throws up the feer y a, and difengages it from
the notch a, upon which the ſtrong ſpring WW moves
the tumbler T, to which the cock is fixed. This, by
its end u, bears down the end v of the tumbling lever
R, which, by the other end m, raifes at the fame time
the flat end of the horizontal lever Q; and by this
means, of courſe, the pin Pp, which ftands upon it, is
pushed up, and thus opens the valve V, and diſcharges
the bullet. This is all evident from a bare view of the
figure.
To bring another bullet to fucceed that marked I,
inftantaneouſly, turn the cylindric cavity of the key of
*
the cock, which before made part of the barrel K K,
into the fituation ik, fo that the part i may be at K ;
and hold the gun upon your ſhoulder, with the bar-
rel downwards and the magazine upwards, by which
means that bullet next the cock will fall into it out of
the magazine, but go no farther into this cylindric
cavity than the two little ſprings ss, which detain it.
The two circles repreſent the cock-barrel, wherein the
key abovementioned turns upon an axis not reprefent-
ed here, but vifible in fig. 13. This axis is a fquare
piece of fteel, on which comes the fquare hole of the
hammer H, fig. 14.; by which the cylindric cavity men-
tioned is opened to the magazine. Then opening the
hammer, as in that figure, the bullet is brought into its
proper place near the diſcharge-valve, and the cylindric
cavity of the key of the cock again makes part of the
inward barrel KK.
It evidently appears how expeditious a method this
is of charging and difcharging a gun; and were the
force of condenfed air equal to that of gun-powder,
fuch an air-gun would anfwer the end of feveral guns.
In the air-gun, and all other cafes where the air is
required to be condenſed to a very great degree, it will
be requifite to have the ſyringe of a ſmall bore, viz.
not exceeding half an inch in diameter; becauſe the
preffure againſt every ſquare inch is about 15 pounds,
and therefore againſt every circular inch about 12
pounds. If therefore the fyringe be one inch in dia-
meter, when one atmoſphere is injected, there will be
a refiſtance of 12 pounds againſt the pifton; and when
10 are injected, there will be a force of 120 pounds to
be overcome; whereas o atmoſpheres act againſt the
circular half-inch pifton (whofe area is only one-fourth
part fo big) with only a force equal to 30 pounds;
or 40 atmoſpheres may be injected with fuch a fyringe,
as well as 10 with the other. In fhort, the facility of
working will be inverſely as the fquares of the diame-
ter of the fyringe,
AIR-Jacket, a fort of jacket made of leather, in
which are ſeveral bags, or bladders, compofed of the
fame materials, communicating with each other. Theſe
are filled with air through a leather tube, having a braſs
ftop-cock accurately ground at the extremity, by which
means the air blown in through the tube is confined in
the bladders. The jacket muſt be wet, before the air
be blown into the bags, as otherwife it will immediate--
ly eſcape through the pores of the leather. By the
help of theſe bladders, which are placed near the breaſt,
the perfon is fupported in the water, without making
the efforts uſed in ſwimming.
AIR-Pipes, an invention for drawing foul air out of
fhips, or any other cloſe places, by means of fire.
Thefe pipes were firft found out by one 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 known to every body, being in-
deed no other than that air is neceffary for the fup-
port of fire; and, if it has not acceſs from the pla
ces moft adjacent, will not fail to come from thoſe
that are more remote. Thus, in a common furnace,
the air enters through the afh-hole; but if this is clo
fed up, and a hole made in the fide of the furnace, the
air will ruſh in with great violence through that hole.
If a tube of any length whatever is inferted in this hole,
the air will ruſh through the tube into the fire, and of
con-
Air-gun
Air
pipes
2
Fig.
Try. 2.
AEROLOGY.
Fig: 3.
M
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.
T
Fig.
1.
G
Plate VII.
A
Fig.6.
B
L
E
B
A
Fig. 7.
S
E
8.e
Tig. 8. lir Gun,
ÖR L
Fig. 9.
a
1
રો
SALAH DI
D
Fig. 10.
Improvede Air Gun.
Fig. 1. Air Cane.
Fig. 12. Magazinee lir Gun.
C
A.
B
A
H
k
Fig. 1
B
а
k
3.
E
E
T
ABeli PrinMal.Sculptor fécit.
ib
b
b
b
111
Y
N
L
K
111
11
X
Fig.14.
H
P
H
B
EN
D
AIR
[ 339 ]
AIR
who ufed all his intereft for that purpoſe, was fhame- Air-pipes.
fully neglected.
Air-pipes. confequence there will be a continued circulation of
air in that place where the extremity of the tube is laid.
Mr Sutton's contrivance then, as communicated to the
Royal Society by Doctor Mead, amounts to no more
than this." As, in every fhip of any bulk, there is
already provided a copper or boiling-place proportion-
able to the fize of the veffel; it is propofed to clear the
bad air, by means of the fire already uſed under the
faid coppers or boiling-places for the neceffary ufes of
the ſhip.
Zon.
"It is well known, that, under every ſuch copper or
boiler, there are placed two holes, feparated by a
grate; the firſt of which is for the fire, and the other
for the ashes falling from the fame; and that there is
alfo a flue from the fire-place upward, by which the
ſmoke of the fire is diſcharged at fome convenient place
of the ſhip.
"It is alfo well known, that the fire once lighted in
theſe fire-places, is only preſerved by the conſtant draught
of air through the forementioned two holes and flue;
and that if the faid two holes are cloſely ftopped up,
the fire, though burning ever fo brifkly before, is im-
mediately put out.
"But if, after fhutting up the abovementioned holes,
another hole be opened, communicating with any o-
ther room or airy place, and with the fire; it is clear,
the ſaid fire muſt again be raiſed and burn as before,
there being a like draught of air through the ſame as
there was before the ftopping up of the firſt holes ;
this cafe differing only from the former in this, that
the air feeding the fire will now be fupplied from ano-
the place.
"It is therefore propoſed, that, in order to clear the
holds of ſhips of the bad air therein contained, the two
holes abovementioned, the fire-place and afh-place, be
both clofed up with ſubſtantial and tight iron-doors;
and that a copper or leaden pipe, of fufficient fize, be
laid from the hold into the afh-place, for the draught
of air to come in that way to feed the fire. And thus
it feems plain, from what has been already faid, that
there will be, from the hold, a conftant diſcharge of
the air therein contained; and confequently, that that
air, fo discharged, muft be as conftantly fupplied by fresh
air down the hatches or fuch other communications as
are opened into the hold; whereby the fame muſt be
continually freshened, and its air rendered more whole-
fome and fit for refpiration.
"And if into this principal pipe fo laid into the
hold, other pipes are let in, communicating refpective-
ly either with the well or lower decks; it muſt follow,
that part of the air, confumed in feeding the fire, muft
be refpectively drawn out of all fuch places to which the
communication ſhall be fo made.”
This account is ſo plain, that no doubt can remain
concerning the efficacy of the contrivance: it is evi-
dent, that, by means of pipes of this kind, a conftant
circulation of fresh air would be occafioned thro' thofe
places where it would otherwiſe be moft apt to ftagnate
and putrefy. Several other contrivances have been ufed
for the fame purpofe; and Doctor Hales's ventilators,
by fome unaccountable prejudice, have been reckoned
fuperior in efficacy and even fimplicity to Mr Sutton's
machine, which at its firft invention met with great
See Sut oppofition *, and even when introduced by Dr Mead,
I
A machine capable of anſwering the fame purpoſe
was invented by Mr Defaguliers, which he called the
hip's lungs. It confifted of a cylindrical box ſet up on
its edge, and fixed to a wooden pedeſtal. From the
upper edge of the box iffued a ſquare trunk open at the
end, and communicating with the cavity of the box.
Within this box was placed a cylindrical wheel turning
on an axis. It was divided into 12 parts, by means of
partitions placed like the radii of a circle. Thefe
par-
titions did not extend quite to the centre, but left an
open ſpace of about 18 inches diameter in the middle;
towards the circumference, they extended as far as pof-
fible without interfering with the cafe, fo that the
wheel might always be allowed to turn freely.-Things
being thus circumſtanced, it is plain, that if the wheel
was turned towards that fide of the box on which the
trunk was, every divifion would puſh the air before it,
and drive it out through the trunk, at the fame time
that freſh air would come in through the open ſpace at
the centre, to ſupply that which was thrown out thro'
the trunk. By turning the wheel ſwiftly, a ftrong blaſt
of air would be continually forced out thro' the ſquare
trunk, on the ſame principles on which a common fan-
ner winnows corn. If the wheel is turned the oppoſite
way, a draught of air may be produced from the trunk
to the centre. If this machine, then, is placed in
room where a circulation of air is wanted, and the trunk
made to paſs through one of the walls; by turning the
wheel ſwiftly round, the air will be forced with great
velocity out of that room, at the fame time that freſh
air will enter through any chinks by which it can have
acceſs to ſupply that which has been forced out.
It is evident, that the circulation which is promoted
by this machine, is entirely of the fame kind with that
produced by Mr Sutton's; the turning of the wheel in
Mr Defagulier's machine being equivalent to the rare-
faction of the air by fire in Mr Sutton's: but that the
latter is vaftly fuperior, as acting of itſelf, and without
intermiffion, requires no arguments to prove. Mr Sut-
ton's machine has yet another conveniency, of which no
other contrivance for the fame purpofe can boaft;
namely, that it not only draws out putrid air, but de-
ftroys it by caufing it pafs through fire; and experience
has abundantly fhown, that though putrid air is thrown
into a great quantity of fresh air, it is fo far from lo-
fing its pernicious properties, that it often produces
noxious diſeaſes. We do not fay, indeed, that putrid
air becomes falutary by this means; but it is undoubt-
edly rendered lefs noxious than before; tho' whether it
is equally innocent with the fmoke of a fire fed in the
common way, we cannot pretend to determine.
Beſides this machine by Mr Defaguliers, the venti-
lators of Dr Hales, already mentioned, and thofe
called wind-fails, are likewife ufed for the fame purpoſe.
The former of which is an improvement of the Heffian-
bellows*: the other is a contrivance for throwing fresh * See Ven‐
air into thofe places where putrid air is apt to lodge; tilator.
but this has the laft-mentioned inconvenience in a
much greater degree than any of the others, as the
blaft of fresh air throws out that which was rendered
putrid by ftagnation, in fuch a manner as to contami
nate all around it. See WIND-Sails.
U u 2
AIR-
17
1
AIR
[ 340 ]
AIR
1
Air-trunk
Air-fhafts.
Air.
{
AIR-Trunk, is alfo a contrivance by Doctor Hales they come at ore; and for the fupply of air have Air-threads
to prevent the ftagnation of putrid effluvia in jails, boxes of elm exactly cloſed, of about fix inches in the
and other places where a great number of people are clear, by which they carry it down about twenty fa-
crowded together in a finall ſpace. It confifts only of thoms. They cut a trench at a little diftance from
a long ſquare trunk open at both ends; one of which is the top of the groove, covering it with turf and rods
inferted into the ceiling of the room, the air of which difpofed to receive the pipe, which they contrive to
is required to be kept pure; and the other extends a come in fideways to their groove, four feet from the
good way beyond the roof. Through this trunk a top; which carries down the air to a great depth.
continued circulation is carried on: and the reafon is, When they come at ore, and need an air-fhaft, they
that the putrid effluvia which do ſo much miſchief when fink it four or five fathoms diftant, according to the
collected, being much lighter than the pure atmoſphere, convenience of the breadth, and of the fame faſhion
arife to the top of the room; and, if they there find a with the groove, to draw as well ore as air.
vent, will continually go out through it. Theſe effluvia
arife in very confiderable quantity, being calculated by
the late Dr Keil at no lefs than 39 ounces from one man
in 24 hours.
AIR-Threads, in natural hiſtory, a name given to
the long filaments, fo frequently feen in autumn float-
ing about in the air.
Theſe threads are the work of ſpiders, eſpecially of
that fpecies called the long-legged field-fpider; which,
having mounted to the fummit of a bufh or tree, darts
from its tail feveral of theſe threads, till one is produced
capable of fupporting the creature in the air on this
it mounts in queft of prey, and frequently rifes to a very
confiderable height. See ARANEA.
AIR-Veffels, are fpiral ducts in the leaves, &c. of
plants, ſuppoſed to be analogous to the lungs of ani-
mals, in fupplying the different parts of a plant with air.
See the article PLANTS.
AIR, in mythology, was adored by the Heathens un-
der the names of Jupiter and Juno; the former repre-
fenting the fuperior and finer part of the atmoſphere,
and the latter the inferior and groffer part. The augurs
alfo drew prefages from the clouds, thunder, light-
ning, &c.
Theſe trunks were firſt made trial of by Mr Yeoman,
over the Houſe of Commons, where they were nine
inches wide within; and over the Court of King's-bench
in Weſtminſter-hall, where they were fix inches wide.
They are fometimes made wider, and fometimes nar-
rower: but the wider they are the longer they ought
to be, more effectually to promote the afcent of the va-
pour. The reaſon why vapours of this kind afcend
more fwiftly through a long trunk than a fhort one, is,
that the preffure of fluids is always according to their
different depth, without regard to the diameter of their
bafis, or of the veffel which contains them; and, upon
this principle, a gallon of water may be made to ſplit
a ftrong caſk. See HYDROSTATICS. When the co-
lumn of putrid effluvia is long and narrow, the differ-
ence between the column of atmoſphere preffing on the
upper end of the trunk, and that which preffes on the
lower end, is much greater than if the column of pu-
trid effluvia was ſhort and wide; and confequently the
afcent is much ſwifter.-One pan of a fingle pair of
ſcales, which was two inches in diameter, being held
within one of theſe trunks over the Houfe of Commons,
the force of the aſcending air made it riſe ſo as to re-
quire four grains to reftore the equilibrium, and this
when there was no perfon in the houſe; but when it
was full, no less than 12 grains were requifite to re- In operas, we give the name of air to fuch pieces of
flore the equilibrium; which clearly shows that theſe mufic as are formed with meaſures and cadences, to di-
trunks must be of real and very great efficacy.
ſtinguiſh it from the recitative; and, in general, every
AIR-Pump, a machine by which the air contained in piece of mufic is called an air, which is formed for the
a proper veſſel may be exhauſted or drawn out.
See voice, or even for inftruments, and adapted to ftanzas,
the article PNEUMATICS.
whether it forms a whole in itfelf, or whether it can be
detached from any whole of which it forms a part, and
AIR-Sacs, in birds. See COMPARATIVE ANATOMY,
chap. ii.
AIR-Shafts, among miners, denote holes or fhafts
let down from the open air to meet the adits and fur-
niſh fresh air. The damps, want, and impurity of air
which occur, when adits are wrought 30 or 40 fathoms
long, make it neceffary to let down air-fhafts, in order
to give the air liberty to play through the whole work,
and thus difcharge bad vapours, and furniſh good air
for refpiration the expence of which ſhafts, in regard
of their vaft depths, hardneſs of the rock, drawing of
water, &c. fometimes equals, nay exceeds, the ordinary
charge of the whole adit.
:
Sir Robert Murray deſcribes a method, uſed in the
coal-mines at Liege, of working mines without air
fhafts.
When the miners at Mendip have funk a groove,
they will not be at the charge of an air-fhaft till
AIR, in painting, &c. denotes the manner and very
life of action; or it is that which expreffes the difpofi-
tion of the agent.-It is fometimes alſo uſed in a fyno-
nymous fenfe with gefture or attitude.
AIR, in mufic, is taken in different fenfes. It is
fometimes contrafted with harmony; and, in this ſenſe,
it is fynonymous with melody in general.-Its proper
meaning is, A tune, which is fet to words, or to fhort
pieces of poetry that are called ſongs.
be executed alone.
If the fubject admits of harmony, and is fet in parts,
the air is, according to their number, denominated a
duett, a trio, a quartetto, &c. We need not follow
Rouffeau, and the other philologiſts, in their endeavours
to invefligate the etymon of the word air. Its deriva-
tion, though found and aſcertained, would contribute
little to illuftrate its meaning in that remote ſenſe, to
which, through a long continuance of time, and the
various viciffitudes of language, it has now paffed. The
curious may confult the fame article in the Dictionnaire
de Mufique by M. Rouffeau.
In modern mufic, there are ſeveral different kinds of
airs, each of which agrees to a certain kind of dancing,
and from thefe dances the airs themſelves take their
fpecific names.
The airs of our operas, are, if we may be permitted
the
AIR
[ 34
AIR
]
Air.
the expreffion, the canvafs or fubftratum upon which
are painted all the pictures of imitative mufic; melody
is the defign, and harmony the colouring; every pictu-
reſque object fele&ted from the moſt beautiful parts of
nature, every reflected fentiment of the human heart,
are the models which the artiſt imitates; whatever gains
attention, whatever interefts the foul, whatever charms
the ear, or caufes emotion in the heart, thefe are the
objects of his imitation. See IMITATION. An air
which delights the ear, and difcovers the learning of
the compoſer; an air invented by genius, and compofed
with tafte; is the nobleft effort of mufic: it is this
which explores the compaſs, and diſplays the delicacy,
of a beautiful voice; it is in this where the charms of a
well-conducted fymphony fhine; it is by this, that the
paffions, excited and inflamed by nice gradations, reach
and agitate the foul through the avenues of external
fenfe. After hearing a beautiful air, the mind is ac-
quiefcent and ferene: the ear is fatisfied, not diſguſted:
it remains impreſſed on the fancy, it becomes a part of
our effence, we carry it with us, we are able to repeat
it at pleaſure without the ability acquired by habit to
breathe a fingle note of it, we execute it in our ima-
gination in the fame manner as we heard it upon the
theatre one fees the fcene, the actor, the theatre;
one hears the accompaniments and the applaufes. The
real enthuſiaſt in mufic never forgets the beautiful airs
which he has heard; when he choofes, he caufes the
opera to recommence.
The words to which airs are adapted, are not always
rehearſed in regular fucceffion, nor fpoken in the fame
manner with thoſe of the recitative; and though, for
ordinary, they are very fhort, yet they are interrupted,
repeated, tranfpofed, at the pleaſure of the artiſt. They
do not conftitute a narrative, which once told is over:
they either delineate a picture, which it is neceſſary to
contemplate in different points of view; or infpire a fen-
timent in which the heart acquiefces with pleafure, and
from which it is neither able nor willing to be difen-
gaged; and the different phrafes of the air, are nothing
elfe but different manners of beholding the fame image.
This is the reaſon why the ſubject of an air fhould be
It is by thefe repetitions properly placed, it is
by theſe redoubled efforts, that an impreffion, which at
firſt was not able to move you, at length ſhakes your
foul, agitates you, tranfports you out of yourſelf: and
it is likewiſe upon the fame principle, that the runnings,
as they are called, or thofe long, mazy, and inarticu-
lated inflections of the voice, which, in pathetic airs,
frequently feem, though they are not always fo, im-
properly placed; whilft the heart is-affected with a fen-
timent exquifitely moving, it often expreffes its emo-
tions by inarticulate founds, more ftrongly and fenfibly
than it could do by words themſelves.
one.
The form of airs is of two kinds. The ſmall airs
are often compoſed of two ftrains, which ought each of
them to be fung twice; but the important airs in ope-
rás are frequently in the form of rondeaus.
AIR, or Ayr, in geography, a town of Scotland, capital
of an extenfive county of the fame name. It ftands on
the river Air, and was formerly a place of good trade,
and feat of fiſheries; all of which have vaniſhed, and the
people now live by one another. Air appears, from hi-
ſtory and other documents, to have been a confiderable
place at the time of the Norman conqueft. The vouchers
of its antiquity are corroborated by an elegant building,
called the Cross, which hath efcaped the deftructive
rage of the laft and preceding century. The date on
this fragment of antiquity is 1055, confequently it
hath ftood in its place above 730 years; and it is to
be wifhed, that the majority of the inhabitants may
unite in preferving it from being deftroyed by perfons
who have expreffed a strong defire to that purpoſe. In
1557, the tax levied upon Air was L.236 Scots; upon
Glafgow only L. 202. In 1771, Air was affeffed at
15 s. Sterl. and Glaſgow at L. 18, 10s. In 1751, the
pickled herrings exported from Air were 6624 barrels;
fince the year 1777, none. Theſe revolutions appear
the
more extraordinary, when we confider the very advan-
tageous fituation of Air both by land and water; the
fertility of the country; the riches of the fea; its
contiguity to the weſtern fisheries on one fide, and to
Glaſgow on the other; the large returns for cattle,
grain, and coal; the ample revenues of the town; and
particularly the conveniency of its harbour for fiſhing-
veffels of every conftruction.-About a mile north from
the town there is a lazar-houſe, commonly called The
King's Chapel, which King Robert de Bruce fet apart
for the maintenance of lepers.
AIRA, in botany: A genus of the triandria digy-
nia clafs; and in the natural method ranking under the
4th order, Gramina. The characters are: The calyx
is a two-flowered double-valved glume: The corolla is
two-valved, and no rudiment of a flower between the
florets: The ftamina confift of three capillary filaments.
the length of the flower; the antheræ are oblong, and
forked at both ends: The pifiillum is an egg-fhaped
germen; the ftyli are two, briftly, and expanding; the
ftigmata are pubefcent: There is no pericarpium; the
including corolla grows to the feed: The feed is egg-
ſhaped and covered. There are 14 fpecies of the aira,
nine of which are natives of Britain. The Engliſh
name is Hair-grafs. See the general article GRASS.
AIRANI, in church-history, an obfcure fect of A-
rians, in the fourth century, who denied the confubftan-
tiality of the Holy Ghoft with the Father and the Son.
They are otherwiſe called Airanifte; and are ſaid to
have taken their name from one Airas, who diftinguiſh-
ed himſelf at the head of this party, in the reigns of
Valentinian and Gratian.
AIRE, a town of France, in Proper Gafcony, of
which it is the capital, with a bishop's fee. It is feated
on the river Adour, on the declivity of a mountain.
E. Long. o. 3. N. Lat. 43. 47.
AIRE, a ftrong town in the Netherlands, in the
county of Artois, with a caftle. It was taken by the
French in 1710, and was confirmed to them by the
treaty of Utrecht. It is feated on the river Lis, 22
miles fouth of Dunkirk, and communicates with St.
Omer's by a canal cut from the river Aa. E. Long..
2. 31. N. Lat. 50. 38.
AIRING, a term peculiarly uſed for the exercifing
horfes in the open air. It purifies the blood; purges the
body from grofs humours; and, as the jockies exprefs
it, teaches the horſe how to make his wind rake equally,
and keep time with the other motions of his body. It
alſo ſharpens the ftomach, and keeps the creature hun-
gry; which is a thing of great confequence, as hunters
and racers are very apt to have their ftomach fall off,.
either from want. of exercife, or from the too violent
Airz
Airing.
exer-.
A JU
AIX
[
342 ]
Airs
11
Ajuga.
exercife which they are often expoſed to. If the horſe
be over fat, it is beſt to air him before fun-rife and
after fun-fetting; and in general, it is allowed by all,
that nothing is more beneficial to thofe creatures than
carly and late airings. Some of our modern managers,
however, diſpute this: they fay, that the cold of thefe
times is too great for the creature; and that if, in
par-
ticular, he is fubject to cattarrhs, rheums, or the like
complaints, the dews and cold fogs, in thefe early and
late airings, will be apt to increaſe all thoſe diſorders.
Nature, we fee, alfo points out the fun-beams as of
great uſe to theſe animals; thofe which are kept hardy
and lie out all night, always running to thofe places
where the funfhine comes, as foon as it appears in a
morning. This fhould ſeem to recommend thofe airings
that are to be made before fun-ſet, and a little time
after fun-rife. As to the caution, fo earneftly. in-
culcated by Markham, of uſing theſe early and late
airings for fat horfes, it is found unneceffary by many:
for they fay, that the fame effect may be produced by
airings at warmer times, provided only that they are
made longer; and that, in general, it is from long air-
ings that we are to expect to bring a horſe to a perfect
wind and found courage.
AIRS, in the manege, are the artificial motions of
taught horſes; as the demivolt, curvet, capriole, &c.
AIRY, or AERY, among fportfmen, a term expref-
fing the neft of a hawk or eagle.
AIRY Triplicity, among aftrologers, denotes the three
figns, gemini, libra, and aquarius.
AIŠNE, a river of France, which rifes in Cham-
paign, and runs W. by Soifons in the Ifle of France,
falling into the river Oife, a little above Campeigne.
AÏTOCZU, a confiderable river of Leffer Afia,
which, arifing in the mountain Taurus, falls into the
fouth part of the Euxine fea.
AJUGA, BUGLE: A genus of the gymnofpermia
order, belonging to the didynamia claſs of plants; and
in the natural method ranking under the 42d order,
Afperifolia. The characters are: The calyx is a fhort
perianthium, monophyllous and perfiftent: The corolla
is monopetalous and grinning: The Stamina confift of
four erect fubulated filaments; the antheræ are dini
diated: The piftillum has a four-cleft germen, a fili-
form ſtylus, and two flender ſtigmata. There is no pe-
ricarpium; the calyx converging, and containing the
feeds in its bofom: The feeds are four, and oblong. The
Species enumerated by Linnæus are, 1. The orienta-
lis, with inverted flowers, which is a native of the eaſt.
2. The genevenfis, with woolly leaves and hairy cups,
is a native of Swifferland and of the fouthern parts of
Europe. 3. The pyramidalis, or mountain-bugle, with
a fquare pyramidal ſpike and blue flowers, is a native
of Sweden, Germany, Swifferland, and the hilly parts
of Britain. Sheep and goats eat it ; cows are not fond
of it; horfes and fwine refuſe it. 4. The reptans, com-
mon or paſture bugle, with creeping fuckers, and blue,
red, or white bloffoms, in long leafy fpikes, is a native
of the fouthern parts of Europe, and is met with in
woods and moiſt places in many parts of Britain. The
rocts are aftringent, and ſtrike a black colour with vi-
triol of iron.
Culture. The firft fpecies is propagated by fowing
the feeds foon after they are ripe, in a pot filled with
Joamy earth, and placed in a fhady fituation till autumn;
when it must be removed under a frame, and protected
from the frofts. In the fpring, after the plants are come
up, let them be tranſlated each into a ſeparate pot, and
in fummer placed under a fhady fituation. The other
forts are eaſily propogated by their fide-ſhoots, and
fucceed beft in a moiſt ſhady fituation.
AIUS LOCUTIUS, the name of a deity to whom
the Romans erected an altar.-The words are Latin,
and fignify "a fpeaking voice."-The following ac-
cident gave occafion to the Romans erecting an altar to
the Aius Locutius. One M. Seditius, a plebian, ac-
quainted the tribunes, that, in walking the ftreets by
night, he had heard a voice over the temple of Veſta,
giving the Romans notice that the Gauls were coming
against them. This intimation was however neglected;
but after the truth was confirmed by the event, Camil-
lus acknowledged this voice to be a new deity, and erec-
ted an altar to it under the name of the Aius Locutiuš.
AJUTAGE, or ADJUTAGE, a kind of tube fitted
to the mouth of the veffel through which the water of
a fountain is to be played. To the different form and
ftructure of ajutages, is owing to the great variety of
fountains. See FOUNTAIN and HYDROSTATICS.
AIX, a ſmall, but ancient town in the duchy of Sa-
voy, with the title of a marquifate. It is feated on the
lake Bourget, at the foot of a mountain, between
Chamberry, Annecy, and Rumilly. There is here a
triumphal arch of the ancient Romans, but it is almoſt
entirely ruined. The mineral waters bring a great
number of ſtrangers to this place. The place was o-
riginally called Aqua Gratiane, from the hot baths
built there by the Emperor Gratian. E. Long. 7. 10.
N. Lat. 45. 40.
The preachers
Aix, an ancient city, the capital of Provence, in
France. It is an archbishopric; and has a parliament,
a court of aids, a chamber of accounts, a fenefchal's
juriſdiction, a generality, and an univerfity. It has
that air of filence and gloom fo commonly characteriſtic
of places deftitute of commerce or induſtry: It is,
however, a well-built city; and moft like Paris of any
place in the kingdom, as well for the largeneſs of the
buildings, as in refpect of the politenefs of the inhabi-
tants. It is embelliſhed with abundance of fine foun-
tains, and ſeveral beautiful fquares.
fquare is on the fide of a hill; it is about 160 yards in
length, and is furrounded with trees, and houſes built
with ftone three ftories high. The town-hall is at one
end of the city, and is diftributed into feveral fine a-
partments: the two loweft are taken up by the board
of accounts, and by the fenefchal; that above is defign-
ed for the feffions of parliament. The hall of audience
is adorned with the pictures of the kings of France on
horſeback. The hotel of the city is a handſome build-
ing, but hid by the houſes of the narrow ftreet in which
it is placed. The cathedral church is a Gothic ftruc-
ture, with tombs of feveral earls of Provence, and fome
good pictures by French mafters. The Corfe, or Orbi-
telle, is a magnificent walk, above 300 yards long,
formed by a triple avenue of elms, and two rows of re-
gular and ſtately houfes. The church of the fathers of
the oratory is a handfome building; and not far from
thence is the chapel of the blue penitents, which is full
of paintings. The convent of preachers is very fine;
in their church is a filver ſtatue of the Virgin Mary al-
moft as big as the life. There are other churches and
buildings
Aius
Locutius
Aix.
}
AIX
AIX
[
343 ]
2
Aix.
buildings which contain a great number of rarities.
The baths without the city, which were diſcovered not
long fince, have good buildings, raiſed at a vaſt ex-
pence, for the accommodation of thoſe who drink the
waters. Although Aix was the firſt Roman fettlement
in Gaul, it is not remarkable for ancient remains. The
warm ſprings from which it is now known and fre-
quented induced Sextus Calvinus to found a colony
here, to which he gave the name of Aqua Sextia.
They were ſuppoſed to poffefs particular virtues in cafes
of debility; and ſeveral altars have been dug up facred
to Priapus, the infcriptions on which indicate their gra-
titude to that deity for his fuppofed fuccour and affift-
ance. E. Long. 5. 32. N. Lat. 43. 32.
Aix, a ſmall iſland on the coaft of France, between
the iſle of Oleron and the continent. It is twelve
miles north-weft of Rochfort, and twelve fouth-fouth-
weft of Rochelle. W. Long. 1. 4. N. Lat. 46. 5.
AIX LA CHAPELLE, a fine city of Germany, in the
circle of Weftphalia and duchy of Juliers.
All authors are agreed about its antiquity, it being
mentioned in Cæfar's Commentaries and the Annals
of Tacitus. The Romans had colonies and fortreffes
there, when they were at war with the Germans; but
the mineral waters and the hot bath fo increaſed its
fame, that, in procefs of time, it was advanced to the
privileges of a city, by the name of Aquægranii, that
is, the waters of Granius; that which it has now, of
Aix la Chapelle, was given it by the French, to di-
ftinguish it from the other Aix. It is fo called, on ac-
count of a chapel built in honour of the Holy Virgin
by Charlemagne; who having repaired, beautified, ana
enlarged the city, which was deftroyed by the Huns
in the reign of Attila in 451, made it the ufual
place of his refidence. The town is feated in a
valley furrounded with mountains and woods, and yet
the air is very wholefome. It may be divided into the
inward and outward city. The inward is incompaſſed
with a wall about three quarters of a league in circum-
ference, having ten gatcs; and the outward wall, in
which there are eleven gates, is about a league and a
half in circumference. There are rivulets which run
through the town and keep it very clean, turning fe-
veral mills; befides twenty public fountains, and many
private ones. They have ftone-quarries in the neigh-
bourhood, which furniſh the inhabitants with proper
materials for their magnificent buildings, of which the
ſtadt-houſe and the cathedral are the chief. There
are likewife thirty parochial or collegiate churches.
The market-place is very fpacious, and the houſes round
it are ftately. In the middle, before the ftadt-houſe,
is a fountain of blue ſtones, which throws out water,
from fix pipes, into a marble bafon placed beneath,
thirty feet in circumference. On the top of this foun-
tain, is placed the ſtatue of Charlemagne, of brafs, gilt,
holding a fceptre in his right-hand, and a globe in his
left. The ftadt-houfe is adorned with the ftatues of
all the emperors fince Charlemagne. This fabric has
three ftories, the upper of which is one entire room
of 162 feet in length and 60 in breadth. In this the
new-elected emperor formerly entertained all the elec-
tors of the empire.
Aix la chapelle is a free imperial city, and chan-
ges its magiftracy every year on the eve of St John
Baptift. The mayor is in the nomination of the
3-
elector palatine, in the quality of the duke of Ju-
liers, as protector of the city. This place is famous
for feveral councils and treaties of peace concluded
here; particularly thoſe between France and Spain in
1668, and between Great Britain and France in 1748.
The hot fulphurous waters for which this place has
fo long been celebrated, ariſe from feveral fources, which
fupply eight baths conftructed in different parts of the
town. Theſe waters near the fources are clear and pel-
lucid; and have a ſtrong fulphureous ſmell refembling
the washings of a foul gun; but they lofe this fmell by
expofure to air. Their tafte is faline, bitter, and uri-
nous. They do not contain iron. They are alſo neu-
tral near the fountain, but afterwards are manifeftly
and pretty ſtrongly alkaline, infomuch that clothes are
waſhed with them without ſoap.—On the vaults above
the ſprings and aqueducts of theſe waters is found, e-
very year, when they are opened, a quantity of fine
white-coloured flowers of fulphur, which has been fub-
limed from the waters.
The heat of the water of the hotteſt ſpring, by Dr
Lucas's account, raiſes the quickfilver of Fahrenheit's
thermometer to 136-by Monf. Monet's account, to
146—and the heat of the fountain, where they com-
monly drink, by Dr Lucas's account, to 112.
Dr Simmons has given the following account of their
feveral temperatures, as repeatedly obſerved by himſelf
with a thermometer conftructed by Nairne..
The ſpring which fupplies the Emperor's bath
(Bain de l'Empereur), the New Bath (Bain
Neuf), and the Queen of Hungary's bath (Bain
de la Reine Hongrie),
St Quirin's bath (Bain de St Quirin),
The Rofe bath (Bain de la Rofe), and the Poor's
bath (Buin des Pauor-s), both which are fup-
plied by the fame ſpring,
Charles's bath (Bain de Charles), and St Cor-
neille's bath (Bain de St Corneille),
The fpring uſed for drinking is in the High Street,
oppofite to Charles's bath; the heat of it at the
pump is
1279
112
1120
1120
1062
Dr Lucas evaporated the water of the hotteft fpring.
(of the Emperor's Bath), and obtained 268 grains of
folid matter from a gallon, compofed of 15 grains of
calcareous earth, 10 grains of felenites, and 243 grains
of a faline matter made up of natron and fea falt. They
are at firft naufeous and harsh, but by habit become.
familiar and agreeable. At firſt drinking, alfo, they
generally affect the head. Their general operation is
by ftool and urine, without griping or diminution of
ftrength; and they alfo promote perfpiration.
The quantity to be drank as an alterative is to be
varied according to the confitution and other circum-
ftances of the patient. In general, it is beft to begin
with a quarter or half a pint in the morning, and in-
creafe the dofe afterwards to pints, as may be found
convenient. The water is beft drank at the fountain.
When it is required to purge, it ſhould be drank in.
large and often-repeated draughts.
In regard to bathing, this alfo muſt be determined
by the age, fex, ftrength, &c. of the patient, and by
the feaſon. The degree of heat of the bath ſhould like-
wife be confidered. The tepid ones are in general the
beſt, though there are ſome caſes in which the hotter
ones are moſt proper. But even in thefe, it is beft to
begin
Aix.
A KE
I 344 ]
A KE
Aizoon, begin with the temperate baths, and increaſe the heat
Akenfide. gradually.
Thefe waters are efficacious in diſeaſes proceeding
from indigeftion and from foulneſs of the ftomach and
bowels. In rheumatifms; in the fcurvy, fcrophula,
and diſeaſes of the fkin; in hysteric and hypochondrial
diforders; in nervous complaints and melancholy; in the
ftone and gravel; in paralytic complaints; in thoſe evils
which follow an injudicious ufe of mercury; and in
many other cafes. They ought not, however, to be
given in hectic cafes where there is heat and fever, in
putrid diforders, or where the blood is diffolved, or the
conftitution much broken down.
The time of drinking, in the firſt ſeaſon, is from the
beginning of May to the middle of June; and, in the
latter ſeaſon, from the middle of Auguſt to the latter
end of September.
There are galleries or piazzas under which the com-
pany walk during the time of drinking, in order to
promote the operation of the waters.-The poor's bath
is free for every body, and is frequented by crowds of
poor people.
It is fcarcely neceffary to add, that there are all
kinds of amuſements common to other places of public
refort; but the fharpers appear more fplendid here than
elſewhere, affuming titles, with an equipage fuitable to
them.-Aix la Chapelle is 21 miles from Spa, 36 from
Liege, and 30 from Cologne. E. Long. 5. 48. N.
Lat. 51. 55:
AIZOON, called by Mr Miller fempervive; though
the name Aizoon has been by fome writers applied to
the houſe-leek, and alfo to the aloes: A genus of the
pentagynia order, belonging to the icofandria clafs of
plants; and in the natural method ranking under the
13th order, Succulenta. The characters are: The ca-
lyx is a ſingle-leaved perianthium, divided into five feg-
ments, and perfiftent: There is no corolla: The fta-
nina confiſt of very numerous capillary filaments; the
antheræ are fimple: The piftillum has a five-cornered
germen above, with five fimple ſtyli; and the ſtigmata
are fimple. The pericarpium is a bellied, retufe, five-
cornered capfule, having five cells and five valves: The
feeds are many and globular.-Linnæus mentions three
fpecies; the canarienfe, hifpanicum, and paniculatum.
The firſt is a native of the Canary iſlands, the ſecond
of Spain, and the third of the Cape of Good Hope.
They may all be raiſed in this country on hot-beds;
but as they are not remarkable either for beauty or any
other property, it appears unneceffary to take further
notice of them.
AKENSIDE (Mark), a phyſician, who pub-
liſhed in Latin "A Treatife upon the Dyfentery," in
1764, and a few pieces in the first volume of the "Me-
dical Tranfactions" of the college of phyficians, print-
ed in 1768; but far better known, and to be diftin-
guiſhed chiefly hereafter, as a poet. He was born at New-
caſtle-upon-Tyne, November 9.1721; and after being e-
9.1721; and after being e-
ducated at the grammar-fchool in Newcaſtle, was fent
to the univerfities of Edinburgh and Leyden; at which
laft he took his degree of Doctor in Phyfic. He was af-
terwards admitted by mandamus to the fame degree at
Cambridge; elected a fellow of the college of phyfi-
cians, and one of the phyficians at St Thomas's Ho-
fpital; and, upon the eſtabliſhment of the queen's houfe-
hold, appointed one of the phyſicians to her majefty.
N° 9.
That Dr Akenfide was able to acquire no other kind Akénfide.
of celebrity than that of a ſcholar and a poet, is to be
accounted for by the following particulars in his life
and conduct, related by Sir John Hawkins.- Mr Dy-
fon and he were fellow-ftudents, the one of law and the
other of phyfic, at Leyden; where, being of conge-
nial tempers, a friendſhip commenced between them
that lafted through their lives. They left the univer-
fity at the fame time, and both ſettled in London; Mr
Dyfon took to the bar, and being poffeffed of a hand-
fome fortune, fupported his friend while he was endea-
vouring to make himſelf known as a phyſician; but in
a fhort time, having purchaſed of Mr Hardinge his
place of clerk of the houſe of commons, he quitted
Weftminster-hall; and for the purpofe of introducing
Akenfide to acquaintance in an opulent neighbourhood
near the town, bought a houſe at North-End, Hamp-
ftead; where they dwelt together during the ſummer-
feaſon, frequenting the long-room, and all clubs and
affemblies of the inhabitants.
com-
At theſe meetings, which, as they were not felect,
muſt be ſuppoſed to have confifted of ſuch perſons as
ufually meet for the purpoſe of goffiping, men of
wealth, but of ordinary endowments, and able to talk -
of little elfe than news, and the occurrences of the day.
Akenfide was for diſplaying thoſe talents which had
acquired him the reputation he enjoyed in other c
panies: but here they were of little ufe to him; on the
contrary, they tended to engage him in diſputes that
betrayed him into a contempt.of thoſe that differed in
opinion from him. It was found out that he was a
man of low birth, and a dependent on Mr Dyſon; cir-
cumftances that furniſhed thoſe whom he offended with
a ground of reproach, that reduced him to the necef-
fity of afferting in terms that he was a gentleman.
Little could be done at Hampſtead after matters had
proceeded to this extremity: Mr Dyſon parted with
his villa at North-End, and fettled his friend in a ſmall
houfe in Bloomsbury-fquare; affigning for his ſupport
fuch a part of his income as enabled him to keep a
chariot-In this new fituation Akenfide uſed every
endeavour to become popular, but defeated them all,
by the high opinion he everywhere manifefted of him-
felf, and the little condefcenfion he ſhowed to men of
inferior endowments; by his love of political contro-
verfy, his authoritative cenfure of the public councils,
and his bigotted notions refpecting government; fub-
jects foreign to his profeffion, and with which fome of
the wifeft of it have thought it prudent not to concern
them felves. In the winter evenings he frequented
Tom's coffee-houſe in Devereux-court, then the reſort
of fome of the most eminent men for learning and in-
genuity of the time; with fome of whom he became
intangled in difputes and altercations, chiefly on fub-
jects of literature and politics, that fixed on his cha-
racter the ſtamp of haughtinefs and felf-conceit, and
drew him into difagreeable fituations. Hence many,
who admired him for his genius and parts, were ſhy of
becoming his intimates.
The value of that precept which exhorts us to live
peaceably with all men, or, in other words, to avoid
creating enemies, can only be eftimated by the reflec-
tion on thoſe many amiable qualities againſt which the
neglect of it will preponderate. Akenfide was a man
of religion and ſtrict virtue; a philoſopher, a ſcholar,
and
I
АКО
ALA
[ 345 ]
Akenfide and a fine poct.
His converfation was of the molt de-
11
Akond. lightful kind; learned, inftructive, and without any
affectation of wit, cheerful and entertaining.
Dr Akenfide died of a putrid fever, June 23. 1770;
and is buried in the parish-church of St James's, Weft-
minfter.
His poems, publifhed foon after his death in 4to and
8vo, confift of "The Pleafures of Imagination," two
books of " Odes," a "Hymn to the Naiads," and
fome "Infcriptions." "The Pleafures of Imagina-
tion," his capital work, was firft publiſhed in 1744;
and a very extraordinary production it was from a man
who had not reached his 23d year. He was afterwards
fenfible, however, that it wanted revifion and correc-
tion; and he went on revifing and correcting it for
feveral years: but finding this talk to grow upon his
hands, and deſpairing of ever executing it to his own
fatisfaction, he abandoned the purpoſe of correcting,
and refolved to write the poem over anew upon a fome-
what different and enlarged plan. He finished two
books of his new poem, a few copies of which were
printed for the uſe of the author and certain friends
of the firſt book in 1757, of the ſecond in 1765. He
finiſhed alſo a good part of a third book, and an in-
troduction to a fourth; but his moft munificent and ex-
cellent friend, conceiving all that is executed of the new
work, too inconfiderable to ſupply the place, and fu-
perfede the republication of the original poem, and yet
too valuable to be with-held from the public, hath
cauſed them both to be inferted in the collection of his
poems.
;
AKIBA, a famous rabbin, flourished a little after
the deftruction of Jerufalem by Titus. He kept the
flocks of a rich citizen of Jerufalem till the 40th year
of his age, and then applied himſelf to ftudy in the
academies for 24 years; and was afterwards one of the
greateſt maſters in Ifrael, he having 24,000 ſcholars.
He declared for the impoftor Barcochebas, whom he
owned for the Meffiah; and not only anointed him king,
but took upon himfelf the office of his maſter of the
horfe. The troops which the emperor Hadrian ſent
againſt the Jews, who under the conduct of this falfe
Meffiah had committed horrid maffacres, exterminated
this faction. Akiba was taken, and put to death with
great cruelty. He lived 120 years; and was buried
with his wife in a cave upon a mountain not far from
Tiberias, and his 24,000 ſcholars were buried round
about him upon the fame mountain. It is imagined he
invented a fuppofititious work under the name of the
patriarch Abraham.
AKISSAT, the ancient Thyatira, a city in Nato-
lia, in Afia, fituated in a plain 18 miles broad, which
produces plenty of cotton and grain. The inhabitants,
who are reckoned to be about 5000, are faid to be all
Mahometans. The houfes are built of nothing but
earth or turf dried in the fun, and are very low and ill
contrived: but there are fix or feven mofques, which
are all of marble. There are remarkable inferiptions
on marble in ſeveral parts of the town, which are part
of the ruins of ancient Thyatira. It is feated on the
river Hermus, 50 miles from Pergamos. E. Long. 28.
30. N. Lat. 38. 50.
AKOND, an officer of juftice in Perfia, who takes
cognizance of the caufes of orphans and widows; of
contracts, and other civil concerns. He is the head of
VOL. I. Part I.
the ſchool of law, and gives lectures to all the fubaltern
officers; he has his deputies in all the courts of the
kingdom, who, with the fecond fadra, make all con-
tra&s.
AL, an Arabic particle prefixed to words, and fig-
nifying much the fame with the English particle the :
Thus they fay, alkermes, alloran, &c. i. e. the ker
mes, the koran, &c.
AL, or ALD, a Saxon term frequently prefixed to the
names of places, denoting their antiquity; as Aldbo-
rough, Aldgate, &c.
ĂLA, a Latin term properly fignifying a wing;
from a reſemblance to which feveral other things are
called by the fame name: Thus,
ALA, is a term uſed by botanifts for the hollow of a
ftalk, which either the leaf, or the pedicle of the leaf,
makes with it; or it is that hollow turning, or finus,
placed between the ftalk or branch of a plant and the
leaf, whence a new offspring ufually iffues. Sometimes
it is uſed for thoſe parts of leaves otherwife called Isbes,
or wings.
ALE (the plural number) is uſed to fignify thofe
petals or leaves of papilionaceous flowers, placed be-
tween thofe others which are called the vexillum and
carina, and which make the top and bottom of the
flowers. Inftances of flowers of this ftructure are feen
in thoſe of peaſe and beans, in which the top leaf or
petal is the vexillum, the bottom the carina, and the
fide ones the alæ.
ALE is alſo uſed for thofe extremely flender and
membranaceous parts of fome feeds, which appear as
wings placed on them; it likewife fignifies thofe,mem-
branaceous expanfions running along the ftems of fome
plants, which are therefore called alated ftalks.
ALE, in anatomy, a term applied to the lobes of the
liver, the cartilages of the noftril, &c.
ALE, in the Roman art of war, were the two wings
or extreme parts of the army drawn up in order of
battle.
ALABA, one of the three fmalleft diftricts of Bif-
cay in Spain, but pretty fertile in rye, barley, and
fruits. There are in it very good mines of iron, and
it had formerly the title of a kingdom.
ALABANDA (anc. geog.), a town of Caria, near
the Meander, fituate beneath eminences reſembling af-
fes with pack-faddles, which gave rife to the jeft; and
between Amyzo to the weft and Stratonice to the
eaft. Under the Romans they enjoyed affifes, or a
convention of jurifdiction, by Pliny reckoned the fourth
in order; hence the proverb in Stephanus, expreffing
their happinefs. It was built by Alabandus, whom
therefore they deemed a god. The people were called
Alabardi, Alabardenfes, Cicero; and Alabandeis, after
the Greek manner, in coins of Auguftus and Claudius;
they were alfo called Alabandeni (Livy).
ALABARCHA, in antiquity, a kind of magi-
ſtrate among the Jews of Alexandria, whom the em-
perors allowed them to elect, for the fuperintendency
of their policy, and to decide differences and difputes
which aroſe among them.
ALABASTER (William), an Engliſh divine, was
born at Hadley in the county of Suffolk. He was one
of the doctors of Trinity college in Cambridge; and
he attended the earl of Effex as his chaplain in the ex
pedition to Cadiz in the reign of queen Elizabeth. It
X X
is
Al
11
Alabafter.
1
2
A LA
[346 ]
ALA
gites of Pliny, is found in Greece; and is of a foft Alabaſter.
loofe open texture, pretty heavy, and nearly of the co-
lour of honey. This fpecies has likewife been found
in Germany, France, and in Derbyshire in England.
3. Variegated, yellow, and reddiſh alabafter. This fpe-
cies is the common alabaſter of the ancients, and is fo
foft that it may be cut with a knife: It is remarkably
bright, and almoſt tranſparent; admits of a fine poliſh,
and confiſts of large angular fparry concretions. It is
not proof againſt water; it ferments violently with
aqua-fortis, and burns to a pale yellow. The colour
of this fpecies is a clear pale yellow refembling amber,
and variegated with undulated veins; fome of which
are pale red, others whitish, and others of a pale brown.
It was formerly brought from Egypt, but is now to be
met with in feveral parts of England. The alabafters
are frequently uſed by ftatuaries for fmall ftatues, vafes,
and columns. After being calcined and mixed with
water, they may be caft in any mould like plaſter of
Paris. See GYPSUM.
Alabafter. is faid, that his firſt refolutions of changing his religion
were occafioned by his feeing the pomp of the churches
of the Roman communion, and the refpect with which
the prieſts ſeemed to be treated amongst them; and
appearing thus to waver in his mind, he foon found
perfons who took advantage of this difpofition of his,
and of the complaints which he made of not being ad-
vanced according to his deferts in England, in fuch a
manner, that he did not fcruple to go over to the Po-
pifh religion, as foon as he found that there was no
ground to hope for greater encouragement in his own
country. However that matter is, he joined himſelf
to the Romiſh communion, but was difappointed in
his expectations. He was foon diſpleaſed at this; he
could not reconcile himſelf to the difcipline of that
church, which made no confideration of the degrees
which he had taken before. It is probable too that
he could not approve of the worſhip of creatures, which
proteſtants are uſed to look upon with horror. Upon
this he returned to England, in order to refume his
former religion. He obtained a prebend in the cathe-
dral of St Paul, and after that the rectory of Therfield
in Hertfordshire. He was well skilled in the Hebrew
tongue; but he gave a wrong turn to his genius by
itudying the Cabala, with which he was ftrangely in-
fatuated. He gave a proof of this in a fermon which
he preached upon taking his degree of doctor of
divinity at Cambridge. He took for his text the be-
ginning of the firft book of Chronicles, Adam, Seth,
Enos; and having touched upon the literal fenfe, he
turned immediately to the myftical, afferting, that
Adam fignified misfortune and mifery, and fo of the reft.
His verfes were greatly efteemed. He wrote a Latin
tragedy, intitled Roxana; which, when it was acted in
a college at Cambridge, was attended with a very re-
markable accident. There was a lady who was fo ter-
rified at the laft word of the tragedy, Sequar, Sequar,
which was pronounced with a very fhocking tone, that
ſhe loſt her ſenſes all her lifetime after. Alabafter was
living in 1630. His Apparatus in Revelationem Jefu
Chrifti was printed at Antwerp in 1607. As for his
Spiraculum tubarum, feu fons Spiritualium Expofitionum
ex æquivocis Pentaglotti fignificationibus, and his Ecce
Sponfus venit, feu tuba pulchritudinis, hoc eft demonftra-
tio quod non fit illicitum nec impoſſibile computare du-
rationem mundi && tempus fecundi adventus Chrifti, they
were printed at London. We may judge from thefe
titles what the taſte and genius of the author was.
ALABASTER, in natural hiſtory, a fpecies of that
genus of ftones whofe bafe is calcareous earth. It
differs from marble in being combined, not with the
aërial, but with vitriolic acid; therefore, when mixed
with any acid, no effervefcence appears. It is foluble
in about 500 times its weight of water at the tempera-
ture of 60. It is fufible alone in a long-continued
porcelain heat, or by the blow-pipe. Specific gravity
1.87. Texture granular, with fhining particles. In
compofition, and confequently in its chemical proper-
ties, it does not differ from gypfum, felenite, and pla-
fter of Paris.
There are three fpecies of alabaſter. 1. The fnow-
white ſhining alabafter, or lygdinum of the ancients,
is found in Taurus, in pieces large enough to make
diſhes, or the like. It cuts very freely, and is capable
of a fine poliſh, 2. The yellowish alabaſter, or phen-
Alabafter, Mr Boyle obferves, being finely powder-
ed, and thus fet in a baſon over the fire, will, when
hot, affume the appearance of a fluid, by rolling in
waves, yielding to the fmalleſt touch, and emitting
vapour; all which properties it lofes again on the de-
parture of the heat, and diſcovers itſelf a mere inco-
herent powder. The fineness and clearness of this
ftone renders it in ſome meaſure tranſparent; whence
it has been fometimes alfo employed for windows.
There is a church at Florence ftill illuminated by ala-
bafter-windows; inftead of panes of glafs, there are
flabs of alabafter near 15 feet high, each of which
forms a fingle window, through which the light is con-
veyed. The countries in Europe which abound moſt
in alabafter are Germany, toward Coblentz; the pro-
vince of Maconnois, in the neighbourhood of Cluni
in France; Italy, toward Rome; where that of Mon-
taiout is particularly remarkable not only for its white-
nefs, but alfo for the bignefs of its blocks, fome
of which are fo large, that ſtatues as big as the
life may eafily be cut out of them. F. Labat, in his
journey to Italy, obferves, that there are quarries of
alabafter in the neighbourhood of the village called de
la Toffa, near Civita Vecchia: there is alſo alabafter
to be found in fome places of Lorrain; but it is not
much eſteemed. A new manufacture of baſſo relievos,
from a fingular ſpecies of factitious alabafter, has been
fome time ago eſtabliſhed by M. Letapie, at the baths
of St Philip in Tuſcany. The ftream at theſe baths
depofites a peculiar kind of fand, which, when col-
lected and condenſed in the cavities of any body em-
ployed to oppofe its current, acquires the nature, hard-
nefs, and colour of alabafter, and affumes the forms of
thofe cavities in which it is thus lodged.
ALABASTER, in antiquity, a term uſed for a vafe
wherein odoriferous liquors were anciently put. The
reaſon of the denomination is, that veffels for this pur-
poſe were frequently made of the alabaſter-ſtone, which
Pliny and other ancients reprefent as peculiarly pro-
per for this purpoſe. Several critics will have the box
mentioned in the Gofpels as made of alabaſter to have
been of glaſs: And though the texts ſay that the wo-
man broke it, yet the pieces feem miraculouſly to have
been united, fince we are told the entire box was pur-
chafed by the emperor Conſtantine, and preferved as
ALA
AL A
[ 347
]
!
Alaba-
frum
a relic of great price. Others will have it, that the
name alabafter denotes the form rather than the matter
11 of this box: In this view they define alabaſter by a
box without a handle, deriving the word from the pri-
vative and ra€», anſa, handle.
Alamandus
Alabaſter is alſo faid to have been uſed for an an-
cient liquid meaſure, containing ten ounces of wine,
or nine of oil. In this fenfe, the alabafter was equal
to half the fextary.
ALABASTRUM DENDROIDE, a kind of lamina-
ted alabaſter, beautifully variegated with the figures of
fhrubs, trees, &c. found in great abundance in the pro-
vince of Hohenftein.
ALADINISTS, a fect among the Mahometans,
anfwering to free-thinkers among us.
ALADULIA, a confiderable province of Turky,
in Afia, in that part called Natolia, between the moun-
tains of Antitaurus, which feparate it from Amafia
on the north, and from Carimania on the weft. It has
the Mediterranean fea on the ſouth; and the Euphrates,
or Frat, on the eaſt, which divides it from Diarbeker.
It comprehends the Leffer Armenia of the ancients,
and the eaſt part of Cilicia. Formerly it had kings of
its own;
but the head of the laſt king was cut off by
Selim I. emperor of the Turks, who had conquered the
country. It is now divided into two parts: the north,
comprehended between Taurus, Antitaurus, and the
Euphrates, is a beglerbeglic, which bears the name of
Maraſh, the capital town; and the fouth, feated be-
tween mount Taurus and the Mediterranean, is united
to the beglerbeglic of Aleppo. The country is rough,
ragged, and mountainous; yet there are good paftures,
and plenty of horfes and camels. The people are har-
dy and thievifh. The capital is Malatigah.
ALAIN (Chartier), fecretary to Charles VII. king
of France, born in the year 1386. He was the author
of feveral works in profe and verfe; but his moſt
famous performance was his Chronicle of King Charles
VII. Bernard de Girard, in his preface to the Hi-
ftory of France, ftyles him " an excellent hiftorian,
who has given an account of all the affairs, particulars,
ceremonies, ſpeeches, anfwers, and circumſtances, at
which he was prefent himſelf, or had information of."
Giles Coroxet tells us, that Margaret, daughter to
the king of Scotland, and wife to the dauphin, paf-
fing once through a hall where Alain lay aſleep, fhe
ftopped and kiffed him before all the company who at-
tended: fome of them telling her, that it was ftrange
ſhe ſhould kifs a man who had fo, few charms in his
perfon, fhe replied, "I did not kifs the man, but the
mouth from whence proceed fo many excellent fayings,
fo many wife difcourfes, and fo many elegant expref-
fions." Mr Fontenelle, among his Dialogues of the
Dead, has one upon this incident, between the prin-
cefs Margaret and Plato. Mr Paſquier compares Alain
to Seneca, on account of the great number of beauti-
ful fentences interſperſed throughout his writings.
ALAIS, a confiderable town of France, in the
province of Languedoc, fituated on the river Gardon,
at the foot of the Cevennes. The Jefuits had a college
in this place; and a fort was built here in 1689. It is
34
miles north of Montpellier, and 340 from Paris.
E. Lon. 4. 20. N. Lat. 44. 8.
ALAMANDUS (Lewis), in French Aleman, arch-
bishop of Arles, and cardinal of St Cecilia, was one of
Alamode.
the greatest men of the fifteenth century.. The cardi- Alamanni
nal prefided in the council of Bafil, which depoſed Eu-
genius IV. and elected the antipope Felix V. He is
much commended by Æneas Sylvius, as a man extreme-
ly well formed for prefiding in ſuch affemblies, firm and
vigorous, illuftrious by his virtue, learned, and of an
admirable memory in recapitulating all that the ora-
tors and difputants had faid. One day, when he ha-
rangued againſt the fuperiority of the pope over the
council, he diftinguiſhed himſelf in fuch an eminent
manner, that ſeveral perfons went to kifs him, while
others preffed even to kifs his robe. They extolled to
the fkies his abilities and genius, which had raiſed
him, though a Frenchman, to a fuperiority over the
Italians, notwithſtanding all their natural fubtlety and
fineffe. There is no need of afking, whether Pope
Eugenius thundered againſt the preſident of a council
which depofed him. He deprived him of all his dig-
nities, and treated him as a fon of iniquity. How-
ever, notwithſtanding this, Lewis Alamandus died in the
odour of fanctity, and performed fo many miracles af-
ter his death, that at the requeſt of the canons and
Celeſtine monks of Avignon, and the folicitation of the
cardinal of Clermont legate a latere of Clement VII.
he was beatified by that pope in the year 1527.
ALAMANNI (Lewis) was born at Florence, of
a noble family, on the 28th of October 1495. He
was obliged to fly his country for a confpiracy againſt
Julius de Medici, who was foon after chofen pope un-
der the name of Clement VII. During this voluntary
banishment, he went into France; where Francis I.
from a love to his genius and merit, became his patron.
This prince employed him in feveral important affairs,
and honoured him with the collar of the order of St.
Michael. About the year 1540, he was admitted a
member of the Inflammati, an academy newly erected
at Padua, chiefly by Daniel Barbaro and Ugolin Mar-
telli. After the death of Francis, Henry duke of Or-
leans, who fucceeded him in 1537, fhowed no leſs fa-
vour to Alamanni; and in the year 1551, fent him as
his ambaffador to Genoa: this was his laft journey to
Italy; and being returned to France, he died at Ám-
boife on the 18th of April 1556, being in the 61st
year of his age. He left many beautiful poems, and
other valuable performances, in the Italian language.
We have alfo fome notes of his upon Homer's Iliad
and Odyſſey; thoſe upon the Iliad were printed in the
Cambridge edition of Homer in 1689, and Jofhua
Barnes has alfo inferted them in his fine edition of
Homer in 1711.
ALAMÓDALITY, in a general fenfe, is the ac-
commodating a perfon's behaviour, dreſs, and actions,
to the prevailing tafte of the country or times in which
he lives.
ALAMODALITY of writing, is defined the accommo-
dation of mental productions, both as to the choice of
fubject and the manner of treating it, to the genius or
taſte of the times, in order to render them more ac-
ceptable to the readers.
ALAMODE, a phraſe originally French, import-
ing a thing to be in the faſhion or mode. The phraſe
has been adopted not only into ſeveral of the living
languages, as the English and High-Dutch, but fome
have even taken it into the Latin. Hence we meet
with Alamodicus and Alamodalitas.
X x 2
ALAMODE,
AL A
[ 348 ]
ALA
Alanode
"}
Aland.
ALAMODE, in commerce, a thin gloffy black filk, Sweden and Finland, fubject to the former. It lies Alaraf
chiefly uſed for womens hoods and mens mourning between 17 and 19 degrees of E. long. and between 11
fcarfs.
59 and 61 degrees of Lat. at the entrance of the gulph
Alafcani.
of Bothnia.
ALAMOS (Balthafar), a Spaniſh writer, born at
Medina del Campo in Caftile. After having ftudied
the law at Salamanca, he entered into the fervice of
Anthony Perez, fecretary of ftate under Philip II. He
was in high eſteem and confidence with his mafter, up-
on which account he was imprifoned after the difgrace
of this minifter. He was kept in confinement II years,
when Philip III. coming to the throne, fet him at li-
berty, according to the orders given by his father in
his will. Alamos continued in a private capacity, till
the duke of Olivarez, the favourite of Philip IV. cal-
led him to public employments. He was a man of wit
as well as judgment, but his pen was ſuperior to his
tongue. He died in the 88th year of his age. His
paniſh tranſlation of Tacitus, and the aphorifms which
he added in the margin, gained him great reputation.
This work was published at Madrid in 1614; and was
to have been followed, as mentioned in the king's pri-
vilege, with a commentary, which however has never
yet appeared. The author compofed the whole du-
ring his impriſonment.
ALAN (Cardinal William), was born at Roffal in
Lancaſhire, in the year 1532. He went to Oxford
at the age of 15, and in 1550 was elected fellow of
Oriel college. In 1556, being then only 24 years old,
he was chofen principal of St Mary's hall, and one of
the proctors of the university. In 1558 he was made
canon of York; but, upon queen Elizabeth's accef-
fion to the throne, he left England, and fettled at Lou-
vain in an English college, of which he became the
chief fupport. In 1565 he visited his native country;
but, on account of his extreme activity in the propa-
gation of the Roman Catholic religion, he was obli-
ged to fly the kingdom in 1568. He went first to
Mechlin, and then to Doway, where he was made doctor
of divinity. Soon after, he was appointed canon of
Cambray, and then canon of Rheims. He was crea-
ted cardinal on the 28th of July 1587, by the title of
St Martin in Montibus; and obtained from the king of
Spain a rich abbey in the kingdom of Naples, and af-
terwards the biſhoprick of Mechlin. It is fuppofed to
have been by the advice and inftigation of this pricft,
that Philip II. attempted to invade England. He died
on the 20th of October 1594, aged 63; and was bu-
ried in the English college at Rome. He was a man
He was a man
of confiderable learning, and an elegant writer. He
wrote many books in defence of the Romish religion.
The moſt remarkable are, 1. A defence of the 12 mar-
tyrs in one year. Tho. Alfield was hanged for bring-
ing, and publiſhing, this and other of Alan's works,
into England, in the year 1584. 2. A declaration of
the fentence of Sextus V. &c. A work intended to ex-
plain the pope's bull for the excommunication of queen
Elizabeth, and to exhort the people of England to
take up arms in favour of the Spaniards. Many thou-
fand copies of this book, printed at Antwerp, were
put on board the Armada; but the enterprife failing,
they were afterwards deſtroyed. 3. Of the worship
due to faints and their relicts 1583. This treatife was
anfwered by Lord Burleigh, and is efteemed the moſt
elegant of the Cardinal's writings.
ALAND, an island of the Baltic fea, between
4.
ALARAF, in the Mahometan theology, the par-
tition wall that ſeparates heaven from hell. The word
is plural, and properly written al araf; in the fingular
it is written al arf. It is derived from the Arabic
verb arafa, to diftinguiſh. Al araf gives the denomi-
nation to the feventh chapter of the alcoran, wherein
mention is made of this wall. Mahomet feems to have.
copied his al araf, either from the great gulf of ſepa--
ration mentioned in the New Teftament, or from the
Jewish writers, who alfo fpeak of a thin wall dividing.
heaven from hell. Mahometan writers differ extremely
as to the perfons who are to be found on al araf. Some
take it for a fort of limbus for the patriarchs, pro--
phets, &c. others place here fuch whofe good and evil
works fo exactly balance each other, that they deſerve
neither reward nor punishment.. Others imagine this
intermediate ſpace to be poffeffed by thofe who, going to
war without their parents leave, and fuffering martyrdom
there, are excluded paradife for their diſobedience, yet
eſcape hell becauſe they are martyrs.
ALARBES, a name given to thoſe Arabians who
live in tents, and diſtinguiſh themſelves by their diefs
from the others who live in towns.
ALARES, in Roman antiquity, an epithet giver
to the cavalry, on account of their being placed in the
two wings of the army.
ALARIC, a famous general of the Goths. He
entered Thrace at the head of 20,000 men, and laid
waste all the country through which he paffed. He
marched next to Macedonia and Theffaly: the Thef-
falians met him near the mouth of the river Peneas,
and killed about 3000 of his army; nevertheleſs he ad-
vanced into Greece, and after having ravaged the whole
country, returned to Epirus, loaded with immenſe
ſpoils after ſtaying here five years, he refolved to turn
his arms to the weft. He marched through Pannonia;
and, finding little refillance, entered Italy, under the
confulfhip of Stilicho and Aurelianus, A. D.400. After
various battles and treatics, he at laſt took Rome by
treachery, and permitted his foldiers to plunder it; this
happened A. D. 409. Alaric, having laid waste a great
part of Italy, intended to paſs into Sicily; but a form
obliging him to land again, he befieged the city of
Cofenza; and having took it, he died there in 411
eleven years after he first entered Italy.
ALARM, in the military art, denotes either the
apprehenfion of being fuddenly attacked; or the notice
thereof, fignified by firing a cannon, firelock, or the
like. Falfe alarms are frequently made ufe of, to har-
rafs the enemy, by keeping them conftantly under
arms. Sometimes alfo this method is taken to try the
vigilance of the piquet-guard, and what might be ex--
pected from them in cafe of real danger.
ALARM-Bell, that rung upon any fudden emergency,
as a fire, mutiny, or the like.
ALARM-Poft, or ALARM-place, the ground for draw-
ing up each regiment in cafe of an alarm. This is other-
wife called the rendezvous.
ALARM, in fencing, is the fame with what is other~-
wife called an appeal, or challenge.
ALASCANI, in church-history, a fect of Antilu-
therans,
1
ALA
ALA
[ 349
]
1
'Alauda.
Alafco therans, whofe diftinguishing tenet, befides their deny-
ing baptiſm, is faid to have been this, that the words,
This is my body, in the inftitution of the euchariſt, are
not to be underſtood of the bread, but of the whole
action, or celebration of the fupper. They are faid to
They are faid to
have taken the name from one Joannes a Lafco, a Po-
lih baron, fuperintendant of the church of that coun-
try, in England. See the next article.
ALASCO (John), a Poliſh nobleman of the 16th
century, who, imbibing the reformed opinions, was ex-
pelled his country, and became preacher to a Proteftant
congregation at Embden; but foreſeeing perfecution
there, came to England about the year 1551, while the
reformation was carrying on under Edward the VI.
The publication of the Interim driving the Proteftants
to fuch places as afforded them toleration, 380 were
naturalized here, and obtained a charter of incorpora-
tion, by which they were erected into an ecclefiaftical
eftablishment, independent on the church of England.
The Auguftine friars church was granted them, with
the revenues, for the maintenance of Alafco as fuper-
intendant, with four affiftant minifters, who were to be
approved by the king and this congregation lived
undisturbed until the acceffion of Queen Mary, when
they were all fent away. They were kindly received
and permitted to fettle at Embden; and Alafco at laft,
after an abſence of 20 years, by the favour of Sigif-
mund, returned to his own country, where he died in
1560. Alafco was much efteemed by Erafmus, and
the hiftorians of his time fpeak greatly in his praife:
we have of his writing, De Cena Domini liber; Epiftola
continens fummam Controverfie de Cœna Domin', &c.
He had fome particular tenets; and his followers are
called Alafcani in church-history.
ALATAMAHA, a large river of North America,
which, rifing in the Apalachian mountains, runs fouth-
caft through the province of Georgia, and falls into the
Atlantic ocean, below the town of Frederica.
ALATERNUS, in botany, the trivial name of a
fpecies of the rhamnus. See RHAMNUS.
ALAVA, a diftrict of Spain, about 20 miles in
length, and 17 in breadth, containing very good iron
mines. Victoria is the capital town.
ALAUDA, or LARK, in ornithology, a genus of
birds of the order of pafferes; the characters of which
are thefe: The beak is cylindrical, fubulated, ſtraight;
and the two mandibles or chaps are of equal fize. The
tongue is bifid, and the hinder claw is ftraight, and
longer than the toe. There are 28 fpecies of the
alauda, of which the following are the moft remark
able. . The arvenfis, or common fky-lark. This and
the wood-lark are the only birds that fing as they fly;
this raifing its note as it foars, and lowering it till it
quite dies away as it defcends. It will often foar to
fuch a height, that we are charmed with the mufic
when we lofe fight of the fongfter; it alfo begius its
fong before the earlicit dawn. Milton, in his Allegro,
moſt beautifully expreffcs thefe circumftances; and bi-
fhop Newton obferves, that the beautiful fcene that
Milton exhibits of rural cheerfulneſs, at the fame time
gives us a fine picture of the regularity of his life, and
the innocency of his own mind: thus he defcribes him
felf as in a fituation
To hear the lark begin his flight,
And finging ſtartle the dull night,
From his watch-tow'r in the ſkies,
Till the dappled dawn doth rife.
It continues its harmony feveral months, beginning
early in the fpring, on pairing. In the winter they
aſſemble in vaft flocks, grow very fat, and are taken in
great numbers for our tables. They build their neſt
on the ground, beneath fome clod, forming it of hay,
dry fibres, &c. and lay four or five eggs.-The place
thefe birds are taken in the greateft quantity, is the
neighbourhood of Dunftable: the feafon begins about
the 14th of September, and ends the 25th of Fe--
bruary; and during that ſpace, about 4000 dozen
are caught, which fupply the markets of the metro-
polis. See BIRD-Catching. Vaftly greater numbers
than the above, however, are at times caught in dif-
ferent parts of Germany, where there is an exciſe
upon them. Keyfler fays, that the excife alone pro-
duces 60co dollars (about L.gco Sterling) every year ·
to the city of Leipfic; whofe larks are famous all over
Germany as having the most delicate flavour. But it
is not only at Leipfic that they are taken in fuch num
bers, but alfo in the country about Naumburg, Merfe..
burg, Halle, and other parts.-2. The pratenfis, or
tit-lark, has the two outward feathers of the wing
edged with white, and frequents the meadows. It is
found frequently in low marfay grounds: like other
larks, it builds its neft among the grafs, and lays five.
or fix eggs. Like the wood-lark, it fits on trees; and
has a moft remarkable fine note, finging in all fitua-
tions, on trees, on the ground, while it is fporting in
the air, and particularly in its defcent. This bird,
with many others, fuch as the thruſh, black-bird, wil-
low-wren, &c. become filent about midfummer, and
reſume their notes in September: hence the interval
is the most mute of the year's three vocal ſeaſons,.
fpring, fummer, and autumn. Perhaps the birds are
induced to fing again as the autumnal temperament re-
ſembles the vernal.-3. The arborea, or wood-lark, is
a native of Europe, and is diftinguifhed by an annular
white fillet about the head. It is inferior in fize to
the fky-lark, and is of a fhorter thicker form; the co-
lours are paler, and its note is lefs fonorous and lefs
varied, though not lefs fweet. It perches on trees,
and whiitles like the black-bird. It will fing in the
night; and, like the common lark, will fing as it flies.
It builds on the ground, and makes its net on the out-
fide with mofs, within of dried bents, lined with a few
hairs. It lays five eggs, dufky and blotched with deep
brown marks, darkeft at the thicker end. The maics
of this and the laft are known from the females by their
fuperior fize. But this fpecies is not near fo numerous
as that of the common kind. -- 4. The campeftris, has
one half of its chief feathers of the wings brown, ex-
cept two in the middle which are white, and the throat
and breaft are yellowish.-5. The trivialis, whofe chief
feathers on the tail are brown, only half of the outer-
molt is white, and the fecond is white at the end, in the
fhape of a wedge; there is likewife a double whitish
line on the wings. It is a native of Sweden, and per-
ches on the top of trees.-6. The criftata: the chief
tail-feathers are black, but the two outermoft are edged
with white, and the head is crefled. It is a native of
Europe. It fings well, like the fky-lark; lays four
or five eggs; and is faid to hatch twice in a year.-
7. The ſpinoletta: the chief tail-feathers are black,..
only.
Alauda,
ALA
I. 350 ]
AL A
1
A.ay.
other eyes, profaned. In fhort, it is encompaffed by
the moſt barbarous fanaticiſm.
"A long peace had unfortunately cauſed the ridicu-
loufnefs, and efpecially the danger, of this ceremony
to be forgotten. The Chriftians imprudently crowd-
ed to fce it; and the Turks, who, by the fituation of
their houfes, could make money of their windows,
began to profit by the advantage; when an emir, who
preceded the banner, proclaimed with a loud voice,
Let no infidel dare to profane with his prefence the
holy ftandard of the prophet; and let every Mufful-
man who perceives an unbeliever make it known under
pain of reprobation.'
Alauda only the outermoft two are obliquely half white.
||
It is a native of Italy.-8. The alpeſtris: the chief
wing-feathers are half white, the throat yellow, and it
has a black ſtreak under the eyes and on the breaft. It
inhabits North America, where it is migratory. It
vifits the neighbourhood of Albany the beginning of
May, but goes farther north to breed. In winter
it comes in vaft flocks into Virginia and Carolina, re-
turning North in ſpring. It feeds, during its ftay in the
more fouthern parts, on oats and other grain; and
while at Albany, on the grafs and the buds of fprig-
birch. It runs into holes; whence the natives of theſe
laft parts have given it the name of chi-chup-pi-fue. The
Engliſh call it the ortalon, and reckon it delicious eating.
By fome it is called fnow bird, as being very plenty
in that ſeaſon. It is frequently caught in great num-
bers by means of horfe-hair ſpringes placed in fome
bare place, the fnow being feraped away, and a lit-
tle chaff ftrewed about. It is always feen on the
ground, and has little or no fong. This bird is not
This bird is not
peculiar to North America: we hear of it in Ger-
many alfo; and is in plenty throughout Ruffia and
Sibiria, going northward in fpring.-9. The magna,
is yellow on the belly, with a crooked black ftreak on
the breaft, and the three fide-feathers of the tail white.
It is a native of Africa and America.-10. The New
Zealand lark (Plate XVI.) is feven and a half inches
in length: the bill is half an inch, of a pale afh-colour,
with the upper part black: the upper parts of the bo-
dy are duſky, edged with pale afh-colour: the breaft
and belly are white: the legs reddiſh aſh-colour, and
the claws black. It inhabits Charlotte Sound, and is
called kogoo aroùre.
ALAUTA, a confiderable river of Turkey in Eu-
rope, which, after watering the north-eaft part of Tran-
fylvania and part of Wallachia, falls into the Danube
almoft oppofite to Nicopolis.
ALAY, fignifying in the Turkish language "The
Triumph," a ceremony which accompanies the affem-
bling together the forces of that vaft empire upon the
breaking out of a war. It confifts of the moſt infipid
buffoonery, and is attended with acts of the moſt
fnocking barbarity. That which took place upon oc-
cafion of the late war between the Porte and Ruffia is
defcribed by Baron Tott in his Memoirs as follows.
"It confifts in a kind of maſquerade, in which each
trade fucceffively preſents to the ſpectators the mecha-
nical exerciſe of its refpe&ive art. The labourer draws
his plough, the weaver handles his fhuttle, the joiner
his plane; and theſe different characters, feated in
cars richly ornamented, commence the proceffion, and
precede the ſtandard of Mahomet, when it is brought
out of the ſeraglio to be carried to the army, in order
to infure victory to the Ottoman troops.
"This banner of the Turks, which they name
Sandjak-Cheriff, or The Standard of the Prophet, is
fo revered among them, that, notwithſtanding its re-
putation has been ſo often tarnished, it ftill retains
their implicit confidence, and is the facred fignal unto
which they rally. Every thing proclaims its fanctity.
None but the emirs are allowed to touch it; they are
its guards, and it is carried by their chief. The Muf-
fulmen alone are permitted to look upon it. If touch-
ed by other hands, it would be defiled; if feen by
"From that moment no afylum was to be found;
even thofe became informers, who, by letting out their
houſes, had rendered themſelves accomplices in the
crime. A religious fury feized on every mind, and
put arms in every hand; the more atrocious the cruelty,
the more was it meritorious. No regard was paid to
fex or age; pregnant women, dragged by the hair,
and trodden under feet by the multitude, perifhed in
the moſt deplorable manner. Nothing was refpected
by theſe monfters; and under fuch aufpices the Turks
commenced the war."
-ALB, or ALBE, in the Romish church, a veſtment
of white linen hanging down to the feet, and anſwering
to the furplice of the English clergy. In the ancient
church, it was ufual, with thofe newly baptized, to
wear an alb, or white veftment; and hence the Sunday
after Eaſter was called dominica in albis, on account of
the albs worn by thofe baptized on eafter-day.
ALB is alſo a name of a Turkiſh coin, otherwife
called afper. See ASPER.
Perfes
ALBA (anc. geog.), a town of the Marfi in Italy,
fituated on the north-fide of the Lacus Fucinus, ftill
retaining in its name. It ſtands upon an eminence,
and is noted in Roman hiſtory for being the ftate pri-
fon where captive princes were fhut up, after being
barbarously dragged through the ftreets of Rome at
the chariot wheels of a triumphant conful.
king of Macedon terminated his wretched career in this
confinement, with his fon, the laſt hope of an illuſtri-
ous line of kings. Syphax the Numidian, and Bitui-
nus king of the Averni, were alſo condemned to this
gaol by the particular clemency of the fenate, which
fometimes indulged its favage difpofition by putting its
captives to death.
Alba being fituated in the centre of Italy, amidſt
difficult mountainous paffes, and far from all means of
efcape, was efteemed a moft proper place for the pur-
pofe of guarding priſoners of importance. Artificial
ftrength was added to its natural fecurity by fortifica-
tions, which remain to this day in a ſtate that proves
their ancient folidity. For the entertainment of the
garrifon, which was required in a place of ſuch conſe-
quence, an amphitheatre was erected, of which the
ruins are ſtill valuable, as well as the foundations of a
temple, and other buildings of Roman times.
Lucius Vitellius, brother to the emperor of that name,
had a villa near this place, famous for the variety and
excellence of its fruit-trees, which he had brought from
Syria. His gardens were the nurferies where feveral
of the most delicious ſtone-fruits, that are now ſo com-
mon in Europe, were firft cultivated and multiplied.
Alb,
Alba.
It
AL B
351 ]
ALB
[
Alba
11
Alban.
It muſt have been neceffary at Alba to ſhelter trees
tranſplanted from Afia, and to treat them with great
tenderneſs and care, in order to rear them to perfec-
tion: for the climate of this high region is extremely
rigorous in winter; the cold feafon lafts long, and is
accompanied with violent ftorms of wind and falls of
fnow. The lake has been often frozen entirely over.
ALBA Firma, or Album, in our old cuftoms, deno-
ted rent paid in filver, and not in corn, which was
called black-mail.
ALBA Terra, one of the numerous names for the
philofopher's ftone.
ALBA Regalis. See STUL WEISSENBURGH.
ALBA Helvio um, or Albaugufta, (anc. geog.), af-
terwards called Vivarium, now Viviers, in the fouth-
eaſt of Languedoc, on the Rhone. In the lower age
the inhabitants were called dibenfes, and their city
Civitas Albenfium, in the Notitia Galliæ. E. Long.
4. 45. Lat. 44. 50.
ALBA Julia (anc. geog.), now Weiffenburg, a town
of Tranfylvania, on the river Marifius, or Merifch, to
the weft of Hermanftat, fuppofed to be called Alba
Julia, after Julia Domna the mother of Caracalla.
There are, however, feveral infcriptions found at or
near Weiffenburg, which bear COL. APUL. that is
Colonia Apulenfis, without the leaſt mention of Alba
Julia, though infcribed after Caracalla's time. Add,
that Ulpian, reciting the colonies of Dacia, calls this
colony Apulenfis, and neither Alba nor Julia. Whence
there is a fufpicion, that Alba Julia is a corruption of
Apulum. It was alfo called Apulum Auguftum. E.
Long. 25. o. Lat. 46. 46.
<<
ge-
Albanenfes,
became a convert to the Chriftian religion. It is Alban
nerally agreed, that Alban fuffered martyrdom during
the great perfecution under the reign of Dioclefian;
but authors differ as to the year when it happened:
Bede and others fix it in 286; fome refer it to the year
296; but Ufferius reckons it amongſt the events of 303.
The ſtory and circumstances relating to his martyrdom,
according to Bede, are as follows. Being yet a pagan
(or at least it not being known that he was a Chriſtian),
he entertained Amphibalus in his houfe. The Roman
governor being informed thereof, fent a party of fol-
diers to apprehend Amphibalus; but Alban, putting
on the habit of his gueft, prefented himſelf in his ftead,
and was carried before that magiftrate. The governor
having aſked him of what family he was? Alban re-
plied, "To what purpofe do you inquire of my fa-
mily? if you would know my religion, I am a Chri-
ftian." Then being asked his name, he anſwered,
My name is Alban; and I worſhip the only true and
living God, who created all things." The magiftrate
replied, "If you would enjoy the happineſs of eternal
life, delay not to facrifice to the great gods." Alban
anſwered, "The facrifices you offer are made to devils;
neither can they help the needy, or grant the petitions
of their votaries." His behaviour fo enraged the go-
vernor, that he ordered him immediately to be behead-
ed. In his way to execution, he was ftopped by a ri-
ver, over which was a bridge fo thronged with ſpecta-
tors that it was impoffible to croſs it; the faint, as
we are told, lifted up his eyes to heaven, and the ſtream
was miraculously divided, and afforded a paffage for
himſelf and a thouſand more perfons. Bede does not
indeed give us the name of this river; but, notwith--
ſtanding this omiffion, the miracle, we fuppoſe, will
not be the lefs believed. This wonderful event convert-
ed the executioner upon the ſpot, who threw away his
drawn fword, and, falling at St Alban's feet, deſired
he might have the honour to die with him. This fud-
den converfion of the headſman occafioning a delay
in the execution till another perfon could be got to
perform the office, St Alban walked up to a neigh-
bouring hill, where he prayed for water to quench his
thirft, and a fountain of water fprung up under his
feet: here he was beheaded, on the 23d of June. The
executioner is faid to have been a fignal example of di-
vine vengeance; for as foon as he gave the fatal ftroke,,
his eyes dropt out of his head. We may fee the opinion
of Mr Milton in regard to this narrative, in his Hi-
ftory of England. His words are theſe, ſpeaking of
St Alban, "The ftory of whofe martyrdom, foiled
and worſe martyred with the fabling zeal of fome idle
fancies, more fond of miracles than apprehenfive of
the truth, deferves no longer digreffion." Between
4 or 500 years after St Alban's death, Offa, king of
the Mercians, built a very large and ftately monaftery
to his memory; and the town of St Albans in Hert-
fordſhire takes its name from our protomartyr.
ALBA Longa (anc. geog.), a colony from Lavi-
nium, in Latium, eftablished by Afcanius the fon of
Eneas, at the foot of the Mons Albanus: called Alba,
from a white ſow found by Æneas, which farrowed
30 white pigs on that ſpot; which circumſtance was in-
terpreted to portend the building of a city there in
30 years after (Propertius). The epithet Longa was
added on account of its length. It was the royal refi-
dence till the building of Rome, as was foretold by
Anchiſes (Virgil); was deftroyed by Tullius Hoftilius,
all but the fane or temple; and the inhabitants were
tranfplanted to Rome (Strabo).
ALBA Pompeia (anc. geog.), on the river Ceba, now
Ceva, in Liguria, the birth-place of the emperor Per-
tinax ; a colony either eſtabliſhed at firft by Pompey,
or re-eſtabliſhed by him after having been before ſettled
by Scipio. The inhabitants were called ilpenfes Pom-
peiani. At this day the town is fimply called llba,
without any epithet.
ALBAHURIM, figura fexdecim laterum, a figure
of great importance according to aftrological phyfi-
cians, who built their prognoftics on it.
ALBAN (St) is faid to have been the firft perfon
who fuffered martyrdom for Chriſtianity in Britain;
he is therefore uſually ſtyled the protomartyr of this
inland. He was born at Verulam, and flourished to-
wards the end of the third century. In his youth he
took a journey to Rome, in company with Amphiba-
lus a monk of Caerleon, and ferved feven years as a
foldier under the emperor Dioclefian. At his return
home, he fettled in Verulam; and, through the exam-
ple and inftructions of Amphibalus, renounced the er-
rors of paganifm, in which he had been educated, and
ALBANA (anc. geog.), a fea-port town of Alba-
nia, on the Caſpian fea, between the rivers Cafius and
Albanus; now called Bachu, or Bachy, giving name to
the Cafpian ſea, viz. Mar de Bahu. E. Long. 49. 0.
Lat. 40. 0.
ALBANENSES, in church-hiſtory, the fame with
Albigenfes, according to fome; according to others,
different, Thofe, however, who are for diftinguifhing
them.
A LA
ALA
[ 352 ]
Albani. them, attribute the fame opinions to both; only ma-
king the Albanenfes to have been prior in refpect of
time, as having been found towards the clofe of the
eighth century; whereas the Albigenfes appeared not
till the twelfth. See ALBIGENSES.
ALBANI, in Roman antiquity, a college of the
falii, or priests of Mars; fo called from mount Albanus,
the place of their refidence. See SALII.
ALBANI (Francis), a celebrated painter, born in
Bologna, March 17, 1578. His father was a filk
merchant, and intended to bring up his fon to that
buſineſs; but Albani having a ftrong inclination to
painting, when his father died, devoted himſelf entirely
to that art, though then but twelve years of age. He
firft ftudied under Denys Calvert; Guido Rheni being
at the ſame time under this mafter, with whom Albani
contracted a very great friendship. Calvert drew but
one profile for Albani, and afterwards left him entirely
to the care of Guido; under whom he made great im-
provement, his fellow-difciple intructing him with the
utmoſt humanity and good humour. He followed
Guido to the ſchool of the Caraches: but a little af-
•
}
through the most agreeable gardens to Paphos and Ci- Albania.
theria: thofe delightful fcenes brought him over the
lofty Parnaffus to the delicious abodes of Apollo and
the Mufes; whence what Du Frefnoy fays of the fa-
mous Giulio Romano may be juftly applied to Albani:
Taught from a child in the bright Mufes' grots,
He open'd all the treaſures of Parnaffus,
And in the lovely poetry of painting
The myft'ries of Apollo has reveal'd.
ter their friendship for each other began to cool;
which was owing perhaps to the pride of Albani, who
could not bear to fee Guido furpafs him, or to the jea-
louſy of Guido at finding Albani make fo fwift a pro-
grefs. They certainly endeavoured to eclipfe one ano-
ther; for when Guido had fet up a beautiful altar-piece,
Albani would oppofe to it fome fine picture of his:
thus did they behave for fome time, and yet fpake of
each other with the higheſt eſteem. Albani, after ha-
ving greatly improved himfelf under the Caraches, went
to Rome, where he continued many years, and married
in that city; but his wife, dying in childbed, at the
earneſt requeſt of his relations he returned to Bologna,
where he entered again into the ſtate of matrimony.
His fecond wife (Doralice) was well defcended, but
had very little fortune; which he perfectly difregarded,
fo ftrongly was he captivated with her beauty and
good fenfe. Albani, befides the fatisfaction of poffef-
fing an accompliſhed wife, reaped likewife the advan-
tage of having a moft beautiful model; fo that he had
now no occafion to make uſe of any other woman to
paint a Venus, the Graces, Nymphs, and other deities,
whom he took a particular delight in reprefenting.
His wife anſwered this purpoſe admirably well; for
beſides her bloom of youth, and the beauty of her per-
fon, he diſcovered in her fo much modefty, fo many
graces and perfections, fo well adapted to painting,
that it was impoffible for him to meet with a more fi-
nifhed woman. She afterwards brought him feveral
boys, all extremely beautiful and finely proportioned;
ſo that ſhe and her children were the originals of his
moft agreeable and graceful compofitions. Doralice
was fo conformable to his intentions, that fhe took a
pleaſure in ſetting the children in different attitudes,
holding them naked, and ſometimes fufpended by
ftrings, when Albani would draw them in a thoufand
different ways.
It was from them, too, that the fa-
mous fculptors Flamand and Argaldi modelled their
little Cupids.
He died the 4th of October 1660, to the great grief
of all his friends and the whole city of Bologna. Mal-`
vafia has preferved ſome verſes of Franciſco de Lemene,
intended for his monument; the fenfe whereof is,
"That the mortal remains of the illuftrious Albani,
he who gave life to fhade, lie interred in this tomb:
the earth never produced fo wonderful an artiſt, or a
hand equal to his immortal one; which gave co-
lours to the foul, and a foul to colours. Prometheus
animated clay, and gave life by means of the fun; but
Albani animated merely by the affiftance of fhade."
He was very famous in his lifetime, and had been vi-
fited by the greateft painters. Several princes honour-
ed him with letters; and amongft the reft King
Charles I. who invited him to England by a letter
figned with his own hand.
Albani was of a happy temper and difpofition; his
paintings, fays Malvafia, breathing nothing but con-
tent and joy. Happy in a force of mind that con-
quered every uneafinefs, his poetical pencil carried him
N° 9.
-
ALBANIA, a province of Turky in Europe, on
the gulph of Venice, bounded by Livadia on the fouth,
by Theffaly and Macedonia on the eaft, and on the
north by Boſnia and Dalmatia. The people are ſtrong,
large, courageous, and good horſemen; but are faid
to be of a thievifh difpofition: the grand feignior pro-
cures excellent foldiers from hence, particularly caval-
ry, known by the name of Arnauts. There are feve-
ral large towns in this province; and the inhabitants
are almoſt all Chriftians of the Greek church, and de-
fcended from the ancient Scythians. Formerly it was
part of the kingdom of Macedonia. Their chief ma-
nufacture is carpets. The principal places are Durazzo,
Velona, Antivari, Scutari, Croya, Aleffo, Dibra, Dole
cigno, and Albanapoli. Long. from 28° to 31° E.
Lat. from 39° to 43° N.
I
ALBANIA, a country of Afia, bounded on the weft
by Iberia; on the eaſt by the Cafpian fea; on the no th
by mount Caucafus; on the fouth by Armenia, and the
river Cyrus, now Kur; which, fpringing from he
Mofchian mountains that feparate Colchis from Arme-
nia, and watering the country of Mokan, receives the
Aragus and Araxes, and falls into the Cafpian fea
within a fmall diftance from the fouthern borders of
this country.-The whole country formerly called 41-
bania, now goes under the names of Shirwan and Eaft-
Georgia, and is extremely fruitful and pleaſant. The
ancient hiftorians take notice of the Albanian men
being tall, ftrong-bodied, and, generally ſpeaking, of
a very graceful appearance; far excelling all other na-
tions in comelinefs as well as ftature. Modern travel-
lers take no notice of the appearance of the men; but
extol the beauty of the women, which feems to be un-
noticed by the ancients. The Albanians were ancient-
ly an independent and pretty powerful people; but
we find no mention made of their kings till the reign
of Alexander the Great, to whom the king of Alba-
nia is faid to have prefented a dog of an extraordinary
fierceness and fize.It does not appear that the Alba-
nians
ALB
[ 353
]
AL B
Albemarle.
many years fince, a tomb was diſcovered in this church, Albanus
faid to be that of Humphry Duke of Glouceſter: when "
the leaden coffin was opened, the body was pretty en-
tire, being preferved in a fort of pickle. There was
a ſtately croſs in the middle of the town, as there were
in many other places where queen Eleanor's body
refted when
refted when it was brought out of the north for in-
terrent at Weſtminſter; but it has been demoliſhed, as
fome fay, by the inhabitants. The market-days are
Wedneſdays and Saturdays. W. Long. o. 12. N. Lat.
51..44.
ALBANUS MONS (anc. geog.), now called Mont
Albano, 16 miles from Rome, near where Alba Longa
ftood.
Albano, nians were ever conquered by the Romans, even when
St Albans, their power was at its greateſt height; though, when
they ventured to engage in war with that powerful em-
pire, they were always defeated, as might naturally be
expected.
ALBANO, a town of Italy, on a lake of the fame
name, in the Campagnio of Rome. It was called by
It was called by
the ancients Albanum Pompeii, and built out of the
ruins of the ancient Alba Longo, which was deftroyed
by Tullus Hoftilius. It ftands within twelve miles
fouth-east of Rome, and for the pleaſantneſs of its fi-
tuation is the ſummer retirement of a great many Ro-
man princes. It is likewife the fee of a biſhop, who is
one of the fix fenior cardinals. The town is famous
for its excellent wine, and the ruins of a maufoleum,
which, according to the tradition of the inhabitants,
was made for Afcanius. The profpect from the garden
of the Capuchins is extremely pleaſant, taking in the
Campania of Rome, and terminating in a full view of
the Tuſcan fea. Cloſe by the town lies the Alban lake,
of an oval figure, and about feven miles in circumfe-
rence, which, by reaſon of the high mountains round it,
looks like the area of a great amphitheatre. It abounds
with excellent fish, and over againſt the hermitage it
is faid to be unfathomable. The mountain of Albano is
called Monte Gavo, on the top of which was a celebrated
temple dedicated to Jupiter and Juno. Near the Capu-
chins there is another convent of Francifcans; and not
far from thence the palace of Cardinal Barberini, re-
markable for very pleafant gardens, with the ruins of
ancient baths, and feveral old fragments of Mofaic
work. E. Long. 13. 10. N. Lat. 41. 43.
A
There is likewiſe another town of the fame name in
the Bafilicate of the kingdom of Naples, remarkable
for the fertility of the furrounding territory, and for
the nobility of the inhabitants.
ALBANS (St), a market-town of Hertfordshire,
is a very great thoroughfare, accommodated with good
inns, on the north-weft road from London, at the di-
ftance of 21 miles. This town fends two members to
parliament, gives the title of duke to the noble family
of Beauclerc, and has one of the beft markets for
wheat in England. St Albans is feated near the
ruins of an ancient Roman city, by Tacitus called Ve-
rolam; and by the Saxons Watlingcefter, becauſe it is
feated on the road called Watling Street. Nothing now
remains of Verolam but the ruins of old walls; in the
fields adjacent to which they continue to find Roman
coins, as they formerly found teffellated pavements.
In memory of St Alban, Offa, king of the Mercians,
anno 795, erected an abbey, calling it St Albans ;
and near it the town of the fame name was afterwards
built. The church of the abbey is remaining to this
day time and the weather have made it look like
ftone on the outfide; but if you break a bit off, the
redneſs of the brick immediately appears. When the
monaſteries were diffolved, the townſmen paid L. 400
to prevent its being levelled with the ground, and have
fince converted it into a pariſh-church, which, for its
largeneſs, beauty, and antiquity, claims a particular re-
gard. It had a very noble font of folid braſs, in which
the children of the kings of Scotland were uſed to be
baptized; and was brought from Edinburgh, by Sir
Philip Lea, when that city was in flames; but in the
times of the late civil wars, it was taken away. Not
VOL. I. Part I.
:
ALBANUS MONS (anc. geog.), to the north of If
tria, called Albius by Strabo; the extremity of the
Alps, which, together with the mountains to the eaſt
joining it, called Montes Bebii, feparates the farther
Liburnia and Dalmatia from Pannonia.
ALBANY, a fortrefs belonging to the Britiſh,
feated on the S. W. of Hudſon's bay. W. Long. 84.
20. N. Lat. 53. 20.
ALBANY, a town of North America, the capital
of one of the ten counties of the province of New-
York, which goes by the fame name, is a well-built
place, confidering the country. Here the fachems, or
the kings of the Five Nations of Iroquois, met the
governors of the Britiſh plantations, when they entered
into any treaty with them. W. Long. 44. 29. N. Lat.
42. 30.
ALBARAZIN, a ftrong town, and one of the
moft ancient of the kingdom of Arragon in Spain. It
is feated upon an eminence, near the river Guadelquivir,
a little below its fource, and on the frontiers of Valen-
cia and New Caftile. It is the feat of a biſhop, and
produces the beſt wool in all Arragon. It is about
100 miles eaſt of Madrid. E. Long. 2. 10. N. Lat.
40.32.
ALBARII, in antiquity, properly denoted thoſe
who gave the whitening to earthen veffels, &c. In
which fenfe they ſtood contradiftinguiſhed from Dealba-
tores, who whitened walls.
ALBARIUM OPUS, in the ancient building, the
incruftation or covering of the roofs of houſes with white
plafter, made of mere lime. This is otherwife called
pus album. It differs from Tectorium, which is a com-
mon name given to all roofing or ceiling, including
even that formed of lime and fand, or lime and marble;
whereas Albarium was reftrained to that made of lime
alone.
ALBATI EQUI, an appellation given to ſuch hor
fes, in the games of the ancient circus, as wore white
furniture.
ALBATROSS, in ornithology, a fpecies of the
diomedea. See DIOMEDEA.
ALBAZIN, a town of Greater Tartary, with a
ftrong caftle. It is fituated upon the river Amur, or
Yamour, and belongs to the Muſcovites. E. Long. 103.
30. N. Lat. 54. 0.
ALBE, a fmall piece of money, current in Germany,
worth only a French fol and feven deniers.
ALBEMARLE, or AUMARLE, a town of France,
in Upper Normandy, and in the territory of Caux,
from whence the noble family of Keppel takes the title
of Earl. The ferges of this town are in high eſteem.
Y y
It
AL B
1
[ 354
AL B
#
Albemarle It is feated on the declivity of a hill, on the confines of
Picardy, 35 miles N. E. of Rouen, and 70 N. W. of
Paris. E. Long. 2. 21. N. Lat. 49. 50.
ALBEMARLE, the moſt northern part of the province
of North Carolina in America.
Albertus.
ALBENGUA, a town of Italy, in the territory of
Genoa. It is the fee of a biſhop; and is a very ancient
handſome town, but not well peopled on account of the
infalubrity of the air. However, it is feated in a very
beautiful plain, which is well cultivated; and the outſide
of the town is furrounded with olive-trees. It is a fea-
port, about 38 miles S. W. of Genoa. E. Long. 8. 13.
N. Lat. 44. 4.
ALBERNUO, a kind of camblet, brought from
the Levant by the way of Marſeilles.
#
ALBERONI (Julius), the ſon of a poor gardener
in the ſuburbs of Placentia, born in 1664; who, by
his great abilities and good fortune, roſe from this low
original, to the employment of firſt miniſter of ſtate at
the court of Spain, and to the dignity of cardinal. He
rouſed that kingdom out of the lethargy it had funk
into for a century paft; awakened the attention, and
raiſed the aſtoniſhment, of all Europe, by his projects;
one of which was to fet the Pretender on the throne of
Great Britain. He was at length deprived of his em-
ployment, and baniſhed to Rome. He died in 1752,
at the great age of 89. His Teftament Politique, col-
lected from his memoirs and letters, was publiſhed at
Lauſanne in 1753.
ALBERT, Margrave of Brandenburg, and the laft
grand mafter of the Teutonic Order, laid afide the ha-
bit of his order, embraced Lutheranifm, and conclu-
ded a peace at Cracow in 1525, by which he was ac-
knowledged Duke of the caft part of Pruffia (formerly
called for that reafon Ducal Prufia), but to be held
as a fief of Poland, and to defcend to his male heirs.
See PRUSSIA.
ALBERTI (Leone Battifta), was defcended from
a noble family in Florence; and was perfectly acquaint-
ed with painting, fculpture, and architecture. He
wrote of all three in Latin; but his ftudies did not per-
mit him to leave any thing confiderable behind him in
painting. He was employed by pope Nicholas V. in
his buildings, which he executed in a beautiful man-
ner; and his work on architecture, which confifts of ten
books, is greatly efteemed. He alſo wrote fome trea-
tifes of morality, and a piece on arithmetic. He died
in 1485.
ALBERTISTS, a fect of fcholaftics, fo named from
their leader Albertus Magnus.
ALBERTUS (Magnus), a Dominican friar, and
afterwards biſhop of Ratifbon, was one of the moft
learned men and moft famous doctors of the 13th cen-
tury. He is faid to have acted as a man-midwife; and
fome have been highly offended that one of his pro-
feffion fhould follow fuch an employment. A book
intitled De Natura Rerum, of which he was reputed
the author, gave rife to this report. In this treatiſe
there are feveral inſtructions for midwives, and fo much
ſkill ſhown in their art, that one would think the au-
thor could not have arrived at it without having him-
felf practifed: but the advocates for Albert fay he
was not the writer thereof, nor of that other piece De
Secretis Mulierum; in which there are many phrafes
and expreffions unavoidable on fuch a fubject, which
gave great offence, and raiſed a clamour against the Albertus
}}
fuppofed author. It must be acknowledged, however,
Albi.
that there are, in his Comment upon the Maſter of Sen-
tences, fome queſtions concerning the practice of conju-
gal duty, in which he has uſed fome words rather too
grofs for chafte and delicate ears: but they allege
what he himſelf ufed to fay in his own vindication,
that he came to the knowledge of ſo many monftrous
things at confeffion, that it was impoffible to avoid
touching upon fuch queftions. Albert was certainly
a man of a moft curious and inquifitive turn of mind,
which gave rife to other accufations brought againſt
him. They fay, that he laboured to find out. the phi-
lofopher's ftone; that he was a magician; and that he
made a machine in the fhape of a man, which was an
oracle to him, and explained all the difficulties he
propofed. He had great knowledge in the mathema-
tics, and by his ſkill in that ſcience might probably
have formed a head with ſprings capable of articulate
founds; like to the machines of Boetius, of which
Caffiodorus has faid,. “Metals lowe; the birds of Dio-
medes trumpet in brafs; the brazen ferpent hiffes;
counterfeited fwallows chatter, and ſuch as have no proper
note, from brafs fend forth harmonious mufic." John
Matthæus de Luna, in his treatiſe De Rerum Invento-
ribus, has attributed the invention of fire-arms to Al-.
bert; but in this he is confuted by Naude, in his Apo-
Togie des Grands Hommes. We are told, that Albert
was naturally very dull, and ſo incapable of inftruction,.
as to be upon the point of quitting the cloifter, from
deſpair of learning what his habit required: but that
the Holy Virgin appeared to him, and aſked him in
which he chofe to excel, philofophy or divinity?
that having chofen the former, fhe affured him he
fhould become incomparable therein; but that, as a
puniſhment for not preferring divinity, he ſhould fink,
before he died, into his former ftupidity. It is added,.
that after this apparition he had an infinite deal of wit;
and that he advanced in all the ſciences with fo quick
a progrefs, as utterly aſtoniſhed his maſters: but that,.
three years before his death, he ſtopped ſhort when
reading a divinity-lecture at Cologn; and having in
vain endeavoured to recal his ideas, he found that the
Virgin's prediction was accompliſhed. "It would be
very unneceffary (fays Bayle, after relating thefe par-
ticulars) to obferve that they are fables. Thoſe who
would believe me need not be told this, fince they
would judge in the fame manner of their own accord ;
and as for fuch as think otherwife, they would not
alter their opinion by reading here that I am of a dif-
ferent way of thinking." Albert died at Cologn, No--
vember 15. 1280. His works were printed at Lyons,
in 1651, in 21 volumes in folio.
ALBERTUS, a gold coin, worth about 14 French
livres: it was coined during the adminiſtration of Al-
bertus archduke of Auſtria.
ALBESIA, in antiquity, a kind of fhields other
wife called Decumana. See DECUMANA.
ALBI, a city of France, the capital of the Albi-
geois, in Languedoc, and the fee of an archbiſhop.
The cathedral is dedicated to St Cecilia, and has one of
the fineſt choirs in the kingdom. Here is a very va-
luable filver fhrine, of exquifite workmanſhip, of the
Mofaic kind: it contains the reliques of St Clair, the
firft bifhop of this city. The chapel of this pretended
faint
SA
3
ALB
]
ALB
[ 355
1
Albi, faint is magnificent, and adorned with paintings. The
Albigenfes, Lice is a fine large walk without the city: what diftin-
guishes this from all others, is a terras above a deep
mall, which ferves inſtead of a foffe ; it is bordered with
two rows of very fine trees, which are kept in excellent
order. There are four gates, through which you may
view all the beauties of a delightful plain. At one end
of this is the convent of the Dominicans. The arch-
biſhop's palace is very beautiful. The river waſhes its
walls, and ferves both for an ornament and defence.
This city is feated on the river Tarn, 35 miles north-by-
weft of Toulouſe, and 250 fouth of Paris. E. Long.
0. 52. N. Lat. 43. 56.
The Albigeois is a fmall territory about 27 miles. in
length, and 20 in breadth, abounding in corn, woad,
grapes, faffron, plums, and ſheep; and the inhabitants
drive a great trade in dried prunes, grapes, a coarſe fort
of cloth, and wines of Gaillac. Thefe wines are the
only forts hereabouts that are fit for exportation: they
are carried down to Bourdeaux, and generally fold to
the Britiſh. They have likewiſe ſeveral coal-mines.
ALBIGENSES, in church-hiſtory, a fect or party
of reformers, about Toulouſe and the Albigeois in Lan-
guedoc, who fprung up in the 12th century, and dif-
tinguiſhed themſelves by their oppofition to the difci-
pline and ceremonies of the Romish church.
This fect had their name, it is fuppofed, either by
reaſon there were great numbers of them in the diocefe
of Albi, or becauſe they were condemned by a coun-
cil held in that city. In effect, it does not appear that
they were known by this name before the holding of
that council. The Albigenfes were alfo called Albiani,
Albigefei, Albii, and Albanenfes, though fome diftin-
guiſh theſe laſt from them. Other names given to them
are, Henricians, Abelardifts, Bulgarians, &c. fome on
account of the qualities they affumed; others on that
of the country from whence it is pretended they were
derived; and others on account of perfons of note who
adopted their caufe, as Peter de Brius, Arnold de
Breffe, Abelard, Henry, &c. Berengarius, if not Wick
liff himſelf, is by fome ranked in the number. The
Albigenfes are frequently confounded with the Walden-
fes; from whom, however, they differ in many refpects,
both as being prior to them in point of time, as having
their origin in a different country, and as being char-
ged with divers herefies, particularly Manicheifm, from
which the Waldenfes are exempt. But feveral Prote
ftant writers have vindicated them from that imputa-
tion. Dr Allix fhows, that a great number of Mani-
chees did ſpread over the western countries from Bul
garia; and fettled in Italy, Languedoc, and other
places, where there were alfo Albigenses; by which
means, being both under the imputation of herefy, they
came, either by ignorance or malice, to be confounded,
and called by the fame common name, though in rea-
lity entirely different.
ufelefs; held the eucharift in abhorrence; excluded the Albigenfes.
uſe of confeffions and penance; maintained marriage
unlawful; laughed at purgatory, prayers for the dead,
images, crucifixes, &c.-There were likewife faid to be
two claffes of them; the Perfect, and the Believers. The
perfect boaſted of their living in continence, of eating
neither flesh, eggs, nor cheeſe. The believers lived like
other men, and were even loofe in their morals; but
they were perfuaded they. fhould be faved by the faith
of the perfect, and that none were damned who recei-
ved impofition of hands from them. But from theſe
charges alfo they are generally acquitted by Prote-
ftants; who confider them as the pious inventions of
the Romish church, whofe members deem it meritorious
by any means to blacken heretics.
However this be, the Albigenfes grew fo formidable,
that the Catholics agreed upon a holy league or croi-
fade against them. They were at firft fupported by
Raimond, count of Touloufe. Pope Innocent III. de
firous to put a stop to their progrefs, fent a legate in-
to their country; which failing, he ſtirred up Philip
Auguftus, 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 fided with
them, made his fubmiffion to the pope, and went over
to the Catholics: but foon after, finding himſelf plun-
dered by the croifaders, he declared war againſt them,
and was joined by the king of Arragon. His army
was defeated at the fiege of Muret, where he himſelf
was killed, and the defeat followed by the furrender of
the city of Toulouſe, and the conqueft of the greateſt
part of Lauguedoc and Provence. His fon Raimond
fucceeded him ; who agreed with the king and the
to fet up the inquifition in his eftates, and to extirpate
the Albigenfes. In an affembly held at Milan, the
archbishop of Toulouſe drew up articles; agreeable to
which the count made a moft ample declaration againſt
them, which he publiſhed at Touloufe in 1253. From
this time the Albigenfes dwindled by little and little,
till the times of the reformation; when fuch of them
as were left fell in with the Vaudois, and became con-
formable to the doctrine of Zuinglius and the diſciples
of Geneva.
popc
ALBIGENSES is alfo a name fometimes given to the
followers of Peter Vaud, or Waldo; and hence fyno-
nymous with what we more properly call Waldenfes, or
Poor Men of Lyons. In this fenfe the word is applied
by Camerarius, Thuanus, and feveral other writers.
The reafon feems to be, that the two parties agreed in
their oppofition to the papal innovations and incroach-
ments, though in divers other refpects faid to be dif-
ferent enough. The bishop of Meaux labours hard to
fupport a diftinction between the two fects, alleging
that the Albigenfes were heretics and Manichees; where-
as the Waldenfes were only fchifmatics, not heretics;
being found as to articles of faith, and only feparating
Other errors imputed to them by their opponents, from the church of Rome on account of forms and
the monks of thoſe days, were, That they admitted difcipline. Dr Allix endeavours to fet afide the dif-
two Chriſts; one evil, who appeared on earth; the o- tinction; and fhows, that both of them hold the fame o-
ther good, who has not yet appeared: That they de- pinions, and were equally condemned and held for he-
nied the refurrection of the body; and maintained hu- retics: and this not for points of faith, but for declaim-
man fouls to be dæmons imprisoned in our bodies, by ing against the papal tyranny and idolatry, and hold-
way of puniſhment for their fius: That they condemning the pope to be the Antichrift; which laft, accor
ed all the facraments of the church; rejected baptifm as ding to M. de Meaux, conflitutes nothing lefs than
Y y 2
Manicheifm.
ALB
[356]
ALB
Albinte Manicheifm. In this fenfe the Lollards and Wick-
melium
liffites in England were not only Albigenfes but Ma-
Albinos.
nichees.
ALBINTEMELIUM, ALBINTIMILIUM, (Taci-
tus ;) or at full length, ALBIUM INTEMELIUM, (Pli-
ny, Strabo); now Vintimiglia, fituated in the fouth-
weft of the territory of Genoa, near the borders of the
county of Nice, with a port on the Mediterranean, at
the mouth of the rivulet Rotta, almoſt about half-way
between Monaco and S. Remo. E. Long. 7. 40. Lat.
43. 17.
ALBIOECE, or ALEBECE, (Pliny, Strabo); o-
therwife called Reii Apollinares, from their fuperftitious
worſhip of Apollo; alfo Civitas Reienfium; now Riez,
in Provence, about 18 leagues to the north-east of Tou-
lon, on the north fide of the rivulet Verdon; was ori-
ginally a Roman colony, (Infcription.) It is fometimes
written Regium. The people were called Albici, (Ca-
far.) E. Long. 1. o. Lat. 43. 20.
ÁLBINI, in antiquity, the workmen employed in
what was called Opus Albarium. They make a dif-
ferent profeffion from the dealbatores or whiteners.
ALBINOS, the name by which the Portugueſe call
the white Moors, who are looked upon by the negroes
as monſters. They at a diſtance might be taken for
Europeans; but, when you come near them, their
white colour appears like that of perfons affected with
a leprofy.
"I am therefore of opinion, that we may confider Albinos.
theſe two lads as true albinos: for if they have not the
thick lips and flat noſes of the white negroes, it is be-
cauſe they are albinos of Europe, not of Africa. This
infirmity affects 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. Be-
fides, there are certainly in this malady various de-
grees: fome may have leſs ſtrength, and be leſs able to
endure the light: but thefe circumftances in thoſe of
Chamouni are marked with characters fufficiently strong
to intitle them to the unhappy advantage of being claf-
fed with that variety of the human fpecies. denominated
albinos.
"When nature preſents the fame appearance often,
and with circumftances varied, we may at laſt diſcover-
fome general law, or fome relation which that appear-
ance has with known cauſes: but when a fact is fo
fingular and fo rare, as that of thofe albinos, it gives
but little fcope to conjectures; and it is very difficult.
to verify thofe by which we attempt to explain it.
"I at firſt imagined that this diſeaſe might be referred
to a particular fort of organic debility; that a relaxa-
tion of the lymphatic veffels within the eye might ſuf-
fer the globules of the blood to enter too abundantly
into the iris, the uvea, and even into the retina, which
might occafion the redneſs of the iris and of the pupil.
The fame debility feemed alfo to account.for the into-
lerance of the light, and for the whitenefs of the hair.
"But a learned phyſiologiſt, M. Blumenbach, profef-
for in the univerfity at Gottingen, who has made many
profound obfervations on the organs of fight, and has
confidered with great attention the albinos of Chamou-
ni, attributes their infirmity to a different cauſe.
"The ftudy of comparative anatomy has furniſhed him
with frequent opportunities of obſerving this pheno-
menon; he has found it in brutes, in white dogs, and
in owls; he fays, it is generally to be feen in the warm-
blooded animals; but that he has never met with it in
thoſe with cold blood.
In SAUSSURE'S Voyages dans les Alpes, is the fol-
lowing account of two boys, at Chamouni, who have
been called Albinos. "The elder, who was 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 o-
ther people. The other, who is two years younger,
is rather a more agreeable figure: he is gay and ſpright
ly, and ſeems not to want wit. But their eyes are not
blue;
the iris is of a very diftinét rofe-colour: the pu-
pil too, when viewed in the light, feems decidedly red;
which feems to demonftrate, that the interior mem-
branes are deprived of the uvea, and of that black mu- "From his obſervations, he is of opinion, that the
cous matter that fhould line them. Their hair, their redneſs of the iris, and of the other internal parts of the
eye-brows, and eye-lafhes, the down upon their ſkin, eye, as well as the extreme fenfibility that accompanies
were all, in their infancy, of the most perfect milk- this rednefs, is owing to the total privation of that.
white colour, and very fine; but their hair is now of brown or blackiſh mucus, that, about the fifth week.
a reddiſh caft, and has grown pretty ftrong. Their after conception, covers all the interior parts of the eye
fight too is fomewhat ftrengthened; though they ex-in its found ftate. He obferves, that Simon Pontius,..
aggerate to ftrangers their averfion for the light, and
half-fhut the eye-lids, to give themſelves a more extra-
ordinary appearance. But thofe who, like me, have
feen them in their infancy, before they were tutored to
this deceit, and when too few people came to Cha-
mouni to make this affectation profitable to them, can
atteſt that then they were not very much offended with
the light of day. At that time, they were fo little de-
firous of exciting the curiofity of ftrangers, that they
hid themſelves to avoid fuch; and it was neceffary to
do a fort of violence to them before they could be pre-
vailed on to allow themſelves to be infpected. It is al-
fo well known at Chamouni, that when they were of a
proper age they were unable to tend the cattle like the
other children at the fame age; and that one of their
uncles maintained them out of charity, at a time of
life when others were capable of gaining a fubfiftence
by their labour.
in his treatife de Coloribus Oculorum, long ago remark-
ed, that in blue eyes the interior membranes were.
lefs abundantly provided with this black mucus, and.
were therefore more fenfible to the action of light.
This fenfibility of blue eyes agrees very well, fays M...
Blumenbach, with northern people, during their long
twilight; while, on the contrary, the deep black in
the eyes of negroes enables them to fupport the ſplen-
dor of the fun's beam in the torrid zone.
"As to the connection between this red colour of
the eyes and the whiteness of the ſkin and hair, the fame.
learned phyfiologiſt ſays, that it is owing to a fimila-
rity of ftructure, confenfus ex fimilitudene fabrica. He
afferts, that this black mucus is formed only in the de-
licate cellular fubftance, which has numerous blood,
veffels contiguous to it, but contains no fat; like the
infide of the eye, the fkin of negroes, the ſpotted pa-
late of feveral domeftic animals, &c. And, laftly, he
fays,
AL B
[ 357 ]
AL B
ఈ
Albinos. fays, that the colour of the hair generally correfponds
with that of the iris Gazette litt. de Gotingue, O&t.
1784.
"At the very time that M. Blumenbach was reading
this memoir to the Royal Society of Gottingen, M.
Buzzi, furgeon to the hoſpital at Milan, an eleve of
the celebrated anatomift Mofcati, publiſhed, in the O-
pufcoli Scelti de Milan, 1784, t. vii. p. 11. a very in-
terefting memoir, in which he demonftrates by diffec-
tion what Blumenbach had only fuppofed.
"A peafant of about 30 years of age died at the hof-
pital of Milan of a pulmonary diforder. His body, be-
ing expoſed to view, was exceedingly remarkable by
the uncommon whiteneſs of the ſkin, of the hair, of the
beard, and of all the other covered parts of the body.
M. Buzzi, who had long deſired an opportunity of dif-
fecting ſuch a ſubject, immediately feized upon this.
He found the iris of the eyes perfectly white, and the
pupil of a rofe-colour. The eyes were diffected with
the greateſt poffible care, and were found entirely def-
titute of that black membrane which anatomifts call
the uvea; it was not to be feen either behind the iris,
or under the retina: within the eye there was only
found the choroid coat extremely thin and tinged, of a
pale red colour, by veffels filled with diſcoloured blood.
-What was more extraordinary, the ſkin, when detached
from different parts of the body, feemed alfo entirely
diveſted of the rete mucofum: maceration did not dif-
cover the leaſt veftige of this, not even in the wrinkles
of the abdomen, where it is moſt abundant and moft
vifible.
•
“ M. Buzzi likewife accounts for the whiteness of the
ſkin and of the hair, from the abfence of the rete mu-
cofum, which, according to him, gives the colour to the
cuticle, and to the hairs that are fcattered over it. A-
mong other proofs of this opinion, he alleges a well-
known fact, that if the fkin of the blackeſt horſe be
accidentally deftroyed in any part of the body, the hairs
that afterwards grow on that part are always white,
becauſe the rete mucofum which tinges thofe hairs is ne-
ver regenerated with the fkin.
"The proximate caufe of the whitenefs of albinos, and
the colour of their eyes, feems therefore pretty evident-
ly to depend on the abſence of the rete mucofum: But
what is the remote caufe?
"In the firft place, it ſeems probable that men affec-
ted with this infirmity form no diftinct fpecies, for they
are produced from parents that have dark fins and
black eyes.
What is it then that deftroys the reie mu-
cofum in fuch perfons? M. Buzzi relates a fingular
fact, which feems to throw fome light on this fubject.
"A woman of Milan, named Calcagni, had feven fons.
The two eldeſt had brown hair and black eyes; the
three next had white ſkins, white hair, and red eyes:
the two laſt reſembled the two eldeſt. It was faid that
this woman, during the three pregnancies that produ-
ced the albinos, had a continual and immoderate appe-
tite for milk, which he took in great quantities: but
that when ſhe was with child of the other four chil-
dren, fhe had no fuch defire. It is not however afcer-
tained, that this preternatural appetite was not itſelf
the effect of a certain heat, or internal difeafe, which
deftroyed the rete mucofum in the children before they
were born.
65. The albinos of Chamouni are alſo the offspring of
nus, -
Albinus:
parents with dark ſkins and black eyes. They have Albinov
three fifters by the fame father and mother, who are
alſo brunettes. One of them that I faw had the eyes
of a dark brown, and the hair almoſt black. They
are faid, however, to be all afflicted with a weaknefs of
fight. When the lads are married, it will be curious
to obferve how the eyes of their children will be for-
med. The experiment would be particularly decifive
if they were married to women like themfelves. But
this faulty conformation feems to be more rare among
women than among men; for the four of Milan, the
two of Chamouni, the one deſcribed by Mauperitus,
the one by Helvetius, and almoſt all the inftances of
thefe fingular productions, have been of our fex. It is
known, however, that there are races of men and wo-
men affected with this diſeaſe, and that theſe races per-
petuate themſelves, in Guinea, in Java, at Panama, &c.
Upon the whole, this degeneration does not feem
to be owing to the air of the mountains; for though I
have traverſed the greateſt part of the Alps, and the
other mountains of Europe, theſe are the only indivi-
duals of the kind that ever I met with.'
<<
""
ALBINOVANUS, a Latin poet, whom Ovid fur-
named the Divine. There is now nothing of his extant,
except an Elegy on Drufus, and another on the Death
of Mecenas.
-
ALBINUS (Bernhard Siegfred), a celebrated phy-
fician and anatomift, was born, of an illuftrious fami-
ly, at Francfort on the Oder in 1697. His father was
then profeffor of the practice of medicine in the univer-
fity of Francfort; but in the year 1702 he repaired to
Leyden, being nominated profeffor of anatomy and
furgery in that univerfity. Here his fon had an oppor-
tunity of ftudying under the moft eminent mafters in
Europe, who, from the fingular abilities which he then
difplayed, had no difficulty in prognofticating his fu-
ture eminence. But while he was diftinguiſhed in every
branch of literature, his attention was particularly
turned to anatomy and furgery. His peculiar attach-
ment to theſe branches of knowledge gained him the
intimate friendſhip of Ruyfch and Rau, who at that
time flouriſhed in Leyden; and the latter, fo juftly ce-
lebrated as a lithotomift, is faid to have ſeldom per-
formed a capital operation without inviting him to be
prefent. Having finiſhed his ftudies at Leyden, he
went to Paris, where he attended the lectures of Du..
Verney, Vaillant, and other celebrated profeffors. But
he had ſcarce ſpent a year there, when he was invited.
by the curators, of the univerſity of Leyden, to be a
lecturer in anatomy and furgery at that place. Though
contrary to his own inclination, he complied with their
requeſt, and upon that occafion was created Dr of
phyfic without any examination. Soon after, upon the
death of his father, he was appointed to fucceed him'
as profeffor of anatomy; and upon being admitted in-
to that office on the 9th of November 1721, he deli-
vered an oration, De vera via ad fabrice humani cor-
poris cognitionem ducente; which was heard with uni-
verfal approbation. In the capacity of a profeffor, he
not only beftowed the greateſt attention upon the in-
ſtruction of the youth entruſted to his care, but in the
improvement of the medical art. With this view, he
publiſhed many important diſcoveries of his own; and
by elegant editions, turned the attention of phyficians
to works of merit, which might otherwiſe have been
neglected !.
3
ALB
I 358 1
ALB
change for merchants, and a ſafe and deep harbour. Albricius
They have a confiderable trade in herrings and corn;
and a manufactory of guns, piftols, faddles, and gloves.
Albugo.
E. Long. 29. 16. N. Lat. 56. 35.
Albion neglected. By thefe means his fame was foon extend-
H ed over Europe; and the focieties of London, Peterf-
Albourg.
burgh, and Harlem, cheerfully received him as an af-
fociate. In 1745, he was appointed profeffor of the
practice of medicine at Leyden, and was fucceeded in
the anatomical chair by his brother Frid. Bern. Al-
binus. He was twice rector of the univerſity, and as
often he refuſed that high honour when it was volun-
tarily offered him. At length, worn out by long fer-
vice and intenſe ſtudy, he died on the 9th of Septem-
ber 1770, in the 74th year of his age.
ALBION, the ancient name of BRITAIN.
New ALBION, a name given by Sir Francis Drake
to California.
ALBIREO, (in Aftronomy) a ftar of the third or
fourth magnitude, in the conftellation CYGNUS.
ALBIS, (in anc. geog.) now the Elbe, which di-
vided ancient Germany in the middle, and was the
boundary of the ancient geography of Germany, fo far
as that country was known to the Romans: all beyond
they owned to be uncertain, no Roman except Drufus
and Tiberius having penetrated ſo far as the Elbe. In
the year of the building of the city 744, or about fix
years before Chrift, Domitius Ahenobarbus, croffing
the river with a few, merited the ornaments of a
triumph; fo glorious was it reckoned at Rome to have
attempted the paffage. In the following age, how
ever, the river that before occupied the middle of an-
cient Germany, became its boundary to the north,
from the irruptions of the Sarmatæ, who poffeffed
themſelves of the Tranfalbin Germany. The Elbe
rifes in the borders of Silefia, out of the Rifenberg,
runs through Bohemia, Mifnia, Upper Saxony, An-
halt, Magdeburg, Brandenburg, Danneberg, Lauen-
burg, Holſtein, and after being fwelled by many other
rivers, and paffing by Hamburg and Gluckſtadt, falls
into the German, or North fea, to both which places
the river is navigable by large veffels.
ALBISOLĂ, a ſmall town belonging to the repu-
blic of Genoa: here is a porcelain manufacture, and fe
veral country-houfes of the Genoefe nobility. It was
bombarded in 1745 by the Engliſh. E. Long..8. zo.
N. Lat. 44. 15.
ALBOGALERUS, in Roman antiquity, a white
cap worn by the flamen dialis, on the top of which was
an ornament of olive branches.
`ven.
ALBORAK, amongſt the Mahometan writers, the
beaſt on which Mahomet rode in his journeys to hea-
The Arab commentators give many fables con-
cerning this extraordinary vehicle. It is reprefented
as of an intermediate ſhape and fize between an afs and
a mule. A place, it feems, was fecured for it in pa-
radife at the interceffion of Mahomet; which, how
ever, was in fome meaſure extorted from the prophet,
by Alborak's refuſing to let him mount him when the
angel Gabriel was come to conduct him to heaven.
ALBORO, in zoology, a name by which the eryth-
rinus, a ſmall red fish, caught in the Mediterranean, is
commonly known in the markets of Rome and Venice.
ALBOURG, a town of Denmark, in North Jut-
land, capital of the diocefe of the fame name, and a
bifhop's fee. It has this name, which fignifies eel-town,
on account of the great number of eels taken here. It
is ſeated on a canal, 10 miles from the fea, 30 north of
Wiburgh, and 50 north of Arhuys. It has an ex-
3
ALBRICIUS, born at London, was a great phi-
lofopher, a learned and able phyfician, and well ver-
ſed in all the branches of polite literature. 'He lived
in the 11th century, and wrote ſeveral works in La-
tin, particularly, 1. Of the origin of the gods. 2.
The virtues of the ancients. 3. The nature of poi-
fon, &c.
ALBUCA, BASTARD STAR-OF-BETHLEHEM: A
genus of the monogynia order, belonging to the hex-
andria clafs of plants; and in the natural method
ranking under the Icth order, Coronaria. The cha-
racters are: The calyx is wanting: The corolla confifts
of fix oval oblong petals, which are perfiftent: The
famina conſiſt of ſix three-ſided filaments the length of
the corolla: Of theſe, three are fertile, with verfatile
antheræ; three are barren, without antheræ: The
piftillum has an oblong three-fided germen; the ftylus
is three-fided: The pericarpium is an oblong obtuſe
triangular capfule, having three cells and three valves:
The feeds are numerous, flat, and incumbent. Of this
genus Linnæus reckons only two
;
Species. 1. The major, or ftar-flower, with fpear-
fhaped leaves. This is a native of Canada, and fome
other parts of North America: the root is bulbous
from whence fhoot up eight or ten long, narrow, fpear's
fhaped leaves. In the centre of thefe arifes a flower-
ftem, a foot or more in height, garniſhed with a looſe
ſpike of greenish yellow flowers. After the flowers are
paft, the germen fwells to a three-cornered capfule,
having three cells filled with flat feeds. 2. The minor,
or African ftar-flower, is a native of the Cape of Good
Hope. This hath alſo a pretty large bulbous root, from
which ariſe four or five narrow awl-fhaped leaves, of a
deep green colour; the flower-ftem, which comes from
the center of the root, is naked, and rarely rifes more
than eight or nine inches high, having five
or fix
ish-yellow flowers, growing almoft in the form of an
umbel at top: theſe are rarely fucceeded by feeds in
Britain.
green-
Culture. The Canada albuca is hardy; fo the roots
may be planted about four inches deep in a border of
light earth, where they will thrive and produce their
flowers late in the fummer: but as the feeds do not of
ten ripen in Britain, and the bulbs put out few off-
fets, the plants are not common in this country. The
African fort generally flowers twice a-year; firft in
March or April, and again in July or Auguft; and if
its roots are kept in pots filled with light earth, ſhel-
tered under a hot-bed frame, they will flower even in
winter; but the best method is to have a border in the
front of a green-houſe, or ftove, where the roots of
moſt of the bulbous flowers may be planted in the full
ground, and fcreened in winter from froft: in ſuch fi-
tuations they thrive much better, and flower ftronger,
than when kept in pots.
ALBUGINEA TUNICA, in anatomy, the third or
innermoft coat or covering of the teftes; it is likewife
the name given to one of the coats of the eye.
ALBUGINEUS, in anatomy, a term fometimes
applied to the aqueous humour of the
eye.
ALBUGO, or LEUCOMA, in medicine, a diftemper
occafioned
ALB
AL C
[
359 ]
1
Album occafioned by a white opaque ſpot growing on the cor-
It' nea of the eye, and obftructing viſion. See MEDICINE
(Index).
Albumen.
ALBUM, in antiquity, a kind of white table, or
regiſter, wherein the names of certain magiſtrates, pu-
blic tranfactions, &c. were entered. Of theſe there
were various forts; as the album decurionum, album fe-
natorum, album jud:cum, album prætoris, &c.
ALBUM Decurionum, was the regiſter wherein the
names of the decuriones were entered. This is other-
wife called matriculatio decurionum.
ALBUM Senatorum, the liſt of ſenators names, which
was first introduced by Auguftus, and renewed yearly.
ALBUM Judicum, that wherein the names of the
perfons of thoſe decuria who judged at certain times,
were entered.
ALBUM Prætoris, that wherein the formule of all
actions, and the names of fuch judges as the prætor
had chosen to decide caufes, were written.
The high-prieſt entered the chief tranſactions of each
year into an album, or table, which was hung up in his
houfe for the public ufe.
ALBUM is alfo ufed, in later times, to denote a
kind of table, or pocket-book, wherein the men of
letters with whom a perfon has converfed, infcribe their
names with fome fentence or motto.--The famous Al-
gernon Sydney being in Denmark, was by the univer-
fity of Copenhagen prefented with their album, where-
upon he wrote theſe words:
Manus hæc inimica tyrannis
Enfe petit placidam fub libertate quietem.
ALBUM Græcum, among phyſicians, the white dung
of dogs, formerly prefcribed for inflammations of the
throat, &c. but now juftly defpifed.
ALBUMAZAR, a learned Arabian aftronomer in
the tenth century, who wrote a treatiſe, Of the Revolu-
tion of the Years.
ALBUMEN, the white of an egg. For its nature,
origin, and office, fee EGG.
The white of an egg, according to Boerhaave, makes
an extraordinary menftruum. Being boiled hard in the
fhell, and afterwards fufpended in the air by a thread,
it refolves and drops down into an infipid, fcentleſs, li-
quor, which appears to be that anomalous unaccount-
able menftruum fo much ufed by Paracelfus; and will,
though it contain nothing fharp, oleaginous, or fapo-
naceous, make a thorough folution of myrrh
which
; which
is more than either water, oil, fpirits, or even fire itſelf,
can effect.
✔
A little putrid white of egg taken into the ftomach,
occafions a nauſea, horror, fainting, vomiting, diarrhoea,
and gripes; it inflames the bile, excites heat, thirft, fe-
ver ; and diffolves the humours like the plague.. On
the contrary, the white of frefh-laid eggs, if taken
while warm from the hen, is extremely nourishing to
the infirm it may be taken in luke-warm milk; but if
any other heat is applied to it, the nutritious quality
`will be deſtroyed. The fresh white of egg prevents
burns from rifing in blifters, if it is ufed immediately
after the accident: it mitigates inflammations of the
eyes, and preferves the face from fun-burning. In phar-
macy, it is uſed as a medium to render balfams and tur-
pentines, &c. mifcible with aqueous fluids; but as it
diſagrees with many ftomachs when thus taken, a mu-
cilage of gum arabic may ſupply its place, it being as
>
Albu
Alca.
good a medium in fimilar circumſtances, and not apt to
offend the tendereſt ſtomach.-Whites of eggs are alfo querque
ufeful for clarifying liquors; to which purpoſe, being
mixed and incorporated with the liquors to be clari-
fied, and the whole afterwards boiled, the whites of
eggs are by this means brought together and harden-
ed, and thus carry off the grofs parts of the liquor along
with them.
ALBUQUERQUE, a fmall city in Spain, in the
province of Eftremadura, is feated on an eminence, nine
miles from the frontiers of Portugal. It is command-
ed by an almost impregnable fortrefs, built on a high
mountain, and ferving to defend the town. It carries
on a great trade in wool and woollen manufactures. It
was taken by the allies of Charles king of Spain, in-
1705. W. Long. 7. 0. N. Lat. 38. 52.
ALBURN, the English name of a compound co-
lour, being a mixture of white and red, or reddiſh.
brown. Skinner derives the word, in this fenfe, from
the Latin albus, and the Italian burno, from bruno,
brown.
ALBURNUM, the foft white fubftance which in
trees is found between the fiber or inner bark and the
wood, and in progrefs of time acquiring folidity, be-
comes itfelf the wood. From its colour and compara-
tive ſoftneſs, it has been ftyled by fome writers the fat
of trees, adeps arborum.
The alburnum is found in largeſt quantities in trees.
that are vigorous; though in fuch as languish, or are
fickly, there is a great number of beds. In an oak
fix inches in diameter, this fubftance is nearly equal in
bulk to the wood. In a trunk of one foot diameter,
it is as one to three and a half; of two and a half feet.
diameter, as one to four and a half, &c. but theſe pro-.
portions vary according to the health and conftitution -
of the trees.-The alburnum is frequently gnawed in
pieces by infects, which lodge in the fubftance, and are--
nouriſhed from it.
ALBURNUS, in zoology, a fpecies of the cyprinus“
of Linnæus. See CYPRINUS.
ALCA, or AUK, in ornithology, a genus of the.
order of anferes. The beak of this genus is without
teeth, fhort, convex, compreffed, and frequently fur-
rowed tranfverfely; the inferior mandible is gibbous
near the bafe; the feet have generally three toes. The
fpecies of the alca are 12; of which the most remark-
able are,
1. The impennis, northern penguin, or great auk,.
with a compreffed bill furrowed on each fide, and an
oval ſpot on each fide of the eyes. According to Mr
Martin, this bird breeds on the isle of St Kilda ; ap-
pearing there the beginning of May, and retiring the
middle of June. It lays one egg, which is fix inches
long, of a white colour; fome are irregularly marked
with purplifh lines croffing each other, others blotched.
with black, and ferruginous about the thicker end: if
the egg is taken away, it will not lay another that fea-
fon.. Mr Macaulay informs us that it does not viſit
that iſland annually, but fometime keeps away for fe--
veral years together; and adds, that it lays its egg-
cloſe to the fea-mark, being incapable, by reafon of the
fhortness of its wings, to mount higher. The length
of this bird, to the end of its toes, is three feet: but
its wings are fo fmall, as to be ufelefs for flight; the-
length, from the tip of the longeft quill-feathers to
the-
ALC
[ 360
]
AL C
Alca.
}
us.
+
the first joint, being only four inches and a quarter.
This bird is obferved by feamen never to wander be-
yond foundings; and according to its appearance they
direct their meaſures, being then affured that land is not
very remote. It fometimes frequents the coafts of Nor-
way, the Ferroe ifles, Iceland, Greenland, and New-
foundland; and feeds much on the lump-fish, father-lafh-
er, and other fiſh of that fize. The young birds eat rofe-
root, and other plants. The old ones are very rarely feen
on fhore, tho' the young ones are not unfrequently met
with. It is a very fhy bird. It walks ill; but dives well,
and is taken in the manner ufed for the razor-bill and
puffin. The fkin between the jaws is blown into a blad-
der, and uſed for the darts of the Greenlanders, as is
alſo that of fome other birds. The ſkin of the body is
fuppoſed to be uſed by the Eſquimaux Indians for gar-
ments.
2. The alle, little auk, or black and white diver,
with a ſmooth conical bill, a white ſtreak on the belly
and wings, and black feet. The bulk of this fpecies
exceeds not that of a black-bird.
It is not very
common in Britain, being only met with now and then.
It ſeems to be moft plentiful towards the north, being
met with in various parts as far as Spitzbergen. It is
common in Greenland, in company with the black-
billed fpecies; feeds on the fame food; and lays two
blueish white eggs, larger than thoſe of a pigeon. It
flies quick, and dives well; and is always dipping its
bill into the water while fwimming or at reft on the
'water. It grows fat in the ftormy feafon, from the
waves bringing plenty of crabs and fmall fish within its
reach; but from its fize it is lefs fought after than the
others In Greenland it is called the Ice-bird, being
the harbinger of ice. This fpecies is fometimes feen
of a pure white.
3. The arctica, or puffin, with a compreffed bill
and four furrows; the orbit of the eyes and temples
are white.
The legs of this fpecies are very ſmall;
and placed ſo far behind as to difqualify it from ftand-
ing, except quite erect, refting not only on the foot,
* It attends but the whole length of the leg. This circumftance*
every one makes the rife of the puffin from the ground very dif-
of the ge- ficult, and it meets with many falls before it gets on
wing; but when that is effected, few birds fly longer
or ftronger. Theſe birds frequent the coafts of feveral
parts of Great Britain and Ireland; but no place in
greater numbers than Prieſtholm iſle, where their flocks
Inay be compared to fwarms of bees for multitude.
Theſe are birds of paffage; they refort there annually
about the fifth or tenth of April, quit the place (almoft
to a bird), and retur. twice or thrice before they fettle
to burrow and prepare for ovation and incubation. They
begin to burrow the firft week in May; but ſome few
fave themſelves that trouble, and diflodge the rabbits
from their holes, taking poffeffion of them till their
departure from the ifle. Thoſe which form their own
burrows, are at that time fo intent on the work as to
fuffer themſelves to be taken by the hand. This taſk
falls chiefly to the hare of the males; who alſo affift
in incubation. The firſt young are hatched the begin-
ning of July. The old ones fhow vaft affection to-
wards them; and feem totally infenfible of danger in
the breeding feafon. If a parent is taken at that time,
and fufpended by the wings, it will in a fort of deſpair
treat itſelf moft cruelly, by biting every part it can
N° 9.
I
reach; and the moment it is loofed, will never offer to
efcape, but inftantly refort to its unfledged young :
this affection ceaſes at the ftated time of migration,
which is moft pun&tally about the 11th of Auguſt,
when they leave fuch young as cannot fly to the mercy
of the peregrine falcon, who watches the mouths of
the houfe for the appearance of the little deferted puf-
fins, which, forced by hunger, are compelled to leave
their burrows. They lay only one egg. The eggs dif-
fer much in form: fome have one end very acute; others
have both extremely obtufe; all are white. Their flesh
is exceffively rank, as they feed on fea-weeds and fish,
eſpecially fprats: but when pickled and preferved with
fpices, are admired by thoſe who love high-eating. Dr
Caius tells, that, in his days, the church allowed them
in lent, instead of fish: he alfo acquaints us, that they.
were taken by means of ferrets, as we take rabbits: at
prefent, they are either dug out, or drawn from their
burrows by a hooked ftick: they bite extremely hard;
and keep fuch faft, hold on whatever they faften, as not
to be easily disengaged. Their noife, when taken, is
very difagreeable; being like the efforts of a dumb per-
fon to fpeak. Theſe birds are alfo common in Ire-
land; on the iſland Sherries, three leagues N. N. W.
of Holyhead; and in the S. Stack, near Holyhead,
they breed in plenty. They inhabit Iceland and Green-
land; and breed in the extreme part of the iſlands. It
is alfo found in the Ferroe ifles, where it is called
Lunda; and in the Farn ifles, where it is called Coulter-.
neb, from the ſhape of the bill. It goes alſo by vari-
ous other names; fuch as Gulden-head, Bottle-nofe, and
Helegug, in Wales; at Scarborough, Mullet; and in
Cornwall, Pope. In America they are faid to frequent
Carolina in winter; and have been met with in Sand-
wich Sound by our late voyagers: the natives ornament
the fore parts and collar of their feal-ſkin jackets with
the beaks of them; and thoſe of Aoonalaſhka wear
gowns of their ſkins, along with thoſe of other birds.
On the coaſt of Kamtſchatka and the Kurulſchi iſlands
they are common, even on the Penſchinſki bay, almoſt
as far as Ochotka: the nations of the two firft wear the
bills about their necks faſtened to ftraps; and, accor-
ding to the fuperftition of theſe people, their ſhaman
or prieſt muſt put them on with a proper ceremony, in
order to procure good fortune.
4. The torda, or razor-bill, with four furrows on
the bill, and a white line on each fide running from the
bill to the eyes. Theſe birds, in company with the
guillemot, appear in our feas the beginning of Febru
ary; but do not fettle on their breeding places till they
begin to lay, about the beginning of May. They in-
habit the ledges of the higheft rocks that impend over
the fea, where they form a grotefque appearance; fit-
ting cloſe together, and in rows one above another.
They properly lay but one egg a-piece, of an extra-
ordinary fize for the bulk of the bird, being three inches
long: it is either white, or of a pale fea-green, irre-
gularly ſpotted with black: if this egg is deftroyed,
both the auk and the guillemot will lay another; if
that is taken, then a third: they make no neft, depo-
fiting their egg on the bare rock; and though fuch
multitudes lay contiguous, by a wonderful inftinct each
diſtinguiſhes its own. What is alfo matter of great
amazement, they fix their egg on the ſmooth rock, with
fo exact a balance, as to fecure it from rolling off; yet
fhould
Alca.
ALC
361 ]
ALG
[
Alca.
fhould it be removed, and then attempted to be repla-
ced by the human hand, it is extremely difficult, if not
impoffible, to find its former equilibrium. According
to Mr Latham, it is by means of a cement that the
bird fixed its egg. The eggs are food to the inhabi-
tants of the coafts they frequent; which they get with
great hazard; being lowered from above by ropes,
trufting to the ftrength of their companions, whofe
footing is often fo unftable that they are forced down
the precipice, and perifh together. Thefe birds are
found in the north of Europe, alfo in Iceland, Green-
land, and on the coaſt of Labrador. In Europe they
extend along the White Sea into the Arctic Afiatic
fhores, and from thence to Kamtſchatka and the gulph
of Ochotka: It is the only one which reaches the inland
Baltic; being found there on the Carls-Ozar ifles, near
Gothland, and the ifle of Bondon off Angermania.
Alcæus.
with, by placing a fimilar ftrip of the white ſkin of Alca,
the glutton behind each ear, hanging down behind by
way of ornament; and is a well-received prefent from
a lover to his miſtreſs. The bills both of this and the
common puffin were formerly held by the natives as a
charm, and worn by the prieſts as amulets; indeed at
the prefent theſe have been ſeen fixed round their head-
dreffes, but fuppofed now to be only efteemed as mere
ornaments: the fkins are however made uſe of for
clothing, being fewed together. It is called in Kamt-
fchatka, Muechagatka; and in Ofchotka, Igilma.
7. The pfittacula, or perroquet auk, of Dr Pallas,
is about the fize of the little auk. The bill is much
compreffed on the fides, in fhape convex both above
and below, and of a bright red colour : from the re-
mote corner of each eye is a very ſlender tuft of fine
white feathers, hanging down the neck: the head and
5. The pica, or black-billed auk, has the bill of the upper part of the body are duſky; the lower whitiſh,
fame form with the torda, but is entirely black. The varied with black edges: the legs are of a dirty yel-
cheeks, chin, and throat, are white: in all other re- low; and the webs dufky. This fpecies is found at
fpects it agrees with the former fpecies. Mr Latham Kamtfchatka, in the ifles towards Japan, and on the
is of opinion that it is no other than the young of that weftern fhores of America. They are fometimes feen
fpecies. Mr Pennant obferves, that it is fometimes
fometimes in flocks, but feldom far from land, except driven by
found on our coafts; but, according to Mr Latham, ftorms. Of nights they harbour in the crevices of
it is in the winter-feafon only, when the common fort rocks. They lay an egg almoſt the ſize of a hen's, of
has quitted them. They are faid to be met with on a dirty white or yellowish colour ſpotted with brown ;
the coaft of Candia and other parts of the Mediterra- which they do about the middle of June, upon the
Like moft
"where, no doubt (Mr Latham obferves) the bare rock or fand, for they make no neſt.
n;
complete old bird is likewife found, as I have been in- of the tribe, they are ftupid birds, as may be evinced
formed that they are common in the bay of Gibraltar, by the ridiculous method of catching them :-One of
where it curious to fee their activity under water the natives places himſelf under a looſe garment of fur,
when purſuing the fiſh; for, as the water in the bay of a particular make, with large open fleeves, among
is fometimes clear for a great depth from the furface, the rocks, at evening; when the birds, returning to
theſe birds may be often feen as it were flying after their lodging-places at dusk, run under the ſkirts, and
their prey, with all the agility of a bird in the air, up the arm-holes, for fhelter during the night; and
turning in every direction after the fish, with fuch thus become an eafy prey. Their ftupidity likewife
wonderful addreſs and dexterity as feldom to mifs their occafions them to fly aboard a ſhip at fuch times, mif-
aim."
taking it for a roofting-place; whereby navigators have
been taught to avoid the danger of falling in too near
with land, either of evenings, or on approaching ftorms.
The eggs are eſteemed good.
nean
6. The cirrhata of Dr Pállas, or tufted auk, fome-
what bigger than the common puffin, and the colours
much the fame: the bill is an inch and three-quarters
in length, the fame in depth at the baſe, and croffed
with three furrows: over each eye ariſes a tuft of fea-
thers four inches in length, which falls elegantly on
each fide of the neck, reaching almoft to the back;
and are white as far as they are attached to the head,
but afterwards of a fine buff yellow: the legs are of
a bright red, the claws black. The female is princi-
pally diftinguished by having the bill croffed only with
two furrows inftead of three. This fpecies inhabits
the fhores of Kamtfchatka, the Kurile iſlands, and
thoſe intervening between Kantfchatka and America.
In manners it greatly reſembles the puffin; living all
day at ſea, but at no great diſtance from the rocks;
it comes on fhore at night; burrows a yard deep under
ground, and makes a neft, with feathers and fea-plants;
is monogamous, and lodges there the whole night with
its mate. It lays one white egg, the end of May or
beginning of June, which alone is thought fit to be
eaten, the fleſh of the bird itſelf being infipid and
hard. It feeds on crabs, fhrimps, and fhell-fiſh, which
laſt it forces from the rocks with its ftrong bill. Pal-
las remarks, that the Kamtfchatkan girls imitate the
zufts of thefe birds, which nature has fupplied them
VOL. I. Part I.
ALCÆUS, a famous ancient lyric poet, born at
Mitylene, in the iſland of Lefbos. Horace feems te
think him the inventor of this kind of poefy:
Now the Roman mufe infpire,
And warm the fong with Grecian fire. Francis.
He flourished in the 44th Olympiad, at the fame time
with Sappho, who was likewife of Mitylene. Alcaus
was a great enemy to tyrants, but not a very brave fol-
dier. He was prefent at an engagement, wherein the
Athenians gained a victory over the Lefbians; and
here, as he himſelf is faid to have confeffed in one of
his pieces, he threw down his arms, and faved himſelf
by flight.
by flight. Horace, who, of all the Latin poets, moft
refembled Alcæus, has made the like confeſſion :
The
With thee I faw Philippi's plain,
Its fatal rout, a fearful fcene!
And dropp'd, alas! th' inglorious ſhield,
Where valour's felf was forc'd to yield;
Where foil'd in duft the vanquifh'd lay,
And breath'd th' indignant foul away. Francis.
poetical abilities of Alcæus are indifputed; and
Z Z
though
!
AL C
[362
AL C
]
Alcaus, though his writings were chiefly in the lyric ftrain, yet
Alcaics. his mufe was capable of treating the fublimeft fubjects
with a fuitable dignity. Hence Horace fays,,
Alcæus ftrikes the golden frings,
And feas, and war, and exile, fings.
Thus while they ftrike the various lyre,
The ghofts the facred founds admire :
But when Alcæus lifts the ſtrain
To deeds of war and tyrants flain,
In thicker crowds the fhadowy throng
Drink deeper down the martial fong.
Francis.
ALCEUS, an Athenian tragic poet, and, as fome
think, the first compofer of tragedies. He renoun-
ced his native country Mitylene, and paffed for an A-
thenian. He left ten pieces, one of which was Pa-
fiphaë, that which he produced when he diſputed with
Ariſtophanes, in the fourth year of the 97th Olympiad.
There is another ALCEUS mentioned in Plutarch,
perhaps the fame whom Porphyrius mentions as a com-
pofer of fatirical iambics and epigrams, and who
wrote a poem concerning the plagiarifm of Euphorus
the hiftorian. He lived in the 145th Olympiad.
We are told likewife of one ALCEUS, a Meffenian,
who lived in the reign of Vefpafian and Titus. We
know not which of thefe it was who fuffered for his
lewdneſs a very fingular kind of death, which gave oc-
cafion to the following epitaph.
Αλκαιο ταφος are, &c,
This is Alcaus's tomb; who died by a radiſh,
The daughter of the earth, and puniſher of Adulterers.
This punishment inflicted on adulterers, was thruſting
one of the largeſt radiſhes up the anus of the adulterer :
or, for want of radishes, they made uſe of a fiſh with
a very large head, which Juvenal alludes to :
Sat. x.
Quofdam mechos et mugilis intrat.
The mullet enters fome behind.
Hence we may underſtand the menace of Catullus,
Epig. xv.
Ah! tum te miferum, malique fati,
Quem attractis pedibus, patente porta,
Percurrent raphanique magilefque.
Ah! wretched thou, and born to lucklefs fate,
Who art diſcover'd by the unfhut gate!
If once, alas the jealous huſband come,
The radish or the fea-fifh is thy doom.
ALCAICS, in ancient poetry, a denomination gi-
ven to ſeveral kinds of verſe, from Alcæus, their in-
yentor.
The firft kind confifts of five feet, viz. a fpondee, or
jambic; an iambic; a long fyllable; a dactyle; ano-
ther dactyle fuch is the following verfe of Horace,
Omnes eodem cogimur, | omnium
Verfatur ur\n \ferius |ocyus |
Sors exitura.
The fecond kind confifts of two dactyles and two tro-
chees: as,
Exilium impofi\tura | cymba.
Befides theſe two, which are called dactylic Alcaïcs,
there is another ftyled fimply Alcaic; confifting of an
epitrite; a choriambus; another choriambus; and a
bacchius: the following is of this fpecies,
Cur timet favum Tiberim tangere, cur folivum?
Alcanna.
ALCAIC Ode, a kind of manly ode compofed of fe- Alcaie
veral ftrophes, each confifting of four verfes; the two
firſt of which are always Alcaïcs of the firſt kind; the
third verfe is a diameter hypercatalectic, or confiſt-
ing of four feet and a long fyllable; and the fourth
verfe is an Alcaïc of the fecond kind. The following
ſtrophe is of this ſpecies, which Horace calls minaces
Alcai camena.
Non poffidentem multa vocaveris
Recte beatum: rectius occupat
Nomen beati, qui deorum
Muneribus fapienter uti, &c..
ALCAID, ALCAYDE, OF ALCALDE, in the polity
of the Moors, Spaniards, and Portugueſe, a magiftrate,
or officer of justice, anfwering nearly to the French
provoft and the Britiſh juftice-of-peace.-The alcaid
among the Moors is vefted with fupreme jurifdiction,
both in civil and criminal cafes.
ALCALA DE GUADEIRA, a fmall town of Spain,.
in Andalufia, upon the river Guadeira. Here are a-
bundance of fprings, from whence they convey water
to Seville by an aqueduct. W. long. 6. 16. N. lat..
37. 15.
ALCALA de Henares, a beautiful and large city of
Spain, in New Caftile, feated upon the river Henares,
which waſhes its walls. It is built in a very agreeable
plain, and is of an oval figure. The ftreets are hand-
fome and pretty ſtraight; one of them is very long, run-
ning from one end of the city to the other. The houſes
of which is an ornament to the city; it is furrounded on
are well built; and there are feveral fquares, the larget
all fides with piazzas, where tradeſmen have their ſhops,.
to expofe feveral forts of commodities to fale, of which
there is as great plenty and variety as in moft towns, of
Spain. The univerfity was founded by cardinal Xime-
nes, archbiſhop of Toledo, about the beginning of the
16th century. The land about Alcala is watered by
the Henares, well cultivated, and very fruitful, while
that at a diſtance is dry and fterile: it yields grain in›
plenty, very good muſcat wine, and melons of a deli--
cious kind. Without the walls is a ſpring, the water
of which is fo pure and fo well tafted, that it is inclo-
fed and fhut up for the king of Spain's own ufe, from.
whence it is carried to Madrid.-This city is 10 miles.
ſouth-west of Guadalaxara, and 13 miles eaft. of Ma-
drid. W. long. 4. 20. N. lat. 40. 30.
ALCALA-Real, a fmall city of Spain, in Andalufia,
with a fine abbey. It is built on the top of a high:
mountain, in a mountainous country; and the road to
it is incommodious, rough, and unequal; but to make
amends for this, here are feveral kinds of exquifite fruit
and wine. W. Long. 4. 15. N. Lat. 37. 18.
ALCALY, or ALCALI,, or ALKALI. See CHE-
MISTRY, Index.
ALCANIS, a town of Arragon in Spain, feated
on the river Gaudaloup, twelve miles from Calpe. It
was formerly the capital of the kingdom of the Moors;
but being taken from them, it was made a commandery.
of the order of Calatrava. Here is a very remarkable
fountain, which throws up water through 42 pipes,
It is furrounded with gardens and fruit-trees, and de-
fended with a good fortrefs. W. Long. o. 5. N. Lat.
41. O.
ALCANNA, in commerce, a powder prepared from
the
*
ALC
[ 363 ]
ALC
Alcaffar.
Alcavala.
Alcantara the leaves of the Egyptian privet, in which the people of madura, which has a caftle faid to be impregnable. It Alcaffar,
Cairo drive a confiderable trade. It is much ufed by the is indeed very ftrong, both by art and nature, being
Turkish women to give a golden colour to their nails built on the top of a rock which is exceedingly ſteep on
and hair. In dyeing, it gives a yellow colour when all fides. Here is a falt-work which produces very fine
ſteeped with common water, and a red one when in- white falt, from whence the town takes its name. The
fufed in vinegar. There is alſo an oil extracted from fields produce large quantities of a fort of ruſhes, of
the berries of alcanna, and uſed in medicine as a which they make mats, which are tranſported out of
calmer.
the kingdom. W. Long. 9. 10. N. Lat. 38. 18.
ALCANTARA, a fmall, but very ftrong city of
Eftremadura, in Spain. It gives name to one of the
three orders of knighthood. It is feated on the banks
of the Tajo, or Tagus, 21 miles from Coria, in a
very fruitful foil, and is celebrated for its bridge over
that river. This was built in the time of the emperor
Trajan, as appears by an infcription over one of the
arches, by the people of Lufitania, who were affeffed
to fupply the expence. It is raifed 200 feet above the
level of the water; and though it confifts but of fix
arches, is 670 feet in length, and 28 in breadth. At
the entrance of the bridge, there is a ſmall antique
chapel hewn in a rock by the ancient Pagans, who de-
dicated it to Trajan, as the Chriſtians did to St Julian.
This city was built by the Moors, on account of the
convenience of this bridge; which is at a place where
the Tajo is very deep, running between two high fteep
rocks: for this reafon, they called it Al-Cantara, which,
in their language, fignifies the Bridge. It was taken
from them in 1214, and given to the knights of Cala-
trava, who afterwards affumed the name of Alcantara.
It was taken by the Earl of Galloway, in April, 1706,
and retaken by the French in November following.
It is 45 miles from Madrid, and 125 from Seville.
W. Long. 7. 12. N. Lat. 39. 30.
Knights of ALCANTARA, a military order of Spain,
which took its name from the above-mentioned city.
They make a very confiderable figure in the hiftory of
the expeditions againſt the Moors. The knights of
Alcantara make the fame vows as thofe of Calatrava,
and are only diſtinguiſhed from them by this, that the
crofs fleur de lys, which they bear over a large white
cloak, is of a green colour. They poffefs 37 com
manderies. By the terms of the furrender of Alcan-
tara to this order, it was ftipulated, that there fhould
be a confraternity between the two orders, with the
fame practices and obſervances in both; and that the
order of Alcantara fhould be fubject to be vifited by
the grand-mafter of Calatrava. But the former foon
releaſed themſelves from this engagement, on pretence
that their grand-maſter had not been called to the elec-
tion of that of Calatrava, as had been likewife ftipula-
ted in the articles. After the expulfion of the Moors,
and the taking of Granada, the fovereignty of the or-
der of Alcantara and that of Calatrava was fettled in
the crown of Caftile by Ferdinand and Ifabella.-In
1540, the knights of Alcantara fued for leave to `mar-
ry, which was granted them.
ALCAREŽ, a ſmall city of La Mancha, in Spain,
defended by a pretty ftrong caftle, and remarkable for
an ancient aqueduct. It stands near the river Guarda-
mena, and the foil about it is very fruitful. They
have a breed of little running-horfes, which are very
fleet and ſtrong. It is 25 miles north of the confines
of Andalufia, 108 fouth of Cuenza, and 138 fouth-by-
caft of Madrid. W. Long. 1. 50. N. Lat. 38. 28.
ALCASSAR DO SAL, a town of Portugal, in Eftre
ALCASSAR, a city of Barbary, feated about two
leagues from Larache, in Afga, a province of the king-
dom of Fez. It was of great note, and the feat of the
governor of this part of the kingdom. It was built
by Jacob Almanzor, king of Fez, about the
year 1180,
and defigned for a magazine and place of rendezvous
for the great preparations he was making to enter
Granada in Spain, and to make good the footing Jo-
feph Almanzor had got fome time before. It is faid
his father firft invaded Spain with 300,000 men, moft
of whom he was obliged to bring back to Africa to
quiet a rebellion that had broke out in Morocco. This
done, he returned to Spain again with an army, as is
faid, of 200,000 horfe and 300,000 foot. The city
is now fallen greatly to decay, fo that of fifteen mofques
there are only two that they make uſe of. The reafon,
probably, is the bad fituation of the town; for it ftands
fo low, that it is exceffively hot in fummer, and almoft
overflowed with water in the winter. This they affirm
to be owing to a curfe of one of their faints. Here
are a great number of ftorks, who live very familiarly
with the people, walking about the town, poffeffing
the tops of the houfes and mofques without molefta-
tion; for they eſteem them facred birds, and account it
finful to diſturb them. At preſent, the bafhaw of Te-
tuan appoints a governor to this town, which is the
laft of his dominions towards Mequinez. Near this city
there is a high ridge of mountains, running towards
Tetuan, whofe inhabitants were never brought entirely
under fubjection; and whenever it was attempted, they
revenged themſelves by infeſting the roads, and robbing
and deftroying the travellers. When they were purfued,
they retired into their woody mountains, where none
could fafely follow them. Not far from hence is the
river Elmahaffen, famous for the battle fought between
Don Sebaftian king of Portugal and the Moors; in
which the Portugueſe were defeated and their king
flain. W. Long. 12, 35. N. Lat. 35. 15.
ALCAVALA, in the Spanish finances, was at
firſt a tax of ten per cent. afterwards of fourteen per
cent. and is at prefent of only fix per cent. upon the
fale of every fort of property, whether moveable or im-
moveable; and it is repeated every time the property
is fold. The levying of this tax requires a multitude
of revenue-officers fufficient to guard the tranſportation
of goods, not only from one province to another, but
from one fhop to another. It fubjects not only the
dealers in fome forts of goods, but thofe in all forts,
every farmer, every manufacturer, every merchant and
fhopkeeper, to the continual vifits and examination of
the tax-gatherers. Through the greater part of a
country in which a tax of this kind is eſtabliſhed, no-
thing can be produced for diſtant fale. The produce
of every part of the country muſt be proportioned to
the confumption of the neighbourhood. It is to the
Alcavala, accordingly, that Uftaritz imputes the ruin
of the manufactures of Spain. He might have impu-
Z z z
ted
}
AL C
[364
]
AL C
Alcazar ted to it likewife the declenfion of agriculture, it being
H
impoſed not only upon manufactures, but upon the
rude produce of the land.
Alcea.
ALCAZAR LEGUER, a town of Africa, in the
kingdom of Fez, and in the province of Ilabat. It
was taken by Alphonfo, king of Portugal, in 1468;
but foon after that, it was abandoned to the Moors.
It is feated on the coaft of the ftraits of Gibraltar.
W. Long. 5. 30. N. Lat. 38. 0.
ALCAZER, a town of Spain, in New Caftile, feat-
ed on the river Guardamana, which has a fortreſs on
a high hill for its defence, and lies in a very fruitful
country. It 100 miles north-weft of Carthagena.
W. Long. 2. 10. N. Lat. 38. 1
15.
ALCE, ALCES, or ELK, in zoology, the trivial
name of a ſpecies of the cervus, belonging to the order
of mammalia pecora. See CERVUS.
ALCEA, the HOLLY-HOCK: A genus of the poly-
andria order, belonging to the monodelphia clafs of
plants; and in the natural method ranking under the
37th order, Columnifera. The characters are: The
calyx is a double perianthium, monophyllous and per-
fiftent; the exterior one fix-cleft, the interior half five-
cleft: The corolla confifts of five petals, coalefced at
the baſe, heart-ſhaped inverfely, and expanding: The
ftamina confift of numerous filaments, coalefced below
into a five-cornered cylinder, looſe above, and inferted
into the corolla; the antheræ are kidney-ſhaped: The
piftillum has a roundish germen; a fhort cylindric ftylus;
and numerous briftly ftigmata the length of the ftylus:
The pericarpium confifts of many arilli, jointed into a
verticillum about a columnar depreffed receptacle: The
feeds are folitary, reniform, and depreffed.
}
Species. Although Linnæus mentions two diſtinct
fpecies of this. genus,. viz. the rofea and ficifolia, he
thinks, that the latter may perhaps be only a va-
riety of the former; but Mr Miller affirms them to be
diſtinct ſpecies, whofe difference in the form of their
leaves always continues. The leaves of the firſt fort
are roundish,. and cut at their extremities into angles;
thofe of the ſecond are deeply cut into fix or feven feg-
ments, fo as to reſemble a hand. Cultivation produces
almoſt an infinite variety of this plant, fuch as double-
flowered, fingle-flowered, deep red, pale red, blackiſh
red, white, purple, yellow, and flesh-colour. The firft
fpecies is a native of China, the ſecond grows alſo in
tria. Tho' natives of warm countries, they are hardy
enough to thrive in the open air in Britain, and have
for many years been fome of the greateſt ornaments in
gardens, towards the end of fummer; but they have the
inconvenience of growing too large for fmall gardens,
and requiring tall ftakes to fecure them from being
broken by ftrong winds. In large gardens, however,
when properly difpofed, they make a fine appearance;
for as their ſpikes of flowers grow very tall, there will
be a fucceffion of them on the ſame ſtems more than two
months: the flowers on the lower part of the ſpike ap-
pear in July; and as their ftalks advance, new flowers
are produced till near the end of September. When
planted in good ground, the ftalks will often rife to
the height of eight or nine feet; fo that near fix feet of
each will be garniſhed with flowers, which, when double
and of good colours, make a very beautiful appearance.
Culture. The holly-hock is propogated by feeds,
which fhould be carefully faved from thofe plants whofe Alcedo.
flowers are double and of the beſt colours: for though
the duplicity of the flowers, as well as their colour, are
only accidental properties, yet the young plants will
produce nearly the fame kind of flowers with thofe
from which the feeds are taken, provided no plants with:
fingle or bad-coloured flowers are permitted to grow
near them; and as foon as fuch appear they ought to
be removed from the good ones, that their farina may
not ſpread into the others, which would cauſe them to
degenerate. The feeds ought to be gathered very dry,
and remain in their capfules until fpring; but care muft
be taken that no wet comes to them in winter, other-
wife the covers would turn mouldy, and ſpoil their con-
tents. They ſhould be fown in drills, about the middle
of April, on a bed of light earth, and covered with
earth of the fame kind about half an inch deep. When
the plants have put out fix or eight leaves, they fhould
be tranfplanted into nurſery-beds, obferving to water
them until they have taken good root; after which
they will require no farther care, but to keep them
clean from weeds till October, when they fhould be
tranfplanted where they are to remain.
ALCEDO, or KINGSFISHER, in ornithology, a ge-
nus of the order of pice. The alcedo has a long,
ftrait, thick, triangular bill; with a fleshy, plain, fhort,
flat tongue.
Of this genus there are a great many fpecies, with
one or other of which almoſt every part of the world
is furniſhed. Moft of them frequent rivers, and live on
fiſh, the fingularity of catching which is admirable :
fometimes hovering over the water, where a fhoal of
fmall fiſhes is feen playing near the furface; at other
times waiting with attention, on fome low branch
hanging over the water, for the approach of a fingle
one who is fo unlucky as to fwim that way; in either
cafe dropping like a ſtone, or rather darting with ra-
pidity on his prey; when, feizing it croffwife in his bill,
it retires to a reſting place to feaft on it; which it does
piecemeal, bones and all, without referve, afterwards
bringing up the indegiftible parts in pellets, like birds
of prey. The wings of moft of the genus are very ſhort;
yet the birds fly rapidly, and with great ſtrength. It
may be remarked, that throughout this genus, blue, in
different ſhades, is the moſt predominant colour.-The
fpecies found in the South Sea Iſlands are held in a kind
of fuperftitious veneration by the natives of the places
they feverally inhabit, perhaps on account of their be-
ing frequently feen flying about the morais or burial-
places. That which inhabits Otaheite, where it is
called Erooro, is accounted particularly facred, and not
allowed to be taken or killed.
1. The iſpida, or common kingsfiſher, is not much
larger than a fwallow; its fhape is clumfy; the bill dif-
proportionably 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 attone for its inelegant form:
the crown of the head and the coverts. 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-fide of the body is orange-coloured; a
broad mark of the fame paffes from the bill beyond
the eyes; beyond that is a large white fpot: the tail
is fhort, and confifts of twelve feathers of a rich deep
blue s
1
ALC
365 ]
[
AL C
A
{
Alcedo. blue; the feet are of a reddiſh yellow, and the three
joints of the outmoſt toe adhere to the middle toe,
while the inner toe adheres only by one.
It was therefore neceffary to place it in a tranquil fea, Alcedo.
and to ſupply the bird with charms to allay the fury
of a turbulent element during the time of its incubation;
for it had, at that ſeaſon, power over the feas and the
winds.
From the diminutive fize, the flender ſhort legs, and
the beautiful colours of this bird, no perſon would be
led to ſuppoſe it one of the moſt rapacious little ani-
mals that fkims the deep. Yet it is for ever on the
wing, and feeds on fifh; which it takes in furpriſing
quantities, when we confider its fize and figure. It takes
its
prey after the manner of the ofprey, balancing itſelf
at a certain diſtance above the water for a confiderable
fpace, then darting into the deep, and feizing the fiſh
with inevitable certainty. While it remains fufpended
in the air, in a bright day, the plumage exhibits a beau-
tiful variety of the moſt dazzling and brilliant colours.
This ftriking attitude did not eſcape the notice of the
ancients; for Iby cus, as quoted by Athenæus, ftyles thefe
birds αλκυονες τανυσιπτεροι, the halcyons with expanded
wings. It makes its neft in holes in the fides of the
cliffs, which it ſcoops to the depth of three feet; and
lays from five to nine eggs, of a moft beautiful femi-
tranfparent white. The female begins to lay early in
the feaſon, and excludes her firſt brood about the be-
ginning of April. The male, whoſe fidelity exceeds
even that of the turtle, brings her large provifions of
fiſh while fhe is thus employed; and fhe, contrary to
moſt other birds, is found plump and fat at that fea-
fon. The male, that uſed to twitter before this, now
enters the neft as quietly and as privately as poffible.
The young ones are hatched at the expiration of 20
days; but are ſeen to differ as well in their fize as in
their beauty.
This fpecies is the anxuwvapar, or mute halcyon of
Ariftotle, which he defcribes with more precifion than
is ufual with that great philofopher. After his defcrip-
tion of the bird follows that of its neft: than which
the moſt inventive of the ancients have delivered no-
thing that appears at firſt fight more fabulous and ex-
travagant. He relates, that it reſembled thoſe con-
cretions that are formed by the fea-water; that it re-
fembled the long-necked gourd; that it was hollow
within; that the entrance was very narrow, fo that,
fhould it overfet, the water could not enter; that it re-
fifted any violence from iron, but could be broke with
a blow from the hand; and that it was compofed of the
bones of the Bexovn, or fea-needle. The neft had medi-
cal virtues afcribed to it; and from the bird was called
Halcyoneum. In a fabulous age, every odd ſubſtance
that was flung afhore received that name; a ſpecies of
tubular coral, a ſponge, a zoophite, and a mifcellane-
ous concrete, having by the ancients been dignified
* Plin. lib, with that title from their imaginary origin*. Yet much
xxxii. c. 8. of this feems to be founded on truth. The form of the
Diofe lib. neft is jufly defcribed; and the materials which Ari-
ſtotle fays it was compofed of, are not entirely of his
own invention. Whoever has feen the neft of the kings-
fiſher, will obferve it ftrewed with the bones and fcales
of fiſh; the fragments of the food of the owner and its
young. On the foundation laid by the philofopher,
fucceeding writers formed other tales extremely abfurd;
and the poets, indulging the powers of imagination,
dreffed the ſtory in all the robes of romance. This neft
was a floating one :
v. c. 94.
Incubat halcyone pendentibus æquore nidis.
}
OVID. Met. lib. xi.
Σ' αλκυνος ςορησευντι τα κύματα, την τε θαλασσαν,
Τον τε νοΐον, τον τ' ευρον, ος εσχατα φυκια κινεί
Αλκυονης, γλαυκαις Νηρηισι ται τε μάλιςα
Ορνιθών εφιλαθεί.
THEOCRIT. Idyl. vii. 1. 57,
May Halcyons fmooth the waves, and calm the feas,
And the rough ſouth-eaſt ſink into a breeze;
Halcyons, of all the birds that haunt the main,
Moſt lov'd and honour'd by the Nereid train.
FAWKES.
Thefe birds were equally favourites with Thetis as with
the Nereids;
Dilectæ Thetidi Halcyones.
VIRG. Georg. I. 399-
as if to their influence theſe deities owed a repoſe in
the midſt of the ftorms of winter, and by their means
were fecured from thofe winds that diſturb their ſub-
marine retreats, and agitated even the plants at the bot-
tom of the ocean.
Such are the accounts given by the Roman and Si-
cilian poets. Ariftotle and Pliny tells us, that this
bird is moft common in the feas of Sicily: that it fat
only a few days, and thoſe in the depth of winter; and
during that period the mariner might fail in full fecu--
rity; for which reaſon they were ftyled Halcyon days.
Perque dies placidos hiberno tempore feptem
Incubat Halcyone pendentibus æquore nidis:
Tum via tuta maris: ventos cuftodit, et arcet
Æolus egreffu.
OVID. Met. lib. xi.
Alcyone, comprefs'd,
Seven days fits brooding on her watery neft,
A wintry queen; her fire at length is kind,
Calms every ſtorm, and huſhes every wind.
DRYDEN,
In after-times, thefe words expreffed any feaſon of
profperity: theſe were the Halcyon days of the poets;
the brief tranquillity, the feptem placidi dies, of human
life.
The poets alfo made it a bird of fong. Virgil feems
to place it in the fame rank with the linnet;
Littoraque Halyconem refonant, et Acanthida dumi.
GEORG. III. 338.
And Silius Italicus celebrates its mufic, and its float--
ing neft:
Cum fonat. Halcyone cantu, nidofque natantes
Immota geftat fopitis fluctibus unda. Lib. xiv. 275.
But theſe writers feem to have transferred to our fpe-
cies, the harmony that belongs to the vocal alcedo
one of the loft birds of the ancients.
**
* Arift.
Hift. ano
As the ancients have had their fables concerning 892.
this bird, fo have the modern vulgar. It is an opi-
nion generally received among them, that the flesh of
the kingsfither will not corrupt, and that it will even
banish all vermin. This has no better foundation than
that which is faid of its always pointing, when hung
up dead, with its breaſt to the north. The only truth
which can be affirmed of this bird when killed is, that
its
·
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AL C
[ 366
366 ]
Alcedo. its fleſh is utterly unfit to be eaten; while its beautiful and the claws blackish. It inhabits Martinico and Alcedo,
plumage preferves its luftre longer than that of any o- Mexico; at which laft it is called Achalalatli. This Alchemilla
bird migrates into the northern parts of Mexico at cer-
tain feafons only, and is fuppofed to come there from
fome hotter parts.
ther bird we know.
This bird is found not only in Britain, but through-
out Europe, Afia, and Africa; as ſpecimens have been
received from both China, Bengal, and Egypt. Be-
lon alſo remarks his having met with it in Romania
and Greece; and Scopoli notices it as a bird of Car-
niola, where he fays it remains the whole year as in
England. Indeed it bears the rigours of the colder
climates fo well, that among the Germans it has gain-
ed the name of Eifzvogel, or Ice Bird: Olina ſpeaks
alſo of its not regarding the ice and cold; and Gmelin
affures us, that it is found even in Tartary and Sibe-
ria. But, however this may be, there are few winters
in which many of theſe birds do not perish, apparently
from cold alone; as feveral have been found frozen
ftiff by the fides of even running water, without the
leaft mark of violence about them. M. D'Aubenton
has kept theſe birds for feveral months, by means of
fmall fish put into baſons of water, on which they have
fed; for on experiment they have refuſed all other
kinds of nourishment.
2. The rudis, or Egyptian kingsfiſher, as deſcribed
by Haffelquist, is the fize of the Royston crow. The
bill is blackiſh, more than half an inch broad at the
bafe, and two inches in length: the head, fhoulders,
and back, are brown, marked with oblong ferruginous
ſpots: the throat is of a ferruginous white: the belly
and thighs are whitish, marked with longitudinal broad-
iſh cinereous ſpots: upper tail coverts are quite white:
the quills fpotted with white on the inner webs, chiefly
at the tips the tail is afh-coloured: the legs are of a
pale green; and the claws blackish. It inhabits lower
Egypt, about Cairo; builds in fycamore and date trees;
and feeds on frogs, infects, and ſmall fish, which laft it
meets with in the fields when they are overflowed. Its
cry is not unlike that of the common crow.
3. Le taparara of Buffon is about the fize of a
ftarling. The upper mandible of the bill is black, the
lower red: the hind part of the neck, the back, and
fcapulars, 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, at which laſt
place the natives call all the kingsfifher tribe by the
name Taparara. In this part of South America, which
contains many rivers full of fiſh, kingsfifhers, as might
be expected, abound in vaft numbers: but what is re-
markable, they never herd together, always being
found fingle, except in breeding-time, which is about
the month of September. They lay their eggs in the
holes of banks, like the kingsfiſher of Europe. The
cry of this bird imitates the word Carac.
4. The torquata, or cinereous kingsfifher, is about
the fize of a magpie, and fifteen inches and a half in
length. The bill is three inches and a half long, and
brown; the baſe of the lower mandible reddiſh: the
head is creſted: the upper parts of the head and body
are blueiſh aſh; the under parts cheſtnut: the throat
is whitiſh, deſcending down the neck, and paffing be-
hind like a collar, ending towards the back in a point:
the under tail coverts are of a pale fulvous, tranfverſe-
ly ftriated with black: leffer wing coverts varied with
blueish, afh, black, and yellowish: the legs are red;
4
[The jacamars are much allied to this genus, and
have been ranked under it by Linnæus: Their toes
are, however, differently placed; their food alfo is
different, being infects alone, and not fiſh; and their
haunts are different, being moiſt woods, and not ſhores
or the banks of rivers.]
5. The galbula, or green jacamar, is about the fize
of a lark. The bill is black, of a ſquare form, a little
incurvated and ſharp at the point: the plumage in ge-
neral, in the upper part of the body, is of a moft bril-
liant green, gloffed with copper and gold in different
lights: the belly, throat, and vent, are rufous: the
tail is compofed of ten feathers, and fhaped like a
wedge: the legs are of a greenish yellow, very fhort
and weak; the claws are black. This fpecies is found
both in Guiana and Brafil, in the moift woods, which
it prefers to the more dry ſpots, for the fake of infects,
on which it feeds. It is feldom feen except fingle, as.
it is a very folitary bird, keeping for the moſt part in
the thickeft parts; its flight quick, but fhort; perches
on branches of a middling height, where it fits all
night, and frequently part of the day, without ſtir-
ring. Though thefe birds are folitary, yet they are
far from fearce, as many may be met with. They are
faid to have a fhort and agreeable note. The natives of
Guiana call this bird Venetore, and the Creoles, Colibri
des grands bois. At Brafil their fleſh is eaten by fome.
8. The paradifea, or paradife jacamar, is of the
fame fize with the former, and has a fimilar bill: the
throat, fore part of the neck, and under wing coverts,
are white: the reft of the plumage is of a deep dull
green, in fome lights appearing almoft black, in others
with a flight gloſs of violet and copper bronze: the
tail is compofed of twelve feathers of unequal lengths:
the two middle ones longeſt: the legs are black: the
toes are placed two before and two behind, and pretty
much united. It inhabits Surinam; and like the
others, it feeds on infects; and fometimes, contrary
to them, frequents open places. It flies farther at a
time, and perches on the tops of trees: It is frequent-
ly found with a companion, not being quite fo folitary
a bird as the other. It alſo differs in the note, having
a kind of foft whiſtle often repeated, but not heard a
great way off.
Above 30 other ſpecies have been deſcribed by orni-
thologifts.
ALCHEMILLA, or LADIES-MANTLE: A genus
of the monogynia order, belonging to the tetrandria
claſs of plants; and in the natural method ranking under
the 35th order Senticofa. The calyx is a fingle-leav’d
perianthium, tubular, and perfiftent; the mouth flat,
and eight-parted: There is no corolla. The ftamina
confift of four ſmall erect fubulated filaments placed in
the mouth of the calyx; the antheræ are roundiſh :
The piftillum has an egg-ſhaped germen: The ftylus is
filiform, the length of the ftamina, and inſerted at the
bafe of the germ: The ftigma is globular. There is
no pericarpium, but the neck of the calyx cloſed. The
feed folitary, elliptical, and compreffed. Of this genus
there are three
Species.
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:
Alchemift, Species. 1. The vulgaris, or common ladies-mantle,
Alchemy, with leaves plaited like a fan, and yellowish-green blof-
foms. It grows naturally in pafture-lands in this as well
as in moft other countries in Europe. The leaves difco-
ver to the taſte a moderate aftringency; and were for-
merly much efteemed in fome female weakneffes, and in
fluxes of the belly. They are now rarely made ufe of, tho'
both the leaves and roots might doubtlefs be of ſervice
in cafes where mild aftringents are required. In the
province of Smolandia in Gothland, they make a tinc-
ture of the leaves, and give it in fpafmodic or convul-
five difeafes. Horſes, fheep, and goats, eat it; cows
are not fond of it; fwine refuſe it.-2. The alpina, or
cinque-foil ladies-mantle, with finger-fhaped fawed
leaves, and greenish bloffoms. It is a native of the
mountainous parts of Europe. Goats and cows eat
it; horſes, ſheep, and fwine, refuſe it.-3. The minor,
or leaſt ladies-mantle, with five fmooth leaves growing
at a joint and cut into many ſegments. It grows na-
turally in Sweden, Lapland, and other cold countries.
Eaten by cows and goats; refuſed by horfes, fheep,
and fwine.
Culture. Thefe plants have perennial roots, and an-
nual ftalks. They are eafily propagated by parting of
their roots, or ſowing their feeds in autumn. They
fhould have a moift foil and fhady fituation, and be
kept clean from weeds; which is all the culture they
require.
ALCHEMIST, a practitioner in alchemy.
ALCHEMY, that branch of chemiſtry which had
for its principal objects the tranfmutation of metals
into gold; the panacea, or univerſal remedy; an alka-
heft, or univerfal menftruum; an univerſal ferment;
and many other things equally ridiculous.
Kircher, inftructed in all the fecrets of chemiſtry,
has fully expofed the artifices and impoftures of alche-
mifts. An alchemift puts into a crucible the matter
which is to be converted into gold; this he fets on the
fire, blows it, ftirs it with rods; and, after divers ope-
rations, gold is found at the bottom of the crucible,
inftead of the matter firft put in this there are a
thouſand ways of effecting, without any tranfmuta
tion. Sometimes it is done by dexterously dropping in
a piece of gold concealed between the fingers, fome-
times by cafting in a little of the duft of gold or filver
diſguiſed under the appearance of fome elixir, or other
indifferent matter; fometimes a crucible is ufed which:
has a double bottom, and gold put between the two.;
fometimes the rod ufed to ftir the matter is hollow,
and filled with the duft of the metal defired; at other
times there is metal mixed with the charcoal, the afkes
of the furnace, or the like. Mr Harris very properly
diſtinguiſhes from alchemy and chemiſtry; and de-
fines the former to be ars fine arte, cujus principum eft
mentiri, medium laborare, et finis mendicare; and the
Italians have a proverb, non ti fidiare al alchemiſia po-
vero o medicò amalato. The ruin which has attended
this deluſion has occafioned ſeveral ſtates to make fe-
vere laws againſt pretences to alchemy. The Romans
formerly baniſhed all fuch as profeffed it; and the fa-
ered canons likewife directed the thunder of their cen-
fure against them. Dioclefian and Cæfar directed all
books which treated of this ſubject to be burnt. Ry-
mer furniſhes us with a licence for practiſing alchemy,
with all kinds of metals. and minerals, granted to one
Alciat
Richard Carter in the 1476; Rym. Fed. tom. xii.
Nevertheleſs, we have had fevere laws againſt alchemy, Alcmaer..
and multiplying of metals, as much fo as againſt coin-
ing itſelf.
ALCIAT (Andrew), a great lawyer, who flouriſh-
ed in the 16th century, born at Milan. He mixed
much of polite learning in the explication of the laws,
and happily drove out the barbarity of language which
till then had reigned in the lectures and writings of
lawyers; for which Thuanus highly praiſes him. He
publiſhed a great many law-books, and fome notes
upon Tacitus. His Emblems have been much admired,
and tranſlated into French, Italian, and Spaniſh; and
feveral learned men have written commentaries on.
them.
ALCIBIADES, an Athenian general. It was
the fate of this great man to live at a time when his
country was a fcene of confufion. The Greeks, grown
infolent from their conquefts in Perfia, turned their
army againft each other, and bandied together under-
the conduct of the two moft opulent ftates Athens and
Lacedæmon. Alcibiades, in the midſt of an expedition
he had planned againft the enemy of his country, was
recalled home to anfwer fome charge of a private na-
ture; but fearing the violence of his enemy, inſtead
of going to Athens, he offered his fervices at Sparta,.
where they were readily accepted. By his advice the
Lacedæmonians made a league with Perfia, which gave
a very favourable turn to their affairs. But his credit
in the republic raifing jealoufies againſt him, he pri
vately reconciled himſelf to his country, and took a
gain the command of an Athenian army. Here victory,
waiting as it were at his command, attended all his-
motions. The loſs of ſeven battles obliged the Spar-
tans to fue for peace. He enjoyed his triumphs, how-
ever, only a fhort time at Athens. One unſucceſsful
event made him again obnoxious to the malice of his
citizens; and he found it expedient to retire from A-
thens. In his abfence the Spartans again took the lead,.
and at the fatal battle of Ægos entirely ſubdued the
Athenian power. Alcibiades, though an exile, endea--
voured to reftore the power of his country; of which
the Spartans having intelligence, procured. him to be
affaffinated. He was a man of admirable accompliſh-
ments, but indifferently principled; of great parts;
and of an amazing verfatility of genius.
ALCINOUS, king of the Phænicians, in the ifland
now called Corfu, was fon of Nauûthous, and grand-
fon of Neptune and Peribea. It is by his gardens this
king has chiefly immortalized his memory. He re-
ceived Ulyffes with much civility, when a ftorm had
caft him on his coaft. The people here loved pleaſure
and good cheer, yet were ſkilful feamen; and Álcinous.
was a good prince.
હૈ
ALCMAER, a city of the United Provinces, feat-
ed in North Holland, about four miles from the fea,..
15 from Haerlem, and 18 from Amfterdam. It
handiome city, and one of the cleaneft in Holland.
The ftreets and houfes are extremely neat and regular,
and the public buildings very beautiful. It had for-
merly two pariſh-churches, dedicated to St Matthew
and St Lawrence. The latter had fo high a tower,
that it ferved for a fea-mark to the veſſels that were in
the open fea; but, in 1464, it tumbled down, and
damaged the other church fo much, that they were.
both:
1
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]
!!
Alcock.
Alcman both demolished in 1470, and one church was built in
their ftead, dedicated to the fame faints. The Spaniards,
under the command of Frederic of Toledo, fon of the
duke d'Alva, came to befiege it, after they had taken
Haerlem in 1573; but were forced to raiſe the ſiege,
after three months lying before it, as well on account
of the infection of the air as the ftout refiftance of the
inhabitants and foldiers; even the women fignalizing
themſelves bravely in its defence. It is recorded in
It is recorded in
the regiſter of this city, that, in the year 1637, 120
tulips, with the off-fets, fold for 90,000 florins. The
town has a very good trade in butter and cheefe, of
which a vaſt quantity is fold every year, and is eſteem-
ed the beft in Holland. E. long. 4. 26. N. lat.
52. 28.
ALCMAN, a lyric poet, who flouriſhed in the 27th
Olympiad. He was born at Sparta; and compoſed
feveral poems, of which only fome fragments are re-
maining, quoted by Athenæus and fome other ancient
writers. He was very amorous; accounted the father
of gallant poefy; and is faid to have been the firſt that
introduced the cuftom of finging love-fongs in com-
pany. He is reported to have been one of the great-
eft eaters of his age; upon which Mr Bayle remarks,
that fuch a quality would have been extremely incon-
venient, if poetry had been at that time upon fuch a
footing as it has been often fince, not able to pro-
cure the poet bread. He died of a ſtrange difeafe;
for he was eat up with lice.
ALCMANIAN, in ancient lyric poetry, a kind of
verfe confifting of two dactyles and two trochees ; as,—
Virginibus puerifque \canto.
The word is formed from Alcman, the name of an an-
cient Greek poet, in great efteem for his erotics or
amorous compofitions.
ALCMEÑA, the daughter of Electryo king of My-
cene, and wife of Amphitryon. Jupiter putting on the
ſhape of her huſband while he was abroad in the wars,
begot Hercules upon her: he made that night as long
as three ordinary ones.
ALCOCK (John), doctor of laws, and biſhop of
Ely in the reign of king Henry VII. was born at Be-
verly in Yorkſhire, and educated at Cambridge. He was
first made dean of Weſtminſter, and afterwards ap-
pointed mafter of the rolls. In 1471, he was confe-
crated biſhop of Rochefter: in 1476, he was tranſlated
to the fee of Worceſter; and in 1486, to that of Ely,
in the room of Dr John Morton, preferred to the fee
of Canterbury. He was a prelate of great learning
and piety; and fo highly esteemed by king Henry,
that he appointed him lord prefident of Wales, and
afterwards lord chancellor of England. Alcock found-
ed a ſchool at Kingſton upon Hull, and built the ſpa-
cious hall belonging to the epifcopal palace at Ely.
He was alfo the founder of Jefus-college in Cambridge,
for a maſter, fix fellows, and as many ſcholars. This
houſe was formerly a nunnery, dedicated to St Radi-
gund: and, as Godwin tells us, the building being
greatly decayed, and the revenues reduced almoſt to
nothing, the nuns had all forfaken it, except two;
whereupon biſhop Alcock procured a grant from the
crown, and converted it into a college. But Cambden
and others tell us, that the nuns of that houſe were
fo notorious for their incontinence, that king Henry
VII. and pope Julius II. confented to its diffolution:
Νο 10,
""
#
Alcoran.
Bale accordingly calls this nunnery fpiritualium mère- Alcohol
tricum cænobium, "a community of ſpiritual harlots.'
Biſhop Alcock wrote ſeveral pieces; amongſt which are
the following: 1. Mons Perfectionis. 2. In Pfalmos
Penitentiales. 3. Homilia Vulgares. 4. Meditationes
Pix. He died October 1, 1500; and was buried in
the chapel he had built at Kingſton upon Hull.
ALCOHOL, or ALKOOL, in chemiſtry, fpirit of
wine highly rectified†. It is alſo uſed for any highly+ See Che-
rectified fpirit.-Alcohol is extremely light and inflam-mistry (In-
mable: It is a ſtrong antiſeptic, and therefore employ. dex, and
ed to preferve animal fubftances.
ALCOHOL is alfo ufed for any fine impalpable
powder.
ALCOHOLIZATION, the proceſs of rectifying
any ſpirit. It is alfo uſed for pulverization.
ALCOR, in aftronomy, a fmall ftar adjoining to
the large bright one in the middle of the tail of urfa
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 not yet ſee the full moon.
ALCORAŃ, or AL-KORAN, the fcripture, or bible,
of the Mahometans. The word is compounded of the
Arabic particle al, and coran or koran, derived from
the verb caraa or karaa, to read. The word therefore
properly fignifies, the reading; or rather, that which
ought to be read. By this name the Mahometans de-
note not only the entire book or volume of the Koran,
but alſo any particular chapter or ſection of it; juſt as
the Jews call either the whole ſcripture, or any part of
it, by the name of Karah, or Mikra, words of the fame
origin and import.
Befides this peculiar name, the Koran is alſo honour-
ed with ſeveral appellations common to other books of
fcripture: as, al Farkan, from the verb foraka, to
divide or diftinguiſh; not, as the Mahometan doctors
fay, becauſe thoſe books are divided into chapters or
fections, or diftinguish between good and evil; but in
the ſame notion that the Jews uſe the word Perek, or
Pirka, from the fame root, to denote a ſection or por
tion of fcripture. It is alfo called al Mofhaf, the
lume, and al Kitah, the book, by way of eminence, which
anfwers to the Biblia of the Greeks; and al Dhikr, the
admonition, which name is alſo given to the Pentateuch
and Goſpel.
The Koran is divided into 114 larger portions of very
unequal length, which we call chapters; but the Ara-
bians forwar, in the fingular fura; a word rarely uſed
on any other occafion, and properly fignifying a row,
order, or a regular feries; as a courfe of bricks in
building, or a rank of foldiers in an army; and is the
fame in uſe and import with the Sura, or Tora, of the
Jews, who alſo call the fifty-three ſections of the Pen-
tateuch Sedarim, a word of the fame fignification.
Theſe chapters are not, in the manufcript copies, di-
ftinguiſhed by their numerical order, but by particular
titles, which are taken fometimes from a particular
matter treated of, or perſon mentioned therein; but
ufually from the firft word of note, exactly in the ſame
manner as the Jews have named their Sedarim; though
the word from which fome chapters are denominated
be
very far diftant, towards the middle, or perhaps the
end, of the chapter; which feems ridiculous. But the
occafion of this appears to have been, that the verſe or
paffage
Pharmacy.
ALC
ALC
[ 369 ]
Alcoran. paffage wherein fuch word occurs, was, in point of
time, revealed and committed to writing before the o-
ther verſes of the ſame chapter which precede it in or-
der; and the title being given to the chapter before it
was completed, or the paffages reduced to their prefent
order, the verſe from whence fuch title was taken did
not always happen to begin the chapter. Some chap-
ters have two or more titles, occafioned by the difference
of the copies.
Some of the chapters having been revealed at Mecca,
and others at Medina, the noting this difference makes
a part of the title: but the reader will obferve, that fe-
veral of the chapters are faid to have been revealed part-
ly at Mecca and partly at Medina; and, as to others,
it is yet a diſpute among the commentators to which
of the two places they belong.
Every chapter is ſubdivided into ſmaller portions, of
very unequal length alfo, which we cuftomarily call
verses: but the Arabic word is ayat, the fame with the
Hebrew ototh, and figuiɓes figns or wonders: fuch as
are the fecrets of God, his attributes, works, judge-
ments, and ordinances, delivered in thoſe verſes; many
of which have their particular titles alfo, impofed in
the fame manner as thofe of the chapters.
Befides thefe unequal divifions of chapter and verfe,
the Mahometans have alſo divided their Koran into fix-
ty equal portions, which they call Ahzab, in the fin-
gular Hizb, each fubdivided into four equal parts;
which is alſo an imitation of the Jews, who have an
ancient diviſion of their Miſhma into fixty portions call-
ed Maſſictoth. But the Koran is more ufually divided
into thirty fections only, named Ajza, from the fingu-
lar Foz, each of twice the length of the former, and in
the like manner fubdivided into four parts. Theſe divi-
fions are for the uſe of the readers of the Koran in the
royal temples, or in the adjoining chapels where the
emperors and great men are interred. There are thir-
ty of thefe readers belonging to every chapel, and each
reads his fection every day; fo that the whole Koran is
read over once a-dav.
Next after the title, at the head of every chapter,
except only the ninth, is prefixed the following folemn
form, by the Mahometants called the Bifmallah, IN
THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD; which form
they conftantly place at the beginning of all their books
and writings in general, as a peculiar mark or diftin-
guiſhing characteriſtic of their religion, it being count-
ed a fort of impiety to omit it. The Jews, for the
fame purpoſe, make ufe of the form, In the name of the
LORD, or, In the name of the great Gon; and the ea-
ftern Chriſtians that of, In the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghoſt. But Mahomet
probably took this form, as he did many other things,
from the Perfian Magi, who uſed to begin their books
in theſe words, Benam Yezdan bakfhaifhgher dadar ;
that is, In the name of the most merciful just God.
There are twenty-nine chapters of the Koran, which
have this peculiarity, that they begin with certain let
ters of the alphabet, fome with a fingle one, others with
more. Thefe letters the Mahometans believe to be
the peculiar marks of the Koran, and to conceal feve-
VOL. I. Part I.
ral profound myſteries; the certain underſtanding of Alcoran.
which, the more intelligent confeſs, has not been com-
municated to any mortal, their prophet only excepted.
Notwithſtanding which, fome will take the liberty of
gueffing at their meaning by that fpecies of Cabala call-
ed by the Jews Notarikon, and fuppofe the letters to
ftand for as many words, expreffing the names and at-
tributes of God, his works, ordinances, and decrees;
and therefore thefe myfterious letters, as well as the
verfes themſelves, feem in the Koran to be called figns.
Others explain the intent of theſe letters from their na-
ture or organ, or elſe from their value in numbers, ac-
cording to another fpecies of the Jewiſh Cabala called
Gematria; the uncertainty of which conjectures ſuffi-
ciently appears from their difagreement. Thus, for
example, five chapters, one of which is the fecond, be-
gins with thefe letters, A. L. M. which fome imagine
to ftand for Allah latiff magid, " GOD is gracious ant
to be glorified;" or, Ana li minni, i. e. to me and from
me, viz. belongs all perfection, and proceeds all good;
or elfe for Ana Allah alam, "I am the moſt wife
GoD," taking the firft letter to mark the beginning
of the firſt word, the fecond the middle of the fecond
word, and the third the laſt of the third word; or for
Allah, Gabriel, Mohammed, the author, revealer, and
preacher of the Koran. Others fay, that as the letter
A belongs to the lower part of the throat, the first of
the organs of fpeech; L to the palate, the middle or-
gan; and M to the lips, which are the laſt organ; fo
thefe letters fignify that God is the beginning, middle,
and end, or ought to be praiſed in the beginning, middle,
and end, of all our words and actions: or, as the total
value of thofe three letters, in numbers, is feventy-one,
they fignify, that, in the ſpace of fo many years, the
religion preached in the Koran fhould be fully efta-
blifhed. The conjecture of a learned Chriftian is at
leaft as certain as any of the former, who ſuppoſes thoſe
letters were, fet there by the amanuenfis, for Amar li
Mohammed, i. e. at the command of Mohamined, as the
five letters prefixed to the nineteenth chapter ſeem to be
there written by a Jewiſh ſcribe, for Coh yaas, i. e. Thus
he commanded.
The Koran is univerfally allowed to be written with
the utmoſt elegance and purity of language, in the dia-
lect of the tribe of Koreifh, the moſt noble and polite
of all the Arabians, but with fome mixture, tho' very
rarely, of other dialects. It is confeffedly the ftandard
of the Arabic tongue, and, as the more orthodox be-
lieve, and are taught by the book itſelf, inimitable by
any human pen (though fome fectaries have been of
another opinion), and therefore infifted on as a per
manent miracle, greater than that of raifing the dead,
and alone fufficient to convince the world of its divine
original.
And to this miracle did Mahomet himſelf chiefly
appeal for the confirmation of his miffion, publicly chal-
lenging the moft eloquent men in Arabia, which was
at that time ftocked with thouſands whofe fole ſtudy
and ambition it was to excel in elegance of ſtyle and
compofition, to produce even a fingle chapter that might
be compared with it (a).
3 A
Τα
(A) As the compofition and arrangement of words, however, admit of infinite varieties, it can never be ab-
ſolutely faid that any one is the beft poffible. In fact, Hamzah Benahmed wrote a book againſt the Alcoran
with at leaſt equal elegance; and Moſelema another, which even furpaffed it, and occafioned a defection of a
great part of the Muffulmans. Joarn, de Scav. tom. xiii. p. 280. Ouvr. de Scav. Nov. 1708, p. 404.
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Alcoran.
neceffary laws and directions, frequent admonitions to Alcoran..
moral and divine virtues, the worship and reverence of
the Supreme Being, and refignation to his will. One
of their moſt learned commentators diftinguiſhes the
contents of the Alcoran into allegorical and literal;
under the former are comprehended all the obfcure,
parabolical, and enigmatical paffages, with fuch as are
repealed, or abrogated; the latter, fuch as are clear,
and in full force.
To the pomp and harmony of expreffion fome afcribe
all the force and effect of the Alcoran; which they
confider as a fort of mufic, equally fitted with other fpe-
cies of that art to raviſh and amaze. In this Mahomet
fucceeded fo well, and fo ftrangely captivated the minds
of his audience, that feveral of his opponents thought it
the effect of witchcraft and enchantment, as he himſelf
complains. Others have attributed the effect of the
Alcoran to the frequent mention of rewards and puniſh-
ments; heaven and hell occurring almoft in every page.
Some fuppofe, that the fenfual pleafures of paradife, fo
frequently fet before the imaginations of the readers of
the Alcoran, were what chiefly bewitched them. Tho',
with regard to thefe, there is a great difpute whether
they are to be underſtood literally or fpiritually. Se-
veral have even allegorized the whole book.
The most excellent moral in the whole Alcoran, in-
terpreters fay, is that in the chapter Al Alraf, viz.
Shew mercy, do good to all, and diſpute not with the
ignorant; or, as Mr Sale renders it, Uſe indulgence,
command that which is juſt, and withdraw far from the
ignorant. Mahomet, according to the authors of the
Kefchaf, having begged of the angel Gabriel a more
ample explication of this paffage, received it in the fol-
lowing terms: "Seek him who turns thee out, give to
"him who takes from thee, pardon him who injures
"thee; for God will have you plant in your fouls the
roots of his chief perfections." It is eafy to fee
that this commentary is copied from the goſpel.-In
reality, the neceffity of forgiving enemies, though fre-
quently inculcated in the Alcoran, is of a later date
among the Mahometans than among the Chriſtians
among thoſe latter, than among the heathens; and to.
be traced originally among the Jews. (See EXODUS-
xxxiii. 4, 5.) But it matters not ſo much who had it
firft, as who obferves it beft. The caliph Haffan, fon
of Hali, being at table, a flave unfortunately let fall a
diſh of meat reeking hot, which ſcalded him feverely..
The flave fell on his knees, rehearſing theſe words of
the Alcoran, "Paradife is for thoſe who reftrain their
anger." I am not angry with thee, anſwered the
caliph." And for thoſe who forgive offences againſt
them," continues the flave. I forgive thee thine, re-
plies the caliph-" But above all, for thoſe who return
good for evil," adds the flave. I fet thee at liberty,
rejoined the caliph ; and I give thee ten dinars.
The general defign of the Koran was to unite the
profeffors of the three different religions, then followed
in the populous country of Arabia (who for the moſt
part lived promiſcuoufly, and wandered without guides,
the far greater number being idolaters, and the reft Jews"
and Chriftians moftly of erroneous and heterodox be-
lief), in the knowledge and worship of one God, under
the fanction of certain laws, and the outward figns of
ceremonies partly of ancient and partly of novel infti-
tution, enforced by the confideration of rewards and
puniſhments both temporal and eternal; and to bring
them all to the obedience of Mahomet, as the prophet
and ambaffador of God, who, after the repeated ad-
monitions, promifes, and threats, of former ages, was
at laſt to eſtabliſh and propagate God's religion on
earth, and to be acknowledged chief pontiff in ſpiritual
matters, as well as fupreme prince in temporal.
The great doctrine then of the Koran, is the unity
of God; to reſtore which point Mahomet pretended
was the chief end of his miffion; it being laid down
by him as a fundamental truth, That there never was,
nor ever can be, more than one true orthodox religion.
For, though the particular laws or ceremonies are only
temporary, and fubject to alteration, according to the
divine direction; yet the fubftance of it being eternal
truth, is not liable to change, but continues immutably
the fame. And he taught, that, whenever this religion
became neglected, or corrupted in effentials, God had
the goodneſs to re-inform and re-admonith mankind
thereof, by feveral prophets, of whom Mofes and Je-
fus were the moſt diſtinguiſhed, till the appearance of
Mahomet, who is their feal, and no other to be expec-
ted after him. The more effectually to engage peo-
ple to hearken to him, great part of the Koran is em-
ployed in relating examples of dreadful puniſhments
formerly inflicted by God on thoſe who rejected and
abufed his meffengers; feveral of which ftories, or
fome circumſtances of them, are taken from the Old
and New Teftaments, but many more from the apocry-
phal books and traditions of the Jews and Chriftians of
thofe ages, fet up in the Koran as truths in oppofition
to the fcriptures, which the Jews and Chriftians are
charged with having altered: and indeed, few or none
of the relations or circumftances in the Koran were in-
vented by Mahomet, as is generally ſuppoſed, it being
eafy to trace the greateſt part of them much higher,
as the reft might be, were more of thofe books extant,
and was it worth while to make the inquiry.
The reft of the Alcoran is taken up in prefcribing
-
66
There are alfo a great number of occafional paffages.
in the Alcoran, relating only to particular emergencies.
For this advantage Mahomet had in the piecemeal me-
thod of receiving his revelation, that whenever he hap-
pened to be perplexed and gravelled with any thing, he
had a certain reſource in fome new morfel of revelation..
It was an admirable contrivance of his, to bring down-
the whole Alcoran at once, only to the loweft heaven,
not to earth; fince, had the whole been publiſhed at
once, innumerable objections would have been made,
which it would have been impoffible for him to ſolve :
but as he received it by parcels, as God faw fit they
ſhould be publiſhed for the converfion and inſtruction.
of the people, he had a fure way to anſwer all emer-
gencies, and to extricate himſelf with honour from
difficulty which might occur.
any
It is the general and orthodox belief among the Maho-
metants, that the Koran is of divine original; nay, that it
is eternal and uncreated, remaining, as fome exprefs it,
in the very effence of God: that the firft tranſcript has
been from everlaſting by God's throne, written on a table
of valt bignefs, called the preſerved table, in which are
alfo recorded the divine decrees paſt and future: that
a copy from this table, in one volume on paper, was
by the miniftry of the angel Gabriel fent down to the
loweft heaven, in the month of Ramadan, on the night
of
:
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[ 37
]
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Alcoran. of power: from whence Gabriel revealed it to Maho-
met by parcels, fome at Mecca, and fome at Medina,
at different times, during the ſpace of 23 years, as the
exigency of affairs required; giving him, however,
the confolation to ſhow him the whole (which they tell
us was bound in filk, and adorned with gold and pre-
cious ftones of paradife) once a-year; but in the laft
year of his life he had the favour to fee it twice. They
fay, that few chapters were delivered entire, the moft
part being revealed piecemeal, and written down from
time to time by the prophet's amanuenfis in fuch a part
of ſuch and ſuch a chapter, till they were completed,
according to the directions of the angel. The first par-
cel that was revealed is generally agreed to have been
the firſt five verfes of the 96th chapter.
After the new-revealed paffages had been from the
prophet's mouth taken down in writing by his fcribe,
they were publiſhed to his followers; feveral of whom
took copies for their private ufe, but the far greater
number got them by heart. The originals, when re-
turned, were put promifcuouſly into a cheft, obferving
no order of time; for which reafon it is uncertain when
many paſſages were revealed.
When Mahomet died, he left his revelations in the
fame diforder, and not digefted into the method, fuch
as it is, in which we now find them. This was the
work of his fucceffor Abu Becr; who, confidering that
a great number of paffages were committed to the me-
mory of Mahomet's followers, many of whom were
flain in their wars, ordered the whole to be collected,
not only from the palm-leaves and ſkins on which they
had been written, and which were kept between two
boards or covers, but alſo from the mouths of ſuch as
had gotten them by heart. And this tranfcript, when
completed, he committed to the cuſtody of Haffa the
daughter of Omar, one of the prophet's widows.
From this relation it is generally imagined that Abu
Becr was really the compiler of the Koran; though,
for aught appears to the contrary, Mahomet left the
chapters complete as we now have them, excepting fuch
paffages as his fucceffor might add or correct from
thoſe who had gotten them by heart; what Abu Becr
did elfe, being perhaps no more than to range the
chapters in their preſent order, which he feems to have
done without any regard to time, having generally
placed the longeſt firſt.
However, in the 30th year of the Hegira, Othman
being then caliph, and obferving the great difagree-
ment in the copies of the Koran in the feveral pro-
vinces of the empire; thofe of Irak, for example, fol-
lowing the reading of Abu Mufa al Afhari, and the
Syrians that of Macdad Ebn Afwad; he, by the advice
of the companions, ordered a great number of copies to
be tranfcribed from that of Abu Becr, in Haffa's care,
under the inſpection of Zeid Ebn Thabet, Abd'allah
Ebn Zobair, Said Ebn al As, and Ad'alrahman Ebn
al Hareth the Makhzumite; whom he directed, that,
wherever they difagreed about any word, they fhould
write it in the dialect of the Koreifh, in which it was at
firft delivered. Thefe copies, when made, were dif
perfed in the ſeveral provinces of the empire, and the
old ones burnt and fuppreffed. Though many things
in Haffa's copy were corrected by the abovementioned
reviſers, yet ſome few various readings ftill occur.
In fine, the book of the Alcoran is held in the higheſt
efteem and reverence among the Muffelmans. They Alcoran.
dare not ſo much as touch the Alcoran without being
firit wafhed, or legally purified; to prevent which, an
infcription is put on the cover or label, Let none touch
but they who are clean. It is read with great care and
refpect; being never held below the girdle. They
fwear by it; take omens from it on all weighty occa-
fions; carry it with them to war; write fentences of it
in their banners; adorn it with gold and precious ſtones;
and knowingly fuffer it not to be in the poffeffion of any
of a different religion. Some fay that it is punishable
even with death, in a Christian, to touch it; others, that
the veneration of the Muffelmans leads them to con-
demn the tranflating it into any other language as a
profanation: but theſe feem to be aggravations. The
Mahometans have taken care to have their fcripture
tranflated into the Perfian, the Javan, the Malayan,
and other languages; tho', out of reſpect to the origi-
nal, thefe verfions are generally, if not always, inter-
lineated.
p. 257.
By the advocates of Mahometaniſm, the Koran, as
View of
already obferved, has always been held forth as the Chriftianity
greateſt of miracles, and equally ftupendous with the and is Trbo-
act of raifing the dead. The miracles of Mofes and metaniſm,
Jefus, they fay, were tranfient and temporary.; but that
of the Koran is permanent and perpetual; and there-
fore far furpaffes all the miraculous events of preceding
ages. We will not detract from the real merit of the
Koran: we allow it to be generally elegant, and often
fublime: but at the fame time we reject with diſdain
its arrogant pretence to any thing fupernatural; all the
real excellence of the work being eafily referable to na-
tural and viſible cauſes.
"In the language of Arabia, a language extremely
loved and diligently cultivated by the people to whom
it was vernacular, Mahomet found advantages which
were never enjoyed by any former or fucceeding im-
poftor. It requires not the eye. of a philofopher to
diſcover in every foil and country a principle of national
pride: and if we look back for many ages on the hi-
ftory of the Arabians, we ſhall eafily perceive that pride
among them invariably to have confifted in the know-
ledge and improvement of their native language. The
Arabic, which has been justly eſteemed the moft copi-
ous of the Eaftern tongues; which had exiſted from
the remoteft antiquity; which had been embelliſhed by
numberlefs poets, and refined by the conftant exercife
of the natives; was the moft fuccefsful inftrument which
Mahomet employed in planting his new religion among
them. Admirably adapted by its unrivalled harmony,
and by its endleſs variety to add painting to expreffion,
and to purfue the imagination in its unbounded flight;
it became in the hands of Mahomet an irrefiftible
charm to blind the judgment, and to captivate the fan-
cy of his followers.
"Of that defcription of men, who first compofed the
adherents of Mahomet, and to whom the Koran was
addreffed, few, probably, were able to paſs a very ac-
curate judgment on the propriety of the fentiments, or
on the beauties of the diction: but all could judge of
the military abilities of their leader; and in the midit
of their admiration it is not difficult to conceive, that
they would afcribe to his compofitions every imaginary
beauty of infpired language.
"The ſhepherd and the foldier, though awake to the
3 A z
charms
1
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[ 372 1
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Chriftian fcriptures, from the Talmudical legends and Alcoran
apocryphal gofpels then current in the Eaft, and from
the traditions and fables which abounded in Arabia.
The materials collected from theſe feveral fources are
here heaped together, with perpetual and needlefs repe-
titions, without any fettled principle or viſible connection.
"When a great part of the life of Mahomet had been
ſpent in preparatory meditation on the fyftem he was
about to eftablifh, its chapters were dealt out flowly
and feparately during the long period of 23 years. Yet
thus defective in its Itructure, and not lefs exception.
able in its doctrines, was the work which Mahomet:
delivered to his followers as the oracles of God!.
Alcoran. charms of thofe wild but beautiful compofitions, in
which were celebrated their favourite occupations of
love or war, were yet little able to criticiſe any other
works than thoſe which were addreffed to their ima-
gination or the heart, To abftract reaſonings on the
attributes and the difpenfations of the Deity, to the
comparative excellencies of rival religions, to the con-
fiftency of any one religious fyftem in all its parts, and to
the force of its various proofs, they were quite inatten-
tive. In fuch a fituation, the appearance of a work which
poffeffed fomething like wifdom and confiftence; which
preſcribed the rules, and illuftrated the duties of life;
and which contained the principles of a new and com-
paratively fublime theology, independently of its real
and permanent merit, was likely to excite their afto-
niſhment, and to become the ſtandard of future com-
pofition.
"In the firſt periods of the literature of every country,
fomething of this kind has happened. The father of
Grecian poetry very obviouſly influenced the taſte and
imitation of his countrymen. The modern nations of
Europe all poffefs fome original author, who, rifing
from the darkneſs of former ages, has begun the career
of compofition, and tinctured with the character of his
own imagination the ſtream which has flowed through
his pofterity.
"But the prophet of Arabia had in this refpect ad-
vantages peculiar to himſelf. His compofitions were
not to his followers the works of man, but the genuine
language of Heaven, which had fent him. They were
not confined therefore to that admiration which is fo
liberally beſtowed on the earlieſt productions of genius,
or to that fond attachment with which men every
where regard the original compofitions of their coun-
try: but with their admiration they blended their piety.
To know and to feel the beauties of the Koran, was
in fome refpect to fhare in the temper of heaven; and
he who was mot affected with, admiration in the peru-
fal of its beauties, feemed moft fitly the object of that
mercy which had given it to ignorant man. The Ko-
ran, therefore, became naturally and neceffarily the
standard of taſte. With a language thus hallowed in
their imaginations, they were too well fatisfied, either
to difpute its elegance or improve its ftructure. In
fucceeding ages, the additional fanction of antiquity,
or preſcription, was given to theſe compofitions which
their fathers had admired: and while the belief of its
divine original continues, that admiration, which has
thus become the teſt and the duty of the faithful, can
neither be altered nor diminiſhed..
"When therefore we confider thefe peculiar advan-
tages of the Koran, we have no reaſon to be ſurpriſed
at the admiration in which it is held. But if, defcend-
ing to a more minute inveſtigation of it, we confider
its perpetual inconfiftence and abfurdity, we fhall in-
deed have caufe for aſtoniſhment at that weakneſs of
humanity which could ever have received fuch compo-
fitions as the work of the Deity.
"The firſt praiſe of all the productions of genius, is
invention; that quality of the mind, which, by the ex-
tent and quickneſs of its views, is capable of the lar-
geft conceptions, and of forming new combinations of
objects the moſt diſtant and unuſual. But the Koran
bears little impreffion of this tranfcendent character.
Its materials are wholly borrowed from the Jewish and
1
"The most prominent feature of the Koran; that point.
of excellence in which the partiality of its admirers has.
ever delighted to view it, is the ſublime notion it gene-
rally impreffes of the nature and attributes of God. If
its author had really derived thefe juft conceptions
from the infpiration of that Being whom they attempt
to deſcribe, they would not have been furrounded, as
they now are on every fide, with error and abfurdity.
But it might eafily be proved, that whatever it juſtly
defines of the divine attributes, was borrowed from our
holy fcripture; which even from its firſt promulgation,
but eſpecially from the completion of the New Tefta-
ment, has extended the views and enlightened the un-
derſtandings of mankind; and thus furniſhed them with
arms, which have too often been ineffectually turned
againſt itſelf by its ungenerous enemies.
"In this inftance particularly, the copy is far below
the great original, both in the propriety of its images,
and the force of its defcriptions. Our holy fcriptures
are the only compofitions that can enable the dim fight
of mortality to penetrate into the invifible world, and
to behold a glimpſe of the Divine perfections. Accor-
dingly, when they would repreſent to us the happineſs
of Heaven, they deſcribe it, not by any thing minute
and particular, but by fomething general and great;
fomething, that without defcending to any determinate
object, may at once by its beauty and iinmenfity ex-
cite our wiſhes and elevate our affections. Though in
the prophetical and evangelical writings the joys that
fhall attend us in a future ftate are often mentioned
with ardent admiration, they are expreffed rather by
allufion than fimilitude, rather by indefinite and figura-
tive terms, than by any thing fixed and determinate.
Eye hath not ſeen, nor ear heard, neither have en-
tered into the heart of man, the things which God
hath prepared for them that love him.'
1 Cor. ii. 9.
What a reverence and aftoniſhment does this paffage
excite in every hearer of taſte and piety? What ener-
gy, and at the fame time what fimplicity, in the expreſ-
fion? How fublime, and at the fame time how obſcure,
is the imagery ?
•
"Different was the conduct of Mahomet in his de-
fcriptions of heaven and of paradife. Unaffifted by the
neceffary influence of virtuous intentions and Divine infpi
ration, he was neither defirous, nor indeed able, to exakt
the minds of men to fublime conceptions, or to ration
al expectations. By attempting to explain what is in-
conceivable, to defcribe what is ineffable, and to mate- -
rialize what in itſelf is fpiritual; he abfurdly and im-
piouſly aimed to fenfualize the purity of the Divine
effence. Thus he fabricated a fyftem of incoherence,
a religion of depravity, totally repugnant indeed to the
naturs
}
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Alcoranifts.
Alcoran, nature of that Being, who, as he pretended, was its
object; but therefore more likely to accord with the
appetites and conceptions of a corrupt and fenfual
age.
"That we may not appear to exalt our Scriptures
thus far above the Koran by an unreaſonable preference,
we fhall produce a part of the ſecond chapter of the
Latter, which is deſervedly admired by the Mahometans,
who wear it engraved on their ornaments, and recite it
in their prayers.
God! there is no God but he ;
the living, the felf fubfifting: neither flumber nor fleep
feizeth him: to him belongeth whatſoever is in hea-
ven, and on earth. Who is he that can intercede with
him but through his good pleaſure? He knoweth that
which is paſt, and that which is to come. His throne
is extended over heaven and earth, and the preferva
tion of both is to him no burden. He is the high, the
mighty.' Sale's Kor. ii. p. 30. 4to edit.
"To this deſcription who can refufe the praiſe of
magnificence? Part of that magnificence, however, is to
be referred to that verſe of the Pfalmift, whence it was
borrowed, He that keepeth Ifrael, fhall neither flum-
ber nor fleep.' Pfal. cxxi. 4.
<
"But if we compare it with that other paffage of
the fame inſpired Pfalmift, all its boafted grandeur is at
once obſcured, and loft in the blaze of a greater
light.
"O my God, take me not away in the midst of my
days; thy years are throughout all generations. Of
old haft thou laid the foundations of the earth; and
the heavens are the work of thy hands. They fhall
perish, but thou fhalt endure : vea all of them ſhall wax
old, as doth a garment; as a vefture fhalt thou change
them, and they fhall be changed; but thou art the
fame, and thy years fhall not fail.'
"The Koran, therefore, upon a retrofpective view
of theſe ſeveral circumftances, far from fupporting its
arrogant claim to a fupernatural work, finks below the
level of many compoſitions confeffedly of human origi-
nal; and ſtill lower does it fall in our eftimation, when
compared with that pure and perfect pattern which we
justly admire in the fcriptures of truth.
"It is therefore abundantly apparent, that no miracle
either was externally performed for the fupport, or is
internally involved in the componition, of the Mahometan
revelation."
ALCORAN. is alfo figuratively applied to certain o-
ther books full of impieties and impoftures. In this
fenſe we meet with the le ran of the Cordeliers,
which has made a great noife; wherein St Francis is
extravagantly magnified, and put on a level with Jefus
Chrift. The Alcoran of the Cordeliers is properly an
extract of a very fearce book, intitled, The conformity
of the life of the feraphic father St Francis with the life
of Chrift, publifhed in 15 0, 4to; fince, at Bologna,
in folio. Erafmus Albertus, being by the elector of
Brandenburg appointed to vifit a monaftery of Fran-
cilcans, found this book; and being ftruck with the
extreme folly and abfurdity of it, collected a number
of curiofities out of it, and publiſhed them under the
title of the Alco: an of the Francifcans, with a preface
by Martin Luther.
ALCORANISTS, among Mahometans, thofe who
adhere ſtrictly to the letter or text of the alcoran, from
an opinion of its ultimate fufficiency and perfection.
The Perfians are generally Alcoranifts, as admitting Alcove,
the Alcoran alone for their rule of faith. The Turks, Alcuinus.
Tartars, Arabs, &c. befides the Alcoran, admit a mul-
titude of traditions. The Alcoraniſts, among Maho-
metans, amount to much the ſame with the textuaries
among the Jews. The Alcoranifts can find nothing
excellent out of the Alcoran; are enemies of philofo-
phers, metaphyſicians, and ſcholaſtic writers. With
them the Alcoran is every thing.
ALCOVE, among builders, a recefs, or part of a
chamber feparated by an eftrade, or partition of co-
lumns, and other correfponding ornaments, in which
is placed a bed of ſtate, and fometimes feats to enter-
tain company. Theſe alcoves are frequent in Spain
and the bed is raiſed two or three afcents, with a rail
at the foot.
The
ALCUINUS (Flaccus), an ecclefiaftic of the
eighth century. Where he was born, is a matter of
difpute; but, according to the moſt probable opinion,
it was in Yorkſhire. It is pretty certain,, however, that
he was educated at York, under the direction of arch-
bishop Egbert, as we learn from his own letters, in
which he frequently calls that great prelate his beloved
mafter, and the clergy of York the companions of his
youthful ftudies. As he furvived venerable Bede about
70 years, it is hardly poffible that he could have re-
ceived any part of his education under him, as fome
writers of literary hiſtory have affirmed; and it is wor-
thy of obfervation, that he never calls that great man
his mailer, though he ſpeaks of him with the higheſt
veneration. It is not well known to what preferments
he had attained in the church before he left England,
though tome fay he was abbot of Canterbury.
occaiion of his leaving his native country, was his be-
ing ſent on an embaffy by Offa king of Mercia to the
emperor Charlemagne; who contracted fo great an
efteem and friendſhip for him, that he earneſtly folici-
teu, and at length prevailed upon him, to fettle in his
court, and became his preceptor in the fciences. Al-
cuinus accordingly inftructed that great prince in rhe-
toric, logic, mathematics, and divinity; which ren-
dered him one of his greateſt favourites.
treated with fo much kindneſs and familiarity (lays a
cotemporary writer) by the Emperor, that the other
courtiers called him, by way of eminence, the emperor's
delight." Charlemagne employed his learned favourite
to write feveral books agamit the heretical opinions
of Felix Bifhop of Urgel in Catalonia, and to defend
the orthodox faith againft that herefiarch, in the coun-
cil of Francfort, A. D. 894; which he performed to.
the entire fatisfaction of the Emperor and council, and
even to the conviction of Felix and his followers, wno
abandoned their errors. The Emperor confulted
chiefly with Alcuinus on all things relating to religion
and learning; and, by his advice, did many great
things for the advancement of both.
An academy
was eſtabliſhed in the Imperial palace, over which Al-
cuius prefided, and in which the princes and prime-
nobility were educated; and other acadamics were
eſtabliſhed in the chief towns of Italy and France, at
his inftigation, and under his infpection.
"France
(fays one of our beft writers of literary hiſtory) is in-
debted to Alcuinus for all the polite learning it boaft-
ed of in that and the following ages. The univerfities
of Paris, Tours, Fulden, Suiffons, and many others,
"He was
Owe
AL C
[ 374 ]
AL D
*
""
Alcuinus owe to him their origin and increafe; thofe of whom
11 he was not the fuperior and founder, being at leaſt en-
Alcyonius lightened by his doctrine and example, and enriched
by the benefits he procured for them from Charle-
magne." After Alcuinus had ſpent many years in the
moſt intimate familiarity with the greateft prince of
his age, he at length, with great difficulty, obtained
leave to retire from court to his abbey of St Martin's
at Tours. Here he kept up a conftant correſpondence
by letters with Charlemagne; from which it appears,
that both the emperor and his learned friend were ani-
mated with the most ardent love to learning and reli-
gion, and conftantly employed in contriving and exe-
cuting the nobleft deſigns for their advancement. He
compofed many treatifes on a great variety of fubjects,
in a ftyle much fuperior in purity and elegance to that
of the generality of writers in the age in which he flouter of a mile to the fouth lies Slaughden, where they
rifhed. Charlemagne often folicited him, with all the
warmth of a moſt affectionate friend, to return to court,
and favour him with his company and advice; but he
Aill excufed himſelf; and nothing could draw him
from his retirement in his abbey of St Martin in Tours,
where he died A. D. 804. His works were collected
and published by Andrew du Chefne in one volune fo-
lio, Paris, 1617. They confiit of, 1. Tracts upon fcrip-
ture. 2. Tracts upon doctrine, difcipline, and mora-
lity. 3. Hiſtorical treatiſes, letters, and poems. Since
that edition, there has been publiſhed an incredible num-
ber of tracts, poems, &c. aſcribed to this author, moft
of which, in all probability, were not his.
was entruſted with the library, had bafely ftole it. Aldbo
And truly, in his treatiſe Of Baniſhment, ſome things
rough
are found interfperfed here and there, which feem not Alderman.
to favour of Alcyonius, but of fome higher author.'
The two orations he made after the taking of Rome,
wherein he reprefented very ftrongly the injuftice of
Charles V. and the barbarity of his foldiers, were ex-
cellent pieces. There is alſo an oration aſcribed to him,
on the knights who died at the fiege of Rhodes.
ALDBOROUGH, a fea-port town in Suffolk,
with a market on Saturdays. It is pleaſantly fituated,
in a dale, between a high hill to the weftward, on
which its large old-built church ftands; the fea to the
eaft, and its river running fouth-weft. It is a large,
long, ordinary town, made up of two or three streets
of low houfes, running parallel to each other. A quar-
ALCYON, the trivial name of a ſpecies of alcedo.
See ALCEDO.
ALCYONIUM, an obfolete name of a fubmarine
plant. It is alſo uſed for a kind of coral, or aftroites,
frequently found foffile in England.
ALCYONIUM Stagnum (anc. geog.), a lake in the
territory of Corinth, whofe depth was unfathomable,
and in vain attempted to be difcovered by Nero. Thro'
this lake Bacchus is faid to have defcended to hell, to
bring back Semele; (Paufanias).
A
ALCYONIUS (Peter), a learned Italian, who flou-
riſhed in the 16th century. He was well verfed in the
Greek and Latin tongues, and wrote fome pieces of
eloquence which met with great approbation. He
avas corrector of the prefs a confiderable time for Al-
dus Manutius, and is intitled to a fhare in the praiſes
given to the editions of that learned printer. He pu-
Eliſhed a treatiſe concerning banifliment, which con-
tained fo many fine paffages intermixed with others
quite the reverſe, that it was thought he had tacked
to fomewhat of his own, feveral fragments of a treatife
of Cicero de gloria; and that afterwards, in order to
fave himſelf from being detected in this theft, he burnt
the manufcript of Cicero, the only one extant. Pau-
lus Manutius, in his commentary upon theſe words of
Cicero, Librum tibi celeriter mittam de gloria, " I
will ſpeedily ſend you my treatiſe on glory;" has the
following paffage relating to this affair: "He means
(fays he) his two books On Glory, which were handed
down to the age of our fathers; for Bernard Juftinian,
in the index of his books, mentions Cicero de Gloria.
This treatife, however, when Bernard had left his whole
library to a nunnery, could not be found, though
fought after with great care: nobody doubted but Pe-
ter Alcyonius, who, being phyfician to the nunnery,
have a commodious key, with warehouſes for fiſh: more
foutherly ftill, they have conveniences for drying their
north-fea fish. Their employment in the fiſhery is their
chief buſineſs, which is confiderable in the ſeaſons for
catching herrings and fprats; and it is the only place
in England for curing red fprats. It is a town corpo-
rate, and fends two members to parliament. Towards
the fea, it has fome pieces of cannon planted for its de-
fence. It is 88 miles north-eaſt from London. E. Long.
1. 32. N. Lat. 52. 50.
ALDBOROUGH, a market-town in the weſt riding
of Yorkſhire, feated on the river Oufe, 15 miles north-
weft of York, and 200 miles north of London. It
fends two members to parliament. W. Long. 0.20.
N. Lat. 54. 15. It was anciently a Roman city, call-
ed Ifurium Brigantium; and ſeveral coins and monu-
ments of the Saxons and Romans have been diſcovered
thère.
ALDEBARAN, in aftronomy, a ſtar of the firſt
magnitude, called in English the bull's eye, as making
the eye of the conftellation Taurus. Its longitude is
6 deg. 32 min. 9 fec. of Gemini, and its latitude 5 deg.
29 min. 40 fec. fouth.
ALDËR-TREE, in botany. See BETULA.
ALDERHOLM, a pleaſant iſland of Sweden, for-
med by the three arms of a river running thro' Gentle,
a town of Nordland, in Sweden. Here is a wharf, a
repofitory for planks and deals, two packing houſes, a
large cultomhouſe for taking toll of the ſhips, an arſe-
nal for cannon, and a grenary.
ALDERMAN, in the Britiſh policy, a magiftrate
fubordinate to the lord-mayor of a city or town-cor-
porate. The number of theſe magiftrates is not limi-
ted, but is more or lefs according to the magnitude of
the place. In London they are 26; each having one
of the wards of the city committed to his care. This
office is for life; fo that when one of them dies, or re-
figns, a ward-mote is called, who return two perſons,
one of whom the lord-mayor and aldermen chooſe to
ſupply the vacancy. All the aldermen are juſtices of the
peace, by a charter of 15 Geo. II. The aldermen of
London, &c. are exempted from ferving inferior offi-
ces; nor fhall they be put upon affizes, or ſerve on ju-
ries, lo long as they continue to be aldermen.
ALDERMAN, among our Saxon anceſtors, was a de-
gree of nobility aufwering to earl or count at prefent.
ALDIRMAN was alfo ufed, in the time of king
Eur, for a judge or juſtice. Thus we meet with
3
the
AL D
ALD
[ 375 ]
Alderney, the titles of Aldermannus totius Anglia, aldermannus
Aldhem. regis comitatus, civitatis, burgi, caftelli, hundredi
Jive wapentachii, et novemdecimorum. According to
Spelman, the aldermannus totius Anglia feems to have
been the fame officer who was afterwards ftyled capita-
lis jufticiarius Anglia, or chief-juftice of England; the
aldermannus egis feems to have been an occafional
magiſtrate, anfwering to our juftice of affize; and the
aldermannus comitatus, a magiftrate who held a middle
rank between what was afterward called the carl and
the her ff; he fat at the trial of cauſes with the bishop:
the latter proceeding according to ecclefiaftical law,
and the former declaring and expounding the common
law of the land.
!
ALDERNEY, an iſland in the Britiſh channel, fub-
ject to the crown of Great Britain. It is about eight
miles in compafs, and is feparated from Cape la Hogue,
in Normandy, by a narrow ftreight, called the Race of
Alderney, which is a very dangerous paffage in ftormy
weather when the two currents meet; otherwife it is
fafe, and has depth of water for the largeſt fhips. Thro'
this ftreight the French fleet made their efcape after
their defeat at La Hogue, in 1692. It is a healthy
iſland, has but one church, is fruitful both in corn and
paſture, and is remarkable for a fine breed of cows. The
inhabitants, for their greater fafety, live together in a
town-of the fame name. The number of houſes are
faid to be 200, and the inhabitants 1000. It has but
one harbour, called Crabby, which is at a good diftance
from the town; and is only fit for fmall veffels. To the
weft lie the range of rocks called the Caſkets, ſo dan-
gerous to mariners. W. Long. 2. 17. N. Lat. 49. 50.
ALDHELM (St), biſhop of Shireburn in the time
of the Saxon Heptarchy. He is faid to have been the
fon of Kenred, brother to Ina, king of the Weft-
Saxons; but, in the opinion of William of Malmſbury,
his father was no more than a diſtant relation to the
king. Having received the first part of his education
in the ſchool which one Macdulf, a learned Scot, had
fet up in the place where Malmſbury now ftands, he
travelled into France and Italy for his improvement.
At his return home, he ſtudied fome time under Adrian
abbot of St. Auguftine's in Canterbury, the moſt learn-
ed profeffor of the fciences who had ever been in Eng.
land. In thefe different feminaries he acquired a very
uncommon ſtock of knowledge; and became famous
for his learning, not only in England, but in foreign
countries: whence feveral learned men fent him their
writings for his perufal and correction; particularly
Prince Arcivil, a fon of the king of Scotland, who
wrote many pieces which he fent to Aldhelm, "in-
treating him to give them the laſt poliſh, by rubbing
off their Scots ruft." He was the first Engliſhman
who wrote in the Latin language both in profe and
verfe, and compofed a book for the inftruction of his
countrymen in the profody of that language. Befides
this, he wrote feveral other treatiſes on various fubjects;
fome of which are loft, and others publiſhed by Martin
Delrio and Canifius. Venerable Bede, who flouriſhed
in the end of this and the beginning of the next cen-
tury, gives the following character of Aldhelm: "He
was a man of univerfal erudition, having an elegant
ftyle, and being wonderfully well acquainted with books,
both on philofophical and religious fubjects." In fact,
confidering the cloud of ignorance by which he was.
furrounded, and the great difficulty of acquiring know. Aldhel
ledge without proper inftruction, Aldhelm was a very Aldret.
extraordinary man. From one of his letters to Hedda
bishop of Wincheſter, concerning the nature of his ftu-
dies whilt at Canterbury, he appears to have been
indefatigably determined to acquire every fpecies of
learning in his power. For a copy of this curious
epiftle, fee Henry's Hiftory, vol. ii. p. 320. King Al-
fred the Great declared, that Aldhelm was the beft of
all the Saxon poets; and that a favourite fong, which
was univerfally fung in his time, near 200 years after
its author's death, was of his compofition. When he
was abbot of Malmſbury, having a fine voice, and great
ſkill in muſic as well as poetry, and obferving the
backwardneſs of his barbarous countrymen to listen to
grave inftructions, he compofed a number of little
poems, which he fung to them after mafs in the ſweet- .
eft manner; by which they were gradually inſtructed
and civilized. After this excellent perfon had govern-
ed the monaftery of Malmſbury, of which he was the
founder, about 30 years, he was made bishop of Shere-
burn, where he died A. D. 709.-He wrote, 1. De
octo vitiis principalibus. This treatife is extant in Bi-
bliotheca Patrum of Canifius. 2. Enigmaticum verfus
mille. This, with feveral other of his poems, was
publiſhed by Martin Delrio at Mentz, 8vo, 1601.
3. A book addreffed to a certain king of Northumber
land, named Alfrid, on various fubjects. 4. De vita
monachorum. 5. De laude fanctorum. 6. De arithme-
tica. 7. De aftrologia. 8. A book againſt the mi-
ftake of the Britons concerning the celebration of Ea-
fter; printed by Sonius, 1576. 9. De laude virgi-
nitatis. Manufcript, in Bennet-college, Cambridge.
Publiſhed among Bede's Opufcula. Befides many fon-.
nets, epiftles, and homilies in the Saxon language.
ALDPORT, an ancient name for Mancheſter.
See MANCHESTER.
ALDRED, abbot of Taviſtock, was promoted to
the bishopric of Worcester in the year 1046. He was
fo much in favour with King Edward the Confeffor,
and had fo much power over his mind, that he obliged
him to be reconciled with the worit of his enemies,
particularly with Swane fon of the earl Goodwin, who
had revolted against him, and came with an army to
invade the kingdom. Aldred alſo reſtored the union.
and friendſhip between king Edward and Griffin king.
of Wales. He took afterwards a journey to Rome,
and being returned into England, in the year 1054r
he was fent ambaffador to the emperor Henry II.; he
ftaid a whole year in Germany, and was very honour-
ably entertained by Herman archbishop of Cologn,.
from whom he learned many things relating to ecclefi-
aftical difcipline, which on his return he eſtabliſhed in
his own diocefs. In the year 1058 he went to Jeru-
falem, which no archbishop or bishop of England had
ever done before him. Two years after he returned to -
England; and Kinfius archbifhop of York dying the
22d of December 1060, Aldred was elected in his ftead·
on Chriſtmas day following, and thought. fit to keep
his bishoprick of Worceſter with the archbishopric of
Canterbury, as fome of his predeceffors had done. Al-
dred went foon after to Rome, in order to receive the
Pallium from the Pope: He was attended by Tofton ·
earl of Northumberland, Gifo biſhop of Wells, and
Walter bifhop of Hereford. The pope received Tof--
ton
ALD
[ 376 1
ALD
"madeft to me before St Peter's altar." The king, Aldred,
terrified at this difcourfe, fell upon his knees, and Aldrich.
humbly begged the prelate to tell him, by what crime
he had deferved fo fevere a fentence. The noblemen,
who were prefent, were enraged against the arch-
biſhop, and loudly cried out he deſerved death, or at
leaft banishment, for having offered fuch an injury to his
fovereign, and they preffed him with threatenings to
raife the king from the ground. But the prelate, un-
moved at all this, anſwered calmly, "Good men, let
"him lie there, for he is not at Aldred's but at St
"Peter's feet; he muſt feel St Peter's power, fince he
"dared to injure his vice-gerent." Having thus re-
proved the nobles by his epifcopal authority, he vouch-
fafed to take the king by the hand, and to tell him the
ground of his complaint. The king humbly excufed
himſelf, by faying he had been ignorant of the whole
matter; and begged of the noblemen to intreat the
prelate, that he might take off the curfe he had pro-
nounced, and to change it into a bleffing. Aldred
was at laſt prevailed upon to favour the king thus far;
but not without the promiſe of ſeveral prefents and fa-
vours, and only after the king had granted him to
take fuch a revenge on the governor as he thought fit.
Since that time (adds the hiftorian) none of the no-
blemen ever dared to offer the leaft injury. It may be
queftioned, which was more furpriſing here, whether the
archbishop's haughtinefs, who dared to treat his fo-
vereign after fo unbecoming a manner; or the king's
ftupidity, who fuffered fuch infolence and audaciouſneſs
from a prieſt?—The Danes having made an invaſion in
the north of England in the year 1668, under the con-
duct of Harold and Canute the fons of king Swane,
Aldred was ſo much afflicted at it, that he died of grief
the 11th of September in that fame year, having be-
fought God that he might not ſee the defolation of his
church and country.
Aldred. ton very honourably, and made him fit by him in the
fynod which he held againſt the Simonifts. He grant-
ed to Gifo and Walter their requeſt, becauſe they were
tolerably well learned, and not accufed of fimony. But
Aldred being by his anfwers found ignorant, and guil-
ty of fimony, the pope deprived him very feverely of
all honours and dignities; fo that he was obliged to
return without the Pallium. On his way home he and
his three fellow-travellers were attacked by fome rob-
bers, who took from them all that they had, though
they did not offer to kill them. This obliged them to
return to Rome; and the pope, either out of com-
paffion, or by the threatenings of the earl of Northum-
berland, gave Aldred the Pallium; but he was obli-
ged to refign his bishopric of Worceſter. However, as
the archbishopric of York had been almost entirely
ruined by the many invafions of foreigners, king Ed-
ward gave the new archbishop leave to keep twelve vil-
lages or manors which belonged to the bifhopric of
Worcester. Edward the Confeffor dying in 1066,
Aldred crowned Harald his fucceffor. He alfo crown-
ed William the Conqueror, after he had made him
take the following oath, viz. that he would protect the
holy churches of God and their leaders; that he would
eſtabliſh and obferve righteous laws; that he would en-
tirely prohibit and fupprefs all rapines and unjuft
judgments. He was ſo much in favour with the Con-
queror, that this prince looked upon him as a father;
and, though imperious in regard to every body elfe, he
yet fubmitted to obey this archbiſhop: John Bromton
gives us an inſtance of the king's fubmiffion, which at
the fame time ſhows the prelate's haughtineſs. It hap
pened one day, as the archbiſhop was at York, that
the deputy-governor or lord-lieutenant going out of the
city with a great number of people, met the arch
bishop's fervants, who came to town with ſeveral carts
and horſes loaded with provifions. The governor afk-
ed them to whom they belonged; and they having an-
ſwered they were Aldred's fervants, the governor or-
dered that all theſe provifions ſhould be carried to the
king's ſtore-houſe. The archbiſhop fent immediately
ſome of his clergy to the governor, commanding him
to deliver the provifions, and to make fatisfaction to St
Peter, and to him the faint's vicar, for the injury he
had done them; adding, that if he refufed to comply,
the archbiſhop would make uſe of his apoftolic autho-
rity againſt him, (intimating thereby that he would ex-
communicate him). The governor, offended at this
proud meſſage, ufed the perfons whom the archbishop
had fent him very ill, and returned an anſwer as haugh-
ty as the meffage was. Aldred thereupon went to
London to make his complaint to the king; but in
this very complaint he acted with his wonted infolence;
for meeting the king in the church of St Peter at
Weſtminſter, he ſpoke to him in theſe words: "Hear-
❝ken, O William: when thou waft but a foreigner, and
"God, to puniſh the fins of this nation, permitted thee
"to become maſter of it, after having fhed a great deal
“ of blood, I confecrated thee, and put the crown
"upon thy head with bleffings; but now, becauſe
"thou haft deſerved it, I pronounce a curſe over thee,
"inſtead of a bleffing, fince thou art become the
"perfecutor of God's church, and of his minifters, and
*haſt broken the promiſes and the oaths which thou
N° 10.
ALDRICH (Robert), bishop of Carliſle, was born.
at Burnham in Buckinghamſhire about the year 1493,
and educated at Eaton-fchool; from whence, in 1507,
he was elected fcholar of King's-college, Cambridge.
where he took his degree in arts, and was afterwards
proctor of the univerfity. In 1525, he was appointed
maſter of Eaton fchool, then became fellow of that
college, and finally provoft. In 1529, he went to
Oxford, where, being firft incorporated bachelor of
divinity, in the following year he proceeded doctor
in that faculty: in 1531, he was made arch-deacon of
Colcheſter; in 1534, canon of Windfor; and the ſame
year, regiſtrary of the order of the garter. He was
confecrated biſhop of Carlifle in the year 1537, and
died at Horncaſtle in Lincolnſhire in 1556. He wrote,
1. Epiftola ad Gul. Hormanum, in Latin verfe; printed
in Horman's Antiboſſican, Lond. 1521, of which book
Pitts erroneouſly makes Aldrich the author. 2. Epi-
grammata varia. 3. Latin verſes, and another epiftle
to Horman, prefixed to the Vulgaria puerorum of that
author, Lond. 1519, 4to. 4. Anſwers to certain que-
ries concerning the abufes of the mafs; alfo about recei-
ving the facrament.
ALDRICH (Dr Henry), an eminent Engliſh divine
and philofopher, born at London in 1647, was edu-
cated at Weſtminſter fchool under the famous Dr Buf-
by, and admitted of Chrift-church college, Oxford.
He
1
ALD
ALD
[
377 ]
i
Aldrich. He had a great ſhare in the controverfy with the Pa-
pifts in the reign of James II. and bishop Burnet ranks
him among thoſe who examined all the points of po-
pery with a folidity of judgment, clearnefs of argu-
ment, depth of learning, and vivacity of writing, far
beyond any who had before that time written in our
language. He rendered himfelf fo confpicuous, that
at the revolution, when Maffey the popiſh dean of
Chriſt-church fled, his deanery was conferred on him.
In this ftation he behaved in an exemplary manner, and
that fabric owes much of its beauty to his ingenuity:
it was Aldrich who defigned the beautiful ſquare call-
ed Peckwater-Quadrangle, which is efteemed an excel-
lent picce of architecture. In imitation of his pre-
deceffor Dr Fell, he publiſhed, yearly, a piece of ſome
ancient Greck author, as a preſent to the ftudents of
his houſe he publiſhed A Syftem of Logic, with ſome
other pieces; and the revifing Clarendon's Hiftory of
the Rebellion was intruſted to him and biſhop Spratt ;
but it doth not appear that they made any additions,
or confiderable alterations in it, as has been afferted by
Mr Oldmixon. Befides his preferments above men-
tioned, Dr Aldrich was alſo rector of Wem in Shrop-
fhire. He was chofen prolocutor of the convocation
in 1702. This worthy perfon died at Chrift-church
on the 14th of December 1710. As to his character,
he was a moft univerfal fcholar, and had a taſte for all
forts of learning, eſpecially architecture. Sir John
Hawkins has favoured the public with ſeveral particu-
lars relative to Dr Aldrich's fkill in mufic; and on ac-
count of the Doctor's eminence in this refpect, Sir
John hath given his life, with his head prefixed. His
abilities as a muſician rank him, we are told, among
the greateſt maſters of the fcience. He compofed many
fervices for the church, which are well known; as are
alſo his anthems, nearly to the number of twenty. He
adapted, with great ſkill and judgment, Engliſh words
to many of the notes of Paleftrina, Cariffimi, Victoria,
and other Italian compofers for the church, fome of
which are frequently fung in our cathedrals as anthems.
By the happy talent which Dr Aldrich poffeffed, of na-
turalizing the compofitions of the old Italian mafters,
and accommodating them to an Engliſh ear, he in-
creaſed the ſtores of our own church. Though the
Doctor chiefly applied himſelf to the cultivation of fa-
cred mufic, yet, being a man of humour, he could di-
vert himſelf by producing pieces of a lighter kind.
There are two catches of his; the one," Hark the
bonny Chriſt-church Bells," the other intitled,
Smoking Catch," to be fung by four men fmoking
their pipes, which is not more difficult to fing than di-
verting to hear. His love of fmoking was, it feems,
fo exceffive as to be an entertaining topic of difcourfe
in the univerfity. Such was Dr Aldrich's regard for
the advancement of mufic, and the honour of its pro-
feffors, that he had formed a defign of writing a hifto-
ry of the fcience; and the materials from which he
propofed to compile it are yet extant in the library of
his own college. It appears from theſe materials, that
he had marked down every thing which he had met
with concerning mufic and muficians; but that he had
wrought no part of them into any kind of form.
66
a
Dr Aldrich is of fome note as a Latin poet. In the
Mufa Anglicana, we find two elegant copies of verfes
by him; one on the acceffion of King William III.
VOL. I. Part I.
dus.
and the other on the death of the Duke of Gloucefter. Aldrich,
Sir John Hawkins hath preferved a humorous tranfla- Aldrovani..
tion by him of the well-known Engliſh ballad,
"A foldier and a failor,
“A tinker and a taylor," &c.
The following epigram, intitled "Caufa Bibendi,"
is likewiſe aſcribed to Dr Aldrich:
"Si bene quid memini, Caufæ funt quinque bibendi,
<<
Hofpitis Adventus; præfens Sitis, atque futura;
“ Aut Vini Bonitas; aut quæ libet altera Caufa:
The epigram has been thus tranflated:
"If on my theme I rightly think,
“There are five reaſons why men drink :
“Good wine, a friend, becauſe I'm dry,
"Or left I fhould be by and by,
cr
"Or any other reaſon why."
which
The tranſlation is not equal to the original. It is e-
vident, from the verfes cited and referred to, that Dr
Aldrich was of a very cheerful and pleaſant turn of
mind. Indeed, he is always fpoken of as having been
a man of wit; and as one who, to his great talents and
virtues, joined thofe amiable qualities, which rendered
him the object of general affection, as well as of general
efteem and refpect. Having never been married, he
appropriated his income to works of hoſpitality and
benificence, and in encouraging learning to the utmoſt
of his power, of which he was a moft munificent pa-
tron, as well as one of the greatest men in England,
if confidered as a Chriſtian or a gentleman. He had
always the intereft of his college at heart, whereof he
was an excellent governor. And, as he was remark-
able for modefty and humility, concealing his name to
thoſe feveral learned tracts he publiſhed, fo at his death
he appointed to be buried without any memorial in the.
cathedral; which his thrifty nephew complied with,
depofiting him on the fouth fide of bifhop Fell's grave,
December 22, eight days after his deceaſe
of his age.
happened in the 63d or 64th year of his
ALDROVANDUS (Ulyffes), profeffor of philo-
fophy and phyfic at Bologna, the place of his nativity.
He was a moft curious inquirer into natural hiftory,
and travelled into the moft diftant countries on purpoſe
to inform himſelf of their natural productions. Minerals,
metals, plants, and animals, were the objects of his
curious reſearches; but he applied himſelf chiefly to
birds, and was at great expence to have figures of
them drawn from the life. Aubert le Mire fays, that
he gave a certain painter, famous in that art, a yearly
falary of 200 crowns, for 30 years and upwards; and
that he employed at his own expence Lorenzo Bennini
and Cornelius Swintus, as well as the famous engraver
Chriftopher Coriolanus. Thefe expences ruined his
fortune, and at length reduced him to the utmoſt ne-
ceffity; and it is faid that he died blind in an hoſpital
at Bologna, at a great age, in 1605. Mr Bayle ob-
ferves, that antiquity does not furnish us with an in-
ſtance of a defign fo extenſive and ſo laborious as that
of Aldrovandus, with regard to natural hiftory; that
Pliny has treated of more kinds of fubjects, but only
touches lightly on them, faying but a little upon any
thing, whereas Aldrovandus has collected all he could
meet with. His compilation, or that compiled upon
3 B
his
f
"
ALE
[ 378 ]
ALE
da
Ale.
water and made to germinate, by which its ſpirits are
excited and fet at liberty; it is then dried and grind-
ed; after which it is infufed in a certain quantity of
water; which being fermented, becomes a pleafant,
warming, ftrengthening, and intoxicating liquor."
This ale was moſt commonly made of barley; but fome-
times of wheat, oats, and millet.
Aldrovan- his plan, confifts of 13 volumes in folio, feveral of which
were printed after his death. He himfelf publiſhed
11 his Ornithology, or Hiftory of Birds, in three folio vo-
lumes, in 1599; and his feven books Of Infects, which
make another volume of the fame fize. The volume
Of Serpents, three Of Quadrupeds, one Of Fishes,
that of exanguious Animals, the Hiftory of Monſters,
with the Supplement to that of Animals, the treatiſe
Of Metals, and the Dendrology or Hiftory of Trees,
were publiſhed at ſeveral times after the death of Al-
drovaudus, by the care of different perfons; and Aldro-
vandus is the fole author only of the first fix volumes of
this work, the reft having been finifhed and compiled
by others, upon the plan of Aldrovandus: a moft ex-
tenfive plan, wherein he not only relates what he has
read in naturalifts, but remarks alfo what hiftorians
have written, legiflators ordained, and poets feigned:
he explains alſo the different uſes which may be made
of the things he treats of, in common life, in medicine,
architecture, and other arts; in fhort, he ſpeaks of mo-
rality, proverbs, devices, riddles, hieroglyphics, and
many other things which relate to his fubject.
ALDROVANDA, in botany, a genus of the pen-
tandria order, belonging to the pentagynia clafs of
plants; of which there is but one fpecies. The calyx
is divided into five parts; the petals are five; and the
capfule has five valves, with ten feeds. It is a native
of Italy and the Indies; and has no Engliſh name.
ALDUABIS (anc. geog.), a river of Celtic Gaul,
which rifing from Mount Jura, feparating the Sequani
from the Helvetii, and running through the county of
Burgundy, or the Franche Comté, environs almoſt on
every fide the city of Befançon ; and running by Dole,
falls into the Saone near Chalone. In Cæfar it is cali-
ed Alduaſdubis; in Ptolemy, Dubis: now le Doux.
ALE, a fermented liquor obtained from an infufion
of malt, and differing from beer chiefly in having a lefs
proportion of hops. (See BREWING.). This liquor,
the natural fubftitute of wine in fuch countries as could
not produce the grape, was originally made in Egypt,
the first planted kingdom, on the difperfion from the
eaſt, that was fuppofed unable to produce grapes. And,
as the Noachian colonies pierced further into the weft,
they found, or thought they found, the fame defect,
and ſupplied it in the fame manner. Thus the natives
of Spain, the inhabitants of France, and the aborigines
of Britain, all uſed an infufion of barley for their ordi-
nary liquor and it was called by the various names of
Calia and Ceria in the firft country, Cerevifia in the
fecond, and Gurmi in the laſt; all literally importing
only the ftrong water.
"All the feveral nations (fays Pliny) who inhabit
the weft of Europe, have a liquor with which they in-
toxicate themſelves, made of corn and water. The
manner of making this liquor is fomewhat different in
Gaul, Spain, and other countries, and is called by
many various names; but its nature and properties are
every where the fame. The people of Spain, in parti-
cular, brew this liquor fo well, that it will keep good
a long time.
So exquifite is the cunning of mankind,
in gratifying their vicious appetites, that they have
thus invented a method to make water itſelf intoxi-
The method in which the ancient Britons, and
other. Celtic nations, made their ale, is thus defcribed
by Ifidorus and Orofius.." The grain is fteeped in
cate."
Anciently the Welch and Scots had alfo two kinds
of ale, called common ale and ſpiced ale; and their va-
lue was thus afcertained by law: "If a farmer hath
no mead, he ſhall pay two caſks of ſpiced ale, or four
cafks of common ale, for one caſk of mead." By
this law, a cafk of fpiced ale, nine palms in height,
and 18 palms in diameter, was valued at a fum of mo-
ney equal in efficacy to L.7: 10s. of our preſent mo-
ney; and a caſk of common ale, of the fame dimen-
fions, at a fum equal to L. 3: 15s. This is a fufficient
proof, that even common ale in this period was an ar
ticle of luxury among the Welch, which could only
be obtained by the great and opulent. Wine feems
to have been quite unknown even to the kings of Wales
in this period, as it is not ſo much as once mentioned
in their laws; though Giraldus Cambrenfis, who flou-
rifhed about a century after the conqueft, acquaints us,
that there was a vineyard in his time at Maenarper,
near Pembroke, in South Wales.
Ale was the favourite liquor of the Anglo-Saxons
and Danes, as it had been of their anceſtors the an-
cient Germans. Before their converfion to Chriftiani-
ty, they believed that drinking large and frequer
draughts of ale was one of the chief felicities which
thoſe heroes enjoyed who were admitted into the hall
of Odin.
There are various forts of ale known in Britain,
particularly pale and brown : the former is brewed from
malt flightly dried; and is eſteemed more vifcid than
the latter, which is made from malt more highly dried
or roafted.
Pale ale brewed with hard waters, as thofe of ſprings
and wells, is judged the moſt wholefome, in regard the
mineral particles tend to prevent the coheſions of thoſe
drawn from the grain, and enable them to paſs the pro-
per fecretions the better; fofter waters, as thofe of ri-
vers, and rain, feem better ſuited to draw out the ſub-
ftance of high-dried malts, which retain many igneous
particles, beft abforbed in a ſmooth vehicle.
In Staffordſhire, they have a fecret of fining ale in
a very fhort time. Plot conjectures it to be done by
adding alum, or vinegar, in the working.
Ale is prepared various ways, and of various ingre-
dients, as of wheat, rye, millet, oats, barley, the ber-
ries of the quick-bean, &c.
Some have found that the juice which bleeds from
the birch or fycamore is of great ufe on this occaſion,
applied instead of water. It makes one bufhel of malt
go as far as four in the common way.
Some have a method of preparing ale, fo that it will
keep, carried to the Eaft or Weft Indies. The ſecret
is, by mafhing twice with freſh malt; boiling twice;
and, after fhipping it, putting to every five gallons two
new-laid eggs whole, to remain therein. It is faid,.
that, in a fortnight's time, the fhells will be diffolved;
and the eggs become like wind-eggs; and that after-
wards the white would diſappear and the yoke remain
untouched.
Ale
1
Ale.
་་
ALE
ALE
[ 379 ]
Ale.
Ale is generally held to be more diuretic than beer, in
regard it is ſmoother, more foftening, and relaxing;
fo that where urine is to be promoted by facilitating
the paſſage, ale is moſt likely to effect it.
Ale is flatulent; and hence fometimes produces co-
lics, and the cholera morbus: it is acefcent; but it does
not produce calcareous diſeaſes, as has been afferted.
If malt-liquor, of any degree of ſtrength, is be-
come flat and tartifh, 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 ferment will be raiſed, a ſprightly taſte will
be reftored to the liquor, and its acidity will be de-
ftroyed. Tart liquors of this kind are apt to produce
a dyfury, ftrangury, or a gonorrhea; in which cafes,
a fmall quantity of brandy may be taken.
The confumption of ale in theſe kingdoms is incre-
dible. It was computed twenty years ago at the value
of four millions yearly, including Great Britain and
Ireland.
The duties on ale and beer make a principal branch
of the revenue in Britain. They were firft impofed
by the 12th of Car. II. and have been continued by
feveral fubfequent acts of parliament to firft Geo. III.
which lays an additional 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 barrel; and
for every barrel of 6s. or under, the fum of Is. 4d.
Medicated ALEs, thoſe wherein medicinal herbs have
been infuſed, or added during the fermentation. See
PHARMACY, (Index).
Gill ALE, is that in which the dried leaves of gill or
ground-ivy have been infuſed. It is eſteemed abfterfive
and vulnerary, and confequently good in diſorders of
the breaſt and obftructions of the vifcera.
ALF-Conner, an officer in London, who infpects the
meaſures uſed in public-houſes. There are four ale-
conners, who are all chofen by the common council of
the city.
ALF-Houfes muſt be licenſed by juſtices of the peace,
who take recognizances of the perfons licenſed, and of
their fureties, viz. 10l. each, that they will not ſuffer
unlawful gaming, nor other diforderly practices in their
houfes. Every perfon, excepting thole who fell ale
in fairs, neglecting to procure a licence, is liable to a
penalty of 40 s. for the first offence, 4 1. for the fecond,
and 61. for the third, with all cofts. The licence is
granted on the firft of September, or within twenty
days after, at a general meeting of the juftices for the
divifion to which he belongs, upon his producing a
certificate to his character, unleſs, by living in a city
or town-corporate, this laſt circumftance is difpenfed
with, and continues in force for one year only. Ale-
Ale-
houſe keepers, felling ale in fhort meaſure, are liable to
a penalty not exceeding 40s. and not lefs than Los. and
likewife to a fine of ros. for permitting tipling, &c.
By 29th Geo. II. c. 12. perfons keeping ale-houfes
in Scotland fhall be licenfed as in England, and the
juftices there fhall meet annually to licenſe ale-houſes;
on each of which licenfes a fee of 1s. is payable to the
clerk of the peace. Magiftrates of royal boroughs
fhall meet yearly for the like purpofe; but where there
ſhall not be a fufficient number of magiſtrates to act in
any royal borough, juftices may grant licenfes, to be in
force for one year only. Ibid.
Ale
11
Alectoro-
Perfons in Scotland convicted of keeping unlicenſed
ale-houſes ſhall forfeit for the first offence 5s. for the
fecond 10 s. for the third 20 s. and to be difqualified; mantia.
and for every ſubſequent offence 40 s. to be levied by
diftrefs and fale, one moiety to the informer, the other
to the poor of the parish. Conviction to be intimated
to the offender, and certified to the clerk of the peace,
and recorded: but perfons aggrieved, may appeal to
the quarter feffions. Ibid.
Licenſes for houſes on the military roads in Scot-
land fhall be iſſued on payment of 1 s. only to the clerk
of the peace: making out licenſes before the fame be
ftamped, is a penalty of 10l. and making them con-
trary to the intention of this act, 51. and the fame
fhall be vacated, unleſs the duty and fine be paid, and
the receipt produced, and licenſe ſtamped. Ibid.
ALE-Silver, a tax paid annually to the lord-mayor of
London, by all who fell ale within the city.
ALEA, in Roman antiquity, denotes in general all
manner of games of chance; but, in a more reſtricted
fenfe, was uſed for a particular game played with dice
and tables, not unlike our backgammon.
ALEANDER (Jerome), cardinal and archbishop
of Brindifi, was born in 1480; and diftinguiſhed himſelf
at the beginning of the reformation, by the oppofition
he made to Luther: for being fent into Germany as
the pope's nuncio in 1519, he acted, as occaſion ſerved,
in the character both of ambaſſador and doctor; and
declaimed three hours together againſt Luther's doc-
trine before the diet of Worms, but could not prevent
that celebrated reformer from being heard in that diet.
He publiſhed ſeveral works, and died at Rome in 1542.
ALEANDER (Jerome), a learned man of the feven-
teenth century, born in the principality of Friuli, of the
fame family with the preceding. When he went to
Rome, he was employed as fecretary under cardi-
nal Octavius Bandini, and diſcharged this office with
great honour for almoſt twenty years. He afterwards,
by the perfuafion of Urban VIII. who had a great e-
fteem for him, became fecretary to Cardinal Barberini,
whom he accompanied to Rome when he went there
in the character of legate à latere, and in whofe fer-
vice he died in 1631. He was one of the firſt mem-
bers of the academy of Humorists, wrote a learned trea-
tife in Italian on the device of the fociety, and difplay-
ed his genius on many different fubjects. Barberini
gave him a magnificent funeral at the academy of Hu-
morifts; the academifts carried his corpfe to the grave;
and Gafpar Simeonibus, one of the members, made his
funeral oration.
ALECTO, One of the FURIES, daughter of Ache-
ron and Night, or, as others would have it, of Pluto
and Proferpine.
ALECTORIA, a ſtone faid to be formed in the
gall-bladders of old cocks, to which the ancients a-
fcribed many fabulous virtues. This is otherwife cal-
led Alectorius Lapis, fometimes Alectorolithos, in Eng-
lifh the cock-ſtone.
liſh the cock-ſtone. The more modern naturalifts hold
the alectorius lapis to be originally fwallowed down,
not generated in, the ftomach or gizzard of cocks and
capons. It is known that many of the fowl-kind make
a practice of fwallowing pebbles, as it is fuppofed to
be of fervice in the buſineſs of trituration and digeftion.
ALECTOROMANTIA, in antiquity, a fpecies
of divination performed by means of a cock. This is
3 B 2
other-
}
ALE
ALE
[
380 ]
A-lce
-
Alembert.
otherwife called Alectryomancy; of which there appear
to have been different fpecies. But that moſt ſpoken
of by authors was in the following manner: A circle
being defcribed on the ground, and divided into twen-
ty-four equal portions, in each of theſe ſpaces was
written one of the letters of the alphabet, and on each
of the letters was laid a grain of wheat; after which,
a cock being turned loofe in the circle, particular no-
tice was taken of the grains picked up by the cock,
becauſe the letters under them, being formed into a
word, made the anfwer defired. It was thus, accor-
ding to Zonaras, that Libanius and Jamblicus fought
who ſhould fucceed the emperor Valens; and the cock
eating the grains anfwering to the ſpaces OEOA, fe-
veral whofe names began with thoſe letters, as Theo-
dotus, Theodiſtes, Theodulus, &c. were put to death;
which did not hinder, but promote, Theodofius to the
fucceffion. But the ftory, however current, is but ill
ſupported: It has been called in queſtion by fome,
and refuted by others, from the filence of Marcellinus,
Socrates, and other hiftorians of that time.
A-LEE, in the fea-language, a term only uſed when
the wind, croffing or flanking the line of a fhip's
courfe, preffes upon the mafts and fails fo as to make
her incline to one fide, which is called the lee-fide:
hence, when the helm is moved over to this fide, it is faid
to be a-lee, or hard-a-lee.
ALEGAMBE (Philip), a celebrated Jefuit, born
at Bruffels in 1592, diſtinguiſhed himſelf by publiſhing
a Bibliotheque of the writers of his order, and died at
Rome in 1652.
ALEGRETTE, a fmall town of Portugal, in A-
lentejo, on the confines of Port Alegre, on the river
Caja, which falls into the Guadiana, a little below Ba-
jadoz, near the frontiers of Spaniſh Eftremadura. It
is a very pretty town, and finely fituated; feven miles
fouth-east of Port Alegre, and thirty north of Elvas.
W. Long. 5. 20. N. Lat. 39. 6.
ALEIUS CAMPUS (anc. geog.), a plain in Cili-
cia, on this fide the river Pyramus, near the mountain
Chimera, famous for Bellerophon's wandering and pe-
rishing there, after being thrown off Pegaſus; which is
the reafon of the appellation.
ALEMANIA, or ALLEMANIA, (anc.geog.) a name
of Germany, but not known before the time of the
Antonines, and then ufed only for a part. After the
Marcomanni and their allies had removed from the
Rhine, a rabble, or collection of people from all parts
of Gaul, as the term Alemanni denotes, prompted
either by levity or poverty, occupied the Agri, called
Decumates by Tacitus, becauſe they held them on a
tithe; now fuppofed to be the duchy of Wirtemburg.
Such appear to be the ſmall beginnings of Alemania,
which was in after-times greatly enlarged: but ftill
it was confidered as a diſtinct part; for Caracalla,
who conquered the Alemanni, affumed the furname both
of Alemannicus and Germanicus.
ALEMBDAR, an officer in the court of the Grand
Signior, who bears the green ſtandard of Mahomet,
when the fultan appears in public on any folemn occa-
fion.
ALEMBERT (John le Rond d'), an eminent
French philofopher, was born at Paris in 1717. He
derived the name of John le Rond from that of the
church near which, after his birth, he was expofed as
a foundling. His father, informed of this circum- Alembert.
ftance, liftened to the voice of nature and duty, took
meafures for the proper education of his child, and for
his future fubfiftence in a ſtate of eaſe and indepen-
dence.
He received his firft education in the College of the
Four Nations, among the Janfenifts, where he gave
early marks of capacity and genius. In the first year
of his philofophical ftudies, he compofed a Commen-
tary on the Epistle of St Paul to the Romans. The
Janfenifts confidered this production as an omen "that
portended to the party of Port-Royal a reſtoration
to fome part of their ancient ſplendor, and hoped to
find one day in M. d'Alembert a fecond Paſcal. Το
render this refemblance more complete, they engaged
their rifing pupil in the ftudy of the mathematics; but
they foon perceived that his growing attachment to
this fcience was likely to diſappoint the hopes they had.
formed with refpect to his future deftination: they,
therefore, endeavoured to divert him from this line;
but their endeavours were fruitleſs.
At his leaving college, he found himfelf alone and
unconnected in the world; and fought an afylum in
the houſe of his nurse. He comforted himſelf with the
hope, that his fortune, though not ample, would bet-
ter the condition and ſubſiſtence of that family, which
was the only one that he could confider as his own :
Here, therefore, he took up his refidence, refolving to
apply himſelf entirely to the ſtudy of geometry: And
here he lived, during the ſpace of forty years, with the
greateſt fimplicity, diſcovering the augmentation of his
means only by increafing diſplays of his beneficence, con-
cealing his growing reputation and celebrity from thefe
honeft people, and making their plain and uncouth
manners the fubject of good-natured pleafantry and
philofophical obfervation. His good nurfe perceived
his ardent activity; heard him mentioned as the writer
of many books; but never took it into her head that
he was a great man, and rather beheld him with a kind
of compaffion. "You will never," faid fhe to him one
day, "be any thing but a philofopher-and what is a
philofopher?—a fool, who toils and plagues himſelf during
his life, that people may talk of him when HE IS NO More.
As M. d'Alembert's fortune did not far exceed the
demands of neceffity, his friends adviſed him to think
of a profeffion that might enable him to augment it.
He accordingly turned his views to the law, and took
his degrees in that line; but foon abandoned this
plan, and applied to the ſtudy of medicine. Geome-
try, however, was always drawing him back to his for-
mer purfuits, and after many ineffectual efforts to reſiſt
its attractions, he renounced all views of a lucrative
profeffion, and gave himſelf over entirely to mathema-
tics and poverty.
*
In the year 1741 he was admitted member of the
Academy of Sciences; for which diſtinguiſhed literary
promotion, at fuch an early age, he had prepared the * The Anc-.
way by correcting the errors of a celebrated work
• lyfe demon-
which was deemed claſſical in France in the line of ge-trée of F.
ometry. He afterwards fet himſelf to examine, with Beinau.
deep attention and affiduity, what muſt be the motion
of a body which paffes from one fluid into another
more denfe, in a direction not perpendicular to the
ſurface ſeparating the two fluids. Every one knows.
the phenomenon which happens in this cafe, and which
amufes
A LE
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*
vernment, which he owed to the friendſhip of Count Alembert.
d'Argenfon.
Alembert, amufes children under the denomination of Ducks and
Drakes; but M. d'Alembert was the first who explain-
ed it in a fatisfactory and philofophical manner.
Two years after his election to a place in the acade-
my, he publiſhed his Treatife on Dynamics. The new
principle developed in this treatife confifted in efta-
bliſhing equality, at each inftant, between the changes
that the motion of a body has undergone, and the for-
ces or powers which have been employed to produce
them ; or to expreſs the thing otherwiſe, in feparating
into two parts the action of the moving powers, and
confidering the one as producing alone the motion of
the body, in the fecond inftant, and the other as em-
ployed to deftroy that which it had in the firſt.
So early as the year 1744, M. d'Alembert had ap-
plied this principle to the theory of the equilibrium,
and the motion of fluids; and all the problems before
folved by geometricians became, in fome meaſure, its
corollaries. The diſcovery of this new principle was
followed by that of a new calculus, the firſt trials of
which were publifhed in a Difcourfe on the general Theo-
ry of the Winds, to which the prize-medal was adjudg-
ed by the academy of Berlin in the year 1746, and
which was a new and brilliant addition to the fame of
M. d'Alembert. This new calculus of partial differ-
ences he applied, the year following, to the problem of
vibrating chords, whofe folution, as well as the theory
of the oſcillations of the air and the propagation of
found, had been given but incompletely by the geome-
tricians who preceded him, and theſe were his maſters
or his rivals.
In the year 1749 he furniſhed a method of applying
his principle to the motion of any body of a given fi-
gure; and he folved the problem of the preceffion of
the equinoxes, determined its quantity, and explained
the phenomenon of the nutation of the terreftrial axis
diſcovered by Dr Bradley.
In 1752,
M. d'Alembert publiſhed a treatiſe on the
Refiftance of Fluids, to which he gave the modeft title
of an Effay; but which contains a multitude of origi-
nal ideas and new obfervations. About the fame time
he publiſhed, in the Memoirs of the Academy of Ber-
lin, Reſearches concerning the Integral Calculus, which
is greatly indebted to him for the rapid progreſs it has
made in the prefent century.
The tranquillity of M. d'Alembert was abated when
his fame grew more extenfive, and when it was known
beyond the circle of his friends, that a fine and enlight-
ened tafte for literature and philofophy accompanied
his mathematical genius. Our author's eulogift afcribes
to envy, detraction, and to other motives nearly as un-
generous, all the diſapprobation, oppofition, and cen-
fure that M. d'Alembert met with on account of the
publication of the famous Encyclopedical Dictionary of
Arts and Sciences, in conjunction with Diderot. None
furely will refufe the well-deferved tribute of applauſe
to the eminent difplays of genius, judgment, and true
literary taite, with which M. d'Alembert has enriched
the great work now mentioned. Among others, the
Preliminary Difcourfe he has affixed to it, concerning
the rife, progreſs, connections, and affinities of all the
branches of human knowledge, is perhaps one of the
moft capital productions of which the philofophy of the
prefent age can boaft. Nor will it be difputed, that Monthly
the mafter-builders of this new and ftupendous temple Review for
of fcience, for the worship of NATURE, had alfo really Mar. 1787%
in view the advancement of human knowledge, and the
improvement of the arts and fciences. This, no true,
no candid philofopher, will call in queſtion. But that
in the inner court of this temple there was a confede-
racy formed againſt all thoſe who looked higher than
nature, for the principal object of their veneration and
confidence, is a fact too palpable, nay too boldly avow-
ed, to ftand in need of any proof.
Some time after this, d'Alembert published his Phi-
lofophical, Hiftorical, and Philological Mifcellanies.
Thefe were followed by the Memoirs of Chriftina Queen
of Sweden; in which M. d'Alembert ſhowed that he
was acquainted with the natural rights of mankind, and
was bold enough to affert them. His Efay on the In-
tercourfe of Men of Letters with Perfons high in Rank
and Office, wounded the former to the quick, as it ex-
pofed to the eyes of the public the ignominy of thoſe
fervile chains, which they feared to ſhake off, or were
proud to wear. A lady of the court hearing one day
the author accufed of having exaggerated the defpo
tifm of the great, and the fubmiffion they require, an-
fwered flyly, If he had confulted me, I would have told
him ftill more of the matter.
While the ftudies of M. d'Alembert were confined
to geometry, he was little known or celebrated in his
M. d'Alembert gave very elegant fpecimens of his
native country. His connections were limited to a literary abilities in his tranſlations of ſome ſelect pieces
fmall fociety of felect friends: he had never feen any of Tacitus. But thefe occupations did not divert him
man in high office except Meffrs d'Argenfou. Satis- from his mathematical ſtudies: for about the fame time
fied with an income which furniſhed him with the ne-
he enriched the Encyclopédie with a multitude of ex-
ceffaries of life, he did not aſpire after opulence or ho- cellent articles in that line, and compofed his Reſearch-
nours, nor had they been hitherto beſtowed upon him, es on ſeveral important Points of the Syftem of the World,.
as it is eaſier to confer them on thoſe who folicit them, in which he carried to a higher degree of perfection.
than to look out for men who deferve them. His the folution of the problem of the perturbations of the
cheerful converſation, his finart and lively fallies, a hap- planets, that had feveral years before been preſented to
py knack at telling a ftory, a fingular mixture of ma- the Academy.
lice of fpeech with goodneſs of heart, and of delicacy
of wit with fimplicity of manners, rendered him a plea-
fing and intereſting companion, and his company con-
fequently was much fought after in the faſhionable cir-
cles. His reputation, at length, made its way to the
throne, and rendered him the object of royal attention
and beneficence. He received alſo a penſion from go-
In 1759 he publiſhed his Elements of Philofophy: a
work extolled as remarkable for its precifion and per-
fpicuity; in which, however, are fome tenets relative
both to metaphyfics and moral fcience, that are far
from being admiffible.
The refentment that was kindled (and the difputes
that followed it) by the article Geneva, inferted in the
Encyclopédie,
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A LE
t
Alembroth.
a word uſed for a fort of fixed alkaline falt, which had Alenio
the power of the famous alkaheft, in diffolving bodies,
opening the pores of moft or all known ſubſtances, and Aleppo."
thence, as well as by deftroying fulphurs, promoting
the feparation of metals from their ores.It is alfo
uſed for a compound of corrofive mercury and fal am-
moniac. See CHEMISTRY.
Alenibert Encyclopédie, are well known. M. d'Alembert did
not leave this field of controverfy with flying colours.
Voltaire was an auxiliary in the conteft: but as, in
point of candour and decency, he had no reputation
to lofe; and as he weakened the blows of his enemies,
by throwing both them and the fpectators into fits of
laughter, the iffue of the war gave him little uneafi-
nefs. It fell more heavily on d'Alembert; and expoſed
him, even at home, to much contradiction and oppofi-
tion.
It was on this occafion that the late king of Pruffia
offered him an honourable afylum at his court, and the
place of prefident of his academy; and was not of-
fended at his refufal of theſe diftinctions, but culti
vated an intimate friendſhip with him during the reſt
of his life. He had refufed, fome time before this,
a propofal made by the emprefs of Ruffia to intruft
him with the education of the Grand Duke ;- a pro-
pofal accompanied with all the flattering offers that
could tempt a man, ambitious of titles, or deſirous of
making an ample fortune: but the objects of his am-
bition were tranquillity and ſtudy.
In the year 1765, he publiſhed his Differtation on
the Deftruction of the Jefuits. This piece drew upon
him a fwarm of adverfaries, who confirmed the merit
and credit of his work by their manner of attacking
it.
Befide the works already mentioned, he publiſhed
nine volumes of memoirs and treatiſes, under the title
of Opufcules; in which he has folved a multitude of
problems relative to aftronomy, mathematics, and na-
tural philofophy; of which our panegyrift gives a par-
ticular account, more efpecially of thoſe which exhibit
new fubjects, or new methods of inveſtigation.
He publiſhed alfo Elements of Mufic; and rendered,
at length, the fyftem of Rameau intelligible; but he
did not think the mathematical theory of the fonorous
body fufficient to account for the rules of that art.
He was always fond of mufic; which, on the one
hand, is´connected with the moſt ſubtle and learned
reſearches of rational mechanics; while, on the other,
its power over the ſenſes and the foul exhibits to phi-
lofophers phenomena no leſs fingular, and ſtill more in-
explicable.
In the year 1772 he was chofen fecretary to the
French academy. He formed, foon after this prefer-
ment, the deſign of writing the lives of all the deceaſed
academicians, from 1700 to 1772; and in the ſpace of
three years he executed this defign, by compofing 70
eulogies.
ALENIO (Julius), a Jefuit, born at Breſcia in the
republic of Venice. He travelled into the caftern
countries; and arrived at Maca in 1610, where he
taught mathematics. From thence he went to the
empire of China, where he continued to propagate the
Chriftian religion for thirty-fix years. He was the
firft who planted the faith in the province of Xanfi,
and he built feveral churches in the province of Fokien.
He died in Auguft 1649, leaving behind him ſeveral
works in the Chineſe language.
ALENTEJO, a province of Portugal, between the
rivers of Tajo and Guadiana: the foil is very fertile,
and the inhabitants laborious and induſtrious. The
principal town is Ebora.
ALENZON, a large handſome town of France, in
lower Normandy, with the title of a duchy. It is
furrounded with good walls, and flanked with towers.
The caftle was formerly a place of great confequence,
and has held out long fieges. It has but one pariſh-
church, which has a bold and noble front. Among the
nunneries, that of St Clair is moſt remarkable. It is
feated on the river Sarte, in a vaſt open plain, which
produces all forts of corn and fruit. Near it there are
quarries of ftone fit for building, wherein are found
a fort like Briftol ftones. The linen made at Alenzon
is very good, and fells at Paris. It is 20 miles north
of Mans, 63 fouth-by-weft of Rouen, and 88 fouth-
weft of Paris. Lon. o. 10. N. lat. 48. 25.
ALEPPO, or HALAB, the capital of the Pachalic,
and of all Syria, and the ordinary refidence of the pa-
cha, is fituated in the vaſt plain which extends from
the Orontes to the Euphrates, and which towards the
fouth terminates in the defert. It is built on eight
hills or eminences, on the higheft of which the caftle
is erected, and is fuppofed to be the ancient Beræa.
This mount is of a conic form, and ſeems in a great
meaſure to be raiſed with the earth thrown up out of
a deep broad ditch which furrounds it. The fuburbs
to the north-north-eaft are next in height to this, and
thoſe to the weft-fouth-weft are much lower than the
parts adjacent, and than any other part of the city.
The houſes are large and commodious, having terraces
on their tops, and generally fky-lights in form of a
dome to let the light into the rooms, which from their
loftinefs, the gilding on the window-fhutters, cup-
board-doors, &c. have at first entrance a very grand
and agreeable effect. They are all fo equal in height,
that there are feldom any ſteps to afcend or deſcend in
going from one houſe to another; while feveral large
vaulted ftreets increaſe the facility of communication,
by affording a paffage to every part of the city free
from the embarraſſment of the open ſtreets. They are
carefully paved; have gutters and a foot-pavement on
each fide; and the middle of the ſtreet is laid with
brick, the fmall end upwards, for the convenience of
the horſes. There is alfo a cleanlineſs obferved here
unknown to the other cities of Turkey, and which is
not attended with the trouble of our ſcavengers, there
5
being
M. d'Alembert died on the 29th of October 1783.
There were many amiable lines of candour, modefty,
difintereſtedneſs, and beneficence, in his moral charac-
ter; which are defcribed, with a diffufive detail, in his
eulogium, by M. Condorcet, Hifi. de l'Acad. Royale
des Sciences, 1783.
ALEMBIC, a chemical veffel, uſually made of glafs
or copper, formerly uſed for diſtillation. The bottom
part, which contained the ſubject for diſtillation, is
called, from its fhape, the cucurbit; the upper part,
which receives and condenfes the fteam, is called the
head, the beak of which is fitted into the neck of a
receiver. Retorts, and the common worm-ftill, are
now more generally employed.
ALEMBROTH, in the writings of the chemifts,
}
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ALE
{
The mofques in Aleppo are numerous, and ſome few
of them magnificent. Before each of them is an area,
with a fountain in the middle, defigned for ablutions
before prayers; and behind ſome of the larger there are
little gardens. There are many large khans, or cara-
vanferas, confifting of a capacious fquare, on all fides
of which are a number of rooms, built on a ground-
floor, ufed occafionally for chambers, ware-houfes, or
ftables. Above ſtairs there is a colonade or gallery on
every fide, in which are the doors of a number of ſmall
rooms, wherein the merchants, as well ſtrangers as na-
tives, tranfact moſt of their buſineſs.
The bazars or market-places are long covered nar-
row ftreets, on each fide of which are a great number
of finall fhops, juft fufficient to hold the tradeſman and
his goods, the buyer being obliged to ftand without.
Each feparate branch of bufinefs has a particular bazar,
which is locked up, as well as the ſtreets, an hour and
a half after fun-fet: but the locks are of wood, though
the doors are cafed with iron. The flaughter-houſes
are in the ſuburbs, open to the fields. The tanners
have a khan to work in near the river. To the fouth-
ward in the fuburbs they burn lime; and a little be-
yond that there is a village where they make ropes and
catgut. On the oppofite fide of the river, to the weft-
ward, there is a glaſs houſe, where they make a coarſe
white glaſs, in the winter only; for the greateſt part of
this manufacture is brought from a village 35 miles
weftward.
Aleppo. being afs-drivers who go about the city and take up non fit for ſervice, not excepting a culverine nine Aleppo.
the rubbiſh and duft, which each inhabitant is obliged feet long, taken from the Perfians at the fiege of
to ſweep together; and though the heat of the climate Baffora. Three hundred and fifty Janifaries, who
renders this, labour more eafy, the fame heat obliges fhould form the garrifon, are bufy in their fhops, and
them to greater cleanlineſs in order to preferve the fa- the aga fcarcely finds room in it to lodge his retinue.
lubrity of the air.
It is remarkable that this aga is named immediately
by the Porte, which, 'ever fufpicious, divides as much
as poffible the different offices. Within the walls of
the caftle is a well, which, by means of a fubterrane-
ous communication, derives its water from a fpring a
league and a quarter diftant. In the environs of the
city, we find a number of large fquare ftones, on the
top of which is a turban of ſtone, which are fo many
tombs. There are many rifing grounds round it,
which, in cafe of a fiege, would greatly facilitate the
approaches of the affailants. Such, among others, is
that on which the houſe of the Derviches ftands, and
which commands the canal and the rivulet: Aleppo,
therefore, cannot be efteemed a place of importance
in war, though it be the key of Syria to the north;
but, confidered as a commercial city, it has a different
appearance. It is the emporium of Armenia and the
Diarbekar; fends caravans to Bagdad and into Perfia ;
and communicates with the Perfian gulph and India,
by Baffora, with Egypt and Mecca by Damafcus, and
with Europe by Skandaroon (Alexandretta) and La-
takia. Commerce is there principally carried on by
barter. The chief commodities are raw or fpun cot-
tons, clumfy linens fabricated in the villages; filk ſtuffs
manufactured in the city, copper, bourres (coarfe cloths)
like thofe of Rouen, goats hair brought from Natolia
the gall nuts of the Kourdeftan, the merchandiſe of
India, fuch as fhawls and muflins, and pistachio nuts
of the growth of the neighbourhood. The articles
ſupplied by Europe are the Languedoc cloths, cochi-
neal, indigo, fugar, and fome other groceries. The
coffee of America, though prohibited, is introduced,
and ferves to mix with that of Moka. The French
have at Aleppo a conful and feven counting-houſes;
the Engliſh and the Venetians two, and the merchants
of Leghorn and Holland one. The emperor appoint-
ed a conful there in 1784, in the perfon of a rich Jew
merchant, who ſhaved his beard to affume the uniform
and the fword. Ruffia has alſo fent one very lately.
Aleppo is not exceeded in extent by any city in
Turkey, except Conftantinople and Cairo, and per-
haps Smyrna. The number of inhabitants has been
computed at 200,000; but in theſe calculations
certainty is impoffible. However, if we obferve
that this city is not larger than Nantes or Mar-
feilles, and that the houfes confift only of one ſtory,
we ſhall perhaps not think it probable they exceed.
100,000. The people of this city, both Turks and
Chriftians, are with reaſon eſteemed the moſt civilized.
in all Turkey; and the European merchants no where
enjoy fo much liberty, or are treated with fo much re-
fpect.
The fituation of Aleppo, befide the advantage of
a rich and fruitful foil, poffeffes alfo that of a ftream
of freſh water, which never becomes dry. This rivu-
let, which is about as large as that of the Gobelins at
Paris, or the New River near London, rifes in the
mountains of Aentab, and terminates fix leagues be-
low Aleppo, in a morafs full of wild boars and pelicans.
Near Aleppo, its banks, inſtead of the naked rocks
which line them in the upper part of its courfe, are
covered with a fertile earth, and laid out in gardens,
or rather orchards, which, in a hot country, and efpe-
cially in Turkey, cannot but be delightful. The city
is in itſelf one of the moft agreeable in Syria, and is
perhaps the cleaneft and beft built of any in Turkey,
On whatever fide it is approached, its numerous mi-
narets and domes prefent an agreeable profpect to the
eye, fatigued with the continued famenefs of the brown
and parched plains. In the centre is an artificial moun-
tain ſurrounded by a dry ditch, on which is a ruinous
fortrefs. From hence we have a fine profpect of the
whole city, and to the north diſcover the fnowy tops
of the mountains of Bailan; and on the weft, thofe
which feparate the Orontes from the fea; while to the
fouth and eaſt, the eye can difcern as far as the Eu-
phrates. In the time of Omar, this caftle ſtopped the
progrefs of the Arabs for feveral months, and was at
Îaft taken by treachery, but at prefent would not be
able to refift the feebleſt aſſault. Its flight wall, low,
and without a buttreſs, is in ruins; its little old tow-
ers are in no better condition; and it has not four can-
The air of Aleppo is very dry and piercing, but at
the fame time very falubrious for all who are not trou-
bled with afthmatic complaints. The city, however,
and the environs, are fubject to a fingular endemial
diforder, which is called the ringworm or pimple of
Aleppo; it is in fact a pimple which is at firſt inflam-
matory, and at length becomes an ulcer of the ſize of
the nail. The ufual duration of this ulcer is one year;
$
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[ 384 ]
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foil of this government is fat and loamy. The lofty Aleppo
and vigorous plants which fhoot up every where after
the winter rains prove its fertility, but its actual fruit-
fulness is but little. The greatest part of the lands lie
wafte; fcarcely can we trace any marks of cultivation
in the environs of the towns and villages. Its princi-
pal produce confifts in wheat, barley, and cotton, which
are found eſpecially in the flat country. In the moun-
tains, they rather chooſe to cultivate the vine, mulber-
ry, olive, and fig trees. The fides of the hills to-
wards the fea-coaft are appropriated to tobacco, and
the territory of Aleppo to pistachios. The pafturage
is not to be reckoned, becauſe that is abandoned to the
wandering hordes of the Turkmen and Curds.
In the greater part of the pachalics the pacha is,
as his title imports, at once the viceroy and farmer-
general of the country; but in that of Aleppo he does
not poffefs the latter office. This the Porte has be-
ftowed on a mehaffel or collector, who is immediately
accountable for what he receives. His leafe is only
for a year. The prefent rent of his farm is 800 purſes
(above L. 40,000); but to this muſt be added the
price of the babouches (Turkiſh flippers), or a prefent
of three or four thousand pounds, to purchaſe the fa-
vour of the vifir and men in office. For theſe two
fums the farmer receives all the duties of the govern-
ment; which are, firſt, The produce of import and
export duties on merchandiſe coming from Europe,
India, and Conftantinople, and on that exported in
exchange. Secondly, The taxes paid by the herds of
cattle brought every year by the Turkmen and Curds
from Armenia and the Diarbekar, to be fold in Syria.
Thirdly, The fifth of the falt-works of Djeboul. And
laftly, The miri, or land-tax. Theſe united may pro-
duce about L.60,000.
Aleppo. it commonly fixes on the face, and leaves a fcar which
disfigures almoft all the inhabitants. It is alleged that
every ſtranger who refides there three months is at
tacked with it; experience has taught that the beft
mode of treatment is to make uſe of no remedy. No
reafon is affigned for this malady: but M. Volney fu-
ſpects it proceeds from the quality of the water, as it
is likewife frequent in the neighbouring villages, in
fome parts of the Diarbekar, and even in certain di-
ftricts near Damafcus, where the foil and the water
have the fame appearances. Of the Chriftian inhabi-
tants the greater number are Greeks, next to them
the Armenians, then the Syrians, and laftly the Ma-
ronites ; each of whom have a church in the city called
Judida; in which quarter, and the parts adjacent, moſt
of them refide. The common language is the vulgar
Arabic, but the Turks of condition ufe the Turkiſh.
Moſt of the Armenians can ſpeak the Armenian, fome
few Syrians underftand Syriac, and many of the Jews
Hebrew; but ſcarce one of the Greeks underſtand a
word of Greek. The people in general arc of a mid-
dle ſtature, and tolerably well proportioned; but they
feem neither vigorous nor active. Both fexes are hand-
fome when young: but the beard foon disfigures the
men and the women, as they come early to maturity,
alſo fade very foon ; females are generally married from
14 to 18 years of age, and many under 14. The
people of rank here are polite and affable, making al-
lowances for that fuperiority which the Mahometan re-
ligion inftructs its votaries to affume over all who hold
a different faith. Their bread is generally of wheat
flour made into thin cakes, but very ill prepared, and
is generally eaten as foon as it comes out of the oven.
The principal people have ſmall loaves of a finer flour,
which are well fermented and baked. Befides thefe,
there are a variety of biſcuits, moft of which are ftrew-
ed on the top with ſome kind of feeds. The Euro-
peans have very good bread, baked and prepared in the
French manner. All the inhabitants of both fexes
fmoke tobacco to great excels; even the very fervants
have almoſt conſtantly a pipe in their mouths. Coaches
or carriages are not uſed here; therefore perfons of qua-
lity ride on horſeback in the city, with a number of
fervants walking before them, according to their rank:
ladies of the firft diftinction are even compelled to walk
on foot in the city, or to any place at a moderate di-
ftance; in longer journeys they are carried by mules,
in a kind of a couch clofe covered up. There are a
number of public bagnios in this city, which are uſed
by people of all ranks, except thofe of the higheſt diftinc-
tion, who commonly have baths and every other con-
venience in their own houfes. Aleppo is 70 miles eaſt
of Scandaroon, on the ſea-coaſt, and 175 north-by-caft
of Damafcus. E. long. 37. 40. N. lat. 36. 12.
ALEPPO (the Pachalic of), one of the five govern-
ments into which Syria is divided. It comprehends
the country extending from the Euphrates to the Me-
diterranean, between two lines, one drawn from Scan-
daroon to Beer, along the mountains; the other from
Beles to the fea, by Mara and the bridge of Shoger.
This fpace principally confifts of two plains; that of
Antioch to the weſt, and that of Aleppo to the eaft:
the north and the fea coaft are occupied by confidera-
bly high mountains, known to the ancients by the
names of Amanus and of Rhofus. In general, the
No 10.
2
The pacha, deprived of this lucrative branch of the
adminiftration, receives a fixed allowance of about
L.8300. This revenue has always been inadequate
to the expences; for, beſides the troops he is obliged
to maintain, and the reparation of the highways and
fortreffes, the expences of which he is obliged to de-
fray, he is under the neceffity of making large pre-
fents to the minifters, in order to keep his place; but
the Porte adds to the account the contributions he
may levy on the Curds and Turkmen, and his extor-
tions from the villages and individuals; nor do the
pachas come fhort of this calculation. Abdi Pacha,
who governed 13 or 14 years ago, carried off, at the
end of 15 months, upwards of L. 160,000, by laying
under contribution every trade, even the very cleaners
of tobacco-pipes; and very lately another of the fame
name has been obliged to fly for fimilar oppreffions.
The former was rewarded by the divan with the com-
mand of an army against the Ruffians; but if the lat-
ter has not enriched himſelf, he will be ſtrangled as an
extortioner. Such is the ordinary progrefs of affairs
in Turkey !
In confequence of fuch wretched government, the
greater part of the pachalics in the empire are impo-
verifhed and laid waſte. This is the cafe in particular
with that of Aleppo. In the ancient deftars, or re-
gifters of impofts, upwards of 3200 villages were rec-
koned; but at prefent the collector can fcarcely find
400. Such of our merchants as have refided there
20 years, have themſelves feen the greater part of the
environs
ALE
[ 385 ]
A LE
Alefia.
The town was of fuch antiquity, that Diodorus Sicu-
lus relates it was built by Hercules. It is fuppofed to
be the city of Alife, in the duchy of Burgundy, not far
from Dijon.
Aleria environs of Aleppo become depopulated. The travel-
ler meets with nothing but houſes in ruins, cifterns
rendered uſeleſs, and fields abandoned. Thoſe who
cultivated them are fled into the towns, where the po-
pulation is abforbed, but where at leaft the individual
conceals himſelf among the crowd from the rapacious
hand of defpotifm.
ALERIA, ALALIA, or ALARIA, (anc. geog.), a
town of Corfica, fituated near the middle of the east
fide of the iſland, on an eminence, near the mouth of
the river Rotanus mentioned by Ptolemy; built by the
Phocæans (Diodorus Siculus.) Afterwards Sylla led
a colony thither. It is now in ruins, and called Aleria
Diftrutta.
ALES (Alexander), a celebrated divine of the con-
feffion of Augſbourg, born at Edinburgh the 23d of
April 1500. He foon made a confiderable progrefs
in fchool-divinity, and entered the lifts very early a-
gainſt Luther, this being then the great controverfy
in faſhion, and the grand field wherein all authors
young and old uſed to difplay their abilities. Soon
after, he had a fhare in the difpute which Patrick Ha-
milton maintained againſt the ecclefiaftics, in favour of
the new faith he had imbibed at Marpurgh. He en-
deavoured to bring him back to the Catholic religion;
but this he could not effect, and even began himſelf to
doubt about his own religion, being much affected by
the diſcourſe of this gentleman, and ſtill more by the
conſtancy he ſhowed at the ftake, where David Beton
archbishop of St Andrew's caufed him to be burnt.
Beginning thus to waver, he was himſelf perfecuted
with ſo much violence, that he was obliged to retire
into Germany, where he became at length a perfect
convert to the Proteftant religion. The change of
religion which happened in England after the marriage
of Henry VIII. with Anna Bullen, induced Ales to
go to London in 1535. He was highly efteemed
by Cranmer archbishop of Canterbury, Latimer, and
Thomas Cromwel, who were at that time in high fa-
vour with the king. Upon the fall of theſe favourites,
he was obliged to return to Germany; where the elec-
tor of Brandenburgh appointed him profeffor 'of divi-
nity at Francfort upon the Oder, in 1540. But lea-
ving this place upon fome difguft, he returned to Leip-
fic, where he was chofen profeffor of divinity, and died
in March 1565. He wrote a Commentary on St John,
on the Epiftles to Timothy, and on the Pfalms, &c.
ALEŠA, ALESA, or HALESA, (anc. geog.), a
town of Sicily, on the Tuſcan fea, built, according to
Diodorus Siculus, by Archonides of Herbita, in the
fecond year of the 94th Olympiad, or 403 years before
Chriſt; fituated on an eminence about a mile from the
fea: now in ruins. It enjoyed immunity from taxes
under the Romans (Diodorus, Cicero). The inhabi-
tants were called Halefini (Cicero, Pliny); alfo Alefini,
and Alafini.
ALESHAM, a fmall neat town in Norfolk. It is
15 miles N. of Norwich, and 121 N. E. by N. of
London. E. Long. 0. 30. N. Lat. 52. 53. The town
confifts of about 400 pretty good houſes; but the
ftreets are narrow, though well paved.
ALESIA, (anc, geog.) called Alexia by Livy and
others; a town of the Mandubii, a people of Celtic
Gaul; fituated, according to Cæfar, on a very high
hill, whofe foot was waſhed on two fides by two rivers.
VOL. I. Part I.
ALET, a town of France, in Lower Languedoc,
with a bishop's fee. It is remarkable for its baths, and
for the grains of gold and filver found in the ftream
which runs from the Pyrenean mountains, at the foot
of which it ftands. It is feated on the river Aude,
15 miles S. of Carcaffone, and 37 N. W. of Narbonne.
E. Long. 2. 5. N. Lat. 42. 59.
1
ALETRIS, in botany, a genus of the monogynia
order, belonging to the hexandria claſs of plants, and in
the natural method ranking under the 10th order, Co-
ronaria. The characters are: The corolla is monope-
talous, funnel-fhaped, hexangular, much corrugated, fe-
miquinquefid, and perfiftent: The ftamina confift of fix
fubulated filaments, the length of the corolla, and infert-
ed into the baſe of the divifions of the corolla; the an-
there are oblong and erect: The piftillum has an ovate
germen; the ftylus fubulated, and the length of the
ftamina; the ftigma is trifid: The pericarpium is an
ovated capfule, triquetrous, pointed, and triocular:
The feeds are numerous. Of this genus botanical wri-
ters enumerate five
Species. 1. The farinofa, a native of Virginia, and
other parts of North America. 2. The capenfis, a na-
tive of the Cape of Good Hope. 3. The hyacinthoi-
des, or Guinea aloe. 4. The zeylanica, or Ceylon
aloe. 5. The fragrans, or tree-aloe, a native of Africa.
Of theſe only the firſt is ſo hardy as to outlive the win-
ter in Britain, unleſs placed in a ſtove; and even this
requires to be fheltered under a frame. The flowers
appear in June or July, of a whitish green colour. The
third and fifth produce fine fpikes of white flowers;
thoſe of the third kind appearing in July, of the fifth
in March or April. By proper management the laſt
kind becomes a ſtately plant, rifing to the height of 12
or 14 feet; the flowers open wide in the evening, and
perfume the air of the ftove. Theſe ſend out one or
two heads, or tufts, towards their tops, which may be
cut off; and after they have lain a week in the ſtove to
heal the wounded parts, they may be planted for in-
creafe. The other fpecies feldom or never flower in
this country, nor does their appearance otherwiſe me-
rit notice.
ALETUM, or ALETA, (anc. geog.) a town of
Celtic Gaul, now extinct. From its ruins aroſe St
Malo, in Brittany, at the diſtance of a mile. Its ruins
are called Guich Aleth in the Britiſh.
ALEUROMANCY, the fame with what was o-
therwife called alphitomantia, and crithomanthia, and
means an ancient kind of divination performed by
means of meal or flower.
ALEXANDER THE GREAT, king of Macedonia.
His father Philip laid the plan of that extenfive empire,
which his fon afterwards executed.-Philip, having
made himſelf maſter of Greece, began to caft his eyes
upon Perfia, with a view to retaliate upon that haughty
empire the injuries of former times. It was the po-
pular topic of the day. But this prince was cut off in
the midst of his enterprife. Such, however, was the
influence of Alexander in the affembly of the Grecian
ftates, that he was created general of their combined
forces in the room of his father. Having made every
3 C
needful
Alet
Alexander.
ALE
[ 386 ]
ALE
-
"expofe myfelf for the fake of being celebrated by Alexander.
66 you?" But Bayle affirms, that this was quite con
fiftent with the vaſt unbounded extent of his ambition,
as he wanted to make all future time his own, and be
an object of admiration to the lateſt pofterity; yet did
not expect this from the conqueft of worlds, but from
books. He was perfectly in the right, fays Bayle ;
"for if Greece had not furnished him with good wri-
"ters, he would long ago have been as much forgot
"ten as the kings who reigned in Macedon before:
"Amphitryon."
Alexander. needful preparation, at the head of a veteran army he
invaded Afia. The lieutenants of Darius, who was
then king of Perfia, oppofed him at the river Grani-
cus, where Alexander obtained a complete victory, af-
ter which he purſued his march through Afia. At
Iffus, near Scanderoon, he was met by Darius in per-
ſon, at the head of a prodigious army. Here he ob-
tained a ſecond victory; and took the camp of Darius,
together with his family, whom he treated with the
utmoft humanity. Contrary to all the maxims of war,
inftead of purſuing Darius, he made an excurſion into
Egypt; and, as far as appears, through no better mo-
tives than thoſe of vanity. Here he was acknowledged
to be the ſon of Jupiter Ammon. In the mean time
Darius recruited his ftrength, and got together an ar-
my fuperior to what he brought into the plain of Iffus.
Alexander having finiſhed his Egyptian expedition, tra-
verſed Aſia, and paffed the Euphrates. At Arbella, a
town in Affyria, he met Darius. Here a decifive bat-
tle was fought, which put all Perfia into the hands of
Alexander. His ambition not being fatisfied with the
conqueft of that vaft country, he projected an expedi-
tion into India. Here he met with great oppofition
from Porus, a gallant prince, whom in the end he re-
duced. Beyond the Ganges lay a country ftill unſub-
dued. He notified it to his army, that he propoſed to
paſs the river. But thefe veterans, harraffed with the
fatigues, and feeing no end of their labour, mutinied,
and refuſed to march further.. The diſappointed chief
was therefore obliged to return. At Babylon he pro-
pofed to receive ambaffadors, appoint governors, and
fettle his vaft monarchy;. but his exceffes put an end to
his life in the midſt of his defigns, and in the flower of.
his age.
The character of this hero is fo familiar to every bo
dy, that it is almost needlefs labour to draw it. All
the world knows, fays Mr. Bayle, that it was equally
compofed of very great virtues and very great vices.
He had no mediocrity in any thing but his ftature.
in his other properties, whether good or bad, he was
all extremes. His ambition roſe even to madneſs. His
father was not at all miſtaken in fuppofing the bounds
of Macedon too ſmall for his fon: for how could Ma-
cedon bound the ambition of a man, who reckoned
the whole world too ſmall a dominion? He wept at
hearing the philofopher Anaxarchus fay, that there was
an infinite number of worlds: his tears were owing to
his defpair of conquering them all, fince he had not
yet been able to conquer one. Livy, in a fhort di-
greffion, has attempted to enquire into the events which
might have happened, if Alexander, after the conqueft
of Afia, had brought his arms into Italy? Doubtlefs
things might have taken a very different turn with him;
and all the grand projects, which fucceeded fo well a-
gainft an effeminate Perfian monarch, might eaſily have
miſcarried if he had to do with rough hardy Roman
armies. And yet the vast aims of this mighty con-
queror, if feen under another point of view, may ap-
pear to have been confined in a very narrow compafs;
fince, as we are told, the utmoſt wiſh of that great
heart, for which the whole earth was not big enough,
was, after all, to be praiſed by the Athenians: for it
is related, that the difficulties which he encountered in
order to pass the Hydafpes, forced him to cry cut,
“" O Athenians, could you believe to what dangers I
Alexander has been praiſed upon the fcore of con
tinency, yet his life could not furely be quite regular:
in that refpect. Indeed, the fire of his early youth ap
peared fo cold towards women, that: his mother fuf-
pected him to be impotent; and, to fatisfy herſelf in
this point, did, with the confent. of Philip, procure a
very handſome courtezan to lie with him, whoſe car-
reffes, however, were all to no purpoſe. His behaviour
afterwards to the Perfian captives fhows him to have had
a great command over himſelf in this particular. The
wife of Darius was a finiſhed beauty; her daughters
likewife were all beauties; yet this young prince, who
had them in his power,. not only beltowed on them all
the honours due to their high rank, but managed their
reputation with the utmost delicacy. They were kept
as in a cloyſter concealed from the world, and ſecured
from the reach of every diſhonourable (not only at-
tack, but) imputation. He did not give the leaſt han-
dle to fcandal, either by his vifits, his looks, or his
words: and for other Perfian dames his prifoners, e-
qually beautiful in face and fhape, he contented him-
felf with faying gaily, that they gave indeed much-
pain to his eyes. The amazon Thaleftris could not.
obtain from him a compliance with her gallant requeſt
till after a delay of thirteen days. In the mean time,
what are we to conclude from his caufing his favourite
miſtreſs Pancafte to be drawn naked by Apelles, tho
it is true he gave her to the painter, who fell in love
with her? What of that immoderate love of boys,
which Athenæus relates of him? What of that prodi-
gious number of wives and concubines which he kept?
His exceffes with regard to wine were notorious,
and beyond all imagination; and he committed, when
drunk, a thouſand extravagancies. It was owing to
wine, that he killed Clytus who faved his life, and
burnt Perfepolis, one of the moſt beautiful cities of
the Eaft: he did this laſt indeed at the inftigation of
the courtezan Thais; but this circumftance made it
only the more heinous. It is generally believed, that
he died by drinking immoderately and even Plutarch,.
who affects to contradict it, owns that he did nothing
but drink the whole day he was taken ill.
In ſhort, to fum up the character of this prince, we
cannot be of opinion, that his good qualities did in
any wife compenfate for his bad ones.
Heroes make:
a noiſe: their actions glare, and ſtrike the ſenſes for-
cibly; while the infinite deftruction and miſery they
occafion lies more in the ſhade, and out of fight. One
good legiflator is worth all the heroes that ever did or,
will exift. See MACEDON.
ALEXANDER AB ALEXANDRO, a Neapolitan
lawyer, of great learning, who flouriſhed toward the
end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th century.
He followed the profeffion of the law firft at Naples,
afterwards
ALE
[ 387 ]
ALE
an encourager of learning and learned men, and fa- Alexander.
vourable to the Chriftians. He made a fucceſsful ex-
pedition againſt the Perfians; but endeavouring to re-
form his troops, which had grown very licentious un-
der the late bad government, they murdered him at the
inftigation of Maximinus in the 29th year of his age,
together with his mother, A. D. 235.
Alexander, afterwards at Rome: but he devoted all the time he
could fpare to the ſtudy of polite literature; and at
length he entirely left the bar, that he might lead a
more eaſy and agreeable life with the muſes. The par-
ticulars of his life are to be gathered from his work in-
titled Genialium Dierum: We are there informed, that
he lodged at Rome, in a houſe that was haunted; and
he relates many ſurpriſing particulars about the ghoſt :
he ſays alſo, that when he was very young, he went to
the lectures of Philelphus, who explained at Rome the
Tufculan queſtions of Cicero; he was there alfo when
Nicholas Perot and Domitius Calderinus read their
lectures upon Martial. The particular time when he
died is not known; but he was buried in the monaſtery
of the Olivets. Tiraquea wrote a learned commentary
upon his work, which was printed at Lyons in 1587,
and reprinted at Leyden in 1673, with the notes of
Dennis Godfrey, Chriftopher Colerus, and Nicholas
Mercerus.
}
•
ALEXANDER (Neckham), an eminent Engliſh
writer in the 12th and 13th centuries, born at St Al-
bans in Hertfordſhire. In 1215 he was made abbot of
Exeter, and died in 1227. He wrote feveral works,
which were never publiſhed; but they are to be found
in manufcript in the libraries of England and other
countries.
ALEXANDER (Noel) an indefatigable writer of
the 17th century, born at Roan in Normandy, 1639.
After finiſhing his ſtudies at Roan, he entered into the
order of Dominican friars, and was profeffed there in
1655. Soon after he went to Paris, to go through a
courfe of philofophy and divinity in the great convent,
where he diftinguifhed himfelf fo, that he was appoint-
ed to teach philofophy there, which he did for 12
years. Mr Colbert ſhowed him many marks of his e-
fteem; and being determined to omit nothing to per-
fect the education of his fon, afterwards archbishop of
Roan, he formed an affemly of the moft learned per-
fons, whoſe conferences upon ecclefiaftical hiftory might
be of advantage to him. Father Alexander was in-
vited to this affembly, where he exerted himſelf with
fo much genius and ability, that he gained the pati-
cular friendſhip of young Colbert, who fhowed him the
utmoſt regard as long as he lived. Thefe conferences
gave rife to Alexander's defign of writing an eccle-
ſiaſtical hiſtory; for, being defired to reduce what was
material in theſe conferences to writing, he did it with
fo much accuracy, that the learned men who compo-
fed this affembly, adviſed him to undertake a complete
body of church-hiſtory. This he executed with great
affiduity, collecting and digefting the materials him-
felf, and writing even the tables with his own hand.
He at laft completed his work in 1686. Towards the
latter part of his life, he was afflicted with the loſs of
his fight; a moſt inexpreffible misfortune to one whofe
whole pleaſure was in ftudy, yet he bore it with great
patience and refignation.
and refignation. He died merely of a decay
of nature, 1724, in the 86th year of his age.
of
ALEXANDER SEVERUS, emperor of Rome, fucceed
ed Heliogabalus about A. D. 222, when but 16 years
age. His mother's name was Mammæa, and by her
advice he in a great meafure regulated his conduct. He
applied himſelf to the reformation of abuſes, the ſtate
having been greatly difordered by the vicious conduct
of his predeceffor; he was a moft ftrict lover of justice,
ALEXANDER VI. (Pope), had four baſtards when
he was cardinal, for one of which he had fo great af-
fection, that he ftuck at nothing to raise him. De-
figning to poiſon ſome cardinals, he was poifoned him-
felf, A. D. 1503. See Borgia.
BORGIA.
ALEXANDER VII. (Pope). See CHIGI.
ALEXANDER Bishop of Lincoln in the reigns of
Henry I. and Stephen, was a Norman by birth, and
nephew of the famous Roger, biſhop of Saliſbury, who
firit made him archdeacon of Saliſbury, and afterwards,
by his intereft with the king, raiſed him to the mitre.
Alexander was confecrated at Canterbury, July 22.
1123. Having received his education under his uncle
the bishop of Saliſbury, and been accuſtomed to a ſplen-
did way of living, he affected fhow and ftate more
than was fuitable to his character, or confiftent with
his fortunes. This failing excepted, he was a man of
worth and honour, and every way qualified for his fta-
tion. The year after his confecration, his cathedral
church at Lincoln having been accidentally burnt down,
he rebuilt it, and fecured it againſt the like accident
for the future by a ftone roof. This prelate increaſed
the number of prebends in his church, and augmented
its revenues with feveral manors and eſtates.
tation of the barons and fome of the bifhops, parti-
cularly his uncle the bishop of Saliſbury, he built three
caſtles; one at Banbury, another at Sleaford, and a
third at Newark. He likewife founded two mona-
fteries; one at Haverholm, for regular canons and nuns
together, the other at Tame for white-friars. He went
twice to Rome in the years 1142 and 1144. The firft
time, he came back in quality of the pope's legate,
for the calling a fynod, in which he publiſhed feveral
wholefome and neceffary canons.
In Auguft 1147,
he took a third journey to the pope, who was then in
France; where he fell fick through the exceffive heat
of the weather, and returning with great difficulty to
England, he died in the 24th year of his prelacy.
In imi-
ALEXANDER (William), earl of Stirling, an eminent
Scots ftatefman and poet in the reigns of James I. and
Charles I. who, after travelling with the duke of Ar-
gyle as his tutor or companion, wrote a poetical com-
plaint of his unfuccefsful love of fome beauty, under
the title of .iurora. He then removed to the court of
James VI. where he applied to the more folid parts of
poetry, forming himſelf upon the plan of the Greek
and Roman tragedians. In 1607, he publiſhed fome dra-
matic performances, intitled The Monarchic Tragedies,
dedicated to king James; who was fo well pleafed with
them, as to call him his philofophical poet. After this,
he is faid to have written A fupplement to complete the
third part of Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia; and in 1613,
he produced a poem called Doomſday, or the Great Day
of Judgment. He was made gentleman-ufher to prince
Charles, and mafter of the requests; was knighted; and
obtained a grant of Nova Scotia, where he projected
the fettlement of a colony, but afterward fold it to the
French. In 1626, he was made fecretary of ſtate for
3 C 2
Scotland;
1
t
**
Į
ALE
388 ]
[
ALE
Alexander Scotland; was created firſt viſcount, and then earl,
Stirling; and died in 1640.
Alexan-
dretta.
ALEXANDER I. (St), whom St Ireneus reckons the
fifth biſhop of Rome, fucceeded St Evariftus in the
There is no ac-
year 109, and died in the year 119. There
count of his life; and the epiftles which are attributed
to him are fuppofitious.
ALEXANDER II. king of Scotland, fucceeded his fa-
ther William in 1213, at 16 years of age. He made
an expedition into England, to oppofe the tyranny of
king John; who returned the vifit, and was offered bat-
tle by Alexander, but refuſed it. He took the city of
Carliſle from Henry III. which was afterwards exchan-
ged for Berwick. Alexander died in 1249, in the 51ft
year of his age, and 35th of his reign; and left for his
fucceffor, his fon
:
ALEXANDER III. who was crowned king of Scotland
in 1249. The Cummings, lerds of Scotland, took arms
again't him; and taking him prifoner, confined him at
Striveling but he was afterwards releafed by his fub-
jects. He married the daughter of Henry III. king
of England; and was at length killed by a fall from
his horfe, on the 10th of April 1290, after having
reigned 42, or according to others 37, years.
of themſelves into it: hence their waters, forced to fpread Alexan-
themfelves, form lakes in the plain. On the approach Alexandria.
dretta,
of the fummer, the waters becoming corrupted by the
heat, exhale vapours equally corrupt, and which can-
not difperfe, being confined by the mountains that en-
circle the gulph. The entrance of the bay befides lies
to the weft, which in thoſe countries is the moſt un-
healthy expoſure when it correfponds with the fea.
The labour neceffary to remedy this would be immenſe,
and after all infufficient; and, indeed, fuch an under-
taking would be abfolutely impoffible under a govern-
ment like that of the Turks. A few years ago, Mr
Volney informs us, the merchants of Aleppo, diſguſt-
ed with the numerous inconveniences of Alexandretta,
wished to abandon that port and carry the trade to La-
takia. They propoſed to the Pacha of Tripoli to re-
pair the harbour at their own expence, provided he
would grant them an exemption from all duties for ten
years. To induce him to comply with their requeſt,
the agent they employed talked much of the advantage
which would, in time, refult to the whole country:
"But what fignifies it to me what may happen in time,
replied the Pacha? I was yesterday at Marach; to-
morrow, perhaps, I fhall be at Djedda: Why ſhould I
deprive myſelf of prefent advantages, which are certain,
for future benefits I cannot hope to partake?" The
European factors were obliged therefore to remain at
Skandaroon. There are three of theſe factors, two for
the French, and one for the Engliſh and Venetians.
The only curiofity which they have to amufe ftrangers
with confiſts in fix or ſeven marble monuments, ſent
from England, on which you read: Here lies fuch a one,
carried off in the flower of his age, by the fatal effects of
a contagious air. The fight of thefe is the more di-
ftreffing, as the languid air, yellow complexion, livid
eyes, and dropfical bellies of thoſe who ſhow them,
make it but too probable they cannot long eſcape the
fame fate. It is true, they have fome refource in the
village of Bailan, the pure air and excellent waters of
which furprizingly restore the fick. The Aga, for
fome years paſt, has applied the duties of the cuſtom-
houfe of Alexandretta to his own ufe, and rendered
himfelf almoft independent of the Pacha of Aleppo.
The Turkifh empire is full of fuch rebels, who fre-
quently die in peaceable poffeffion of their ufurpations.
ALEXANDERS, in botany. See SMYRNIUM.
AĻEXANDREA, (anc. geog.) a mountain of
Myfia, on the fea-coaft, forming a part of mount Ida,
where Paris gave judgment on the three goddeffes.
ALEXANDRETTA, by the Turks called Scan-
deroon; a town in Syria, at the extremity of the Me-
diterranean fea. It is the port of Aleppo, from which
it is diſtant 28 or 30 leagues. It is now, properly
ſpeaking, nothing elſe but a village, without walls, in
which the tombs are more numerous than the houſes,
and which entirely owes its exiſtence to the road which
it commands. This is the only road, in all Syria, where
veffels anchor on a ſolid bottom, without their cables
being liable to chafe: but in other reſpects it has many
inconveniences. It is infefted, during winter, by a pecu-
liar wind, called by the French failors le Raguier, which,
rufhing from the fno:vy fummits of the mountains, fre-
quently forces fhips to drag their anchors feveral
leagues: And when the fnow begins to cover the
mountains which furround the Gulph, tempeftuous
winds ariſe which prevent veſſels from entering for three
or four months together. The road alfo to Aleppo
by the plain is infefted by Curd robbers, who conceal
themſelves in the neighbouring rocks, and frequently
attack and plunder the ſtrongeſt caravans. But the
worſt circumſtance is the extreme unwholeſomeneſs of
the air, occaſioned here by ftagnant waters and mephi-
tic exhalations. It may be affirmed, that this every
year carries off one-third of the crews of the veffels
which remain here during the fummer; nay, fhips fre-
quently lofe all their men in two months. The feafon
for this epidemic, diſorder is principally from May to
the end of September: it is an intermitting fever of
the moſt malignant kind; and is accompanied with ob-
ftructions of the liver, which terminate in a dropfy.
To this baneful epidemic, Alexandretta, from its fitu-
ation, ſeems to be irremediably condemned: for the
plain on which the town is built is fo low and flat, that
the rivulets, finding no declivity, can never reach the ſea.
When they are fwelled by the winter rains, the ſea,
fwelled likewife by tempefts, hinders their difcharging
ALEXANDRIA, now Scanderia, by Athenæus
called gun; a city of Lower Egypt, and for a long
time its capital. This city was built by Alexander the
Great, foon after the overthrow of Tyre, about 333
years before Chriſt. It is fituated on the Mediterra-
nean, twelve miles weft of that mouth of the Nile
anciently called Canopicum; and lies in E. Long. 30.
19. N. Lat. 31. 10.
Alexander is faid to have been induced to build this
city, on account of its being conveniently fituated for
a fine port; and fo fudden was his refolution, that af-
ter he had directed where every public ftructure was
to be placed, fixed the number of temples, and the dei-
ties to whom they ſhould be dedicated, &c. there were
no inftruments at hand proper for marking out the
walls, according to the cuſtom of thoſe times. Upon
this, a workman adviſed the king to collect what meal
was among the foldiers, and to fift it in lines upon the
ground, whereby the circuit of the walls would be
fufficiently marked out. This advice was followed
and
{
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The architect employed by Alexander in this un- Alexandria,
dertaking was the celebrated Dinocrates, who had
acquired fo much reputation by rebuilding the temple
of Diana at Ephefus. The city was first rendered
populous by Ptolemy Soter, one of Alexander's cap-
tains, who, after the death of the Macedonian monarch,
being appointed governor of Egypt, foon affumed the
title of king, and took up his refidence at Alexandria,
about 304 years before Chrift.
In the 30th year of Ptolemy Soter's reign, he took
his fon Ptolemy Philadelphus partner with him in the
empire; and by this prince the city of Alexandria was
much embelliſhed. In the firſt year of his reign the
famous watch-tower of Pharos was finished. It had
been begun feveral years before by Ptolemy Soter;
and, when finished, was looked upon as one of the
wonders of the world. The fame year, the ifland of
Pharos itſelf, originally feven furlongs diftant from the
continent, was joined to it by a cauſeway. This was the
work of Dexiphanes, who completed it at the fame-
time that his fon put the laſt hand to the tower. The
tower was a large fquare ſtructure of white marble; on
the top of which fires were kept conftantly burning,
for the direction of failors. The building coft 800
talents; which, if Attic, amounted to L. 165,000;
Alexandrian, to twice that fum.
Alexandria. and the new method of marking out the walls was, by
Ariftander, the king's foothfayer, interpreted as a pre-
fage of the city's abounding with all the neceffaries of
life. Nor was he deceived in his prediction; for A-
lexandria foon became the ftaple, not only for merchan
dife, but alſo for all the arts and fciences of the Greeks.
Alexandria was a league and a half long, by one-
third in breadth, which made the circumference of
its walls about four leagues. Lake Mareotis bathed
its walls on the fouth, and the Mediterranean on the
north. It was interfected lengthwife by ftraight pa-
rallel ftreets. This direction left a free paffage to the
northerly wind, which alone conveys coolnefs and fa-
lubrity into Egypt. A ftreet of 2000 feet wide be-
gan at the gate of the ſea, and terminated at the gate
of Canopus. It was decorated by magnificent houſes,
by temples, and by public buildings. In this extenfive
range, the eye was never tired with admiring the marble,
the porphyry, and the obelisks, which were deftined at
fome future day to embelliſh Rome and Conftantinople.
This ſtreet, the handſomeſt in the univerfe, was inter-
fected by another of the fame breadth, which formed
a fquare at their junction of half a league in circumfe-
rence. From the middle of this great place, the two
gates were to be ſeen at once, and veffels arriving un-
der full fail from the north and from the ſouth.
A mole of a mile in length ftretched from the con-
tinent to the iſle of Pharos, and divided the great har
bour into two. That which is to the northward pre-
ferved its name. A dyke drawn from the iſland to the
rock whereon was built the Pharos, fecured it from the
wefterly winds. The other was called Eunoftos, or the
Safe Return. The former is called at preſent the new,
the latter the old harbour: a bridge that joins the
mole to the city, ſerved for a communication between
them. It was raiſed on lofty pillars funk into the fea,
and left a free paffage for fhips. The palace, which
advanced beyond the promontory of Lochias, extended
as far as the dyke, and occupied more than a quarter
of the city. Each of the Ptolemies added to its mag-
nificence. It contained within its incloſure, the mu-
feum, an aſylum for learned men, groves, and buildings
worthy of royal majefty, and a temple where the body
of Alexander was depofited in a golden coffin. The
infamous Seleucus Cibyofactes violated this monument,
carried off the golden coffin, and put a glaſs one in its
place. In the great harbour was the little ifland of
Anti-Rhodes, where flood a theatre, and a royal place
of refidence. Within the harbour of Eunoftes was a
fmaller one, called Kibotos, dug by the hand of man,
which communicated with Lake Mareotis by a canal.
Between this canal and the palace was the admirable
temple of Serapis, and that of Neptune near the great
place where the market was held. Alexandria extend-
ed likewife along the fouthern banks of the lake. Its
eaftern part prefented to view the gymnafium, with its
porticoes of more than 600 feet long, fupported by fe-
veral rows of marble pillars. Without the gate of Ca-
nopus was a fpacious circus for the chariot races. Be
yond that, the fuburb of Nicopolis ran along the fea-
fhore, and feemed a. fecond. Alexandria. A fuperb
amphitheatre was built there with a race-ground, for
the celebration of the quinquennalia.
1
Such is the defcription left us of Alexandria by the
ancients, and above all by Strabo..
if
The architect employed in this famous ftructure
fell upon the following contrivance to ufurp the whole
glory to himſelf. Being ordered to engrave upon it
the following infeription, "King PTOLEMY to the
Gods the Saviours, for the benefit of Sailors;" inffead
of the king's name he fubftituted his own, and then
filling up the hollow of the marble with mortar, wrote
upon it the above mentioned infcription. In procefs
of time, the mortar being wore off, the following in-
fcription, appeared: "SOSTRATUS the CNIDIAN, the
fon of DEXIPHANES, to the Gods the Saviours, for the
benefit of Sailors."
This year alfo was remarkable for the bringing of
the image of Serapis from Pontus to Alexandria. It
was fet up in one of the fuburbs of the city called
Rhacotis, where a temple was afterwards erected to his
honour, fuitable to the greatneſs of that ſtately me-
tropolis, and called, from the god worshipped there,
Serapeum. This ftructure, according to Ammianus
Marcellinus, furpaffed in beauty and magnificence all
others in the world, except the capitol at Rome.
Within the verge of this temple was the famous Alex-
andrian library. It was founded by Ptolemy Soter, for
the uſe of an academy he inftituted in this city; and, by
continual additions by his fucceffors, became at laſt the
fineſt library in the world, containing no fewer than
700,000 volumes. The method followed in collecting
books for this library, was, to feize all thoſe which were
brought into Egypt by Greeks or other foreigners.
The books were tranfcribed in the mufcum by perfons
appointed for that purpofe; the copies were then deli-
vered to the proprietors, and the originals laid up in
the library. Ptolemy Euergetes, having borrowed
from the Athenians the works of Sophocles, Euri-
pides, and Æfchylus, returned them only the copies,
which he cauſed to be tranſcribed in as beautiful a
manner as poffible; prefenting the Athenians at the
fame time with fifteen talents (upwards of L. 3000.-
Sterling) for the exchange..
A
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A
!
Alexandría.
{
The new inhabitants were not treated with much Alexandria,
more kindneſs by Phyſcon than the old ones had been ;
for, on their complaining of his tyrannical behaviour,
he refolved on a general maffacre of the young men.
Accordingly, when they were one day affembled in the
gymnafium, or place of their public exerciſes, he or-
dered it to be fet on fire; fo that they all perish-
ed, either in the flames, or by the fwords of his mer-
cenaries, whom the tyrant had placed at all the ave-
nues.
As the mufeum was at firft in that quarter of the
city called Bruchion, near the royal palace, the library
was placed there likewife; but when it came to con-
tain 400,000 volumes, another library, within the
Serapeum, was erected by way of ſupplement to it,
and on that account called the daughter of the former.
In this fecond library 300,000 volumes, in procefs of
time, were depofited; and the two together contained
the 700,000 volumes already mentioned. In the war
carried on by Julius Cæfar againſt the inhabitants of
this city, the library in the Bruchion, with the 400,000
volumes it contained, was reduced to afhes. The li-
brary in the Serapeum, however, ftill remained; and
here Cleopatra depofited 200,000 volumes of the Per-
gamean library, which Marc Antony prefented her
with. Thefe, and others added from time to time,
rendered the new library at Alexandria more nume-
rous and confiderable than the former; and though it
was often plundered during the revolutions and troubles
of the Roman empire, yet it was again and again re-
paired, and filled with the fame number of books.
For 293 years Alexandria was held in fubjection
by the Ptolemies. Here is a lift of theſe princes, with
the dates of their reſpective reigns.
Ptolemy the fon of Lagus, furnamed Soter, reigned
39 years, and died in the year of the world 3720.
Ptolemy Philadelphus reigned 39 years, and died in
3758. Ptolemy Euergetes reigned 25 years, and died
in 3783. Ptolemy Philopator reigned 17 years, and
died in 3800. Ptolemy Epiphanes reigned 24 years,
and died in 3824. Ptolemy Philometor reigned 37
years, and died in 3861. Ptolemy Euergetes, or Phyf-
con, reigned 53 years, part with his brother Philome-
ter and part alone. He died in 3888. Ptolemy La-
thyrus reigned 36 years fix months. He died in 3923.
Cleopatra, the daughter of Lathyrus and wife of A-
lexander I. reigned fix months. Alexander I. the re-
phew of Lathyrus, was eftabliſhed in 3924 and died
in 3943. Alexander II. the ſon of Alexander I. was
difpoffeffed by the Alexandrians in 3939. Ptolemy
Nothus, or Auletes, the fon of Lathyrus, reigned 13
years, and died in 3953. Ptolemy, furnamed Diony-
fius or Bacchus, reigned three years eight months, and
died in 3957. Cleopatra reigned from 3957, and kill
ed herſelf in 3974.
This city, as we have already obferved, foon became
extremely populous, and was embelliſhed both by its
own princes and the Romans; but, like most other
noted cities of antiquity, hath been the feat of terrible
maffacres. About 141 years before Chrift, it was al-
moft totally depopulated by Ptolemy Phyfcon. That
barbarous monſter, without the leaft provocation, gave
free liberty to his guards to plunder his metropolis and
murder the inhabitants at their pleaſure. The cruel-
ties practiſed on this occafion cannot be expreffed; and
the few who eſcaped were fo terrified that they fled
into other countries. Upon this, Phyfcon, that he
might not reign over empty houſes, invited thither
ftrangers from the neighbouring countries; by whom
the city was repeopled, and foon recovered its former
fplendor. On this occafion many learned men having
been obliged to fly, proved the means of reviving learn-
ing in Greece, Afia Minor, the iſlands of the Archi-
pelago, and other places, where it was almoft totally
loft.
1
Though Julius Cæfar was obliged to carry on a
war for fome time againſt this city, it feems not to
have fuffered much damage, except the burning of
the library already mentioned. Before Cæfar left
Alexandria, in acknowledgment of the affiftance he
had received from the Jews, he confirmed all their
privileges there, and even engraved his decree on a pil-
lar of braſs. This, however, did not prevent the maf-
facre of 50,000 of them in this city about the year of
Chriſt 67.
The city of Alexandria feems to have fallen into de-
cay foon after this, and to have forfeited many of its
ancient privileges, tho' for what offence is not known ;
but when Adrian vifited Egypt, about the year 141,
it was almoft totally ruined. He repaired both the
public and private buildings, not only reftoring the
inhabitants to their ancient privileges, but heaping new
favours upon them; for which they returned him their
folemn thanks, and conferred upon him what honours
they could while he was prefent; but as foon as he was
gone, they published the moſt bitter and virulent lam-
poons against him.
The fickle and fatirical humour of the Alexandrians
was highly diſliked by Adrian, though he inflicted no
puniſhment upon them for it; but when they lampoon-
ed Caracalla, he did not let them efcape fo eafily.
That tyrant, in the year 215, when he vifited their
city, having become the fubject of their fooliſh fatires,
ordered a general maffacre by his numerous troops, who
were difperfed all over the city. The inhuman orders
being given, all were murdered, without diftinction of
age or fex; fo that in one night's time the whole city
floated in blood, and every houfe was filled with car-
cafes. The monſter who occafioned this had retired
during the night to the temple of Serapis, to implore
the protection of that deity; and, not yet fatiated with
flaughter, commanded the maffacre to be continued all
the next day; ſo that very few of the inhabitants remain-
ed. As if even this had not been fufficient, he ſtripped
the city of all its ancient privileges; fuppreffed the aca-
demy; ordered all ſtrangers who lived there to depart;
and that the few who remained might not have the fa-
tisfaction of feeing one another, he cut off all commu-
nication of one ſtreet with another, by walls built for
that purpofe, and guarded by troops left there.
Notwithstanding this terrible difafter, Alexandria
foon recovered its former fplendor, as Caracalla was
murdered a ſhort time after. It was long efteemed the
firft city in the world, next to Rome; and we may judge
of its magnificence, and the multitude of people con-
tained in it, from the account of Diodorus Siculus,
who relates, that in his time (44 years before Chrift)
Alexandria had on its rolls 300,000 freemen. To-
wards the middle of the fixth century, Amrou Ebn el
Aas, Omar's general, took it by ftorm, after a fiege
of
ALE
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•
Alexandria, of 14 months, and with the lofs of 23,000 men. He
raclius, then emperor of Conftantinople, did not fend
a fingle ſhip to its affiftance. This prince affords an
example very rare in hiftory; he had diſplayed fome
vigour in the first year of his reign, and then fuffered
himſelf to be lulled into idlenefs and effeminacy. A
wakened fuddenly from his lethargy by the noife of
the conqueſts of Cofroes, that fcourge of the eaft, he
put himſelf at the head of his armies, diſtinguiſhed
himſelf as a great captain from his very firſt campaign,
laid waſte Perfia for feven years, and returned to his
capital covered with laurels: he then became a theo-
logian on the throne, loft all his energy, and amufed
himſelf the rest of his life with difputing upon Mono-
theifm, whilst the Arabs were robbing him of the fineſt
provinces of his empire. Deaf to the cries of the un-
fortunate inhabitants of Alexandria, as he had been to
thofe of the people of Jerufalem, who defended them-
felves for two years, he left them a facrifice to the for-
tunate aſcendant of the indefatigable Amrou. All
their intrepid youth perished with their arms in their
hands.
The victor, aftoniſhed at his conqueft, wrote to the
caliph, “I have taken the city of the weft. It is of
an immenfe extent. I cannot defcribe to you how
many wonders it contains. There are 4000 palaces,
4000 baths, 12,000 dealers in fresh oil, 12,000 gar-
deners, 40,000 Jews who pay tribute, 400 come-
dians," &c.
At this time, according to the Arabian hiftorians,
Alexandria confifted of three cities, viz. Menna, or the
port, which included Pharos, and the neighbouring
parts; Alexandria, properly ſo called, where the mo-
dern Scanderia now ftands; and Nekita, probably the
Necropolis of Jofephus and Strabo.
At that time John, furnamed the grammarian, a
famous Peripatetic philofopher,.being in the city, and
in high favour with Amrou Ebn al Aas the Saracen
general begged of him the royal library. Amrou re-
plied, that it was not in his power to grant fuch a re-
queft; but that he would write to the khalif on that
head; fince, without knowing his pleafure, he dared
not to difpofe of a fingle book. He accordingly wrote
to Omar, who was then khalif, acquainting him with
the requeft of his friend: To which the ignorant ty-
rant replied, That if thoſe books contained the fame
doctrine with the koran, they could be of no ufe, fince
the koran contained all neceffary truths; but if they
contained any thing contrary to that book, they ought
not to be fuffered; and therefore, whatever their con-
tents were, he ordered them to be deftroyed. Purſuant
to this order, they were diftributed among the public
baths; where, for the ſpace of fix months, they ferved
to fupply the fires of thofe places, of which there was
an incredible number in Alexandria.
After the city was taken, Amrou thought proper
to purfue the Greeks who had fled farther up the coun-
try; and therefore marched out of Alexandria, leaving
but a very flender garrifon in the place. The Greeks,
who had before filed on board their fhips, being appri-
fed of this, returned on a fudden, furpriſed the town,
and put all the Arabs they found therein to the fword:
but Amrou, receiving advice of what had happened,
fuddenly returned, and drove them out of it with great
flaughter; after which the Greeks were fo intimidated,
4.
that he had nothing farther to fear from them.-A few Alexandria.
years after, however, Amrou being deprived of his
government by the khalif Othman, the Egyptians were
fo much difpleaſed with his difmiffion that they inclined
to a revolt; and Conftantine the Greek emperor, having
received intelligence of their difaffection, began to me-
ditate the reduction of Alexandria. For this purpoſe,
he fent one Manuel, an eunuch, and his general, with
a powerful army, to retake that place; which, by the
affiſtance of the Greeks in the city, who kept a fecret,
correfpondence with the imperial forces while at ſea,
and joined them as foon as they had made a deſcent,
he effected, without any confiderable effufron of Chri-
ftian blood. The khalif, now perceiving his miſtake,
immediately reſtored Amrou to his former dignity.
This ſtep was very agreeable to the natives; who ha-
ving had experience of the military fkill and bravery of
this renowned general, and apprehending that they
fhould be called to an account by the Greeks for their
former perfidious conduct, had petitioned Othman to
fend him again into Egypt.-Upon Amrou's arrival,
therefore, at Alexandria, the Copts or natives, with
the traitor Al-Mokawkas (who had formerly betrayed
to Amrou the fortrefs of Mefr) at their head, not only
joined him, but ſupplied him with all kinds of provi-
fions, exciting him to attack the Greeks without de-
lay. This he did; and, after a moſt obftinate diſpute
which lafted feveral days, drove them into the town,.
where, for fome time, they defended themſelves with
great bravery, and repelled the utmoſt efforts of the
befiegers. This fo exafperated Amrou, that he ſwore,
"If God enabled him to conquer the Greeks, he would
throw down the walls of the city, and make it as eafy
of accefs as a bawdy-house, which lies open to every
body." Nor did he fail to execute this menace; for
having taken the town by ftorm, he quite difmantled
it, entirely demolishing the walls and fortifications. The
lives of the citizens, however, were ſpared, at leaſt as
far as lay in the general's power; but many of them
were put to the fword by the foldiers on their firft en-
trance. In one quarter particularly, Amrou found
them butchering the Alexandrians with unrelenting
barbarity; to which, however, by his feaſonable inter-
poſition, he put a ftop, and on that fpot erected a
mofque, which he called the mofque of mercy.
From this time Alexandria never recovered its for-
mer fplendor. It continued under the dominion of the
khalifs till the year 924, when it was taken by the Ma- -
grebians, two years after its great church had been de
ftroyed by fire. This church was called by the Arabs
Al Kaifaria, or Cæfarea; and had formerly been a pa-
gan temple, erected in honour of Saturn by the fa
mous queen Cleopatra..
·
The city was foon after abandoned by the Magre- .
bians; but in 928 they again made themfelves mafters
of it: their fleet being afterwards defeated by that be-
longing to the khalif, abul Kafem the Magrebian ge- -
neral retired from Alexandria, leaving there only a gar
rifon of 300 men ;. of which Thmall, the khalif's ad-
miral, being apprifed, he in a few days appeared before
the town, and carried off the remainder of the inhabi
tants to an iſland in the Nile called Abukair. This
was done, to prevent Abul Kâfem from meeting with
any entertainment at Alexandria, in cafe he ſhould think
proper to return. According to Eutychius, above
200,000
ALE
[
392 ]
A LE
the only harbour for the Europeans, is clogged up with Alexandria.
fand, infomuch that in ftormy weather fhips are liable
to bilge; and the bottom being alfo rocky, the cables
foon chafe and part; fo that one veffel driving againit
a fecond, and that againſt a third, they are perhaps all
loft. Of this there was a fatal inflance 16 or 18 years
ago, when 42 veffels were daſhed to pieces on the mole
in a gale of wind from the north-west, and numbers have
been fince loft there at different times. If it be aſked
in Europe, Why do they not repair the New Port?
the anfwer is, That in Tukey they deſtroy every thing,
and repair nothing. The old harbour will be deſtroy-
ed likewife, as the ballaft of veffels has been continu-
ally thrown into it for the laſt 200 years.
The fpirit
of the Turkish government is to ruin the labours of
paft ages, and deftroy the hopes of future times, be-
caufe the barbarity of ignorant defpotifm never confi-
Alexandria. 200,000 of the miferable inhabitants perifhed this year.
What contributed to raiſe Alexandria to fuch a pro-
digious height of ſplendor as it enjoyed for a long time,
was its being the centre, of commerce between the eaft-
ern and weſtern parts of the world. It was with the
view of becoming mafter of this lucrative trade, that
Alexander built this city, after having extirpated the
Tyrians, who formerly engroffed all the Eaft-India
traffic. Of the immenfe riches which that trade afford-
ed, we may form an idea, from confidering that the
Romans accounted it a point of policy to oppreſs the
Egyptians, especially the Alexandrians; and after the
defeat of Zenobia, there was a ſingle merchant of Alex-
andria who undertook to raiſe and pay an army out of
the profits of his trade. The Greek emperors drew
prodigious tributes from Egypt, and yet the khalifs
found their fubjects in fo good circumftances as to fcrew
up
their revenues to three hundred millions of crowns.
Though the revolutions which happened in the go-
vernment of Egypt, after it fell into the hands of the
Mahometans, frequently affected this city to a very great
degree; yet ftill the excellence of its port, and the in-
numerable conveniences refulting from the Eaft-India
trade, to whomfoever were maſters of Egypt, preferved
Alexandria from total deftruction, even when in the
hands of the moſt barbarous nations. Thus, in the
13th century, when the barbariſm introduced by the
Goths, &c. began to wear off from the European na-
tions, and they acquired a tafte for the elegancies of
life, the old mart of Alexandria began to revive; and
the port, though far from recovering its former mag-
nificence, grew once more famous by becoming the
centre of commerce: but having fallen under the do-
minion of the Turks, and the paffage round the Cape
of Good Hope being diſcovered by the Portugueſe in
1499, a fatal blow was given to the Alexandrian com-
merce, and the city has fince fallen into decay.
At prefent, the city of Alexandria is reckoned to have
about 14,000 or 15,000 inhabitants; a ftrange col-
luvies of different nations, as well as from various parts
of the Turkish empire. They are in general given to
thieving and cheating; and (like their predeceffors)
feditious above all others, were they not kept in awe
by the ſeverity of their government. The Britiſh and
French carry on a confiderable commerce with them,
and have each a conful refiding here. Some Venetian
fhips alſo fail thither yearly, but with French colours,
and under the protection of France. The ſubjects of
thoſe kingdoms which keep no conſul here, are ſubject-
ed to a tax by the Grand Signior: but the Jews have
found out a method of indemnifying themſelves for
this diſadvantage; namely, by felling their commodities
cheaper than other foreigners can afford. They are al-
ſo favoured by the farmers of the revenue; who know,
that if they do not pay fome private regard to them,
the Jews have it in their power to cauſe fewer merchan-
dizes come into their port during the two years that
their farm lafts.
The prefent city is a kind of peninfula fituated be-
tween the two ports. That to the weftward was called
by the ancients the Portus Eunofius, now the Old Port,
and is by far the beſt; Turkiſh veffels only are allowed
to anchor there: the other, called the New Port, is
for the Chriſtians; at the extremity of one of the arms
of which ſtood the famous Pharos. The New Port,
N° 10.
I
ders to-morrow.
In time of war, Alexandria is of no importance;
no fortification is to be feen; even the Farillon, with
its lofty towers, cannot be defended. It has not four
cannon 'fit for fervice, nor a gunner who knows how
to point them. The 500 janifaries, who fhould form
the garrifon, reduced to half that number, know no-
thing but how to ſmoke a pipe. But Alexandria is a
place of which the conqueft would be of no value. A
foreign power could not maintain itſelf there, as the
country is without water. This muſt be brought from
the Nile by the kalidj, or canal of 12 leagues, which
conveys it thither every year at the time of the inun-
dation. It fills the vaults or refervoirs dug under the
ancient city, and this provifion muſt ſerve till the next
year. It is evident, therefore, that were a foreign
power to take poffeffion, the canal would be ſhut, and
all fupplies of water cut off. It is this canal alone
which connects Alexandria with Egypt; for from its
fituation without the Delta, and the nature of the foil,
it really belongs to the deferts of Africa. Its environs
are fandy, flat, and fterile, without trees and without
houſes; where we meet with nothing but the plant
which yields the kali, and a row of palm trees which
follows the courſe of the kalidj or canal.
The city is governed like others in the fame king-
dom. (See EGYPT.) It hath a fmall garrifon of fol-
diers, part of which are Janifaries and Affaffs; who are
very haughty and infolent, not only to ſtrangers, but to
the mercantile and induſtrious part of the people, tho'
ever fo confiderable and uſeful. The government fo
remiſs in favour of thefe wretches, that Mr Norden in-
forms us, one of them did not heſitate to kill a farmer
of the cuſtoms, for refufing to take leſs of him than
the duty impofed, and went off unpunished; it being
a common falvo among them, that what is done can-
not be undone.
The prefent condition of Alexandria is very defpi-
cable, being now fo far ruined, that the rubbiſh in many
places overtops the houſes. The famous tower of Pha-
ros has long fince been demoliſhed, and a caſtle, called
Farillon, built in its place. The caufeway which joined
the iſland to the continent is broken down, and its place
fupplied by a ftone-bridge of feveral arches.
Some parts of the old walls of the city are yet ſtand-
ing, and preſent us with a maſterpiece of ancient ma-
fonry. They are flanked with large towers, about 200
paces diftant from each other, with fmall ones in the
middle.
ALE
[ 393
]
ALE
Alexandria. middle. Below are magnificent cafemates, which may
ferve for galleries to walk in. In the lower part of the
towers is a large fquare hall, whofe roof is fupported
by thick columns of Thebaic ſtone. Above this are
feveral rooms, over which there are platforms more
than 20 paces fquare. The ancient reſervoirs, vaulted
with ſo much art, which extend under the whole town,
are almoſt entire at the end of 2000 years.
1
+
Of Cæfar's palace there remain only a few porphyry
pillars, and the front, which is almoſt entire, and looks
very beautiful. The palace of Cleopatra was built
upon the walls facing the port, having a gallery on the
outfide, fupported by feveral fine columns. Not far
from this palace are two obelisks vulgarly called Cleo-
patra's Needles. They are of Thebaic ſtone, and co-
vered with hieroglyphics. One is overturned, broken,
and lying under the fand; the other is on its pedeftal.
Theſe two obelisks, each of them of a ſingle ftone, are
about 60 feet high, by ſeven foot fquare at the bafe.
Towards the gate of Rofetta, are five columns of
marble on the place formerly occupied by the porticoes
of the Gymnafium. The reft of the colonnade, the
defign of which was diſcoverable 100 years ago by
Maillet, has fince been deftroyed by the barbariſm of
the Turks.
ter.
But what moſt engages the attention of travellers is
the Pillar of Pompey, as it is commonly called, fitua-
ted at a quarter of a league from the fouthern gate.
It is compofed of red granite. The capital is Corin-
thian, with palm leaves, and not indented. It is nine
feet high. The ſhaft and the upper member of the
baſe are of one piece of 90 feet long, and 9 in diame-
The bafe is a fquare of about 15 feet on each
fide. This block of marble, 60 feet in circumference,
reſts on two layers of ſtone bound together with lead;
which, however, has not prevented the Arabs from
forcing out feveral of them, to fearch for an imaginary
treafure. The whole column is 114 feet high. It is
perfectly well poliſhed, and only a little ſhivered on the
eaftern fide. Nothing can equal the majeſty of this
monument; feen from a distance, it overtops the town,
and ferves as a fignal for veffels. Approaching it
nearer, it produces an aftonishment mixed with awe.
One can never be tired with admiring the beauty of
the capital, the length of the fhaft, nor the extraordi-
nary fimplicity of the pedeftal. This laft has been
fomewhat damaged by the inftruments of travellers,
who are curious to poffefs a relick of this antiquity;
and one of the volutes of the column was immaturely
brought down about twelve years ago, by a prank of
fome English captains, which is thus related by Mr
Irwin.
Theſe jolly ſons of Neptune had been puſhing about
the can on board one of the fhips in the harbour, until
a ftrange freak entered into one of their brains. The
eccentricity of the thought occafioned it immediately
to be adopted; and its apparent impoffibility was but
oyage and a fpur for the putting it into execution. The boat
was ordered; and with proper implements for the at-
tempt, theſe enterprifing heroes puſhed afhore, to drink
a bowel of punch on the top of Pompey's pillar! At
the ſpot they arrived; and many contrivances were
propofed to accompliſh the defired point. But their
labour was vain; and they began to defpair of fuccefs,
when the genius who ftruck out the frolic happily fug-
VOL. L. Part 1.
Route,
P. 370.
geſted the means of performing it. A man was dif- Alexandria.
patched to the city for a paper kite. The inhabitants
were by this time apprized of what was going forward,
and flocked in crowds to be witneffes of the addrefs
and boldneſs of the Engliſh. The governor of Alex-
andria was told that theſe ſeamen were about to pull
down Pompey's pillar. But whether he gave them
credit for their refpect to the Roman warrior, or to
the Turkish government, he left them to themſelves;
and politely anfwered, that the Engliſh were too great
patriots to injure the remains of Pompey. He knew
little, however, of the difpofition of the people who
were engaged in this undertaking. Had the Turkish
empire role in oppofition, it would not perhaps at that
moment have deterred them. The kite was brought,
and flown fo directly over the pillar, that when it fell
on the other fide, the ftring lodged upon the capital.
The chief obftacle was now overcome. A two-inch
rope was tied to one end of the ſtring, and drawn over
the pillar by the end to which the kite' was affixed.
By this rope one of the feamen afcended to the top;
and in leſs than an hour, a kind of ſhroud was con-
ftructed, by which the whole company went up, and
drank their punch amid the fhouts of the aftoniſhed
multitude. To the eye below, the capital of the pil-
lar does not appear capable of holding more than one
man upon it; but our feamen found it could contain
no leſs than eight perfons very conveniently. It is
aftoniſhing that no accident befel theſe madcaps, in a
fituation fo elevated, that would have turned a land-
man giddy in his fober fenſes. The only detriment
which the pillar received, was the lofs of the volute be-
forementioned; which came down with a thundering
found, and was carried to England by one of the cap-
tains, as a preſent to a lady who commiffioned him for
a piece of the pillar. The diſcovery which they made
amply compenſated for this miſchief; as without their
evidence, the world would not have known at this
hour, that there was originally a ftatue on this pillar,
one foot and ancle of which are ſtill remaining. The
ftatue muſt have been of a gigantic fize, to have ap-
peared of a man's proportion at fó great an height.
J
There are circumftances in this story which might
give it an air of fiction, were it not demonſtrated be-
yond all doubt. Befides the teftimonies of many eye-
witneffes, the adventurers themſelves have left us a to-
ken of the fact, by the initials of their names, which
are very legible in black paint juft beneath the capital.
+
chap. 17.
Learned men and travellers have made many fruit-
lefs attempts to diſcover in honour of what prince it
was erected. The beſt informed have concluded, that
it could not be in honour of Pompey, fince neither
Strabo nor Diodorus Siculus have (poken of it. The
Arabian Abulfeda, in his deſcription of Egypt, calls
it the Pillar of Severus. And hiftory informs ust, that † lide Spare
this emperor " vifited the city of Alexandria: That tian's Life
he granted a fenate to its inhabitants, who until that of Severus,
time, under the ſubjection of a ſingle Roman magi-
ftrate, had lived without any national council, as under
the reign of the Ptolemies, when the will of the prince
was their only law: That he did not confine his be-
nefactions there; he changed ſeveral laws in their fa-
vour." This column, therefore, Mr Savary concludes
to have been erected by the inhabitants as a mark of
their gratitude to Severus. And in a Greek inſcrip-
3 D
tion,
*
ALE
[ 394 ]
A LE
all.
water of the fea, as pure and tranſparent as cryftal. Alexandria,
Seated on the ftone bench, the water riſes a little above Alexandri-
the waift; while the feet foftly repofe on a fine fand.
The waves of the ſea are heard roaring againſt the rock,
and foaming in the canal. The fwell enters, raifes you
up, and leaves you; and thus alternately entering and
retiring, brings a continual frefh fupply of water, and
a coolness which is truly delicious under a burning
fky. This place is vulgarly called the Bath of Cleopa-
tra. Some ruins announce that it was formerly orna-
mented.
Alexandria is about 50 leagues north of Cairo.
E. Long. 31. 15. N. Lat. 31. 12.
ALEXANDRIA, a ftrong and confiderable city of I-
taly, belonging to the Duchy of Milan, with a good
caftle, built in 1178 in honour of Pope Alexander III.
This pope made it a bishopric, with feveral privileges
and exemptions. Prince Eugene of Savoy took this city
in 1706, after three days fiege. The French took it in
1745; but the king of Sardinia, to whom it belongs
by the treaty of Utrecht, retook it in 1746. The for-
tifications of the town are trifling, but the citadel is
confiderable. It is 15 miles fouth-eaft of Caffal, 35
north-by-weft of Genoa, and 40 fouth-by-weft of Mi-
lan. E. Long. 8. 40. N. Lat. 44. 53. The country
about this town is called the Alexandrin.
Alexandria. tion, now half effaced, but vifible on the weft fide
when the fun fhines upon it, and which probably was
legible in the time of Abulfeda, he fuppofes the name
of Severus to have been preferved. He further ob-
ferves, that this was not the only monument erected to
him by the gratitude of the Alexandrians: for there is
ftill feen in the midſt of the ruins of Antinoe, built by
Adrian, a magnificent pillar, the infcription on which
is ftill remaining, dedicated to Alexander Severus.
On the fouth-weft fide of the city, at a mile's di-
ftance, are fituated the catacombs, the ancient burial-
place of Alexandria; and although they cannot be
compared to thofe of the ancient Memphis, which the
Arabs will not permit to be vifited, in order to make
the better market of their mummies, it is probable
that, the method of embalming being the fame, the
form of theſe catacombs can only differ in their pro-
portions.-The Baron de Tott, in defcribing theſe,
obferves, "that Nature not having furniſhed this part
of Egypt with a ridge of rocks, like that which runs
parrallel with the Nile above Delta, the ancient inhabi-
tants of Alexandria could only have an imitation by dig-
ging into a bed of folid rock; and thus they formed
Necropolis, or City of the Dead.' The excavation
is from 30 to 40 feet wide, and 200 long and 25 deep,
and is terminated by gentle declivities at each end.
The two fides, cut perpendicularly, contain ſeveral
openings, about 10 or 12 feet in width and height,
hollowed horizontally; and which form, by their dif-
ferent branches, fubterranean ftreets. One of thefe,
which curioſity has diſencumbered from the ruins and
fands that render the entrance of others difficult or im-
poffible, contains no mummies, but only the places
they occupied. The order in which they were ranged
is ftill to be feen. Niches, 20 inches fquare, funk fix
feet horizontally, narrowed at the bottom, and ſepa-
rated from each other by partitions in the rock, feven
or eight inches thick, divide into checkers the two
walls of this fubterranean vault. It is natural to fup-
It is natural to fup-
poſe, from this difpofition, that each mummy was in-
troduced with the feet foremoſt into the cell intended
for its reception; and that new ſtreets were opened,
in proportion as theſe dead inhabitants of Necropolis
increaſed." This obfervation, he adds, which throws
a light on the catacombs of Memphis, may perhaps
likewife explain the vaſt fize and multitude, as well as
the different elevations, of the pyramids in the Higher
and Lower Egypt.
About 70 paces from Pompey's pillar is the khalis,
or the canal of the Nile, which was dug by the ancient
Egyptians, to convey the water of the Nile to Alex-
andria, and fill the cifterns under the city. On the
fide of the khalis are gardens full of orange and lemon
trees, and the fields are full of caper and palm trees.
On the top of a hill is a tower, on which a centinel
is always placed, to give notice, by means of a flag,
of the ſhips that are coming into the port. From this
hill may be ſeen the fea, the whole extent of the city,
and the parts round it.
In going along the fea-coaft, there is a large bafon
cut out of the rock that lines the fhore. On the fides
of this bafon, two beautiful faloons are hewn out by
the chifel, with benches that run acroſs them. Á
canal made zig-zag, for the purpoſe of ſtopping the
fand by its different windings, conveys into them the
2
ALEXANDRIA (anc. geog.), a city of Arachofia, call-
ed alfo Alexandropolis, on the river Arachotus (Ste-
phanus, Ifidorus Characenus).-Another Alexandria
in Gedrofia, built by Leonatus, by order of Alex-
ander (Pliny).—A third Alexandria in Aria, fituated
at the lake Arias (Ptolemy); but, according to Pli-
ny, built by Alexander on the river Arius. A fourth
in the Bactriana (Pliny).-A fifth Alexandria, an
inland town of Carmania (Pliny, Ptolemy, Ammian).
-A fixth Alexandria, or Alexandropolis, in the Sog-
diana (Ifidorus Characenus).-A feventh in India,
at the confluence of the Acefines and Indus (Arrian).
An eighth, called alſo Alexandretta, near the Sinus
Ifficus, on the confines of Syria and Cilicia, now Scan-
deroon (fee ALEXANDRETTA), the port-town to Aleppo.
—A ninth Alexandria of Margiana, which being de-
moliſhed by the barbarians, was rebuilt by Antiochus
the fon of Seleucus, and called Antiochia of Syria (Pli-
ny); watered by the river Margus, which is divided
into feveral channels, for the purpoſes of watering the
country, which was called Zotale. The city was fe-
venty ftadia in circuit, according to Pliny; who adds,
that, after the defeat of Craffus, the captives were con-
veyed to this place by Orodes, the king of the Parthians,
-A tenth, of the Oxiana, built on the Oxus by Alex-
ander, on the confines of Bactria (Pliny).—An ele-
venth, built by Alexander at the foot of mount Paro-
pamifus, which was called Caucafus (Pliny, Arrian).
-A twelfth Alexandria in Troas, called alfo Troas and
Antigonia (Pliny).-A thirteenth on the laxartes, the
boundary of Alexander's victories towards Scythia,
and the laſt that he built on that fide.
ALEXANDRIAN, in a particular fenfe, is ap-
plied to all thoſe who profeffed or taught the fciences
in the ſchool of Alexandria. In this fenfe, Clemens
is denominated Alexandrinus, though born at Athens..
The fame may be faid of Apion, who was born at
Oafis; and Aroftarchus, by birth a Samothracian. The
chief Alexandrian philofophers were, Amonius, Plo-
tinus,
A LE
395 ]
ALF
[
Alexandri- tinus, Origen, Porphyry, Jamblicus, Sopater, Maxi-
mus, and Dexippus.
all
11
Alexis.
·
ALEXANDRIAN is more particularly underſtood of a
college of priests, confecrated to the fervice of Alex-
ander Severus after his deification. Lampridius relates,
that, notwithſtanding Severus was killed by Maximin,
the fenate profecuted his apotheofis; and, for regula-
rity of worſhip, founded an order of priests, or fodales,
under the denomination of Alexandrini.
Alford.
family; that he had from his moft early years applied Alexiteriai
himſelf to ftudy; that he had learned the Greek, the
Latin, the Hebrew, the Chaldean, the Arabian, and
feveral other languages; that having an extreme cu-
riofity to be acquainted with the fecrets of nature, he
had collected as much as he could during his travels
for 57 years; that he piqued himſelf upon not com-
municating his fecrets to any perfon; but that when
he was 82 years of age, having feen a poor man who
had died of a fickneſs which might have been cured
had he communicated his fecret to the furgeon who
took care of him, he was touched with ſuch a remorſe
of confcience, that he lived almoſt like a hermit: and
it was in this folitude that he ranged his fecrets in fuch
an order as to make them fit to be publiſhed. The
hawkers generally carry them, with other books, to the
country fairs. Thefe, however, contain only the ſelect
remedies of Seignor Alexis of Piedmont; the entire
collection would make too large a volume for them.
ALEXITERIAL, among phyficians, a term of
much the fame import with alexipharmic; though fome-
times uſed in a fynonymous fenfe with amulet.
ALEXANDRIAN Library. See p. 389, fupra.
ALEXANDRIAN Manufcript, a famous copy of the
Scriptures, confifting of four volumes, in a large quar-
to fize; which contains the whole Bible in Greek, in-
cluding the Old and New Teftament, with the Apo-
crypha, and fome ſmaller pieces, but not quite com-
plete. This manufcript is now preferved in the Britiſh
Muſeum. It was fent as a prefent to King Charles I.
from Cyrillus Lucaris, patriarch of Conftantinople, by
Sir Thomas Rowe, ambaffador from England to the
Grand Signior, about the year 1628. Cyrillus brought
it with him from Alexandria, where probably it was
written. In a ſchedule annexed to it, he gives this
account: That it was written, as tradition informed
them, by Thecla, 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 difputed;
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 opi-
nion, that it was not writ till near the end of the fifth
century, or fomewhat later.
ALEXANDRIAN, or Alexandrine, in poetry, a kind of
verfe confifting of twelve, or of twelve and thirteen fyl-
lables alternately; fo called from a poem on the life of
Alexander, written in this kind of verſe by fome French
poet. Alexandrines are peculiar to modern poetry, and
feem well adapted to epic poems. They are fometimes
ufed by moft nations of Europe; but chiefly by the
French, whofe tragedies are generally compofed of A-
lexandrines.
ALEXICACUS, fomething that preſerves the bo-
dy from harm or miſchief. The word amounts to much
the fame as alexiterial.
ALEXICACUS, in antiquity, was an attribute of Nep-
tune, whom the tunny-fifhers uſed to invoke under this
appellation, that their nets might be preſerved from the
ipias, or fword-fifh, which uſed to tear them; and that
he might prevent the affiftance which it was pretended
the dolphins uſed to give the tunnies on this occafion.
ALEXIPHARMICS, in medicine, are properly
remedies for expelling or preventing the ill effects of
poiſon: but fome of the moderns having imagined, that
the animal fpirits, in acute diftempers, were affected
by a malignant poiſon, the term has been underfood
to mean medicines adapted to expel this poifon by the
cutaneous pores, in the form of fweat. In this fenfe,
alexipharmics are the fame as fudorifics.
ALEXIS, a Piedmontefe. There is a book of
"Secrets," which for a long time has gone under his
name. It was printed at Bafil 1536, in 8vo, and
tranſlated from Italian into Latin by Wecher; it has
alſo been tranſlated into French, and printed feveral
times with additions. There is a preface to the piece,
wherein Alexis informs us, that he was born of a noble
ALEYN (Charles), an Engliſh poet in the reign of
Charles I. In 1631, he publiſhed two poems on the
famous victories of Creffy and Poitiers. He fucceeded
his father as clerk of the ordnance, and was commiffary-
general of the artillery to the king at the battle of Edge-
hill. The next piece he wrote was a poem in honour
of Henry VII. and the victory that gained him the
crown of England. In 1639, the year before he died,.
he tranflated the hiftory of Eurialius and Lucretia, from
the Latin epiftles of Æneas Sylvius.
ALFANDIGA, the name of the customhouſe at
Liſbon.
ALFAQUES, among the Moors, the name ge
nerally uſed for their clergy, or thoſe who teach the
Mahometan religion; in oppofition to the Morabites,
who anfwer to monks among Chriftians.
ALFATERNA (anc. geog.), the laft town of Cam-
pania, beyond Vefuvius (Diodorus); the fame with
Nocera, which fee. The inhabitants Alfaterni (Pli-
ny).
ALFDOUCH, a name given by the Moors to a
fort of vermicelli, which they make of flour and water,
and are very fond of in their entertainments.
ALFET, in our old cuſtoms, denotes a caldron full
of boiling water, wherein an acuſed perſon, by way of
trial or purgation, plunged his arm up to the elbow.
It
ALFORD, a town in Lincolnſhire, with a market
on Tueſdays for provifions and corn; and two fairs,
on Whit-Tueſday, and November 8. for cattle and
fheep. It is feated on a ſmall brook that runs through
the town, and is a compact place. A falt fpring was
diſcovered here in 1670, from the pigeons which flew
thither in great numbers to drink the water; thoſe
birds being known to be fond of falt. It contains a
purging falt, together with a portion of fea-ſalt.
is ftrongly purgative. It is recommended as cooling,
cleanfing, and attenuating. As a good remedy in the
fcurvy, jaundice, and other glandular obſtructions. It
alfo promotes urine and fweat, and therefore is good
in gravelly and other diſorders of the kidneys and blad-
der; and in complaints arifing from obftructed perfpi-
ration. Alford is fix miles from the fea, and 20 N.
of Bofton. E. Long. o. 15. N. Lat. 53. 30.
3D 2
ALFRED,
}
{
ALF
[ 396 ]
AL F
}
Alfred.
Alfred granted them better terms than they could ex- Alfred,
pect. He agreed to give up the whole kingdom of the
Eaft-Angles to fuch as would embrace the Chriftian re-
ligion, on condition they ſhould oblige the reſt of their
countrymen to quit the iſland, and, as much as it was
in their power, prevent the landing of any more fo-
reigners. For the performance thereof he took hofta-
ges; and when, in purſuance of the treaty, Guthrum
the Danish captain came, with thirty of his chief offi-
cers, to be baptized, Alfred anſwered for him at the
font, and gave him the name of Æthelftane; and cer-
tain laws were drawn up betwixt the king and Gu-
thrum for the regulation and government of the Danes
fettled in England. In 884, a freſh number of Danes
landed in Kent, and laid fiege to Rochefter; but the
king coming to the relief of that city, they were ob-
liged to abandon their defign. Alfred had now great
fuccefs; which was chiefly owing to his fleet, an ad-
vantage of his own creating. Having fecured the fea-
coafts, he fortified the reft of the kingdom with caſtles
and walled towns; and he befieged and recovered from
the Danes the city of London, which he reſolved to re-
pair, and keep as a frontier (B).
ALFRED, or ELFRED, the Great, king of Eng-
land, was the fifth and youngeſt ſon of Æthelwolf
king of the Weft Saxons, and was born at Wantage
in Berkſhire in 849. He diftinguiſhed himſelf, du-
ring the reign of his brother Ethelred, in feveral en-
gagements againſt the Danes; and upon his death fuc-
ceeded to the crown, in the year 871, and the 22d of
his age. At his aſcending the throne he found him-
ſelf involved in a dangerous war with the Danes, and
placed in fuch circumftances of diftrefs as called for
the greateſt valour, refolution, and all the other vir-
tues with which he was adorned. The Danes had
already penetrated into the heart of his kingdom; and
before he had been a month upon the throne, he was
obliged to take the field againſt thoſe formidable ene-
mies. After many battles gained on both ſides, he was at
length reduced to the greateft diftrefs, and was entirely
abandoned by his fubjects. In this fituation, Alfred,
conceiving himſelf no longer a king, laid afide all marks
of royalty, and took ſhelter in the houſe of one who
kept his cattle. He retired afterwards to the iſle of
Æthelingey in Somerſetſhire, where he built a fort for
the fecurity of himſelf, his family, and the few faithful
fervants who repaired thither to him. When he had
been about a year in this retreat, having been inform-
ed that fome of his fubjects had routed a great army of
the Danes, killed their chicfs, and taken their magical
ftandard (A), he iffued his letters, giving notice where
he was, and inviting his nobility to come and confult
with him. Before they came to a final determination,
Alfred, putting on the habit of a harper, went into
the enemy's camp, where, without fufpicion, he was
every where admitted, and had the honour to play be-
fore their princes. Having thereby acquired an exact
knowledge of their fituation, he returned in great fe-
crecy to his nobility, whom he ordered to their reſpec-
tive homes, there to draw together each man as great
a force as he could; and upon a day appointed there
was to be a general randezvous at the great wood,
called Selavood, in Wiltſhire. This affair was tranfac-
ted ſo fecretly and expeditiouſly, that, in a little time,
the king, at the head of an army, approached the
Danes, before they had the leaſt intelligence of his de-
fign. Alfred, taking advantage of the furprife and
terror they were in, fell upon them, and totally defeat-
cd them at Æthendune, now Eddington. Thoſe who
eſcaped fled to a neighbouring caftle, where they were.
foon befieged, and obliged to furrender at difcretion.
After fome years refpite, Alfred was again called
into the field: for a body of Danes, being worfted in
the weft of France, came with a fleet of
250 fail on the
coat of Kent; and having landed, fixed themfelves at
Apple-tree: fhortly after, another fleet of So veffels
coming up the Thames, the men landed, and built a
fort at Middleton. Before Alfred marched againſt the
enemy, he obliged the Danes, fettled in Northumber-
land and Effex, to give him hoftages for their good
behaviour. He then moved towards the invaders, and
pitched his camp between their armies, to prevent their
junction. A great body, however, moved off to Ef-
fex; and croffing the river, came to Farnham in Surry,
where they were defeated by the king's forces. Mean
while the Danes fettled in Northumberland, in breach
of treaty, and notwithſtanding the hoftages given, e-
quipped two fleets; and, after plundering the northern
and fouthern coafts, failed to Exeter, and befieged it.
The king, as foon as he received intelligence, marched
against them; but before he reached Exeter, they had
got poffeffion of it. He kept them, however, blocked up
on all fides; and reduced them at laſt to ſuch extremi-
ties, that they were obliged to eat their horſes, and were
even ready to devour each other. Being at length ren-
dered defperate, they made a general fally on the be-
fiegers;
(A) "This (fays Sir John Spelman) was a banner with the image of a raven magically wrought by the three
fifters of Hinguar and Hubba, on purpoſe for their expedition, in revenge of their father Lodebroch's murder,
made, they fay, almoſt in an inftant, being by them at once begun and finiſhed in a noontide, and believed by the
Danes to have carried great fatality with it, for which it was highly efteemed by them. It is pretended, that
being carried in battle, towards good fuccefs it would always feem to clap its wings, and make as if it would
fly; but towards the approach of miſhap, it would hang down and not move." Life of Alfied, p. 61.
(B) The Danes had poffeffed themſelves of London in the time of his father; and had held it till now as a
convenient place for them to land at, and fortify themſelves in; neither was it taken from them but by a cloſe
fiege. However, when it came into the king's hands, it was in a miferable condition, fcarce habitable, and all
its fortifications ruined. The king, moved by the importance of the place, and the defire of ſtrengthening his
frontier againſt the Danes, reſtored it to its ancient ſplendor. And obferving, that, through the confufion of
the times, many, both Saxons and Danes, lived in a looſe diſorderly manner, without owning any government,
he offered them now a comfortable eſtabliſhment, if they would ſubmit and become his fubjects. This propofi-
tion was better received than he expected; for multitudes growing weary of a vagabond kind of life, joyfully
accepted fuch an offer. Chron. Sax. p. 88.
ALF
[ 397
]
ALF
parts of Lincolnſhire. Each trything was divided into Alfred.
hundreds or wapentakes; and theſe again into tythings
or dwellings of ten houſeholders: each of thefe houſe-
holders ftood engaged to the king, as a pledge for the
good behaviour of his family, and all the ten were mu-
tually pledges for each other; fo that if any one of the
tything was ſuſpected of an offence, if the head bo-
roughs or chiefs of the tything would not be fecurity
for him, he was impriſoned; and if he made his eſcape,
the tything and hundred were fined to the king. Each
fhire was under the government of an earl, under whom
was the reive, his deputy; fince, from his office, cal-
led ſhire-reive, or sheriff. And ſo effectual were theſe
regulations, that it is faid he cauſed bracelets of gold
to be hung up in the highways, as a challenge to rob-
bere, and they remained untouched.
Alfred. fiegers; but were defeated, though with great lofs on
the king's fide. The remainder of this body of Danes
fled into Effex, to the fort they had built there, and to
their fhips. Before Alfred had time to recruit him-
ſelf, another Daniſh leader, whoſe name was Laf, came
with a great army out of Northumberland, and de-
ſtroyed all before him, marching on to the city of
Werheal in the weft, which is fuppofed to be Cheſter,
where they remained the reſt of that year. The year
following they invaded North-Wales; and after having
plundered and deſtroyed every thing, they divided, one
body returning to Northumberland, another into the
territories of the Eaſt-Angles; from whence they pro-
ceeded to Effex, and took poffeffion of a ſmall iſland
called Merefig. Here they did not long remain: for
having parted, fome failed up the river Thames, and
others up the Lea-road; where drawing up their fhips,
they built a fort not far from London, which proved a
great check upon the citizens, who went in a body and
attacked it, but were repulfed with great lofs: at har-
veft-time the king himſelf was obliged to encamp with
a body of troops in the neighbourhood of the city, in
order to cover the reapers from the excurfions of the
Danes. As he was one day riding by the fide of the
river Lea, after fome obfervation, he began to think
that the Daniſh fhips might be laid quite dry: this
he attempted, and fucceeded; fo that the Danes de-
ſerted their fort and ſhips, and marched away to the
banks of the Severn, where they built a fort, and win-
tered at a place called Quatbrig (c). Such of the Da-
nifh fhips as could be got off, the Londoners carried
into their own road; the reft they burnt and deſtroyed.
Alfred enjoyed a profound peace during the three
laſt years of his reign, which he chiefly employed in
eſtabliſhing and regulating his government, for the fecu-
rity of himſelf and his fucceffors, as well as the cafe and
benefit of his ſubjects in general. After a troubleſome
reign of 28 years, he died on the 28th of October
A. D. 900; and was buried at Wincheſter, in Hyde-
abbey, under a monument of porphyry.
All our hiftorians agree in diftinguifhing him as one
of the moſt valiant, wifeft, and beſt of kings that ever
reigned in England; and it is alfo generally allowed,
that he not only digeſted ſeveral particular laws ftill in
being, but that he laid the firſt foundation of our pre-
fent happy conftitution. There is great reafon to be-
lieve that we are indebted to this prince for trials by
juries; and the doomſday book, which is preferved in
the exchequer, is thought to be no more than ano-
ther edition of Alfred's book of Winchefter, which
contained a furvey of the kingdom. It is faid alfo, that
he was the firſt who divided the kingdom into fhires:
what is afcribed to him is not a bare divifion of the
country, but the fettling a new form of judicature; for
after having divided his dominions into ſhires, he fub-
divided each ſhire into three parts, called trythings.
There are ſome remains of this ancient divifion in the
ridings of Yorkſhire, the laths of Kent, and the three
In private life, Alfred was the moſt amiable man in
his dominions; of fo equal a temper, that he never
ſuffered either ſadneſs or unbecoming gaiety to enter
his mind; but appeared always of a calm, yet cheerful
difpofition, familiar to his friends, juſt even to his ene-
mies, kind and tender to all. He was a remarkable
economiſt of his time, and Afferius has given us an
account of the method he took for dividing and keep-
ing an account of it: he cauſed fix wax-candles to be
made, each of 12 inches long, and of as many ounces
weight; on the candles the inches were regularly mark-
ed, and having found that one of them burnt juft four
hours, he committed them to the care of the keepers of
his chapel, who from time to time gave him notice
how the hours went: but as in windy weather the
candles were wafted by the impreffion of the air on the
flame, to remedy this inconvenience, he invented lan-
thorns, there being then no glafs in his dominions.
This prince, we are told, was 12 years of age be-
fore a mafter could be procured in the weſtern kingdom
to teach him the alphabet; ſuch was the ſtate of learn-
ing when Alfred began to reign. He had felt the mi-
fery of ignorance; and determined even to rival his co-
temporary Charlemagne in the encouragement of lite-
rature. He is fuppofed to have appointed perfons to
read lectures at Oxford, and is thence confidered as the
founder of that univerfity. By other proper eſtabliſh-
ments, and by a general encouragement to men of abi-
"lities, he did every thing in his power to diffuſe know-
ledge throughout his dominions. Nor was this end
promoted more by his countenance and encouragement
than by his own example and his writings. For not-
withſtanding the lateneſs of his initiation, he had ac-
quired extraordinary erudition; and, had he not been
illuftrious as a king, he would have been famous as an
author. His works are, 1. Breviarum quoddam collec-
tum ex Legibus Trojanorum, &c. lib. I. A Breviary col-
lected out of the Laws of the Trojans, Greeks, Britons,
Saxons, and Danes, in one Book. Leland faw this book
in the Saxon tongue, at Chrift-church in Hampſhire.
2. Vifi-Saxonum Leges, lib. I. The laws of the Weft-
Saxons, in one book. Pitts tells us, that it is in Ben-
net-
(c) The king's contrivance is thought to have produced the meadow between Hertford and Bow; for at
Hertford was the Daniſh fort, and from thence they made frequent excurfions on the inhabitants of London.
Authors are not agreed as to the method the king purfued in laying dry the Daniſh ſhips: Dugdale fuppoſes
that he did it by ftrastening the channel; but Henry of Huntingdon alleges, that he cut feveral canals, which
exhaufted its water.
ALG
[ 398 1-
ALG
all one. Under this deſcription are comprehended all the Algagiola
fea-weeds, and fome other aquatic plants. In the fexual
fyftem, they conftitute the 3d order of the 24th clafs Algebra.
Cryptogamia; in Tournefort, the fecond genus of the
fecond fection, Marine, aut fluviatiles, of the 17th claſs,
Afperma vulgo habita; and the 57th order in Linnæ-
us's Fragments of a Natural Method. The difcove-
ries made in this part of the vegetable kingdom are
uncertain, and imperfect; and the attempts, in parti-
cular, to arrange flags by the parts of the fructifica-
tion, have not been attended with great fuccefs. Dil-
lenius has arranged this order of plants from their ge-
neral habit and ſtructure; Michelius from the parts of
fructification.-Each has confiderable merit.
ALGAGIOLA, a ſmall fea-port town in the iſland
of Corfica, fortified with walls and baftions. It was
almoſt deſtroyed by the malcontents in 1731, but has
fince been repaired. E. Long. 9. 45. N. Lat. 42. 20.
Alfred net-College library, at Cambridge. 3.Inftituta quædam,
11 lib. 1. Certain Inftitutes, in one book. This is men-
Algebra.
tioned by Pitts, and feems to be the fecond capitula-
tion with Guthrum. 4. Contra judices iniquos, lib. I.
An Invective againſt Unjuft Judges, in one book. 5.
Acta Magiftratuum fuorum, lib. I. Acts of his Ma-
giftrates, in one book. This is fuppofed to be the
book of judgments mentioned by Horne; and was, in
all probability, a kind of reports, intended for the ufe
of fucceeding ages. 6. Regum fortune varia, lib. I.
The various Fortunes of Kings, in one book. 7. Dic-
ta fapientum, lib. I. The Sayings of Wife Men, in
one book. 8. Parobolæ et fales, lib. I. Parables and
pleaſant Sayings, in one book. 9. Collectiones chroni-
corum. Collections of Chronicles. 10. Epiftola ad Wulf-
figium Epifcopum, lib. I. Epiftles to Biſhop Wulfsig,
in one book. 11. Manuale meditationum. A Ma-
nual of Meditations.-Befides theſe original works, he
-tranſlated many authors from the Latin, &c. into the
Saxon language, viz. 1. Bede's Hiſtory of England,
2. Paulinus Orofinus's Hiftory of the Pagans. 3. St
Gregory's Paftoral, &c. The firſt of theſe, with his
prefaces to the others, together with his laws, were
printed at Cambridge, 1644. His laws are likewiſe
inferted in Spelman's Councils. 4. Boethius de Confola-
tione, lib. V. Boetius's Confolations of Philofophy, in
five books. Dr Plot tells us, king Alfred tranflated
it at Woodſtock, as he found in a MS. in the Cotton
Library. 5. Efopi fabule, Efop's Fables: which he
is ſaid to have tranſlated from the Greek both into Latin
and Saxon. 6. Pfalterium Davidicum, lib. I. David's
Pfalter, in one book. This was the laft work the King
attempted, death ſurpriſing him before he had finiſhed
it; it was however completed by another hand, and
publiſhed at London in 1640, in quarto, by Sir John
Spelman. Several others are mentioned by Malmſbury;
and the old hiſtory of Ely afferts, that he tranflated
the Old and New Teftaments.
Definition
and etymo-
logy.
j
The life of this great king was firft written by Af
ferius Menevenfis; and firft publiſhed by Archbishop
Parker, in the old Saxon character, at the end of his
edition of Haffingham's history, printed in 1674, fol.
ALGA, in botany, the trivial name of the li-
chen, fucus, and feveral other plants of the cryptogamia
clafs.
ALGÆ, FLAGS; one of the feven families or na-
tural tribes into which the whole vegetable kingdom is
divided by Linnæus, in his Philofophia Botanica. They
are defined to be plants, whofe root, leaf, and ſtem are
A
A L
G
ALGAROT, in chemiſtry, an Arabic term for an
emetic powder, prepared from regulus of antimony,
diffolved in acids, and feparated by repeated lotions in
warm water.
ALGAROTTI (Count), a celebrated Italian, was
born at Padua; but the year is not mentioned. Led
by curiofity, as well as a defire of improvement, he tra-
velled early into foreign countries; and was very young
when he arrived in France in 1736. Here he com-
pofed his "Newtonian Philoſophy for the Ladies;" as
Fontenelle had done his Cartefian Aftronomy, in the
work intitled, "The Plurality of worlds." He was
noticed by the king of Pruffia, who gave him marks of
the efteem he had for him. He died at Pifa the 23d
of May, 1764; and ordered his own mauſoleum, with
this infcription to be fixed upon it: "Hic jacet Alga-
"rottus, fed non omnis.” He is allowed to have been
a very great connoiffeur in painting, ſculpture, and ar-
chitecture. He contributed much to the reformation
of the Italian opera. His works, which are nume-
rous, and upon a variety of fubjects, abound with viva-
city, elegance, and wit: a collection of them has late-
ly been made, and printed at Leghorn.
ALGARVA, a province in the kingdom of Por-
tugal, 67 miles in length and 20 in breadth; bounded
on the W. and S. by the fea, on the E. by the river
Guadiana, and on the N. by Alentejo. It is very fer-
tile in figs, almonds, dates, olives, and excellent wines;
befides, the fishery brings in large fums. The capital
town is Pharo. It contains four cities, 12 towns, 67
parishes, and 61,000 inhabitants.
E BR
GENERAL method of computation, wherein figns
and fymbols, commonly the letters of the alpha-
bet, are made uſe of to repreſent numbers, or any other
quantities.
This ſcience, properly ſpeaking, is no other than a
kind of fhort-hand, or ready way of writing down a
chain of mathematical reafoning on any ſubject what-
ever; fo that it is applicable to arithmetic, geometry,
aſtronomy, menfuration of all kinds of folids, &c. and
the great advantages derived from it appear manifeftly
to arife from the concifenefs and perfpicuity with which
・A,
every propofition on mathematical ſubjects can be writ-
ten down in algebraic characters, greatly ſuperior to the
tedious circumlocutions which would be neceffary were
the reaſoning to be written in words at length.
With regard to the etymology of the word algebra,
it is much conteſted by the critics. Menage derives
it from the Arabic algiaharat, which fignifies the
reftitution of any thing broken; fuppofing that the
principal part of algebra is the confideration of broken
numbers. Others rather borrow it from the Spaniſh,
algebrifta, a perfon who replaces diflocated bones; ad-
1
ding,
A L G
399
E
B R A.
Hiſtory ding, that algebra has nothing to do with fraction.
Some, with M. d'Herbelot, are of opinion, that alge-
bra takes its name from Gebar, a celebrated philofo-
pher, chemift, and mathematician, whom the Arabs
call Giaber, and who is ſuppoſed to have been the in-
ventor. Others from gefr, a kind of parchment made
of the ſkin of a camel, whereon Ali and Giafer Sadek
wrote, in myftic characters, the fate of Mahometaniſm,
and the grand events that were to happen till the end
of the world. But others, with more probability, de-
rive it from geber; a word whence, by prefixing the ar-
ticle al, we have formed algebra; which is pure Ara-
bic, and properly fignifies the reduction of fractions to
a whole number. However, the Arabs, it is to be ob-
ferved, never ufe the word algebra alone, to exprefs
what we mean by it; but always add to it the word
macabelah, which fignifies oppofition and compariſon:
thus algebra-almacabelah, is what we properly call al-
gebra.
HISTORY.
Some authors define algebra, The art of folving ma-
thematical problems; but this is rather the idea of ana-
lyfis, or the analytic art. The Arabs call it, The art
of reftitution and compariſon; or, The art of refolution
and equation. Lucas de Burgo, the firſt European
who wrote of algebra, calls it, Regula rei et cenfus ;
that is, the rule of the root and its fquare; the root
with them being called res, and the fquare cenfus. O-
thers call it Specious Arithmetic; and fome, Univerfal
Arithmetic.
Ir is highly probable that the Indians or Arabians
firft invented this noble art: for it may be reaſonably
fuppofed, that the ancient Greeks were ignorant of
it; becauſe Pappus, in his mathematical collections,
where he enumerates their analyſis, makes no mention
of any thing like it; and, befides, ſpeaks of a local
problem, begun by Euclid, and continued by Apol-
lonius, which none of them could fully refolve; which
doubtlefs they might eafily have done, had they known
any thing of algebra.
Diaphantus was the firft Greek writer of algebra;
who publiſhed 13 books about the year 800, though
only fix of them were tranſlated into Latin, by Xylan-
der, in 1575; and afterwards, viz. anno 1621, in
Greek and Latin, by M. Bachet and Fermat, with ad-
ditions of their own. This algebra of Diaphantus's
only extends to the ſolution of arithmetical indeter-
minate problems.
Before this tranflation of Diaphantus came out, Lu-
cas Pacciolus, or Lucas de Burgo, a Minorite friar,
publiſhed at Venice, in the year 1494, an Italian trea-
tife of algebra. This author makes mention of Leo-
nardus Pifanus, and fome others, of whom he had learn-
ed the art; but we have none of their writings. He
adds, that algebra came originally from the Arabs, and
never mentions Diaphantus; which makes it probable,
that that author was not then known in Europe. His
algebra goes no farther than fimple and quadratic equa-
tions.
After Pacciolus appeared Stifelius, a good author;
but neither did he advance any farther.
After him came Scipio Ferreus, Cardan, Tarta-
gilla, and fome others, who reached as far as the fo-
lution of fome cubic equations. Bombelli followed
theſe, and went a little farther. At laft came Nun-
nius, Ramus, Schoner, Salignac, Clavius, &c. who all Hiftory.
of them took different courſes, but none of them went
beyond quadratics.
In 1590, Vieta introduced what he called his Specious
Arithmetic, which confifts in denoting the quantities,
both known and unknown, by fymbols or letters. He
alfo introduced an ingenious method of extracting the
roots of equations, by approximations; fince greatly
improved and facilitated by Raphſon, Halley, Maclau-
rin, Simpſon, and others.
Vieta was followed by Oughtred, who, in his Clavis
Mathematica, printed in 1631, improved Vieta's me-
thod, and invented feveral compendious characters, to
fhow the fums, differences, rectangles, fquares, cubes, &c.
Harriot, another Englishman, cotemporary with
Oughtred, left feveral treatiſes at his death; and among
the reft, an Analyſis, or Algebra, which was printed
in 1631, where Vieta's method is brought into a ftill
more commodious form, and is much efteemed to this
day.
In 1657, Des Cartes publiſhed his geometry, where-
in he made ufe of the literal calculus and the algebraic
rules of Harriot; and as Oughtred in his Clavis, and
Marin. Ghetaldus in his books of mathematical com-
pofition and refolution publiſhed in 1630, applied
Vieta's arithmetic to elementary geometry, and gave
the conftruction of fimple and quadratic equations; fo
Des Cartes applied Harriot's method to the higher
geometry, explaining the nature of curves by equations,
and adding the conftructions of cubic, biquadratic,
and other higher equations.
Des Cartes's rule for conftructing cubic and biqua--
dratic equations, was farther improved by Thomas Ba-
ker, in his Clavis Geometrica Catholica, publifhed in
1684; and the foundation of fuch conſtructions, with
the application of algebra to the quadratures of curves,
queftions de maximis et minimis, the centrobaryc me-
thod of Guldinus, &c. was given by R. Slufius, in
1668; as alfo by Fermat in his Opera Mathematica,
Roberval in the Mem. de Mathem. et de Phyfique, and
Barrow in his Lect. Geomet. In 1708, algebra was ap-
plied to the laws of chance and gaming, by R. de Mont-
mort; and fince by de Moivre and James Bernouilli.
The elements of the art were compiled and publiſhed
by Kerfey, in 1671; wherein the fpecious arithmetic,
and the nature of equations, are largely explained, and
illuftrated by a variety of examples: the whole fubſtance-
of Diaphantus is here delivered, and many things add-
ed concerning mathematical compofition and reſolution
from Ghetaldus. The like has been fince done by
Preftet in 1694, and by Ozanam in 1703: but theſe
authors omit the application of algebra to geometry;.
which defect is ſupplied by Guifnec in a French treatiſe
exprefsly on the fubject publifhed in 1704, and l'Ho-
pital in his analytical treatiſe of the conic fections in
1707. The rules of algebra are alfo compendiouſly
delivered by Sir Ifaac Newton, in his Arithm. tica Uni-
verfalis, firft publifhed in 1707, which abounds in fe-
lect examples, and contains ſeveral rules and methods-
invented by the author.
Algebra has alſo been applied to the confideration
and calculus of infinites; from whence a new and ex-
tenfive branch of knowledge has ariſen, called the Doc-
trine of Fluxions, or Analyſis of Infinites, or the Calcu-
lus Differentialis.
INS-
•
400
Part I.
ALGE BR A.
}
PA A R
T
I.
Introduc-
tion.
INTRODUCTION.
A QUANTITY which can be meaſured, and is the
object of mathematics, is of two kinds, Number
and Extenfion. The former is treated of in Arithme-
tic; the latter in Geometry.
Numbers are ranged in a fcale, by the continued re-
petition of fome one number, which is called the Root
called the Root;
and, in confequence of this order, they are conveni-
ently expreffed in words, and denoted by characters.
The operations of arithmetic are eaſily derived from
the eſtabliſhed method of notation, and the moft fimple
reaſonings concerning the relations of magnitude.
Inveſtigations by the common arithmetic are greatly
limited, from the want of characters to expreſs the
quantities that are unknown, and their different rela-
tions to one another, and to fuch as are known. Hence
letters and other convenient fymbols have been intro-
duced to fupply this defect; and thus gradually has
arifen the fcience of Algebra, properly called Univer-
fal Arithmetic.
In the common arithmetic too, the given numbers
diſappear in the courfe of the operation, fo that gene-
ral rules can feldom be derived from it; but, in alge-
bra, the known quantities, as well as the unknown,
may be expreffed by letters, which, through the whole
operation, retain their original form; and hence may
be deduced, not only general canons for like cafes, but
the dependence of the feveral quantities concerned, and
likewife the determination of a problem, without ex-
hibiting which, it is not completely refolved. This
general manner of expreffing quantities alfo, and the
general reafonings concerning their connections, which
may be founded on, it, have rendered this fcience not
lefs uſeful in the demonſtration of theorems than in
the refolution of problems.
If geometrical quantities be fuppoſed to be divided
into equal parts, their relations, in refpect of magni-
tude, or their proportions, may be expreffed by num-
bers; one of thefe equal parts being denoted by the
unit. Arithmetic, however, is ufed in expreffing on-
ly the conclufions of geometrical propofitions; and it
is by algebra that the bounds and application of geo-
metry have been of late fo far extended.
The proper objects of mathematical fcience are num-
ber and extenfion; but mathematical inquiries may be
inſtituted alfo concerning any phyfical quantities that
are capable of being meaſured or expreffed by numbers.
and extended magnitudes: And, as the application of
algebra may be equally univerfal, it has been called
The Science of quantity in general.
DEFINITIONS.
1. QUANTITIES which are known are generally repre-
fented by the firſt letters of the alphabet, as a, b, c,
&c. and fuch as are unknown by the laft letters, as
x, y, z, &c.
2. The fign + (plus) denotes, that the quantity be
fore which it is placed is to be added. Thus
a+b denotes the fum of a and b; 3+5 denotes the
fum of 3 and 5, or 8. When no fign is expreffed,
is underſtood.
N° 10.
3. The fign (minus) denotes, that the quantity be- Definitions.
fore which it is placed is to be fubtracted. Thus
a-b denotes the excefs of a above b; 6-2 is the
excefs of 6 above 2, or 4. Note, Thefe characters
+ and -, from their extenfive ufe in algebra, are
called the figns; and the one is faid to be oppoſite or
contrary to the other.
4. Quantities which have the fign + prefixed to them
are called pofitive or affirmative; and fuch as have
the fignprefixed to them are called negative.
5. Quantities which have the fame fign, either + or
are alſo ſaid to have like ſigns, and thoſe which
have different figns are faid to have unlike figns. Thus
+a,+b, have like figns, and +a,-c, are faid to
have unlike figns.
6.
7.
8.
9.
;
The juxtaposition of letters as in the fame word, ex-
preffes the product of the quantities denoted by theſe
letters. Thus ab expreffes the product of a and b
bed expreffes the continued product of b, c, and d.
The fign alfo expreffes the product of any two
quantities between which it is placed.
A number prefixed to a letter is called a numeral
coefficient, and expreſſes the product of the quantity
by that number, or how often the quantity denoted
by the letter is to be taken. When no number is
prefixed, unit is underſtood.
The quotient of two quantities is denoted by placing
the dividend above a ſmall line and the divifor below
18
it. Thus is the quotient of 18 divided by 3, or
a
3
/
6; is the quotient of a divided by b. This ex-
b
preffion of a quotient is alfo called a fraction.
A quantity is faid to be fimple, which confits of one
pait or Term, as ta, -abc; and a quantity is faid -
to be compound, when it confifts of more than one
term, connected by the figns + or
Thus ath,
a-b+c, arc compound quantities. If there are
two terms, it is called a binomial; if three, a trino-
mial, &c.
10. Simple quantities, or the terms of compound
quantities, are faid to be like, which confift of the
fame letter or letters, equally repeated. Thus +ab,
-5ab, are like quantities; but tab, and +aab,
are unlike.
11. The equality of two quantities is expreffed, by
placing the fign between them. Thus x+a=b—c,
means that the fum of x and a is equal to the excefs
of b above c.
When quantities are confidered abftractly, then +
and denote addition and fubtraction only, according
to Def. 2. and 3. and the terms pofitive and negative
exprefs the fame ideas. In that cafe, a negative quan-
tity by itſelf is unintelligible. The fign+alfo is un-
neceffary before fimple quantities, or before the lead-
ing term of a compound quantity which is not nega-
tive; though, when fuch a quantity or term is to be
added to another, + muſt be placed before it, to ex-
preſs that addition; and hence in Def. 2. it is ſaid,
that is underſtood when no fign is expreſſed.
In geometry, however, and in certain applications
5
JUN 29 1917
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