AGENTS, AT COURTS, DIFFER FROM AMBASSADORS; FOR THOUGH DELEGATED, THEY ARE NOT INVESTED WITH ANY REPRESENTATIVE CHARACTER.

AGG]

AGENTS, IN MEDICINE, are those POWERS WHICH ACT UPON THE BODY.

A New Dictionary of the Eelles Lettres.

to choose his guardian and contract a mar

riage; and is at full age at twenty-one. A woman at the age of nine is dowable; at twelve may confirm her consent to marriage; at fourteen may receive her land into her own hands; and at twenty-one may alienate her lands and tenements. Among ancient physiologists, the life or age of nian was divided into six stages: pueritia, or childhood, extending from birth to the year 5; adolescentia, or boyhood, to the year 18; juventus, or youth, to the year 30; virilis atas, manhood, to 50; senectus, old age, to 60; crepita atas, decrepitude, to death. By the Roman law, different ages were ascertained for different purposes. Thus the consular age, or that at which a person might hold the consulship, was the 43rd year; the judiciary age, between the 30th and 60th year; the military age, 17 years; the prætorian age, 40 years.

AGENDA, among divines, sometimes signifies things which a man is bound to perform, in opposition to credenda, which he is bound to believe. It also denotes the service or offices of the church.

A'GENT, in a general sense, denotes any thing which acts, or produces an effect. Agents are either natural or moral. Natural agents are all such inanimate bodies as have a power to act upon other bodies, in a certain and determinate manner: such is fire, which has the invariable property or power to warm or heat. Moral agents, on the contrary, are rational creatures, capable of regulating their actions by a certain rule.-AGENT, free or voluntary, in metaphysics, is he who may equally do any thing, or its opposite, as acting not from any predetermination, but from choice.-AGENT is also used to denote a person entrusted with the management of an affair, whether belonging to a society, company, or private person. Thus there are army agents, through whom every regimental concern of a pecuniary nature is transacted; and navy agents, who are employed by officers and seamen to manage their concerns in regard to pay, prize-money, &c.

A'GER, a certain portion or measure of land anciently allowed in the division of grounds to each citizen of Rome.

AG'GER, in the ancient military art, a bank or rampart, composed of various materials, as earth, boughs of trees, &c. The agger of the ancients was of the same nature with what the moderns call lines. It was also used in several other senses, as for a wall or bulwark, to keep off the sea; for the middle part of a military road, usually raised into a ridge, &c.

AGGLUTINATION, among physicians, signifies either the adherence of new substance, or the giving a glutinous consistence to the animal fluids, whereby they become more fit for nourishing the body. It is also used by astronomers, to denote the formation of nebula by the seeming coalition of several stars.

AG'GREGATE, in a general sense, de

LAGM

notes the sum of several things added to gether, or the collection of them into one whole.-AGGREGATE is also used to denote an order of plants in the Linnæan system, having compound flowers with separate anthers.

AGGREGATION, in physics, a species of union, whereby several things, which have no natural dependence or connexion with each other, are collected together; thus, a heap of sand, or a mass of ruins, are bodies by aggregation.-In chemistry, it means the adhesion of parts of the same kind; as pieces of sulphur united by fusion form an aggregate. A'GIO, in commerce, a term chiefly used in Holland and at Venice, to signify the difference between the value of bank-stock and the current coin. AGIOSYMAN'DRUM, a wooden instrument used by the Greek and other churches under the dominion of the Turks, to call together their congregations; the use of bells having been prohibited.

AGIST, AGIST MENT, AGIST'AGE, or AGISTATION, in law, the taking in other people's cattle to graze, at so much per week. The term is peculiarly used for the taking in cattle to be fed in the king's forests, as well as for the profits thence arising.AGISTMENT is also used in a metaphorical sense, for any tax, burden, or charge.

AĞISTOR, or AGISTA TOR, an officer belonging to forests, who has the care of the cattle taken in to graze, and collects the money due on that account. A"GITATOR, in antiquity, a term sometimes used for a charioteer, especially those who drove in the circus at the curule games. AGITATORS, in English history, were certain persons appointed by the army in 1647, to take care of its interests, and to control the parliament. Two pri vate men, or inferior officers, were chosen from each troop or company; and this body, when collected, was presumed to equal the house of commons; while the peers were represented by a council of officers of rank. Cromwell at first found it convenient to league with them; but when his authority was confirmed, he quickly found means to put down these levellers, as they were then called on account of their wish to abolish royalty and introduce an universal equality both of property and power. At the present day, the term agitator is applied to any political demagogue, and he is generally bold in proportion to the want of firmness in those against whom he declaims. AGITATOʻRES, those who drove the chariots at the public games at Rome.This name was also given to players in the middle ages, who were forbidden church communion. AG MEN, in the Roman art of war, denoted an army, or rather a part of it, in march, thus we read of the primum agmen, or van-guard; medium agmen, or main body; and the postremum agmen, or rearguard.

AGIO OP ASSURANCE, IS SOMETIMES USED FOR WHAT WE TERM THE POLICY.

OLIVER CROMWELL SEIZED THE CHIEF AGITATORS IN PRESENCE OF THEIR COMPANIONS, AND HAD THE RINGLEADER INSTANTLY SHOT.

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AN AGRARIAN LAW HAS OFTEN BEEN A FAVOURITE THEORY IN ENGLAND; ITS ADVOCATES BEING SURE OF OBTAINING THE VOX POPULI.

TILLAGE AND THE ROTATION OF CROPS ARE THE MAIN-SPRINGS OF AGRICULTURE.

AGR]

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AG'NATE, any male relation by the father's side.

AGNATION, the relationship subsisting between the descendants of the same man, in the male line.

AGNETÆ, in church history, a sect of heretics, in the sixth century, who maintained that Christ, with respect to his human nature, was ignorant of many things, and particularly of the day of judgment.

AGNO'MEN, in Roman antiquity, was the fourth or honorary name bestowed on account of some extraordinary action, virtue, or accomplishment. Thus the agnomen Africanus was given to Publius Cornelius Scipio, on account of his exploits in Africa.

AGNUS DE'I, the Lamb of God. A prayer of the Romish liturgy, beginning with those words. Also, a round piece of wax, on which is impressed the figure of the sacred Lamb, and which is consecrated by the pope with great solemnity.

A'GON, in the public games of the ancients, a term used indifferently for any contest or dispute, whether respecting bodily exercises, or accomplishments of the mind. Thus poets, musicians, &c., had their agones, as well as the athlete.AGON was also used for one of the ministers employed in the heathen sacrifices, whose business it was to strike the victim. AGONA'LIA, festivals in Rome, celebrated in honour of Janus, or Agonius, three times a year.

[AGR

A'GREMORE, a term used by the artificers in a laboratory for the charcoal when in a state fitted for the making of powder. AG'RICULTURE, in a general sense, denotes the art of rendering the earth fertile, by tillage and culture. Its theory includes the nature and properties of land, the different sorts of plants fitted for it, and the rotation of crops. The practical part comprehends the labours of husbandry, with the implements and animals appertaining thereto. Since the revival of the arts, the science of agriculture has been zealously cultivated by the higher orders. The writers likewise on this subject have within the last century been more numerous than at any former period; and every effort has been made by experiments, inventions, and improvements, to render the land productive. Nor can this be a matter of wonder, since it is the most important science to which the human intellect can be directed, alike interesting all nations and all ages, and spreading an influence over the whole circle of our wants, comforts, pleasures, luxuries, arts, and commerce. It is the basis of all other arts, and in all countries coeval with the first dawn of civilization. It is not only indispensable to national prosperity, but is eminently conducive to the welfare of those who are engaged in it. It gives health to the body, energy to the mind, is favourable to virtuous and temperate habits, and to purity of moral character. In the energetic language of Dr. Johnson, we may truly say, that "though mines of gold and silver should be exhausted, and the species made of them lost; though diamonds and pearls should remain concealed in the bowels of the earth and the womb of the sea; though commerce with strangers be prohibited; though all arts, which have no other object than splendour and embellishment, should be abolished; yet the fertility of the earth alone would afford an abundant supply for the occasions of an industrious people, by furnishing subsistence for them, and such armies as should AGORE'US, an appellation given to be mustered in their defence. We, theresuch deities as had statues in the market-fore, ought not to be surprised that agriplaces. AGOREUS was also a term for culture was in so much honour among the very coarse bread. ancients; for it ought rather to seem wonAGRA'RIÆ NA'VES, in ancient history, derful that it should ever cease to be so, vessels which were placed to keep watch and that the most necessary and most inor guard. dispensable of all professions should have AGRA'RIE STATIO'NES, in the an- fallen into any contempt." It must not, cient military art, corps of guards posted however, be forgotten, that the husbandin the fields. men of antiquity, as well as those of the AGRARIAN LAWS, statutes, which for- middle ages, were destitute of many advanbid the possession of more than a certain tages enjoyed by the modern cultivator. extent of land by any single individual. Neither the practical nor the theoretical That law of the Romans, called, by way of agriculturists of those periods had any coreminence, the agrarian law, was published rect knowledge of geology, mineralogy, by Spurius Cassius, about the year of chemistry, botany, vegetable physiology, or Rome, 268, enjoining a division of the con- natural philosophy; but these sciences quered lands, in equal parts, among the have given the modern husbandman the citizens, and limiting the number of acres command of important agents, elements, that each might enjoy. and principles, of which the ancients had AGREEMENT, in law, signifies the no idea. Nature's most simple modes of consent of two or more persons to any operation were to them inexplicable, and thing done, or to be done. their ignorance of causes often led to erro

AGONOTHETE, officers appointed at the Grecian games to take care that all things were performed according to custom, to decide controversies amongst the antagonists, and adjudge the prizes. AGONIA, among physicians, a struggle as between life and death.

AGONISTICUM, in medicine, an application of excessively cold water in cases of fever.

AGORANO'MUS, in Grecian antiquity, a magistrate of Athens who had the regulation of weights and measures, of the prices of provisions, &c.

DIFFERENT MANURES CONTAIN DIFFERENT ELEMENTS OF VEGETATION.

THE FIRST ENGLISH TREATISE ON AGRICULTURE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE REIGN OF HENRY VIII. BY 8IR A. FITZHERBERT, a judge.

IN PROPORTION AS THE ATMOSPHERE IS CLEAR AND TRANSPARENT, THE BLUE APPEARANCE OF THE SKY WILL BE MORE INTENSE.

THE FITNESS OF AIR FOR ANIMAL LIFE DEPENDS CHIEFLY UPON ITS ELASTICITY.

AIR]

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AGRIO'NIA, a Grecian nocturnal festival, annually celebrated by the Baotians in honour of Bacchus.

AGROUND', a term applied to a ship when any part of it rests on the ground so as to render it immoveable.

[AIR

neous calculations with regard to effects. in the air must have effects proportionable To modern science we are indebted, among to the causes upon the bodies of animals. numerous other advantages, for the know. The various contents also of the air must ledge and means of chemically analyzing of course induce great changes, as it some soils, by which we can ascertain their con- way or other finds means to communicate stituent parts, and thus learn what sub- the qualities it borrows from them to the stances are wanted to increase their fer- blood and juices of animals. Hence it betility; for the introduction of new manures, comes the vehicle of contagion, and the such as guano; for various applications in propagator of diseases, both epidemical and the art of drainage; for immense improve-endemial, which admit of infinite variety, ments in the implements used in hus because the alterations of the air, with bandry; and for the art of breeding the respect to its properties, and to the innubest animals and obtaining the most nutri- merable combinations of bodies contained tive vegetables, by a judicious selection of in it, are infinite. Lord Bacon thinks the individuals and species to propagate from. best air is to be met with in open chamThese, and many other things of nearly paign countries; where the soil is dry, not equal importance, have rendered the agri parched or sandy, and spontaneously proculture of the present period infinitely su- duces wild thyme, wild marjoram, and the perior to that of the middle ages, and even like sweet-scented plants. That near rivers greatly surpassing the degree of perfection he thinks rather prejudicial, unless they it ever attained at Rome. are small, clear, and have a gravelly channel. The morning air is deemed more refreshing than that of the evening, and air agitated with breezes, than that which is serene and still. Though invisible, except in large masses, without smell or taste, yet it is a substance possessing all the principal attributes of matter; it is impenetrable, ponderable, compressible, dilatable, perfectly elastic, and its particles are operated on like those of other bodies, by chemical action. It is indispensable to the life of all organic beings; it is the agent of combustion; devolves heat and light; and is the principal medium of sounds. In the elegant fables of the Greeks, AIR was personified under the names of Jupiter and Juno. Jupiter was said to reign in the upper atmosphere, and Juno in the lower. The air is sometimes, also, represented as a divinity, whose wife is the moon, and whose daughter the dew.AIR, in music, is properly the tune which is adapted to the words of a song, or piece of poetry intended to be sung; and, by the extension of the term, the song itself is called an air. In operas, the name of air is given to all measured music, to distinguish it from the recitative; and, generally, to every piece of music, whether vocal or instrumental, which has its beginning and end.-ARI ETTA signifies a short, less elaborate air, designed to express a more simple and transient emotion.

AGRYP NIA, among physicians, a privation of sleep; a troublesome symptom of nervous and febrile diseases.

A'GUE, a general name for all periodical fevers, which, according to the different times of the return of the feverish paroxysm, or fit, are denominated quotidian, tertian, or quartan agues. They occur chiefly in situations where there are shallow, stagnant waters.

A'GUTI, or LONG-EARED CAVY, an American animal, very much resembling a guinea-pig. They live on vegetables, inhabit hollow trees, and burrow in the ground.

AHEAD', in naval language, signifies, farther on than the ship, in opposition to astern, or behind the ship.

A-HULL', a term for a ship when all her sails are furled, and she lies with her helm lashed on the lee-side.

AID, in a general sense, denotes any kind of assistance given by one person to another.AID (auxilium), in feudal times, a subsidy paid by vassals to their lords on certain occasions.

AID'-DE-CAMP, an officer that laways attends on each of the generals in his camp, to receive and carry orders.

AIGUILLE, an instrument used by engineers to pierce a rock for the lodgment of powder as in a mine. AILAN THUS, a Chinese tree, called the tree of heaven, on account of its lofty growth; it rises with a straight trunk 40 or 50 feet high. AIR, a subtile, invisible, elastic fluid, surrounding our globe, and supposed to reach about 40 miles above the earth's surface. It is the great laboratory in which most of the actions of life go on, and on the composition of which they depend, for every alteration it undergoes must induce some great change on the animal machine. The different degrees of heat and elasticity

AIR-BLADDER, or the SWIMMINGBLADDER, a vehicle found in the bodies of all fishes; the cartilaginous, cetaceous, and perhaps a few other kinds excepted. By this bladder, which is always more or less replete with air, the fish is enabled to sustain its body at any depth. Near the bottom, the great weight of the incumbent water compresses the body of the fish, or rather the inclosed air-bladder, till it becomes equiponderant with an equal bulk of water. In the middle region, where the pressure is less, the air-bladder expands; and thereby increases the bulk of the fish, without adding anything to its weight, till it becomes equiponderant with an equal bulk of water. As the fish continues to rise, the air-bladder still expands and sus

AT THREE MILES HEIGHT, AIR IS TWICE AS THIN AS AT THE LEVEL OF THE SEA.

THE AIR IS SALUBRIOUS AT SEA, BECAUSE THE CONTINUAL MOTION OF THE WATERS PRESERVES THE OXYGEN AND NITROGEN IN DUE PROPORTIONS.

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AIR PIPES ARE A RECENT INVENTION FOR THE VENTILATION OF SHIPS, BY MEANS OF THE RABEFYING POWER OF HEAT.

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THE AIR-BUBBLES PRODUCED BY FREEZING, RENDER ICE LIGHTER THAN WATER.

AJU]

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tains it; thus, according to the different degrees of contraction and dilatation of this bladder, they can keep higher or lower in the water at pleasure.

AIR'-GUN, a gun constructed so as to propel bullets solely by means of condensed air; which is effected without causing any explosion.

AIR-JACKET, a sort of jacket made of leather, in which are several bags or bladders, containing air. By the help of these bladders, which are placed near the breast, a person is supported in the water, without making the efforts used in swimming.

AIR-PUMP, a machine for exhausting the air out of vessels, in the same manner as water is drawn up by a pump. The operation of this machine depends on the elasticity of the air: for, by working the pump, the air in the receiver will expand itself; by which means part of it will be forced into the barrel of the pump, to be carried off. By thus continuing to work the pump, the air in the receiver will be gradually exhausted; but can never be wholly drawn out, so as to leave a perfect vacuum within the vessel; for it must be considered, that the air which is exhausted, is only pushed out by the spring of that which remains behind; if, therefore, every particle were supposed to be exhausted, the last would be expelled without an agent; or there would be an effect without

a cause.

AIR-SHAFTS, in mining, holes or shafts let down from the open air, to discharge the foul air or gases.

[ALB

A'LA, or A'LE, in ancient military affairs, the wings of an army, or the horse on each side flanking the foot.

AL'ABASTER, a well-known sulphate of lime, forming a soft, granular, imperfectly transparent, marble; used for ornaments in houses, and by statuaries. It is found in Germany, France, and Italy.ALABASTER, in antiquity, a term not only used for a box of precious ointment, but also for a liquid measure, containing ten ounces of wine, or nine of oil.

ALABASTRA, in plants, are those little herbaceous leaves which encompass the bottoms of flowers, particularly the rosc. ALABASTRUM DENDROIDE, the name of a species of laminated alabaster, beautifully variegated with the figures of trees, shrubs, &c. ALA'NA TERRA, the ochra ferri of Linnæus, or red ochre, supposed to be what the ancients called Samius lapis, the Samian stone. ALA'RES, in Roman antiquity, an epithet given to the cavalry, on account of their being placed in the two wings, or alæ, of the army.

ALA'RAT, according to the Mahometan creed, the party-wall which separates heaven from hell.

ALAR'UM, any contrivance for the purpose of alarm. A bell, or rattle, to call assistance. A bell fastened to, or communicating with, a door or window.

albs worn by those baptized on Easter-day. AL'BATROSS, or Man-of-War Bird, the Diomedes of Linnæus, a large and voracious bird, which inhabits many countries between the tropics.

ALB, or ALBE, (alba), in the Romish church, a vestment of white linen, hanging down to their feet, and answering to AIR-THREADS, in natural history, the the surplice of our clergy. In the ancient long filaments seen floating in the air at church, it was usual with those newly bapthe autumnal scason of the year. These tized, to wear an alb, or white vestment; threads are the work of spiders, especially and hence the Sunday after Easter was of that species called the long-legged field-called dominica in albis, on account of the spider. This animal, having gained the summit of a bush or tree, darts from its tail several of these threads, till at length it produces one capable of sustaining it in the air: on this it mounts in quest of prey, and frequently rises to considerable heights. AIR-VESSELS, spiral ducts or canals in the leaves and other parts of plants, which are supposed to supply them with air, after the manner of lungs in animals. In navigation, the term AIR-VESSELS has been applied to a late invention for rendering life-boats of more service, and ships in general more safe. It consists of a set of tube-formed air-vessels carried round the planking. AIR-LAMP, a pneumatic machine, formed by the combination of inflammable air and electricity to produce a flame, which by means of a stop-cock, may be repressed or continued at pleasure. AJUTAGE, or AD'JUTAGE, in hydraulics, part of the apparatus of a jet d'eau, or artificial fountain; being a kind of tube fitted to the aperture or mouth of the cistern, or the pipe; through which the water is to be played in any direction.

AL, an Arabian particle, answering to the English the, and employed in the same inanner to mark any thing definitely.

ALBIGEN ́SES, a name common to several sects, particularly the Cathari and Waldenses, who agreed in opposing the dominion of the Romish hierarchy, and endeavouring to restore the simplicity of primitive Christianity. They endured the severest persecutions, and after the middle of the 13th century, the name of Albigenses altogether disappeared; but fugitives of their party formed, in the mountains of Piedmont and in Lombardy, what is called the French Church, which was continued through the Waldenses, to the era of the Reformation.

ALBI'NOS, or LEUCE'THIOPS, a variety of the human species, that frequently occurs in Africa. The Portuguese first gave the name of Albino to the white negro, and they formerly described 'them as a distinct race; but modern naturalists have discovered them in various countries of Europe, viz. in Switzerland, among the Savoyards in the valley of Chamouni; in France, in the tract of the Rhine; in Tyrol, &c. Their characteristics are now said to

HUME TERMS THE ALBIGENSES "THE MOST INOFFENSIVE OF MANKIND."

AIR TRUNKS ARE A RECENT INVENTION FOR PREVENTING THE STAGNATION OF PUTRID EFFLUVIA IN JAILS, OR CROWDED APARTMENTS.

TO ESTIMATE THE QUANTITY OF ALCOHOL IN ANY SPIRIT, THE SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF THE ALCOHOL AND WATER SHOULD BE ASCERTAINED.

THE FLAME OF PURE ALCOHOL 18 BLUE, AND IT LEAVES NO RESIDUUM.

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ALCOHOL, OR PROOF SPIRIT, CONTAINS ABOUT ONE HALF ITS WEIGHT OF WATER.

A DEFINITE MIXTURE OF ALCOHOL AND WATER IS INVARIABLE IN ITS VALUE, AND CAN BE ACCURATELY ASCERTAINED BY THE HYDROMETER.

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