Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 1.djvu/28

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

A C C

A C C

\eeth ; and the gills have only one hole or aperture on each fide. Linnm Syftem. Natur. p. 52.

In the Artedian fyftem of ichthyology, the characters of this genus are, — there is only one foramen or aperture of the bronchia on each fide, the mouth is placed in the under part of the head, and is like a tube, and has no teeth. The body is oblong, and has ufually feven fins ; and the fifti is of the chondroptcrygious kind.

The fpecies of this genus arc two, the fturgeon, and the hufo, or ifinglafsfifh. The firft of thefe Artedi diftinguithes by the name Accipenfer corpore tidiercidis fpinofis afpera. And the other by that of Accipenfer tuberculis carens. This Lift feems to be the Maria of Pliny. Artedi, Gen. Pifc. p. 43. The antients, and fome of the later authors, give the name Accipenfer to the fturgeon.

There have been many difpu tcs, whether the fturio or fturgeon be the fame fifh with the Accipenfer or not, and what was the difference between the Accipenfer and Stlurus of the antients ; but the whole feems to have been this, that the Romans called the fturgeon Accipenfer, when they had it frelh, and caught in their own neighbourhood, but Stlurus when it was brought to them in pickle from the Grecian ports. Ray's Ichthyography, p.. 240.

The word Accipenfer is Latin, and is ufed by Plautus* Ci- cero, and many other of the anrient Roman authors in the fame fenfe, in which we now ufe it. Its derivation is uncertain, but itsfenfe always the fame.

ACCIPESIUS, in ichthyology a name given by Athenseus and other of the Greek writers, to the fturgeon, called by others Onifcos. See Accipenser.

ACC1PIT ER, iii ichthyology, a name given by Gillius, and fome others to the fifh called by others, the Mi fans and Lu- cerna. It is a fpecies of the Trigla and is diftinguifhed by Ar- tedi, by the name of the Trigla, with the head a little acule- ated, and with a fingular fin, placed near the pectoral fins.

ACCIPITER, the hawk, in the Linntean fyftern of zoology, the name of one whole order of birds : The diftin- guifiiing character of which, is their having a hooked or crooked beak. Of this order there arc three genera, the par- rot, the owl, and the falcon, diftinguifhed by their feveral marks. Linn&us, Syftem. Natur. p. 44. See Parrot, &c.

ACCIPITRINA, in botany, a name by which fome authors haveexprefled the hawk- weed, and others the flix- weed, or Sophia Chirurgorum. Ger. Emac. Ind. 2.

ACCISMUS, denotes a feigned refufal of fomething which a pcrfon earneftly defires. The word is Latin, or rather Greek AxKic^o^ ; fuppofed to be formed from Acco, the name of a foolifh old woman, famous in antiquity, for an affectation of this kind. V. Bayl. Diet. Crit. T. 1. in Voc. Acta.

Accifmus is fometimes confidered as a virtue, fometimes as a vice, which Auguftus and Tiberius, pradtifed with great fuc- cefs. V. Clapmar. de Arcan. Jmper. c. 16. p. 66. Cromwell's refufal of the crown of England, may be brought as an inftance of an Accifmus.

Accismus, is more particularly ufed in rhetoric, as a fpecies of irony. Alft. Encycl. T. i.p. 378.

ACCLAMATION, (Cycl.) — Acclamation, in a more proper fenfe, denotes a certain formula of words, uttered with ex- traordinary vehemence, and in a peculiar tone, fomewhat refembling a fong frequent in the. antient aflemblies. V. Scblemm. de Acclamationibus Veterum. Gen. 4". 1665. Pitifc. Lex. Antiq. T. 1. p. 12. Aauin. Lex. Milit. T. 1. p. 6.

Acclamations were ufually accompanied with applaufes, with which they are fometimes confounded though they ought to be diftinguifhed; as

Acclamation was given by the voice, applaufe by the hands ;

  • add, that Acclamation was alfo beftowed on perfons abfent, ap-

plaufe only on thofe prefent. Acclamationwas alfo given by wo- men, whereas applaufe feems to have been confined to men Ferrar. deAcclam. & Plauf.l. r. c. 8. Pitifc. loc. cit. Acclamations are of divers kinds ; ecclefiaftical, military, nup- tial, fenatorial, fynodical, fcholaftic* theatrical, &c. We meet with loud Acclamations, mufical and rhythmical Accla- mations, Acclamations of joy and refpect, and even of re- proach and contumely. The former, wherein words of happy omen were ufed, were alfo called laudationes & bona vota, or good wifhes : the latter execrationes fcf convicia. Suetonius furnHhes an inftance of this laft kind in the Roman Senate, on occafion of the decree for demolifhng the ftatues of Do- mitian, when the fathers, as the hiftorian reprefents it, could not refrain from contumelious Acclamations of the deceafed. Suet, in Domit. c. 23. §. 2.

The like were fhewn after the death of Commodus, where the Acclamations run in the following ftrain, bqfti patria ho- nores detrahantur, parricidte honores detrahantur ; hojlis Jla- tuas undique, parricides ftatuas undique, gladiatoris ftatuas un- dique, &c. Ferrar, ]. 4, c . 5 . Pitifc. loc. cit. Theformula, in Acclamations, was repeated fometimes agreater, fometimes a letter number of times. Hence we find^in Ro- man writers, Acclamatum eft auinquies, & vicies, five and twenty times ; fometimes dfofexagies and even ocluagies, fixty and eighty times. Aquin. Lex. Milit. T. 1. p. 6. Acclamations were not unknown on the theatres in the earlieft

ages of the Roman commonwealth ; but they were artlefs then and little other than confufed fhouts. Afterwards they became a fort of regular concerts. That mentioned by Phsdrus la- tare incolumis Roma Jaho principe, which was made for Auguftus, and proved the occafion of a pleafant miftake of a flute player called princcps, fhews that mufical Acclamations were of ufe in that emperor's reign, Revertentcm ex Provincia modulatis carminibus profequebantiu\ fays Suetonius, who gives another inftance in the time of Tiberius : a falfe report of Ger- manicus's recovery being fpread through Rome, the people ran in crouds to the capitol with torches and victims finging, Salva Roma, Salva Patria, Salvus ejl Germanicus. Nero, paftionately fond of Mufic, took efpecial care to im- prove and perfect the mufic of Acclamations. Charmed with the harmony wherewith the Ak-xandiians who came to the games celebrated at Naples, had fung his praifes, he brought feveral over to inftruct a number of youth, ebofen from among the knights and people, in the different kinds of Acclamations practifcd at Alexandria. Thefe continued in ufe as low as the reign of Theodoric ; but the people did not always make a finglc chorus, fometimes there were two, who anfwered each other alternately: thus when Nero played on the theatre, Burrhus and Seneca, who were on either hand, giving the fig- nal by clapping, 5C00 foldiers called Auguffals, began to chant his praife, which the fptctators were obliged to re- peat. The whole was conducted by a mufic-mafter called Mefochorus or Paufarius.

The honour of Acclamations, was chiefly rendered to empe- rors, their children, and favourites ; and to the magiftrates who piefided at the games. Perfons of diftinguifhed merit alfo fometimes received them, of which Quintilhin gives us inftances in Cato and Virgil. The moft ufual forms were Feli- c.tcr, longiorem vitam, annos fetices. The actors themfelves, and they who gained the prizes in the games of the circus were not excluded the honour of Acclamations, V. Laurent. Poly- math. 1. 2. c. 12. Chokier Fax.'Hiitor. 1. 2. c. 11. Lipf. Elect. I. 2. c. 10. Ferrar. 1. 2. c. 20.

To theatrical Acclamations may be added thofe of the foldiery, and the people in time of triumph. The victorious army ac- companied their general to the capitol, and anions the verfes they fung in his praifes frequently repeated lo Triumthe, 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 fume notable victory : a title which he only kept till the time of his triumph. See the ar- ticle Imperator.

The Acclamations of the fenate are fomewhat more ferious than the popular ones, but arofe from the fame principle, viz. a defire of pleafing the prince or his favourites ; and aimed like- wife at the fame end, either to exprefs the general approba- tion and zeal of the company, or to congratulate him on his victories, or to make him new proteftations of fidelity. Thefe Acclamations were ufually given after a report made by fome fenator, to which the reft all expreffed their confent by cry- ing Omnes, Omnes; or elfe, ^quum est, Justum est : fometimes they began with Acclamations and fometimes ended with them without other debates. It was after this manner that all the elections and proclamations of emperors, made by the fenate, were conducted ; fomething of which practice is ftill retained at modern elections of kings and em- perors, where vivat rex, vive le roy, and long live the king, are cuftomary forms. V. Ferrar. \. 6. c. 3.— n. Briffon, de Formul. 1. 4. p. 349. Ferrar. 1. 7. c. 4,5, and 6. feq. Briff. de Formul. 1. 2. See Election.

TheGrecks borrowed the cuftom of receiving their emperors in thepublick places from the Romans. Luitprand relates, that at aproceflionwherehewi&prefent, they fung to the emperor Nice- phorus v»n#, srs), that is, many years ; which Cotlin exprefies by to ■ba.T&w to wo^xfonw, or byro j^-jx^^v, and the wifh or falutc by •jr^'j^wi^a. And at dinner, the Greeks then pre- fent wifhed with a loud voice to the emperor and Bardas, ut Deus annos multiplicet, as he tranflatcs the Greek. Plu- tarch mentions an Acclamation fo loud, upon occafion of Fla- minius's reftoring liberty to Greece, that the verv birds fell from heaven with the fhou\ The Turks practife fomething like this on the fight of their emperors, and grand viziers, to this day. Baxt. Glofl". Antiq. Rom. Smith, Obf. on Con- ftantin. Phil. Tranf. N°. 155. p. 442.

For the Acclamations, wherewith authors, poets, &c. were received, who recited their works in publick ; it is to be ob- ferved the aflemblies for this purpofe, were held with great parade in the moft folemn places, as the capitol, temples, the Athseneum, and the houfes 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 letters, and forgave the intereft to fitch 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 accom- panyments : they were to be fuited both to the fubject and 1 * the