Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 1.djvu/235

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A X U

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and not by Roman prefidents or judges, as was done in other places, which were not indulged the Auionomia. Pitifc. Lex. Ant. T. i. p. 229. a.

AUTO PHOSPHORUS, a-,%^^©-, is, by feme* ufed to denote phofphorus, on account of its kindling as it were of itfelf. V. Caji. Lex. Med. p. 95. a.

AUTOPRACTI, in the civil law, thofe indulged this privi- lege, that they fhould not be fummoned or compelled to pay taxes, or tributes, by the collectors, but fhould be left to their own free will. L. 34. Cod. Theodof. de Annon. and trib. ap. Du Cange^ T. 1. p. 403.

Of this number were men of diftinguifhed dignity, and thofe eminent for their probity and honour.

AUTOPYROS, A-wowt/p^ in the antient diet, art epithet given to a fpecies of bread, wherein the whole fubftance of the wheat was retained, without retrenching any part of the bran.

Galen defcribes it otherwife, viz. as bread where only the coarfer bran was taken out — On which footing, it was a me- dium between the fineft bread, called Similaghieus, and the coarfeft, called Furfur aceous. Bud, de Afle, 1. 5. p. 549. Gorr. Def. Med. p. 64. a. Cajl. Lex. Med. p. 95. b. This was alfo called Autopyrites, and Syncomiftus, vuyxofMr®-. See Bread.

AUX, in aftronomy, that point in a planet's path* or orbit, wherein it is at its greateft diftance from the centre of the world. Wolf.Lex. Math. p. 222. Vital. Lex. Math. p. 98. Hence the antients, who confidered the earth as the center, ufe Aux in the fame fenfe with Apogee. Among the moderns, on the contrary, it denotes the Aphelium. Some alfo ufe Aux to denote the arch of the ecliptic, inter- cepted between the firft point of aries, and the point wherein the fun, or a planet, is at its greateft diftance from the earth, Wolf. loc. cit.

AUXESIS, - Ai>!wif, (Cycl.) in rhetoric, fometimes fignifies the fame with Increment. See Increment.

AWAIT, in our old ftatutes, is ufed to fignify what we now call waylaying, or lying in wait, to execute fome mtfehief. In Stat. 13 R.|2. c. 1. it is ordained, that no charter of pardon fliall be allowed before any juftice, for the death of a man flain by await, or malice prepenfed, &c. Blount.

AXAMENTA, in antiquity, a denomination given to the verfes, or fongs, of the Salii, which they fung in honour of all men. The word is formed, according to fome, from Axare ; q. d. naminare a . Others will have the Carmina Saliaria to have been denominated Axamenta, on account of their being writ- ten tv toi? A|#<n, in Axibus, or on wooden tables b . — [ a Mei- ers, Critic. Sine CrhT. c. 2. p. 71. in Not. b Walth. Lex. Muf. p. 60. b.]

The Axamenta were not compofed, as fome have afferted, but only fung by the Salii. The author of them was Numa Pompilius ; and, as the ftyle might not be altered, they grew in time fo obfeure, that the Salii themfelves did not understand them. Varro fays they were feven hundred years old. Squint. Inft. orat. 1. 1. c. II. V. Pitifc. Lex. Ant. T. 1. p. 235.

Axamenta, or Assamenta, in antient mufic, hymns or fongs performed wholly with human voices. Buleng. de Theat. 1. 2. c. 4. p. 343.

AXIOM, Afrupu., (Cycl.) in rhetoric, is ufed by Hermogenes to denote grandeur, dignity, and fublimity of ftyle. Vojf. Rhet. I. 6. p. 433.

AXIOS, Ai-.<^, a form of acclamation, antiently ufed by the people in the election of bifhops. When they were all una- nimous, they cried out A|(©-, he is worthy, or Ai<a£i©-, un- worthy. V. Bingh. Orig. 1. 4. c. 2. §. 6.

AXIOSIS, a£iw£ti ?) in rhetoric, denotes the third part of an exordium j fometimes alfo called Aw^i;, and containing fome new proportion more nearly relating to the matter in hand, than the n P oWi<.

Thus in Cicero's oration pro Milone, the Protajis is, non fojjum non timere, judices, vifa hac nova judicii forma j the iwtWxHHjj Nec enim ea corona confeffus vejler cinftus eft, qua folebat ; the A|iwctij, Sed me recreat Pompei confilium, cujus fapientits non fuerit-, quern fententiis judtcum tradid'tt, telis militum dedere ; the bafis, 0owi(, $)uamobrem adefte animis judices, & timorem, Ji quern babetis deponite. Vojf. Rhet. Heder. Schul. Lex. p. 495.

AXIS, in zoology, the name of a very remarkable animal of the deer kind in all refpects, except that neither the male nor female have horns j the tail is confiderably long, and the whole fliape and make extreamly like the fallow deer. The female is fmaller than the male, and both are of a reddifh tawney colour, variegated with fpots of white ; the belly is white. The voice is much more loud and fhrill than that of the deer. It is very plain that this creature is neither of the red nor fallow deer kind, whence Bellonius, who faw it at Cairo in Egypt, was induced to call it the Axis. Ray's Syn. Spad. Bellon.

AXUNGIA Luna, an affected name given by the German chemifts to the Terra Goltbergenfts, from their imagining that It contains fome particles of filver, and owes tothem its virtues in medicine. Dale's Pharmac. p. 19. See the article Golt- eergensis Terra.

Axuncia Soils,, is ufed for the terra filefiaca, and faid to be good againft the plague, peftilcntial fevers, Est*, Boyle's Works abr. vol. 1. p. 59. it. fol. edit. p. 501.

AZAB, in the military orders of the Turks, fignifies a particu- lar body of the foldiery taken in, or added firft to the janiza- ries, but now become a feparate body from them. The word, in the oriental languages, fignifies an unmarried perfon, and the original order of thtfe was, that they mould be fingle men.

The Azabs in Egypt have been great rivals to the janizaries, and fometimes they have got the better. Their inftitution and officers are the fame with thofe of the janizaries ; but with this difference, that from oda bafcees they ate made ferbajees, and from that office caias, and come into the divan. On the contrary, among the janizaries, when any one is made a ferbagee, 'tis laying him alide, and he is no farther advanced Perm's Egypt, p. 169-:

AZALEA, in the Linnaean fyftefn of botany, the name of a genus of plants, the characters of which are thefe : The cup is a fmall upright perianthium, of a different colour from the reft of the plant, divided into five fegments, and remaining when the flower is fallen. The flower confifts of one petal of double the length of the cup, wide open at the top, narrow at the bafe, and lightly divided into five curled fegments; The ftamina are five (lender filaments inferted into the receptacle; The anthers are fimple. The germen of the piftillum is roundifh. The ftyle is {lender, of the length of the flower,- and remains when that is fallen. The ftigma is obtufe. The fruit is a round capfule, divided into five cells. The feeds are numerous and roundifh. Linn&i, Genera Plantarum, p. 66.

AZAROLA* a tree of the mefpilus kind, and fomewhat re- lated to our common white thorn, but having a much larger fruit. The fruit of this is much efteemed in Italy, and from thence it has been introduced into England. It is to be propagated by budding or grafting on the com- . men hawthorn, and fhould be planted in a moift foil, and a warm fituation, where it will annually produce great quantities of fruit. Thefe are fhaped like the common haws in our hedges, but they are much larger, and are not fit for eating till they begin to decay, as is the cafe In the common medlar. It is a common miftake to plant thefe trees againft warm walls, fuppofing they will not produce fruit with us without that afliftance, but it is a very erroneous opinion, for they produce both more and better tafted fruit as ftandards. Miller's Gardener's Diet.

AZARUM, a fmall, dry, blackilh, ftringy, medicinal root, much ufed in France as a fpecific for the farcy in horfes. §a* var. Diet, Comm. T. 1. p, 204. feq. The Azarum, called alfo Nardus Syheftris, grows in the Levant, Canada, and about Lyons in France. The firft is reputed the beft. It is given in powder, from the quantity of an ounce to two.

AZAZEL, in jewifh antiquity. See Scape-Goat.

AZED, in the materia medica, a name given by the Arabian writers to a kind of camphor, which they make the third in value, placing it after the alcanfuri and abriagi. The firft of thefe was the fineft of all the kinds of camphor, and was collected tolerably pure from the tree, as it grew in Canfur, the place whence it was named ; the abriagi was the fame camphor, rendered yet more pure by fublimation. This was a difcovery of one of the kings of that country, and the camphor was named from him. The third kind, or Azed, was the fame with what we now receive from the Indies, under the name of crude or rough camphor. The word Azed fignified only large, and was ufed to exprefs the camphor, formed into fuch large cakes, as it is alfo at this time. Avifenna fays this camphor was grofs, of a dufky colour, and much lefs bright and pellucid than the other kinds.

AZEDARACH, the bead tree, in botany, the name of a genus of trees, the characters of which are thefe : The flower is of the rofaceous kind, being compofed of feveral petals, arranged in a circular form. In the center of the flower there ftands a tube, which furrounds a piftil arifing from the center of the cup. This piftil finally becomes a roundiih foft fruit, containing a ftone, which is ftriated, and ufually di- vided into feveral cells, containing oblong feeds. The fpecies of Azedarach, enumerated by Mr. Tournefort, are thefe : 1. The blue flowered afh-leav'd Azedarach. 1. The ever green Azedarach. To urn. Inft. p. 616.

AZELFOGE, in aftronomy, a fixed ftar of the fecond mag- nitude, in the fwan's tail. Wolf. Lex. Math. p. 233- a. feq. Vital. Lex. Mathem. p. 79.

Hevelius afligns its longitude for the year 1700, X i°. 16'. 45". and its" latitude northward, 59=. 57'. 53". Prodrom. Aftron. p. 184.

AZOOPHAGUS, in natural hiftory, a term ufed by authors to exprefs fuch infects or animals as feed on herbs, never eat* ing the flefh of any living creature.

AZOTH, (Cycl.) a name given by fome to the philofopbers ftone. When the Arabs began to cultivate the ftudy of chy- miftry, the metaphorical and hieroglyphical manner of

writing.