ACCOUNTANT-GENERAL, a new officer in the court of Chancery appointed by act of parliament to receive all moneys lodged in court inſtead of the maſters, and convey the ſame to the bank of England for ſecurity.
ACCOUNTING HOUSE, counting-houſe, or compting-houſe, is a houſe, or office, ſet apart by a merchant, or trading-company, for tranſacting their buſineſs, as well as keeping their books, accounts, vouchers, &c.
ACCOUTREMENT, an old term, applied to the furniture of a ſoldier, knight, or gentleman.
ACCRETION, in phyſics, the increaſe, or growth, of an organical body, by the acceſſion of new parts.
Accretion, among civilians, the property acquired in a vague or unoccuplied thing, by its adhering to or following another already occupied; thus, if a legacy be left to two perſons, one of whom dies before the teſtator, the legacy devolves to the ſurvivor by right of accretion.
ACCROCHE, in heraldry, denotes a thing's being hooked with another.
ACCROCHING, in old law-books, is incroaching upon, or uſurping another man's right.
ACCRUE, in law, any thing that is connected to another as an appendage.
ACCUBATION, in antiquity, the poſture uſed by the Greeks and Romans at table. The body was extended, and the head reſting on a pillow, or on the elbow.
The Romans at their meals made uſe of a low round table, around which two or three couches were placed in proportion to the number of gueſts; and hence it was called biclinium, or triclinium. Theſe were covered with a ſort of bed-cloaths, and furniſhed with quilts and pillows for leaning on. The gueſts reclined on the left ſide, the firſt at the head of the bed, with his feet behind the back of the ſecond, &c. Before they came to table, they changed their cloaths, for what they called the cœnatoria veſtes, the dining garment, and pulled off their ſhoes to keep the couch clean.
ACCUBITOR, an ancient officer of the emperors of Conſtantinople, whoſe buſineſs was to lie near the emperor. He was the head of the youths of the bedchamber, and had the cubicularius and procubitor under him.
ACCUMULATION, in a general ſenſe, the act of heaping or amaſſing things together. Among lawyers it is uſed in ſpeaking of the concurrence of ſeveral titles to the ſame thing, or of ſeveral circumſtances to the ſame proof.
Accumulation of degrees, in an univerſity, is the taking ſeveral of them together, or at ſmaller intervals than uſual, or than is allowed by the rules of the univerſity.
ACCURATE. See Exactness.
ACCURSED, denotes ſomething that lies under a curſe, or is deteſtable. It is likewiſe uſed for an excommunicated perſon.
ACCUSATION, in law, the charging any perſon with a criminal action, either in one's own name, or that of the public. It differs, little from impeachment or indictment.
ACCUSATIVE. See Grammar.
AC-DENGHIS, a name given to the Archipelago by the Turks.
ACE, a term among gameſters, ſignifying a card or die marked with a ſingle point.
ACENTETUM, or Acenteta, names uſed by the ancients for the pureſt rock cryſtal. See Crystal.
ACEPHALI, or Acephalitæ, a name given, in eccleſiaſtical hiſtory, to ſeveral ſects that were deſtitute of any head or leader; as alſo, to ſuch biſhops as were exempted from the juriſdiction of a patriarch.
ACEPHALOUS, in our ancient law-books, an appelation given to ſuch perſons as held nothing of any ſuperior.
ACEPHALUS, without a head.
Acephalus, an obſolete term for the tenia, or tapeworm. See Tenia.
Acephalus, is alſo uſed to expreſs a verſe defective in the beginning.
ACER, in botany, the maple or ſycamore tree, a genus of the polygamia diœcia claſs. There are ten ſpecies of this genus. The calix of the female is quinquiſide, the corolla pentapetalous, the ſtamina eight, one piſtil, and two ſeed-capſules. The calix of the male is alſo quinquiſide, the corolla pentapetalous, and the ſtamina eight. There are only two ſpecies of the acer which are reckoned natives of England, viz. the pſeudo-platanus, and the campeſtre.
ACERB, a ſour rough aſtringency of taſte, ſuch as that of unripe fruit. See Astringent.
ACERENZA. See Cirenza.
ACERIDES, ſignifies a plaſter without any was in its compoſition.
ACERINA, an abſolete name of a ſpecies of the perch, a fiſh of the thoracic order. See Perca.
ACERNO, a town of Italy, in the kingdom of Naples, with a biſhop's ſee. It is 17 miles S. W. of Conza, and 12 N. E. of Salerno, long. 14. 23. lat 40. 55.
ACERRA, in antiquity, an alter erected, among the Romans, near the gate of a perſon deceaſed, on which his friends daily offered incenſe, till his burial. — The Chineſe 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 approaches it bows four times, and offers oblations and perfumes.
ACERRÆ, the pots wherein incenſe was burnt.
ACERSECOMES, long-haired, a name of Apollo, becauſe he was uſually painted ſo.
ACESTIDES, in foundery, a name given by the ancients to the chimneys of their furnaces wherein braſs was made.
ACETABULUM, in antiquity, a little vaſe or cup uſed at table to ſerve up ſauces or ſeaſoning. It alſo de-
