AGO 



hut its effects on the negroes has been 

 pernicious. These trees cannot he pre- 

 served in England but with great care 

 and much In at. 



ACMKOM \ TIC, an epithet expressing 

 :i want of colour, introduced into astro- 

 nonu by I)e la I.ande. 



ArmniM ITU' t'-tdtciftes, are telescopes 

 contrived to remedy the aberrations in 

 colours. Tiny were invented by Mr. 

 .John Holland, optician. See OPTICS, TK- 



l.l.st OI'K. 



\< in I, 1 \\TIIES, in botany, a genus 

 of the Pcntandria Monogynia < 

 plants, belonging to tin- natural order of 

 Miscellanc.c. '1 here arc eleven species, 

 but they have but little beauty, :tnd are 

 onlv preserved in botanic g-.irdens. 



Acm i:o\r i, in botany, a genes of the 



Diadclphia Decandria class and order, ca- 

 lyx five-toothed; tn? lower tooth elonga- 

 ted and cloven : legume compressed, ma- 

 .k-d; one species, viz. A. villosa, a 

 .shrub fo\md in New Holland, with long 

 silky h^rs : leaves lanceolate, acu'e, en- 

 tire, with s?lk\ hair round the margin. 



\('1A, in hominy, a genus of the \lono- 

 Hclphia J)odec;,ndria rbss and order: ca- 

 lx \ ti\e-])ar'ed, five pita's, drupe dry, co- 

 riaceous, fibrous, one-seeded. Two spe- 

 rics. lives si\i\ fi-ct high, found in Guiana. 



ACICARPH V, in botany, a genus of the- 

 Polygamhi Neccssarir.elassand order: re- 

 ceptacle chaffy, the chaff uniting with the 

 seeds after flowerings seeds naked; flo- 

 rets tubular; calyx five-parted. One spe- 

 cies, found in Muenos \ 



ACID, in chemistry, a tenn originally 

 synonymous with nonr, and applied only 

 to bodies distinguished by that taste ; but 

 it now comprehends under it all subslau- 

 Ces possessed of the following properties. 

 Acids, When-applied to the tongue, excite 

 the sensation of sour, they change the 

 blue colours of vegetables to a red; the\ 

 unite with water in almost any proportion; 

 they combine with all the alkalies, and 

 most of the metallic oxides and earths, and 

 form with them those compounds called 

 in chemistry salts. Even acid does not 



;tll thi-se pit per'ies, but tllCV all 



- a sufficient number to distinguish 

 them from other substances. Set 



X1STHY. 



ACIDJFIAHI.K Art.vf, or R.xnir.u., any 

 substance capable of uniting, without de- 

 composition, with such a quantity of oxy- 

 gen as to become possessed of acid pro- 

 perties. Almost all the acids agree \\itli 

 each other in containing ox\ gen, l>ut they 

 differ in their bases, which determine the 

 species of the acid. Sulphur combined 



with certain portions of oxygen Forms sul- 

 phurous or sulphuric acid, according 1 to 

 the quantity of oxygen absorbed. 



ACIDOT ON, in botany, a genus of the 

 Monoecia I'oh andria eltuss and order ; it 

 has mali- and female flowers on the same, 

 or a different in e. Then- isbut one spe 

 cies, \\/.. A. ureiis. a nativ- of Jamaica, 

 which grows to the height of eight or 

 nine feei. 



ACII'ENSER, a genus of fislies of the 

 order (lartilagenei : the characters are, 

 that the head is obtuse, the mouth is un- 

 der the head, retractile, and withoin 

 that the four cerri are below the front, 

 and before the mouth; the aperture of 

 the gills is at the side, the body is elonga- 

 ted, and angulated with many series of 

 scuta, or scaly protuberances. These may 

 be ranked among the larger fish ; are in- 

 habitants of the s,-a, but ascend rivers an- 

 nually ; the flesh of all of them isdelicious, 

 from the roe is made caviar, and from the 

 sounds and muscular parts is made isin- 

 glass; they feed on woims, and other 

 larger than (he 



There a; 9: A. sturio, 



or common sturgeon, inhabits European, 

 Mediterranean, lied, Black, and Caspian 

 .ill annual!} rivers in the 



spring. (See plate I. Ichthyology, fig; 2.) 

 A. scliypa, inhabits the Caspian sea, and 

 large lakes of Siberia. A. ruthem 

 A. stellatus, both inhabit the Caspian sea 

 A. hufo, inhabits the Danube, \Volga, and 

 other Russian rivers, and also the Caspian. 

 The skin of this s;> - i-- so hard and 

 tough, as to be used for carnage traces. 

 See STrntiKo\. 



ACNIDA, \ irginia hemp, in botany, a 

 genus of the I'entandria IVntagynia class 

 andorfler. There isbut a single species, 

 viz. A. cannabina, which is :inati\c of Vir- 

 ginia, and somi.- other parts of America ; 



idom cultivated in Europe. 

 ACOMITM, a.-onite, wolf's-bane, or 

 monk's-hood, in bo' any, a genus of plants 

 of the Trigyuia order and 1'olyandria 

 id pertaining to the natural onh-r 

 of Muhisiliquic. In the last edition of 

 l,inna-us, by (Inielin. this genus compre- 

 hends fourteen species; most of the spe- 

 ned poison- 

 lie ancient- irprised at 

 tb..t they were 



afraid to touch the jilant-. ; anti hence 

 sprung man; -iuii-i precautions 



ubout the n . them. 



Theophrastus relatr, tint there was a 

 mode oi prep unite in his da\ s, 



s<> that it should only des'roy at the end 

 of one or two years. But some have 



