ACR 



ACIl 



Ex. ;5. Fig. 7 is a representation of the 

 Eolian harp, which was probably invented 

 by Kircher This instrument ma}' be 

 made by almost any carpenter; it con- 

 sists ofa long narrow box of very thin deal, 

 about five or six inches broad, and two 

 incites deep, witli a circle in the middle 

 of the upper side, of an inch and a half in 

 diameter, in which is drilled small holes. 

 On this side seven, ten, or more strings 

 of very fine gut are stretched over bridg- 

 es at each end, 'ike the bridge of a fiddle, 

 and screwed up or relaxed with screw- 

 pins. The strings are all tuned to one 

 and the same note ; and the instrument is 

 placed in some current of air, where the 

 wind can pass over its strings with free- 

 dom. A window, of which the width is 

 exactly equal to the length of the harp, 

 with the sash just raised to give the air 

 admission, is a proper situation. \Vhen 

 the air blows upon these strings with dif- 

 ferent degrees of force, it will excite dif- 

 ferent tones of sound ; sometimes the 

 blast brings out all the tones in full con- 

 cert, and sometimes it sinks them to the 

 softest murmurs. 



There are different kinds of these in- 

 struments; one, invented by the Rev. W. 

 Jones, has the strings fixed to a sounding- 

 board, or belly, within a wooden case, 

 and the wind is admitted to them through 

 an horizontal aperture. In this form the 

 instrument is portable, and may be used 

 any where in the open air. The tension 

 of the strings must not be great, as the 

 air, if gentle, has not sufficient power to 

 make them vibrate, and if it blows fresh, 

 the instrument does not sing, but scream. 

 See HAHMOXICS. 



ACQUITTAL, in law, is a deliverance 

 or settingfree from the suspicion of guilt ; 

 as one who is discharged of a felony is 

 said to be acquitted thereof. 



Acquittal is either in fact, or in law ; in 

 fact, it is where a person, on a verdict of 

 the jury, is found not guilty ; in law, it is 

 when two persons are indicted, one as a 

 principal, &c. the other as accessary : here, 

 if the former be discharged, the latter of 

 consequence is acquitted. 



ACQUITTANCE, a discharge in wri- 

 ting for a sum of money, witnessing that 

 the party is paid the same. 



A man is obliged to give an acquittance 

 on receiving money : and a servant's ac- 

 quittance for money received for the use 

 of his muster shall bind him, provided the 

 servant used to receive his master's rents. 

 An acquittance is a full discharge, and 

 bars all actions, &c. 



ACRID^E, in entomology, the name by 



which Linnteus has distinguished the first 

 family of the gryilus, or the cricket, pro- 

 perly so called : the characters of which 

 are, that the head is conical and longer 

 than the thorax, and the antenna: ensiform, 

 or sword-shaped. Of this family there art 

 eight species, none of which are found i 

 Britain. The insects of this family feed 

 on other insects. See GKYLLVS. 



ACROCHOHDUS, in natural history, a. 

 genus of the class Amphibia, and of the 

 order Serpents. There are but three spe- 

 cies, viz. A. javanicus, waited snake, 

 brown, beneath paler ; the sides obscurely 

 variegated with whitish. It inhabit s .1 tv\ a. 

 chiefly among the pepper plantations ; 

 grows sometimes to seven feet long. The 

 warts, by means of a magnifying glass, 

 appear to be convex carinate scales, and 

 the smaller ones are furnished with two 

 smaller prominence's, one each side tht- 

 larger. Head somewhat flattened, hardly 

 wider than the neck, body gradually 

 thicker towards the middle, and suddenly 

 contracting near the tail, which is short. 

 and slightly acuminate. A. dubius. 

 which very nearly resembles the javani- 

 cus, except that me head is covered with 

 very minute, rough and warted scales, 

 differing in size alone from those on the 

 other part of the animal. The dubius 

 measures only about three feel in length. 

 A specimen is to be seen in the British 

 Museum. Its native place is not ascer- 

 tained. A. fasciatus, resembles the du- 

 DMU so much, that some naturalists sup- 

 pose them both to be of the same species, 

 and differing only in age and cast of co- 

 lour*. The spec'imc-ii in the British Mu- 

 seum is about eighteen inches long. Set- 

 plate Serpentes, fig. 1. 



ACRONICHAL, or ACHRONYCAL, in as- 

 tronomy, an appellation given to the ris- 

 ing ofa star above the horizon, at sunset ; 

 or to its setting when thu sun rises. A- 

 cronichal is one of the three poetical ris- 

 ings of a star : the other two being called 

 cosmiciil and helical. 



This term is also applied to the superi- 

 or planets, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars, 

 when they are come to the meridian of" 

 midnight. 



AcilOSTERMUM, in botany, a genus 

 of the Cryptogamia Fungi class and or- 

 der; fungus quite simple, nearly erect, 

 emitting the seeds exteriorly from the. 

 top. There are four species. 



ACROSTIC L'M, ntstii-btickt miff-rue, or 

 forked-fern , in botany, a genus of the Cr\ p- 

 togamia Filices ; the character of which 

 is, that the fructifications COM r the whok 

 inferior surface of the leaf. There an 



