ACT 



ACT 



4J species, distributed into different class- 

 s. Few ot'tli<- sp.-ries have been intro- 

 duced into gardens Those of Europe 

 may be preserved in pots, filled with gra- 

 vel and lime-rubbish, or planted on walls 

 rind artificial rocks; but most of them, 

 being- natives of i t ry hot < limaies, must 

 be phmted in pots, and plunged into the 

 bark pit. 



U;T.i:.\, in botany, a genus of plants 

 of the Poly and ria Monogynia class and 

 order. (Jen character : calyx perianth, 

 four-leaved; leaflets roundish, obtuse, 

 concave, caducous; cor. petals four, acu- 

 minate at both ends, larger than tin ca- 

 lyx ; filaments about JO ; germ superi- 

 or ovate ; no style ; stigma thickish, ob- 

 liquel) depressed ; pericarp a hern, oval- 

 globose, snuKith, one-furrow ed, one cell- 

 ed ; seeds very i"unv, semi-orbicular, lying 

 u\, [ each other in two rows. There arc 

 four species, viz. the spicata ; raccmosa ; 

 japoniea ; and aspera. Of the first there 

 are varieties, of the black-berried herb 

 Christopher, or bane-hem, found in the 

 northern parts of England; the Christo- 

 pher, \\ ith white berries, a native of Ame- 

 rica; and that with red berries. The 

 nteemosa, or black snake-root, found also 

 in America, of which the root is much 

 used in many disorders, and is supposed 

 to be an antidote against the bite of the 

 rattle-snake, Tliis species is now more 

 properly referred to the genus Cimifii^n, 

 and is called by Pursh Cimifuga Serpen- 

 taria. See Ci.MiFro.t. The leaves of the 

 A. aspera, beingextremely i-ough,tle Chi- 

 nese use them in polishing their tin ware. 



ACTINIA, in natural history, a genus 

 of tlu- Mollusca order of worms ; the cha- 

 racters of which are, body oblong, cylin- 

 drical, fleshy, contractile, fixed by the 

 base; mouth terminal, expansile, sur- 

 rounded with numerous cirri, and without 

 any aperture. There are 36 species. These 

 marine animals are viviparous, and ha\e 

 no aperture but the mouth. Tin 

 on s!iell-fish and other marine animals, 

 which they draw in with their feelers, in a 

 short time rejecting through the Mine 

 aperture the shells and indigestible parts. 

 They assume various forms, and where 

 the tentacula or feelers are all expanded, 

 have the appearance of full-blown flow- 

 ers. Mum of them are eatable, and some 

 of them i cry sapid. 



ACTLNOI.ITK, in mineralogy, a family, 

 comprehending six species, vi/. the acti- 

 nolilc,smanu;ditc, tremol'.te, cyan 

 lite, and schalstonc. Tin- aetinolite oc- 

 curs chiefly in beds in primitive moun- 

 tains and is divided into three siib-sm- cic-s. 



viz. the asbestos, common and 

 The asbestos colours greenish grey, moun- 

 tain grc en, smelt biac, olive given, \ei- 

 i'uvish, and liver-brown ' and in 



capillary crystals. Soft ; brittle ; specific 

 gravity 2.5 to 2.y. Melts before the blow- 

 pipe. The usual colour of the common 

 is leek green, but its specific gravity is 

 between 3.0 *nd 3.3. The principal co- 

 lour of the glassy is mountain green, pass- 

 ing to the emerald green. Spec. fie gra 

 vity J.9 to o.9. 



ACTION, in mecluvnics and phv 

 the influence of one body upon another, 

 in gnu-rating or destroying its motion. 



It is one of the laws of nature, that ac- 

 tion and reaction are equal, that is, the 

 resistance of the body moved is always 

 equal to the force communicatcdto it : or, 

 which is tile same thing, the moving body 

 loses as much of its force as it commu- 

 - to the body moved. 



If a body be urged by equal and con- 

 trary actions or pressures, it will remain 

 at rest. But if one of these pressures be 

 greater than its opposite, motion will en- 

 sue toward the parts least pressed. 



It is to be observed, that the i.ctions of 

 bodies on each other, in a space that is 

 carried uniformly forward, are the same 

 as if the space were at rest; and any 

 powers or motions that act upon all bodies, 

 so as to produce equal velocities in them 

 in the same, or in parallel right lines, have 

 no effect on their mutual actions, or rela- 

 tive motions. Thus the motion of bodies 

 aboard a ship, that is carried steadily and 

 uniformly forward, are performed in the 

 same manner as if the ship was at rest. 

 The motion of the earth round K 

 has no eflect on the actions of bodies and 

 agents at its surface, but so fur as it is not 

 uniform and rectilineal. In general, the 

 actions of bodies upon each other depend 

 not on theiraA*o/T/f, but relatit-g motion. 



ACTION, in law, denotes either the right 

 of demanding, in a legal manner, what is 

 any man's due, or the process brought for 

 the recovering the same. 



Actions are either criminal or civil 



Criminal actions are to have judgment 

 ii, asappcals of death, robbery, Xe. 

 or only judgment for damage to the in- 

 jured party, fine to the king, and impri- 

 sonment. 



I nderthe head of criminal actio: 

 likewise be ranked penal actions, which 

 lie for some penalty orpunishment on the 

 -ued, whether it be corporal or pe- 

 cuniary. 



Also actions upon the statute, brought 

 on breach of any %i>ite. o- act of parlin- 



