AGY 



AJO 



six inches ; they shouldbe watered gently 

 till they have taken root; afterwards wet, 

 as well as dung, is injurious to them. In 

 spring they should be removed into the 

 borders of the flower-garden, where they 

 will be very ornamental whilst they flow- 

 er in July and August. The third species 

 grows naturally on the Swiss and Pied- 

 montese mountains, and in the Palatinate, 

 and was cultivated in 1739, by Mr. Mil- 

 ler. It flowers in July, and the seeds 

 ripen in September. It will thrive best in 

 a moist soil, and a shady situation. The 

 fourth species is annual. It is a native of 

 Italy, Sicily, and the Levant, but being a 

 plant of little beauty, it is preserved in 

 botanic gardens merely for variety. 



AGROSTIS, bent-grass, in botany, a ge- 

 nus of the Triandria Digynia class of 

 plants, the calyx of which is composed of 

 a glume, consisting of two valves, and in- 

 closing a single flower; it is of an acumi- 

 Tiated figure ; the corolla is also of an acu- 

 minated figure, and composed of two 

 valves ; it is scarce so long as the cup, 

 and one of the valves is larger than the 

 other, and aristated; the corolla serves 

 in place of a pericarpium ; it surrounds 

 and every way incloses the seed, which 

 is single, roundish, and pointed at each 

 end. 



There are 42 species, distributed into 

 two classes; the aristatae, or those with 

 awns ; and the muticae, or naked without 

 awns. The A. spica venti, silky bent 

 grass, with entire petals, the outer one 

 having a stiff, straight, and very long awn, 

 and the panicle spreading; is an annual, 

 and common in sandy corn-fields. It flow- 

 ers in June and July, and is liable to be 

 smutted. Horses and goats eat it, but 

 sheep refuse it. The A. arundicea, fur- 

 nished with a writhed awn ; is a native of 

 many parts of Europe, and is a perennial. 

 The Kalmuc Tartars weave mats of it, 

 and thatch their houses with it. The al- 

 ba, or white bent-grass, is perennial, and 

 grows in ditches, marshes, and moist 

 meadows : there are four varieties, some 

 of which are found among potatoes in 

 light sandy soils, and some among wheat, 

 flowering from July to September. 

 AGUE. See MEDICIKE. 

 AGYNEIA, in botany, a genus of the 

 Triandria Monogynia class and order : the 

 male flowers are below the female, the ca- 

 lyx is six-leaved ; no corolla; in the male, 

 instead of filaments, are three or four an- 

 thers : in the female flowers, the germ of 

 the size of the calyx ; neither style nor 

 stigma. There are two species, viz. A. 

 impubes, with leaves smooth on both 



sides; and A. pubera, with leaves downy 

 underneath : both species are natives of 

 China. 



AID de-camp, in military aft'airs, an offi- 

 cer employed to receive and cany the or- 

 ders of a general. He ought to be alert 

 in comprehending, and punctual and dis- 

 tinct in delivering them. He is seldom 

 under the degree of a captain, and all 

 aids-de-camp have ten shillings a day al- 

 lowed for their duty. 



AIGUISCE, AIGUISSE, EGUISCE, in 

 heraldry, denotes a cross with its four 

 ends sharpened, but so as to terminate in 

 obtuse angles. 



It differs from the cross fitchee, in as 

 much as the latter goes tapering by de- 

 grees to a point, and the former only at 

 the ends. 



AILANTHUS, in botany, a genus of 

 plants of the Decandria Trigynia class and 

 order ; it has male, female, and herma- 

 phrodite flowers. The calyx of the male 

 is one-leafed; the corolla has five petals: 

 the stamina have ten filaments, the an- 

 thers are oblong and versatile. The ca- 

 lyx and corolla of the female are the same 

 as those of the male ; the pistillum has 

 from three to five germs ; the styles are 

 lateral, and the stigmas capitate ; the pe- 

 ricardium has as many capsules as there 

 are germs ; the seeds are solitary. The 

 calyx and corolla of the hermaphrodite are 

 the same with those of the male and -fe- 

 male ; the stamina have two or three fila- 

 ments; the pistillum, pericarpium, and 

 seed, as in the female. There is one spe- 

 cies, viz. A. glandulosa, or tall ailanthus, 

 which is a tree with a straight trunk, 

 forty or fifty feet high, a native of Chi- 

 na. It grows fast in our climate, and, as 

 it rises to a considerable height, it is pro- 

 per for ornamental plantations. A resin- 

 ous juice, which soon hardens, flows from 

 the wounded bark. The wood is hard, 

 heavy, glossy, like satin, and susceptible 

 of a tine polish. 



AILE, or AIEL, in law, a writ which 

 lies where a person's grandfather, or 

 great grandfather, being seised of lands, 

 &.c. in fee-simple the day that he died, and 

 a stranger abates or enters the same day, 

 and dispossesses the heir of his inheri- 

 tance. 



AJOVEA, in botany, a genus of the 

 Hexandria Monogynia class and order: 

 the calyx is single-leaved, the corolla has 

 three petals, the stigma is divided into 

 six segments, and the fruit is a roundish, 

 single-celled, monospermous berry. There 

 is one species that grows in the forests of 

 Guiana. 



