ANT 



ANT 



Of the latter are the 



Alea, 



Aptenodytes, 

 Colymbus, 

 Diomedea, 



Lams, 



Pelecanus, 



Procellaria, 



Prynchops, 



and 



Sterna. 



This order comprehends all kinds of wa- 

 ter-fowl whose feet are palmated. The 

 webbed feet of these birds are admirably 

 adapted to aid them in swimming; and 

 the greater quantity of oil secreted by the 

 glands near the tail, and rubbed by means 

 of their bills over all the feathers of their 

 body, enables them to live on the water, 

 without ever being wet. They live most- 

 ly on fish, and some of them have been 

 occasionally tamed to the catching offish 

 for the use of their masters. In some of 

 the lakes of China, where the water-fowl 

 abound, the natives have the following in- 

 genious mode of catching them : For se- 

 veral days before they attempt to take 

 them, many empty gourd-shells are set 

 afloat on the water,, to habituate the birds 

 to their appearance ; and when they are 

 observed to take no notice of these shells, 

 but to swim among them, a man, with 

 one of the same kind upon his head, goes 

 into the lake, and wades or swims among 

 the birds with nothing but his head above 

 the water. He now begins his sport, and 

 taking the birds by their legs, draws them 

 under water, breaks their necks, and fas- 

 tens them to his girdle, one after another, 

 till he is sufficiently loaded, and then re- 

 turns to the shore. 



ANSWER, in law: On an indictment 

 for perjury, in an answer in Chancery, it is 

 a sufficient proof of identity, if the name 

 subscribed be proved to be the hand-writ- 

 ing of the defendant; and that the same 

 was subscribed by the master, on being 

 sworn before him. 



ANT. See FORMICA. 



ANTECEDENCE, in astronomy, an ap- 

 parent motion of a planet towards the 

 west, or contrary to the order of the signs, 

 vis. from Taurus towards Aries, 8cc. 



ANTECEDENT, in grammar, the word 

 to which a relative refers: thus, God 

 whom we adore, the word God is the an- 

 tecedent to the relative whom. 



ANTECEDENT term, in mathematics, the 

 first one of any ratio : thus, if the ratio be 

 a . b, a is the antecedent term. 



ANTEDATE, among lawyers, a spuri- 

 ous or false date, prior to the true date of 

 a bond, bill, or the like. 



ANTELOPE, in natural history, of the 

 Mammalia class of animals, of the order 

 Glires. The generic character is, horns 



VOL. I 



hollow, seated on a bony core, growing 

 upwards, annulated or wreathing, per- 

 manent Front teeth in the lower jaw 

 eight, and no canine teeth. Antelopes 

 constitute a very numerous race : they 

 were formerly, even by Linnaeus, ranged 

 under tli,e genus Capra, but now have ob- 

 tained a rank for themselves : their habits 

 and manners are thus described. Their 

 inhabit, two or three species excepted, 

 the hottest parts of the globe ; or, at 

 least, those parts of the temperate zone 

 that lie so near the tropics as to form a 

 doubtful climate. None, therefore, ex- 

 cept the Saiga and the Chamois, are to be 

 met with in Europe ; and notwithstanding 

 the warmth of South America is suited to 

 their nature, but one or two species has 

 yet been discovered in the new world. 

 Their proper climates seem, therefore, 

 to be those of Asia and Africa, where the 

 species are very numerous. " As there 

 appears a general agreement in the nature 

 of the species that form this great genus, 

 it will prevent needless repetition to ob- 

 serve, that the antelopes are animals ge- 

 nerally of a most elegant and active make ; 

 of a restless and timid disposition ; ex- 

 tremely watchful, of great vivacity, re- 

 markably swift and agile, and most of 

 their bounding* so light and elastic, as to 

 strike the spectator with astonishment. 

 "What is very singular is, that they will 

 stop in the midst of their course, gaze for 

 a moment at their pursuers, and then re- 

 sume their flight. As the chase of these 

 animals is a favourite amusement with the 

 eastern nations, from that may be collect- 

 ed proofs of the rapid speed of the ante- 

 lope tribe. The greyhound, the fleetest 

 of dogs, is usually unequal in the course, 

 and the sportsman is obliged to call in 

 the aid of the falcon, trained for the pur- 

 pose, to seize on the animal, and impede 

 its motions, in order to give the dogs an 

 opportunity of overtaking it. In India and 

 Persia a species of leopard is made use of 

 in the chase : this is an animal that takes 

 its prey, not by swiftness of foot, but by 

 the greatness of its springs, by motions 

 similar to those of the antelope ; but, 

 should the leopard fail in its first essay, 

 the game escapes. The fleetness of the 

 antelope was proverbial in the country it 

 inhabited, even in the earliest times : the 

 speed of Asahel (2 Sam. ii. 18.) is beauti- 

 fully compared to that of the Tzebi ; and 

 the Gadites were said to be as swift as the 

 ante lopes upon the mountains. The sacred 

 writers took their similies from such ob- 

 jects as were before the eyes of the peo- 

 ple to whom they addressed themselves. 

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