10 THE FARMER AT HOME. 



not* furnished with any individual organ similar to the mouth of 

 animals, nature has furnished them with pores through which nour- 

 ishment is received. These pores exist in the leaves and the external 

 surface of the bark ; and, the process of their agency in absorbing this 

 nourishment is not unlike that of the passage of water into the pores 

 of sponge, or the rising of water through the valve of a pump. 



ABUTMENT, the head or end ; that which unites one end of a 

 thing to another. But usually it denotes the solid pier or mound of 

 earth, stone, or timber, which is erected at the bank of a river to 

 support the end of the bridge and connect it with the land. 



ACACIA. A beautiful shrub, a species of which bears rose- 

 colored flowers. A thorny shrub of this name is common in the 

 deserts of Asia and Africa, and produces gum Arabic. The Chinese 

 employ the -flowers of a plant called by this name to produce that 

 beautiful and durable yellow which has been so much admired in 

 their different stuffs. 



ACANTHUS, the name of an herb remarkable for the model of 

 the foliage. In the capitals of the Corinthian and Composite orders 

 of architecture there is an ornament resembling the leaves of the 

 acanthus. 



ACCIPITRES, the order of rapacious birds containing the vul- 

 ture, the owl, the hawk, the eagle, and other birds of prey. The 

 name is derived from two Latin words which mean to seize the object 

 of which they are in pursuit. 



ACCLIMATE or ACCLIMATION. In rural economy this 

 term signifies the adaptation of animals or vegetables of one clime or 

 temperature to a different one. For instance the culture of tropical 

 plants in a temperate zone ; or even the removal of one from the hot 

 house to the open air. 



ACETATE, a salt formed by the combination of any base with 

 acetic acid, for instance, vinegar with earths or metals. Some plants 

 naturally contain acetic acid. It is found in the chick pea ; in the 

 elder berry ; and, in the date palm tree. 



ACIDS, a class of chemical substances, which are so called from 

 their taste, or the sensation of sourness they produce on the tongue. 

 They change vegetable blue colors to red. When they combine with 

 alkalies, or the metalic oxides and earths they form the compound 

 salts. Mineral acids are those which are produced from a compound 

 or union of oxygen gas with mineral substances, as sulphur. 



ACONITE, Wolfsbane, or Monkshood. A plant, the flower of 

 which resembles the hood of a monk. There are several species of 

 the aconite, most of which are violent poisons. The ancients were so 

 surprised at their pernicious effects, that they were afraid to touch 

 the plants ; and hence sprung many superstitious precautions about 

 the manner of gathering them. Tlieophrastus relates that there was 

 a mode of preparing the aconite in his days, so that it should only 



