ACC 



m1 of the same. This must be by 

 express words ; and to charge the drawer 

 with costs in case of non-payment the 

 acceptance must be in writing, under, 

 across, or on the back of the bill. Any- 

 thing tending to show that the party 

 means to make himself liable for the 

 amount of the bill (as the signature of the 

 initials, or making other marks upon the 

 bill, or even keeping the bill longer than 

 usual), is, in law, an acceptance. The 

 common mode of acceptance is to write 

 the word " accepted," and subscribe the 



name. 2 In mercantile language, a bill 



of exchange accepted; e. g. " I took his 



acceptance in payment." 3. In common 



law, the tacitly agreeing to some act done 

 by another, which might have been de- 

 feated without such acceptance; e.g. a 

 bishop's taking rent reserved on a lease 

 made by his predecessor, is an acceptance 

 of the terms of the lease, and bars him 



from bringing the writ cut in vita. 



4. In the Romish church, the receiving of 

 the pope's constitutions. 



ACCEP'TER, or ACCEP'TOR, in mercantile 

 affairs, the person, who accepts a bill of 

 exchange. 



ACCEPTILATION, among civilians, the 

 discharging of a debt without receiving 

 payment : compounded of acceptum, some- 

 thing received, and latio, from fero, to 

 take away. 



ACCESSION, from access, a coming to. 



1. In law, the property acquired in ac- 

 cessories is acquired by the right of ac- 

 cession, e. g. the calf of a cow becomes 

 the property of the owner of the cow. 



2. In medicine, the commencement of a 

 disease ; applied chiefly to fevers having 

 paroxysms or exacerbations. 



AC'CESSOR-Y, or ACCESSARY, Lat. accesso- 

 riut (from accedo, to add to), something 

 that accedes not principal ; aiding in cer- 

 tain acts or effects in a secondary manner; 

 e.g. accessory sounds in music. 1. In law, 

 one who is guilty of a felony, not by com- 

 mitting the offence in person, or as a 

 principal, but by advising or commanding 

 another to commit the crime, or by con- 

 cealing the offender after the crime is 

 committed. There may be accessories in 



all felonies, but not in treason. 2. In 



anatomy, the accessory nerves (paraccesso- 

 riiim),a pair of nerves of the neck, which, 

 arising from the spinal marrow in the 

 vertebrae of the neck, enter the cranium 

 of the great foramen of the occipital bone, 

 and then passing out again with the par 

 vagum, are distributed into the muscles 

 of the neck and shoulders. Accessorius 

 lumbalis, the sacro-lumbalis. 3. In paint- 

 ing and sculpture, those pans of a design 

 which are added merely for ornament. 



AC'CIDENT, from Lat. accidens, falling (ad 

 and coda, to fall). 1. In logic, (I.) What- 

 ever does not essentially belong to a thing, 



13 



A C 



e.g. the money in a man's pocket. '3.} 

 Such properties in any subject as are noS 

 essential to it, e. g. whiteness to pap>r. 

 (3.) In opposition to substance, all qua- 

 lities whatever are called accidents, e. g. 



sweetness, softness, &c. 2. In grammar, 



something belonging to a word in com- 

 position, but not essential to it, e.g. gen- 

 der, number ,&c. 3. In heraldry, a point 



or mark not essential to a coat of arms. 



1. Per accidens denotes what does not 



follow from the nature of a thing, but 

 from some accidental qualities of it ; it 

 stands opposed to per se, which denotes 

 the nature or essence of a thing ; e. jr. 

 " fire burns per se, but a piece of iron burns 

 per accidens." 



ACCIDENTAL, Lat. accidentalis, happening 

 unexpectedly. In physics, the term is ap- 

 plied to that effect which proceeds from a 

 cause occurring by accident, without being 

 subject to general laws or regular returns. 

 In this sense accidental is opposed to con- 

 stant; e. g. the sun's variation of altitude 

 is the constant cause of heat in summer and 

 cold in winter; but thunder, wind, rain, 



snow, &c., are accidental causes. 2. In 



perspective, that point in the horizontal line 

 where the projections of all lines parallel 

 among themselves meet the perspective 



plane, is called the accidental point. 3. 



In optics, those colours which depend upon 

 the affects of the eye, in contradistinction 

 to those which belong to the light itself, 

 are termed accidental colours. 4. In, 

 music, the term accidental is applied to 

 such sharps, flats, and naturals, as do not 

 occur in the clef, and which imply some 

 change of key or modulation different 

 from that in which the piece began. 



ACCIPENSER. See ACIPENSER. 



ACCIP'ITRES, from accipitw, a hawk'from 

 ad and capio, to seize), that order of birds 

 of prey which are distinguished by their 

 hooked beaks and talons. They form two 

 families, the diurnal and the nocturnal : 

 the vulture and hawk are examples of Uve 

 first, and the owl of the second. 



ACCIPITRIXA, hawkweed (accipiter, a 

 hawk). 



ACCIPITRINE, rapacious ; belonging to 

 the order of accipitres. 



ACCLAMATION, Lat. acclamatio (from ad 

 and ciamo, to cry out), anciently, a formula 

 of words, uttered with vehemence, some- 

 what resembling a song, sometimes accom- 

 panied with applause given by the hands, 

 and usually in approbation of some indi- 

 vidual or performance. The acclamations 

 were ecclesiastical, military, nuptial, the- 

 atrical, &c. : they were musical and 

 rhythmical. At first, the acclamations of 

 the Roman theatres were confused shouts ; 

 but in process of time they assumed 

 a regular form, and were performed by p 

 hand instructed for that purpose. "NVh'ei. 

 Xaro played in the theatre, he had te 



