AC V 



owner a right to prosecute h s claim to 

 the money, as he has an absolute property 

 in a right as well as in a thing in pos- 

 session. Wtose, Fr. a thing. 8. In mili- 

 tary language, battle ; engagement be- 

 tween troops, whether by laiul or water. 



9. In commerce, a term used in some 



countries of Europe to denote a certain 

 part or share in the capital stock of a 

 company, or in the public funds. It is 

 therefore equivalent to our term share. 

 In many cases action and act are 



synonymous; but action seems to have 



niore relation to the power that acts, 



and its operation and mode of acting; 



act more relation to the effect or opera- 

 tion complete. 



AC'TION AHY,or AC'TIOXIST. In commerce, 

 a proprietor of stock in a trading com- 

 pany ; one who owns shares or actions of 

 stock. V. ACTION, def. 9. 



ACTIVE, Lat. actirus, that has the power 

 or quality of acting, or contains the prin- 

 ciple of action independent of any visible 

 external force, e. g. attraction is an active 



power. It is opposed to passive. 2. 



Practical; producing real effects. Op- 

 posed to speculative. 3. Active capital, 



in mercantile language, is money, or pro- 

 perty which may be readily converted 



into money. 1. Active commerce^ is that 



which a nation carries on with its own 

 and foreign commodities in its own ships. 

 Opposed to passive commerce, where the 

 productions of one country are transported 

 by the people of another, e. g. the com- 

 merce of Britain is active; that of China 



is passive. 5. Active verbs are those 



which not only signify action, but have a 

 noun or name following them, denoting 

 the object of the action. They are also 

 called transitive, as implying the passing 

 of the action expressed by the verb to the 

 object. 



AC'TOR, Lat. from ago. An active agent. 

 In theatricals, a man who acts in a play. 

 Among civilians, an advocate or proctor 

 in civil courts or causes. 



ACTORA, a genus of dipterous insects of 

 '.he family of muscides. The A. xstivurn 

 ias been taken in England : it is rare. 



ACTUAL, Lat. actualis, that exists truly 

 and absolutely, e. g. actual heat opposed 

 .o that which is virtual or potential ; actual 

 cautery or burning with a red-hot iron, 

 opposed to a cautery or caustic applica- 

 tion that may produce the same effect 

 upon the body by a different process. 

 Existing in act ; independent of theory ; 

 e. g. actual crime. 



AC'TCARY, Lat. actuarius, a notary or 

 clerk who writes down the preceedings 

 of a court. 



ACTCS, a Roman measnre of length 

 equal to 120 Roman feet. In agriculture, 

 the length of one furrow. Lat. 



ACVI'TIOX, Lat. acuttio (Croui acuo, to 



1 ACU 



sharpen!, the augmentation of the strength 

 of an acid or iiu>ilicine by the addition of 

 MnuethiMg which has similar powers in a 

 greater degree. 



ACU'LEATA, the second primary section 

 of hymenopterous order of insects, ac- 

 cording to I.atreille. The ant belongs to 

 this division, forming the family called 

 hft<-nnina; name, aculfun, a sting; the 

 ovipositor of the female being represented 

 by a sting composed of three parts: it is 

 concealed and retractile. It likewise 

 exists in those individuals called neuters. 



ACULEATE, or ACULEATED, Lat. aculeatus, 

 having prickles (aculcus, a prickle). Ap- 

 plied to animals and vegetables which 

 have prickles that separate- with the 

 epidermis or bark, e. g. the echinus or sea- 

 urchin, and rosa centifolia. 



ACC'LEI, plural of aculeus. In zoology 

 and botany, spines or prickles growing 

 upon the skin or bark. 



AC'CLER, in the manege, said of ahorse, 

 when, working upon volts, he does not 

 go far enough forward after each motion, 

 so that his shoulders take in too little 

 ground, and his croup conies too near the 

 centre of the volt. 



ACU'LECS, a spine or prickle, from acus, 

 a needle ; plural aculei, (q. v.) The acuUi 

 of plants are peculiar to the bark ; spina, 

 or thorns, proceed from the wood. 



AC'ULON (xuXo{~), the acorn or fruit of 

 the ilex or scarlet oak. 



ACU'MIJJATE, Lat. acuminatus, termin- 

 ated by a point (acumen) somewhat elon- 

 gated. Applied by botanists to several 

 parts of plants, as leaves, leaf- stalks, &c. 



ACCPUNC'TCRATION, improperly used for 

 acupuncture, (q. v.) 



AcopUNc'TORE.from acus, 9. needle, and 

 punctura, a prickle. A surgical operation 

 which consists in pricking the part af- 

 fected with a needle. This process is 

 sometimes called acupuncttt ration. It was 

 introduced into Europe in 1G79 from 

 China, where it had long been practised. 



Acus, aneedle ; Lat. from u^,& point. 

 1. In surgery, the pointed instrument 

 having an eye at one end, used for making 

 setons. It is sometimes called the seton- 

 needle. Acus canulata, or triqttetra, a 



trocar. 2. In natural history, (1.) The 



needle or gar-fish. (2.) The ammodyte, 

 or sand eel. (3.) The oblong cimex. 



ACC'STO, an alchemical name of nitre 

 (nitrate ofpotansa). 



AcuTANot-LAR, Latinised, acutangularis 

 or us, applied to parts of plants having 

 acute angles. 



ACUTE, Lat. aevtus, sharp - pointed. 

 Ending in a sharp point, opposed to ob- 

 tuse, or blunt. An acute angle is one which 

 is less than a right angle, or which sub- 

 tends less than 90. An acute-anyUd 

 triangle is one whose three angles are all 



