ADM ! 



who is the ninth great officer of state in 

 England. He superintends all maritime 

 affairs, and has the government of the 

 navy ; but this office is now executed by a 

 certain number of commissioners, called 

 lords of the admiralty. These have juris- 

 diction over all maritime causes, and 

 commission naval officers. The office of 

 lord high admiral was held by "William 

 IV., while duke of Clarence, in 1827, and 

 following year. The admiral of the fleet is 

 the his hest officer under the admiralty : 

 when he embarks on an expedition, the 

 union flag is displayed at the main-top- 

 gallant mast-head. The vice-admiral is an 

 officer next in rank to the admiral : he has 

 command of the second squadron, and 

 carries his flag at the foretop-gallant 

 mast-head. This name is given also to 

 certain officers, who have power to hold 

 courts of vice-admiralty in various parts 

 of the British dominions : there are up- 

 wards of twenty such. Appeal lies from 

 their sentence or award to the admiralty 

 court in London. The rear-admiral, next 

 in rank to the vice-admiral, has command 

 of the third squadron, and carries his flag 

 at the mizentop-gallant mast-head. Ad- 

 mirals on shore receive military honours, 

 and rank with generals of the army. 

 Admiral is also an appellation given to the 

 most considerable ship of a fleet of mer- 

 chantmen, or of fishing vessels. 



ADMIRAL, in conchology, the popular 

 name of a sub-genus of magnificent shells 

 of the volute genus (valuta). There are 

 four species : the grand-admiral, the orange- 

 admiral, the vice-admiral, and the extra- 

 admiral. The first is of an elegant white 

 enamel, variegated with bands of yellow, 

 which represent in some measure the 

 colours of the flag of a man- of- war. It is 

 distinguished from the vice-admiral by 

 a denticulated line, running along the 

 middle of the largest yellow band. The 

 orange-admiral has more yellow than any 

 of the others, and the bands of the extra- 

 admiral run into each other. In entomo- 

 logy, a species of "butterfly, which lays 

 her eggs in the nettle." 



AD'MIRALTY, the office of the lord high 

 admiral, which is discharged (usually) by 

 seven commissioners, called lords of the 

 admiralty. 



ADMIRALTT COURT, or COURT or AD- 

 MIRALTY, is the supreme court for the 

 trial of maritime causes, held before the 

 lord high admiral, or lords of the admi- 

 ralty. All crimes committed on the high 

 seas, or in rivers beneath the bridge, next 

 the sea, are cognisable only in this court : 

 trial by judge and jury. Subordinate to 

 this court/ there is another of equity, 

 called court-merchant, wherein all causes 

 between merchants are decided, agreeable 

 tc the rules of the civil law. ' In the 

 "ailed States of America, there is no 



) ADO 



admiralty court distinct from the others; 

 the district courts are invested with ad- 

 miralty powers. The prize court, which 

 decides causes relating to prizes in time 

 of war, is a separate court from the court 

 of admiralty, but is usually presided over 

 by the same judge. 



ADMIRA'TION, in grammar, the character 

 ( ! ) used after a word, or at the close of a 

 sentence, or a remarkable or emphatic 

 nature, is called a point, or note of admira- 



ADMIS'SION, Lat. admissio, from ad and 

 mitto, admittance. 1. Among ecclesiastics, 

 the act of a bishop's admitting a clerk to 

 be qualified for a cure : this is done after 

 examination, by pronouncing the formula 

 admitto te habtiem. Any person presuming 

 to be admitted without episcopal ordina- 

 tion forfeits 100Z. 2. Among logicians, 



&c., grant of an argument or proposition 

 not fully proved. 



ADMITTENDO CLERico.awrit granted to 

 a person who has recovered his right of 

 presentation in the common pleas : it di- 

 rects the bishop or metropolitan to admit 

 his clerk. 



ADMITTENDO IN SOCIUM. a writ asso- 

 ciating certain uct.iUc persons of the 

 county to the justxei of the assize already 

 appointed. 



ADMIXTION, Lat. *dmixtio, of ad and 

 misceo. The union of substances by mix- 

 ing them. The admixed bodies retain 

 their characteristic properties : they un- 

 dergo no chemical change, as they do in 

 co mposi tion. 



ADMONI'TION , Lat. admonitio, of ad and 

 moneo. A part of church discipline, which 

 consists principally in warning an offender 

 of his irregularities. By the ancient 

 canons, nine admonitions were necessary 

 before excommunication. 



ADMORTIZATION, from ad and mors, 

 death. The reduction of propertv in lands 

 or tenements to mortmain (q. v.). 



ADNAS'CENT, Lat. adnascens. Growing 

 to some other thing. 



AD'NATA, Lat. from ad and nascor to 

 grow. 1. In anatomy, one of the coats of 

 the eye, called also alintginea. It is that 

 portion of the conjunctiva which covers 



the scelerotic coat. 2. Such parts of 



animal or vegetable bodies as are usual 

 and natural, as hair, wool, horns ; or acci- 

 dental, as fungus, and the several epi- 

 sitical plants. ^-3. In horticulture, offsets 

 of plants germinating underground, as 

 from the lily, narcissus, hyacinth, and 

 afterwards grow to the roots. 



AD'NATE, Lat. adnatus, grown to. Ap- 

 plied to parts which appear to grow to 

 other parts : e. g. in botany, when a leaf 

 adheres to the branch or stem by tho sin 

 face or disc itself ; or when the stipules 

 are fixed to the petioles. 



ADOLECERA, a gtnus of coleopterous In- 



