AID 



by crying aguillanetif, " a new year to the 

 misleto" (a, to, gui, misleto, and I'annetif, 

 the new year)'. This cry is said to be still 

 observed in sonic parts of France, but for 

 the purpose of extracting new-ycar-gifts. 



AOYRKAS, from sfyveif, a collection. 

 An opacity of the crystalline lens of the 

 eje. 



Am, a sunk fence, not visible without 

 near approach. 



AHEAD, in nautical language, denotes 

 the situation of an object in advance of 

 the ship : opposed to astern. The word is 

 composed of a, for at, and head. 



AHICCYATLI, a poisonous serpent of 

 Mexico, somewhat resembling the rattle- 

 snake, but destitute of rattles : its poison 

 is as fatal as that of any known species. 



AHIUMAN, \ one of the chief deities of 



AJUMAN, ) the ancient Persians. Ah- 

 rimanwas the god of evil, opposed to 

 Oromasdet. 



AHULL, from Sax. helan, to cover. The 

 situation of a ship when all her sails are 

 furled on account of the violence of the 

 wind, and when, having lashed her helm 

 to the lee-side, she lies nearly with her 

 side to the wind and sea, her head being 

 somewhat inclined in the direction of the 

 wind. 



AHUITLA, a worm peculiar to the lake 

 of Mexico, about four inches in length, as 

 thick as a goose-quill, and having a hard 

 and poisonous tail containing a sting. 



AHOITZOTE, a small amphibious qua- 

 druped of tropical America : its body is a 

 foot long, its snout long and sharp, its 

 skin of a dark brown. 



Ai, the three-toed sloth (Acheus tridac- 

 tyhu, F. Cuvier). " A species in which 

 sluggishness, and all the details of the 

 organisation which produce it, are carried 

 to the highest degree." The animal takes 

 the name Ai from its peculiar cry, as it 

 takes the name of Sloth from its tardy 

 movements. It is of the size of a cat, and 

 is the only mammiferous animal known 

 which has nine cervical vertebras. 



AID, Fr. aider, to help. Assistance. 1. 

 In English law, a subsidy granted by par- 

 liament, and making a part of the king's 

 revenue. In France, aids are equivalent 

 to customs or duties on exports and im- 

 ports. 2. In England, a tax paid by the 



tenant to his lord ; originally a gift : use 

 and want converted it into a right de- 

 mandablc by the lord. The aids of this 

 kind were chiefly three. (1). To ransom 

 the lord when a prisoner. (2). To make 

 the lord's eldest son a knight. (3). To 

 marry the lord's eldest daughter. 



AID FRIER, a petition made in court, to 

 call in help from another person who has 

 interest in the thing contested. Thus a 

 tenant for life may pray in the aid of him 

 in remainder or reversion, that is, he may 

 pray or petition that he be joined in 



1 AIR 



the suit to aid or help to maintain toe 

 title. The petition is otherwise caueJ 

 aid prayer. 



AIDS, THE COUKT OF, in France, is a 

 court which has cognizance of causes 

 respecting duties or customs. 



AIDS, in the manege, cherishings used 

 to avoid the necessary corrections. The 

 inner aids are the inner heel, leg, rein, 

 &c. ; the outer aids arc the outer heel, leg, 

 rein, &c. 



AID-DE-CAMP, in military affairs, an 

 officer whose duty it is to receive and 

 communicate the orders of a superior of- 

 ficer. This word is French, aide-de-camp, 

 but naturalized, and it would perhaps be 

 well to naturalize its pronunciation also. 



AIODE MARINE, a variety of topaz of a 

 bluish or pale green colour. 



AIGUILLE, Fr. for a needle. An instrument 

 used by engineers to pierce a rock for the 

 lodgement of powder, in mining, &c. 

 Aiguille is also taken to mean the needle- 

 like points or tops of granite rocks. 



AIGUISCE, ) in heraldry, a cross with its 



AIOUISSE, ) four ends sharpened into 

 obtuse angles. The term is French, from 

 aiguiser, to sharpen. It is sometimes 

 written eguisct. 



AILURUS, a genus of the plantigrade 

 tribe of mammalia. There is only one 

 species known, the panda of the north of 

 India (the A. refulgens of Fred. Cuv.) : 

 size, that of a large cat ; fur, soft and 

 thick ; above, of the most brilliant cinna- 

 mon red, behind, more fawn-coloured, 

 beneath, deep black ; the head is whitish, 

 and the tail marked with brown rings. 



AIR, Fr. air, Ital. aira, Sp. ayre, Or. 

 argj Jjflt. aer, Ir. aer. The root is pro- 

 bably ^1K, whence " *1N, which means 

 the vehicle of light. That fluid, trans- 

 parent, impenetrable, ponderable, com- 

 pressible, dilatable, perfectly elastic sub- 

 stance, which surrounds the earth, 

 constituting what we otherwise call the 

 atmosphere. Air is one of th four classical 

 elements of antiquity ; but modern che- 

 mistry shows, that of 1000 parts, 788 are 

 nitrogen , 197 are orygen, 14 are vajxmr, and 

 1 carbonic acid. 100 cubic ins. weigh 31 

 grains. The term air, though now re- 

 stricted to atmospheric air, was formerly 

 used to designate gases generally. Thus 

 ammonia was called alkaline air ; nitrogen 

 or azote, azotic air ; carbonic acid, fixed 

 air; fluoric acid, fluoric air; carburetted 

 hydrogen, heavy inflammable air ; sulphur- 

 etted hydrogen, hepatic air; hydrogen, 

 inflammable air; nitrogen, nitrons air, 

 phlogisticated air, and nitrons dcphlogisti- 

 catedair; phosphuretted hydrogen, phos- 

 phoric air; sulphurous acid, xnlphureotu 

 air; oxygen, vital air and empyreal air: 

 and even hydrochloric or muriatic acid 

 had the odd coxnomen of mai-ine air. 



