AQtJ 



poir. r > of a planet's orbit, otherwise called 

 the perihelion and aphelion. See APSIDES. 

 -- 1!. In the old churches, an inner part 

 where the altar was placed, and where 

 the clergy sat, answering to the choir: 

 used in opposition to nave, where the 

 congregation were seated, and synony- 

 mim- with concha, camera, presbyterium. 

 - 3. In architecture, thcboweA orarehed 

 roof of a house, room or oven ; the canopy 

 of a throne ; and anciently, the throne of 

 a bishop; at present called apsis-gradata, 

 from being raised a few steps above the 

 seats of the priests. 



APTEXODY'TES, the scientific name of 

 the penguins, a tribe of palmipedes, or 

 web-footed birds of the family of brachy- 

 pterce (Cuv.) : they are found onlv in the 

 Antarctic seas. Name from 



wingless, and Mrr,f, a diver, in allusion 

 to " their little wings, covered with mere 

 vestiges of feathers, which at first sight 

 resemble scales, and their habits in the 

 water:" they are totally incapable of 

 flying, and when they do go on shore, 

 they push themselves along on their bel- 

 lies as in swimming. The great penguin 

 (A. patagomca), of about the size of a 

 goose : the flesh is black, but eatable. 



AP'TERS, \ the name of a class of insects, 



AP'TERA, I in the system of Linnaeus. 

 Named a, , without , and !TTS{J , a wing, be - 

 Ing characterised by the absence of wings. 



AP'TEROI-S, belonging to the class of 

 apters : destitute of wings and scutellum. 



AP'TERYX, Gr. from a., without, and 

 TTy;. A New Zealand genus of very 

 rare birds, in which the wings are re- 

 duced to a single defensive spur. 



AP'THAXE, a title anciently given to the 

 higher degrees of nobility in Scotland. 

 See THANE. 



AP'THOCS, ctirnif, to inflame. A dis- 

 ease ermed the thrush. 



APYC'XI SVONI, in tntuic, sounds i distant 

 one or more octaves, and which yet 

 accord. Apycnos is said of the diatonic 

 eenus, on account of its having spacious 

 intervals in comparison with the chro- 

 matic and enharmonic. 



APv'RETic,froma,not,and rrytf.flre. A 

 medical term applied: 1. To those 'days on 

 which the intermission happens in agues. 

 - 2. To local affections not attended 

 with febrile excitement of the system. 



A'QCATORTIS, strong water. Nitric acid 

 was so named by the alchemists, on ac- 

 count of its strong solvent and corrosive 

 action upon numerous mineral, vegetable 

 and animal substances ; and the name is 

 still Tised to denote the weak and impure 

 nitric acid used in the arts. This is dis- 

 tinguished according to Its strength, 

 double and single, the single being only 

 half the strength cf the other. 



91 A Q U 



AUVA MARI'XA, sea-water. A name 

 given by jewellers to the beryl on account 

 of its colour. 



Aur\ HE'riiA. } lloyal water. The 



AUCA REGA'I.IS. } name given by the 

 alchemists to that mixture of nitric and 

 muriatic acids which was best fitted to 

 dissolve gold, styled by them the king of 

 the metals. It is now called nitro-munnfif 

 acid; or, adopting the more recent narnt 

 for the muriatic acid, its synonym is nitro- 

 hydrochloric acid. 



AQUA TOFFA'NIA, ) "Water of Toffana. 



AQPA DELLA TOFA. I A poisonous liquid, 

 prepared by a woman at Naples, named 

 Toffana, or Tofania. It was as limpid as 

 rock water; and from four to six drop;? 

 were a fatal dose. It was contained in 

 small glass vials, bearing the inscription 

 Manna of St. Nicholas of Sari, and orna- 

 mented with an image of the saint. Tof- 

 fana distributed this poison to women 

 who were anxious to get rid of their hus- 

 bands ; and when put to the rack, in 1709, 

 she confessed that she had destroyed up- 

 wards of 600 persons by means of it. The 

 mode of preparing it is now happily lost. 



Aar A VI'T.S, water of life. A name fa- 

 miliarly applied to native distilled spirits : 

 equivalent to the eau-de vie, or brandy, of 

 the French ; the ichisky, of the Scotch and 

 Irish; and the Genera, of the Dutch. It 

 has been the aqua mortis of myriads of 

 the human race. 



AQUA'RIAXS. Christians, in the primi- 

 tive church, who consecrated water (aqua) 

 instead of wine for the celebration of the 

 Eucharist. 



Aarx'RirM. A place in gardens, in 

 which only aquatic plants are grown. 



AQCA'RICS, the water-earner. The name 

 of the eleventh sign of the Zodiack, em- 

 blematic of the rainy season. It is marked 

 thus , and answers to the Egyptian 

 Canopus. 



AQUATIN'TA, from aqua and tinta, dyed. 

 The art of engraving on coppei after the 

 manner of Indian ink, by which happy 

 imitations are made of pencil drawings in 

 Indian ink, bistre, sepia, &c. 



A'arEDucT, from aqua and dttrtus, a 

 conduit. A structure made for conveyinc 

 water from one place to another, either 

 under ground or above it, without em- 

 ploying any other mechanical principle 

 than that water will descend along an 

 inclined plane. A structure continuing 

 the line of a canal across a river, road, or 

 valley, is called also an aqueduct, and, 

 perhaps more correctly , an aqueduct bridge. 



A'arEo, from aqua. When prefixed to 

 a word, aqueo denotes that water enters 

 into the composition of the substance 

 named, as aqueo-sulphuric acid : opposed 

 to <wAydro-sulphuric acid. 



A'auiFOLlA'CE.c, Lat. aquifolinm, the 

 holly. A natural order of ro 



