ARC 



ASCH'LUTE, ) Ital. arciJeiito. A large 

 ARCH'ILCTE, ( lute, a theorbo: the base 

 strings are doubled with an octave, anc 

 the higher strings with a unison. 



ARCH'MARSHAL, the grand marshal o: 

 the German empire. The dignity belongs 

 to the elector of Saxony. 



ARCH'ON, from ;, a prince. The 

 highest magistrates of Athens were called 

 Archons. There were nine : the first was 

 properly the archon ; the second, king , 

 the third was the polemarch, or general ol 

 the forces ; and the other six were thesmo 

 thefts, or legislators. 



ARCHON'TICS, a branch of the Valen 

 tinians, who held that the world was 

 made by archontes or angels. 



AKC'TIC, an epithet given to the north 

 pole in reference to the constellation of 

 the Little Bear, called by the Greeks 

 aigxTo;, the last star in the tail of which 

 points out the north pole. The arctic 

 circle is a lesser circle of the sphere, pa- 

 rallel to the equator, and 23 28' distant 

 from the north pole, from whioh it takes 

 its name. This, and its opposite, the 

 antarctic (q.v.), are called the two polar 

 circles, and within these lie the frigid 

 zones. 



ARC'TIUM, the plant Inirdork or clitbur. 

 A genus. Syngenesia Poly. aqtiaUs. 

 Name, agxro;, a bear, in allusion to the 

 coarse texture of the involucres. "Waste 

 places, as way- sides. 



ARC'TOMYS, the marmot. A genus of 

 mammalia, of the order rodentia. The 

 marmots live in societies and are easily 

 tamed. There are many species, the most 

 interesting of which are the Alpine 31., 

 which inhabits high mountains, and the 

 bobac of Poland and Kamschatka. both 

 about the size of a hare, and burrow in 

 the hardest soils. The American species 

 are smaller. Name, {**, bear, and 

 fMj; , a rat ; the bear-rat. 



ARCTOFHTLAX, Lat. from iigxref , a bear, 

 and pt/A!, a keeper. The Greek name of 

 the constellation Bootes, or Charles's 

 Wain. 



ARCTU'RCS, Lat. from ci^Kro;, a bear, 

 and o-j^oe., a tail. A star of the first mag- 

 nitude in the constellation Arctophylax, or 

 Bo6tes. 



ARC'TCS, oi^fos- The name given by 

 the Greeks to two constellations, called by 

 the Latins Ursa major and Ursa minor, 

 and by us the Great Sear and the Little 

 Sear. 



ARCITA'TION , lat. arcuatio, a bending. In 

 gardening, a method of raising by layers 

 such trees as cannot be raised from seed. 

 It consists in bending to the ground the 

 branches which spring from the offsets or 

 stools, and covering them with earth 

 three inches deep upon the joints. When 



J A II E 



they have taken root, they are re- 

 moved. 



AR'PZA, the heron. A genus of birds of 

 the order grallatoria, and family cnltri- 

 rostres. There are several species, 

 including the crabeaters and bitterns. 

 Named by the Latins from Mteat y;, 

 ab alto volatu. 



ARE, from area. A superficial square 

 measure in France, substituted for the 

 former square rod. It contains 1076'44 

 square feet, English. 



A-RE, in the Guidonian scale of music, 

 denotes the lowest note but one. 

 A'REA, a Latin word signifying ]. 



A threshing-floor. 2. A vacant spaco 



bounded on all sides, or before a public 

 building. In geometry, the superficial con- 

 tent of any figure ; the surface included 

 by any given lines. The extent is ascer- 

 :ained by finding how many times the 

 surface contains another smaller surface, 

 of which we have an accurate idea ; as a 

 square inch, a square foot, &c., which we 

 use as superficial measures. Among phy- 

 sicians, the term area has been used 

 vaguely to denote certain cutaneous dis- 

 eases producing baldness. 



ARE'CA, the cabbage-tree, a genus of 

 palms, one species of which, called the 

 cabbage-palm (A. olcracea], grows abun- 

 dantly in South America, and is cul- 

 tivated in both the Indies. The pith 

 forms an inferior sago, the young buds 

 are eaten as cabbage, and the fruit 

 yields oil. The fruit (nut) of another East 

 indian species (A. catechu], yields two 

 iinds of catechu, called ctittacamboo and 

 cashcutti by the Indians. Monoscia J/o- 

 nodelphia. Called also favsel-mit (nut 

 resembles the nutmeg), and drunken- 

 date. 



ARE'XA, sand. In the Roman amphi- 

 heatres, a plain space in the middle, 

 covered with sand, on which the gladia- 

 ors, &c. fought. Hence, also, the com- 

 batants were called arenarii. 



AREXA'RIA, the plant sandicort. A genus, 

 >f which there are eleven indigenous spe- 

 cies. Decandria Trigynia. Named from 

 renn, sand, the greater number of species 

 growing in sandy soils. 



ARENDA'TOR. In Russia, one who con- 

 tracts with the government for the rents 

 3f the farms is called an arendator, from 

 arenda, a farm. And he who rents an es- 

 ate of the crown is called a croicn-aren- 

 dator. The estate and rent paid for it are 

 ndifferently denoted by arende. 



AREN'GA, a genus of palnis peculiar to 

 he Moluccas. The pith affosds a kind of 

 sago, and the sap sugar by evaporation, 

 and a pleasant liquor by fermenta- 

 "on. 



ARENII.IT'IC, pertaining to sandstone, 

 rena and X/fof; consisting ot sai.i- 

 tone. 



