ARG 



ARG 



as if formed of five valves ; the seeds are 

 numerous and very small ; the recepta- 

 cles are linear, and grow to the angles of 

 the pericarpium : they do not burst. There 

 are three species. 



ARGENT, in heraldry, the white co- 

 lour in the coats of gentlemen, knights, 

 and baronets : the white in the arms of 

 sovereign princes is called luna, and that 

 in the arms of the nobility pearl ; this is 

 expressed in engraving by the parts being 

 left plain without any strokes from the 

 graver. 



ARGENTINA, in natural history, a ge- 

 nus of fishes of the order Abdominales ; 

 teeth in the jaws and tongue ; gill mem- 

 brane with eight rays: vent near the 

 tail ; ventral fins many rayed. There are 

 four species. A sphyraena, or European 

 atherine, inhabits the Mediterranean, and 

 sometimes wanders to the British coast, 

 it is from two to four inches long ; body 

 round and tapering; back and sides, as 

 far as the lateral line, pale ash mixed 

 with green, below the line and belly fine 

 silvery ; the air-bladder is conic on both 

 sides, appearing as if covered with silver 

 leaf, and is used in the manufacture of ar- 

 tificial pearls. A. glossodonta, is a very 

 elegant species, found in the Red Sea : as 

 is also A. machnata ; but the other species, 

 A. Carolina, which is the size of a small 

 herring, is found in the fresh waters of 

 Carolina. 



ARGENTUM, vivum. See MERCURY. 



ARGIL. See ALUMINA. 



ARGONAUTA, in natural history, a 

 genus of worms, of the order Testacea. 

 Animal a sepia or clio ; shell univalve, 

 spiral, involute membranaceous, one cell- 

 ed. There are five species. A. argo has 

 the keel or ridge of the shell slightly 

 toothed on each side ; it inhabits the Me- 

 diterranean and Indian oceans, and is the 

 famous nautilus, supposed, in the early 

 ages of society, to have first taught men 

 the use of sails. When it means to sail 

 it discharges a quantity of water, by which 

 it is made lighter than the sea, and rising 

 to the surface, erects its arms, and throws 

 out a membrane between them, by which 

 means it is driven forwards like a vessel 

 \mder sail ; two of the arms it hangs over 

 the shell, to serve as oars or a rudder. 

 The shell is white or yellowish, with 

 smooth or knotty striae or ribs, which are 

 sometimes forked ; the keel is generally 

 brownish. 



ARGOPHYLLUM, in botany, a genus 

 of the Pentandria Monogynia class and 

 order. Calyx five- cleft, superior ; corol. 

 five-petalled ; nectary pyramidal, five- 

 ingled, as long as the corol ; capsule 



three-celled, many seeded : found in New 

 , Caledonia. 



ARGUMENT, in rhetoric and logic, an 

 inference drawn from premises, the truth 

 of which is indisputable, orat least highly 

 probable. 



The arguments of orators receive par- 

 ticular denominations, according to the 

 topics from whence they are derived: 

 thus, we meet with arguments from af- 

 fection, which interest the passions of the 

 person to whom they are addressed ; also 

 with the arguments a tuto, ad ignaviam, 

 ab invidia, &c. 



In reasoning, Mr. Locke observes, that 

 men ordinarily use four sorts of argu- 

 ments. The first is, to allege the opinions 

 of men, whose parts and learning, emi- 

 nency, power, or some other cause, has 

 gained a name, and settled their reputa- 

 tion in the common esteem, with some 

 kind of authority; this may be called argu- 

 mentum adverecundiam. Secondly, another 

 way is, to require the adversaries to admit 

 what they allege as a proof, or to assign 

 a better ; this he calls argwnentum ad 

 ignorcmtiam. A third way is, to press a 

 man with consequences, drawn from his 

 own principles or concessions ; this is 

 known by the name of argwnentwn ad ho- 

 minem. Fourthly, the using proofs drawn 

 from any of the foundations of knowledge 

 or probability ; this he calls argumentum 

 adjudidum; and observes, that it is the 

 only one of all the four that brings true 

 instruction with it, and advances us in our 

 way to knowledge. For, 1. It argues not 

 another man's opinion to be right, be- 

 cause I, out of respect, or any other con- 

 sideration, but that of conviction, will not 

 contradict him. 2. It proves not another 

 man to be in the right way, nor that 1 

 ought to take the same with him because 

 I know not a better. 3. Nor does it fol- 

 low that another man is in the right way, 

 because he has shewn me that 1 am in 

 the wrong ; this may dispose me, per- 

 haps, for the reception of truth, but helps 

 me not to it; that must come from prooftr 

 and arguments, and light arising from the 

 nature of things themselves, not from my 

 shamefacedness, ignorance, or error. See 

 the articles REASON and REASONING. 



ARGUMENT, in astronomy, denotes a 

 known arch, by means of which we seek 

 another one unknown 



The argument of the moon's latitude is 

 her distance from the node; and the ar- 

 gument of inclination is an arch of a pla- 

 net's orbit, intercepted between the as- 

 cending node and the place of the planet 

 from the sun, numbered according to the 

 succession of the signs. 



