ART 



AR3P 



great probability might produce it, if ex- 

 ecuted by the hand of the mandatory, 

 and not that of another. 



ARTEDIA, a genus of the Pentandria 

 Dyginia class of plants, the general um- 

 bel of which is multiple, plane, and pa- 

 tent ; the partial umbel is small, but si- 

 milar: the general involucrum is com- 

 posed of about ten leaves ; they are of an 

 oblong oval figure, nearly of the length 

 of the umbel, and have three spines or 

 setse at their extremities : the partial in- 

 volucrum is composed of two or three 

 leaves, and turns outward : the general 

 corolla is diffbrm, and radiated ; the sin- 

 gle flowers of the disk are all males; they 

 consist each of five erect inflexo-cordate 

 petals; the single flowers of the radius 

 are all hermaphrodites ; they consist of 

 the same number of petals, but in these 

 the exterior one is larger than the rest, 

 and is divided into two parts; the fruit is 

 roundish, compressed, and divisible into 

 two parts ; the seeds are two, oblong, 

 and elegantly ridged at the edges, with 

 round squammse. 



ARTEL, in commerce, a name given 

 to a commercial association, consisting of 

 a certain number of labourers, who vo- 

 luntarily become responsible, as a body, 

 for the honesty of each individual. The 

 separate earnings of each man are put 

 into the common stock ; a monthly allow- 

 ance is made for his support : and at the 

 nd of the year the surplus is equally di- 

 vided. The number varies in different 

 associations from 50 to 100; and it is 

 considered so beneficial to belong to one 

 of these societies, that 500, and e.ven 1000 

 rubles are paid for admission. These 

 societies are not bound by any law of the 

 empire, or even written agreement; nor 

 does the merchant restrain them under 

 any legal obligation; yet there has been 

 no instance of their objecting to any just 

 claim, or of protecting an individual whose 

 conduct had brought a demand on the 

 society. Hence arises the denomination 

 of Artilschisks, who are persons employ- 

 ed by the Russian merchants of St. Pe- 

 tersburg 1 , to collect payment on bills, to 

 receive and pay money, and also to super- 

 intend the loading and unloading of the 

 different cargoes. These Russians are 

 mostly natives of Archangel, and the ad- 

 jacent governments, of the lowest class ; 

 they are frequently slaves, generally of 

 the crown ; and vet the merchant has no 

 reason to distrust their fidelity, partly 

 from the nature of their association, and 

 partly from the natural reluctance of the 



Russian to betray the confidence that Is 

 reposed in him. 



ARTEMISIA, in botany, a genus of 

 plants of the Syngenesia Superflua class 

 and order. Essen, char, receptacle naked 

 or villous ; calyx imbricate, with rounded 

 connivent scales; florets of the margin 

 subulate, very entire. This genus is se- 

 parated into four divisions ; A. shrubs or 

 undershrubs ; of these there are fourteen 

 species : the most remarkable is A. abro- 

 tanum, southern-wood, which seldom 

 grows more than three or four feet high. 

 In some gardens, where the soil is well 

 adapted to its nature, it has been seen 

 much higher : but in mountainous situa- 

 tions, it is low and slender, with the stems 

 lying on the ground. It is bitter and aro- 

 matic, with a very strong smell. It is 

 rarely used in medicine but as an ingre-* 

 dient in discutient and antiseptic fomen- 

 tations. The branches dye wool yellow. 

 B. herbaceous, with the stem quite sim- 

 ple ; flowers racemed : of these there are 

 ten species. C. herbaceous ; stem more 

 or less branched ; flowers panicled ; 

 leaves compound : there are about forty 

 species of this division, among which is, 

 1. A. absinthium, common wormwood, a 

 plant well known in this country. It is 

 found wild in almost every part of Eu- 

 rope, in rocky places by the road-sides, 

 among rubbish, about farm-yards ; flow- 

 ering from July to October. The leaves 

 and flowers are very bitter, the roots are 

 warm and aromatic. A considerable 

 quantity of oil arises from it in distilla- 

 tion, which is used, both externally and 

 internally, to destroy worms. The leaves 

 put into sour beer destroy the acescency. 

 They resist putrefaction, and are there- 

 fore a principal ingredient in antiseptic 

 fomentations. An infusion of them is a 

 good stomachic, and with the addition of 

 a fixed alkali, a powerful diuretic in drop- 

 sical cases. The ashes afford a purer 

 alkali than most other vegetables, ex- 

 cepting bean-stalks, broom, and the larger 

 trees. 2. A. vulgaris, mugwort, found 

 wild over the greatest part of Europe, 

 China, Japan, &c. on the borders of fields 

 and ditch-banks, by way-sides, in waste 

 places, and about farm-yards. It is used 

 in some countries as a culinary aromatic. 

 A decoction of it is taken by the common 

 people to cure the ague. The moxa of 

 Japan is prepared from this species. 

 The leaves are collected in June, dried 

 in the shade, and beat in a mortar till they 

 become like tow ; this suostance is then 

 rubbed between the hands, till the harder 



