AVE 



AVE 



enough; the usual produce is about 25 

 bushels to an acre, though I have some- 

 times known more than 30." But 40 

 bushels and more are certainly no unusual 

 crop. The American species are 9 in 

 number, according to Muhlenberg. 



AVERAGE, in commerce, signifies the 

 accidents and misfortunes which happen 

 to ships and their cargoes, from the time 

 of their loading and sailing to their return 

 and unloading; and is divided into three 

 kinds : 1. The simple or particular aver- 

 age, which consists in the extraordinary 

 expenses incurred for the ship alone, or 

 for the merchandizes alone. Such is, the 

 loss of anchors, masts, and rigging, occa- 

 sioned by the common accidents at sea ; 

 the damages which happened to mer- 

 chandize by storm, prize, shipwreck, 

 wet, or rotting ; all which must be borne 

 and paid by the thing which suffered the 

 damage. 2. The large and common aver- 

 age, being those expenses incurred, and 

 damages sustained, for the common good 

 and security both of the merchandizes 

 and vessels, consequently to be borne by 

 the ship and cargo, and to be regulated 

 upon the whole. Of this number are the 

 goods or money given for the ransom 

 of the ship and cargo, things thrown 

 over-board for the safety of the ship, the 

 expenses of unlading for entering into a 

 river or harbour, and the provisions and 

 hire of the sailors when the ship is put 

 tinder an embargo. 3. The small aver- 

 ages, which are the expenses for towing 

 and piloting the ship out, off, or into 

 harbours, creeks, or rivers, one-third of 

 which must be charged to the ship, and 

 two-thirds to the cargo. 



Average is more particularly used for a 

 certain contribution that merchants make 

 proportionably towards their losses. It 

 also signifies a small duty, which those 

 merchants who send goods in another 

 inan's ship pay to the master for his care 

 of them, over and above the freight. 

 Hence it is expressed in the bills of lading, 

 paying so much freight for the said goods, 

 with primage and average accustomed. 



AVERRHOA, in botany, a genus of the 

 Decandria Pentagynia class of plants, 

 whose flower consists of five lanceolated 

 petals ; the fruit is an apple of a turbinated 

 and obtuse pentagonal figure, containing 

 five cells, wherein are disposed angular 

 seeds, separated by membranes. There 

 are two species, trees, natives only of 

 India, and other warm parts of Asia; 

 singular for the fruit growing frequently 

 on the trunk itself, below the leaves. 

 The flower resembles that of the gerani- 

 um ; but the fruit is totally different : it 



is a poma, five-celled, and containing ma- 

 ny seeds. The A. bilimbi is described as 

 a beautiful tree, with green flesh fruit, 

 filled with a grateful acid juice : the sub- 

 stance and seeds not unlike those of a cu- 

 cumber : it grows from top to bottom, at 

 all the knots and branches. A syrup is 

 made of the juice, and a conserve of the 

 flowers. 



AVES, birds, the name of the second 

 class of animals, according to the Linnaean, 

 system. They have been described as 

 animals, having a body covered with fea- 

 thers and down ; jaws protracted and 

 naked ; two wings, formed for flight; and 

 two feet. They are aerial, vocal, swift, 

 and light, and destitute of external ears, 

 lips, teeth, scrotum, womb, bladder, epi- 

 glottis, corpus callosum and its arch, and 

 diaphragm. The feathers are disposed 

 over each other in the form of a quincunx, 

 intermixed with down, distinct from the 

 quill and tail feathers, convex above, con- 

 cave beneath, narrower on the outside, 

 lax at the fore-end, hollow and horny at 

 the base, with a central pith, and furnish- 

 ed on each side the elongated shaft with 

 parallel, approximate, distinct, and flat 

 laminae, composing the vane ; they vary 

 in colour, according to age, sex, season, 

 or climate, except the quill and tail fea- 

 thers, which are more constant, and chief- 

 ly characteristic. The eggs are various 

 in number, size, and colour, but always 

 covered with calcareous shell, deposited 

 in an artificial nest, and hatched by the 

 genial warmth of the parent. The body 

 is oval, terminated by a heart-shaped 

 rump, and furnished all over with aerial 

 receptacles,communicating with the lungs 

 or throat, necessary for flight or song, 

 and which may be filled or emptied at 

 pleasure ; the rump has two glands, se- 

 creting an unctuous fluid, which is press- 

 ed out by the bill, to anoint the discom- 

 posed parts of the feathers; the bill is 

 horny, extending from the head, either 

 hooked at the end for tearing the prey, 

 or slender for searching in the mire, or 

 flat and broad for gobbling; and is used 

 for building nests, feeding the young, 

 climbing, or as an instrument of offence 

 and defence ; eyes lateral, furnished with 

 orbits, and nictitant membrane; ears trun- 

 cate, without auricles; wings compressed, 

 consisting of moveable joints, and cover- 

 ed with quills and feathers; legs placed 

 usually near the centre of gravity, with 

 toes and claws of various shapes: tail 

 serving as the rudder or director of the 

 body ; they are mostly monogamous, or 

 live in single pairs, and migrate into mild- 

 er climates, upon defect of food o* 



