A C A 



Venice, in 1 70 J, which meets weekly in a hall near the 

 pfTTind hoQjital ; another at Geneva, i:i 1715, in the' houfe 

 i)f M. le Cirrc. The colleges of phyficians at I^ondon and 

 ■ Edinbunrh, are alfo I>y fome raaked in the number of medi- 

 cal acadjniies. 



Academy of Nafur^ Curiofonim, in Germany, wai fird 

 founded in l6ji, by M. naiikli, a phyfieian, who invited 

 all pliylieians to communicate their extraordiiiaiy cafes, and 

 was elected prcfid^rit. Their works were at lirll publiflied 

 fcpara'tely ; but, in 1670, it was propofed to publlfh a vo- 

 lume of obfervatlons ever)- year. The liril volume appeared 

 in 16S4, under the title of Epliemerides, which was con- 

 tinued wit.h fome interruplions, and variations of the title, 

 &c. In 16S7, this academy was taken under the protec- 

 tion of the emperor Leopold, who granted the members 

 fevei-al privilege?, and particularly that their prefidents ihould 

 be counts palatine of the Roman empire. From him it has 

 been fometimes deiuminated the LeopoUine ncademi. 



This academy differs from all others, in that it has no 

 fixed relidence, or regular alfemblies ; inilea^ whereof is a 

 kmd of bureau, or office, fird cilublilhcd at Brefluw, after- 

 ward* removed to Nuremberg, where letters, obfcrvalions, 

 fee. from memb.rs and correfpoiidents are taken in. The 

 academy confilh of a prelident, two adjunfts, or fecretaries, 

 and colleagues or members. The colleagues, at their ad- 

 milTion, oblige tliemfelves to two things ; firft, -to choofe 

 fome fubject out of the animal, vegetable, or mineral king- 

 dojn to handle, provided it had not been treated of bv any 

 colleague before ; the fccond, to apply thcmielves to fiirnilh 

 materials for the annual Ephemeiidcs. Each member is to 

 bear a fymbol of the academy, iv's;. a gold ring, whereon, 

 inllead of a ftone, is a book open, and on the face thereof 

 an eye : on the other fide the motto of the academy, mm- 

 quam ot'tnfus, i.e. never idle. Sec the hiftory, laws, &c. of 

 tiiis academy, with the names of its members, and the titles 

 of its pieces, in Ephem. Germ. dec. I. an. i, & 2, Pref. 

 and the continuation of the fame in the prefaces and appen- 

 dices to the enfuing volumes. 



Academy, Mufcal, confifls of the managers and direc- 

 tors of the opera. 



An academy of tliis kind, called the Acmhmy of Ancient 

 Mujtc, was eftablifhed in London in 1710, by fcveral per- 

 fons of diftinclion, and other gentlemer, in conjunftion 

 ■with the mod eminent matters of the time, with a view to 

 the_ dudy and pi-ac"llce of vocal and inftrumental hannony. 

 This hiditution, which had the advantage of a library, con- 

 fiding of the mod celebrated compofitions both foreign and 

 domedic, in manufcript and in print, and wliich was aided by 

 the performances of the gentlemen of the chapel royal, and 

 the choir of St. Paul's, with the boys belonging to each, 

 continued to flouridi for many years. In 173 1, a charge 

 of plagiarifm brought againd Bononcini, a member of the 

 academy, for claiming a madrigal of Lottl of Venice as his 

 own, inteiTupted the harmony, and threatened the exidence 

 of the inditution. Dr. Greene, who had introduced the 

 ■•:iadrigal into the academy, took part with Bononcini, and 

 withdrew from the fociety, taking with him the boys of St. 

 Panl's. In 1734 Mr. Gates, another member of the fo- 

 ciety, and mader of the children of the roval chapel, re- 

 tired in difgud ; and it was thus deprived of the alFidance 

 which the boys afforded it in finging the foprano parts. 

 From this time the academy became a feminaiy for the in- 

 dructlon of youth in the principles of mufic, and the laws of 

 harmony. Dr. Pepufch, who was one of its founders, was 

 active m accomplifliing this meafure ; and bv the expedients 

 of educating boys for their purpofe, and admitting auditor 

 jnembcrs, the lubfidence of die academy was continued. 

 4 



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The royal acarlmy of Miiflc was formed by tlie principal 

 nobility and gentiy of the kingdom for the performance of 

 operas, compofed by Mr. Handel, and condufted by him at 

 the theatre in the Haymarket. The fubfcription amounted 

 to 50,000/. and the king, befides fubfcribing looo/., al- 

 lowed the fociety to alfume the title of R'jyal Academy. It 

 confided of a governor, deputy governor, and twenty di- 

 rcdtors. On occafion of a conteil between Handel and Se- 

 nefino, one of the perfomiers, in which the directors took 



r!,, 



the part of the latter, the academy was diifolved, after hav- 

 ing fubfided with reputation for more than nine years. 



'Academy, Navcd ; as that of Petedhurgh, and thofe in 

 England. See Academy. 



AcAiiEMV, Political, fuch as that of Paris, compofed of 

 fix pcrfons, who met on certain days each week at the 

 Louvre, in the ciiamber where the papers relating to fo- 

 reign affairs were lodged. Here they peruled fuch papers as 

 were put in their hands, by order of the fecretaiy for fo- 

 reign affairs, who acquainted the king with the progrefs they 

 made, and the capacities of each, that his majedy might em- 

 ploy them accordingly. 



Academies of Sciences chiefly denote thofe erefted for 

 improving natural and mathematical knowledge, otherwife 

 called philofophical and phyfic.d academies : Inch as the aca- 

 demy ftcrelontm nature, formed at Naples in the houfe of 

 Baptida Porta, about the year 1560, the fird academy of 

 the philofophical kii\d. It was fucceeded by the 



Academy ofLyncei, founded at Rome by Prince Fi-ederic 

 Cefi, towards the clofe of the fame centurs- ; fevcral of whofe 

 members rendered it famous by their difcoveries : the ce- 

 lebrated Galileo Galilei was of the number. 



Several other academies contributed alio to the advance- 

 ment of the fciences ; but it was by fpeculations, rather 

 than by repeated experiments on the phenomena of nature : 

 fuch were the academy of BefTarian at Rome, and that of 

 Laurence de Medieis at Florence, in the fifteenth century ; 

 in the fixteenth, that of Inlrammati at Padua, of Vegjna 

 Juoli at Rome, of Ortolani at Placentia, and of Umidi at 

 Florence. The firil of thefe iludied fire and pyrotechnia } 

 the fecond, wine and vineyards ; the third, gardens and pot- 

 herbs ; the fourth, water and hydraulics. Add to thefe, 

 that of Venice, called La V^eneta, founded by Frederic 

 Badoara, a noble Venetian ; another in the fame city, 

 whereof Ciimpegio, bidiop of Feltro, appears to have been 

 the chief; and that of Cofenza, or la Confentina, whereof 

 Bernadin Telefio, Sertorio Quatromanni, Paulus Aquinas, 

 Julio Cavaleanti, and Fabio Cicali, celebrated philofophers, 

 were the chief members. 



The compofitions of all thefe academies of the fixteenth 

 century were good in their kind, but none of them com- 

 parable to thofe of the Lyncei. 



Academy del Cimenlu made its appearance at Florence 

 fome years after the death of Torricelli, under the protec- 

 tion of Prince Leopold, afterwards cardinal de Medieis. 

 Galileo, Ton-icelli, Aggiunti, and Viviani, prepared the 

 way for it ; and fome of its chief memh.ers were Paid del 

 Buono ; who, in 1657, invented the indrument for evincing 

 tile incompreiribility of water, which was a thick globular 

 fliell of gold ; Alphonfus Borelli, Candide del Buono, bro- 

 ther of Paul, Alexander Marl'di, Vincent Viviani, Francis 

 Redi, and count Laurence Magalotti, were fome of its 

 chief members. The latter was fecretary of this aca- 

 demy, and publidied a volume of curious experiments in 

 1677, under the title of Saggi di Naturali Efperienze : a 

 copy of which being prefented to the Royal Society, wa« 

 tranflated into Enghlh by Mr. Waller, and publilhed at 

 London, in 4to. in 1684. 



Th« 



