A C A 



feme parts of Arab!a, and w-as the root of the amgaVa of 

 Avicenna and others. 



ACANTH I A, in Entomology, a genus of the clafs oi Ryn- 

 gota, in the diftribution of Fabriciuf, and forming a divilion 

 in the arrangement of the Cimex by Gniilln, in his edition 

 of Linnaeus. The acanthiie of Fabrlcius have no lip, and 

 Gmehn comprehends inider this disifion llie apcrh tlie co- 

 leoptraii, and the membranace'i. 



ACANTHIAS, in Ichtbyoln^y, a name given by fome 

 authors to the filh, tlie flcin of wliich is ufed by our artifi- 

 cers in polifhing, and called by them fimply iilh-flcin. In 

 the Linnasan fyftem it is a fpecies of squalus, and the 

 ^/V/J«/ DOG-FISH of the Britilh zoology. A variety of this 

 is mentioned by Gmeliii, and defcrlbed under the name of 

 Squnliii Feniandlnus. Its dorfal fins are fpinofe like the other, 

 and its body round and ocellated. It is found in all fcas, 

 and rarely in the Baltic. Its length is about three and a half 

 feet. Acanth'uxs is alfo a fpecies of Gasti: rosteus, with 

 four fmall fpines before the dorfal fin, and three rays 

 appertaining to the branchiollegous membrane. It is fouitd 

 in the Danilh feas. See Galeus Acanlhias. 



ACANTHICE, majlich, among ancient Naturalifls, a 

 kind of gum, yielded by the herb htlxine. Gaza explains 

 it hy f pit! alts viajlicha. Plin. Hift. Nat. 1. xxi. c. l6. Hard. 

 Not. tom. ii. p. 2 JO. 



ACANTHINE, in Andtnt Geography, an ifland men- 

 tioned by Ptolemy, in the Arabian gulph on the fide of Egypt. 



AcANTH IN E, acanth'tnns, denotes a thing relating to, or re- 

 fembling the herb acanthus. 



In this fenfe, we read of acanth'ma vejiimenta, acanth'me 

 ganncnts, of which we have two different explications. 

 Some underftand by it a kind of embroidery, wrought in 

 imitation of the Egyptian acanthus or thorn, whofe fmall 

 fprigs are much interlaced. Others will have it a peculiar 

 kind of filken ftuff, made of the lanugo, or down ot a plant 

 of the thiftle kind, growing in Sicily and the Eaft. Phn. 

 Hiit. Nat. 1. xxiv. c. 12. Hard. Not. tom. li. p. 343. 



AcANTHiNOM lignum is ufed by fome writers for brazil 

 ■wood. 



ACANTHION, among Nulm-a/ijls, a plant of the thorn, 

 or rather of the thiille kind ; whole down, being cleanfed 

 from the prickles, was manufaftured into a kind of fluff, 

 not unlike filk. Plin. ubi fupra. See Onopordum. 



ACANTH IS, in OmillyJo^y. See Goldfinch. 



ACANTHOCEPHALUS, in Natural Hi/lory, a name 

 given to the Echinorhynchus carpwnls, a fpecies of 

 worm which is found in the iiiteftines of the carp. 



ACANTHOPTERYGII, derived from axavfe, a //w/;, 

 or prickle, and 'alt^xjyim, a fin, in Natural Hi/lory, a term 

 ufed by Artedi to exprefs one of the general claffcs or fa- 

 mihes of fifhes ; the charafter of which is, that the rays of the 

 fins are bony, and fome of them prickly at the extremities. 



ACANTHOS, Acanthus, or Achantus, in Ancient 

 Geography, a town of Egypt, near Memphis, nov/-Bifalta ; 

 or, according to Savary (v. i. p. 484), correfponding with 

 the prcfent Dachhour, whither the waters ot the Nile nre 

 condnfted by a canal, and near which is the ruin of the 

 temple of Ofiris, and to the weft of it a great pyramid. 

 (Strabo, tom. ii. 1163.) Alfo a maritime town of Mace- 

 donia, a colony of Andrians ; now ErifTo : near which was 

 fhewn Xerxes's ditch of feven ftadia, in order to feparate 

 Mount Athos from the continent, and convey his fhlps, 

 without doubling Athos, into the Singitic bay. Herodotus, 

 1. vii. c. 121, &c. Pliny, Nat. Hiil. tom. i. p. 202. 

 Acanthus is alfo a town of Epirus. 



ACANTHRUS, in Natural Hijlory, a name given to the 

 Echinorhynchus tvr/.v//V/w, which is found in the intcf- 

 tines of niany difTaent fpecies of lith. 



A C A 



ACANTHUS, Btnr''t Breech Or Dmnc-Vrfmf, In Bo. 

 tany, a genus of the ilijynnmia ani^ivflvrmij clafs, and be- 

 longing to tiic natural order of )'rrfonals; of which the 

 generic chambers arc thrfe : the calyx is a periantiiium, 

 with leaflets in three alternate pairs, unequal and permanent ; 

 the corolla is fingle-pctalled and unequal, having a fliorl tube 

 clofed with a beard, no upper-lip, wry large under-lip, 

 which is flat, llraight, verj' broad, three^lobed, oblufe, 

 and of the length of the upper-lip of the calyx ; the llamin.i 

 have four filaments, fubulate, fliorter than the corolla, the 

 two upper rather longer, recurved, and incurved at the top ; 

 the anthers are obk)ng, comprefled, obtufe, the lateral om s 

 parallel, and villous before ; the pillillum has a conital 

 germ, liliform llylc, of the length of the ilamens, and two 

 acute lateral ftigmas ; the periearplum is a fiibovate pointed 

 capfule, two-celled and two-valved, with a contrary parti- 

 tion, alternate claws, curved, and fadened to the partition ; 

 the feed is ovate, and gibbous, and fingle ; fometiincs double. 

 There are ten fpecies: 1. 'V\\e fmoolh acnnlhiis, with white 

 flowers, proceeding from about the middle to the top of 

 the flalk, is the fpecies ufed in medicine under the name of 

 Branca urfna or Branlurfine. It is a native of Italy, about 

 Naples, of Sicily, Provence, and the illands of the Archipe- 

 lago, and is cultivated in our gardens, and flowers in June and 

 July. Turner (in his Herbal iuHort. Kew.) informs us, that it 

 cultivated in Slon gardens fo long ago as the year 1551. 

 The leaves, and particularly the roots, abound with a foft, 

 infipid mucilage, which may be readily extrafted, either by 

 boiling, or by infufion. Reftified fpirit, digefled on the 

 leaves, extrafts from them a fine deep green tinfturc, which 

 is more durable than that which is communicated to fpirit 

 by other herbs. Brani nijl.ie is feldom or ever ufed medi- 

 cinally in this country. But where it is common, it is em- 

 ployed for the fame purpofes to which the Althxa orMarfti- 

 mallow, and other mucilaginous vegetables are apjJ'.ed among 

 us. In foreign countries thecow-parfnep is faid tobefubfti- 

 tuted for it, though it polfefTcS very different propertied. 

 The laft edition of Linnaus by Gmelin, contains twelve 

 fpecies. 



The ancients have not only called the herb bear's brecfh 

 by this name, but alfo a thorny tree growing in Egypt. 



An accurate examination of the ancient writers will, how- 

 ever, fhew very plainly, that they meant tv.o very dlffennt 

 vegetables under this name. Virgil has two veiy different 

 plants under the fame name. The acanthus with which he 

 adorns the handles of Aleimedon's cups, in the 3d Eclogue, 

 jiid places in the Corycian's garden, in the 4th Georgic, 

 and the Egyptian acanthus of Theophraftus, are two very 

 different plants, Virgil mentions another acanthus as being an 

 ever-green plant, and producing berries, or a fmall round 

 fruit; l/accas femper frunilcntis acanthi, are his words; and 

 Theophraftus tells us, that his Egyptian acanthus is a jirick- 

 ly tree, and bears pods like thofc of beans. The Greek 

 fculptors adorned their works w ith the figure of the latter ; 

 as the Gothic did with that of the former, which they re- 

 prefented not only in their capitals, but alfo in other orna- 

 ments. It is plain, that the r*.-anthus of Tlv.ophi-aflus is 

 the acacia, a tree, from fome fpecies of which we have the 

 gum arable now in ufe : and the acanthus of Virg'l, men. 

 tloned in the places above clttd, is a garden he-b, defcribcd 

 by Diofcoridcs, under the name of Axa.??., which is fuppof^ed 

 to be the fpecies of acanthus already noticed, though Lin- 

 n-Tus takes it to be the fourth Cp/cies. The oilier acanthus, 

 iiieutioned by Virgil in the fouith Eclogue, and fec>.ncl 

 Georgic, is the acanthus of Theophraftus. See ProfilFor 

 J. Martyn's notes on Virgil. 



The leaves of this fpecies of acanthus accidental'y grovf- 

 ino- rouad a baflict covertd with a tile, gave occdlii'u to 



Caili. 



