A C O 



AGO 



;^«iua!i;, to fie dnvn, or Jli-f/i in Icif, a nnme jjiven to eci- 

 tr.in monks in tlie ancient duncli, who flourilhcd pai iicularly 

 in tlie eail about the fifth century : and who were thus 

 caKed, becaufe tliey had diviiie ferviec performed, without 

 interruption in their churches. They divided thtinftlves 

 into three bodies, each of which ofRciated in their turn, and 

 rcheved the others ; fo that their churches were never filent, 

 cither night or day. The Stylites were alfo fometimes 

 called acoemetx. Wetftein (Proleg. N. T. vol. i. p. lo) 

 adopts the conjefture of Cafimir Oudin, that the Alex- 

 andrian MS. was written by an Acoemet, becaufe it con- 

 tains a catalogue of the pfalras that were to be fung at every 

 hour, not only of the day but of the night. Thefe monks 

 are particularly defcribed by Helyot in vol. i. c. 29. of his 

 " Hiftoire des Ordres Monaftiques," &c. in 8 tomes 410. 

 Paris, 1720. 



There is a kind of acoemctae ftill fubfifting in the Romifh 

 church ; the religious of the holy facramcnt may be properly 

 included under this denomination, becaufe they maintain a 

 perpetual worfhip ; fome or other of them praying before 

 the facrameut, day and night. 



AC OLA, in Ancient Geography, a town placed by Pto- 

 lemy in Media, on the borders of the H)-rcanian fea. 



AcoLA, Cala Bini,'m Geography, the moil fouthern cape or 

 point of land of the ifland of Minorca, S.W. of fort St. Philip, 

 or the entrance of Mahon harbour, feven or eight miles. 



ACOLASTRE, in Geography, a river of France, which 

 runs into the Loire, two leagues above Nevers. 



ACOLCHICHL >" Ornithology, the Mexican name of a 

 bird defcribed by Nieremberg under the name of the Pte- 

 ROPHOENicus /«^/;7r«H;. It is the Ori o Lus ^Zi<r/;/<:»j- of 

 Linnaeus. The acohiLi of Seba is the Oriolus No-oie Hijpamte 

 of Gmelin,the Ideriu Jllcxicanusoi Brifl'on, and the Alexican 

 Oriole of Latham. Its fpecific charafters are, that it is yel- 

 low : the head, throat, wing-quills, and tail are black ; the 

 greater quills of the wings are yellow at the tip, and the 

 lefTer are wholly black. This bird has a long yellow bill ; 

 and the tail and wings are ornamented with fmall feathers of 

 a golden colour, which have a fine effeS on the dark ground. 

 Seba reckons it an American bird ; and Gmelin refers it to 

 Kew Spain. 



ACOLHUACAN, in Geography, one of the three im- 

 perial cities of the ancient kingdom of Mexico. 



ACOLIN, a river of France, which runs into the Loire 

 two leagues below Dccize. 



AcoLiN, in Ornithology, the name of a bird of the par- 

 tridge kind, common in the Spanilli Weft Indies. It is no 

 larger than a ftarling ; its legs and feet are of a pale greenidi 

 colour, and its toes very long ; its beak is yellow, and fome- 

 what long; its head fmall; its breaft and belly are white; 

 its fides are fpotted with brown, and its back and tail of a 

 duflvy yellow brown ; its tail is very Oiort, and both that 

 and the back have fome black fpots, and fome narrow fti-eaks 

 of white. It frequents the fides of lakes, and is fuppofed 

 to feed on flics, worms, and other infefts, which are found 

 about watery places. It is a tolerably well-tafted bird. 



ACOLLITHI, orAcOLYTHi, m Antiquity, a term ap- 

 plied to fuch perfons as were fteady and immoveable, in their 

 relolutions. 



The word Axo\a&o<; is compounded of the privative a, ; and 

 x£^!l/9of, -via, -way ; and implies their ftill perfifting in their 

 way or courfe. 



For this reafon, the Stoics were called acolythi; becaufe 

 nothing could induce them to abandon their principles or 

 alter their pui'pofes. 



Among the Ecclefuijlical Writers, the term acolylhus, or 

 acolythifii is- peculiarly appli^id to thofe young people, who 



in the primitive times sfpired to the n.iniflry ; and for that 

 purpofe, continually attended the bilhops : wliich alFiduiiy 

 oecafioned their being dillinguiflied iiy this appellation. 



In the Romiih church, m'/Zv/A; were of longer continu- 

 ance ; but their funAions were differci-.t from thofe of liicir 

 firft inftitution. They -vert' fuch as had onlv received the 

 fu It of the four lellcr orders, whofe hullncfs was lo li;fht the 

 tapers, carry the candleilicks, the incenfc-pot, and prepare 

 the wine and water. 



At Rome there were three kinds of acolvthi ; v'u.. palatini, 

 who waited on the pope ; Jlalionarii, who lerved in churches; 

 and regionarii, who, togetlier with the deacouj, officiated in 

 other parts of the city. 



AcoLUTHi, or acolylhus, was alfo a title in the Grecian 

 empire given to the captain or commander of the varanci, 

 a body of guards appointed for the fecurity of the emperor's 

 palace. 



ACOLUTHUS, Andrew, in Biograpfiy, was an arch- 

 deacon, and profeffor of the Oriental languages at Hrellaw, 

 his native city, and member of the academy of Berlin. He 

 publidied, in 1682, a Treatife De Aquis Amaris, in 4to. 

 At Leipfic he publilhed, in 1680, a Latin tranllation of the 

 Armenian veriion of the Prophecy of Obadiali. He died 

 at Breflaw in 1704. 



ACOLYTHIA, in the Greek church, denotes the 

 office, or order of divine fervice. 



The iame name is alio given to the prayers, ceremonies, 

 hymns, and the like, whereof the Greek fervice is compofed. 

 ACOMA, and AcoMACH, in Gc^jraphy. See Ac- 

 coma and 7\ccoMACH. 



ACOMAS, in Botany. See Homalium. 

 ACOMINATLTS, Nicetas, Ir Biography, fecretary to 

 Alexius Comnenus, and to Ifaacus Angelus, who wrote a 

 hiftory from the death of the former in 1 1 1 8, where Zonaras 

 ended his, to the year 1203, which is much approved. 



ACON, an inilrument ufed in the ancient exercifes, like 

 the dijcus. 



Ac ON gave name to an ancient order of knighthood, 

 who were afterwards united to the knights Hojpitalers. 



ACON7E, in Ancient Geography, a fmall town of Bi- 

 thynia, near Heraclea. 



ACONCAGUA, in Geography, a village or town of 

 Chih, in S. America, which gives denomination to a fertile 

 province at the foot of the Cordellieres, fituatcd on a river 

 of the fame name, that difcharges itfelf into the pacific 

 ocean. N. lat. 33°. W. long. 75^^ 36'. 



ACONCROBA, in Botany, a name given by the na- 

 tives of Guinea to a plant, growing wild with them, and in 

 great efteem for its virtues in the fmall -pox. They give an 

 infufion of it in wine. The leaves of this plant are opake, 

 and as ftiff as thofe of the phillerey ; tkey grow in pairs, 

 and ftand on (liort foot-ftalks ; they are fmall at each end 

 and broad in the middle ; and the largell of them are about 

 three inches in length, and an inch and a quartcT in breadth 

 in the middle. They fomewhat refemblc thofe of our bay. 

 They are of a dud'Cy colour on the upper fide, and of a pale 

 green underneath. 



ACONE, in the Natural Hijlory of the ancients, the 

 name of a ftone iifed as a whetllone, and for feveral other 

 purpofes ; but more ufually known among the Romans by 

 the name coticula. It fignifies alfo a mortar for the 

 purpofe of Icvigation. 



ACONITE, in Botany. See Aconitum 

 Aconite, Winter. See Helleborus. 

 ACONITES, in Ancient Geography, a people placed by 

 Strabo, (torn. i. p. 344) in the mouutains of the ifla 1 ! of 

 bardiitia. 



ACONITI, 



