A C O 



treatife on method, inlklcd " De Melhodo, five de ReiSa 

 iiivclHgaudi\nmi tradL-iidarumque allium et fcieiitianim la- 

 tione," which was piihlKhcd at Bafil in 1558, and inl'eited 

 ill a collection of dilVcrtations, " Dc Studiis bene inlli- 

 tuendis," printed at I'tieclit in 1658; an Italian work, on 

 fortifying cities, tranflatcd by himfclf into Latin, but never 

 piibliihed ; and a treatile of Logic, whicli lie did not hve to 

 tinilli. His religious pnnciples differed from tliofe of Cal- 

 vin ; and he was an avowed friend to toleration. He has 

 been charged with fcepticifni in theology, and rcfeired by 

 Ifaac Junius, minillcr of Delft, to the fame clafs with So- 

 cinuB aiid the llemonllrants, who reprefents him as a per- 

 t)n defirous of reducing all feds into one, and including 

 them in the fame ark, as Noali prcferved all animals in his, 

 though they lived on different food. Arminius fays of him, 

 *' Acmt'ius eft divinum prudentia:, ac moderationis lumen :" 

 and Amefuis gives him this character. " Idem Aconthts eft 

 onalrlz'o; sv Txif yfapxi;, qui fementem ecclefiae anghcanas 

 calore et rore coelelli fovit fedulo." Gen. Dift. Biog. Didl. 



AcoNTiUM, in AutienI Geography, a city of Pelopon- 

 nefus in Arcadia, which derived its name according to Pau- 

 fanias, from Acontius, the fon of Lycaon. There was 

 another town of the fame name in the ifland of Euboea. 



ACONTIUS Moiu, a mountain of Bceotia in Greece, 

 in which was built the town of Orchomenes. Strabo. 



T. I. p. 6.S7. 



ACOOTAN TJland, in Geography, lies north-eaft from 

 the point of Onemak, or the fouth-weft point of the con- 

 tinent of America ; and between thcfe is a channel. 



ACOPA, in Botany, a name given by Diofcorides, and 

 fbme other authorsj to the Menvanthes /;-i/o.Wfl, or buck- 

 bean. 



AcOPA, derived from a privative, and xoot,-, t-jearlnefs, 

 \n Medicine, is alfo ufcd to denote remedies againft the 

 ill confequences proceeding from laffitude, occafioned by 

 too violent labour, exercife, or the like ; fuch as tenfions, 

 tumors psins in the bones, &c. fome being of a wann, and 

 ethers of a mollifying nature. But the title is improperly 

 applied to medicines, as none are adapted to this purpoie, 

 fxcept by a general quality. Cullen's, Mat. Med. vol. i. 

 p. 162. 



ACOPIS, or Acopos, a fubflance clafTed by Pliny among 

 the gems of which he gives the following account. Acopos 

 refembles Natron, is porous, and llarred with golden drops. 

 Oil that has been boiled upon this, is ufed as an ointment 

 to prevent the etfedl of fatigue. PUny, Nat. Hift. xxxvii. 54. 



ACOPOS, a plant mentioned by Pliny, faid to be the 

 fame with the anagyris of Diofcorides, which Gerard 

 fays is the bean-trefoil ; it fignities alfo Laburnum. 



ACOR fignilies fourncfs or acrimony. 



ACORACA, in Antient Geography, a town of Chaly- 

 BOViTis, a prefecUire of S^nia. 



ACORDINA denotes Indian tutty. 



ACORIS, a fmall town of Egypt in the nome of Cy- 

 nopoUs, in the province of Hcptanomis, 



ACORN, in Ndljiral Hijldfy and Agriculture, denotes 

 the fruit of trees of the oak kind. 



The acorn, according to Dr. Grew, is the nut of an oak, 

 with this only difference, that befides the cup it ftands in, 

 it has only a leathern or parchment cover, inftcad of a 

 ftiell. And hence it is, that whereas the kernel of a nut is 

 fwect, tliat of an acorn is of a verj' rough and bitter tafte ; 

 the auftere parts of the fap, vvhicji in a nut are drained off 

 ijito the ftcU, being here imbibed by the ke.'-nel itfelf. 

 Writers on hufbandry give diredlions concerning feminaries 

 or nurferies of acorns, and the method of propagating, by 

 /owing or planting them. For tiir.ber, thoft acojiis are to 



AGO 



be chofen as seec, which are moft folid and heavy, and not 

 tluife which are the largeih See Oak. 



In the Phil. Tranf. vol. Iviii. p. 75. we have a curioui 

 and important memoir by John Ellis, P"fq. containing a 

 method of preferviiig acorns in bees-wax for a whole year, 

 in a ilate fit for vegetation, by which other feeds may alfo 

 be preferred ; and fuch as are valuable may be brought from 

 the Eaft Indies, for the pui-pofe of planting them in other 

 countries. See Seed. 



Acorns were the food of the firft ages ; but when corn 

 was cultivated, acorns were neglected. They are of little 

 ufe with us, except for fattening hogs and other cattle, and 

 poultry. The hogs that are fattened by them will be lub- 

 jecl to conftipation, and the difeafe called the garget, uiilefs 

 they are given fpanngly, and mixed with fome laxative fub-' 

 ftances : and, during the ufe of them, the hogs fliould be 

 allowed to run at large ; for if they are confined to the ilye, 

 they will not grow fat with this kind of food. Among the 

 Spaniards, the acorn, or glans ibcrica, is faid to have long 

 remained a delicacy, and to have been ferved up in the form 

 of a defert. In dearths, acorns have been fometimes dried, 

 ground into meal, and baked as bread. Bartholin relates, 

 that they are ufed in Norway for this purpofe. The inha- 

 bitants of Chio held out a long liege, without any other 

 food ; and in a time of fcarcity in France, A. D. 1709, they 

 recurred to this food. But they are faid to be hard of di- 

 geftion, and to occafion head-achs, ventoiities and colics. 

 In Smoland, however, many inftances occur, in which they 

 have fupphed a falutaiy and nutritious food. With this 

 view they are previoufly boiled in water and feparated from 

 their hufks, and then dried and ground ; and the powder is 

 mixed with about one half or one third part of corn-flour. 

 A decoiSlion of acorns is reputed good againft dyfenteries 

 and colics : and a peffary of them is faid to be ufeful in 

 immoderate fluxes of the menfes. Some have recommended 

 the powder of acorns in intermittent fevers ; and in Brunf- 

 wick they mix it with warm ale, and adminifter it for pro- 

 ducing a fweat in cafes of the eiyfipelas. Acorns roafled and 

 bruifed have reftrained a virulent diarrhsea. For other me- 

 dical ufes to which they have been applied, fee Murray's 

 Appar. Medic, vol. i. p. 100. 



From fome late reports of the Academy of Sciences at 

 Peterfturgh, we learn that acorns are the beft fubftitute to 

 coffee that has been hitherto known. To communicate to 

 them the oily properties of coffee, the following piocefs i* 

 recommended. Wlieu the acorns have been toafted brown, 

 add frefh butter in fmall pieces to them, while hot in the 

 ladle, and ftir them with care, or cover the ladle and Ihake 

 it that the whole may be well mixed; The acorns of the 

 holm oak are formed at Venice into cups, about i \ inch in 

 diameter, and fomewhat lefs in depth. They are ufed for 

 dreffing leather, and, inftcad of galls, for dying woollen 

 cloth black. 



Acorn, in Sea-language, denotes a little ornamental piece 

 of wopd in the (hape of a cone, fixed on the top of the 

 fpindle on tlie maft-head, above the vane, to keep it from 

 coming off the fpindle in a whirlwind, or when the (hip leans 

 much upon one fide under fail. 



AcoRti-fhell. See Lepas. 



ACORUS, derived from xcpn, the />«///, becaufe it was 

 eHeemed good for diforders of the eye, Calamus Aroma- 

 ticuj, SiL'eet Flag or S'-VMt RuJJj, in Botany, a genus of 

 the monogynia order, and hexandria clafs of plants, and 

 belonging to the natural order of piperit<f. T'le charaftera 

 are, that the caiy>; is a cylindric, fimple fpadix, covered 

 with flofcules, without fpatha or perianthlum ; the corolla is 

 compofcd of fix petals, cbtufe, concave, loufc, thicker at tha. 



top. 



