A C R 



A C R 



ACROAMA, formed from ax(.!i«of<«i, to heni; in jliit'i- 

 iju'tty, a name given by the Romans to amuling talis, wtiicli 

 they recited at their repalls. The appellation was alio given 

 to thofe who played on mufical inflruments, in contradiiUiic- 

 tion to thoie who Inng. 



ACROAMATIC, in a general fenfe, denotes a thing 

 fublime, profound, or abllrnfe ; and in this fenfe it is op- 

 pofcd to exoteric. There are few fcfts oi' profelFlons, that 

 have not two modes of teaehing, if not two forts of doc- 

 trine ; an acroamatic for adepts and proficients, and an exo- 

 teric for novices. We find traces of Lais diilindtion among 

 the heathens, as well as among clinician divines, philofo- 

 phers, and chemifti. Hence proceeded the ceremonies of 

 initiations and ablutions, and the difcipline of fecrccy ; and 

 hence alfo the origin of fables, senigmas, parables, lym- 

 bols, &;c. 



Acroamatic is femetimes alfo ufed for any thin^ kept 

 fecret, or remote from popular life : in which fenfe Reim- 

 inan gives the title Bibliotheca Acioamatica, to a defcr'ption 

 of the MSS. in the library of Vienna, abridged from the 

 vaft commentaries of Lair.bccius and Neflelius. 



ACROAMATICI, in Philofiphy, a denomination given 

 to the diicipks or followers of Arilloile, &c. who were ad- 

 mitted into the fecrets of the inner or acroamatic phi- 

 lolophy. 



ACROATHON, in ^Indent Geography, a town fituate 

 on the top of Mount Athos, where, according to Mela, 

 cited by CcUarius, the age of the inhabitants was half as 

 long again as that of thofe who lived in other countries. It 

 is called by the modern Greeks, A^iov o^g;, and by the Ita- 

 lians, J. a Cir,ia ch Monte Santlo. 



ACROATICS, a name given to Ariftolle's leAures in 

 the more difficult and curious parts of jjhilofophy, to which 

 none but his dilciples and tntimate friends were admitted ; 

 vhercas the exoteric were public or open to all : but there 

 are other differences. The acioatic were fet apart for the 

 higher and more abftrufe lubjefts ; the exoteric were em- 

 ployed in rhetorical and civil fpeculations. Again, the 

 acroatics were more fimple and exacl:, as they aimed at evi- 

 dence and demonlhation ; the exoterics chiefly aimed at the 

 probable and plauilble. The foiTner were the fubjeft of the 

 morning excrciles in the LyceflJi, the latter of tlioie in the 

 evening. Befides, the exoterics were pubhflied, whereas 

 the acroatics were kept fecret, being either entirely eon- 

 ceaUd, or if they were publiflied, it was in fuch obfcure 

 terms, that few but his own ditciples would be the wiier for 

 them. Hence, when Alexander complained of his preceptor 

 for prblifhing his acroatics, and thus revealing what Ihould 

 have been refei-ved to his difciples ; Ariitotle anfwered, that 

 they were made public and not public, becaufe none who had 

 not heard them explained by the author, v'vvn voce, would 

 underftand them. Pint, in Alex. Stanley's Hid. Philof. 



It has been i'uppofed, fays Dr. Gillies, in his trannation 

 of Ariftotle's Ethics and Politics, that, in thtfe two kinds 

 of lectures, the Stagyrite maintained contradictoiy doftrines 

 on the fubjefts of religion and morality. But the faft is far 

 otherwife : his pradtieal tenets were uniformly the fame in 

 botli ; but his exoteric, or popular treatiies, nearly reieni- 

 bhd the philol'ophic dialogues of Plato, or Cicero; wliereas 

 his acmatic writings Contained, in a concife energetic ilyle, 

 peculiar to himfeli, thofe deep and broad principles on which 

 all folid fcience is built, 



ACROBATES, in j1r.tim,ity, a name given to rope. 



tlmic.-rs ; of thefe there were four forts : the firil vaulted or 



tumbled on a rope, fometimes fufpending themfelves by the 



ncc'-i or foot, Sic. i the Iccond ilid from a liigh ftation along 



Vot. I. 



a rope, upon wliich their breall reded, and with their armt 

 and legs extended, as if tliev flew : othiTS run along a rope, 

 which was obliquely extended fmm a low to a high ftation : 

 and thofe of the lalt fort, danced, leaped, and performed 

 oilier kinds of feats on a rope Ihetched horizontally many 

 feet above the rround. 



ACROBATICA, or Acrobaticum, fonned ofaxfo,-, 

 kixl>, and /salii;, or /Sciw, / i;o, an ancient engine, by whicli 

 people were raifed aloft, that ihey might fee more conveni- 

 ently about them. This was the fame among the Greeks, 

 with what they call feanforium among the Latins. 



Authors are noi agreed as to the ufe of this engine. Tur- 

 nebus and Barbarus fuppofe, tliat it was of the militai-y 

 kind, raifed by befiegers high enough to overlook the walls, 

 and difcover the (late of things on the other fide, lialduj 

 rather fuppofes it to be a kind of moveable fcafTold, or cradle, 

 contrived for railing painters, plaifterers, and other work- 

 men to the tops of houfes, trees, &:c. Some fufpeft that 

 it migiit have been ufed for both pui-pofes. Vitruvius and 

 Aquinas. 



ACROCERAUNIA, in Jucicnt Gec^rnphy, fo called 

 from UKio;, high, and x'fxovof, thunder, becaufe they were 

 lofty, and often thunder-ltrnek ; mountains of Epirus, run- 

 ning out into tiie fea, under N. lat. 40° 2J'. extending from 

 W. to E. as far as Pindns, and feparating the Ionian fca 

 from the Adriatic, now called J\Ionfi ile!hi Chimera. \'irgil 

 (Georg. i. 332. and jTln. iii. 506.) calls them Cernunia. 

 They derived their name from the town of Acroceraunia, 

 now called Chimera, which is at the foot of the mountain, 

 in the gulf of Chimera. The inhabitants, called Chimeriots, 

 are favage robbers ; they give their name to a promontor)' of 

 the Adriatic fea. 



ACROCHIRISMITS, axpexEif.ir/x^, among the yJn- 

 ciciits, a kind of gymnaftic exercife, wherein the two parties 

 contended only with their hands and fingers, without clof- 

 ing, or engaging the other parts of the body. 



The word is alfo written acrochirejts, and acrochiria : it is 

 originally Greek, foniied from axfox^'f, the part employed 

 in this combat, which fomc would ncedlefsly rertrain to 

 the tips of the fingers ; though the etymon does not make 

 this neceflaiy. 



Some make this a diftinft exercife from wredling, and 

 fuppofe it to liave given the denomination arrochirijl t to a 

 peculiar fet o{ ntlAetit who profefled it. Otliers with more 

 probability confider it only as a ipecies of wreftling : fome^ 

 will have it to have been properly only a prelude to a wreft- 

 ling match, wherewith the atbletx began to try each otlier's 

 ilreiigth, and bring their arms into play. This exercife 

 made part oi the peiiicmtium. Paufanias fpeaks of a famous 

 Jmncrcitinjl, named Sollrates, who got the furname of ylero- 

 chiifites, or Acrochiriftes, from his having overcome all hi» 

 antagonifls at the acrochirifm. — It appears to have been in 

 ufe in the age of Hippocrates, who afcribes to it a virtue 

 of extenuating the reft of the body, and making the aim* 

 fleihv. 



ACROCHORDON, a painful fpecies of wart, reiy 

 prominent and pendulous, having a large head with a fmuU 

 ijcdicle, or bafe. 



Thefe are alfi) called j^enfius •vrrrucf, or hanging rf/irf.r, 

 and Hand diilinguiihcl from J'ejjiles vernict, or myrnieciii. 

 Others defcribe llic acrw/jor/!o>i, as a harder, rougher fort 

 of wart, growing under the cutis, ver)' callous and ufually 

 of the fame eohnu- with the ikin ; fmall at bottom, and bigger 

 upwards, but rarely exceeding the fize of a bean.' 



ACROCOLIA, aKfoxi'.ia froHi «)Ij;i;, cvOrmCj and RvXar, 

 u Unit, Thtln iiic the extreinilieii of animals, which are 



Z tifetl 



