ACT 



Auc, xYic fcveral fiirti". fubfcribid to the (lock of the com- 

 pany, acc(>r(tii;jr to tlie levcral oi Jcis of council made for 

 thi' creation of tlie new actions. 



ACTIONARY, or Actionist, a term frequent in 

 forei-jn news-papers ; denoting the proprietor of an aitiou 

 or (haie in the company's (lock. 



ACTIVE, fomething that communicates motion or ac- 

 tion to another. In this fenfc, the word Hands oppoi'ed to 

 pojjive. TIuis we fay, an attivc- oaufc, oiilve principles, ice. 



The quantity of motion in tht world, Sir Ifaac Newton 

 (hews, nuill be always decrealing, ia virtue of the v:s inerliir, 

 &c. So that there is a necelTuy for certain at^ive principles 

 to recruit it : fuch he takes the caufe of gravity to be, and 

 the caufe of fermentation : addinpj, that we fee but little 

 motion in the univerfe, except what is owinj^ to thele aiftive 

 principles. 



AcTiVii prindpks, in Chemi/lry, are tliofe which are fiip- 

 pofed to aft of thcmfclves, and do not need to be put in 

 action by others. 



Salt, fnlphur, and mercur)-, have been ufually confidered 

 by the chcmiils as active principles ; and phlegm and earth 

 as paffive ones. 



^Ir. Homberg, and fome chemifts after him, only make " 

 one aftivc principle, viz. fulphur, or fire ; which they take 

 to be the iource or principle of all the motion and aftion of 

 tlie univerfe. 



The term aftive principle, fays Dr. Quincy, has been 

 ufed to exprefs certain divifions of matter, that are, by fome 

 particular modifications, comparatively aftive, in refpeft of 

 others. But the progrefs of icleuce, and particularly of 

 experimental philofophy and cliemiltry, has introduced new 

 and more rational ideas on this fubjeft. 



In a llrift fcnfe, all motion in mattei\ is rather -pafTion ; 

 and there is no aftive principle, unlefs we thus call the 

 known powers of gravitation, attraftion, and repulfion, on 

 which the Newtonian philofophy is founded : fo that let 

 bodies exift under what modifications foever, there can be 

 no alteration made of thefe univerfal properties. 



Active, in Grammcir, denotes a word having a fignifica- 

 tion that fei-ves to explain or denote an aftion. 



Thus we fay a verb aLilve, a conjugation ad'ive, S:c. or an 

 adive participle. 



Active Verbs, are fuch as do not only fignify doing, or 

 afting, but have alfo nouns following them, to be the fub- 

 jefts of the aftion or impredion : and they are thus diftin- 

 guilbed from verbs muter. 



Thus to love, to teach, are verbs atlive ; becaufe we can 

 fay, to love a thin^, to teach a man. 



Some grammarians, however, make three kinds of verbs 

 aftive : the tranfttive, where tlie aftion pafies into a fubjeCl 

 different from the agent ; rejieiled, where the aftion returns 

 upon th.e agent ; and reciprocal, where the aftion turns mu- 

 tually upon the two agents who produced it. See Verb. 



Active Poiver, in Metaphyfics, is the power of execut- 

 ing any work of art or labour, in contradillinftion to spe- 

 culative powers. The exertion of this power is called 

 ACTION ; and as every aftion produces fome change, fo 

 every change muft be caufcd by fome exertion, or by the 

 ceffation of fome exertion of power. That which produces 

 a change by the exertion of its povi'er, we call the caufe of 

 that change ; and the change produced the effed of that 

 caule t and that being in which the change is produced is 

 faid to be pajjl-ve, or to be afted upon. Thus (fays Dr. 

 Reid, Eff. on the Aftive Powers of Man, p. 13.) we fee, 

 tbat aftion and paffion, caufe aud effeft, exertion and opera- 

 tion, have fuch a relation to adive power, that if it be under- 

 ftood, they are underftood of confequence ; but if power be 



ACT 



a word without any mcnnlng, aU thofe words which are re- 

 lated to it, mull be words without any meaning. See 

 Power. 



ACTIVITY, the power of afting, or the aftive faculty. 



The aftivity of fire exceeds all imagination. — The adtivity 

 of an acid, a poifon, 5:c. — Bodies according to Sir Ifaac 

 Newton, derive their aftivity from the principle of At- 

 traction. 



Activity of a Icd^, the fphere of, is the fpace which fur- 

 rounds it, fo far as its efficacy or virtue extends to produce 

 any lenfiblc effeft. 



ACTIUM, in Ancient Geography, a fmall town near a 

 promuntoiy of the fame name in the mouth of the Ambra- 

 cian gulph, on the coaft of Acarnania, and oppofite to 

 NicopoLis on the other fide of the bay. This place was 

 famous for a temple of Apollo, mentioned by Thucydldes 

 (1. i. c. 29. p. 24. Ed. Dukcri), and by Strabo (1. vii. 

 torn. i. p. 500. Ed. Cafaub.) thence denominated Aciius ; 

 (Virgil jEneld. viii. 704.) and afterwards for the viftory 

 obtained by Augullus over Anthony and Cleopatra in a 

 naval battle on the 2d of September, in the year of Rome 

 723. Nicopolis was built in order to commemorate this 

 viftory, and games were inllituted called the Actian games. 

 There were anciently folemn games at Aftium, at which the 

 Lacedxmonians ufed to prefide, mentioned by Strabo, and 

 alluded to by Vi:gil, iEn. iil. 278. The viftoi-y at Aftium' 

 was alfo celebrated by games inllituted at Rome. Sueton. 

 Tib. vi. Dion. Cafs. Hiil. Rom. lib. li. 19. liii. i. hv. 19. 

 tom. i. pp. 649 — 6g6 — 749. Ed. Reimari. The Actiam 

 <f Az took its rife from the battle of Aftium. The promon- ^ 

 tory is now called Capo di Figalo. The medals of y\.ftium ■ 

 were filver, gold, and bronze ; and the ordinary- type is a 

 flying pegafus. 



ACTON, in Geography, a village about fix m.iles Weft 

 of London, where is a well of purging water, noted for the 

 pungency of its fak. Its coloiu- is whitifh, its tafte is 

 Iweetifh, with a mixture of the fame bitter which is in the 

 Epsom water. Its lalt is not quite fo foft, a^nd is- more 

 calcareous than that of the Epfom water, being more of the 

 nature of the fait of lime : it is however more nitrous than 

 the other. A quantity of it being boiled high, and mixed 

 with a folution of fublimate in pure water, throws down a Jj 



yellow lediment. It llrikcs a deep red or purple with the * 



tinfture of log-wood in brandy, as is ufual with nitrous 

 falts. It does not precipitate filver out of the fpirit of 

 nitre, as common fait does ; a pint and a half of the water 

 yields forty-eight grains of fait. See Allen's Hiilory o£ 

 Purging waters. 



Acton, a townfhip of Middlefex county in the Maffa- 

 chufets, containing 853 inhabitants; 24 miles N. W. of 

 Bofton. 



Acton Biirnel, a village in Shropfhire, about three miles 

 from Great Wenlock, where a parliament was held in the 

 reign of Edward I. when the famous aft 1 1 Ed. I, A. D. 

 1283, called Statute-merchant, was renewed. 



ACTOR, in Antiquity, was the name of a perfon who 

 had the fuperintendance of all the goods of a Roman citizen. 

 He was called " aftor bonorum, and after praediorum fun- 

 dor unique." 



Actor Summariim, was a {lave, to whom was committed' 

 the ofiice of cafli-keeper : and that he was a (lave wt may 

 iivfer from tlie punilhment of the crofs which Domitian 

 caufed to be inflifted on one of thefe aftors.. See Sseton.. 

 in Domit. c. x. t. 2. p. 1038. 



Actor, in a general fenfe, one who performs any aft. 



Actor, among Civilians, the proctor or advocate in 

 civil courts or caufes : ai aSor ecclefig has been lometimes 



ufed 



