A C U 



A C U 



of die dlfcoveries of this Jtcfuit, and his work became vary 

 fcarce. The Spaniards were jealous of the Portugiiefc, and 

 wiilied to prevent their deriving any advantage from the re- 

 lation of Acuna. The work was tranllatcd by M. de Gom- 

 bervillc, in four vohimes i2mo in 1682; and, it is faid, 

 that the only copy of the orioinal, befides that which the 

 tranflator nied, is in the Vatican hbrary. Gen. Dift. 



ACUNUM, in ylndnit G.'ojraphy, a town of Pannonia, 

 north-eaft of Sirmium. 



ActtNUM is alfo the prefent Ancona ; fuppofed by M. 

 d'Anville to be the Acufion of Ptolemy. 



ACUPUNCTURE, a method of curing many difeafcs, 

 by pricking fevcral parts of the body witl\ a needle, or in- 

 (Irument of that form ; prattifcd by the Chincfe and Ja- 

 panefe, and other nations in tliat part of the world. They 

 pcrfinm the operation with a large gold or lllver needle, 

 which they (Irike into the feveral parts of the body, either 

 with their hand, or with a hammer made on purpofe. This 

 fevere and defperate operation is performed on the head and 

 breaft, as well as the abdomen, arma, legs, thighs, and many 

 other parts of the body, nay even in the abdomen of women 

 with child, when the foetus is reftlefs. The difeafe, for the 

 relief of which this operation is chiefly performed, is afcribed 

 By the Japanefe phyiicians to the immoderate ufe of the 

 fakki, a ilrong wine made of rice, whieh gradually fills the 

 abdomen and lower parts of the body with a noxious flatus, 

 that occafions convulfioiis and exquiiite pains. The place 

 in which the punfture is commonly made, is the middle be- 

 tween the navel and the pit of the ifomach; and the holes are 

 diftributed into three rows, with three punftures in each 

 row, at the diftance of about half an inch, and the whole 

 difpofcd in the form of an oblong fquare. The needles are 

 Tended by the emperor's licence. 



Surgeons are furniflied with images, wherein all the 

 places in the body proper for the needle are deligned by 

 marks. M. Ten Ryne was an eye-witnefs of the ufe oi this 

 punfture on a foldier, who being afllifted with violent dif- 

 orders of the ftomach, and frequent vomitings at fea, fud- 

 denly relieved himfelf by pricking a thumb's breadth deep 

 into four different places about the region of his rvLORUs. 

 Ten. Ryn. Dilf. de Acupuna. ap. Phil. Tranf. N° 148. 

 p. 231, feq._ 



We fometimes alfo find mention 01 an acupunfture prac- 

 tifed in Europe ; but this amounts to no more than the per- 

 forating or opening a pait, e.g. the cornea, with the point 

 of a needle ; which has been done with good fuccefs, for the 

 cure of an hydrop'.hah.la and hybopyon. 



ACUR, in yincier.t Geography, a town of Afia, accord- 

 ing to Ptolemy, in Lat. 15° 20'. Long. 124° 45'. 



ACUROA, in Botany, a genus of the rliacklphta dccan- 



altera major fpecies of Ariflotlc, according to Willughby 

 and Ray. It is the lyjni-Jifcb of Jonllon. It is found in 

 the northern ocean of Europe ; in length, as ftated by 

 Gmelin, it is about two or three feet, and it is variegated 

 with alternate fpots and belts of a brown and light-oker co- 

 lour, 'i'he aeu;; of Ariftotle, according to Rondclctiuf, 

 Jonilon, Willughby, and Ray, and the Tecunda fpccies of 

 Arillotle's acus" according to Gefner, is the syncsatmu* 

 TVPHUE of Linnxus. Ihis is the n\o\\.cr p'lp.'-jtjh of the 

 Britilh zoology, and the stA-adt/er of Borlale. The acut 

 •vulg/iris of Aldrovand, Willughby, and Ray, the acus of 

 Oppian, and the acus i"". fpecies of Rondeletius and Gef- 

 ner, is the BELONE of Ariftotle; the Esox bcloiic of Lin- 

 naus, the sv.h-]>iL- of the liritilh /oology, and the gar- 

 Jijli of ot'ncr authors. The acus maxima chinenfis, witii a 

 compiefTed bodj'., is the fistularia fAmcn/Zj of Linnxus. 

 The a:iis ma:<iina fqiinnwfa viridis of Catcfty, is the ESO.t 

 iiiridis of Gmclin's Linnius. Mr. Daines Barrington con- 

 ceives', that a foffd which he found near Clirillc-liurch, in 

 Hampfhire, had the appearance of the fcales of this fifli, 

 though it be a llranger to our feas. Phil. Tj-anf. vol. Ixiii. 

 p. 171. 



The acus /iimbricifurmis of Willughby and Ray, is the 

 SYNGNATHUs o/i/'/W;</« of Linnxus, and the httle vxtr-Jlfli 

 of the Britilh zoology. 



Acus is alfo ufed by fome authors for the ammodytes, 

 or fand-eel, a fmall eel caught in the fandj. 



Acus, in Natural Hiflory, is a name given to the oblong 

 CI M EX, with fihform antenns, or the awax Jlagnorum of 

 Linnaeus, with a roundifli black body, and two globofe 

 points in the middle of the thorax, which is very common 

 in the lakes of England. Jtcus is alfo a fpecies of ascak.is, 

 fti-aight, rigid, and acicular, and bending at both ends. It 

 is white, about two inches long, and found in the inteftines 

 of the pike, yhus is alfo a fpecies of the voluta-Ak-U, 

 marked with tranfverfe feriefes of red points, and terminating 

 in a fmooth pointed wreath. It is fcarce an inch long, and 

 of a white or yellowifli colour. 



A fpecies of nucciNUM, of a whitilh colour, with hori- 

 zontal undulated lines, with bifid crenulated rugofe wind- 

 ings, and theculumclla fpirally twifled, is called acus. 



Acus Pnjoris, in Boiaiiy, a name of the scandix. 



Acus Mnfchata, a name of the geranium mojchatum. 



ACUSCHY, in Zoology, a fpecies of Cavia. See 



AuOUECHY. 



ACUSI, in Botant, a fpecies of apocynum. 



ACUSILAUS, in Biography, one of the mod ancient 

 Greek hiltorians, was born at Cercas, near Auhs, not long 

 before Pherecydes of Athens, and compiled genealogies of 

 the ancient royal families from tables, which his father is rc- 



dria clafs and order : the' charaaers of which arc, that the porced to have found in digging the foundations of his houfe. 



that the He goes back to the ages before the war of Troy, and as 



calyx is quindentated ; that it has five petals ; and 

 legumen is roundifli, coriaceous, not gaping, with a fingk 

 cell, and a fingle feed. There is one fpecies, viz. A. 

 vioLicra. 



ACURON, a name given to the alisma. 



ACUS, in Ichthyology, the name of feveral fpecies of fi(h, 

 ivhofe form is long and llender, belonging to different genera 

 in the Linnr?an fyftem. 7^he gymnotus acus is diftin- 

 guifhed by liaving no fin on the back, belly, and tail, and by 

 an anal fin terminating before the apex of the tail, with fixty 

 rays. It is found in the Mediterranean. The colour of the 

 tipper part is whitifli, beclouded with reddifli and brown 

 fpots, and underneath it is bluifli. It has no tentacula. 



The syngn'athus acus is of an heptagonal figure, and.. 

 has a pinnated tail. This is the typhle of Gefner ; and, ac- 



ages 

 far as Phoroneus, king of Argos. Suidas. 



AcusiLAus is alfo the name of an Athenian orator, 

 who went to Rome in the time of Galba, wlierc he prac- 

 fifed rhetoric, and gained a large fortune of a hundred 

 thoufand drachma?, with which he returned to Athens, 

 where he died. Suidas. 



ACUSIORUM Colonia, now Ancona, in Jncient Geo- 

 graphy, isfituated, according to Lucas Hollltnius, between 

 Orange and Valence, near Montelimart, on the banks of 

 the Rliine. It was called Jcunum ; and, according to Pto- 

 lemy, was one of the cities of the Cavari. 



ACUTjE lu/uLe, in ylncioit Geography, arc compre- 

 hended in the number of the F.chinades. They are a little 

 more to the fouth-weft, in the foutii ot the promontory of 



■cording to Aldrovand, the acus of Ariftotle, and the acus Araxum. M. d'Aimlle calls them Oxiyi; /Vi/K/<f. 



ACUTE, 



