A E R 



^RE c-^a^o, or conh'.o, in Roman jint'iquity, are terms 

 found in infcrlptions, which denote that the charges of 

 erccling a tomb or nionimicnt were defrayed cither by the 

 frieiuUof the dcceafcd or by the people. 



M^i dirut], a plirafe apphed to I'oldiers, who were pii- 

 nidicd hv l)eiiij; deprived i-t their pay. 



.EREOLUS, anfweriiig to the Greek xa^Ko,-, was a 

 weight according to Diodorus and Siiidas equal to -ith, 

 and according to others equal to ^th of the onoLus, v.hich 

 was 9.V grains. 



AERIA, in j^ncient Geography, a town in that part of 

 Gallia Narboncnfis, which was inhabited by the Caviares. 

 Jt was fo called, fays Strabo (t. i. p. 83.), becaufe it was 

 fituated on an eminence. M. d'Anville places it fouth-eail 

 of Vaiio, and north-ealt of Carpentovafte. This name was 

 »lfo given to one of the iflands of Thrace, called Thafus. 

 ThcHaly, and alio Egypt, were anciently called Aerin. 

 Apollon. Rhod. 1. i. v. 580. p. 58. 1. iv, 267. p. 400. Ed. 

 Hoelzlin. This name < is alio given by Hefychius to 

 Ethiopia. 



AERIAL, fomething that confiils of, or has relation to, 

 air. The EITeni, the moll refined and rational fed among 

 the Jews, held, that the human foul confillcd of an aerial 

 fubftance : and the Roficrucians, and other vifionaries, fill 

 the atniofphere with aerial inhabitants. 



Aerial PerfpeHlve is that which reprefents bodies 

 weakened and diminifhed in proportion to their dillance 

 from the eye, and which judicious artills praftife by 

 difliiiing a kind of thin vapour over them, that deceives 

 the eye agreeably. Aerial peripettive chiefly refpefts the 

 colours of objects, whofe force and luftre it takes off more 

 or lefs, to make them appear as if more or lefs remote. It 

 is founded on this, that the longer column of air an objeft is 

 feen through, the more feebly do the vifual rays emitted 

 from' it aflfeft the eye. Objefts feen in a camera obfcura 

 fenfibly CKhibit this effeft. 



Aerial tribute, in ylntiqiiity, was an annual gift of 1 20 

 thoufaiid pounds, which the emperor Juftinian accepted from 

 his prEtorian prefett ; and the means of payment were 

 abandoned to the difcretion of that powerful magiftrate. 



AERIANS, in Ecchjiajlica] Hijlory, a religious feft 

 denominated from Aerius, an Armenian prieft of the fourth 

 century. The Aerians had much the fame fentiments in 

 refpect of the Trinity as the Arians : befide which, they 

 coudemned prayers and offerings for the dead, flated falls 

 and feafts, the celebration of Eafler, and other rites of the 

 fame nature, in which the multitude think the life and foul 

 ef rchgion to confift ; fet falls they confidered as Jev.ifh 

 ordinances, and they conceived that to obferve Eafler was to 

 give heed to Jewilh fables (Titus, i. 14. i Tim. i. 4.). 

 Though they fometiraes failed on the fourth day of the 

 week, as others did, it was not from a regard to any religious 

 obligation, but merely of their own free will. What Epi- 

 phanius fays of their chufmg to fall on the Lord's day 

 mull therefore be a calumny. Thjy alfo held, that there 

 is no difference between pricfls and bifhops, but that the 

 pricflhood and epifcopate are abfolutely one and the fame 

 order, or dignity : an opinion, fays Mofheim, which was 

 ■igreeable to many good Chriflians, who were no longer 

 able to bear the tyi-anny and arrogance of the bifhops of 

 that century, and which has been fince ilrenuoufly afferted 

 by many incdern divines and others. Aerius built his doc- 

 trine chiefly on fonie paffages in St. Paul'-s writings ; and 

 among others, on that in i Tim.iv. 14. where the apoflle 

 exhorts Timothy not to negled « the gift he had received 

 by the laying on of the hands of the prefbytcry." Here, 

 ©bfcrves Aerjusj is no mention of bifhops ; but Timothy 



A E R 



evidently received his ordination from the prcfliyters or 

 priefts. Epiphanius zealoully maintains the fupcrioritv of 

 billiops againfl the Aerians. The word prcjhytery, ufed by 

 St. Paul, he obferves, includes botli bilhops and priefts ; the 

 whole fenate, or alfembly, of tiie ccclefiaflics of the place. 

 Aerius, and his followers, whofe great purpofe feeras to have 

 been that of reducing Chriilianity to its primitive iimpliclty, 

 met with great difficulties. They were excluded from 

 churches, and cities, anjl villages ; and being obliged to 

 wander abroad, they fuffered great hardlhips. Being thus 

 generally and violently oppofcd, they could not increafe to 

 any great number, and in time they were reduced to no- 

 thing. Tillemont conliders them as Calviniils; and it is 

 certain, that their ideas of church govenmient were formed 

 vei7 much upon the Prelbytcrian plan. Mofh. Eccl. Hill, 

 vol. i. 387. Lardner's Works, vol. iv. p. 306, &c. 



iERICA, or Erica, iii Ichthyology, a name given by 

 Gaza and others to the coimnon herring. 



^Rll monies, in jlnc'ient Geography, mountains of Sicily, 

 called alfo Hcrie'i, and confidered by fome as a branch of 

 ^tna, extending to the north-weft. 



iERIRUSA, the ancient name for the flcy-coloured 

 Jasper. 



jERITES, in Botany, a name given to Anagallis. 



AERNEN, ylragniim, in Geography, a large walled town 

 of the Valais in Switzerland, which is the court town of the 

 tithing, and which has a council-houfe where its meetings 

 are held. With this town is incorporated another fmall 

 place on the I)eufch-hill, otherwife called Motis Dei, at the 

 foot of which Kill is a lofty ftone bridge over the Rhone. 

 N. lat. 46^ 19'. E. long. 8°. 



^RVE\ a fmall river of Bccotia, rlfing in mount Cithe- 

 ron, and difcharging itfelf into Afopus. 



AEROGRAPHY, from anf, air, and ypayoj, / defcrilf, 

 a defcription of the air, or atmosphere, its limits, dimen- 

 fions, properties, &c. • 



This amounts to much the fame with aerology, unlefs we 

 fuppofe the latter to enter into the rational, and the former 

 to confine itfelf to a defcription of the more obvious affec- 

 tions thereof. 



AEROLOGY, from owp, and Xoyoc, d'lfcourfe ; the doc- 

 trine or fcience of the air, and its phenomena, its properties, 

 good and bad qualities, &;c. See Air. 



Aerology, called alfo the aerolog'iea, makes a part of 

 the regimen of health, or the branch of medicine called by 

 fome d'tafojl'ica, or the non-naturals, which treats of air, 

 its properties and ufe in the animal ceconomy, and its efficacy 

 in prefervmg and reftoring health. See Air. 



AEROMANCY, Aeromantia, compounded of a»p, 

 atr, and iukuteik, divlnr.hon, an ancient fpccies of divination 

 perfonncd by means of the air, and its phenomena. Aero- 

 mancy included the bufmefs of augury, and aufpicia ; the 

 rules of predidlion from uncommon winds, ftorms, fhowers, 

 and other prodigies. Modern authors fpeak of a more 

 rational aeromancy, meaning by it the art of foretelling the 

 changes and variations in the air and weather, winds, ftorras, 

 and the like. 



Morhof advances confiderations for reducing aeromancy 

 to a certainty, by means of a regular feries of meterological 

 obfervations. But though many fuch have been infliluted 

 with great care in many parts, tliis art has hitherto made a 

 very Imall progrefs. Of this kind is Huxham's book De 

 Acre. 



Barometers, themriometers, hygrometers, and anemome- 

 ters, are of confiderable ufe in this kind of aeromancy." 



Mizoldus has pubhflied a body of rules for foretelling 

 ftorms, &c. drawn paitly from vulgar obfervations, and 



the 



