AGE 



AGAVI, in jinclent Gfography, a people of Masfia, or of 

 Thrace. 



AGAUNA, now St. Maurice, a burgh of the Vallais, in 

 the s'allcy of Pciinin, celebrated on account of the martyrs 

 of the Thebaii legion, who luffeied ileciiiration rallur lliaii 

 renounce Chriflianity. Sigifmond, kiug of Burgundy, ereded 

 a monaller\- here in 5 1 5. 



AGAUPE, in Bolavy, a name ufcd by fomc authors for 

 the common white ct'rt.vr-Lii v. 



AGAZZIRI, in Gea^raphy, an ancient people near tlit 

 mouth of the \'ilhila. 



AGBIENSIUM mun\c'if:uni, Be'iffoiu, a municipal town 

 of Africa, built upon a hill, about halt a league from 

 Thucca. Here are found the ruins of ancient toiii])lLS. 



AGDAMI, a town of Arabia Felix, placed by Puilemy 

 in long. 73° 30'. and lat. 21° 20'. 



AGDE, anciently Agatha, a fmall but populous city 

 in the department of Her.^ult, and late province of Lan- 

 guedoc in France, in a diocefe of the fame name, fituate on 

 the rivet Herault, at the dillance of about half a league from 

 the fea. The diocefe is one of the richeil diltricls of the 

 country ; it is within the province of Narbonne, and contains 

 1 8 parifhes. The ancient Agatha was a fmall ifland ; but 

 the accumulation of fand at the mouth of the Heraul thas 

 r.ow joijicd it to the continent. It produces fine wool, 

 wine, oil, com, and filk. The town has a harbour for fmall 

 veffels, defended by a little fort at the mouth of the river. 

 Moil of the inhabitants are tradefmen or feamen. The 

 houfes are mean, the cathedral fmall, and the bifhop's palace 

 an old building. The bifliop is lord of the city, and ftiled 

 Count of Agde. The chapel of Notre Dame de Grace, in 

 the vicinity of the town, attrafts a great number of pilgrims 

 and devotees. The Capuchin convent is alfo much retorted 

 to on account of the image of the Virgin Mary, which is 

 placed in a diftinft chapel adjoining it : the convent has 

 apartments for the accommodation of the pilgrims, who 

 repair hither to perform their nine days' devotion. The 

 vicinity of Agde abounds with extinguiflied volcanoes. 

 Cap d'Agdc is one of them ; and the rock of Agde is 

 nothing but a hard lava, fo that the town is built and paved 

 with this lava, which is very black. Buffon's Nat. Hill. 

 by Smellie, v. ix. p. 201. N. lat. 43° 18' 57". E. long. 

 3°28'u". 



AGDENAS Bny, is a part of that of Drontheim, in 

 Norway : in the neighbourhood the foil produces plenty of 

 grain. 



AGDENITES, a name given te a people of Cara- 

 mania. • 



AGDERUINE, a fmall town in the ifland of Minorca, 

 fituate near a mountain fouth-eaft of Cape Bajoles. N. lat. 

 40° 15'. E. long. 4° 14'. 



AGDISTIS, a mountain of Afia Minor, near the town 

 •f Peffinus. 



AGDU <•• a rock on the frontiers of Afia Minor, famous 

 in ancient mythology. 



AGE\ in AnUqmty, a word which was proclaimed by a 

 public crier whilft the Roman magiftrates were taking the 

 aufpices, or whilft they were facrificing, in order to com- 

 nsand the attention of the people. The word was alfo an 

 order to the prieft or other perfon, for immolating a vi6lim, as 

 «?'■, or hoc age, in reply to his queftion, agon ? or agone ? ihall 

 1 ftrikc ? Thus Ovid Faft. i. 32 1. torn. iii. p. 33. Ed. Burm. 

 " Qiii calido ftriftos tinfturus fanguine cultros 

 Semper agone? rogas ; nee nifi juifus agis." 

 9fe Agon. 



Age, in the moft general fenfe of the term, denotes the 



AGE 



duration of any fubllance, animate or inanimate ; and is 

 applied either to the whole period of its exillcnce, or to that 

 portion of it which precedes the time to which the dcfcrip- 

 tion of it refers. In this fenfe it is ufcd tu fignify either the 

 whole natural dtu-ation of the lifk of man, or any interval 

 of it thai has elajifed before the period to which we refer. 

 The ordinary age of mankind has been obfei-ved to vai-y in 

 fuch a manner as to allord an inilrudtive and plcafmg difplay 

 of the wifdom of divine Providence. When age is under- 

 Hood of a certain portion of the life of man, its whole 

 duration is divided into four difTcrent ages, viz. infancy, 

 youth, manhood, and old age : the {w^ extending to the 

 14th year; the fecond, denominated youth, adolefcence, or 

 the age of puberty, commencing at 14, and teirninating at 

 about 25 ; manhood, or the vinle age, concluding at 50 ; 

 and the laft ending at the clofe of life. Some divide 

 the firft period into infancy and childhood, and the laft hke- 

 wife into two ftages, calling that which fucceeds the age of 

 75, decrepit old age. Shakefpeare has admirably defcribed 

 thefe different ftages in his comedy of " As you like it." 



-" His afts being feven ages. At firft, the infant. 



MewHng and puking in the nurle's arms : 



And then, the whining fchool-boy, with his fatchel. 



And ftiining morning face, creeping like fnail 



Unwillingly to fchool : And then, the lover ; 



Sighing like furnace, with a woful ballad 



Made to his Miftrefs' eyebrow : Then, a foldier; 



Full of ftrange oaths, and bearded like the pard. 



Jealous in honour, fudden and quick in quarrel, 



Seeking the bubble reputation 



Even in the cannon's mouth : And then, the juftice ; 



In fair round belly, with good capon lin'd. 



With eyes fevere, and beard of formal cut, 



Fidl of wife faws and modem inllances. 



And fo he plays his part : The fixth age ftiifts 



Into the lean and flipper'd pantaloon ; 



With fpeftacles on nofc, and pouch on fide ; 



His youthful hofc well-fav'd, a world too wide 



For his flirunk (liank ; and his big manly voice. 



Turning again toward childith treble, pipes 



And whiftlcs in his found : Laft fcene ot all, 



niat ends this ftrange eventful hiftory, 



Isiecond childiftmefs, and mere obHvion ; 



Sans teeth, fans eyes, fans tafte, fans every thing. 



See I^ONGEVITY. 



Age is applicable to the duration of things inani- 

 mate or faftitious ; and in this ul'e of the term we 

 fpeak of the age of a houfe, of a country, of a ftate or 

 kingdom, &c. It is likewife ufed in reference to vegetable 

 fubftances, as of roots, leaves, corn, wine, &c. Trees are 

 faid, after a certain age, to wafte and decay. An oak, at 

 100 years old, ceafes to grow. The ufual rule for judging 

 of the age of wood, is by the number of circles which ap- 

 pear in the fubllance of a trunk or ftock cut perpendicularly, 

 each circle being fuppofed to be the growth of a year \ 

 though fome rejecl this method as precarious, alledging, that 

 a fimple circle is fometimes the produce of feveral years : 

 befides that, after a certain age, no new circles are formed. 

 Phil. Tranf. N= 43. Adl. Erud. Lipf. 1713. 



Age, in Chronology, is ufed for a century, or a period 

 of 100 years: in which fenfe it is the fame with yf«//a7w, 

 and differs from generation. It is alfo ufed in fpeaking 

 of the time paft fince the creation of the world. 



The feveral ages of the world may be reduced to three 



grand epochas, -u'lz. the age of the law of nature, called by 



the Jews the Toid age, from Adam to Mofes.— The age of 



\ the 



