A G I 



A G I 



tion in Vils f;-.vonr, tncixlv ftrvod to linden li!i! fatf. A« he 

 w;i;: kJ to ixiciitio;!, he l;i'd to :iii oiUcvr whom he f-MVrvcd 

 ill ttars — " Weep not tor :iie, my irieiid, for as I am thuj 

 fuiTering contrary to all hiw and juftice, I am much happier, 

 i\nd more to be envied, than thofe who have condemned 

 nie." He then ofTercd his neck to the executioner, without 

 the Icall lign of reludlance. The grandmother of Agis was 

 ntxt fcized and executed ; and hill of all lu8 mother was 

 ordered to enter the difnial dungeon, where (lie beheld her 

 fon lying dead on the ground, and her aged parent at a 

 little dillanee, with the fatal cord about her neck. Having 

 laid the corpfe by that of her fon, and decently covered it 

 with linen, Ihe call herfelf on the body of Agis, and ten- 

 derly fainting his cold lips, exclaimed — " O my fon, the 

 excefj of thy humanity and moderation has been fatal, 

 both to us and thee." Upon which, Amphares, one of the 

 fenators, whofe cruelty had been fignally difplayed in this 

 tragic feene, addrelTed her with a favage afpeit — " Since you 

 knew and approved the defigns of your Ion, you fhall Ihare 

 his recompence." She inftantly roie, and rulhed to the fatal 

 cord, crying out — " May this, at leaft, be ufcful to Sparta." 



Leonidas completed this tragedy, by forcing Agiatis, 

 the confort of Agis, who was very rich, and dillinguillied 

 by her wifdom and virtue, as well as her beauty, to marry 

 his fon Clcomenes, to whom (lie condufted herfelf with as 

 much attention as was coufidcnt with the tender regard (lie 

 entertained for the memory of Agis, and who is faid to 

 have profited by the account (lie gave him of the dellgns 

 ■^hicVi the murdered fovcreign had formed for the regulation 

 of the government. Plut. in Agid. apud oper. tom. i. p. 

 795. RoUin's Anc. Hid. vol. v. p. 425 — 442. 



AGIST, in Law, fignilies to take in and feed the cattle 

 of ftrangers in the king's fored, and to gather up the money 

 due for the fame. Chart, de Foreda, 9 Henry HI. cap. 9. 

 The officers appointed for this purpofe are called agifters, 

 or g'ljlahit-s, and are made by the king's letters patent : 

 there are four of them in every foreP', wherein the king hath 

 any pannage. Manw. For. Laws, 8vo. 



The time for this is fifteen days before Michaelmas, and 

 as many after, when the itiuning of the cattle cannot pre- 

 judice tile game. 



AGISTMENT, is fuppofed to be formed of the French 

 glfle, a bed, or lying place : though Kennet excepts to this 

 etymon, and choofes rather to derive it from ager, the field, 

 Cr feeding-place for cattle ; imagining agiftment to have 

 originally been tlie fame with agranum, agerium, or ngro- 

 t'.cum, the profit of feeding cattle on fuch a piece of ground. 

 The term is applied to taking other men's cattle into any 

 ground, at a certain rate per week. It is fo called, becaufe 

 the cattle are fuffered agifer, that is, to be Iciuint and cou- 

 thant there ; and many great farms are employed to this pur- 

 pofe. 2 Inft. 643. Our graziers call cattle, which they 

 thus take in to keep, gifemenis ; and to g'lfe, or julci; the 

 ground, is when the occupier thereof feeds it not with his 

 own flock, but takes in the cattle of others, to agi/l or paf- 

 lure it. Agidment is likewile the profit of fuch feeding in a 

 ground or field ; and extends to the depafluring of bairen 

 cxittle of the owner, for which tythes (liall be paid to the 

 parfon. 



Agidment ie alfo ufed metaphorically for a charge, or bur- 

 then on any thing. 



In this fenfe we meet with terra ad cuftediam mans agjjlata, 

 i. e. charged luhh a tribute to keep out the fea. — So terrx 

 Mgifiatie, are lands whofe owners are bound to keep up the 

 ica-banks. 



Agidment denotes likewife the duty or levy for repairing 

 the banks and walls in Romney-marih, which was particu- 

 larly called agiflamsntum ; aaj the ail of laying fuch a pro- 



portion ;if this duty on the feveral edates, was called eg'/- 

 Imm. .'Jpelmaii. 



AGlSTOIl, or AciiTATOR. See Acisr ai.d AcisT- 



MtNT. 



AGISYMBA, in /tnaeni Geography, now Zanguebar, a 

 diltricl of Libya interior, lituated, according to Agaihemerus, 

 to the fouth and eart of the uJilliiopcs Anthropophagi. The 

 parallel paiTing through this country ifi'^ foutli of the equa- 

 tor, bounded the knowledge of the ancients to the (oulh. 



Agisymb.'V, in Modern Geography, a town of Africa, in 

 the kingdom of Congo. 



AGITA, or Aguti, in Ancient Geography, a finall 

 iflar.d between Sicily and Africa. 



AGITATION, Agitatio, properly fignifics ^/SfliJ/nf ; 

 or reciprocal motion of a body. 



The prophds, quahers, Pythian priedcfFes, &c. were fub- 

 jecl to violent agitations of body. See Inspiration. 



Among phyfiologiils, the term is fometimes appropriated 

 to that fpecies of earthquake, called tremor, or arietatio. 



Among the philofophers, it is chiefly ufed for an intefline 

 commotion of the parts of any natural body. 



Thus, fire is laid to agitate the m.inute partick'S of bodies. 

 — Fermentation and effervefcencc are attended with a brilk 

 agitation of the paitieles. 



Heat is fuppofed by fome to confifl in the agitation of 

 the parts of the hot body ; and found is produced by a 

 tremulous agitation, excited fir'.l in the fonorous body, and 

 communicated thence to the ambient air. 



Agitation is likewiie ufed for a violent hurry or pcr-i 

 turbation of fpiiits, oceafioned by fome predominant paflion. 



Agitation is alio ufed, in Medicine, for a fpecies of 

 exercife, popularly called fwinging ; and, in general, for 

 any exercife which fhakes the body. 



Bartholinc mentions fits of the tooth-ach, dcafnefs, &c. 

 removed by vehement agitations of the body ; and they 

 have been found of efpecial ufe for preventing and diffolving 

 concretions. 



Dr. Sydenham attributes the great benefits of riding to 

 agitation, which is very efficacious in removing obflruclions 

 of the vi/cera. See ^toRA. 



Sanguification is in great meafure effefled by the agita- 

 tion of the parts of the blood and chvle, in their continual 

 circulation. Digestion itfelf is only fuppofed by fome t(» 

 be an infeniible kind of agitation. 



Agitation 0/ beaJIs in ,' he fore/I, anciently figniiicd the 

 DRIFT of beads in the forell. 



AGITATIVE, fomething haying power to agitate or 

 (liake another. 



AGiTATivEybcfir ef a pendulum, is that which produce* 

 motion in it. 



The agitative force of the pendulum arifcs from tliree 

 things: i . Tlie power of gravitr. 2. The weight fadtned 

 at the end of the rod. 3. The diftance of iJiat weight from 

 the point of fufpenfion ; or, which amounts to the fame 

 thing, the length of the rod, or pendulum. Hift. Acad. 

 Scien. 1 7 14. 



AGITATO, in Mufic, a term wliich implies not only a 

 quick movement but a characler of expreflion arifing from 

 paffion and perturbation. Piccini's air, " Se il cicl mi divide," 

 in the Aled'andro of Metaflaiio, furnifhes an admirable ex. 

 ample of this kind of movement. 



AGITATOR, in /liiliquity, a charioteer; or he wlio 

 drove or directed a chariot, or horfes, in a race. 



In wh ch fenfe agitator amounts to the fame with what 

 the Romans called auriga ; and we, a coachman, driver, &c. 



Agitator was more peculiarly ufed for him iwho drove 

 in the public curule games in the circus. 



The agitatoiK were didinguirticd by tlieir habits, into 

 3 F 3 rujpui. 



