A G U 



publications weie very various. Befidcs liis works in tlieo- 

 logy, wliicli amount to fovcral volumes ; a commentary on 

 Arillotlt'j Ethics, and tlirce folio volumes of philofophy, 

 lie publiflied, " a Colleftion of tlie Councils of Spain," 

 wit!> an liiftorical Introduction, of which extracts are given 

 in the Acta Erudlt. fur Feb. 1688; but as feveral of his 

 differtations are written in defence of the fpurious decretals 

 of the firll popes, Dupin lias objected to them in his 

 liiblioth. des Auteui-s Ecclcf. torn, xviii. p. 248. EJ.Amft. 

 171 I. Oen. Dic\. 



AGUL, in Botany, a fmatl (lirub very prickly ; its 

 leaves are longifli, and rcfcmble tliofe of the knot-grafs ; 

 it abounds witli llowtrs of a rcddiili colour ; iheie are 

 fucceedcd by red hulks; its root is long, and of a purple colour. 



This plant is otherwifc called alhagi nDiirorum, liy Rau- 

 wolf : it grows in Arabia, Perfia, and Mefopotamia. See 

 Hedysarum. 



Agul, in Geography, a river of Ruffian Siberia, which 

 runs into the Kan. E. long. 95° 24'. N. kit. 55° 16'. 



AGUNA, a town of Africa, in the kingdom of Benin. 



AGUNTUM, in indent Geography, now Innihen, a 

 town of Rhastia, placed by Ptolemy in Norica, and by 

 M. d'Anville to the north of the Carnic Alps, and north- 

 well of yiilnim Carnicum. 



AGURAH, in Jcwljli Ant'tquity, the twentieth part of 

 an ancient filver shekel. It was otherwifc called gciah 

 and kefliitah. The Seventy render it o/SoXo;. 



AGURIUM, Agyrium, AGiRiUM,or Agyrena, now 

 S. Philippo d' Argyrone, in Ancient Geography, a town in the 

 interior part of Sicily, placed by M. d'Anville in the road 

 from Enna to Catania. 



AGUSADURA, in Ancient Cujloms, a fee due from 

 vafTals to their lord, for iharpening their plowing tackle. 



Anciently the tenants in fome manors were not allowed 

 to have their rural implements fharpened by any but thofe 

 whom the lord appointed ; for which an acknowledgment was 

 to be paid, called agufadura,in fomeplaces agufage,whichfome 

 take to be the fame with what was othervvife called reillage, 

 from the ancient French reille, a plough-Jhare. Du-Cange. 



AGUSTINE, in Mineralogy, a barbarous term, com- 

 pounded of Greek and Latin, meaning luithnut tajle, inftpici, 

 by which profeffor Trommidorff has diftinguiiheda fuppofed 

 new earth, difcovered by him in the year 1800. 



The mines of Johan-Georgenftadt contain a mineral, 

 which hitherto has been taken for the beryl : this being 

 analyfed for the puipofe of nfcertaining whether glycine was 

 one of its conllituent parts, yielded unexpeftedly a new 

 earth, which, from its forming infipid falls with acids, has 

 been called by its inventor, Aguitine. 



This earth, when pure, has a great refemblance to alu- 

 niine, adheres very feebly to carbonic acid, hardens by ex- 

 pofiire to lire, and is infohible in water. It differs, how- 

 tver, from pure clay, in the following particulars : i. It 

 is abfolutely infoluble in any of the three alkalies, whether 

 cauftic or carbonated, in the moift or the dry way. 2, With 

 acids it combines, readily forming nearly infipid falls. 3. It 

 is equally foluble after induration by fire, as before. 4. Sul- 

 phuric acid forms with it a fait of difficult folution, and 

 perfcftly infipid, but which by a flight excefs of acid, be- 

 comes foluble and cryftallizes in liars. 5. Its acididous 

 phofphat is alfo very foluble. 6. But the acetite of Aguf- 

 tine is fcarcely at all fo. 



Thefe are all the fafts that are as yet known concerning 

 this fubliance : it refts entirely upon the authority of Trom- 

 mfdorff, and as neither he nor any other chemift have fince 

 made the fmallell mention of it, even this flight notice might 

 here feem fuperfluous. Annates de Chimie, vol. xxxiv. p. 133. 



A G Y 



AGUTI, the CAviA agiiti oi Linnseus, in Zoology, ha» 

 a very fhort tail ; the upper parts of the body are of a 

 brown colour, mixed with red and black, the ramp of a 

 bright orange, and the belly yellowilh. Authors mention 

 tliree varieties, vix. Tlie lellcr aguti, or cavia aguti cunicu- 

 laris, with a very (hort tail, four toes before and three be- 

 hind, and a yellowifh belly. This is the cuniculus agouti 

 of Briflon and Gronovius, the larger moufe of Brown, the 

 American wild moufe of Ray, with the hair and voice of a 

 pig; tlie aguti or acuti of Marcgrave, &c. the long-nofed. 

 cavy of Pennant, and the agouti of Buffon. It is about 

 the fize of a rabbit, and inhabits Brafil, Guiana, Cayenne, 

 and other parts of South America and the Weft India 

 iflands. 2. The larger agouti, or cavia A. Icporina, with 

 a veiy fhort tail ; the upper parts of the body reddifh, and 

 the under white. This is the hare-like moufe of Linna:us, 

 having four toes on the fore, and three on the hinder feel ; 

 the Jsvan coney of Briffon ; the Java hare of Catefby ; and 

 the Java cavy of Pennant. It is of the fize of a hare, and 

 inhabits Surinam and the hotter parts of South America. 

 3. The Americ^i agouti, cavia A. Americana of Gmelin, 

 and the American coney of BrifTon and Seba ; has a very 

 fliort tail, and is clothed with coarfe reddifh fur. Thefe 

 three varieties inhabit South America, and fome of the 

 Weft India iflands, particularly the Antilles. The firft has 

 a long nofc, the up'per lip divided ; fhort, broad, rounded 

 ears ; black eyes ; flender, and alinofl naked legs, of a black 

 colour. The fecond has a fmall flender head, with promi- 

 nent naked ears, rounded at the extremity. The hinder 

 parts in both are larger than the fore parts, and the legs are 

 long. The third variety is little known. Thefe animals 

 inhabit hollow trees, and bun-ow in the ground. They 

 live on vegetables, which they coUeft in the day, and carry- 

 to their dwellings ; they fit on their hind legs, and feed 

 themfelves with their paws ; and when fatiated with food, 

 conceal the remainder ; they grunt like pigs : wlien hunted 

 with dogs, they run faft, with a kind of hopping or leaping 

 pace, like that of a rabbit or hare, and take fhelter in their 

 holes or hollow trees ; when irritated, the hair rifes on the 

 back, and they ftrike the ground with their hind feet ; when 

 I young, they are eafily tamed ; and will of their own accord, 

 go out and return again. They are very voracious, and 

 grow fat ; and their flefh is white and favoury, and eaten ia 

 South America. The female brings forth at all limes of the 

 year, and produces three, four, and fometimes five at a time. 



Aguti Treva inj'ulie Marignante, in Botany, a plant 

 mentioned by de Laet. It has the leaves of the orange-tree, 

 only thinner, a dewy flower, a large fruit, with a greenifh 

 rind, which contains kernels like thofe of the pomegranate, 

 tliin, fwcet, and not ill-tailed. 



AGUTIGUEPA obi Brafilienfibus, in Medicine, the 

 name given by many authors to the ARROW-roo/, or fagitta- 

 ria alexipharmka of the Weft Indies. 



AGYEI, in Antiquity, a kind of obeliflts confecrated to 

 Apollo, and placed in the veftibules of houfes, for their 

 fecurily. 



The agyei were no other than huge ftones, or perhaps 

 fometimes timber, having either a circular or fquare bafis, 

 and tei-minating in a point at the top, facred to Apollo, or, 

 as fome fay, to Bacchus, as proteAor of the high-wa)fs. 

 Others will have them to have been erciited to both thofe 

 deities. Suidas and Pitifcus. They had fometimes the head 

 of Apollo, Bacchus, or Mercury ; and Steph. Byz. fays, 

 that they ferved like our direftion-pofts, to fhew the way 

 to any place. 



AGYLLA, (Cer-uaieri), in Ancient Geography, a town 

 of Etruria, near the fea, fo called by the Pelafgi, who came 



thither 



