ART 



by communicating with thofe branches of the extemd 

 plantar which fupply the great toe. 



Artery, luounded. See Aneurism. 



ARTHA, in Geography, a river of South Wales, which 

 runs into the fea about ten miles fouth of Aberyftwith in 

 Cardiganfhire. 



ARTHEDON, in /Indent Geography, an ifland of Afia 

 Minor, upon the borders of the Troade. Pliny. 



ARTHEL, fomething caft. into a court, in Wales, or 

 its marches ; whereby the court is letted or difcontinued for 

 the time. The carting of anhel is prohibited by 26 Hen. 

 VIII. cap. 6. 



Arthel is a Briti(h word, more corredly written Arddeliv, 

 or Ardhel, and fignifics to avouch ; as if a man were taken 

 with ftolen goods in his hand, he was to be allowed a lawful 

 arthel, or voucher, to clear him of the felony. This was 

 part of the law of Howel Dha, according to whofc laws, 

 ever)' tenant, holding of any other than the prince, or the 

 lord of the fee, paid a fine " pro defenfione regia," which 

 was called ar'tan ardhel. 



ARTHEMIS, in 7,on!ogf, a genera of worms in the Mol- 

 hifca tribe eftablifhcd by Poli in his work on the fhells of the 

 two Sicilies. See Vermes. 



ARTHES, in Geography, a tovrn of France, in the de- 

 partment of the lower Pyrenees, and chief place of a can- 

 ton in the diftriCt of Orthes, five leagues north-weft of Pau. 



ARTHRITICA, in the Materia Medka, medicines fuited 

 to cure the difeafes of the joints, particularly the gout ; but 

 the term is fo vague and of fo indeterminate a meaning as 

 to be altogether improper. 



ARTHRITIS, farmed from apSpov, articulm, joint, in 

 JHedicir.e, a difeafe better known under the name of the 



GOUT. 



ARTHROCACE, in Surgery, is a difeafe of the joints, 

 or the extremities of bones, more commonly named Spina 

 Ventofa, which fee. When this diforder afi"e6ls children, it 

 is called Poedarthrdcace. We do not recollect any au- 

 thor to have diftinftly treated of this complaint before 

 Rhazes the Arabian phyfician, who has entered at large 

 into the confideration of difeafed joints. 



ARTHRODIA, formed from afSpov, articuhis, and h- 

 X'jjj.-j.i, rectpio, I receive, in Anatomy, a fpecies of articulation, 

 admitting of a very fmall degree of motion ; as each bone 

 compofing the joint muft have nearly a plain furface. Such 

 is the articulation of the humerus with the fcapula. See 

 Articulation. 



ARTHRODYNIA, in Surgery, is a chronical rheu- 

 matic affeftion of the joints. This name was firft impofed 

 by Dr. CuUen, in his Synopfis Nofologiae Methodicx. See 

 Rheumatism and White Swelling. 



ARTHROPUOSIS, is a fuppuration of the joints, or 

 at leail a ftrong tendency to form pus. In this cafe there 

 is a deep-feated inflammation, obtufely painful, fometimes 

 throbbing, and accompanied with febrile fymptoms. The 

 treatment is defcribed under the articles, Abscess, Spina 

 Vestosa, White Swelling, Inflammation, and 

 Rheumatism. 



ARTHROSIS, formed from efSpoir, art'tculus, in Ana- 

 tomy, a junfture of two bones defigned for motion ; called 

 alfo articulation. 



ARTHUR, in Biography and Hi/lory, the moft re- 

 markable name among the Britons. As a hero and a con- 

 fummate warrior, he appears illuftrious in our hiftory ; but 

 as a being of romance, his fplendor has dazzled the world. 

 It has been generally inferred that the great atchievements 

 of this hero created thofe illufory a£licns and fcenes de- 

 picted in the Mabinogion, or Juvenile Tales} and fome 



ART 



authors, with fuch phantoms playing tefore tSeir eyw, 

 have denied exiftence to fuch a perfon altogether. But that 

 there was a prince of this name, who often led the Britons 

 fucc^fsfully to battle againft the Saxons, in the commence- 

 ment of the fixth century, there ought net to be any 

 doubts ; for he is m.entioned by cotemporary writers, v/hofe 

 works are Ilill extant ; namely, Llywarc, Merzin, and Ta- 

 liefin ; and he is likewife often recorded in the Triad?, 

 which are documents worthy of credit ; but neither by 

 thefe poets, nor in the Triads, is he in any refpect exalted to 

 that rank in which the world now beholds his name, or ex- 

 tolled above other princes who held fimilar llations in the 

 country. 



About the year 516, or 517, Arthur was elefted by} the 

 ftatcs of Britain to exercife fovereign authority, as other 

 princes had been chofen, in dangerous times ; and he ob- 

 tained that pre-eminence in conftquence of his fuperior abi- 

 lities and bravery ; being until that time only a chieftain of 

 the Silurian Britons. He continued to prefent a fuccefsful 

 oppofition to the increafing power of the Saxons, until a 

 fatal diffenficn broke out between him and Medrod ; a ra- 

 dical evil among the Britons, in confequencc of their being 

 divided into m.any fniall dates ; and which, about the year 

 540, kindled into a civil war ; and Medrod joined his power 

 with the Saxon?, which ultimately produced the battle of 

 Camlan, equally fatal to the leaders on both fides, and which 

 brought diiaftrcus ruin on the Britons. 



Such was the career of Arthur, as exhibited by the bards 

 and the Triads. The hero under the fame name in the 

 dramatic tales called Mabinogion, is totally of different 

 features, and in fac^ is a diilintt perfonage altogether. The 

 lall is then a m.ythological charafter of times fo remote as to 

 be far beyond the fcope of hilloiy : his attributes in the 

 dramatic tales before mentioned point him out as fuch. 

 Memorials of this being, and of feveral others coiineited 

 with him, have been traditionally prefened in various and very 

 diftant parts of the world ; and if we miHake not, their 

 memorials are written in the heavens, and fome of the con- 

 ftellations bear their names. Arthur is the Great Bear, as 

 the epithet literally implies : and perhaps this conllellatioQ 

 being fituated fo near the north pole, and vifibly defcribing 

 a circle in a fmall fpace of the heavens, is the true origin 

 of the famous round table. 



By confounding the Arthur of hiftory with that of my- 

 thology, the chroniclers of the middle ages have committed 

 a monllrous anachroiiifm ; and thus have blended the real 

 feats of the former with the allegorical attributes of the 

 other ; and this confufion is ftill increafed by all the fuc- 

 ceeding writers of romance. 



There are fome veiy extraordinaiY things related con- 

 cerning the mythological Arthur, in the Mabinogion, and 

 particularly in the ilory of the'purfuit of Olwen : therein 

 we recognife the Indian Menu, exactly by name, and with 

 fimilar attributes, atting as one of the agents of Arthur, 

 to recover Olwen, the reprefentative of the fecundity of 

 nature. 



To the above rational and credible account, for which 

 the editor is indebted to an ingenious writer, it may not be 

 improper to fubjoin, for the gratification of the curious 

 reader, fome other particulars, tranfmitted by Geoffrev of 

 Monmouth, and other hiftorians, of more doubtful authen- 

 ticity. 



From them we learn, that Arthur was the Ton of Uther, 

 the pendragon or diftator of the Britons, by an adulterous 

 connection with Igerna, wife of Gorlois duke of Cornwall, 

 favoured by the aid of Merlin's magical Ikill. Upon the 

 death of Uther, in 5 1 6, Arthur, at the age of 15, or, ac- 

 C 2 cording 



